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Exclusive: Honorary Academy Award winner Wes Studi and SAG Award, NAACP Image Award and Golden Globe nominee Adam Beach have signed on to star in the thriller American/Indian from writer-director Peter Curtis Pardini.

Set in the wake of the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the film follows twin brothers Slim and Joe Gresham (both played by Studi), products of the Indian Boarding School system, who have taken very different paths in life. Joe is now a popular U.S. Congressman about to step down to lead the transformation of their tribe’s bingo hall into an expansive (and lucrative) casino resort, while Slim works behind the scenes as a brutal enforcer who ensures everything and everyone stays in line for his brother, no matter the cost. What follows is a dark and thrilling tale of wealth, deceit,...

Larry McMurtry, the Texas novelist known for American West epics like Lonesome Dove and the Oscar-winning screenplay for Brokeback Mountain, has died. McMurtry’s death on Thursday was first reported by The New York Times. He was 84.

Born in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1936, McMurtry was a prolific author with an uncanny gift for making a lengthy opus like Lonesome Dove — all 843 pages — eminently readable. The page-turning tale of two grizzled cowboys on a cattle drive from Texas to Montana in the mid-19th century won a Pulitzer Prize in 1986. First...

Larry McMurtry, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer whose novels, such as “The Last Picture Show,” “Terms of Endearment” and “Lonesome Dove,” were turned into award-winning films and who won an Oscar for co-adapting “Brokeback Mountain,” has died, according to The New York Times. He was 84.

A spokesperson for McMurtry’s family confirmed his death to The New York Times. No cause of death was given.

McMurtry and his frequent collaborator Diana Ossana penned “Brokeback Mountain” based on Annie Proulx’s short story, taking the Western genre in which McMurtry so frequently worked in a new direction: a gay love story. The film saw this theme welcomed by large mainstream audiences for the first time and also won the Oscar for best director and was nominated for best picture.

McMurtry also shared a 1973 Oscar nomination with Peter Bogdanovich for the adaptation of McMurtry’s novel “The Last Picture Show.”

With William D.

Paul Frank, a entertainment executive who worked on both the creative and business sides of the industry for 30 years, died unexpectedly of a suspected heart attack on September 30 in his home in Los Angeles. He was 53.

Frank started his career as an agent trainee at the Triad agency and became an agent at the William Morris Agency following its acquisition of Triad. He transitioned to the executive ranks with a job as a scripted programming executive at Columbia/TriStar and then went on to head the television department at The Firm and its successor Prospect Park.

At The Firm, he executive produced the Emmy-nominated CBS miniseries Comanche Moon, from Oscar & Pulitzer prize winning author Larry McMurtry. The six-hour television event, a prequel to the hugely popular Lonesome Dove mini, starred Val Kilmer, Elizabeth Banks, Karl Urban and Steve Zahn.

At Prospect Park, he developed and executive produced Royal Pains, which...

Lennie Niehaus, who went from Stan Kenton sideman to Clint Eastwood’s movie composer during a nearly 60-year career in music, died Thursday at his daughter’s home in Redlands, Calif. He was 90.

Niehaus’s two dozen films for Eastwood include original scores for the best picture-winning Western “Unforgiven,” the Charlie Parker biopic “Bird” and the popular romantic drama “The Bridges of Madison County.”

The two met in 1953 at California’s Fort Ord, when the two were in the Army during the Korean Conflict. “I used to play jazz jobs at one of the beer clubs on the base, and Clint was tending bar,” Niehaus wrote in an essay about the actor-director for his 1996 American Film Institute Life Achievement Award. “I used to go off post and play in a little jazz club in nearby Santa Cruz on Sunday afternoons, and he would be there.”

Niehaus’s Army service interrupted...

FX has set the main cast for the eight-episode limited series “Fosse/Verdon,” Variety has learned.

The series is based on the biography “Fosse” written by Sam Wasson and tells the story of the romantic and creative partnership between Bob Fosse (Sam Rockwell) and Gwen Verdon (Michelle Williams).

Norbert Leo Butz has been cast in the series regular role of Paddy Chayefsky, while Margaret Qually will appear in the series regular role of Ann Reinking.

In addition, the following people have been cast in recurring roles: Aya Cash as Joan Simon, Nate Corddry as Neil Simon, Susan Misner as Joan McCracken, Bianca Marroquin as Chita Rivera, Kelli Barrett as Liza Minnelli, Evan Handler as Hal Prince, Rick Holmes as Fred Weaver, Paul Reiser as Cy Feuer, Ethan Slater as Joel Grey, Byron Jennings as George Abbott, and Laura Osnes as Shirley MacLaine.

Butz is currently starring on Broadway in “My Fair Lady...

FX has rounded out the cast as production begins on Fosse/Verdon (new official title), its high-profile eight-episode limited drama series starring Oscar winner Sam Rockwell and Oscar nominee Michelle Williams in the title roles, from award-winning producers Thomas Kail, Steven Levenson, Lin Manuel-Miranda and Joel Fields, FX Television Studios and FX Productions. Production on the series is currently underway in New York City ahead of its spring 2019 premiere on FX.

Joining previously announced Rockwell and Williams as series regulars are Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz (Bloodline) as Paddy Chayefsky and Margaret Qualley (Novitiate) as Ann Reinking. Additional recurring cast includes Evan Handler (The People v. O.J. Simpson) as Hal Prince; Aya Cash (You’re The Worst) as Joan Simon; Nate Corddry (For All Mankind) as Neil Simon; Susan Misner (Jack Ryan) as Joan McCracken; Bianca Marroquin (Chicago) as Chita Rivera; Kelli Barrett (The Punisher) as Liza Minnelli; Rick Holmes...

According to makeup department head Tarra Day, “Godless” is unique in the western genre simply because of its “strong women characters.” Day has a lot of experience with cowboys in the Wild West, having worked on such films as “Appaloosa” (2008) and “The Magnificent Seven” (2016). But in most cases “the women are prostitutes or girlfriends or wives. There hasn’t been a lot of room for female characters to lead the western.” That changed with this Netflix limited series. Watch our exclusive video interview with Day above.

See Merritt Wever (‘Godless’) on female-centric western: In a traditional western, ‘there probably wouldn’t have been a part for me’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

Written and directed by Scott Frank, the series centers on a man (Jack O’Connell) evading a violent outlaw gang leader (Jeff Daniels). He takes refuge in the town of La Belle, New Mexico, which after a mining accident is populated almost entirely by women,...

A review of tonight's "Better Call Saul" coming up just as soon as I use double ply... There is a truth inherent to the prequel business: you can't change or prevent what your audience knows is coming for these characters. Sometimes, prequels use this to their advantage, whether great ones (where the young Vito scenes in "Godfather Part II" only enhance our feelings for the Brando version of the character), or less-great ones (where whatever emotional power the "Star Wars" prequels have comes from the knowledge of what's going to become of Anakin). Sometimes, though, having to stick to pre-established facts about your characters' future can be a drag, as we're seeing a lot this season on "Gotham."(*) (*) Another good example of prequelitis: "Comanche Moon," the last "Lonesome Dove" novel to be published, but set before the events of the first, has our heroes chasing after a bad guy the...

So after five years, Karl Urban is back on the television screen. For those that saw Comanche Moon and are currently twisting in their seats, shouting: don’t worry! Instead, take a deep breath and embrace what Fox have to offer this autumn, and with Mr Urban’s raised profile after another great portrayal as Dr Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy, I promise you that you will at least be tuning in for the first episode of this new series.

J.H. Wyman, who most know from the amazing Fringe, but some of us remember even more from Highlander: the series, has come up with a great concept. And the concept is Almost Human.

Set in the relatively near future, Almost Human is in its core a cop-buddy TV show, with a massive dose of Blade Runner and a little bit, in my humble opinion, of the magic that made Fringe good.

Yep, that was Buffy's mom on "The Following."

Kristine Sutherland, a.k.a. Joyce Summers to legions of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" fans, appeared in the Monday, Feb. 25 episode of the Fox drama as Agent Parker's (Annie Parisse) mother in flashbacks to the time the agent confronted her parents 15 years after fleeing a cult.

Post-"Buffy," Sutherland's other TV credits include "Comanche Moon" and "One Life to Live." "Buffy" creator Joss Whedon recently revealed that killing off Sutherland's character was one of the toughest deaths he's ever written. Hey, at least she's alive (in a flashback) on "The Following."

"The Following" airs Mondays at 9 p.m. Est on Fox.

Exclusive: Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain writers Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana have teamed with Super Size Me documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock for a drama series project set up at HBO. The project, described as a big-canvas Texas political drama, is based on an idea by Spurlock, who, along with manager-producer Larry Shuman, approached McMurtry and Ossana. McMurtry and Ossana have written a script for the project, which they are executive producing for Fox TV Studios. Spurlock and Shuman are executive producing through their shingles, Warrior Poets and the Shuman Co., respectively, with McMurtry and Ossana's manager Adam Shulman, Jennifer Berman and Warrior Poets' Jeremy Chilnick also expected to produce. On the feature side, McMurtry and Ossana are writing two major period Westerns for Scott Free, The Color of Lightning for Ridley Scott to direct at 20th Century Fox, and an adaptation of S. C. Gwynne's book Empire of the Summer Moon for Warner Bros.

On January 20, USA Network will premiere the second season continuation of Royal Pains at 9/8c. This show will be the launching pad for USA’s new series Fairly Legal, 10/9c, starring Sarah Shahi. Last season’s cliffhanger involved Hank and Evan’s father Eddie R. Lawson (Henry Winkler) suffering a heart attack after his sons discovered some startling secrets.

About Royal Pains:

Royal Pains stars Mark Feuerstein as Hank Lawson who, after becoming blacklisted from the medical community, revives his career as a “doctor for hire” to the rich and famous in the Hamptons. In addition to treating this select group of the East End elite, Hank also caters to the town’s less fortunate by donating his time at the local clinic. He finds himself walking the line between doing well for himself and doing good for others. The show also stars Paulo Costanzo (“Road Trip”), Reshma Shetty...

Encore visited the Geelong set of Simon Wincer’s new project The Cup which, although shot on a tight schedule, he hopes will be ‘the movie that stops a nation’ when it’s released in 2011.

The Cup tells the story of Damien Oliver (played by Stephen Curry), winner of the 2002 Melbourne Cup with the horse Media Puzzle and the support of Irish trainer Dermot Weld (Brendan Gleeson). Oliver’s brother (Daniel MacPherson) was killed one week before the event in a horse racing accident in Perth – which also reflects the way their father died 27 years ago.

Us journalist Eric O’Keefe heard of Oliver’s story and contacted Wincer, trying to get more information from his Australian friend to write a magazine article. Wincer looked into it and rang him back saying “This is a movie!”

Wincer is, of course, no stranger to horse-themed projects, from 1983’s Phar Lap to the 2008 CBS miniseries Comanche Moon.

The next hot TV series from Emmy titan HBO is "Treme," which debuts at a very Emmy-friendly time: April 11 (or about six weeks before the end of the Emmy eligibility period). It's about the rebuilding of New Orleans after Katrina with special focus on the neighborhood called "Treme" that's a haven for musicians. It has got a high hip factor, featuring "The Wire" stars Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters plus John Goodman ("Roseanne"), Steve Zahn ("Comanche Moon") and Kim Dickens ("Deadwood"). "Treme" is the creation of "The Wire" producers David Simon and Eric Overmyer. That may be a bad omen considering how poorly "The Wire" fared at the Emmys. Other Posts: George Clooney cast...

The latest round of pilot casting sees roles going to Indira Varma, Gina Torres and David Giuntoli. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Varma has landed the lead role in ABC's "Inside the Box," from "Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rhimes. Written by Richard E. Robbins, "Inside the Box" focuses on Varma's Catherine, an ambitious producer at a Washington network news bureau. Catherine thinks she's on the verge of a promotion, but when she doesn't get it... Well, we assume she's unhappy. Varma's credits include CBS' "3 Lbs" and "Comanche Moon," as well as a turn as Niobe in HBO's "Rome." The trade...

"Inside the Box" has found its lead.

British actress Indira Varma has landed the starring role in the ABC drama project, from writer Richard E. Robbins and executive producer Shonda Rhimes.

Meanwhile, Gina Torres has joined CBS' drama pilot "Washington Field," and David Giuntoli has joined CBS' U.S. Attorney drama pilot.

"Box" is set at a Washington network news bureau and revolves around Catherine (Varma), an ambitious news producer, and her colleagues, who pursue the story at all costs, juggling personal animosities and crises of conscience along with the daily deadlines of a nightly news show.

Catherine is fast-talking, whip-smart and wound a little too tight for her own good. She runs the news bureau and thinks she finally is getting a promotion, but she is passed over.

Mark Tinker is directing the pilot, which is being executive produced by Robbins, Rhimes and Betsy Beers.

Varma is best known...

The Hallmark Channel has inked a deal with Sony Pictures TV to acquire the miniseries "Comanche Moon," two more "Stone Cold" telefilms and 18 classic musicals to air on sibling Hallmark Movie Channel.

The musicals include "Bye Bye Birdie" (1963), "Funny Lady" (1975), Oscar best picture winner "Oliver!" (1968), "Pal Joey" (1957) and "Pennies From Heaven" (1936). They will run as part of a franchise block on Hallmark Movie Channel, which is dedicated to family-friendly theatricals.

The acquisition of two more "Stone Cold" movies comes after the first in the CBS franchise, starring Tom Selleck as a self-destructive homicide detective, has done well on the Hallmark Channel. "Comanche," which also originally aired on CBS, will be added to the cable channel's Western library.

Hallmark's latest off-network acquisition, "The Golden Girls," premieres March 1.

AMC is developing a legal drama with actor-writer-producer Ray McKinnon that would star "The Shield's" Walton Goggins.

McKinnon, perhaps recognized for his roles on HBO's "Deadwood" and CBS' 2008 mini "Comanche Moon," created and wrote the AMC project, titled "Rectify"; he also will serve as exec producer with Mark Johnson (AMC's "Breaking Bad"). Goggins and Stephen Kay are co-executive producers.

" 'Rectify' takes us to the crossroads of two incredibly compelling worlds," said Christina Wayne, AMC's senior vp scripted series and miniseries. "Ray McKinnon's script beautifully weaves together the legal drama surrounding a wrongful conviction into a great character-driven family drama, and in that sense, it is totally unique."

McKinnon also wrote, directed and co-starred opposite Billy Bob Thornton in the 2004 film "Chrystal." McKinnon and Goggins also appear together in the movie "I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down."

McKinnon is repped by attorney Bill Skrzyniarz. Goggins is...

NEW YORK -- This season's sophomore episode of American Idol, like on Tuesday, blew away Wednesday night's competition. But also like Tuesday, the two-hour episode was down in all key measures from last year.

Idol averaged 30.2 million viewers and a 12.6 rating/30 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary estimates released Thursday by Nielsen Media Research.

The declines were steeper this time around, down 18% in viewership (37 million) and 19% in adults 18-49 (15.5/36). But that being said, even with the declines, Idol was still the biggest thing going on TV.

NBC did the best against the formidable Idol juggernaut thanks to Deal or No Deal (11.8 million, 3.1/8) at 8 p.m. That did much better than either ABC's Wife Swap (5.2 million, 2.0/5) or CBS' Power of 10 (4.9 million, 1.1/3), not to mention the CW's Crowned (1.6 million, 0.7/2). And casualties at 9 p.m. included Supernanny (6.1 million, 2.5/6) and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (8.8 million, 2.4/5). CBS' conclusion of Comanche Moon (12.1 million, 2.4/6) did about as well as Tuesday's edition.

Woody Harrelson has joined Jennifer Aniston and Steve Zahn in the MGM romantic comedy Management, which is shooting in Portland, Ore.

Harrelson will play Aniston's boyfriend, a yogurt mogul named Jango. Zahn will play an assistant motel manager who has a fling with Aniston's character and ends up following her all over the country.

Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Temple Hill Prods. are producing.

Playwright-screenwriter Stephen Belber will make his directorial debut with the film. He also penned the script.

Harrelson stars in the Coen brothers' film No Country for Old Men, set for release in November. Aniston's upcoming projects include He's Just Not That Into You with Ben Affleck, Scarlett Johansson and Drew Barrymore.

Harrelson and Aniston are repped by CAA.

Zahn will appear in the upcoming CBS miniseries Comanche Moon based on the Larry McMurtry novel. He is represented by Endeavor.

Dreamgirls co-star Keith Robinson has joined the cast of Fox's upcoming drama series Canterbury's Law as a regular.

Law, from Sony Pictures TV and Apostle, stars Julianna Margulies as a rebellious defense attorney who pushes the boundaries of the law to protect innocent clients.

Robinson will play her co-worker, Chester Fields. The role, played in the pilot by Jocko Sims, has been recast.

"Law" extends Fox's relationship with Robinson. This past development season, he co-starred on the network's drama pilot The Apostles, from 20th Century Fox TV.

Robinson, who played C.C. White in Dreamgirls, will next be seen in CBS' Comanche Moon.

He is repped by Stone Manners and the Firm.

Linda Cardellini is set to star opposite Paul Walker in Heaven Project, an indie drama being directed by John Glenn.

The story follows an ex-con who is sentenced to death and wakes up from his lethal injection in a small Oregon town. Working as a groundskeeper for a mental hospital, he is told he was given a second chance by God but questions whether he ever really died.

Cardellini will play the hospital's administrator and Walker's love interest.

Producing are David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman of Mandeville along with Inferno Entertainment's Bill Johnson. Matt Milich also is producing.

Production is under way in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Cardellini is one of the stars of NBC's ER. She also played Velma in the Scooby-Doo movies and will appear in CBS' Larry McMurtry miniseries Comanche Moon. She is repped by Gersh, 3 Arts and Barnes, Morris, Klein.

Oscar-winning writers Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana have inked a deal with Fox Broadcasting Co. and 20th Century Fox Television to develop a one-hour drama series.

Details on the project have been kept under wraps, but it is said to examine urban and rural life.

In addition to writing, McMurtry and Ossana will executive produce the untitled project with the Firm's Adam Shulman. The management/production company's Firm TV unit also is attached to executive produce all of McMurtry and Ossana's TV projects.

McMurtry and Ossana are in postproduction on CBS' six-hour miniseries Comanche Moon. Based on McMurtry's best-selling novel, a prequel to Lonesome Dove, the miniseries stars Steve Zahn, Karl Urban, Val Kilmer and Rachel Griffiths.

In addition to writing, McMurtry and Ossana are executive producing Comanche with the Firm's Paul Frank, Shulman and Julie Yorn.

Additionally, the writing duo is developing for ABC and ABC TV Studio the drama project Sheriff Luke, which they are executive producing with Frank and Shulman (HR 1/27/06).

Dreamgirls co-star Keith Robinson is set to star in Fox's drama pilot The Apostles, while Beau Bridges has been tapped to headline Fox's comedy pilot Two Families.

Additionally, Lindsay Price will star in NBC's one-hour pilot Lipstick Jungle, Bret Harrison has been tapped as the lead in the CW drama pilot Reaper, and Mary Steenburgen has joined ABC's untitled Rina Mimoun drama pilot.

In other pilot casting news, Amanda Righetti has joined ABC's drama Marlowe, Linus Roache is set to co-star in Fox's drama Canterbury's Law, Carmen Ejogo has been cast in NBC's drama M.O.N.Y., and Ayda Field has come onboard ABC's untitled Sachs/Judah comedy.

Apostles, from 20th Century Fox TV, focuses on a close-knit group of LAPD cops. Robinson will play one of the leads, a decorated officer who is deeply religious. Robinson, who is onscreen as C.C. White in Dreamgirls, will next be seen in CBS' Comanche Moon. He is repped by Stone Manners and the Firm.

Two Families, from 20th Century Fox TV and HIP, centers on a man (Bridges) with two families whose two sets of adult children don't know the others exist.

Karl Urban has been tapped to star in CBS' miniseries Comanche Moon, with Ryan Merriman, Elizabeth Banks, Graham Greene and Wes Studi also cast in the project from Oscar-winning writers Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. Meanwhile, Amanda Walsh has landed the female lead in the CBS comedy pilot The Big Bang Theory. Based on McMurtry's novel, Comanche Moon, a prequel to Lonesome Dove, follows Gus McCrae (Steve Zahn) and Woodrow Call (Urban) through their years as Texas Rangers as they create legends for themselves fighting the Comanche to open West Texas for settlement. In CBS' 1989 adaptation of Lonesome Dove, McCrae and Call were played by Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones, respectively.

Hot off his Oscar win for Brokeback Mountain, writer Larry McMurtry is back in the saddle again for a follow-up to his hit Western Lonesome Dove. The CBS mini-series Comanche Moon is a six hour prequel to the Texan epic about two ranchers on a Montana-bound cattle drive. Val Kilmer, Anjelica Huston, Rachel Griffiths and Linda Cardellini star in the project with Steve Zahn on board for the role originated by Robert Duvall. Simon Wincer directs.