TV/ FISHBURNE LEAVING "CSI": Laurence Fishburne is leaving CBS drama "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" after 2.5 seasons. The Emmy winning actor opted not to renew his deal to continue on the series. Fishburne replaced William Petersen when the latter left the show in December 2008.But the once-top-rated show has seen its ratings drop since Petersen left, posting its lowest-rated season finale ever last month (11.4 million viewers, 2.6 rating in the adults 18-49 demo). At its upfront presentation last month, CBS announced that it would be moving the show from its longtime Thursday slot in the fall. "CSI" will instead air at 10:00pm on Wednesdays. When Fishburne most recently renewed his deal to stay on the show, the contract covered only the 2010-11 season.
FILM/ "FIFTH BEATLE" BIOPIC MOVES FORWARD: Stage producer Vivek Tiwary ("The Addams Family" "American Idiot") has landed unprecedented rights to Beatles songs for his debut film, "The Fifth Beatle," about manager Brian Epstein, whom Paul McCartney called the "fifth Beatle." "I have signed and fully executed a deal with Sony/ATV, who control the Lennon/McCartney music catalog, and I'm proud to report we will have Beatles music in our film," Tiwary said in an interview. The Beatles (and the bandmembers' survivors' estates) have not endorsed "The Fifth Beatle", but a report says reps have signed off on the script and enabled music rights to be used. Tiwary said that the film will use 6 to 10 Beatles songs. He said they have ironclad rights or ability to use the following songs, with the option to 'swap out' later for other songs if they decide to change the list: "All You Need Is Love," "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," "A Day in the Life," "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "Yesterday," "Eleanor Rigby," "Help!" "You Never Give Me Your Money," "Girl," "A Hard Day's Night," "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Come Together". Epstein, a closeted homosexual in the days when it was illegal in the UK, suffered with his outsider status even as the band he managed because hugely famous. He died of a sedative overdose in 1967, a month after homosexuality was legalized.
With the success of "Bridesmaids" and "The Hangover Part 2," Hollywood reportedly now wants more wedding themed films. And with that in mind, DreamWorks and Reese Witherspoon are trying a knot. The studio has picked up "Who Invited Her?" a romantic comedy pitch from Sascha Rothschild that has Witherspoon attached to star and produce. The story centers on a woman who crashes a bachelor party getaway. Rothschild wrote "How to Get Divorced by 30," based on her article in LA Weekly. The project is set up Universal. Witherspoon is a producer on "This Means War," in which she also stars. The movie, which also stars Chris Pine and Tom Hardy, will be released in February.
THEATRE/ "MILLION DOLLAR" TO MOVE OFF BROADWAY: "Million Dollar Quartet," the Broadway jukebox musical about the infamous 1956 recording session that united Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, will end its run June 12, prior to an Off-Broadway transfer to New World Stages in July. The Tony Award-nominated musical opened on Broadway April 11, 2010, at the Nederlander Theatre following an acclaimed Chicago run, where the musical continues to play the Apollo Theater. When it closes, "Million Dollar Quartet" will have played 34 previews and 489 regular performances. According to media reports, "Million Dollar Quartet" struggled at the box office in recent weeks, grossing $242,786 for the May 30-June 5 week, and playing to 36.8% capacity. The Off-Broadway transfer will allow producers to continue the run in a smaller venue with less overhead expenses. The musical will launch its US tour this October in Cleveland, OH. Open-ended productions also continue in Chicago and London.
BOOKS/ LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN DIES AT 97: Lilian Jackson Braun, the author of 29 "The Cat Who..." books about a crime-solving journalist and cat owner called Jim Qwilleran, has died at the age of 97. After her 1st book, The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, was published in 1966, the New York Times called her "the new detective writer of the year". But after publishing 2 more "The Cat Who..." books she took an 18-year hiatus before resuming the series in 1986. She died on Saturday in a hospice in Landrum, South Carolina. Her husband said she had parted company with her first publisher in the 1960s because she had refused to add sex and violence to her 4th book. He said that when he read the rejected book years later, after his wife had retired from her job as a feature writer for the Detroit Free Press, he demanded she sent it back to publishers. Penguin Books imprint Berkley Publishing Group accepted the book and also reprinted her 1st 3 mysteries. Braun, who also published 2 short story collections, retired in 2007 after the publication of "The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers". Her longtime editor said Braun, whose books were translated into 16 languages, had "ultimately created a whole new chapter in the American mystery".
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