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Adam Robitel, who is in prep to direct the Blumhouse sequel Insidious 4, has signed with CAA. The writer-director made documentary-style horror feature The Taking Of Deborah Logan, which was produced by Bryan Singer and became to the No. 1 most downloaded film of any genre on Halloween. Robitel and writing partner Gavin Heffernan previously penned Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension for Paramount Pictures and Blumhouse. He and Christopher Landon also recently sold their pitch Liminal to Fox 2000 with Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson producing. Robitel had been with APA and he continues to be repped by Zero Gravity Management.

The new season will be produced by Roopesh Parekh (The Hollow Crown: The Wars Of The Roses) and Michael Ray, and directed by Josh Agnew (Mr Selfridge) and Stephen Woolfenden (Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them). Horsfield continues to serve as executive producer alongside Tom Mullens, Karen Thrussell and Timmer for Mammoth Screen, and Elizabeth Kilgarriff for the BBC.

EXCLUSIVE: From director Darren Lynn Bousman comes Abattoir, a new horror thriller written by Chris Monfette about a haunted house constructed entirely from rooms in which horrific deaths have occurred. It stars Jessica Lowndes, Joe Anderson, Dayton Callie, Lin Shaye and Jay Huguley and follows Julia (Lowndes), a real estate journalist who finds herself on the crime beat following the horrific murder of her sister. When the room in which her sister was killed is literally stolen, Julia’s investigation takes her on a tour of recent and far older tragedies.

Finnish director Aku Louhimies will start shooting his new epic The Unknown Soldier (Tuntematon Sotilas) on June 6, with 80 filming days scheduled.

SF Film Finland has the theatrical launch slated for October 2017, timed to the 100th anniversary of Finland’s independence.

The World War 2 historical-drama tells the story of a platoon of ordinary Finnish soldiers in the battlefield between Finland and the Soviet Union.

The script is adapted from Väinö Linna’s bestselling 1954 novel, and its uncensored version from 2000.

The book, translated into 23 languages, has been filmed twice before as 1955 and 1985 hits.

“The story of The Unknown Soldier is very universal. It’s a gripping portrayal of how a tragedy changes us all,” said Louhimies.

Eero Aho (Tears Of April, 8-Ball) will play Corporal Rokka, Jussi Vatanen (Lapland Odyssey) will play Second Lieutenant Koskela, and Aku Hirviniemi (Finland’sSaturday Night Live) will play Corporal Hietanen.

The production has already recruited 14,000 volunteer extras.

Key partners and funding bodies are the Finnish Film Foundation, Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE and Finnish Military Forces. Domestic distribution will be handled by SF Film Finland.

Louhimies, whose credits include Frozen Land, Naked Harbour and 8-Ball, recently directed the five-part Irish drama series Rebellion (RTE/Sundance/Netflix).

Louhimies also produces The Unknown Soldier alongside Mikko Tenhunen.

“Universal Soldier” and “The Expendables” star Dolph Lundgren will challenge contestants to complete physical and mental challenges in “Take The Tower,” a new action-movie-inspired entertainment format for ITV in the U.K.

Lundgren will soon be seen in “Aquaman” and “Creed 2.” He will host “Take The Tower,” which sees contestants take on a combination of physical challenges and quiz questions that draw on action movies and their tropes. Contestants attempt to reach the top of the titular tower to win.

The six-part series of hour-long episodes is being made for the ITV4 channel by British producer Twofour, which is behind formats such as “This Time Next Year.”

“This is probably the most bonkers idea we’ve had the good fortune to make,” said Melanie Leach, the production company’s chief executive. “But in the words of the A Team, it’s so crazy, it just might work.”

The show was commissioned by Amanda Stavri for ITV and will be executive produced by Twofour’s Leach, Andrew Mackenzie and Rachel Watson.

“’Take the Tower’ will anchor a night of new original series this coming autumn on ITV4 as we push forward with a commissioning strategy that puts male-skewed entertainment at the heart of primetime on the channel,” said Paul Mortimer, ITV’s head of digital channels and acquisitions.

Twofour was acquired by ITV in 2015. Its distribution arm, Twofour Rights, is selling the finished show and format internationally.

EXCLUSIVE: Benedict Cumberbatch, Adam Ackland and their company SunnyMarch have come aboard to produce Guantanamo Diary along with ZeroGravity’s Mark Holder and Christine Holder. They will produce with Michael Bronner (who is scripting the project) and Lloyd Levin and Beatriz Levin. The project follows the tribulations of 45 year-old Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a man who was a suspected terrorist and has been incarcerated at Guantanamo bay for 14 years without ever being charged with a crime or having the opportunity to defend himself in court. But that may change and quickly.

Convergent Media is providing development funds for the project. Zero Gravity has been on fire as of late with the release of Beasts of No Nation last year, The Accountant, directed by Gavin O’Connor and starring Ben Affleck and Anna Kendrick coming out wide from Warner Bros. in October and prep on an original Netflix series:Ozark which stars Jason Bateman. They are also in post on Headhunters Calling with Gerard Butler, J.K. Simmons and William Dafoe (directed by Mark Williams).

Wilson Bethel and Dougray Scott have joined the cast of Harley and the Davidsons, the six-hour Discovery Channel miniseries about the birth of the iconic motorcycle brand that premieres September 5.

Bethel will play Ray Weishaar, a member of the Harley-Davidson “Wrecking Crew” who helped popularize the slang term “hog” in reference to Harley, taking victory laps with the team’s pig mascot. Scott is set as Randall James, CEO of Indian Motorcycles, Harley’s chief competitor.

Bethel has starred in The CW’s Hart of Dixie the past four years. Last summer, he starred in ABC’s The Astronaut Wives Club and recently wrapped filming the pilot Infamous for A&E.

Kevin Costner is joining Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer in the drama “Hidden Figures,” TheWrap has learned.

The Fox 2000 film is directed and produced by “St. Vincent” director Theodore Melfi, who is producing alongside Chernin Entertainment and Donna Gigliotti of Levantine Films.“St. Vincent” director Theodore Melfi is directing and producing the Fox 2000 film.

Kevin Costner is joining Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer in the drama “Hidden Figures,” The Fox 2000 film is directed and produced by “St. Vincent” director Theodore Melfi, who is producing alongside Chernin Entertainment and Donna Gigliotti of Levantine Films.

Costner is set to play the head of the space program in the film that follows an African-American mathematician (Henson) who, along with two female colleagues, was the brains behind astronaut John Glenn’s first trip into space and back. Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962.

#ZeroGravityManagement #KevinCostner #Taraji #Melfi

The series starring the ‘Arrested Development’ alum hails from Media Rights Capital — producers of the streaming giant’s ‘House of Cards.’

Netflix is expanding its relationship with Jason Bateman and Media Rights Capital.

The streaming service is near a deal to pick up Bateman’s drama Ozark, which hails from the producers of House of Cards, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Netflix declined to comment.

From MRC and Bateman’s Aggregate, Ozark is set in the world of drug-money laundering and takes its name from the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. Bateman will direct, exec produce and star as a family man who moves from the city to the Lake of the Ozarks to begin repaying the money-laundering debt he owes to a ruthless drug lord.

The series was created by Bill Dubuque (The Judge), who is onboard as writer and exec producer alongside Bateman and Mark Williams. Bateman will also direct on the series, following his two big-screen directorial efforts, Bad Words and The Family Fang, in addition to his TV experience behind the camera. Chris Mundy (Low Winter Sun) will serve as showrunner.

Ozark follows MRC’s model of going straight to series and shopping the project as a completed package. The company’s credits include House of Cards — which put Netflix on the map with scripted originals — and Starz’s Patrick Stewart-Seth MacFarlane comedy Blunt Talk as well as the premium cabler’s upcoming The One Percent and Counterpart.

The pact also serves as a reunion for Bateman and Netflix, where he recently reprised his leading role on Arrested Development. Ozark marks a return to the small screen for the actor-producer, who has been more focused on feature films for the past decade. Dubuque’s star is on the rise with the forthcoming Ben Affleck thriller The Accountant and the Chris Pratt vehicle The Real McCoy.

For Netflix, the series comes as the streaming giant is concentrating on investing an impressive $5 billion on original programming in the coming year. Ozark joins a roster of originals at Netflix that include the Gilmore Girls revival, upcoming dramas Mind Hunter, Gypsy, Black Mirror, The Get Down, The OA, Stranger Calls and The Crown as well as returning series House of Cards, Marco Polo, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Narcos and more.

Production on Ozark is expected to begin in the spring in New York and Vancouver.

#ZeroGravityManagement #BillDubuque #JasonBateman #MarkWilliams #OzarkNetflix