Review: ‘Ma’, Octavia Spencer Chomps Scenery Awesomely In Blumhouse's High School Horror

It doesn’t take much to be sold on the idea of Ma.  Blumhouse movie…check.  Dumb teenagers literally going to the monster’s house…check.  A crazy person with loneliness issues that can turn homicidal in a second… check.  On the surface, this seems just like any B-movie grindhouse horror from years ago.  But Ma actually surprises and proves to be a big deal of fun.

Borrowing heavily from Single White Female, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, and even A Nightmare on Elm Street in an interesting way, Ma takes us to small-town America where Maggie (Diana Silvers) is moving from the West Coast with her mother (Juliette Lewis) back to her mother’s hometown after a divorce.  New to town, Maggie doesn’t have any friends besides her mother, but that quickly changes when she makes some new friends Haley, Andy, Chaz, and  Darrell (McKaley Miller, Corey Fogelmanis, Gianni Paolo, and Dante Brown) who pretty much just want to hang out, drink, and do drugs.  After trying to get an of age person to help them buy liquor (and failing), they run into Sue Ann (Octavia Spencer), on a break from her job as an assistant veterinarian.  Sue Ann at first, refuses them, but then she decides to play ball and help the kids score some booze.  All seems well, right?

Turns out Sue Ann has a Facebook stalking problem, to the point where her boss (Allison Janney also having a bit of fun) has to constantly remind her to get back to work.  Showing why you should always make your profile private, Sue Ann quickly tracks the kids down and gives them a fun offer: come by her house in the middle of nowhere, where they can party in her basement worry-free.  Sue Ann, nicknamed “Ma” has only two rules, no taking the Lord’s name in vain, and never go upstairs to her main house.  Seems fun, right?

Like kids do, they share with friends about all the fun stuff happening at Ma’s, and her home becomes party central for the high school.  Slowly but surely, Ma’s attachment to the core group of kids is turning creepy, especially after a few of them venture upstairs to learn more of her.  This allows us to see a little in Ma’s dark and twisted psyche.  She’s not so much a monster in the sense of being born bad via a Jason, but instead made one through a very unfortunate thing that happened to her in her past a la Francis Dolarhyde.  Even when the kids try and break free from Ma, Ma’s just not ready to let them go.

The story written by director Tate Taylor and Scotty Landes, is somewhat simplistic and you can easily see where everything’s going halfway through the movie leading up to the big reveal.  However, Octavia Spencer elevates the film from just being a standard VOD quality plot to something enticing and compelling through her sheer presence and ability to flip from regular to motherly, to scorned and in pain, to psychotic, to straight up murderous seamlessly with almost no effort.  While the kids in the film go through the motions of a teen horror movie, it’s the adults who play a big role as well as Luke Evans, Missi Pyle, and Juliette Lewis are connected both to the young kids as well as to Ma which helps explain how she is the way she is.  Part of the problem with the film is not deciding if Ma is crazy because of her past, or the rejection of her new teenage friends.  It could probably be both, but the film keeps going back and forth between it being Ma’s past trauma or her present loneliness.

While having black woman lead of color can somewhat remind of 2017’s Blumhouse hit Get Out, race doesn’t really factor in this film except in very minor ways.  It’s almost as though the role of Sue Anne was colorblind and Spencer got it because everyone knew she was perfect for this role.  The real horror is high school and the lasting damage it can have on you.  Either way, Octavia shines as she carries out every emotion available in her surplus of skills.  Director Tate Taylor (who worked with Spencer on The Help ) continues to delve deeper in the thriller territory after The Girl on the Train with Ma shows he can play in this territory, and not just cheap jump scares (although there are a few).  Thanks to some good performances (and one exceptional), Ma is one fun thrill ride that rises above its script and gives you your fill.

Rating: 3 out of 5

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Allison Janney, Mila Kunis, Regina Hall, Awkwafina And More Join Tate Taylor's 'Breaking News In Yuba County'

The Help director Tate Taylor is putting together an ensemble that may be even better than his acclaimed Oscar-winning film.  Deadline reports Mila Kunis, Allison Janney, Regina Hall, Awkwafina, and Samira Wiley have joined the cast of Breaking News in Yuba County, a dramedy that Taylor is expected to write and direct.

Janney takes the lead, presumably from Laura Dern who had been attached but dropped out. She'll play a pencil-pusher whose husband has a heart attack after being caught in bed with another woman. After burying his body, she enjoys a little bit of local celebrity, but struggles to hide the truth from cops and criminals. Kunis plays her half-sister, a local news anchor sniffing around for a story, while Hall is a detective investigating the case.

Also joining Taylor's cast are Bridget Everett, Jimmi Simpson, and Dead To Me's Keong Sim, while Juliette Lewis, Ellen Barkin, and Wanda Sykes are expected to sign on.  Damn, this may be the best cast of the year if everything comes together.

Next week will see the release of Taylor's latest film, Ma, a horror led by his longtime friend Octavia Spencer. He'll then finish up on the action flick Eve starring Jessica Chastain.

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'Ma' Trailer: Octavia Spencer Strikes Fear In Blumhouse's Latest Horror

Octavia Spencer and director Tate Taylor are childhood friends, and that friendship has extended into their Hollywood careers, partnering up on both The Help and Get On Up. But who would've predicted their next collaboration would be in Ma, a new horror film from Blumhouse that casts Spencer as a domineering with rules you better not break.

In Ma, Spener plays a lonely woman who invites a group of underage teens into her home so they can drink, but she's got rules for when under her roof. Heaven forbid you break any of them. Looks like Ma enjoys some of the ol' drink herself, and she starts getting way deep into these kids' personal lives. Suddenly, "Welcome to Ma's" doesn't sound so inviting, especially when she starts going all Kathy Bates on her young guests.

I think with any other cast this would be just another movie to see and forget, but we could be talking about Spencer's performance the way people still talk about Toni Collette in Hereditary.

Also in the cast Juliette Lewis, Luke Evans, Missi Pyle, McKaley Miller, Corey Fogelmanis, Gianni Paolo, Dante Brown, and supposedly Allison Janney is in here somewhere. Ma lets you into her home on May 31st.

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Jessica Chastin Recruits 'The Help' Director Tate Taylor For Action Flick 'Eve'

When Jessica Chastain set into motion plans to produce and star in the action film Eve, she couldn't have known the hiring of director Matthew Newton would lead to so much trouble. But it did; past allegations of domestic abuse surfaced against Newton and he left the project in short order. Now Chastain is turning to an old friend to fill in the void; Tate Taylor, her director on The Help.

Taylor has come aboard to direct Eve, which we still know precious little about except it will be character driven and have Chastain in the title role. The script was also penned by Newton but one has to think Taylor, who typically writes the movies he directs, will take a crack at it. He previously worked with Chastain on her hit film, The Help, and has since gone on to continued success with Get On Up and The Girl On the Train.

Taylor and Chastain will then reteam on The Eyes of Tammy Faye, which is presumably a biopic about televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.  [THR]

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Blumhouse Horror 'Ma' Will Reunite Octavia Spencer And Tate Taylor

Old friends Octavia Spencer and Tate Taylor have made sure to keep that friendship going strong through their Hollywood careers. They've worked together on two features already, their breakout film The Help, and then again on Taylor's James Brown biopic Get On Up. Now they're going for a third, and this time they're drastically switching up gears. Spencer and Taylor will team up for the Blumhouse horror pic, Ma.

Details are super thin right now, with Taylor describing the "dark material" as “definitely the most complex character she’s ever played, if I may be so bold as to say that.” Taylor says he wouldn't call Spencer's character a villain, though, but it sure sounds like she might be. Deadline says the script by Scotty Landes follows “a lonely woman who befriends a group of teenagers with torturous consequences.”  Juliette Lewis, Luke Evans, Diana Silvers, Corey Fogelmanis, McKaley Miller, Dante Brown, and Gianni Paolo will co-star.

Shooting begins this month in Mississippi on Taylor's own property. I'm guessing Blumhouse digs that because it'll help keep costs down, but also because Taylor and Spencer probably know where all the creepy crawlspaces are.

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Review: 'The Girl On The Train' Starring Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, And Justin Theroux

Paula Hawkins' best-selling thriller novel The Girl On the Train has frequently and lazily been compared to Gone Girl. It's true, only in the sense that both deal with murder, broken marriages, and dangerous misconceptions.  But that's it, and those qualifiers apply to practically every such novel occupying space on the book rack at the local supermarket. Still, it's a decent enough page turner with one deeply complex central character. Unfortunately, little of that translates in the soggy, surface-level screen adaptation by The Help director Tate Taylor.

While expecting a film to have the same depth and nuance as a novel is unfair, in the case of The Girl On the Train it becomes a major hurdle, especially once characters start making wildly illogical maneuvers that go unexplained by Erin Cressida Wilson's screenplay. But right away we get a handle on drunken, depressed divorcee Rachel (Emily Blunt), whose life consists of obsessing about the two idyllic families she sees while gazing at their homes during her daily commute. Mini liquor bottles stashed away like the local wino, Rachel conjures up elaborate fantasies about the seemingly-spirited Megan (Haley Bennett) and her masculine husband Scott (Luke Evans). Two doors down live new mom Anna (Rebecca Ferguson) and her husband, Tom (Justin Theroux), who resemble a traditionally perfect power couple. It's easy to see why Rachel longs for what these women have, but especially when it comes to Anna since Tom is actually her ex-husband. Tom and Anna, along with their infant daughter, now live in the house Rachel once shared with him. Through a tipsy haze she screams about how she picked out everything in that house, and had sex with Tom on the same table where they now feed the kid. Rachel is not well.

However we never see just how deep her liquor-influenced psychosis goes, and just how much it fuels her self-loathing and resentment. That makes her little more than a common stalker when she begins inserting herself into an investigation of Megan's sudden disappearance. It's the missing persons case, and Rachel's possible involvement, that drives much of the present day narrative while Taylor and Wilson skip around in time to flesh out the details. But it's in the flashbacks where the film completely denies us any connection to these women. Their tawdry Lifetime movie motivations don't amount to much except to make each female appear as hideous as possible. While I'm a fan of movies with irredeemably awful characters (one of my personal faves is Closer), there must be something human to make their behavior resonate. Nothing like that exists in The Girl On the Train. The only depictions worse than the women are the cartoonishly idiotic, smitten, or evil men in their lives. They would be funny if the screenplay or Taylor's rigid direction allowed room for camp but there's little of it.

Fortunately, the film's operatic twist and bloody finale give us just enough of the trashy thrills we should have had all along. It's worth noting that the cast seem to be having more fun at this time, too; a welcome respite from all that dour seriousness. Blunt is excellent throughout, adding what dimension she can to Rachel mostly through the pain and weariness splashed across her splotchy face. Bennett, looking more like a young Cate Blanchett with every role, does what she can with a character who is reduced into little more than a sex object, while Ferguson settles into a familiar shrewish wife role.

Maybe what The Girl On the Train needed was a steadier hand guiding it; someone more familiar with dark material. Obviously you think of the tight control David Fincher had over Gone Girl and can't help but wonder what he could have done to keep this train from derailing so badly.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

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Emily Blunt Stumbles Upon A Mystery In 'The Girl On The Train' Trailer

We've seen Emily Blunt play a lot of really tough, strong women, especially in recent films such as Looper, Edge of Tomorrow, and Sicario. However in Tate Taylor adaptation of Paula Hawkins' best-selling novel, The Girl On the Train, the character she plays a fragile, broken mess who may have stumbled on a mystery...or been the cause of it.

Also starring Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Luke Evans, Justin Theroux, Allison Janney, and Edgar Ramirez, the anticipated thriller finds Blunt as Rachel, a depressed, unemployed divorcee who creates spends her commute fantasizing about the lives of a married couple she sees outside the window. But when the wife suddenly goes missing, Rachel gets a little too deep in the investigation, making her a likely suspect in the detectives' eyes.

"I used to watch this perfect couple. They were the embodiment of true love."

Having only just read the book a couple of months ago, I have to say Blunt does not come close to resembling the trainwreck that Rachel actually is. But they could be keeping some of that out of the trailer for obvious reasons. There's a lot going on that this footage only skims the surface of and Taylor's biggest challenge is going to be fitting all of the complicated, and very sordid, relationships neatly into one movie.  The Girl On the Train leaves the station on October 7th.

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Emily Blunt Is A Trainwreck In First Trailer For 'The Girl On The Train'

There's a "gone girl" at the center of Paula Hawkins' best-selling novel, The Girl On the Train, which is part of the reason why it drew so many comparisons to Gillian Flynn's thriller, that was adapted into a hit film by David Fincher. But there's more they have in common, as both stories explore marital dynamics, trust, abandonment, and murder. And now that Tate Taylor  and an all-star cast are ready to bring The Girl on the Train to the big screen, the question is if audiences are ready for another mature thriller about the mystery of a missing wife.

Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Edgar Ramirez, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, and Allison Janney star in this one, with Blunt as alcoholic Rachel Hipwell, finds herself at the center of a case involving the disappearance of her husband's former nanny. But it's not as simple as that; Rachel experiences blackouts and has no memory of her whereabouts on the day the woman vanished.

Taylor, whose previous films were The Help and the James Brown biopic Get On Up, seems to have done a good job establishing a moody, hazy atmosphere, and of course that cast is phenomenal. The Girl On the Train opens October 7th.

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First Look At Emily Blunt In 'The Girl On The Train'

Looking forward to 2016, if there's one film that many expect to be the next hit thriller just as Gone Girl was last year, it would be Tate Taylor's adaptation of The Girl On the Train. The film is based on Paula Hawkins' best-selling novel, and unsurprisingly it has attracted an incredible cast of Hollywood stars. Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Edgar Ramirez, and Luke Evans make up the strong ensemble, but its Emily Blunt who graces the first photos from the film.

Blunt plays Rachel, an emotionally-damaged woman who begins to obsess about the idyllic couple she passes during her daily commute. When she witnesses a stunning act of betrayal, Rachel begins to insert herself into the lives of these people with dangerous results.

“You can't avoid the puns with this movie — she’s a train wreck,” cracks director Tate Taylor to EW, who previously directed The Help and the James Brown biopic, Get On Up.

Certainly Blunt is looking a little worse for wear in these images, certainly like someone who has can be lonely even when in a crowd.

The Girl On the Train opens October 7th 2016.

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Tate Taylor to Direct 'Gone Girl'-Esque Thriller 'The Girl On the Train'

Tate Taylor has had pretty good luck working with Dreamworks. His debut feature The Help earned four Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture, and won his friend Octavia Spencer a Best Supporting Actress award. So it makes sense he'd reconnect with the studio for another adaptation of a best-selling novel, The Girl On the Train.

Taylor, who last directed the James Brown biopic Get On Up, will direct The Girl On the Train, which is based on Paula Hawkins' novel that has been compared favorably to Gone Girl. The mystery-thriller centers on Rachel, a woman still pained from a recent divorce who spends her commute to work fantasizing about the perfect she encounters every day on the train. After witnessing something shocking at their house she becomes embroiled in a murder investigation. 

Erin Cressida Wilson (Secretary) adapted the screenplay and this one is looking like a high priority at Dreamworks. Understandable given the wealth of strong female-led projects over the last few months, and the audience's  seeming hunger for more of them. [Deadline]

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Review: 'Get On Up' Starring Chadwick Boseman, Nelsan Ellis, and Viola Davis

The conundrum when it comes to any biopic on a larger-than-life figure is how to encapsulate their amazing story into a single two hour film. In most cases it simply can't be done and those that attempt typically fail. Get On Up star Chadwick Boseman gave an Oscar-worthy performance as Jackie Robinson in 42, a biopic that tried exactly that and couldn't measure. But Get On Up, directed by The Help's Tate Taylor, takes a novel approach to Brown's incredible story. Rather than the usual point-by-point retelling, the film relies largely on mood and emotional beats for a dazzling, non-linear look at the "hardest working man in show business".

While the film can get a little jumbled and confusing at times, this "brand new bag" of a biopic is coursing with energy thanks to an electric, rousing performance by Boseman that simply must be seen. Right from the start we get a sense of the film's rather flippant attitude towards Brown's life and career, as a bathroom toilet, loaded rifle, and flashing police sirens lead to one of his worst moments. This was 1988, and truly it was the time when Brown was at his lowest ebb. It's a weird place to start a film that is essentially about his rise to fame, but it all serves a purpose when the particulars of Brown's harsh upbringing surface. Born in a hovel in the heart of the Jim Crow south to an abusive father (Lennie James) and neglectful mother (Viola Davis), Brown's childhood was nothing but hardship. Run-ins with the law, a stint living in his aunt's (Octavia Spencer) brothel, and brutal racism built up a thick skin so that when life punched him in the gut Brown never flinched. Even later when he and the band are flying into Vietnam and their plane is shelled by artillery fire, Brown takes it in stride while the others are freaking out.

Just as "the funk" he and his talented band of musicians (the great Maceo Parker was part of the band, played here by Craig Robinson) created defied musical conventions and rhythms, Brown was equally hard to pin down. He could be a tyrannical slave-driver, an unabashed perfectionist, and more than a little paranoid towards his longtime best friend and right-hand man Bobby Byrd (Nelsan Ellis of True Blood fame), but he's also the same guy who insisted on performing days after the death of Martin Luther King in hopes of preventing a riot.  Women seem to flit in and out of his life with little rhyme or reason, with the echoes of past abuse reflecting in his attitude towards relationships. You sometimes wish Taylor and screenwriters Jez and John-Henry Butterworth had spent more time with the ugly stuff; the drugs and domestic violence. But they keep it just on the margins to not upset the PG-13 apple cart, allowing Boseman to hint at us with a knowing smile or regretful glance the inner-workings of Brown's mind. Always more than just an entertainer, Brown was a shrewd businessman who skirted a racist system by cutting out the middle man and promoting his own shows, with the help of friend and mentor Ben "Pops" Bart, played wonderfully by Dan Akroyd.

Boseman was so good as Jackie Robinson that to say his performance is revelatory wouldn't quite be true, but its confirmation that we are in the presence of a special talent. While he seems a little uncomfortable in the early passages of the film, Boseman settles into Brown's skin utterly and completely soon after, capturing the man's complexity and live-wire spirit all the way down to his creaky, sometimes unintelligible southern twang. On the stage floor he's nothing short of remarkable, performing Brown's signature gliding maneuvers as perfectly as the man himself would have demanded. While Boseman mostly sings over top of Brown's recorded vocals each performance crackles as if you were watching a live show. Mick Jagger serves as exec-producer and no doubt had special input on one moment when an upstart Rolling Stones are upstaged by a pissed off Brown. While Boseman is incredible, the other transcendent turn comes from Ellis, who takes a familiar role and turns it into something special and sympathetic. Byrd stood by Brown's side when nobody else would, even though it meant giving up his own dreams of stardom. Their rocky friendship is the heart and soul of a film that is full to overflowing with both.

Get On Up may not be the most comprehensive biography, but as it breaks every single rule in the genre's rulebook it's a fitting James Brown tribute.

 Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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Tate Taylor to Direct Alternate Sci-Fi Story 'In the Event of a Moon Disaster'

Rather than leaping into his next project after The Help became a box office and critical success, Tate Taylor took his time in deciding what to do next. And what he chose was the upcoming James Brown biopic, Get On Up, which opens this summer with Chadwick Boseman playing the godfather of soul. Rather than waiting around to see how the film performs, Taylor has already figured what he'll do next and it's a film that takes an alternate look at a seminal event in space exploration history.

Taylor will direct In the Event of a Moon Disaster, penned by Mike Jones and inspired by an unused speech written by late author and Presidential speech writer, William Safire. Titled "In the Event of a Moon Disaster", the writing was to be read by President Nixon in case the 1969 Apollo 11 mission ended in tragedy. The film will present an alternate version of reality in which those events play out differently, and presumably Safire's speech will need to be read to the American people.

This is a big step up for Taylor and we'll see how he handles it when production begins next year.  [THR]

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James Brown Breaks New Ground Trailer for 'Get On Up'

In last year's hit baseball drama, 42, Chadwick Boseman played groundbreaking player Jackie Robinson, a man who broke the sport's color barrier. In Get On Up he plays another game changer as James Brown, who became known as the "Godfather of Soul" and the "hardest workin' man in show business" for some very good reasons.

Brown's struggle to break free of a troubled upbringing are the heart of this latest trailer, with Boseman given a chance to show his dramatic range and dance moves. Tate Taylor (The Help) is at the helm, reunited with Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer with Nelsan Ellis, Dan Akroyd, Jill Scott, and Tika Sumpter co-starring. Davis plays Brown's estranged mother who shows up after he's hit the big time, throwing his world into disarray. The voicework is a little distracting but it would probably be worse to try and have Boseman emulate Brown's signature sound.

Get On Up blows the roof off on August 1st.

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Maya Rudolph Joins 'Big Hero 6'; Sandra Bullock Eyes 'Tupperware Unsealed'; 'Max Steel' Adds Andy Garcia

* With Disney Animation's Marvel film Big Hero 6 coming this November, the voice cast is starting to round into shape. Joining TJ Miller and the newly-announced Jamie Chung is Maya Rudolph in an undisclosed role. The film is based on the Marvel comic that follows a young genius named Hiro, who along with giant robot Baymax defends the citizens of San Fransokyo alongside an oddball team of heroes. Rudolph has previously voiced characters in Shrek the Third, Turbo, and The Nut Job. [TheWrap]

* Sandra Bullock may be about to throw a Tupperware party. She's circling the lead role in Tupperware Unsealed, in which she would play trailblazing sales exec Brownie Wise, credited with coming up with the idea for Tupperware parties that swept the nation in the 1950s. She soon became as popular and successful as the product itself, becoming the first woman to appear on the cover of Business Week. This also put her into conflict with Tupperware creator, Earl Silas Tupper, who forced her out of the company. Tate Taylor (The Help) is writing and directing based on the book by Bob Kealing. [THR]

* Andy Garcia is the latest, and biggest, name to join Max Steel, the latest Mattel toy to be turned into a potential film franchise. Ben Winchell stars as teenaged Max McGrath who combines with his alien friend Steel to become the heroic Max Steel. Garcia will play a mysterious scientist in what is said to be a pivotal role. Ana Villafañe co-stars as Max's love interest, Sofia Martinez. At the helm is Stewart Hendler with a script by Christopher Yost (Thor: The Dark World).

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First Trailer for James Brown Biopic 'Get On Up' Starring Chadwick Boseman

After Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes, and Eddie Murphy toyed with the idea of bringing the story of James Brown to the big screen some years ago, it was ultimately a less starry duo who finally made it happen. The Help director Tate Taylor and 42 star Chadwick Boseman are telling the story of the "Godfather of Soul" in Get On Up, and the first trailer has just hit the stage.

Taking on the life of Brown is a daunting task, and so Boseman has been surrounded by an experienced cast. Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis, Jill Scott, Craig Robinson, Nelsan Ellis, Dan Akroyd, Tika Sumpter, and Lennie James co-star in the story that takes us from Brown's humble childhood to his rise as one of the greatest performers in the 20th century. Mick Jagger, who considered Brown a major influence on his career, is producing.

Boseman's got the hair and the moves, but we'll see if he can Get On Up when the film opens August 1st.

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Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis, and Nelsan Ellis Sought for James Brown Biopic from 'The Help' Director

It's taken quite a few years, but a biopic on the "Godfather of Soul" James Brown is speeding right along now, with 42 star Chadwick Boseman taking the lead role last night. And now it looks like its director Tate Taylor is looking to fill out the supporting cast with those who helped make his 2011 film The Help the recipient of four Academy Award nominations.

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Tate Taylor to direct long-brewing James Brown biopic

Uber-producer Brian Grazer has been trying to get a biopic on the "Godfather of Soul" James Brown off the ground since 2006, not long after the funk legend died. Along the way it's gone through a number of iterations that never stuck, primarily with Spike Lee as director who wanted Wesley Snipes to make his great comeback in the lead role. Eh, not so much for that one. Spike is out if he was ever truly in, and Grazer appears to have found his guy for the job.

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Sure Shots: Tate Taylor; Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; Amber Heard

* Tate Taylor may be basking in the glow of The Help's surprise success, but the still relatively new filmmaker may want to hurry with a follow-up project. The thought was that he would direct Tammy, from co-writer and star Melissa McCarthy(Bridesmaids), about a woman struggling through life who goes on a road trip with her hard drinking grandma. But now Variety notes that Taylor, who happens to be close friends with McCarthy, has dropped out of the project. Whether this means he's got something else lined up or if there were other reasons is unknown. New Line picked up the rights to Tammy last month.

* After speculation arose back in September that Tomas Alfredson's adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy could lead to a sequel, possibly combining John Le Carre's novels The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People, writer Peter Straughan confirms this to be the case. There's no firm release date or even a greenlight, since a lot of it's going to be determined by how this film does at the box office.  It will open here on December 9th. [ThePlaylist]

* My #1 draft pick Amber Heard is looking to bounce back from her canceled NBC series, The Playboy Club, and the awful response to The Rum Diary, by joining Albert Hughes' much buzzed about crime flick, Motor City. Don't get it confused with Broken City, the film noir being directed by Albert's bro, Allen. This film stars Dominic Cooper as a a crook who is framed by his buds and sent to jail, only to be released and seek vengeance. Now that's a novel idea. The cool thing about it? Cooper's character only has one line of dialogue. So if you thought Dwayne Johnson was close mouthed in a movie like Faster, then wait til you see Cooper here. [Deadline]

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Melissa McCarty/Paul Feig comedy titled Dumb Jock; writing comedy with director of The Help

Bridesmaids turned out to be a gift not just for audiences, but for pretty much everybody in the cast. None more so than long time character actress Melissa McCarthy, who has been a cog in practically every high profile comedy being developed over the next year. And did I mention we can now add "Emmy winner" to her profile, securing the statue for her role on the CBS comedy Mike & Molly? It's a long overdue honor, and if there was any justice she'd get a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Oscars, but it'll never happen. Regardless, she's got a lot on her plate, and in a great piece in the print edition of THR she talks up her future projects.

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Sure Shots: Adam Scott; Neighborhood Watch; The Help director circles next gig

* I've only seen a handful of episodes of Parks & Recreation, and admittedly I spent the whole time looking at Aubrey Plaza, but I hear Adam Scott is great on that show. The Party Down star should have been headlining his own comedies for years now, but he's finally about to get his shot. Deadline reports he'll star in A.C.O.D.(Adult Children of Divorce), about a guy who must get his divorced parents to behave in time for his brother's wedding. The script is by Stuart Zicherman(Six Degrees) and Ben Karlin(The Colbert Report), with Zicherman directing. [Deadline]

* I'm going to miss The United States of Tara. Sure the show had run it's course and arguably jumped the shark, but damn Rosemarie DeWitt was so good in it, stealing practically every scene away from star Toni Collette. So I have to get my DeWitt fix wherever I can, and since there isn't a Rachel Getting Married 2 on the way, I'll have to settle for her being in a Ben Stiller/Vince Vaughn comedy. She's just joined the cast of Neighborhood Watch, which features a script by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The story centers on a neighborhood watch group, which covers as a chance for all the guys to hang out. That is until they discover a plot to destroy the world. DeWitt will play Stiller's wife, in a role I'm sure will amount to nothing. Akiva Schaffer(Hot Rod) is directing. [Showblitz]

* One of the most pleasurable interviewing experiences I had recently was with Octavia Spencer and director Tate Taylor to discuss their southern set dramedy, The Help. The film has proven to be a massive critical and financial success thus far, and so everyone involved are seeing doors opening for them left and right. For Taylor, he's just been offered a chance to direct Peace Like a River, based on the 2001 novel by Leif Enger. Taylor has shown his ability to handle large ensemble casts and touchy social issues, both of which will be required for this film. The story takes place in 1962 Minnesota, and deals with a small family dealing with the after effects of the oldest son killing two intruders. I'll be curious to see if Taylor is able to bring the same level of authenticity he brought to The Help.

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