By Neil Nagraj – DailyNews.com

In a move to make selection of the Oscar for Best Picture more egalitarian, the Academy Awards are making an historic change to the voting process.

Instead of selecting one nominee on the final ballot, Academy members will be asked to rank all 10 of the Best Picture nominees, Variety.com reports.

The change was made to offset inherent risks now that the number of nominees has been upped from 5 to 10, a decision that was announced in June.

“There are certain mathematical dangers with more nominees,” the Academy’s executive director, Bruce Davis, told TheWrap.com. “You could really get a fragmentation to the point where a picture with 18 or 20 percent of the vote could win, and the board didn’t want that to happen.

“I know people have been wondering about it, and even worrying about it,” says Davis. “At some point we’ll do a mailing, probably in the fall membership quarterly, to make it clear what’s coming up.”

The 5,800 Academy members have yet to receive a formal announcement of the voting new system.

According to Variety, the new system will help films that receive many number two and three rankings – making it possible for a film to win even if it does not get the most number one votes.

In fact, a film will only emerge the winner based on number one rankings alone if it earns that distinction in 50 percent of the votes.

The Academy already uses the ranking system to determine nominees and has used it for Best Picture in the past, when there were more also more nods.

“The system has long been used in the round of voting which determines the nominees in most categories, but it has not been used on the final ballot for best picture since 1945,” the Academy said Monday as quoted by Variety. “With 10 nominees, the preferential system is one that best allows the collective judgment of all voting members to be most accurately represented.”

The organization hopes the new rules, combined with expanding the nominees to 10, will open the playing field.

When the move to 10 Best Picture candidates was announced, then-Academy president Sid Ganis said the change “may make it more interesting and less cloistered,” Variety reports.

The Academy hopes winners will represent “the picture that has the most support from the entire membership.”

Michael J. Fox as 'Teenwolf'

From BBC News

A TV series based on the 1980s’ film Teen Wolf is one step closer to fruition after MTV ordered a pilot, reports from the US have said.

The Hollywood Reporter said the channel was keen on the show after seeing a script written by Criminal Minds creator Jeff Davis.

The 1985 movie starred Michael J Fox as a teenager who discovers he is a werewolf.

MTV said the pilot would be “very different” from the original film.

Set in a high school, the show will be drawn from the horror genre to explore werewolf mythology and will also include a romantic plot line.

“It has a fresh take,” said Liz Gateley, senior vice president of MTV series development.

“It has more of an American Werewolf in Paris feel to it.

“It’s a dramatic thriller with two best friends in the centre who provide a great comedy element: They are two very relatable characters on the outer circles of popular cliques.”

It is the latest in a line of 1980s’ films being remade for the small screen.

A series based on Steve Martin’s 1989 comedy Parenthood is due to air in the US later this year.

Shows re-working Brat Pack film St Elmo’s Fire and black comedy Heathers are also in development.

Michael Landon in 'I was a Teenage Werewolf'

Richard Dean Anderson and Will Forte

NY Magazine spoke to Bill Hader (Superbad) about the upcoming “MacGruber” movie, which is based on an “SNL” sketch that spoofs “MacGyver” TV show.

“I read the script, and it’s like a hard-R comedy, and it totally works. It’s hilarious,” he said. “It’s kind of in the vein of, like, eighties action movies, like there’s a very definitive bad guy. I don’t know if I can talk about the plot too much, but it’s hilarious. The thing that kind of blew my mind about it is that it’s like a HARD-R movie.”

Plot: The legendary, much decorated MacGruber is pulled out of retirement as a monk in Ecuador by a colonel, who needs him once more to fight on behalf of his country. This time the mission involves going up against the evil Cunth, who has a nuclear warhead; the mission is personal because Cunth killed MacGruber’s bride.

The movie version would see Ryan Phillippe playing Piper, an Army officer forced to pair up with a reluctant MacGruber. Val Kilmer would be Cunth. “MacGruber” is scheduled to hit theaters April 16th, 2010.

 Cast:

Will Forte as MacGruber

Val Kilmer as Cunth

Kristen Wiig as Vicki

Also starring Bill Hader, Ryan Phillippe and Powers Boothe

Source(s) WorstPreviews.com, IMDB

From BeyondHollywood.com

If it’s nerd-based, but also horror-inclined, it’s always a good idea to see if Guillermo del Toro is available to produce. That’s what producer Don Murphy and Warner Bros. have done, and lo and behold, del Toro has agreed to produce a live-action adaptation of the D.C. comic book “Deadman”. Del Toro won’t direct, though; that honor will go to Danish director Nikolaj Arcel, director of the inspirational-sounding “Island of Lost Souls”, and one of the writers on a little Danish martial arts gem I saw last year called “Fighter”.

According to Variety, “Deadman” will be based on the D.C. comic book character created by Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino in 1967. The character first appeared in “Strange Adventures #205″, and is the ghost of a murdered circus acrobat name Boston Brand, who has the power to possess the living in order to seek out his killer. Besides that little vendetta, he uses his powers to help the innocent and generally freak people out. He is called Deadman, after all. You don’t invite a guy with that name to dinner.

This won’t be the first time Deadman has showed up on the screen. He’s appeared in the animated shows Justice League Unlimited and more recently, in the new Batman show, Batman: The Brave and the Bold. For a while there back in 2000, a live-action TV show for Deadman was in development over at TNT, back when TNT was still on their comic book kick. They’ve since shaken that itch and gone strictly into TV crime sans superheroes.

Taylor Lautner

From ChicagoTribune.com

Taylor Lautner, “New Moon’s” swoon-inducing werewolf, admits “fans would love anybody who played” his character, Jacob Black. “I’m just lucky to be the one who got the chance,” he tells Teen Vogue magazine in its Young Hollywood issue.

He might not have had that chance were it not for a karate coach. As Lautner tells it, his Hollywood-based karate coach — a “onetime blue Power Ranger,” according to Teen Vogue — told him to give showbiz a shot. Lautner says he grew up participating in Xtreme Martial Arts, a blend of martial arts disciplines and acrobatic routines.

Twilight (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Now he’s a Hollywood heartthrob. “There are 12 cars that camp outside my house,” he says, referring to the paparazzi. “You just have to try not to let it affect you.” Asked by the magazine about his rumored romance with Disney star Selena Gomez, he said, “She’s a great girl.”