TNT climbs out of saddle for longforms
Modern genres on sked
Names in the lineup include Patrick Stewart, Bill Pullman, Sally Field, Chazz Palmenteri, Glenn Close (as a producer) and directors Peter Yates, Peter Medak and David Jones.
"We're branching out from historical movies and Westerns to take on a wider range of genres and topics," said Brad Siegel, president of TNT. "We're also trying to broaden our appeal with more contemporary themes. Our movies will be less heavily skewed toward males than in the past."
TNT announced six movies for the first time. They are:
- "Boss of Bosses," the story of Paul Castellano, head of the Gambino crime family, to be played by Palmenteri. The executive producer is Lois Bonfiglio, for Bleecker Street Films.
- "Baby," produced by Close and David Manson, about a family whose life is changed when it takes responsibility for an infant left on its doorstep. Patricia MacLachlan and Kerry Kennedy have written the script, based on MacLachlan's novel.
- "Gabriel's Run," a thriller set in the near future about organ harvesting. David Rosemont, who produced TNT's hit Western "Purgatory," is exec producer.
- "Killer," a murder mystery set in the world of corporate executives. Robert Shaye, chairman of New Line Cinema, will direct from a script by Richard Maltby Jr. It's a coproduction of New Line and TNT, both part of the Time Warner empire.
- "Ticker," a thriller about a cop who joins an elite bomb squad to find the terrorist who killed his partner. The writer is Paul B. Margolis, the director is Albert Pyun and the exec producer is Ken Aguado for Kings Road Entertainment.
- "Deadlocked," a suspense drama about a man who takes hostage the jury that has just convicted his son of murder. Robert Greenwald is producer, from a script by Wayne Beach.
The previously announced adaptation of George Orwell's dark political allegory "Animal Farm" is the most expensive movie, at $24 million. TNT will get the premiere, but Hallmark Entertainment, the producer with Jim Henson's Creature Shop, has hired Lakeshore Entertainment to distribute the work to theaters around the world. "Farm" mixes live action and animation, and TNT revealed that among the actors supplying the voices are Patrick Stewart, Peter Ustinov, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Julia Ormond, Ian Holm, Paul Scofield and Kelsey Grammer.
Three other projects are from Hallmark Entertainment. They are:
- The $18 million, three-hour adaptation of Cervantes' "Don Quixote," starring John Lithgow in the title role with Bob Hoskins as Sancho Panza, and Isabella Rossellini and Vanessa L. Williams. Lithgow and Robert Halmi Sr. are executive producers. Adapted by John Mortimer, directed by Yates.
- The $15 million "David Copperfield" starring Field, Michael Richards and Anthony Andrews. Medak is the director.
- The $13 million "A Christmas Carol" starring Stewart as Scrooge, Richard E. Grant and Joel Grey. Peter Barnes adapted the Charles Dickens novel, and David Jones directed it.
The rest of the telepic lineup consists of:
- "A Travesty," a black comedy with William H. Macy, exec produced by Salli Newman and directed by Steven Schachter. Schachter and Macy co-wrote the screenplay.
- "The Virginian," starring Pullman, who has also produced and directed the adaptation of the Owen Wister novel by Larry Gross and Sara Nemeth-Goodman. It's from Daniel H. Blatt Prods.
- "Women of Courage," a World War II drama about a group of Women's Air Force Services Pilots who have to overcome sex discrimination to make their mark in combat. The exec producers are Stuart and Alise Benjamin, and the writers are Judith Paige Mitchell and Susan Rhinehart.
The nonfiction specials are a musical "Tribute to Bob Marley," exec produced by Tony Eaton and Tall Pony Prods.; "Medal of Honor," a docu about heroes who won the Congressional Medal; "Justice Denied," about a project that reopens the cases of people in prison who may be innocent; "Whatever Happened to Micheal Ray?," a docu about the fall and rise of the basketball player banished from the NBA for drug use who came back to play in Italy; and "Face of Evil," a 90-minute exploration of people who commit heinous crimes.
