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Ian McShane (Deadwood) will join Australian actor Christopher Egan (Resident Evil: Extinction) in NBC's drama pilot Kings. The pilot, greenlit just before the writers' strike, was written by Michael Green (Heroes) and will be directed by Francis Lawrence (Constantine). Loosely based on the Biblical tale of David, king of Israel, Kings stars Egan as a pure-hearted young warrior who joins the court of the charismatic and authoritative King Silas (McShane), ie. King Saul.
'Set in present day, "Kings" centers on "a regular small-town guy who gets mixed up with the upper crust social and political elite of a monarchy and eventually would become the new king," Green said. "It's a Cinderella story and a story of struggle for power."
'The plot of the soap, which will feature magical elements, loosely parallels the story of the biblical David, a shepherd boy who went on to defeat the giant Goliath and become Israel's second king.'
'"It's a story of the underdog that anyone can relate to," said NBC programming chief Ben Silverman. "We love to beat Goliath."
'"Kings" stems from an idea Green had carried for a long time: "To retell these sort of sex- and war-crazed Bible stories for a world that's convinced the Bible is all about virtue," he said.'
I suppose my only question is: Who will be Jonathan? (Hollywood Reporter [1] [2])
Mos Def (Be Kind, Rewind) will play rock'n'roller Chuck Berry in Cadillac Records, Darnell Martin's film about Leonard Chess, who founded the legendary R&B label Chess Records in the 1950s. Adrien Brody (The Piano) stars as Leonard Chess, and the film also features Emmanuelle Chriqui (Entourage) as Revetta Chess, Beyonce Knowles (Dreamgirls) as Etta James, Jeffrey Wright (Syriana) as Muddy Waters, and Gabrielle Union (Bring It On) as Geneva Wade. (Hollywood Reporter) [imdb]
2 sneak previews from The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. [imdb]
Alan Sepinwall on remakes, and why Battlestar Galactica (returning April 4) gets it right.
Mark Leonard (Prospect Magazine) on China's new intelligentsia, and their place in politics:
'We closely follow the twists and turns in America's intellectual life, but how many of us can name a contemporary Chinese writer or thinker? Inside China-in party forums, but also in universities, in semi-independent think tanks, in journals and on the internet-debate rages about the direction of the country: "new left" economists argue with the "new right" about inequality; political theorists argue about the relative importance of elections and the rule of law; and in the foreign policy realm, China's neocons argue with liberal internationalists about grand strategy.'