Lady Gaga Live @ Muchmusic Video Awards

Pop singer Lady Gaga returns to Toronto for the "2011 Muchmusic Video Awards", airing live from Toronto's MuchMusic HQ on Queen Street West, Sunday, June 19 at 9 p.m. ET.

The 2010 MMVAs had a cumulative average audience of 2.1 million viewers in the first 24 hours.

Gaga's third studio album, "Born This Way", will be released May 23, 2011.

The MMVAs are simulcast live in the US on Fuse, Madison Square Garden's national music television network.

Gaga's appearance follows last year's MMVA appearances by Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Drake and Justin Bieber.

"Canada's MMVAs have always been known for being the loudest live street party of the year," said Sheila Sullivan, Executive Producer, 2011 Muchmusic Video Awards.

Past MMVA presenters included The Black Eyed Peas, Rihanna, Britney Spears and Avril Lavigne.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek Lady Gaga's "Born This Way"...

Carrie-Anne Moss Climbs Up "Silent Hill"

Canadian actress Carrie-Anne Moss ("Memento") will play the character 'Claudia Wolf' in "Silent Hill: Revelation 3D", currently filming in Toronto for producers Samuel Hadida and Don Carmody.

"Carrie has displayed her enormous talent across all genres," said Hadida, "from 'The Matrix' trilogy to 'Memento' – and we are delighted for her to join the world of 'Silent Hill'. She will certainly bring a new level of excitement to fans of the videogame franchise."

"...For years, 'Heather Mason' and her father have been on the run, always one step ahead of dangerous forces that she doesn't fully understand. Now on the eve of her 18th birthday, plagued by terrifying nightmares and the disappearance of her father, Heather discovers she's not who she thinks she is. The revelation leads her deeper into a demonic world that threatens to trap her in 'Silent Hill' forever..."

Click the images to enlarge...

Exclusive: "Total Recall" Casting Call !!!

Sneak Peek has learned that the new feature film reboot of "Total Recall", scheduled to film in Toronto @ Pinewood Toronto Studios, starting May 25, is having an open casting call for background performers April 16, 2011 :

"...'Total Recall' starts filming May 25th through September 2011 and will requite a lot of extras including many continuity background. EVERY single extra is going to be pre-fit for this movie which means that production will try to reuse people whenever possible to avoid having to fit more people than necessary.
MALES ONLY for this go-see.

All ethnicities!

25 – 55 years old that can play blue collar or working class types. Character faces are always welcome. They are playing factory workers, commuters, etc.

25 – 55 years old that can play upscale business types (please come in a suit).

25-45 years old that can play police or soldiers. We will need lots of fit, agile men.

DETAILS:

Saturday, April 16th

FULL MEMBERS 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
APPRENTICE MEMBERS 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
ACTRA EXTRA 1:00 PM – 1:30 PM
NON UNION 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM

Interested performers should contact their agents to attend this go-see..."

***
Colin Farrell will star in the Columbia Pictures' feature remake of "Total Recall", to be directed by Len Wiseman ("Underworld") from a screenplay by Kurt Wimmer ("Salt"), adapting the novelette "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale", by author Philip K. Dick.

The new film will be a 'contemporized' take of the original story (previously adapted to the big screen as "Total Recall"), for producer Neal H. Moritz.

"I've always been fascinated with Dick's short story," said Wiseman.

"I'm excited at that prospect of diving even deeper into the type of world it evokes and the questions it asks. I love that the most crucial mystery our character is trying to solve is the one of his own soul."

First published in "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction", April 1966, "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" featured a classic meshing of reality, false memory and real memory, with the title an allusion to "I Can Get It for You Wholesale".

"...'Douglas Quail', a simple and ordinary man, wishes to visit Mars. Unable to afford it, he visits a company, 'Rekal Incorporated', that offers implanted memories or 'extra-factual memory'. The attempt to implant some racy Mars memories of Quail as a secret agent reveals that Quail actually is an undercover government assassin with a mind full of dangerous secrets.

"The Rekal staff quickly get Quail out of their office; he heads home and finds certain physical evidence to support his new old memories. The government initially seeks his death but instead Quail manages to make a deal. He returns to Rekal to have his Mars memories once more suppressed, and is offered by way of compensation a set of heroic wish-fulfillment false memories.

The Rekal staff begin the memory-implanting procedure — and uncover a different and older set of suppressed memories revealing that the unbelievable memories they are about to insert are already there and are true..."

While Moritz continues developing his reboot of the 1990 Martian movie, Dynamite Entertainment will publish a series of "Total Recall" comic books, based on the Carolco Pictures film, directed by Paul Verhoeven.

Rights to publish "Total Recall" were obtained from StudioCanal S.A.

"...'Total Recall' the comic book series, is centered on an unsophisticated construction worker, 'Douglas Quaid' and the aftermath of his visit to 'REKALL', a company offering vacations for the mind.

"But the Rekall vacation triggers a 'mind plant' in Quaid's brain, leading him to discover that he is a freedom fighter from Mars who has been relocated to Earth.

"Quaid attempts to restore order and reverse the corrupt influence of commercial powers, despite multiple challenges, not the least of which are his wife's multiple attempts to kill him: attacks from thugs who want him dead; and his own confusion as to who he really is.

"Quaid conquers the corrupt hold of the Mars based mining company restoring order to the Mars community..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Total Recall".

Higher Power: Bright Light

Clark Johnson Directs "King" - April 17, 2011

Actress Amy Price-Francis ("Californication") stars in "King", the new Canadian dramatic TV series, following a seasoned police officer turned lead investigator for Toronto’s 'Major Crimes Task Force' :

"...When 'Detective Sergeant Derek Spears' (Alan Van Sprang) has a televised meltdown, 'Jessica King' (Price-Francis) is called in to lead the 'Major Crimes Task Force' – a police division equipped to handle the city’s toughest cases. Surviving eight years in Homicide, two marriages and multiple stab wounds, King is primed for any challenge, except when it comes to passing up a good shoe sale..."

"'Jessica King' is disarmingly honest," said Greg Spottiswood, co-creator/co-executive producer. "Unapologetic about her femininity, she is also very smart and wickedly funny. There is nothing traditional about her. She is drawn to police work but questions whether that life is compatible with her dream of a child and family."

"King" also stars Gabriel Hogan ("The Kennedys") as fellow police officer 'Danny Sless', Jessica’s third husband, Tony Nardi as 'Police Chief Peter Graci', Suzanne Coy as 'Eleni Demaris', Jessica’s trusted assistant, Zoe Doyle as 'Detective MK Gordon" and Aaron Poole as 'Detective Jason Collier'.

"King" was co-created and executive produced by producer Bernard Zukerman and Spottiswood. Emmy Award-nominated director Clark Johnson ("The Shield") directed the first two episodes. The series is produced by Indian Grove Productions, in association with Shaw Media, and was filmed on set and on location in and around Toronto.

"King" debuts Sunday, April 17 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Canada's Showcase.

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Samantha Morton Cast In Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis"

According to reports, actress Samantha Morton will join the cast of director David Cronenberg's Toronto-lensed film adaptation of the novel "Cosmopolis", currently prepping for a May 2011 start.

Morton is best known for her visceral performance as 'precog Agatha' in director Steven Spielberg's 2002 feature, "Minority Report".

Morton joins actors Robert Pattinson, Oscar winner Juliette Binoche, Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti and Mathieu Amalric in the "Cosmopolis" feature, based on the novella of the same name by author Don DeLillo.

The Canadian-France co-production is being produced by Paulo Branco through his Paris-based Alfama Films Production and Martin Katz of Toronto-based Prospero Pictures.

"...'Cosmopolis' is a contemporary thriller about a hedge fund trader who is stalked while his fortune evaporates under the weight of his cynical bets against the survival of the global economy..."

Grégoire Melin's Paris-based Kinology will handle International Sales, Entertainment One will handle distribution in Canada and RAI Cinema SpA will distribute in Italy.

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We're Off To See The "Wizard World Toronto Comic Con"- March 18-20

The "Wizard World Toronto Comic Con" returns to Toronto's 'Direct Energy Centre', March 18-20, 2011 with special guests Billy Dee Williams, Julie Benz, Aaron Douglas, Ray Park, Peter Mayhew, Jeremy Bulloch and Scott Thompson headlining a list of celebrity attendees.

"We are looking forward to following up last year's hugely successful debut in Toronto with an array of exciting new guests", said Gareb Shamus, Wizard World CEO.

Other Toronto Comic Con celeb guests include Claudia Christian ("Babylon 5"), Nicholas Brendon and Clare Kramer ("Buffy: The Vampire Slayer") and Kate Vernon ("Battlestar Galactica").

Fans can also meet their fave comic book artists, including Mike Grell ("Green Lantern"), Yanick Paquette ("Batman"), Mitch Breitweiser ("Captain America"), Jeff Parker ("Hulk"), Gabriel Hardman ("X-Men"), Bruce Jones ("Nightwing"), Phil Jimenez ("Amazing Spider-Man"), Greg Horn ("Emma Frost") and Michael Golden ("New Exiles").

"...Attendees are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite villain, superhero or pop culture personality for the chance to win special prizes in costume contests..."

Event-goers can also try their hand at interactive product exhibits and shop for collectible comics, movie, television memorabilia, toys and games at more than 100 dealer booths.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek the 2010 "Wizard World Toronto Comic Con"...

Lynn Johnston: "Something Old, Something New"

Canadian cartoonist Lynn Johnston's new hardcover book "Something Old, Something New", featuring the comic strip "For Better Or For Worse" is currently available from Simon and Schuster Canada.

Johnston's comic strip "For Better or For Worse" debuted in 1979, featuring 'Elly' and 'John Patterson', their children 'Michael', 'Elizabeth', 'April' and their family dog 'Farley'.

Since then, "For Better Or For Worse" has been syndicated to over 2,000 international newspapers.

"Something Old, Something New", is based on the strip's first three collections, with Johnston enhancing her original illustrations, while adding new storylines.

"Trying to draw the way I did back then was a challenge I enjoyed," said Johnston. "It was fun to play with kids and the dog and slapstick adults."
"Something Old, Something New" also includes notes by Johnston, explaining her ideas on specific strips, events in her life and the process of creating "For Better or For Worse".

Click the images to enlarge...