Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie Teaser: WTF?

Let me preface this by saying that I love Tim and Eric’s bizarro-surrealist sketch comedy shtick, and when I write “WTF?” I don’t necessarily mean it in a bad way. It’s just… what else can be said about the new ultra-brief teaser for Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie? What reactions other than “WTF?” did these evil comic geniuses even intend? Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie (or B$M, as it’s referred to in this first sorta-look) is a feature-length release, due in theaters March 2 and sneaking early on VOD starting January 27, in which Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim bring the crazypants stylings of their Adult Swim show to the big screen. Reported cast members include Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jeff Goldblum, John C. Reilly, Will Forte, not that any of them appear in the teaser trailer. Instead, we get a smattering of faux accolades tied to awards season and, uh, this: Right. If you’re not familiar with the aesthetic of Tim and Eric, prepare yourself; while loading the teaser I got a “Buffering” interruption and for more than a few seconds thought it was conceivably part of the insanity. (It wasn’t.) See for yourself and… enjoy? Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie Teaser from Eric Wareheim [Funny or Die]

Breaking Dawn's Seizure Problem, and 5 Other Stories You'll Be Talking About Today

Happy Monday! Also in today’s edition of The Broadsheet: Christian Bale makes his Dark Knight Rise exit officially, officially official… Scarlett Johansson talks about overexposure to, uh, Interview… 3-D-ing the Martin Scorsese canon… Skyfall gets its gadget guy… and more. · A man in Roseville, Calif., reportedly suffered a seizure while watching the high-intensity birth scene in Breaking Dawn - Part 1. Doctors say that the sequence’s flashing red, black and white lights may have triggered bouts of photosensitive epilepsy in him and several other viewers nationwide. Guys should take special note of these comments by the victim’s girlfriend: “Kelly said Brandon has fulfilled his duty as a boyfriend and won’t need to see any more Twilight movies with her.” If only we’d known three years ago. [CBS Sacramento via THR] · Production on The Dark Knight Rises is officially completed, as is Christian Bale’s tenure as Batman. Or so Bale confirms for, like, the 100th time: “I wrapped a few days ago so that will be the last time I’m taking that cowl off. I believe that the whole production wrapped yesterday, so it’s all done. Everything’s finished. It’s me and Chris [Nolan] — that will be the end of that Batman era.” [Philippine Daily Inquirer via Philippine Daily Inquirer via Reuters] · Let’s all count the inconsistencies in this sentence by Scarlett Johansson: “I don’t have a Facebook or a Twitter account, and I don’t know how I feel about this idea of, ‘Now, I’m eating dinner, and I want everyone to know that I’m having dinner at this time.’ or ‘I just mailed a letter and dropped off my kids.’ That, to me, is a very strange phenomenon. I can’t think of anything I’d rather do less than have to continuously share details of my everyday life.” [Interview Magazine] · Asked which of his previous films might also have put 3-D to good use, Martin Scorsese replied: “Let’s see… Aviator, maybe? Maybe Taxi Driver… because of the intimidation of the main character, his presence is everywhere, a frightening kind of presence.” Three words: The Last Waltz. I wanna see the cocaine rock in Neil Young’s nostril in three glorious dimensions. I want Levon Helm to light my cigarette. I want Muddy Waters to fist-pump me in the face. Convert it! [Deadline] · Skyfall has added Ben Whishaw in the role of Q, James Bond’s redoubtable gadget and weapons specialist made famous for more than three decades by the beloved Welsh character actor Desmond Llewelyn. [BBC] · Here’s a headline to stir you back to action on the Monday after Thanksgiving: “Hunger Games Studio Hit With $10 Million Lawsuit Over Nail Polish Deal (Exclusive).” And by “back to action,” I mean “back to bed.” [THR] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.

The Firms Scheduling On NBC New High Water Mark For Acquired Broadcast Series

Broadcast networks’ infatuation with lower-license-fee internationally produced drama series, which began during the run-up to the 2007 writers strike, is entering a major new phase with NBC’s midseason scheduling of the Entertainment One-produced 22-episode drama The Firm, based on John Grisham’s novel and the Tom Cruise-starring movie. Back in 2007, two of the acquired series stockpiled by the U.S. networks as strike contingency, Flashpoint by CBS and Crusoe by NBC, aired in-season on Fridays and Saturdays, and Flashpoint even got a brief tun in the Thursday 10 PM slot when the broadcast nets ran out of originals at the height of the labor dispute. But since then, NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox have largely limited lower-cost drama series acquisitions to summer runs. (Fox’s attempt to extend the run of such a series, The Good Guys, into the regular season backfired.) Then in April, NBC picked up the 22-episode The Firm based on a spec script by Lucas Reiter. Two weeks later, at NBC’s upfront presentation, the network announced The Firm as a midseason replacement to air on Sundays. And today, the straight-to-series drama was upgraded to the Thursday 10PM slot, which for years had been considered NBC’s top drama slot, home of such iconic series as Hill Street Blues, LA Law and ER. The network muddied the waters in the past year or so by slotting reality shows/comedies in the hour but proclaimed at its upfront in May that it plans to go back to the time period’s storied drama history with Prime Suspect. When the new cop drama fizzled, NBC moved The Firm to the prime time period. While the circumstances are unusual — one could argue that NBC is in almost as dire straights today as it was during the writers strike – a series developed and produced outside of the traditional network/studio system landing one of broadcast TV’s highest-profile time periods is a milestone for such projects by indie studios, whose number has been on the rise. Just last week, NBC gave a potential straight-to-series order to Hanibal, a drama based on the Hanibal Lecter character penned by Bryan Fuller, which is produced by Gaumont International Television. Ironically, Reiter originally developed an adaptation of The Firm a few years ago through the traditional network development machine. The project was set up at CBS and didn’t go to pilot. Reiter then wrote a new script, which Entertainment One used to strike an international distribution pact with Sony Pictures TV Networks and a domestic one with NBC. After the pickup by NBC, CBS filed a lawsuit against Reiter and eOne, but the matter has since been settled.