Bet on Thrones Taps Lucian Msamati For Season 2

Lucian Msamati Lucian Msamati has became a member of the burgeoning cast of Bet on Thrones, TVGuide.com has confirmed. Msamati, most widely known for his role about the No. 1 Ladies Detective Club, will have Salladhor Saan, a well known sailing who sails for Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane). Entertainment Weekly first reported this news. Is Bet on Thrones in your Watchlist? Add it as well as your other faves now and not miss a chapter The actor may be the latest to become listed on the big and impressive guest cast for Season 2 from the Cinemax fantasy drama. The beginners include Robert Pugh, Hannah Murray, Roy Dotrice, Liam Cunningham, Carice van Houten, Gwendoline Christie, and also the Tudors' Natalie Dormer.

The Talk's Sara Gilbert, Partner Call it Quits

Sara Gilbert The Talk creator and co-host Sara Gilbert and her partner of 10 years have called it quits, People reports. "It's completely amicable," Gilbert's rep says of the split between the 36-year-old former Roseanne star and Allison Adler, 44, who began dating in 2001 and have two children together. Leah Remini, Holly Robinson Peete leaving The Talk Last summer, when The Talk's co-hosts were promoting the daytime talk show at CBS' fall TV previews, Gilbert was shy to include the name of her partner in the show's press release. "I've been acting all my life, and never discussed my personal life," she said. "I will do it here but a press release is so impersonal."

Johnny Knoxville On For Scout Comedy

Patton Oswalt co-starring.... To check out them, you will possibly not ordinarily believe that Johnny Knoxville and Patton Oswalt could be siblings. But that is precisely what author/director Todd Rohal is wishing you'll believe, as he's cast these phones play warring brothers and sisters in the new, presently untitled scout comedy. Knoxville, still most widely known for that madcap antics from the Jackass crew and Oswalt, last observed in The Informant! and shortly to appear in Jason Reitman's Youthful Adult, will have a set of siblings forever competing for that attention of the father. When poor old pop begins to obtain sick, pressure becomes much more intense because the two males compete to determine who could possibly be the best leader once they have a troop of boys on the camping expedition. Naturally, everything goes comically awry. And they are only some of the ones aboard, as Take advantage of Riggle, Maura Tierney and Patrice O'Neal will also be signing onto co-star. Rohal authored the script and initially known as it Scout Master. There is no word on which it'll eventually become named, however it begins shooting now.

The Wickeds

It began off as the simplest way to spend Halloween. Seven teens visit a classic, decrepit house, the website of the horror movie set and rumored to become haunted. However when two grave thieves arrive seeking refuge from an military from the living dead, it might be the best fight for survival.

First Trailer for Gerard Butler's 'Machine Gun Preacher'

Sometimes we can't quite figure out who Gerard Butler is. Is he the he-man of '300' or the rom-com namby-pamby of 'Bounty Hunter'? Any doubts as to his ability to stand up and take blows (and bows) will be dispelled when Ralph Fiennes' modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Coriolanus' hits the screen Dec. 2 (a poster for which -- and trailer link -- we posted Wednesday night). But before that film hits, Butler brings us 'Machine Gun Preacher,' in which he plays Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing biker tough guy who found God and became a savior for hundreds of Sudanese children who had been kidnapped and forced to become soldiers during that country's horrific civil wars. The true story unspools at the Toronto International Film Festival and opens in L.A. and N.Y. in late September. Relativity Media has released a trailer for the film -- which is directed by Marc Forster and co-stars Michelle Monaghan and Michael Shannon -- and you can check it out after the jump. Tip o' the hat to CinemaBlend.

The Bloody Video Horror That Made Me Puke On My Aunt Gertrude

Micro budget horror guru Zachary Winston Snygg started off his career with this incredibly cheesy, low quality, backyard camcorder affair with a 12-word title concerning a gangster who shoots himself a snuff film for a racketeering enterprise, but to his dismay, accidentally returns the video camera he rented to the video store with the tape of the murder still in it. Murder, mayhem, deceit, and double crosses ensue as he tries to retrieve his tape.

NOVA Astrospies

Millions recall the countdowns, launchings, splashdowns and parades because the U.S. competed the USSR towards the Moon within the sixties. Couple of realize that both superpowers went parallel covert space programs to produce military astronauts on spying missions. In Astrospies, NOVA goes in to the untold story of the top-secret space race, that might easily have converted into a shooting war in orbit. In Astrospies, audiences satisfy the elite corps of U.S. military astronauts, a number of whom haven't before spoken regarding their clandestine training missions throughout the sixties. As observed in footage broadcast the very first time, they practiced entirely-scale mock-ups from the spy station, filled with spy cameras able to solving three-inch objects on earth below. As the Apollo astronauts loved ticker-tape parades, their astrospy co-workers been trained in total obscurity until cost overruns and also the new satellite technology condemned this program. Meanwhile, in reaction, the Soviets really built three manned spy stations named Almaz and travelled five missions throughout the seventies. NOVA gains first-time use of a making it through Almaz station inside a restricted Russian space facility, where an ex-cosmonaut demonstrates our prime-powered spy cameras which were trained on U.S. metropolitan areas. Having a cannon made to destroy hostile satellites or attack American astrospies Almaz was most likely the only real manned spacecraft ever outfitted for space war. Astrospies is co-created by Emmy Top rated producer Scott Willis and investigative journalist James Bamford, acclaimed top selling author from the Puzzle Structure and the body of Secrets.

Johnny Depp's 'Lone Ranger': Disney Hits The Brakes

by Sterling Wong Its a tough economy out there right now, and even Hollywood, chief creator of dreams and fantasies, is feeling it. Even with proven box office rainmakers Johnny Depp and Gore Verbinski attached, word got out last Friday that Disney was shutting down the production of "The Lone Ranger because of its overblown $200 million price tag. With franchises like Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Thor proving that conservatively budgeted movies can still become hits, studios have seemingly tightened their reins and become more and more reluctant to greenlight expensive projects. Indeed, The Lone Ranger is not the only big-budget project Hollywood has closed its doors in recent months; after the jump, check out three other ambitious films that also got the boot this year. "At the Mountains of Madness" The saga of Gullermo del Toros pet project has been well-documented in these parts. Madness, a cult short story by horror writer H.P Lovecraft, told the tale of an Antarctic expedition that discovers some fantastical and horrific ruins, including mythical creatures. The movie was all set to go, with del Toro at the helm and Tom Cruise attached, until Universal slammed the brakes on the $150 million project over del Toros insistence to release it with an R rating instead of a PG-13. Presumably the studio was worried that an R rating would limit the films audience and make it harder for it to turn a profit. All is not lost though for us film geeks. Speaking to MTV News last week, the director is confident that Mountains will be made some day, saying, 'Mountains' will happen one day. Cthulu willing, well get it made. Sounds like a promise to me! "The Dark Tower" This ones not so surprising. Last month, Universal declined to go ahead with Ron Howards risky and ultra-daring adaptation of Stephen Kings classic 7-novel series starring Javier Bardem that was supposed to include three feature films and two television seasons. While no official reason was proffered, it is likely that the studio had commitment issues and wasnt ready to splash its cash to shoot an unproven property back to back across multiple media platforms. (Not every series shot back-to-back turns out like The Lord of the Rings of course). It's possible that Howard will continue shopping the Dark Tower project to other studios that might greenlight it, but one imagines that he might have to compromise, shoot the first movie and go from there, rather than indulge his initial ambitious plan. "Oblivion" Heres a happy ending at last. Oblivion, a futuristic sci-fi love story project directed by Tron: Legacy lensman Joseph Konsinki, was let go by Disney in March because the studio felt that it did not fit with the Disney brand. Also Disney wanted the film to be released with a "PG" rating while Konsinki had targeted a "PG-13". Luckily for sci-fi fans, Deadline reported in May that Universal -- the very same ones who broke geek hearts with their decision to pass on Madness and Dark Tower -- stepped in to finance the film, provided Kosinski can keep the budget around $100 million. Tom Cruise is set to star (I guess his schedule is clear given "Madness"s no-go!) and cameras are set to roll in October. With mega-expensive fare like Cowboys & Aliens disappointing at the box office, it is perhaps understandable that Hollywood is less than keen to finance films with $200 million price tags, unless they are proven franchise fare like Pirates, Transformers or Harry Potter. At the same time, in the cases of auteurs like del Toro, Howard and now Verbinski, perhaps their budgetary requirements are necessary to fulfill their cinematic visions, not because they simply want to add in an extraneous explosion here and there. Film geeks like me can only hope that these filmmakers can somehow work out deals with studios, as Konsinki did, so we will be able to catch their realized ambitions on the big screen, with artistic intents uncompromised. Tell us what you think in the comments section and on Twitter!

Berman, Tolan team for ABC drama

BermanTolan"Drop Dead Diva" creator Josh Berman and Peter Tolan are joining on the drama work for ABC and The new sony Pictures Television. Additionally, the Alphabet acquired a script from the ABC Galleries from "Detroit 1-8-7" executive producers David Zabel and Jason Richman. Both script orders were confirmed by ABC. Berman's project, that was offered having a penalty attached, is all about a lady FBI profiler who teams track of a homicide detective the very first time since he left her in the altar after being released from the closet. Berman is writing the script and can professional produce with Tolan both of them are under overall handles The new sony. Additionally to making "Diva" for Lifetime, Berman is really a former executive producer at CBS' "CSI" along with a author/talking to producer for Fox's "Bones." Tolan already has another script in play at Fox, an ensemble comedy with creating partner Michael Wimer and DJ Nash ("Til Dying") Richman's drama script is really a "Sliding Doorways"-style study of a lady on her behalf big day battling with doubts whether she's making the best decision. Audiences might find two different versions of how her existence would engage in. Zabel already has another script with ABC Galleries setup in the Alphabet, a Western known as "Gunslinger." He was formerly an professional producer on NBC's "ER" from 2005-09. Contact Andrew Wallenstein at andrew.wallenstein@variety.com

VIDEO: See Which Celebrity Impersonation Stumps In the Flow's Sketch Comedian Affion Crockett

Affion Crockett Comedian Affion Crockett is known for his uncanny celebrity impersonations, which he is taking to television this summer with a new show on Fox called In the Flow with Affion Crockett. "It's power packed with energy," Crockett tells us. "It's got an In Living Color 2011 and beyond-type flavor." The series is executive-produced by Jamie Foxx, and Crockett says to expect big guest stars to stop by, including Chris Brown and Russell Simmons. "Russell became a fan of [my impression of him] so much that he wanted to do a sketch with me [where] I'm his clone," he says. Add In the Flow with Affion Crockett to your Watchlist before the new season begins and never miss an episode But there is one impression that continues to stump him: President Obama. "He has that voice that shifts cadence [and has a] deep register," he says, as he breaks into his best Obama. Watch him do Jay-Z, his most requested impersonation, in the video below. In the Flow with Affion Crockett debuts Sunday at 9/8c on Fox.

Barefoot Bandit Signs $1.3 Mil Movie Deal With 20th Century Fox (Report)

Barefoot Bandit Colton Harris-Moore has signed a movie deal with 20th Century Fox worth up to $1.3 million, his lawyers tells his local Everett, Wash. Daily Herald newspaper.our editor recommendsColton Harris-Moore, AKA The 'Barefoot Bandit,' Pleads Away Movie ProfitsHollywood Docket: Polanski reaction; Lohan law professor; Barefoot Bandit's entertainment lawyer He will put the money toward the $1.4 million he owes as restitution to victims of his two-year crime spree. "I did things that were not only a violation of law, but also of trust," Harris-Moore said a written statement released by his attorneys. "I can't undo what I did. I can only try to make things better." He said he wanted the statement to be read by the people of Camano Island and the San Juan Islands, "where I was born and raised." He said he would only sign if his victims would be repaid. "I am humbled to know I can now help the people I hurt, at least for the financial damage I caused them," Harris-Moore wrote. "I have absolutely zero interest in profiting from any of this and I won't make a dime off it. It all goes to restitution. That's what I insisted on from the beginning and the contract I signed guarantees it." His Seattle-based entertainment lawyer Lance Rosen says, "It's very unusual for this kind of money to paid for anyone's life story rights," It covers movie and ancillary rights. His defense attorney John Henry Browne says Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black is penning the script, along with Harris-Moore. "Nobody knows the nitty-gritty of Colton's story," Browne said. The Barefoot Bandit was finally caught in February 2007 and sentenced to three years in juvenile detention after a wild crime spree that ended when he crashed an airplane he taught himself to fly in Washington. Related Topics

CBS touts new research tool

CBS has developed a new research tool with Nielsen Co. intended to give both the network and its advertisers a deeper understanding of its audience beyond basic demographics. The network used its TCA presentation on Wednesday to share the results of a survey of unusually comprehensive scope -- 7,000 respondents answered more than 150 questions about their media habits in late 2010 and early 2011. Those findings were used to create a taxonomy of six basic types of viewers, which can be cross-indexed with Nielsen data encompassing TV and online to yield psychographic insights. For instance, marketing can be targeted to reach either "media trendsetters," known to be early adopters of TV fare and technology who tend to use social media, or "program passionates," viewers devoted to specific selections of program who tend to time-shift their consumption. Advertisers can take this research to as granular a level as identifying which groups over-index among a particular program and marry that information to other consumption habits that mark viewers of that program. For instance, a studio can discover that fans of "The Good Wife" see or intend to watch movies with marital themes, making that show a valuable target for marketing more such movies. There is a growing advertiser demand for viewership data that reveals more than just age and sex. And it becomes especially important as the target 18-49 demographic comprises less and less of the overall audience pie. David Poltrack, chief research officer for CBS Corp. estimated that the demo will slide from 62% of the audience to 55% by 2015. "Marketers across all categories recognize they cannot continue to target a decreasing portion of the population," he said. "They have to broaden their sights." The Eye isn't alone on countering this dilemma demographic. NBC took a different tack last year with the introduction of its "alpha boomer" research suggesting that marketers re-evaluate the importance of viewers aged north of the 18-49 demographic. Poltrack deemed the tool an "open source" resource, enabling clients and even competitors to supplement the core databases with their own proprietary data. CBS is also putting the research to internal use, making strategic programming and promotional decisions for the upcoming fall season. Contact Andrew Wallenstein at andrew.wallenstein@variety.com

TV for women at a crossroads

What do women want? Lord knows I'm the wrong person to ask, but from a TV standpoint, anyway, the answer to that question appears in an inordinate state of flux.Television for women is a strange term for starters, since the vast majority of primetime TV aims squarely at them. Nevertheless, traditional formats, personalities and niche channels geared to women find themselves at a perplexing crossroads.Women still watch considerably more television than men -- by almost 16 hours per month, according to the latest Nielsen Cross-Platform Report. Yet how they allocate video time keeps shifting, as the daytime soap opera -- a genre more uniquely linked to women than perhaps any other -- is slowly disappearing, just as the made-for-TV movie has been seriously diminished.Meanwhile, some of TV's biggest names associated with women -- including Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart -- have exhibited surprising vulnerability, whether in the moribund beginning for Winfrey's cable network, OWN, or Stewart's lackluster results on Hallmark.In short, if women were once deemed at least moderately predictable in media-buying circles, it's hard to find a sure thing anymore whether the discussion revolves around major brands or venerable genres.Part of this has to do with the homogenizing pursuit of younger demographics -- namely, adult women under 50 -- and their evolving profile and preferences. That includes a generation of millennials weaned on reality TV and adept at suspending disbelief long enough to consume unscripted fare as if it were a soap or romantic comedy, no matter how much staging is involved.No wonder those cable networks purporting to be "for women" currently look a trifle schizophrenic and confused.Lifetime clearly feels pressure to get younger, but it's hard to discern a coherent strategy in the channel's current programming mix beyond the flimsy glue of women usually occupying centerstage.Boiled down to stereotypes, Oxygen would be the home of young and likely inebriated women, while TLC caters to those with a fascination for the British royal family, people who have children in litters or the bizarre. (See their just-announced special about end-of-days believers, "Livin' for the Apocalypse.")By contrast, Bravo possesses a cleverly articulated, media-savvy persona -- playing to upscale women and their gay pals, usually in fabulous, high-stress surroundings. Yet even that network has recycled its formula to the point of potentially depleting the supply, much less the reality, of "Real Housewives."Finally, OWN is positioning itself as the study guide for Winfrey's "Live your best life" philosophy. At the TV Critics Assn. tour, the retired host/full-time mogul spoke about using the channel to create "the world's biggest classroom." While it's fine to uplift and educate, that description sounds like something you'd watch to avoid attending traffic school.All these channels are bookended by a junior demographic swatch extending from teens through young women (Disney Channel, ABC Family, MTV) and an AARP tier frequented by their moms and grandmothers, who are still happy to sit through a Hallmark movie or, for that matter, network series like "Dancing With the Stars," "Blue Bloods" and "Harry's Law."Viewed this way, the notion of structuring networks under the umbrella "women" seems increasingly flawed, as are most attempts to design TV options around such broad categories in today's wildly fragmented marketplace. (Notably, younger men are perceived to be such Neanderthals that beyond football, whatever else is on ESPN or raunchy comedy, they merit dwindling episodic consideration.)Channels catering to women are thus left chasing hits while their old comfort zones keep moving: It's difficult to speak of "women" in a collective sense when the world has splintered into little pockets with compatible backgrounds or like-minded interests -- like the ones who periodically band together and see "Sex and the City" movies, no matter how bad they are.Given the central role women play throughout TV's ecosystem, programmers and producers no doubt wish they could peer into their minds, sort of like Mel Gibson in that movie, but the cacophony of variety would likely be overwhelming.Barring that, the best advice is to cue the theme from "The Young and the Restless," then use it as background music while outdated assumptions pirouette into the sunset. Contact Brian Lowry at brian.lowry@variety.com

'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2' Becomes Highest Grossing 'Potter' Flick

It all ended with "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," but at least it ended on top. The last installment of the "Harry Potter" franchise was the most well-received of the eight-film-long series, but this weekend it became the highest grossing as well. After cresting the $1 billion mark over the weekend -- the first movie in the series to do so! -- it also hit a domestic gross of $318 million, making it the biggest "Potter" flick of all time. Fittingly, the movie it bested for that title was the first flick in the series, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." It's not much of a shock that "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" ended up making the most money in the series. After all, it had the hype factor going for it and also the buzz of a decade-long film franchise. It all did end on July 15, unless you (like us) are hopping on the Pottermore bandwagon. But what was surprising is how quickly "Part 2" hit these accomplishments. Though the flick made most of its money over opening weekend (a record-breaking $169 million stateside), it has made more money in two and a half weeks than the rest of the series made in their entire theatrical runs. It will be interesting to see just how high "Part 2" can make it, because we think it still has some serious life left in it. Do you plan on seeing "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" again in theaters? Are you surprised at how quickly it made this much money? Tell us in the comments section below or on Twitter!

Expendables 2 adds Chuck Norris and John Travolta

The head of a Bulgarian film studio where The Expendables 2 is to start shooting in September has name-checked a few new actors who will be appearing in the film."Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, John Travolta, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke. Who else? Of course, Bruce Willis," David Varod, CEO at Nu Boyana Studios, told news website Novanite in an interview.As well as adding John Travolta and Chuck Norris to the list of stars, Varod also talked of director Simon West in glowing terms."He is also a name. He is already here and has started working on the film," Varod said, before adding. "I believe the sequel will be better than the first movie."It was already widely reported that Jean-Claude Van Damme would play a secondary villain in the film, with Willis the main baddie.Here's hoping Travolta also pulls villain duty so we can see more of what made Face/Off such a great action flick.