UPDATE 12:45 pm: A helpful tipster helpfully emailed me this video, which is supposedly Fogler’s screen test as Kinison. Looks more like early footage than a screen test to me, but either way, looks like solid casting.

Tom Shadyac will be directing a biopic of legendary comedian Sam Kinison for HBO.  Shadyac last directed Evan Almighty (which lost an estimated $27 million) and last produced the tragedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry. Dan Fogler from Balls of Fury will play Kinison (by most accounts, Fogler’s a super talented Broadway actor who hasn’t quite yet been utilized properly on film) .

Basis for the telepic is “Brother Sam: The Short, Spectacular Life of Sam Kinison,” a memoir written by his brother and manager, Bill Kinison, and Steve Delsohn. A new script has been written by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, the writer-directors of “American Splendor.”  The book had previously been optioned by Howard Stern back in ’94. [Variety]

Berman and Pulcini did an amazing job on American Splendor.  Why they’re not directing this makes zero sense.  There’s no doubt Shadyac has made some awful movies like Almighty and Patch Adams, but give him credit for Liar Liar, which I actually love.  Still, even the guy’s best movies are the epitome of slick, conventional Hollywood, filled with the annoying and ever-present musical score that tells you how to feel every second, right up to the inevitable happy-sappy ending.

Meanwhile, American Splendor took a guy (Harvey Pekar) who was unique and weird-funny in real life and made a film that was a pretty good reflection of him.  Yet they’re taking a guy who was one of the original “edgy comedians” and handing his life story over THE GUY WHO MADE EVAN F-CKING ALMIGHTY.  If Kinison were here he’d be screaming really loud right now. And for probably the only time in my life, I’d have to say, “You know, I agree with the fat guy in the beret.”
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In a decision which I can only assume was based on the number of times a day Howard Stern hears, "Hey, you know who you look like? Joey Ramone," Stern is producing a remake of the 1979 Ramones classic Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, along with Larry Levinson. Stern has hired Alex Winter to write the script. And yes, that’s the same Alex Winter who played Bill in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Marco in Lost Boys.

The only reason I can see for hiring Winter is if Stern thinks he still has access to that time machine telephone booth thingie, because the only good thing about the original Rock ‘n’ Roll High School was that the Ramones were in it, and all the original members are dead. I mean, I guess they could point the camera at grafitti that says "fun" and zoom in and out again.  That was pretty cool.

Pic was about a group of rebellious students who, with the help of punk rock band the Ramones, thwarted a repressive, rock-music-hating principal. [Variety]

Maybe in the new one Good Charlotte can teach kids that drugs are bad and Jesus is cool with the help of eyeliner, ProTools, and a good publicist. 

No, seriously.  BeeCeuticals owner and Howard Stern cousin Richie Gerber* is suing Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks Animation for stealing BeeCeuticals slogan "Give Bees a Chance" for their Bee Movie marketing material.

Reminiscent of (though slightly more clever than) the "Love Blows" controversy, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities that Dreamworks/Paramount came up with the slogan without realizing someone was already using it. Except that Gerber approached the companies ahead of time about joint marketing and they blew him off and used his slogan anyway.  Oops.

"My client went to the companies to explore joint marketing. Ideas were passed back and forth, and they eventually used the trademark without asking,” Elliot Zimmerman, a lawyer for Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based BeeCeuticals, said in an telephone interview. "That’s something they would have normally paid for." [Bloomberg]

Wow, so they didn’t want to pay for "Give Bees a Chance", but couldn’t think up anything better so they used it anyway?  I guess I don’t blame them, bee puns are hard.  I mean, hard for people who only read books with pictures in them, at least.  

*Who writes, "Lance, Love the blog and think you are funny as hell."  No, seriously. 

UPDATE: In the meantime, Steve O and Trishelle (NSW) will be "de-wuss-ifying" America on the USA Network (more clips here and after the jump) by doing stuff like teaching guys to direct porn, as in the above clip.  Thanks to Ufford at WithLeather and Michelle from USA

A while back i reported that Jackass 2.5 would be out in time for Christmas.  Calling it Jackass 2.5 sort of implied they were making a Jackass 3, and according to Steve O on Howard Stern, they’ll be filming it in January. 

I only hope that they’ll keep making Jackass movies until someone dies on camera (preferably Preston, what a douche).  It will be their ultimate masterpiece and a mainstream snuff film, unlike those third world snuff films Jerry Bruckheimer masturbates to.   

Though I was happy to hear of Jackass 3, Howard Stern was no doubt upset that Steve O’s latest appearance paled in comparison to his last, in which he described masturbating on Nicole Richie’s butt while she was sleeping.  Hey, if that’s wrong, I don’t wanna be right.