The Approval Matrix - Week of August 15

Pipeline
Blockbuster-event promoter Ron Delsener has announced Across the Pond, a massive fall concert to take place concurrently in Staten Island and Coney Island; confirmed acts include Beck, the Pixies, Gang of Four, and Oasis… . Paul Feig, creator of and writer for the cult TV hit Freaks and Geeks, has signed a deal to write two books for young adults, the first of which will be a sci-fi tale called Ignatius MacFarland, Frequenaut… . Oprah Winfrey will bring Toni Morrison’s most recent novel, Paradise—which follows the lives of four women living in a convent—to ABC. Salma Hayek will star. Their Eyes Were Watching God director Darnell Martin will adapt and direct the four-part mini-series… . Maggie Gyllenhaal and Maria Bello have signed on for Oliver Stone’s film based on September 11 that will also star Nicolas Cage; the film is set to start production in New York this fall… . Also in the works: a 9/11 documentary based on survivor stories and narrated by Hilary Swank and Kevin Costner.

The Approval Matrix - Week of August 15