Jeff Zucker's Year-End Letter to NBCU Employees

Holiday tidings segue to Comcast/GE merger as company waits government 'green light.'

On Wednesday, outgoing NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker offered his own sort of NBCU's Best of 2010 list in a year-end letter to staffers, before getting down to serious business. He wrote:

"As the year draws to a close, I wanted to extend to you, and your loved ones, the happiest of holidays and wish you each a very Happy New Year.

"This has been a fantastic year for our company, on both creative and business levels.

"Whether you think about the unbelievably successful Vancouver Olympics ... the worldwide sensation of the despicably adorable Minions ... Butterbeer and Chocolate Frogs flying off the shelves at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter ... and so much more ... 2010 was a year to remember for NBC Universal. And that is a complete tribute to each of you, whose hard work and dedication has made it all possible. Like the entire media industry, we are not without our challenges, but we are as well situated for them as anyone. Thanks to you.

"As you know, we are still awaiting government approval of the new joint venture between Comcast and GE, which will mark a whole new era for NBC Universal. We have made substantial progress this month with both the FCC and the Department of Justice, and expect that we will get a 'green light' in January. The official close of the transaction would happen shortly after government approval. Until then, of course, business continues as normal. And we will give you frequent updates once the new year begins.

"Meanwhile, I do hope that each of you will find some time in these next few weeks to be with family and loved ones, and to remember how fortunate we are.

"I send you my best wishes, wherever you are, for a wonderful holiday and very Happy New Year."

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Djimon Hounsou Circling Black Panther?

io9 recently spoke with actor Djimon Hounsou, who revealed that he is interested in portraying Black Panther for Marvel Studios. Here's what he told the site below:

"He's a king, he's a man of the people, and he's very powerful - he challenges himself throughout his kingdom, and I think that's rare when the king puts his own life [on the line] and challenges [people] to beat him, in order to see [who's] the best out there... He's really cool. He comes from a world in Africa that is cool, and has all those minerals and it's very exciting. It's just a matter of time for that to be realized."

If he does portray T'Challa in the Marvel movie, it wouldn't be his first time as the character. He provided the voice for the animated Black Panther TV series. He added that the animated series was used to drum up interest for the movie: "That was the idea: using it as a leverage to tell a feature story."

We reported last year that Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje was in talks to play Black Panther, but it is unclear if he's still in contention for the role. We'll be sure to keep you posted with any future details on a Black Panther movie as soon as we have more information. Black Panther is in development .

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The Three Stooges Shoots in March

Because MGM is moving towards a more stable financial situation as a studio, 20th Century Fox is now able to announce a start date for its long-gestating comedy The Three Stooges, which will be directed by Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly. According to Deadline, the Farrelly brothers ten-years-in-the-making passion project will begin principle photography on March 14th.

The Farrelly brothers will be directing from a script that they wrote with long time collaborator Mike Cerrone. There is no cast in place at this time, as previously announced Stooges Jim Carrey and Sean Penn have dropped out. Benicio Del Toro, who was set to play Moe, may still appear. Casting will begin immediately.

The story begins with the stooges being dumped off at an orphanage as babies. Richard Jenkins is in talks to play the head of the orphanage, who is terrorized by the Stooges as they grow up. The Stooges will be followed through adulthood, where this blue-collar trio will act out against a wealthy society that aims to keep them down. The gags will arrive at a rapid-fire pace, and the structure of the jokes will adhere closely to the original short films upon which this comedy is based.

Peter Farrelly stated, "The script is ready to go, and we are opening up these roles to the world right now. We'll make it with the best possible people. Our feeling is that no star is too big to audition and no matter who it is, we're going to have to see him in the role. This is not The Flintstones. You've got to be Moe, Larry and Curly, and that could be a major movie star or an unknown. There will be non-stop slapping, more in the tone of Dumb and Dumber than anything. Our goal is 85 minutes of laughs in a film that will be very respectful of whom the Stooges were. It's by far the riskiest project we've ever done, without question, but it is also the one closest to our hearts."

The movie will be split into three twenty-seven minute segments, which will allow the Farrelly brothers to use all three original The Three Stooges theme songs. It will be rated PG despite its strong physical comedy. The directors are hoping to shot in Atlanta.

The Three Stooges comes to theaters in 2012. The film is directed by Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly.

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Superman Solely in the Hands of Zack Snyder

At a recent reception in Hollywood for the Blu-ray and DVD release of Inception, which hits on December 7th, Hitfix caught up with Christopher Nolan's wife and producing partner Emma Thomas, who revealed that her husband will have no creative input when it comes to Zack Snyder's reboot of Superman.

While Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer wrote the screenplay for Superman, it will be completely in the hands of Snyder. Emma explained that Christopher and David have hit upon an idea that has never been explored by Warner Bros. before. But Nolan is far too busy with his own sequel The Dark Knight Rises to offer any further help in getting the project off the ground. They have completely handed off the idea to Snyder, who will be the sole creative force behind getting it to the screen. There will be no collaboration between the two maverick directors.

In other news stemming from the Inception reception, Thompson on Hollywood learned that Hans Zimmer will be scoring the Superman reboot.

Superman comes to theaters in 2012. The film is directed by Zack Snyder.

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New app of Star Wars game for iPhone

　　It is the dream app for anyone still harbouring unfulfilled fantasies of being Luke Skywalker in Star Wars.

　　A new game for iPhone lets users take the controls of the Millennium Falcon and battle enemy spaceships using the phone's built-in camera to create the backdrop.

　　The new app uses whatever the camera is seeing as the backdrop to the game, in this case the skyscrapers of Manhattan in New york.

　　The app, which is due to be released later this month, is one of the first games to use 'augmented reality', when meshes real-life environments with virtual additions.

　　Augmented reality places layers of virtual information over real-life locations and is expected to be widely used to enhance tourist sites with the new generation of smartphones.

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Iran will arrest suntanned women and girls

      Iran has warned suntanned women and girls who looked like "walking mannequins" will be arrested as part of a new drive to enforce the Islamic dress code.

　　"The public expects us to act firmly and swiftly if we see any social misbehaviour by women, and men, who defy our Islamic values. In some areas of north Tehran we can see many suntanned women and young girls who look like walking mannequins. We are not going to tolerate this situation and will first warn those found in this manner and then arrest and imprison them," said Brig Hossien Sajedinia, Tehran's police chief.

　　Iran's Islamic leadership has in recent weeks launched a campaign to persuade the population that vice is sweeping the streets of the capital. National law stipulates that women wear headscarves and shape shrouding cloaks but many women, particularly in the capital, spend heavily on fashions that barely adhere to the regulations.

　　The announcement came shortly after a leading cleric warned that women who dressed immodestly disturbed young men and the consequent agitation caused earthquakes.

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