Emma Thompson said she left her voice-over role in Skydance Animation’s upcoming film Luck earlier this month because she didn’t want to work for John Lasseter. The Oscar-winning actor-producer has elaborated on her thoughts with a pointed letter that was published today in the Los Angeles Times, aimed directly at…

Deadline has confirmed that two-time Oscar winner Emma Thompson is backing out of her voiceover role on the upcoming Skydance Animation movie Luck due to concerns about working with the division’s head John Lasseter. The movie centers around the struggle between the organizations of bad luck and good luck, and…

Skydance Media doesn’t fool around. The company has pegged its first two animated features and have nabbed top talent from DreamWorks to bring them to fruition: Vicky Jenson, who directed the Oscar-winning Shrek (with Andrew Adamson), will helm Split and Alessandro Carloni, who directed Kung Fu Panda 3 (with Jennifer…

The former director of the American Humane Association’s film and production unit alleges she was fired because she urged the AHA to report the alleged abuse of horses on the set of the HBO series Luck. In addition to suing her ex-employer for wrongful termination, Barbara Casey also is suing HBO and Stewart…

Jason Gedrick is joining Season 7 of Dexter in a multi-episode arc. He will play the manager of a Miami-area gentlemen's club that becomes linked to a high-profile murder case in the Showtime drama, which has its season premiere September 30. Production on Season 7 begins in May in Los Angeles. Gedrick, also a film…

Time Warner couldn’t horse around with the figures it had to disclose in its Q1 earnings release this morning: HBO took a $35M impairment charge for its ill-fated series Luck, about race-track gamblers and starring Dustin Hoffman, which was cancelled in March — midway into production for its second season. The show…

2ND UPDATE: In a statement, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals applauded HBO’s decision to end Luck. “Knowing that old, unfit, and drugged horses were forced to race for this series, PETA is glad that HBO has finally decided to cancel the show,” PETA said. The organization noted that it had urged the show’s…

UPDATE, WEDNESDAY AM: Although production continues on Season 2 of HBO’s Luck, the network reaffirmed today that it will only shoot scenes that don’t involve horses as an investigation concludes regarding the death of a horse on the Santa Anita set. Although Luck centers on the world of horse racing, the multiple plot…

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Gambon, who is recurring on the current freshman season of HBO’s Michael Mann/David Milch drama Luck, has been upped to a regular for Season 2. Also joining the upcoming second season of the horse-racing drama is Margarita Levieva in a major recurring role. Gambon, who made his debut on Luck in…

EXCLUSIVE: Another Oscar winner is joining the cast of HBO’s Luck. Mercedes Ruehl has come on board as a series regular for Season 2 of the horse racing drama starring Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman. She plays Julietta Caligari, the mother of Renzo (Ritchie Coster), a role she originates in an upcoming guest appearance…

HBO's 'Luck' Renewed For Second Season Showtime’s Sunday lineup rebounded after facing the NFC Championship Game the previous week. Both Shameless (1.37 million) and House Of Lies (1.02 million) drew their largest audiences since the season premieres. Shameless was up 7% from the previous week, House Of Lies 41%. At 9…

On the heels of Luck‘s official premiere on Sunday, HBO has renewed the horse racing drama from Michael Mann and David Milch for a 10-episode second season. The series starring Dustin Hoffman had already been working on scripts for Season 2, and production will begin at the end of February. The network had started…