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Reel News Tim Ryan |
‘Average Joe’ reality
show set for Big IsleThere's been no official announcement yet, but word is NBC last week agreed to the production of nine hourlong episodes of a reality show titled "Average Joe." Filming will begin on the Big Island July. Negotiations between a luxury hotel's execs and NBC over location fees nearly nixed the deal until a former Hawaii governor apparently got involved.
"Average Joe," the only production committed to filming in Hawaii the rest of the year, is the fifth reality show based on the Big Island in two years. "Celebrity Mole" winner and comedian Kathy Griffin will host. The premise: A former beauty queen-slash-NFL cheerleader moves into the resort with the expectation that 16 potential Prince Charmings are arriving to win her heart. But when the men arrive, she'll discover that the handsome princes are actually Average Joes, i.e. guys with great hearts, but average looks. ...
Congrats to surfer Ken Bradshaw for getting $75,000 from Universal Pictures for the rights to his life story in the tentatively titled film "Mavericks" by Michael Love. The Mark Foo estate and Northern California surfer Jeff Clark reportedly also were paid for their stories. But the chump change is likely to sentence the pic, in development since 1998, to a longer stay in "development hell."
To date, there are no guarantees the film will be made: No production start date, no actors, no director and no budget have even been discussed. The story centers on Bradshaw and Foo's friendship, Foo's drowning in 1994 at Mavericks and Jeff Clark's pioneering of the big-wave spot.
Tom Hanks' Playtone would produce. There's been talk that Hanks would play Clark.
Everything in Hollywood comes in waves and surfing is starting to ride that popularity. Also in development the last couple years: Radar Pictures' surfer memoir "In Search of Captain Zero: A Surfer's Road Trip Beyond the End of the Road," with Sean Penn to star and produce, and Paramount's "Dogs of Winter." ...
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Contact Tim Ryan at tryan@starbulletin.com.