Disney to finally unleash 'John Carter'

Disney's sci-fi tentpole cost $250 million, with an additional $100 million in worldwide marketing.'John Carter' star Taylor Kitsch, above, on set with director Andrew Stanton.Pixars John Lasseter, actress Lynn Collins, director-writer Andrew Stanton and producer Jim Morris arrive at the John Carter premiere.Few characters in Hollywood have been as polarizing as John Carter in recent years.Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs' fantasy figure, introduced in 1912, has a loyal following -- the novels in which he appears have influenced everything from "Star Wars" to "Dune," "Superman" and "Avatar" -- but the character's first bigscreen outing, set to bow this weekend, has shouldered bad buzz since Disney greenlit the pricey production two years ago.Having dealt with rumors of cost overruns on a tentpole with no major stars, marketing stumbles (including a controversial title change and DayGlo materials) and 100-year-old source material unknown to most moviegoers, Disney and a team of Pixar vets are either about to launch a new franchise or write off the next failed labor of love, like "Watchmen."The parallels to Warner Bros.' dark superhero tale are hard to ignore.Both projects, with a small but vocal fanbase, are based on books that, while not publishing powerhouses, have influenced pop culture (Alan Moore's "Watchmen," introduced in 1986, led to the current crop of edgy comicbook pics, while references to John Carter's Mars exploits are found throughout other sci-fi and fantasy fare). The resulting films were risky bets taken by studios that wanted to remain faithful to the source material after decades of development.In "John Carter's" case, "Looney Tunes" director Bob Clampett hoped to direct an animated feature in 1931, while Ray Harryhausen wanted to produce a stop-motion pic in the 1950s. During the 1980s, Disney had the rights with John McTiernan once attached to direct Tom Cruise as Carter. The 11-book series then moved to Paramount, where Robert Rodriguez, Kerry Conran ("Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow") and Jon Favreau were each attached to helm before the project went back to the Mouse House.Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo," "Wall-E") couldn't turn down "Carter" as his live-action debut: "After pushing (Disney) to make it for so long, I couldn't say no when they offered it to me."The resulting film, about a Civil War soldier who finds himself in the middle of a war on Mars, is a film "we selfishly wanted to see," Stanton said, referring to himself and fellow producers, including Pixar's general manager and former president of Lucas Digital (ILM and Skywalker Sound) Jim Morris, as well as supporters like Pixar and Disney animation chief John Lasseter."We wanted to re-create and capture the feeling we had as kids when we first read the books," Morris said.Disney bows the film on more than 3,500 screens this weekend. It's pushing the film hard on a global scale, launching day-and-date in nearly every major market (except Japan and China) totaling 51 territories.Domestically, early tracking is not encouraging: Monday polls have the PG-13 film opening to a $25 million-$30 million weekend. But estimates this early always skew conservative, and alternative box office prognosticators indicate a much stronger bow.Critics were quick to scrutinize every aspect of the pic during its arduous journey to theaters. That's included the budget, which Disney quotes at around $250 million, with an additional $100 million to market the film worldwide. (Though industryites have whispered that the film cost much more, producers tell Variety that those rumors are "ridiculous" -- everyone connected to the film insists it came in on time and on budget).Negativity surrounded last May's title change from "John Carter of Mars" to simply "John Carter," which followed the flop of Robert Zemeckis' "Mars Needs Moms." Critics argued that the new name says little about the film, but the studio worried that the Mars element would turn off female auds, while the title of Burroughs' book, "A Princess of Mars," would have kept men away.Stanton admits "John Carter" has proved difficult for Disney to market -- which Stanton is used to after "Finding Nemo" and "Wall-E.""You can't control people's first impressions as much as you'd like," Stanton said. He's no stranger to pre-release reactions, either, saying, "There was negative press before 'Finding Nemo.' There was negative press before 'Toy Story.'"But that hasn't kept the helmer and Disney's marketing team (that includes former promo chief MT Carney) from trying. The studio skipped Comic-Con to promote "Carter" to Disney fans at D23 in August, with a lengthy presentation that touted Burroughs' influence over more familiar pop culture properties.The latest blitz has included a Super Bowl ad, extended online clips and ads during the March Madness tournament. Stanton also has hit Twitter over the past several weeks to answer questions and spoke at last month's TED conference. Stars Taylor Kitsch ("Friday Night Lights") and Lynn Collins ("X-Men Origins: Wolverine") are now on the talkshow circuit.Walt Disney Studios chairman Rich Ross has been puzzled by the negative reaction. "I've never had something healthy get treated like a corpse," he said at the film's lavish premiere last month. "Usually, it's the other way around," with a studio having to make something bad look good.Yet even if "Carter" winds up D.O.A. at the box office, Ross won't have much to lose: He and Disney production president Sean Bailey inherited "Carter" from the studio's previous regime, led by Dick Cook. A poor showing would bruise Pixar's vets, given that it's their rare foray into live action, but a hit would spawn the kind of new cross-platform franchise Disney craves.Studio isn't loading up store shelves with "Carter" merchandise this time around, as retailers are holding out to see if the film catches on. Such a move isn't unusual, especially for risk-averse toymakers.Still, Stanton already is working on a follow-up script with "Carter" co-scribe Michael Chabon, so that Disney can move forward with a sequel based on Burroughs' second novel, "The Gods of Mars."It all depends on whether "Carter" performs better than "Watchmen," which earned $185 million worldwide, of course. Early reviews are positive, as is social media chatter. Disney lifts its review embargo Wednesday, a play to keep favorable reviews fresh in ticket buyers' minds.In the final weeks leading up to the launch, the film's campaign has amped up its focus on action sequences and various characters to eventize the production. And to get auds as excited about John Carter's adventures as Stanton was as a kid reading the books."If a kid in 1976 can enjoy reading the books that were published in 1912," Stanton said, "I think someone in 2012 can enjoy it for the same reasons." Contact Marc Graser at marc.graser@variety.com

Artists Union Gives 'Full Support' to SAG-AFTRA Merger

The American Federation of Artists has endorsed SAG/AFTRA merger, the AFM mentioned in the statement Monday evening, adding the union's worldwide executive board had communicated "its full support" to AFTRA and SAG."The recommended merger can be a historic step which is synonymous with Oneness for your entertainment sector as well as the entire labor movement," mentioned AFM leader Ray Hair. "For several years, AFTRA and SAG have was plainly and happily for dignity and justice inside the entertainment industry workplace. The joining of individuals two great unionsSAG-AFTRAwill focus Union energy toward a far greater future for your media business, not only within the united states . States but all over the world.In . Although AFTRA is often suggested in Hollywood just like a union representing stars and television stations (despite the fact that latter are simply 8Percent in the union, or 4% from the merged SAG-AFTRA), entertainers may also be an essential part in the membership. Thus, particularly on major label tracks, the entertainers are frequently AFTRA people because the instrumentalists are AFM. Both unions have contracts while using major record labels.The other day, Stars Equity endorsed SAG/AFTRA merger. Both AFM and Equity, additionally to IATSE, endorsed a 2003 merger attempt, That effort not successful when SAG fell 2% missing the requisite 60% supermajority. The Hollywood Reporter

Elizabeth Olsen In Line For Old Boy

Has Spike Lee found his leading lady?With Spike Lee recently musing that he'd like to make Brooklyn Loves MJ "next", there was some speculation that his new version of Oldboy had been back-burnered. But it seems not, with the news this morning that Elizabeth Olsen is the latest actress to be offered the female lead. Maybe by "next", Lee meant after this one.Rooney Mara and Mia Wasikowska have both been in the running, but would appear to have passed: a story that keeps recurring in the development of this project. While Josh Brolin was locked fairly quickly for the Oh Dae-su role, the film has also struggled to find a villain thus far, with Christian Bale, Clive Owen and Colin Firth all considering it and then moving on.The female role now on the table for Olsen is sushi chef Mi-do, played in Park Chan-wook's film by Kang Hye-jeong. Lee's new version names her as Marie, according to Twitch, so there's probably reason to suspect that she won't be preparing sushi anymore either. But she'll presumably remain the love interest, who our hero Oh Dae-su / currently-unnamed-Brolin takes a shine to along the way to solving the mystery of his 15-year imprisonment. There's also the threat of her death hanging over his progress, just to spice things up. Oh, and without wishing to be spoilerific, perhaps there's more to her character than is immediately revealed...Olsen's immediate next project is the Zola adaptation Therese Raquin, in which she's co-starring with Glenn Close. Despite being a hot prospect right now following her break-out introduction in Martha Marcy May Marlene, Twitch believe she doesn't have much lined up for the rest of this year (though she's fully booked for 2013), so if true, that might make her particularly likely to sign on the Oldboy line.Mark Protosevich has eight volumes of manga to draw from in his screenplay, and they don't much resemble the Chan-wook classic. There's potential for this to be a very different film, on which note Mandate are apparently splitting the title back into its original two words: so it's Old Boy from now on, not Oldboy. There still doesn't seem to be a solid start date, but shooting is planned to start "soon".We'll next see Olsen in single-take horror Silent House, out in the UK on May 4.

Slate debate: Investors now get to pic & choose

Sony secured financing from Hemisphere for three tentpoles, including 'Men in Black III.'Paramount partnered with Skydance on a slate of films that features 'G. I. Joe: Retaliation.'Slate financing has a PR problem.Lawsuits, the credit crunch and a number of films that didn't return the kind of money investors expected have all made studio slate deals less palatable. And with the recent or near-end of several high-profile arrangements, the question now is whether new money will be in place by the time the old coin runs out -- and whether the majors really need the capital at all. Any new deal, however, will likely look a lot different than the majority of slate arrangements locked down between 2005 and 2008."The biggest challenge in getting a traditional slate financing deal done today is that significant losses were experienced (over the past decade), which has caused equity and subordinated capital providers to pull back," says Christa Thomas, managing director and senior film adviser in SunTrust's Private Wealth Management Sports & Entertainment Specialty Group. "The changing technology landscape, especially for home entertainment, has further eroded confidence around risk assessment and mitigation."And that's caused financiers to demand more from Hollywood and to broker deals that add on many more layers and deal points. In the past, many moneymen blindly financed slates of films they didn't pick themselves. Their cash often covered 50% of the budgets on dozens of pics that ranged in degree of risk. Now, many co-financing arrangements involve fewer films and allow studio partners like David Ellison's Skydance Prods. and Jeff Sagansky's Hemisphere, for example, to have more leverage in choosing which films to partner on -- especially among tentpoles."The old slate deals were just a blunderbuss," says Stroock & Stroock & Lavan partner Schuyler Moore. "The real story is, it's just not happening (anymore) now what you're doing is identifying your films going in."That's because investors want more safeguards. They often want the chance to recoup a portion of their investment before the studio takes its fees, or they want to get their money back before the talent gets it backend.But the question of which concessions the majors will or won't make won't be answered until more slate arrangements are assembled -- something that seems much less likely than in years past. Co-financing arrangements can take months to close, and the majors are always in discussions with investors to explore opportunities. While these deals aren't essential to keep the lights on, most studios prefer to mitigate risk on all but their highest-profile franchises. But when one door closes, another opens. As studios produce fewer of their own films, that provides room for distribution agreements with companies that have financed commercial projects -- like the deals Universal inked with Cross Creek and MRC last year. Cross Creek's Ron Howard-helmed "Rush" will mark the former pact's first release, while MRC currently has Seth MacFarlane's "Ted" in post-production. While banks may be willing to lend, many observers wonder when equity will come back into the film-financing market. As a result, funds have turned their eyes overseas, particularly to China, India and elsewhere in Asia. Hemisphere's coin, for example, came in large part from Japan's Toho-Towa Co. and Kadokawa Shoten, and Korea's Lotte Cinema.Paramount, Warner Bros. and Fox all have co-financing deals in place, while Disney is the studio outlier. Credit Suisse First Boston arranged $500 million in funding for the Mouse House's Kingdom deal in 2005 (the studio's first co-financing arrangement in a decade), but that pact ended in 2009.Sony was able to fund 18 films, including hits like "Salt," "The Social Network" and "Grown Ups," through its Beverly I slate-selection arrangement. While the package also included misfires like "Did You Hear About the Morgans?," the pics overall grossed more than $2.6 billion worldwide.Prior to 2008, estimates for a pic's overall performance counted in large part on homevideo sales, which often matched or even doubled worldwide box office grosses. That set expectations high for slate performances, and those expectations have been difficult to meet in recent years because of the decline in DVD dollars. Aramid Entertainment Fund, an investor in the Beverly I slate, sued Relativity and hedge fund Fortress in February over its stake in the deal. The suit didn't name Sony or accuse the studio of any wrongdoing, but Aramid's very public unhappiness with its deal adds to the negativity surrounding these types of arrangements. But money is always knocking at the studio gates, some of it more real, some of it less. As Variety first reported in August, Sony secured financing for three of its tentpoles from Hemisphere ("The Smurfs," "Men in Black III" and "The Adventures of Tintin," the latter of which was also co-financed by Paramount), and the studio is always talking to investors about other potential opportunies. Any discussions Universal is having with potential financiers comes in advance of the end of its own co-financing deal.Beverly II, arranged by Ryan Kavanaugh's Relativity Media and backed by Elliott Management in 2008, will fund films greenlit through the end of 2012, although the overall deal expires in 2014.Under terms of the arrangement, Elliott funds about half the budgets of 75% of U's films each year. And while U had some home runs in 2011, with hits like "Fast Five" and "Bridesmaids," and this year with "Safe House," the studio is still smarting from a string of modest to disappointing performers (including "Cowboys & Aliens," in which Relativity participated) over the past few years. Relativity can select films for Elliott, but it's not clear whether U's whole slate is open to them. Either way, Beverly II did not participate in "Fast Five," which wound up grossing more than $600 million worldwide to become the "Fast and the Furious" franchise's top grosser -- one very big missed opportunity. Across town, Paramount's major co-financing arrangement comes from Ellison's Skydance. The two partnered in 2009 for a four-year deal that would allow Skydance to co-finance four to six of the studio's pics per year, including "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol," "Star Trek 2," "World War Z" and "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" through Skydance's $350 million fund (with a $200 million credit line arranged by JPMorgan Chase). Melrose II, a $300 million slate deal arranged by Dresdner Bank in 2006, wrapped up in 2008, although it still enables Melrose II investors to put money into sequels whose originals they also financed -- provided that the studio releases those pics by 2016. Any new investors would not have access to films included in the Skydance or Melrose II deal. In November, investors in Melrose II filed a suit against the studio over profits to more than 29 films (including "Mission: Impossible III," "Charlotte's Web," "Dreamgirls," "Blades of Glory," "Jackass 2" and all three "Transformers" films).Fox's pact with Dune, renewed in 2010, marks one of the longest-standing co-financing relationships at any of the studios. Dune began funding Fox movies, including boffo pics like "Avatar" and "Live Free or Die Hard," in 2005, and the pact's longevity and multiple renewals suggest Dune's contentment with its deal. Additionally, Fox has capital coming in from partners including New Regency and Ingenious, the former of which has been on the Fox lot since 1998.Meanwhile, Warner Bros. is set for the near future. Its two major investors, Village Roadshow and Legendary Entertainment, both secured new credit lines within the past two years. Village Roadshow closed a $1 billion facility in 2010, while Legendary wrapped up a $600 million-plus facility last April. Ultimately, whether they have co-financing coin or not, the studios are always in discussions with potential investors, and always considering new financing arrangements."All of the studios today are divisions of much larger conglomerates," says Lindsay Conner, partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. "Gone are the days when one mogul owned a big share of a studio, and that was the main business of the company. Today, they're all part of larger businesses, and it's a common and appropriate corporate practice to spread the risk of all expensive new initiatives." What: Slate financiers demand more control over projects. The takeaway: As studios mitigate risk, they must cede some control to the moneymen.Return to Movies & Money >> Contact Rachel Abrams at Rachel.Abrams@variety.com

WGA East ceremony extended on laughs

By JILL GOLDSMITH Raucous humor within the B.B. King House of Blues was fond of many Authors Guild Award individuals who win who chosen to collect statuettes in La on Sunday. Meanwhile Mandy Patinkin uncovered a sizable blooper and Rachel Dratch carried out the cello within the Colonial edition in the Authors Guild Honours, which held synchronised occasions in Gotham and L.A. In NY, nobody understood who was simply or wasn't in your home, meaning hosts and site visitors scanned everybody else after each envelope was opened up up trying to find decisive movement for that stage. ''I'm prone to accept on their own account,'' presenter Jimmy Fallon mentioned. ''You know, once i bought a typewriter my mother mentioned I used to be a jackass. Who's the jackass now, mother?'' he mentioned, proclaiming statuettes for your absent Heath Corson and Richie Keen. The duo won for Web series ''Aim High'' inside the Original New Media category. ''Saturday Evening Live's'' Seth Meyers, waiting with one statue in each hands, mentioned, ''I appear like I'm in the horror movie and that i must hold these items or everybody dies.'' ''Writers Guild Honours,'' sang Fallon for the tune of ''Riders round the Storm,'' based on comedian and actress Dratch, the evening's host. She welcomed everybody else of ''writers, and individuals that don't have social problems.'' ''What's up Authors Guild? How 'bout people wings?'' cracked Jon Benjamin sprawled on the floor along with his microphone. ''It's hard to write a completely new series. It's tough to produce anything really. I written this. I written things i am reading through through at this time around. It absolutely was very difficult.'' ''Homeland'' star Patinkin recognized the show's win to find the best new series with fond words for scribes. ''I'm just an actress. I am nothing special. An actress is simply much like what they have round the page before them, and anyone who notifies you in different ways is stuffed with shit,'' he mentioned. But he blew his top after being referred to as back later by film author Terry George to just accept the Episodic TV award for your ''Breaking Bad'' seg ''Box Cutter,'' which tied with ''The Good Soldier'' episode of ''Homeland.'' ''I have no idea what this show is,'' Patinkin mentioned. Peering within the envelope, he screamed to George after realizing it might be a tie. ''How many drinks possibly you've had? You have to make out the print all,'' he screamed. ''I guess I'm not receiving employment on 'Homeland','' George responded. Judd Apatow, locating the Plant Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence, came out bemused having a montage of his photos featuring mostly hard-ons and people getting hit inside the mind while having sex. ''It was too extended. Plus it mentioned some repetitions throughout my work,'' he mentioned. Showing Apatow, Kristen Wiig thanked ''My friend B.B King, for hosting theses honours at his lovely home.'' It absolutely was the ceremony's first-time within the Occasions Square venue. Daytime TV author and creator of ''Ryan's Hope'' Claire Labine, champion in the Ian McLellan Hunter Award, decried the decline in the genre. ''I am appalled more care wasn't taken using this form that we love a good deal,'' she mentioned. A self-declared very drunk presenter Jonathan Ames, ranted about Cinemax getting rid of his series ''Bored to Dying,'' dissed comedy series champion ''Modern Family'' and declared ''I don't' know very well what is going on inside the alternate realm of La. But we have Mandy Patinkin here to just accept everybody's award.'' WGA East prexy Michael Winship gave a jerk to press freedom and journalists arrested covering Occupy Wall Street protests, also to NY Occasions reporter Anthony Shadid who died in Syria the other day. Another in the WGA East's individuals are broadcast news authors. Stephen Colbert's team, which won comedy/variety series for ''The Colbert Report,'' paid out homage for his or her boss Colbert who ''writes as being a mofo.'' Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Law & Order: SVU: Will Benson's New Relationship Last?

Mariska Hargitay, Harry Connick Jr. For the first time in a long while, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit's Olivia Benson is in a stable, healthy relationship. But how long will it last?Law & Order: SVU Scoop: Harry Connick Jr. to play Benson's new love interest"[It] has to be scary as hell for her," executive producer Warren Leight tells TVGuide.com of the relationship between Oliva (Mariska Hargitay) and Executive Assistant District Attorney David Haden (Harry Connick Jr.). "It's going to be interesting to see somebody in her mid-40s who has not really been in a long-term sexual relationship with someone for a very long time."In our Q&A below, Leight tells us some of the obstacles in store for Benson and Haden, how long he'll be around, and how Leight thinks things are going during this transitional year. Plus: Will the show return for a 14th season?So you're more than halfway through your first season on the show. How's it going?Warren Leight: NBC has made it clear they're very happy with where the show is, as has [executive producer Dick Wolf]. And I'm happy with it too. There was a lot of adjusting to life without Chris Meloni for the show and for fans. I'm glad that we didn't just sort of pretend that we were going to put in two new guys and start from scratch.I think we spent a good amount of time at the beginning acknowledging the hole in the squad room.What sort of fan reaction have you heard about the addition of Kelli Giddish and Danny Pino?Leight: There are some fans of the Olivia-Elliot relationship for whom that was the only reason they were watching the show. And those fans are just stuck at the moment. Creatively, I think the show has been going very well. [Since] Kelli and Danny have come into the squad room, we have a lot of flexibility now. ... It's allowed for all kinds of interesting combinations and new alliances and problem areas. Fans of the show, I think, are very much engaged.Fans of the Olivia-Elliot relationship? I don't know what else to do for them.Get more scoop on your favorite shows in our Winter TV previewAnd now you've got Oliva in a new relationship with Harry Connick Jr. Why was now the time?Leight: I always thought that as long as Elliot was her partner, she had the perfect excuse to not be in a real relationship. This was a guy whose values were completely in sync with hers. They were a perfect team, and he emotionally supported her.So if you're afraid of being in a truly intimate relationship with a man, this was the perfect thing because you have everything you could want, but he's married with five kids.But now that he's gone...Leight: Take him away and now she can begin to look at other men for the first time. What I wanted, in the Connick character, was a guy who was appropriate for her so that it would be scary to her. It's one thing to date a younger, rookie cop; you can kind of blow them off afterward. But Connick's character is emotionally open. He's available. He does the same kind of work she does.He has the same values that she does. So that has to be scary as hell for her.How do you see the relationship progressing?Leight: As they get in a little deeper, it will scare her a bit more. It's going to be interesting to see somebody in her mid-40s who has not really been in a long-term sexual relationship with someone for a very long time. I just thought, "Let's play the reality of the crutch of Elliot being gone.Now what does she do?" So, now we see if she blows it up, or if circumstances blow it up, or if it's allowed to blossom. She does seem to still be a bit guarded around him. Will that wall come down?Leight: Well, they're going to be sleeping together pretty soon, so at some point they have to get there. But even then it's going to be push-me-pull-you.Check out our list of TV's sexiest crime fighters!How long do you see Haden staying around?Leight: Originally [Connick] was booked for four episodes, but I'm under no obligation to kill him off at the end of those four.He seems to be having a good time. They seem to be working pretty well together, but at some point drama must rear its head. One thing I will say is we will not reveal him to be a serial killer. And I have no intention of tragically blowing him up in a car or anything like that.What type of obstacles do you have in mind?Leight: They may disagree on a case. She may question his commitment because she's such a crusader. If you work as a No. 2 in a NY City D.A.'s office, you have to have political skill. So I could see her mistaking his political skill for a lack of fervor.And clearly, they're not supposed to be working on the same cases. That'll get a case thrown out of court. The ethical boundary is a huge, huge issue. But then also there's this question of boundaries in a relationship. If both of you do the same kind of stuff, and you're always talking shop - is that healthy for a relationship? So whether he goes or stays, how do you want this relationship to impact Benson moving forward?Leight: She'll be more aware of what she's not allowed herself. I wanted to play them as two humans trying to figure out what their second acts are emotionally. That's nice.The show doesn't get to do that too often.As for other emotional moments, I hear you're bringing back Benson's half-brother Simon (Michael Weston). Leight: Yes, Simon's coming into town. What I wanted in that episode is kind of a Remains of the Day thing, where your hero is caught between a job she has to do and this huge family crisis. Simon's daughter, Olivia's niece, has been taken from the family. And Olivia, up until this point, had no idea she had a niece.NBC Scoop: Hargitay signs up for another season of SVU And how does that affect her? Warren Leight: She does everything she can to get her niece out of the city's foster care.I mean, she meets the kid for the first time at a social services agency, so it's heartbreaking for her. And so, she enlists Andre Braugher's character to take on the city of NY.That's high stakes.I understand Wednesday's episode (10/9c, NBC) has a big moment for Rollins (Giddish). Is it something potentially career-threatening?Leight: She will deal with some personal demons. As part of the crime they're investigating, the SVU office ends up interacting with one of the victims who was a heavy gambler. So we start getting into that world, and it turns out Rollins is familiar with people in that world.So do you expect the show to be back next season?Leight: NBC clearly wanted to get the message out that Mariska will be back for Season 14. And I assume they mean on SVU. All I can think is my job is to make the show. I just keep working on the show and I will assume, all things being equal, we'll be back next year. But it's TV. I've been wrong before. ... We're on NBC and that's challenging right now.Given that, how will you approach the end of the season?Leight: I've had a note in the back of my head since the season began. And I still have that same note. There's an interesting place for the last several episodes to go, but I don't think it will involve bringing back anyone who's left or killing anyone who's there. It's always good to begin the season knowing where the last episode is. Things can change and all that, but it doesn't have to be a bloodbath at the end.Law & Order: SVU airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on NBC. Watch a preview of tonight's episode below:

ABC Family Orders New Series Bunheads from Gilmore Girls' Creator

Sutton Foster ABC Family has picked up Bunheads, a dance drama series from Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, Deadline reports. The series stars Tony award-winner Sutton Foster as a Las Vegas showgirl who moves to a small town with her new husband and becomes a teacher at her mother-in-law's dance school. ABC Family also recently gave series orders to the comedy Baby Daddy and docuseries Beverly Hills Nannies.