Frank Dileo dies at 64

Manager Frank DiLeo, who guided Michael Jackson's career both at the height of his '80s fame and then near the end of the singer's life, died Monday, Aug. 24. He was 63, and had suffered a heart attack and undergone bypass surgery earlier this year.A Pittsburgh native, DiLeo got his start in the industry as a rack jobber and a regional promotion man at Epic Records. He went on to work for RCA and Bell (the precursor of Arista Records).DiLeo was VP of promotion at Epic and turned the slumbering imprint into the hottest label in the country during CBS Records prexy Walter Yetnikoff's regime. His work on behalf of Jackson's multiplatinum 1982 smash "Thriller" led the vocalist to hire DiLeo as his manager in 1984.He shepherded the superstar through the 1987 release of the megahit "Thriller" follow-up "Bad," exec produced the 1988 Jackson video feature "Moonwalker," and was point man on the "Bad" world tour and the Jacksons' "Victory" tour. He also negotiated Jackson's lucrative endorsement deal with Pepsi. However, he was abruptly terminated by the superstar in February 1989.DiLeo also managed Taylor Dayne, Laura Branigan and Jodeci and helmed Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora's solo career. In later years, he was active in Nashville as a manager and music publisher.He reunited with Jackson during the singer's 2005 child molestation trial and rejoined him as manager in 2009. He served as co-producer of the posthumous Jackson documentary "This Is It."The short, rotund DiLeo also enjoyed small but eye-catching roles as mobster Tuddy Cicero in Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas" (1999) and rock promoter Frankie "Mr. Big" Sharp in the Mike Myers-Dana Carvey vehicles "Wayne's World" (1992) and "Wayne's World 2" (1993).DiLeo is survived by his wife, Linda; a son; and a daughter. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Conan Screenwriter Opens Up About Failure, and 5 Other Stories You'll Be Talking About Today

Also in this Wednesday edition of The Broadsheet: Universal may have put Ouija back in the box… 360 heads to London… Ed Zwick will climb the The Great Wall… and more ahead. · As you may have heard, the Marcus Nispel-directed remake of Conan the Barbarian didn’t slay many comers at the box office last weekend; the much-hyped splatterfest opened in fourth place with barely over $10 million in ticket sales. Sean Hood (Halloween: Resurrection) was one of four credited screenwriters on the film, and on Tuesday he took to the Q&A site Quora to answer the question: “What’s it like to have your film flop at the box office?” Apparently, it’s a lot like a political campaign, and there’s always plenty of blame to spread around: Unfortunately, the work I do as a script doctor is hard to defend if the movie flops. I know that those who have read my Conan shooting script agree that much of the work I did on story and character never made it to screen. I myself know that given the difficulties of rewriting a script in the middle of production, I made vast improvements on the draft that came before me. But its still much like doing great work on a losing campaign. All anyone in the general public knows, all anyone in the industry remembers, is the flop. A loss is a loss. Translation: Hood made the best lemonade he could out of the Conan lemons! Click through to Quora to read the entire post. [Quora] · It looks like Universal may have mercifully put the planned screen adaptation of Ouija that no one wanted back in the box. According to a report from Vulture, the film has been put in a turnaround, with the studio allowing producer Michael Bay and director McG the chance to shop Ouija to another studio in the next week. If this is all accurate, Universal would be forced to pay Ouija rights holder Hasbro a $5 million penalty for passing on the film. Stay tuned… [Vulture] · After premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival next month, the Fernando Meirelles-directed drama 360 will open BFI’s 55th London Film Festival. Rachel Weisz, Jude Law and Anthony Hopkins star. [Deadline] · Ed Zwick will direct The Great Wall for Legendary East, the Hong Kong-based production company started by Legendary. The film will focus on the mysteries of the Great Wall of China, with Marshall Herskovitz writing the script. [Deadline] · The kooky cast of Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim keeps getting more kooky. Clifton Collins has joined Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnan and Charlie Day in the big budget alien invasion flick. [Variety] · Release dates! Warner Bros. has set the low budget Todd Phillips-produced comedy Project X for March 2, 2012. Meanwhile, Sylvester Stallone’s Bullet in the Head lands on April 13, 2012. Mark those calendars! [Deadline]

Evil in the Bayou

Jake Le'Claire has led a miserable existance as a PI ever since he was kicked off the force in New Orleans, LA. Jake encounters mysterious cult murders verses voodoo after Ryan Mason hires him to find his missing wife, after being blown off by the local police. Jake convinces Det. Dirk Osbourne to team up with him and they run into grisly human and animal sacrifices along the way. These sacrifices are all given as a gift by Adrian to Satan, who brings him forth to RULE the world with Adrian by his side! Something goes wrong! DEAD WRONG! Jake becomes the ultimate sacrifice.

Warner Bros Project X To Open March; Stallones Bullet To The Head In April

What to do with Project X, the $12 million raunchy R-rated Warner Bros comedy that was constructed secretly and produced by Todd Phillips and executive produced by Joel Silver, and populated with a cast that was chosen on the basis of never having done anything recognizable? Warner Bros, which probably hasn’t had a film with this low a budget since the Depression, has moved the film out of its Nov. 23 date. It will now open March 2, 2012. The studio has also given the Walter Hill-directed Sylvester Stallone-starrerBullet to the Head an April 13, 2012 release date, getting the film out before the summer onslaught.

Test Your Robot Trivia With the Pop Culture Puzzle of 'Where's Wall-E?'

From ComicsAlliance: Inspired by Martin Hanford's Where's Waldo books, Richard Sargent of Hopewell Studios has presented robot fans with a similarly awesome challenge: Find Pixar's WALL-E amid dozens of pop culture's most famous robots, then identify them all. The amateur robotologist who correctly identifies the largest number of 'bots by August 31 will even be awarded a print from Hopewell. You don't have to get competitive to enjoy the mechanized fruits of Sargent's labors, though. Hit the jump to take in the awesomeness that is 'Where's WALL-E?' Whether your favorite robots come from comics, movies, cartoons or gaming (or, as is the case with many awesome characters, all of the above), 'Where's WALL-E?' has a little something for everyone. Here's a few of our favorites: The Good Bill and Ted Robots (Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey) The Butler From 'Sleeper' Silent Film Star Maria and Her Date C-3PO The T-800 and Johnny 5 Film critic Tom Servo Try your hand at identifying them all below: [Click Image To Enlarge] Numbered Guide [Via Neatorama/TDWG/Reddit]

Miramax Makes Film Cope With Facebook

Miramax introduced today on its blog that it's joining up with Facebook to produce Miramax Experience, an application that will permit customers worldwide to look at movie clips and have-length films in the studio. It's the most ambitious move yet for any Hollywood studio on Facebook. In the beginning, the beta application offers rental video-on-interest in 30 Facebook credits ($3), but Miramax stated it intends to eventually sell films to keep electronically so purchasers can enjoy them on any device. (Presently, 20 films are available in the studio library, including Chicago, Gangs of recent You are able to, Good Will Hunting and Pulp Fiction.) The studio, which joined withOoyala and AllDigital to construct the application in eight days, stated which more than 50 million Facebook customers presently mention aMiramax film within their profile, connect to the Miramax page or such as the fan pages of Miramax game titles and talent. Offering up movies via Facebook has become a trend. A week ago, Universal stated it might provide the Coen brothers' The Large Lebowski since it's first rental in the Social Theater application. In March,Warner Bros also started offering movies, includingThe Dark Dark night, some ofHarry Potter films and Beginning. To date, all the choices are for sale to a 48-hour window for $3.

Do Not Take a shower and Avoid the Garage in 2 New Clips from 'Don't Hesitate from the Dark' (VIDEO)

With 'Fright Night' in theaters and horror season under way, the following scare factory we must looks toward is 'Don't Hesitate from the Dark.' Written and created by Guillermo del Toro, the storyline involves just a little girl (Bailee Madison) who would go to accept her father (Guy Pearce) and the new girlfriend (Katie Holmes) inside a large old mansion. Right after relocating, the small girl finds out the existence of little animals jailed within the basement and sets them free because she's searching for new buddies. It does not take lengthy for that girl to understand the animals aren't everything nice, and before she knows it, they are attempting to kill her and her family. Click through to look at two new clips from CinemaBlend that provide us a much better consider the animals as well as their evil antics. Directed by Troy Nixey, and hang to have an August 26 release, guess we now have one other reason to maintain better tabs on our secrets. You do too think individuals little animals look stupid or terrifying? [via CinemaBlend] Photo thanks to FilmDistrict.