Quick Takes: Medavoy to produce film on Chilean miners

The story of the Chilean miners who were trapped underground for more than two months is on its way to the big screen.

The 33 miners have sold the rights to their story to producer Mike Medavoy, the producer and the miners’ representatives announced Monday. The planned film will recount the remarkable plight of the miners who were trapped for 69 days after the San Jose mine they were working in collapsed near Copiapo, Chile.

“Motorcycle Diaries” screenwriter Jose Rivera is set to write the script. It will draw on the book being written about the miners by Times columnist Hector Tobar.

Medavoy, whose credits include “Shutter Island” and “Black Swan,” declined to say how much the deal cost. No studio is yet attached to distribute the film, which is scheduled to begin production next year.

—Associated Press

‘Thor’ beats out ‘Capt. America’

It turns out that “Captain America” wasn’t the fastest superhero out of the gate at the box office this summer after all.

On Sunday, Paramount Pictures estimated that “Captain America: The First Avenger,” the 3-D film starring Chris Evans as the Marvel comic book character, would gross $65.8 million over the weekend. With that figure, it would have had the biggest first weekend of any superhero film released this summer, topping the $65.7-million debut of the 3-D “Thor” in May.

But when the ticket sales were accounted for on Monday, Paramount said “Captain America” had actually collected $65.1 million over the weekend.

—Amy Kaufman

Palin film moves to home video

By now, the Sarah Palin documentary “The Undefeated” is a veritable flop, barely eking out $100,000 in two weeks of theatrical release. But the company releasing it believes it could find an audience on the small screen.

The film’s distributor, ARC Entertainment, has announced that it will make the movie available as an on-demand title via satellite providers DirecTV and Dish Network as well as cable company Time Warner beginning Sept. 1.

ARC, which estimates the deal will make the movie available in about 75 million homes, also announced that a DVD will follow via retailers on Oct. 4. A “special edition” with unspecified original content will be sold only through Wal-Mart.

The producers hope that people who have decided not to go out and pay to see the film about the professional rise of Palin will be more willing to order it at a lower cost in their homes.

—Steven Zeitchik

Web soap operas no sure thing

Moving television shows from the TV screen to the computer screen is not easy, as the folks who want to give new life to soap operas “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” are learning.

Prospect Park, a company headed by former Walt Disney Co. executive Rich Frank and Jeff Kwatinetz, the former head of the talent management company the Firm, made big headlines earlier this month when it announced plans to take the two soaps, which are being canceled by ABC, and put them on the Web.

Details about plans to do this have been scant, and on Monday the company said it is “in the process of working out the essential terms of our proposed collective bargaining agreements with the appropriate guilds and unions,” which needs to be done before other plans can go forward.

Pay cuts are likely being sought from cast and crew.

—Joe Flint

Not all Jacksons keen on tribute

Michael Jackson’s mom and four of his siblings announced plans Monday for a tribute concert later this year in Wales, but two of the late singer’s brothers say they oppose the timing of the show.

The pop singer’s mother, Katherine Jackson, and siblings La Toya Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Jackie Jackson and Tito Jackson said the show is scheduled for Oct. 8 at Millennium Stadium but did not reveal any performers.

Within hours of their announcement of “Michael Forever — The Tribute Concert” at a Beverly Hills hotel, brothers Jermaine Jackson and Randy Jackson released a statement that said they opposed the show because it will be held during the trial of a doctor charged in their brother’s death.

—Associated Press

Record antique for ‘Roadshow’

A collection of Chinese cups carved from rhinoceros horns has become the most valuable find in the 15-year history of PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow.”

The five cups, believed to date from the late 17th or early 18th century, were valued at $1 million to $1.5 million at a taping last weekend after being brought to the TV show at a stop in Tulsa, Okla.

The owner, who prefers to remain unidentified, told Asian arts expert Lark Mason that he started collecting cups inexpensively in the 1970s and had no idea of the collection’s current value.

Three episodes produced from the Tulsa event will air in 2012.

—Reuters

Finally

Record deal: Haley Reinhart, the bluesy ingenue who placed third on “American Idol” last season, has inked a record deal with Interscope Records and 19 Recordings, a source from the label confirmed Monday.

Book deal: The phone-hacking scandal sending shock waves through Rupert Murdoch’s media empire will be the subject of a new book by the newspaper reporter who broke the story in 2009, Faber and Faber announced Monday. “Hack Attack: How the Truth Caught Up With the World’s Most Powerful Man,” by Guardian reporter Nick Davies, is planned for publication in 2012.