‘Big Bang Theory’ Trio Inks New Deals, Securing Hefty Pay Raises

The Big Bang Theory Cast Restaurant - H 2014Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco have reached new deals with studio Warner Bros. Television. Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar, meanwhile, are still working out new agreements.

Following prolonged negotiations that resulted in a brief production delay, stars Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco have inked rich new three-year deals to return to the CBS hit, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar are still in negotiations, but an agreement is expected to be reached this week. Warner Bros. Television declined to comment.

The show, which was renewed for three additional seasons through its 10th run, likely resumes production Wednesday after a one-week delay that occurred when the five stars refused to return to work without new deals. (Their contracts expired in May at the end of season seven.)

Emmy-winner Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco negotiated together and were seeking big salary increases. Sources tell THR that the trio, who currently earn $325,000 per episode, likely secured about $1 million per half-hour with an increased cut of the show’s backend. The deals are said to bring the three into the Friends region, with that cast negotiating together and locking in $1 million per episode with studio WBTV. (Big Bang Theory is a massive hit in syndication, with TBS’ repeats regularly topping the weekly syndication ratings.) The pacts are also said to include a greater percentage of the show’s back-end, overall deals and more.

Co-stars Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch previously inked new deals with WBTV, with both earning big raises in September when the cast’s contract talks began.

It’s unclear if the one-week delay will result in a reduced episode from the show’s standard 24, though it typically takes three weeks to turn in a completed episode and the delay could likely be overcome during the season.

The three-season renewal gave the cast considerable leverage — especially considering Big Bang is TV’s No. 1 comedy among total viewers, a metric it has held since the 2010-11 season. Season seven regularly topped 20 million viewers per week, up 4 percent year-over-year, with an impressive 6.1 rating among the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demographic. The show is also a hit in syndication on TBS, with repeats often topping some of the Big Four broadcast networks’ original fare. Big Bang is again nominated for best comedy series, but the show has yet to take home that trophy. Parsons — a three-time winner — is nominated for the seventh time for his starring turn as Sheldon Cooper.

The cast was a no-show last month at San Diego Comic-Con, where for the second year in a row, the panel consisted of series writers. Last year, Galecki made a surprise appearance with Rauch moderating. Parsons was at Comic-Con the day before the show’s panel to DreamWorks Animation’s Home, in which he has a voice role.

Meanwhile, showrunner Steve Molaro has a three-year overall deal (his first) with WBTV, and co-creator/EP Chuck Lorre is also under contract with the studio. Securing Big Bang Theory‘s future was a top priority for CBS, which last season bade farewell to Monday staple How I Met Your Mother. CBS recently scored rights to Thursday night NFL games, pushing Big Bang Theory to Mondays for the first few weeks of season eight, before it returns to Thursdays. The network, which sources say did not have a contingency plan in place had the cast not reupped, is looking to The Big Bang Theory to help launch rookie drama Scorpion on Mondays at 9 p.m., after abandoning its two-hour comedy block that night.

For his part, Lorre didn’t see the contract negotiations as a problem. “There are people at Warner Brothers Television and people representing the actors who have done this before,” he told THRthis month. “This will work itself out. I think it’s great; I want them all to be crazy wealthy because nobody deserves it more than this cast. It’ll work out.”

The cast’s new deal comes after the Modern Family co-creator/EP Christopher Lloyd staged a walkout before — missing the first week of work in the writers room — until he had reached a new deal with studio 20th Century Fox Television. The Emmy-winning comedy’s cast also had a well-documented and contentious contract renegotiation in 2012 that threatened to delay production, which concluded with the six adult actors earning major pay increases.

Alex Kurtzman’s THE MUMMY to Launch Cinematic Monster Universe

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Alex Kurtzman was recently announced as the director of The Mummy reboot, which will be the first in a Universal Pictures cinematic monster universe, in the same way Iron Man launched the Marvel cinematic universe. Kurtzman is a brilliant choice to direct and has been involved with lots of acclaimed TV and movies, notably Star Trek, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Star Trek Into Darkness, Fringe, Sleepy Hollow, and Alias. His knack for great episodic and cinematic storytelling is exactly what’s needed for the movie that will kickstart a whole universe of films.

Universal is also pushing its release date back to June 26, 2016. My guess is that Universal and Kurtzman want enough time to properly develop the movie and map out the cinematic universe.

I’ve heard rumors that Universal Pictures cinematic monster universe will be set in modern day, a rumor I hope is not true. Maybe it’s my limited vision for these characters, but I’ve always seen them as period movies.

Katee Sackhoff Teases Superhero She Will Play

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Battlestar Galactica star Katee Sackhoff has been tweeting some clues that clearly tease a superhero she will be playing as part of a “super secret job.” There’s a photo that shows her having a cast made for her face, and then a little glimpse of a red costume.

There have been a lot of rumors and speculation regarding what superhero or villain Sackhoff could play. She’s already expressed interest in Captain Marvel and Harley Quinn. We do know that at one point Marvel was discussing a potential project with her.

On July 29th she said the following:

“I’m wearing red leather to my meeting with @TheRealStanLee today, sorta just seemed appropriate.”

A few days later these two photos popped up:http://static.squarespace.com/static/51b3dc8ee4b051b96ceb10de/t/53df9e32e4b0a0eb46c0b12e/1407163954669/?format=300w“Headed out for day one of a super secret job….I will send photo clues throughout the next 3 days! Clue #1”https://i1.wp.com/static.squarespace.com/static/51b3dc8ee4b051b96ceb10de/t/53df9e6ee4b0689349464122/1407164031862/BuFEOfrIYAA60sk.jpg?w=584

“Clue 2”

Who knows exactly what this could all mean? She’s definitely got some kind of superhero project brewing with Marvel. The red and black colors would suggest Captain Marvel. It’s not clear on if this is for a movie, TV show or some other form of entertainment, but if Sackhoff belongs in the Marvel cinematic universe, it would be pretty damn cool if she was going to play Captain Marvel.

Paul Feig May Direct GHOSTBUSTERS Reboot with Female Cast

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In news that has enraged depressed male Internet commenters the world over, Variety reports that Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) is in talks to direct a reboot of Ghostbusters that will feature an all-female ghost busting team. A new script will be written from scratch. I know that some of you were still holding out hope for Ghostbusters 3, but that seems less and less likely all the time. Bill Murray is never going to sign on, and Harold Ramis died earlier this year, which is most likely what prompted director Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 2) to leave the project in March. That doesn’t leave much of a band to get back together (sorry, Dan Aykroyd).

Sony has been looking for a new director for the project since Reitman’s departure, and now it sounds like they’ve settled on this idea instead. THR originally reported that Feig was in talks to direct Ghostbusters 3, but have updated their article to state that this is a new project. Apparently the talks are very preliminary, and no formal negotiations have taken place, so nothing is set in stone. The director is already set to shoot Spy with Melissa McCarthy, due out next year, and he reportedly has several scripts in development at Fox, so this new lady Ghostbusters is, at best, third in line.

I know everyone complains about reboots, and a lot of them are terrible and unnecessary. The first two Ghostbusters don’t require updating, but if Sony is intent on squeezing more money out of the franchise, wouldn’t you rather see a fresh start with some really funny comediennes than one out of three original Ghostbusters handing things off to Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, and Zac Efron? I can get behind complaints that Sony is messing with the Ghostbusters, but I don’t understand complaints that girls ruin everything. Feig hasn’t directly commented on the news, but he did send out this sort of subtweet:

 Interesting how making a movie with men in the lead roles is normal but making a movie with women in the lead roles is a “gimmick.”

I feel ya, Paul Feig.

Not sure how i would feel about that  but  what  women would u like to see  as the leads if they do?