Forest Whitaker to Produce "Brick City"

The Sundance Channel is teaming with Forest Whitaker to produce "Brick City," a new documentary series that takes an in-depth look at the challenges facing Newark, N.J., and its mayor, Cory Booker.

The film will also follow local citizens and key figures -- from real estate developers to ex-gang members -- as they try to remake the city, working to stamp out violence, poverty and corruption and make improvements in housing, employment and education.

Whitaker, the Oscar-winning star of "The Last King of Scotland," will serve as an executive producer with the series' directors, Marc Levin ("Slam") and Mark Benjamin ("The Last Party"), according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The series, which will take place over the span of about a year so viewers can see whether things change, is scheduled to debut with six half-hour episodes in the third quarter of 2009.

Sundance executive vp/GM Laura Michalchyshyn said Whitaker is a "huge supporter of this project and of Newark," but that it was too early to determine if he might provide voice-over for the series.

"Munsters" remake from the Wayans Bros is finally close to seeing daylight.

MTV News is reporting that the long gestating "Munsters" remake from the Wayans Bros is finally close to seeing daylight.

Shawn Wayans and the team behind “Scary Movie” and “Little Man” are currently finalizing work on their third draft of the script.

“I'm almost ready. It's almost ready to be shot,” Wayans said during a late night shoot on his newest film, the musical spoof “Dance Flick.” “We had to finish this movie and now we're going through our third polish on ‘The Munsters.'”

The Wayans first announced their involvement in the project four years ago, but Shawn says the film's basic format hasn't really changed all that much in the four years since: they are still placing the family in modern times and they still don't have any plans to star.

“If we do anything, maybe we'll do a cameo, but we're not gonna make The Munsters black all of a sudden,” Wayans laughed. “They're gonna be green, white people just like they were in the TV show. Their characters are still who they were in the ‘50s. It's just in modern day.”