Twee-riffic! Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom Will Kick Off Cannes

Get ready for some twee twinkling on the Croisette -- Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom is set to open the 2012 Cannes Film Festival! Last year's opener, Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, went on to enjoy a rousingly successful theatrical run on its way to a Best Picture nomination; Anderson's comedy, about a pair of pre-teen lovebirds on the lam in 1960s New England, will open stateside just over a week after its May 16 Cannes debut and marks his return to live-action film after his most recent film, the Oscar-nominated Fantastic Mr. Fox. In a statement announcing the premiere, Cannes head Thierry Frmaux referenced Fellini and Renoir while calling Anderson a 'brilliant and inventive filmmaker'; not too shabby for a guy who most recently followed in the footsteps of some of cinema's brightest directors by helming a pair of car commercials for Hyundai! (Said ads are classic Anderson, though, through and through -- can't quite say the same for this week's other ad director-for-hire, Darren Aronofsky.) Moonrise Kingdom stars youngsters Jared Gilman as Sam and Kara Hayward as his best gal Suzy, along with Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton, Ed Norton, Frances McDormand, Jason Schwartzman, Bob Balaban, and Harvey Keitel. [Deadline]

Cucinotta, Beijing Ciwen team on romcom

ROME -- In a rare China/Italy co-production, Italo muli-hyphenate Maria Grazia Cucinotta ("Il Postino") has teamed up with China's prominent Beijing Ciwen Film and TV Production on a romcom that she will star in, set in China and Sicily. Shooting is set to start in April in Chengdu -- capital of China's Sichuan province -- on the pic working titled "C'e sempre un perche" (There Is Always a Reason). Plan is to then move the shoot from China to Sicily, where regional funds are in place. Cucinotta, who has forged close Chinese ties as juror of the Shanghai Film Festival last year, will play an Italian innkeeper who becomes entangled with a Chinese man. A-list Chinese talent is still being finalized, as is pic's helmer, who is likely to be Italian. Cucinotta's Rome-based Seven Dreams production is shepherding "Reason" with Beijing Ciwen, the studio behind Tsui Hark's martial arts epic "Seven Swords." A former Bond girl in "The World Is Not Enough," Cucinotta more recently starred in Alfonso Arau's "The Trick in the Sheet," which she also produced. Meanwhile, attesting to Cucinotta's growing activity as a producer, shooting started March 5 in Rome on "Tulpa," a high-profile giallo -- the Italian thriller genre -- by Federico Zampaglione ("Shadow"), starring Italo A-listers Claudia Gerini and Michele Placido, also being produced by Seven Dreams. Contact Nick Vivarelli at nvivarelli@gmail.com

NBC's 'Voice,' 'Smash' grow Monday

NBC's Broadway drama 'Smash' came 7.9 million audiences Monday, up 17% from a week ago.Benefiting from much softer than normal competition , including repeats on CBS , NBC's new Monday tandem of ''The Voice'' and ''Smash'' increased nicely week to week to guide the internet for an easy rankings victory.As ''The Voice'' joined the Battles Models, it shot up to and including 6.1 rating/16 be part of grown ups 18-49 and 16.7 million audiences overall from eight to ten p.m., based on Nielsen it increased by 13% over last week's auditions round (that was opposed through the strong Daytona 500 Dale earnhardt jr . race on Fox) for that show's best amounts since its Monday premiere four days ago. And also at 10, ''Smash'' (2.7/7 in 18-49, 7.9 million audiences overall), facing repeat dramas on ABC and CBS the very first time, increased 17% week to week for any three-week high and brought the ten o'clock hour overall.Not including nights with major sports, NBC has won four straight Mondays in grown ups 18-49 after not prevailing around the evening with regular series in 4 years.Somewhere else, ABC's ''The Bachelor'' (2.5/6 in 18-49, 8.a million audiences overall) was consistent with a week ago, placing second to NBC from eight to ten p.m. but lower nearly 20% in the same evening last year the show systems its season in a few days. And also at 10, a repeat ''Castle'' did single.4/4 in 18-49 and 6.7 million audiences overall.Fox drama ''Alcatraz'' is constantly on the set up sluggish amounts (1.8/5 in 18-49, 5.7 million audiences overall), this time around having a two-hour episode. In 18-49, it lagged the 8-10 p.m. average of repeat CBS comedies ''How I Met Your Mother'' (2./6 in 18-49, 6.two million audiences overall), ''2 Broke Girls'' (2.1/5 in 18-49, 7. million audiences overall), ''Two . 5 Men'' (2.1/5 in 18-49, 8. million audiences overall) and ''Mike and Molly'' (1.8/4 in 18-49, 7. million audiences overall). Closing things out for CBS would be a repeat ''Hawaii Five-0'' (1.5/4 in 18-49, 6.5 million audiences overall).Preliminary 18-49 earnings for that evening: NBC, 4.9/13 ABC, 2.1/6 CBS and Fox, 1.8/5 Univision, 1.3/3 CW, .4/1.As a whole audiences: NBC, 13.7 million ABC, 7.six million CBS, 6.9 million Fox, 5.7 million Univision, 3.3 million CW, 1.two million. Contact Ron Kissell at ron.kissell@variety.com

Nostalgia night at TV Academy

Gail Berman, honoree Jonathan Murray and Juliana Bunim Ashton Kutcher and Jon Cryer check out the souvenir. Honoree Chuck Lorre with TV Academy's Bruce Rosenblum Tales of liquid lunches at Nickodell, a mini-filibuster from the sister of Vivian Vance and a tribute to a mother who was a pioneer of reality TV were highlights of the TV Academy Hall of Fame induction dinner Thursday night at the BevHills Hotel.But the biggest attraction was honoree Chuck Lorre, who came to the podium full of thank-yous, and said he'd decided to skip the "mean stuff." That brought chants of "Do it, do it" from the many writers and actors in attendance. He went back to more thank-yous before delivering the jab everyone had been waiting for. "And from the people who are not here tonight -- Roseanne Barr, Cybill Shepherd, Brett Butler and Charlie Sheen -- I learned something about myself. I am an incredible shit magnet," he said.Earlier, "My Three Sons" stars Stanley and Barry Livingston recalled favorite moments with William Frawley, their onscreen uncle Bub. Stan, it seems, was the only one who could get Frawley away from the bar at Nickodell (down the street from Desilu) after lunch.Vance's sister, Lou Ann Graham, spoke at length (really) about her big sis before host Jon Cryer gently ushered her off.The most touching moment of the rowdy night was Juliana Bunim's remarks about her mother, the late "Real World" producer Mary-Ellis Bunim. Contact Cynthia Littleton at cynthia.littleton@variety.com

Cinedigm, New Video pact for 'Invisible War'

Cinedigm and New Video have with each other acquired U . s . States distribution rights to docu "The Invisible War," with expects to produce the film theatrically this summer season, then a digital and homevid rollout. "Invisible War," from helmer Kirby Dick ("This Film Isn't Rated"), concentrates on the implications in the many rapes inside the U.S. military. Pic won the U.S. Documentary Audience Award as of this year's Sundance Film Festival. "We are honored our first New Video/Cinedigm acquisition is 'The Invisible War,'" mentioned Chris McGurk, chairman-Boss of Cinedigm. "The film can be very effective and warrants -- really, demands -- to look by as much people as you can.In . New Video co-prexy Susan Margolin added: "Kirby can be a courageous and wise filmmaker, and 'The Invisible War' will definitely ignite a national firestorm." Cinedigm and New Video grew to become part of forces taken as joint partnership specific at acquiring and disseminating product. Cinedigm handles theatrical efforts New Video focuses on homevid and digital platforms, including VOD. Deal was talked about by Orly Ravid in the Film Collaborative and distribution agent Jonathan Dana regarding the filmmakers. Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com

Leah Remini & Sara Rue Join ABC Comedies

Former Talk co-host Leah Remini is placed because the only female cast person in Basic steps comedy pilot Whitened Van Guy. The only-camera is really a blue collar ensemble in line with the British format and focuses on Jack (Kyle Bornheimer) who's instructed to put his dreams on hold to be able to dominate the household renovator business from his father Tony (J.K. Simmons). Remini, repped by UTA and also the Collective, will have Tony’s happy massage counselor sister. The casting comes from The King Of Queens alumna‘s talent cope with ABC. Bobby Bowman authored the pilot, created by ABC Galleries. Also c-starring are Jonny Pemberton and Edi Gathegi. Former Under Perfect star Sara Rue has returned at ABC having a co-starring role opposite Reba McEntire within the network’s comedy pilot Malibu Country. The project, from author Kevin Abbott, focuses on Reba Gallagher (McEntire) who, after her good ol boy rock star husband cheats on her behalf and burns through the majority of their cash, divorces him and moves her family from Nashville towards the only resource she's left just a little house in Malibu. Rue, repped by APA and also the Alan David Group, will have Kim, Rebas upbeat new neighbor who's a share-too-much, hug-too-freely, trophy wife.