The drama series Mr. Selfridge, which airs on PBS’ Masterpiece Classic, tells the story of an American man, named Harry Selfridge (Jeremy Piven in his first television role since Entourage), who created the renowned London department store Selfridges in 1909 and changed shopping forever.  With an incredible charm and bold vision, the fancy window displays, cosmetics counters and merchandise Selfridge would allow potential customers to touch would eventually become commonplace.

During this exclusive interview with Collider, actor Jeremy Piven talked about how he came to be a part of this television series, what makes Harry Selfridge such an interesting man, the similarities between Harry Selfridge and Ari Gold, that he’s become very protective of this character, how viewers will get to see the light and dark sides of this man, and that he would love to continue exploring this role for future seasons.  He also talked about the fans’ desire to see an Entourage movie, and not being worried about making a misstep by continuing the story for a feature.  Check out what he had to say after the jump. 

Mr. Selfridge, the latest PBS and ITV collaboration, chronicles the exploits of the man who founded the famous high-end Selfridges department store in London, and in doing so, changed our understanding of modern merchandizing.  The series ran at the first of the year in the U.K. to mixed, though generally favorable reviews, and having personally consumed the entire ten-episode series in a matter of days I can say unequivocally that it’s worth watching.  Mr. Selfridge doesn’t ask much of its viewers, but it’s a sprawling drama adapted by Andrew Davies (who has adapted pretty much every British miniseries you can think of) from a novel, and the series’ sumptuous costume designs and whirling stories are greatly entertaining.

Hit the jump for what Mr. Selfridge, starring Jeremy Piven (Entourage) has to offer, and why the women of the series end up stealing the show.

It appears that the long-promised Entourage movie might actually be happening.  Creator Doug Ellin and executive producer Mark Wahlberg have been touting a feature film version of the HBO “comedy” series for quite some time, and now Deadline reports that Warner Bros. has given a greenlight to the project.  Ellin wrote the script and will direct the movie, which he previously revealed takes place six months after the series finale.  Hit the jump for more.

When news broke a couple of weeks ago that Joseph Gordon-Levitt had joined Robert Rodriguez’s in-production sequel Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, the source report noted that other “tough guy actors” would be announced for the cast soon.  Indeed, just a day later Josh Brolin joined the pic in a lead role and Christopher Meloni signed on to portray a supporting character, and now The Playlist reports that Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, and the lovely Juno Temple (The Dark Knight Rises) have been added to the cast.

Details on their characters are unknown at the moment, but Rodriguez is filling out the follow-up with a pretty impressive lineup.  The current cast now also includes Mickey ROurke, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Jaime King, Dennis Haysbert, and Jamie Chung.  Sin City: A Dame to Kill For opens on October 14th.

For anyone still itching to see an Entourage movie, the film just became a bit more of a reality.  Series creator Doug Ellin recently revealed that he’s on page 110 of the screenplay and he’s nearly finished.  The movie will pick up six months after the show’s series finale left off, with Ari (Jeremy Piven) now a fully-fledge studio head and Vince (Adrien Grenier) hours away from some impending nuputuals.  Ellin notes that Ari’s studio head status was “page one” for him, but the film also focuses on Vince and his crew “still hanging out and going to fun parties.”  Who needs character development anyway, eh?  Hit the jump for more.

After three seasons too many of “hugging it out, bitch” and making fun of Kevin Connolly’s height, the impossibly charismatic Jeremy Piven is evidently prepping to sink his teeth into something a bit more hoity-toity. The 46-year-old actor is negotiating with UK network ITV to star in Mr. Selfridge, a historical mini-series that will chronicle the life of American Harry Gordon Selfridge and his considerable exploits in revolutionizing shopping in early twentieth-century Britain.  Based on the book Shopping, Seduction and Mr. Selfridge by Lindy Woodhead, the ten-part series was created by Bridget Jones’ Diary scribe Andrew Davies and will be directed by Downton Abbey’s Jon Jones. Hit the jump for more.

Sony Pictures’ The Pirates! Band of Misfits have launched a new interactive site with lots of visual goodies for fans of The Pirates! and Aardman Animation. If you’re not familiar with the name, you’ll probably still recognize their previous works, such as Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run and Flushed Away. Aardman has a unique and appealing animation style that Steve got to take and up-close-and-personal look at when he visited the set.

Directed by Peter Lord and Jeff Newitt (Chicken Run), The Pirates! Band of Misfits stars Hugh Grant, in his first animated role, as the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain who is trying to win the Pirate Of The Year Award with the help of his rag-tag crew (Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey, and Ashley Jensen).  To win, Pirate Captain must contend with a diabolical queen (Imelda Staunton) and bitter rivals like Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek). The Pirates! Band of Misfits opens April 27th. Hit the jump to meet the pirates. 

A new trailer for Aardman Animation’s The Pirates! Band of Misfits has gone online. This trailer maintains the delightfully goofy tone we’ve seen from past trailers, and delves a bit more into the plot. The story centers on a pirate captain named Pirate Captain (voiced by Hugh Grant) who’s on a quest to win the Pirate of the Year award. We also get a look at the character voiced by Jeremy Piven here. This trailer didn’t grab me as much as the last two, and it kind of feels like a more Americanized version targeted at audiences here in the States. Nevertheless, I’m still very excited to see the finished film, as Aardman’s next picture Arthur Christmas has been rounding up some very positive reactions.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The film also features the voices of Salma Hayek, Brendan Gleeson, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, and Martin Freeman. The Pirates! Band of Misfits opens in 3D on March 30th, 2012.

We’re happy to debut an exclusive TV spot for the drama I Melt With You today. The film tells the story of four lifelong friends (Thomas Jane, Rob Lowe, Jeremy Piven, and Christian McKay) who gather for their annual get-together in Big Sur, only to be confronted by the current state of their lives darkened by a promise from their past. This spot is much more commercial than the incredibly dark trailers and promos we’ve seen before, but I’m still intrigued by the project. The cast is great, and it looks to be a pretty compelling drama.

Hit the jump to watch the TV spot. I Melt With You will be available on Magnolia On-Demand November 4th, followed by its theatrical release on December 9th.

The international trailer for The Pirates! Band of Misfits has been released. This may be my favorite trailer for the film yet, as it delves more into plot and maintains that delightfully goofy tone that Aardman (the studio behind Wallace & Gromit) does so well. We also get some good stuff from the character Charles Darwin (yes, that Charles Darwin) and lots of kooky pirates. The story centers on a pirate captain named Pirate Captain (voiced by Hugh Grant) who’s determined to win the Pirate of the Year Award. This one is definitely high on my most anticipated list for 2012.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The film also features the voices of Salma Hayek, Brendan Gleeson, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, Martin Freeman, and Jeremy Piven. The Pirates! Band of Misfits opens in 3D on March 30th, 2012.

The red band trailer for the drama I Melt With You has gone online. The film centers on four lifelong friends (Thomas Jane, Rob Lowe, Jeremy Piven, and Christian McKay) that gather for their annual get-together in Big Sur, only to be confronted by their own shortcomings in life and a past secret. The trailer is rather strange. It almost seems a bit like St. Elmo’s Fire meets Requiem for a Dream. It features lots of drugs and close-ups and music, then there’s that secret. I don’t know what it is, but for some reason I need to know. The performances look intense, with some non-Ari shouting from Piven, so expect plenty of drama. I’m a bit biased here, given my heterosexual man-crush on Lowe, but it looks like a weird little flick and my interest is piqued.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. Directed by Mark Pellington, the film will be available on Magnolia On-Demand on November 4th, followed by a theatrical release on December 9th.

Now that his hit HBO series Entourage has finished filming its final season, actor Jeremy Piven said that he’s just trying to impress his nieces. Taking a variety of roles in Spy Kids: All the Time in the World – the most notable of which is the mysterious Timekeeper – is sure to help him, in that regard. In the film, Timekeeper is angry at the world for squandering time and wants to steal it back, believing that he could do more valuable things with it. He feels that families don’t use their time together wisely and, as such, he is a super-villain with family values.

At the film’s press day, Jeremy Piven talked about the appeal of playing a handful of different characters that show his range, all in the same film, being the misunderstood villain, how comfortable he is with green screen work, and how much fun he had working with Jessica Alba. He also talked about how totally fulfilled and grateful he is for his experience on Entourage, how satisfying it was to humanize Ari Gold, his desire to return to the theater for the right role, and how he’s hoping to impress his nieces again with a role opposite Miley Cyrus in the upcoming feature So Undercover. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

I want to see a good pirate movie this year and I certainly didn’t get one with Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  But there may be hope in Aardman Animation’s The Pirates! Band of Misfits.  For those who don’t know, Aardman are the folks behind Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run and judging by the trailer for The Pirates! they’ve done another terrific job.  Not only do they once again provide their charming claymation, but there were numerous jokes in the trailer that had me cracking up.  The film will be getting a presentation at Comic-Con and I’m excited to see more.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film features the voices of Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek, Brendan Gleeson, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, Martin Freeman, and Jeremy Piven.  The Pirates! Band of Misfits opens in 3D on March 30, 2012.

With the final season of Entourage set to premiere Sunday, July 24, HBO has released a thirty minute farewell to the series, which features interviews with the cast and creators of the show.  Included are Adrian Grenier (Vince), Kevin Dillon (Drama), Jerry Ferrara (Turtle), Kevin Connolly (E), Jeremy Piven (Ari Gold), Rex Lee (Lloyd), Debi Mazar (Shauna), Doug Ellin (creator), Ally Musika (writer), Mark Wahlberg & Stephen Levinson (executive producers), and they even have some of the real people the characters are based on.  During the thirty minutes they talk about how the show came together and how difficult it was to get on the air, tell some great stories, and they also talk about the legacy of the show.  I started watching it and before I knew it, I’d watched the whole thing.  Hit the jump to check it out.

Robert Rodriguez’ Spy Kids: All the Time in the World may be so stupid that it’s brilliant.  There’s a talking dog voiced by Ricky Gervais.  Jeremy Piven’s hair is inexplicable.  The jokes are lame.  The kids don’t seem like they can act.  I don’t think there’s a single set that isn’t CG.  But the masterstroke is “Aroma-Scope” which makes the 3D film “4D”.  We’ve already explained how “Aroma-Scope” works but seeing it in this trailer makes it look even dumber than previously imagined.  I wonder if you’ll use it when the kid’s bag of vomit hits a bad guy in the face.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film stars Jessica Alba, Alex Vega, Daryl Sabara, and Joel McHale.  Spy Kids: All the Time in the World opens August 19th.