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Matthew Belloni of The Hollywood Reporter finally got to read the script for a potential HBO series about a "no-holds-barred show biz blogger." His main question going in was answered: it's definitely based on Nikki Finke. Belloni posts at THR, Esq:
Here's the setup: Tilda Watski is the most feared woman in Hollywood because her website, The Daily Circus (header: "Founder and Editor Tilda Watski"), takes aim at the town's most powerful moguls. When a lecherous studio exec is caught drunk on video bashing movie stars ("No actor in Hollywood is worth more than a million dollars, unless he speaks Na'vi and has blue skin," he says), an assistant tips off Tilda, who then jumps into action, badgering sources until she lands her story -- and the exec is kicked to the curb.It's a sharp, funny script, though even with Diane Keaton reportedly in talks to star, we can't imagine why anyone outside the industry would be amused by how the showbiz journalism sausage gets made. On the accessibility scale, "Tilda" makes "Entourage" look like "Hannah Montana."
How close is Tilda to Nikki?...The Condon/Mort script describes Tilda as "50ish" with "long blonde hair, the last vestige of the prep school girl she once was," and a demeanor that alternates between charming and monstrous ("I'd fire you because you're a pathetic douche bag who fucks assistants and then replaces them," she barks at the studio exec). She has emotional issues and is agoraphobic (her groceries are being delivered in one scene), preferring to stay inside because "I just find it uncomfortable to run into the people I write about," she says. There hasn't been a picture taken of Tilda for years. Oh, and she was fired from Newsweek and once had to sell her car to pay back taxes.
Too similar? There's more. When Tilda takes time off, she tells her readers, "I have a medical issue today so I'm not posting," a breathless advisory that fans of Finke's website will certainly find familiar.
Belloni has one more question: will Finke sue?