Hey folks, Harry here with an update regarding the prose of Elmore Leonard. As always, he has a new book out, and as usual, the man is out pressing flesh, signing books and spreading the word. Our own little Mr Paradise, was on hand at the latest scribbling affair to bend an ear for the lowdown from the man himself! So, here ya go...
Hey Harry-
Long time reader, first time caller.... yada, yada,yada..... I don't know if you'll find this interesting, but I attended a book signing in Ridgewood, NJ, the other night with none other than the "Dickens of Detroit" himself, Elmore Leonard. He read a few pages from his new book "Mr. Paradise" and afterwards did a little Q & A. Here are some of the interesting tidbits I picked up concerning some of his books becoming movie projects (some you're all probably aware of and some that are just in the talking stages):
Principle photography will begin on the "Get Shorty" sequel, "Be Cool", with John Travolta & Uma Thurman in February. While this might not be news, an interesting side note is that the character Elliot Wilhelm (who's a 6ft-tall gay Samoan) was named after an actual person who won an
auction to have a character named after him in a Elmore Leonard book.
Production on "Tishomingo Blues"- with Don Cheadle writing, directing & starring- has been delayed due to Don's commitment to doing Ocean's
Twelve for Steve Soderbergh. After Twelve gets finished the project should get back on track. This is one of the project I'm looking forward
the most since this one is being backed by Soderbergh & George Clooney's Production Co. Section 8 who did a bang-up job on "Out of Sight."
Uber-movie geek Quentin Tarantino still has the rights to "Killshot." Originally he had the rights to TWO other books- "Freaky Deaky" & "The
Switch(?)"- but Elmore & company were able to get the rights back to them in lieu of payment for "Killshot." There's no telling when & if
this project's going to get off the ground. Elmore made a funny joke about how indecisive Tarantino was with his next film: "First he was
going to make a western, then it was a war film. Now he has 'Kill Bill' which he wrote in Amsterdam where he wasn't just there to look at the
canals."
An interesting tidbit is that Kathy Bates has expressed interest in writing & directing "Pagan Babies." I'm curious to see what she does with this material. I just hope she doesn't beat us over the head with the situation in Rwanda & just stick to the story.
The yummy Catherine-Zeta Jones wants to do "Cuba Libre." Let's hope they attach a writer & director who can match Elmore's style.
Lastly, he didn't have anything too positive to say about the latest movie version of his novel "The Big Bounce"- remember it was made into a movie in 1969 with Ryan O'Neal in the lead... Unfortunately I never saw so I can't say if was any good. He said they changed the story around and it lacked his writing style & dialog. I can't say that I disagree with him having just recently finished the novel. As much as I like Owen Wilson, I just see him as the lead character who's a muscular ex-baseball pitcher. Owen looks more like a surfer dude- which is what he is in this remake. Although judging from the trailers, it looks like Sara Foster is dead-on for her literary counterpart.
If you use this.... call me Mr. Paradise....
