Father Geek here taking time off from our Geek Headquarters building project to post Elston's cup of warm film java for you... the news that hit me like a sledge hammer this week was the death of author/thinker Douglas Adams, the writer of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY,
at the somewhat youthful age of 49. Mr Adams died on Friday in
Santa Barbara, California, following a
heart attack.
He became a household name around the world
when his cult science fiction novel
was turned into a BBC series.
The BBC's head of comedy, Geoffrey
Perkins, producer of the original
Hitchhiker's radio series, said: "I'm
absolutely devastated. I've known
Douglas for 25 years. He was
absolutely one of the most creative
geniuses to ever work in the field of radio
comedy.
"He probably wrote one of the
greatest radio comedy series ever;
certainly the most imaginative.
For somebody who was so involved
in breakthroughs in new
developments in technology, it's a
tragedy that he's died before most of
the things he's talked about have
come to past."
Adam's career started with his
work as a radio
and television
writer and
producer before
his life was
changed by the
publication of "The
Hitchhiker's Guide
to the Galaxy" in
1979.
His novel went on to sell more than
14 million copies worldwide and was
followed by the sequels "The
Restaurant at the End of the
Universe," "Life, the Universe and
Everything" and "So Long and Thanks
For All the Fish."
In recent years Douglas had been
working on a Hitchhiker's Guide
movie. Search the AICN archives for some of our stories on this by typing "Hitchhiker" into our keyword search box on the left of the front page...
There has been much speculation about
who would play Arthur Dent, with
Hugh Laurie, Rowan Atkinson, Jim
Carrey, Ben Affleck and even Bruce
Willis said to be in the running.
Good luck Doug, you'll finally find the answers to all those questions... Now on to Elston's report...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
"He probably wrote one of the
greatest radio comedy series ever;
certainly the most imaginative.
For somebody who was so involved
in breakthroughs in new
developments in technology, it's a
tragedy that he's died before most of
the things he's talked about have
come to past."
Adam's career started with his
work as a radio
and television
writer and
producer before
his life was
changed by the
publication of "The
Hitchhiker's Guide
to the Galaxy" in
1979.
His novel went on to sell more than
14 million copies worldwide and was
followed by the sequels "The
Restaurant at the End of the
Universe," "Life, the Universe and
Everything" and "So Long and Thanks
For All the Fish."
In recent years Douglas had been
working on a Hitchhiker's Guide
movie. Search the AICN archives for some of our stories on this by typing "Hitchhiker" into our keyword search box on the left of the front page...
There has been much speculation about
who would play Arthur Dent, with
Hugh Laurie, Rowan Atkinson, Jim
Carrey, Ben Affleck and even Bruce
Willis said to be in the running.
Good luck Doug, you'll finally find the answers to all those questions... Now on to Elston's report...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
His novel went on to sell more than
14 million copies worldwide and was
followed by the sequels "The
Restaurant at the End of the
Universe," "Life, the Universe and
Everything" and "So Long and Thanks
For All the Fish."
In recent years Douglas had been
working on a Hitchhiker's Guide
movie. Search the AICN archives for some of our stories on this by typing "Hitchhiker" into our keyword search box on the left of the front page...
There has been much speculation about
who would play Arthur Dent, with
Hugh Laurie, Rowan Atkinson, Jim
Carrey, Ben Affleck and even Bruce
Willis said to be in the running.
Good luck Doug, you'll finally find the answers to all those questions... Now on to Elston's report...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
There has been much speculation about
who would play Arthur Dent, with
Hugh Laurie, Rowan Atkinson, Jim
Carrey, Ben Affleck and even Bruce
Willis said to be in the running.
Good luck Doug, you'll finally find the answers to all those questions... Now on to Elston's report...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Kate Hudson is attached to star in the romantic comedy HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS for Paramount Pictures about a ladies' man who bets his pals he can stay in a relationship for more than 10 days. However, he gets more than he has bargained for when the woman with whom he ends up tries to get rid of him.
* Jamie Foxx will co-write, executive produce and star in WE DO for Nickelodeon Movies about a 12-year-old whose uncle-in-law is a commitment-shy bachelor who marries a woman with a large family. Bentley Kyle Evans will co-write the project with Foxx.
* Tony Goldwyn will star in the indie pic JOSHUA for Crusader Entertainment and director Jon Purdy. It's based on the novel by Joseph F. Girzone and centers on a potential second coming of Christ to a small town in the U.S. Brad Mirman penned the script.
* Roger Moore and Roselyn Sanchez have grabbed roles in the comedy BOAT TRIP, starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Horatio Sanz. Mort Nathan directs the pic about two straight men accidentally looking for love on a gay cruise.
* Matthew McConaughey will star in the comedy DOG SHOW for Gaylord Films as a Texas rancher who enters his smart canine in dog shows to win money to save his ranch. Dean Lorey (MAJOR PAYNE) scripted.
* Julianne Moore is attached to star in PARIS UNDERGROUND, an adaptation of the 1997 book by Etta Schiber. It's based on the true story of two women, an American and a Brit, who resisted the Nazis during the French Occupation.
* Sean "Puff Daddy/P.Diddy"Combs is in talks to join MONSTER'S BALL starring Billy Bob Thornton, Heath Ledger and Halle Berry. Combs will play a prison inmate headed for the electric chair.
* Lisa Kudrow will star in and produce the dark comedy INTENSE GIRL SCOUTS about a young woman who heads an unofficial Girl Scout troop and tries to do good deeds. However, when things go crazy, she is shunned from the troop. Her life hits a downward spiral and she gets entangled in strange activities with her neighbor that leads to murder.
* Ben Affleck will star in GIGLI for director Martin Brest about a hit man who kidnaps the younger brother of a district attorney out of a home for the mentally challenged. Revolution Studios may produce.
* Mel Gibson is in talks to star in M. Night Shymalan's thriller SIGNS for Disney. It centers around strange crop circles on a family farm in Pennsylvania.
* Rachel Griffiths will star opposite Guy Pearce in the crime comedy BLOOD AND GUTS for writer/director Scott Roberts.
* Jamie Lee Curtis will reprise her role as Laurie Strode in HALLOWEEN: THE HOMECOMING (HALLOWEEN 8) for Dimension Films and director Rick Rosenthal.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Joe Dante is in talks to direct MINDHUNTERS about seven new recruits in training for the FBI's psychological profiling division who are on an island to track serial killers. When a killer emerges among them, the trainees are thrust into early practice.
* Paul Guay and Steve Mazur (LIAR LIAR) will rewrite THE LIST as a Sandra Bullock comedy for Gaylord Films. It's about a woman who tries to become her beau's ideal woman, based on his wish list.
* Ben Elton (THE BEAUTIFUL GAME) has finished a script for the movie adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA for Warner Bros. Lloyd Webber has written some new songs for the film and Shekar Kapur is expected to direct.
* Volker Schlondorff (LEGEND OF RITA) will direct POPE JOAN, based on the book by Donna Woolfolk Cross, about the 9th century woman who disguised herself as a monk and eventually became pope. Andrew Davies scripts.
* Robert Rodriguez will direct ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO from his own script for Columbia Pictures/Dimension Films. The film is the third installment in Rodriguez's trilogy that began with EL MARIACHI and continued with DESPERADO. Antonio Banderas, Mickey Rourke and Quentin Tarantino will star while Salma Hayek is in talks to join depending on her schedule.
* Chris Eyre (SMOKE SIGNALS) will direct SKINS, adapted from the novel by Adrian C. Louis, about a tribal police officer and his alcoholic brother who served Vietnam and came home. While one received a college degree and a career, the other turned to the bottle and has devastated his family and tribe. Graham Greene and Eric Schweig will star.
* Don Rhymer (BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE) will rewrite and direct FAT TUESDAY for Regency Enterprises about a man who goes to apply for his marriage license only to discover he's already married.
* Paul Verhoeven will next direct the Phoenix Pictures pic OFFICIAL ASSASSINS, a post-WWII drama about the race between the U.S. and Russia to enlist German scientists to help develop weapons as they brace for the Cold War. Michael Beckner (SPY GAME) wrote the script.
* Barry Skolnick will direct Vinnie Jones in the soccer pic THE MEAN MACHINE, a remake of the sports film THE LONGEST YARD, for Paramount Pictures.
* Stephen Kay will direct the indie thriller SIX BULLETS FROM NOW, based on the novel by Christian Darren, for producer Ridley Scott. It's set in 1972 and is based on the true story of the biggest hotel heist in history, when five gunmen stole more than $1 million in cash/jewels from New York's Pierre Hotel.
* Lightstorm Entertainment/20th Century Fox have hired Karen Essex to adapt Anne Rice's novel THE MUMMY OR RAMSES THE DAMNED about Egyptian pharaoh Ramses the Great, who is awakened by an archeologist after 2,000 years.
* Amy Holden Jones (MYSTIC PIZZA, BEETHOVEN) will write the animated UNTITLED BLOODHOUND PROJECT for DreamWorks about a young bloodhound from the Ozarks that ends up in England with a royal family.
* Pedro Almodovar is in pre-production on HABLE CON ELLA (TALK TO HER), a romantic drama about impossible love. Good Machine will handle worldwide sales.
* Larry Doyle ("The Simpsons") sold his comedy script 1974 to Miramax Films. The project centers on two college freshman who inadvertently start the conservative youth movement while trying to have some fun.
* David Goyer will write and direct MURDER MYSTERIES a film noir project set in heaven during the last days of Earth's creation. It revolves around the angel of vengeance who tries to to solve the first murder ever committed, which occurs among the angels in heaven.
* Commercial/video director Kevin Donovan is in final talks to direct Jackie Chan in THE TUXEDO for DreamWorks. Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi scripted the project about a bumbling spy.
* Constantin Films will produce Tim Garrick and Scott Russell's feature comedy script BLIND SIDED about a blind man who discovers the world has changed after he regains his sight.
* Samantha Lang will direct Leelee Sobieski and James Hong in THE IDOL about the relationship between an American woman an an older Chinese man.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Manhattan Project picked up the screen rights to the Leif Enger novel PEACE LIKE A RIVER about a Minnesota family with a very loyal dad and equally loyal children. A confrontation with a band of neighborhood hoodlums leads to the murder of two of the children. The killer hides out, the family races the law to track the shooter down and the story ends with a twist.
* Argos Cine is in talks for the rights to the novel NEWS OF A KIDNAPPING by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and is in negotiations with director Luis Mandoki to helm the project. The film revolves around the real-life incidents in Colombia, where 10 VIPs were kidnapped by drug lords to preempt their extradition to the U.S. Argos Cine is also in talks with Mandoki to direct the Spanish-language love story CRIMEN DEL ESTADO (A CRIME OF THE STATE).
* George Clooney has dropped out of THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE due to creative differences. Alan Parker directs the pic about a anti-capital punishment advocate who is facing death row.
* Merchant Ivory Productions has several projects on its plate: MYSTIC MASSEUR, directed by Ismail Merchant, is in post-production for a hopeful Venice Film Festival release; James Ivory is helming LE DIVORCE, based on the novel by Diane Johnson, which starts shooting in September; Merchant Ivory editor John Allen is directing HEIGHTS from a script by Amy Fox based on her play INSOMNIA IN NEW YORK; THE MAN EATING LEOPARD OF RUDRAPRAYAG, scripted by Paul Theroux from a novella by Jim Corbett about a hunter tracking a leopard in the Himalayas; and MOVIE SLAVES, a comedy to be directed by Ivory about two filmmakers (one English, the other American) who are stranded on an island.
* Miramax has purchased the remake rights to the Dutch pic EVERYBODY FAMOUS as well as the French thriller WITH A FRIEND LIKE HARRY.
* Magellan Filmed Entertainment is developing the comedy THE PLEAUSRE OF YOUR COMPANY with actor Michael Ian Black who will direct from his own script. It's about a couple who fall in love despite their dysfunctional families. Magellan is also working on FIRST YOU DREAM, THEN YOU DIE, a thriller based on real accusations that linked author Cornell Woolrich to a series of killings in 1930s New York.
* Director Simon Wells has dropped out of principal photography on the DreamWorks/Warner Bros. pic THE TIME MACHINE due to extreme exhaustion. Gore Verbinski will complete the film on schedule. Wells will be back on the project for post-production.
