Cool News
Elston Gunn's Weekly Recap Is Late... But It's Not His Fault!!
Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Blame Harry.
I don't know why, exactly, and I don't care. Elston Gunn's a consistent team player, filing weekly recaps in the face of any circumstances, and this week, when his hard drive crashed, what did he do? Did he give up? Did he blow off the weekly recap? No, damn it! He did what he's done for three years now. He wrote his recap and he got it to us. Never mind the fact that he had to write the entire thing on a sheet of skin he shaved off his own back. Never mind that he had to train a carrier pigeon in only 36 hours, especially to deliver the sheet here to the Labs. He did it, and he didn't complain. So if you want to point the finger at anyone for this thing being late, blame Harry. Because it sure as heck can't be Elston's fault.
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Eric Bana (CHOPPER, upcoming BLACK HAWK DOWN) is in talks to play Bruce
Banner in Universal's THE INCREDIBLE HULK, an adaptation of the popular
Marvel Comics franchise. Ang Lee will direct.
* Rory Culkin joins Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix in SIGNS for director M.
Night Shyamalan and Touchstone. The pic, set in Bucks County, Pa., deals
with the mysterious appearance of a 500-foot array of circles and lines
found carved into the crops of a family's farm.
* Steven Seagal will star in the actioner HALF PAST DEAD for Franchise
Pictures and writer/director Don Michael Paul. It's about a man, to be
played by Morris Chestnut, who plans to infiltrate a high-tech prison in
order to get a death row inmate to tell him where he can find $200 million
worth of gold from a legendary heist that the FBI hadn't solved. Seagal
will play an undercover FBI agent who must stop him. Production begins next
month in Berlin. Seagal is also set to star in FOREIGNER, also for
Franchise, though no director is attached.
* Jennifer Esposito (SUMMER OF SAM) will star opposite Dana Carvey in the
comedy MASTER OF DISGUISE for Revolution Studios and director Perry Andelin
Blake. It's about a man who discovers he comes from a long line of masters
of disguise. He tries to learn and use these talents to save his folks from
an evil black-marketer. Production begins later this month from a script
written by Carvey and Harris Goldberg. Robert Loggia and Edie McClurg also
star.
* Will Ferrell is in talks to star in ELF, written by David Berenbaum, for
New Line about a man who is raised from infancy as an elf after falling into
Santa’s bag at Christmas.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Roland Joffe (THE KILLING FIELDS) will direct THE ART OF WAR for RKO
Pictures from a script by Kirk Ellis ("Anne Frank: The Whole Story"). The
romantic adventure is set in the 1880s and centers on a runaway Chinese
refugee girl and the son of a Jewish sheriff.
* Milos Forman will direct BAD NEWS, based on the novel by Donald Westlake,
for Warner Bros. and Phoenix Pictures. Doug Wright (QUILLS) wrote the
adaptation. The story centers on a career crook who takes part in an
underhanded takeover of an Indian gambling casino. However, he ultimately
finds out that he's set himself up to be ripped off, if he isn't able to rip
off his partner first.
* Keenen Ivory Wayans is in talks to direct MGM's remake of the Jerry Lewis
comedy THE BELLBOY with Jackie Chan attached to star.
* Howard Deutch (THE REPLACEMENTS) will direct THE TREE for MGM and Daybreak
Prods. Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow wrote the script about the misadventures
of a lumberjack and a presidential aide assigned to haul a gigantic national
Christmas tree from Washington state to the nation's capital in time for
Christmas.
* Chris Gerolmo (MISSISSIPPI BURNING) will write and direct THE KING
INCORPORATED, a pic based on the story of Leopold II, the Belgian king whose
rubber factory was responsible for the deaths of millions of people. Laura
Bickford and Steven Soderbergh will produce the project based on Neal
Ascherson's book about a group of employees who lost it all when they tried
to expose the torture and dismemberment of locals in the Congo who were
forced to harvest rubber. The king paid his employees based on the number of
hands they cut off from workers who resisted them, and he was equally
ruthless in ruining the people who tried to uncover his secret and caused
his downfall. Gerolmo will also direct OVER THE EDGE for Universal about
American climbers taken hostage.
* Steven Soderbergh will direct a biopic on revolutionary Che Guevara to
star Benecio Del Toro. Production is expected to begin next year.
* Coleman Hough (upcoming HOW TO SURVIVE A HOTEL ROOM FIRE) will pitch two
projects. The first script, SUNNYVALE: THE RISE AND FALL OF A SILICON
VALLEY FAMILY, is based on Jeff Goodell's book about the breaking apart and
mending of his family after he got entangled in the computer boom of the
late 1980s. Hough will also pitch THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM AT A ROUND TABLE,
about a group of upper-middle-class women looking for love and a group of
homeless women looking for a place to live.
* Jon Amiel will direct the sci-fi thriller THE CORE about a group of
“terranauts” recruited to pilot a ship to correct a dangerous flaw in the
Earth’s core. Production begins Dec. 10.
* Writers Christian Gudegast and Paul Scheuring (EL DIABLO) have sold their
script BLACK FLAG to Warner Bros. with Simon West attached to direct. It’s
set in the Indian Ocean in the 17th century and focuses on a former British
Royal Navy officer who becomes a pirate after being unjustly marooned for
participating in a mutiny with a rival officer and friend who then turns
against him.
* Bruce Beresford will direct Pierce Brosnan in the drama EVELYN, based on
the true story of Desmond Doyle who fought with the Irish government to
overturn a custody law as well as the Catholic church to get back his four
children. Shooting begins Oct. 15. Beresford will then direct MGM’s
REUNION about an 1880s couple who lose their daughter but find that another
young girl can apparently channel their deceased child's spirit. Brosnan
will shoot the next James Bond film (20th installment, 40 year anniversary)
in January.
* Steve Carr is in talks to direct GATE TO THE GODS, a Paramount/Nickelodeon
comedy about Greek gods who descend on modern Manhattan after the discovery
of a gateway to Mount Olympus. Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi wrote the script.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Terry Gilliam's GOOD OMEN script, based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, is
getting good buzz in Hollywood and the director is eyeing a March start date
for the project. It's the story of an epic battle between two angels for
the soul of mankind.
* Kate Hudson has mysteriously dropped out of Mike Newell's project GIRL
WITH THE PEARL EARRING, which has also lost its financing from Intermedia
Films. The project was scheduled to begin production in a month. Archer
Street Productions is trying to seal a new financing and distribution deal
for the project as well as recasting Hudson's part.
* The Warner Bros./DreamWorks pic THE TIME MACHINE, based on the H.G. Wells
classic, has been pushed back to a Feb. 8 release as opposed to Christmas
Day due to the crowded holiday period. Also, in light of recent events, the
movie will be recut, as it originally ended with pieces of the moon falling
on New York City."Moriarty" here again. This is inaccurate. The film has never ended with chunks of the moon falling on New York. The fact that every single media outlet I've seen says the same thing, reports that same inaccuracy, just proves that one wrong rumor really can make it into every paper in the world if people don't check the resources available. As we've said in script reviews on this site, and as I've seen reported in other places on the 'Net a while back, the moon sequence is early in the film, before the whole Morlocks/Eloi thing. Not at the end. Never was.
* Veteran f/x artist Rick Baker is in talks to tackle the makeup f/x efforts
for THE INCREDIBLE HULK, to be directed by Ang Lee, after he completes work
on MEN IN BLACK 2. HULK is pencilled in scheduled for a summer 2003
release. Meanwhile,
Industrial Light and Magic is lead digital f/x house on the project.
* Brothers/documentary filmmakers Jules and Gedeon Naudet (GLOVES AND
REDEMPTION: THE STORY OF MICKEY AND NEGRA ROSARIO) had been following a
rookie New York fireman for the past two months for a project when, on Sept.
11, they happened to the terrorist attack on tape. Jules was in the north
tower of the World Trade Center with his subject at 8 a.m., while Gedeon was
in the south tower. When a potential gas leak in the street below was
signaled, Jules followed a fire squad captain to the scene. Intrigued by
the sound of the incoming Boeing 767, Jules had just enough time to reframe
his shot before the terrifying impact. The two brothers shot for a total of
five hours. The FBI confiscated the footage, permitting Jules to make a dub
of the moment of impact.
* Mindfire Entertainment is in pre-production on THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD, a
horror feature based on the popular Sega video game. Shooting is set to
begin in mid-January for a release between Halloween 2002 and February 2003.
* Pacifica is in talks to acquire the film rights to D. Graham Burnett's
book A TRIAL BY JURY for Sam Raimi to direct and produce. The book is based
on Burnett's experience as a foreman of a jury in a New York murder trial
and is divided into two parts. The first part details what happened in open
court with a case that included transvestism, male prostitution and rape.
The second part chronicles what occurred behind closed doors when the jury
was sequestered over the course of four days.
* Dimension Films will develop television and feature projects with
Storyopolis Prods. based on new and classic children's books.
Until next week…
-
+ Expand All
-
Screw LOTR, ELF will rule! Also I heard bits of the moon fall on New York City at the end of Time Machine, go figure.
-
Sep 25, 2001 3:58:09 AM CDT
"When you get caught between the moon and New York City, it's cr
by regis travolta
Steven Seagal should just kill Dana Carvey and Jackie Chan (that would be a good fight to the death!) then Seagal could star in a highly entertaining action-comedy called "Master Foreign Bellboy of Disguise!" As for the theme song from "Arthur", perhaps that's what caused all the confusion and the wacky rumor that whipped round the world from one media outlet to another, from the trades into Elston's column, about pieces of the moon falling on New York city. Personally I think Liza Minelli never looked more fabulous than she did in "Arthur". Sad she looks so bad now, bloated and very run down. Get well soon Liza with a Z not Lisa with an S! And just how many damn brothers does Macaulay Culkin have anyway? Seems like there's always another one coming up to cast in a movie. Perhaps Macaulay should be cast as Robin in the next Batman movie.
-
the bad news just never stops does it?
-
Should move the moon bits hitting New York to the end of the film so then we can laugh at "Moriarty" and poke him with sharp sticks. BTW, save a singers sanity and go see Glitter this week
-
Sep 25, 2001 4:32:10 AM CDT
WTF?! What is it with Shamalamadingdong and young boys in his mo
by roycomplain
And would someone please shoot Seagal dead. I hate that guy.
-
What's your problem? Learn the guy's name already.
-
When are we going to issue an edict preventing the filming of movies with the title "The Art of War?" *** Glad to see Keenan is going to direct "The Bellboy". I always thought that Jackie Chan movies were lacking one crucial element: gallons and gallons of semen. Finally, somebody who understands.
-
Poor guy hasn't made anything good since THE KILLING FIELDS. I didn't particularly care for THE MISSION, and THE SCARLET LETTER... ugh. Here's hopin'.
-
...from the first (or second, maybe) season with that Amish family? Anyone remember the final shot?
-
1) So should all info in Gunnn's weekly recap that contradicts recent reports on AICN be believed or not? 2) So does that mean they're re-editing the moon falling on NYC or not? Why in the world would they possibly? How does that remind anyone of September 11? Anyone? 3) I can't wait to see "The Tree"!
-
Greetings, you good gobs of global gentility. It is Slew Master S here with another edition of the mail you love to hate. It has been quite awhile since I last shared with you some of my lofty vault of cantankerous correspondence. However, in keeping with Hollywood
-
I'm still crushed that his destined-to-be-a-masterpiece DON QUIXOTE film was scrapped.
-
Love the Hate Mail edition, wonder where the hell Buzz is these days, appreciate Gunn being more reliable than the mailman, and wish the LotR trailer WOULD HURRY UP AND FINISH DOWNLOADING, ALREADY!!! *ahem* It's at 94%, 95%...____Bee
-
i like swashbucklers set in the age of sail, and therefore i don't want to see "black flag" get made. don't know anything about it, mind, it could be a great script, but with simon west helming the boat there's little hope that it will be any more satisfying than tomb raider ... i fear this may do for the genre what harlin's monstrosity "cutthroat island" did, and ensure that no more big budget pictures of this type get made for five to seven years. but enough laments, how cool will a pic by soderbergh with benicio about che's lounge be? could make the far left fashionable once more.
-
Is this a true to life documentary on the state of Steven Segal's career? Just wondering. And I thought Baker as out of the Hulk. If he is in, great. If he isn't, boo. Shortest post by the Bug ever.
-
Steven Seagal shouldn't be allowed to make movies anymore. The Incredible Hulk is the only film that sounds interesing, and that's not because I think it will be good, it's because I'm curious as to how they're going to pull it off (or their attempt to). There's absolutely nothing to look forward to. Nothing to shit my pants about...and that saddens me.
-
Good Omens is actually about an angel and a demon, who while working for employers at different ends of the spectrum (God and Satan) come to become fairly good friends owing to their constant exposure to humankind, not two angels. Minor nit, but hey. :)
-
There aren't many directors out there (especially in Hollywood) who can make young boys act realistically (see TPM for example). It'd be a shame If Mr.Shamalamadingdong (new name from now on) stops, 'cos young actors deserve a shot at credibility before they get typecast and thrown out at the age of 15.
-
What did AICN say to Buzz to make him go away? Retract I say, RETRACT! However Mister Sleww as always is brilliant.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 273 total posts 271 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 92 total posts 92 posts
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 160 total posts 69 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 151 total posts 63 posts
- Does ‘SNL’ Rhyme With ‘Deschanel’?? Learn Which SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Vet Hosts After Sexy Zooey!! -- 67 total posts 59 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 60 total posts 57 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 484 total posts 49 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 69 total posts 42 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 120 total posts 32 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 183 total posts 24 posts