Father Geek here with Elston's review of the past short work week out in Hollywood. Not a whole lot of news because of the 3 day week, but what there is is pretty damn cool...
Now for your pleasure while you munch out on the last of those Turkey day leftovers, here's Elston Gunn and...
THE WEEKLY RECAP
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Hey. Hope you all had a good holiday weekend.
CASTING
* Harvey Keitel, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Mary-Louise Park join the cast
of RED DRAGON, based on the book by Thomas Harris, for Universal and
director Brett Ratner. Production is scheduled to begin in January. Anthony
Hopkins, Edward Norton and Emily Watson also star. Ted Tally adapted the
screenplay.
* Annabella Sciorra and Cary Elwes join the cast of the indie pic AMERICAN
CRIME, starring Rachael Leigh Cook and Kip Pardue, for director Dan Mintz
and Silent Road Prods. It's about a TV news crew that, while investigating
a murder, discovers a tape of the victim being followed and eventually
killed. They end up taking matters into their own hands after a sheriff
dismisses the incident as accidental.
* Martin Lawrence is in talks to star in THE BOMB, written by Darryl Quarles
(BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE, BLACK KNIGHT) for 20th Century Fox/Regency Enterprises.
The project is described as a black remake of the 1979 pic 10, starring
Dudley Moore and Bo Derek. Production may begin in February. It's about a
married record exec who has a midlife crisis and follows a model to the
Caribbean.
* Seann William Scott will star opposite Chow Yun-Fat in BULLETPROOF for
director Paul Hunter and MGM.M. The story, written by Cy Voris and Ethan
Reiff and based on the cult comic, follows a Tibetan martial arts master who
becomes mentor to an urban kid.
* Will Smith is eyeing as his next project either an adaptation of John
Grisham's THE RUNAWAY JURY for New Regency, a sequel to BAD BOYS for
director Michael Bay or I AM LEGEND, also for Bay.
* Britney Spears and Quincy Jones will play themselves in AUSTIN POWERS IN
GOLDMEMBER for director Jay Roach. The film will be released by New Line on
July 26.
* George Clooney will star in the sci-fi thriller SOLARIS for director
Steven Soderbergh, James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment and 20th Century
Fox. It's based on the Russian novel by Stanislaw Lem and centers on an
astronaut sent to rescue scientists on a space station. He finds the
commander dead and the two survivors driven mad by visions that soon appear
to him as well. Shooting may begin in April.
* Gabriel Macht is joining Al Pacino, Colin Farrell and Bridget Moynahan in
THE FARM for director Roger Donaldson and Spyglass/Touchstone. Shooting
begins Dec. 3 in Toronto.
* Claire Bloom will star in BOOK OF EVE for Lions Gate and director Claude
Fournier, based on the 1973 novel by Constance Beresford Howe. Daniel
Lavoie, Susannah York, Julian Glover and Luck Mervil also star.
* Vincent Riverside (GROOVE) joins Dana Carvey in MASTER OF DISGUISE for
Revolution Studios.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures have hired Elizabeth Allen and Nick
Pustay to write the feature adaptation of Jerry Spinelli's novel STARGIRL.
The comedy focuses on an eccentric student who makes life at her high school
interesting with her unconventional ways and selfless spirit.
* James Mangold is in talks to direct I.D., written by Michael Cooney, for
Columbia Pictures and producer Cathy Konrad. Shooting may begin in
February. The story centers on 10 strangers who are stranded at a desert
motel by a violent storm and are suddenly murdered one by one. As the death
toll rises, the survivors start to turn on one another before a final twist
that reveals the true identity of the killer.
* Shawn Levy (upcoming BIG FAT LIAR) will direct and produce ZITS, a
live-action adaptation of the comic strip of the same name, for Universal,
Shady Acres and Marc Platt Prods.
* Brett Ratner is in talks to direct SAMURAI JACK, a live-action feature for
New Line Cinema and his own Rat Entertainment based on the Cartoon Network
series. Series creator Genndy Tartakovsky will write the script. Samurai
Jack is an ancient Japanese warrior, son of an emperor who was defeated by
an evil wizard. Jack trains to get revenge, and when he is about ready to
finish off the wizard, his foe sends him into a time portal into the future.
* Andrew Davis (COLLATERAL DAMAGE) will direct HOLES in March for Phoenix
and Walden Media. The project is based on the popular Louis Sachar novel.
* Producers James Burke will direct LEGACIES, a film noir project based on a
play he produced with Scott Disharoon. The two have joined forces to launch
Entitled Entertainment for which they have some projects in development.
LEGACIES will be their first project.
* Barry Levinson is attached to develop, direct and produce LAFAYETTE,
written by Dan Gordon, for Warner Bros. and Intermedia. The feature will
center on the story of French general Marquis de Lafayette who, at the age
of 18, was a major supporter of the American military in the Revolutionary
War and a surrogate son to George Washington.
* Andrew Bergman will direct the comedy SONNY BRIGHT for 20th Century Fox
and producers Peter and Bobby Farrelly. Wayne Rice and Gina Goldman wrote
the script about a low-level government employee whose airplane seatmate
just got out of jail and is on his way to meet a beautiful female pen pal.
When the con man suddenly dies, the man breaks the news to the pen pal, but
she mistakes him for the ex-con and uses him to plot her own kidnapping to
get away from her gangster husband.
* Fox 2000 has grabbed the pitch DJ from scribes Jon Reiss and Jefery Levy
for Edmonds Entertainment to produce. The project is described as SHAMPOO
meets SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER and focuses on a superstar DJ.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Disney has optioned skateboarding star Tony Hawk's autobiography HAWK:
OCCUPATION: SKATEBOARDER as well as his life rights for a biopic to be
produced by Andrew Gunn. Hawk will executive produce through his 900 Films.
The pic will focus on Hawk's life as a teenager during the 1980s, when he
was ridiculed by his peers for his undersize frame and a passion for a sport
deemed uncool.
* Miramax Films has now nabbed the option and license fees for THE GREEN
HORNET for a feature which may be co-produced by Universal Pictures.
Until next week.
Elston Gunn
elstongunn@hotmail.com
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