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Elston Gunn's WEEKLY RECAP
Father Geek here with last weekend's edition of the...
WEEKLY RECAP...
by Elston Gunn
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
by Elston Gunn
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
CASTING
* Ben Kingsley is in final talks to star in A SOUND OF THUNDER, based on the
short story by Ray Bradbury, for director Peter Hyams and Franchise
Pictures. Edward Burns and Catherine McCormack also star in the film, which
begins shooting next month. It's about a game hunter who goes on a
time-traveling safari to hunt dinosaurs in the prehistoric era. When he
kills a butterfly, he unwittingly sets off a chain reaction that will erase
humanity from existence. Kingsley is also in talks to star in SUSPECT ZERO
for director E. Elias Merhige, C/W Prods. and Intermedia Films. Shooting
starts in August. It's about an agent who is investigating cases of
murdered serial killers.
* Gene Hackman is near a deal to join John Cusack in THE RUNAWAY JURY, while
Dustin Hoffman is being courted for a role. Gary Fleder directs the
adaptation of John Grisham's novel. Naomi Watts was to play the female lead
but has since dropped out to look at other options instead.
* Salma Hayek will star in and produce the comedy MURPHY'S LAW, based on an
idea by her brother, Sami. She will play Murphy, who is a walking example of
the theory that if something can go wrong, it will, and at the worst
possible moment. She falls for a successful magician, whose life she's
destroyed just by doing her job.
* Sylvester Stallone, Thandie Newton, Gabriel Byrne and Stuart Townsend will
star in RKO Pictures' crime thriller SHADE for writer/director Damian
Nieman. Shooting begins May 30. It's about poker hustlers who encounter
"The Dean" and pull off a successful sting that results in their pursuit by
a vengeful gangster.
* Rapper Ludacris will star in the comedy SKIP DAY for Paramount, MTV Films
and Original Film which Phil Bowman will write. It's set in Atlanta and
centers on a high school teenager and his buddy, who are transferred from an
inner-city school to an uptight suburban prep school where they wreak havoc
in their quest to initiate a skip day among the senior students.
* Matthew Perry will star in two films for Paramount Pictures. The first is
the drama ONE OF US about a man who returns to his home town to run the
family business after his dad dies. A pair of aliens come to town hoping to
take one person for an experiment, and Perry falls in love with the female,
who's cloaked in beautiful human form. Gerald Di Pego (PHENOMENON) wrote
the script. The second film will be a comedy.
* Helen Mirren and Julie Walters will star in Nigel Cole's CALENDAR GIRLS
about 12 English matrons who pose naked for a calendar to raise money for
charity. Shooting starts June 24. Juliette Towhidi and Cole wrote the
script.
* Lucy Liu is in negotiations to star as the title character in 20th Century
Fox's modern-day version of the classic detective franchise CHARLIE CHAN.
John Woo and Terence Chang's Lion Rock Prods. will produce. Liu will also
serve as executive producer.
* Harrison Ford is in negotiations to star in A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES
for director Joe Carnahan, who is in talks to direct for Universal. Ford
will play a cop-turned-private eye who is hired by a drug dealer to find the
men who kidnapped and butchered his wife. Production begins in January from
a script by Scott Frank.
* R&B singer Tyrese is in talks to star opposite Paul Walker in Universal's
sequel to TE FAST AND THE FURIOUS. Universal has also picked up a thriller
pitch from Tyrese titled EXTORTION, based on a treatment he wrote that he
will star in and executive produce.
* James Woods, Daryl Hannah, Anthony Edwards, Peter Coyote, Kyle MacLachlan,
Michelle Hicks, Claire Forlani, Graham Beckel, Josh Barker, Jon Gries,
Marshall Bell, Rick Overton and Clark Gregg will star in the ensemble cast
of NORTH FORK, the final film in the Polish brothers' trilogy of pictures
(TWIN FALLS, IDAHO and JACKPOT). Michael Polish modern-day fairy tale which
he co-wrote with Mark Polish. The brothers are also producing the pic.
* Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke will star in an untitled film for
director Richard Linklater that he'll start shooting in Texas this summer
and finish in 12 years. He will frame a linear plot around the physical
maturation of a child, casting 7-year-old Eller Salmon as the centerpiece of
the film. Arquette and Hawke will play his artistic parents in the IFC
Productions-financed film. Linklater is also working on a part-documentary,
part-fictional film about Texas high school football players for Sony
Pictures Classics.
* Josh Hartnett will star in FilmEngine's WISH YOU WERE HERE about four
friends who make an attempt to smuggle a fortune out of Morocco. The company
is also talking with Hartnett to join THE RUM DIARY, based on the Hunter S.
Thompson novel, starring Johnny Depp and Nick Nolte.
* Bernie Mac is in final talks to star opposite Chris Rock in DreamWorks'
HEAD OF STATE, which Rock co-wrote and will make his directorial debut on
for 3 Arts Entertainment. Production begins in July. Ali Leroi co-penned
the script about an unlikely alderman chosen to be the presidential nominee
for one of the major political parties.
* Hayden Christensen is in final talks to star in Lions Gate's SHATTERED
GLASS for writer/director Billy Ray, C/W Prods., Baumgarten Merims Prods.
and Forest Park Pictures. It's about the true story of Stephen Glass, who
from 1995-98 was a twentysomething whiz-kid journalist writing for
publications ranging from the New Republic to Rolling Stone. It was later
revealed that he made up sources and quotes, fabricating 27 of his 41
articles
* Monica Bellucci is in talks to play the female lead in THE LEAGUE OF
EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN for 20th Century Fox.DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Marcus Nispel (upcoming TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE update) will direct
ALLEGIANCE, an international thriller about an undercover agent married to a
spyhunter for the CIA. Patrick Lee and William Petrowitch wrote the script,
which will be produced by Radar Pictures.
* Sharon Maguire (BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY) is in early discussions with
Columbia Pictures to direct the romantic comedy LAST FIRST KISS, a possible
Will Smith/Jennifer Lopez vehicle. It's about a date doctor who believes his
service can match lifemates in three dates. A female journalist seeks his
services in order to expose the doc as a scam artist but discovers things
about him as well as herself.
* Jan De Bont (SPEED) is in talks with Paramount Pictures to direct Angelina
Jolie in a sequel to LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER with hopes of beginning
production by early fall.
* Frank Oz is in discussions to direct a remake of 1975's THE STEPFORD WIVES
for Paramount from a script by Paul Rudnick. The original was adapted by
William Goldman from the Ira Levin novel and released by Columbia Pictures.
It's about those happy brides who a little too cheerfully go about their
housework to please their husbands. But a woman finds out many wives have
been replaced with cyborgs and that her husband has plans to replace her as
well.
* Ron Terry and Teresa Kounin will write TWILIGHT OF THE GODS, a
dramatization of the link between opera legend Richard Wagner's music and
Adolf Hitler, with Uli Edel set to direct. Terry and Kounin will also pen a
biopic, for Harold Becker to direct, of concert promoter Bill Graham. Terry
will also produce and compose the soundtracks of both films.
* Sam Weisman will direct David Spade in DICKIE ROBERTS: FORMER CHILD STAR
for Paramount Pictures and Happy Madison Prods. Shooting will begin in
July. Spade and Fred Wolf co-wrote the script about a washed up former
child star who hires an entire foster family to re-create the family and
childhood he never had.
* DreamWorks picked up the script TOAD TRIP from writers Paul Tamasay (AIR
BUD) and Eric Johnson. The project will combine live action and CGI effects
with John H. Williams (SHREK) producing. It's a family comedy about a man
who has a spell cast on him that turns him into a toad. He has 48 hours to
reverse the spell by finding true love from a human being. If not, he is
doomed to be a toad forever.
* Tobe Hooper will direct the indie dark comedy PLANNING LAWRENCE
FANKHAUSER'S DEATH about career criminals attempting to move up the food
chain.
* Griffin Dunne will direct Hayden Christensen and Leelee Sobieski in NAILED
RIGHT IN for Intermedia. Terence Winter ("The Sopranos") wrote the script
which is set in Brooklyn against the backdrop of John Gotti's rise to power
in the mob and centers on a group of Catholic friends whose different
ambitions threaten to shake their relationships.
* Robert Altman is in talks to direct THE COMPANY with Neve Campbell
attached to produce and co-star for Killer Films. It's about a young dancer
who has other interests, distracting her from the dedication the craft
requires. Barbara Turner wrote the script.
* Oliver Parker is set to direct THE FANCY for Renaissance Films about a
bare-knuckle boxing champion in 18th century England. The company is also
working on VAPOR, a New York romance that Neil LaBute is developing; Roger
Michell's THE MOTHER, a drama about a 65-year-old widow who falls in love
with a man half her age; and Hettie Macdonald's BAD BLOOD, adapted by
actress Emily Mortimer from Lorna Sage's autobiographical account of her
tough childhood.
* Producer John Williams (SHREK) is teaming up with Ealing Studios and Ralph
Kamp's Odyssey Entertainment to make the computer animated pic VALIANT about
a heroic pigeon who aspires to become a messenger in the Royal Air Force
during WWII. Rob Letterman will direct from a script by George Webster.
* Tom Stoppard is in talks to adapt the Philip Pullman fantasy novel HIS
DARK MATERIALS for New Line. The project is expected to be the first
installment of a trilogy based on the novels which consist of THE GOLDEN
COMPASS, THE SUBTLE KNIFE and THE AMBER SPYGLASS. The books center on two
children who live in parallel worlds surrounded by a huge cast of
shape-shifting creatures and are filled with magic, theology and science
* Howard Davies is attached to direct the mystery thriller AN INSTANCE OF
THE FINGERPOST, which is set in late 18th century England.
* Fred Durst will direct LORDS OF DOGTOWN for Indelible Pictures and
producers Art Linson, David Fincher and John Linson. The project is an
extreme look at the genesis of the teenage skateboarding revolution.
Production begins this summer. Stacy Peralta (DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS) wrote the
script.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Independent producer/publisher Joan Singleton has optioned the feature
rights to Kate DiCamill's Newberry Medal-winning book BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE.
The story follows a 10-year-old girl who moves to a small Florida town with
her preacher father. The lonely girl befriends a big, ugly, suffering dog,
Winn-Dixie, whom she names after the supermarket where she finds him.
Singleton will adapt the book for the big screen.
* Revolution Studios and Sony have shifted the release date of the Vin
Diesel-starrer XXX to open Aug.9, one week later than M. Night Shyamalan's
SIGNS.
* Romano Shane Prods. has optioned Gus Russo's THE OUTFIT: THE ROLE OF
CHICAGO'S UNDERWORLD IN THE SHAPING OF MODERN AMERICA. The book takes an
in-depth look at the history of the Chicago crime syndicate.
* Sam Raimi is launching a new genre label with producer Rob Tapert to
produce midbudget horror, sci-fi and fantasy features to be financed by
Senator International. Raimi will not direct any of the films but could
take on writing duties. The first horror production will be THE BOOGEYMAN.
Eric Kripke wrote the script about a young man who is traumatized by
memories of terrible things he experienced as a child in his own bedroom.
Years later, after the loss of his father, he reluctantly returns to the
house and faces his fears of a being that could be real or merely a figment
of his imagination. Shooting starts this fall.GUNN SHOTS
(NOT from the trades)
* Visit This Cool Site for info about seminars and
technology workshops in Film and TV production, to be held June 7th through
the 11th at the Orlando Museum of Art - running concurrently with the first
weekend of the Florida Film Festival.
* The Woodstock Film Festival is looking for entries. Go to
the Fest's Site for information and/or entry forms.
* Mike Medavoy and Graham Greene are appearing at The Florida Film Festival.
For more information on the festival, visit Their Site.
Until next week.
Elston Gunn
elstongunn@hotmail.com
elstongunn@hotmail.com
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+ Expand All
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Great book, but comes late in the series (by Lawrence Block, about recovering alcoholic/ex-cop/current P.I. Matthew Scudder), so there's a good deal of character background that'd need to be delved in to....they made a version of one of Block's first Scudder novels, "8 Million Ways To Die," with Jeff Bridges, and it was pretty much not good. // e.
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May 22, 2002 6:25:22 AM CDT
Is it just me or does RUNAWAY JURY have Paramount written all ov
by cash bailey
The same sort of safe, middle-of-the-road pap directed by that useless hack Gary Fleder that Paramount produces exclusively these days. Just wait for Ashley Judd to join the cast. No-one gave a fuck about this movie when it was first announced about 5 years ago and no-one gives a fuck about it now. And regarding A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES: yes there is vast amounts of Scudder character stuff they will have to either cram in or ignore completely. Actually, I sent Harry this scoop a fucking week ago when it was confirmed by Lawrence Block himself in his newsletter, but Tubby didn't post it.
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May 22, 2002 6:40:34 AM CDT
Oh, to see Tobe Hooper's name on a good film again before I
by cash bailey
Maybe next they can give Joe Dante another shot.
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As long as we get the J-LO from OUT OF SIGHT rather than the one from every film she's done since.
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May 22, 2002 6:45:32 AM CDT
Will someone else post something. I'm starting to embarrass
by cash bailey
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May 22, 2002 6:49:55 AM CDT
Forget Patricia Arquette. Linklater should only ever cast Ethan
by cash bailey
Their chemistry single-handedly made BEFORE SUNRISE the greatest love story ever put on film.
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oh yeah... fuck michael moore
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You crack me up. Look's like Harrison Ford is making up for not doing TRAFFIC. Good onya mate!!!!!!
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I mentioned in that talk back that Joel Schumacher was the worst director alive. I must say, I was wrong. JAN DE BONT is the worst 'director' alive. Another nail in the coffin of the Tomb Raider franchise!
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I just saw THUNDERPANTS. Jeezus christ that movie sucks!
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Could someone please explain what a "skip day" is?
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Is this going to be as much fun as Zemeckis' Dark Castle films? As good quality as all the "Wes Craven presents" flicks? Please, no more these crappy midbudget genre flicks sold under good director's name. And Tomb Raider 2? Will Jan De Bont get back on track and give us another film worthy of SPEED. Don't hold your breath...
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Rip Torn *is* Rip Taylor in the biopic PALM SPRINGS, based on the unauthorized biography
A LITTLE HORSE. A promising young star with an unpleasant disposition rises and then falls
from grace in THE RIDE OF THE VAL KILMERS. Too Wong Foo has signed on to star in the chop-socky comedy SHAOLIN SOCCER MOM. Rick Moranis goes to the well once again in the direct to video erotic comedy HONEY, I SHRUNK MY PENIS. Franklin Mint is a big game lottery player and hunter who goes back into time to hunt dinosaurs in BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE TO BE TRAMPLED. To his horror, when he returns to the present he discovers that Greedo shoots first. -
May 22, 2002 12:32:25 PM CDT
It says a lot when the most interesting premise comes from a pro
by johnnytremaine
I bet a studio like Pixar has more creativity in its little pinky than do the live action units of the major studios. Instead of taking pitches which sound like Roger Corman knockoffs from faded movie stars and rappers-wanna-be-actors, producers should emulate what the studio chiefs did in the 1930's and 40's: hire professional storytellers like playwrights, novelists, and journalists to come up with good material.
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I mean, seriously folks, how many remakes do we need? And with the given track record of them, doesn't Hollywood see that pretty much all remakes suck?!! For craps sake, we film-geeks need to start a film revolution! Join together and create something original!
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WTF? How the hell are they going to justify THAT? Charlie Chan, is memory serves, is a GUY. Unless the character's undergoing one hell of a sex change, this makes no sense at all. Sammo Hung would be ideal for the role; he's the right age to play a wise, aging detective, he looks unassuming enough to seem harmless (which of course, would mask what he can REALLY do), and if they wanted to have Chan do action stuff, Hung would be all over that like white on rice. I could accept Liu as Elektra (too bad about the Jennifer Garner casting), but Liu as Charlie Chan? GIVE ME A BREAK!
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May 22, 2002 10:54:13 PM CDT
And while I'm at it, since this got ignored the last time I
by kingkrypton
Yet another WKK1978 Hollywood News Update!---Warner Bros. has given the green light to the Jon Peters/Jerry Bruckheimer action flick CYBORG VIXEN COMMANDO, about a female welder-turned-stripper-turned interpretive ballet dancer (Jennifer Garner) who, after a breast enlargement gone horribly wrong, is rebuilt as a half-human, half-machine, all-sexy engine of righteous destruction dressed in nothing but scanty cybernetic lingerie who wages war against Islamic extremists and infuriates them with the open display of her body! Oh, yeah, and when she
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May 22, 2002 11:40:57 PM CDT
The world will end before Linklater finishes that project
by salvador_limones
Either that or movies won't exist anymore.
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...closed for repairs. The damned carts keep flying off the track and decapitating people waiting in line. Fortunately, my brother, Sioux Maverik, was nice enough to organize one giant class action suit against me.
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"Buzz Maverik's Weekly Recap Is...closed for repairs. The damned carts keep flying off the track and decapitating people waiting in line. Fortunately, my brother, Sioux Maverik, was nice enough to organize one giant class action suit against me." Then that means I shall reign unchallenged as this week's parody-meister! YES! I am inVIN ciBLE! BAH-hahahahahahahahahaha! (Just kidding, Buzz. I dig your stuff.)
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