Cool News
Elston Gunn's WEEKLY RECAP
Father Geek here with Elston and another fact packed rehash of the past week's film business... There's alot of it all here in one spot for those of you who may need to play catch up on the events during your work-week. Check it all out below in...
THE WEEKLY RECAP...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER...
CASTING...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER...
CASTING...
* Jessica Alba is in final talks to play the lead in Universal's HONEY for
director Bille Woodruff. Alonzo Brown and Kim Watson wrote the script about
a tough inner-city woman who tries to start a neighborhood dance studio and
subsequently is discovered by a music mogul. After she succeeds as a new
video choreographer, her futureis threatened when her mentor blackballs her
for not sleeping with him.
* Cedric the Entertainer is in talks to join Catherine Zeta-Jones and George
Clooney in Universal's INTOLERABLE CRUELTY for the Coen Bros. Meanwhile,
Cedric has also signed to star in and produce FAMILY FIRST, a comedy for Fox
Searchlight. The latter pic is a road movie about a man who takes his
family on a trip to Texas for a family reunion. Todd and Richie Jones ("The
Hughleys") wrote the script.
* Angela Bassett joins Bob Dylan, Jessica Lange, Luke Wilson, Penelope Cruz
and Jeff Bridges in Intermedia's MASKED & ANONYMOUS for
writer/director/producer Larry Charles. Shooting begins in July. Rene
Fontaine and Sergy Petrov wrote the script based on the unpublished short
story LOS VIENTOS DEL DESTINO by Enrique Morales.
* Bernie Mac will co-star in both the CHARLIE'S ANGELS sequel for Columbia
Pictures and BAD SANTA for Dimension Films. Mac replaces Bill Murray in the
former pic, playing the liason between the Angels and Charlie, their
employer. In SANTA, Mac will star opposite Billy Bob Thornton is the comedy
about a thief who masquerades as Santa Claus to knock off shopping malls.
John Ritter joins BAD SANTA as a mall manager. Terry Zwigoff directs.
* Natalie Portman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Giovanni Ribisi, Brendan Gleeson,
Charlie Hunnam and Ray Winstone are joining the cast of the Civil War drama
COLD MOUNTAIN for MGM/Miramax. Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger
star for director Anthony Minghella. It's about a wounded Confederate
soldier who is on a journey home to reunite with his prewar sweetheart.
* Kelly Hu (THE SCORPION KING) joins X-MEN 2 as the villainous Anne for
director Bryan Singer. has been added to the cast of 20th Century Fox's
"X-Men 2" for director Bryan Singer.
* Ice Cube is in talks to join Jay Hernandez and Matt Schulze in Warner
Bros.' TORQUE for director Joseph Kahn. Production begins next month in
L.A. It's a fast-paced adventure set in the world of motorcycle racing.
Cube will play Trey Wallace, the leader of the Machine, one of the most
powerful and feared biker gangs in the country.
* Sam Rockwell is in early talks to star opposite Nicolas Cage in Warner
Bros. Pictures' drama MATCHSTICK MEN for director Ridley Scott. Shooting
begins this summer. Based on the upcoming novel by Eric Garcia, the story
centers on a con man with obsessive-compulsive disorder whose orderly life
is threatened by the appearance of a daughter he never knew. Ted Griffin
and his brother Nick adapted the project.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Warner Bros. has grabbed the pitch GOTHIKA from writer/director Sebastian
Gutierrez to be produced by Dark Castle. The project is a ghost story about
a female psychiatrist who wakes up as a patient at the asylum where she
works.
* John Glenn and Travis Wright have scripted a redo of THE WARRIORS for MTV
and Paramount as well as JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH for Fox 2000.
The duo has now been set to write a remake of CLASH OF THE TITANS for
producer Adam Schroeder and Warner Bros.
* Dan Ireland (THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD) will direct THE BEAUTY OF JANE about an
intelligent woman in 1912 who refuses to marry a younger man fearing he will
grow weary of her. When he is blinded in a hunting accident and loses his
will to live, the woman takes a job as the young man's nurse and secretary
and, using an American accent, hides her identity from him. Mira Sorvino
and Charlie Hunnam are attached to star in the project scripted by Lindsay
Perry and Ireland. Shooting begins in the fall in London.
* Michael McCullers (UNDERCOVER BROTHER, AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER) will
write the script for CURIOUS GEORGE, the all-CGI adaptation of the
children's classic, for Imagine Entertainment.
* John Whitesell will direct Warner Bros. Pictures' comedy SUCKAZ, starring
Jamie Kennedy. Production begins in August. The film is based on one of
Kennedy's characters from the WB Network series "JKX: The Jamie Kennedy
Experiment." The story centers on Gluckman, a white would-be rap star from
Malibu who thinks he is from the ghetto.
* Gavin O'Connor is in talks with Disney to direct THE MIRACLE, the story of
the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team's gold medal performance. Mike Rich (THE
ROOKIE) scripted.
* Universal Pictures has signed writer/director David Twohy to helm RIDDICK
the sequel to PITCH BLACK, with Vin Diesel back on board to reprise the
title role. Shooting will start by the end of the year.
* Artisan Pictures grabbed the urban comedy script DON'T GET IT TWISTED from
D.J. Pooh and Marcus Morton, with Pooh attached to direct and produce. It's
about twin brothers who are separated at birth and raised at opposite ends
of the socioeconomic ladder. When they meet for the first time as adults,
they end up trading places.
* Kasi Lemmons will direct THE BATTLE OF CLOVERFIELD for Columbia Pictures
about a Southern town where ghosts conspire to change the future.
* Producer Mace Neufeld has snapped up Sheldon Turner's thriller screenplay
BY VIRTUE FALL about a young, idealistic ATF agent who is framed for a crime
he did not commit. Meanwhile, his corrupt partner is racked with guilt that
he let the rookie take the fall. The framed agent is sent to prison where
he sheds his idealism in order to survive. When he wins an early release,
he leaves prison bent on exacting revenge on his former partner.
* Jason and Justin Heimberg along with Jeff Sank will script the untitled
NATURAL HISTORY PROJECT for Touchstone Pictures. The fantasy film will
center on a family who gets trapped in the Natural History Museum at the
Smithsonian Institute, where some of the exhibits come to life.
* Dark Castle Entertainment has optioned Brian Rousso's horror script THE
REAPING about a myth disprover who tries to convince a small, religious
Texas town that a small boy is not the supernatural force behind the
devastation of their community.
* Peter Riegert (TRAFFIC) will direct and star in the comedy LEO SPIVAK from
his own script about a middle-aged salesman losing his father to an illness,
a teen daughter to adulthood and his job to an underling.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Columbia Pictures has optioned feature film rights to Rob Liefeld's
Internet comic strip SHRINK! as a possible starring/producing vehicle for
Jennifer Lopez. The strip centers on a beautiful female psychologist who
treats superheroes.
* John Frankenheimer has voluntarily dropped out of Morgan Creek Prods.'
untitled prequel to THE EXORCIST, optioning instead to begin physical
therapy after undergoing back surgery. The producers will now search for a
new director to make the film's Sept. 1 start date.
* DreamWorks has acquired SLEEPLESS KNIGHTS from comic book writer Grant
Morrison with Guillermo del Toro attached to direct. The project is a
family adventure about a time machine experiment that goes awry, leaving the
planet permanently stuck on Halloween eve. Ghosts realize they have free
reign and run unchecked until a young boy is recruited to an elite
ghostbusting team called the Sleepless Knights.
* Paramount Pictures and Tollin/Robbins Pictures are developing ABOVE THE
CLOUDS, a project based on the true story of Jayram Khadka, the first
Nepalese athlete to compete in the Winter Olympics. The project will focus
on the relationship between Khadka and his adoptive father, Richard Morley.
While watching the 1992 Winter Olympics during a vicious adoption process,
Khadka and Morley realized that there were no athletes representing Nepal.
Khadka went on to become the first Nepalese Olympian and competed as a
cross-country skier in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City
* Warner Bros. Pictures and Gaylord Films have optioned the rights to the
Hanna-Barbera characters the Wonder Twins ("The All-New SuperFriends Hour")
with plans to make a live-action family feature. The characters are two
youth trainee aliens from the planet Exxor, known as the Wonder Twins. The
male Zan had the power to change into any water-based form, while the female
Jayna could become any animal. They also had were able to communicate
telepathically and had a mischevious blue monkey named Gleek as their
sidekick.
* MGM is in negotiations with writer/director Rob Zombie to pick up THE
HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES that so horrified Universal execs that the rock star
had to purchase it back.
* Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall's Blue Collar Comedy Tour will become a
feature film presenting the show in its entirety, as well as
behind-the-scenes sequences that focus on the individual performers. The
project will shoot this summer.
GUNN SHOTS
(NOT from the trades)
* STRAWBERRY SPRING, shot in St. Louis, Missouri, is showing at * Telluride IndieFest 2002 is extending their call for entries to July 1, * Visit This Cool Site for CUDDY ON...THE WIZARD OF OZ, a unique
. It's based on a Stephen King short story and was
presented by Kodak at Cannes.
2002. For more info, visit This Location
comic strip perspective on the classic film.Until next week.
Elston Gunn
elstongunn@hotmail.com
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Warriors!!?? Clash of the Titans? CLASH OF THE FUCKING TITANS? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Fuck Warner, fucking fuckheads. FUCK!
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so many idiotic concepts in one place...can't..focus.....though the Furious George and halloween ghostbusting one sound kinda interesting.
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A pair of 30 year olds' memories are trashed when a flashy director creates a film based
on the Time for Timer shorts and not only gets the lyrics for "Exercise Your Choppers" wrong
but totally leaves out "Nutty Gritty" and miscasts the lead for "Don't Drown Your Food"
in BERNIE TINKLEBAUM RAPED MY CHILDHOOD. Geronimo! Joe Pesci is INCH HIGH, PRIVATE EYE.
Lil Bow Wow takes on your quarter, a mystery, and Bugs Meany in the taught psychological
thriller CYCOPEDIA BROWN. Also starring a horribly miscast Natalie Portmon as the dyke,
Sally. Baldric the Complainer stars in FAMILY FRIST!, about a guy who takes his family to Texas to start a film-themed website. -
in 1981, that is. Peter Markle's MIRACLE ON ICE, with Karl Malden as coach (and former Golden Gopher) Herb Brooks. Anyone remember that one? I must've watched it a million times back in the day...quite the tale, too. Read Kaminsky's ONE GOAL for the full story of the team's triumph over the Soviets. It was the equivalent of a bunch of college-aged European football (not soccer) players taking on a team of NFL all-stars and winning! Maybe this Hollywood version will deal more with the political issues at hand...and what a United States victory meant in terms of the sport, which wasn't nearly as popular back then as it is today. I'm still amazed the Soviets pulled Tretiak (known throughout the sports community has the best goaltender to EVER LIVE...and he didn't make a dime, either) after only two periods. Wonder if they'll re-cast Steve Guttenburg as Jimmy Craig?
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Handy Tips For Dudes To Endure THE DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YADA-YADA CHICK FLICK When Their Wives/Girlfriends/Chicks They Are Trying To Score With Drag Them To See It...1)Before going into the theater, remind yourself that Ashley and Sandra are hot. 2)During the movie, imagine yourself having sex with Sandra. 3)Imagine yourself having sex with Ashley. 4)Imagine yourself having sex with Sandra AND Ashley. 5)To be a gentleman, imagine yourself having sex with Sandra AND Ashley AND the woman who made you come to the movie. 6) To be a pervert, imagine yourself having sex with Sandra, Ashley, your date and the chick at the popcorn counter. 7) To break the monotony and remind yourself that you have testicles, start a fight with another guy in the theater over who is hotter: Sandra or Ashley. Whomever he says, you say the opposite. 8) Sneak into a few minutes of ATTACK OF THE CLONES. Yell things like, "Take it off, Natalie" and "Waste those sandpeople, Pretty Boy" and "Go, Jango, go! Jango B. Goode!"
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Who was the new Jude Law, who was the new Joseph Fiennes, who was the new Ben Chaplin.
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....nuff said. hit the point.
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Durhay, I was barely able to comprehend your post. Either I'm extremely malnourished, or you've been posting on acid. Either way, bravo! sk
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Jessica Alba will star in...not the latest John Woo opus....not a strong Sigourney Weaveresque role...not a comic book adaptaion...not anything to do with James Cameron...not even a decent indie...but some Glitter/Flashdance/Fame-esque tripe. God give me strength!
A lot of familiar stories being reproduced, apart from official remakes we have Leap of Faith, Big Business and Trading Places rip offs to look forward to. (I didn't bother remembering their names, but they're in the recap somewhere.) -
As the film was supposedly based on the Graphic novel 'God Loves, Man Kills' then Lady Deathstrike wouldn't be present - but'Anne' would. Anne is an enemy of mutants, who tracks them down and kills them (quelle surprise). I'd guess that Dark Horizons has it wrong, but I'll keep an eye out to see how this develops.
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Warner Brothers, in association with Paramount Pictures, in association with Artisan Productions, in association with Twentieth Century Fox, in association with Poo Poo Pictures, presents the most incredible motion picture extravaganza of all time --
FRANK MILLER'S UNDERDOG: THE HUMBLE AND LOVABLE DOG KNIGHT RETURNS. Featuring Will Smith, Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love-Hewitt, DMX, Maggie Smith, Chris Rock, Arnold Schwartzenegger, Sara Michelle Gellar, Courtney Cox, and Leslie Neilson as Simon Barsinister.
Michael Bay and Joel Schumacher proudly present a 750 million dollar marketing extravaganza! No expense has been spared in marketing the action figures, card games, bed spreads, party favors, motor oils, video games, pajamas, sanitary napkins, soaps, towels, gun cleaning agents and lunch boxes that the whole family can enjoy! Plus, industry insiders hint that an actual movie may be in the works!
That's right! Two and a half hours of pure, uncut CGI, completely devoid of any irritating human emotion to get in the way! You'll laugh! You'll cry! You'll kiss a day's pay goodbye! FRANK MILLER'S UNDERDOG - GET IN LINE NOW! -
A remake, huh? I'm a movie geek, and yet, somehow, I missed this one in my youth. I borrowed it off a friend of mine last week, and since then, I've watched it about SEVEN TIMES. I wish I had seen this when I was a kid instead of Star Wars. It's way better. It's brilliant, up there with Shogun Assasin. If MTV is involved, no doubt it will be shit. Just when I thought I had found an untouched, unmolested gem I hear that they're remaking it. I can see Matthew Lillard as Ajax, Freddi Prinz Jr. as Swan, Rachel leigh Cook as Mercy.... sigh. My adulthood is a joke. Oh yeah, and fucking Moby doing the soundtrack. Someone, please, STOP THE MADNESS!!
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You mentioned SHOGUN ASSASSIN. Isn't that the bastardised combination of SWORD OF VENGENCE and BABY CART AT THE RIVER STYX? I've heard of it but have not seen it. I've only seen the full-length, uncut, sub-titled widescreen versions of those great films, courtesy of Australia's 'ethnic' TV station SBS.
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*durhay is a paid spokeman for Vitameatavegemin, a subsidary of ConHugeCo Inc.
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You know how the movies like to take advantage of comics and not make them exactly like the comic. It's possible that is what is happening here. Just a thought man. stay cool.
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My god, a Wonder Twins movie!?!?!?! Surely, the end of the world is nigh.
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Didn't THE WASH fall flatter than Calista Flockhart on a starvation diet? Sheesh, between him and Master P, I don't know who's worse....
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I dont know if any of you care or read books like cold mountain but I heard Ribisi and Natilie Portman were in the film thinking they were great for the main characters but pretty boy jude law and an older kidman are horrible choices. I honestly dont rememebr this many characters in the book either. And why are two foreginers asked to speak in southern accents? I am seriously worried about this one.
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