Father Geek here with Elston and another WEEKLY RECAP for all of you who may have missed out on some of the Tinseltown News during the past work-week. Its got some length to it so I'm out-of-here, and here's Elston Gunn and this week's...
WEEKLY RECAP...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Lil' Kim will star in the indie urban Western GUNS AND ROSES for
writer/director Jean Claude LaMarre (HIGHER ED). Bobby Brown, LisaRaye,
Monica Calhoun, Marie Matiko and Louis Mandylor. Set in the 1800s, the
period action film combines elements of classic spaghetti Westerns with the
gritty world of hip-hop. It centers on five female outlaws who are fighting
to avenge the murder of one of their own.
* Emmy Rossum (SONGCATCHER) joins the casts of MYSTIC RIVER for Warner Bros.
and DAY AFTER TOMORROW for 20th Century Fox.
* Catherine Bell ("J.A.G.") joins Jim Carrey, Jennifer Aniston and Morgan
Freeman in Universal's comedy BRUCE ALMIGHTY for director Tom Shadyac.
* Jason Ritter (SWIMFAN) has replaced Brad Renfro and will star opposite
Monica Keena in FREDDY VS. JASON. Renfro's exit from the project was
attributed to creative differences.
* Newcomer Sara Foster ("Going to California," "ET on MTV") and Gary Sinise
join Owen Wilson and Morgan Freeman in THE BIG BOUNCE, based on the novel by
Elmore Leonard, for director George Armitage (GROSSE POINTE BLANK).
Shooting begins Oct. 28 in Hawaii.
* Natalie Portman will star in the drama LARGE'S ARK for Jersey Films and
director Zach Braff ("Scrubs" lead actor) who wrote the script and will
co-star in the drama as well. Shooting will begin in spring.
* Melanie Lynskey joins the cast of SHATTERED GLASS, currently in
production.
* Nutsa Kukhianidze (upcoming THE GOOD THIEF) will star opposite Jeremy
Irons in MATHILDE, an indie pic to shoot this autumn in Montenegro for
Italian filmmaker Nina Mimica. It's about a journalist assigned to a
determined young Croatian girl who will tell the story of how a general was
murdered during the Serbian War.
* Lorraine Bracco and David Paymer have been added to the cast of MAX AND
GRACE, starring David Krumholz and Natasha Lyonne, about a pair of suicidal
lovers who wed in their psych ward and then break out to seek new ways to
die.
* Lindsay Duncan will join Diane Lane and Sandra Oh in the Disney romantic
comedy UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN, based on Frances Mayes' bestseller, for
writer/director Audrey Wells.
* Kari Wuhrer (EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS) joins Ron Livingston, George Wendt,
Daniel Baldwin and Chris McKenna in thriller KING OF THE ANTS, directed by
Stuart Gordon. Charles Higson wrote the script based on his own novel.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Charles Herman-Wurmfeld (KISSING JESSICA STEIN) will direct Reese
Witherspoon in MGM's LEGALLY BLONDE 2: RED, WHITE & BLONDE. The project
sees Witherspoon's character head to Washington D.C.
* Robert Schenkkan (THE KENTUCKY CYCLE) is in talks to adapt Paulette
Jiles's Civil War novel ENEMY WOMEN for Fox 2000. It's about a Missouri
Ozarks woman who, after being sent to a Union prison for her Rebel
sympathies, falls in love with a Union officer who helps her escape before
being sent to fight in Alabama. Determined to return to her home, she
travels 200 miles on foot through hostile territory in hopes of being
reunited.
* New Line Cinema is in final talks to reteam hip-hop stars Method Man and
Redman for the urban comedy GHETTO, INC. for Davis Entertainment. Sheck
Bugge wrote the script about three best friends who decide to form a rap
label as their ticket out of the 'hood.
* Norman Jewison will produce and direct Michael Caine in THE STATEMENT for
Sony Pictures Classics from an adaptation by Ronald Harwood (THE PIANIST) of
Brian Moore's novel. The project is a political thriller about a man who
once served as a Nazi executioner but now lives an anonymous life sheltered
by right-wing elements within the Catholic Church. When a new investigation
is launched, he becomes the target of hit men and police investigators.
* Victoria Lakeman will direct the action comedy CAPTAIN JUSTICE from her
own script for Roger Corman. It's about a young boy whose dreams collide
with real-life adventures when a criminal poses as the boy's favorite
comicbook hero. Shooting begins next spring. Corman is also planning to
use his retired comic label, Cosmic Comics, to publish a CAPTAIN JUSTICE
comic book in tandem with the film's release.
* Burr Steers (IGBY GOES DOWN) is set to adapt and direct LIGHTNING ON THE
SUN from the late Robert Bingham novel for Catch 23 Entertainment. Bingham
used his two-year tour of duty as a reporter at the Cambodian News to inform
his tale a journalist who becomes an unwitting courier of heroin.
* Dean Parisot (GALAXY QUEST) will direct Bruce Willis in ME AGAIN, a
thriller with comic overtones, for Intermedia Films. It's about a man who
wakes up one day next to a dead body, unable to remember who he is. He
learns that he is pitted against another man, and only one of them is good,
the other evil. He hopes he's the good one, but is hardly sure.
* Myriad Pictures has purchased the thriller GENIUNE ARTICLE, by
screenwriter Eric Harlacher, which is described as a modern TO CATCH A
THIEF. Production is expected to begin early next year.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Fox is considering a film version of "American Idol: The Search for a
Superstar."
* The teen comedy SLAP HER, SHE'S FRENCH has been moved to a Nov. 8 release
from Sept. 20.
* Kelly Osbourne has dropped out of playing the musically inclined best
friend in FREAKY FRIDAY, starring Annette Bening and Lindsay Lohan, due to
personal reasons. She will be replaced in the part by Christina Vidal.
* Without a male lead, Darren Aronofsky's sci-fi time-travel tale THE
FOUNTAIN has officially been postponed by Warner Bros. after Brad Pitt left
the project.
* New Line grabbed A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, the first book in the Paradox
Graphic Mystery line of books published by Paradox Press/DC Comics. The
book was written by John Wagner and illustrated by Vince Locke, and centers
on an ordinary family's life after the father receives unwanted national
attention for a seemingly vigilante self-defense killing at his diner, and
his previously unknown past is dredged up.
GUNN SHOTS
(NOT from the trades)
* Location Network announces the launch of the first online scouting
resource. Designed by location managers, this site bridges traditional
location scouting with the advantages of the high-speed Internet. The
company offers a full service resource where users can make detailed
location requests. Specific locations to match requests are quickly
delivered on a Digital Desktop, an image management system created
specifically for this medium. Users can then view images, send out locations
to the production team, and print them in a matter of moments.
* FOLLOW THE ROADKILL. They dare you. Check it out at
If You Can Stand The Stench.
* DIRECTOR'S CUT is based on a Chas Balun novella about a horror director
who's pursued by the demons of his past, culminating in a blood-soaked
screening of his most infamous film. DIRECTOR'S CUT will be adapted by
David Parker (HOUSE OF THE DEAD) and Daniel Schweiger (FREE ENTERPRISE).
Stuart Gordon (RE-ANIMATOR) is producing. Also, check out the new trailer
for DATE OR DISASTER at www.dateordisaster.com. This is a satire of reality
dating shows directed by Rick Elfman (FORBIDDEN ZONE, MODERN VAMPIRES), and
stars Robert Maschio (SCRUBS) as a manipulative host who goes on a
mis-matched date with truly disasterous results.
* On Tuesday Sept. 24, the World Premiere Screening of the 35mm short film
DOGS: The Longest Running Musical In Off-Off Broadway History, will take
place at The Walt Disney Studio Frank G. Wells Bldg. 1st Floor Theater.
Festivities begin at 7:30pm. You must RSVP with the names of all attending
in order to gain entry to the studio. Call 818-569-3077 or send an email to
info@gothamcityfilms.com Visit our website for more info:
Its Right Here
* Find out why Robert McKee's Story Seminar has been taken by over 40,000
students worldwide, including many of today's top screenwriters and
directors such as Akiva Goldsman, Peter Jackson, Joel Schumacher, Andrew
Stanton, Marc Klein, Zak Penn and many others. For information or to
request a free brochure, please call: 1-888-676-2533 Or visit
http://www.McKeeStory.com
* You are cordially invited to the world premiere of GEEKS:The Movie.
Please go to And Just Click to gain admission.
* Key West IndieFest is coming. For entry forms and info, visit
Them Here
* Creative Screenwriting, the #1 Screenwriting Publication, is proud to
present the 2002 Screenwriting Expo, the largest screenwriting conference
and trade show ever held. Attending the Expo on Nov. 16th and 17th (held at
the L.A. Convention Center) will put you in contact with the screenwriting
world's top talent, faculty, and production companies. For complete
information or to order today please visit our website at
www.screenwritingexpo.com or call (323) 957-1405.
* See the animated short SHIT PARTY and other projects at
Their Site . It's about a guy
who's forced to try and take a dump at a New Year's party when a couple of
hors d'oeuvres attempt a fight to the death in his belly.
| 
