I had this report from Mary Astor about The Sparrow and Antonio Banderas!!! Sounds intriguing!!!
Went to a reading by Mary Doria Russell last night, and she had some interesting info on a "Antonio Banderas in space" flick based on her book, "THE SPARROW". Universal is backing the movie based on the reps pitching it to them as "THE ENGLISH PATIENT meets CASABLANCA, with aliens." Verbatim quote! Apparently, Mr.Banderas would be playing the lead role of Emilio, a Puerto Rican Jesuit Priest who is part of a team sent to a distant galaxy to locate the source of music being transmitted into the cosmos. It's a very spiritual book and the aliens would have to be done with a lot of effort to really show pathos and expression. This is supposedly Antonio's next big project, if the pieces come together. The director's name was mentioned, but I didn't catch it clearly. He's Australian, and his last name is Wright, I believe. Jim, perhaps? Anyway, the book is good, so keep your fingers crossed...
