Beaks here...

I've been hearing a lot of things about Darren Aronofsky's THE WRESTLER (that it's a small movie, that it's a really good small movie, that it's very possibly going to get Mickey Rourke his first ever Best Actor nomination), but Anne Thompson's brief mention of Bruce Springsteen recording a brand new song for the closing credits? News to me.

Happily, it's 100% true. Slashfilm's Peter Sciretta tracked down the confirmation on Aronofsky's blog:

bruce springsteen wrote a beautiful original song for the closing the film. called THE WRESTLER it is a wonderful acoustic piece. makes me choke up every time i hear it. he really captured the spirit of the film and mickey's character in the piece.

THE WRESTLER will debut Friday, September 5th at the Venice Film Festival. It will then screen at the Toronto Film Festival and close the New York Film Festival in October. The picture is still without a U.S. distributor, but is expected to sell very soon in anticipation of a 2008 release.

Now for the Apatow: CHUD's Devin Faraci has spilled the beans regarding The Boss's potential appearance in the comedy kingpin's seriocomic FUNNY PEOPLE. Though it's true that Springsteen has been written into the script, it's only a half-page scene that could just as easily go to another iconic troubadour like Bob Dylan. And because Springsteen's cameo is just close enough to his bit in HIGH FIDELITY, I kinda hope they do go with someone else (the rock angle isn't crucial, by the way; anyone from Bill Clinton to Leon Spinks would work just as well).

FYI, there will be no full-scale script review for FUNNY PEOPLE - at least, not from me. Though it's easily one of the best thing's Apatow has ever written (tonally, I think it's going to be a ribald James L. Brooks movie, and could very well do for comedians what BROADCAST NEWS did for its titular profession), the success of the film hinges on the funniness (and believable unfunniness) of the stand-up material currently being honed by Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen. And since we won't see any of that stuff until filming is complete, it's impossible to gauge how it'll get along with the scripted comedy/drama (which could get riffed out of existence, but shouldn't).

And that's it for this sudden flourish of Springsteen news. Anyone got anything on Southside Johnny and/or The Asbury Jukes?