Father Geek once more, I'll be brief here because Harry and I have to leave to catch the grand State Bar-BQ that Gov. Bush and the Texas Film Commission are throwing at the Gov's Mansion for all the VIPs at the Heart of Texas Screenwriter's Conference being held here in Austin this week. Boy, its a real Texas feed too. Its really odd to see Gov. Bush's front yard covered with so many Liberals at once. The most beards this place has seen since Reconstruction. A couple of years ago Dennis Hopper and Oliver Stone were at this event... THAT was really a strange anomaly! You could have heard a pin drop, the Gov's aides were so uptight. Anyway Father Geek is off to hobnob with the man who would be prez followed by a night of 8 classic Horror motion pictures. See you later...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
CASTING
* Bruce Willis and Colin Farrell (TIGERLAND) will star in HART'S WAR for MGM and director Gregory Hoblit (FREQUENCY). Shooting begins in January in Prague. Farrell will also star in PHONE BOOTH for director Joel Schumacher.
* Dennis Quaid is in talks to star in THE ROOKIE based on the true story of a high school baseball coach who gets to play for the majors. John Lee Hancock is in talks to direct from the Mike Rich script.
* Ed Harris will star opposite Joaquin Phoenix in the dark comedy BUFFALO SOLDIERS, based on the cult novel by Robert O'Connor, for FilmFour/Odeon Film. Aussie Gregor will direct the story of U.S. soldiers in West Germany in 1989--one in particular who uses his wits to manipulate the system. Shooting begins Nov. 3 in Germany.
* Harvey Keitel and Stellan Skarsgard star in TAKING SIDES for director Istvan Szabo (MEPHISTO). Ronald Harwood (THE DRESSER) adapted his own play for the screen. The story follows an American officer in de-Nazification hearings that involved German conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler in Berlin after World War II.
* Kate Hudson will star as the female lead in FOUR FEATHERS, based on A.E.W. Mason's novel, for director Shekar Kapur (ELIZABETH) and Paramount/Miramax. Shooting begins this week in Morocco. Wes Bentley and Heath Ledger also star in the pic about a British officer who resigns before his country invades Sudan in 1898. He is sent four feathers, meaning cowardice, by his friends and fiancee, but earns their respect when he disguises himself as an Arab and saves their lives.
* Harrison Ford will topline and Liam Neeson is in talks to join the submarine drama K-19 for director Kathryn Bigelow and Intermedia. It's about a Soviet captain who has to save his crew from a possible nuclear meltdown. Shooting is targeted to begin in February.
* Martin Landau and Allen Garfield have joined the Castle Rock/Universal/Warner Bros. pic THE BIJOU starring Jim Carrey. Frank Darabont will direct the pic which is slated to begin shooting Feb. 15 in L.A. It follows a blacklisted writer who is in a car accident, loses his memory and winds up in a small town where he is mistaken for a deceased soldier.
* Brian Cox is in final talks to star opposite Matt Damon in THE BOURNE IDENTITY, based on the Robert Ludlum novel, for Universal and director Doug Liman (GO).
* Dean Cain has joined the comedy RAT RACE for director Jerry Zucker. Whoopi Goldberg, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jason Alexander, Breckin Meyer, Kathy Najimy, Seth Green, John Cleese and Rowan Atkinson also star in the Paramount ensemble pic.
* Dominique Swain will join American Zoetrope's PUMPKIN starring Christina Ricci and Marisa Coughlan.
* Leo Rossi (ANALYZE THIS') joins Lions Gate's thriller ONE EYED KING.
* Flex Alexander (GIRLFRIENDS) and Caroline Dhavernas will join TEN TO ONE also starring Jason London and AJ Cook for Disney/Spyglass and directors the Malloy Bros. Shooting begins Nov. 6 in Vancouver.
* Connie Nielsen (GLADIATOR) will join Robin Williams in Fox Searchlight's/Killer Films' thriller ONE HOUR PHOTO for writer/director Mark Romanek. Shooting will begin Oct. 30.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Wim Wenders and Sam Shepard will work together again--the two worked on PARIS, TEXAS--on an untitled film Wenders described as a road movie right across the United States, a family saga and, at the same time, a story that takes place in the age of the Internet and global communication. Road Movies will produce.
* Tony and Joe Gayton will write the action heist script CON GAME for Castle Rock Entertainment based on their pitch about four convicts who pull of a big heist with a perfect alibi.
* Mexican director Antonio Serrano (SEX, SHAME AND TEARS) will direct the thriller LA HIJA DEL CANIBAL (THE CANNIBAL'S DAUGHTER) based on the novel by Rosa Montero.
* Matt Hoge will adapt Rene Steinke's novel THE FIRES for executive producer Madoona and Handprint Entertainment. It tells the story of a young woman who becomes a compulsive arsonist after being disfigured by a fire.
* Jim Herzfeld will write a sequel to MEET THE PARENTS for Universal/DreamWorks under the supervision of director Jay Roach. No deals have been made yet for Roach to come back as the director, or for Ben Stiller or Robert De Niro to return as stars.
* Eileen Walls has sold her script, BOY TO THE WORLD to producer Wendy Finerman (FORREST GUMP) and Fox 2000. The screenplay is said to be a comedy in the tone of PARENTHOOD and FERRIS BEULLER'S DAY OFF.
* J.D. Zeik (RONIN) will write ALIEN LEGION for Dimension Films, inspired by Carl Potts' sci-fi comic book series of the same name. The story centers on a young man who is disowned by his family, but proves himself by joining the Alien Legion.
* Alcon Entertainment picked up Chris Johnston's action thriller script HARD LOOK about an FBI agent who goes up against a bank robber who succeeds at his heists through blackmail. Alcon Ent. also optioned the film rights to PATIENT NUMBER ONE, the nonfiction novel by Rick Murdock and David Fisher about the true story of a biotech company CEO with cancer that can only be treated with technology from his company, which is in a legal battle with a medical products giant.
* Ben Elton is penning a film version of his stage play POPCORN with Ridley Scott in talks to direct. The story is a satirical look at violence in the media and will be produced by Scott Free Productions.
* Betty Thomas is directing a low-budget untitled film project spoofing reality TV. Joseph Lawrence (URBAN LEGENDS: FINAL CUT) stars as a TV host in the Revolution Studios movie. Production began this week with the project being shot on digital video.
* Penelope Spheeris (WAYNE'S WORLD) is in final talks to direct POSERS for Miramax from a script by Jaron Joel Curry. It's about three friends who start a porno Web site to save their dead uncle's adult bookstore.
* Dave Collard has written the cop thriller OUT OF TIME, which MGM has purchased. It centers on a small town cop who is double-crossed by the woman he loves.
* Frank Mugavero's script THE WHEELMAN was just picked up by Newmarket Group. The script follows a legendary getaway driver who gets involved with a group of rookie thieves whom plan to pull-off an improbably casino heist.
* Director Bertrand Tavernier will helm LAISSEZ PASSER (PASS), a film that will center on the French film industry during the Nazi occupation. Shooting begins Nov. 6.
* Robert Greenwald (STEAL THIS MOVIE!) will direct and produce a feature adaptation of James Ellroy's autobiographical novel MY DARK PLACES: AN L.A. CRIME MEMOIR for Myriad Pictures. Jan Oxenberg (THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT) has adapted the novel, which follows Ellroy into crime and drug use as an adolescent after his mother was murdered when he was 10 years old.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Producer John Williams has purchased the rights to PETRO PIRATES, the book written by Australian captain Ken Blyth about his experience with modern day pirates. In 1998, Blyth and his 20-man crew headed for Singapore to drop off some cargo, when they encountered pirates who held them hostage, planned to kill them and sell their payload.
* Halcyon Entertainment has acquired four literary properties for development: DEEPWATER, a novel by Matthew Jones, is about a drifter who gets a job in an old motel where a secret affair pushes him to murder and insanity. Tim Metcalfe (KALIFORNIA) is writing the screenplay. Robert Girardi's romantic period drama, MADELEINE'S GHOST, is being adapted by Christopher Monger (THE ENGLISHMAN WHO WENT UP A HILL BUT CAME DOWN A MOUNTAIN). Monger may also direct. Girardi's is adapting his own novel THE PIRATE'S DAUGHTER for the screen. It tells the story of a man who falls for a mysterious woman, leaves his life behind and takes a journey with her before he finds out her true identity. The fourth project, THE SETT, will have a new rewrite by Danny Taylor (THE SCORE). It's based on the novel by Ranulphcq Fiennes, and follows a man who struggles to regain his identity after recovering from a brutal attack that destroyed his memory
* Nash Entertainment purchased the rights to a manuscript by Rodger Garrick Steele, who claims Sir Arthur Conan Doyle may have murdered Bertram Fletcher Robinson, the real creator of Sherlock Holmes. Robinson may have created Holmes and penned THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, at the same time Steele believes Doyle was having an affair with Robinson's wife, and the two plotted and carried out Robinson's murder, covering up evidence of plagiarism.
* Disney may soon greenlight WINTERDANCE, a story that details the reunion of a father and son during the Iditarod dog-sled race in Alaska, based on the book by Gary Paulsen. Production may begin in January with Brian Levant (JINGLE ALL THE WAY) as a contender to direct.
* Nicole Kidman has temporarily dropped out of shooting on THE OTHERS due to a recurrence of a knee injury she received while filming MOULIN ROUGE.
Colin Farrell is a busy man. One film (TIGERLAND) has landed him a role with Bruce Willis in HART'S WAR and the lead in PHONE BOOTH--a role Will Smith, then Jim Carrey, almost filled. The FOUR FEATHERS cast just got better with Kate Hudson taking the lead. Anxious to see that one. Ed Harris & Joaquin Phoenix; Harvey Keitel & Stellan Skarsgard; Martin Landau & Allen Garfield; and Harrison Ford & Liam Neeson are paired-up actors added to films this week, making the films something to keep your eye on. Speaking of pairs, I'm curious about the next Wim Wenders/Sam Shepard collaboration. PARIS, TEXAS is considered an indie classic.
** FYI, writer/director Kevin Smith is now writing a column for the comic site Psycomic.com. However, instead of writing about comics, he will write about movies. More specifically, he'll chronicle his recent L.A. adventures (and events to come) involving his upcoming production currently known as VIEW ASKEW 5. Check it out. **
