Once again its time for Father Geek to post another of Elston's wonderful WEEKLY RECAPS for you all to use to catch up on all the Hollywood news from last week. I'm glad to see that REIGN OF FIRE is moving along the production road. Ol' Father Geek has long been a fan of fire-breathing dragons and their kin. I'm holding out for these guys to finally get it right. And while I'm on the subject of Austin's own Matthew McConaughey I feel he could be perfect in a role based on the 1960s icon Murf the Surf. He's got that Malibu Beach surfer look down and we all know he can play the bongos, its a matter of public record...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Robert Downey Jr. is in talks to join AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS starring John
Cusack, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Julia Roberts and Billy Crystal, who wrote the
script with Peter Tolan. Joe Roth is poised to direct.
* Anna Paquin is in negotiations to join BUFFALO SOLDIERS with Joaquin
Phoenix and Ed Harris for writer/director Gregor Jordan. Scott Glenn is in
final talks to join the pic as well. Shooting begins Nov. 3 on the film
that is based on the novel by Robert O'Connor.
* Randy Quaid is in final talks to purchase the feature film rights to the
book BLUE ANGEL by Francine Prose. Quaid will produce and star in the story
focuses on a New England professor whose personal and professional life
crumbles when he is stalked by a gifted student enrolled in his writing
workshop.
* Kristin Scott Thomas is in talks to star opposite Kevin Kline in LIFE AS A
HOUSE for director Irwin Winkler and New Line Cinema. Mark Andrus (AS GOOD
AS IT GETS) wrote the script about a dying man who sets out to fullfill his
dream and build a house.
* Jason Lee is set to star opposite Tom Green in STEALING STANFORD for
director Bruce McCulloch. Shooting begins in March. Lee will also take a
role in Cameron Crowe's VANILLA SKY, which is an adaptation of the Spanish
romantic thriller ABRE LOS OJOS (OPEN YOUR EYES).
* Catherine Keener and Benicio Del Toro are in final talks to star in BASIC
for Phoenix Pictures and director Lee Tamahori (THE EDGE, ALONG CAME A
SPIDER). It's about a DEA agent who investigates the mysterious
disappearance of an Army drill instructor and a group of his cadets during a
training exercise gone wrong.
* Jada Pinkett Smith is in talks to star in the second and third
installments of THE MATRIX for Warner Bros. and writer/directors Larry and
Andy Wachowski. Production will begin in March in Australia.
* Dave Sheridan (SCARY MOVIE) joins BUBBLE BOY for Disney and is in talks to
star in two other projects for the studio. One is an untitled pitch about
an insurance scam investigator who takes his job to another level; the other
is KUNG FOOL about a young man who takes martial arts lessons from a fraud.
* Alanna Ubach (CLOCKWATCHERS) joins Reese Witherspoon in LEGALLY BLONDE.
She'll play a sorority sister to Witherspoon's character.
* Dov Tiefenbach (upcoming KNOCKAROUND GUYS and GETTING OVER ALISON) will
star in the indie pic SIDE SHOW for director Thom Fitzgerald (THE HANGING
GARDEN).
* Katharine Towne joins Ivan Reitman's pic EVOLUTION.
* MC Gainey has grabbed a part in New Line's RUN, RONNIE, RUN, an off-shoot
from skits on the HBO comedy series ``Mr. Show With Bob and David.''
* Michael Vartan (NEVER BEEN KISSED, THE NEXT BEST THING) will star opposite
Robin Williams in ONE HOUR PHOTO.
* Matthew McConaughey will star opposite Christian Bale in the action
fire-breathing dragon pic REIGN OF FIRE for director Rob Bowman (THE
X-FILES) and Spyglass Entertainment. It's about an American and a young
British man who team up to destroy the queen dragon who reigns over a brood
of dragons that are dominating Earth.
* James Gandolfini is in talks to star opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in
DreamWorks' CATCH ME IF YOU CAN for director Gore Verbinski. Production
begins in February.
* Diane Lane is in final talks to star opposite Richard Gere in UNFAITHFUL,
Adrian Lyne's remake of the French classic LA FEMME INFIDELE. Shooting
begins March 5.
* Simon Rex will star with Chris Owen, Dylan Bruno and Susan Ward in GOING
GREEK, a college comedy about a freshman pledging for a fraternity. Justin
Zackham wrote the script and will direct.
* Brenda Blethyn joins Christina Ricci in American Zoetrope's PUMPKIN for
directors Adam Larson Broder and Anthony Abrams.
* Wallace Shawn and David Ogden Stiers join Woody Allen, Helen Hunt,
Charlize Theron, Dan Aykroyd in Allen's next pic for DreamWorks entitled THE
CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION.
* Ewan McGregor and Dennis Lawson will star in a film about British pop
legend Billy Fury. Fury had hits with "Halfway to Paradise" and "Jealousy"
in the early 1960s.
* Catherine McCormack (upcoming THE WEIGHT OF WATER) is in final talks to
star in SPY GAME opposite Robert Redford and Brad Pitt for Beacon
Communications/Universal and director Tony Scott. It's about a CIA agent
who must rescue a protégé during his last day at the agency. John Lee
Hancock (MY DOG SKIP) is rewriting the most recent draft of the script.
* Mischa Barton (THE SIXTH SENSE) joins Universal's DRAGONFLY with Kevin
Costner for director Tom Shadyac. Shooting begins Nov. 1.
* Nicholas Gonzalez will join Jeff Bridges, Noah Wyle, Jon Abrahams, Henry
Rollins and Morris Chestnut in SCENES OF THE CRIME.
* Tyler Mane (X-MEN, upcoming JOE DIRT) will star in BLACK MASK II, the
sequel to the Jet Li action pic.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Jesse Dylan is in final talks to direct HOW HIGH for Universal Pictures
and Jersey Films about two guys who smoke marijuana that makes them so
intelligent, they are accepted into Harvard. Not long into the school year,
however, they run out of their "smart weed" and have to rely on their wits
to get through. Rappers Method Man and Redman are in talks to star. Dustin
Abraham (THE RUNNER) wrote the script with Brad Kaaya (O) penning a rewrite.
* Writer/director George Gallo will direct UNCOUPLED for producer David
Permut (both worked together on the upcoming DOUBLE TAKE) and Revolution
Studios. The story follows two divorced men who come up with a plan to get
out of the alimony they owe their wives, but they have the tables turned on
them.
* Eagle Pictures has picked up film rights to Scott Steindorf's adaptation
of the Tom Tryon novel NIGHT MAGIC about a street magician and the master
sorcerer that pulls him into an overpowering dark world.
* Joe Jarvis and Greg Coolidge have written FIRST, LAST AND SECURITY which
The Walt Disney Co. has purchased. The story follows a guy who has landed a
group of jobs for which he has no qualifications. However, he ends up
posing as the Los Angeles expert on caretaking, pool maintenance and
housesitting.
* Producers Bennie R. Richburg Jr. and Jeffrey S. Dyson will write a film
for Paramount/MTV Films based on standup material from Bernie Mac as a
starring vehicle for the comedian.
* Artists Production Group has purchased the futuristic action pitch V-8 by
Dario Scardapane about a messenger who has to deliver a mysterious package.
* Paul Adee (TAZ) will write THE LAZY PRIVATE EYE for Revolution Studios as
a starring vehicle for Matthew Perry, who would play the world's laziest
private eye hired to find a woman who ends up being his ex-girlfriend.
* John Singleton is in final talks with Columbia Pictures for the studio to
produce his script BABY BOY about a young black man who begins to grow up
after spending several years avoiding his responisiblities of being a father
and bumming off his mother.
* Tom Dey (SHANGHAI NOON) will direct TICK-TOCK for Columbia Pictures from a
script by Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry. It centers on a guy with
amnesia who suddenly finds himself in the custody of the FBI where he learns
he is the prime suspect in a series of L.A. bombings.
* Producer Mark Canton (GET CARTER) picked up Christian Darren's spec
WIPEOUT, which is set in the world of surfing. Matthew McConaughey is in
talks to star and produce in the pic where he would play a character loosely
based on the 1960s icon Murf the Surf, who divided his time between jewel
heists and surfing.
* Raja Gosnell (HOME ALONE 3, NEVER BEEN KISSED, BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE) will
direct the live-action pic SCOOBY-DOO for Warner Bros. James Gunn adapted
the cartoon for the big screen, centering the script on a group of
mystery-solvers and their fraidy-cat dog. Shooting begins in February in
Australia.
* Dave Parker and Mark Altman will script THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD based on the
popular Sega video game. Mindfire Entertainment will produce the pic about
genetic research leading to the formation of terrorizing zombies.
* Conundrum Entertainment picked up Ricky Blitt's pitch WHORE OUT OF WATER
for The Farrelly Brothers and Bradley Thomas to produce. The comedy's plot
is being kept secret. Blitt has also written the upcoming pic THE RINGER
about two guys who try and fix the Special Olympics.
* Philip Kaufman is in final talks to direct the thriller KILLER SPY for Fox
Searchlight Pictures, based on
the 1995 book by investigative reporter Peter Maas. It follows the true
story Aldrich Ames, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for spying for
the Soviet Union, while serving as chief of counterintelligence for the
Soviet Block division on the CIA during the mid-80s.
* Jonathan Lynn will direct the comedy GUAM GOES TO THE MOON for Paramount
about an ex-astronaut who gets another chance at going to the moon as a
result of helping Guam start a space program.
* Damon Santostefano (THREE TO TANGO) will develop, and possibly direct,
AMERICAN GIRL for Warner Bros. Jenny Bicks scripted the original draft,
Maria Maggenit handled the most recent version, about a 19-year old New York
woman, who decides to find her father in London, where she finds the job of
her life and the man of her dreams. It is inspired by Vincent Minnelli's
1958 film THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE.
* Wally Wolodarsky (COLDBLOODED) is in talks to direct DOG CATCHER for
Disney about two frat boys who are kicked out of their fraternity house and
end up dressing in drag and living in the Delta Omicron Gamma (DOG) house
where the girls considered unattractive live. Joe Jarvis and Greg Coolidge
scripted. Shooting begins in the spring.
* Universal Pictures picked up Lisa Schrager's action/comedy pitch GANGSTA
BITCHES about two women who pull off a heist. Jersey Films will produce.
* Matt Williams will produce and direct an untitled action pic written by
Blake Masters for Wind Dancer Films. It follows a bickering father and son
who go on a weekend adventure together and must come together to save each
other's lives.
* Walt Disney Co. bought Gregory Allen Howard's (REMEMBER THE TITANS) pitch
THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY, based on the classic story of a drummer boy during
the Civil War.
* Jason Heimberg, Justin Heimberg and Jeff Sank have sold their script
LEISURE WORLD to 20th Century Fox. The comedy focuses on a man who
relocates to Florida because he is tired of the rat race.
* Columbia Pictures purchased Brent Weindling's script PEARLS BEFORE SWAN
about a college professor who inherits a strip club from his deceased uncle.
He intends on liquidating the place as soon as possible, but falls for a
stripper and learns about people with whom he wouldn't normally associate
himself.
* George Wing's sold his romantic comedy script 50 FIRST KISSES to Columbia
Pictures. It centers on a guy who falls in love with a woman who lost her
short-term memory in an accident, so he keeps trying to get her to fall for
him over and over again.
* Joe Dante is in final talks to direct BLOOD RELATIVE for Phoenix Pictures.
The project follows a young geneticist who discovers he was adopted.
While researching his blood releatives, he finds out his grandfather was a
notorious criminal who was convicted with the help of the scientist's
father, who is now in the witness protection program.
* Doug Jung sold his script CONFIDENCE to Fine Line Features about a master
con man who snows a man, who turns out to be an accountant for a huge crime
boss, out of a few thousand dollars. The con and his gang offer to pull off
a con to repay their debt.
* Michael Chabon (WONDER BOYS) will write a script based on his new novel
THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY for producer Scott Rudin. The
book is said to be Chabon's "most ambitious and celebrated work yet."
* Ron Bass will write and produce THE LAZARUS CHILD for Eagle Pictures based
on the Robert Mawson book. A girl goes into a coma after she is hit by a
bus. Her 12-year old brother volunteers to enter the girl's mind with the
help of an eccentric scientist to bring his sister back to consciousness.
* Mike White has written ORANGE COUNTY, which Paramount will soon
greenlight. It's about an high school senior trying to get into Stanford
University, but hits a major roadblock when his guidance counselor
mistakenly sent the school a slacker's transcripts instead of his. Jake
Kasdan may direct.
* David Goyer (BLADE scribe) is in talks to direct ZIGZAG, based on Landon
J. Napoleon's novel, for Franchise Pictures about an autistic boy who steals
money from his boss so his father can pay rent, but instead the dad repays a
loan shark. Wesley Snipes, John Leguizamo and Natasha Lyonne are in
negotiations to star.
* Chap Taylor will write a script for Paramount about a jewel thief whose
wife is taken hostage on a train that wrecks on top of the Brooklyn Bridge.
* Original Voices picked up David Steinberg's script AFTER SCHOOL SPECIAL, a
comedy about a group of high schoolers who set out to make a porno during
their summer vacation.
* The Scott Phillips-penned script RAMP RATS was picked up by Grammnet
Prods. It' s a dark comedy loosely based on the 1999 American Airlines
smuggling scandal where several baggage handlers were arrested on federal
drug charges.
* Fragile Films will produce a project based on a pitch by Kim Fuller (SPICE
WORLD) about the daughter of an English godfather who inherits the family
business which in turn makes her the most powerful Mafia figure in England.
However, things go wild when she tries to turn all of her employees into
legit businessmen.
* Single Cell picked up Brain Dannelly's and Michael Urban's script SAVED,
which is a dark comedy set in a Christian high school.
* Gary Tieche (SPEAKING OF SEX) will adapt Bill Fitzhugh's book CROSS
DRESSING for Shady Acres Entertainment. The story centers on the twin
brother of a dead priest, who takes the identity of his brother in order to
run away from charges that he stole ideas from a co-worker at his ad agency.
* Wallace Terry will adapt his book BLOODS for Castle Rock Entertainment and
Antoine Fuqua, who is attached to direct and produce. It focuses on
African-Americans who fought in Vietnam.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Producers Jon Sheinberg and Beaux Carson have optioned the feature film
rights to THE KILLING OF TUPAC SHAKUR and THE MURDER OF BIGGIE SMALLS, both
by investigative journalist Cathy Scott. The two books will be combined for
a project tentatively titled RECORD WARS.
* Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's Dualstar Prods. has acquired the comic
novelette TOUGH COOKIE by David Wisniewski, with hopes of turning it into an
animated pic. It's about a tough-as-nails chocolate-chip cookie, who solves
crimes among the crumbs at the bottom of the cookie jar of life. His
partner, Chips, is kidnapped by the dastardly Fingers, and the cookie--along
with his girlfriend, Sandy Pecan--is out for revenge.
* Columbia Pictures has put the Muhammad Ali biopic, ALI, into turnaround
due to budgetary issues. Michael Mann was to direct Will Smith in the film
with shooting slated to start in January. However, negotiations are ongoing
with the budget having been trimmed significantly.
* Miramax and Tribeca Prods. have optioned Eoin Colfer's book ARTEMIS FOWL,
about a 12-year old who travels to a place where fairies, leprechauns and
gnomes roam.
* Universal and Imagine will turn the life story of former Harlem heroin
kingpin Frank Lucas into a feature film. The story will also focus on
detective turned prosecutor Richie Roberts, who worked with Lucas to expose
crooked cops and the foreign nationals who made the smuggling of heroin by
Lucas possible. Nick Pileggi pitched his story as DONNIE BRASCO meets
SHAFT.
* Disney is fast tracking a feature update of their franchise HERBIE, THE
LOVE BUG. A writer will soon be hired and the project is said to be a
priority for Michael Eisner.
* Production has temporarily ceased for Terry Gilliam's THE MAN WHO KILLED
DON QUIXOTE due to pending surgery for its star Jean Rochefort. Production
began Sept. 25 in Spain.
See anything you like? Kudos to Jason Lee for another stint on a
Cameron Crowe flick as well as joining a Tom Green comedy. BUFFALO SOLDIERS
is a production that seems to be casting up a storm--the same can be
obviously said for AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS. News of a lot of interesting
scripts being developed this week--which one would you read if you had the
chance. I'm curious about SAVED since Single Cell picked it up. They, of
course, helped give life to BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. David Goyer's ZIGZAG
sounds good too. Lots more in the news this week, so Talk Back away.
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