Father Geek here welcoming you to the special BUTT-NUMB-A-THON eve edition of Elston Gunn's WEEKLY RECAP of everything that happened in Hollywood during the last week. I've got to get up early and head over to the legendary ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE CINEMA for our 24 hour film endurance test for geeks. I just got in from our welcome dinner at THREADGILL's ROADHOUSE for 38 of our out of state faithful, they came from TORONTO, SAN FRANCISCO, HOLLYWOOD, we even had a big group from Gov. Jesse Ventura's state. Now tomorrow morning they arrive from New Zealand, New Jersy, New York, Washington, Chicago, Arizona, Mexico, Georgia, and Arkansas among other locales. Of course they'll arrive from all over Texas too; San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Abilene, etc... to worship in the ALAMO's hallowed halls of filmdom. We don't plan to let them down, this years event is improved on ALL fronts. Well, ol Father Geek needs to catch some shut eye so I'll just turn you over to Elston now...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
CASTING
* James Coburn is in talks to play the estranged father of Cuba Gooding Jr.'s character in WINTERDANCE for Disney and director Brian Levant (VIVA ROCK VEGAS, PROBLEM CHILD 2). The project is based on Gary Paulen's 1994 book about his participation in a dogsled race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. A father and son reunion occurs during the race.
* Ashton Kutcher ("That '70s Show") is in final talks to star in THE GUEST for Dimension Films and director David Zucker (THE NAKED GUN). Shooting begins in April. It's about a young man who has eyes for his boss' daughter. When the man is asked to housesit for his boss, his plans to seduce his daughter are foiled by a group of unexpected guests.
* Lisa Kudrow, Vincent D'Onofrio and Hank Azaria are starring in BARK, the Propaganda Films romantic comedy being directed by Kasia Adamik. It's about a young woman who, as the result of a nervous breakdown, believes she is a dog. It was written by Heather Morgan ("The Dana Carvey Show"), who will also have a role in the pic.
* Robert Redford is in final talks to star in THE CASTLE for writer/director Rod Lurie (THE CONTENDER). Mark Wahlberg is also in talks to star in the project that follows a five-star general who is sent to prison for a capital crime. There he turns the group of convicts into his own army and threatens to take over the prison.
* Catherine Zeta-Jones will co-produce and most likely star in the Warner Bros. pic TRUST, based on the British miniseries of the same name. She will play a lawyer who finds out her psychiatrist husband is having an intense affair with one of his patients. The project is said to be similar to FATAL ATTRACTION in tone.
* Ethan Hawke, Carla Gugino and Frank Whaley are starring in the indie pic THE JIMMY SHOW, which Whaley is directing. It's based on the play VEINS AND THUMBTACKS by Jonathan Mark Sherman about a down-and-out New Jersey inventor who tries his hand at stand-up comedy. After he fails at the amateur-comedy circuit, he takes up alcohol and tries to keep his family together. Hawke directed Whaley in the play at Manhattan's Malaparte Theater.
* Jason Alexander is starring in the indie romantic comedy HOW TO GO OUT ON A DATE IN QUEENS. Michelle Danner is directing the pic which connects three storylines at one restaurant. Richard Vetere (THE THIRD MIRACLE) wrote the script.
* Michael Caine and Michael Keaton will star in QUICKSAND for director John Mackenzie (LONG GOOD FRIDAY). Shootng will begin this week. Judith Godreche (THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK) and Rade Serbedzija (SPACE COWBOYS) will also star. Timothy Prager penned the screenplay about an international film star and a New York banker who become entangled in a web of vice and criminal behavior in Monaco.
* Michael Weston (LUCKY NUMBERS, COYOTE UGLY) joins New Line's SIMONE and MGM's HART'S WAR.
* Ian Somerhalder joins the cast of New Line's LIFE AS A HOUSE for director Irwin Winkler. Kevin Kline, Hayden Christiansen and Kristin Scott Thomas star.
* Michelle Pfeiffer and Sean Penn are in talks to star in SAM I AM for New Line Cinema and director Jessie Nelson. It's about a disabled man with the mind of a 7-year-old involved in a hearing to regain custody of his daughter and the attorney who takes his case. Shooting begins in January.
* Milla Jovovich (THE MESSENGER: THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC) will star in two independent features: RESIDENT EVIL, based on the popular zombie-filled video game, for director Paul Anderson and Constantin Film, and YOU STUPID MAN, a romantic comedy for writer/director Brian Burns about a man whose girlfriend moved to L.A. to become a TV star. He then falls in love with a friend as his ex's show is cancelled and she returns to reclaim him.
* Stephen Baldwin, Kristy Swanson, Cameron Daddo and Brandy Ledford will star in the erotic thriller ZEBRA LOUNGE about a husband and wife, whose wild encounter encounter with another couple comes back to haunt them. Kari Skogland (MEN WITH GUNS) will direct.
* Kelly Lynch (CHARLIE'S ANGLS) joins Ryan Gosling, David Morse, Clea DuVall, David Cale, Amy Adams and Eddie Spears in THE SLAUGHTER RULE for writing/directing twin brothers Alex and Andrew Smith. It's about a coming-of-age film about a teenager becoming a man in a violent society.
* Devon Sawa (FINAL DESTINATION) will star in the drama CHRISTMAS WITH J.D. for director Dean Paras (TOO SMOOTH) and Lions Gate.
* Cliff Robertson will play Uncle Ben in SPIDER-MAN for director Sam Raimi. Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe and James Franco also star.
* Anjelica Huston is in early talks to join THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS for Disney and director Wes Anderson. Shooting begins in mid-February. It's about a dysfunctional family of geniuses who live under the same roof in New York. Huston would play the mother of the family, who wrote a book entitled "Family of Geniuses. Gwyneth Paltrow plays an adopted daughter and wife to Bill Murray. Paltrow's brothers will be played by Ben Stiller and Luke Wilson. Their estranged father will be portrayed by Gene Hackman. Owen Wilson will play a friend of the family.
* Jada Pinkett-Smith will co-star in the sequel to THE MATRIX for Warner Bros./Village Roadshow and directors Larry and Andy Wachowski. Aaliyah, Harold Perrineau, Jr. and Harry Lennex are also in talks to join Carrie-Anne Moss, Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving in the pic which begins shooting in March.
* Marc Blucas ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") joins the cast of the Miramax comedy A VIEW FROM THE TOP starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Kelly Preston and Christina Applegate. Bruno Barreto directs.
* Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro are in talks to star in the buddy cop comedy SHOWTIME for Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow. It follows a tough cop who has to team up with a rookie as the star of a new reality-based TV show to help boost the image of the city police dept.
* Jon Stewart will play the villain in DEATH TO SMOOCHIE for director Danny DeVito. Edward Norton, Robin Williams and Catherine Keener also star. Stewart will play a ruthless TV exec who dumps one kidshow host and replaces it with another, causing the former personality to plot the murder of the new guy.
* Hank Azaria is in talks to replace Robert Downey Jr. in Revolution Studios' AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS, starring Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, Catherine Zeta-Jones and John Cusack. Studio head Joe Roth will direct. Shooting begins Jan. 11.
* Famke Janssen will play Michael Douglas' wife and Sean Bean will play a villain in DON'T SAY A WORD, based on Andrew Klavan's novel, for director Gary Fleder, New Regency and 20th Century Fox. Brittany Murphy, Oliver Platt, Jennifer Esposito and Guy Torry also star.
* Ron Silver is in final negotiations to play trainer Angelo Dundee in Columbia' ALI. Will Smith (Ali), Jamie Foxx (Drew "Bundini" Brown), Mykelti Williamson (Don King) and Mario Van Peebles (Malcolm X) also star. Michael Mann directs the picture for producer Jon Peters.
* Richard Gere is attached to star in STEINBECK'S POINT OF VIEW, a Warner Bros. drama about ''Steinbeck's Point of View,'' about a man in denial about his potentially terminal disease.
* Courtney Love will play Hollywood screen legend Texas Guinan in HELLO SUCKERS, a biopic about the lady who went from being a showgirl to Broadway, then to the silent silver screen and on to nightclubs during the turn of the century. Scott Elliott (A MAP OF THE WORLD) will direct. David Henry Hwang penned the adaptation of the book TEXAS GUINAN, QUEEN OF THE NIGHTCLUBS by Louise Berliner.
* Mel Gibson is in advanced talks to star in the tentatively-titled LOST PATROL, a Vietnam drama for writer/director Randall Wallace (BRAVEHEART, PEARL HARBOR scripter) about the first major battle between U.S. and Viet Cong troops, where 400 American soldiers were surrounded by 2,000 enemy troops. It's based on the memoir WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE...AND YOUNG. Gibson would play the battalion commander. Production on the film is being planned for a March start so it could be finished before the possible actors strike at the end of May.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Best-selling author Caleb Carr (THE ALIENIST and ANGEL OF DARKNESS) will make his directorial debut on an as yet unidentified project for Morgan Creek Prods. Carr is also rewriting EXORCIST: DOMINION.
* TV director Phil Morrison ("Upright Citizen's Brigade") will helm New Line's comedy BURGER WUSS based on the book by M.T. Anderson. It's about a young man's obsession with the girl who dumped him and his need for vengeance, all the while taking place against the backdrop of a burger joint.
* Tim Hill (MUPPETS FROM SPACE) is in talks to direct Disney's MAX KEEBLE'S BIG MOVE about a teased seventh-grader who wreaks havoc at school after he finds out his dad accepted a job out-of-town. However, when dad's new job falls through, the kid must return to school and face the consequences of his actions. Production begins Feb. 26 in L.A.
* Michael Bay may direct a film based on the tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. David Franzoni (GLADIATOR) is scripting. The project is said to be more historical than mythical, concentrating on the politics during Arthur's rule. Jerry Bruckheimer will produce.
* Play director Andy Fickman will direct the feature MONEY FOR NOTHING...CHICKS FOR FREE, a comedy about a high school senior who inherits an adult magazine empire. Fickman wrote the script based on a pitch by Maria Veltre and Jack Sekowski.
* Jill Hennessy ("Law & Order") is codirecting her first feature. It's entitled THE ACTING CLASS. Hennessy recently wrapped an acting stint with Steven Seagal in Warner Bros.' EXIT WOUNDS.
* Luis Mandoki will direct the 24 HOURS, the action thriller to be produced by the Canton Co., Senator Entertainment AG, Mandolin Entertainment and Propaganda Pictures. Greg Iles penned the script about a physician and his wife who try to save their daughter from experienced kidnappers. Production begins early next year.
** Malcolm Lee will direct Imagine Entertainment's UNDERCOVER BROTHER, a live-action comedy feature based on an animated comedy series created by John Ridley and www.urbanmediaentertainment.com. Ridley wrote the script for the project and will also executive produce. The series centers on a seemingly harmless black man who secretly works for the all-black brotherhood in its never-ending struggle against the all-white establishment.
* James Merendino (SLC PUNK) will direct THEODORE, AND THE IMPENETRABLE SUIT OF ARMOR, an indie pic to shoot in March. It's about a young man who travels through Europe to find playwright Samuel Beckett, meanwhile finding the meaning to life.
* Julie Taymor is in early talks to direct a dramatic epic based on Darin Strauss's debut novel CHANG AND ENG for Disney, who recently purchased the rights. It's about 19th century Siamese twins, attached at the chest, who married sisters and fathered 21 children.
* Steve Brill (LITTLE NICKY) is in final talks to write and direct DEEDS, an homage to the 1936 Capra film MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN, most likely for Columbia Pictures and New Line Cinema (the former owns the script, the latter has the option on Sandler's next pic). It's about a small-town poet who inherits a fortune, moves to New York and becomes the target of the city's high society due to his generous honesty. Tim Herlihy wrote the original draft.
* Franco Zeffirelli (TEA WITH MUSSOLINI) will direct I FIORENTINI in Italy in 2002 for producer Dino De Laurentiis. The period romance centers around a daughter of the Medici family, set against Renaissance figures including Michelangelo, Machiavelli and Leonard Da Vinci. Zeffirelli, however, will first film CALLAS FOREVER about the last days of opera legend Maria Callas. Jeremy Irons is in talks to join Teresa Stratas in the film.
* J.B. Rogers will direct the sequel to AMERICAN PIE for Universal. The studio is in talks with Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Tara Reid, Shannon Elizabeth, Mena Suvari and Eugene Levy to return. Adam Herz, who scripted the original, has written the screenplay for the sequel. Chris and Paul Weitz, Chris Moore and Warren Zide will produce the pic, which is expected to begin production in February.
For script news, check out my weekly script report at Screenwriters Utopia.com
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Jim Sheridan (IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER) and his producing partner, Arthur Lappin, have picked up the remake rights to Alejandro Amenábar's Spanish thriller TESIS (THESIS). They plan to finance the pic themselves and begin production in the spring. The original film follows a young graduate film student who is busy with her thesis "Violence in the Media." Things go awry when the topic takes her on a life-or-death game with a male colleague she believes is a killer.
* New Line Cinema has moved the Kevin Costner Cuban missile crisis drama THIRTEEN DAYS to Jan. 12 from a crowded Dec. 22. However, it will compete with TRAFFIC, FINDING FORRESTER, ANTITRUST, DOUBLE TAKE and O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? on the January date. The December date will see the openings of FAMILY MAN, CAST AWAY, MISS CONGENIALITY and WES CRAVEN PRESENTS DRACULA 2000.
* Mostow/Lieberman Prods. is purchasing the rights to BONNIE WINTER, Graham Masterson's upcoming thriller novel abot a woman who unlocks a mystery while investigating a series of crime scenes, as a directing vehicle for Jonathan Mostow (U-571).
* Morris Chestnut (BOYZ N THE HOOD) is teaming with Diversified Managed Investments (DMI) on a 2-pic, 2-year production deal which may include a remake of the Diana Ross pic MAHOGANY.
* Alliance Atlantis has optioned IS THAT A GUN IN YOUR POCKET by Rachel Abramowitz, for a feature to be produced by Joan Hyler and Ed Guernon. The book details the rise of women in power in Hollywood during the '70s and '80s. The producers are looking to get a smart female writer for the project.
* Paramount and producer Scott Rudin are developing a sequel to THE FIRST WIVES CLUB and are in early talks with Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton to return. Paul Rudnick is rewriting the script. Shooting is expected to begin in March.
