Well, its already the weekend again so ol' Father Geek is back with our buddy Elston Gunn and his weekly WEEKLY RECAP. I tell you I'm jazzed about
Director Billy Friedkin's new project THE HUNTED. Looks like it will be playing Tommy Lee Jones off of Benicico Del Toro's killer. So its time for you to grab that new AICN 15oz mug fill it with some great import java and sit back and read all about the week that was in Hollywood...
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TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
CASTING
* Geoffrey Rush is in talks to join Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon in the comedy THE BANGER SISTERS for director Bob Dolman. He'll play a writer who is picked up by Hawn's free spirited ex-groupie character while she travels from L.A. to Phoenix to meet her old friend, who is now the wife of an Arizona socialite.
* Carla Gugino (SNAKE EYES, upcoming SPY KIDS) will play the female lead in Revolution's THE ONE, the action drama written by James Wong and Glen Morgan (FINAL DESTINATION) and to be directed by Wong. Jet Li, Delroy Lindo and Jason Statham star in the pic about a guy who has to fight his evil double from another universe. Shooting began this week.
* Ewan McGregor, Brian Van Holt (upcoming WINDTALKERS) and Michael Roof (HYPE) and heading for BLACK HAWK DOWN, the Ridley Scott-directed pic based on the 1999 nonfiction novel, for producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Revolution Studios.
* Doug E. Doug ("Cosby") has been cast in Warner Bros.' ARAC ATTACK, also starring David Arquette.
* Tara Strong (Bubbles), Catherine Cavadini (Blossom) and E. G. Daily (Buttercup) will lend their voiced to the POWERPUFF GIRLS pic, which will be released in summer 2002.
* Timothy Olyphant (GO) joins New Line's action/thriller DIABLO for director F. Gary Gray (THE NEGOTIATOR). It's about an undercover DEA agent who is after a mysterious drug cartel boss. Vin Diesel and Larenz Tate star.
* Ice Cube will write, produce and star in a third installment of the FRIDAY franchise next year, but will first star in New Line's ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS, in which he will also produce. Kevin Bray will direct the latter pic from the Ronald Lang script about a bounty hunter and a bail jumper who join forces when they are caught in the middle of a diamond heist.
* Jake Gyllenhaal (OCTOBER SKY, DONNIE DARKO) is in talks to star in BABY'S IN BLACK for writer/director Brad Silberling (CITY OF ANGELS) and Disney. It's about a man who is mourning the loss of his fiancee. While he is staying with her parents, the guy starts to fall for a woman whose boyfriend is missing. Susan Sarandon will also star in the pic with Dustin Hoffman in talks to join the cast. Production is slated to begin in April.
* Rowan Atkinson (BEAN) is in talks to play the villain, Mondavarious, in Warner Bros.' SCOOBY-DOO, the live action pic to be directed by Raja Gosnell (BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE). Shooting begins Feb. 13 in Australia from a script by James Gunn and John August. Freddie Prinze Jr., Sara Michelle Gellar, Linda Cardellini and Matthew Lillard star as Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy, respectively.
* R&B singer/actress Aaliyah (ROMEO MUST DIE) joins the cast of THE MATRIX 2 & 3 for Warner Bros/Village Roadshow. and filmmakers Larry and Andy Wachowski. Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving and Jada Pinkett Smith also star.
* Mark Addy (THE FULL MONTY) will star opposite Guy Pearce in the Warner Bros./DreamWorks pic THE TIME MACHINE for director Simon Wells, great-grandson of H.G. Wells. John Logan (GLADIATOR) wrote the script. Shooting begins Feb. 4.
* Harvey Keitel will star in the Spanish-language comedy/drama NINGUNA PARTE (NOWHERE) as a Vietnam vet who moves to a South American desert after losing his girlfriend and tries to liberate five political prisoners. Chilean novelist Luis Sepulveda will direct. Jorge Perugorria, Rosana Pastor, Angela Molina and Leo Sbaraglia also star. Production begins March 19 in Argentina. Keitel will speak English for his role.
* Heather Graham and Marisa Tomei are in talks to star in the comedy THE GURU OF SEX or director Daisy Mayer and Working Title Films. Tracey Jackson wrote the script, based on an idea from Shekhar Kapur, about a young Indian man who comes to America to find fame and fortune. He ultimately becomes a guru teaching spiritual enlightenment through sex. Shooting is slated to start in April.
* Jennifer Aspen ("Party of Five") and Jennifer Gimenez (upcoming CORKY ROMANO) joins VANILLA SKY, starring Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz and Jason Lee. Cameron Crowe directs.
* Leslie Mann (BIG DADDY) will play a seductive stepmother in ORANGE COUNTY for director Jake Kasdan (ZERO EFFECT). Colin Hanks, Lily Tomlin and Catherine O'Hara star. Mann also joins the cast of STEALING STANFORD, starring Tom Green and Jason Lee.
* Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench are in talks to star opposite Kevin Spacey in THE SHIPPING NEWS for director Lasse Hallstrom. Blanchett will play Spacey's ex-wife, while Dench will be his aunt. Julianne Moore also stars.
* Steve Buscemi has been cast in the Paramount thriller DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE, the signed on to play a major supporting role in ``Domestic Disturbance,'' which started principal photography Monday in North Carolina. The cast includes John Travolta, Vince Vaughn, Matthew O'Leary, Teri Polo, Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Susan Lloyd. Harold Becker (MERCURY RISING) directs from a Lewis Colick (OCTOBER SKY) script.
* Tea Leoni is joining Dan Aykroyd, Helen Hunt, Elizabeth Berkley, Charlize Theron, John Schuck, Wallace Shawn, David Ogden Stiers and Woody Allen in Allen's DreamWorks pic THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION.
* Denise Richards is in talks to star in the comedy UNDERCOVER BROTHER opposite Eddie Griffin. It's based on an animated Web series and centers on a member of a brotherhood that fights to overcome oppression from "the man."
* Benicio Del Toro is in final negotiations to play the villain opposite Tommy Lee Jones and Connie Nielsen in Paramount's THE HUNTED for director William Friedkin. He'll play a killer who takes the lives of others in order to be chased in a manhunt.
* Daniel Craig (TOMB RAIDER) will play the villain in THE ROAD TO PERDITION, opposite Tom Hanks, Paul Newman and Jude Law, for director Sam Mendes (AMERICAN BEAUTY).
* Antonio Banderas will star in Disney's biopic ZAPATA about the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. Gregory Nava (SELENA, WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE) writes and directs.
* Bruce Greenwood (THIRTEEN DAYS) will star in Atom Egoyan's ARARAT, where he'll play not only Dr. Clarence Ussher, the Canadian doctor who ran a mission in Turkey, but also an actor who's playing the role of Ussher in a film about him. Charles Aznavour also stars.
* Al Pacino may star in the Warner Bros. drama INSOMNIA, a remake of the 1997 Norwegian film written by Hillary Seitz, about a police investigator who accidentally kills his partner in a small town in Alaska. He's then blackmailed by a killer he was chasing, and made to pin the murders on someone else.
* Michelle Pfeiffer will star in WHITE OLEANDER for Warner Bros., John Wells Prods. and Gaylord Films. Based on the Janet Fitch novel, Pfeiffer will play a woman who murders her lover and tries to control her daughter's life from jail. Kosminsky will direct from a script by Mary Agnes Donohue (BEACHES).
* Billy Campbell is in negotiations to join Jennifer Lopez in Columbia Pictures' thriller ENOUGH. Production begins in March. Campbell will play an abusive husband to Jennifer Lopez, who must take matters into her own hands to save her life as well as her child. Michael Apted directs from a script by Nicholas Kazan.
* Chris Klein, Barry Pepper, Sam Elliott, Madeleine Stowe, Desmond Harrington and Dylan Walsh are in talks to join Mel Gibson in Paramount Pictures/Icon Prods.' WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE...AND YOUNG (aka LOST PATROL). Randall Wallace directs from his own screenplay based on the nonfiction book by Lt. Col. Hal Moore. Stowe will also star in AVENGING ANGELO, opposite Sylvester Stallone, for director Martin Burke.
* Matt Davis (TIGERLAND) will star in Dimension's supernatural submarine thriller BELOW for writer/director David Twohy. Olivia Williams also stars.
* Laurie Holden ("The X-Files") will play Jim Carrey's love interest in THE MAJESTIC (formerly THE BIJOU) for Castle Rock Entertainment/Warner Bros. and director Frank Darabont. It's about a blacklisted screenwriter who loses his identity and finds himself in a small town where he is a mistaken for a soldier who had been killed.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Joel Schumacher is in talks to direct Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins in BLACK SHEEP for Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Shooting is slated to begin in March. Schumacher is expected to direct CHASING THE DRAGON, about the true story of journalist Veronica Guerin, possibly as his next pic.
* Vincenzo Natali (CUBE) will direct the suspense thriller THE COMPANY MAN, by Brian King, about a guy who finds himself working as a corporate spy, but later realizes his life is in danger as a part of a much bigger setup. He tries to save himself with the aid of a mysterious woman. Pandora Films will produce.
* Paul Thomas Anderson is being eyed by New Line Cinema to direct the feature adaptation of the Dave Eggers book A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS, though no official negotiations have begun.
* John McTiernan is in talks to direct MGM's BASIC INSTINCT 2 after David Cronenberg bowed out for unknown reasons. The studio and the pic's producers are still searching for a male lead.
* Chuck Parello (HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER 2, ED GEIN) will develop, co-write and direct a picture based on the Spanish short story "The Werewolf of Allariz," by Alfredo Conde. It's about the true events in 1850 where a peddler was acquitted of murdering women after pleading that he was a werewolf.
* Frank Darabont is in talks to rewrite and direct FARENHEIT 451, based on the Ray Bradbury classic, for Castle Rock Entertainment and Icon Prods.
* John McTiernan is in talks to direct SMOKE AND MIRRORS by Lee and Janet Batchler (BATMAN FOREVER) about 19th century illusionist Jean Robert Houdin, who was enlisted by the French government to expose a sorcerer in Algeria, who was trying to start a revolution.
* Kevin Lima will direct, and Bonnie Arnold will produce alongside Richard Brick, WHIRLIGIG, a feature based on the novel by Paul Fleischman. It's about a 17-year old who makes a trip of self-discovery across the country after the accidental death of a teen girl.
* Eric Bross (RESTAURANT, TEN BENNY) will direct ON THE L, starring 'N Sync's Lance bass and Joey Fatone, for Tapestry Films and A Happy Place. Eric Aronsona and Paul Stanton scritped.
For script news, check out my Weekly Script Report at ScreenwritersUtopia.com
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Nicole Kidman has indeed dropped out of Columbia's PANIC ROOM due to a knee injury, but the studio is considering offering her role to Jodie Foster. Jared Leto, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam star as intruders who enter a divorced mother's home to look for money hid in the "panic room," putting her and her daughter's lives in danger. David Fincher directs.
* Universal grabbed the screen rights to the Marie Brenner's Vanity Fair investigative article "In the Kingdom of Big Sugar," which appears in the February issue, for Tribeca Prods. to develop. It's about a lawyer's struggle to get Cuban-born sugar bosses to improve poverty wages to cane cutters in Florida. Brenner wrote the Vanity Fair article that eventually became the Michael Mann pic THE INSIDER.
* Paramount has purchased the feature rights to David Fisher's 1983 book THE WAR MAGICIAN, as well as a treatment for the pic by Nancy Hersage and Shirley Tallman for C/W Prods. to produce as a Tom Cruise starrer. It's based on a true WWII story about Jasper Maskelyne, a British stage magician who thought he could translate the principles of stage magic into fighting the Germans. He created one of the most strange, yet effective units in the British Army, transcending camouflage into a major weapon in battle.
* Henry Bean's controversial drama pic THE BELIEVER won the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival. It's about a Jewish student who becomes a neo-fascist political figure. SOUTHERN COMFORT, by Kate Davis, was the Grand Jury award in the documentary category. It tells the story of a drying transsexual and his relationship with another transsexual. Monteith McCollum's pic HYBRID won the Grand Jury best feature prize at the Slamdance Film Festival.
* Producer Arthur Sarkissian (RUSH HOUR, RUSH HOUR 2) is considering a third RUSH HOUR for New Line Cinema to be set in Africa, though no official plans have been set.
* Salma Hayek and Joshua D. Maurer will produce THE CROOK FACTORY about Ernest Hemingway's spy network in Cuba during World War II.
* Touchstone Pictures has picked up the feature rights to the upcoming horror novel JINN by Matt Delaney about a Boston homicide detective who finds that an Arabic demon has been brought to life and all the clues of a series of murders points to himself as a possible accomplice.
* DreamWorks grabbed the remake right to the 1998 Japanese drama RINGU (THE RING) about a journalist who investigates an urban legend about a cursed videotape said to kill whoever sees it a week after exposure to its contents.
* Producer Shanit Schwartz (NOBODY'S BABY) is developing the action-drama MONKEY BOYS for Millenium Films, by Glenn M. Benest and Timothy Wurtz, about four teens who put on their father's LAPD uniforms to bust drug dealers and make money while doing it. Later, they are pitted against their dads in a deadly confrontation.
