Father Geek here to remind you that another week of 2001 has slipped by, and to present you with Elston Gunn's review of all the major news stories that may have slipped by you for one reason, or another as well. Sooooo relax, take it easy and drift through the week that was with the WEEKLY RECAP...
Buuuuuuut, First this important notice!!!
Please post a warning to folks NOT to visit the Drudge report site for a while-they have completly spoiled the ending of the new Apes film with the headline on their opening page with no spoiler warning at all! You open the site and you have the film ruined whether you want to see it or not. I guess I won't have to see it now-and I was really looking forward to that surprise..Just thought I'd let you give folks a heads up!
Father Geek back... Thanks Steve for your warning... now on to Elston's report...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Kevin Spacey is in final talks to star in THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE for
Universal Pictures/Intermedia Films and director Alan Parker. Producer
Nicolas Cage is expected to take a small role. It's about a professor, who
advocates the end of capital punishment, falsely accused and convicted of
murdering an activist. He soon finds himself on death row.
* Doug Hutchison (THE GREEN MILE) joins Samuel L. Jackson, Milla Jovovich
and Stellan Skarsgard in Bob Rafelson's thriller NO GOOD DEED, written by
Christopher Canaan (creator of "Walker, Texas Ranger").
* Azura Skye (28 DAYS) will play sister to Julia Stiles' character in
CAROLINA for director Marleen Gorris. Shirley MacLaine and Alessandro
Nivola co-star.
* Alanna Ubach (LEGALLY BLONDE) joins Jamie Kennedy and Jake Busey in
CAPTURE THE FLAG.
* Renee Zellweger is in negotiations to star in the Revolution Studios
comedy 13 GOING 30, written by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa (WHAT WOMEN
WANT). It's about a girl on her 13th birthday who gets a peek at her life
as a 30-year-old. She is excited to learn she's beautiful, rich and powerful
but is a little bummed when she finds out how she got there.
* Paul Walker is in talks to star with Scott Caan in the drama WANNA-BE for
director Fred Durst. It's based on a Mike McAlary article from New York
magazine about how the children of mobsters defy their wishes and follow in
their footsteps, breaking rules along the way. Production may begin in
October with David Fincher possibly coming aboard in some capacity.
* Jet Li and Jackie Chan will star in an action film for the first time for
Revolution Studios. The pic will begin production in fall 2002. Robert
Mark Kamen (KISS THE DRAGON, THE FIFTH ELEMENT) is working on the script.
Li and Chan are both involved in the construction of the pic and will also
serve as executive producers.
* Taye Diggs is in talks to join Sanaas Lathan in Fox Searchlight's BROWN
SUGAR for director Rick Famuyiwa about an A&R rep for a hip-hop record label
who falls for a magazine editor.
* Ice Cube and Johnny Knoxville are in talks to star in the buddy pic BIG
TICKET for DreamWorks Pictures. Jim Herzfeld wrote the script.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Jean-Marie Poire will direct an adaptation of the hit French stage comedy
MY WIFE'S NAME IS MAURICE as well as the sci-fi comedy DAMIEN AND THE
INVADER, both for Gaumont.
* Linda Mendoza ("The Chris Rock Show") will make her feature directorial
debut with PAPI CHULO, a Fox 2000 comedy about a guy who keeps girlfriends
in Miami, San Francisco and New York. They eventually meet, discover they
have the same boyfriend, and seek revenge.
* Roger Kumble (CRUEL INTENTIONS) will direct THE UGLY TRUTH, written by
Nicole Eastman and Tracey Jackson, for Bel-Air Entertainment. It's about a
female TV station general manager who hires an obnoxious late-night TV host
to help her find the perfect man. In the process, the two fall for each
other.
* Ryan Murphy ("Popular" creator/executive producer) will direct WHY CAN'T I
BE AUDREY HEPBURN for producer Joni Sighvatsson. A woman who seems to have
everything going for her is left at the altar by the wealthy man of her
dreams. She ultimately falls for someone she previously loathed because he
was everything her fiancee was not
* F. Gary Gray will direct the urban drama MAGE for Spyglass Entertainment,
based on the Matt Wagner-created comic book series about a guy who finds out
he's a major player in the fight against dark forces.
* Brazilian director Walter Salles (CENTRAL STATION) will remake the 1963
Akiro Kurosawa film HIGH AND LOW about a business tycoon who believes his
child has been abducted, but later discovers that it's his chauffeur's son
instead. He soon realizes he must choose between saving his business and
saving the life of the child of his closest confidant.
* Director Ridley Scott is on producer Dino De Laurentiis' wish list for
ALEXANDER THE GREAT, but is not yet attached. Ted Tally is writing the
script.
* Rose Troche (THE SAFETY OF OBJECTS) is now developing her next pic
LUCINDA'S CHANGED for TF1 Intl. The project is described as a "radical
reappraisal of the Frankenstein story."
* William Malone (HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL) will direct TEMPTING PANDORA about
a young man, rejected from Harvard's graduate psychology program, who faces
a killer on death row. The man learns a secret from the killer and though
he promises not to reveal it, the man publishes the info and gets accepted
to Harvard. Later, the killer escapes and hunts the man. Jeff Vlaming
penned the screenplay.
* Escape Artists grabbed the suspense-thriller pitch DIARY from writer Eric
Nicholas who will write the script about a married woman terrorized by a
thief who has stolen her diary containing a grave secret.
* Danny Rubin (GROUNDHOG DAY) sold his script MARTIAN TIME to Propaganda
Films for Maggie Zackheim to direct. The story is an offbeat romance about
two cynical folks who find love at an alien gathering in Arizona.
* Disney picked up the comedy pitch BOYS TOWN from Jordan Budde and Robert
Ellsworth for Lauren Lloyd to produce. It's about a redneck agent who goes
undercover as a gay man in West Hollywood to solve a murder.
* Griffin Dunne will direct NAILED RIGHT IN for Gold Circle Films and
producers Richard Lewis and Akiva Goldsman about three friends in 1980s
Brooklyn, set against the backdrop of John Gotti's rise to mob power.
* Regency's going top-shelf on the redo, hiring scribes Brandon Camp and
Mike Thompson will write a remake of the 1996 German film BROKEN SILENCE for
Regency Enterprises. It centers on monks who discover the 99-year lease on
their monastery is up. One monk is empowered to speak for them and goes out
into the world to extend the lease.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Working Title Films has picked up the feature rights to Margaret Atwood's
ALIAS GRACE as a project for Cate Blanchett. The book is based on an event
that took place in Canada in 1843 and centers on a 16-year-old housemaid,
who was convicted for the murder of her boss and his mistress. She was then
sentenced to life imprisonment, spending the next 30 years in jails and
asylums, though there is speculation whether or not she even committed the
killings.
* Production company Single Cell is developing several projects including a
movie based Douglas Coupland's book ALL FAMILIES ARE PSYCHOTIC, about a
family get-together the weekend before the first female astronaut heads to
space; Brady Udall's script THE MIRACLE LIFE OF EDGAR MINT; the black comedy
SAVED from writer/director Brian Dannelly about a pregnant girl who is
outcast at her Baptist high school; and BLONDE, written by director Everett
Lewis, about the sexual side of Bonnie and Clyde. Peter Sarsgaard is
attached to play Clyde.
* There are three feature projects in development about Alexander the Great:
Christopher McQuarrie will direct a film he wrote for the Canton Co.,
while Ted Tally is scripting a separate project, based on three historical
novles by Valerio Manfredi, for Dino De Laurentiis; finally, producer Gene
Kirkwood is developing a Norman Toy Jr. script which will focus on
Alexander's life in the bedroom as much as on the battlefield.
* DreamWorks Pictures has grabbed the rights to the PC game CRIMSON SKIES
from Microsoft for a potential live-action feature flick. The game takes
place during the depression in 1930s U.S. and follows an air adventurer who
takes on a group of evil air pirates who threaten the country.
* Famke Janssen had to bow out of MEN IN BLACK 2, due to an illness in the
family, and has been replaced by Lara Flynn Boyle.
Thanks to everyone for the kind words and well-wishes. Much appreciated.
Until next week...
Elston Gunn
elstongunn@hotmail.com
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