Well here's Elston Gunn with another wonderful Weekly Recap. This one is pretty long so I'll just let ya get right on into it. A Spielberg... TIME MACHINE... Can anyone really imagine what that would be like? Hmmmm....
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER VIA REUTERS
CASTING
* Jackie Chan will star in NOSEBLEED for New Line Cinema where he'll
play a window washer who gets caught up in a plot to bomb the twin
towers.
* Jimmy Smits joins the Wim Wenders flick MILLION DOLLAR HOTEL with Mel
Gibson, Milla Jovavich, Jermey Davies, Gloria Stuart and Amanda Plummer.
Smits will then star in New Line's PRICE OF GLORY, based on a play by
former New York Times sportswriter Phil Berger. He'll play a "has been"
boxer who trains his sons to become boxing champions. Carlos Avila
directs.
* James Coburn will play an old cowhand in ATTICUS directed by Carl
Shenkel.
* Madonna will produce and star in TON 80 written by Andrew Fishman for
Warner Bros. where she'll play a tabloid reporter who falls in love with
an author.
* Tommy Davidson, Delroy Lindo and Larry Miller are starring in the
indie jailhouse comedy PROS & CONS about an accountant who is framed for
embezzlement, but while in prison is mistakenly feared by others and
manages to provoke an imprisoned gang leader.
* Helen Hunt and producer Wendy Finerman (FORREST GUMP) are joining
together for the epic drama MAMA MASAI for Fox 2000 about a woman who
joins an African warrior tribe. Hunt is also trying to develop a
feature with Robert B. Parker ("Spenser: For Hire" author) where she
will play a detective. The film would be based on the just-completed
novel COUNT THE RAINDROPS and Hunt hopes this idea could develop into a
franchise.
* Olivier Martinez (THE HORSEMAN ON THE ROOF) joins Donnie Wahlberg,
Willem Dafoe, Jared Harris, Michael Parks, Domenica Cameron-Scorsese and
Assumpta Serna in BULLFIGHTER. Directors Robert Rodriguez and Guillermo
del Toro will make cameos.
* Walter Matthau joins the cast of Diane Keaton's dramatic comedy
HANGING UP for Columbia. Matthau will play the senile, alcoholic father
of three sisters played by Keaton, Meg Ryan and Lisa Kudrow. Delia and
Nora Ephron wrote the script.
* Goldie Hawn will star in the comedy ANCHORWOMAN for Imagine
Entertainment and Universal. Michael Hoffman (ONE FINE DAY) will direct
the Terri Minsky ("Central Park West") script about three generations of
high-profile women of network news.
* Brad Pitt and Anna Paquin are in talks to star in director Cameron
Crowe's next film. The picture is set in the 70s.
* Famke Jenssen will star in the romantic comedy LOVE AND OTHER INDOOR
SPORTS written/directed by Valerie Breiman.
* Jennifer Aniston may star in THE VIRGIN MARY for Fox about a virgin
who falls in love with a hitman.
* Tim Allen is in talks to star in GALAXY QUEST for DreamWorks. A
director will be named soon.
* Vince Vaughan and Jon Favreau (both from SWINGERS) may reteam for GUAM
GOES TO THE MOON which Favreau is rewriting.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Paddy Breathnach (I WENT DOWN) will direct BLOW DRY for Miramax
written by Simon Beaufoy (THE FULL MONTY). The story is a social comedy
set in the world of hairdressing.
* Courtray Solomon will direct a live-action feature based on the
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS role playing game for Solomon's Sweetpea
Entertainment and Silver pictures. The story centers around a common
thief and a young sorceress who journey to find an ancient artifact that
will help save the kingdom from an evil wizard. The wizard attempts to
dethrone an empress because of her belief in equal rights between
commoners and aristocrats.
* Steven Spielberg may possibly direct a new adaptation of H.G. Wells'
THE TIME MACHINE for DreamWorks and Warner Bros. on the two studios'
first collaboration together. John Logan (I AM LEGEND) is writing the
script.
* Keenan Ivory Wayans will direct a horror spoof for Dimension Films
combining the scripts LAST SUMMER I SCREAMED BECAUSE FRIDAY THE 13TH
FELL ON HALLOWEEN and SCREAM IF YOU KNOW WHAT I DID LAST SUMMER. Shawn
and Marlon Wayans will star. They co-wrote the script with Phil Beauman
and Buddy Johnson. Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer (SPY HARD) wrote
the second script. Roger Corman will not produce I'LL SCREAM IF YOU
KNOW WHAT I DID LAST SUMMER AT THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE to pave way
for Wayans' flick.
* Marc Norman (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE co-writer) has written both SERENADE,
a musical, and a hot-rod story set in 1946 entitled HOTRODDERS.
SERENADE is in development at Warner Bros. with Taylor Hackford (AN
OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN) directing and Jennifer Lopez being eyed to
star. Financing is being seeked for HOTRODDERS.
* Dominic Sena (KALIFORNIA) will direct Nicolas Cage in GONE IN 60
SECONDS.
* Geoffrey Wright will direct Brittany Murphy (CLUELESS) in CHERRY FALLS
for Rogue Pictures (October's genre co.)
* Sydney Pollack may direct the comedy WALK OF FAME based on an
unpublished novel by Sharon Klum.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* New Line Cinema and Team Todd pictures will produce ARCADIA--described
as a teenage GHOST with a troubled youth who moves to a new town where
he meets the ghost of a past lover.
* 20th Century Fox and Marvel Comics have extended the studio's control
of the feature film rights to X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR and SILVER SURFER.
Look for X-MEN to start shooting this summer for a summer 2000 release.
FANTASTIC FOUR is hoped for a 2001 release.
* Miramax has acquired the film adaptation rights to WAR JOURNAL, the
autobiographical escape story by Major Damon "Rocky" Gause.
* FANTASIA 2000 will play for four months in Imax theaters around the
globe beginning January 1, 2000.
* Destination Films will bring THOMAS AND THE MAGIC RAILROAD to the big
screen. The musical film will combine live action and model animation
and is projected for a summer 2000 release.
* Japanese studio NIKATSU will produce DORA HEITA, a screenplay
co-written by the late Akira Kurosawa.
* Richard Zanuck and David Brown (DEEP IMPACT) are working with
DreamWorks again on THE NINTH MAN based on the 1976 novel by James Lee
about eight Nazis who take a boat to the U.S. in 1942 where they cause
trouble on the East Coast. A ninth Nazi tries to assasinate Pres.
Roosevelt.
* Bobby Geisler and John Roberdeau (THE THIN RED LINE) will produce
FLICKER written by Dan O'Bannon (ALIEN) based on the book by Theodore
Roszak. Characters include Shirley Temple, Orson Welles, John Huston
and the Three Stooges.
The recaps keep getting longer and longer it seems. Helen Hunt is
pretty busy this week--almost as busy as Spielberg. Both projects of
hers sound cool. *** Confused on the horror spoofs? Don't let the
titles trick ya. *** The comic news with 20th Century Fox is welcome.
*** MILLION DOLLAR HOTEL and BULLFIGHTER are sporting big casts. ***
Live action DUNGEONS & DRAGONS...whaddya think? *** WAR JOURNAL and
THE NINTH MAN both sound like great war stories to continue the
tradition from this past year. *** Cameron Crowe, Sydney Pollack,
Diane Keaton and Geoffrey Rush are all directing projects that I want to
know more about. *** A lot of stuff this week folks (even though we
had Oscar nom news), but next week there should be even more. Martin
Scorsese should announce whether he will work on DINO or GANGS OF NEW
YORK next. Exciting.
Happy Valentines Day...and President's Day. Do something special
for your sweetheart...and in honor of our presidents,I guess.
Keep them ol' emails a-comin'. They've been getting fun.
Elston Gunn
elstongunn@hotmail.com
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