Here you folks go....
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER VIA REUTERS
CASTING
* Martin Sheen and Andrew Keegan ("Party of Five") join O (modern-day adaptation of OTHELLO) for director Tim Blake Nelson.
* Saverio Guerra ("Becker," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") joins BLUE STREAK.
* Ewen Bremner (TRAINSPOTTING), Chloe Sevigny (LAST DAYS OF DISCO) and German director Werner Herzog will star in JULIEN for writer/director Harmony Korine. Cary Woods is producing and the pic is being shot in New York on digital video.
* Reese Witherspoon and Samantha Mathis join AMERICAN PSYCHO.
* Angie Dickinson and Huey Lewis join DUETS with Gwyneth Paltrow. They will respectively play Paltrow's grandmother and father.
* Denis Leary will star in THE EDDIE KLEP STORY, the 1940s story of the first white baseball player to play in the Negro Leagues.
* Brittany Murphy (CLUELESS, "King of the Hill") will star as Janis Joplin in the biopic PIECE OF MY HEART for Paramount and director Gary Fleder (KISS THE GIRLS).
* Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito will star in a screen version of they Roger Rueff play HOSPITALITY SUITE about three salesmen at an industrial lubricants convention in Kansas. Peter Facinelli also stars with John Swanbeck directing.
* Matt Dillon will star in the drama PONY RIDES for director Bruce Beresford (upcoming DOUBLE JEOPARDY) about a young male prostitute who must take over the family business servicing rich women.
* Owen Wilson (ARMAGEDDON, RUSHMORE co-writer) will join Jackie Chan in the Tony Dey-directed SHANGHAI NOON.
* David Arquette (SCREAM) will portray Darby Crash, lead singer of 70s band the Germs in WHAT WE DO IS SECRET for writer/director Rodger Grossman.
* Bai Ling (RED CORNER) joins Fox 2000's ANNA AND THE KING.
* Bruce Willis will star in the indie mob spoof THE WHOLE NINE YARDS for director Johnathan Lynn (MY COUSIN VINNY). Shooting begins in May on this story about a mobster who enters a witness protection program and moves to the 'burbs. His neighbors discover that he is wanted by the mob and then are pulled in to the life of organized crime.
* Nicolas Cage is in talks to star in the adaptation of Sebastian Junger's THE PERFECT STORM for Warner Bros. and director Wolfgang Petersen (AIR FORCE ONE). Cage's Saturn Films is also producing SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE with John Malkovich starring and Elias Merhige (BEGOTTEN) directing the Steven Kate (AMERICAN GOTHIC) script. The story takes place during the making of the 1922 film NOSFERATU.
* Julia Roberts is in final talks to star in ERIN BROCKOVICH for director Steven Soderbergh.
* Martin Lawrence may star in both THIS MEANS WAR where two best friends fall in love with the same girl, as well as BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE in which Lawrence would play an undercover cop and a master of disguise.
* Woody Allen may star in the black comedy PICKING UP THE PIECES for possible director Alfonso Arau (LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE). Allen would play a butcher who enters the witness protection program and poses as a cowboy all the while trying to cover up the murder of his wife.
* Jeffrey Wright joins DETOX.
* Penelope Cruz will play the female lead in ALL THE PRETTY HORSES.
* Whoopi Goldberg is in talks to join Brendan Fraser in MONKEY BONE.
* Uma Thurman and Tim Roth are in talks to star opposite Gerard Depardieu in the Roland Joffe-directed VATEL written by Tom Stoppard about a 48 hour look into the preparation of a feast for Louis XIV by chef Vatel.
* Wesley Snipes will produce and star in the action thriller ART OF WAR. Stanley Tong (MR MAGOO) may direct.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Director Mike Figgis (LEAVING LAS VEGAS) is directing MISS JULIE, an adaptation of August Stindberg's 1888 Swedish play. Safron Burrows (CIRCLE OF FRIENDS), Peter Mullan (MY NAME IS JOE) and Maria Doyle-Kennedy (THE COMMTIMENTS) all star in the pic. Shooting begins March 8 in London. Figgis will follow MISS JULIE with an adaptation of Alberto Morovia's novel 1934.
* Jim Fishman has written TRENCHFOOT for Def Pictures about two Jamaican brothers who witness the murder of their parents. One grows up to be a musician while the other becomes an organized crime figure who seeks revenge.
* The comedy HONKY, written by Phil Teg and Aaron Pugliese & Andrew Michael Winer, has been picked up by New Regency. It's about two black producers who try to fail their "Soul Train" type of show called "Boogie Fever" by hiring a white host who can't dance.
* Mike Werb and Mike Colleary (FACE/OFF) will write TOP TEN based on a manuscript by Ryne Douglas Pearson (SIMPLE SIMON which became MERCURY RISING). It centers on a serial killer, ranked #10 on the FBI's most wanted list, who begins to kill off other criminals on the list so he can be #1. Little does he know that #5 is an undercover agent.
* Allison Anders will direct THINGS UNDER THE SUN, written by Anders and Kurt Voss, about a female rock singer who tries to escape the memories of a gang rape and becomes an alcoholic wreck. Shooting may begin this summer.
* Madonna will produce and possibly direct THE FIRES, based on the novel by Rene Steinke, about a girl in her early 20's who tries to escape childhood demons by setting fires in her town.
* John Turtletaub (PHENOMENON) will produce/direct NATIONAL TREASURE for Disney to open July 4 weekend 2000. Jim Kauf (RUSH HOUR) is writing the script about a modern-day treasure hunt for a Revolutionary War secret stash of money hidden by Franklin, Jefferson and Washington to help finance the war.
* Francis Ford Coppola is in talks to direct 13 DAYS with Kevin Costner, replacing Phil Alden Robinson.
HARRY NOTE: Fantastic news... Coppola is absolutely the most perfect human being to direct David Self's fantastic script, that lives on the planet.
* Don Roos (THE OPPOSITE OS SEX) is working on BOUNCE for Miramax and Universal about a man who switches airline tickets with a stranger who takes his flight. The plane crashes a kills everyone on board. The man his overwhelm with guilt, finds the stranger's widow and falls in love with her.
* Simon Wells (THE PRINCE OF EGYPT) is in talks to direct a sequel to CASPER taking place eight years after the first movie ended.
* Alejandro Amenabar will write/direct the Gothic thriller THE OTHERS for Miramax about a woman and her children isolated from the world while her husband is off to war.
* Peter Hewitt (THE BORROWERS) will direct Ben Steiner's script WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HAROLD SMITH? with Tom Courtenay, Michael Legge, Stephen Fry, David Thewlis and Lulu.
* Ang Lee will direct a 19th century martial arts pic CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON with Michelle Yeoh committed to star.
* John Singleton will direct his own BABY BOY after SHAFT about a guy who has two children by two different women in South Central L.A.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Thanksgiving weekend will see the release of HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS starring Jim Carrey and directed by Ron Howard.
* The Taco Bell dog has inspired TACO DOG about the dognapping of a spokesdog for a failing taco franchise.
* Producer Saul Zaentz and writer/director Anthony Minghella (THE ENGLISH PATIENT) will reteam for a Minghella script about a suicidal man who is convinced by the seven deadly sins to live life according to their passions.
FROM TV TO FILM NEWS: Drew Barrymore is close to a deal to star in a feature remake of "Charlie's Angels" for Columbia Pictures.
HARRY NOTE: The Poster for the above flick should be a classic wet t-shirt shot of Drew with perfect hair and I don't care if it takes a billion rolls of film... If yer gonna try to put her in the Farrah iconic role... she must be as iconic....
REMAKE NEWS OF THE WEEK: Director Joel Schumacher will remake the 1996 French thriller L'APPARTMENT (THE APARTMENT) for Paramount. Shooting will begin this fall in New York.
Very long recap this week and a lot of it sounds cool. Coppola directing 13 DAYS? Keep your fingers crossed. *** Nicolas Cage is busy and Woody Allen seems to be in more talks to act than he is to write or direct. *** A CHARLIE'S ANGELS was inevitable, but with Drew Barrymore involved it's more interesting. *** Ang Lee, John Singleton, Don Roos, Mike Figgis and Anthony Mighella seem to be ready for 2000 directing some intriguing projects. *** DETOX seems to never stop casting. DUETS, O, BLUE STREAK and AMERICAN PSYCHO are starting to round out. *** Glad to see Spacey and DeVito working together again. *** Janis Joplin fans take note: PIECE OF MY HEART seems to finally be getting off the ground.
I'll be listening to writer/director Kevin Smith speak at Virginia Tech this Wednesday, so maybe I'll see some of you there. I'm looking forward to it.
Have a good March. Spring is almost upon us.
Elston Gunn
elstongunn@hotmail.com
