Hey folks, Harry here. Been dying here. Busssy busssy bussy... Working up my stuff for Ebert's show (I leave for Chicago Monday, and will be busy taping through Wednesday!), as well as the super cool mission work I was doing in California. Organizing the coolest charity film event ever for my Birthday... More on that in this Weekly Recap ... a tease.... A full report on this is coming up towards the end of next week. But... If I were you... Plan to be in Austin on December 11th... Over 300 folks are going to have the greatest 24 hour endurance marathon of films you'll see till the next year! Well... onto Elston...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Dominique Swain will star in TART with Bijou Phillips, Brad Renfro and Mischa Barton also starring. Melanie Griffith is producing and will make a cameo appearance in the film set in New York's 1980s club scene. Christina Wayne is shooting from her own script.
* Claire Forlani (MEET JOE BLACK) and Jonathon Rhys Meyers (VELVET GOLDMINE) are in talks to star in JOHNNY DOMINO about a musician in a fishing village who becomes a local phenomenon after being bitten by a vampire. He falls in love with another vampire, and together they fight an evil preacher. Edna Hughes will direct the Max Chipchase script.
* Anna Friel joins the Ireland-set pic AN EVERLASTING PIECE for director Barry Levinson.
* James DeBello will star in 100 GIRLS for writer/director Michael Davis about a college freshman who needs to find the girl he hooked up with during an elevator blackout.
* Mercedes Reuhl and Cloris Leachman join THE AMATI GIRLS with Paul Sorvino.
* Johnathan Schaech joins HOW TO KILL YOUR NEIGHBOR'S DOG with Kenneth Branagh, Robin Wright Penn and Lynn Redgrave.
* Caroline Rhea will play Oliver Platt's character's wife in the untitled wrestling pic also starring Scott Caan and David Arquette. Rose McGowan and Martin Landau join the pic as well.
* Stacey Edwards stars in the thriller MEXICO CITY for writer/director Richard Shepard about a woman's desperate search for her brother in the capital of Mexico.
* Michael Rapaport and Sarah Wynter will star with Arnold Schwarzenegger in THE SIXTH DAY about a man who discovers he's replaced by a clone.
HARRY NOTE: Just so you folks know... the brilliant production designer, Ron Cobb is hard at work on this one!!!
* Jack Lemmon joins Matt Damon, Will Smith and Charlize Theron in THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE for director Robert Redford.
* Jennifer Aniston will star in 20th Century Fox's AGAINST THE GLASS about a young woman who agrees to be observed by a psychology class via a two-way mirror in exchange for free therapy sessions. When she finds out her ex-boyfriend joins the class, she turns the tables on him.
* Omar Epps will star with Takeshi Kitano in BROTHER which Kitano will direct.
* Paul Dooley joins both A WOMAN'S A HELLUVA THING and MADISON.
* Anna Gunn ("The Practice") joins ANASAZI MOON with Gary Oldman.
* Jack Noseworthy joins CECIL. B DEMENTED for John Waters and UNCONDITIONAL LOVE for director P.J. Hogan.
* Michelle Hicks, Peter Facinelli, Ever Carradin, Max Perlich, Claire Kramer, Lena Headry, Nathan Bexton, Jayce Bartok and Lesley Ann Warren will star in ROPEWALK about a young couple who fall in love after the guy's father and brother are killed in a plane wreck. She was the girlfriend of the brother.
* Ryan Phillippe will star in ANTI-TRUST for MGM about a computer programmer who discovers his boss has a secret and ruthless way of dispatching anti-trust problems. Peter Howitt (SLIDING DOORS) will direct the Howard Franklin script.
* Tim Roth is in talks to join the lottery scam flick NUMBERS starring John Travolta and Lisa Kudrow for director Nora Ephron.
* LeAnn Rimes will star in EMILY'S SONG for Warner Bros. about a father and daughter, both musicians, who are separated but brought back together through their music.
* Rhys Ifans (NOTTING HILL) joins New Line's LITTLE NICKY opposite Adam Sandler and Harvey Keitel.
* Robert De Niro is in final negotiations to star in THE SCORE for director Frank Oz about an older thief who wants to retire but is blackmailed by a young kid to do one last heist. Kario Salem ("The Rat Pack") scripted.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Joseph Kahn will write and direct I, HIT MAN for New Line Cinema. The story will involve little or no dialogue and will have non-stop action centering around a hit man who is double crossed.
* F. Gary Gray and Chris Tucker are in serious talks to direct and star in respectively, the 20th Century Fox/New Regency Prods. comedy THE BLACK KNIGHT aobut a theme restaurant employee transported back into medieval times.
* M. Night Shyamalan sold his action-drama script UNBREAKABLE to Disney for $5m. Bruce Willis is set to star and Samuel L. Jackson is in negotiations. Shyamalan will get an additional $5m to produce and direct.
* David Mamet is attached to direct THE HEIST with Tommy Lee Jones, Danny DeVito and Gene Hackman set to star. Jones plays a master jewelry store burglar, DeVito is a co-conspirator and Hackman is a rival for leadership of the gang. Also, Mamet's adaptation of HANNIBAL has been reportedly rejected and Steve Zaillan has been hired to write it. The reason? Apparently, Mamet's obligations to his current directorial effort STATE AND MAINE would prevent him from rewrites.
* Andrew Niccol (THE TRUMAN SHOW scribe) will direct RIVER ROAD for Jersey Films about a man yearning to escape his surroundings--a fictitious border town.
* Ric Krause has written COMEBACK for Fox 2000 about an ex-con who assumes the identity of a missing millionaire to whom he looks very much like.
* New Line Cinema picked up the spec SAUCE from Monique Johnson for Lauryn Hill to star in and produce. The story centers on a granddaughter of a barbecue sauce king who goes to cooking school and falls in love with the grandson of a rival sauce owner.
* J.B. Rogers has replaced Peter Berg as director on the romantic comedy SAY IT ISN'T SO for producers Peter and Bobby Farrelly and 20th Century Fox. The story follows a guy who meets the love of his life but mistakenly believes she is his sister. Heather Graham may be eyeing the lead.
* Good Machine purchased DON'T BLINK written by actresses Michelle Williams, Amy Danles and Megahn Perry. All three will star as young women working in a Nevada brothel to make quick money, but don't realize the dangers of their situation.
* Gary Ross (PLEASANTVILLE) will direct CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY for Warner Bros. from Scott Frank's (OUT OF SIGHT) adaptation of Roald Dahl's book. The latest adaptation is supposed to follow the book more closer than the 1971 feature.
If ya read my coverage of the AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL, you'd have seen this treat of news quite clearly! Scott told me that as he's finishing his work on Spielberg's MINORITY REPORT... he is also working on this for Gary Ross. I'll be giving ol Gary a ring soon to get more scoop on this for ya!
* John Schultz (DRIVE ME CRAZY) will direct the black comedy thriller MAYHEM for Fox Searchlight about an American man living in London whose artist friend is killed. He covers up the crime and tries to keep the friend's name alive in order to exploit his legacy and gain millions.
* David Copper may sell his comedy script HELL ON WHEELS to Disney about a group of washed-up hockey players forced to embark on a roller derby career.
* Riley Weston will write DAMAGED for Artisan Entertainment about a teenager who pretends to be 25. A young teacher gets involved with her, then dumps her when he finds out her true age. Stalking and murder follow.
* Carlo Bernard and Doug Myro have written MOTOR CITY, a murder mystery set against the backdrop of the Edsel launch in 1957.
* Amy D'Addario will write a supernatural love story for Spyglass Entertainment.
* Stephen Herek (MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS) will direct METAL GOD for Warner Bros. with Mark Wahlberg in talks to star as an office supplies salesman who fronts a heavy metal tribute band before fronting a popular band.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* MGM still plans on making BASIC INSTINCT II, but without Sharon Stone. They may change the title and get a lesser-known actress to play the main role.
* Fox 2000 is optioning Francoise Sagan's 1954 novel BONJOUR TRISTESSE about a teenage daughter of an aging playboy and her efforts to thwart his wedding plans to her godmother. The plot ends in tragedy.
* THE GREEN MILE has been moved up to a Dec. 10 release from Dec. 17.
You can see this film in Austin on December 10th in preparation for the 24 hour film fest Birthday Party I'll be throwing with a ton of folks at the Alamo Drafthouse. I'll have more on that next week. Keep that weekend clear... it's going to be one hell of a trip! If you have the movie going balls for it! REMEMBER... We're doing it... For The Kids!!!
* Thandie Newton has dropped out of CHARLIE'S ANGELS due to scheduling problems.
* Fox 2000 bought the pitch STOLEN TAPES for Merv Griffin Entertainment about a high school security system gone awry and becomes SEX, LIES AND VIDEO TAPE for the high school set. David Simon will script.
* Warner Bros. picked up a pitch from Shawn and Marlon Wayans entitled ROACHES, a comedy animation flick which will center on a class struggle in the insect world. Different insect species will represent different races and socioeconomic levels.
* Walter Hill will remove his name from the upcoming flick SUPERNOVA due to "extreme creative differences." He replaced Geoffrey Wright as director on the pic early last year.
HARRY NOTE: I had the luck to actually see some of SUPERNOVA, and I'm not talking about that nasty ass trailer with the terrible hard rock bozo bs soundtrack thumping your noggin like an animated rabbit. What I did see however was enough to realize that while the story may very well be crap... there is some visual candy in this film... and some good actors... that it's likely one of them box of chocolates. You know there is some nasty shit in there... but you know there are some tasty treats as well.
* Dustin Hoffman and Brad Grey bought the screen rights to Scott Turow's legal novel PERSONAL INJURIES about a sting operation designed to root out corrupt judges.
THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE is sporting quite a cast. Lemmon will the play the older version of Matt Damon's character and will narrate. Looking forward to it. David Mamet doesn't appear to be slowing down at all. The trio for THE HEIST is intriguing. Maybe DeNiro should somehow squeeze into that pic instead of the similarly titled THE SCORE. Couple of questions for you to answer in Talk Back: Speaking of intriguing trios, who do you think should replace Thandie Newton in the CHARLIE'S ANGELS pic? Who would mesh well with Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz? Also, what do you think about Gary Ross directing CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY? Fitting or no (compared to his earlier work)?
Have a good one.
Until next week...
Elston Gunn
