Father Geek here wishing Elston and The Weekly Recap a very happy 4th Birthday, yep, that's right the report is now 4 years old, our oldest regular weekly column... great work Elston. To celebrate he's put together a super fact packed issue for this week, soooo I'll just step aside and let you dig into...
The WEEKLY RECAP
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Michael Madsen will co-produce and star in RED LIGHT RUNNERS with Chris Penn. Clark Westerman has written the script and will also produce. Ian Buchanan and Martin Kemp also star while Harvey Keitel, Dennis Hopper and Sara Cox are in talks for roles. Nick Egan will direct.
* Shawn Ashmore will play Iceman in 20th Century Fox's X2, the sequel to X-MEN.
* Majandra Delfino ("Roswell") will star in the psychological thriller CONSTRICTED oppostie Brian Wimmer. Mark Hamill, Sally Struthers, Brad Hunt, Angela Featherstone and Missy Crider also star. It's about a man who returns to his hometown to deal with his father's supposed suicide.
* Hugh Dancy is in talks to star opposite Anne Hathaway in Miramax's romantic comedy Ella Enchanted for director Tommy O'Haver. It's based on the Newbery Award-winning book by Gail Carson Levine and centers on a young woman named Ella who is given the unwelcome gift of obedience from fairy Lucinda at birth, causing her to follow every order she receives.
* Bruce Willis is back on board to reprise his role of a hit man in a sequel to THE WHOLE NINE YARDS for Franchise Pictures. Howard Deutch (THE REPLACEMENTS) is in talks to direct while Matthew Perry, Natasha Henstridge and Amanda Peet are in negotiations to return for an Oct. 4 start date. Mitchell Kapner wrote the script.
* John Cleese joins DreamWorks' SHREK 2 with Joe Stillman writing the project after Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio exited. as the project's sole writer.
* Edward Furlong and Natasha Lyonne will star in the FilmNext indie feature MAX AND GRACE about two suicidal lovers who are wed in their ward, break out of the asylum, and search of new ways to die. Michael Parness writes and directs.
* Jennifer Lopez will produce and co-star in a feature based on the life of salsa legend Hector Lavoe, with Marc Anthony in talks to star as Lavoe. The singer had a crystal-clear voice and an incomparable talent for improvisation. His dramatic and difficult life included a childhood in Puerto Rico marked by poverty, a lifelong struggle with drug addiction and depression, his son's accidental shooting death and a passionate but fractious marriage. He died in 1993, aged 43. David Maldonado will write the script.
* Lil' Romeo will star opposite Jessica Alba in Universal Pictures' HONEY for director Bille Woodruff.
* Sarah Clarke ("24") will join Holly Hunter in Catherine Hardwicke's THIRTEEN.
* Annie Parisse ("As the World Turns") grabbed a role in Paramount's HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS, starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. Donald Petrie directs.
* Michael Caine, Robert Duvall and Haley Joel Osment will star in New Line's comedy SECOND HAND LIONS for writer/director Tim McCanlies (THE IRON GIANT). It's a coming-of-age story about a young boy forced to spend the summer with his eccentric great-uncles who have mysterious, dangerous pasts.
* Samuel L. Jackson is in final talks to star opposite Ashley Judd in Paramount Pictures and Intertainment AG's BLACKOUT for Kopelson Entertainment. Shooting begins July 8. Sarah Thorp wrote the script about a female police officer investigating a murder who finds herself at the center of the investigation when her past lovers start dying around her.
* Dennis Quaid is in talks to star in 20th Century Fox's THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW for director Roland Emmerich and producer Mark Gordon. The project is described as a high-concept film about the disastrous effects of global warming.
* Thomas Jane will star as a South African cop-turned-robber in STANDER, which starts shooting in in August. Robert Carlyle, Elias Koteas and South African native Embeth Davidtz also star. Bronwen Hughes (HARRIET THE SPY) directs.
* Eddie Griffin and Anthony Anderson will star in MY BABY'S MAMA, an urban comedy about three bachelors whose girlfriends simultaneously become pregnant. Cheryl Dunye will direct from a script written by Griffin and Damon "Coke" Daniels.
* Sean Penn is set and Kevin Bacon is in final talks to star in Warner Bros. Pictures/Village Roadshow Prods.' MYSTIC RIVER for director/producer Clint Eastwood. Production begins in September in Boston and Los Angeles. It's based on the novel by Dennis Lehane and centers on three childhood friends who are reunited 25 years later when one of their daughters is killed. Penn will play an ex-con ready to take justice into his own hands, while Bacon would play a policeman on duty when the girl is murdered.
* Dustin Hoffman is in talks to join Johnny Depp in Miramax Films' J.M. BARRIE'S NEVERLAND for director Marc Forster. Hoffman will play the real-life financial backer and producer of Barrie's productions -- including "Peter Pan." Julie Christie, Kate Winslet and Radha Mitchell also star
* Ryan Reynolds, will join Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks in TILL DEATH DO US PART, an update of THE IN-LAWS, for Warner Bros. Andy Fleming (DICK) directs. Reynolds will then segue into Piers Ashworth's romantic comedy THE ROMFORD MATADOR.
* Anjelica Huston is in talks to star opposite Eddie Murphy in the Revolution Studios comedy DADDY DAY CARE for director Steve Carr. Huston would play a rival day-care operator in the story of a father who loses his job and turns his house into a day-care center.
* Britney Spears will star in a dramatic ensemble film set in the world of NASCAR for Britney Spears Prods. Jim Hart is writing the script about a daughter of a successful NASCAR team owner who uses her knowledge and experience in the family business to inspire a former NASCAR driver to return to the sport.
* Actor Yaphet Kotto (ALIEN, "Homicide: Life on the Street") will adapt and star in a feature version of Stan Lee's poem GOD WOKE for Walking Universe Inc. Production begins in spring 2003.
* Matthew Lillard will star in an untitled Valentine's Day romantic comedy for Signpost Films and Mosaic Media Group. Shana Leslie Stern is writing the project about the trials and tribulations of a romantic's and cynic's experiences surrounding Valentine's Day.
* Trent Ford (GOSFORD PARK) will star opposite Mandy Moore in HOW TO DEAL for Radar Pictures and New Line Cinema.
* Peta Wilson ("La Femme Nikita") will play Mina Harker in LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN for director Steve Norrington and 20th Century Fox. Sean Connery, Shane West, Stuart Townsend, Jason Flemyng also star.
* Rachel Weisz is in final talks to star in back-to-back projects for Regency Enterprises and DreamWorks Pictures/Castle Rock Entertainment. First up is RUNAWAY JURY opposite John Cusack, Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman, then she'll star opposite Ben Stiller and Jack Black in the Barry Levinson-directed comedy ENVY.
* Jessica Biel, Eric Balfour, Jonathan Tucker, Erica Leerhsen and Mike Vogel will star in the Platinum Dunes/Radar Pictures remake of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. Marcus Nispel directs from a script by Scott Kosar.
* The Rock will play Hawaii's King Kamehameha, who united the islands in the 18th and 19th centuries, in a feature for Columbia Pictures.
* Laura Elena Harring (MULHOLLAND DR.) has joined the ensemble cast of MASKED AND ANONYMOUS for director Larry Charles. Bob Dylan, Jessica Lange, Luke Wilson, Jeff Bridges and Penelope Cruz co-star in the Intermedia pic.
* Nathan Fillion (upcoming Fox series "Firefly") will star alongside Chandra West and Emmanuelle Vaugier in the feature THE WICKED SEASON about a married couple who seek refuge in a remote cabin and wind up in a murder mystery. Harvey Kahn directs.
* Mark Consuelos ("All My Children") joins the Miramax WWII action pic THE GREAT RAID, starring Benjamin Bratt.
* Ian McKellen joins the Renaissance drama BORGIA for director Neil Jordan and Initial Entertainment Group. Ewan McGregor, Christina Ricci, Antonio Banderas, Jean Reno and John Malkovich star. Shooting begins in October.
* Liv Tyler is in talks to join Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez and George Carlin in Miramax Films' JERSEY GIRL for writer/director Kevin Smith and View Askew Prods. Shooting begins Aug. 12 in Philadelphia. Scott Mosier of Smith's View Askew Prods. is producing "Jersey," which kicked into high gear last month.
* Franky G. and Mos Def have been added to the cast of THE ITALIAN JOB for Paramount, DeLine Pictures and director F. Gary Gray. Donna and Wayne Powers wrote the script for the remake.
* Greg Kinnear is in talks to star opposite Hayden Christensen in Lions Gate Films' SHATTERED GLASS for writer/director Billy Ray. Production begins in August. It's about the true story of a twentysomething whiz-kid journalist in Washington writing for publications ranging from the New Republic to Rolling Stone. It was later revealed that he made up sources and quotes, fabricating most of his articles.
* Jake Gyllenhaal, Eva Green and Louis Garrel have signed to star in Bernardo Bertolucci's THE DREAMERS. Production begins July 18 in Paris. The pic is set against the turbulent political backdrop of France in the spring of 1968. It centers on a young woman and her brother, who invite fellow student, an American, to stay at their apartment while their parents are on holiday. The three experiment with one another's emotions and sexuality, playing a series of demanding mind games.
* Lauren Graham ("Gilmore Girls") will play the female lead of BAD SANTA for director Terry Zwigoff and Dimension Films. Billy Bob Thornton, Bernie Mac and John Ritter star in the comedy about a man who masquerades as Santa to rob shopping malls.
* Jeff Daniels, Portia de Rossi and James Spader will star in the political thriller EYE WITNESS for Promark Entertainment Group and director Rowdy Herrington. It's about an international aid worker who goes to Mexico and becomes entwined in a murder mystery. Robert Ozn and Colin Greene wrote the script.
* Geoffrey Rush is in talks to portray the pirate Capt. Blackheart in Disney's PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, starring Johnny Depp.
* Jackie Chan will star in Walden Media's AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, based on the classic Jules Verne novel, for director Frank Coraci (THE WEDDING SINGER).
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Forest Whitaker will direct the supernatural thriller SELLING TIME for Fox 2000. It's about a guy who experiences the worst day of his life. When given a chance to relive it, he meets unexpected consequences. Whitaker is developing a draft with Dan McDermott.
* Gary Hardwick (THE BROTHERS) will rewrite SHOOT BLANKS for DreamWorks with Chris Rock attached to star. The story follows one man's tiring but fruitless efforts to impregnate his child-eager wife and the comedic effect it's having on his life.
* Elissa Bell will write THE LAST SLEEPOVER for MGM and rewrite LITTLE BLACK BOOK at Revolution Studios. The first script is about a group of preteens on the last sleepover they'll have before heading off to high school. When they go off on a midnight scavenger hunt at the school, they must confront their worst fears and neuroses. The second project is about a distrustful woman who investigates her fiance's ex-girlfriends to see what he's really like. Things go awry when she befriends one and must reveal who she really is.
* New Line has purchased NEVERMORE from writer Michael Kingston about a sexy, young agent engaged in international espionage.
* Josef Fares (JALLA! JALLA!) will direct FARES 2, a comedy about a police station under threat of closure in a village where no major crime has happened for a decade.
* DreamWorks Pictures is in talks to pick up an untitled action-spy comedy pitch from Mark Perez (COUNTRY BEARS). The plot is being kept a secret.
* Paramount Pictures has snapped up an untitled pitch based on the life of Celtic Queen Boadicea that Larry Spagnola will write for Tribeca Films. It's about the queen, who in 61 A.D. defeated the invading Roman armies and burned London to the ground. Her victory against overwhelming odds catalyzed the end of the Roman occupation of Britain.
* TV director Guy Ferland will direct HAVANA NIGHTS, a sequel to DIRTY DANCING for Miramax/Artisan. The project begins production in the fall. The movie will center on a 17-year old girl who moves to the island with her family. While there, she defies her family's wishes when she falls for a local dancer, who helps her discover herself and a new world beyond her sheltered life.
* John Woo plans to ask Nicolas Cage and Chow Yun-fat to star in LAND OF DESTINY, which will be about foreign railway workers in the United States during the 19th century. Woo said he would then shoot a romantic comedy about two thieves who fall for the same woman. He also plans to film a Western, and another action movie with singing and dancing.
* Jersey Films and Larger Than Life Prods. have picked up Rachel Klein's supernatural thriller THE MOTH DIARIES. It's set in the 1960s at an exclusive boarding school beset by a series of disasters. The story is told in the voice of a 16-year-old who suspects a schoolmate is a vampire, responsible for her best friend's devastating illness.
* Disney and Jim Henson Pictures have purchased the pitch LET IT RAIN, a singing-dog musical from writers Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio (BUBBLE BOY). A canine con artist enters a barnyard of a drought-stricken farm and persuades the animals that singing the right songs will bring rain and end their misery.
* Linda Woolverton (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST) will write the fantasy adventure FATHOM, based on the comicbook series by Michael Turner, for Lightstorm Entertainment. It's about a young woman named Aspen who discovers she is descended from a mysterious race that evolved below the ocean's surface. Her subsequent journey of self-discovery features battles both underwater and on dry land.
* Disney bought an untitled pitch from writer Dan Taylor about modern-day pirates in the South China Sea and is said to be action-oriented.
* Columbia Pictures has picked up the action comedy pitch SKIPTRACER by Steve Franks for Original Films to produce. It's about an ill-equipped tough guy who inadvertently kidnaps a young girl involved in a custody battle.
* Will Smith and Ryan Phillippe are teaming to produce WHITE BOY SHUFFLE, described as a hip-hop CATCHER IN THE RYE, for Intermedia Films. It's based on the novel by Paul Beatty about a young black kid whose beach life comes to a grinding halt when his mom uproots the family to move to South-Central Los Angeles. Kevin Sullivan (HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK) is attached to direct.
* Paul Zbyszewski sold his script AFTER THE SUNSET to New Line Cinema. It's about a master thief sailing off to an island paradise after his last big score. However, he soon discovers he's bored stiff. When his lifelong nemesis, a FBI agent, shows up to make sure the thief is really retired, a new cat-and-mouse game of friendship, suspicion and thievery begins.
* MGM and Jim Henson Pictures are developing the family comedy GOOD BOY! with writer/director John Hoffman. The project will combine live-action performers and CGI-enhanced canines in the story of an alien dog coming to Earth from Sirius, the Dog Star, to investigate interstellar reports that his fellow canines have abandoned their original plan to take over the planet. While investigating, he becomes the pet and friend of a human boy.
* Penelope Spheeris will direct the story of the Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten and the birth of punk rock in 1970s England for Rhino Films and Panacea Entertainment. It's based on Lydon's autobiography ROTTEN: NO IRISH, NO BLACKS, NO DOGS.
* Montecito Picture Co. has purchased THE UGLY AMERICAN by Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer and David Mandel, which the trio will also direct. The road comedy follows the misadventures of five friends who go on a trip to Europe following their high school graduation.
* Writer/director David Veloz (PERMANENT MIDNIGHT) will direct Intermedia Films' THE D.J. PROJECT for Outlaw Prods. Production begins this fall in Miami and Ibiza, Spain. Gary Lennon wrote the script about a female disc jockey who wants to make it to the top of her field. She gets her break at a nightclub where a legendary male DJ works. While he's not keen on having her there, the two learn to collaborate and eventually fall in love.
* C.B. Harding ("The Osboournes") will direct the documentary based on Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall's BLUE COLLAR COMEDY TOUR for Warner Bros. The project will also feature yukmeisters Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White. Shooting begins this summer.
* Kirk Ellis will adapt the Universal drama OVER THE EDGE, based on the book by Greg Child, about four mountain climbers who are kidnapped in Kyrgyztan. They escaped by pushing a kidnapper off a cliff and climbed down a mountain with captors in hot pursuit.
* Jonas Akerlund will direct WESTWARD for New Line about a woman whose husband has been murdered. As she is traveling across the country to reunite with her stepson, she encounters a series of characters that may have been involved in the killing
* Paramount Pictures bought Steven Gary Banks and Claudia Grazioso's comedy pitch DADDY'S GIRLS for producer Jordan Kerner. It's a funny, yet emotional tale of an overprotective father and his two beautiful daughters.
* Myriad Pictures has optioned the rights to Leslie Forbes' novel BOMBAY ICE and is in talks with Nick Willing to write and direct the project. The story centers on a BBC correspondent, who has spent years distancing herself from a childhood spent in India only to have to return to the country when she starts receiving cryptic postcards from her sister. Once there, she investigates the hidden life of her brother-in-law to find out who killed his first wife in order to save her sister from the same fate
* Stephen Gaghan (TRAFFIC) will rewrite John Sayles' script to THE ALAMO for director Ron Howard and Disney. The project is expected to deal with many of the historical complexities -- including the Mexican point of view, William Barret Travis' serial marital infidelities, Jim Bowie's slave trading and Davy Crockett's overall political incorrectness.
* Bryan Goluboff (THE BASKETBALL DIARIES) will write a screenplay THE UNTITLED BRIAN WILSON PROJECT, which will explore the life story of the Beach Boys songwriter, for Castle Rock Entertainment.
* Columbia Pictures is acquiring the pitch THE LITTLE LORD from husband-wife team of Nick and Robin Bakay for Barry Josephson and Peter Heller to produce. It tells the story of a randy bad boy of the British royals and his soccer hooligan of a manservant. Having worn out their welcome in Blighty, the two reinvent themselves in a Beverly Hills adjacent neighborhood. Eventually they must face the choice of whether to return to the royal fold.
* Craven/Maddalena Films has picked up Juliet Snowden and Stiles White's suspense thriller script THE WAITING about a woman who recently lost her child and is visited by the spirit of another deceased child, whom she mistakes for her own. But when the woman tells her husband, he thinks she's going mad.
* Mandalay Pictures has purchased the film rights to the upcoming novel MANEATER from Gigi Levangie Grazer, who will adapt her own work. It's a comedy about the adventures of a woman whose circle of friends targets rich, successful men. She weds the club-footed son of a Southern department store magnate and becomes pregnant before learning that her husband has been disowned and is penniless.
* David Goyer will direct the comic thriller MUCHO MOJO for Phantom Four Films, Rat Entertainment and StudioCanal. Ted Tally adapted the Joe R. Lansdale novel about two friends who are left to clean up a recently deceased uncle's home, which one of them has inherited. They uncover a skeleton, leading to questions about the uncle's involvement in a series of local murders.
* Warner Bros. snapped up the rights to Greg Bear's THE FORGE OF GOD to be adapted by Ken Nolan (BLACK HAWK DOWN). The deal was made with the idea of creating a three-picture series, the secondwould be based on Bear's sequel novel, ANVIL OF STARS, and the third to be based on a final installment the author hasn't yet written. The first book centers on hostile aliens encouraged to visit the Earth by the numerous signal probes sent over the years.
* Writer-producer John Fasano (WEREWOLF BY NIGHT) will direct the horror pic DEAD PEOPLE for MDP Worldwide. It's about a Seattle hospital that turns out to be the final resting place for an army of undead.
* New Line Cinema has optioned Modern Humorist's first film project, MAGGIE, about a 30-year-old slacker who unwittingly enlists the services of a sixtysomething Mary Poppins-type nanny. Using an unconventional approach, the nanny manages to help the slacker turn his troubled life around. John Aboud and Michael Colton wrote the treatment.
* Universal Pictures bought the film rights to Richard Alfieri's comedic stage play SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS, with Arthur Allan Seidelman attached to direct. The story is about Lily Harrison, a retiree living in Florida who hires a dance instructor for six weeks only to be greeted by an acerbic transplanted New Yorker named Michael. After a rocky start, the two learn they have more in common then they thought.
* Columbia Pictures has picked up Eric Kripke's comedy pitch RAISING HELL for Original Films to produce. It's about a couple refuses to believe that their infant son is the Antichrist.
* Mark Frost will adapt and co-produce THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED, based on his nonfiction book about golfer Francis Ouimet's 1913 U.S. Open victory over his idol Harry Vardon. Ouimet, a former caddy, was the first amateur to win the Open. The only way any of his rivals would know him was if he'd carried their clubs.
* Gabriela Tagliavini will direct the romantic comedy LADIES' NIGHT about two friends in Mexico City.
* Producer/director Doug Liman has agreed to do two sequels to THE BOURNE IDENTITY for Universal.
* Norman Jewison is meeting with John Travolta on a Howard Hughes project to be produced by Ed Feldman and based on Terry Moore's book.
* Escape Artists has purchased Karl Bakke's thriller script AGAIN (aka LETHE) about a man who comes home from a business trip to find his wife and child murdered. Though everyone around him advises him against it, he decides to investigate the murders and makes a shocking discovery.
* Robert Luketic (LEGALLY BLONDE) is in negotiations to direct WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON for DreamWorks. Vic Levin wrote the script about a sweet small-town girl who wins a date with a mega star.
* Kate Boutilier (upcoming THE WILD THORNBERRYS) will write the sequel to JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS as well as the Jamie Foxx starrer WE DO. The latter project is about a guy who marries a woman only to find out that he has also married into her entire extended family.
* Warner Bros. has set director Raja Gosnell and cast members Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., Matthew Lillard and Linda Cardellini to reteam on a sequel to SCOOBY DOO to begin production next year for a 2004 release. James Gunn is writing the script.
* Brazilian director Walter Salles and screenwriter Jose Rivera (THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES) will reteam on LUCKY for Focus and Radar about an unlikely romance, which takes a turn into magical fantasy.
* John McNaughton will direct RKO Pictures' THE AGE OF CONSENT, with Jordana Brewster, Kip Pardue and Cole Hauser in talks to star. Shooting starts late in the summer. The story follows a young man who falls for a woman who then accuses him of statutory rape. The incident forces him to dig for the truth behind her accusations, which leads to discoveries he never imagined.
* Myriad Pictures has optioned Stephen J. Cannell's novel RIDING THE SNAKE, with the author set to produce and adapt for the big screen. It's about a Beverly Hills playboy, who embarks on a journey to find out who murdered his politically connected brother. He teams with a beautiful LAPD detective, and together they enter the dangerous world of Chinese organized crime.
* Jay Lavender and Jeremy Garelick sold their comedy script THE GOLDEN TUX to Dimension Films. It's about about a friendless guy who's on the verge of marriage and the friendship he falls into with the man he hires to pose as his best man.
* Warner Bros. grabbed the feature film rights to Richard Morgan's sci-fi crime novel, ALTERED CARBON, for John Pogue to adapt for producer Joel Silver. The book is set in the 26th century, when mankind is spread throughout the galaxy on many worlds and the United Nations keeps control with its Envoy troops. It also is a time when one's personality and consciousness can be stored away and downloaded into a new body for a price
* 20th Century Fox has picked up END OF THE ROAD, a pitch from Ric Roman Waugh and Tag Mendillo about a young stuntman who is offered a job he can't refuse by the Cajun mafia, sending him on a high-speed odyssey from Las Vegas to Baton Rouge.
* Kirby Atkins sold his script S.P.O.O.K.S. (Special Paranormal Organization of Kis) to Miramax Films. It's about a group of junior high kids who team up to save their town from evil spirits. Tapestry Films' Jennifer Gibgot developed the concept with Atkins via email.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Section 8 has optioned the feature rights to John Saul's latest novel MIDNIGHT VOICES. It tells the story of a widow who falls for a seemingly perfect man. When they marry, she and her two children move into a gothic apartment building in New York with her new husband. When her daughter becomes critically ill, the mother discovers the ghastly secrets that lie between the walls of the building.
* Paul Verhoeven has optioned feature rights to AZAZEL, a detective novel written by the popular Russian author Boris Akounin. He has optioned the principal character Fandorin from the 10-book series with hopes to create a franchise revolving around the young detective in 1876 Russia who investigates a series of apparent suicides and winds up taking on terrorists. Gerard Soeteman will adapt. Additionally, Verhoeven hasn't given up on a sequel to BASIC INSTINCT, meeting with writers Henry Bean and Leora Barish.
* Columbia Pictures is developing a remake of its 1967 Stanley Kramer-directed feature GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER for Bernie Mac to star and Tall Tree Prods. to produce. The new version would see the ethnicities reversed, with Mac playing the Spencer Tracy role of the father whose daughter dates a white man.
* Universal has acquired Jason Hightman's manuscript THE SAINT OF DRAGONS for Mandalay Pictures to produce. It's a dark adventure in the vein of set in the present, when a 14-year-old boy whose long-lost father comes back into his life, tells him that he's a descendant of St. George the dragon hunter. The boy ventures out on his new role as a dragon slayer, encountering a breed of dragons who have evolved to look like humans.
* In Asian sequel news, Chinese filmmaker Stephen Chow will make a sequel to the martial arts comedy SHAOLIN SOCCER, while Dannyu and Oxide Pang are planning a sequel to THE EYE.
* Universal Pictures has picked up SILENT NIGHT, historian Stanley Weintraub's account of a WWI Christmas cease-fire, for Chris and Paul Weitz to produce. It's about an unlikely episode of the Great War, in which soldiers on both sides spontaneously laid down their arms, exchanged gifts, played soccer and serenaded each other.
* MTV Films has optioned the rights to British filmmaker Ash's new feature picture THE BUSH, about the explosion of hip-hop on the American music scene and the rise and fall of the L.A. hip-hop nightclub "Water the Bush."
* DreamWorks bought screen rights to THE BIG YEAR, a nonfiction book that Mark Obmascik is writing, for Red Hour and Deuce Three Productions to produce. It's about three guys competing for bird-watching supremacy in 1998, when El Nino had brought so many species into North America while the public was temporarily allowed to visit the island of Attu off the coast of Alaska, which is the Mecca for bird spotting. The three battled to spot and record the highest number of species in North America, playing tricks on one another and two teaming up against the third.
* Teamworx is in talks with Mark Gordon to sell remake rights to its Cold War film THE TUNNEL, the true story of a group who escaped from East Germany to West Germany in the 1960s and then dug a tunnel under the Berlin Wall to help others get out.
* South African producer Anant Singh has acquired the film rights to Deepak Chopra's novels THE RETURN OF MERLIN and SOULMATE. The first book follows the apprenticeship of King Arthur's wizard mentor in a contemporary setting while the second book concentrates on life and love after death.
