Father Geek here, back from The Sitges Film Fest where I watched 70+ motion pictures, 68 of which I loved. It's a great festival, but I'm glad to return to the ol' keyboard here at World Geek Headquarters here in Austin, Texas, now here's Elston with all the tinseltown news from last week...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
CASTING
* Elizabeth Banks (SPIDER-MAN, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN) has nabbed the only female role in the Universal/DreamWorks film SEABISCUIT, starring Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges and Chris Cooper. She'll play the wife of Bridges's character.
* Vince Vaughn and Don Cheadle are in talks to star in New Line's THE OTHER SIDE OF SIMPLE for director Joseph Ruben (MONEY TRAIN). Eric Kmetz wrote the script about two thieves who reunite with the slow-witted younger brother of one of the thieves, who fell into the hands of police 10 years earlier when the duo abandoned him during a botched robbery. Using him as a patsy in their criminal plan, the thieves discover that the brother is not as dumb as he appears.
* Charlize Theron is attached to star in MONSTER, playing serial killer Aileen Wuornos who was recently executed by the state of Florida. Patty Jenkins will direct.
* Debra Winger and Alfre Woodard will join Cuba Gooding Jr. and Ed Harris in RADIO, written by Mike Rich, for director Mike Tollin and Revolution Studios. It's about a mentoring relationship between a prominent high school football coach and a mentally challenged man nicknamed "Radio" that changes a small South Carolina town.
* Matthew Broderick, Brittany Murphy and Carl Reiner will voice canine roles in GOOD BOY! for director John Hoffman and MGM/Jim Henson Pictures. Molly Shannon, Kevin Nealon and Liam Aiken will star in live-action roles. It's about an alien dog who comes to Earth and becomes the pet and later, the good friend, of a young boy.
* Charlie Sheen joins Owen Wilson, Morgan Freeman, Gary Sinise and Sara Foster in THE BIG BOUNCE for director George Armitage. Production is set to begin Oct. 28 in Hawaii. * Ashley Scott joins Columbia's S.W.A.T. for director Clark Johnson. Shooting begins Oct. 19 in Los Angeles. Colin Farrell, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, James Todd Smith (aka LL Cool J) and Michelle Rodriguez also also star.
* Jennifer Tilly will play a fortune teller inside a crystal ball in Disney's THE HAUNTED MANSION, starring Eddie Murphy. Rob Minkoff (STUART LITTLE) directs the pic about a man who encounters a ghost when he and his family visit a haunted house.
* Bruce Willis and Arnold Rifkin's Cheyenne Enterprises are close to a deal
with 20th Century Fox to make DIE HARD 4 as a result of swapping titles.
Willis' latest project at Revolution Studios has gone through several
monikers, including MAN OF WAR, but the studio and the producers wanted to
call it TEARS OF THE SUN. That title, however, happened to be owned by Fox.
The studio agreed to hand over the title if Cheyenne would commit to a
fourth installment of the popular franchise.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Martha Coolidge is close to a deal to direct Halle Berry in BROWN EYED GIRL for MGM and Trilogy Entertainment. Garry Williams penned the screenplay and is working on a rewrite with Coolidge on the story about the ups and downs in love and life of a modern woman.
* Jay Russell is in talks to direct LADDER 49 for Disney and Casey Silver Prods. about a firefighter who looking to awaits rescue in a burning building, during which time he reflects back on his career, wife and family. Lewis Colick scripted.
* Tab Murphy is writing the tentatively titled WHALE MOVIE for DreamWorks Animation, mildly resembling MOBY DICK. The project is being developed into a fully animated feature.
* Jean-Claude Van Damme is working on two action film projects, including a directing effort. Van Damme will helm the action thriller TOWER about a former motorbike world champ who's in a coma after an accident in Thailand. He imagines himself attempting to surmount obstacles in a seven-level tower in order to save himself. The other project, AFTER DEATH, will be directed by Ringo Lam (MAXIMUM RISK) and will explore supernatural elements.
* Moshag Prods. and Base-12 Prods. have purchased John Culton's script FREMANTLE, based on true mid-19th century events surrounding Britain's policy of sentencing criminals to hard labor in Australia. The story centers on a nobleman who is sentenced to the Fremantle prison colony, where he escapes and changes his name. Despite the danger of doing so, however, his empathy for victims of the British penal system forces him to expose his true identity.
* New Line Cinema grabbed David Jung and Steve Dandois' pitch SOLOMAN KANE, based on a character from Conan the Barbarian creator Robert E. Howard. The story follows Solomon Kane to colonial America and his adventures where he confronts deadly human and occult forces as he seeks revenge on the shape-shifting sorcerer who destroyed his family.
* Andrzej Bartkowiak will direct Paramount's PATHFINDER for producer Mace Neufeld. George Nolfi wrote the pic about a military operative known as a pathfinder who must track down a rival pathfinder and keep him from wreaking havoc.
* Thomas Ian Nicholas (AMERICAN PIE star) will direct the indie pic L.A. D.J. about two talented brothers who live in a small town and dream of becoming famous club DJs. They go to L.A. to pursue their dream, only to wind up working at bar mitzvahs.
* Disney picked up Jason Filardi's military comedy pitch NAVY SEAL with Kopelson Entertainment and Intertainment AG set to produce.
* DreamWorks Pictures bought the comedy pitch DO THAT TO ME ONE MORE TIME from writers David Garrett and Jason Ward (CORKY ROMANO) with Jack Black attached to star. It's about a Sonny and Cher-style couple who hate each other and have a WAR OF THE ROSES-type relationship.
* Gary Winick (TADPOLE) is in talks to direct Jennifer Garner in Revolution Studios' comedy 13 GOING ON 30. Production will start early next year.
* New Line Cinema has tapped Tyger Williams (MENACE II SOCIETY, BROWN SUGAR) to pen a project on the National Women's Football League. The pic will focus on several women who play for the love of the game and to escape the harsh working conditions of their small-town life.
* Writer/director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (AMELIE) is adapting the bestseller A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT, written by Sebastian Japrisot, for the French arm of Warner Bros. Production will begin next year in France. It's a love story set during World War I.
* Jim Broadbent, Joanna Lumley, Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams will lend their voices in an upcoming remake of THE MAGIC ROUNDABOUT.
* Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens joins SEABISCUIT, starring Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges and Elizabeth Banks.
* Francis Lawrence is in talks to direct CONSTANTINE, based on the DC/Vertigo comic book, starring Keanu Reeves. Kevin Brodbin (THE GLIMMER MAN) wrote the original script, with a rewrite by Mark Bomback and Frank Cappello.
* Dance guru Wade Robson will direct an untitled musical project for Disney, which will be written by playwright Eydie Faye. It's a musical drama that centers on a young man whose music and dance dreams come together through the course of the movie.
* Warner Bros. will produce a live-action, English-language remake of Japan's anime classic AKIRA with Stephen Norrington attached to helm and James Robinson set to adapt.
* Warner Bros. picked up THE FARM from John Requa and Glenn Ficarra about a farmer who disappears and whose animals pull together to save the farm. When the farmer's son returns from years away in the city to help run the farm, the animals end up having to teach him all they know about rural survival. The writing duo are also adapting the Internet comic strip SHRINK! about psychotherapy among the superhero community; as well as POPCORN, which Ridley Scott is attached to direct, about an Oscar-winning filmmaker forced to confront the issues presented by his films when a serial killing couple show up on his doorstep claiming that he is responsible for their crimes.
* Curtis Hanson will direct the Warner Bros. drama LUCKY YOU, set in the high-stakes world of professional poker. Eric Roth wrote the screenplay about a gifted young poker player confronting his personal demons as he attempts to win a world championship tournament in Las Vegas.
* Luke Greenfield (THE ANIMAL) will direct the comedy/drama THE GIRL NEXT DOOR about a driven high school senior with political aspirations who falls in love with the seemingly perfect girl-next-door, only to discover that she's a porn star. Shooting is set to start Jan. 6 in Los Angeles. Emile Hirsch (THE DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTAR BOYS) and Elisha Cuthbert ("24") star. Greenfield co-wrote it with Stuart Blumberg and Chris McKenna.
* Paul W.S. Anderson is writing and will produce the sequel to RESIDENT EVIL. Production begins during the first half of 2003.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Distant Horizon has acquired remake rights to Hideo Nakata's (orginal THE RING) film DON'T LOOK UP with an eye toward a U.S. redo. The original film follows the downward spiral of a feature film director and his crew when the spirit of a murdered actress from another era comes to possess a piece of celluloid.
* Dimension Films has halted pre-production on Wes Craven's PULSE to make additional revisions to the script. The project was slated to begin production this week.
* Darren Star and Priscilla Presley are developing for MGM a remake of the 1968 Peter Sellers comedy THE PARTY. Blake Edwards directed the original about an Indian film extra who is mistakenly invited to a swinging Hollywood party where he finds himself in a series of slapstick misadventures.
* Regency Enterprises has made a deal to turn the primetime soap opera "Dallas" into a feature.
* New Line Cinema has made a deal with Maxim magazine for content that will be developed into features.
* Ryan Reynolds and producer Jonathon Komack Martin have created Dark Trick Films. Their first project will probably be the comedy feature MR. PERSONALITY, about a guy who assumes the personality of different people once he shakes their hands. Tom S. Parker and Jim Jenniwein are working on a rewrite.
* Miramax's GANGS OF NEW YORK will be released Dec. 6, 13 or 20, but a firm
date has yet to be reached.
GUNN SHOTS
(NOT from the trades)
* Gotham City Films' DOGS will screen on Sunday, Oct. 20 at 5:30pm at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival. For more info about the festival visit www.lashortsfest.com and visit gothamcityfilms.com for more about DOGS.
* STAR WARS TRILOGY IN 30 MINUTES will make its U.S. premiere at the Coronet Theater in West Hollywood on Oct. 25. The play combines the three original "Star Wars" films into a half hour comedy.
* NICE GUYS FINISH LAST, a short film written and directed by Robert B. Martin Jr, will compete in the 2002 LA International Short Film Festival which runs October 15 to 20, 2002 at the Los Angeles Film School and at the Archlight.
* BBC News Online exclusively presents Soccamatic, one of 10 WALLACE AND GROMIT short films, revealing Wallace's latest inventions. Soccamatic is free to watch or download from Right Here
* SHAG CARPET SUNSET will screen at the Austin Film Festival this Thursday, Oct. 17th at 7:30pm Omni Austin Hotel Ballroom. It's an age-old love story by Andrew McAllister involving puppets, plastic sword fights, and drunken racecar driving. For info on the film visit Their Site For more info on the festival: Just Click Here
