Father Geek here annnnd we've got another of Elston's reviews of the past week out in Hollywood... Soooo sit back and dig into this weeks edition of...
THE WEEKLY RECAP...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Leonardo DiCaprio is being eyed for a leading role in Warner Bros.' remake of INFERNAL AFFAIRS for director Martin Scorsese. Based on the original Chinese-lingo gangster pic of the same name, the story will be reset in Boston, amid tough Irish-American mobsters and cops who are their constant nemeses.
* Nikki Reed (THIRTEEN) is set to reteam with director Catherine Hardwicke on the skateboarding pic LORDS OF DOGTOWN for Columbia Pictures.
* Angela Lansbury is in talks to star opposite Emma Thompson, who also adapted, and Colin Firth in Working Title's NANNY MCPHEE for Universal and director Kirk Jones (WAKING NED DEVINE). Pic is the story of a magical nanny who uses her powers to tame the seven Brown children after their father is widowed. Lansbury will play the children's aristocratic great aunt who threatens to do the worst thing imaginable -- take one of the children away to live with her. The role would be Lansbury's return to features after a twenty-year absence. Production begins next month.
* Gary Oldman is set to play Lt. James Gordon opposite Christian Bale in Warner Bros. Pictures' BATMAN BEGINS.
* Diego Luna (DIRTY DANCING: HAVANA NIGHTS, Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN) will play opposite Brazil's Alicia Braga (CITY OF GOD) in the romantic drama SOLO DIOS SABE (WHAT GOD KNOWS) for director Carlos Bolado and Miravista. Screenplay was co-written by Bolado and Diane Weipert. Principal photography is slated to begin in July.
* Frank Whaley, Frances Fisher, Ellen Burstyn, Chloe Sevigny, Cloris Leachman, Mary McDonnell, Michael Gross, Philip Baker Hall and Bill Smitrovich have joined the cast of playwright Phyllis Nagy's directorial debut, MRS. HARRIS, opposite Ben Kingsley and Annette Bening. It's about Jean Harris, headmistress of a girls academy who murdered her boyfriend, Scarsdale diet doctor Herman Tarnower.
* Maggie Gyllenhaal will take roles in Serenade Films/Sly Dog Films' digital feature THE GREAT NEW WONDERFUL, starring Tony Shalhoub and Edie Falco, for director Danny Leiner, followed by Don Roos' HAPPY ENDINGS.
* Beyonce Knowles and Jean Reno are in talks to take roles in THE PINK PANTHER, starring Steve Martin, for MGM and director Shawn Levy (CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN).
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Christian Duguay (THE ART OF WAR) will direct THE RUNELORDS for Franchise Pictures, Story Island Entertainment, Origin Entertainment and Entertainment Business Group. The project -- the first of three films based on the novels by David Farland -- is scheduled to start principal photography in July in Prague. It's described as an epic adventure set in the medieval world of Rofehaven.
* Robert Rodriguez is set to direct Edgar Rice Burroughs' science fiction classic PRINCESS OF MARS for Paramount. The film is based on the first book in Burroughs' 11-book series, JOHN CARTER OF MARS, which centers on John Carter, a Civil War officer from Virginia who is transported to Mars and finds himself a captive of the savage green men from Thark. Mark Protosevich (THE CELL) penned the latest draft. Rodriguez will shoot MARS following SIN CITY for Dimension Films.
* Liev Schreiber will make his directorial debut with a feature adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer's bestselling novel EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED for Warner Independent Pictures. Elijah Wood and Jason Schwartzman are said to be interested, though no deals are yet in place. Schreiber wrote the screenplay with shooting scheduled to start this June in Prague. It's the story of a young Jewish-American man who sets out to the Ukraine to find the woman who may have saved his grandfather from the Nazis and the Holocaust.
* Mark Rosman (CINDERELLA STORY) will again direct Hilary Duff in THE PERFECT MAN for Universal Pictures has greenlit for a late April start. Duff will play a daughter looking to set up her single mom. Marc Platt produces. Production begins late next month.
* John Singleton is in talks to develop and direct LUKE CAGE, based on the Marvel comic book, for Columbia Pictures, Marvel Studios and Original Films. The story is about a former gang member who is framed for a crime he didn't commit. In prison, he volunteers for a medical experiment that goes awry, giving him superstrength and bulletproof skin. Using his newfound powers, he escapes and becomes a hero for hire. Ben Ramsey scripted.
* Damian Shannon and Mark Swift have sold an untitled viking action-adventure pitch to Disney. Andrew Gunn is producing through his Gunnfilms. The story centers on a washed-up viking legend and his ragtag team of marauders who are forced to go on an epic quest to save the world from evil. The tale comes with characters normally associated with Norse lore, such as sea monsters, giants, Valkyries and beserkers.
* Universal has greenlit Joss Whedon's SERENITY, the feature film based on his Fox TV series "Firefly." Whedon will direct and the original cast is set to reprise their roles for a June start and 2005 release.
* Cherry Road Films has optioned the rights to two new pics -- FOREVER AND A DAY by Gail Gilchrest (MY DOG SKIP) and BARNES, being adapted from James Michener's memoirs by Jordan Roberts. DAY is a comedy about married 70-year-olds who wake up one morning in twentysomething bodies but haven't lost a lifetime's worth of knowledge. What starts out as a rough adjustment (including the couple splitting up) turns into a whole world of enjoyable possibilities. BARNES is the true story of author James A. Michener and his relationship with eccentric art collector (and one of the richest men in the world) Dr. Albert C. Barnes.
* Phil Beauman (SCARY MOVIE) sold a spec that spoofs dance pics to Paramount. The untitled project will center on young performers chasing stardom and draw upon Par's extensive library of similar dance pics.
* Stuart Baird (STAR TREK: NEMESIS) will direct Darclight's supernatural thriller POSSESSION, which Peter James adapted from his own novel, about a young man who, after being killed in an auto crash, reappears to his mother to reveal a dark secret.
* Jerry Bruckheimer Films is in negotiations to acquire the feature film rights to bestselling videogame PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME. Game creator Jordan Mechner will write the script.
* Kevin Costner is in talks to produce and direct the epic feature adaptation of Ralph Helfer's novel MODOC: THE TRUE STORY OF THE GREATEST ELEPHANT THAT EVER LIVED for Stone Village Pictures. It tells the joint biography of a man, Bram, and his elephant, Modoc, both born in a small German circus town on the same day in 1896. Bram was the son of an elephant trainer, and Modoc was the daughter of the trainer's prize performer. The boy and the elephant grew up side by side, but when the Wunderzircus and its animals were sold to America, Bram stowed away on the ship to avoid parting ways with the elephant.
* Michael Bacall will adapt Len Williams' novel JUSTICE DEFERRED for Warner Bros. and Maguire Entertainment. It's the story of Billy Ray Billings, who has been wrongly convicted under Alabama's three-strikes law, which gives him no chance at parole. He schools himself on the law and then escapes, changes his name and becomes a lawyer.
* Helmer Stephen Daldry (THE HOURS) is about to embark on a two-month expedition up Mount Everest in preparation for next year's production of his epic Working Title project EVEREST. Daldry is traveling with producer John Finn under the guidance of David Breashears, the mountaineer and high-altitude filmmaker who will also be co-producer and second unit director. Daldry and Finn will ascend to Base Camp, while Breashears and his team will continue to the summit, shooting background images for the film with a 35 mm movie camera and a 35 mm stills camera. The film will chronicle the tragic events of May 10, 1996, when a brutal storm on the mountain killed eight climbers.
* Revolution Studios has acquired remake rights to the 1997 Israeli pic 92 MINUTES for Landscape Entertainment to produce. It's a dark comedy about what happens to a man who's told that he has a very aggressive cancer and has only 92 minutes to live. Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio (MEET THE FOCKERS rewrite) will script the adaptation.
* Kevin Sullivan (BARBERSHOP 2) is in talks to direct Columbia Pictures' THE DINNER PARTY, starring Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher, about an African-American father who has plenty to say about his daughter marrying a white boy. Peter Tolan is writing the script.
* Bryan Singer will direct a remake of LOGAN'S RUN for Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver. The sci-fi action film about a man trying to escape a mandatory death sentence on his 21st birthday is being fast-tracked to start production this year. Ethan Gross and Paul Todisco, with Singer, are working on a script, and the studio plans to release the pic in 2005.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Anthem Pictures has picked up the film rights to SOULCALIBUR, the popular fighting video game from Namco. The video game story revolves around two warriors who are chosen by Shaolin monks to recover and destroy a powerful sword that has fallen into the hands of an evil prince who plans to use it to open the gates of hell and destroy the world.
* Sony and Marvel Enterprises have put SPIDER-MAN 3 into development with a possible 2006 or 2007 release.
* Due to a rising budget caused by logistical problems, Disney has halted plans for an April start on ANTARCTICA, the drama that was to mark the feature directing debut of Bruce Hendricks. The David DiGilio-scripted film was set to star Josh Duhamel (WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON!) and told a fact-based story about a pair of explorers who are forced to leave behind their team of sled dogs because of a brutal cold snap, then return to rescue them.
* Valhalla Motion Pictures has optioned the film and television rights to the action/sci-fi novel EVENTS by David Goleman. The project centers on mankind's struggle with a potentially Earth-ending visitor from a mysterious realm.
* Plant Film has optioned upcoming nonfiction titles BLAME IT ON THE JEWS and DESIRE STREET. Written by Heeb magazine editor Josh Neuman, JEWS is a collection of conspiracy theories that hold Jews accountable -- from the Plague to 9/11. DESIRE ST., by Jed Horne, investigates the ordeals of Curtis Kyles, tried for the same murder five times in New Orleans. Kyles spent 14 years on death row at Angola Prison before his sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court upon revelations of a police cover-up.
* Universal acquired the rights to Scottish comics scribe Mark Millar's WANTED series for Marc Platt to produce. It's a dark tale with a dearth of good guys. A nebbishy white-collar worker who hates job, girlfriend and life discovers he's the son of the most evil supervillain on Earth. When the father is assassinated, the angry young man inherits his father's superpowers and starts life among the other super-villains who secretly control the planet.
* New Line Cinema will produce a feature remake of John Waters' HAIRSPRAY, completing a 16-year full-circle journey from a Waters cult movie to Tony-winning smash Broadway show and now back to bigscreen musical. The project is being aimed for a 2006 release.
* Daybreak Prods. and Prime Universe Prods. have optioned the feature film and TV rights to SWORD OF DRACULA, based on the comicbook series created by Jason Henderson. The series is a contemporary revamp of the Dracula story in which competing military forces find themselves racing to excavate the great vampire himself.
GUNN SHOTS
(NOT from the trades)
* Check out Joe Klein's THE PASSION OF THE HEIST at http://www.passionoftheheist.com
* Ray Winstone (COLD MOUNTAIN, KING ARTHUR) will play dual roles in a new version of THE KRAYS, a pic about London's East End gangster twins of the 50's and 60's.
* Jennifer Aniston is being sought by writer/producer Ben Trebilcook for the role of corrupt FBI Agent Josephine Mackenna in 'female Bond' spy thriller, SEMPER OCCULTUS, opposite Jason Statham and Jet Li.
* A heist movie entitled THE SIEGE OF PRIME TIME LIVE is being planned for actor Charlie Sheen and will be set and filmed in London.
* Patrick Warburton, Mo Rocca, Chris Elliot and Fred Willard among others will be featured in FIRST TIME CALLER. The official website of the film is http://www.firsttimecaller.com/
