Ol' Father Geek here with Elston and another huge entry in AICN's string of regular weekly reports on what's happening out in Horrorwood, Karloffornia. This is a long column this week soooooo, sit on a soft pillow and get some comfort food handy, and get prepared to spend some time in the world of tinsel and...
THE WEEKLY RECAP...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Hayden Christensen has signed on to play the male lead in THE DECAMERON, Dino De Laurentiis' upcoming adaptation of the 14th century Italian classic by Giovanni Boccaccio. Christensen will play the role of Lorenzo, starring opposite Mischa Barton. The project is being directed and adapted by David Leland.
* Kristin Kreuk ("Smallville") is set to co-star with Jimi Mistry in PARTITION, an epic romance set in India during the last days of the British Empire. Kreuk will play a 17-year-old who is traumatized by the events that separate her from her family as India is divided into two countries. Myriad Pictures, which is co-producing the film with Canada's Sepia Films.
* Ryan Pinkston has signed to star in NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH for producer Mark Canton, Relativity Media and New Line. Originally penned by Yoni Berkovits and Tony Dreannan, and later worked on by several scribes, it's being shot with a new draft written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. In the pic, Pinkston plays a teen forced to live out a series of elaborate lies he told to impress popular kids. Christian Charles (COMEDIAN) will direct.
* Meg Ryan will star in THE ROLE OF A LIFETIME, a romantic comedy about a movie star and a British director whose paths cross on Broadway.
* Bruno Ganz, Rupert Everett and Catherine O'Hara are in final talk to star in THE GREAT FARRELL, a period piece based on the novel BURIED ALIVE by British Victorian writer Arnold Bennett, for director Martin Waltz.
* Ed Harris will portray Ludwig van Beethoven in COPYING BEETHOVEN for director Agnieszka Holland and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment. Diane Kruger (NATIONAL TREASURE) will star opposite Harris in the romantic period drama, which centers on the obsession Beethoven developed for his assistant while composing his Ninth Symphony. Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson wrote the script.
* Tom Hardy (LAYER CAKE) and Rutger Hauer join Tony Todd in Jonathan English's MINOTAUR, the horror-fantasy retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.
* Bill Cobbs ("The West Wing") will replace Ossie Davis in Corner Stone Pictures' RETIREMENT. Ensemble laffer also stars Peter Falk, Rip Torn and George Segal and is directed by Charles Picerni.
* Marty Papazian ("JAG") joins Jamie Foxx, Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard in the adaptation of Anthony Swofford's Gulf War memoir, directed by Sam Mendes.
* Tovah Feldshuh (KISSING JESSICA STEIN) has been cast in 20th Century Fox's LADY LUCK opposite Lindsay Lohan for director Donald Petrie. Pic is shooting in New Orleans.
* Paul Rudd and Elizabeth Banks join Steve Carell and Catherine Keener in Universal's THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN for producer/director Judd Apatow, who co-wrote the script with Carell.
* Brad Pitt is attached to star in Columbia Pictures' CHAD SCHMIDT, a script by Steve Conrad about a talented young actor who moves to Los Angeles in the 1980s to pursue his dream of movie stardom. The twist is that he bears a peculiarly strong resemblance to another up-and-coming actor named Brad Pitt. As the real Pitt achieves a dazzling level of fame, the fictional Schmidt, for all of his talent, becomes a comic uncastable joke. Ultimately, Schmidt must struggle to overcome the blow of abandoning his dreams and must make peace with the hard realities of life. Escape Artists will produce.
* Missy Peregrym and Vanessa Lengies are set to star in STICK IT, Touchstone Pictures' sports comedy to be directed by Jessica Bendinger. The story concerns a rebellious girl who, after being on the wrong side of the law once too often, is forced into the regimented world of gymnastics to clean up her act.
* Jimi Mistry and Kristin Kreuk will star in the Inda-set epic romance PARTITION for director Vic Sarin, Myriad Pictures and Sepa Films. The title refers to the tumultuous period when Pakistan was created from India at the end of the British Raj in 1947. A Sikh man who quits the British Indian Army for a quieter life finds his world turned upside down after he becomes responsible for a traumatized 17-year-old Muslim girl. Story is inspired by the experiences of Kashmir-born Sarin's family. He penned the script with Patricia Finn.
* Terrence Dashon Howard and Taraji P. Henson (HUSTLE & FLOW) and Sofia Vergara have joined the cast of Pararmount's FOUR BROTHERS for director John Singleton. Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin and Garrett Hedlund star.
* Brian Presley has been cast in END GAME for Millennium Films. He'll play a Secret Service agent in the Andy Cheng-directed political thriller, which also stars Cuba Gooding Jr., James Woods, Angie Harmon and Burt Reynolds.
* Tommy Curtis (RED DRAGON) and Amber Heard (FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS) join CLASS ACTION for director Niki Caro.
* Daniel Bruehl (GOOD BYE, LENIN!) will star in SALVADOR, the biopic of anarchist, womanizer and small-time bank robber Salvador Puig Antich, the last Spaniard to be garroted under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Manuel Huerga (ANTARTIDA) directs for Meidapro.
* Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz (both in SAHARA) will reteam in THE LOOP, a love story scripted and to be directed by S.R. Bindler. It's an adaptation of a novel by Joe Coomer about a highway patrolman and loner who, after meeting a sexy librarian, is inspired to search for his long-lost parents.
* Will Smith is attached to star in TONIGHT, HE COMES, by Vince Gilligan, for Columbia Pictures and director Jonathan Mostow. It's about a superhero who crash-lands in Sheepshead Bay, N.Y., and causes chaos as he romances a local housewife in an attempt to revitalize himself. Michael Mann will produce the film with Akiva Goldsman. Gilligan has already done a rewrite and will script another draft under Mostow's supervision.
* Robin Williams and Toni Collette will star in the adaptation of Armistead Maupin's novel THE NIGHT LISTENER for director Patrick Stettner (THE BUSINESS OF STRANGERS) and Hart Sharp Entertainment. Sandra Oh, Rory Culkin and Joe Morton are also in talks to join the cast. It's the story of a popular radio show host who, while trying to cope with a splintering romance, strikes up a telephone relationship with his biggest fan. When disturbing questions arise regarding the boy's identity, his life spins out of control.
* Peter Fonda is in talks and Donal Logue has joined the cast of the Nicolas Cage starrer GHOST RIDER for Columbia Pictures. Based on a Marvel Comics property, story centers on Johnny Blaze, a stunt motorcyclist who saves the world from evil spirits that cross over from beyond. Fonda would play the role of Mephistopheles, and Logue will play Mack, Johnny's chief mechanic and best friend who soups up Johnny's motorcycles for his stunts. Mark Steven Johnson directs.
* James Purefoy (VANITY FAIR) has signed on to star opposite Natalie Portman in V FOR VENDETTA, an adaptation of a 1980s Alan Moore comic book that Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers are producing for Warner Bros. Pictures.
* Paramount Pictures has acquired poet Marisa de los Santos' first novel, LOVE WALKED IN, with Sarah Jessica Parker attached to star. It's the story of a sophisticated thirtysomething woman who thinks she has found the man of her dreams, but he has an 11-year-old daughter he left when the girl was 2. When the child shows up one day, a relationship develops between the child and the woman.
* Universal has optioned screen rights to LONDON IS THE BEST CITY IN AMERICA, a novel by Laura Dave that will be developed as a star vehicle for Reese Witherspoon. Type A will produce the film with Mandalay Pictures. Gwyn Lurie will write the script. Protagonist is a young woman stuck in neutral after dumping her fiance. She works in a fishing-tackle shop while cobbling together a documentary about the wives of fisherman and is called home for the wedding of her brother.
* Viggo Mortensen will star in ALATRISTE (CAPTAIN ALATRISTE), the most expensive Spanish-language film ever made, for writer/director Agustin Diaz Yanes (NO NEWS FROM GOD). Shooting begins March 7 in Madrid, Cuenca and Andalusia. Mortensen plays Diego Alatriste, a Spanish soldier-cum-mercenary embroiled in the country's 16th-century imperial wars. Javier Camara (TALK TO HER), Elena Anaya (VAN HELSING), Unax Ugalde, Ariadna Gil, Antonio Resines and Blanca Portillo also star in the project based on the novels by Arturo Perez-Reverte.
* Tom Welling and Maggie Grace will star in the remake of John Carpenter's classic horror thriller THE FOG for Revolution Studios and director Rupert Wainwright. Cooper Layne is penning from the screenplay written by Hill and Carpenter for the original 1980 film. The pic is set in a Northern California town where, about 100 years ago, a ship sank under mysterious circumstances in a thick, eerie fog. The ghosts of the deceased mariners return from their watery graves to seek their revenge.
* Susan Sarandon is joining the cast of New Line Cinema's MR. WOODCOCK for director Craig Gillespie and Landscape Pictures. Seann William Scott plays a young man who returns to his hometown to stop his mother from marrying his old high school gym teacher, played by Billy Bob Thornton, who made life a living hell for him and many of his classmates.
* Joy Bryant will star opposite rapper 50 Cent in the untitled action-adventure pic formerly dubbed LOCKED AND LOADED for Paramount/MTV Films and director Jim Sheridan. Terence Winter ("The Sopranos") wrote the script about a drug dealer who turns away from crime to pursue his passion, rap music.
* Ben Affleck will play George Reeves and Diane Lane will also star in Focus Features' TRUTH, JUSTICE AND THE AMERICAN WAY, the story of a Los Angeles gumshoe trying to solve Reeves' mysterious death. Adrien Brody stars as the detective investigating Reeves' death. Lane will play Toni Mannix, the Hollywood wife of a studio exec who may have been linked romantically to Reeves. Script also centers on Reeves' complex relationship with the iconic role that propelled him to stardom. Allen Coulter directs from a script by Paul Bernbaum, with a final draft by Howard Korder.
* Ice Cube will star in the remake of the Cary Grant pic MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE for Revolution Studios. Steve Carr will direct.
* Christian Bale, Freddy Rodriguez and Tammy Trull have joined the cast of indie HARSH TIMES for writer/director David Ayer.
* Kristin Chenoweth ("The West Wing") has snagged roles in Marc Forster's STRANGER THAN FICTION, starring Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson and Maggie Gyllenhaal, as well as RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, starring Annette Bening, Brian Cox and Gwyneth Paltrow.
* Christopher Plummer has joined the cast of Warner Bros. Pictures' IL MARE, starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock for Argentinian director Alejandro Agresti. Plummer will play the father of Reeves' character. The project is a remake of a Korean film, SIWORAE, which also was released under the title IL MARE.
* Edie Falco is joining Julianne Moore and Samuel L. Jackson in FREEDOMLAND, the adaptation of Richard Price's bestselling novel that Joe Roth is directing for Revolution. Ron Eldard, William Forsythe, Anthony Mackie and Aunjanue Ellis also star. The gritty story concerns the aftermath of a carjacking that becomes a racially charged media sensation. Price has adapted his book into a screenplay.
* Scottish actor Peter Mullan, German star Daniel Bruehl and Spanish thesp Luis Tosar have signed for the lead roles in CARGO, a Euro thriller that starts shooting next week in Barcelona, for director Clive Gordon. Paul Laverty wrote the script. Story concerns a young backpacker traveling around Africa who gets into trouble with the police and stows away on a cargo ship to escape to Europe. The ship, which is smuggling illegal goods, is crewed by a bizarre bunch of no-hopers led by a captain played by Mullan.
* John Travolta is in early talks to star as Edna Turnblad in the movie version of the Broadway adaptation of HAIRSPRAY.
* Christopher Walken will star opposite Adam Sandler in the upcoming comedy CLICK for Columbia Pictures and Revolution Studios, directed by Juan Jose Campanella. The script, by Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe, centers on a workaholic architect who finds a universal remote that allows him to fast-forward and rewind to different parts of his life. Complications arise when the remote starts to overrule his choices.
* Jude Law will star in Anthony Minghella's BREAKING AND ENTERING for Miramax Films. Law is in advanced talks to play Will, a London architect in personal and professional crisis whose life collides with that of a young immigrant.
* Debra Messing will play Drew Barrymore's sister in LUCKY YOU, which Curtis Hanson is directing for Warner Bros. Eric Bana also stars. Set in the world of high-stakes professional poker, the dramedy-love story is based on an original screenplay by Eric Roth, with additional writing by Hanson, who also will produce with Carol Fenelon and Denise Di Novi.
* Jason Biggs, Bruce Greenwood (I, ROBOT) and Moon Bloodgood join Paul Walker in ANTARTICA for Disney, Mandeville Films and director Frank Marshall. Story, based on a National Geographic article, starts with two explorers who set out across Antarctica but are forced to abandon their sled dogs in bitter weather and turn back. Walker plays the leader of an effort to rescue the dogs.
* Missy Peregrym ("Dark Angel") will star in Disney's STICK IT. She'll play a gymnast who inspires her fellow athletes to rebellion in the sports comedy, directed by Jessica Bendinger.
* Freddy Rodriguez ("Six Feet Under") will star in laffer ONE LONG NIGHT for Mazedo Films and Via Hollywood Prods. He'll play a young Orange County businessman experiencing culture shock in Mexico. Pic will be produced and directed by David Siqueiros from his original script.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Brad Isaacs has written and will direct A WEST TEXAS CHILDREN'S STORY for Burnt Orange Productions. The film chronicles the journey of two runaway 12-year-olds.
* Andy Cull will write REASON, one of the first movies to be shot in 25 years under the Hammer Films banner. The company's other new projects include SUPERNATURAL, by Chris Fitchett, and JEB by Nick Ward. REASON is about a couple looking after a paranoid friend, whose demons turn out to be real; JEB is about a family haunted and torn apart by a creature living in the walls of their house, who knows their deepest desires; SUPERNATURAL centers on a failed heist, a gang of criminals flees to the Outback to escape the law, only to find something far worse waiting for them.
* Sydney Pollack has just wrapped his first doc feature, SKETCHES OF FRANK GEHRY, after four years on the film. Pollack and the architect have been pals for over 25 years and the project covers Gehry's rise and creative process.
* Regis Wargnier will direct Gaumont's French-language bigscreen adaptation of Fred Vargas's the bestselling Gallic crime novel HAVE MERCY ON US ALL, co-produced with Gallic indie LMG. Story centers on a modern-day town crier paid to announce local news to people in a Paris neighborhood. Gradually, it becomes apparent that someone is using him to issue cryptic warnings of a plague outbreak in the city.
* Keith English will direct HELLION for Sandstorm Films and Studio Hamburg Intl. Prod. (SHIP) about a writer living in New York who returns to the small town where he grew up in southern England. He's forced to confront his family's wicked past and the town's ancient evil after ridiculing the region's Celtic lore in his bestselling novel. SHIP also is co-producing Danish director Lone Scherfig's GOOD, a bigscreen adaptation of C.P. Taylor's play about an otherwise moral professor who unwittingly becomes the author of the Third Reich's Final Solution.
* Twentieth Century Fox is picking up two comedies for State Street Pictures: CHAMPIONS, written by Norman Vance, is a family comedy in the vein of PARENTHOOD that deals with a middle-class black family as it tries to resolve issues brewing over three generations. Malcolm Lee is in negotiations to direct the picture, which would fall under the Fox 2000 banner; the second project is an untitled high school comedy by Adam Sztykiel.
* Paul W.S. Anderson (RESIDENT EVIL) will direct MAN WITH THE FOOTBALL for producer Neal Moritz and Columbia Pictures. It's about a group of terrorists who steal the U.S. president's "football" -- the briefcase containing computer and telecommunications equipment that can launch a nuclear strike. John Pogue wrote the script.
* Wayne Kramer has written and will direct THE SLEEPING DETECTIVE, which New Line is in talks to distribute. Bruce Willis is attached to play a narcoleptic private eye hired to track down the California governor's daughter, whose disappearance is linked to a long-ago murder. New Line will distribute Kramer's RUNNING SCARED, starring Paul Walker as a low-level mobster who, in order to save his family, must recover a gun used in a mob hit before it's found by his bosses or the cops.
* Victor Garcia will direct the horror pic SMOKE for Gold Circle Films about a young woman who, while on the run from an abusive husband, is haunted by premonitions as she hides in a motel. Ronnie Christensen wrote the script.
* Universal has acquired the rights to Terry Brooks' MAGIC KINGDOM series of books for Stephen Sommers to direct with Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel adapting the first book, MAGIC KINGDOM FOR SALE. Story revolves around a recently widowed attorney who, still grieving for his wife, leaves his old life behind when he responds to a mysterious ad and spends his fortune to purchase a magical kingdom. With his reluctant teenage children, he must unite the kingdom's denizens and creatures to stop an evil demon bent on destroying the realm.
* James Frey will script the adaptation of PREP, MTV's production of Jake Coburn's dark tale of New York City's prep schools, for Paramount. The project, set in the world of elite Manhattan prep schools, centers on a young man who's seduced by what's portrayed as Gotham's uninhibited party lifestyle. Over the course of a weekend, he reconciles with a girlfriend while trying to save her younger brother, who has been targeted by a local gang.
* Paramount picked up the comedy pitch NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH from writers David Guion and Michael Handelman for Scott Rudin Prods. The project revolves around three men who form a neighborhood watch.
* Warner Bros. has bought screen rights to Judy Bachrach's article "U Want Me 2 Kill Him?" which appeared in the February edition of Vanity Fair for Bryan Singer to develop and direct. Tale chronicled a bizarre Internet relationship between a 14-year-old loner with a vivid imagination and the 16-year-old with whom he corresponded. The younger boy wound up being stabbed twice and nearly killed by the older boy. The twisted saga left one charged as the co-conspirator in a murder attempt -- his own.
* Ashvin Kumar will direct THE FOREST from his own script for Arclight Films and Dreyfuss/James Prods.. Hindi-language thriller concerns a young married couple who go on vacation in hopes of forestalling divorce but are so preoccupied by their anger that they ignore signs of a man-eating leopard. Indian star Irfan Khan has been set for the lead.
* Barry Levinson is attached to direct Anthony LaPaglia, Scarlett Johansson and Frances McDormand in a bigscreen adaptation of A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. LaPaglia, who won a Tony for his run in a Broadway revival of the play, will reprise his role as Brooklyn longshoreman Eddie, whose infatuation with his niece strains his relationship with his wife and ultimately creates a scandal when the teenager falls for a cousin from Sicily. Andrew Bovell adapted.
* Warner Bros. has acquired screen rights to MIDNIGHT FOR CHARLIE BONE and the four books that follow in the bestselling fantasy series by Welsh author Jenny Nimmo. Neil Alsip will write the script. Series concerns a youth who has the ability to look at photographs and hear conversations that took place when the pictures were shot. The Bone clan descends from the magical Red King, and each family member possesses a different power. Charlie uses his gift to try to unravel the mystery of a missing girl, and he has to deal with all kinds of ghastly relatives and other nasty characters who use their powers to hamper his investigation.
* Gold Circle has bought a pitch on war and terrorism with from Tucker Tooley, Christian Gudegast and Rolling Stone reporter Evan Wright. Pic will be produced by Tooley and Gudegast. Wright will write the script. He uncovered a story about an informant who infiltrated a bar in the Southwest and gathered intelligence about terrorists who hung out there, a group that included a couple of 9/11 hijackers. Unfortunately, the impact wasn't fully realized until after the World Trade Center attack.
* New Line and Walden Media have snapped up HOOT, Carl Hiaasen's award-winning children's novel for Frank Marshall to produce. Hiaasen pal Jimmy Buffett will write original music for the pic and is serving as a producer. Wil Shriner will direct. Script was written by Shriner and Rob Lieber and centers on the story of a boy in Florida who encounters a series of mysteries while trying to save a group of endangered owls. Production is set to start in June.
* Alex Proyas (I, ROBOT) is directing the supernatural thriller KNOWING for Escape Artists. Story concerns a man who opens a time capsule that contains some terrifying predictions -- some have already happened and some are about to. Original draft was penned by novelist Ryne Pearson, but Stiles White and Juliet Snowden (THE BOOGEYMAN) have rewritten the script.
* Beacon Pictures and director Ed Zwick have joined forces to make a politically charged drama based on the book WHO KILLED DANIEL PEARL? by French author-philosopher Bernard-Henry Levy. Levy, a foreign correspondent, journeyed to Pakistan to try and unravel the forces behind the kidnapping and murder of the Wall Street Journal correspondent.
* Universal has acquired rights to Ken Kalfus' short story NIGHT AND DAY YOU ARE THE ONE and has set Jon Bokenkamp (TAKING LIVES) to adapt for Bobker/Kruger Films. It's a Manhattan-set thriller following a man who can't tell the difference between his dreams and reality. After witnessing a murder, he has to figure out what's real and what's not.
* David Goyer has partnered with Bently Tittle and Pascale Faubert to option THE FALL, a graphic novel by Ed Brubaker and Jason Lutes about a luckless clerk who gets caught up in an unsolved murder case when he finds a mislaid credit card. Brubaker will write the pic.
* New Line picked up Michael Markowitz's script HORRIBLE BOSSES for Rat Entertainment to produce. The dark comedy script is about three long-suffering friends who team up to murder their overbearing bosses with disastrous results, for Rat Entertainment to produce.
* Brothers Kevin and Dan Hageman have been hired to adapt Julie Kenner's upcoming novel CARPE DEMON: ADVENTURES OF A DEMON-HUNTING SOCCER MOM for Warner Bros. and 1492 Pictures. The book is an action-adventure tale about a stay-at-home mother with a demon-hunting past who is called back into action to rid her small California town of monsters.
* Ray Lawrence (LANTANA) is directing JINDABYNE, starring Gabriel Byrne, Laura Linney, Deborra-Lee Furness, John Howard, Leah Purcell, Max Cullen, Chris Haywood and Bud Tingwell. It's based on a short story by Raymond Carver and is described as an "adult ghost story."
* The Jim Henson Co. has gone on a book-buying binge, optioning a handful of titles for development including: Sean Stewart's PERFECT CIRCLE, the darkly comic novel about a 32-year-old Texan who's still in love with his ex-wife, just lost his job at Petco and is being visited by ghosts; and the children's book WESLANDIA, by Paul Fleishman, about an imaginative boy who feels like he doesn't fit into the world, so he creates his own world with its own language and clothing. Andrew Chapman (POCAHONTAS) is attached as a writer.
* Mount Film Co. will remake the 1992 miniseries SON OF THE MORNING STAR, based on the life of Gen. George Custer, as a feature to be written by Mark Wheaton. The miniseries was originally adapted from the book by Evan Connell.
* Ned Zeman and Daniel Barnz have written UNDER AND ALONE for Mel Gibson and Warner Bros., and Gibson has also set them to write Paramount's SAM AND GEORGE. The latter story is about what happens when two lifelong friends renew their connection after one of them spends 20 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. UNDER AND ALONE is based on the true story of how ATF agent William Queen infiltrated a notoriously violent motorcycle gang.
* Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes will produce MOLLY'S WORLD, written by Neil Marshall Stevens, for New Line Cinema. The psychological thriller concerns a psychiatrist who gets drawn into the world of a patient who killed her family in an effort to protect them from a supernatural element.
* Universal has bought an untitled romantic comedy pitch by Gina Wendkos for Imagine and Media Talent Group to produce. Jim Carrey and Angelina Jolie may star as the impetus for the pitch was a mutual desire by the two actors to make a movie together.
* Sarah Townsend is directing and producing an as-yet-untitled documentary by and about comedian Eddie Izzard, for ThinkFilm. The film, which has been in production for about three years, will combine performance footage, interviews with friends, family and fans, and extensive material documenting the life, both onstage and off, of the comedian.
* Barry Sonnenfeld will direct Robin Williams in RV for Red Wagon and Columbia Pictures. The family roadtrip comedy follows Bob McNeive and his family, who rent an RV and head for the Colorado Rockies. But McNeive's family is a dysfunctional lot, and the clan has to contend with the campground community. Original script was written by Geoff Rodkey, with Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel recently turning in a rewrite.
* Chris Grismer will direct THE CHEESE MONKEYS, the debut novel from book-cover designer Chip Kidd, for 3Geez Prods. The book follows a group of students through their first two semesters majoring in art.
* Michael Ferris and John Brancato are set to adapt Universal Pictures' THE SIGMA PROTOCOL, one of the last books written by author Robert Ludlum, for producer Paul Sandberg. The story centers on an American economist who becomes the target of professional assassins. When a U. S. intelligence agent investigating his case finds herself discredited, the two end up on the run and uncover a vast multinational conspiracy manipulating the global economy and world events.
* Paramount/MTV Films have hired Alex Winter to pen NAPSTER: THE SHAWN FANNING BIO PROJECT.
* John Wells Prods. has optioned Edward P. Jones' Pulitzer Prize-winning novel THE KNOWN WORLD and has tapped Anna Deavere Smith to pen the adaptation. Published in 2004 by HarperCollins, the historical novel is based on the little-known story of free black Americans who owned slaves.
* New Line Cinema has hired Elizabeth Kruger and Craig Shapiro to adapt FORGET ABOUT IT, an unpublished manuscript by Caprice Crane, with Scarlett Johansson attached to star. Romantic comedy concerns a woman who fakes amnesia in order to dodge her life's responsibilities and discovers it's the most empowering thing she's ever done.
* Christian Duguay (THE ART OF WAR) will direct VILLENEUVE, a biopic about Canuck Formula One racer Gilles Villeneuve, for Capri Films. Malcolm Clarke will write the script, based in part on the bestselling bio VILLENEUVE, THE LIFE OF A LEGENDARY DRIVER. Gilles Villeneuve died in a car crash in 1982 during the Formula One qualifying season. The film will begin 15 years later when son Jacques is preparing to race in Jerez, Portugal, the day he won the Formula One championship.
* Geoff Burton ("Sirens""Sirens") will direct MR. MIDNIGHT THE MOVIE: MY HAUNTED HOLIDAY, based on the series of bestselling kids' books, to the bigscreen. Jim Atchison, the books' author, wrote the screenplay.
* David H. Steinberg (AMERICAN PIE 2) will write the animated pic PUSS IN BOOTS for DreamWorks, based on the character voiced by Antonio Banderas in SHREK 2. Banderas will return to voice the pic, which is part of DreamWorks' slate for 2008. It's unclear at this point whether the title will receive a theatrical or, like many animated sequels, go directly to DVD.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Animation X has begun its first feature, an adaptation of Tomi Ungerer's children's book THE THREE ROBBERS. The company also is planning a live-action adaptation of Walter Moers' series of children books that will be a combination of live action and CGI in the vein of DARK CRYSTAL.
* Universal Pictures is planning a Dec. 23 launch for Steven Spielberg's film about the 1972 Munich Olympics. Tony Kushner (ANGELS IN AMERICA) did a rewrite on the project, on which writers Eric Roth and Charles Randolph also had worked. Spielberg now plans to begin filming the Munich project in the summer.
* IFP/New York will help fund documentaries through its Anthony Radziwill Documentary Fund including: HOW SWEET THE SOUND: THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA, directed by Leslie McCleave; MANHATTAN KANSAS, directed by Tara Wray; SUICIDE, directed by Jay Rosenblatt; THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE, directed by Sam Green; and WHEN THE TIDE COMES IN, directed by Lourdes Portillo.
* Intermedia has paired with Kadakowa USA to produce and finance an English-language remake of the Japanese horror hit ONE MISSED CALL. The plot centers on a college student fails to answer a cell phone call because she doesn't recognize the caller's ringtone. Later, when she plays the message, the time stamp is three days in the future and she hears her own voice as she's being killed.
* Columbia Pictures has grabbed the film rights to Avery Corman's (KRAMER VS. KRAMER) latest novel, A PERFECT DIVORCE, for Irwin Winkler to produce. The book explores the hidden, corrosive effects of a seemingly amicable divorce on the son of well-meaning parents.
* Roland Emmerich has introduced his new production/financing company Reel Machine to make "more difficult, socially relevant" films. The company's first feature will be THE GIRLS NEXT DOOR, a drama about the child sex trade based on a New York Times article. Jose Rivera (THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES) will write the script and Marco Kreuzpaintner is set to direct. Emmerich's first feature under the Reel Machine label will be SOUL OF THE AGE, a political thriller set in Elizabethan England that explores the controversial theory that William Shakespeare was not the author of his famous plays. John Orloff ("Band of Brothers") scripted. Other projects in the pipeline include the political drama NIGERIA and the more mainstream 10 THOUSAND B.C., about a mammoth hunter who goes on a quest to save his tribe.
* Lawrence Guterman (SON OF THE MASK) has started Orange Grove Entertainment to develop material, mostly with a fantasy bent, as possible directing vehicles for Guterman. Projects include CREATURE CORPS, about a group of kids, who through supernatural events on Halloween night transform into their costumes; an untitled Harlem Hellfighters project about Harlem's first high school-level football team in 62 years; DEATH JR., based on a comic written by Gary Whitta; EYES OF AMBER, based on a 1970 novella by Joan D. Vinge, the story centers on a space probe that lands on an alien planet, where a tribe, led by a princess-assassin, finds it, believing it to be a god; MONSTERS STOMPERS, also based on a comic book, set in a world where monsters are an everyday, pesky occurrence, and everyone has monster insurance. The Stompers are a group of misfits put together to handle and corral the monsters. Nick Marine (SICK DAY) is attached to write.
* Disney animation has optioned bestselling children's book PETER AND THE STARCATCHERS, by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. Story will be developed as a 3-D CGI feature. In the loose prequel to PETER PAN, modern 8-year-old Peter leads a group of orphaned boys on the ship Never Land. Peter and shipmate Molly lead an effort to recover a trunk of magical starstuff, before it can fall into the hands of the pirate Black Stache.
* Platinum Studios has acquired rights to the next four graphic novels by horror writer Wil Radcliffe to develop as live-action features. The four properties are BONE HILL, a thriller about a psychiatrist trying to save a young female patient whose psychoses might hold the key to ending an ancient evil; THE WHISPER KING, about a man who must protect a group of kids from the monsters who abducted him as a child; MACABRE, a teen supernatural horror story about a young man possessed by a vengeful spirit; and PLAY DEAD, in which a family is haunted by the malevolent spirit of their beloved household pet.
* Paramount and MGM have set the release date for the family film YOURS, MINE AND OURS, starring Dennis Quaid and Renee Russo, for Nov. 23. Production begins in April. Raja Gosnell (SCOOBY-DOO) directs. The project is also the last MGM film to be greenlit before it becomes part of Sony around April 1; for Paramount, it's likely the final greenlightgreenlight from studio chief Sherry Lansing before Brad Grey takes over March 1.
* Steven Seagal is turning his hand to producing Asian pictures, kicking off with DRAGON SQUAD, a martial arts actioner that's due to roll March 15 in Hong Kong.
* The New South Wales government has made an aggressive bid to persuade Warner Bros. to shoot the SUPERMAN sequel, RED SUN, in this state -- even before the pic has been greenlit. Warner reps have made scouting trips to NSW country locations for the sequel including the New England area as a possible site for Clark Kent's childhood home. Bryan Singer's SUPERMAN starts production March 7 at the Fox Studios in Sydney.
* Financing, production and management shingle Neverland Films has changed its name to Code Entertainment and made a deal to co-finance EDMOND, an adaptation of the David Mamet play that stars William H. Macy and Julia Stiles. The company will also produce and fully finance HOLY WATER, an urban comedy written by Paul Mooney and Gil Williams.
* Producer Bruce Gilbert has optioned film rights to James A. Mangum's first novel, DEAD AND DYING ANGELS. The story centers on a former customs agent who has lost his wife and two daughters and is living in a tiny Texas village. When he and a friend are implicated in a brutal rape and murder, he turns all his attention to clearing their names and tracking down the real murderers.
* Fox 2000 Pictures has acquired the rights to AMERICAN SHAOLIN, Ivy League undergrad Matthew Polly's autobiographical account of how he left midway through his studies to learn martial arts in mainland China with the famed Shaolin fighting monks.
GUNN SHOTS
(NOT from the trades)
* NFL kicker Tyler Frederickson has made the documentary on his old college team, the Cal Golden Bears. It's been seen on ESPN and Fox Sports Net. For more, visit http://california.scout.com/2/275286.html
* Johnny Depp's Infinitum Nihil and producer Graham King (Aviator) have hired Joseph Gangemi to adapt his novel "Inamorata" (Viking, 2004). Inspired by true events, story is about Scientific American magazine's 1922 contest which offered $5,000 to the first spirit-medium who could prove herself genuine. Hero is a 23 year old assistant to the magazine's investigating committee who finds himself falling in love with a Philadelphia "society psychic" he's supposed to be debunking.
* Minority Films announced this week the official website of the controversial documentary This Divided State. The website is found at http://www.thisdividedstate.com. Also available on the website is a three minute preview of the film.
* Patrick McGoohan of THE PRISONER fame is going to make a return to the big screen after a lengthy absence since the likes of BRAVEHEART and A TIME TO KILL. The project in question is called ILLUMINATION to be directed and co-written by Phil Leirness ('Spectres'). The other writer on the movie is Dean Haglund, better known as an actor in 'The X-Files' and 'The Lone Gunmen'. The story revolves around a medical student's attempts to track down the infamous Dr. Royal Raymond Rife (McGoohan), who claimed to have invented a machine that could cure cancer back in the 1930s.
* Check out reports from the set of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA at http://www.TheOneLion.net
* Read LOVE, LUDLOW creator David Paterson's Sundance blog at http://chatter.4imprint.com/loveludlow/
* See Alex Ferrari's trailer to his action/thriller film BROKEN at http://www.whatisbroken.com/BROKEN_TRAILER.mov
* See Dikenga Films' new FIRECRACKER trailer at http://www.dikenga.com/films/firecracker/
* Travesty Productions is celebrating Black History Month 2005 with SALVATION. For more info, visit http://www.seekingsalvation.ca
* See the award-winning SILENT CRY UK Premiere on Channel 5 on Friday, March 11 at 9pm.
* Internet model-turned Hollywood starlet Christina Lucci (www.onemodelplace.com/model_list.cfm?ID=140319) is in talks with Burman Films president Sanjay Burman (www.imdb.com/name/nm1178276) to star in an as yet-to-be-named feature film role. Sanjay Burman produced the 2002 thriller Spider and is producing the upcoming Johnny Depp film Milo. Lucci is repped by manager Zack Urbina (www.imdb.com/name/nm1413904).
* Fran Casanova (http://www.francasanova.com) is a director from Spain has three shorts about Indiana Jones at http://www.theraider.net
* See spoiler pics of the Nicholas Brendon/Adrienne Barbeau pic UNHOLY at http://pirate.shu.edu/~rondinth/Unholy%20Production%20photos.htm
* WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE has opened in NY. The film stars Adam Arkin, David Straithairn, Jon Tenney, Beverly D'Angelo, Elle MacPherson, Amy Madigan, Laura San Giacomo, Lauren Tom and a special appearance by Bill Murray.
* SCRATCH: ALL THE WAY LIVE DVD is set for release April 19 featuring performances by Mix Master Mike, Z-Trip, the X-ecutioners and the Original DJ Jazzy Jay. Visit http://www.scratchworldwidemedia.com for more.
* Daniel Myrick's (BLAIR WITCH PROJECT) THE STRAND (http://www.strandvenice.com) is an uncensored look at the lives of several off-beat characters that inhabit the unique world of Venice Beach, California, and how they are all connected. It's the first live-action, independently produced; narrative episodic intended specifically for the web
* Wanna help make a movie and get an executive producer credit? Visit http://www.moviesforthemasses.org.
* Based on the Ridley Scott directed Apple 1984 ad, known as the world most famous commercial, a new short has hit the net. Check it out at http://www.theroyalwe.org/royal_we_1984.mov
