Harry here to present Elston's now world famous Weekly Recap. So here is your faithful recapper... Elllllllllllllllllstonnnnnnnn...
ELSTON NOTE: The biggest news of the week was undoubtedly the announcement made by George Lucas about the location for the STAR WARS EPISODES 2 AND 3 shoots. (The second prequel hits pre-production in October and will shoot in April 2000. The third opne will shoot in 2003.) Please check out Harry and pals' coverage of this news earlier in the week. Thank you and on with the rest of the recap.
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER VIA REUTERS
CASTING
(signed)
(signed)
* Jane Leeves ("Frasier") joins 50 VIOLINS for Miramax.
* Vicellous Reon Shannon has landed the title role opposite Denzel Washington in LAZARUS AND THE HURRICANE to be directed by Norman Jewison. The film is about a young boy from Brooklyn who fought to secure the freedom of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. David Paymer joins as well.
* Dustin Hoffman has joined Luc Besson's JOAN OF ARC with Milla Jovavich.
* Adam Goldberg has joined the cast of an untitled comedy revolving around Sunset Strip in 1971 written by THE DOORS co-writer Randall Johnson.
* Mexican actress Thalia joins the English-language romantic comedy SALSA CAFE.
* Hector Elizondo joins RUNAWAY BRIDE with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.
* Christopher Walken joins the indie flick THE OPPORTUNISTS.
* Wes Bentley joins the Dreamworks pic AMERICAN BEAUTY with Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening.
(in talks)
* Willem Dafoe is in final negotiations to star as a mystical warrior-priest in BULLFIGHTER, a millenial comedy about sex, guns and God. Robert Rodriguez and Guillermo Del Toro will make cameos.
* Eric Mabius (WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE) is in final talks to star in THE CROW: SALVATION.
* Stephen Baldwin is close to a deal to play Barney Rubble in VIVA ROCK VEGAS, a FLINTSTONES prequel. Mark Addy (THE FULL MONTY) will play Fred Flintstone. Brian Levant, director of the first one, is helming this one too.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Dimension Films has hired Stephen Susso and John Weidner (upcoming A BONE IN THE THROAT) to script GHOSTING based on the Platinum Studios comic. Dimension and Platinum are also developing DEAD OF NIGHT.
* Harold Ramis will direct GALAXY QUEST, an outer space comedy written by Robert Gordon (ADDICTED TO LOVE).
HARRY NOTE: I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THE ABOVE PROJECT!!
* Peter Hewitt (THE BORROWERS) is set to direct WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HOWARD SMITH, an English romantic comedy revolving around the culture clash of disco and punk in 1977.
* Ang Lee's (SENSE AND SENSIBILITY) next film will be a Chinese action film titled CROUCHING TIGER, LEAPING DRAGON and has offered the lead roles to Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh.
* Roland Emmerich is in talks to direct the Revolutionary war pic PATRIOT written by Robert Rodat (SAVING PRIVATE RYAN). Dean Devlin is producing. In addition, Columbia Pictures has bought a pitch to develop the impeachment thriller TWILIGHT LAST FADING for the Devlin/Emmerich team.
* Terry Hughes ("3rd Rock From the Sun" director) will direct the independent film HOMESPUN, a story of a group of lifelong friends from Patterson, NJ.
* Joshua Miller is directing THE MAO GAME from his own novel. Kirstie Alley, Piper Laurie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael O'Keefe, Jeffrey Tambor all star. Whoopi Goldberg is exec. producing.
* Steven Soderbergh will turn the British miniseries TRAFFIK into a flick about the narcotics industry for Fox 2000. Soderbergh scheduled the picture for next fall after completing THE LIMEY for Artisan (currently shooting) and LEATHERHEADS (with George Clooney) at Universal.
* Warner Bros. is in final negotiations to snatch Nick Marine's scipt SPYVILLE for a possible flick for Jim Carrey.
* Walt Disney Pictures may buy Mark Gibson and Phil Halprin's pitch THE BIG BREAK, an animation project described as an animal version of THE GREAT ESCAPE.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Unapix Entertainment is developing TX25 for a '99 release. This, of course, will be a new 25th anniversary update of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.
* The Dept. of Defense has agreed to cooperate with producer Martin Poll on LION'S SHARE, a major movie described as the "untold story of the Gulf War" written by David Shaber.
* The new Milk and Honey Films will produce its first feature based on Leonard Cohen's novel BEAUTIFUL LOSERS.
* Sony Pictures Entertainment has acquired theatrical distribution rights throughout the world for a computer-generated flick based on the interactive game FINAL FANTASY.
RERELEASE NEWS OF THE WEEK: In addition to GONE WITH THE WIND and THE WIZARD OF OZ, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY may be next on Warner Bros.' (or is it MGM? oops) slate to put back in the theaters.
Aside from the prequel news, the biggest news of the week anyway, as far as I'm concerned is the death of Bob Kane, creator of Batman. It is always interesting to think about an idea that came from one person, then see how elaborate it has become throughout the years--how it becomes a part of our culture whether it's pop culture or not. I love Batman and always have, so I thought I would just stop for a minute and really appreciate Mr. Kane's idea and creation. If you love or at least acknowledge Batman, I'm sure you'll do the same.
On a lighter note...
Writer/director attachments practically outwieghed the casting news. Cool. I'm really looking forward to Steven Soderbergh's upcoming projects. I'd love to see some on-set reports or script reviews of THE LIMEY. *** Bob Dylan/boxing fans might be of interest in LAZARUS AND THE HURRICANE. Dylan's 1976 song "Hurricane" roughly told the story about the innocent boxer Carter's arrest and trial. *** I thought Scott Rosenberg was writing GHOSTING, but maybe I was wrong. Oh well, his DISTURBING BEHAVIOR didn't impress many. *** Roland and Emmerich are back in the game--with a Revolutionary war pic? Intriguing. *** Since, Rodriguez has a cameo in BULLFIGHTER maybe Harry can get us some more info on the flick. Hmm?
Finally, four months ago we debuted the recap here and the big item of that week was...? You guessed it. JURASSIC PARK 3 was in development. Haven't heard much about it since. Also, it was announced that Gus Van Sant would direct BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN about two gay cowboys. Honest. Now, whether or not it would be in black and white and they would eat pudding is still pending.
Enjoy your November.
Elston Gunn
