On to the show, another great report from Elston Gunn...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER VIA REUTERS
CASTING
(signed)
* Sara Gilbert ("Roseanne") has joined LIGHT IT UP with Forest Whitaker and Vanessa Williams.
* Jason Alexander will play Boris Badenov in ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE which starts production in January. Des McAnuff (COUSIN BETTE) is directing.
* Greg Kinnear and Aaron Eckhart join Neil Labute's NURSE BETTY. A sidenote for Labute fans: The director has signed a deal with Touchstone TV to create a drama series for ABC. It may be ready for the middle of next season or fall of 2000.
* Nigel Hawthorne (MADNESS OF KING GEORGE) will star in A REASONABLE MAN, a murder-mystery courtroom drama shooting in Johannesburg. The film should wrap in December. South African filmmaker Gavin Wood is directing from his own script.
* John C. Reilly will play a catcher in FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME currently shooting.
* James Cromwell joins Chris O'Donnell and Renee Zellweger in THE BACHELOR--an update of Buster Keaton's 1925 comedy SEVEN CHANCES.
* Jeffrey Tambor joins MUPPETS IN SPACE.
(in talks)
* Gabriel Byrne is close to a deal to play Satan in END OF DAYS.
* Cameron Diaz is in talks to star in INVISIBLE CIRCUS, based on the novel by Jennifer Egan, for Fine Line. Shooting begins in May in Paris.
* Arnold Schwarzenegger is in talks to star in NOBLE FATHER, a police action drama at MGM.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Wolfgang Petersen (AIR FORCE ONE) will direct THE PERFECT STORM based on the Sebastian Junger novel. Petersen is also developing THAT OTHERS MIGHT LIVE.
* Francis Ford Coppola is developing THE GREAT KAHOONA, a rock'n'roll musical set in the 50s. Coppola is writing the script and the songs and wants John Travolta to star.
* Director Tony Scott is in talks to direct the Holocaust action thriller JOSIAH'S CANON for Fox 2000. Scott is also attached to direct John LeCarre's THE TAILOR OF PANAMA. Miramax is developing Elmore Leonard's KILL SHOT for Scott to direct with Robert DeNiro and Quentin Tarantino possibly to star.
* MGM bought David Kukoff and Matt Roshkov's MUNCHIES, described as CLUELESS meets NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.
* Warner Bros. has struck a deal for NATIONAL OFFICE by David McKenna (AMERICAN HISTORY X) for a hopeful Matt Damon starrer. It centers on a 28-year old man who decides to run for President after his family is struck by a gang shooting.
* Fox 2000 has paid an initial $1.5 million for EXECUTIVE SEARCH from Gerald DiPego (PHENOMENON).
* New Line bought THE FLOW about the hip-hop business for John Singleton to direct.
* Jeff Nathanson (SPEED 2, TWISTER) will adapt CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, the autobiography of con man Frank Abagnale.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* AME AGARU ("AFTER THE RAIN"), Akira Kurosawa's last script about a mild-mannered samurai, will begin filming next spring.
* ANNA AND THE KING may film in Malaysia as opposed to Thailand where many drafts of the script were rejected due to alleged incorrect facts. Meanwhile, THE BEACH will remain in Thailand for filming.
* The title of DANCING ABOUT ARCHITECTURE has changed to PLAYING BY HEART due to being too similar to DANCING AT LUGHNASA.
* Roger Corman is combining a two-part segment of his TV superhero camp series BLACK SCORPION for release in theaters. Michelle Lintel (Ms. Kansas), Soupy Sales, Adam West, Scott Valentine and Robert Pine all star.
* Nelvman Ltd. is developing a feature film and TV series based on the song "Puff (the Magic Dragon)."
* Elton John will score Albert Brooks's THE MUSE.
* Renny Harlin has wrapped THE DEEP BLUE SEA three days early and under budget. Additional photography (with real sharks) will be shot in Dec.
* Stephen Norrington (BLADE) and producer Matthew Justice are producing THE LAST MINUTE, a black comedy set in London.
REMAKE NEWS OF THE WEEK: New Line Cinema has given Jerry Lewis a seven-figure sum for the remake rights to the 1960 comedy CINDERFELLA. Lewis has also setup THE ERRAND BOY at Spyglass Entertainment and THE BELL BOY at MGM. Lewis cites CINDERFELLA as his favorite project.
The recap is a little thinner this week than weeks past. I was scraping--therefore a lot of miscellaneous production tidbits. *** Kurosawa/samurai fans should be delighted with AME AGARU. *** Wolfgang Petersen and Tony Scott both seem to have their work cut out for them. *** I'd love to know more about NURSE BETTY. Kinnear, Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock, Rene Zellweger, Neil Labute directing...t sounds cool. *** John Singleton directing a hip-hop film is welcome. ***
THE DEEP BLUE SEA wrapping already? What else is wrapping? It seems like yesterday THE DEEP BLUE SEA was in the recap. Which reminds me...four months ago THIS week in the recap...there wasn't one due to technical problems. However, it would've been reported Peter and Bobby Farrelly (THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY) will direct STUCK ON YOU about a set of Siamese twins joined at the hip. Any word on it since? But the biggest news that week was Leo DiCaprio signing to star in THE BEACH (filming should begin soon).
Thanks for the emails. Keep 'em comin'.
I hope your Friday the 13th wasn't as unlucky as mine. (Damn flat tire, late for work...)
Elston Gunn
elstongunn@hotmail.com
