Harry here with another of Elston Gunn's WEEKLY RECAPS, I've got a lot of work to do this early early morning so I'm keeping this short, here we go...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER VIA REUTERS
CASTING
(signed)
CASTING
(signed)
* John Lynch is playing soccer legend George Best in a biopic which started shooting last month. Ian Hart, Patsy Kensit and Linus Roache star as well.
* Alicia Silverstone will star alongside Kenneth Branagh in LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST, the Shakespearean piece that will be set as a 30s musical.
* Edward Norton will play a priest in his feature directorial debut KEEPING THE FAITH. Ben Stiller will play a rabbi in this romantic comedy.
* Rory Cochrane (upcoming FLAWLESS) will play a lead in SUNSET STRIP for Fox 2000.
* Robert Forster joins an all-star cast in ALL THE RAGE.
* Penelope Ann Miller will star in ZERO for Aaron Mendelsohn. She'll play a publishing exec pursuing a young author who wrote a book about his loser life.
* Patrick Muldoon, Cathy Moriarty, Fred Ward and C. Thomas Howell will star in the thriller RED TEAM about a FBI agent, serial killings and a group that exercises vigilante justice.
* Denise Richards (WILD THINGS, STARSHIP TROOPERS) joins the 19th James Bond installment as a nuclear weapons expert named Dr. Christmas Jones. Sophie Marceau will play Elektra King in the flick.
* Djimon Hounsou (AMISTAD) joins Russell Crowe in Ridley Scott's GLADIATOR. Joaquin Phoenix joins GLADIATIOR as Commodus, Emperor of Rome. Oliver Reed joins as well.
* Tricia Vessey (upcoming TOWN & COUNTRY) joins Jim Jarmusch's GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI.
* Rob Lowe, Jamie Kennedy, Thomas Haden Church, Judy Greer, Kelly Coffield and Melissa Joan Hart will star in THE SPECIALS, an indie flick about a group of dysfunctional superheroes.
* Heidi Schanz (THE TRUMAN SHOW) joins UNIVERSAL II.
* Pat Corley ("Murphy Brown") joins WALKING ACROSS EGYPT with Ellen Burstyn, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Mark Hamill.
(in talks)
* Matthew McConaughey is in talks to replace Michael Douglas in the submarine flick U-571 for Universal.
* Luke Wilson (HOME FRIES) is in talks to co-star with Martin Lawrence in BLUE STREAK.
* Chloe Sevigny is in advanced talks to join Christian Bale in AMERICAN PSYCHO.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Sam Larsson, Patrik von Krusentjerna, Pontus Lowenheim, Mats Lindberg, Ulf Johnnsson and Richard Ulfvengren -- six Swedish directors known as Traktor -- will direct the comedy heist movie SHINY NEW ENEMIES. Traktor has filmed many commercials including spots for Diesel Jeans, Volvo and ESPN Sportscenter.
* Ted Demme is attached to direct HOMESICK written by Ellen Simon (ONE FINE DAY) about a man returning home during a midlife crisis. Demme will also direct PAYBACK with David Mamet scripting the adaptation of the Thomas Kelly novel. There is no relation to the upcoming Mel Gibson flick. This story focuses on a hitman for the Irish mob and his younger brother tunneling under NYC to pay for college.
* Mike Nichols will direct the "sophisticated" comedy WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? with Garry Shandling starring as an alien who is sent to Earth to procreate but has no penis. Columbia is searching for a female lead so shooting can begin in May.
* Larry Cohen (Original Gangsters) has sold his REAR WINDOW-esque thriller script PHONE BOOTH to 20th Century Fox. Joel Schumacher may direct.
* Pierce Gardner (upcoming LOST SOULS) wrote the script ALL FALL DOWN which Meg Ryan will produce with New Line. It is a story of "sexual temptation with an unsettling supernatural dimension."
* Whit Stillman (THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO) will write and direct a film adaptation of Anchee Min's memoir of her life during the collapse of the Maoist regime RED AZALEA.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE gets a new cinematographer: Karl Walter Lindenlaub (ID4) replaces Caleb Deschanel (THE BLACK STALLION, THE RIGHT STUFF).
* DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox will co-produce the Spielberg/Tom Cruise project MINORITY REPORT. The film is expected to begin shooting in the fall--for a hopeful summer of 2000 release.
ELSTON NOTE: See Harry's coverage on this from Friday, Dec. 11 1998.
REMAKE NEWS OF THE WEEK: Dennis Quaid and director Peter Antonijevic (both of the upcoming SAVIOR) will reteam for a remake of NIGHT OF THE IGUANA, an adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play which John Huston turned into a feature.
A lot of casting news this week folks. Most of it speaks for itself--from GLADIATIOR to UNIVERSAL II. I'm excited about ALL THE RAGE (look at the casting news from the past couple of weeks). *** RED TEAM and WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? look really cool. *** THE SPECIALS premise reminds me of MYSTERY MEN. Hmmmm. *** BOND 19, GLADIATIOR and AMERICAN PSYCHO are finally becoming real. *** UNIVERSAL II is, well, nevermind. *** Ted Demme looks busy. I hope LIFE will be good. These other 2 projects sound interesting too.
Happy Birthday, Harry.
Thanks for the emails. Keep 'em comin'.
Until next week.
Elston Gunn
elstongunn@hotmail.com
