Alrighty folks, sorry about the lack of update last night... I had actually finished that review/coverage off to the side there on DESERT BLUE, but I was preeeeeetttttty damn drunk and forgot to hit the 'update' button. It was actually online, but... it was just... well... where ya couldn't see it. I'll be doing more updates in the morning, I'm blowing off the first half of Sunday so I can tell y'all about two FANTASTIC movies... A SLIPPING DOWN LIFE with Lili Taylor and Guy Pearce (the best film I've seen thus far this year for me) and ABILENE with Ernest Borgnine and Kim Hunter (which has a HUGE untapped market area, if distributors have the brains to see it or read my piece when I write it. So I'll see ya in the morning... Brain tired... Harry sleep...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER VIA REUTERS
CASTING
* Jack Nicholson may star in THE COUNTY for writer/producer Rudy Doran. He would play a sheriff not unlike Orson Welles' character in TOUCH OF EVIL.
* Elisabeth Shue will star in THE HOLLOW MAN for director Paul Verhoeven.
* Mel Gibson sealed the deal and will star in PATRIOT for director Roland Emmerich.
* Dennis Farina (OUT OF SIGHT) will play a casino owner in REINDEER GAMES.
* British pop band ALL SAINTS will star in the 60s caper movie HONEST to be directed by rock star Dave Stewart (The Eurythmics). They will play sisters who go on robbing sprees in London disguised as men. Dick Clement and Ian LaFranais (STILL CRAZY, THE COMMITMENTS) penned the script.
* Julia Stiles (10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU) will star opposite Freddie Prinze Jr. in DOWN TO YOU for Miramax and director Kris Isaacson.
* Jennifer Tilly will star opposite Daryl Hannah and Bruce Greenwood in the thriller pic CORD. Shooting begins this month.
* Jordana Brewster (THE FACULTY) joins the New Line pic THE INVISIBLE CIRCUS written/directed by Adam Brooks.
* Viggo Mortensen (PSYCHO) Azura Skye (WB's "Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane") joins 28 DAYS with Sandra Bullock.
* Alan Rickman is in final talks to join Tim Allen in GALAXY QUEST for director Dean Parisot (HOME FRIES).
* Anjelina Jolie joins Nicolas Cage in GONE IN 60 SECONDS.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Peter Chan (upcoming THE LOVE LETTER) will do an English language remake of his comedy HE'S A WOMAN, SHE'S A MAN for New Line Cinema.
* Elizabeth Hunter has written THE FIGHTING TEMPTATIONS which Sean "Puffy" Combs may produce (film & soundtrack). The pic is described as a SOUL FOOD-type comedy set in the world of gospel music where a hip-hop producer must start a choir in order to gain inheritance.
* Mark Piznarski ("The 60s") is in final talks to direct ANIMAL HUSBANDRY for Fox 2000 based on the Laura Zigman novel.
* Gina Wendkos wrote and Kevin Smith rewrote COYOTE UGLY for Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. The story centers around a country western bar in New York City run by women. Commercials director David McNally (Budweiser Lobster ad) is in talks to direct.
* Kevin Hooks (PASSENGER 57) will direct PIMP for Fine Line Features. Ice Cube will star as real life street hustler Robert "Iceberg Slim" Beck who finds redemption.
* David Raynr will direct I'LL BE YOU for Phoenix Pictures. It's described as a contemporary twist on Cyrano de Bergerac set in high school--written by Mark Schwahn who will also write/direct BOYS WHO SAY NO for Phoenix.
* Brian Lynch (BIG HELIUM DOG) has written THE NEXT MUPPET MOVIE about Kermit trying to save "The Muppet Show" after an evil Hollywood producer lures several Muppets into solo careers. For example, Gonzo replaces Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. This movie will follow MUPPET HAUNTED HOTEL (to be released Fall 2000) which follows this summer's MUPPETS FROM SPACE.
* Michael Cristofer ("Gia," upcoming JELLO SHOTS aka BODY SHOTS) will direct DANCING IN THE DARK, an adaptation of the classic Woolrich suspense novel WALTZ INTO DARKNESS.
* R. Lee Fleming Jr. (SHE'S ALL THAT) has written GETTING OVER ALLISON for Dimension Films about a young man getting over his first heartbreak.
* Jim Sheridan (MY LEFT FOOT) is in talks to direct THE NOTEBOOK for New Line based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks. Jeremy Leven (DON JUAN DE MARCO) scripted the adaptation. Spielberg was once in talks to direct.
* Rod Lurie (upcoming THE DETERRENCE) will write THE SET-UP based on the true story of a US-district attorney who wiped out a Chicago gang. He next plans to write/direct the political drama THE CONTENDER.
* Brent Briscoe and Mark Fauser will adapt a newspaper story about a spending spree which followed an armored-car warehouse robbery in Charlotte, N.C. under the title THE HILLBILLY HEIST. Briscoe and Fauser also wrote WAKIN' UP IN RENO for producers Billy Bob Thornton and Ben Myron.
* Neal Brennan (HALF-BAKED) and Mike Shore ("SNL" writer) have written THE OLDEST MAN IN THE WORLD picked up by MTV Films.
* Norwegian commercial director Harald Zwart may direct ONE NIGHT AT MCCOOLS for October and Furthur Films. Described as a RASHOMON-like story about how one woman ruined the lives of three men one night. Michael Douglas may play a bit part.
* Frank Darabont (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) will produce and direct the romantic comedy THE BIJOU for Castle Rock/Warner Bros. about a young Hollywood writer in the 1950s who falls for a small-town girl based on mistaken identity. Darabont describes it as "Capraesque."
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Brad Pitt is officially off the Cameron Crowe project, but is thinking about THE COURIER and METAL GODS as possible projects.
* Adam Sandler will produce a comedy written and starring Rob Schneider. Described as extremely "un-PC."
* 20th Century Fox is developing a remake to the 1957 Rod Steiger thriller ACROSS THE BRIDGE. Brett Ratner (RUSH HOUR) will direct the George Gallo (MIDNIGHT RUN) adaptation based on the Graham Graene novella. Chris Rock, Chris Tucker and Will Smith are top choices to head the cast.
* The start date for MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 has been pushed back a few weeks for reasons unspecified. Some speculate budget issues and script problems.
* Warner Bros. is in talks to acquire rights outside Japan to the animated pic MEWTWO STRIKES BACK for a feature version of POKEMON, hopefully by Aug/Sep to help promote the "Pokemon" WB TV series.
* Fox Animation Studios has acquired the rights to make FATHOM, a feature version of the bestselling comic book about a woman with "water based" powers who discovers an underwater race.
FROM TV TO FILM NEWS OF THE WEEK: There are two. Michael Douglas will produce and star in MY THREE SONS for New Line Cinema, who wants to begin shooting ASAP. Also, Glen A. Larson will produce with Todd Moyer (WING COMMANDER) a $40m feature version of Larson's television show "Battlestar Galactica." No studio is yet attached.
HARRY NOTE: Well, technically BATTLESTAR GALACTICA hit the big screen in Mexico before it appeared on Television... But that's nitpicking...
REMAKE NEWS OF THE WEEK: Aside from the remake of ACROSS THE BRIDGE, there will also be a new version of the 1968 Katharine Hepburn drama THE LION IN WINTER produced by Martin Poll who produced the original. Pat O'Connor (DANCING AT LUGHNASA) will direct.
Lotsa stuff, folks. I forgot to mention last week that Richard Gere is in talks to star in THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES about UFO and creature sightings in West Virgina. I was born in raised in that Mountain State and it seems Hollywood is just now noticing there are stories in the hills worth being told. MATEWAN and OCTOBER SKY are great examples. Patch Adams lives in West Virginia and that flick made a lot of money. I wonder why we haven't seen a HATFIELDS & MCCOYS epic yet. Robert Duvall would make a great Sid Hatfield. But I digress.... I may write a piece on films that could be made against the backdrop of West Virginia. Anyway...
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and MY THREE SONS this week. I think the combination beats last week's FAMILY AFFAIR and JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS. *** Jim Sheridan and THE NOTEBOOK. Intriguing indeed. *** Frank Darabont is doing a romantic comedy. Strange? Nah. He said the script was really good. *** The cast of 28 DAYS is starting to round out. *** A lot of teen movies headed our way. DOWN TO YOU, GETTING OVER ALLISON, I'LL BE YOU, BOYS WHO SAY NO. There'll be much more. *** Tim Allen and Alan Rickman in a space comedy. Stranger things have happened. *** Who should Cameron Crowe get to replace Brad Pitt? *** I'm looking forward to COYOTE UGLY. Kevin Smith did the rewrite and it's going to be one of those "smaller" Bruckheimer flicks. *** THE HOLLOW MAN and GONE IN 60 SECONDS grabbed some great female leads. *** Brian Lynch told me he wanted to jam pack the script full of twenty years of Muppets as well as present it in a way where non-Muppet fans or those who are unaware of Muppets would enjoy it too. He wrote the script in two weekends. Cool.
Hope next week begins better than this one. Rest in peace, Kubrick and DiMaggio. Get well George Jones.
Until then...
Elston Gunn
elstongunn@hotmail.com
