Alrighty folks, Elston Gunn has delivered yet another wonderful recap of what has been going on in the world of Variety and Hollywood Reporter. Tons of tasty tidbits of castings and deals. For me, the most excitingly weird is... HOME BREW sequel to STANGE BREW... Ya just gotta love it! Right?
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER VIA REUTERS
CASTING
* Molly Shannon ("SNL") is in final talks to play Betty Lou Who opposite the Grinch Jim Carrey in Ron Howard's HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS for Universal and Imagine Entertainment.
* Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis will star in HOME BREW, the sequel to the 1983 beer comedy STRANGE BREW. Paul Flaherty (CLIFFORD) is attached to direct the film which starts July 12 in Toronto for Thomas' Maple Palm Prods.
* Lauren Bacall and Harvey Keitel will star in writer/director Antonio Alloy's PRESENCE OF MIND, an adaptation of Henry James' ghost story THE TURN OF THE SCREW. Shooting begins this week in Spain.
* Courtney Cox and David Arquette will star in indie flick THE SHRINK IS IN for directory Richard Benjamin. The story centers on a woman pretends to be a psychiatrist. She falls in love with a patient who also has identity problems. Shooting begins April 19 in L.A. and will wrap in time for the two to begin SCREAM 3 in June.
* Robert Le Page, Charles Berling and Jessica Pare join 15 MOMENTS for director Denys Arand.
* Nicole Kidman is in final talks to play a Russian mail-order bride in BIRTHDAY GIRL which will shoot in Australia at the end of May. Ben Chaplin co-starts. Jez Butterworth (MOJO) directs for Miramax.
* Ed Harris will direct, co-produce and star in POLLACK about abstract painter Jackson Pollack. Marcia Gay Holden (MEET JOE BLACK) will co-star. Shooting begins April 19.
* Devon Sawa and Ali Larter (VARSITY BLUES) will star in FLIGHT 180 for New Line and director James Wong ("The X-Files"). A 17-year old forsees a plane crash and convinces some people not to miss the flight. When those spared begin dying, the boy and his love interest try to solve the mystery murders before it's their turn to die.
* Vince Gallo joins Jennifer Tilly, Daryl Hannah and Bruce Greenwood in CORD, a thriller which follows a couple who kidnap an pregnant woman hoping to steal and raise her child. Sidney Furie directs the film which began shooting this month in Canada.
* Steve Zahn will star in SHINING NEW ENEMIES, a comedy heist movie not unlike FARGO or RAISING ARIZONA. Shooting begins in June with members of Sweden's Traktor directing.
* George Clooney is in final talks to produce and star as Moe Berg, a baseball player who was recruited by the CIA in the 30s in the thriller THE CATHCER WAS A SPY base based on the 1994 novel by Nicholas Dawidoff.
* Selma Blair (CRUEL INTENTIONS) joins DOWN TO YOU for Miramax. She will play a MIT graduate turned porn star.
* Jonathan Pryce will star in SUICIDE CLUB for Roger Corman's Concorde/New Horizons. It's about a 19th Century suicidal man who belongs to a club where once a month names are drawn to choose people to kill and be killed. He falls in love with a member who is picked to die--he is chosen to do the deed.
* Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman are near deals to join Tim Allen in GALAXY QUEST.
* Kate Hudson will play a groupie and Billy Crudup a rock 'n' roller in Cameron Crowe's untitled DreamWorks comedy. Frances McDormand is in talks to play the mother of a young journalist who travels with the band. Shooting is expected to begin in May.
* Lucy Liu ("Ally McBeal") and Robert Wagner join Ron Shelton's (TIN CUP) PLAY IT TO THE BONE with Antonio Banderas and Woody Harrelson.
* Willem Dafoe joins John Malkovich in SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE for director Elias Merhige (BEGOTTEN). Dafoe will play Max Shreck, who portrayed the vampire in NOSFERATU.
* Cameron Diaz is in serious talks to join Drew Barrymore in CHARLIE'S ANGELS.
HARRY NOTE: Oh man... Diaz and Barrymore? Wow... this could rival BAD GIRLS!!! (sarcasm)
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Dominique Lett's pitch THE EIGHTH DWARF was sold to Warner Bros. The story has Snow White as an alcoholic, the Queen loves plastic surgery and the dwarfs are Black Panther midgets. It's described as THE PRINCESS BRIDE with SOUTH PARK humor. Mark Canton will produce.
* Steve Carpenter (IT HAD TO BE YOU writer) will direct SOUL SURVIVOR, a teen horror flick to shoot in July.
* Music video director Samuel Bayer is in talks to direct MONSTER'S BALL aobut a prison guard working on death row.
* Michael Mann will direct THE INSIDE MAN starring Leonardo DiCaprio about a Gotham police union driver who turns in his corrupt father.
* Director Kevin Reynolds (WATERWORLD) and producer Lawnrence Bender will collaborate on THE MEXICAN about a mob bagman who is sent to MEXICO to retrieve a cursed antique pistol.
* Martin Scorsese and Nicholas Pileggi will write the script for a feature based on the rags-to-riches tragic life of Italian financier Michele Sindona for Disney. (The two are also currently working on the Dean Martin biopic DINO) Harry and Mary Jane Ufland will produce with Scorsese possibly directing.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* MGM and Sony have settled out of court that ends the fight over James Bond rights. Sony has promised not to make any more Bond movies. MGM even gets the rights to the 1967 Bond spoof CASINO ROYALE with Peter Sellers.
* The Farrelly brothers will produce their first animated feature with FRISCO PIGEON MAMBO about a rat, a pigeon and a squirrel who drink, smoke and hit on technicians at an alcohol/tobacco research lab. A group of animal rights activists send the animals to the streets where they have to fight for survival.
* Dimension Films has picked up the rights to comic book writer Neil Gaiman's STARDUST, a fairy tale for grown ups.
* Daniel Sladek and Chris Taaffe will produce a biopic based on the life of Zionist movement founder Theodore Herzl.
REMAKE NEWS OF THE WEEK: Will Smith and his Overbrook Entertainment will produce another remake of the 1942 horror flick CAT PEOPLE about a breed of people who change into animals durings rages of jealousy and must kill before turning human again. The new version will be set in New York in the 90s.
HARRY NOTE: 10 to 1, all the subtlety, nuance and creepiness of the original will be squeezed out of this version.
The recap is back to its full size this week and there wasn't any activity on Good Friday. There's a good bit of stuff I'm excited about. Molly Shannon in a big role as Betty Lou Who. Good for her. I like her. Can't wait. *** HOME BREW. Ah, yes...a sequel worth waiting for, eh. Take off you hosers who speak out against this one. Just hope it doesn't turn out like BLUES BROTHERS 2000. *** FLIGHT 180, SUICIDE CLUB and THE EIGHTH DWARF have very intriguing plots. *** Ed Harris had to wait a long time to do this Jackson Pollack pic. Look forward to it. *** The Michael Mann INSIDE MAN bit was very small. Anyone got any info on this one? *** How about the pitch for THE EIGHTH DWARF. Love it. *** Good to see the Cameron Crowe pic take form. *** George Clooney and Steve Zahn continue to take on some great sounding parts. *** So what is Scorsese officially doing after BRINGING OUT THE DEAD? GANGS OF NEW YORK, DINO or this Sindona pic? *** Farrelly brothers and animation. Very cool. FRISCO PIGEON MAMBO is a funny concept.
Happy Easter. Eat lots o' candy and keep those emails a-comin'.
Elston Gunn
elstongunn@hotmail.com
