Alrighty all you readerinos, Elston Gunn has come through yet again with another wonderful job of sifting through the billions of electronic pixels to bring you the latest and the greatest from them two, established journals of entertainment knowledge. Enjoy....
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Tony Shalhoub (A CIVIL ACTION) joins GALAXY QUEST for DreamWorks and director Dean Parisot (HOME FRIES).
* Joan Chen joins the Thanksgiving flick WHAT'S COOKIN' with Julianna Margulies, Kyra Sedgwick, Mercedes Reuhl and Alfre Woodard.
* Matt Cedeno is now among the cast of PRICE OF GLORY, the boxing pic at New Line with Jimmy Smits.
* Elizabeth Mitchell (upcoming NURSE BETTY) will star opposite Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel in FREQUENCY for New Line.
* Diane Ladd joins the Sandra Bullock pic 28 DAYS. Mariane Jean Baptiste (SECRETS & LIES) joins too.
* David James Elliot ("JAG") will co-star in THE SHRINK IS IN with Courtney Cox and David Arquette.
* Craig Ferguson will star opposite Brenda Blethyn in SAVING GRACE about a widow who turns her greenhouse into a pot farm.
* Andre Brougher ("Homicide") will co-star in the indie thriller A BETTER WAY TO DIE about the FBI and Chicago underworld's search for a missing federal agent.
(HARRY NOTE: Andre Brougher ROCKS! If you hear anything more on this film, let me know!)
* Kevin Corrigan, Richmond Arquette and Jennifer Aspen round out the cast for SEE JANE RUN starring Clea Duvall.
* Catherine McCormack (BRAVEHEART) is in final talks to take a role opposite Vanessa Redgrave and Ray Liotta in RUMOR OF ANGELS.
* Sophie B. Hawkins will star in Gigi Gaston's casino heist flick BEYOND CITY LIMITS.
* LeAnn Rimes joins Brad Renfro and Elizabeth Perkins in UNDER THE MIMOSA for writer/director Bo Brinkman. The story is set during the Vietnam war and how it affects the choices of residents in a small town in the South.
* David Arquette will take the title role in HONKY! as a dance show host who can't dance.
* James Gandolfini (THE SOPRANOS) joins Jim Carrey in ME, MYSELF AND IRENE.
* Cameron Diaz, Christopher Eccleston (ELIZABETH) and Jordana Brewster (THE FACULTY) will star in THE INVISIBLE CIRCUS which follows a teenager in search to find out more about her sister's death.
* Brendan Gleeson (THE GENERAL, BRAVEHEART) joins MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II.
* Sara Gilbert has been added to the cast of HIGH FIDELITY for Disney and director Stephen Frears. John Cusack also stars.
* Suzanne Krull (GO) joins both HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISMAS with Jim Carrey and THE NEXT BEST THING starring Madonna.
* Anna Paquin and Melanie Griffith will star in the indie flick TART written and directed by Christina Wayne. It tells the story of a teen in an all girls school who discovers the world of sex, drugs and nightclubs. Griffith and Antonio Banderas' Green Moon Prods. will produce.
* Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman are set to star in MOULIN ROUGE for director Baz Luhrmann--not a remake of the 1952 John Huston film. It's a musical set in 1899 about a poet moving into a Bohemian underworld and his affair with a nightclub star. Shooting begins in October.
(Harry Note: Gosh... Isn't that old news?)
* Jet Li and hip-hop singer Aaliyah will star in ROMEO MUST DIE, a kung fu "Romeo and Juliet" in the hood with Russel Wong, Delroy Lindo and Isaiah Washington co-starring. Andrzej Bartkowiak (LETHAL WEAPON 4 cinematographer) will direct.
* Jennifer Jason Leigh and Brad Renfro are in final talks to play mother and son who relocate to escape his father in SKIPPED PARTS directed by Tamra Davis (HALF BAKED). Drew Barrymore will have a cameo.
* Angelina Jolie is in final talks to star in DANCING IN THE DARK for Warner Bros. and director Michael Cristofer (GIA). The film is based on Cornell Woolrich's WALTZ INTO DARKNESS set at the turn of the century where a deceptive seductress marries a wealthy tycoon.
* Amy Madigan, John Heard and Jeffrey Tambor join Ed Harris' POLLACK about abstract painter Jackson Pollack.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Jeremy Brock (MS. BROWN) will adapt for the big screen Sebastian Faulk's CHARLOTTE GRAY for Film Four.
* Ed Decter (THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY co-writer) will direct THE NEW GUY for Touchstone Pictures about an uncool high school senior who gets himself expelled so he can go to the town's other high school.
* Tom Lennon and Ben Garant have written THE REVEREND PIMP DADDY picked up by Columbia Pictures about a former pimp who changes his life to become a minister.
* 20th Century Fox acquired THE MOB SQUAD based on the Details magazine article by Tim Struby about a mobster who tries to go legit.
* Fox 2000 bought GOOD GOD by Yonatan Berkovits about a Harlem con man who scams his way into heaven and impersonates God.
* Ingmar Bergman has written THE FAITHLESS to be directed by Liv Ullman. Shooting begins in August on this picture about a woman and her love triangle.
* Christine Lahti ("Chicago Hope") will direct MY FIRST MISTER produced by Film Roman and written by Jill Frankly ("Seinfeld") about an 18-year old and her relationship with a much older man.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* David Parfitt (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE producer) has secured the film rights to the novel SPINNERS by Anthony McCarten about a factory worker who talks of an alien encounter and ignites a wave of pregnancy scares in her town.
* Sony Electronics will join Panavision Inc. to develop filmless digital cameras in time for Lucas to do the other prequels.
(HARRY NOTE: The results of that simple sentence will change filmmaking, both studio and independent, for all time. The world of film... even it's name... well... Interesting times we live in folks. Fascinating.)
* Producer Arthur Friedman has picked up the rights to DREAM LOVERS, the story of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee.
* Shooting begins September 8 on the DreamWorks pic THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE directed, starring, co-produced by Robert Redford. Morgan Freeman may play the title role in this story about golf in the 1930s.
* Touchstone Pictures has optioned columnist Dave Barry's novel BIG TROUBLE, a comedy-thriller set in South Florida.
* United Artists bought the screen rights to Amanda Brown's LEGALLY BLONDE for More Platt Prods. The pic is described as PRIVATE BENJAMIN in law school where a blonde goes to Stanford to win back her boyfriend.
* The Bubble Factory has acquired Walt Becker's LINK about paleontologists searching for the key to mankind's past in Africa. They discover the "missing link" and is much different than expected.
* New Line Cinema has picked up the rights to CHOICE OF EVIL by Andrew Vachss about the hunt for a serial killer who targets gay- bashers.
REMAKE OF THE WEEK: MYV Films has picked up the rights to the campy TV 70s show LANCELOT LINK, SECRET CHIMP.
(HARRY NOTE: Oh my god.... I was joking about this with my friends a week ago.... This is one of them signs of the apocalypse)
And so ends this weeks recap. A lot of screen rights of novels picked up by studios this week. Many of the stories sound very interesting. LINK, CHARLOTTE GRAY, CHOICE OF EVIL, LEGALLY BLONDE, BIG TROUBLE, SPINNERS...cool. *** Brad Renfro and Suzanne Krull grabbed a couple of roles this week. *** MOULIN ROUGE...need more info. Same goes for THE FAITHLESS. *** THE REVEREND PIMP DADDY...great title. *** Some other pics are rounding out the casting: GALAXY QUEST, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE II, 28 DAYS, SEE JANE RUN, lots of others. Not a lot of "big" names this week, but that doesn't matter. Casting is casting and the supporting roles can be just as vital. For example, the teaming of Sara Gilbert with John Cusack is just plain intriguing. Ditto Brad Renfro and Jennifer Jason Leigh or David James Elliot and David Arquette. Interesting stuff. *** ROMEO MUST DIE...comments? *** I'm not sure if the LANCELOT LINK MTV thing is for the big screen or the small screen. Help me out.
If I missed anything, don't hesitate to put it in the Talk Back.
Enjoy your weekend and keep the emails comin'. Oh, and congrats to those who got in Cannes. It's going to be a good year.
Until next week...
Elston Gunn
