Well, its Ol' Father Geek here with the weekly update. I'm sitting in Harry's and my 3 room poolside suite at CONvergence in Minneapolis (Bloomington), MN. We've been treated real well and the digs are great. We had an informal welcoming party thrown for us and Uncle Forrey last night with tons of egg rolls, wonton, spicy buffalo wings to munch on, and they "treated" us to a screening of WILD WILD WEST later. You know that flick sits even worst on a second viewing, and I didn't think much of it the first time I saw it. Its got nice Verne-esque machines though. This week is a very special one, it marks the 1st birthday of Elston's column here on AICN and all of the crew at Geek Headquarters congraduate him on a job well done. This column is a wonderful addition to our page and Elston has done a fantastic job with it, each week it gets better and better, and its following grows larger and larger. Its reporters like him that make any news organization work. You fans of his stuff make sure to write and let him know he's loved! Well here's the recap of a very busy week out in Hollywood...
Harry,
Thanks for the words of kindness. It's been a great year...and it seems like people are just now starting to catch on to the recap. I seem to have some loyal folks out there. Thanks for the opportunity and the vehicle to do such a thing that I kinda started to keep me in line with all that's going on in Hollywoodland because I LOVE MOVIE NEWS. I learned that 1999 was going to be a great movie year and the next couple of years will be just as good if not better. Thanks again and here's the recap...
______________________________________________________________________
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* John Leguizamo will play artis Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in Baz Luhrmann's MOULIN ROUGE starring Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman.
* Robin Tunney (upcoming END OF DAYS), Bill Paxton and Nicholas Lea ("The X-Files") joins Chris O'Donnell in VERTICAL LIMIT for director Martin Campbell.
* Eion Bailey (upcoming THE FIGHT CLUB) signed for roles in both CITY BALLET and the untitled Cameron Crowe project (the latter of which he'll portray Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner). Liz Stuber (CAN'T HARDLY WAIT) joins the Crowe pic as well.
* Frances Fisher joins GONE IN 60 SECONDS starring Nicolas Cage. She'll play the love interest of Robert Duvall's character.
* Matthew Settle and Lori Heuring have joined the cast of IN CROWD, a psychological thriller which Mary Lambert (PET SEMATARY) will direct.
* Guy Pearce (LA CONFIDENTIAL) will star and Carrie-Anne Moss (THE MATRIX) is in talks to join the indie thriller MEMENTO about a man who has lost his short-term memory and is looking for his wife's killer. Christopher Nolan (FOLLOWING) writes and directs.
* Anne Bancroft, Eli Wallach, Holland Taylor, Ron Rifkin, Milos Forman and Rena Safer join Edward Norton, Ben Stiller and Jenna Elfman in KEEPING THE FAITH directed by Norton.
* Simon Baker (RIDE WITH THE DEVIL) joins MARS with Val Kilmer.
* John C. McGinley (ANY GIVEN SUNDAY) will star in New Line's A LEONARD COHEN AFTERWORLD written by Scott Rosenberg (CON AIR) for director James Cox.
* Claudia Schiffer and Lara Flynn Boyle join SHINY NEW ENEMIES with Steve Zahn, Salma Hayek, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Wilkinson, David Cross and David Hyde Pierce.
* Chazz Palminteri and Bruno Kirby will star in PEPPERMINT LOUNGE for director Paul Michael Glaser (KAZAAM) about two ex-cops involved in a get rich quick scheme.
* Vondie Curtis-Hall joins Pras Michel in New Line's GHETTO SUPERSTAR written/directed by Robert Adetuyi about a gifted musician trying to break through societal barrier.
* Gabrielle Union (10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU) will star opposite Kirsten Dunst in CHEER FEVER for Universal and director Peyton Reed about competition between cheerleading squads. Clare Kramer, Jesse Bradford, Eliza Dusku and Tsianina Joelson also star.
* Oded Fehr (THE MUMMY) will co-star with Rob Schneider in DEUCE for director Mike Mitchell about an L.A. gigolo unknowingly leaving his clientele attended by Schneider's character.
* Denise Richards and Luke Wilson will star in the romantic comedy THE THIRD WHEEL for Miramax and producers Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for their Pearl Street Prods. banner. Jordan Brady (DILL SCALLION) will direct Jay Lacopo's script. Affleck and Lacopo also star.
* Irene Jacob will star wih Martin Donovan in writer/director Alan Wade's indie THE PORNOGRAPHER: A LOVE STORY about the obsessive relationship between an actress and a director. Kathleen Chalfont, Laura Prepon ("That 70s Show") and George Mortogen also star. Jacob will also star in LONDINIUM oppostie Mike Binder and Colin Firth for director Binder.
* Halle Berry and Rebecca Romijin Stamos will play Storm and Mystique respectively in Fox's X-MEN for director Bryan Singer.
* Rachel Griffiths and Jonathan Pryce will star in the indie PAVAROTTI IN DAD'S ROOM for Dragon Pictures and director Sara Sugarman (MAD COWS) about a naive girl living with her father and forced into a world with comical consequences. Dragon Pictures is also developing DANCING AT BLUE IGUANA for director Michael Radford (IL POSTINO).
* Parker Posey will have a lead role in SCREAM 3. Shooting begins July 7. The plot is said to be more spoof than splatter.
* Freddie Prinze Jr. and director Robert Iscove (SHE'S ALL THAT) are reteaming for the pic BOYS AND GIRLS for Dimension Films. The story centers on two best friends, whose relationship is tested after sex enters the equation.
* Rob Moran and Zen Gesner (both from DUMB AND DUMBER, KINGPIN, THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY) join ME, MYSELF AND IRENE with Jim Carrey.
* Andrew Levitas and Lauren Ambrose join Thomas Gibson, Nicholas Brendon and Matt Keeslar in PSYCHO BEACH PARTY about a girl who hangs out with surfers until her multiple personalities make her the prime suspect in several murders on the shores of Malibu.
HARRY NOTE: Coooool. PSYCHO BEACH PARTY sounds like one of them there joyful 50s scare flicks like HORROR AT PARTY BEACH. I can't wait.
* Rufus Sewell joins BLESS THE CHILD with Kim Basinger and Jimmy Smits for director Chuck Russel. Don Roos (OPPOSITE OF SEX) wrote the script.
* James Garner, James Cromwell, Donald Sutherland, William Devane and Marcia Gaye Harden will join Clint Eastwood and Tommy Lee Jones in SPACE COWBOYS about aging flyboys training for a mission to fix a satellite they launched in the 60s. Eastwood is directing the Ken Kaufman and Howard Klausner script for Warner Bros.
HARRY NOTE: About time this project moved forward. It's not exactly the best script in the world (at least the draft I've seen, but ya know... If treated right, it could make one helluva movie.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Nick Cassavetes will direct an adaptation of Tim O'Brien's novel GOING AFTER CACCIATO about a soldier fed up with losing members of his battalion while trying to destroy Viet Cong tunnels. He goes AWOL with the intention of walking to France. His battalion mates try to follow him and bring him back. Cassavetes is now casting for an early 2000 start.
* Michael Bay is near a deal to direct the epic AFRICA for Columbia Pictures about renowned archaeologist turned wildlife preservationist Richard Leakey who ultimately hunted poachers who hunted elephants. Eric Roth (FORREST GUMP) has written a script. AFRICA or Disney's TENNESSEE will be Bay's next project.
HARRY NOTE: My contacts tell me the project will be AFRICA... What I mean is, it looks pretty darn sure that this will be Bay's next film.
* Director Charles Shyer (FATHER OF THE BRIDE) will direct L'AFFAIRE DU COLLIER (THE AFFAIR OF THE NECKLACE), a period piece set in France about a woman who loses her royal title as a little girl. She fights for her family years later, and her efforts involve intrigue, romance and murder, all revolving around a necklace made for Louis XIV's mistress. It also plays a part in the death of Marie Antoinette.
* John Boorman and novelist John Le Carre are co-writing the script for a film version of Le Carre's THE TAILOR OF PANAMA.
* Marc Levin (SLAM) will direct an adaptation of Anna Devere Smith's one-woman show TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES 1992 about characters involved with the LA riots.
* Eric Gethers has written FOREIGN EXCHANGE to be produced by Michael Hertzberg about a Japanese crack detective in San Francisco and a tough American cop to investigate the death of a Sumo wrestler.
* Bill Wisher (TERMINATOR 2) will draft a new script of the SUPERMAN project. He has already met with Nicolas Cage and will start writing as soon as he's finished a secret assigment for Robert Zemeckis. Wisher has also adapted Michael Crichton's AIRFRAME for Disney and a prequel for THE EXORCIST for Morgan Creek.
* Steve Oedekerk (NOTHING TO LOSE) is in talks to write, direct, produce and star in THE DUBBED ACTION MOVIE, a martial arts spoof for 20th Century Fox. The flick will blend borrowed footage from martial arts films with new footage featuring Oedekerk as a martial arts hero.
HARRY NOTE: O.K. But can Oedekerk so much as create a pimple on the ass of Woody Allen's WHAT'S UP TIGER LILY?
* Gary Fleder will direct IMPOSTOR for Dimension Films starring Gary Sinise, Madeline Stowe, Vincent D'Onofrio and Tony Shalhoub. It was to be featured as a segment of the 3-part Dimension anthology ALIEN LOVE TRIANGLE about relationships between humans and aliens, but the Weinstein brother's were so impressed they pulled the segment to make it a full-length feature film. Sinise's character creates the ultimate weapon to fight aliens--but is suspected to be an alien himself. Fleder also left the Janis Joplin biopic PIECE OF MY HEART.
* Bruce Fierstein (TOMORROW NEVER DIES) will rewrite the Warner Bros. action thriller SMUGGLER'S MOON as a possible Will Smith pic about a fighter pilot turned repo man.
* David Mamet is in talks to help Ridley Scott develop HANNIBAL, sequel to THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Screenwriter Ted Tally and director Johnathan Demme of LAMBS will not be involved in the project.
HARRY NOTE: Ok... Now isn't Mamet like the most amazingly bizarre yet intriguing choice to adapt HANNIBAL. My fear is that perhaps he'll make Lecter a bit too 'cute' in his choice of dialogue... But whatever he does, I'm counting on a compelling, smart and always fascinating adaptation. Mamet is an acquired taste and after THE SPANISH PRISONER... I acquired the taste.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Trimark Pictures has acquired domestic rights to the indie road flick TAILLIGHTS FADE by Malcolm Ingram. Denise Richards, Jake Busey, Breckin Meyer, Elizabeth Berkeley and Tanya Allen star in the film about two couples racing to empty a warehouse full of pot to help a jailed friend before the cops find it.
* Robert Redford removed himself from the starring role of the golf flick THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE and Brad Pitt is being eyes to replace him. Pre-production is scheduled to begin in Sept. The title role hasn't been cast, though Morgan Freeman may be a prospect. Redford is directing and producing.
* John Wells ("ER") picked up Ben MacIntyre's A CORNER OF A FOREIGN FIELD for Warner Bros. about an Allied soldier caught behind enemy lines in WWII where he becomes involved in a forbidden romance.
* Artisan Entertainment picked up Gary Hardwick's untitled comedy pitch about a con man who becomes a celebrity lawyer without going to law school.
* Jason Hightman has sold the pitch TRITON to Columbia Pictures about the mythological continent of Atlantis.
* Open City Films has optioned A DANGEROUS LIASON by Baroness Sher de Borchgrave. The story is an autobiographical look into a woman's stormy marriage to a Belgian baron who had twisted obsessions.
* Jim Carrey has officially passed on THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET and may star in THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY for New Line of GOD OF COOKERY at Fox after he finishes HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS.
REMAKE OF THE WEEK: Director Stephen Sommers and Brendan Fraser are in talks with Warner Bros. to do a remake of the 1956 film AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS based on the Jules Verne classic. WB is hoping for production to start early next year.
Jim Carrey is finally narrowing down is projects, eh? What is GOD OF COOKERY about? *** VERTICAL LIMIT is starting to round out its cast as is KEEPING THE FAITH. We should keep hearing more about the casting X-MEN in the coming weeks. *** So, how about Bill Wisher on the SUPERMAN script? He's going to be culling some from the previous drafts, so it'll be interesting to see what he conjures up. *** Redford is pulling out of a role making way for Brad Pitt. Kinda sad if you think about it (nothing against Pitt). *** TRITON may be the Atlantis pic you've been waiting for. *** Gary Fleder is keeping busy. I wonder what the fate of ALIEN LOVE TRIANGLE is now. *** Mamet helping Ridley Scott with HANNIBAL? Phew. *** The Oedekerk/Martial Arts spoof sounds fresh. *** The Cassavetes pic sounds promising. *** Michael Bay is either doing AFRICA or TENNESSEE and both are supposed to be huge. *** AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS? Thoughts? *** A lot casting this week, but the folks gathered for SPACE COWBOYS alone remind me of why I love flicks to begin with. How cool.
And so ends the first year of the weekly recap. Who knows how long it'll continue. I have doing it. It keeps me straight with who is in what directed by whom from so and so's script. I love movie news and it's even more wild to see the final product after reading about it getting started. The first recap contained casting for SUMMER OF SAM, SHE'S ALL THAT, AMERICAN PIE (then called GREAT FALLS) and THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER. It also had stuff for upcoming films such as ANYWHERE BUT HERE, THE GREEN MILE and the Norm McDonald flick PITTSBURGH (formerly BALLBUSTED, but it may still have a different name) and A LEONARD COHEN AFTERWORLD. It also mentioned Lorne Michaels and Paramount putting together Saturday Night Pictures. JURASSIC PARK 3 was a news item as well. Remember hearing about Whitney Houston doing FRIENDS AND LOVERS, Alicia Silverstone doing STAND BY YOUR MAN, Sharon Stone doing CRIMES OF OPPORTUNITY, Gus Van Sant directing the gay cowboy flick BROKEBACK MOUTAIN and Eric La Salle directing Sean Penn and Marlon Brando in a film about Geronimo Platt? Michael Schiffer was hired to write a top secret flick for Robert De Niro to direct. What about the projects GOAT ON FIRE AND SMILING FISH, FIREFLIES, NICE GUYS SLEEP ALONE, STATISTICS and JACOB TWO TWO MEETS THE HOODED FANG?
Wild. I remember being most excited about MYSTERY MEN when I started doing the recaps...based on cast alone. It'll be out at the end of the month. Can't wait. This has been fun. I'm excited about what will be in the news this coming year. What YOU really looking for in the coming year or two? I could make a list personally. And if one person has benefitted from just the convenience of the recap (some aren't able to read the trades every day or week), then I've accomplished what I've wanted to do. This is something I would've like to have had to read every week so I wouldn't have to constantly surf every day to find it. Hope you enjoy it. Also, check out my script review of THE NEXT MUPPET MOVIE from Friday. I hope to do more of those soon. Thanks to everyone who has read the recap and supported it, and, of course, to Harry and AICN for providing a home for it. Enjoy your holiday weekend. Lot of flicks out there to see. Until next week...and a new year for the recap... Elston Gunn elstongunn@hotmail.com (If you want to contact me to send me gifts...heh heh...also my brithday is in September wink wink)
