Hey folks, Harry here with Elston's wonderful casserole of cinematic goings-ons... The news about DAREDEVIL is interesting, especially if Carlo is going to head it up, because that means that it is almost the exact same project as when Chris Columbus was in charge. Carlei did that draft as well, and it was really quite remarkable I felt and dealt with KINGPIN and ELEKTRA. We'll have our eye on that one!
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
* Alexander Payne will write and direct SIDEWAYS for Artisan Entertainment based on Rex Pickett's novel about a road trip with a frustrated screenwriter and a TV actor who is about to get married. They head to Napa Valley wine county where humorous adventures await them.
* Lucy Liu will star as the third angel opposite Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz in Columbia Pictures' CHARLIE'S ANGELS for McG.
HARRY NOTE: Re: CHARLIE'S ANGELS.... pssst... told ya so...
* Steve Oedekerk and DNA Prods. along with Nickelodeon are developing the franchise JIMMY NEUTRON, BOY GENIUS through online games, TV shorts and a feature film to be released in 2001. The 3-D computer graphics project stars a red-headed 10-year old and his robot dog. The kid can build a rocket in his backyard and save the world, but still is just a kid when it comes to emotions.
* Don Cheadle joins Nicolas Cage and Tea Leoni in FAMILY MAN. Cheadle will play an angel-like hoodlum who send Cage's character into a new life.
* David Keith and William McNamara will star in the indie Wall St. financial thriller LICENSE TO STEAL for director Lance Lane.
* Fredro Starr joins Julia Stiles and Sean Patick Thomas in the interracial romance flick SAVE THE LAST DANCE for director Thomas Carter.
* Stanley Tucci, Bridget Fonda, Talia Shire and Giancarlo Giannini star in THE WHOLE SHEBANG for writer/director George Zaloom about an Italian immigrant working in a NY fireworks factory and his meeting the widow of his cousin who died in a fireworks accident.
* Disney bought a pitch as a vehicle for Jet Li about a district attorney in New York who must team up witha a head of a powerful Chinese crime organization when his pregnant wife is kidnapped.
* Fine Line is in talks to pick up the North American rights to DOMANI, an Italian production at script stage about a string of relationships between 3 family groups against the backdrop of the '97 earthquake in the Umbria region. Francesca Archibugi will direct from her own script. Shooting begins next week.
* MGM bought A GUY THING by Greg Glienna and Pete Schwaba. It's a comedy about a man who thinks he cheated on his fiancee the night of his bachelor party.
* Kevin Spacey will star in PAY IT FORWARD for director Mimi Leder about a physically and emotionally scarred teacher and his relationship with a student whose random acts of kindness become a national phenomenon.
* Danny DeVito is in talks with Warner Bros. to direct REVELATIONS by Michael Petroni, a supernatural thriller about a cop who takes a bullet for a cardinal and examines his religion during his search for the shooter.
* Paramount and producer Mace Neufield bought the rights to a series of detective novels by Bob Reiss about a NYPD detective in the sex crimes unit who becomes involved in a government scandal.
* Sony Pictures is near a deal to acquire the rights to turn Marvel Comics' Daredevil into a live-action flick. Carlo Carlei (FLUKE) may be writing and directing.
* Universal picked up the film rights to JAY IN MUDVILLE by Greg Mitchell for Playtone Co. about Little League baseball and modern youth.
* Tim Bui is directing a script he wrote with his brother Tony about a young Vietnamese boy and his sister who are sent to live in an orientation camp for refugees at a Marine base in California in 1975. Forest Whitaker is in talks to star and produce.
* Michael Oblowitz will direct FLYING WITH ONE WING about an actor caught between Hollywood and his own personal demons, and his ultimate redemption. Rosanna Arquette, Jonathan Silverman, Daphne Zuniga, Ann Magnuson, David Faustino, Beth Broderick and scribe Lawrence Monoson star.
* Stephanie Zimbalist joins Corbin Bernsen and Michael Ironside in BORDERLINE NORMAL for director Jeff Beesely about a family experiencing divorce.
* Bonnie Somerville, Steven Weber, Swoosie Kurtz, Gail O'Grady, Nina Siemasko, Stephen Tobolowsky and Gabriel Mann star in SLEEP EASY, HUTCH RIMES about an insurance company owner who becomes involved in a murder plot.
* Marissa Ribisi and Katherine Heigl join the teen comedy 100 GIRLS for director Michael Davis.
* Screen Gems picked up LONE STAR STATE OF MIND by Trevor Munson about young lovers who try to escape their small Texas town to find fame and fortune.
Not too much in the way of movie news this week. If anything happens tomorrow or Friday, it'll go in next's week recap...but Hollywood seems to shut down on Thanksgiving and the Friday--rightly so. Maybe you can use the TALK BACK to talk about what you're thankful for this year in flicks and for the projects ahead. I'm thankful for movies like ELECTION, AMERICAN BEAUTY, IRON GIANT and THREE KINGS that were real treats (I'm forgetting some.) I'm also thankful for movies I'd been anticipating that weren't disappointments like SOUTH PARK, EYES WIDE SHUT, DOGMA, SLEEPY HOLLOW and PHANTOM MENACE (again, I'm forgetting a few and, yes, I said PHANTOM MENACE.) Good year for flicks so far, I think. December shouldn't be too shabby either. And next year should be lots of fun.
Happy Thanksgiving. Eat and sleep lots.
Elston Gunn
