Hey folks, Harry here. Sorry about not getting an update up last night for early this morning. I was just plum worn completely out. The day turned into one of those advance film orgies and the cherry was NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS.... A spontaneous 18 hour filmgoing orgy. It's put me way behind. I'm going to try to catch up here. Talk atcha soon...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Matthew McConaughey is in talks to join Jennifer Lopez in THE WEDDING PLANNER. Kevin Pollak is part of the cast as well. Adam Shenkman is directing the Destination Films pic.
* Kenneth Branagh is in talks to star in FADE TO BLACK for director Oliver Parker (AN IDEAL HUSBAND.) John Sayles adapted the Davide Ferrario novel about Orson Welles being plunged into a murder investigation after a series of deaths occur on and around his film set in post-WWII Rome.
* Eric Roberts, Lisa Marie and John Gries join Norman Reedus, Mark Boone Jr. and Elodie Bouchez in Kevin Williams' THE BEATNICKS about two bohemian misfits named Nick.
* Gwyneth Paltrow is in talks to star in the Farrelly bros. next film SHALLOW HAL about a man who falls in love with an unattractive woman despite his promise to his dying father only to date young, pretty girls.
* Helen Hunt chose to star in PAY IT FORWARD instead of WHAT WOMEN WANT. She'll shoot the film this February with Kevin Spacey and Haley Joel Osment for director Mimi Leder.
* Joseph Fiennes may star in Jon Avnet's UPRISING by Paul Brickman about a group of Polish teens who defied Nazi SS troops in the Warsaw ghetto during WWII.
* Pierce Brosnan, Geoffrey Rush and Jamie Lee Curtis may possibly star in THE TAILOR OF PANAMA for director John Boorman and Columbia.
* Gianni Russo (THE GODFATHER) landed a role in the Curtis Hanson-directed movie FAMILY MAN.
* Heath Ledger may star in A KNIGHT'S TALE for writer/director Brian Helgeland and Columbia Pictures about a peasant who becomes a knight by stealing his master's identity after his untimely demise.
* Marisa Tomei is in talks to star in WHAT WOMEN WANT opposite Mel Gibson as well as THE SHALLOW END for director Herb Ross.
* Tony Goldwyn will star as the lead villain against Arnold Schwarzenegger in THE SIXTH DAY for Phoenix Pictures. Robert Duvall, Michael Rapaport, Sarah Wynter, Michael Rooker and Wendy Crewson also star in the cloning pic.
* Chris Tucker will get $20 million to star in RUSH HOUR 2 for New Line and director Brett Ratner.
* Aaron Eckhart (IN THE COMPANY OF MEN) is near a deal to star opposite Jennifer Lopez in the drama ANGEL EYES.
* Jeff Goldblum will star in ONE OF THE HOLLYWOOD'S TEN, an indie flick about actors, writers and directors placed on the Hollywood blacklist. Karl Francis writes and directs.
* Ron Eldard ("ER," MYSTERY ALASKA) is in final talks to play the male lead in THE GIFT to be directed by Sam Raimi, and written by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson. Cate Blanchett and Katie Holmes also star in the film about a woman with ESP who is asked to find a missing young woman.
* Scarlett Johnansson (THE HORSE WHISPERER) is in talks to star opposite Thora Birch in GHOST WORLD for director Terry Zwigoff (CRUMB.)
* Patrick Van Horn and Andre Blake will star in DEVIOUS BEINGS about a drug dealer who sells his sould to save his mother. Chris Mazzei directs.
* Raymond J. Barry will play a high school principal in NEW PORT SOUTH written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Kyle Cooper.
* Milla Jovovich will star in KINGDOM COME for director Michael Winterbottom (WELCOME TO SARAJEVO.) The California gold rush romance flick also stars Wes Bentley, Sarah Polley, Peter Mullan and Natassja Kinski. A wealthy land owner is reintroduced to his wife and daughter he gave up for a land claim.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Sara Goodman will adapt the Sue Margolis novel NEUROTICA for ChickFlicks, All Girl Prods, and New Line about a woman who is faithful to her hypochondriac husband until she flirts with temptation while writing an article about extramarital affairs.
* DreamWorks and Patchwork Prods. picked up the pitch NAKED SHAKESPEARE from Garrett Schiff and Jim Burnstein about an aspiring director for the Royal Shakespeare Company who is assigned to helm one of the Bard's plays on the U.S. only to discover that the production is supposed to be all nude.
* Dean Paras will direct CHRISTMAS WITH J.D. by Sean Kanan for Independent Management Group about the son of a NY politico who is suffering from an identity crisis he attempts to resolve by taking inspiration from Holden Caulfield from CATCHER IN THE RYE. He runs away from boarding-school and sparks a media frenzy as he is being tracked down.
* Iain Softley (THE WINGS OF THE DOVE) is in final negotiations to direct CRIMINAL CONVERSATION for Paramount Pictures. Nicole Kidman may star.
* Penny Marshall is attached to direct SHOWTIME, a biopic about the Harlem Globetrotters for Columbia Pictures. Mannie Jackson will serve as an executive producer. A new writer for the project is being sought by producers.
* Carl Franklin will develop and direct SHOOTER for Paramount and Lakeshore Entertainment. Franklin is rewriting the script, based on Stephen Hunter's 1993 novel POINT OF IMPACT.
* Bruce Beresford will direct BRIDE OF THE WIND about the life of opera director-composer Gustav Mahler's wife, Alma, who had also been the wife of Walter Gropius and Franz Werfel. She also had an affair with painter Oskan Kokoschka.
* Lotus Pictures picked up CLOSE TO ME, a thriller spec by Austin Hodgens about a popular teacher who finds himself the victim of a stalker. He is then blackmailed and framed for the murder of his star student.
* Director Hayao Miyazaki is following up PRINCESS MONONOKE with SEN TO CHIRO NO KAMIKAKUSHI about a 10-year old girl whose parents are transformed into pigs. The movie will hit Japanese theaters in the summer of 2001. (Check out the first image from this production earlier this week on AICN.)
* Now that Volkswagen bugs are back, J. Max Burnett will write HERBIE AND MILLIE, a live-action adventure using the title character from Disney's THE LOVE BUG.
HARRY NOTE: Ugh... does this mean that it's going to be one of those modern day funky bugs?
* Sony bought STANDING ON THE MOON by Hal Masonberg and Teal Minton about a bestselling author who's been institutionalized since he was a child. A reporter discovers this and the two go on a journey together and develop a relationship.
* Chickie the Cop Prods. have optioned WILDLIFE, INC. by Erik Moe about a would-be Hollywood filmmaker and his adventures with the quirky, rustic, movie-obsessed characters of a small Wisconsin town.
* Tony Mortillaro has written and directed PRIDE AND PERIL, a new indie comedy about a man whose family spins his life out of control. Check it out at www.prideandperil.com
* Marty Katz Prods. optioned the screenplay SILVER METAL LOVER by Randal Kleiser based on the Tarith Lee novel.
* Brian Nelson will script CRAZY JANE for producer Aaron Myerson and Warner Bros. based on the DC comic character from Doom Patrol, where a woman has a multiple personality disorder with each identity possessing a different superpower. Sandra Bullock may be interested in the part, but Warner Bros. is also trying to get her to do WONDER WOMAN.
* Artisan Entertainment bought the comedy ACADEMIA NUTS by Brain Olson and Scott Mislan about a know-it-all gym teacher who has to coach the school's team of geeks and freaks through the academic decathlon.
* Tony Bui (THREE SEASONS) is finishing two scripts for next year: an untitled script from an original idea which is being kept secret, and an adaptation of Thomas Moran's THE WORLD I MADE FOR HER about a dying man's metaphysical relationship with his nurse.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Ben Affleck has dropped out of THE SCORE starring Robert DeNiro and to be directed by Frank Oz. An offer has been put out to Brad Pitt.
* Michael Gruskoff optioned the novel FADED COAT OF BLUE by Owen Perry about a wounded Civil War soldier who must investigate the murder of a wealthy abolitionist soldier. He follows the trail to D.C. and all the way up to Abe Lincoln.
* Ross Greenburg and George Foreman are shopping around Foreman's bio BY GEORGE for a possible feature biopic, if not an HBO telepic.
* Sony Pictures has optioned the rights to develop the pics H.R. PUFNSTUF and THE LAND OF THE LOST based on the cult TV classics.
* DreamWorks will domestically distribute Woody Allen's SMALL TIME CROOKS in the second quarter of 2000. Allen, Tracey Ullman, Hugh Grant, Michael Rapaport and Elaine May star in the film about an ex con dishwasher and his manicurist wife as they plan to hit it big with a bank heist.
* Sony is in final negotiations to acquire the feature film rights to Steven Dietz's play STILL LIFE WITH IRIS about a young girl who goes in search of her past.
* Tom Cruise's and Paula Wagner's C/W Prods. optioned a New Yorker article called MEET THE SHAGGS about an obsucure pop group which Frank Zappa called "better than the Beatles." The story follows the group's rise, fall and rehabilitation.
Some biopics in the news this week: Harlem Globetrotters, Alma Mahler, George Foreman--and, FADE TO BLACK which features Orson Welles as a character. Jennifer Lopez is busy with WEDDING PLANNER and ANGEL EYES, covering both romantic comedy and drama. Another CATCHER IN THE RYE-related film project has emerged with CHRISTMAS WITH J.D. What do you think about that?
I look forward to a Gwyneth Paltrow and Farrelly bros. collaboration. The script is said to be funnier than THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY. Anyone read it? I'm curious about it. PAY IT FORWARD is shaping up with Hunt, Spacey and Osment on board. That should be one to watch. Same goes for THE GIFT. CRAZY JANE could be cool too. I hope to hear more about MEET THE SHAGGS, ACADEMIA NUTS, SMALL TIME CROOKS, FADED COAT OF BLUE, WILDLIFE, INC. and A KNIGHT'S TALE. And the plot of SEN TO CHIRO NO KAMIKAKUSHI sounds very intriguing.
A new HERBIE movie? LAND OF THE LOST and H.R. PUFNSTUF? Family films of the future, folks.
Until next week... enjoy the beginning of winter. I got some kind of forward saying the moon is supposed to look huge on Dec 22. Look for it.
Elston Gunn
