Hey folks, Harry here with Elston Gunn's present for all of you. Now, you might say... "How is this a present?" Well, it's a gift he gives every week for all of us. And he does a kickass job of it too. As a result, Santa likes Elston... he's a good boy. Well Mr Gunn, take it away...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Kevin Costner may play a killer in the indie thriller 3,000 MILES TO GRACELAND to be directed by Demian Lichtenstein (LOWBALL.)
* Charlize Theron is in talks to join Billy Bob Thornton in WAKIN' UP IN RENO for director Jordan Brady and Miramax. A Jan. 24 start date is planned. The story finds two redneck couples from Arkansas taking a vacation in Reno to see a monster truck show.
* Anthony Hopkins will star in HANNIBAL for director Ridley Scott. Steve Zaillan (SCHINDLER'S LIST) did a rewrite of the script of which Jodie Foster will read before she decides whether or not to star.
* Kevin Spacey may possibly play Bobby Darin in a biopic for producer Arthur Friedman and executive producer Bob Rehme.
* Julianne Moore is in talks to star opposite Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson in UNBREAKABLE for Disney and writer/director M. Night Shyamalan about a man who learns something new about himself after a devastating incident.
* Salma Hayek will star in the Spanish film LA GRAN VIDA (THE GREAT LIFE) where she'll play a Mexican waitress who befriends a suicidal man who's borrowed $1 million to blow on his last day on Earth. Having met her, he decides life may be worth living.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Eitan Gorlin is writing/directing THE JERUSALEM SYNDROME starring Arieh Muskuna, Oren Rehany, Tchelet Semel and Saul Stein about a student and a prostitute who discover a community of misfits who act out biblical roles, but as the millenium approaches, the student wonders how harmless these people are.
* Bill Condon (GODS AND MONSTERS) is adapting the life of pioneering sex researcher Alfred Kinsey into a feature film that he'll direct for Fox 2000.
* Jeff Maguire (IN THE LINE OF FIRE) will adapt Michael Crichton's TIMELINE for Paramount Pictures and director Richard Donner.
* Eugene Hess has written and may direct MICROWAVE PARK for Alpine Pictures about four police detectives who unveil a government conspiracy to sell crack cocaine in South Central L.A. in order to fund covert overseas operations. Chris Penn and Michael Madsen are attached to star with James Russo.
* Richard Goleszowski will direct THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE, loosely based on the Aesop fable, for Aardman Animation and DreamWorks (upcoming CHICKEN RUN.)
* Simon West (CON AIR, THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER) is in advanced negotiations to direct TOMB RAIDER for Paramount. The screenplay remains the stumbling block, but West may change that.
* Michael Mann is in talks to direct GATES OF FIRE for Universal based on Steven Pressfield's 1998 epic novel about the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. where 300 Spartan warriors held back soldiers from the Persian Empire for six days before being massacred. The story is told through Yeones, a battle squire who is the sole survivor of the doomed army. David Self (upcoming 13 DAYS) scripted the adaptation.
* Oz Scott ("The Practice") will direct WALK DON'T WALK starring Anna Wilding about a detective who has to make a moral decision when a nanny becomes a suspect in a crime she didn't commit.
* Charisma Films has hired Suri Krishnamma to direct EXTRA TIME about a plane crash that killed seven members of the 1958 Manchester United soccer time.
* Michael Cristofer (GIA, BODY SHOTS) will direct DANCING IN THE DARK starring Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie about a wealthy tycoon who marries a woman who turns out to be a deceptive seductress. It's based on the book WALTZ INTO DARKNESS by Cornell Woolrich.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Universal has put the live-action musical THE ARCHIES, based on the comic book series, into turnaround. Instead, it's developing JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS. Ben Myron is producing ARCHIE which was to be adapted by Tommy O'Haver (BILLY'S HOLLYWOOD SCREEN KISS) and rewritten by Douglas Carter Beam (TOO WONG FOO...) with Rachel Leigh Cook and Jennifer Love Hewitt in talks to play Betty and Veronica.
* Roger Michell had to drop out of CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN due to illness, but John Madden (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE) may direct the Universal pic starring Nicolas Cage as a WWII captain in love with the daughter of a Greek doctor which causes some problems on the island of Cephallonia.
* Columbia Pictures is in talks to pick up the feature film rights to Robert Crais' upcoming novel DEMOLITION ANGEL for producer Laurence Mark. The story follows a female bomb squad veteran whose partner/boyfriend was killed in a bombing. When she begins to investigate the incident, she uncovers a broad conspiracy.
The holidays have sort of limited Hollywood's dealings, but there was enough for a recap this week. The Kevin Costner-to-play-a-badguy thing came out of nowhere, but I'd be interested in hearing the plot pretty soon. Good to see Bill Condon is working on another biopic. Hopkins is doing HANNIBAL, we'll have to wait 'til after the holidays, I suppose, to find out about Foster. UNBREAKABLE (as well as DANCING IN THE DARK) has a cool cast. I wonder if they'll keep the plot under wraps. Simon West to do TOMB RAIDER? Whaddya think? Charlize Theron and Billy Bob Thornton in a Miramax comedy about redneck couples? I'm there. The Michael Mann project sounds cool and if David Self is that good of a writer, we may be in for a treat. Hope Roger Michell is okay, but John Madden may be a good choice for the Nic Cage pic. We'll see...
Until next week... or next year. This may be the last recap of the year (and of the 1900's), but there may be a recap of the year on news about projects to come.
Have a happy and safe holiday. Eat and sleep lots.
Elston Gunn
