FATHER GEEK here with another of those great WEEKLY RECAPs from Elston Gunn. Lots of news last week and here's a thumbnail report on all of it...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Bridgette Wilson joins Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey in the indie flick THE WEDDING PLANNER.
* David Caruso and David Morse join Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe in director Taylor Hackford's PROOF OF LIFE about a woman whose husband is kidnapped by South American rebels and the FBI agent who falls for her.
* Kevin Kline may join Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt in BREAKERS for director David Mirkin (ROMY AND MICHELE'S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION) about a mother-daughter con team.
* Tim Curry will play a villain in Columbia's CHARLIE'S ANGELS.
* Drew Barrymore will produce and star in a feature adaptation of Robert Nathan's 1958 novel SO LOVE RETURNS about a love story about a man and his children for Middle Fork Productions, the Shooting Gallery and Flower Films.
* Monica Potter is in talks to take the female lead opposite Morgan Freeman in ALONG CAME A SPIDER for Paramount Pictures and director Lee Tamahori. Potter will play Freeman's partner in solving a private school kidnapping case in this sequel to KISS THE GIRLS.
* Quentin Tarantino joins the Adam Sandler pic LITTLE NICKY as a blind preacher who feels the presence of the devil in Sandler's character.
* Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz have signed to do THE MUMMY 2 which will start shooting this spring for a May 2001 release. Stephen Sommers will return as writer/director.
* Mark Feuerstein (THE MUSE) jonis WHAT WOMEN WANT as Mel Gibson's character's best friend and cocky protege.
* Jean Smart (GUINEVERE) will star in the Disney comedy THE KID starring Bruce Willis for director Jon Turteltaub.
* Craig Ferguson, Ian Hart, Jane Horrocks, Adrian Lester, Catherine McCormack and Olivia Williams will star in the comedy BORN ROMANTIC for BBC Films and Alchymie.
* Steven Seagal is in talks to star in Warner Bros.' EXIT WOUNDS for producer Joel Silver. The drama follows a white cop trying to solve a crime in an inner city precinct.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Simon Hunter will direct MUTANT CHRONICLES for producer Ed Pressman about an unlikely group of heroes who try to save humanity from aliens.
* James Isaac will direct JASON X for New Line Cinema. The 10th installment in the FRIDAY THE 13TH franchise takes place in the year 2455 where a professor and his students take a field trip to the abandoned planet Earth where they discover a woman and Jason cryogenically frozen. They take them aboard the spaceship and when Jason thaws, mayhem ensues, of course. Production begins in March in Toronto.
* George Gallo will direct the comedy DOUBLE TAKE for Disney about an investment banker partnering with a con man after he is framed for laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel. He assumes the identity of a man who is more wanted than him. Gallo scripted as well.
* Jonathan Frakes will direct STEVE WAS HERE for Centropolis Entertainment and executive producers Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. The story is about a financially depressed town that decides to stage a fake alien landing to turn itself into a tourist boomtown. Norman Steinberg is scripting. Frakes is also attached to direct TOTAL RECALL 2.
* Danny DeVito will direct REVELATION, a Vatican-set thriller for the Canton Co. and Village Roadshow.
* Rupert Wainwright (STIGMATA) is in talks to direct WB's action pic THE DEATH AND LIFE OF BOBBY Z based on the Don Winslow novel. The story follows a born loser who is serving time in San Quentin for killing a Hell's Angels member in self-defense. The Feds, however, offer him to change his identity to a sufer-turned-druglord and allow himself to be delivered to a Mexican kingpin in exchange for a kidnapped agent.
* Sam Weisman (GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE, THE OUT OF TOWNERS) is attached to direct Phoenix Pictures' BLIND MAN'S BLUFF about a young man who fakes being blind in order to get his dog approved by the directors of a co-op apartment. When he discovers the girl of his dreams lives there, his plan becomes chaotic.
* Conor McPherson will direct THE ACTOR'S PROJECT in April for DreamWorks. Based on an idea from Neil Jordan, McPherson wrote the comedy script about two actors who get involved in Dublin's criminal underworld.
* Wayne Wang will direct CENTER OF THE WORLD written by Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt. The erotic film about sex and love will be shot on digital video this spring and blown up to a 35mm print. Artisan Entertainment will distribute domestically.
* Les Mayfield (BLUE STREAK) will direct the action-comedy JESSE JAMES for Warner Bros. and Morgan Creek Prods. John Rodgers has written the lighthearted take on the outlaw. Shooting should begin this summer.
* Phillip Noyce is developing BLOODLINE set against the backdrop of the war between Russia and Chechnya. Yuri Zeltser is writing the script about two Russian brothers living in America, one is an adopted son of Chechen descent. When the brothers return to Russia, they become involved in the conflict.
* Charlie Peters (KRIPPENDORF'S TRIBE) has written an untitled script for Merv Griffin Entertainment based on actor George Hamilton's real-life adventures as a teenager traveling the country with his mother, Anne.
* Peter Chelsom (THE MIGHTY and the upcoming TOWN AND COUNTRY) will direct SERENDIPITY for Miramax about a couple who reunite 10 years after they first met, fell in love and went their separate ways.
* Craig Titley will write/direct THE TENTH MASTER, a kung fu comedy for Sony about a 10-year old Hong Kong prodigy in a trip to America to complete his training, however he takes a wrong turn and ends up training with a fast-talking lunatic.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Steven Spielberg has until the first week in February to make a decision on whether or not his next project will indeed be HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE, based on the J.K. Rowling children's book.
* Whether or not Universal's CGI FRANKENSTEIN project is dead remains to be seen. Execs thought the film was becoming too dark for its intended audience, but discovered they had a lot of money invested in it (especially with its contracts with ILM.)
* Mary Harron's AMERICAN PSYCHO, Destination Pictures' WHIPPED and Roger Corman's 1993 pic FIRE ON THE AMAZON have been given an NC-17 rating this week by the MPAA board.
* Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone are searching for a project they can do together. If they find the right one, "they would make it work" logistically and financially.
* Joel Schumacher and Warner Bros. are creating THE LOST GIRLS, a female version of 1987's THE LOST BOYS. Schumacher is only producing the film.
* Tom Hanks and Michael Mann are in talks to produce an epic film about Julius Ceasar and his battle with Pompey the Great. Mann is also in talks to direct. John Orloff is writing the script.
Reports at the beginning of the week stated Spielberg was definitely doing HARRY POTTER next and then those statements were refuted. We may not know what he's doing for a little while longer. Thoughts? Also, what do you hope happens to the CGI FRANKENSTEIN flick? The PROOF OF LIFE cast is starting to fill out a bit...and how about the British cast for BORN ROMANTIC? Tim Curry as a villain in CHARLIE'S ANGELS makes that pic a little more interesting. THE MUMMY 2 seems to be definitely happening. I look forward to hearing more about the Wayne Wang digital video project. THE LOST GIRLS, Warner Bros. & Steven Segal back in cahoots, Tom Hanks/Michael Mann do Julius Ceasar, Arnold and Sly looking for a project to do together, Tarantino acting in an Adam Sandler pic... this was quite an odd week.
Look at all those NC-17's the MPAA dished out. Will there be lots more to come?
Elston Gunn
elstongunn@hotmail.com
