Father Geek reporting in with Elston Gunn's latest Weekly Recap for those of you who may have missed a bit of the Hollywood news from last week. We're all deep into the SXSW Film and Music Festival here in Austin and the flood of reports from that great event will begin to fill these pages over the next few days. Well. I've got to head downtown to catch the Trade Show and some panels, maybe a party or two...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Michael Caine joins MISS CONGENIALITY with Sandra Bullock. Caine will play an image consultant who helps change Bullock's FBI character into Miss New Jersey. Donald Petrie directs.
* Courtney Love is in talks to star opposite Lili Taylor in JULIE JOHNSON based on the play by Wendy Hammond. Bob Gosse directs the story of a single mother who wants to become a computer scientist and also discovers her sexuality with another female.
* Ben Affleck joins PEARL HARBOR with Cuba Gooding Jr.
* Pierce Brosnan will produce and star in BLOOD AND CHAMPAGNE about the famous war photographer Robert Capa.
* Cate Blanchett is in talks to play a female FBI profiler in Tony Scott's TAKING LIVES for Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures based on the book by Michael Pye.
* Eddie Murphy will star in the remake of THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN for Universal/Imagine and director Peter Segal (TOMMY BOY) about a man who begins to shrink and fights for survival using his wits as he becomes very small.
* Laura Dern joins NOVOCAINE with Steve Martin and Helena Bonham Carter for Artisan Entertainment for writer/director David Atkins.
* Helen Mirren is set to join THE PLEDGE with Jack Nicholson for director Sean Penn. Aaron Eckhart also stars in the 1950s-era crime drama.
* Anthony Stewart Head and Heidi Mark join METAL GOD with Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston.
* John Travolta is eyeing MGM's QUILLER SOLITAIRE based on Adam Hall's novels about a British agent.
* Peter Sarsgaard (BOYS DON'T CRY) joins Val Kilmer in THE SALTON SEA for Castle Rock and director D.J. Caruso. Tony Gayton scripted the story of a man who goes undercover as a drug dealer to avenge the death of his wife.
* Martin Lawrence and Danny DeVito will star in MGM's WHAT'S THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN for director Sam Weisman (THE OUT-OF-TOWNERS) about a crook and a rich man who try to match wits. It's based on the novel by Donald Westlake.
* Chris Penn will star in the indie pics KISS KISS BANG BANG and MICROWAVE PARK (which he'll also produce)--the first is a comedy the thriller and the other is a police action thriller. Penn will also reprise his role in RUSH HOUR 2 for New Line.
* David Arquette is replacing Martin Lawrence in the comedy SEE SPOT RUN about a postal worker who takes in a dog that is part of a witness protection program.
* Aunjanue Ellis (upcoming NAVY DIVER) will star opposite Samuel L. Jackson in CAVEMAN'S VALENTINE for director Kasi Lemmons.
* Oded Fehr will be back for THE MUMMY 2 which will begin production in May.
* Penelope Ann Miller joins ALONG CAME A SPIDER as a mother whose child has been kidnapped. Morgan Freeman also stars.
* Johnny Depp is in talks to star in FROM HELL for the Hughes Bros. about the investigation of Jack the Ripper in 1880 London.
* Josh Hartnett joins PEARL HARBOR.
* Brad Pitt is in talks to star in two adaptations: Pat Conroy's BEACH MUSIC and Robert Ludlum's THE BOURNE IDENTITY.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Roger Avary will direct Bill Paxton in MEXICALI about honeymooners who witness a drug killing in Mexico.
* Joe Jarvis and Greg Coolidge will write DOG CATCHER (also known as SORORITY SISTERS) for Disney about two college guys who are kicked out of their frat house and joins a homely sorority.
* Alexander Payne (ELECTION will co-write and direct a film inspired by Oscar Wilde's THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, but set in a contemporary world. The original tale centers on a man who doesn't age, unless someone looks at a picture of him in an attic.
* Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts have written WE GATHER TOGETHER for Seven Arts Pictures about a group of childhood friends who get together for Thanksgiving, but realize their host plans to kill them by the end of the day.
* David Marlett will direct REMNANTS OF THE FLAMES based on Napoleon Bonaparte's final years in exile.
* MGM picked up FILTHY by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg about two best friends trying to get their lives on track post college.
* Eriq LaSalle will direct DANGER for Platform Entertainment and Warner Bros. about the mistaken identity of a man who is pursued after he sits next to a serial killer on a plane.
* Josh Stolberg and Monica Johnson have written the comedy THE CLOSERS for Dimension Films about a man who uses a secret high tech company to help him seduce his female neighbor.
* Cormac and Marianne Wibberley (THE SIXTH DAY) will write the feature adaptation of I, SPY for Columbia Pictures.
* Oliver Stone may direct A STAR IS BORN with Jamie Foxx possibly starring for producer Jon Peters.
* Barry Levinson is in negotiations to direct Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton in OUTLAWS written by Harley Peyton about two bank robbers who fight for her love of a woman they may have kidnapped during a heist.
* Nick Cassavetes will direct the family drama JOHN Q about a boy who needs a heart transplant. John Kearns scripted.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Universal has greenlit Imagine's SPROCKETS starring and co-written(with Michael McCullers) by Mike Myers about a German talk show host named Dieter (based on the "SNL" skit).
* Chris Tucker dropped out of BLACK KNIGHT one week after director F. Gary Gray exited the project.
* Lions Gate will release the spoof I KNOW WHAT YOU SCREAMED LAST SUMMER directed by John Blanchard. (Different from the upcoming SCARY MOVIE).
* Columbia Pictures optioned the comic book THE DARKNESS about a young hitman. Chris Morgan is adapting.
Sorry. No Gunn Shots or me rambling this week. Discuss amongst yourselves all the aforementioned news.
Until next week... Have a good one.
Elston Gunn
elstongunn@hotmail.com
