Well, after reports like that Leo, and The Batman ones it makes Father Geek happy as hell to be posting Elston's right as rain, true blue WEEKLY RECAP, something we can all have faith in. This may not be cutting edge "scoops", but we can be damn sure that it is 100% fact, and there are lots and lots of them to boot...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Courtney Love is in final talks to star in JOHN CARPENTER'S GHOSTS OF MARS opposite Ice Cube and Jason Statham.
* Katie Holmes and Ashton Kutcher will star in 40 DAYS AND 40 NIGHTS for Universal/Working Title and possibly Miramax in the story of a man who decides to avoid physical contact with women for 40 days. During this time he meets the woman of his dreams. Michael Lehmann will direct the Rob Perez script.
* Gary Grubbs, Daniel Roebuck, Andrea Navedo, Shawn Elliott, Vivica A. Fox, Brent Briscoe and Edward Hermann join Eddie Griffin and Orlando Jones in DOUBLE TAKE for Disney and director George Gallo (29TH STREET). Production begins April 28.
* Matt Dillon joins Sandra Bullock and Michael Caine in MISS CONGENIALITY for Castle Rock/Village Roadshow and director Donald Petrie (MY FAVORITE MARTIAN).
* Eddie Cibrian ("Third Watch") has been cast in SAY IT ISN'T SO with Heather Graham and Chris Klein for director J.B. Rogers and producers Peter and Bobby Farrelly.
* Colin Firth will star opposite Rene Zellweger in BRIDGET JONES' DIARY. Hugh Grant also stars in the Sharon Maguire-directed pic which starts shooting May 1.
* Jet Li is in negotiations to play Kato in THE GREEN HORNET for Universal Pictures.
* David Krumholtz (LIBERTY HEIGHTS, upcoming SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK) joins THE MEXICAN with Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and James Gandolfini.
* James Spader, Lara Flynn Boyle, Jay Mohr, Bill Murray, Melora Walters and Catherine O'Hara are in talks to star in SPEAKING OF SEX with John McNaughton directing. The story centers around a couple of counselors trying to help a married couple. Some lawyers are involved as well and couples start to mix and match. Gary Tieche wrote the script.
* Kevin Spacey will star in and produce an untitled romantic comedy about a stage director who tries to cast a movie star in his play to help launch it on Broadway. Wendy Wasserstein (THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION) is reworking Allison Burnett's script formerly titled THE ROLE OF A LIFETIME for Centropolis Entertainment. It's possible Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich or Spacey may direct.
* Morris Chestnut (BOYS N THE HOOD, THE BEST MAN) will star in THE BROTHERS for Screen Gems and director Gary Hardwick.
* Tom Hanks is being eyed for THE LOOKOUT the DreamWorks film written by Scott Frank (OUT OF SIGHT) and to be directed by Sam Mendes (AMERICAN BEAUTY).
* Heath Ledger, Wes Bentley, Tobey Maguire, Chris Klein, Ewan McGregor and Leonardo DiCaprio are said to be the lead candidates to play SPIDER MAN for director Sam Raimi.
* Cameron Diaz is eyeing Columbia Pictures' romantic comedy the UNTITLED NANCY PIMENTAL PROJECT for director Roger Kumble about a girl who has to learn how to woo once she finds Mr. Right.
* Gary Oldman is back in talks to play Mason Verger in HANNIBAL for director Ridley Scott and MGM/Universal.
* Twins Alicia and Annie Sorell join Robin Dunne in the prequel CRUEL INTENTIONS II for Columbia Tri-Star/Newmarket produced by Roger Kumble.
* Catherine Kellner (200 CIGARETTES) joins Disney's PEARL HARBOR.
* Natasha Henstridge, Peter Fonda and Angus McFadyen (CRADLE WILL ROCK) will star in the thriller SECOND SKIN for Alliance Ent and director Darrell Roodt (SARAFINA). The story follows a man who opens a bookstore to distance himself from his mob past--until he meets a mysterious stranger.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Topper Lilien and Carroll Cartwright will write THE GORY DETAILS for Touchstone Pictures for Michael Bay to produce and maybe direct. It's about a group of "crime cleaners"--people who clean up the mess at a murder scene.
* Brad Silberling (CITY OF ANGELS) is developing a feature based on the Who's late drummer Keith Moon for Warner Bros. Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend and John Entwistle are cooperating with the project. Silberling will most likely make this his next project after he makes BABY'S IN BLACK.
* John Hughes is in talks to direct his untitled script for producer Joe Roth. The storyline is being kept under wraps but is described as a BREAKFAST CLUB-style comedy. It would be Hughes' first directing gig since CURLY SUE.
* Gwyn Lurie will write a script for Bel Air Entertainment about a couple who die and get a second chance at life to prove they were meant to be together.
* Stuart Baird (U.S. MARSHALS) is set to direct two films for Warner Bros.: HIGH TIDE, about a man who vacations in Alaska, gets caught in quicksand and must escape with the help of his wife before the tide kills him; NOWHERE TO HIDE by Patrick Lee about a thief who masquerades as a cop and is sent to investigate his own robbery. He discovers a double homicide took place and must find the true killers without blowing his cover.
* Richard Hatem has sold his psychological thriller spec script REDEMPTION to Trimark Pictures for Gustavo Graef-Marino (JOHNNY 100 PESOS) to direct. The story revolves around a cop who accidentally kills the girlfriend of a Gulf War veteran who then kidnaps the officer's wife and forces the policeman to confess.
* Claire Kilner (JANICE BEARD 45WPM) will direct and supervise a rewrite of John McLaughlin's script SPY GIRL for MTV Films about a girl who was raised by her CIA dad to be a spy. Kilner will also rewrite of Sarah Thorp's screenplay ALICE, a contemporary version of ALICE IN WONDERLAND also for MTV Films.
* Frank Darabont (THE GREEN MILE) is in talks to produce and direct the remake FORBIDDEN PLANET for New Line Cinema.
* Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst will direct RUNT about a high school kid who "takes up arms" against those who have been picking on him. David Fincher may produce the William J. Coakley and Christian Van Gregg script. Shooting should begin this fall.
* Ron Howard is in talks to direct A BEAUTIFUL MIND based on Sylvia Nasar's book about Nobel prize winning math genius John Forbes Nash Jr. who became a schizophrenic. Tom Cruise may play the lead for Universal and Imagine, but no deal has been made and he may not announce his next project until MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 opens. Shooting is expected to start at the end of the year.
* David Ayer (U-571) will script SQUIDS for Indelible Pictures about a coming of ae story about a boy on a nuclear submarine at the end of the Cold War. David Fincher and Art Linson will produce for New Line--Fincher may or may not direct.
* Bob Potter will direct a documentary about Manchester United, the world's richest soccer club for Icon Entertainment Intl.
* Richard Attenborough is planning to make a film about 19th century Austrian empress Elisabeth who was murdered in 1898. The director is still developing a picture about the 18th century political activist Thomas Paine.
* Chris Carter is near a deal to direct THE WORLD OF TED SERIOS for Dimension Films based on a book by Dr. Jule Eisenbud, M.D., about the true story of a 1960s psychiatrist's study of a bellhop who could project his thoughts onto film negative.
* David Dobkin (CLAY PIGEONS) will direct two films for Warner Bros.: the comedy HELIUM, based on the book by Tim Earnshaw about a rock star who experiences weightlessness when his life turns upside down; and the thriller MOTOR CITY, where a marketer finds corruption and a murder coverup at a Ford plant while trying make a success out of the Edsel.
* Joel Schumacher is in advanced talks to direct PHONE BOOTH this summer for Fox 2000. The movie takes place entirely in a phone booth where a man picks up a phone and his told not to hang up or he will be shot dead.
* Terry Hayes (ROAD WARRIOR, upcoming FROM HELL and VERTICAL LIMIT) will direct his action adventure script BOXER'S RUN for Original Voices about a CIA agent whose family was killed for possessing the Spear of Longinus, a weapon used to kill Jesus Christ. He uncovers a plot to destroy the Catholic Church while searching for his family's killers.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Universal and Jersey Films have optioned the screen rights to Elmore Leonard's upcoming novel PAGAN BABIES about a fugitive missionary in Rwanda, who killed some Tutsis who murdered his flock, but heads home to Detroit to bury his mother.
* Aaron Eckhart has dropped out of ANGEL EYES starring Jennifer Lopez. Luis Mandoki (MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE) directs the Gerald DiPego script. Benjamin Bratt, Viggo Mortensen, Andy Garcia and James Caviezel are among the names of possible replacements.
* Universal has shuffled the releases with two of it's films: HEAD OVER HEELS, starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Monica Potter, has been moved to the Valentine's Day weekend 2001; D-TOX, starring Sylvester Stallone, will be released early 2001 to avoid conflict with Stallone's other pic--Warner Bros.' GET CARTER.
* HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE planned release date may move from summer 2001 to holiday 2001 and start production this November.
* Sony is in negotiations to co-finance THE UGLY TRUTH with Bel-Air Entertainment. Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck are in talks to star in the pic about a sloppy, sexist TV host who gives lessons in love to a "romantically challenged" girl. No director is yet attached to the Nicole Eastman script.
* Warner Bros. has put SCOOBY-DOO on the fast track now that writer James Gunn has turned in his draft.
* Wes Bentley has dropped out of Warner Bros.' Anne Rice adaptation QUEEN OF THE DAMNED to take time off after a very busy year.
* Twentieth Century Fox picked up the musical comedy pitch SONNY DAY by Lauren Lloyd, Jamie McLaughlin and Boyce Bugliari about a farm boy who enters an L.A. band competition to save his family's farm from bankruptcy.
There were some interesting surprises this week: John Hughes possibly directing again; Frank Darabont working on FORBIDDEN PLANET, Schumacher back on PHONE BOOTH; Gary Oldman to do HANNIBAL. I also didn't expect to see Wes Bentley drop out of QUEEN OF THE DAMNED. I wonder what he'll do next...SPIDER MAN maybe? I wasn't surprised to see Jet Li in talks to play Kato in THE GREEN HORNET. Is that finally getting off the ground? Hmm. PAGAN BABIES sounds like another Elmore Leonard classic. I wonder how Tarantino's KILLSHOT is coming along. I like the look of the SPEAKING OF SEX cast. Sounds fun. Stuart Baird and David Dobkin are busy directors--both signing to direct not one, but two films. Tom Hanks continues to be a wanted man, now being pursued for Sam Mendes next directorial effort THE LOOKOUT. More as it develops...
Until next week...
Elston Gunn
elstongunn@hotmail.com
