Father Geek here with Elston Gunn's Weekly Recap, it's a little late because ol' Elston found himself out of town without any computer access last week. He hopes you all will forgive him it was unavoidable. At any rate here it is on Monday instead of the usual Saturday morning...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Brittany Murphy (GIRL, INTERRUPTED) is in final talks to join Drew Barrymore in Penny Marshall's RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS after Murphy stars in SUMMER CATCH opposite Freddie Prinze Jr.
* Marisa Tomei joins Ron Eldard, Kyra Sedgwick and Marley Shelton in STILL A KISS, a story about problems with fidelity, for actor/director Fisher Stevens.
* John Travolta will star in the Paramount thriller DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE about a father who tries to save his son from a life-threating situation involving the kid's new stepfather.
* Gabriel Mann (upcoming CHERRY FALLS and NEWPORT SOUTH) joins three pics: JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS, THINGS BEHIND THE SUN and SUMMER CATCH.
* Hugh Jackman (X-MEN) will star in ANIMAL HUSBANDRY opposite Ashley Judd for director Tony Goldwyn (A WALK ON THE MOON) based on the 1998 novel by Laura Zigman.
* Matt Dillon, Frankie Muniz ("Malcolm in the Middle") and Deborah Harry join Stephen Dorff, Brad Renfro, Fairuza Balk, Vincent Pastore, Norman Reedus and Balthazar Getty in DEUCES WILD for director Scott Kalvert (THE BASKETBALL DIARIES) about a group of youngsters in 1958 Brooklyn and a new era of crime and wiseguys.
* Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (VELVET GOLDMINE) joins Christina Ricci in PROZAC NATION and Rachel Leigh Cook in CONSPIRACY OF WEEDS. He'll play a college boyfriend to the women in both projects.
* Denzel Washington will star in New Line's JOHN Q for director Nick Cassavetes about a man whose son needs a heart transplant, but their insurance won't cover it. The man takes over the emergency room until the doctors agree to perform the operation. James Kearn scripted. Washington is still committed to both TRAINING DAY and THE ANTWONE FISHER STORY (aka FINDING FISH) which he'll direct.
* Richard Harris, Lukas Haas and Tere Tarin (AVE MARIA) will star in an indie adaptation of John Steinbeck's novella THE PEARL with Alfredo Zacharias directing for Panorama Films. Shooting begins this week in Mexico on the story of a pearl diver who discovers a pearl that helps him pay a doctor to save his child's life. However, the diver becomes greedy and tragedy soon follows. G. Paul Davis (aka Litefoot) also stars.
* Haley Joel Osment and Willem Dafoe will lead the cast in the indie war drama EDGES OF THE LORD based on the novel by Desmond Lowden about a Jewish boy trapped in Nazi-occupied Poland and a priest who tries to help the children of a ravaged community. Yurek Bogayavicz (ANNA) will direct.
* Tygh Runyah (DISTURBING BEHAVIOR) joins the indie pic COME TOGETHER.
* Rena Sofer (KEEPING THE FAITH) joins the massive cast in TRAFFIC.
* Lin Shaye (THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY) grabbed a role in SAY IT ISN'T SO.
* Sherman Augustus (VIRUS) will play a hitman in THE MEXICAN starring Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts.
* Anne Heche and Michelle Williams join Christina Ricci and Jason Biggs in PROZAC NATION for director Erik Skjoldbjaerg based on Elizabeth Wurtzel's 1997 memoir about a music critic and her chronic depression.
* Brad Pitt is in final talks to join Robert Redford in Universal's SPY GAME with Mike van Diem directing the story of a CIA agent on his last day on the job having to rescue a protege who is captured by the Chinese.
* Woody Brown and Scott Hamm will star in BACKYARD DOGS for writer/director Scott Boris (OXFORD BLUES).
* Catherine Dent ("One Life to Live") joins Michael Rooker and Jean-Claude Van Damme in THE REPLICANT.
* Amy Jo Johnson ("Felicity") joins Frank Whaley, Annabeth Gish and Alex Hyde-White in PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS with John Putch (VALERIE FLAKE) directing.
* Danny Aiello will star in OFF KEY about three opera stars who are reunited at a wedding 10 years after they broke up. Manuel Gomez Pereira (BOCA A BOCA) directs.
* James Coburn and Rob Lowe will star in PROXIMITY about a prisoner who must break out in order to dodge a hit that's been put on him by an evil organization. Scott Ziehl (BROKEN VESSELS) will direct.
* Christian Bale (AMERICAN PSYCHO) joins Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz in CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN for director John Madden.
* Tom Green will star in THE MONSTER, a remake of Roberto Benigni's comedy IL MOSTRO, for Disney and Spyglass Ent. Green is also rewriting the story of a man who is mistaken for a serial killer.
* 'N Sync will star in an untitled musical feature for Total Film Group and Phat Free Prods. The plot is being kept under wraps, but it 's been reported the band will not play themselves.
* Adam Beach (SMOKE SIGNALS) will join Nicolas Cage in WINDTALKERS for MGM and director John Woo about Navajo radio men who used their Native American language to encrypt radio messages during World War II.
* Ashton Kutcher ("That '70s Show") will star in DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR about two stoners who wake up one morning after a wild party and can't remember where they park their car. Philip Stark scripted and Danny Leiner will direct.
* Jake Busey ("Shasta") is in final talks to join Jerry O'Connell and Shannon Elizabeth in TOMCATS for writer/director Gregory Poirer (GOSSIP) about friends wagering they'd be the last to marry. There are two guys left and one of them, desperately needing the money, finds a girl from the other guy's past to woo him into marriage.
* Hugh O'Connor joins Miramax's CHOCOLAT for director Lasse Hallstrom.
* Brad Rowe (BODY SHOTS) will star opposite Harvey Keitel in the indie drama NAILED. Writer Joel Silverman directs.
* Benjamin Bratt joins Sandra Bullock in MISS CONGENIALITY as an FBI agent.
DIRECTOR/ATTACHMENTS
* Rob Zombie will write/direct HOUSE OF 1,000 CORPSES for Universal Pictures. Production may begin this month with an early 2001 release.
* Jeremy Iacone (THE BONE COLLECTOR) will script THE ICE QUEEN for Columbia Pictures about the true story of Heidi Landgraf about a gorgeous mom who doubled as a drug enforcement agent. Michelle Pfeiffer was once flirting with the role, but is no longer attached.
* Bronwen Hughes (FORCES OF NATURE) is set to direct RAINBOW'S END for Fox Searchlight based on William Morrow's book about Judy Garland. Annette Bening is the top choice for the role.
* David Connaughton and John Trozak will write CHECKERED PAST for the Farrelly Bros. and 20th Century Fox about a man with amnesia who arrives in a new town and establishes himself as a good citizen when it is discovered he's the opposite.
* Reginald Hudlin (upcoming LADIES MAN) will direct the comedy SERVICING SARAH for Mandalay Pictures about a woman persuading a process server to serve divorce papers to her husband who lives in Texas, the two then take a road trip from New York to the Lone Star state.
* Dean Parisot (GALAXY QUEST) will direct the comedy LOCKED AND UPRIGHT about two 1970s flight attendants who go back to World War II and save England from the Nazis.
* Luke Perry, Olivia D'Abo and Tom Conti join Roger Moore in the spy thriller THE ENEMY for director Tom Kinninmont about a CIA agent who's trying to keep a biological warfare weapon out of enemy hands.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Author Ken Kesey and his pal Ken Babbs have completed the first installment of a movie from their 1964 LSD bus trip across the country (chronicled in Tom Wolfe's book ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST). The movie, INTREPID TRAVELER AND HIS MERRY BAND OF PRANKSTERS LOOK FOR A KOOL PLACE, recently was able to digitally fix thirty-five year old audio problems.
* Kelly Preston has dropped out of Robert Rodriguez's SPY KIDS most likely due to her giving birth to her second child.
(FATHER GEEK Note: That was definity the reason, it had poor Robert running around the country like a chicken with his head cut off trying to cast a quality replacement mere days before Kelly was to start shooting her part as the Title "KIDS'" mom opposite Antonio.)
* Warner Bros. picked up the feature rights to THE PATIENT by Michael Palmer for Noah Wyle's production co. about a neurosurgeon who refines a robot to perform brain surgery, but when a madman takes over the hospital and demands his brain tumor be removied, the doctor (and the CIA) must decide what is worth keeping him alive.
* Universal will remake Alfred Hitchcock's 1941 film SUSPICION. Michael Browning (SIX DAYS, SEVEN NIGHTS) will script. Production is planned to begin next year.
* Kevin Spacey is not doing MGM's PINK PANTHER remake.
GUNN SHOTS (not from the trades)
* Will Estes (U-571) should be joining MIMIC 2, don't know if it's official yet.
* Some interesting scoop on NEW PORT SOUTH, written by John Hughes' son James, may pop up next week. The movie is apparently about teen rebellion and one source's opinion on the script was infavorable. More to come. Stax Flixburg (of the Flixburg USA website) found some interesting tidbits. Some you may already know, others maybe not:
* PT Anderson may direct THE UNDERWORLD based on Don DeLillo's book. Scott Rudin is producing.
* Michel Gondry is no longer directing THE GREEN HORNET.
* LL Cool J will star and Hype Williams will direct LUKE CAGE: HERO FOR HIRE.
* Warner Bros. is remaking BULLITT.
No time to ramble. Anything interesting this week? Discuss. Until next week...
Elston Gunn
elstongunn@hotmail.com
