Daaaaamn, Harry here and this is one heckuva long Weekly Recap from Elston Gunn.... I mean... it be damn long and filled to the gills... Nothing super earth-shatteringly cool... but stuff on one of the new Spielberg attached projects... Here ya go...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Catherine Deneuve is in final talks to join Justin Chambers, Tim Roth, Stephen Rea, Gary Oldman, Mena Suvari and Nick Moran in D'ARTAGNAN for director Peter Hyams. It's about the fourth musketeer who seeks revenge after the murder of his parents. Gene Quintano scripted. Shooting begins Aug. 17.
* Ana Gasteyer ("Saturday Night Live") has been cast in MGM's WHAT'S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN with Martin Lawrence, Danny DeVito and John Leguizamo.
* Ethan Suplee (AMERICAN HISTORY X) and Heather Wahlquist (GOOD ADVICE) join the cast JOHN Q for New Line Cinema.
* Ian Glenn will play the villain in TOMB RAIDER starring Anjelina Jolie and Daniel Craig. Shooting is underway.
* Paul Rodriguez joins Paramount's pic CROCODILE DUNDEE IN LOS ANGELES.
* R&B artist Eric Benet will star opposite Mariah Carey in ALL THAT GLITTERS for director Vonde Curtis-Hall, 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures. It's about the rise of a singer after a troubled childhood.
* Eddie Griffin and Lyle Lovett join the Revolution Studios comedy THE NEW GUY starring DJ Qualls (ROAD TRIP). Griffin will play a prison inmate while Lovett plays the father of Qualls' character, a kid who goes to a new school trying to escape his reputation.
* Anne Hathaway ("Get Real") will star in THE PRINCESS DIARIES for Disney, director Garry Marshall and producer Whitney Houston. It's about a 16-year old who finds out she's the princess of a European nation.
* Djimon Hounsou (AMISTAD) joins the cast of Miramax's FOUR FEATHERS starring Heath Ledger and Wes Bentley. Shekar Kapur directs.
* Tom Hanks will star and Sam Mendes (AMERICAN BEAUTY) will direct THE ROAD TO PERDITION, based on a graphic novel by Max Allan Collins and illustrator Richard Piers Rayner. David Self (13 DAYS) wrote the script for producer Richard Zanuck. It's about a 1930s hitman named Michael O'Sullivan who is also devoted to his family. When those two worlds crash, he loses his son and wife. O'Sullivan and his other son, Michael Jr. leave home and set out for revenge.
* Alan Rickman and Richard Harris are in talks to play Professor Snape and Dumbledore, respectively, in HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE for WB and director Chris Columbus. Robbie Coltrane and Maggie Smith are in talks to also star in the pic.
* Tea Leoni is in final talks to star in JURASSIC PARK 3 for Universal/Amblin and director Joe Johnston. She will play William H. Macy's romantic interest. Trevor Morgan, Sam Neill and Alessandro Nivola will also star.
* Julianne Moore and Billy Crudup will star in the indie drama WORLD TRAVELER for writer/director Bart Freundlich (THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS) about a Manhattan man who leaves his family one day to search for a new life.
* Forest Whitaker and Dwight Yoakam are in final talks to star in Columbia Pictures' THE PANIC ROOM with Sandra Bullock. David Koepp scripted the story of thieves who want to get money that's hidden in a New York brownstone, meanwhile a mother and her daughter hide in a "panic room" defending their lives.
* Robin Williams is in talks to star in the Fox Searchlight thriller ONE HOUR PHOTO for director Mark Romanek about a photo lab employee who is obsessed with a suburban family.
* Edward Furlong will reprise his role as John Connor joining Arnold Schwarzenegger in TERMINATOR 3. Tedi Sarafian scripted.
* Ben Affleck is in talks to star in CHANGING LANES for Paramount and director Roger Michell (NOTTING HILL) about a traffic accident involving a lawyer and a businessman that escalates scary levels during the day eventually leading to a war between the two men. Shooting begins in December with Affleck going right into THE SUM OF ALL FEARS after LANES wraps.
* Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn, Jennifer Tilly, Bonnie Hunt and newcomer Mary Gibbs will lend their vocal talents to Disney/Pixar's next digitally animated movie MONSTERS, INC. about a monster who accidentally lets a child into its secret world where other monsters are employed. The pic is set for a November 2001 release.
* David Spade will star in the comedy PUKA PETE which he co-wrote with Fred Wolf for Revolution Studios and producer Adam Sandler. It's about a 1960s hippie who winds up on a deserted island after recording whale sounds and realizes he wants to start a family. Shooting begins in March.
* Lombardo Boyar (upcoming BROTHER) and Cynthia Watros ("Titus") join Steve Guttenberg in P.S. YOUR CAT IS DEAD.
* Taryn Manning joins Kirsten Dunst in AT SEVENTEEN for Disney.
* Clara Bellar (BACKWARD LOOK FAR CORNERS) joins A.I.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Rob Schneider has co-written FAMILY DISORDER with Clark Taylor and Martin Olson which will begin production in the spring with Disney as part of an overall first-look production deal with the studio. At the same time, Revolution Studios has picked up ANIMAL which was put into turnaround by Disney. Schneider and Tom Brady wrote that script about a man who was given organ transplants from different animals and then takes on some of their traits. Schneider will star in that pic this fall with Adam Sandler and Jack Giarraputo executive producing.
* Wayne Rice and Gina Goldman (SUICIDE KINGS) will write CHASING THE WHALE for 20th Century Fox about a casino host and the high rollers he tries to bring in to compete in a Vegas casino.
* Callie Khouri (THELMA & LOUISE scribe) will direct DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD based on the novel by Rebecca Wells. It's about a daughter trying to mend her relationship with her mother by getting to know the memories of mom and her friends. Production may begin next year.
* Peyton Reed (BRING IT ON) will direct the SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT-inspired film EAST BOUND AND DOWN for Universal. Adam Herz (AMERICAN PIE) wrote the script. Shooting is planned for late fall or early winter.
* French director Fabien Onteniente is developing a sequel to his film JET SET. Meanwhile, Miramax is working a remake of the original with Rupert Everett as the possible lead.
* Bradley Allenstein (JUWANNA MANN) is in talks to write a remake for MGM of Jerry Lewis' 1960 movie THE BELLBOY with Jackie Chan attached to star.
* Jeremy Leven (DON JUAN DEMARCO, THE NOTEBOOK) will script a remake of the Doris Day/Rock Hudson pic SEND ME NO FLOWERS for Universal. Frank Marshall (CONGO) may direct. The story follows a hypochondriac who believes he's dying and searches for a new mate for his wife.
* P.J. Hogan (MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING) is in talks to direct the $100m adaptation of PETER PAN for Sony. Michael Goldenberg (CONTACT) scripted.
* Steven Spielberg will direct John August's (GO) feature film adaptation of the Daniel Wallace adventure novel BIG FISH. The film is being targeted for a summer 2001 start. It's about a son who is trying to learn more about his dying father through stories he's collected through the years. He ends up re-creating his dad's life and learns his triumphs and failings in a series of myths/legends based on the small amounts of facts he has. Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen will produce.
HARRY NOTE: Now... if only Robert Zemeckis would get off his ass and produce BIG TROUT, the fantastic and classic script that would blow Steven's fish out of the water... but noooooooOOOOOoooooo.... sigh...
* Universal picked up Paul Hernandez's script INSTANT KARMA in turnaround from DreamWorks Ent. for Imagine. It's about a bank robber who dies alone in the desert and is reincarnated several times as different animals including a flea and returns to his old girlfriend to make amends.
* Kevin Williamson will write and produce the thriller CURSED for Dimension Films. The project, about a New York serial killer with a unique twist, is on the fast track with production hoping to begin before spring.
* Steven Christopher Young will script the demolition derby comedy HELL ON WHEELS for producer Casey Silver.
* Tarsem (THE CELL) is in talks to direct TAKE DOWN for Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer about U.S. Marshals going after a killer who is protected by a government agency. It's based on the book by Carsten Stroud.
* Peter Weir is in talks to direct the first installment of the hopeful 20th Century Fox MASTER AND THE COMMANDER franchise based on the novels by the late Patrick O'Brian. It's set in the 19th century during the Napoleonic Wars and centers on captain Jack Aubrey and doctor/nautralist/spy Stephen Maturin.
* Tod "Kip" Williams (THE ADVENTURES OF SEBASTIAN COLE) has written an adaptation of John Irving's latest bestseller A WIDOW FOR A YEAR about a dysfunctional family who has suffered the deaths of two sons. The husband then hires an assistant who looks like one of his sons, the mother has an affair with the assistant and then leaves her husband and daughter behind. Good Machine is hoping to secure the rights so the project can go forward with Williams directing.
* Peters Entertainment picked up Michael Tupy's spec PUCK about the father-son relationship between Robin Hood and his son, Puck, told through the eyes of the latter.
* David Fincher is in serious talks to direct THEY FOUGHT ALONE (aka FERTIG) about the exploits of WWII soldier Col. Wendell Fertig and team of U.S. soldiers who recruit a guerrilla movement. William Nicholson (GLADIATOR, FIRELIGHT) wrote the script.
* Mimi Leder is in talks to direct COLLATERAL for DreamWorks by Stuart Beattie (KICK) about a cab driver who drives a hitman from hit to hit and then must commit a murder himself to ensure he won't report any of the crimes.
* Andy Tennant (FOOLS RUSH IN, EVER AFTER) is in talks to direct SWEET HOME ALABAMA starring Charlize Theron who is also producing.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Parmount Classics will distribute Edward Burns' new pic SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK while Fox Searchlight picked up the rights to release Al Pacino's film CHINESE COFFEE. Both films will be released in 2001.
* Wes Craven Films picked up the rights to Chris Bohjalian's romantic drama novel TRANS-SISTER RADIO about a schoolteacher who takes a film class, falls in love with the professor and learns he has plans to become a woman.
* Universal picked up the treatment THE UNTITLED HOUSE OF HORRORS PROJECT from Jon Berg, Damien Saccani and Julie Plec. The project is going out to writers and follows a group who get involved in a role-playing game by acting out a real-life murder in the house where it took place. One of them winds up dead, but the game still continues.
* Revolution Studios has made a deal with Peter Gilstrap and Mark Brooks to turn their Mediatrip.com web series LIL' PIMP into a full-length feature. It's about a 9-year old who hustles hookers with his pals. Animation on the movie is expected to begin within the next few weeks. It may be the first full-length animated pic to use Macromedia's Flash software.
* Production on TILL THE END OF TIME, the project based on the relationship between Georgia O'Keefe and Alfred Stieglitz, has shut down due to "scheduling conflicts and a troubled history." The film was to star Ben Kingsley and Linda Fiorentino with Marek Kanievska (WHERE THE MONEY IS) directing. The production may restart later this year or early next year with the same crew and director but potentially with different actors.
* Centropolis Entertainment bought the rights to Bob Brier's action-adventure book THE MURDER OF TUTANKHAMEN: A TRUE STORY for a film project for Roland Emmerich to direct. The book investigates the possible events that led to the death of King Tut.
* After having an off year, Columbia Pictures is leaving the project THE SHIPPING NEWS with Miramax now solely handling the film. Lasse Hallstrom will direct Kevin Spacey in the film.
* Imagine Entertainment is willing to go forward on a third installment of the NUTTY PROFESSOR franchise and has been given several ideas to consider from Universal. Eddie Murphy will agree to return depending on the script.
* Warner Bros. is in talks to purchase the rights to Gary Weiss' manuscript BORN TO STEAL based on the true story of Wall St. being infiltrated by the mob which resulted in the indictment of 19 people in 1997. The studio is developing the project for Mark Wahlberg to star and maybe produce.
* Mike Myers has settled with Universal/Imagine and has agreed to write a script for the studios, along with DreamWorks, to produce as a replacement for DIETER.
Director activity galore this week--Steven Spielberg, David Fincher, Peter Weir, Tarsem, Mimi Leder, P.J. Hogan all attached themselves to projects. But the Sam Mendes/Tom Hanks project THE ROAD TO PERDITION seems the most intriguing to me. Hanks to play a hitman out for revenge? Can't wait. Devlin/Emmerich doing a KING TUT movie sounds promising. The cinematography should be amazing. Casting was pretty sweet this week as well. Rickman and Harris in HARRY POTTER is very welcome news. MONSTERS INC. recruited quite a cast to voice its characters. Ben Affleck's keeping his plate full while Edward Furlong returns to TERMINATOR 3 (and Eddie Murphy contemplating NUTTY 3). Julianne Moore and Billy Crudup are doing an indie pic together. I'm anxious to hear more about it. The same goes for ONE HOUR PHOTO with Mark Romanek directing. Is Robin Williams playing the obsessed guy or the head of the suburban family? Hmmmm... hope the former. That'd be fun.
Until next week...
Elston Gunn
