Hola kemosabes and kemosabettes, Harry here with yet another fantasticularistic update from ELSTON GUNNNNNNNN, the maaaan with the gooooldennnnn ggguuuhhhhuuuuhhhhhnnnnnnnn.... Soorry, flash backs... Actually, this particular Weekly Recap has quite a few really really wonderful tidbits that should please and give ya the need to discuss and cuss and recuss... Here it is ...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Eliza Dushku ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") will play the female lead in THE NEW GUY opposite DJ Qualls. Ed Decter directs for Revolution Studios.
* Brad Pitt will star in TO THE WHITE SEA for the Coen Bros. after her wraps OCEAN'S 11 next year. It's based on the James Dickey novel about a WW II tail gunner who is stranded in Japan and travels through Asia trying to find a way home. David Webb Peoples (BLADE RUNNER, UNFORGIVEN) adapted for the screen.
* Jennifer Lopez is in talks to play Frida Kahlo in a biopic for writer/director Luis Valdez, exec producer Francis Ford Coppola and United Artists. Shooting is expected to begin next year. This project is separate from the Miramax biopic of Kahlo in the works starring Salma Hayek in a film written by Rodrigo Garcia.
* Jerry O'Connell is in final talks to star in DOWN AND UNDER for director David McNally (COYOTE UGLY), producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Castle Rock Ent. It's about two childhood friends who get caught up with the mob. They then have to go to Australia to deliver 100 grand, but the money gets lost to a wild kangaroo. Scott Rosenberg and Steve Bing penned the original draft Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandell with doing rewrites.
* Sarah Polley will star in MONSTER for writer/director Hal Hartley. Julie Christie, Helen Mirren and Robert John Burke also star. A modern retelling of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, this project follows a young journalist to Iceland where she searches for her missing fiance and forms a bond with a monster.
* Morgan Freeman is in talks to star opposite Ashley Judd in HIGH CRIMES for director Carl Franklin based on the book by Joseph Finder. The story centers on a Harvard Law professor who must defend her husband after he's been accused of a mass killing in El Salvador which he claims he didn't commit. Shooting is expected to begin in October.
* Heather Matarazzo (WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE) will co-star in THE PRINCESS DIARIES with Anne Hathaway. Garry Marhsall directs.
* Emily Mortimer joins Catherine Keener and Brenda Blethyn in the upcoming untitled Nicole Holofcener-directed feature.
* Henry Thomas will join Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz and Daniel Day-Lewis in GANGS OF NEW YORK for director Martin Scorcese.
* Vinnie Jones (GONE IN 60 SECONDS, LOCK STOCK & TWO SMOKING BARRELS) will have a role in SWORDFISH with John Travolta and Hugh Jackman. Dominic Sena directs.
* Ronny Cox ("St. Elsewhere and ROBOCOP!!!!) joins JESSE JAMES with Colin Farrell, Scott Caan, Timothy Dalton and Ali Larter.
* Hayden Panettiere (A BUG'S LIFE, DINOSAUR) will play Nicole Kidman's daughter in THE PANIC ROOM for director David Fincher.
* Michael Cavalieri (LAST MAN STANDING) joins Sam Elliot and Jamie Kennedy in SEASON'S GREETINGS. Jack Green directs.
* Deborah Theaker (WAITING FOR GUFFMAN) has been cast in RAT RACE for director Jerry Zucker.
* Andy Richter joins BIG TROUBLE with Tim Allen and Rene Russo.
* Elizabeth Pena (LONE STAR) joins TORTILLA SOUP.
* Noah Taylor (SHINE) grabbed a role in TOMB RAIDER starring Anjelina Jolie, Ian Glenn and Daniel Craig. Simon West directs the Paramount pic.
* David Duchovny is in early talks to star in the sci fi comedy EVOLUTION for director Ivan Reitman and DreamWorks.
* James Frain (WHERE THE HEART IS, REINDEER GAMES) joins THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO starring Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce.
* Vincent Riverside (GROOVE) is set to star in EDDIE'S DEAD about three slacker buddies who want to live life to the fullest after a friend dies. Jon Bowden directs.
* Leo Fitzpatrick joins BULLY with Bijou Phillips, Rachel Miner, Nick Stahl, Kelli Garner and Brad Renfro for director Larry Clark (KIDS).
* Jere Burns (MY GIANT) joins CROCODILE DUNDEE 3.
* Dan Aykroyd will have a supporting role in Woody Allen's new pic which will start shooting in New York next month.
* Bill Murray will star in the comedy PRESS YOUR LUCK for Mandalay Picturesbased on the true story of Michael Larsen who lost his job as an ice cream truck driver and got hooked on the game show "Press Your Luck." He learned one could memorize the patterns on the show that determined whether or not you would get prizes or a "whammy." He went on to win over $100,000 on the show--the top winning contestant of a daytime show. Howard Franklin writes and directs. Shooting should begin before the end of the year.
* Robert De Niro is set to star in CITY BY THE SEA for director Michael Caton-Jones and Franchise Pictures from a script by Ken Hixon. It's about the son of an executed death-row inmate who becomes a detective. His son becomes a murderer as well.
* Lance Henriksen will star in the indie pic THE INVITATION for writer/director Pat Bermel about a wealthy writer who has a near death experience. He invites friends to his home, expecting them to literally share the same encounter.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* F. Gary Gray (THE NEGOTIATOR) is in final talks to direct DIABLO for New Line Cinema about a mysterious figure who heads a drug cartel and the U.S. Customs agent who wants to find out who he is and put him away. Vin Diesel is attached to star in the project penned by Christian Gudegast and Paul T. Scheuring.
* Deran Sarafian (TERMINAL VELOCITY) will direct ONCE A SPY by Richard Whiteside for Blue Raven Films. It's about a former spy who attempts to save the world one last time despite her haunted past.
* Dean Parisot (GALAXY QUEST) will direct SCARED GUYS for Columbia Pictures about two agoraphobics who get caught in a political conspiracy and must go on the run. Jeff Nathanson scripted the most recent draft and is being developed for Jim Carrey as one of the guys.
* Stephen Norrington (BLADE) is in talks to direct/develop GHOST RIDER for Crystal Sky Entertainment. It's based on the Marvel Comic about a motorcycle stuntman who becomes a demon crimefighter at night.
* Patrick Massett and John Zinman will write two projects: DUST, based on the novel by Charles Pellegrino and FIRST KING as a starring vehicle for Jet Li. Jan De Bont will direct DUST about a scientist and his daughter who try to escape Earth's extinction. FIRST KING will be produced by Joel Silver and follos the first king of China who is brought back to life in the present day.
* Paul Verhoeven may be back in talks to direct BASIC INSTINCT 2 after meeting with Sharon Stone and offering script suggestions. He is expected to make a decision on his next project in a few weeks.
* Brandon Camp and Mike Thompson (STEINBECK'S POINT OF VIEW) will write WHITE HORSES for Lions Gate Films. It's about an alcoholic crew coach who gets booted from his university, winds up training a group of delinquents and brings them to compete with the rowing team he used to supervise.
* Commercials director Zack Snyder will direct S.W.A.T. for Columbia Pictures based on the 70s TV show of the same name. The studio is also in talks with writer Craig Fernandez (EL PHANTASMA) to handle the script. Production may start in early 2001.
* J. Michael Straczynski will script RISING STARS for MGM based on his bestselling comic book. The story centers on more than 100 people who get super powers after a burst of energy hits a small town in the midwest. Twenty-five years later, 25 of these people mysteriously vanish. Atlas Entertainment/Gold Miller/Third Rail and comic book publisher Top Cow are also involved in the production and are hoping for a trilogy.
* Ralph Zondag (DINOSAUR co-director) will direct the dark comedy RAISED BY GHOSTS for MGM. Craig Mitchell and Richard Stern wrote the script about an orphaned teenager who was raised by ghosts and learns what its like to be human after he joins a dysfunctional suburban family. Brandon Camp and Mike Thompson will work on a rewrite.
* Vic Armstrong will direct the indie pic PIRATES for 247 Pictures about a diving boat captain who finds himself among contemporary pirates in the South Pacific. Rick Tucker, Peter Liapis and Frank Harris scripted. Shooting begins in January.
* Phil Alden Robinson is in talks to direct THE NINTH MAN for DreamWorks about eight Nazis who take a U-boat to the U.S., where they cause mayhem on the East Coast, while a ninth Nazi tries to kill President Roosevelt. It's based on John Lee's 1976 novel.
* Billy Crystal and Peter Tolan have written AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS which has been picked up in turnaround by Revolution Studios as a possible starring vehicle for Julia Roberts. It's about a publicist who is promoting a troubled film that stars a Hollywood couple who has gone through a messy split. There is no footage to use because the director is holding it hostage and the publicist tries to distract the media with a reunion of the two actors.
* Keenen Ivory Wayans will direct SCARY MOVIE II for Miramax's Dimension Films, who is putting the project into production this fall with a May 2001 release. Shawn and Marlon Wayans will write the script.
* Columbia Pictures has picked up WHITEY by Buddy Johnson (SCARY MOVIE co-writer) about a black man who is on the run for a crime he didn't commit. He heads to the South and disguises himself as a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
* Rob Minkoff is in final talks to direct a sequel to STUART LITTLE for Columbia Pictures. Bruce Joel Rubin (GHOST, DEEP IMPACT) is writing the script which is said to include some new CGI characters.
* Ron Senkowski (WICKED WAYS) will write a script for Revolution Studios and Happy Madison Prods. and Fresh Produce Co. about a group of men who try to win the honor of winning the heart of the President's daughter.
* Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett have written and sold the "sophisticated adult thriller" FRAMES to Columbia Pictures. The plot is being kept a secret, but it takes place in New York during a snowstorm and involves a heist.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDIBITS
* Writer/director Andrew Niccol is choosing to go with a completely CGI created "actress" to play the title character in his upcoming film SIMONE after he failed to find the right actress during auditions. The film also stars Al Pacino as a down-and-out Hollywood producer. Shooting begins next month.
* Artisan Ent./Tribeca Prods. optioned the feature rights to bring Jeffrey Hatcher's play COMPLEAT FEMALE STAGE BEAUTY to the big screen. Hatcher will adapt his play which is based on the true story of Edward Kynaston, a 17th century arrogant London actor who played female characters onstage and his fight after King Charles II prohibited men from doing so. Production is targeted for a 2001 start.
* Miramax Films picked up the rights to F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel THIS SIDE OF PARADISE about a Princeton University student who learns about life and love during World War I. Cara Buono write the screen adaptation.
* New Line Cinema will distribute DUNGEONS & DRAGONS domestically. The studio also secured an option to make a potential prequel and sequel.
* Universal/Imagine are in advanced talks to turn Dr. Seuss' THE CAT IN THE CAT into a big screen live-action movie to star Tim Allen. They are going to start from scratch and not use any of the scripts DreamWorks was developing when they were working on the project.
* Gene Simmons and Brian Levine are developing the feature EVIL ERNIE based on the Chaos comic book about a telepathic kid who can control the dead.
* Producers Chris and Roberta Hanley (TWO GIRLS AND A GUY, THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, AMERICAN PSYCHO) have optioned the book GOING DOWN by Jennifer Belle about an aspiring actress who becomes a call girl to get through the Tisch School of the Arts.
* Producers Harry and Mary Jane Ufland are developing a feature based on the novel A LITTLE LOVE by C.C. Medina. It is said to be targeted as a Latin-themed WAITING TO EXHALE about four Latina women who have different problems with men. WB's Alcon Entertainment is backing the pic.
* Winter Films grabbed the rights to Julie Garwood's romantic suspense novel HEARTBREAKER about a psychopathic killer who confides his homicidal fantasies to a priest. When the priest realizes his sister is the target of the killer's obsession, he asks his FBI agent best friend to protect her.
The recaps just keep getting longer and longer. I'm pretty pumped about Brad Pitt doing a Coen Bros. flick and the cast of GANGS OF NEW YORK. I'm glad Dan Aykroyd is making a wise decision doing a Woody Allen pic and I'm curious/excited about PRESS YOUR LUCK with Bill Murray. Can't wait to hear more about that one. Same goes for GHOST RIDER. THE CAT IN THE HAT could be great. I wonder who they'll get to direct. Who would you like to see helm it? Andrew Niccol and the CGI actress in SIMONE...this is going to cause a stir. Thoughts? THE NINTH MAN sounds cool. Anyone read the book? Lil' bit of info on SCARY MOVIE II, BASIC INSTINCT 2, STUART LITTLE 2 and CROCODILE DUNDEE 3 this week. Sorry.
Also, I'm now also doing a recap of just script news for www.screenwritersutopia.com. Check out the place if you are so inclined.
Until next week...
Elston Gunn
