Hey folks, Harry here with yet another installment of Elston Gunn's Weekly Recap... David Hayter taking a pass at the most recent Michael France script for THE INCREDIBLE HULK... Personally I'd like to see France's draft as... his FANTASTIC FOUR original draft is one of the great comic book scripts around... period. SOrry this was delayed in getting up... I'm in the midst of film nirvana at the moment. Here's Elston...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Eleven-year old British actor Daniel Radcliffe (upcoming THE TAILOR OF PANAMA) has been cast as Harry Potter in the Warner Bros. adaptation of HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE. Rupert Grint and Emma Watson will play his best friends. Richard Griffiths (Uncle Durdsley), Fiona Shaw (Aunt Petunia) and Ian Hart (Professor Quirrell) have all signed to star in the film as well. Chris Columbus directs.
* Richard Gere is in talks to star in the thriller UNFAITHFUL for Fox 2000 and director Adrian Lyne. It's based on the French film LA FEMME INFIDELE and centers around a married woman, an affair and murder. Production may start in December.
* Brendan Gleeson (THE GENERAL) joins both A.I. for director Steven Spielberg and GANGS OF NEW YORK for helmer Martin Scorcese.
* Bill Murray is in talks to star in THE ROYAL TANNENBAUMS for director Wes Anderson from a script Anderson co-wrote with Owen Wilson about a New York family of geniuses. Production is slated to begin in January.
* Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser will star in THE QUIET AMERICAN for director Phillip Noyce based on the 1955 novel by Graham Greene. It centers around a British reporter whose Vietnamese girlfriend takes the eyes of an American CIA agent. Christopher Hampton (DANGEROUS LIASONS) adapted the book for the screen. Shooting may begin early 2001.
* Catherine Keener, Pruitt Taylor Vince and Jason Schwartzman join Al Pacino in SIMONE for writer/director Andrew Niccol about a movie producer who creates a real-looking CGI character, Simone, for his film after his actress suddenly drops out of the film. Keener will play a studio head/ex-wife to Pacino's character while Vince will portray a tabloid reporter who tries to find out about the truth about Simone. Schwartzman will play his assistant.
* Joseph Fiennes is in talks to star opposite Heather Graham in the erotic thriller KILLING ME SOFTLY for director Chen Kaige (FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE) about a research scientist who exits out of her comfortable relationship with her boyfriend and into a dangerous obsession with a mountaineer. It's based on the novel by Nicci French. Shooting begins Oct. 29.
* Anthony Anderson (BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE) joins DMX in the action pic EXIT WOUNDS for director Andrzej Bartkowiak and producer Joel Silver.
* Rebecca Pidgeon and Patti LuPone have been added to the cast of THE HEIST starring Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito.
* Lobo Sebastian (BROTHER, NEXT FRIDAY) joins Pam Grier, Natasha Henstridge and Ice Cube in JOHN CARPENTER'S GHOST OF MARS.
* Ray Romano ("Everybody Loves Raymond") and Kevin James ("King of Queens") will star in a romantic comedy for Paramount based on their own idea. They'll also be involved in writing the script.
* Glenn Close and Timothy Olyphant will star in THE SAFETY OF OBJECTS based on the A.M. Homes novel for writer/director Rose Troche (GO FISH). Patricia Clarkson also stars. It's a series of interrelated stories about the four suburban neighborhood families and their unhappy lives.
* Penelope Cruz is in talks to join Tom Cruise in the love story VANILLA SKY for writer/director Cameron Crowe and Paramount Pictures.
* Nicolas Cage is in talks to star in ADAPTATION for director Spike Jonze and Columbia Pictures. Charlie Kaufman wrote the script. It's about a love-sick writer who is trying to adapt Susan Orlean's THE ORCHID THIEF into a screenplay and gets his twin brother to help him--the project then becomes a huge hit. Meryl Streep may be interested as well.
* Robin Williams may develop and star in LIBERACE for director Philip Kaufman and Independent Pictures. Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer scripted the biopic about the entertainer and child prodigy. Williams will also serve as narrator on A.I. for director Steven Spielberg.
* Jake Gyllenhaal (OCTOBER SKY) will star in Disney's comedy THE BUBBLE BOY about a boy who has to life in a plastic room because he doesn't have an immune system. He ventures out into the world in a bubble suit after he hears the woman he loves is going to marry another man at Niagra Falls. The project is unrelated to the 1976 telefilm THE BOY IN THE PLASTIC BUBBLE.
* Jenny McCarthy and Chris Eigeman (BARCELONA) will star in the indie romantic comedy THE PERFECT YOU. Shooting begins Sept. 18 in New York.
* Willem Dafoe is in talks to star in the British indie flick MORALITY PLAY about a priest on the run who takes up with a traveling band of actors. They discover a murder has a occurred in a town and sets about trying to solve it by re-creating the crime in a play. Paul McGuigan (THE ACID HOUSE) directs. Shooting begins in October.
* Kevin Kline is in talks to star in the dark comedy LIFE AS A HOUSE about a terminally ill man who pursues his dream of building a house. He coaxes his estranged son into helping him and manages to rekindle an understanding with both the son and his estranged wife. Production begins in November. Mark L. Andrus (AS GOOD AS IT GETS) scripted.
* Francesca Neri (LIVE FLESH, HANNIBAL) joins Arnold Schwarzenegger in COLLATERAL DAMAGE for director Andrew Davis (THE FUGITIVE) and Warner Bros.
* Will Smith is in talks to star and Gary Ross in talks to direct an untitled drama for New Line Cinema based on the Moulin Rouge, the first interracial hotel and casino. It opened in 1955 and mysteriously closed at the height of its popularity. Walter Mosley (DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS) will write the script.
* Julie Andrews is in talks to join the cast of Disney's THE PRINCESS DIARIES for director Garry Marshall. Andrews will play Clarisse Renaldo, the royal grandmother to a teenager who is shocked to find out her father is the prince of Genovia and she is the heir to the throne.
* A.J. Buckley (THE IN CROWD) joins WISHCRAFT.
* Matt Czuchry ("Young Americans") will join Ben Savage and Kelly Rutherford in SWIMMING UPSTREAM for Media Entertainment. It's about a 17-year-old who is diagnosed with leukemia.
* Angie Everheart and James Wilder will star in the thriller HEART OF STONE for A Plus Entertainment.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* David Hayter (X-MEN) will write THE INCREDIBLE HULK and PITCH BLACK 2 for Universal Pictures.
* Andy Fleming (DICK, THE CRAFT) is in final talks to direct CLOSURE about a young female lawyer who seeks closure with her ex-boyfriends after getting dumped by her fiance. Ellen Rapoport scripted.
* Eric Nicholas will adapt the thriller COYOTE ENTERPRISES for Alcon Entertainment based on the upcoming book by Gil Roscoe about a guy who is seduced into a con by his "femme-fatale ex girlfriend."
* David Hubbard (upcoming DELIVERING MILO) will write the comedy/drama DAD'S NEW LIFE for Jerry Bruckheimer Films about a daughter who must deal with her stepmom, whom she doesn't trust.
* Revolution Studios head Joe Roth may direct AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS for the studio about an acting couple who went through a messy split and are reunited at a press junket. Roth previously directed COUPE DE VILLE and REVENGE OF THE NERDS II among others.
* Director Boaz Yakin (REMEMBER THE TITANS, A PRICE ABOVE RUBIES, FRESH) will direct BATMAN BEYOND for Warner Bros. based on the animated WB Kids series. Yakin will co-write the script with the show's creators Paul Dini and Alan Burnett. Sci-fi novelist Neal Stephenson will serve as a creative consultant. Taking place 40 years in the future, Batman is now brought to life by a high schooler who battles evil corporate forces who killed his father and took over Bruce Wayne's empire.
* Ted Tally (THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS) will adapt Joe R. Lansdale's 1995 novel MUCHO MOJO for New Line Cinema about a straight white man and a gay black man and their small town adventures. The two men start fixing up a house an uncle left to one of them. They discover the skeletons of many children and set out to find out the truth and clear the uncle's name.
* Dominique Lett will adapt SIS BOOM BAH, Jane Heller's comedic novel about two sisters who must stop their lifelong bickering when their mother has a heart attack. They find themselves competing for the attention of a doctor, who turns up dead. Revolution Studios acquired the rights to the book and is developing the project.
* Commercial director Jim Sonzero will direct the psychological thriller DEADER for Dimension Films about an investigative reporter caught up in a supernatural world.
* Joel Gallen will direct the teen spoof TEEN MOVIE for Columbia Pictures.
* Paul Thomas Anderson will write/direct a comedy feature to possibly star Adam Sandler with New Line Cinema getting a first look.
* Mark Steilen (THE SETTLEMENT) will direct REAL MEN for Phoenix Pictures and exec producers Peter and Bobby Farrelly.
* Eleven-year-old Chaille Stovall is in talks to direct CAMP GRIZZLY starring Dan Haggerty ("Grizzly Adams") for Emmett/Furla Films. Production begins in October.
* Ken Kaufman (SPACE COWBOYS co-writer) will write a live action/animated film for the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes characters (a la SPACE JAM). Quincy Jones Media Group is producing the film with Billy Gerber.
* James Merendino (SLC PUNK) will direct and produce GET WELL SOON for Avenue Pictures written by Peter Elkoff. Production begins in November. It centers on a young man trying to overcome his drug addiction and his attempts to win the woman he has adored since college.
* Jonathan Gruber and Erik Bress will write FINAL DESTINATION 2 for New Line Cinema.
* Don Rhymer (BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE) will write JUMANJI 2 for Columbia Pictures. It apparently picks up with the dreaded game being fished out of the ocean by the vice president.
* Kendrew Lascelles (FOCUS) will write the adaptation of the Harold Nebenzal thriller novel THE LION CULT for Total Film Group about a group of foreign companies headquartered in a mansion that face danger from competing cartels and diamond merchants.
* John Harrison (DINOSAUR co-scribe) will write the thriller THE LINEUP for Warner Bros. and Overbrook Entertainment about an innocent man who is falsely singled out as the perpetrator of a crime after he agrees to participate in a police lineup.
* Jon Bokenkamp (BLAIR WITCH 2) will rewrite WWW3.COM for 20th Century Fox and producer Luc Besson about cyber-terrorists who declare war on the U.S.
* Writer John Lee Hancock (A PERFECT WORLD) is in talks to direct ROOKIE based on the true story of a teacher who fulfilled his life dream of becoming a professional baseball player. Mike Rich (FINDING FORRESTER) wrote the script.
* Ted Demme is in talks to direct the New Line thriller THE OTHER SIDE OF SIMPLE by Eric Kmetz about two thieves who reunite with one of the thieves' slow-witted younger brother, who was arrested 10 years earlier when the two abandoned him during a botched robbery. Using him as a patsy in their upcoming job, the thieves find out the brother is not as dumb as he seems and his forgiveness is a ruse.
* Lee Tamahori is set to direct BASIC, a thriller for Phoenix Pictures about U.S. DEA agent who is investigating the disappearance of a drill instructor and several of his cadets during a training exercise. Shooting begins in January.
* Martin Scorsese will direct GUCCI: A HOUSE DIVIDED, an epic chronicling four generations of the Italian fashion dynasty. It will be based on Gerald McKnight's 1987 book of the same name.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Columbia Pictures and Original Films are developing the third installment of the I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER horror series. The project is said to involve all-new characters in a tale of morality--refraining from camp or comedy. Simon Davis Barry (THE ART OF WAR co-writer) is penning the script.
* Fox and producer John Davis are developing a feature film based on the 60s group the Mamas & the Papas. Members John Phillips, Michelle Phillips and Denny Doherty will all be exec producers.
* Artisan Entertainment will appeal the NC-17 given to Darren Aronofsky's film REQUIEM FOR A DREAM. The MPAA gave the rating due to some "some explicit sexual images."
* Fox 2000 is developing THE A-TEAM, a feature based on the 1980s TV series, with Top Cow Prods. for a 2001 release. Fox picked it up in turnaround from Universal Pictures.
* Phillip Noyce has decided not to direct the feature adaptation of Tom Clancy's THE SUM OF ALL FEARS (starring Ben Affleck as Jack Ryan) due to schedule conflicts of his other pic THE QUIET AMERICAN.
* MGM is in talks to remake the 1964 Peter Sellers flick THE WORLD OF HENRY ORIENT about two teens who are obsessed with a pianist while he is trying to seduce another woman.
* Writer/director Robert Towne and producer Fred Roos are developing a feature ASK THE DUST based on the John Fante love story novel with Conrad Hall (AMERICAN BEAUTY) handling cinematography. It's about a young man who was castigated in Colorado for his Italian heritage, who comes to L.A. to become a novelist. He meets and falls in love with a Mexican waitress.
* Warner Bros. plans to release a third POKEMON film in the spring. The film hit Japan's theaters last month and will be redubbed and retitled for American audiences.
* Landscape Entertainment picked up the rights to author Gregory Mcdonald's series of FLYNN mystery novels. It centers around an inspector at the Boston Police Dept. and his humorous unorthodox methods.
Quite a showbiz week, WOULDN'T YOU SAY?!? Harry Potter was finally cast and "Survivor" finally ended. More sequel news this week with I KNOW...3, JUMANJI 2, FINAL DESTINATION 2 and PITCH BLACK 2 (though PB2's writer is also doing THE HULK). THE A-TEAM film project has been revived again--same goes for LIBERACE (Robin Williams is staying busy) and maybe ASK THE DUST (in development for 25 years). Good to hear what Scorcese and Ted Demme are up to next, as well as the Looney Tunes, Kevin Kline, Willem Dafoe and Batman (Beyond in this case).
I'm pretty curious about the Paul Thomas Anderson/Adam Sandler collaboration. Other interesting team-ups include Will Smith/Gary Ross, Brendan Fraser/Michael Caine, Joseph Fiennes/Heather Graham.Penelope Cruz/Tom Cruise/Cameron Crowe, Nicolas Cage/Meryl Streep/Spike Jonze and the whole SIMONE project. And Bill Murray is reteaming with director Wes Anderson in THE ROYAL TANNENBAUMS. Sweet.
Until next week...
Elston Gunn
