Diggity Dawg's Recap! Culled from Variety/Hollywood Reporter/and assorted. If you have anything to add about the below projects, drop me a letter! Love to hear from ya!
Howard Hughes Biopic
Filmmaking brothers Allen and Albert Hughes are set to direct a biopic of Howard Hughes at Universal, with Johnny Depp attached to star as the once-dashing billionaire who eventually became a germophobic recluse. The Hughes brothers, said sources, have set Terry Hayes to adapt "Empire: The Life, Legend and Madness of Howard Hughes," the bio written by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele. The directing duo sparked to Hayes after he scripted their next film, "From Hell," the story of Jack the Ripper for New Line. Hayes also has written the script for the Warner Bros. adaptation of the Ray Bradbury book "Fahrenheit 451." The Hughes brothers will produce the billionaire biopic with Kevin Messick, president of their Universal-based production company Underworld Entertainment. Depp, last seen as the title character in the Mike Newell-directed "Donnie Brasco," will have his hands full with Hughes. A millionaire at age 18, the handsome Hughes became a celebrity playboy, famous for producing such films as "Hells Angels" and "The Outlaw," meanwhile becoming the most famous pilot since Charles Lindbergh. He romanced great Hollywood beauties like Jean Harlow and Katharine Hepburn. But Hughes is also well remembered for his descent into a world of isolation. His downfall began when he survived a near-fatal airplane accident and became hooked on prescription drugs. By the time he died, he was a long-haired, long-fingernailed wreck who was bedridden much of the time and developed a debilitating fear of germs and diseases. According to the book, his arms were spotted with broken pieces of hypodermic needles embedded in his skin.
Truth or Dare
Oscar-winner William Friedkin is attached to direct the feature thriller "Truth or Dare," a remake of a BBC TV movie of the same title. The New Regency Prods. project tells the story of a lawyer who feels bored after her divorce. She relocates to Boston, where she picks up with some old college friends. A romance ensues, but she finds herself involved in deceit and murder. Friedkin -- whose credits include "The Boys in the Band," "The French Connection" (for which he won an Oscar for best director), "The Exorcist" and "Jade" -- most recently directed a remake of "12 Angry Men" for Showtime.
Cupid's Love
Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt has sold a wedding pitch to New Line Cinema, the studio riding high with the Adam Sandler romantic comedy "The Wedding Singer." Sources said Hewitt, the 19-year-old co-star of TV's "Party of Five," teamed up with Steve Cohen to sell "Cupid's Love" for an initial $500,000. The deal also gives the pair an undetermined share of profits if the project goes ahead. Cohen will write the script from Hewitt's original idea. Hewitt, who also starred in the hit film "I Know What You Did Last Summer," came up with the idea about a wedding planner who falls in love with the groom in one of her weddings. The project would give New Line another premarital yarn following the boffo box office of "The Wedding Singer," which ranks third at the box office after four weekends in release. New Line president of production Michael De Luca didn't hesitate to point out similarities to his current hit. "We know where we want to go with this material and hope we can replicate the kind of success we had with 'The Wedding Singer,"' he said.
Entrapment
Weeks before the big-budget Sean Connery picture "Entrapment" was to have begun production, director Antoine Fuqua has left the project citing "creative differences," Fox said Friday. The studio has struck a deal with British director Jon Amiel ("Sommersby") to replace Fuqua at the helm of the picture, which now has been pushed from a late April to a mid-June start date in London. Fuqua's departure was attributed to "creative differences," and was said to be "a non-acrimonious parting of the ways." It was not clear which party initiated the move. A Fox source said it was a mutual decision, stemming from different visions of the movie. A source close to Fuqua said the director left the project after it became clear the film had become a different project from the one he'd originally signed on for. Both sides agree that Fuqua's exit can be attributed to the restructuring of the script from a big-budget, action-laden heist picture to more of a character-driven romantic thriller with a heist backdrop. As the script changed, so too did the budget, which is said to have been tagged at around $75 million when Fuqua was attached, but now will reside somewhere in the $60 million neighborhood. In addition to Connery, who will executive produce the film, "Entrapment" co-stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, who is the only other cast member to have signed on to date. She stars as Connery's accomplice in crime and love interest.
Fenwick's Suit
Howard Rosenman, who produced the screen version of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Father of the Bride," is joining forces with Lancit Media Entertainment and Fox 2000 to adapt the Pulitzer Prize-winning David Small children's book "Fenwick's Suit" into a feature film. Rosenman will produce with Lancit's David Michaels and Cecily Truett. John August, whose credits include "How to Eat Fried Worms" and "A Wrinkle in Time," is writing the script. The book's the story of an executive who thrives when he wears a certain suit, until the suit decides it doesn't need the man to do the job. Craig Emanuel of Tenenbaum Emanuel Fleer repped the producers.
Archie
A screen version of "Archie," based on the 55-year-old comic book saga of students at Riverdale High, is moving ahead at Universal. Filmmaker Tommy O'Haver, whose first feature, "Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss," screened at Sundance, has been signed to write and direct the film. Archie is the redheaded ringleader of a group of students that includes Betty, Veronica, Reggie, Jughead and Moose. O'Haver said he collected the comic books as a kid and said he'll make it much like "Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss," which will be released this summer. "My movie was about young love, and 'Archie' is much the same thing," said O'Haver. "It's basically Archie stuck between Betty and Veronica, with him in love with Veronica and Betty in love with him. The studio and producer Ben Myron had been searching for the appropriate director for a long time when O'Haver came in with the right take. "His first film had the kind of fun and energy we were looking for in 'Archie," said Myron. "I don't think we could have found a better match of a writer/director and material."
Speedway Junky
Gus Van Sant, director of "Good Will Hunting," will executive produce "Speedway Junky," the feature directorial debut of shorts-filmmaker Nickolas Perry. The $1 million picture is set in Las Vegas and follows a runaway teenager who dreams of becoming a professional race car driver. Perry, who wrote the script, begins shooting the independent project May 15. Casting for the leads is under way, although Justin Urich ("3rd Rock From the Sun") has been tapped for a supporting role. Perry's short "Must Be the Music" debuted at the 1996 Sundance Festival where Van Sant saw it. The director of such edgy fare as "Drugstore Cowboy" and "My Own Private Idaho," then read the script and agreed to godfather the project.
Stretch Armstrong
In a role that would stretch his acting chops to new lengths, Danny DeVito is in talks to star in "Stretch Armstrong," a Disney film based on the doll that can expand to twice its size. The long-in-development story is about a bumbling, warm-hearted scientist and father of two boys, whose life is altered when a potion intended to kill him instead makes his body more malleable than Gumby. While most of the contortions will be handled by computer imagery, the role requires an accomplished physical actor; in the past, such comedians as Jim Carrey and Tim Allen have been mentioned to star. DeVito is well-known for his comedic turns, but less so for his physical talents, so the role should offer something of ... a stretch for the height-challenged star.
The Bride of Chucky
The wedding party is coming together for "The Bride of Chucky," the newest entry in the fright franchise. Jennifer Tilly, Brad Dourif, Jennifer Heigl and Nick Stabile will co-star in the Universal project, which is slated to begin production April 1 in Toronto. Sources involved with the project said John Ritter is in talks to join the cast. In this fourth installment of the "Child's Play" series, the doll Chucky (voiced by Dourif), who is possessed by the soul of an executed killer, hooks up with Tiffany (Tilly), a doll possessed by the spirit of a "bad" girl. The murderous duo hitch a ride to Los Angeles with a teen-aged couple (played by Heigl and Stabile), with the dolls planning to exchange bodies with their road trip hosts. Ronny Yu directs from a screenplay by Don Mancini. Tilly most recently co-starred with Jim Carrey in "Liar Liar." Dourif has starred in each of the "Child's Play" films. Heigl's credits include "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory" and "My Father, My Hero." Stabile will be making his bigscreen debut, having recently co-starred on NBC's "Sunset Beach."
Guinevere
Audrey Wells, who wrote "The Truth About Cats & Dogs" and co-wrote "George of the Jungle," has made a deal to make her directorial debut on "Guinevere," a new script that has been optioned by Millennium Films, which is joining forces with Bandeira Entertainment. It's about a young woman who becomes the protege of a volatile photographer in San Francisco; the older man becomes her lover and teaches the 21-year-old about life and art. Jonathan King will produce with Millennium head Brad Weston, with Bandeira's Beau Flynn and Stefan Simchowitz exec producing. Millennium, which will fully finance the under-$8 million film, has been reconfigured to make its mark with strong scripts and emerging filmmakers. Giving Wells the chance to direct got Millennium the deal. Pay-or-play offers are out to cast, with an April start date eyed. Wells is repped by Endeavor and lawyered by Steve Warren and Jeff Frankel at Hansen, Jacobson, Teller & Hoberman.
The Bad Boys Club
The First Wives Club" author Olivia Goldsmith has sold the rights for her next project, "The Bad Boys Club," to Paramount Pictures for just under $1 million. Where "The First Wives Club" concerned revenge-seeking ex-spouses, the new novel focuses on a guy who is so nice to women that he can't seem to keep one. He sets out to change his luck under the tutelage of a group of male friends who teach him to be a heel to women so he won't be taken for granted. In a deal that came together quickly on Wednesday, Paramount chairman Sherry Lansing, whose studio scored a highly profitable hit with "The First Wives Club," acted quickly with producer Alan Ladd Jr. to take the Goldsmith novel off the table, based on a verbal pitch from the author. Goldsmith's new novel, "Switcheroo," is in active development at New Line Cinema.
The Mod Squad
Claire Danes has been set to star in "The Mod Squad," MGM's feature film version of the hipster TV series. Created by Aaron Spelling, "The Mod Squad" launched on ABC in 1968 and spanned 100 episodes. It featured Michael Cole, Clarence Williams III and Peggy Lipton as three juvenile delinquents recruited to be undercover operatives and bust villains preying on underage kids. The film is a contemporary version that will feature the same three prototype characters. MGM is now looking to match Danes with two actors to play an undercover squad recruited to work in the Los Angeles club scene. Shooting will begin on April 27. Scott Silver will direct from a script he wrote with Stephen Kay. Danes started with the acclaimed ABC series "My So-Called Life" before venturing into features such as "William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet," "John Grisham's The Rainmaker" and the upcoming films "Les Miserables" and "Polish Wedding."
Molly
MGM has rounded out the cast for "Molly," signing deals with Jill Hennessy, Elizabeth Mitchell and D.W. Moffett to join Elisabeth Shue and Aaron Eckhart. Shue plays the title character, a mentally handicapped woman who becomes a genius after undergoing a revolutionary medical procedure. Eckhart will play Molly's brother, Buck, who cares for her after she is released from an institution. Hennessy, who is best known for her three-year stint on NBC's drama series "Law and Order," co-stars as the doctor who performs the surgery on Molly, and later falls in love with Buck. Mitchell (HBO's "Gia") takes on the role of a psychiatrist who convinces Buck to let his sister undergo the operation. Moffett ("Stealing Beauty") plays Buck's best friend, an attorney. "Molly," which is expected to undergo a name change, goes before the cameras Sunday in Los Angeles with John Duigan directing. Release is targeted for late 1998 or early 1999.
Taxman
Billy Zane, currently playing the villain in "Titanic," has started work on a low-budget Canadian romantic comedy called "Taxman." He plays George Putter, whose life is turned upside-down when he is given a huge bill for unpaid taxes. "It's a cross between 'It's a Wonderful Life' and 'The Canterville Ghost,"' said Zane. Shooting recently kicked off in Montreal, with local filmmaker Alain Zaloum ("Suspicious Minds") directing from a script by his father Jean Zaloum and Brenda Newman. It will likely open in theaters in Canada before the end of the year. The cast also includes Valerie Valois ("Scanners III"), Gordon Masten ("Gorillas in the Mist"), Patrick Bergin ("Sleeping with the Enemy"), and Barry Morse ("The Return of Sherlock Holmes"). Zaloum pere, who is also producing the C$5 million ($3.5 million) project, said audiences will see another side of Zane in "Taxman." "He really has a Cary Grant-like quality here," said Zaloum. "He's very funny." Zane recently starred in and co-produced "I Woke Up Early the Day I Died," based on the last screenplay penned by late B-movie auteur Ed Wood.
One Last Fling
Disney's Hollywood Pictures has paid mid-six-figures for the romantic comedy pitch "One Last Fling." The story centers on a commitment-phobe who runs into an ex-girlfriend about to marry another man. The guy convinces his ex to join him in one last fling before her wedding. He falls in love with her and faces a dilemma: if he breaks up her wedding plans, a commitment will be in the cards. The pitch was made by Stuart Birnbaum, who adapted the W.P. Kinsella novel "If Wishes Were Horses" for Fox, and Michael Seitzman, who wrote and directed the indie film "Farmer and Chase."
I am Legend
Only weeks after putting its expensive Arnold Schwarzenegger starrer "I Am Legend" on hold, Warner Bros. has officially pulled the plug on the project. Those involved with the film had hoped to start shooting in the summer. Director Ridley Scott was still working closely on the script, which was being rewritten by Neal Jimenez ("The River's Edge," "The Waterdance"). But Warners was pressuring Scott to bring the film's budget below $100 million. Both Scott -- who recently signed a PolyGram production pact along with his brother Tony and their Scott Free production company -- and Schwarzenegger now have major holes in their schedules.
Down with Noah
Warner Bros., which has struggled with its big-ticket items, is targeting the urban comedy genre with a project some termed a black "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." "Down With Noah" is about two white-bred black kids who trek to South-Central Los Angeles to learn how to be black. The studio paid $125,000 for first-time scribe Don D. Scott's spec script, with the figure rising to $325,000 if the film is made. Scott was in the Disney Screenwriting Fellowship from 1995-97. The Th
Casting News
-In a deal just coming together, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star Sarah Michelle Gellar is signing to topline the New Regency romantic comedy "The Magic Hour," which marks the directing debut of producer Mark Tarlov, and the second feature Gellar has committed to star in during her show hiatus. Gellar graduated from the first installment of that horror hit, getting her pick of film roles and settling on two that are far from fright fare. When "Buffy" goes on hiatus, Gellar starts work in TriStar's "Cruel Inventions," a modern retelling of "Dangerous Liaisons" starring Gellar, Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, which the studio is hyping this week at ShoWest even before a frame is shot. Then she'll go right into "Magic Hour," which is described as a "Moonstruck" with supernatural elements. She inherits a restaurant in which magical things occur. The film's produced by Jon Amiel and John Siedler. Gellar turned down leads in six other films to take the role. Gellar's deal was made by ICM's JoAnne Colonna, manager Booh Schut and lawyer Deborah Klein.
-Brandy, star of the hit UPN series "Moesha" and the ABC ratings hit "Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella," is trading slippers for slashers, closing a deal to star in the sequel to "I Know What You Did Last Summer."For the "Summer" sequel, Brandy's ICM rep Eddy Yablans closed a deal for her to co-star with returning stars Jennifer Love Hewitt (herself a TV vet of Fox's "Party of Five"), Freddie Prinze Jr. and Muse Watson.
-Phoenix Pictures has greenlit and signed Jared Leto to star in "Urban Legend," a fresh entry into the "Scream"-genre market about kids on a college campus who begin falling prey to those apocryphal tales passed along as gossip, like the baby alligator flushed down the toilet who wreaks havoc in the sewer. Leto, who co-starred in the TV series "My So-Called Life," also toplined "Prefontaine" and is featured in the Phoenix-produced "The Thin Red Line." "Urban Legend" will be directed by Jamie Blanks from a script by Silvio Horta, with Don Roos ("Single White Female") doing a production polish. Managers Cynthia Pett-Dante and Andrea Pett-Joseph made the deals along with UTA, with Phoenix repped by execs Rick Hess, Nick Osbore and Christy Prunier.
-Maura Tierney, soon to be seen in "Primary Colors," will star in "McBeth's," a contemporized retelling of the Shakespeare play that's set in a small-town fast-food eatery. The script, by first-time scribe Billy Morrissette, was optioned by Bandeira Entertainment, and will be produced by Beau Flynn and co-produced by Morrissette and Tierney's 3 Arts manager Raelle Koota. Tierney's now shooting "Instinct" for Jon Turteltaub at Touchstone and then will topline the Richard Shepard-directed indie "Oxygen," which she'll produce with Shepard, Koota and Mark Butan of the Hollywood Stock Exchange, the latter of whom set up the financing. Tierney's repped by William Morris' Peter Levine and Nicole David
-Nastassja Kinski, who was last seen in the Mike Figgis box office flop "One Night Stand," has signed for the lead roles in two independent pictures. She will star opposite Dan Aykroyd in "Susan's Plan" and opposite Ralph Fiennes in "Sunshine," sources said Monday. John Landis will direct "Susan's Plan," a black comedy about a woman who wants her ex-husband killed so she can collect the life insurance. The picture is slated to start shooting in April. Istvan Szabo will helm "Sunshine," a picture about a man who is the sole survivor of his family after World War II, purging his Jewish heritage. Kinski is next onscreen in "Friends and Neighbors" with Aaron Eckhart for director Neil LaBute (both of "In the Company of Men"). Other finished upcoming pictures include "Somebody in Waiting" and "Savior." Her credits include "Cat People," "Paris, Texas" and "Faraway, So Close." She also recently appeared in "Bella Mafia," a CBS miniseries.
-Rap star LL Cool J has landed a role in the upcoming thriller "Halloween: H20," in which Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her role from the "Halloween" franchise. The seventh installment of the slasher series is set up at Miramax Films' Dimension banner, which is keeping the plot tightly under wraps. Also just signed is Jodi Lyn O'Keefe ("Nash Bridges"). She and LL Cool J join a TV-thesp-heavy cast comprising Adam Arkin ("Chicago Hope"), Michelle Williams ("Dawson's Creek") and Joseph Gordon Levitt ("3rd Rock From the Sun"). The film, which began shooting in Los Angeles on Feb. 18, is being directed by Steve Miner, who helmed two installments of the "Friday the 13th" franchise. LL Cool J (real name James Smith) has completed a fourth season on UPN's sitcom "In the House." He made a small appearance in New Line's Jada Pinkett comedy "Woo," and did a cameo in the current release "Caught Up." His previous feature credits include "Toys" and "The Hard Way."
-Actor Jim Caviezel, who recently wrapped filming in Australia on director Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line," has joined the cast of another war epic, Ang Lee's "To Live On." He began rehearsing last week in Kansas City, Mo., where the film will be shot. Caviezel will play the fierce leader of a gang of Civil War bushwhackers. Singer Jewel and Skeet Ulrich are also in the film. In the World War II story "The Thin Red Line," Caviezel worked alongside George Clooney, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, John Travolta and Bill Pullman. Caviezel was last seen in "G.I. Jane," "Wyatt Earp" and "My Own Private Idaho."
-Rachel Weisz, who last starred with Vincent Perez in "Swept From the Sea," has been cast opposite Brendan Fraser in the remake of the classic 1932 horror film "The Mummy," sources said Thursday. The $70 million tale about an archaeological expedition is set up at Universal, and will be directed by Stephen Somers. The London-based actress is also in talks to join Ralph Fiennes and Nastassja Kinski in Istvan Szabo's "Sunshine," the story of three generations of a Jewish Hungarian family. Weisz will next be seen opposite Catherine McCormack in David Leland's comedy "Land Girls." Later this year, she will appear in Michael Winterbottom's "I Want You." Her previous credits include Mark Pellington's "Going All the Way," Bernardo Bertolucci's "Stealing Beauty" and the thriller "Chain Reaction."
