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!
Untitled Paul Thomas Project
Paul Thomas Anderson, the writer/director/producer of "Boogie Nights," is making top secret plans for his next project. The film reunites him with New Line Cinema, which released Anderson's critically acclaimed totem to the '70s porn industry, but sources say the studio isn't sure what the story is about. It is understood, however, that the film would be updated to contemporary times and be set in the San Fernando Valley, the sprawling Los Angeles suburb in which "Boogie Nights" was based. Anderson also has said that in his next outing he wants to use many of the actors who were in "Boogie Nights." He is working on the original screenplay, and is eyeing a production start as early as this summer. "Boogie Nights" has received best supporting actor Oscar nominations for Burt Reynolds and Julianne Moore, and a best screenplay nod for Anderson. His script for the film also has been nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Award for best original screenplay -- making him the only American among the four writers nominated this year. Anderson's debut feature-length film, "Hard Eight" -- an expansion of his highly regarded Sundance short "Coffee and Cigarettes" -- has been nominated for best first feature and best debut screenplay awards at the Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica on Saturday.
The Bone Collector
Director Phillip Noyce, who last made "The Saint," is attached to helm a feature adaptation of "The Bone Collector," based on the novel by Jeffrey Deaver. The book, published last year, is about a suicidal, quadriplegic police detective who teams with a female officer to track down a serial killer. Neither of the principal roles has been cast. The project is set up at Universal. "The Bone Collector" is one of three projects that Noyce is circling. The others are action-thriller "Blast Off" and space Western "The Trail," a loose remake of John Ford's "The Searchers." Noyce is still attached to direct a long-gestating adaptation of the Graham Greene novel "The Quiet American." Noyce's other credits include two Tom Clancy adaptations: "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger."
Angela's Ashes
"The Commitments" director Alan Parker has committed to return to Irish soil and direct "Angela's Ashes," an adaptation of Frank McCourt's bestselling memoir, for Paramount Pictures. Parker will produce the film with Scott Rudin and David Brown, with filming to start in the fall. Though the book has been at or near the top of the bestseller lists for 78 weeks in hardcover, the studios were cold on the property when Rudin and Brown first expressed interest; in fact, the producers used their own money. It is, after all, the story of an Irish boy growing up in abject poverty, with a drunken father and siblings who drop like flies because they are so badly neglected. But the story also is laced with humor, telling the uplifting saga of McCourt's emigration to the U.S. Now that McCourt has won the Pulitzer Prize and become one of Gotham's most celebrated authors and the book has been an international bestseller for Scribner's, "Angela's Ashes" has become a high-profile project. Parker, who was able to convey the charm of working-class kids in "The Commitments," seems an ideal match for the material. Paramount is now in talks to turn the film into a co-production with Polygram -- where Parker's Dirty Hands Prods. is based -- with Paramount handling domestic distribution rights and Polygram foreign. Parker committed on the basis of the script, which was written by McCourt and Laura Jones, whose credits include "Oscar and Lucinda," "Portrait of a Lady" and "A Thousand Acres." Parker's repped by CAA.
Standing Knockdown
Actor and filmmaker Mario Van Peebles has set up the boxing picture "Standing Knockdown" as the second venture from a production company he recently co-founded. Ivan Cain Prods., which van Peebles formed with producer-director Mark Buntzman, plans to make two pictures annually each in the $5 million budget area. The first project, "Love Kills," written, produced and directed by Van Peebles, will have its premiere Thursday night at the Galaxy Theater in Hollywood. Van Peebles will direct "Standing Knockdown" from a script he co-wrote with Dennis Haggerty. The picture is about a boxer in New York who gets tangled in the underworld mob scene. Van Peebles and Buntzman will produce. "Love Kills" -- which stars Van Peebles, Lesley Ann Warren, Loretta Devine, Daniel Baldwin, Alexis Arquette, Louise Fletcher and Donovan Leitch -- was fully financed by Ivan Cain. Buntzman would not divulge who provided financing for Ivan Cain, but said they were private investors. Van Peebles' directing credits include "New Jack City" for Warner Bros. and "Posse" and "Panther," both for Polygram. But he said the new company would go after more than just action and exploitation pictures. The pair met in the mid-1980s on the set of "Exterminator 2," which Buntzman was directing with Van Peebles starring. Van Peebles said the duo has a number of other projects in development, including "Crazy Love," a love story written by Van Peebles with no director attached yet, and another untitled underground mobster story based on a novel by William Morris and Buntzman. "It's a story that's never been told," Buntzman said. "I'll tell you the story, but I'll have to kill you," quipped Van Peebles.
Ballbusted
Norm Macdonald's news anchor career on "Saturday Night Live" may be over, but his film career with MGM is just hitting its stride. The studio is gearing up for the May 15 release of Macdonald's first starring vehicle, "Dirty Work," and has just agreed to buy worldwide distribution rights to "Ballbusted," the comedy that will be Macdonald's next film. In "Dirty Work," Macdonald plays an entrepreneur who opens a business helping people get revenge. "Ballbusted" features the comedian as a disgruntled chauffeur who decides to kidnap his rich employer's dog. "Ballbusted" was written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski ("The People Vs. Larry Flynt"), who also will make their directorial debut on the film. "On the surface, Norm is a put-upon everyman, a butler for a wealthy woman," said producer Robert Simonds of "Ballbusted." "It has the element of snob vs. slob, us vs. them, but everything he does to screw her over puts him more in the hole."
Sonny Liston Biopic
Ving Rhames, fresh from his Golden Globe-winning portrayal of the big-haired boxing promoter in HBO's "Don King: Only in America," will next play former heavyweight Sonny Liston in a Paramount biopic that William Friedkin will direct from a script by Shane Salerno. Liston, a glowering, towering precursor to such hard punchers as Mike Tyson, rose from prison fatigues to become boxing's heavyweight champion by demolishing Floyd Patterson. He lost the title in a shocking upset to Muhammad Ali, who beat Liston in a controversial rematch that ended with Liston on the canvas, hit by a phantom punch that left many crying "fix." Liston, long a troubled figure and a bitter man who served a prison stretch for robbery, died of a heroin overdose in circumstances some considered to be suspicious. To Rhames, who is also producing the film and has completed three months of ring training under the tutelage of former champ Sugar Ray Leonard, Liston's much more than a thug who fueled Ali's path to legend status. Like many boxers throughout history, Liston grew up poor and without a constructive father figure. He was ultimately done in by demons from that childhood, which left him ill-equipped to handle life outside the ring. "Here was a guy who was illiterate, who was one of 25 children born to a father who felt that if the kids are old enough to walk, they're old enough to work," said Rhames. In addition to watching Liston's fights to emulate his style, Rhames said he's done extensive research with fighters and trainers who knew him, with legendary boxing trainer Emmanuel Steward serving as his tour guide. Rhames has also gotten input from sources on the other side of the law with direct knowledge of Liston's association with the mob, and his suspicious death. "I almost want to say it's a look at what it's like to be a slave in the 1960s, because (Liston) was basically owned and controlled by the mob his whole career, after serving as a strong-arm for them," Rhames said. Rhames said Liston was an easy target for racism. He was once forced to move after being taunted daily by cops who'd pull over his car just to hassle him. Liston eventually beat up a cop, and took his gun and badge to stop the torment. "I've been stopped driving my Lexus in Beverly Hills because I'm big, black and had tinted windows," said Rhames. "Imagine what it must have been like for (Liston) in the '60s, this dark-skinned black man who was openly called a gorilla or the king of beasts by the press." With Rhames and Friedkin in the ring, the Paramount project squares off against another Liston picture at Warner Bros., tapped as a directing vehicle for John Herzfeld, who put Rhames through his paces in the King biopic. Rhames said that Salerno, whose recent script work includes stints on "Shaft," "Armageddon" and "Zodiac," is far along on his script. Friedkin, coming off "12 Angry Men" for Showtime, hopes to make the Liston project his next film. And while Rhames is expected to rejoin Tom Cruise in the Paramount sequel to "Mission: Impossible," Paramount sources said the Liston picture's expected to be in production this year. That's welcome news to Rhames: "It will be done soon, it has to. I just can't take too many more shots from Sugar Ray Leonard. Sometimes I think because of my bald head that he has flashbacks that I'm Marvin Hagler. He's killing my ribs."
Anything For Love
Will Smith and Whitney Houston are attached to star in "Anything For Love,' a romantic comedy in development at Universal. The picture is about a man who dumps his girlfriend and then realizes eight months later that she's the love of his life and that he'll do anything to get her back. The studio bought the Tom Flynn's spec script for a mid-six-figure price tag, beating out Disney's Touchstone, Paramount and Columbia. Sources said Smith and Houston were attached only if the project went to Universal.
End of Days
Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to duel with the devil in the supernatural thriller "End of Days," his first starring role since "Jingle All the Way' in 1996. Schwarzenegger took home $25 million for a supporting role in last year's "Batman & Robin." It is not clear what his payday will be for "End of Days," though one source said, "It's his going rate." Set at the turn of the millennium, the picture is about a visit by Satan to New York City to search for a bride. Schwarzenegger will play an ex-cop who now runs an elite Gotham security outfit and must foil the plan. "End of Days," which will carry a budget in the $100 million area, is currently out to directors. Schwarzenegger has approval over the choice. Schwarzenegger, who likes to take his time making decisions on projects, had been eyeing the Beacon Pictures/Universal picture for several weeks. He was attached to Warner Bros.' "I Am Legend," but the film fell apart recently over budget issues. He also had been considering the Oliver Stone-produced feature version of "S.W.A.T." for Sony's TriStar Pictures.
High Fidelity
John Cusack, hot off "Grosse Pointe Blank," is set to star in "High Fidelity," based on a British bestseller about a record store owner who wants to win his former girlfriend back. Stephen Frears is near a deal to direct Cusack in the Touchstone Pictures project. The pair last worked together on the critically acclaimed adaptation of the Donald Westlake novel "The Grifters." Together with his "Grosse Pointe Blank" writing partners Steve Pink and D.V. deVincentis, Cusack turned in a strong adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel, and Disney-owned Touchstone is pushing for a summer start.
The Last Word
Face/Off" director John Woo will produce "The Last Word," a period action-adventure set in the declining days of the wild West. Woo is not currently attached to direct the TriStar Pictures project, although it will most likely be developed with him in mind, sources said Wednesday. His business partner Terence Chang will also produce. The picture revolves around a former lawman who has parlayed his years spent in the saddle fightinmg gun-toting outlaws into a career as a pulp fiction novelist. He is thrust back into action after hearing of a robbery that has a familiar smell to it, and ends up hunting his old nemesis, a legendary outlaw who also has been called to action for one last job. TriStar bought the script in a high-six-figure deal from Trey Callaway and feature newcomer Gary Glasberg. Callaway recently struck a deal to write the sequel to the horror hit "I Know What You Did Last Summer."
For the love of the game
Kevin Costner, who vaulted to stardom in the baseball pictures "Bull Durham" and "Field of Dreams" a decade ago, is in final talks to step up to the plate once more in "For the Love of the Game." Based on a novel by Michael Shaara, the picture is about an aging baseball pitcher who, while hurling a perfect game, daydreams about what went wrong with his career over the years. Costner loosely committed to the Universal project two years ago, but never sealed a deal. The project had languished at the studio, but Beacon Pictures took an interest after it signed an overall production deal with Universal. Universal and Beacon are now out to directors on the picture and expect to start production some time in September, right after Costner finishes "Message in a Bottle" for Warner Bros. Costner, who last starred in the flop "The Postman," has recently been flirting with several projects, including a sequel to "The Bodyguard."
Untitled Rodriguez/Williamson Project
Robert Patrick and Elijah Wood have joined the ensemble cast of the untitled sci-fi alien project being directed by Robert Rodriguez. Kevin Williamson ("Scream") will write the picture, which distributor Dimension Films is positioning for a Christmas Day release. Dimension is tight-lipped about the plot, but the cross-genre taste of Rodriguez ("From Dusk Till Dawn") and Williamson -- encompassing horror, sci-fi and tongue-in-cheek humor -- is well-known. Patrick, best known for playing the evil T-1000 in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," recently starred in "Cop Land" and finished work on the upcoming "Dusk" sequel "Texas Blood Money." Wood, whose early pictures included "North" and "The War," generated positive buzz with his performance in director Ang Lee's "The Ice Storm." Also signed for the new Dimension picture are up-and-comers Clea Duvall (the upcoming "The Astronaut's Wife"), Shawn Hatosy ("The Postman") and Josh Hartnett (the upcoming "Halloween: H20").
The Legend of Bagger Vance
Robert Redford is negotiating with DreamWorks to direct and star in "The Legend of Bagger Vance," about a mythic golf match in Georgia in 1931. The project is based on a 1995 novel by Steven Pressfield, who also wrote "Gates of Fire," which is being developed by George Clooney's Maysville Pictures production company. An employee at Wildwood said the "Bagger Vance" project has been in development "for quite some time." It was known that Redford had optioned the script and was interested in directing it, but not that he planned on starring. Redford's current project is Touchstone's "The Horse Whisperer," in which he plays the lead alongside Kristin Scott Thomas. He also directed the film, set for release on May 25. "Vance" is tentatively scheduled to roll next year.
Swordfish
Stephen Schiff, a staff writer for the New Yorker, has signed to adapt David McClintock's drug cartel book "Swordfish" for 20th Century Fox, sources said Wednesday. The book is about a Cuban-American DEA covert operative in Miami who becomes the victim of bureaucratic intrigue while he attempts to cripple one of the largest drug cartels in Colombia. Disney-based filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld, who will produce with Barry Josephson, is also interested in directing but as yet has no deal. Sonnenfeld last directed "Men in Black." Schiff wrote the screenplays for "Lolita," "Deep End of the Ocean" and the upcoming Clint Eastwood starrer "True Crime."
Casting News
-Noah Emmerich, who made his feature film debut in Ted Demme's "Beautiful Girls," will be reunited with the director on "Life" at Universal. Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence star in the film as two convicts who spend 60 years trying to break out of prison. Emmerich plays a 1940s baseball scout who goes to a jail to find the latest talent. His film credits include James Mangold's "Cop Land" and Demme's latest film "Noose." The picture premiered at Sundance under the title "Snitch," and does not yet have a U.S. distributor. Emmerich will next be seen playing Jim Carrey's best friend in Peter Weir's "The Truman Show" for Paramount.
-Madeleine Stowe, Angelina Jolie and Gillian Anderson are in serious negotiations with Miramax to play sisters in the family drama "Dancing About Architecture." Gena Rowlands is in talks to play their mother, and an offer is out to Paul Newman to play her husband, sources said. Willard Carroll will direct from his own script.
-"Friends" co-star Matthew Perry has signed on for the lead role opposite Neve Campbell in "Three to Tango," a tentatively titled romantic comedy of mistaken sexual identity, according to sources. The Warner Bros. project is slated to start shooting in Toronto in late April. Damon Santostefano is attached to direct. In the story, a philandering ad agency owner who mistakenly thinks an architect (Perry) he employs is gay, directs the architect to keep tabs on his mistress (Campbell). The architect falls for the mistress, but has to maintain the charade of gayness. Perry starred in last year's box office disappointment "Fools Rush In" opposite Salma Hayek, while Campbell has had better luck in "The Craft" and the "Scream" franchise. He will next be seen on the big screen in May when "Almost Heroes," starring the late Chris Farley, is scheduled to open.
-Paul Walker, who's due out in Disney's "Meet the Deedles" next week, will toss spirals in "Varsity Blues" opposite Jon Voight, sources said. The Paramount project is about a young football player in Texas who is pressured by his coach, parents and town to win a state championship. Walker plays the first-string quarterback. Voight is the coach. Production is slated to start next month in Austin, Texas. Walker stars in New Line's "Pleasantville," opposite Reese Witherspoon, scheduled for release in October. He will also appear in "Broke Down Palace" with Claire Danes.
-Michelle Williams, who stars in the WB hit series "Dawson's Creek," has signed to star in the Nixon-era comedy "Dick." Williams and Kirsten Dunst will play teens who befriend the White House dog, Checkers, on a class field trip. The pair become the official dog walkers and the secret youth advisers to President Nixon during the Watergate scandal. "Dick" begins shooting in April in Toronto and Washington, D.C. Andrew Fleming ("The Craft") will direct from a script he co-wrote with Sheryl Longin. Williams is currently filming "Halloween: H2O," Miramax's entry in the "Halloween" horror franchise.
-John Hannah, the Scottish-brogued thesp who delivered W. H. Auden so well in "Four Weddings and a Funeral," has signed to co-star with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz in Universal's fright pic remake "The Mummy." Hannah will play Weisz's brother in what is his first major-studio production. He is next on the big screen opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in "Sliding Doors," which is scheduled to open in limited release on April 24. Other credits include "The James Gang," "Resurrection Man," "The Innocent Sleep," "Madagascar Skin," "Harbour Beat" and "Drugstone Cowboy."
-Alfre Woodard will reteam with "Grand Canyon" director Lawrence Kasdan to star in Disney's "Mumford." Woodard will play Lily, a quirky cafe proprietor, in the film about a small Midwestern town whose citizens are shocked to learn that a beloved local psychologist and matchmaker is an impostor. She joins previously announced cast members Loren Dean, Ted Danson, Elizabeth Perkins and Jason Lee. "Mumford," scheduled to begin shooting in May in Northern California, is written, directed and co-produced by Kasdan. Woodard, who was Oscar-nominated in 1983 for her supporting role in "Cross Creek," recently starred in Maya Angelou's "Down in the Delta," which will be released theatrically by Miramax. Her other recent feature credits include Paramount's "Star Trek: First Contact" and "Primal Fear."
-New York stage veteran Jake Weber, currently onscreen in "Dangerous Beauty," has joined John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton in "Pushing Tin." Weber plays the sarcastic and opinionated best friend of fellow air traffic controller Cusack in Fox's New York-set comedy. Mike Newell directs from a script by "Cheers" scribes Glen and Les Charles. Weber recently completed filming on "Meet Joe Black" with Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins, as well as on "Elements" with Rob Morrow and Claire Forlani.
-While Warner Bros. is haggling over bucks with Kevin Spacey to square off against Nicolas Cage in the Tim Burton-directed "Superman Reborn," Dish hears the studio wants Chris Rock for the role of cub reporter Jimmy Olson. Rock has the offer, after the studio saw his work in the still-shooting fourth installment of "Lethal Weapon." In that picture, Rock plays the cop son-in-law of Danny Glover and, through his improvisation, the role has grown from its original scripted incarnation. The comic might be between a rock and a hard place with scheduling. Already splitting time between "Lethal Weapon" and a starring role alongside Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in Kevin Smith's "Dogma," he's also due to return to his HBO show.
Deal
-Walt Disney Pictures has nabbed the pitches "Joe in Accounting" and "Band on the Run" from scripting team Andy Marx and Tony Peyser, sources said Monday. Each of the deals is potentially worth in the mid six-figures if the movies are made,. "Joe in Accounting" is about a female CEO who dates a low-ranking employee to keep him from becoming a whistle-blower against the company, then falls in love with him. "Band on the Run" is about a forgotten 1980s band that is offered $10 million to reunite. The group's lead singer-songwriter however, is missing and the band has two weeks to find him. Marx and Peyser recently teamed on "Darkness at Night," which is in development at Disney's Hollywood Pictures. Marx, a former Daily Variety reporter and the grandson of Groucho Marx, has been a journalist in Hollywood for numerous publications for more than 10 years. Peyser is a cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times.
-Actor-director Forest Whitaker has signed a three-year, first-look deal with Polygram-owned Propaganda Films.The deal calls for Whitaker -- director of Fox's 1995 sleeper hit "Waiting to Exhale" -- to shoot one of his next three films for Propaganda. According to Propaganda chairman Steve Golin, Propaganda will both submit existing development projects to Whitaker and buy original pitches and scripts for him."The intention is for us to do as much business with Forest as we can," said Golin, emphasizing that this was a "filmmaker-driven deal" that did not require Whitaker to make a fixed number of pictures. Whitaker will also produce under the deal, and Propaganda will contribute towards the overhead costs of his Spirit Dance outfit. Whitaker cut his teeth directing the Cheryl "Pepsi" Riley music video "Thanks for my Child" at Propaganda. His film directing debut was the HBO movie "Strapped." He directed "Hope Floats," starring Sandra Bullock and Harry Connick Jr., which Fox will release in the U.S. on May 29. Whitaker's acting credits include Clint Eastwood's "Bird," Neil Jordan's "The Crying Game," Oliver Stone's "Platoon" and Barry Levinson's "Good Morning Vietnam."
-Scribe Simon Beaufoy, who earned an Oscar nomination for writing the box office smash "The Full Monty," has lined up financing for his next project even without a script, director, budget or cast. Miramax Films has teamed up with Intermedia Films to greenlight "Blow Dry," which is described as a "social" comedy set in the world of competition hairdressing. The U.K.-set film -- which is based on an idea by producer Ruth Jackson -- is tentatively set for a fall start. "The Full Monty" cost $3.5 million to make and has grossed $215 million worldwide. The film received four Oscar nominations: picture, director (Peter Cattaneo), original musical or comedy score (Anne Dudley) and original screenplay.
