Father Geek here with Elston's report for this APRIL FOOLS DAY, 2001; however he has assured me that he took great pains to insure that the entire contents of this week's recap are TRUE... NO joke reports! I guess that's why this column is a little thinner than usual. Getting pure fact out of LA LA Land is less bulky than recapping everything you hear floating around town...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
CASTING
* Sissy Spacek is in talks to join the cast of TUCK EVERLASTING also starring William Hurt, Ben Kingsley and Alexis Bledel.
* Jason Behr ("Roswell") joins THE SHIPPING NEWS for director Lasse Hallstrom.
* Peter Facinelli (THE BIG KAHUNA) has been cast in THE SCORPION KING opposite the Rock. Chuck Russell directs the Universal project.
* DJ Qualls, Rachel Blanchard and Sean Kanan have been cast and William Hurt and Joshua Jackson are in talks to star in CHASING HOLDEN for director Malcolm Clarke and Lions Gate. It's the coming of age story of a boarding school student, not untlike Holden Caulfield in THE CATCHER IN THE RYE.
* Jake Busey, Adam Garcia, Rosario Dawson and Ethan Suplee will star in THE FIRST 20 MILLION IS ALWAYS THE HARDEST. Mick Jackson will direct the computer progammer comedy from a script by Jon Favreau.
* William H. Macy is in talks to join Isaiah Washington, Luis Guzman, Jennifer Esposito, Sam Rockwell and George Clooney in WELCOME TO COLLINWOOD for Warner Bros.
* Steven Culp has been cast opposite Kevin Kline in THE PALACE THIEF, based on the short story by Ethan Canin.
* Tammy Blanchard joins the cast of STEALING STANFORD for Imagine/Revolution. Megan Mullally, Tom Green, Dennis Farina, Leslie Mann and Jason Lee also star in the pic.
* Russell Hornsby is in talks for a role in PAY OR PLAY with Frankie Muniz, Amanda Bynes, Paul Giamatti and Amanda Detmer.
* Mark Feuerstein is in talks to star in the romantic comedy LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT, opposite Anjelina Jolie, for director Stephen Herek and New Regency. John Scott Shepherd scripted.
* Ving Rhames will star with Kurt Russell in THE PLAGUE SEASON for director Ron Shelton from a script by James Ellroy. It's about two cops on opposite sides of the investigation of a racially motivated homicide.
* Dr. Dre nabbed an acting role in TRAINING DAY and will executive produce the DIABLO soundtrack.
* Harry Lennix, will play the villainous Lock in the sequels to THE MATRIX for the Wachowski brothers.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Jonathan Mostow (U-571) is in talks to direct Arnold Schwarzenegger and Edward Furlong in TERMINATOR 3. Tedi Serafian scripted.
* Cinematographer Jack Cardiff will direct the indie feature ONE LIFE LATER for executive producer Martin Scorsese. Michael York is attached to star in the pic, written by Barbara Worth, about a man's journey to find his soul while falling for a woman only to see her leave the country to avoid a killer.
* Nigel Cole is in final talks to direct THE CALENDAR GIRLS about a group of middle aged women who pose naked for a charity calendar.
* Sanford Bookstaver will make his feature directing debut with the comedy SLUGGER for Miramax Films. It's about a 10-year-old boy who learns to play baseball and cope with the death of his father, with help from the ghost of Babe Ruth. Bruce Graham and Steven Gary scripted. Bookstaver wrote/directed the short film SCRIPTFELLAS.
* Til Schweiger will star in JOE AND MAX for STARZ! Pictures and director Steve James. It centers on the real-life rivalry and friendship between the heavyweight boxing champions Max Schmeling and Joe Louis of the 1930s.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Beacon Communications has grabbed the remake rights to the 1999 Italian picture NOT OF THIS WORLD. Michael Gruskoff will produce.
* Brillstein-Grey picked up the English-language rights to the German novel CRAZY by Benjamin Lebert. The project is about a 16-year old who is paralyzed on one side and how he learns about dating.
* 20th Century Fox has picked up the feature film rights to Tess Gerritsen's 1999 novel GRAVITY and a screenplay adaptation by Michael Goldenberg. The story follows a female research physician who has been training to study living beings in space. On her first mission to the International Space Station, things get disatrous when a culture of single-celled organisms rapidly multiply, killing most of the crew.
* Telema has made a deal for the film rights to the graphic novels THE CARNIVAL OF THE IMMORTALS and THE WOMAN TRAP, which will be woven together for one film. They were created/written by Enki Bilal, who'll write/direct the films.
* Tall Trees is busy with three new projects: KING FOR A DAY about a high school student who develops such an affinity for RICHARD III he employs his tactics to destroy the school caste system; MEN'S ROOM ATTENDANT about a commode-dweller who falls in love with a woman and discovers she's been targetted by a hitman; and 99% about a music producer who sets out to create a fake virtual band.
