This is Father Geek reporting in with a special edition of Elston's WEEKLY RECAP. He's turned in an extra long one this weekend, with some fantastic surprizes at the end for you. So with no further adieu here's our Special Easter Edition of the WEEKLY RECAP...
TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
CASTING
* Jennifer Lopez is in talks to produce and star in the Warner Bros. remake of the 1955 musical romance LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME. Robert De Niro is also in talks to star and produce. Howard Gould is in negotiations to pen the script which will be a romantic story/love triangle set in the musical world and will not be based on the true story of 1930s singer Ruth Etting.
* Alison Lohman will play the lead role in WHITE OLEANDER for Warner Bros. and director Peter Kosminsky. Michelle Pfeiffer will play her imprisoned mother in the film that's based on the novel by Mary Agnes Donoghue. Noah Wyle joins the project as well. Robin Wright Penn, Renee Zellweger and Patrick Fugit also star.
* Balthazar Getty will play a con man in the middle of a heist in the indie action pic IN GOD WE TRUST for helmer Peter Antonijevic.
* Zooey Deschanel (ALMOST FAMOUS) will star opposite Katie Holmes in Paramount's ABANDON.
* Terence Stamp joins Dimensions' THE GUEST, starring Ashton Kutcher, Tara Reid and Molly Shannon.
* Angus MacFadyen joins the cast of the Warner Bros./Gaylord Films pic DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD.
* Ralf Moeller (GLADIATOR) joins Universal's THE SCORPION KING, starring The Rock. Chuck Russell directs.
* Al Thompson (MUSE 6, 3-D) has landed roles in both A WALK TO REMEMBER and THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS.
* Camryn Manheim will produce and star in the Pandemonium feature THE EXTRA. It's based on Manheim's own experiences on movie sets and revolves around an extra who destroys the life of a movie star via the tabloids. Kevin Hench and Eli Roth will write the script.
* Rachael Leigh Cook will star in and co-executive produce the indie romantic comedy INVISIBLE GIRL for director Max Hoffman, who co-wrote the script with Eric Bernat. It's about a young woman who is always ignored until she offers herself as bait to capture a serial killer.
* Melissa Joan Hart, Carmen Electra, Ryan Browning and Andrew Kavovit will star in the dark comedy RENT CONTROL for writer/director David Eric Brenner. It follows a young woman who heads to the big city with her boyfriend to make it as an actress. There, they live with her nutty aunt. When the aunt passes away, the two try to keep the cadaver around to convince others she's still living after they discover the place is rent-controlled.
* Pierce Brosnan is set to produce and star in the action/adventure pic DEFIANCE, where he'll play the head a renegade band of soldiers fighting a totalitarian government. Todd Baker wrote the script.
* Marlon Brando will join Shawn and Marlon Wayans, Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Tori Spelling, Kathleen Robertson, Andy Richter, Christopher Masterson, Chris Elliott, Tim Curry, David Cross, Natasha Lyonne and Richard Moll in SCARY MOVIE 2 for director Keenen Ivory Wayans, though it appears that the actor has developed pneumonia. Brando is reported to be playing a preist who performs an exorcism at the beginning of the flick..
* Eddie Griffin will tape three of his comedy shows in D.C. for a concert movie for Touchstone Pictures. David Permut, Brad Grey and Peter Safran will produce. The pic will also include footage relating to his childhood in Kansas City.
* Susan Sarandon and David Hyde Pierce are in talks to star in Disney's live-action/animated pic ENCHANTED for director Jon Turteltaub. It's about a young woman who falls for a prince and is banished to the real world by an evil queen.
* Franka Potente (RUN LOLA RUN, BLOW) is in talks to star in DER SUSS DUFT DER VERZWEIFLUNG (THE SWEET SMELL OF DESPAIR) for writer/director Oskar Rohler and TeamWorx. The feature will center around a woman in Manila with her boyfriend, who must head back to Berlin after facing traumatic childhood memories.
* Ralph Fiennes will have a cameo in DOUBLE DOWN, starring Nick Nolte, for director Neil Jordan. Tcheky Karyo, Said Taghmaoui, Gerard Darmon, Quassini Embarek, Mark Lavoine, Emir Kursturica and Nutsa Kukhianidze also star.
* Brendan Gleeson (upcoming A.I., GANGS OF NEW YORK) joins the Intermedia/United Artists pic THE PLAGUE SEASON, starring Kurt Russell, Ving Rhames and rap artist Kurupt.
* Kerry Washington (SAVE THE LAST DANCE) and Brooke Smith (SERIES 7) join Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins in BLACK SHEEP for director Joel Shumaucher and producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
* Sascha Knopf (upcoming WHAT'S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN?) has been cast in the Farrelly brothers comedy SHALLOW HAL, starring Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow.
* Anna Paquin will star in THE DARKNESS, a drama by writer/director Jaume Balaguero (NAMELESS) about a girl whose family starts falling apart after moving into a countryside house with a very dark past.
* Rachel Weisz is in final negotiations to play the female lead, opposite Hugh Grant, in ABOUT THE BOY, based on the novel by Nick Hornby. Chris and Paul Weitz will direct.
* Sela Ward (ABC's "Once and Again") will star opposite Billy Bob Thornton and Patricia Arquette in BEHIND THE SUN for director Robby Henson.
* Jena Malone (STEPMOM, FOR LOVE OF THE GAME) will star in the indie dark comedy LIFERS' PICNIC director Jordan Brady (upcoming pics THE THIRD WHEEL and WAKIN' UP IN RENO) and HSI-Tomorrow Films. It's about a girl who visits her dad at the annual picnic for inmates who are imprisoned for life. Scott Sandoe penned the script.
* Patrick Dempsey joins Kevin Kline, Embeth Davidtz and Rob Morrow in THE PALACE THEIF for director Michael Hoffman and Beacon/Universal.
* Kip Pardue (REMEMBER THE TITANS, upcoming DRIVEN) is toplining VACUUMS for writers/directors Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas (STOMP).
* Mila Kunis ("That '70s Show") will star in AMERICAN PSYCHO II for Lions Gate Prods. and director Morgan J. Freeman (DESERT BLUE). Kunis will play a college freshman who survived an attack by Patrick Bateman (the killer in the original) and is obsessed with becoming an assistant to a professor--terminating anyone in her way. Shooting begins in May in Toronto. Karen Craig and Alex Sanger wrote the script.
* Gael Garcia Bernal (AMORES PERROS) is in talks to for a role in the romantic comedy I'M WITH LUCY, starrng Monica Potter, Anthony LaPaglia, Henry Thomas and David Boreanaz. Jon Sherman will direct from a script by Eric Pomerance.
* Maura Tierney joins Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Nicky Katt and Martin Donovan in INSOMNIA, a remake of the 1997 Norwegian feature, for director Christopher Nolan (MEMENTO).
* Leonard Roberts (HE GOT GAME) joins Til Schweiger (DRIVEN) in JOE AND MAX for director Steve James (HOOP DREAMS). The pic is about 1930s boxers Max Schmeling and Joe Louis.
DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS
* Marianne and Cormac Wibberly (THE 6TH DAY) have been hired to rewrite BAD BOYS II for Bruckheimer Films and Columbia Pictures. No director or talent is attached.
* Steven Zaillian will rewrite ENDURANCE, a Columbia Pictures project about Ernest Shackleton's stormy mission to the South Pole in 1915. Wolfgang Petersen will direct and produce along with National Geographic Films.
* German director Katja von Garnier will make her English-language directorial debut with PROVIDENCE for Columbia Pictures. It's about two high school seniors who fall in love, though they realize that their relationship will end when they go to separate colleges.
* Writers David T. Wagner and Brent Goldberg (SAVING RYAN'S PRIVATES) are working on several projects including THE CHESTLER for Halsted Pictures, the Nickelodeon Films pic SURF DOGS, Fox Searchlight's THE GIRL NEXT DOOR and Artisan's VAN WILDER. They are also rewriting the 'N Sync pic ON THE EL as well as Paramount's DUANE MOODY'S OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY.
* John McNaughton will direct the Mandalay Pictures drama THE TWELFTH NIGHT, to be rewritten and developed by Kem Nunn. Set in New Orleans, the pic is about a gorgeous young woman with amnesia, who is thought to be the daughter of a reputable Lousiana family.
* Darryl Quarles will write and is attached to direct IF THE SHOE FITS for Columbia Pictures about a street-wise black business man who is recruited by a young female executive to help her save her dad's company. Meanwhile, however, she tries to turn him into a more presentable, sharp executive.
* Bruce Beresford will direct Michael Caine, Samantha Morton and Michael Gambon in BOSWELL FOR THE DEFENSE about a drunk lawyer who tries to defend a young woman destined for the gallows for escaping penal-colony Australia.
* Florian Gallenberger (QUIERO SER...) will direct SCHATTEN DER ZEIT, a tragic love story set in India, for German producer-director Helmut Dietl.
* Gary Scott Thompson will write the detective drama CROSS CHECK for Warner Bros. as a starring vehicle for Bruce Willis.
* Bob Cooper's Landscape Entertainment has picked up Brian Lynch's comedy script MILLER MINOGUE about an agoraphobe who finally leaves his house, after 15 years, to reunite with his family. While out and about, he falls for the wife of a major criminal.
* Stuart Beattie will rewrite the epic Samurai pic SHINOBI for Miracle Entertainment. It's set in the 17th century and centers on an Englishman in Japan who sees his family killed by shogun warriors. His life is saved by a female ninja who also teaches him to seek revenge against the shogun.
* Joel Silverman will write HELL ON WHEELS for Disney about the true story of Jim Knaub, the top American pole-vaulter, who became a paraplegic after a motorcycle accident.
* Banderira Entertainment grabbed Chuck Palahniuk's thriller CHOKE about a med school dropout who devises a "get rich scheme" in which he pretends to be choking in restaurants.
* French helmer Erick Zonca will adapt and direct THE HOOK, based on the suspense novel by Donal Westlake, about two novelists, one successful with writer's block while the other is struggling. The two promise to help each other out, but one has to kill the other writer's wife.
* AJ Via has written the comedy ICE CREAM WARS about a kid who drives an ice cream truck for what turns out to be a front for the Mafia. He soon finds himself entangled in a turf war with a rival mobster family.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS
* Revolution Studios and Shoelace Prods. have purchased the feature rights for the upcoming novel by Laura Zigman (ANIMAL HUSBANDRY). The story, under the working title HER, centers on a woman who meets the perfect man, but is annoyed with the close relationship he has with his ex.
* Miramax Films has acquired distribution rights to the GreeneStreet Films production PINERO, a biopic about Latino artist Miguel Pinero, starring Benjamin Bratt. Leon Ichaso (BITTER SUGAR) directed.
* Lions Gate Films picked up the domestic distribution rights to Tim Blake Nelson's film O from Dimension Films. The pic, expected to be released in August, is a modern-day adaptation of OTHELLO set in high school.
* New Line Cinema purchased the feature rights to BEING ALEXANDER, Nancy Sparling's romantic drama/comedy novel about a guy who has had the worst luck with his life and decides to become a mean person who seeks material success, though he realizes that his new outlook doesn't make him happy.
**Here's an Easter treat for you, two bonus sections of the recap:
GUNN SHOTS
(Not from Variety/Hollywood Reporter)
* Stewart St. John has a Quicktime trailer on his website for his upcoming film "the NEXT race." Check it out at www.stjohnstewdios.com
* Have you seen the cartoons at www.celblock.com ? See what you think about 'em. Make sure it's "cel" with one "l" not two.
* Heath McKnight's film SKYE FALLING is having its premiere very soon. Find out more at www.mpsdigital.com
The second section bullets info I tried to absorb while visiting the New Jersey shoot of Kevin Smith's latest film, JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK, at the end of March and beginning of April. Good times--anxious to visit another set soon.
JASBSB JERSEY SHOOT
* The first day of the shoot in New Jersey saw Jason Lee's return as Brodie, his character in MALLRATS. You'll see that physically and characteristically not too much has changed for Brodie in the last 6 years. The location was Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash, but that's not what the place is called in the flick. As many other reports and sites have noted, this is a scene where Jay and Silent Bob realize they need to get paid.
* There is a funny moment with Lee, Jason Mewes and writer Brian Lynch on the handling of comics in the aforementioned scene. I also enjoyed a rhythmic excahnge between Lee and Mewes that, I assume, will serve as a wonderful transition into the following sequence. Also of note, the day was difficult for many as the crew worked hard under unpleasant weather conditions and Mewes himself was fighting a nasty throat infection, though he nonetheless manage to deliver the goods.
* The three following days of the shoot took place in Leonardo, NJ: home of the Quick Stop and RST Video. The first of the three took place outside the stores and featured Jay and Silent Bob confronting two young guys--one is even slammed up against the wall. I'm unclear about the context in which the scene is placed, but it'll make sense soon enough: The release date is only 4 months away.
* The next day was also outside the stores and it involved cops carting away a couple of characters following a funny obscene gesture. This day was also the last day for Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes as Jay and Silent Bob. It was April Fool's Day too, but whether or not that means anything is beyond me.
* The last night of the shoot took place inside the Quick Stop and featured the characters Dante and Randal from CLERKS, played by Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson respectively. A little after midnight saw the wrap on JASBSB and everybody was in L.A. by the end of the week. Smith ended his Jay and Bob adventures at the location where he began them--shoot-wise anyhow, I believe the scenes shot in New Jersey take place at the beginning of the movie. They have a couple months to edit the pic and about another month to mix the sound at Skywalker Ranch.
* The DP for the feature is Jamie Anderson (THE GIFT and GROSSE POINT BLANK) and I was told that he was amazingly efficient, professional and helped to create some very visually interesting stuff for the pic. I really enjoyed the cinematography for THE GIFT and hope more people will see it when it comes to video. Looking forward to his work on JASBSB.
* I was also told by a few sources close to the production that this film is indeed funnier than all of Kevin Smith's previous efforts combined and everyone has been very pleased with the dailies.
* Malcolm Ingram (TAIL LIGHTS FADE) was roaming the set with a camera capturing many moments and some interviews to be used in a behind-the-scenes documentary for the DVD. There are several, several hours of footage to be viewed and edited for said documentary, but I heard they have some invaluable stuff. Maybe they'll top the one on the MAGNOLIA disc.
