Posted May 17th 2008 2:02PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Horror, Thrillers, Deals, Scripts
Hello, vampires!
I thought I had outgrown my vamp addiction (aside from
Buffy). I don't read Anne Rice anymore, and I haven't watched a new vamp movie in a while. But then I started watching
Moonlight. Yup, still hooked. And now there's a new flick on the horizon:
Variety reports that Celluloid Dreams has gone into pre-production on
Hello Darkness, a "genre-bending vampire film."
This also marks the second vampire movie this week for the UK (
remember Lesbian Vampire Killers?). But it won't be all darkness. Not much is being said about the plot, other than it's a "humor-laced romancer" where a regular guy becomes a vampire and then "falls for a posh student." So that's two UK vamp comedies, the direct-to-DVD
Lost Boys sequel, plus some
Twilight. Now if only we could get some adult vampire darkness, we'll be set! Oh wait -- we're kind of getting that with Celluloid Dreams' Julie Delpy thriller,
The Countess.
Meanwhile, the company is also looking into prophets and immigrants. They've picked up a crime drama called
A Prophet, where a young Arab becomes a mafia kingpin while prospering in a French prison. They've also nabbed
Rabia, a romantic thriller about "two luckless immigrant workers in Spain."
Posted May 16th 2008 7:32PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Comedy, Music & Musicals, Deals, Scripts
In a natural progression from amateur porn of the
Zack and Miri variety,
Elizabeth Banks has taken on some a cappella-themed production work.
The Hollywood Reporter posts that the actress is going to produce a new film called
Pitch Perfect, through her shingle, Brownstone Productions.
Kay Cannon (
30 Rock) is going to adapt the film from Mickey Rapkin's nonfiction book.
An editor at GQ, Rapkin spent some time covering a cappella college competitions, focusing on teams from the University of Virginia, Tuft University, and the University of Oregon. Oh, but this isn't just a bunch of goofy nerd singers competing. Apparently, it's a world full of "singing, groupies, partying, and rivalries."
A cappella groupies? I just can't wrap my head around this notion. Do the girls put on skimpy outfits and try to sleep with the singers? Do the performers sign breasts and keep score on their bedpost? And to think I thought a cappella wasn't sexy ... maybe it's because of performances
like this.
The book will be a comedy set in this world, and so far, I'm itching to see it. It's certainly unique! As of right now, Banks isn't attached to a role in the film, but I imagined that might change once the adaptation is complete.
Posted May 16th 2008 7:02PM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Drama, Independent, Thrillers, Deals, Mystery & Suspense, Newsstand
According to
Screen Daily,
Law Abiding Citizen now has a director in
Frank Darabont.
Citizen is the first movie to be produced under Gerard Butler's production shingle; you can read all about Evil Twins and its upcoming slate
here (I am gently encouraging you to be interested in this fledgling company).
Production is set to begin on August 18th in Detroit, which I hear is becoming the new Shreveport. It's being filmed on a shoestring budget of $40 million, and the screenplay has been penned by Kurt Wimmer.
The plot has been changed quite drastically since it was first tossed around. Originally, Butler was an assistant D.A. who finds himself at the center of a traumatized victim's vigilante plot. Now, it has been revamped into the story of a criminal mastermind who controls a city from the confines of his prison cell. (Which explains why Darabont was drawn to it, and why he's a good pick. Prison dramas are a good specialty for him.) Butler is the assistant D.A. who stands in the mastermind's way.
Continue reading Frank Darabont Directing 'Law Abiding Citizen'
Posted May 16th 2008 6:32PM by Peter Martin
Filed under: Horror, Deals, Cannes, Distribution, The Weinstein Co.
The Weinstein Co. has added a British horror thriller to their upcoming slate of releases. According to
indieWIRE, all North American rights to James Watkins'
Eden Lake have been acquired by the Weinsteins at
Cannes. Evidently, it's been months in the making:
Fangoria noted in November 2007 that the Weinsteins were "reportedly finalizing" a deal.
Putting business aside, it sounds like writer/director Watkins, who also co-wrote
My Little Eye, knows how to appeal to horror fans, telling
Fangoria: "We show people's heads on fire, neck-stabbing with glass, stomach-slashing revealing intestines and kidneys and metal spikes through feet. Gritty realism in moments of ramped-up tension." (!!!!) The story follows a couple "on a romantic weekend getaway being terrorized by dysfunctional teenagers with no ethical boundaries."
Lest you think that this picture might appeal solely to horror fans, the actors who play the romantic couple have bona fide credentials.
Michael Fassbender (
300) has already received kudos this week for his performance as the hunger-striking IRA leader Bobby Sands in director Steve McQueen's
Hunger, and is in advanced talks to play the coveted role of Heathcliff in a new version of
Wuthering Heights, as
Elisabeth Rappe told us earlier this week. Fassbender's better half in
Eden Lake is played by
Kelly Reilly (pictured), who has become even more gorgeous in the six years since she appeared in
The Spanish Apartment. Explicit carnage, a hot heartthrob, and a lovely lady? Count me in.
Posted May 16th 2008 2:32PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Action, Casting, Deals
I am, by no means, a big fan of medieval themes, although a movie here and there, or an occasional trip to a Renaissance Faire is fun. But man,
Ironclad is sounding awesome.
Variety reports that the film is the first project for the newly formed Mythic International Entertainment, and will be directed by
Jonathan English.
Why is this sounding so awesome? The cast. Already signed to the $30 million feature is
Richard Attenborough,
Pete Postlethwaite,
Angus Macfayden, and
Colm Meaney. Meanwhile,
James Purefoy and
Paul Giamatti are in talks to join the production as well. It's a historical feature full of talented testosterone!
Set in 13th century England, the film will focus on "a small band of knights who defended Rochester Castle against the tyrant King John." There's no mention of who the signed leads are playing (presumably knights), but if James and Paul sign on, Purefoy will play the lead night, and Giamatti will be King John.
It sounds great to me! After
John Adams, I've been on a total Giamatti kick, and along with actors like Attenborough and Postlethwaite, this could be one hell of a great action film.
What do you think?
Posted May 16th 2008 11:40AM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Comedy, Independent, Casting, Deals, Newsstand, George Clooney, War
This is officially the greatest movie title ever.
Variety has announced that George Clooney will star in
Men Who Stare At Goats, a big screen adaptation of Jon Ronson's scary-because-its-true book. Clooney's Smoke House partner Grant Heslov will direct, while Peter Straughan has penned the script.
Ronson's book is an investigation into the secret wing of the U.S. First Earth Battalion. It was a paranormal research unit created in 1979 with the purpose of creating "Warrior Monks," soldiers who could walk through walls, become invisible, read minds, and even kill a goat simply by staring at it long enough. One ex-Army employee Ronson interviewed claims that he actually did kill his pet hamster and a goat by staring at them for a very long time. While the book is full of kookiness, it does branch out to discuss how the paranormal project has come to play in the current Iraq war. Not only have some of First Earth's research projects been employed as torture, a few of those claiming to have developed superpowers have reportedly been deployed to Iraq. Our tax dollars at work, people.
It all sounds like one of the funnier episodes of
The X-Files -- a perfect project for Clooney; the right mix of political activism and screwball humor. Frankly, I'm sold by the title alone. Here's hoping they won't change it to appeal to a wider America.
Posted May 15th 2008 6:32PM by Peter Martin
Filed under: Thrillers, Deals, RumorMonger, James Bond
Would you like that shaken or stirred, Leo? Writing in
Los Angeles Times, Jay A. Fernandez reports that
Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way company recently came on board to produce a biopic about Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, based on an original script by Damian Stevenson. Fernandez speculates that DiCaprio might play Fleming: "During the writers' strike, DiCaprio showed interest in Fleming and his world, but he's looking to take the script in a different direction with a new writer."
Leo has produced other films in which he did not appear (
The Assassination of Richard Nixon,
Gardener of Eden) and already has a very full plate of upcoming projects. Still, it's fun to speculate because Fleming was such a fascinating character.
According to
Wikipedia, Fleming was a journalist first, including time in Moscow in 1933, then a stockbroker, before working in Naval Intelligence for Britain during World War II. He personally directed an intelligence-gathering unit that employed "lock-picking, safe-cracking, forms of unarmed combat, and other techniques and skills." He published his first Bond novel,
Casino Royale, in 1953. Stevenson's script started on the eve of Fleming's wedding in 1952 before flashing back to his years as a journalist, playboy and spy planner.
Fleming sounds like it could be a good, thrilling drama. What do you think? Could Leo pull off the part? If not, who would you like to see as Ian Fleming?
Posted May 15th 2008 4:45PM by Peter Martin
Filed under: Thrillers, Deals, Magnolia, Distribution, Cinematical Indie
While David Lynch
prepares to team up with Werner Herzog to make a guerilla-style murder drama, his daughter is doing quite well on her own, thank you very much.
indieWIRE reports that
Surveillance, the first film by
Jennifer Chambers Lynch in 15 years, has been picked up by Magnet Releasing for distribution in the US. The thriller will be playing out of competition at
Cannes next week in one of the three Midnight screening slots.
Surveillance is set in the Santa Fe desert, where a blood-curdling killing spree has been unleashed, according to the
official synopsis. The FBI arrives and listens to three eyewitnesses, including an eight-year-old girl whose family was brutally murdered. It becomes clear that the little girl knows something about the FBI agents ... and then two more bodies are found.
Creepy, eh? But not nearly as creepy as Lynch's first film,
Boxing Helena, in which a surgeon held a woman captive and started amputating her limbs, all in the name of love. Based on the premise,
Surveillance sounds much more straightforward, but perhaps the younger Lynch has some surprises up her sleeve.
The film stars
Julia Ormond and
Bill Pullman (David Lynch's
Lost Highway) as the FBI agents, Pell James, Ryan Simpkins, and Kent Harper as the witnesses, and Michael Ironside as the local police chief. French Stewart and Cheri Oteri are also featured. Harper co-wrote the script with Lynch. Magnet Releasing, the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, plans a fall theatrical roll-out.
Posted May 15th 2008 1:02PM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Drama, Deals, Mystery & Suspense, Fandom, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand
I'm not sure what they're putting in the water over in Cannes, but some pretty wild deals are beginning to emerge from that fest in France. Only a day after
Werner Herzog signed to
direct Nicolas Cage in a remake of Bad Lieutenant comes word from
The Hollywood Reporter that Herzog and
David Lynch have teamed up on a film called
My Son; a murder drama to be tentatively shot next March. Based on a true story,
My Son will tell of a "San Diego man who acts out a Sophocles play in his mind and kills his mother with a sword."
HR says the film will jump between the murder scene and this disturbed man's story. Nice family film from two completely sane directors.
Additionally, and this shouldn't come as a surprise (considering the two guys we're talking about),
My Son will be shot guerrilla-style with digital video. Herzog, who co-wrote
My Son with Herbert Golder, will first shoot
Bad Lieutenant in July before directing the Victorian-era drama
The Piano Tuner for Focus Features. One can only imagine what the finished product will look like when you've got Herzog and Lynch working together on the same movie -- especially one with a nutty storyline like this one. Not for nothing, but I think I'd rather watch the documentary of them making this film rather than the film itself. You?
Posted May 15th 2008 8:02AM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Independent, Deals, Cinematical Indie
If you're a fan of
Red Road, and were itching for the next part of the trilogy, I'm sorry to say that this isn't it. (Is the trilogy plan even continuing?!) It is, however, the second feature for the film's director,
Andrea Arnold.
Variety reports that Artificial Eye has pre-bought the UK rights to her next film,
Fish Tank.
Unfortunately, the piece then goes on to talk about Eye's other projects and executive info, rather than the film. So, we've got this mysterious second picture. However, thanks to the Internet, I can fill in a tiny hole at least. According to
MoveThat.com, Arnold was/is looking for her female lead for the film. "We're looking for young looking, white 16-19 year old girls who speak with strong London/South East accents who have attitude and who can street dance. Female breakers, poppers, lockers, and krumpers all very welcome."
UK readers out there, you'll have to fill us North American folk in on the slang, but I think it's safe to say that this is going to be some girl-headed film about dancing. Unfortunately, because of the language request, it'll probably also have really annoying English subtitles that don't match up with the words like
Red Road.
That's all Google is allowing me to find right now, but please comment below if you've heard anything else about this feature.
Posted May 14th 2008 9:32PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Deals, Executive shifts, ThinkFilm, Celebrities and Controversy, Newsstand
If you had a slow Mother's Day weekend and were lurking around the net, you might have heard that David O. Russell's upcoming comedy
Nailed hit another snag; this one much bigger than just an actor walking off set (a snag that was NOT because of Russell!). They were shut down by the Screen Actors Guild because they didn't have enough money to pay their actors.
You can check out the story, as it unfolded, at
Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily. Luckily, any of you who are itching to see
Nailed needn't worry.
Variety reports that ThinkFilm (part of Capitol Films) has resumed shooting (and will hopefully have enough cash to finish it).
But this is part of a bigger problem:
Nailed wasn't the only film hit with funding issues.
A number of Capitol projects have been stopped or delayed due to lack of funds. ThinkFilm failed to pay Alex Gibney his owed fees for
Taxi to the Dark Side. Flicks like
Bad Meat were shut down.
Then She Found Me's paper ad campaign hit a snag when there was no money for ads. You know you have serious money issues when you can't even get enough for your ad campaigns.
And now they're heading to Cannes with films from
The Edge of Love to
The Oxford Murders. There's a lot of interesting films attached to this company, but my head has got "Another One Bites the Dust" playing for ThinkFilm and Capitol.
Thoughts?
Posted May 14th 2008 8:02PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Drama, Deals, Scripts, Cinematical Indie, War
Baby, when I met you there was peace unknown. I set out to get you with a fine tooth comb..Okay, sorry. I couldn't resist. Like
Ryan back in January, I had to start this with a little "Islands in the Stream," Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers style. (Btw: Did you know it was written by the Bee Gees?) Anyhow, back in January, we learned that
Tommy Lee Jones was circling a new adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's first posthumous novel,
Islands in the Stream. Now
The Hollywood Reporter posts that Jones has signed on to adapt, direct, produce, and star in the project, which will be presented to buyers at Cannes.
Stream follows an American painter, Thomas Hudson, tucked away in the Bahamas. Through three acts, the reader is introduced to Hudson's life, from the arrival of his sons to his island getaway, to alcoholism and naval reconnaissance during WWII, to Hudson's desire to pursue a ship of German soldiers who killed an entire village. At one point, there was also a fourth part, but it was removed and became the epically popular
The Old Man and the Sea.
Continue reading Tommy Lee Jones Signs On for 'Islands in the Stream'
Posted May 14th 2008 5:35PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Drama, Thrillers, Deals, Disney, Politics
Thanks to
Bourne, the spy-fi genre is alive and well and every studio is on the lookout for a franchise of their own -- even Disney.
Variety reports that super-producer
Jerry Bruckheimer (along with the Mouse) has purchased the screen rights to David Ignatius' spy thriller,
The Increment. Ignatius is an associate editor for
The Washington Post and
Increment will be his seventh novel. An adaptation of his 2007 book,
Body of Lies, has already finished shooting with
Ridley Scott at the helm, and
Leonardo DiCaprio starring as a CIA agent hot on the tail of a terrorist.
The Increment centers on a "shadowy, elite group of British undercover intelligence operatives who are conscripted by a CIA agent to help a weapons scientist defect from Iran." Early reviews of the manuscript praised the story, citing the wealth of facts about the CIA and the international intelligence community. But insiders were shocked that Disney would want the property considering the amount of 'hot button' issues in the book, like Islamic politics and an invasion of Iran.
Ignatius' novel has not even been published yet, so it's
very early days for the adaptation -- and leaving plenty of time for Disney to water down the story. In the meantime, look for
Body of Lies to arrive in theaters on October 8th, 2008.
Posted May 14th 2008 4:35PM by Peter Martin
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Foreign Language, Independent, Deals, Cannes, IFC, Distribution, Cinematical Indie
The deals are already flying fast and furious in
Cannes. As befits an international marketplace, most of the action involves far-flung territories, but we're keeping an eye out for US distribution deals too.
indieWIRE has a great round-up of the first day's activity, which includes the news that IFC Films has acquired distribution rights to two films.
Good buzz about 24-year-old Joshua Safdie's feature debut
The Pleasure of Being Robbed began when it world premiered at
SXSW in March. Somehow, the
Cinematical crew missed seeing it (hey, we're only human, we miss things sometimes), but
David Lowery at Spout raved: "It's pure cinema, and as such it's one of the best films I've seen this year." The comedy revolves around a kleptomaniac, played by co-writer Eleonore Hendricks, with a philanthropic streak.
Pleasure is the only US title in the Director's Fortnight this year.
In 2005,
Tom Hall declared: "There is not a more important filmmaker working today than
Arnaud Desplechin." He previously made
Kings & Queen and
Esther Kahn, among other critically-acclaimed work. The French filmmaker's latest,
A Christmas Tale (
Un conte de Noël), features Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillon and Mathieu Amalric "in a contemporary family drama set in France." The film plays in Official Competition and has its first screening on Friday night before opening theatrically in France next week.
We'll have to wait to hear about IFC's specific plans for distribution.
Posted May 14th 2008 3:02PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Comedy, Deals, Distribution
I know
I'm not the first person to come to this conclusion, but
Matthew McConaughey really does seem to have a charmed existence. Sure, he makes some
crappy movies, but they keep paying him to star and we keep paying to see them in theaters. Coming Soon
reports that the perpetually shirtless actor (I'm not complaining, mind you) has struck a deal with Anchor Bay Entertainment to release
Surfer Dude, a comedy that he produced.
McConaughey stars as Steve Addington, a surf bum who returns home to Malibu after a world tour. The good times don't last long, and when the waves disappear for the whole season, Addington starts to go off the rails. In true stoner fashion, producer Mark Gustawes was quoted as saying, "Matthew plays a character who's a throwback to the '70s: Peace, love, and a righteous wave is what 'Surfer, Dude' is all about. Anchor Bay dug it -- and we decided to surf it, together."
Classic, brah. McConaughey scored some (kinda) big names for the film including
Woody Harrelson and
Willie Nelson -- I can only imagine the dust clouds of smoke coming out of those trailers.
Anchor Bay will release the film in theaters this summer, but they're also planning to release the film onto DVD shortly after. Back in the old days, when a studio jumped on the home video release it meant the movie was no good. Luckily, these days a studio can spin it into a bright shining example of the new face of film distribution.
Surfer Dude will coast into theaters in late summer.
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