You give me fever (Film News - 14/08/10)

Not much of a week for breaking news, in fact half of the stories I'm running are additional casings to already announced projects. That said if this first item doesn't a) get to the top of the box office the week it opens and b) doesn't garner serious award consideration for the lead then I will be very surprised.

Untitled Peggy Lee Project

Pleased with the critical and commercial success from the real life of Kitchen queen Julia Child, Nora Ephron has decided to mine the biography of another 50's icon with her next film about singer and actress Peggy Lee. Best known for her interpretation of the Jazz standard Fever, Lee recorded over 50 albums and received 12 Grammy nominations. As well as an Oscar nod for her alcoholic singer in Pete Kelly's Blues.

It's still to be confirmed what aspect of Peggy's life will be the centrepoint of the biopic, there's certainly plenty to choose from either artistically or emotionally - Peggy married and divorced 4 times in 25 years. Saying that there's no great battle against addictions or family tragedy that often forms the backdrop for musical biopics so there are legitimate concerns that there will be a lack of conflict in the tale.



Reese Witherspoon is currently tipped to take the lead and there's a certain physical similarity to Peggy (above) that might just work.

Read on for an unlikely sci-fi, more roadside castings and the object of Charlize Theron's affections.


Isopod

The latest highly unlikely rumour - as picked up from a rogue tweet - is that Barry "Rain Man" Levinson is set to direct a indie sci-fi thriller Isopod in the Carolinas. It'll hardly be Levinson's usually oeuvre, but he has done sci-fi before (Sphere) and there's certainly been plenty of genre hopping in his career. In animal clasification the Isopoda are crustaceans with seven pairs of similar legs (from the latin iso ~ same and pod ~ foot) and are typically flattened. I am rather hoping the film will focus on a genetic abnormally which creates gigantic woodlice (left), essentially docile but capable of destroying entire forests in their rampant search for decomposing plant matter.

On the Road

Walter Salles has extended his cast once again, and there are even more interesting faces amongst the supporting characters including Alice Braga, Steve Buscemi and Terrence Howard.

Young Adult

I know it's only been a week since we first mentioned this Reitman/Cody collaboration with Charlize Theron setting off to reunite with her childhood sweetheart, and perhaps I should let the story lie low for a bit before updating but the news on the street is that Josh Brolin is set to play the jock that turns her down for a second time. Now I find Josh as sexy as the next guy but I'm still not convinced he'd be able to walk away from Charlize. Just saying.


Josh ponders his options.