Not exactly an exciting week for cinema stories, I guess the proximity to Easter/Passover and other spring based breaks has meant progress in the studios has been slow. That said I did here about a couple of new projects they may just make fascinating films in the years to come, or might just be my chace to ogle at muscly men.
Parker
Like Jason Statham for instance. Who is set to star for Taylor Hackford (??!!) in this big screen spin-off of Donald E. Westlake's series of novels. I say spin-off as the film will only use the central character (the eponymous burglar) as a starting point and will create it's own plot.
Parker himself seems like the type of rugged hero Statham was born to play, he is described as never stealing from those who need it - although quite how this will be shown in the movie remains to be seen - and he never kills. Unless he has to. So expect a high body count, and maybe he'll give some chage to a charity collector.
The main question of course is whether he'll find an excuse to rip off his shirt Transporter style. I'm guessing there's at least one scene where he shows off his stunning body (cue body)
and tries to prove he isn't gay by sleeping with an underwritten female character.
Read on for industrialists, mid-air heroics and the usual update of casting stories.
Aristotle O
The recent "Kennedys" series may have underwhelmed critically and commercially but it has renewed interest somewhat in that particular political dynasty and it's various connections, which ma go somewhere to explaining why an Aristotle Onassis (left) biopic is being planned by Branlio Mantovani and Fernando Meirelles (the writer and director combination of City of God). The Greek shipping tycoon famously wooed Jackie Kennedy following the assasination of JFK. Robert Lindsay has played Aristotle to great acclaim on the London stage over the last year, however I suspect any big screen adaptation will go for bigger names in the main roles.
Flight
Licking his wounds after the disasterous box-office performance of the 3D motion capture Mars Needs Moms and the consequent cancellation of Yellow Submarine producer Robert Zemeckis is preparing to return to live-action with this dramedy about the aftermath of a plane crash. Denzel Washington (who is currently in negotiations) will play the pilot of a passenger jet forced to make an emergency landing in part due to him being incapacitated on drink and/or drugs. Hailed as a hero in the headlines the film will focus on whether he admits to what happened or goes along with that. Sounds like a slight spin on Accidental Hero but with Zemeckis there to make the opening scenes exciting and a potential powerful performance of guilt and remorse from Washington (baring in mind he's been coasting in action movies for at least 5 years) this could be one to watch.
Casting News
It's been all go on the casting front. Ian Holm has been confirmed as Old Bilbo in The Hobbit, therefore proving there will be a section where Bilbo is old... And to my surprise (and believe me I'm feeling a little contrite about what I said in the past) Jeremy Renner will definitely be the Bourne substitute in The Bourne Legacy. Oliver Stone's Savages has picked up a impresive array of supporting players with John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Emile Hirsch entering the fray. Ralph Fiennes may be the Magwich we'll looking for in Great Expectations and finally Sam Raimi and the "studios" are squaring off about casting a minor role in Oz, the Great and Powerful - he wants Hilary Swank, they want Michelle Williams - given the role is for an elder witch I would pass over both of them and use an actress in her fifties, after all there are loads of them.
Sunday, 24 April 2011
Will he or won't he (Film News - 23/04/11)
Sunday, 17 April 2011
All that glisten's is not... (Film News - 17/04/11)
I'm still in London, so just a little bit out on a limb, therefore it's difficult to keep up with the news, however I have endeavored to keep looking at the latest headlines on a daily basis so I can, at least, give a rough breakdown. Actually the biggest news stories have all been casting related but a few new rumours have surfaced. Such as:
Gold
Which sees the unlikely marriage of Michael Mann director with Paul Haggis on production duty for this modern tale of obsessions and greed with cues taken from John Huston's masterful The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. We don't know anything else at this point, but investigations into the seamier side of man's relationship with rare stuff from the ground is usually good for a watch - whether we're talking about Bogart in the 1949 film or Daniel Day-Lewis drinking our milkshake. 
The script by Chicago Code/Friday Night Lights alumni Patrick Massett and John Zinman was originally passed to Haggis, who felt he could not direct due to other commitments so in turn offered it to Mann. I suspect this will be right up Micheal's street, the potential mix of dangerous men in dangerous situations will undoubtedly be irresistible to him.
Expect some great names to join the cast over the coming months.
Read on for more revenge, more money, and some casting news.
Low Dweller
I think revenge must be back in fashion. Everywhere you look these days there are violent fantasies where wronged men, and it almost always is men, seek brutal justice for the murder of their wife/child/partner, so it's no surprise to hear of another one. However this is different as it's the blacklisted script by Brad Inglesby which Scott Cooper has been commissioned to re-draft and direct. Which beg's the question why does it need Mr. Cooper to take another look at the script if it was so bleeding good in the first place. In Low Dweller the hero is released from prison wanting some sweet love with his reluctant girlfriend only to find his brother is dead so he seeks revenge - I'm sure there's something interesting about it.
$7Bn Dollar Men
Based on the Wall Street bailout, and more specifically about the Federal Bailout Chief, Neal Kashkari, who lasted in the job for just 6 months, spent unprecedented amounts of money helping the financial services industry, then retired to his Maryland hometown to build a shed. Frankly I'm not sure what this will aim to "say" as a final film but George Clooney and Grant Heslov, who have teamed up on The Men who Stare at Goats, another satirical look at the modern American State, are interested in adapting it so there must be an unusual take to be had.
Casting News
There have been plenty of meetings with casting directors this week, indeed it's largely these assigned parts which has got me going for most of the time. During the last seven days Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg and Ellen Page have all signed up for the next Woody Allen picture. Joaquim Pheonix has less his semi-exile to work on Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master. Sally Field has confirmed as Mary Todd Lincoln in the upcoming Lincoln movie. That's the real one - not Vampire Hunter. Helena Bonham Carter may end up as Miss Haversham and Ryan Gosling is interested in putting on a mask so as to play the Lone Ranger to Johnny Depp's Tonto.
Sidney Lumet
Of course this week we also heard to the tragic passing of celebrated film director Sidney Lumet. In a career that lasted over 50 years Lumet brought to the screen several groundbreaking and consistently high performing movies from 12 Angry Men to Before the Devil Knows you're Dead by way of Network and Dog Day Afternoon. Each one providing iconic moments in the history of modern cinema. His talent will be sorely missed.
Here is a little bit of Network to remind why Lumet was such a star.
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Dinner fit for a bride (Film News - 05/02/11)
There's been some interesting headlines this week with a couple of new titles coming our way which look very watchable, in fact the beauty of my first title is it will provide casting opportunities to hundreds. This is on top of the usual rounds of casting rumours and our monthly check of upcoming movies on imdb.
Great Expectations
If watching Derek Jacobi intone a few lines of Little Dorrit in the third act of Hereafter made you salivate for more Charles Dickens then you're in luck. It's looking like a version of his classic tale of class envy and redemptive guilt is set to make a foray into the big screen. Naturally this isn't the first time Pip, Magwitch and Miss Haversham have been in cinemas, most notably in the 1946 David Lean version with John Mills, Finlay Currie and Martita Hunt in those memorable roles.
I won't go into the plot details here, like all Dicken's it's long and meandering and with characters disappearing and reappearing with alarming regularity. There are also some magical moments of descriptive writing including fog shrouded escaped convicts and uneaten wedding cakes that could easily become iconic shots from the film.
The key thing is to try to imagine the casting. It's a film that practically begs for the brightest and best of British acting talent to be assembled. I'm saying Andrew Garfield for Pip and Helen Mirren as Miss Haversham. You heard it here first. Any casting ideas you have?
An early illustration of Miss Haversham's Wedding feast.
Read on for an unlikely true story, an surprising director says his next film will be an epic and the usual News segments.
Argo
The hunt for Ben Affleck's next directorial task continues with this bizarre true-life tale set to be produced by Men who Stare at Goats colleagues George Clooney and Grant Heslov. Like Goats it's an expose on one of the weirder moments in US military history focusing on the CIA operation to release the American Embassy hostages in 1979. Their ultimate plan involved disguising the operatives as a film crew scouting for locations. Whether Affleck can produce the satirical edge a project like this might need remains to be seen but if he pulls it off this could be hilarious.
Place beyond the Pines
Derek Cianfrance has been talking up his follow up to Blue Valentine to almost epic proportions. In an interview with indiewire he used terms like "the transformative power of fatherhood", "a Darwinistic idea of survival through ancestry" and (if that wasn't enough "I’ve had people tell me they feel like its ‘The Deer Hunter’ meets ‘The Godfather." Proof that he's certainly willing to enthuse about the project. The story focuses on a motorcycle stunt driver (Ryan Gosling's already practising in Cage's of death like this one to our right) who has to learn how to be a father and will cross generations. If it taps into even half as much honest human emotion as his latest then it will definitely be one to watch.
Casting News
The usual suspects have been hogging the casting rumours with Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes both close to signing on for Bond 23 - which could just become the starriest Bond ever - and Eva Green and Jackie Earle Haley may be hiding in Tim Burton's Dark Shadows. Robin Williams continues to be a possibility for Hugo Strange in Dark Knight Rises, although the main issue seems to be are three villains too many for the film to cope with. David O. Russell may be inviting Amy Adams back for his next project, the big screen adaptation of Playstation 3 game Uncharted: Drake's Progress although Scarlett Johannsson is another name in the mix. Finally Samuel L. Jackson has surprised nobody by exclusively revealing he'll cameo in Thor, frankly I was surprised when it was rumoured he wasn't going to.
Production News
Every month I like to update on the latest films moving into the pre-production stage, essentially as a way of monitoring which of the stories I've previously covered have actually come to fruition. This time we're seeing movement on David Cronenberg's limousine set thriller Cosmopolis, 60's crimecaper remake Gambit, hyperlink love story 360, and big budget big effects movies The Wolverine, Prometheus, Oz, Th Great and Powerful and 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. The last four of which are bound for box office glory if nothing else. One movie though caught my eye even though I hadn't imagined it would.
Playing the Field
Gerard Butler obviously believes he's a big star, and I expect the studios think the same, why else would he continue to get high profile roles. So to follow his "acting" turn in Machine Gun Preacher there will be this black comedy about a soccer coach working his way through the Mums from his son's team. Whilst this doesn't scream high quality there's something intriguing about the notion and I expect they'll be some fun to be had when they start joining the dots. 
You get some very odd results if you search for Soccer Moms on google, but this pic's relatively tame. Apparently there's a whole subculture relating to the term. Anyone want to clue me up on it?
