Posted 5/4/09 10:22 am EST by Elisabeth Rappe in News
Ben Stiller may be fathering little Fockers, and planning more nights at the museum, but he's also planning to spend just as much time behind the camera. According to Variety, Stiller is set to put his his directorial duties to use on a new comedy called "Help Me Spread Goodness."
"Goodness" is all about a Chicago banking man who falls for a Nigerian Internet scam. While the film will take a humorous angle, it won't be as silly as Tracy Morgan's scam story. Read More...
Posted 5/1/09 10:13 am EST by Elisabeth Rappe in News, Uncategorized
Jim Carrey has definitely suffered some setbacks in recent years, but it's a strange thing to see him having to complete with another comedic actor, or possibly be a second choice when it comes to casting. But that's what's going on with "The Beaver," according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Kyle Killen's script for "The Beaver" has been one of the most buzzed about scripts this year. Centered around a man whose constant companion is a beaver puppet, it's drawing a lot of comparisons to "Lars and the Real Girl" and "Being John Malkovich." Killen's script even topped "The Black List," a collection of the best unproduced work kicking around Hollywood. Late last year, it attracted interest from Steve Carell and Jay Roach. Roach was loosely attached to direct Carell in the lead. Read More...
Posted 4/30/09 1:05 pm EST by Elisabeth Rappe in News
One of the most buzzed about films at Sundance was Tommy Wirkola's Nazi zombie thriller, "Dead Snow," which pits a few medical students against icy and undead members of the Third Reich. It can be pretty hard to follow up that kind of gutsiness, but Wirkola is already hard at work on a new idea titled "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters" and he's already attracted the attention of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the story will follow what happened to Hansel and Gretel after they used their wits to escape from that child-eating witch. Fifteen years later, they're bounty hunters who slay anything wearing a pointy black hat. Read More...
Posted 4/28/09 10:24 am EST by Elisabeth Rappe in News
It looks like the other half of "The Matarese Circle" might not wait for those pricey rewrites to be finished, as Denzel Washington might become "Unstoppable" instead. Variety reports that Washington is in talks to reunite with Tony Scott to star as the lead in his new action thriller.
Based on a script by Mark Bomback ("Live Free and Die Hard"), "Unstoppable" is loosely based on a true story, and would star Washington as an experienced engineer who pairs up with a young train conductor to stop a runaway train. The train is carrying a cargo of toxic chemicals, and as we all know what happens when an unstoppable force hits an unmoving object such as an entire city. Read More...
Posted 4/28/09 10:01 am EST by Elisabeth Rappe in News
The crazily-coiffed Russell Brand is becoming America's go-to guy for comedy remakes. Brand is already attached to a remake of Dudley Moore's iconic "Arthur," and now he's set to drop dead in a remake of "Drop Dead Fred."
"Drop Dead Fred" was a very dark comedy released in 1991, starring Phoebe Cates and British comedian Rik Mayall. It centered on a rather damaged young woman named Lizzie (played by Cates) who allows herself to be walked on and dominated by everyone. After a day from hell when she loses everything -- including her job and husband, and is forced to move back home with her abusive mother -- she's reunited with her childhood imaginary friend, Fred. Read More...
Posted 4/27/09 10:37 am EST by Elisabeth Rappe in News
Another day, another remake. Today, the honor goes to David Cronenberg as his gory and terrifying film "Videodrome" is being eyed for a remake. According to Variety, Ehren Kruger ("The Ring") is set to write and co-produce a new "Videodrome" for Universal Studios.
The original 1983 film is a cult classic, and starred James Woods as a sleazy television president who is always on the lookout for shocking programming to boost the ratings of his Toronto station. Through some creepy and sinister maneuvering, he begins broadcasting "Videodrome," a program of mindless murder and torture. Of course, even that isn't as it seems, and Cronenberg spins a rather gory tale of bodily horror, self-mutilation, and mind control. Read More...
Posted 4/24/09 9:58 am EST by Elisabeth Rappe in News
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is already a successful young actor by any measure, but he's quickly on his way to becoming a household name. A role in a Christopher Nolan film can only help, and that's what the "G.I. Joe" star has landed. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gordon-Levitt has signed onto Nolan's top secret thriller, "Inception." The young up-and-comer has replaced James Franco, who dropped out of the running due to schedule conflicts.
The cast now includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, and Gordon-Levitt. The plot still remains under lock and key, but it's been previously reported that DiCaprio plays "a CEO-type" and that Gordon-Levitt will play his associate. Page plays a grad student who is somehow the CEO's sidekick, and Cotillard plays DiCaprio's wife. Read More...
Posted 4/23/09 10:19 am EST by Elisabeth Rappe in News
Cameron Diaz isn't sitting around bored while she waits for Tom Cruise to rewrite their potential romantic comedy, "Wichita." She's readying her next role as a legal eagle in Warner Bros' legal comedy, "Bobbie Sue."
According to Variety, Diaz will play a "hard-charging ambulance chaser" whose casual attitude towards those pesky things known as "legal ethics" led to her being recruited by a prestigious law firm. They want her to help out one of their powerful clients who is being sued for sexual discrimination. Obviously, he is as guilty and sleazy as they come, and none of the classy lawyers want to touch him, making it a perfect case for the lawless Bobbie Sue. Read More...
Posted 4/23/09 10:01 am EST by Elisabeth Rappe in News
Moviegoers know James Marsden as a big screen boy scout thanks to roles in "X-Men," "Enchanted," "27 Dresses" and "Superman Returns." But he's just taken a role that will turn that image on his head, as The Hollywood Reporter says that he's signed to star in Rod Lurie's remake of "Straw Dogs."
The original "Straw Dogs" was directed by Sam Peckinpah, and starred Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. It follows a timid, pacifist professor named David (played by Hoffman) who decides the Vietnam protests on his college campus are just too much, and relocates to his wife's native village of Cornwall.
Posted 4/22/09 10:26 am EST by Elisabeth Rappe in News
Some might say that Tom Cruise is in a tricky place right now. Riding a high from "Tropic Thunder" and "Valkyrie," he's poised to win back the hearts and dollars of moviegoers around the world. So it's understandable that he's choosing his next project with care -- but have you wondered just how much care goes into a Cruise vehicle? Millions of dollars, according to Variety.
Right now, Cruise has four projects that he's contemplating, and all are undergoing heavy and expensive rewrites to tailor themselves to their leading man to the tune of $250,000 a week. Read More...