That's "Swift" as in "Tom Swift," the fictional inventor/adventurer concocted by Edward Stratemeyer in the early 1900s for a series of young adult books. The pitch comes from "Men in Black" director Barry Sonnenfeld and Ben David Grabinski, according to a report today in Variety. The article also reveals that Albie Hecht, who had a Tom Swift project of his own, is now in with Sonnenfeld & company to produce.
The plan laid out by Sonnenfeld's and Grabinski's pitch calls for a re-imagining of the Tom Swift character. The focus will actually be on a father-son configuration, both of them superstars in the inventing community. No further details were revealed about the story, though it is strongly suggested that Sonnenfeld will direct. Read more...
Barry Sonnenfeld is finally returning to sci-fi -- and directing his first movie in two years. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sonnenfeld has signed on to direct "The How-To Guide for Saving the World" for MGM/UA. But what has everyone on the Internet really excited is the script. Penned by BenDavid Grabinski, it was one of the hottest screenplays kicking around Hollywood, and was a star of this year's Black List. (The Black List is a yearly ranking of such unproduced scripts, a list that often proves to be a who's who of up and comers.)
"Guide" centers on a young loser named Sylvester, who stumbles upon a book with instructions on how to prevent an alien invasion. Naturally, he ends up quickly having to put the manual into use. According to Sonnenfeld, he was drawn to the story because of its ordinary and dorky hero. Read more...
“Pushing Daisies” is stepping it up this season – more movie homages, more guest stars, more musical numbers, and of course, more pie.
For the season premiere tonight (October 1), featuring French Stewart and Autumn Reeser, Kristen Chenoweth cracks after keeping the secret about Chuck’s mother, and joins a nunnery, “which of course lends itself to a ‘Sound of Music’ homage,’” creator Bryan Fuller chuckled.
“Once you have someone in a nunnery, you do have those moments,” producer Barry Sonnenfeld said, “standing on a hillside, singing out loud.”
Last season, which, if you missed it, is now available on DVD, featured three musical numbers, including They Might Be Giants’ “Birdhouse In Your Soul.” This season, they hope to have even more breaking-out-into-song moments. By episode eight, Fuller said, “Pushing Daisies” will “get our Bangles on,” when Chenoweth sings “Eternal Flame.” Read more...
Justin Timberlake almost got "Moist" for his first movie in theaters-- and now that he's no longer wet behind the ears, director Barry Sonnenfeld is looking at the singer as a possibility once more to get the project's juices flowing.
"Moist" is a darkly comic novel by Mark Haskell Smith about a morgue attendant named Bob, who is "living way below his ability," spending all his free time playing video games, until he comes across a severed arm with an erotic tattoo of a woman he falls for. In the course of trying to find out who she is, Bob ends up becoming Roberto, a kingpin of the Los Angeles Mexican mafia -- ultimately replacing the man who the severed arm belonged to in the first place.
"I love the book," Sonnenfeld said. "Tonally, it's like 'Pineapple Express.'" Read more...
