"You're nothing but a lot of talk and a badge!" Those were the last words we heard from Al Capone in Brian DePalma's insanely entertaining "The Untouchables" some twenty years ago. Well, just because Elliot Ness put Al behind bars to the swelling score of Ennio Morricone so long ago, the battle for Chicago has just begun.
Brian DePalma himself told me last week that "The Untouchables: Capone Rising" is likely to be his next film. This prequel will detail in DePalma's words, "[Jimmy Malone]'s relationship with Capone during Capone's rise." Portraying the former character that earned Sean Connery an Oscar is Gerard Butler, Deplama confirmed. "Gerry is still with us," he said.
The young Capone, however, remains uncast. Nicolas Cage was attached but is no longer on board. DePalma is on the lookout, though. What does the new Capone need? "You've got to have that street animal sexuality," he said. Read more...
For those of you keeping track at the American Film Institute, the careers of two of our most venerated film actors, Sean Connery and Gene Hackman, concluded respectively with "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" and "Welcome to Mooseport."
Sad news today for Indiana Jones fans. Sadder even than the time that George Lucas managed to make a TV show about the world's greatest adventurer almost as exciting as an episode of "Reading Rainbow." Sean Connery has confirmed that he is going to indeed stay retired and sit out this latest Indy adventure. Favorite quote from the Sean's official statement? "Demand that the critters be digital." Ironic in that digital technology pushed the artist formerly known as Bond into a life of leisure.
So raise a martini glass today folks (shaken, not bloody stirred). Bob Barker's taped his last "Price is Right." Paris Hilton no longer has to worry about being stuck with a shiv. And Sir Sean has graced the silver screen for the last time. Time marches on.
Excuse me while I look for my "Dragonheart" DVD...
This is madness! No, Mr. Capone, it's...Chicago? "300” star Gerard Butler is stepping into the very big shoes of Chicago police officer Jim Malone, a character made famous by Sean Connery in "The Untouchables," he told MTV News. "[I play] the young Sean Connery, when he was still a detective," Butler said of his role in the prequel "Capone Rising." "It's great, the script is phenomenal."
The performance was Connery's most popular since Bond, and even won the Scot an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor. Butler said that fans expecting an imitation, however, will leave disappointed. "Being Scottish and being tall, I'm gonna come across a little bit like Sean Connery...and people will make those comparisons," he contended. "But I'm going to do my own thing."
He'll have plenty of opportunity, he revealed excitedly. "You know what? I think this character [has even] more [great lines] in him [than before], because this was a point where he was more a wheeler and dealer," Butler exclaimed. "He has to deal with things coming for him, he has to deal with his own morality. In this story there's so much going on with this guy that you really see a lot of different sides to his character."
After hitting it big with "300," Butler was also being touted for a role in director Zack Snyder's next comic adaptation, the epic "Watchmen." Don't count on it, he lamented. "We've been talking about ['Watchmen'] for a while, but [Zack's] never told me a character and to be honest, now I'm looking a little bit picked up," he sighed, adding with a hint of finality. "I don't know if 'Watchmen' is going to be happening."
