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| Travolta As JR? The latest grist from the Hollywood rumour mill suggests a titanic struggle for the role of evil oil man JR Ewing in the forthcoming screen version of classic US soap Dallas. John Travolta is said to be a hot favourite for the role - originally played by Larry Hagman - but he may have to see off competition from Mel Gibson, while Tommy Lee Jones and Kevin Costner have also expressed varying degrees of interest. Meanwhile, the role of Sue Ellen looks a shoo-in for Catherine Zeta Jones, but Demi Moore and, believe it or not, J-Lo are also sharpening their claws. Drew Barrymore and Reese Witherspoon are said to be fighting it out to play Pamela Ewing, and the best rumour of all has Jane Fonda playing Miss Ellie. You have to admit, with a cast like that, it sounds a like a big barrel of fun. |
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| Alba Dreams Of Jeannie Jessica Alba tells Coming Soon she's considering the title role in a film version of kitsch 60s sitcom I Dream Of Jeannie. Our very own Gurinder Chadha (Bride & Prejudice) is slated to direct, but Alba is more worried about the script. "I've definitely met a couple times with Sony and we've talked about it," she reveals. "The script is just not in the shape that I would want it to be in if I was going to do it." She goes on to explain, "I want to do the show and I want the charm of the show. I don't want to do a version of the modern thing. No. People want to see Jeannie, and so that's all the conversations have been about." Or perhaps its Alba's failure to make any sense that's holding up negotiations... |
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| Looking For Luna CBBC Newsround has issued a casting call for the fifth Harry Potter movie. Producers are already visiting schools up and down the country to find the ideal candidate to play Luna Lovegood - the weirdo witch dubbed Loony Lovegood by her classmates. If you think you've got what it takes, or you know someone who does, visit the CBBC site and follow the instructions. Filming of Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix is scheduled to start in early 2006. Good luck! |
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| Scott Departs Déjà Vu Director Tony Scott has quit the production of Déjà Vu, a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced action thriller starring Denzel Washington. The reason cited for Scott's sudden departure was scheduling problems following the Hurricane Katrina disaster. New Orleans was a key location for the film, according to Variety. With Scott out of the game, the big question is whether Washington will walk as well. Actor and director are reportedly close after w**king together on Crimson Tide and Man On Fire. Déjà Vu is about an FBI agent who travels back in time to save a woman from being murdered. Let's hope Disney and Bruckheimer can find a director who meets Washington's standards, or it might be some time before we see it. |
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| Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are expecting the patter of tiny feet. No, TC hasn't decided to get rid of those three inch lifts in his shoes, we're talking about an actual human baby! Read the full story at BBC Entertainment News. |
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| Aardman Treasures Destroyed The Plasticene-tweaking folks at Aardman Animation are counting the cost of their losses this week after a fire tore through the company's Bristol warehouse, destroying countless props and sets. The stars of Wallace & Gromit are safe - they are in a suitcase, accompanying their creator Nick Park on a promotional tour. But many props, storyboards and sets from Aardman's previous works, including the dreaded pie machine from Chicken Run, went up with the blaze. Ironically, the fire began just as news was coming through that Curse Of The Were-Rabbit had topped the US box office chart. Park himself was sanguine about the loss. "Even though it is a precious and nostalgic collection and valuable to the company, in light of other tragedies, today isn't a big deal," said the thoroughly nice chap |
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| Batman's Flashback According to Dark Horizons, former Batman Michael Keaton is being courted for a role opposite Christian Bale in the sequel to Batman Begins. Insiders reckon that MK is being sized up for the role of The Joker - The Caped Crusader's greatest nemesis. If it's true, Keaton has big clown shoes to fill. Of course he faced off with Jack Nicholson in that role back in 1989. Rumour has it that Batman Begins Again (we're guessing the title) will also feature Manchurian Candidate Liev Schreiber as Two-Face Harvey Dent. He's the former DA of Gotham City who goes criminally insane after having some acid tossed in his mush. Fair dos. |
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| Citizen Wookie (bbc story) The actor Peter Mayhew, best known for playing walking carpet Chewbacca in the Star Wars films and for being very tall indeed, has become an American citizen. Yorkshireman Mayhew took the oath at a ceremony in Texas, telling reporters, "I'll have a British passport, and American passport and a Wookie passport." He has been married to a Texan called Angie for six years, but was unable to get citizenship sooner due to America's hardline policy on alien immigration. Ba-doom tish. |
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Personally, I think it's too early to release any kind of trailer for a film that's only been filming for a few weeks :blink: But I say, judge it for yourself, HERE It's nothing we haven't seen before, or that we haven't expected. But hardly grounds for the attack on Brett Ratner that the fat bearded one at aintitcool has launched. Perhaps Fox forgot to send him his cheque this month :shrug: :ponder: :lol: |
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| Depp & Dench Top BIFA Noms A 17th-century sex machine and and a strip show impressario will battle it out at this year's British Independent Film Awards. Johnny Depp's dirty drama The Libertine, and Mrs Henderson Presents, starring Judi Dench, have eight nominations apiece in the annual indie gongfest. Depp gets a Best Actor nod for his performance as legendary poet, rake and pornographer John Wilmot, while Mrs Henderson Presents, the story of London's first all-nude revue show is up for best film and has a best director contender in Stephen Frears. Ralph Fiennes starrer The Constant Gardener is snapping at their heels with a healthy seven nominations. The winners will be announced at a glittering bash on 30th November, which will also see Keira Knightley named, um, Personality of the Year. Yep, that's right. Stop snickering back there, she's Very Good For The British Film Industry. |
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| Real Pirates Ship Sets Sail Disney is paying a handsome booty to sponsor a yacht christened The Black Pearl—named for the title ship in the studio's first Pirates of the Caribbean movie—as the U.S. entry in the Volvo Ocean Race, a 31,250-mile, nine-leg sea race around the globe, E! Online reported. |
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| Marvel Takes Iron Man Back After more than two years of unsuccessful development at New Line, Marvel has taken back film rights to its Iron Man comic series, about an inventor who dons a high-tech suit and becomes a superhero, Variety reported. The company may raise additional money to produce Iron Man itself as part of its new internal production slate. In such a case, the movie would likely be distributed by Paramount, where Marvel has a distribution deal. Marvel has raised $525 million from Merrill Lynch to produce up to 10 films. Because Iron Man isn't part of that deal, Marvel would have to get separate funds to produce the movie itself. Iron Man hit numerous snags at New Line. Late last year, the studio announced that Nick Cassavetes was attached to direct, but it turned out the Notebook helmer never had a deal. Screenplay drafts by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (creators of The WB's Smallville) and David Hayter (X-Men) didn't get traction, the trade paper reported. Tom Cruise also reportedly flirted with the starring role last year before signing onto War of the Worlds. Marvel will now start development from scratch, commissioning a new script and possibly attaching a director before deciding whether to finance the film itself or license it again. Cassavetes remains a candidate to direct. |
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| Superman Flies To Imax Superman Returns, Bryan Singer's upcoming new installment in the superhero film franchise, will premiere simultaneously in conventional theaters and in Imax giant-screen theaters on June 30, 2006, Imax and Warner Brothers announced. The fifth Superman movie will be one of five movies to roll out on Imax and conventional screens next year; others include 3-D versions of the animated films The Ant Bully and Happy Feet. The 35mm version of Superman Returns will be digitally remastered for its Imax version. On Nov. 18, the upcoming fourth Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, will also debut simultaneously on 70 Imax screens as well as in conventional theaters. |
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| Chicken Gets 3-D Rollout Disney will screen its computer-animated film Chicken Little in 3-D in select theaters, using a new state-of-the-art technology that the studio said offers the first true three-dimensional digital experience in theaters. In collaboration with Disney, Dolby Laboratories plans to install its Dolby Digital Cinema systems in about 100 high-profile theaters in 25 top markets that will present the family SF movie in 3-D. Visual-effects house Industrial Light & Magic is rendering the movie in 3-D so that it can be played on Dolby Digital Cinema servers. Viewers will see the 3-D with special glasses that offer greater clarity and more comfort than conventional 3-D glasses, Disney said. Chicken Little opens Nov. 4. |
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| Stone vows 'sensitive' 9/11 film Director Oliver Stone has promised to show sensitivity in his upcoming film about the 11 September attacks. Much of the film, starring Nicolas Cage, will be made in Los Angeles, but scenes have been shot in New York. Cage plays one of two policeman who were rescued from the rubble of the World Trade Center 22 hours after they collapsed. The movie centres on John McLoughlin and William J Jimeno, believed to be the last two survivors brought out. "We're not doing everyone's story that day," said co-producer Michael Shamberg. "We're trusted with the accuracy of the particular story that we're telling." 'Love scenes?' Meetings were held with New York residents and families of the victims to ensure it was handled in a sensitive way. It was decided to make the majority of it away from the city on a Los Angeles soundstage. The collapse of the Twin Towers will not be recreated, with only news footage of it being shown on television screens in background. "We're not doing the 'Towering Inferno-Titanic' version," said Mr Shamberg. Some family members have expressed concerns over the content of the movie. "Are there going to be love scenes in it? How do you portray it correctly?" said Lee Ielpi, who lost his firefighter son in the tragedy. "It has to be done with some reverence." Stone has previously called the untitled project "a w**k of collective passion, a serious meditation on what happened, and carries within a compassion that heals". The film is scheduled to open on 11 August, one month before the attacks' fifth anniversary. Universal Studios plans to release Flight 93, about the hijacked plane that crashed into Pennsylvania, in April. Story from BBC NEWS: |
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| Morton Takes Control Samantha Morton is in talks to play Deborah Curtis, the widow of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis in Control. Music video helmer Anton Corbijn will make his big screen bow with this adaptation of Deborah Curtis' book Touching From A Distance. Once a writer on TV's Cold Feet, Matt Greenhalgh has adapted the screenplay, which covers the last years of Curtis' life and his suicide in 1980. It pays particular attention to the singer's struggle between the enduring love for his wife and a burgeoning relationship with another woman. |
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| Black KOs Kung Fu Panda Dreamworks Animation, the studio that gave us Shrek, has assembled an A-list cast for its latest cartoon creation, Kung Fu Panda. Jack Black will voice the movie's hero, a lazy panda who discovers he bears the mark of the chosen one. Dustin Hoffman is playing his tough kung fu tutor, while Jackie Chan provides the voice of a wise old martial arts monkey. Ian McShane has signed up to play the bad guy, a villainous snow leopard, and Lucy Liu is in talks to play a femme fatale panda, if you can get your head around that particular concept. It's an impressive line-up, and the prospect of cute furry bears kicking ass is certainly appealing. But then, Shark Tale starred Will Smith and Robert De Niro, and look how that turned out. |
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| Lee Talks X-Men 3 Cameo Comic-book creator and producer Stan Lee told SCI FI Wire he has finished shooting a cameo role in Brett Ratner's upcoming third X-Men film—and it involves him saying a word that can't be printed on a family Web site. |
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| King Kong remake 'may become 3D' The upcoming remake of King Kong could be shown in 3D, according to reports. Director Peter Jackson's follow-up to the Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings starring Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody, is due out in the US on 14 December. California-based 3D post-production house In-Three is currently w**king on the film, said trade newspaper the Hollywood Reporter. The paper said a 3D version of King Kong was unlikely to be screened until after its initial release. It is out in the UK on 15 December. George Lucas projects The 3D process has been used in recent years on a number of films in Imax cinemas but some big name film-makers are embracing the trend. Titanic director James Cameron has said his next film will be a futuristic 3D movie called Battle Angels. And Star Wars creator George Lucas is w**king on a number of 3D projects related to the sci-fi series. Another firm, Real-D, worked on transforming Disney's computer animated fable Chicken Little - the current US box office number one - into a separate 3D release. Story from BBC NEWS: |
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| Liman Leaps At Jumper Mr & Mrs Smith helmer Doug Liman will direct teen sci-fi Jumper, based on the novel by Steven Gold. The suits at New Regency are hoping this will mark the beginning of a trilogy about a 17-year-old boy who discovers he can teleport from one place to another. He discovers the ability after escaping his abusive father. Fight Club scribe Jim Uhls was recently hired to rewrite a script by David Goyer (Batman Begins) and cameras will roll in spring. There's no word yet on casting. |
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| Oh my... Scarlett Johansson is playing a non-Wonder Woman AMAZON warrior? Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with probably the most headscratching of all the news that hit tonight. I love Scarlett Johansson and have a big-big crush on her... I don't know if it was Variety's unfortunate use of the word "gladiatrix" or if there's something more, but something doesn't sit right with me on this... The film is called AMAZON and follows the CONAN forumla of a warrior that exacts revenge on an army for destroying their homeland. It's set in 200 B.C. and Moshe Diamant's Signature Pictures has made the deal to finance it as a vehicle for Ms. Johansson, who supposedly mentioned wanting to play an Amazon warrior to co-producers Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci (screenwriters of THE ISLAND). Howard McCain and Dirk Blackman, who just wrote that Viking flick OUTLANDER that Karl Urban is shooting in New Zealand, are writing the script. I dunno about this one... but I will say I'm looking forward for Johansson's outfits. |
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| Longer Pride for US Austen fans The US release of Pride and Prejudice is eight minutes longer than the UK version because British test audiences hated the extended romantic ending. Matthew MacFayden, who plays Mr Darcy, told USA Today UK audiences disliked the more "sugary" ending so it was cut. In the US version, the two main characters Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy embrace at the end. And Donald Sutherland, who plays Mr Bennett said it was decided the US needed a "sweeter film". 'Insults the audience' In the worldwide release the film ends with the line "if any young men come for Mary or Kitty, send them in, for I am quite at leisure" uttered by Mr Bennett. Sutherland added that US audiences preferred the version with "Darcy and Lizzy together". But some members of the Jane Austen Society of North American were less than impressed with the US version. "It has nothing at all of Jane Austen in it, is inconsistent with the first two-thirds of the film, insults the audience with its banality," said former society president Elsa Solender. A UK petition has been started by fans demanding the longer ending is added to the DVD version before its release, with more than 500 signatures already added. Story from BBC NEWS: |
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| Cool J Gets Steamy LL Cool J will headline an untitled thriller to be written by Swimfan scribe Charlie Bohl. The sometime rapper will also produce as part of a deal to make a slate of "urban market" pics with Lions Gate Films. The suits are keeping the storyline of this first project under wraps, except to say it will be an African/American cross between Body Heat and Fatal Attraction. Which pretty much lets the cat out the bag - or rabbit as the case may be... |
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| Bacon Sizzles With Buffy Good news for Six-Degrees-Of-Kevin-Bacon players: the well-connected star has grabbed a role in Jieho Lee's ensemble drama The Air I Breathe, a romantic crime drama that follows the interweaving plot strands of a bunch of disparate characters, according to Dark Horizons. Details are scarce, but who cares? The important thing is that Kevin's co-stars include Ken Wanatabe, Diego Luna and ex-Buffy Sarah Michelle Gellar. In other words, you can now get from Bacon to Matt Lucas in just two moves: Bacon stars with Sarah Michelle Gellar, who stars with Anthony Stewart Head in Buffy, who stars with Matt Lucas in Little Britain. Yes, television is allowed. Stop complaining |
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| Penguins Invade The Oscars The nature movie March Of The Penguins, which has taken the US by storm and is set to do the same over here next month, has become one of 15 films shortlisted for this year's Best Documentary Oscar. The film, directed by Luc Jacquet, follows the annual journey of Emperor penguins to their breeding ground. It is the second most successful documentary of all time, after Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. The shortlist still has to be whittled down to a more reasonable number, but there is a good chance we'll be seeing those penguins on Oscar night. Well, at least they're dressed for it. |
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| Casino Membership According to Digital Spy, Angelina Jolie has been approached for 007 thriller Casino Royale. Rumour has it she's being eyed for the role of buxom brunette Vespa Lynd but is reluctant to sign up because the role only involves canoodling with Daniel Craig. No offence DC, but "Angelina would rather play a baddie than eye candy", says an insider. (Naming the character after a scooter probably doesn't help.) Meanwhile Vinnie Jones is putting himself forward for 'bad guy' duties. "I think I'd be a great villain so I'll have to see what I can do." he told The Sun. Is that a threat? |
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| Cheadle set for 'third 9/11 film' Don Cheadle and Adam Sandler are reportedly being lined up for a film set against the 11 September attacks. Reign O'er Me is set to become the third major film in production at rival studios to focus on the 2001 events, industry paper Daily Variety said. Oscar-nominated Hotel Rwanda actor Cheadle is said to play a doctor who helps old college friend Sandler face up to the loss of his family. Directors Paul Greengrass and Oliver Stone are also planning 9/11 stories. Flight 93, from Bourne Supremacy film-maker Greengrass, explores possible scenarios connected to the hijacked plane that crash in a field in Pennsylvania. Nicolas Cage has a role in Stone's as-yet-untitled film for Paramount looking at the attempts to rescue two police officers trapped in the World Trade Center rubble. Reign O'er Me will be directed by Mike Binder, who also penned the script. He recently finished w**k on the Ben Affleck film Man About Town and is reported to be in negotiations with Sony Pictures about the new project. Story from BBC NEWS: |
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| I'd love to direct, says Madonna Madonna has revealed that the shooting of the latest documentary about her has made her want to follow film director husband Guy Ritchie behind the camera. "I would love to direct," she said. "I felt very inspired by making this movie and I learned a lot about film-making. "I would like to do it on my own next time," continued the singer, whose film I'm Going to Tell You a Secret will be shown on Channel 4 on 1 December. Madonna's comments are part of an interview due to be screened on Channel 4. Story from BBC NEWS: |
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| Third Tomb Raider Film In Works? The Business Online reported a rumor that SCI, the game company that owns the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider franchise, is in talks with Paramount Pictures to license a third movie based on the Croft character. Citing anonymous "Hollywood sources," the site reported that talks have started between Paramount and SCI for a third Lara Croft film and that star Angelina Jolie has once again expressed an interest in playing the title character. The next video game, Tomb Raider Legend, will come out at Easter on Play Station2 and Xbox 360, the site reported. |
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| Spidey Games Deal Signed Activision announced that it has closed a deal to secure exclusive video-game rights to the Spider-Man film franchise through 2017. Activision signed the agreement with Spider-Man Merchandising L.P., a limited partnership between Marvel Entertainment and Sony Pictures Consumer Products Inc., granting the game publisher the right to publish entertainment software products based on subsequent Spider-Man movie sequels or new television series. Activision will publish a game based on the upcoming third film in the franchise, Spider-Man 3, which is set for release in May 2007. To date, Activision has published games based on Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2. |
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| Del Toro Fitted For Halo According to IESB.net, Peter Jackson has let slip that Hellboy director Guillermo Del Toro may call the shots on sci-fi shoot-em-up Halo (which he is producing). British scribe Alex Garland has penned the script based on the video game of the same name. Basically it follows the exploits of a futuristic super soldier to stave off alien invasion. If Del Toro signs up for Halo this means Sony will have to find another director for Hellboy 2, the first draft of which has just been turned in. A choice between Halo or Hellboy? Cue the Catholic guilt complex... |
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| Jackman On The Rebound 20th Century Fox have snapped up the romantic comedy pitch Rebound Guy as a potential starring vehicle for Hugh Jackman. The story follows a bachelor who only dates girls on the rebound because they never want a serious relationship. The trouble starts when he falls in love with a girl on the rebound and recruits a substitute "rebound guy" to pave the way for him. ------------ British director Iain Softley will follow up The Skeleton Key with family fantasy Inkheart. It's based on Cornelia Funke's best-selling novel about a girl whose father has the power to bring characters from books to life by reading aloud. "What attracted me was the central idea of the power of imagination," he says. Shooting begins in spring with a view to release on the Easter weekend 2007... -------------- Peter Segal (The Longest Yard) will call the shots on a big-screen version of 60s sitcom Get Smart. 40-Year-Old Virgin Steve Carell is already on board to star as the bumbling secret agent after Will Ferrell bowed out due to his increasingly hectic schedule... -------------- Bride & Prejudice helmer Gurinder Chadha will remake South Korean romantic comedy My Sassy Girl. Cameras roll in spring for the story of a dolt who falls in love with a girl who has an anger management problem. (It probably sounds funnier in South Korean.) |
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| Connery Gets Animated Sean Connery has been dropping none-too-subtle hints about retirement lately, but that hasn't stopped him from signing up to his first ever CG animated movie. The Greatest Living Scotsman TM has joined up with Glasgow Animation to produce a CGI short called Sir Billi The Vet. Connery will voice the title role, an eccentric veterinarian. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Connery's project has already attracted some big name co-stars including Miriam Margolyes, Alan Cumming, Ruby Wax and Gail Porter. Incidentally, Sir Sean garnered himself a lifetime achievement gong at the European Film Awards last weekend, so we raise a dram to him. |
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| Taylor Pursuing Neon Genesis Oscar-winning visual-effects supervisor Richard Taylor told SCI FI Wire that he is actively chasing his dream of realizing a live-action big-screen version of the cult-favorite Japanese anime series Neon Genesis: |
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| Green For Go Four Brothers helmer John Singleton will direct action adventure Convoy. The story follows a group of cash-hungry truck drivers who make a one-year commitment to drive goods for US contractors through the Afghan war zone. Three Kings meets The Cannonball Run?... xXx director Rob Cohen has optioned the book Big Bosoms And Square Jaws: The Biography Of Russ Meyer, King Of The Sex Film by Jimmy McDonough. Meyer died in September 2004 having directed a slew of cheesy sexploitation flicks in the 60s and 70s. "Most importantly this is a love story about Meyer and his centrefold wife," says Cohen. Plus it's a great excuse for loads of boob shots... British writer/director Andrew Piddington has wrapped on The Killing Of John Lennon exactly 25 years after Mark David Chapman gunned down the scouse songster in New York. Production has spanned three years in locations across America and is described as "a gritty and imagistic look at the mindset of a celebrity stalker". It has yet to be given a release date. |
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| Del Toro Halo Rumor Confirmed Empire Online has confirmed rumors that Peter Jackson has approached Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro to helm the eagerly awaited adaptation of the best-selling video game Halo. |