Friday, August 19, 2005

Friday MOVIE Dweebing

EDITOR'S NOTE: AND SPEAKING OF XENA (WHICH WE JUST WERE IN THE TV NEWS) -----

Lawless and Tapert want Xena movie
The guy who shares the doona with Lucy Lawless is keen to make a "Xena" movie.

Rob Tapert, Lawless's hubby and the creator and producer of the cult TV hit, is trying to buy the rights from Universal so he can do a fan-beseeching feature film.

"I think a movie would be great, and I'd love to do it," Lawless said in an interview at SciFi Wire. "I've been wanting to do it for years." But, she added: "Nobody can agree who owns the rights, and it's a big fat pain in the ass." EDITOR'S NOTE: LANGUAGE, LUCY, LANGUAGE.She continues, "Rob wants to make it anyway," Lawless said. "He wants to make films. He likes making movies. He's like a shark: You only go forward, and you don't want to bite yourself on the tail with regrets." Lawless says if the movie happens - she'd love it to be comical. "I know Rob can tell a great story and could come up with a really creative new spin on it, much like David Eick and Ron Moore did with Battlestar Galactica, and make it relevant to today's audience," said Lawless. "But I think it could be a good comedy, because comedy always works." EDITOR'S NOTE: IT DOES?

VENDETTA Release Pushed
Warner Brothers has announced that the release date for V FOR VENDETTA has been moved to March 17, 2006. The studio moved the date "to accommodate the movie's post-production schedule."

As previously reported the film is based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd.

The story centers on a self-styled anarchist terrorist who bombs London, assassinates government officials and models himself on notorious British traitor Guy Fawkes, who is burned in effigy in the U.K. every Nov. 5.

Finney right vintage for Scott's 'Year'


Fox 2000 has grape expectations for Albert Finney.EDITOR'S NOTE: FINNEY GOOD. JOKE BAD.

The actor has signed on to join Russell Crowe in Ridley Scott's "A Good Year" for the studio.

Based on the novel by Peter Mayle, "A Good Year" centers on Max Skinner (Crowe), a London financier who quits the rat race after inheriting a vineyard in the south of France. Finney will play Henry Skinner, Crowe's uncle and one-time owner of the property. The female lead, who will play Finney's long-lost daughter, has yet to be cast.

Marc Klein is penning the screenplay, while Scott is producing through his Scott Free Prods.

Aim: Giamatti, Bellucci gun for NL 'Shoot'
Paul Giamatti ("Sideways") and Monica Bellucci ("Tears of the Sun") are in negotiations to join Clive OwenEDITOR'S NOTE: YUM. in New Line Cinema's "Shoot 'Em Up," a hard-core action project from screenwriter-director Michael Davis.

Don Murphy, Susan Montford and Rick Benattar are producing.

The story begins with a woman having a baby during a shootout. The man who delivers the baby, called simply Mr. Smith (Owen), is entrusted with protecting it from an army of gunmen. Giamatti would play the villain who wants the baby dead, and Bellucci would be Owen's love interest EDITOR'S NOTE: BELLUCCI...YAWN.

Craig joins Warners' 'Invasion'
Daniel Craig ("Layer Cake") has boarded Warner Bros. Pictures' "Invasion," directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel. Joel Silver is producing the Nicole Kidman sci-fi thriller.

After a mysterious epidemic alters the behavior of human beings, a Washington psychiatrist (Kidman) discovers that its origins are extraterrestrial. She must fight to protect her son, who might hold the key to stopping the invasion. Craig plays Kidman's colleague and love interest who teams up with her to fight the invasion. EDITOR'S NOTE: I GUESS HE NEEDS SOMETHING TO KEEP HIM BUSY BETWEEN MAD RUMORS OF BOND?

Al Pacino is Rififi
Ol' buddies Al Pacino and Harold Becker are eyeing their third outing together as star and director, respectively.

According to Variety, The "Sea of Love" and "City Hall" duo will re-team for a remake of the 1955 French heist classic "Rififi", set up at Stone Village Pictures.

In that original film, a career thief gets out of prison only to discover his wife has left him. He returns to a life of crime - plotting a daring jewelry store heist. EDITOR'S NOTE: SO....LIKE "OCEANS 11"? (JEWELRY/CASINO. WHATEVER)

Quintet set to play 'Flute'
Kenneth Branagh has plucked actors from the opera world for his feature adaptation of Mozart's "The Magic Flute."

Joseph Kaiser, Ben Davis, Rene Pape, Lyubov Petrova and newcomer Amy Carson have been cast in the lead roles.

"Flute" chronicles the adventures of Prince Tamino (Kaiser) and his sidekick, Papageno the birdseller (Davis), as they battle evil forces to rescue Princess Pamina (Carson). Pape will play Sarastro, the wise priest, while Petrova will portray the Queen of the Night EDITOR'S NOTE: BUT I THOUGHT ODDBOB WAS THE 'QUEEN OF THE NIGHT'?

Newton finds 'Happyness' with Col film
Thandie Newton has been cast opposite Will Smith in "The Pursuit of Happyness" for Columbia Pictures.

Written by Steve Conrad ("The Weather Man"), the drama centers on Chris Gardner (Smith), a sporadically employed salesman who wins custody of his young son just as he is about to begin a stock brokerage intern program. The father and son end up living in a homeless shelter. Newton will play Linda, Smith's estranged wife and the mother of his son. EDITOR'S NOTE: THANDIE NEWTON IS A DECENT ACTRESS. BUT SHE IS ALSO LIVING PROOF...AND I DON'T KNOW THAT I WOULD HAVE BELIEVED IT BEFORE SEEING HER IN "TRAFFIC"....THAT IN FACT, YOU CAN BE TOO THIN.

Three Asian Men and a Baby?
Fast kickin' Jackie is staying put in HK it seems.

Chan's committed himself to "Project BB", an action-comedy about three thieves (Chan, Eric Tsang and Sammo Hung) who steal a baby for a gang - but encounter more than they bargained for with the little pooper.

The film, written by Alan Yuen and set to be helmed by Benny Chan, will go into production in Hong Kong soon. Jackie Chan's other upcoming projects include the "Indiana Jones"-esque adventure "The Myth" and the long-awaited "Rush Hour 3", rumoured to be kicking off in November.

Doctor attends to X-Men 3
Oscar Nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo, currently appearing on Australian Idiot Boxes as the ever-so-wicked Dina Araz on "24", has joined the cast of FOX's "X-Men 3".

According to IGN FilmForce, the actress, best known for her work in the film "House of Sand and Fog", will play a character named Dr. Rao.

In the comics, Doctor Kavita Rao was a world-renowned geneticist who apparently developed a serum that would could 'cure' mutants of their mutations.

The film, currently lensing in Vancouver, stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Ian McKellen, Kelsey Grammer, Ben Foster, Anna Paquin, Shawn Ashmore, Daniel Cudmore, Ellen Page, Rebecca Romjin-Stamos and newcomer, Katie Nauta, who, according to BMI, plays "a sexy mutant who secretes a special pheromone to seduce men". EDITOR'S NOTE: CHANEL #5?

Warner Begins 300 in October
In mid October production will begin on Warner Bros. Pictures' 300. The film is based on Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name.

The true story centers on the 300 elite Spartan fighters who, led by King Leonidas, EDITOR'S NOTE: DIDN'T HE ALSO MAKE REALLY GOOD BELGIAN CHOCOLATE? fought to the death against King Xerxes' massive Persian army during the battle of Thermopylae in 481-480 B.C.

Gerard Butler stars. DAWN OF THE DEAD's Zack Snyder will direct from a script he wrote with Kurt Johnstad.

Urban to Walk PATH
Phoenix Pictures is in talks with actor Karl Urban to star in PATHFINDER. The film is a remake of the 1987 Norwegian film.

The new version is set in North America around the same time, when Vikings inadvertently discovered the continent 500 years before Columbus. The story centers on a Viking boy who accidentally is left behind during a skirmish between the Vikings and Americans Indians. The American Indians raise the boy as their own, but when their village is wiped out in a Viking raid, the adopted Viking becomes his people's defender in battling the Norsemen. EDITOR'S NOTE: SO....REALLY REALLY PALE GUYS IN BEARDS AND ANIMAL SKINS FIGHTING REALLY REALLY BRONZED GUYS IN LONG HAIR AND ANIMAL SKINS. AND AT THE END OF THE BATTLE WE WILL HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO GOT KILLED. (OH...SO SAD...THAT BEARDED GUY IN THE ANIMAL SKIN DIED....NO, NOT THAT ONE. THE OTHER ONE.)

Laeta Kalogridis wrote the script. Marcus Nispel will direct.

Blunt dresses up for Fox's 'Prada'
Emily Blunt is set to don designer togs as the latest addition to Fox 2000's "The Devil Wears Prada."

Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep already have boarded the adaptation of Lauren Weisberger's best-selling tome, which is set at a glitzy Manhattan fashion magazine. Blunt will play Emily, the magazine's senior assistant and loyal servant to despotic editor Miranda (Streep). Hathaway will play Andrea, a Brown University grad and wannabe writer who lands the coveted but nightmarish job as Miranda's assistant. David Frankel will direct the Aline Brosh McKenna-penned screenplay.

GET SMART:
According to producer Charles Roven, Steve Carell will play a less- bumbling version of secret agent Maxwell Smart in the upcoming remake of the 1960's GET SMART. EDITOR'S NOTE: BAD IDEA. BAD BAD BAD IDEA.

Roven said that he signed The Daily Show's Carell to play the role originated by Don Adams and
that, "Steve will take the part of Maxwell Smart to a whole new level." EDITOR'S NOTE: YES....A POINTLESS, BAD ONE.Roven said in an interview, "He will not be as bumbling, and it will be in a contemporary setting." EDITOR'S NOTE: SO WE'RE CALLING IT "GET SMART" BUT IT WILL REALLY HAVE VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH "GET SMART".

DID I MENTION THIS IS A BAD IDEA?

Carell is making more inroads into big screen roles with parts in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Bewitched, Bruce Almighty and the upcoming film The 40- Year-Old Virgin.

GET SMART was concocted by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry and featured CONTROL Agents Smart and 99, played by Barbara Feldon.

The film version won't be set in the a specific period, but will address issues today, Roven said. "We're getting the script together, and there will be some of the usual characters: a Chief,
99, CONTROL and KAOS,
" Roven said. "The script has to be there before we want to make it, but Steve will make it funny." Steve Koren, who came up with the idea for Bruce Almighty, and Jon Zack, who's co-writing Shrek 3, are co-writing the Get Smart script, which has no director attached yet.

TIDELAND:
While out to promote his latest project, BROTHERS GRIMM, director Terry Gilliam said that his next movie, TIDELAND, deals with the resilience of children in the face of grief and loss.

"It's about what happens when you put a kid with an imagination in difficult circumstances. It's really about [the] resilience of childhood, and I'm so bored about hearing about these little children that are so victimized and are so weak. Children are the toughest creatures on the planet, and they're being protected. It's partly one reason why I tried to keep Grimm as close to the original tales as possible."

In TIDELAND, starring Jennifer Tilly, Janet McTeer and Jeff Bridges, a girl loses her mother to a heroin overdose, then begins to communicate via her Barbie-doll heads. She befriends a neighborhood woman who wears a beekeeper's veil and delves into her own fantasy world.

Gilliam said the girl is played by Jodelle Ferland, and he enthusiastically introduced the young actress last year at the Toronto International Film Festival just before he began shooting.

"She is a phenomenal little 9 1/2-year-old girl that plays the lead, and she's in every scene," Gilliam said.

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