Casting Bites: Josh Charles, Justin Long, and Nick Nolte
November 8, 2008
brpFiled under: a href=http://www.cinematical.com/category/drama/ rel=tagDrama/a, a href=http://www.cinematical.com/category/casting/ rel=tagCasting/a/pimg hspace=4 vspace=4 border=1 align=right src=http://www.blogcdn.com/www.cinematical.com/media/2008/11/charles110708.jpg alt= /a href=http://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/josh-charles/1783397/mainJosh Charles/a started out strong, but sure fizzled, didn’t he? I mean, he started his career with emHairspray/em, before heading to the emDead Poets Society/em, emDon’t Tell Mother the Babysitter’s Dead/em, and soon after, the sexually dysfunctional emThreesome/em. But now he’s cameo guy, and there’s a new one on the way.br /a href=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i798ea20fcf86512a1c35468710484d8cbr /emThe Hollywood Reporter/em/a posts that Charles and a href=http://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/justin-long/2012418/mainJustin Long/a are joining the Christina Ricci and Liam Neeson-starring emAfter.Life/em. Long will play the boyfriend of a woman caught between life and death (Ricci), while Charles plays his friend. (Poor guy, relegated to token roles.) This is that long-in-gestation feature that once starred Kate Bosworth, and even had a poster released waaaay back in a href=http://www.cinematical.com/2007/02/12/new-poster-for-kate-bosworths-after-life-up/February of 2007/a. But it finally seems to be moving forward.br /br /Meanwhile…br /br /Four Leaf Tayback, also known as a href=http://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/nick-nolte/1819031/mainNick Nolte/a, has grabbed a role in a href=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1193507/emMy Own Love Song/em/a, according to a href=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117995409.html?categoryid=13amp;cs=1amp;nid=2562emVariety/em/a. Pretty much nothing like his last release film, emTropic Thunder/em, this project follows a former singer in a wheelchair during a road trip to Memphis with her friend. Renee Zellweger and Forest Whitaker star, but there’s no word on who Nolte will play. Maybe her dad?p style=clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0; /ppa href=http://www.cinematical.com/2008/11/07/casting-bites-josh-charles-justin-long-and-nick-nolte/ rel=bookmark title=Permanent link to this entryPermalink/a | a href=http://www.cinematical.com/forward/1364993/ title=Send this entry to a friend via emailEmail this/a | a href=http://www.cinematical.com/2008/11/07/casting-bites-josh-charles-justin-long-and-nick-nolte/#comments title=View reader comments on this entryComments/a/p pa href=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/UyBYsgQu3Ee5JcaOhFa4sRXAdHE/aimg src=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/UyBYsgQu3Ee5JcaOhFa4sRXAdHE/i border=0 ismap=true/img/a/pdiv class=feedflare a href=http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/cinematical?a=8vbaSy8gimg src=http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/cinematical?i=8vbaSy8g border=0/img/a a href=http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/cinematical?a=fKMuq9mVimg src=http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/cinematical?i=fKMuq9mV border=0/img/a /divimg src=http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/cinematical/~4/FkDphb8YLjI height=1 width=1/ a target=_blank rel=nofollow href=’http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/cinematical/~3/FkDphb8YLjI/’Via [cinematical]/abr
‘Oldboy’ Remake Regains Speed with Spielberg and Smith?!
November 8, 2008
brpFiled under: a href=http://www.cinematical.com/category/drama/ rel=tagDrama/a, a href=http://www.cinematical.com/category/foreign-language/ rel=tagForeign Language/a, a href=http://www.cinematical.com/category/thrillers/ rel=tagThrillers/a, a href=http://www.cinematical.com/category/casting/ rel=tagCasting/a, a href=http://www.cinematical.com/category/deals/ rel=tagDeals/a, a href=http://www.cinematical.com/category/remakes-and-sequels/ rel=tagRemakes and Sequels/a/pimg hspace=4 border=1 align=right vspace=4 src=http://www.blogcdn.com/www.cinematical.com/media/2008/11/smith110708.jpg alt= /Holy crap! Just when you think there’s no chance… Back in a href=http://www.cinematical.com/2007/01/25/the-oldboy-remake-might-be-losing-steam/January of 2007/a, Jessica posted about the woes of the impendingem a href=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364569/Oldboy/a/em remake. Director Justin Lin was backing out of the project, and it looked like the whole thing would dissolve into development hell. And it did.br /br /But now it might be getting one hell of a Hollywood power-team behind it. a href=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117995429.html?categoryid=13amp;cs=1amp;nid=2562emVariety/em/a reports that Tinseltown bigwigs a href=http://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/steven-spielberg/1198594/mainSteven Spielberg/a and a href=http://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/will-smith/1248391/mainWill Smith/a are circling the project. DreamWorks is working on getting the rights, Universal will distribute it, I imagine Spielberg will helm it, and Smith will play the lead … if everything works out.br /br /If you’ve missed the original by Chan-wook Park, emOldboy/em centers on a man who is kidnapped and imprisoned in a cell for 15 years with no explanation, until he’s released one day and given a cell phone, money, and clothes. He then sets out to discover what happened and get his revenge.br /br /It’ll be great, meaty material for Smith, but I don’t know if a big, mainstream project is the way to go. Then again, at least it will probably barely resemble the original. What do you think? Should the project have stayed in limbo, or are Spielberg and Smith the men to make it happen?p style=clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0; /ppa href=http://www.cinematical.com/2008/11/07/oldboy-remake-regains-speed-with-spielberg-and-smith/ rel=bookmark title=Permanent link to this entryPermalink/a | a href=http://www.cinematical.com/forward/1364986/ title=Send this entry to a friend via emailEmail this/a | a href=http://www.cinematical.com/2008/11/07/oldboy-remake-regains-speed-with-spielberg-and-smith/#comments title=View reader comments on this entryComments/a/p pa href=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/PWjU3fbmlUltasD29A5GhKTSNhE/aimg src=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/PWjU3fbmlUltasD29A5GhKTSNhE/i border=0 ismap=true/img/a/pdiv class=feedflare a href=http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/cinematical?a=SDsSMKVkimg src=http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/cinematical?i=SDsSMKVk border=0/img/a a href=http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/cinematical?a=GO8Zymdkimg src=http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/cinematical?i=GO8Zymdk border=0/img/a /divimg src=http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/cinematical/~4/wrwZHbuuaC8 height=1 width=1/ a target=_blank rel=nofollow href=’http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/cinematical/~3/wrwZHbuuaC8/’Via [cinematical]/abr
Franka Potente Starves on the High Seas
November 5, 2008
She might not get the chance to shine as Pope Joan, but it looks like Run Lola Run star Franka Potente is getting a different dramatic opportunity to shine. Variety reports that she’s going to headline a new lost-at-sea film called Wave — joining the likes of Dougray Scott and Marianne Faithful.
Based on Louise Longo’s Let Me Survive, the film will focus on an English family — mother (Potente) plus husband and 5-year-old daughter — who set out for a three-week cruise on the Bay of Biscay. But a storm rushes in as they’re just 40 miles from the Spanish coast, and the family decide that they’d be safer in the life raft, waiting to be rescued. But Bernard is hurt getting into the liferaft and dies, as does the young girl. And that’s not the end of the story — after being rescued two weeks later, “she’s then alleged to have killer her husband.”
Basically, this is really meaty fare that I think Potente can excel at. She’s got the chops, and just needs a opportunity to showcase them. Maria Ripoll (Tortilla Soup) will direct, from an adaptation penned by Marie-Laure Bertehlin and Greg Latter. And while I’m usually against similar, or repetitive competing photos, this would be excellently matched with Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor — one outlining the loss of family while the other deals with isolated, inner turmoil. Any takers?
Jenna Fischer Steals Husbands
November 4, 2008
Forget being merely the side spotlight, love interest, and co-star to the hordes of funny men out there. Jenna Fischer has grabbed the top line. Variety reports that she’s signed on to star in a new indie dramedy called A Tiny Help — the feature directorial debut for Michael J. Weithorn (creator of King of Queens). Now you may be envisioning what sort of “help” she’s going to give or get, but I bet you weren’t thinking this: the film focuses on “a recently widowed single mother who reconnects with an old flame — her sister’s husband.”
Yes, we’re finally going to see her break out and grab the spotlight all for herself. But we get to watch her do it while stealing her sister’s husband. Do we need more instigators to tap into that inner paranoia and make male-female friendships, or friendships with exes for that matter, such perilous territory? This idea was creepy enough in 27 Dresses, and that was pre-wedding shenanigans. (I know there are other sibling/romance triangles out there, but I’m hitting a mental roadblock. Help me out!)
At the very least, I’m eager to see how she handles such a sticky situation. While Fischer is quickly becoming a beloved female laugh machine, she hasn’t gotten to stretch this far before. The film begins production in January.
News Bites: More on the Cheadle/Howard Switch, Some Bruno, and a Little Godot
November 3, 2008
You might remember the massive shocker last month that Terrence Howard wouldn’t be returning as Rhodes in Iron Man 2 because he got replaced by Don Cheadle. The actor said he found out through the trades like the rest of us, and rumors began to run rampant. Now EW is trying to get to the bottom of things and got an interesting bit of news from insiders who say that two things were to blame for the recasting — money and Howard’s performance. The latter isn’t too interesting — apparently Favs wasn’t happy with the footage.
But the former — it appears that Mr. Howard was the highest paid actor on set. Oh yes, he signed first for some hefty sum, and no one else, not even the Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. got as much. So the story goes — Howard got a drastically reduced offer for #2 unsurprisingly, balked, and Cheadle was tapped. It all sounds fishy to me. Who let the pay get so out of whack, and why are the powers that be upset with his performance when everyone else likes it!?
Meanwhile, the Bruno shenanigans continue in a rather appropriate forum. Yahoo reports that Sacha Baron Cohen’s character crashed a rally supporting Proposition 8 — the bill trying to ban gay marriage in California. I wonder what his poster said…
News Bites: Sam Jackson and Quentin Tarantino are BFF and More!
November 3, 2008
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What’s missing from Quentin Tarantino’s balls-to-the-wall WWII flick Inglourious Basterds (besides accurate spelling)? I’ll tell you what — Samuel L. “Motherf**king Jackson. The Playlist reports that Jackson has joined the cast as a narrator who pops up in only a few spots. Additionally, Maggie Cheung has signed on to play “Madame Mimieux, the French matron of the Cinematheque that takes in the protagonist Shosanna (Melanie Laurent) when she’s homeless and being sought by the Nazis.”
It looks like Tatum O’Neal is back on track after her drug bust earlier this year, grabbing new work that’s matching her with some old and familiar faces. The Hollywood Reporter posts that O’Neal has signed on for a new suspense drama along with Tom Berenger and James Brolin called Last Will. Directed by Brent Huff, the film stars O’Neal as a midwestern woman framed for the murder of her rich husband (Berenger). She’s arrested by a detective (Brolin), and sets out to find out who really killed her spouse. It sounds like you’re everyday suspence flick, but there’s even more faces you might recognize on the roster — Brigitte Nielsen, Patrick Muldoon, William Shockley, Jeffery Dean, Shawn Huff, and a Zappa of the Moon Unit variety.
Filed under: Drama, Casting, Deals, Scripts
Hugh Allow Gets a New RomCom Love Interest: Sarah Jessica Parker
November 2, 2008
He’s been through Four Weddings and a Funeral, traversed the world of Jane Austen, learned what life’s like when it’s About a Boy, and canoodled the likes of Andie MacDowell, Julia Roberts, Renee Zellweger, and Drew Barrymore. Now Hugh Grant’s getting the woman of Manolo Blahniks — Sarah Jessica Parker.
The Hollywood Reporter posts that Columbia Photos has pulled the pair together for Marc Lawrence’s new, untitled romantic comedy. Refreshingly, there’s a slight spin on this puppy to keep it from the usual man, woman, drama, and romantic happy ending rut — witness protection. It seems the pair will play “an estranged high-powered New York couple who witness a murder and are placed in a witness-protection program in a small Wyoming town.” I wonder if they choose to be together so at least they both know someone, or if the powers that be weren’t interested in cooking up two top-secret locales. Whatever the case, it could be interesting.
Do you think ol’ pros Hugh and Sarah will cook up some good chemistry when production begins next Spring?
Hugh Grant Gets a New RomCom Love Interest: Sarah Jessica Parker
November 1, 2008
He’s been through Four Weddings and a Funeral, traversed the world of Jane Austen, learned what life’s like when it’s About a Boy, and canoodled the likes of Andie MacDowell, Julia Roberts, Renee Zellweger, and Drew Barrymore. Now Hugh Grant’s getting the woman of Manolo Blahniks — Sarah Jessica Parker.
The Hollywood Reporter posts that Columbia Photos has pulled the pair together for Marc Lawrence’s new, untitled romantic comedy. Refreshingly, there’s a slight spin on this puppy to keep it from the usual man, woman, drama, and romantic happy ending rut — witness protection. It seems the pair will play “an estranged high-powered New York couple who witness a murder and are put in a witness-protection program in a small Wyoming town.” I wonder if they choose to be together so at least they both know someone, or if the powers that be weren’t interested in cooking up two top-secret locales. Whatever the case, it could be interesting.
Do you think ol’ pros Hugh and Sarah will cook up some good chemistry when production begins next Spring?
The Jonas Bros. Team with a Farting Dog
October 31, 2008
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Swift, name two things you’ve always wanted to see in a movie on the massive screen …
If you answered the Jonas Bros. and a farting dog, then I have some hella good news for you. 20th Century Fox has seduced the much sought-after Jonas boys (think: this generation’s Hanson) into starring in their first feature, and it’s called … Walter the Farting Dog. Okay. What’s creepier: That these three boys wanted this project to be their huge film debut or that thousands of pre-teen girls will eventually jam and smash their way into theaters for a movie with the word ‘farting’ in the title? Wait, don’t answer that.
All kidding aside, though, my dog churns out some seriously stinky surprises on a daily basis, and so I wholeheartedly sympathize with anyone whose animal likes to spread his or her most delicious fragrance all throughout the house. Interestingly enough, Walter the Farting Dog is based on a very popular series of books about a fat farting dog who joins a family of musicians (hey, the Jonas Bros. are musicians!) when the dog’s owner (their aunt) falls sick and passes away. Oh, and here’s the cherry for the top of this scrumptious cake: Peter and Bobby Farrelly (There’s Something About Mary) might direct the thing. I guess if you’re looking for a couple of dudes who do fart jokes for a living, you can’t really go wrong with those Farrelly boys … except if you want your motion picture to turn out good. Ouch. I still love ya Mary!
The Scary Bits: Saw, Splinter & Jack Brooks 2
October 30, 2008
I’ve been pretty impressed with our teams’ Casting Bites pieces, so I thought I’d borrow the format and use it for genre-style news that might not be HUGE information, but is interesting enough (to me) to bear repeating.
For example, I knew that director Jon Knautz was planning hoping to turn his scrappy tiny Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer into a franchise, but now we’re getting some early details on where Mr. Brooks might be headed next. The filmmaker promises more action the next time around, plus they have a few unlikely partners for the angry hero to deal with. The screenplay isn’t finished yet, but apparently the project is a go. (Check out this report at Filmstalker for more.)
Also, a very cool little horror flick called Splinter is opening this weekend in limited release, and if you’re the sort who doesn’t mind driving a few extra miles for your claustrophobic bio-terror monster movies, then you’ll be pleased to hear about my raves, the equally enthusiastic thoughts from Variety, and a bunch of nifty gizmos at the flick’s official site. Yay, that was all one sentence. (Oh yeah, and Splinter is available via video-on-demand in several markets, so check the official site for more info.)
Ever seen the original Saw? No, not the feature-length flick. The short. If not, click here.
