Sorry all, took a little vacation. But I’m back! So get ready for all the movie news that’s fit to print (online)…
UPCOMING FILMS.
Vulture is reporting that George Clooney – the director – is looking at Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, and possibly Chris Pine to star in FARRAGUT NORTH, an adaptation of Beau Willimon’s critically acclaimed play, set during the Iowa primary of a presidential race. The site says that “the story is set in Des Moines, Iowa, just weeks before the state’s Democratic caucuses officially commence; it follows the exploits of a twenty-something presidential campaign spinmeister/wunderkind named Stephen Myers, and the dirty pool he plays to get his candidate the nomination against a rival senator.” Clooney reportedly has offers out to Evan Rachel Wood and Marisa Tomei. Clooney is also expected to take a small role in the movie. Shooting is targeted for a February start date.
Ryan Reynolds and Bradley Cooper are attached to star in an untitled original action comedy written by Sheldon Turner (“Up in the Air”), according to Risky Business. The blog says the film “follows two friends, who are also San Francisco cops, whose fathers were once partners on the police force. The older generation is forced out of retirement to help their sons crack a case, with typically antagonistic results.”
With Devil, the first film in M. Night Shyamalan’s NIGHT CHRONICLES, hitting theaters on September 17, the filmmaker revealed to MTV that we’ll see the story he was going to use for Unbreakable 2 in the third movie in the film series. ‘I cannibalized the idea for the sequel to ‘Unbreakable’ for one of the ‘Night Chronicles,’” revealed Shyamalan. “It was such a cool idea for a villain, and it was actually originally in the script for ‘Unbreakable,’ and it was too much. There were too many villains, so I pulled this villain out and was like, ‘I’ll make this the second flick.’” Instead, Shyamalan used the villain and story for the film that will come after Twelve Strangers, which is expected to be the second movie in the “Night Chronicles.”
CASTING NEWS.
A little over a week ago, it was reported that Angelina Jolie had passed a second time on the lead female role in Alfonso Cuaron’s planned 3D space survival thriller GRAVITY, which already had attached Robert Downey Jr. cast in a supporting role. Despite recent rumors of Rachel Weisz being offered the part after other potential candidates like Blake Lively and Scarlett Johansson were nixed, word now comes from The Hollywood Reporter that Natalie Portman has been offered the part, having earned buzz out of Venice and Telluride for her performance in Darren Aronofsky’s thriller Black Swan. With a reported budget of $80 million, the film focuses on a female astronaut sent out to fix the Hubble telescope who is the sole survivor left stranded after space junk hits her transport, so she must fight her way back to earth.
Jeremy Renner (“The Hurt Locker”) has signed to star alongside Tom Cruise in Paramount Pictures’ MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE IV, according to the studio. It is the second big part Renner has landed following Hawkeye in Marvel Studios and Paramount’s The Avengers, coming to theaters on May 4, 2012. Renner can next be seen in theaters in Ben Affleck’s The Town on September 17.
John Cusack revealed via his Twitter that he would be taking on the role of Edgar Allan Poe in James (“V For Vendetta”) McTeigue’s thriller THE RAVEN.
Katie Holmes is in talks to star opposite Adam Sandler and Al Pacino in JACK AND JILL, says The Hollywood Reporter. In the Dennis Dugan-directed script, a family man by the name of Jack deals with his twin sister, Jill, when she visits for Thanksgiving then won’t leave. Sandler will play both characters. Holmes would play Sandler’s wife; Pacino is set to play himself. An October shoot is planned for the film.
Details are scarce, but USA Today is reporting on two cameos you can expect in SCREAM 4. Kristen Bell and “True Blood’s” Anna Paquin have roles in the sequel, still shooting in Michigan under the direction of Wes Craven. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Rory Culkin, Nico Tortorella, Anthony Anderson and Marielle Jaffe star in the next entry opening on April 15, 2011.
HALO MOVIE?
In an article talking about the popular “Halo” franchise, Variety published quotes from Franchise Development Director Frank O’Connor about whether we’ll ever see a HALO MOVIE. The trade says that Microsoft is still developing scripts by Alex Garland (“28 Days Later”), Stuart Beattie (“Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise), novelist D.B. Weiss and Josh Olson (“A History of Violence”) as potential blueprints. “We’re still interested in making an excellent ‘Halo’ movie,” O’Connor said. “We’ve created an awful lot of documentation and materials to support a feature film. We have a good idea of what kind of story we want to tell, but won’t move on it until there’s a great reason to do it. We’re in no particular hurry.”
MOVIE TRAILERS.
127 HOURS: The trailer has hit for Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle’s upcoming film, 127 Hours, starring the ubiquitous James Franco. The film – based on a true story – is about hiker Aron Ralston, who gets his arm trapped under a boulder, and must amputate it to survive. The film screened at Telluride and critics are already talking Oscar.
BLACK SWAN: Darren Aronofky’s much anticipated follow up to The Wrestler concerns a New York ballet company’s rendition of Swan Lake, and featured Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis as two rival dancers in the production. Oh, and they totally make out.
…Until next week!
