Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Glimmers And Shudders

Dave McNary of Variety:

In a dramatic gesture designed to cool off Hollywood's strike fever, studios and networks have backed off their proposal to revamp residuals for writers.

Though both sides remain far apart, Tuesday's move by the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers puts a halt -- for a few days, at least -- to the pervasive gloom and doom that had overtaken the industry in recent weeks. Fears had been growing that a strike would be inevitable once the WGA's contract expires on Oct. 31...


It seems to me as though that taking the incentives issue off the table is pretty significant and is the first positive sign there's been in quite a while...

Meanwhile, my "favorite" actor continues to find work...

Michael Fleming:

[He] will star in "The Vanished" for Focus Features

Pic marks the studio helming debut of Hany Abu-Assad, the Palestinian-born director of "Paradise Now."

Thriller, penned by Larysa Kondracki and Eilis Kirwan, concerns a father who goes in search of his college-aged American-born Muslim son, who's missing overseas.

Movie will be produced by Noah Rosen and David Alpert of Circle of Confusion and Tracy Seward. Production is scheduled for the spring.

Abu-Assad drew acclaim for "Paradise Now," an Oscar-nominated 2005 film about two Palestinian youths drafted to become suicide bombers.

[He] first plans to star for director Darren Aronofsky in indie drama "The Wrestler" in January. He jumps right into "The Vanished" in April. Thesp most recently wrapped a remake of "Bangkok Dangerous," as well as the sequel "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," which Disney opens Dec. 21.


While I think the premise of the film is strong--given the state of our world today. I wish another lead actor had signed in the dotted line...

No comments: