Saturday, May 14, 2011

Full Slate Of Cinema Stew

What follows is a rather large collection of industry news, that thanks to Blogger's meltdown a few days ago, grew even larger. I had intended to give some of the stories their own posts--written by contributor Julian Stark or myself--but Blogger's gremlins had plans of their own...


-Jack Black will star in Michael Winterbottom's comedy Bailout says THR

-Producer Avi Lerner and Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore ("Cinema Paradiso") are teaming for the $100 million English-language epic "Leningrad"  says Variety

-Kiefer Sutherland, Gerard Depardieu, Thomas Jane and Til Schweiger are all set to star in the ensemble heist comedy "Sleight of Hand" says THR The story revolves around a crew of small-time crooks in Paris who inadvertently end up possessing a rare gold coin belonging to a notorious French gangster. Jon Lovitz, Johnny Hallyday, Jean Luc Couchard, Nora Arnezeder, Patrice Cols and Eric Cantona will also star. Brad Mirman will direct while Richard Rionda del Castro and Gilles Thompson will produce. Shooting will start in July.

-Pam Grier, Michael Madsen and Brigitte Nielsen have all joined the comedic exploitation film "Skinny Dip" reports Heat Vision.

-Christopher Walken and Mickey Rourke have joined Seven Psychopaths says Variety

-Oren Peli's new project is called Wild Nature says Screen Daily

-Hugo Weaving, Susan Sarandon, Jim Broadbent, and Ben Whishaw have joined the cast of the adaptation of David Mitchell's novel "Cloud Atlas" says The Hollywood Reporter.

-Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Katherine Heigl and Amanda Seyfried are set to star in the indie comedy "Gently Down the Stream" for Two Ton Films and Millennium Films reports Variety.

-With the recent release of the first trailer for a new entry in the "Hitman" video game franchise, now comes word that the new game and a new "Hitman" movie are both set to share more than a 2012 release date says The Hollywood Reporter

-Mary Lynn Rajskub, Lynn Shelton, Jeff Garlin, Karan Soni and Jenica Bergere have joined the cast of "Safety Not Guaranteed" for Big Beach Films and Duplass Brothers Productions says The Hollywood Reporter.

-Julianne Moore, Steve Coogan and Alexander Skarsgård ("True Blood") are all set to co-star in the dramedy "What Maisie Knew" says The Hollywood Reporter.

-Michael Fassbender, Steve Coogan, Robert Sheehan, Richard Dormer and Bronagh Gallagher are all set to star in "Good Vibrations"  reports Screen Daily.

-Dany Boon and Diane Kruger have joined the high-concept action-adventure comedy "Fly Me to the Moon" says Variety Kruger plays a 30-something woman who has a great career and a loving boyfriend, though her family is plagued with a curse that turns every first marriage into a divorce. So when her boyfriend presses her to get hitched, she embarks on a mission to marry and divorce a stranger before her actual wedding.

-Dakota Fanning, Elizabeth Olsen, Peter Sarsgaard, Dustin Hoffman and Sissy Spacek will star in Naomi Foner's coming of age romancer "Very Good Girls" says Deadline. The story follows two teenage girls through a summer spent in New York City. After they graduate high school, each becomes determined to lose her virginity, and things get complicated when they fall for the same charismatic street artist.

-Danish director Lars von Trier and Oscar-winner Martin Scorsese are set to team for a remake/follow-up of von Trier's 2003 cinematic deconstruction documentary "The Five Obstructions" says The Hollywood Reporter.

-The Freebie actor/director Katie Aselton is set to step in front of and behind the camera again for the thriller "Black Rock" reports Screen Daily.

-Alon Aboutboul (TV's "Castle," "Body of Lies") is playing a mad scientist in the The Dark Knight Rises. The news first appeared at the gossip site XO later confirmed by the actor's wife on Twitter.--which has led to unconfirmed speculation that he's going to be Dr. Hugo Strange.

-A bidding war has broken out over the rights to the "Terminator" franchise reports Deadline

-Scott Rudin has optioned the film rights to New York Magazine's profile piece "The Terrorist Search Engine" says Vulture.

-Elizabeth Debicki is set to play Jordan Baker in Baz Luhrmann's 3D adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" says Deadline. Baker is a famed golfer and love interest of narrator Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire). Producers are also said to be close to locking down the role of Daisy's husband Tom Buchanan which was originally offered to Ben Affleck.

-Maggie Gyllenhaal ("The Dark Knight") and Viola Davis ("Doubt") are both set to star in the topical drama "Still I Rise" says Deadline.

-Colin Firth and Emily Blunt are set to team for an untitled dark comedy reports Screen Daily.

-Amber Heard ("Drive Angry") and Shiloh Fernandez ("Red Riding Hood") are set to headline the indie adaptation "Syrup" says Variety.

-Sony Pictures has scored the international rights to Quentin Tarantino's next project, the spaghetti western “Django Unchained” reports Deadline.

-Darren Aronofsky opted out of helming "The Wolverine" 2 months ago, and he's finally settled on what he'll do next Vulture reports that  he's eyeing a film adaptation of Jeff Welch's 1996 original sci-fi spec script called "Human Nature". George Clooney is reportedly attaching himself to star as a man who is cryogenically frozen and wakes up years later to a world in which humans have become pets of another species.

-"Bridesmaids" co-star Melissa McCarthy will headline and co-write an untitled comedy which she has just sold to Paramount Pictures says Deadline The story follows a supportive wife who decides to help her husband steal the Stanley Cup after he is diagnosed with an incurable disease. Her fellow cast member Annie Mumolo, who co-wrote "Bridesmaids" with Kristen Wiig, will co-write this project's script.

-Ciaran Hinds is attached while Tilda Swinton is being sought for Terry Loane's Northern Irish drama "Sisters" says Variety Written by Ronan Blaney, the story is set in 1960s West Belfast and tells the tale of a Irish mother, feminist, activist and nun who lands at a school and changes thousands of deprived kids' lives around with her skills as a teacher.

-Hilary Swank will produce and wants to star in an adaptation of Michelle Wildgen's "You’re Not You" says Indiewire. The actress is said to be pursuing Jeremy Renner to play the husband. The story which delves into the relationship between a thirty-something woman with Lou Gehrig’s disease and her female carer

-Salma Hayek is starring alongside Mathieu Demy in the latter's directorial debut "Americano" reports Variety.

-Tim Robbins is set to join “The Kids Are All Right” co-writer Stuart Blumberg's directorial debut "Thanks For Sharing" says  Risky Biz Blog

-Rob Lowe has signed on to star in Bill Guttentag's "Knife Fight" which deals with the dark side of political operatives says Deadline

-Craig Bierko has been cast in the Farrellys-directed comedy "The Three Stooges" says Deadline. The actor will play one of the heavies trying to exploit the Stooges.

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