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| The Sunday News Recap! 5.23.04 |
The Sunday News Recap...where you always get a free onion! |
by Ryan Arthur
Greetings, and welcome back to the Sunday News Recap. We'll cover the last week's worth of reviews and features posted by our staff of writers at HBS/eFC, highlight some of the major entertainment stories, give you casting, direction and production news, examine the box office for the weekend and pimp the upcoming week in new releases on video and DVD, as well as get you ready for the next week's worth of features here at HBS/eFC. I'm Ryan, and personally, I wanna slay the dragon. Let's go to work.
In The Platter: What I'm Watching
After seeing Shrek 2 on Saturday, I'm in an animated mood.
Shrek
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
Clerks: Uncensored
Plus The Simpsons, The Sopranos (so that's how Drea de Matteo will be able to be on Joey!) and Deadwood.
Screwed, Blued & Reviewed: Reviews From The Past Week
We're all about variety this week, with a ton of older movies reviewed, plus new releases and the debuts of two new writers.
Collin Souter
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...And Spring
Stateside
New York Minute
Kevin Thomas
28 Days Later
Cheaper By The Dozen (2003)
The Fog Of War
Goldeneye
Jackie Brown
Kill Bill: Vol. 2
The Passion Of The Christ
Starship Troopers
Jack Sommersby
Stick
Laura* NEW REVIEWER *
The Virgin Suicides
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
The Prince & Me
Scott Weinberg
Watchers
Watchers 2
Napoleon Dynamite
The Gods Must Be Crazy
The Gods Must Be Crazy 2
Bang The Drum Slowly
Wilder Days
Comic Book: The Movie
Shrek 2
Stephen Groenewegen
Facing Window
Dennis Swennumson
Troy
Old School
Miracle
Walking Tall (2004)
WGartside
Cabin Fever
Josh Gryniewicz
Super Size Me
MP Bartley
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956)
Van Helsing
Cast Away
Jason And The Argonauts
Donnie Brasco
U-571
Brian McKay
Millennium Actress
Reservoir Dogs
Erik Childress
Shrek 2
EricDSnider
Balseros
Monsieur Ibrahim
Shrek 2
Power Trip
Dr Nick
Shaun Of The Dead
CK Allen* NEW REVIEWER *
Peter Pan (2003)
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Jason Whyte
Shrek 2
Super Size Me
Chris Parry
Solaris (2002)
The Third Wheel
Clicking on a reviewer's name takes you to a listing of all of his or her reviews (sorted by most to least recent). You can also flip through all of our reviews here or try using the search function, if you're feeling lucky.
This Week In Features: Editorials, Interviews And Regular Features
An unusually quiet week in the feature department.
Stephen Groenewegen reviews an occasional feature with Film Festivals Of The World #10: Sydney Film Festival.
Jack Sommersby makes the case for DeepDiscountDVD.com: Best Retailer Of DVDs Either On- Or Off-line.
Michael Collins returns with Sonic Death Monkey Soundtrack Reviews - Martin Scorsese's The Blues.
{{{OZ}}} examines Movie Prophecies: When The Day After Tomorrow Becomes Today.
You can read through all of the features and editorials here, or try your luck using the search function.
The Big Show: Top Stories
Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. The film is the first documentary to win the Palme d'Or since The Silent World in 1956. Some speculate that the film won for its politics (it's a scathing indictment of the Bush administration, linking the family to the family of Osama bin Ladin), rather than for its cinematic value. The film still has no distributor, but it's pretty much going to sell itself now, and Moore is hopeful he can have the film in theaters by Independence Day, allowing audiences to see it prior to this November's election. The nine-member Cannes jury also honored the following with awards:
Grand Prize: Old Boy, Park Chan-wook
Jury Prize: Actress Irma P. Hall, The Ladykillers, and Tropical Malady, Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Best Director: Exiles, Tony Gatlif
Best Actor: Yagira Yuuya, Nobody Knows
Best Actress: Maggie Cheung, Clean
Best Screenplay: Look At Me, Agnes Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri
Golden Camera (for a first-time director): Or, Keren Yedaya
Best Short Film: Traffic, Catalin Mitulescu
Jury Prize For Short Film: Flatlife, Jonas Geirnaert
(source: Associated Press)
Tony Randall is dead. The 84-year-old star of stage and screen (both silver and small) passed away from a prolonged illness on Monday night. He had been hospitalized since December. Randall was probably most famous for his role as Felix Unger in the television version of The Odd Couple opposite Jack Klugman, although he appeared in a handful of the Rock Hudson/Doris Day romantic comedies and a number stage productions, and even founded his own theater company, the National Actors Theater. He made cameo and walk-on numerous appearances on Late Night and The Late Show With David Letterman (making so many appearances on Late Night that he was one of the first guest when Conan O'Brien took over the program) He was last seen on the big screen in Peyton Reed's Down With Love last year, playing a character very similar to the one he played in the Hudson-Day comedies. His wife, Heather Hudson Randall - fifty years his junior - and his two children, 7-year-old Juliette and 5-year-old Jefferson, survive him.
(source: Associated Press)
Anna Lee, whose career spanned over seventy years, passed away from pneumonia on May 14 at the age of 91. Lee's breakthrough role was in How Green Was My Valley, but she was probably most well known for a twenty-year-plus run as Lila Quartermaine on the daytime soap opera General Hospital. Lee had been confined to a wheelchair for the more than two decades after being paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident. Her sister, two sons, two daughters, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren survive her.
(source: Associated Press)
It's twin boys for Geena Davis. The actress gave birth to Kian William and Kaiis Stevwn on May 6, and mother and sons are doing fine. It's the second and third child for Davis and her surgeon husband Reza Jaharry, who have a two-year-old daughter named Alizeh Keshvar. Jaharry and Davis were married in 2001. Davis was last seen in a guest appearance on Will & Grace.
(source: Associated Press)
Helen Hunt has given birth to a girl. Makena' lei Gordon Carnahan (first name taken from a town in Maui, Hawaii, with middle name from Hunt's father, TV director Gordon Hunt) was born about six weeks early on May 13, weighing about 6 pounds. Mother and daughter are fine. The father is Hunt's companion, television producer Matthew Carnahan. It's Hunt's first child, Carnahan's second. Hunt has A Good Woman awaiting release, and appears in HBO's Empire Falls, premiering later this year.
(source: Associated Press)
So you've heard about the DVD player that filters out "objectionable or offensive" material by muting or skipping it using the new ClearPlay technology, right? Hollywood is up in arms, saying it violates copyright and trademark laws. There's also the argument that any lazy person can just get up off their ass and fast-forward, or skip a chapter, or just not rent something. At any rate, now Congress is getting involved. They're not busy, or anything, apparently. Rep. Lamar Smith, a Republican from Texas, told a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing Thursday that he's prepared to introduce legislation "to protect the right of parents to shield their children from violence, sex and profanity" unless litigation between makers and distributors of the technology and Hollywood studios and directors is settled within weeks. "The issue isn't whether a movie loses some of its authenticity due to skipping of various audio and video," Smith said, "but whether parents have the right to shield their children from offensive content." How about parents exhibiting common sense and forethought, making educated choices as consumers? Congress really has nothing better to do than this? Seriously?
(source: Associated Press)
The Electronics Boutique (EB) retailer is apparently in hot water for stocking (and selling) copies of The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King last week, ahead of this Tuesday's release date. Warner Home Video has apparently suspended all home video shipments to EB, which has almost 1,000 retail outlets in malls around the country, and expressed disappointment that not only has EB refused to stop selling the titles, but that top officials from the company won't step in, either. Jeff Baker, senior vice president of domestic home video Warner Home Video said "I've been in the video business since 1979, and I have never seen such a blatant violation of street date. We are not going to let them get away with this, and we are discussing the issue with our attorneys to consider every possible option." Warner was tipped off by other retailers, who complained that the chain was selling the title early. Every retailer always gets their shipments of product days - sometimes weeks - in advance, but it's not often that retailers break street date in such a flagrant manner. Larger retailers like Wal-Mart and Best Buy have been known to do it, but generally don't get much more than a slap on the wrist since they make up such a large chunk of the market. Electronics Boutiques are still open?
(source: Hollywood Reporter)
As reported in the Chicago Sun-Times (and relayed to you in the 5.9.04 edition of the Recap), Larry Wachowski is in the process of getting a sex change to become Linda Wachowski. Odd bird, and gettin' birdier. E! reports that it comes at an inopportune time: the divorce between Wachwoski and his former wife Thea Bloom is heating up, with the latter claiming that Wachowski reneged on a prenuptial agreement. Bloom claims that she and Wachowski "orally agreed that (they) were a 'team' and equal partners" and would jointly enjoy "the fruits of their labor" upon their moving in together in 1985, according to a breach of contract lawsuit that was filed in Los Angeles recently. Wachowski says he and his brother Andy dreamed up the concept of The Matrix prior to the marriage with Bloom, thus claiming that he shouldn't have to share any of the profits from the franchise (rumored to be around $16 million for The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions for Larry, er, Linda alone). The Wachowskis and their production company had no comment, and Wachowski's divorce attorney wasn't talking either.
(source: E!)
Hollywood News Of The Week: The Scoop
"I won't be seeing you again, since I'm killing myself once we reach the honeymoon suite."
Robin Wright Penn and Javier Bardem will join Sean Penn in the drama The Last Face, which starts filming in July. Wright Penn and Bardem will play two relief workers in Africa that have a love affair. Penn will have a small role opposite his wife as a journalist. Erin Dignam wrote the script and is directing. Wright Penn appears in A Home At The End Of The World, which opens in limited release July 23. (source: Hollywood Reporter)
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"I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days."
Jennifer Aniston may have her Mr. Robinson. Aniston will star in an as-yet untitled comedy about a woman who discovers that her family was the basis for The Graduate. Shirley MaClaine will play Aniston's grandmother, who was allegedly the basis for Mrs. Robinson, and now Kevin Costner is in talks to join the cast, playing a man who seduces Aniston's character in a twist on The Graduate. Filming starts this summer with Ted Griffin directing. Costner has The Upside Of Anger awaiting release. (source: Variety)
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"Who would you be, Count Chocula or Trix Rabbit?"
It's an X-Men reunion, as James Marsden will join Rebecca Romijn(-Stamos) in Alibi. Steve Coogan plays a man who runs an "alibi" service for people who cheat on their spouses, while Romijn will play a confidante of Coogan's that he ends up falling for. Marsden will play a client who gets in over his head. Shooting starts in July. Marsden is in The 24th Day, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and appears in The Notebook, opening June 25. (source: Hollywood Reporter)
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"I feel for you, man. But a real man wouldn't shoplift the pootie from a single mom."
Well, his decision-making process for choosing films couldn't be any worse, so let's see how this one turns out: Cuba Gooding will join the cast of Shadowboxer, an independent drama about a mother and stepson (Helen Mirren and Ryan Phillippe) who work as contract killers...and are also romantically entangled. It's not known what role Gooding would play, although it's rumored that he might replace Phillippe. Lee Daniels is making his directorial debut. Gooding was last in theaters supplying a voice to Home On The Range. (source: Variety)
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"Man, I had a finger up my asshole tonight."
Add two more to Robert Rodriguez's Sin City adaptation: Benecio Del Toro and Clive Owen have joined the cast, and both will be seen in the third and final segment (I think that will be "The Big Fat Kill") of the film. Filming is underway with Rodriguez and Frank Miller (and Quentin Tarantino) behind the camera. Tarantino is rumored to be directing the segment after he returns from helming the jury at this year's Cannes Film Festival. (source: Variety)
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"Toby, come quick: Sam's getting his ass kicked by a girl!"
It'll be a busy summer hiatus for The West Wing's Bradley Whitford. He'll play the father of one of the girls (Jenna Boyd, Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, Blake Lively or America Ferrera) in Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants, and as the father of an 11-year-old boy in the romantic comedy Little Manhattan. That film is a love story between two 11-year-olds. I am not making that up. Filming on that project has already started. (source: Hollywood Reporter)
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"Nail them while they're vulnerable, that's my motto."
Robin Williams is in discussions to star in RV, playing the father of a dysfunctional family that's forced to spend two weeks together in an RV. Needless to say, it's a comedy. No director yet, and the film is due for a rewrite from Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel. Williams has is in David Duchovny's House Of D, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. He's got The Final Cut out this September. (source: Variety)
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"The choice between doing ten years and taking out some stupid motherfucker, ain't no choice at all. But I ain't no madman."
Harvey Keitel, Vanessa Paradis (Mrs. Johnny Depp) and David Toole (a British dancer...with no legs?) will star in the adaptation of the Harry Crews novel The Gypsy's Curse. Paradis will play the femme fatale, Keitel the owner of "a freakish athletic club." Toole will play a member of the club. Filming begins in August. Phillipe Decouffle will make his directorial debut. Keitel has National Treasure opening November 24. (source: Hollywood Reporter)
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"I'm sorry, just give me a moment to redefine my girlish notions of romance."
They've been looking for a project to do together, and it now appears that married couple Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany will star in an adaptation of the Evelyn Waugh novel Brideshead Revisited. Connelly will play Julia Flyte, while Bettany will play Charles Ryder, who falls for Flyte. David Yates is directing, with filming starting in August. (source: Variety)
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"Jesus Christ, Kaffee; you're in the Navy, for crying out loud."
Demi Moore will star in the thriller Half Life, playing a mystery novelist whose life falls apart when her 5-year-old son drowns at her home. She then spends time at a cottage in a remote fishing village where spooky things happen. Filming begins August 23. (source: Variety)
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"I tried to put my tongue in her mouth and she punched me in the penis."
Paul Giamatti, Sarah Polley and Michael Pitt are set to star in The Hawk Is Dying. Giamatti plays a man who becomes involved with a young graduate student (Polley) who is searching for a red-tailed hawk. The script is based on the Harry Crews novel. Julian Goldberg is directing. (source: Hollywood Reporter)
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"You've never double-clicked your mouse?"
Add yet another to the cast of The Devil's Rejects, the sequel to Rob Zombie's House Of 1,000 Corpses: Natasha Lyonne. Lyonne will play a Star Wars-obsessed prostitute named Candy. Lyonne has Max And Grace awaiting release. (source: Coming Soon, Rob Zombie.com)
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"You know, there are two things I don't like about you, Felicia...your face. So how 'bout shutting both of them?"
Hugo Weaving is expected to follow up appearances in two of the biggest franchises in movie history by joining LOTR costar Cate Blanchett and Martin Henderson in Little Fish, a thriller about a woman trying to start a new life while her two brothers plot one last crime. Sam Neill is in talks to join the cast as well. Filming starts in Australia this October. Weaving has Peaches awaiting release. (source: Variety)
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"Ready when you are, Sergeant Pembry."
Sir Anthony Hopkins is set to star in The World's Fastest Indian. The film follows the life of Burt Munro, a New Zealander who spent several decades building a 1920 Indian motorcycle, then traveled to the Salt Flats in Utah and broke the world land-speed record. Roger Donaldson is directing. Hopkins appears in Alexander, opening November 5. (source: Hollywood Reporter)
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"Well, it ain't Easy Street, but at least I'm wearin' silver!"
Broadway star Kristen Chenoweth, who will make her feature film debut in the remake of The Pink Panther, is in discussions to join the cast of the film version of Bewitched. She'd play Marie, the nosy neighbor of Samantha and Darrin (Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell). Meanwhile, Chenoweth's Wicked costar on Broadway, Idina Menzel, is joining the cast of Ask The Dust playing the "unrequited love" of Collin Farrell's character. Both Chenoweth and Menzel will return to Wicked once filming of their scenes in their respective projects are complete. (source: Variety, Hollywood Reporter)
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"I've seen some pretty shitty situations in my life, but nothing has ever sucked more ass than this!"
Billy Bob Thornton could star with Kate Beckinsale in Fade Out, playing a schizophrenic screenwriter who starts to write a script that mirrors his real life, causing the lines between fiction and reality to blur. Michael Cristofer will direct. Thornton was last in theaters (for like a day) in The Alamo. He's got Friday Night Lights opening October 15. Beckinsale's in Van Helsing, with The Aviator opening in November. (source: Variety)
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"We are number one. All others are number two, or lower."
More actors have signed on to Terrence Malick's The New World: Wes Studi and August Schellenberg are joining the already-cast Collin Farrell and Christopher Plummer in a retelling of the story of Pocahontas and John Smith. Filming starts in July. (source: Hollywood Reporter)
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"Well, you must Jake's hot date. I'm Melanie, Jake's snotty Yankee bitch wife that he refuses to divorce."
Another project for Reese Witherspoon? Yep: She'll star in Sammy, playing a woman who can sense what animals are thinking who meets a man who claims to be able to do the same thing with dead people. It's the Dr. Dolittle/Sixth Sense crossover that no one demanded! And it's a romantic comedy! There's no director yet, though screenwriter Delia Ephron will do another rewrite of the script. (source: Variety)
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"She's like a democratic drawbridge; she goes down for everyone."
Peter O'Toole will join Stephen Rea in Romeo And Me. The plot follows a woman on the Channel Islands who falls in love with a German soldier from the occupying forces. Antony Bowman is directing from his own script, with filming beginning this summer. O'Toole's in theaters now with Troy. (source: Hollywood Reporter)
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"They spoke to you of desert power. I am desert power, and nothing can stop what is going to happen."
Add another name to The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe. James McAvoy has been cast as Mr. Tumnus, the faun that is the first creature that Lucy encounters when she travels through the wardrobe and discovers Narnia. Shooting starts this summer with Andrew Adamson behind the camera. McAvoy will next appear in Wimbledon, opening September 24. (source: Variety)
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"So you're saying that the reason you aren't doing the job that I'm paying you to do...is you don't have a job to do?"
Larry Bishop, who played the strip club owner in Kill Bill: Vol. 2, will write, produce, direct and star in Hell Ride, a biker film expected to co-star Michael Madsen and possibly Quentin Tarantino, who will also produce. Bishop, Madsen and Tarantino will play bikers that have unfinished business amongst each other. Bishop is a veteran of biker movies from the '60s and '70s. Filming would start in August or September. (source: Hollywood Reporter)
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"Clothes tell a story, and yours tell the story of a crazy, deranged kickboxer who still lives with his mother in Queens."
The first member of the Fab Five from Queer Eye For The Straight Guy is moving into movies. Fashion expert Carson Kressley has joined the cast of The Perfect Man, playing the confidante of Hillary Duff's character, who's trying to find the ideal mate for her single mom (Heather Locklear). Kressley's character is also the uncle of a young man who turns out to be a match for Duff. He'll shoot his scenes in Toronto, but won't miss any episodes of Queer Eye, which shoots in New York (source: Variety)
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"The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you."
Bill Murray will reteam with Coffee And Cigarettes director Jim Jarmusch in an untitled comedy. Jarmusch had been trying to get Murray to commit, and Murray finally did under assurances that the project would be put on the fast-track to fit his schedule. No one else has been cast yet, but filming starts this summer. Murray's in Coffee And Cigarettes, in limited release now, and has Garfield: The Movie opening June 11. (source: Hollywood Reporter)
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"You know...I'll bet those golden tickets make the chocolate taste terrible."
The role of Charlie Bucket has been cast in Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory: Freddie Highmore will take over the role originated by Peter Ostrum. Highmore and his Wonka costar, Johnny Depp, also star in J.M. Barrie's Neverland, opening in October. Highmore appears in Two Brothers, out June 25. (source: Variety)
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"Michael, why are the drapes open?"
Diane Keaton will star in Da Vinci's Mother. She'll play "a woman who sets out on a journey to get to know her son after he commits suicide. She takes a job where he waitered, spends time with his friends and girlfriend and in the process makes some major discoveries about herself." Keaton was last seen in Something's Gotta Give. (source: Hollywood Reporter)
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"What'd I get for it? A pat on the back. In the end, a demotion and a heroin habit. I'm tired of putting my ass on the line for nothing. I'm DONE putting my ass on the line for nothing."
Filming starts June 28 on River Queen, starring Kiefer Sutherland and Samantha Morton. The drama follows a woman caught up in the Maori land wars in late 19th century New Zealand. Vincent Ward is directing. Sutherland was last on the big screen with Taking Lives, and kicks your ass every week as Jack Bauer on Fox's 24. (source: Variety)
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"You know women, mate. Like monkeys, they are; won't let go of one branch until they've got hold of the next."
Dougray Scott and Saffron Burrows will star in Perfect Creature. The plot deals with vampires that protect humans from viral and DNA mutants...until one vampire begins to prey on humans. Filming started this weekend with Glenn Standring directing. (source: Variety)
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"Gimme some sugar, I am your neighbor!"
OutKast's Andre 3000 (Andre Benjamin) has his first starring role. The untitled project sees Andre starring as a musical prodigy named Valentine and his relationship with lower-class free spirit Chevon. The families of the couple are opposed to their interracial relationship. Things get hairy when an accidental shooting (caused by Chevon's police officer brother) is blamed on Valentine. The couple is forced to go on the run until the truth about the shooting can be revealed. (source: Coming Soon)
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"Romantic? Hemingway? He was an abusive, alcoholic misogynist who squandered half of his life hanging around Picasso trying to nail his leftovers."
Julia Stiles will produce and star in Going Gown, based on the Jennifer Belle noel, playing a NYU student who finds a madam and becomes a prostitute to pay her way through school. Mike Figgis will direct, with filming starting this fall. Stiles is in The Bourne Supremacy, opening July 23. (source: Variety)
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"Look, if it's about that time I got drunk and masturbated with a crucifix, it was my first keg party, alright?"
Anna Faris has revealed that she'll have a small role in Ang Lee's upcoming Brokeback Mountain, which will be filming at the same time as Scary Movie 4...so Faris may not be returning to the franchise. It will all depend on how large the role in Lee's film is, and how strongly intent Faris is on moving on from the character of Cindy. Faris has Waiting... awaiting release. (source: USA Today, Moviehole.net)
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"It's a fuck movie. I don't watch a fuck movie for the story. I watch a fuck movie to see fuckin'."
Robert Patrick has joined the cast of the Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line. He'll play Cash's father, Ray. He's got Ladder 49 opening October 8. (source: Coming Soon)
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"That man sitting over there in the white suit...is the biggest thing to come out of this country since sliced Beatles."
You can also add Eddie Izzard to the already blockbuster cast of Ocean's Twelve. The confirmation comes from a posting on the actor/comedian's website. Izzard's in Blueberry, currently playing in Europe, and has Five Children And It awaiting release. (source: EddieIzzard.com)
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"I was just thinking what an interesting concept it is to eliminate the writer from the artistic process. If we could just get rid of these actors and directors, maybe we've got something here."
Some script, production and direction notes:
* Troy's director Wolfgang Petersen and writer David Benioff will produce A Spell For Chameleon, based on the first book in the Xanth fantasy novel series from author Piers Anthony. Warner Bros. has picked up the rights to the series, now on its 30th book. (source: Variety)
* Directors John Woo and Ridley Scott will helm segments in All The Invisible Children, which will feature seven segments from seven geographical regions dealing with children adapting to and overcoming various problems in their part of the world. Scott (who will co-direct with his daughter Jordan) will represent the United Kingdom, while Woo will represent China. (source: Hollywood Reporter)
* Woo, by the way, is now confirmed to be deep into talks to be the director for the video game-turned-movie Spy Hunter, which will star the Rock.. (source: Hollywood Reporter)
* Director Jon Amiel will step behind the camera for Decoy, which is "set in the world of fidelity decoys, where women test the resolve of their mates by hiring beautiful strangers to come on to them. One female decoy becomes involved in an assignment that involves deceit and murder." Well, it's got to be a step up from The Core, right? Production starts in November. (source: Variety)
* Paramount is set to remake George Romero's The Crazies, with Michael Aguilar and Dean Georgaris producing. The film will be an update of the 1972 original, which saw the residents of a small Pennsylvania town start to act...um...crazy...after a plane crash leaks a biological weapon into the water supply. (source: Variety)
* Another film based on a Disney ride? Yep. The Mouse will turn Jungle Cruise into an action-adventure period film. The ride allows passengers to take a trip through a jungle while being guided by a riverboat skipper, encountering wild animals along the way. Let's hope it's more Pirates Of The Caribbean than it is The Country Bears, right? (source: Hollywood Reporter)
* Me Again is back on again. The film was originally supposed to star Bruce Willis and Diane Lane, although they've both since left the project. Regardless, Stephen Hopkins has signed on to direct the amnesia thriller about a man who awakens in a hotel room with no memory too find a dead body in the room. He must figure out if he's a hitman or the undercover cop assigned to take down an assassin. No word on who'll be starring. (source: Variety)
* Resident creepy guy/weirdo Larry Clark will direct Wassup Rockers, based on his own script. The story follows "a group of largely Hispanic teenagers who, instead of conforming to the hip-hop culture of their neighborhood, ride skateboards, listen to punk rock and wear their clothes tight. Constantly harassed, they take buses to Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Hollywood, where they skate and catch the attention of the local rich girls, inevitably leading to trouble with parents, police and boyfriends." Filming starts this summer. (source: Hollywood Reporter)
* Dark Horizons is reporting that there will not only be a second Pirates Of The Caribbean, but also a third, and that the two films will be released six months apart, much like The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. Meanwhile, Coming Soon also has apparently confirmed that the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards - who Johnny Depp said was part of the inspiration for the character of Captain Jack Sparrow - has signed on to play Depp's father. (source: Dark Horizons, Coming Soon)
* Sony Pictures Classics will handle North American distribution for Zhang Yimou's House Of Flying Daggers. The film screened at Cannes, but there's no announced release date for North America yet. (source: Coming Soon)
* Warner Bros. and Robert Zmeckis' ImageMovers have purchased Measle And The Wrathmonk, the first book of what is expected to be a three-book series by Ian Ogilvy. The film will most likely use the "performance capture" animation technique that audiences will see this fall in The Polar Express. Measle follows a young boy who is sent to live with an eccentric uncle after his parents disappear. The uncle turns out to be a crazy wizard, and he ends up shrinking the boy and banishing him to be a villager in the wrathmonk's toy train set. The book will be released in Britain in June, and in the U.S. in August. (source: Variety)
* David Zucker and Gil Netter are in the process of developing a comedy (an intentional comedy, that is) for doughy action "star" Steven Seagal. Seagal reportedly parodies his tough-guy image in the upcoming The Onion Movie, and Zucker is intent on developing a project for the big guy, including, but not limited to, Seagal playing a bumbling federal agent. So he's the next Leslie Nielsen, minus the acting credibility? (source: Variety)
* Robert Rodriguez is apparently officially off A Princess Of Mars. Rodriguez's exit of the Director's Guild of America in a dispute over Sin City put his involvement in the project in jeopardy, and while Rodriguez thought he'd eventually be able to direct the film due to making the deal prior to leaving the DGA. That is apparently not the case. Paramount reportedly offered the job to Guillermo del Toro, who has passed on the project three different times. The film is still scheduled to go into production next year. (source: IGN FilmForce)
* There will be two more Return Of The Living Dead movies. Return Of The Living Dead 4: Necropolis and Return Of The Living Dead 5: Rave From The Grave will be shot back-to-back starting June 5 in Romania. Ellory Elkayem is directing, with Peter Coyote starring, along with a number of relative unknowns. (source: Hollywood Reporter)
* Karen Essex is rewriting Battle For Paradise, a biopic about Hawaiian ruler King Kamehameha, who conquered and united the Hawaiian islands during the 1700s. Rob Cohen is attached to direct, with the Rock in the title role. (source: Variety)
* Jamie Kennedy is in discussions to bring his just-ended series The Jamie Kennedy Experiment to the big screen for Paramount. Kennedy recently wrapped filming in Australia on Son Of The Mask. (source: Variety)
* Paramount has picked up the rights to Aliens For Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, a trilogy of children's books. The hope is to turn the series into a franchise. The first book deals with an alien space cop sent to Earth to find an escaped alien convict. The cop lands in the apartment of an unsuspecting junior high school principal, and the two are forced to become partners and capture the convict alien. (source: Variety)
* M. Night Shyamalan has apparently returned to Chester County, Pennsylvania, reportedly to reshoot the ending for his upcoming film The Village. Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Joaquin Phoenix and Bryce Howard all returned for the three-day shoot. The Village is in theaters July 30. Expect a "twist" ending. Or don't. (source: Philadelphia Daily News)
* Anjelica Houston will direct Christina Ricci in The White Rose. The film deals with a group of dissident German college students, known as "The White Rose," that distributed leaflets that challenged the government's war claims and attempted to awaken their fellow Germans to what Nazism really meant. Filming will start in November. Houston next appears in Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic, opening December 1. (source: Variety)
* Kevin Smith won't be following up Jersey Girl with The Green Hornet. Smith commented on his message board that he'd direct an as-yet-untitled project first, then tackle The Green Hornet, followed by Fletch Won and Ranger Danger. Smith also said that the writing process for Hornet was "a bit harder. Spent a long time second-guessing myself, trying to write a mainstream flick. Then, I realized that shit's for the birds, and I should just write it as if it were a comic book. Since then, it's been much easier." (source: View Askew)
* There won't be a television spinoff for Van Helsing after all. NBC passed on the pilot at this year's upfront presentation, and had apparently decided well before the film hit theaters that Transylvania would just be too expensive. Had Van Helsing performed better than it has, there was a possibility that the network could revisit the idea. A spokesperson says that the box office returns for the film "no bearing whatsoever on our plans to move forward or not." They're lying. Other networks have expressed interest in the project. They'd be stupid if they greenlit it. (source: Variety)
Box Office Bonanza~!: The Top Ten
Here's the preliminary box office returns for the weekend. Final figures will be released on Monday.
1. Shrek 2 $104.3 million ($125.3 million total)
2. Troy $23.8 million ($85.8 million total)
3. Van Helsing $10.1 million ($100.1 million total)
4. Mean Girls $6.9 million ($64.6 million total)
5. Man On Fire $3.5 million ($69.2 million total)
6. Breakin' All The Rules $2.8 million ($9.0 million total)
7. 13 Going On 30 $2.5 million ($52.0 million)
8. New York Minute $1.1 million ($12.5 million total)
9. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 $1.0 million ($62.7 million total)
10. Super Size Me $953,455 ($2.9 million total)
It goes without saying that Dreamworks SKG is seeing green. If the numbers hold up, Shrek 2 will have logged the biggest opening for a Wednesday release, topping The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King's $124.3 million from December, and the second biggest Friday-to-Sunday run, behind 2002's Spider-Man. It's also the biggest opening of the year thus far, topping The Passion Of The Christ's $89.3 million opening in February, and the best single-day take ($44.8 million on Saturday, compared to Spidey's $43.6 million on its first Saturday), not to mention the fact that it opened in 4,163 theaters, which is a record. The budget for Shrek 2 was something like $70 million (pretty modest for summer fare), so that money (plus marketing) has already been made back, meaning everything from week two on is gravy. Incidentally, the first Shrek took in $267.7 million domestically in 2001. There will be a Shrek 3 and probably a Shrek 4, according to Dreamworks honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg, who pretty much confirmed it at Cannes.
As for the rest of the top ten, Troy logged a modest 49 percent drop to second place, while Van Helsing limped to $100 million in week three. It probably won't clear $140 million domestically, but with the overseas tallies included in the box office take, will be considered a success. Mean Girls and Man On Fire rounded out the top five. Super Size Me finally broke the top ten, moving up from 12th place , in just 148 theaters.
Opening May 28: It's the end of the world as we know it (and Roland Emmerich presumably feels fine) with The Day After Tomorrow; Kate Hudson aims for the female audience with Raising Helen; and it's an urban update of Airplane! (sorta) with Soul Plane. All open in wide release for the Memorial Day holiday weekend here in the States.
Saved! opens in limited release, while Mario Van Peebles' How To Get The Man's Foot Outta Your Ass (a/k/a Baadasssss!), The Mother and Frankie And Johnny Are Marries open in Los Angeles and New York.
Coming Attractions: The Week Ahead
Among the DVD releases this Tuesday: the trilogy ends with the 2-disc edition of The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (you can also get all three 2-disc editions of the films in the trilogy together in one set, and look for the 4-disc extended edition of ROTK closer to Christmas); a completely different King (and a mummy!) in Bubba Ho-Tep; the Broken Lizard crew returns with Club Dread; not everyone loves Raymond in Welcome To Mooseport; the documentary The Weather Underground; an extended cut of Underworld (will that make it a better movie? Doubtful.); a D-Day 60th Anniversary Commemorative Edition of Saving Private Ryan; and Criterion offers up Kurosawa's cop drama Stray Dog. That's right: he didn't just do samurai movies.
Once more, with feeling: from the TV side of things, there's Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Complete Sixth Season (occasionally referred to as "season sucks" by fanboys and fangirls); double your Frasier Crane with Cheers: The Complete Third Season and Frasier: The Complete Third Season; Northern Exposure: The Complete Third Season; and Bravo's reality gay dating show Boy Meets Boy (spoiler: he picks a guy!).
Peep those titles and get some additional recommendations from our Upcoming DVD Release Schedule. You can also look for Randy Muselman's New On Home Video: May 25, 2004 late Monday.
Look for Erik Childress to post updates and additions to Criticwatch on Friday.
Natasha Theobald has another edition of Sonic Death Monkey Soundtrack Reviews on Saturday.
I'm debating on whether to hold of on the Recap until Monday due to the holiday weekend. It would most likely only be for box office returns, so it's probably not worth it. We'll just have to see.
Well, the Recap has crossed the finish line for another week. I'll be back at some point next weekend with the birthday edition of the Recap, complete with the week's worth of reviews, features and news. As always, thanks for reading, and your feedback is appreciated.
link directly to this feature at http://www.hollywoodbitchslap.com/feature.php?feature=1122
originally posted: 05/23/04 23:07:50
last updated: 05/24/04 11:13:29
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