Matt Damon Cast as Robert F. Kennedy in Gary Ross’ Biopic
Fresh off an Oscar nominated performance as real life South African rugby player Francois Pienaar, the eclectic Matt Damon looks to be lining up another role which will have him playing an even bigger real-life persona as Deadline Hollywood reports he just closed a deal to star as the late U.S. senator and civil rights activist Robert F. Kennedy in a new biopic that will be directed by Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, Pleasantville) from a script by Steven Knight (Eastern Promises). Although Damon is attached, the project won’t get off the ground until he sees the script, which will largely be based on Evan Thomas’ biography His Life in 2002.
The film will focus on RFK’s rise from behind the shadow of his older brother, President John F. Kennedy, as he went on to become an amazing political figure without relying on the legacy of the rest of his family. Sadly, his career and life were cut short when he was assassinated in 1968, an event which was depicted in Emilio Estevez’s ensemble film Bobby. Apparently Ross has been quite enthralled with RFK for quite some time and once optioned the same biography himself though nothing came of it. Seeing Damon as RFK will definitely be quite a challenge for the actor, but of course, having no problem with the New England dialect of Massachusetts natives, it’ll be the subtleties of the performance that will be the hardest for him. You in?
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Casting Tidbits: Freida Pinto, Donald Faison, Anjelica Huston
It was Casting Tidbits killed the beast. First up, Variety reports that the lovely Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) has signed on to star in War of the Gods, the Tarsem Singh directed story of young warrior Theseus (Henry Cavill) who leads his men into battle with the immortal Greek gods to defeat evil and the powerful elder gods of the Titans in order to save mankind. Pinto will play Phaedra, an oracle priestess who must join Theseus on his quest to prevent the cataclysmic war from erupting. The most recent draft of the script came from Jason Keller and it sounds like a potentially awesome project. Read on for more casting.
Second, Variety also reports Anjelica Huston (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) and Philip Baker Hall (Magnolia, Zodiac) will join Seth Rogen, James McAvoy, Anna Kendrick and Bryce Dallas Howard in the comedy formerly known as I’m With Cancer. This new but-still-unnamed title business is news to us, but the film is still the same Will Reiser story based on the writer’s real-life experience in his winning fight with cancer in his mid-20’s. Directed by Jonathan Levine, the script was on 2008’s Black List and is an emotional sort of comedy in the same vein as Funny People but without all the stand-up material.
Meanwhile, THR reports that the Farrelly Brothers comedy Hall Pass has added another acting duo to the mix with Nicky Whelan (NBC’s “Scrubs”) and Derek Waters (Funny or Die’s Drunk History). Whelan will play Leigh, who tempts Owen Wilson’s character after he’s given the “hall pass” for adultery by his wife while Waters will play Wannabe, a barista/DJ who becomes an obstacle to the pairing. Stephen Merchant (HBO’s “Extras”) and J.B. Smoove were also recently added to the mix as well, and this is shaping up to be a hopefully great return to quality comedy for the Farrelly’s who have struggled over the past decade to rekindle the comedic flame they once carried so well.
And finally, THR gets the last bit of casting news as they report Eric Balfour (Hell Ride) and Donald Faison (NBC”s “Scrubs”) will star in the sci-fi thriller Skyline from visual effects artists turned directors Greg and Colin Strause, who have previously worked on films like Avatar, 300, and Constantine. The story takes place in a Los Angeles high-rise focusing on a small group of survivors who brave a mysterious attack of otherworldly origins. Faison is playing an entrepreneur who lures his longtime friend (Balfour) to the West Coast. After a night of partying, both wake to find a strange force is swallowing humanity off the face of the earth. Filming is already underway, but no word on whether or not Frank Darabont will show up to tell everyone on set that they’re just remaking The Mist.
Well, that’s all for this edition of Casting Tidbits. Be sure to stay tuned for more casting updates on the way!
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Jason Segel & John Michael Higgins Join ‘Bad Teacher’ Cast
A little while back there were some rumblings that either Bradley Cooper or Jason Segel were in talks to play the object of two women’s affection in the upcoming raunchy comedy Bad Teacher starring Cameron Diaz as a foul-mouthed, gold-digging seventh-grade teacher who, after being dumped by her boyfriend, sets her sights on a colleague (Lucy Punch) who is dating the school’s model teacher. But it looks like the hot new teacher on the block is still yet to be cast as THR reports that Segel has simply been cast as the school’s gym teacher while frequent Christopher Guest collaborator John Michael Higgins will play the principal.
This doesn’t necessarily mean Bradley Cooper is out, but if it’s taking this long to close the deal, producer might have already moved on to find a new leading man. Directed by Jake Kasdan (of Walk Hard, Orange County) and written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky (of Year One and the upcoming Ghostbusters 3), it sounds like this comedy could have the flare that once made the Farrelly Brothers a hot commodity and coming from Apatow collaborator Jimmy Miller, this has plenty of potential. We’ll keep you updated on this project as they continue casting, as there should be a few more actors. What do you guys think so far?
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George Lopez is Speedy Gonzales in Live-Action Hybrid Mess
As if Looney Tunes: Back in Action wasn’t enough reason for Mel Blanc, The Man of a Thousand Voices, to spin in his grave, this just might do it, as Heat Vision reports actor, comedian and late night talk show host George Lopez will voice of the fastest mouse in old Mexico, Speedy Gonzales, in a new live-action/CG hybrid movie. Adapting the classic cartoon will be Alec Sokolow & Joel Cohen, the same writers who ruined Garfield. And in related news, I have it on good authority that in addition to this and a Marvin the Martian movie, other Looney Tunes characters like Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny will also have their own films.
Speedy Gonzales has been around since the 50s and appeared in movies like Space Jam and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but has always drawn some fire for being somewhat racist as a Mexican cartoon character, not to mention his far more offensive lazy cousin Slowpoke Rodriguez. However, Anne Lopez, one of the producers of the film, from the George Lopez Presents banner, says this contemporary version will do away with the more questionable characteristics of the character with Lopez giving it “the Latin seal of approval.”
“We wanted to make sure that it was not the Speedy of the 1950s — the racist Speedy. Speedy’s going to be a misunderstood boy who comes from a family that works in a very meticulous setting, and he’s a little too fast for what they do. He makes a mess of that. So he has to go out in the world to find what he’s good at.”
Too bad this still sounds like an absolutely awful idea. Obviously this is yet another annoying attempt to use name recognition to rake in audiences, but what makes this even more offensive is the blatant disregard for what made characters like Speedy Gonzales so great: the uncanny voice talents of Mel Blanc and brilliant animation direction from Friz Freling. I just don’t want to see iconic, childhood favorite characters like this turned into pseudo-realistic computer animated creatures made to interact with real-life humans and voiced by actors who can never reach the same level as the original voices. Even when casting seems nearly perfect (i.e. Bill Murray as Garfield), it almost always turns out to be a complete mess. Yet another cartoon casualty.
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David Gordon Green Directing Jonah Hill in Fox’s The Sitter
This was initially supposed to be The Wackness director Jonathan Levine’s next film, but when Fox Atomic shut down, it got put on hold. Now its back with a new director and a new star. THR announces that David Gordon Green (All the Real Girls, Snow Angels, Pineapple Express, Your Highness) will be directing and Jonah Hill (Funny People, Cyrus) will star. Described as Adventures in Babysitting meets Superbad, The Sitter follows a college student, suspended for the semester & living at home with his mom, who has a night to remember when he gets talked into babysitting the kids next door: two boys and a wild 8-year-old girl.
Fox is hoping to start shooting in the fall, but of course, anything could happen. In addition to Jonathan Levine, actors Zac Efron and Zack Galifianakis were at one time interested in the project as well. I think Jonah Hill is starting to get typecast as the same person he is – just a bigger-than-average kid who always gets caught up in crazy situations. You’ll already see him this summer “living at home with his mom” in the Duplass Brothers’ Cyrus, so I don’t know why he feels the need to keep playing roles like that. But anyway, The Sitter actually sounds like it could be great and I’m excited to see who else DGG casts, so stay tuned!
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Second Official Trailer for Jaden Smith’s Karate Kid Remake
Everything is kung fu! Sony has just debuted the second theatrical trailer for The Karate Kid remake (via Yahoo) starring Jaden Smith as the kid and Jackie Chan as Mr. Han, the Mr. Miyagi like mentor he meets. This is pretty much a repeat of the first trailer we saw last year, but it looks a lot more polished, and we get to see more footage of his training and of the beautiful side of China. I’ve got to say, I’m sold by this, I totally want to see this, I don’t care if it’s a remake, this looks great! I’m a sucker for inspirational movies and they pack tons of those lines from Jackie Chan in this. I don’t know, I think they pulled this off. Do you agree?
Watch the second theatrical trailer for Harald Zwart’s The Karate Kid:
You can also watch the new Karate Kid trailer in High Definition on Yahoo
The Karate Kid, directed by Harald Zwart (The Pink Panther 2), stars Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, and Taraji P. Henson. Smith plays Dre, a skateboarding video game buff who moves to China after his single mother is forced to go there for work. Unable to speak Chinese, Dre finds it hard to settle in, and gets beat up by the local bully. Chan plays Mr. Han, a maintenance man who spots his black-eye and offers to teach him both martial arts and Chinese, so he can defend against all the kung-fu students. Sony is bringing The Karate Kid to theaters everywhere starting on June 11th this summer. Will you be seeing this in theaters then or not?
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District 9 Co-Writer Terri Tatchell Writing a Funky New Sci-Fi
I’m guessing most of you didn’t even know District 9 had a co-writer? Indeed it did. In fact, Terri Tatchell is married to director Neill Blomkamp, so it was more than just a simple collaboration. This story is a bit old but I just found it today thanks to our friends at GeekTyrant. A few weeks back on, the sci-fi site io9 did an interview with Tatchell talking about the success of District 9 and what’s next for her and Neill. Tatchell revealed that she’s been working on a screenplay that’s a feature-length adaptation of a short sci-fi / fantasy film called Terminus. The concept is just wacky, I don’t know how she’ll make it work, you gotta hear this!
Here’s an excerpt from the io9 interview with Tatchell talking about the status of the Terminus screenplay.
“The film I’m working on now is an adaptation of a short film called Terminus. It’s a bit more science fiction, fantasy. It’s about a stone creature that follows this stressed-out guy around, just stressing him more and more. It was incredibly well received, and the director that created it, [Trevor Cawood] hasn’t done a feature yet, and he’s really talented. I approached him about writing a feature script of that. It’s been a little more challenging than I expected it to be. I’m probably on my second draft now. I’m not ready to send it off yet, but we’ll see.”
I’ve embedded a YouTube version of the short film Terminus below for your viewing pleasure. It’s actually a pretty awesome short, it has some great effects and it’s just a fun little film. This kind of reminds me of the success story of Federico Alvarez, the Uruguayan filmmaker who broke out with his YouTube short Panic Attack. It’s an odd concept for a feature film, but that’s what I love about this, because I love seeing original and unique ideas in this industry and if Tatchell and Blomkamp can help filmmaker Trevor Cawood actually get this made, all the better. I’m a big supporter of indie filmmakers who take crazy concepts and bring them to life and this is that kind of project. Hopefully we’ll see Terminus at a festival sometime in the near future!
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Hailee Steinfeld Lands a Role in the Coen Brother’s True Grit
We already know that the Coen Brothers are following up A Serious Man with a remake of the 1969 John Wayne western True Grit. They’ve already cast Matt Damon, Jeff Bridges, and Josh Brolin in the film, but Joel and Ethan have also been looking for someone to play the female lead. Deadline Hollywood says that after auditioning more than 15,000 teenage girls, they eventually cast Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross, the “14-year old spitfire” whose father is killed in cold blood. I haven’t ever seen Hailee Steinfeld before, but I can’t wait to see this, it just sounds like a potentially fantastic remake, especially in the hands of the Coens.
Determined to bring the killer to justice, Mattie enlists the help of hard-drinking U.S. Marshal “Rooster” Cogburn (Bridges) to track down the killer before a Texas Ranger (Damon) does. Scott Rudin is producing.
Initially they were planning to end up with an unknown first-time actress for the role, but then they came across Steinfeld, who has some acting experience from Heather: A Fairy Tale and She’s a Fox. The Charles Portis novel that this was originally based on is entirely in the voice of Mattie Ross, which is why she’s such an important character in this. When talking about this project last year, the Coens said that it would be “a lot tougher and more violent than the [original] movie” but also made it sound like they would still retain some of the humor from the book. Paramount has already set a December 25th, 2010 release for True Grit.
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Juan Carlos Fresnadillo Directing Intruders Before BioShock?
Last we heard, Spanish filmmaker Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (of Intacto and 28 Weeks Later previously) was set to direct the BioShock movie for Universal supposedly later sometime this year. Doesn’t look like that’s the case though. Fangoria is reporting (via STYD) that Fresnadillo has become attached to another new project called Intruders. Not much is known about it except that it’s a “a genre piece whose story revolves around an 11-year-old girl” written by Fresnadillo as well. And Fangoria says that production will start in mid-May on this one. So is BioShock on hold once again? We’re not sure, but I have a feel it is.
Unfortunately no one knows anything else about this project, so there’s not much more to say. I became of fan of Fresnadillo after seeing 28 Weeks Later because I think he’s a strong director with a good vision and adds a unique style to his films. He’s also attached to a handful of other projects in addition to BioShock and Intruders, including the X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes remake over at MGM and another project called Wednesday at DreamWorks with this plot: “A desperate carjacker sets on an unusual chain of events one day in Los Angeles.” Whatever Fresnadillo directs next, I’m already looking forward to it, so stay tuned!
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This Week on Netflix Instant: Antichrist, WarGames & More!
And we’re back with this week’s installment of highlighting great movies that are releasing this week on Netflix Instant. Now remember, because there’s been a bit of confusion, not all of the titles listed below are available today, but rather at various points throughout the week. They are listed in the order they are released throughout the week starting with some available now all the way through February 28th. Check right next to the title for the streaming availability date! Also, right after the Netflix titles, check out a big addition from Hulu and a collaboration with the Criterion Collection for all you Japanese cinema fans.
WarGames (Available Now):
One of your fellow readers pointed out that we missed this fine installment of 80’s cinema starring a pre-Ferris Bueller Matthew Broderick in a somewhat Hitchcockian story of a young hacker named David Lightman who accidentally takes a step in starting a nuclear war thanks to a mysterious computer strategy game of Global Thermonuclear War. Suddenly caught up in espionage, his computer skills are put to the test in order to beat the computer and prevent a real-life nuclear war. Definitely a bit silly, but ultimately satisfying, this is a fun flick from John Badham who also directed another fine nostalgic turn in 80’s espionage with Short Circuit.
Dead Snow
Dead Snow (Available Now):
Nazi zombies. Need I say more? This quirky Norwegian horror flick and official Sundance selection from director Tommy Wirkola finds a group of medical students on Easter vacation in Øksfjord only to be encountered by a group of bloodthirsty Nazi-uniform clad zombies. Not willing to be torn to shreds by undead Hitler followers, the teens struggle to survive, even attaching machine guns to a snowmobile in an attempt to fight back. It’s got a lot of horror cliches, but I’ll say again: Nazi zombies. Are you watching yet?
Un Chien Andalou [An Andalusian Dog] (Available Now):
One of the favorite films of our very own Christopher Campbell, Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali deliver a jarring, disjointed surrealist short film which is considered to be one of the best of the avant-garde movement of the 1920’s. Don’t be expecting any form of a traditional plot or narrative as this film takes on a sort of free association form with the sole purpose of shocking its audience with imagery like the now iconic close-up of a razor slicing a woman’s eye. This is mandatory viewing for anyone preparing or even thinking about going to film school.
Antichrist (Available February 25th):
After the insane looking trailer and bold posters, Lars von Trier’s controversial work is finally here, even before it sees a release on DVD! After premiering at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, the film received tons of criticism citing misogyny and explicit sexual violence. Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg play a couple mourning the recent death of their child and leaving for their cabin in the woods where they hope some time heals their wounds. However, strange and unbelievable things begin to happen spinning a surreal, shocking and horrific tale. I haven’t had had the pleasure (or maybe the displeasure) of seeing this one, but Alex moderately enjoyed it, only to be skeptical of his own opinion later down the road after a second viewing. We’ll let you make your own judgment if you dare.
Battlefield Earth (Available February 26th):
They’re not all going to be great suggestions, and this is one of those films I’ve tossed in here simply because its consistently considered to be one of the worst films ever made. An adaptation of L. Ron Hubbard’s scientology driven novel of the same name, this bomb of a sci-fi film stars John Travolta, Forest Whittaker and Barry Pepper in the year 3000 as alien beings called Psychlos who have ruled Earth for 1000 years and suddenly face a human rebellion as they attempt to use them as gold miners. Simply stupid and an absolute failure, this one just has to be seen to be believed. You’ve never laughed so hard.
Cop and a Half (Available February 26th):
Let it be said that I love my childhood, and no matter how terrible this film is, my inner-child will always have a special place in his heart for this buddy cop comedy that pairs Burt Reynolds with the sassy and charismatic child actor Norman D. Golden II after he witnesses a mob murder and refuses to tell the cops anything unless they make him a cop for a day. Of course things get a little more complicated as they get closer to the murderers. It’s like a funny, cheesy version of Witness and, hey, even Roger Ebert gave it three stars, so it’s not really that bad.
Punch-Drunk Love (Available February 26th):
This one made #9 on my personal list of the best films of the last decade, so you can bet your ass I’ll be letting you know this has made its way to Netflix Instant. Directed by the masterful Paul Thomas Anderson, this quirky, romance see Adam Sandler in the best performance of his career as milquetoast, introvert Barry Egan comes to term with his difficultly controlled anger through an unlikely romance with a friend of one of his provoking seven sisters. Peculiar, but brilliant like the rest of Anderson’s films, this also features spectacular performances from Emily Watson, Mary-Lynn Rajskub and a cameo from Philip Seymour Hoffman.
And now the best of the rest online free movie websites’ new additions for your online viewing pleasure…
The Auteurs: Your online cinema. Anytime. Anywhere.
House of 1,000 Corpses, The Kid Stays in the Picture, Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten, The Three Caballeros, Batman (1989), Man on the Moon, Showgirls, Summer Hours, Strictly Ballroom, Stagecoach, Sid and Nancy, Out of Sight
Hulu: An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.
The first six Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsmen films from the Criterion Collection’s Channel: The Tale of Zatoichi, The Tale of Zatoichi Continues, The New Tale of Zatoichi, The Fugitive, On the Road, and Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold, as well as Star Trek VII: Generations, A River Runs Through It, Soapdish, The Dead Zone.
That’s all for this week’s installment of new Netflix Instant titles and other free movies to check out online. And remember, if you ever want to look back at titles already released, look forward to movies on the way, or check out the entire library of Netflix Instant titles, you can head over to InstantWatcher (in my opinion the most complete listing of Netflix’s instant titles, updated daily) or also StreamingSoon, whose hawk-eyes are on the lookout for future streaming release dates. And of course we’ll also be back next week with the latest line-up of new titles. Now go watch some movies! Are you satisfied with this week’s new selection?
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