Screenhead reported that Natalie Portman was cast as the lead in adaptation of Emily Bronte’s classic novel, “Wuthering Heights.”
However, reportedly Portman has left the production per the Hollywood Reporter. This leaves some random financial problems and other pre-production woes.
No word yet on who will replace Portman.
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Parker Posey (”Superman Returns”) and Johnny Knoxville (”The Dukes of Hazzard”) are set to star in John Waters’ Christmas film “Fruitcake.”
The story sounds a bit farfetched or over the top.
Reported by the Hollywood Reporter, the plot is officially under wraps but is said to center on the title character, a boy named after his favorite dessert. He runs away from home during the holidays after he and his parents are caught shoplifting meat, and then meets up with a runaway girl raised by two gay men and searching for her birth mother.
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Nancy Meyers will write and direct her next film at Universal. The untitled romantic comedy is set for big parts - a woman and two men - following a long-term relationship.
Meyers made her last two films — “Something’s Gotta Give” and “The Holiday” at Columbia.
According to Variety, Meyers said she will complete the script by August.
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Maggie Gyllenhaal is replacing Toni Collette of the role in Mendes untitled relationship comedy. Gyllenhaal plays the character who is a bohemian college professor and an old friend of the lead character played my John Krasinki.
Mendes’ film, which also stars Maya Rudolph, is about a young couple who travel around the U.S. searching for a place to put down roots. Dave Eggers and wife Vendela Vida penned the original screenplay.
Collette left the film because scheduling delays on the shoot, which recently got under way in Connecticut. Gyllenhaal begins filming her role next week.
Gyllenhaal next appears in Warner Bros. summer blockbuster “The Dark Knight” as Rachel Dawes, Batman’s love interest
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I am sorry to hear that Javier Bardem has left the “Nine” and will not take on the lead role of Guido Contini in the musical that Rob Marshall is directing.
The musical focuses on Contini, a film director who experiences personal and creative crisis trying to balance all the women in his life.
Though it’s been clearly reported that Bardem loved the script and the idea of working with Marshall, he pulled out because he is exhausted from work and awards season, and will take as long as a year to recharge his batteries. Wow!
The rest of the cast is hanging in there: Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard and Sophia Loren. Also, Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench are in negotiations to join the rest of the cast soon.
According to Variety, Bardem was ready to make the film late last year, but “Nine” got postponed, along with several other high profile projects, because it needed refinements to the Michael Tolkin script that weren’t possible because of the writer’s strike.
Bardem will next be seen in Woody Allen-directed “Vicky Christina Barcelona,” which debuts at the Cannes Film Festival.
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Even though Steven Soderbergh next project is with Matt Damon called “The Informant,” the innovative director is setting up his next film, “The Girlfriend Experience,” a feature that centers on the world of prostitution from the vantage point of a $10,000-a-night call girl.
“Girlfriend” is the second film after of his six picture deal he made to direct low-budget films distributed simultaneously in theatrical, on cable TV and on DVD. His first film was “Bubble.”
Soderbergh prefers an adult film actress versus star power to play the lead role. “Bubble” used mainly non-pros.
As some may recall Soderbergh breakthrough film “sex, lies & videotape.” Speculation is that “Girlfriend” will be an exploration of sexual relationships like “sex, lies & videotape.”
Another speculation is that, like “Bubble,” “Girlfriend” will be shot partly improvisational by working out the beats of the film. “Girlfriend” is predicted to be shot within 14 days this fall.
The title refers to a phenomenon in which wealthy men pay not just for the quality of a sexual encounter but also for a woman who will play the role of a perfect girlfriend. The arrangement apparently involves more intimacy than the usual prostitution relationship. It appears Soderbergh did extensive research to hit the reality of the interior look at a woman who makes $1 million a year in the business.
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Here is the latest Vanity Fair piece on Miley Cyrus who plays Hannah Montana. Apparently, this issue is a hot issue because Miley looks older than her true age of fifteen in the magazine photos. Disney came out and made a statement, Miley came out and made a statement and Annie Leibovitz (photographer) came out and made a statement. Anyway here is the link, take a look and let me know what your thoughts are on the matter.
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Looks like Ang Lee’s next project is “Taking Woodstock.”
Lee will direct the comedy based on the memoir “Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, Concert, and a Life,” by Elliot Tiber and Tom Monte.
According to Variety, “Woodstock” focuses on the politically turbulent summer of ‘69, story follows an Everyman working at his parents’ motel in the Catskills who inadvertently sets in motion what would become the generation-defining concert.
“Elliot’s exuberant and heartfelt story is a perfect window onto the Woodstock experience,” James Schamus, who is penning the script said. “It explores an inspiring historical moment when liberation and freedom were in the air.”
The film has one lead, based on Tiber, and a colorful ensemble. Speculation about original or period music was not confirmed, though the film is assuredly not going to be about the famed concert itself.
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Original, starring Kirk Douglas, Amy Irving and John Cassavetes and released in 1978 and was based on John Farris’ 1976 novel of the same name.
I don’t know if you remember the original film, but I thought it was quite good. I hope the remake takes a different name because I am sure it will be a different film.
This photo is of Amy Irving in the 1978 version of “The Fury.” I haven’t seen Irving in awhile, and I’d love to see her on the big screen again soon.
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Ashley Tisdale is on a roll! She’s fantastic in the Disney’s “High School Musical” movies playing rich-girl Sharpay Evans. Tisdale is negotiating to star in a remake of “Teen Witch” for United Artists. Go Girl!Tisdale just finished production on her theatrical film debut in the comedy “They Came From Upstairs.” She is in preproduction on the next of Disney’s moneymaking “HSM” phenomenon, which is being arranged for a never before theatrical feature and should open in October.
Tisdale is also making progress in becoming a producer of a one-year first-look deal with FremantleMedia North America.
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