Screenhead

There’s absolutely no chance that Michael Jackson’s final movie This Is It will win an Oscar for Best Documentary.

I’m sorry, but that’s just the case.  It was released too late in the year to be considered–at least this year.  But it’s not too late, however, for it to take other honors.  It could easily take the Academy Award for Best Picture, even if it has some pretty stiff competition in that department.

Most years, Academy Award for Best Picture is seldom a foregone conclusion even at the best of times.  But let’s face it…this is a wholly different animal.  This is a movie about the last concert ever that never actually happened but was in the process of doing so of one of the biggest entertainers of the twentieth century.

That and the Best Picture slate has been recently expanded to TEN competitors rather than five, so there’s some extra room on the field, a slot that This Is It could easily find itself in.

Can This Is It win?  Well, that’s not clear.  Especially since NONE of the slots have been filled yet.  But is there every possibility?  I’d say yes.

It’s kind of hard to believe that Hank Williams died at 29 of alcohol abuse and any of a number of other bad habits, but when you take an enduring catalogue of songs and couple that with volumes of personal tragedy, what do you have?

In Hollywood, you have a MOVIE.

That’s right–the Hank Williams movie, based on the Hank Williams biography and featuring several of Hank Williams’ biggest songs authorized by the Hank Williams estate itself, will be coming to theatres on the order of eventually.

They’re just now starting to look to casting, and considering how little Joaquin Phoenix actually looked like Johnny Cash, it’s not really too out of line to suggest that just about anyone could take the lead role of Hank Williams.  I’ve heard everybody from Billy Crudup to Johnny Depp suggested for the part and I’ve got to say there are a LOT of possibilities here.

Martin Luther King Jr. story will be told on the big screen because DreamWorks has acquired the life rights to the slain civil rights leader.

As history tells us, King was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis at the age of 39.  All his works were copyrighted during his lifetime.  

Variety reports that DreamWorks project marks the first film to be authorized by King’s estate and gives the right to utilize King’s intellectual property — as well as his famous “I Have a Dream” speech delivered during the 1963 March on Washington. 

Apparently, a film about Martin Luther King Jr. has been a longtime dream for Spielberg and DreamWorks CEO and Co-chairman Stacey Snider.

The late civil rights leader’s story is in good hands at DreamWorks because I am sure DreamWorks will create a true portrait of his life.

Film producer Ed Bass (The Killing Jar) is set to make his big-screen directorial debut on the upcoming female serial killer biopic Belle.

The film will follow Belle Gunness, who worked mainly from her farm base in La Porte County, Indiana around the turn of the 20^th century. She left a trail of buried bodies as she allegedly killed two husbands and dozens of suitors whom she wrote love letters. Several of her stepchildren also disappeared mysteriously.

The script was co-written by Bass with Eva Mayer whose family purchased the farmland discovered some of the love letters. Shooting is set to take place in Ohio.

The trades are heralding the confirmation of Anne Hathaway attached to star as Judy Garland in the biopic Get Happy for the Weinstein Co.

I have no doubt that Hathaway can pull this off. She’s a fantastic singer, which Shirley Maclaine praised at the Oscars after Hathaway sang wonderfully with Hugh Jackman in the Oscar opener.

Rent the movie Ella Enchanted watch Hathaway belt out “Somebody to Love” and “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart. “

The project is based on Gerald Clarke’s biography of the same name. Clarke draws on numerous real-life sources to narrate the life story of Garland, who began singing and acting as a toddler and continued doing so all the way through her untimely death at the age of 47.

Garland led a life filled with talent but also turbulence, starring and singing in a multitude of studio musicals and other pictures, as well as giving memorable performances on stages in New York and London. She also grappled with addiction and endured a series of relationship dramas.

Variety reports that a biopic of maverick auto executive John Z. DeLorean is in the works. It will chronicle the executive’s rise and fall as a young VP at General Motors where he developed the Pontiac GTO and Firebird. The movie will also chronicle the creation of his own company and the DeLorean DMC-12, which is famous for its appearance in the Back to the Future trilogy of movies.

DeLorean was arrested in 1982 on charges of drug trafficking to help his faltering auto company. He was, however, freed two years later after a court ruled he was a victim of government entrapment.

David Permut and Steve Lee Jones are producing.

Yet another Steve McQueen biopic is headed to the big screen. The second one is based on a memoir by McQueen’s first wife of 15 years, Neile McQueen Toffel. 

The book, “My Husband, My Friend” follows the chronological relationship between McQueen and Toffel, which started in 1956 while Toffel was a Broadway star and on contract at MGM. They had two children and four grandchildren together. 

The writing team, Roderick and Bruce Taylor, for the script have complete access to the McQueen estate that is controlled by Toffel, Chad McQueen (son) and Molly Flattery (granddaughter).

Iconic cowboy character, Western staple and all-around awesome guy Bill Cassidy is finally getting what he deserved: a biopic!

Variety reports that Pterodactyl Productions is planning a film about the classic character who was created in 1904 by writer Clarence E. Mulford. He appeared as a rough-talking galoot in a series of stories and novels before being ported to the big-screen in 1935 as a clean-cut hero. William Boyd played the character in 66 films from ‘30-50s.

The character is now part of popular culture, having spawned comic books, radio serials and whatnot. Mark Canton (300) will produce.

From Variety comes word that former journalist Sacha Gervasi will write and direct the biopic My Dinner With Herve for Mandate Pictures.

Gervasi was the last one to conduct an interview with French dwarf actor Herve Villechaize (The Man With the Golden Gun) days before the actor committed suicide.

The film is being produced by Steve Zaillian along with Garrett Basch and Tendo Nagenda.

The rumours have been abound on the internet for the past few week. In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, actor Russell Crowe let slip that he has plans to play legendary comedian Bill Hicks in a forthcoming movie. And while the film is only at scripting stage, the internet is alight with protests.

Bill Hicks made his name in the late 80’s an early 90’s. While Hicks was undoubtedly political, his humour often ranged from the lofty to the downright base (anyone who knows his Goatboy routine will agree). He died in 1994 of cancer, but left a legacy of polemic comedy to many inspired individuals.

While many people are outraged at the prospect of Crowe playing Hicks, I for one welcome it. If there is one word to characterise Hicks, it was anger. Anger was the fuel of his routines. And we all know of Russell Crowe’s infamous temper. Also, while many write Crowe off as being limited in his range, often resorting to the superior, the tough guy with a sharp wit, one should bear in mind that Crowe pulled off a perfect performance in The Insider, as an aging scientist whose life is destroyed when he becomes a whistleblower. Indeed, we have seen comedian biopics work previously, with Dustin Hoffman being highly convincing in Lenny, the story of controversial stand-up Lenny Bruce. With the right script and some restraint in Crowe, a film of Hick could end up the perfect tribute.