With Director Steven Soderbergh’s Informant!opening at the Venice Film Festival with rave reviews, it’s no wonder he has committed to next direct Knockout, a spy thriller. The will mark starring debut of Gina Carano, the mixed martial arts circuit fighter.
Soderbergh is working toward a late January production start.
Knockout is written by Lem Dobbs (Kafka and The Limey), which casts Carano as a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who is given a second chance to use her skills for constructive purposes. My immediate thought was another Million Dollar Baby, but according to Variety, that is not the case. The movie will be more like La Femme Nikita and Kill Bill. No fighting rings just espionage, straight to the chase action film in the James Bond mold, shooting in locations around the world that include Ireland, Turkey and the U.S.
It appears that Sony Pictures loves money and ball since, despite reported problems, the studio is still keen on the baseball project Moneyball for which they have hired The West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin to polish Steve Zaillian’s early script.
Apparently, the film was scheduled to begin shooting very soon, but the studio put it into turnaround as director Steven Soderbergh’s new version of the script took a more documentary approach, which studio chief Amy Pascal felt would hurt the film’s commercial prospects.
The studio hopes that Sorkin’s changes will bring the project back to the style they favor. The film tells the story of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane, who assembled a baseball club on a shoestring budget by using computer-based analysis to draft players.
Brad Pitt is attached to star. However, Soderbegh is no longer set to direct.
Steven Soderbergh created a gem. The Informant is hilarious while Matt Damon leads us through chaos and stupidity as a corny whistle-blower in the agribusiness. True to life story based on Kurt Eichenwald’s nonfiction bestseller, Soderbergh made a smart move when he cast Scott Bakula, who plays an FBI agent brilliantly off Damon. Some may say this is Bakula’s comeback; but the way he looks in this trailer, I’d say he never left.
An unusual turn occurred with Moneyball, a Steven Soderbergh-directed and Brad Pitt starred film. Columbia Pictures has dropped the project into “limited turnaround” even though production was to start on Monday in Phoenix, which gives the director a chance to get with another studio like Warner Bros. or Paramount.
As the trades tell it, before the weekend began, Columbia Pictures executive Amy Pascal read a rewrite that Soderbergh did to Steven Zaillian’s script and found it very different from the earlier scripts she championed. Pascal was uncomfortable enough with how the vision had changed that she applied the brakes.
A new financier needs to emerge by today, Columbia will re-examine options that include replacing Soderbergh (and hoping Pitt doesn’t ankle), delaying the film until Pascal and the filmmaker see eye-to-eye on the script or pulling the plug.
Sure the studios are more cautious these days, but turnaround news so close to production like this is very unusual. Particularly when it’s only 96 hours before the participants were ready to take the field, following three months of prep and with camera tests completed and cast and budget in place.
Pascal’s wariness is hardly unfathomable. Even though it was approved by Major League Baseball, the script doesn’t follow the traditional narrative structure of most sports stories.
Moneyball is based on the bestselling Michael Lewis book about Billy Beane (Pitt), the former player who resurfaced as the Oakland A’s general manager and found success fielding competitive teams for low cost.
When I first heard about The Girlfriend Experience, I thought Soderbergh would create a seductive, ump ‘em, pumping movie. After viewing this trailer, I see Soderbergh’s taste and signature as usual. It makes the film very provacative like a race car movie.
Steven Soderbergh is taking a serious look at directing Moneyball, the Columbia Pictures adaptation of Michael Lewis’ book “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.”
The book follows Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics, who used a complex computer analysis system to assemble a competitive baseball team even though Oakland lacked the revenues to build a great team in hopes of making it to the World Series.
Brad Pitt, who has worked with Soderbergh in the Ocean films, has been showing an interest in Moneyball since last year.
Variety reports that Soderbergh has always wanted to make a sports film and sparked to the opportunity to reteam with Pitt. Soderbergh is looking to make the picture his next directing assignment.
Hugh Jackman has bowed out of Steven Soderbergh’s Cleo, a 3-D live action musical due to schedule conflicts. Jackman will be hosting the Oscars this February, and then his X-Men Origins: Wolverine sequel will be in the movie theaters.
Soderbergh is also negotiating with Catherine Zeta-Jones to play Cleopatra while Ray Winstone might play Julius Caesar.
According to Variety, Soderbergh has said he wants to inject the famous historical love story with rock n’ roll songs and a style akin to an Elvis musical. The music was written by the indie rock band Guided by Voices, and the script is by the group’s former bass player, James Greer, who is also an author.
Mary-Louise Parker is set to star as Michael Douglas’ girlfriend in the May/December romance Solitary, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The story is about an ex-auto dealership owner whose career and marriage have collapsed because of his less-than-ethical behavior. Parker will play Jordan, a high-powered society beauty who captures the eye of Douglas’ character, Ben.
Other prominent actors are set to star in the film as well including Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito and Jenna Fischer with duo directors Brian Koppelman and David Levien from Koppelman’s script.
Paul Schiff and Steven Soderbergh are producing.
The filming is set to begin next month in New York.
he has committed to next direct Knockout, a spy thriller. The will mark starring debut of Gina Carano, the mixed martial arts circuit fighter. 
It appears that Sony Pictures loves money and ball since, despite reported problems, the studio is still keen on the baseball project Moneyball for which they have hired The West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin to polish Steve Zaillian’s early script.
Pictures has dropped the project into “limited turnaround” even though production was to start on Monday in Phoenix, which gives the director a chance to get with another studio like Warner Bros. or Paramount.
of Michael Lewis’ book “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.”
Hugh Jackman has bowed out of Steven Soderbergh’s Cleo, a 3-D live action musical due to schedule conflicts. Jackman will be hosting the Oscars this February, and then his X-Men Origins: Wolverine sequel will be in the movie theaters.