"Arrested Development" movie script in works

Source: Reuters.com

"LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Narrator: Now the story of a wealthy family who lost everything ... and just may get some of it back.

"Arrested Development" creator Mitchell Hurwitz and his co-executive producer James Vallely are working on a screenplay for the long-debated feature version of their short-lived Fox series. Even as they prep a new Fox comedy series with "Arrested" star Will Arnett, the writers are spinning more bizarre encounters for the eccentric, spoiled Bluth clan for possible feature production in the spring.

Hurwitz would also direct the Fox Searchlight feature.


Hurwitz had said that he wouldn't start writing a film unless all the main actors, including Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, David Cross, Arnett, Alia Shawkat, Portia de Rossi and Jeffrey Tambor, were committed. Scheduling might be difficult, however, as several -- Bateman, Cera and Arnett -- have seen their careers bloom since the series began its three-season run in 2003.

Hurwitz and Vallely won Emmys for their writing on "Arrested Development." They work together on the animated Fox comedy "Sit Down, Shut Up.""

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Moviegoers feast on 'Zombieland,' 'Meatballs'

Source: Variety.com

"Sony knocked out its competition this weekend with a one-two punch from “Zombieland” with $25 million at 3,036 and 3D toon “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,” which dropped to the second spot in its third frame with $16.7 million at 2,977 playdates.

Zomcom easily surpassed fellow Sony pic “Meatballs,” earning a weekend per screen average of $8,235 with its core aud coming from 58% under 25. Sony distrib chief Rory Bruer credited the pic’s comedic aspects as the driving force among its younger aud, especially stars Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg.

“Meatballs” met expectations, declining 33% after holding the frame’s top spot for two consecutive weeks. Pic outperformed fellow 3D toon, Disney’s “Toy Story” double bill, which came in third for the weekend with $12.5 million at 1,745.



Warner Bros.’ launch of Ricky Gervais starrer “The Invention of Lying” took in $7.4 million at 1,707, narrowly pinching out Disney’s “Surrogates” with $7.3 million in its soph sesh.

Fox Searchlight’s girl-power dramedy “Whip It” underperformed with $4.85 million at 1,720 engagements. Studio hopes word of mouth will propel the pic higher in next weekend’s frame.

Michael Moore’s docu “Capitalism: A Love Story” also saw a meek response with $4.85 million after expanding to 962, the highest initial expansion for Moore, followed by “Fahrenheit 9/11” at 868."

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Hiroshi Abe and Michiko Kichise to star in Japanese remake of “Elevator to the Gallows”

Source: nipponcinema

Akira Ogata (Boy’s Choir, The Milkwoman) is set to direct Shikeidai no Elevator, a Japanese remake of Louis Malle’s 1957 French film “Ascenseur pour l’échafaud” (Elevator to the Gallows) with the blessing of the late director’s son, Manuel Cuotemoc Malle.

In the original version, Maurice Ronet plays an ex-Foreign Legion parachutist named Julien and Jeanne Moreau plays his lover, Florence. Together they hatch a plan for Julien to murder Florence’s husband in his office and then execute the perfect getaway by rappelling out the window. Instead, a simple mistake leads to him getting trapped in an elevator over night as a young couple steals his car and Florence mistakenly believes he’s taken off with another woman.

In the new version, Hiroshi Abe will play a charming doctor and Michiko Kichise will play the wife of a medical company president. The young couple will be played by Keiko Kitagawa and Tetsuji Tamayama.

“Shikeidai no Elevator” is slated for release in Japan next Fall.

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'Transformers 3' confirmed for 2011

Source: Hollywoodreporter.com

Ending a complete lack of suspense, director Michael Bay announced on his Web site Thursday that he is officially on board to direct a third "Transformers" film for Paramount. The release date has been shuttled up a full year, from July 1, 2012, to July 1, 2011.

Stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox are slated to return, as is "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" co-writer Ehren Kruger. Steven Spielberg will executive produce, as he did on the first two films, which have grossed more than $1.5 billion worldwide.

Bay wrote that he met with ILM in San Francisco Thursday morning, followed by a flight to Rhode Island with Kruger to meet with Hasbro about new characters.




"Well, it's official: We have a great 'Transformers 3' story," Bay said on his site. "Today is Day One."

Paramount's Summer 2011 is shaping up to have four tentpoles: Marvel features "Thor" and "First Avenger: Captain America" bow May 20 and July 22, respectively. And the DreamWorks Animation sequel "Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom" hits theaters June 3.

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Jenkins, Smit-McPhee and Moretz are set to "Let Me In"

By siewaun
Reference: overturefilms

According to announcement made by Hammer Films and Overture Films, "Cloverfield" director Matt Reeves has cast Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloe Moretz in a remake of popular Swedish vampire movie,"Let the Right One In". The American remake version is given the name,"Let Me In".

Smit-McPhee will be starring as Owen, while Moretz is to play Abby. Jenkins plays Hakan, the guardian of Abby.

The movie is about a boy who befriends a girl who just moved in to the neighbourhood, not knowing that she is a vampire.

Simon Oakes, Guy East and Nigel Sinclair and Donna Gigliotti of Hammer Films will be producing the movie, with Alex Brunner, Tobin Armbrust, John Ptak, Philip Elway and Fredrik Malmberg executive producing. Swedish producers John Nordling and Carl Molinder from the original movie will also be involved as producers.

Production begins this fall in New Mexico, and the movie is set for release in 2010 in the U.S.

Smit-McPhee can be seen alongside Viggo Mortensen in the upcoming movie "The Road", while Moretz was last seen in "(500) Days of Summer".

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Unger, Nesbitt join Estevez's 'Way'

Source: Variety

MADRID -- Canadian thesp Deborah Kara Unger ("88 Minutes," "Crash") and the U.K.'s James Nesbitt ("Bloody Sunday," "Match Point") have joined Martin Sheen to star in the Emilio Estevez-directed family drama "The Way."

The $5 million pic, which is produced by Spain's Filmax Ent., is set along the thousand-year-old Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route.

It tells the story of Tom Avery, played by Sheen, a Californian ophthalmologist who travels to France to reclaim the body of his estranged son, who died in a storm in the Pyrenees, at one of the startpoints of the Camino de Santiago.

Avery cremates his remains, puts them in his son's backpack and starts off on his son's journey to Santiago.

Apart from Estevez, who also plays an acting role in the film, other thesps added include Spain's Angela Molina ("Broken Embraces"), Simon Andreu ("The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian"), Eusebio Lazaro ("Pan's Labyrinth") and Carlos Leal ("Broken Embraces").

"The Way," which is Estevez's fourth feature as a writer-director, is produced by Filmax chairman Julio Fernandez, Estevez and Elixir Films' David Alexanian.

The pic, which rolled Sept. 28 in St.-Jean-Pied-de-Port, below the Route de Napoleon over the Pyrenees, is skedded to wrap Nov. 13, after taking in a clutch of Camino landmarks such as Roncesvalles, Pamplona, Logrono, Burgos, Leon and Galicia.

Spanish cinematographer Juanmi Azpiroz ("Savage Grace") and art director Victor Molero ("Broken Embraces") have joined to the crew.

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Actors have a thirst for 'Wettest County'

Source: riskybusinessblog

By Steven Zeitchik and Borys Kit

A period drama that’s in turnaround from a major studio wouldn’t necessarily be expected to make many waves in the Hollywood tentpole era.

But that’s pretty much what “The Wettest County in the World” — a story of Depression-era bootleggers from Red Wagon and “The Road” director John Hillcoat — is doing.

The project was set up at Columbia about a year-and-a-half ago. But it has since been put in turnaround and is now in the process of being reconfigured as an indie, with financing still coming together.

But that hasn’t stopped the project from becoming the brass ring for the next generation of Hollywood A-listers.

Shia LaBeouf, Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Gosling are among the actors whose names have been presented as associated with the project to reps and execs around town (though none is yet on board). The names of Paul Dano and Michael Shannon have also surfaced in connection with the project.

Between them, the group has seven Oscar and Golden Globe nominations (thank you, Gosling, Johansson and Shannon) and three of the ten highest-grossing movies since 2007 (thank you, Shia LaBeouf). None is over the age of 35.

“Wettest” is a sweeping, historical crime drama of the American South, based on the author Matt Bondurant’s grandfather and two great-uncles — three brothers who made up a fierce criminal gang at the center of the country’s moonshine trade (it's that kind of wetness). The book also tracks a parallel story involving a writer named Sherwood Anderson who was on the trail of the bootlegging story, reporting on the moonshine trade and researching his 1936 novel "Kit Brandon."

The colorful setting and mystery elements — not to mention the meaty roles — have kept the actors' appetites, well, whet, even as the project lacks financing or a start date. Which shows something interesting, a few observers pointed out: that even as studios take fewer risks, worthy projects will be sustained by the talent that seeks them out, actors who desire prestige parts no matter who’s making the movie.

Not that Red Wagon doesn't have a strong pedigree in its own right. The company is of course the Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher banner that was behind such well-regarded pics as “Jarhead” and “Girl, Interrupted” and a number of upcoming buzz projects — the “Jekyll” reboot at Universal and the Adam Shankman-produced “Bye Bye Birdie” update, to name two.

The momentum "Wettest" has been able to gain also speaks to the trend of projects being repackaged and reconfigured as indies as studios cut back on development money and slate slots. Universal put Darren Aronofsky’s supernatural drama “Black Swan” in turnaround, prompting it to be reconfigured as an indie financed by Overnight Films, and Paramount’s Ryan Fleck-Anna Boden dramedy “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” ended up as an indie funded by Wayfare Entertainment before landing at Focus.

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Hugh Jackman boxed in for Levy

Source: Variety

Hugh Jackman is in talks to star in the Shawn Levy-directed "Real Steel" for DreamWorks.

Project is a "Rocky"-esque tale of a fighter who has to reinvent himself when human boxers are replaced by robots. Jackman is negotiating to play the ex-fighter, who becomes a struggling Robot Boxing promoter and finds a discarded robot that always seems to win. He also discovers he has a 13-year-old son, and they bond as the robot brawls its way toward the top.

John Gatins is rewriting the current draft with Levy, and the studio is eyeing a May production start.

Angry Films' Don Murphy and Susan Montford are producing. Exec producers are Steven Spielberg and ImageMovers troika Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey. Levy also is a producer.

Levy, who just completed the Fox comedy "Date Night" with Steve Carell and Tina Fey, came aboard the project several weeks ago. The studio hopes to get underway before next summer.

Jackman is starring opposite Daniel Craig in the Broadway play "A Steady Rain," which opened Tuesday night at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater. Jackman and Craig play lifelong best friends and partners on the Chicago police force. The play finishes its sold-out run Dec. 7.

"Real Steel," which was originally scripted by Dan Gilroy, has been rewritten by Les Bohem and then Gatins.

The premise is based on a short story by Richard Matheson. Pic reps a reunion between Matheson and Spielberg; Matheson wrote Spielberg's directing debut, the 1971 telepic "Duel," and was story editor on Spielberg's "Amazing Stories."

The early works of Matheson who is still writing in his 80s continues to inform current Hollywood films. That includes the Will Smith starrer "I Am Legend", the upcoming Richard Kelly-directed Cameron Diaz starrer "The Box", the Imagine/Universal comedy "The Incredible Shrinking Man," and Summit Entertainment's "Countdown", which is based on Matheson's short story Death Ship and was scripted by "Wanted" writers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas.

Jackman is repped by WME.

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Jamie Foxx joins 'Due Date'

Source: hollywoodreporter

Jamie Foxx is boarding the cast of "Due Date," Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures' latest Todd Phillips comedy.

Foxx joins Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis in the road-trip movie about a high-strung father-to-be (Downey) forced to hitch a ride with a college slacker (Galifianakis) to make it to the birth on time.

Foxx will play Downey's longtime pal, who once dated his wife (Michelle Monaghan) and secretly keeps in touch with her.

"Date" begins shooting this fall in Atlanta, New Mexico and Los Angeles.

Phillips is producing with GreenHat Films partner Daniel Goldberg. Scott Budnick and Susan Downey are exec producing.

Foxx, repped by CAA and King Management, next stars in "Law Abiding Citizen" and recently wrapped "Valentine's Day."

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Josh Brolin takes over the "Cartel"

Source: Variey

According to Variety, Josh Brolin is set to star in "Cartel," a movie by Universal Pictures, replacing Sean Pean who abruptly departed from the project in June for personal reasons. Asger Leth will be directing the movie.

Inspired by the 1993 Italian film "La scorta," which followed four cops' struggle to guard a special prosecutor trying to bring mob bosses to justice, Brolin is to portrait a man on a mission to protect his son after his wife was brutally murdered by the Mexican drug cartels.

Producer of the movie is Brian Grazer, with Peter Craig writing the script. Executive producers are Robert Stone and Webster Stone.

Production is set for January in Mexico City.

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