Simon West ("The General's Daughter", "Con Air", "Tomb Raider") is in negotiations to direct a remake of the cult horror flick "When a Stranger Calls" for Sony's Screen Gems division. Jake Wadewall is writing the script for the redo of the 1979 film. The studio also is developing a sequel called "When a Stranger Returns." The original film starred Carol Kane as a high school student traumatized while baby-sitting, after she receives calls she thinks are coming from the parents asking her to check on the kids. The calls turn out to be coming from inside the house..." (full details)
Australian screenwriter Stuart Beattie ("Collateral", "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl") will pen an Australian-set, period epic for helmer Baz Luhrmann. The project, a romance that is being compared to "Gone With the Wind," is being kept under wraps. It looks, however, as if it could be part of a new trio of films that Luhrmann envisions. "Strictly Ballroom," "Romeo + Juliet" and "Moulin Rouge" are dubbed his Red Curtain trilogy, now the director has begun talking about a trilogy of epics, which would have included his film about the life of Alexander the Great as well as a Russian epic and an Australian epic..." (full details)
Writer-director Cess Silvera is in talks to direct rapper T.I. in "Grand Hustle." Silvera, who scripted the drama, also is weighing offers for "Shottas 2," a film he's written and will direct that would be a sequel to a film never released. Among the most aggressive suitors is Paramount, which acquired "Hustle & Flow" at Sundance. In a cautionary tale about film piracy, "Shottas" was stolen before Silvera even finished editing it. Referred to as the Jamaican "Scarface," "Shottas" became such an inner-city bootleg sensation that it won the best picture and actor prizes at the Source Awards. Silvera, who said he has never recouped a penny of the $1.2 million he put together to fund "Shottas," said he's been told that as many as 2 million bootleg copies circulated. He hopes that will translate into a built-in audience for the sequel, which should cost less than $5 million to make..." (full details)
Thanks to 'KC'
