"John Cusack has signed on to star in the Plum Pictures indie drama "Grace Is Gone" which marks the directorial debut of James C. Strouse ("Lonesome Jim"). Penned by Strouse, it centers on a father who takes his two daughters on a road trip upon learning that his wife has been killed in the line of duty in Iraq. Shooting is scheduled to start in April..." (full details)
"Zach Braff will follow up his "Garden State" directorial debut with a remake of the 2002 Danish film "Open Hearts" for Paramount Pictures. Braff will adapt, helm, produce and co-star in the romantic drama. Paramount beat out Fox Searchlight and the Weinstein Co. in a fierce bidding war for the project..." (full details)
"Wolfe Releasing has picked up all US distrib rights to Canadian writer-director Thom Fitzgerald's AIDS drama "3 Needles," starring Lucy Liu, Chloe Sevigny, Stockard Channing, Olympia Dukakis, Shawn Ashmore and Sandra Oh. Wolfe acquired the director's cut of the pic, which restores about 20 minutes of footage, including a controversial scene depicting Channing's character having sex in a Montreal strip club in a deliberate attempt to contract the deadly virus. Three-paneled drama revolves around how people in different settings -- rural China, a plantation in South Africa and the Montreal porn industry -- are dealing with the AIDS epidemic..." (full details)
