News

News Bites: Thursday, July 29th 2004

By Garth Franklin Thursday July 29th 2004 11:32PM

American Gun: "Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden has found her first post-"Mystic River" role with IFC Films' ensemble drama "American Gun." The film is shooting in the San Fernando Valley. Harden joins a cast that includes Forest Whitaker, Donald Sutherland, Linda Cardellini and Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon. Other names in the ensemble are expected to be announced shortly..." (more info). King Kong: "Jamie Bell and Evan Parke have joined the cast of Peter Jackson's "King Kong" for Universal Pictures. Bell will play a young cameraman who accompanies Jack Black's character, a filmmaker, on a quest to find the giant gorilla, while Parke portrays the first mate on the Venture, the tramp steamer that sails to Skull Island. He ends up heading the rescue team sent into the jungle to save Naomi Watts' character..." (more info). Pay the Girl: "Betty Thomas is in negotiations with Paramount Pictures to direct "Pay the Girl," a feature about Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss. Fleiss hit the headlines in 1993 when she was caught running a stable of high-priced call girls. She subsequently went to prison for tax evasion, money laundering and attempted pandering and was paroled in 1999..." (more info). Syriana: "Greta Scacchi has booked back-to-back roles in two Warner Bros. Pictures films opposite two of Hollywood's established leading men. Scacchi will first appear in the untitled Ted Griffin project starring Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner and Shirley MacLaine. Scacchi plays Costner's exuberant ex-wife. Scacchi then segues to "Syriana" for writer-director Stephen Gaghan playing Clooney's embittered wife..." (more info). The Night Watchman: "Spike Lee is in negotiations to direct "The Night Watchman," an original screenplay by noir novelist James Ellroy. Set in Los Angeles in the early '90s, the project is described as being in the vein of Ellroy's "L.A. Confidential." An ensemble piece, the thriller/drama revolves around a cop who uncovers corruption and must resolve the problem in order to redeem himself. The film is aiming to shoot early next year..." (more info). The Traveler: "Universal Pictures has made a pre-emptive bid for John Twelvehocks' upcoming sci-fi novel "The Traveler" for Kennedy/Marshall to produce. Doubleday is due to publish the book in June. It is the first volume in a trilogy from the first-time author..." (more info). White Noise: "Barry Sonnenfeld has teamed with Cherry Road Films for his longtime passion project, Don DeLillo's "White Noise," which he will direct and produce. Also for Cherry Road, he will direct Donald Westlake's "Money for Nothing," with "Taxi" scribe Jim Kouf aboard to adapt..." (more info). Yours, Mine and Ours: "Robert Simonds, who is producing MGM's new "Pink Panther" movie, has signed a first-look deal with studio. The first project to fall under the new agreement will be a remake of the 1968 family comedy, "Yours, Mine and Ours," which starred Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda. Simonds has just wrapped production on "The Pink Panther," which stars Steve Martin and is set for release next year..." (more info). A Sound of Thunder: Two new pics from the sci-fi time travel adventure are up at Rope of Silicon. Battle Angel Alita: Moviehole reports that John Savage is rumoured to be in talks with Director James Cameron about playing a part in the "Titanic" director's highly-anticipated big-budget 3D Film. Collateral: Two behind-the-scenes featurettes are up at FilmFreak. DVD News: Details and art is up up for The Hellraiser 1-3 Collection (R2), Touched by an Angel: Season 1, Around the World in 80 Days, Dawson's Creek: Season 4 & The Untouchables: SE. Sandy Collora's Next: The man behind the recent "World's Finest" trailer and "Batman: Dead End" short film is working on a feature with Guillermo Del Toro according to ScreenRant. Shark Tale: Three new shots from the CG animated comedy have gone up at LatinoReview. Smallville: The big kiss between Jason & Lana is up at HNR. The Apprentice (TV): E! Online reports that Donald Trump is demanding $18 million an episode for the next season of The Apprentice, which is about nine times more than the highest-paid actor in primetime makes. Thanks to 'Yo', 'Vic', 'Doug', 'Gustavo', 'Mark' & 'KarlChilders'

SHARE: