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Juan Carlos Fresnadillo Exits Summit’s ‘Highlander’ Remake
30 November 2012 4:21 PM, PST
Exclusive: When it comes to directors on the movie Highlander, there can be only one. But it won’t be Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. The 28 Weeks Later helmer has exited Summit’s reboot of the film, which still has Ryan Reynolds poised to play the title character. I’m told that his exit is amicable, and that after a year of working on the project, he and Summit could not get past the fact they had differing views of the film, and finally agreed to disagree. Fresnadillo left a remake of The Crow to join Highlander. It’s unclear at the moment whether that is an option, but come Monday, he will be looking for another movie, and Summit will be looking for another Highlander helmer. Summit Entertainment remains bullish on Highlander, which has a script by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, with the latest draft by Noah Oppenheim. It’s produced by Neal H. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
‘The Nazi And The Psychiatrist’ Rights Acquired By Mythology Entertainment
30 November 2012 12:30 PM, PST
Exclusive: Mythology Entertainment partners Bradley Fischer, James Vanderbilt and Laeta Kalogridis have secured rights to turn the non-fiction book The Nazi And The Psychiatrist into a feature film and a play. The book, written by Jack El-Hai and slated for publication by PublicAffairs Books, explores the complex relationship between American psychiatrist Dr. Douglas M. Kelley and Nazi war criminal and Hitler’s right-hand man Hermann Goering. The book is the first to access Kelley’s personal and professional papers from the Nuremberg Trial years, which the shrink’s family had hidden away for years. Mythology’s Fischer, Vanderbilt and Kalogridis will produce both the film and stage versions. Surrounded by the postwar ruins of the Third Reich, 22 top Nazi prisoners awaited trial at the 1945-46 International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany. Kelley, who studied the essence of evil and the anatomy of the Nazi personality, was among the few people »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
Warner Bros And Todd Phillips Hire Peter O’Brien To Adapt ‘Trust Your Eyes’
30 November 2012 12:07 PM, PST
Exclusive: Peter O’Brien has just been hired by Warner Bros to adapt Trust Your Eyes, the Linwood Barclay novel that Todd Phillips is attached to direct. Phillips and his Green Hat Films banner are producing with Dan Lin. The book is a Rear Window-style paranoid thriller. A map-obsessed schizophrenic savant witnesses a murder in New York through a computer map program, and then convinces his brother to investigate. These impulses never end well, and the siblings find themselves smack in the center of a deadly political conspiracy. It is the first thriller for The Hangover helmer. Jon Silk co-producing and Barclay and Scott Budnick and Mark O’Connor exec producing. O’Brien has been busy at Warner Bros, recently rewriting Line Of Sight with Act of Valor‘s Mike McCoy directing. O’Brien’s original script Unlocked, which made the Black List, was bought as a spec by the studio. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
For Career Suicide, Nothing Beats The Web
30 November 2012 9:37 AM, PST
I am endlessly fascinated by the number of artists who damage their careers with dumb, self-important expressions of thought on Twitter, Facebook and other viral outlets. You don’t have to be Jack Kevorkian to see that the misguided need to service ego with viral expression is becoming a fantastic way to attempt career suicide. This week alone, we’ve seen Two And A Half Men’s Angus T. Jones flat-line his professional future like he was drinking tiger blood, after condemning as “filth” the show that pays him over $8 million a year. He did this in a taped testimonial for something called the Forerunner Christian Church. Then, writer-director James Gunn found himself hoping Marvel won’t fire him from its next big superhero franchise Guardians Of The Galaxy because obscure bloggers dredged up a two-year old Tumblr blog post Gunn wrote in jest. In it, he described in detail »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
Qed Gets Into Script Game, Hires Nick Reimond To Steer Development Push
29 November 2012 4:16 PM, PST
Exclusive: Qed International is committing to spend serious coin on scripts and pitches that it hopes will translate into features with global appeal. Qed CEO Bill Block has hired Nick Reimond to steer that effort as VP of Development and Production. Qed is getting started quickly, wrapping up deals for two spec scripts: the Zina Zaflow-scripted romantic comedy 52 Percent, and Leave, a thriller scripted by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari. Reimond comes to Qed from Scott Rudin Productions and before that spent three years at Maguire Entertainment/Material Pictures. He started at Michael De Luca Productions. Reimond will be tasked with bringing in projects as Block intends to make Qed a prolific buyer of material at a time when development spending is drying up all over town. “We’re excited to develop these two outstanding scripts, which highlight our interest in romantic comedy and genre fare that can resonate across the global marketplace, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
Nick Hornby To Adapt Cheryl Strayed Memoir ‘Wild’ For Reese Witherspoon And River Road
29 November 2012 2:21 PM, PST
Exclusive: After seeing so many of his novels turned into films, Nick Hornby is taking on the work of a peer. He has signed to write the script for Wild, the bestselling Cheryl Strayed memoir that Pacific Standard’s Reese Witherspoon and Bruna Papandrea have set up with River Road Entertainment’s Bill Pohlad. Witherspoon and Papandrea will produce with Pohlad, who’ll finance development. In Wild, Strayed tells the inspiring story of a woman who tries to rebuild her shattered life by taking on a mission not seen in film since Forrest Gump ran across the country. Traumatized by the death of her mother and then the breakup of her marriage, Strayed made the impulsive decision to try regaining her mojo by taking on an 1100-mile solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State. Despite no experience in long-distance hiking, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
‘Avengers’ Helmer Joss Whedon Steps Back Into Spring–This Time With Shakespeare
29 November 2012 1:29 PM, PST
Exclusive: Joss Whedon, who late last spring set the blockbuster tone for summer with the May release of The Avengers, will venture further into the warm weather season with his next film — this time aiming for the counter-programming buck. Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate have set a June 7 opening for Much Ado About Nothing, Whedon’s contemporized adaptation of the William Shakespeare play. The film will open that day in five markets and then broaden out June 21. It isn’t a Marvel superhero all-star team, but they’ve got at least two rabid fan bases to market to: Joss and The Bard. The film was well received when it premiered this fall at the Toronto Film Festival. It’s a contemporary spin on the tale of sparring lovers that offers a dark, sexy and occasionally absurd view of the intricate game that is love. Whedon shot it in 12 days, probably for »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
Al Pacino Returns To CAA
29 November 2012 1:15 PM, PST
Exclusive: Iconic actor Al Pacino has rejoined CAA. Pacino, who’d been repped at that agency for around 22 years by Rick Nicita, leaves ICM Partners. It would be difficult to bash that agency for the job it did with Pacino, who is in the middle of a precedent-setting salary run starring on Broadway in Glengarry Glen Ross. That now-famous deal paid $125,000 per week to Pacino at the start of its run, against 10% of gross; a deal extension has pushed that up to a potential 36% of gross that positions him to earn as much as $250,000 per week at the end of his run, a remarkable figure for a straight play. The agency also packaged the Phil Spector HBO pic that David Mamet wrote and directed, and which HBO broadcasts March 15 with Helen Mirren also starring. They also attached Pacino to play Penn State coach Joe Paterno in a movie about his rise and fall from grace, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
Jennifer Lee To Co-Direct Disney Animated Film ‘Frozen’
29 November 2012 8:44 AM, PST
Burbank, Calif. (November 29, 2012) — Walt Disney Animation Studios (Wdas) taps Jennifer Lee to join Chris Buck at the helm of its 53rd full-length animated feature “Frozen,” which is slated for the big screen on Nov. 27, 2013. Lee, who has contributed to the film’s screenplay, is one of the screenplay writers of this year’s hit arcade-hopping adventure “Wreck-It Ralph.” Featuring the voices of Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel, “Frozen” is the coolest comedy-adventure ever to hit the big screen. When a prophecy traps a kingdom in eternal winter, Anna, a fearless optimist, teams up with extreme mountain man Kristoff and his sidekickreindeer Sven on an epic journey to find Anna’s sister Elsa, the Snow Queen, and put an end to her icy spell. Encountering mystical trolls, a funny snowman named Olaf, Everest-like extremes and magic at every turn, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom from destruction. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
‘True Grit’s Hailee Steinfeld Lands Lead In Kevin Costner’s Relativity Media Thriller
29 November 2012 8:25 AM, PST
Exclusive: Hailee Steinfeld, who burst on the scene with an Oscar-nominated turn in True Grit, has landed the lead role opposite Kevin Costner in the untitled action film that McG will direct for Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp and Relativity Media. Scripted by Besson and Adi Hasak under the title Three Days To Kill, the film stars Costner as a Service agent who discovers he’s dying. Before he goes, he attempts to complete a final mission, and reconnect with his estranged daughter. He’s also taking an experimental drug that could prolong his life, and that adds complexity to the ticking clock because of the drug’s hallucinatory side effects. Besson and Virginie Besson-Silla are producing with Hasak and Relativity CEO Ryan Kavanaugh. Tucker Tooley’s exec producer. Steinfeld, who turns 16 this month, stars in several upcoming films including the John Carney-directed Can A Song Save Your Life?, the »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
Marvel Testing Short List Of Actors For ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ Leader
28 November 2012 2:43 PM, PST
Exclusive: As Marvel Studios does each time it looks to land a lead for a superhero franchise, Kevin Feige’s hit-making studio has put together a short list for the lead in its next major project, Guardians Of The Galaxy. Marvel, after reportedly hiring James Gunn as director, has begun the effort to cast Peter Quill, the Guardians leader who is the offspring of a human mother and an alien father. I’m hearing that Marvel is making test deals with a small group of leading men. Here are the names: Zero Dark Thirty‘s Joel Edgerton, Boardwalk Empire‘s Jack Huston, Cloud Atlas‘ Jim Sturgess, Lee Pace (who has roles in both Lincoln and The Hobbit), and Eddie Redmayne from Les Miserables. I’ve confirmed all of them are in contention but can’t say definitively that this list is all-inclusive as I’ve also heard of interest from or in Garrett Hedlund, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
Hamptons Film Fest Taps Anne Chaisson As Exec Director
28 November 2012 2:08 PM, PST
East Hampton, NY (November 28th, 2012) – The Hamptons International Film Festival announced today the appointment of Anne Chaisson as the new executive director. Chaisson, who has long been associated with the Festival, serving as Advisory Co-Chair since 2003, will begin her new post at the end of November. The festival has also promoted David Nugent to artistic director. Nugent has served as director of programming at the festival since 2008. He has also been teaching Documentary film history, and American Independent film history at The New School since 2004. Over the past decade, Chaisson has spearheaded the corporate fundraising efforts for such organizations as The Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Nantucket Film Festival, as well as the Hamptons International Film Festival. She has worked with a multitude of Fortune 500 companies including Salomon Smith Barney, MasterCard International, American Airlines, Bentley, HBO, Royal Bank of Canada, BMW, Stella Artois, Elie Tahari, Tissot, and Nestle. She »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
ICM Partners Melds Its Publishing Division With D.C.-Based Sagalyn Agency
28 November 2012 2:00 PM, PST
Breaking: In a move that gives the ICM Partners publishing division a foothold in D.C., the agency has established what it is calling a “strategic alliance” with Raphael Sagalyn’s The Sagalyn Agency. The D.C. outpost will now be called ICM/Sagalyn. The alliance melds Sagalyn’s strong non-fiction author list and ICM’s list dominated by fiction authors. Sagalyn has long run a one-man shop in D.C., where he represents over 100 authors, journalists and business and political experts. His list includes National Book Award finalists Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Steve Olson, Pulitzer Prize finalist Robert Wright and New York Times bestselling authors Dan Pink, Claire Shipman, Katty Kay, Franklin Foer, David Ignatius, Daniel Suarez, Howard Kurtz, David Simon, Ross Douthat, Del Quentin Wilber, Ian Bremmer, NPR reporter Barbara Bradley Hagerty, Vanity Fair editor Cullen Murphy, MIT economist Simon Johnson, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, and Harvard professor Robert Putnam. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
Joe Carnahan Tackling ‘Undying Love’ At Warner Bros
27 November 2012 5:03 PM, PST
Exclusive: Joe Carnahan is making a deal at Warner Bros to direct Undying Love, with Carnahan writing the script. It is based on the graphic novel and revolves around an ex-soldier who falls for a vampire, though in order to be with her, he must take on her creator. And that creator happens to be protected by an army of mobsters in the Hong Kong underworld. Tomm Coker and Daniel Freedman created the novel and wrote the first script draft, and Michael De Luca and Stephen L’Heureux and Benderspink are producing. Carnahan, who last helmed The Grey, said he sparked to the concept, even though it was a little outside his usual comfort zone. “I really took to it, and the metric I use is how fast I come up with ideas and an outline, and this brought about a bunch of ideas,” Carnahan said. “It is a little out of my wheelhouse, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
Mike Fleming Interviews ‘Broken City’ Helmer Allen Hughes On His First Solo Film
27 November 2012 3:13 PM, PST
Allen Hughes spent the past two decades as one-half of The Hughes Brothers. He makes his solo feature directing debut with Broken City, a political corruption drama that stars Mark Wahlberg as an ex-cop who does a favor for the mayor (Russell Crowe) by following the pol’s philandering wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones). The results are murder and conspiracy, with Fox releasing the Emmett/Furla Films-financed drama January 18. Allen and Albert Hughes burst on the feature scene with 1993’s Menace II Society, a wildly profitable slice of violent inner-city life. Together they’ve co-directed the Vietnam-era crime drama Dead Presidents, the Jack the Ripper thriller From Hell, the documentary American Pimp, and most recently the post-apocalyptic thriller The Book Of Eli. They also direct commercials and videos under their Underworld banner. I’ve known the siblings for about as long as they’ve been making features, and always found them to be strong individuals. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
FilmNation, Lava Bear Team For Nic Mathieu-Helmed Thriller ‘Story Of Your Life’
27 November 2012 2:43 PM, PST
Breaking: FilmNation Entertainment has partnered with Lava Bear Films to finance, produce and handle worldwide sales for the sci-fi thriller Story Of Your Life. Scripted by Eric Heisserer, the film will be helmed by commercials director Nic Mathieu. The film will be produced by 21 Laps’ Shawn Levy and Dan Levine with FilmNation’s Aaron Ryder and Karen Lunder. Lava Bear’s David Linde, Tory Metzger, FilmNation’s Glen Basner and Heisserer will be executive producers. Based on a short story by sci-fi writer Ted Chiang, Story Of Your Life is a mind-bending science fiction thriller with a powerful, emotional twist. After aliens land around the globe, a linguist is recruited by the U.S. government in a race to decipher their intentions on Earth. Production will begin next year. “If you look at Ted Chiang’s powerful source material, how deftly Eric and the team at 21 Laps handled the adaptation, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart Coming Back For ‘X-Men: Days Of Future Past’
27 November 2012 11:25 AM, PST
Exclusive: Here is some fun news for X-Men fans. Bryan Singer, who helmed the first two superb installments that launched the franchise at Fox and whom Deadline revealed signed to helm the next film X-Men: Days of Future Past, has just Tweeted the following news: “I’d like to officially welcome back James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender and Nicholas Hoult to X-Men: Days Of Future Past. Also thrilled to announce Sir Ian Mckellen and Sir Patrick Stewart.” How is that going to work with the actors playing both Magneto and Professor Xavier, in the same movie with Fassbender and McAvoy, who played those characters as young men in X-Men: First Class? “The movie is called X-Men: Days of Future Past, use your imagination,” Singer tells me. “More to come,” adds Singer, who happens to be in New Zealand for meetings, just in time to attend the premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
Chris Columbus And 1492 Make 5-Year Funding Deal With Rise Entertainment
27 November 2012 10:18 AM, PST
Breaking: Chris Columbus and his 1492 Pictures have closed a fvie-year deal with Michael Witherill’s Rise Entertainment to develop and finance 1492′s films. The deal includes films that Columbus will direct and that he and partners Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe produce under the 1492 banner. Films on the slate include an adaptation of the Anne Rice novel Christ The Lord, about the formative years of Jesus Christ with script by Betsy and Cyrus Nowrasteh, with the latter aboard to direct; Home Front, an adaptation of the Kristin Hannah novel that Columbus adapted and will direct; and House Of Secrets. Latter is the first acquisition made under the new deal, and it’s the first novel in a trilogy that Columbus has written with Ned Vizzini. Columbus plans to direct that one as well, about three kids lost in a fantasy world trying to find their way home. The first novel »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
Fox 2000 And Ridley Scott Set ‘All You Need Is Kill’ Scribe D.W. Harper For ‘Forever War’
27 November 2012 10:00 AM, PST
Exclusive: D.W. Harper has been set to write a new draft of The Forever War for Fox 2000 and Scott Free. It’s a directing vehicle for Ridley Scott, who for 25 years has wanted to helm an adaptation of Joe Haldeman’s 1974 seminal science fiction novel. The hope is to get the project moving with a script by Harper, who most recently wrote All You Need Is Kill, the sci-fi film that is in production with Tom Cruise starring and Doug Liman directing. I first wrote about this one when the studio acquired the Haldeman book back in 2008, and at that time Scott told me it was “a science-fiction epic, a bit of ‘The Odyssey’ by way of ‘Blade Runner,’ built on a brilliant, disorienting premise.” Scott first pursued the book not long after it was published, but the rights were unavailable for a long time. Oscar-winning Raiders Of The Lost Ark »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
DreamWorks Acquiring Debut Novel ‘The Light Between Oceans’
27 November 2012 9:19 AM, PST
Breaking: DreamWorks Studios is in exclusive talks to acquire M.L. Stedman’s debut novel The Light Between Oceans, studio co-chairman/CEO Stacey Snider confirmed. Harry Potter series producer David Heyman will produce with Jeffrey Clifford. Rosie Alison, who brought the book into Heyday, will executive produce. On a remote Australian island in the years following World War I, a lighthouse keeper and his wife are faced with a moral dilemma when a boat washes ashore with a dead man and a 2-month-old infant. When they decide to raise the child as their own, the consequences of their choice are devastating. “M.L. Stedman has crafted a visually stunning and emotionally harrowing love story with a confounding moral dilemma at its center,” said Snider. “We were completely transfixed by the story and instantly imagined it as a sweeping, classic film. David Heyman is an ideal partner to bring Stedman’s story to the screen. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR.
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