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Francis Ford Coppola made one of the greatest crime films ever when he adapted Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. The Marlon Brando-starrer saw the veteran win his second Oscar for Best Actor and was a breakthrough for Al Pacino. Coppola then followed it up with The Godfather – Part II, which became the first sequel to win Best Picture.

The sequel saw Robert De Niro play the role of a younger Vito Corleone (played by Brando in the original). De Niro won the Oscar for Best Supporting Role for the film and had a breakthrough with the film. While he did a phenomenal job as Corleone, he reportedly auditioned way back for the first part and was up for the role of Sonny Corleone.

Robert De Niro Originally Auditioned For Sonny Corleone In The Godfather Marlon Brando in The Godfather | Credits: Paramount Pictures/Alfran Productions

Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather...

Amidst the acclaim that The Godfather received from all fronts, there was one influential critic of the movie — Frank Sinatra. The beef between Sinatra and the film began even before the start of filming. The singer and actor believed that one character in Mario Puzo’s novel, that of Johnny Fontaine, was modeled after him. On one occasion, Sinatra had a heated confrontation about this with Puzo where he threatened the author.

Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone in The Godfather

However, his threats on another occasion did not seem to bother singer Al Martino, who played the brief role of Johnny Fontaine in the film. In the end, all the efforts of Frank Sinatra to ruin The Godfather became futile as the movie became the biggest hit in Hollywood upon release.

Frank Sinatra Failed To Threaten One Actor Away From The Godfather Role

Guys and Dolls actor Frank Sinatra failed...

Sofia Coppola was cast in The Godfather Part III as Michael Corleone's daughter, despite not being the first choice for the role. Viewers criticized Coppola's performance in the film, calling it stiff and unconvincing. While there were valid concerns about nepotism in the film industry, targeting Sofia Coppola specifically seemed hypocritical, as many actors have benefited from family connections throughout Hollywood's history.

Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather franchise is no stranger to controversy, with the first film facing multiple problems before the movie was even released. This included disputes over casting and pressures from various groups for everything from the use of the word "mafia" in the film to its portrayal of Italian-Americans. The story and difficulties behind the first film have been wonderfully detailed in Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: The Epic Story of the Making of The Godfather by author Mark Seal.

But, needless to say,...

One key scene in The Godfather saved Al Pacino's job and the movie itself. Francis Ford Coppola's film, based on the Mario Puzo novel of the same name, is commonly ranked as one of the greatest films ever made. It tells the story of one man's transformation from "good guy" to "bad guy." Michael Corleone, played perfectly by Al Pacino, was the second-youngest son of Vito Corleone and the main protagonist of the epic story. Pacino's performance, along with Coppola's direction, are two key elements that made The Godfather the iconic movie it has become. However, both may not have happened were it not for one particular scene.

During the casting process for The Godfather, Coppola, who had seen Pacino in The Panic At Needle Park (his first starring role in a film), wanted him for the role of Michael Corleone. Paramount Pictures however wanted a big-name actor.

The Godfather, currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, is a perfect film. Every scene is an individual work of art. Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Mario Puzo’s novel is never sloppy, but part of its olive oil charm lies in its blemishes. Some of the featured players were not professional actors, and uncomfortable scenes play out in lingering real time.

The Godfather has been criticized for glorifying violence, and it certainly has its share. From the barrage of bullets at a toll booth to the brains all over Michael’s Ivy League suit, plus waking up with the severed head of a beloved horse, the range of brutality is vast. There are scenes of domestic abuse which lead to street beatings. Car bombings vie with bar stabbings.

The reason the violence works so well, however, is because so much time is allowed to pass in between these scenes. The...

“There’s an old adage in the business… unhappy sets make great movies.”

That was spoken by producer Albert S. Ruddy, and he should know. Ruddy was the producer on The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Mario Puzo’s bestselling novel that is renowned as one of the greatest films of all time. But making a masterpiece like this certainly did not come easily.

Ruddy’s comment is recounted in author Mark Seal’s recently published book, Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli, an exhaustive and fabulously entertaining look back at the making of The Godfather through the eyes of many of those who were there. The film itself celebrates its golden anniversary this week and the studio, Paramount Pictures, has pulled out all the stops.

The Godfather was reissued earlier this month in theaters in a brand-new restoration, enabling many (including this writer) to see it for...

At any given moment the most titillating movie intrigues are not about star salaries or director firings, but rather about those grisly details that are well below the radar.

“The blood doesn’t look right to me. We need believable blood. Blood that coagulates. Get me better blood.”

Those were the demands of one filmmaker who was prepping an especially violent scene on an important movie. Though he abhorred violence, he was determined to deliver memorable murders.

Production strategizing usually remains secretive, with the exception of Alec Baldwin’s Rust, which seems grist for endless litigation. On most studio films, however, the cone of silence remains intact.

The vintage example is The Godfather: Though much has been written about that movie, some pre-production conflicts have lately been revisited in Mark Seal’s new book Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli, which relies in part on two previously unknown documents.

To the public, Alec Baldwin’s Colt .45 stands as a symbol of perhaps criminal incompetence, but to insiders it also represents a pathetic epitaph to that mythic genre, the “indie” movie.

The indie Western already was in dire straits because of lack of funding and distribution until Baldwin came along as both star and producer of Rust – a sort of Dennis Hopper of the 2020s. The film was under-budgeted at $7 million on a 21-day shooting schedule. Its crew was rebellious, inexperienced and seemingly oblivious to the protocols governing movie weaponry.

Besides all this, no one seemed to be running the show among the usual cluster of producers and executive producers (including Baldwin’s manager).

By contrast, indie producers traditionally were proud to take their bows. Upon completing Easy Rider, Hopper once boasted proudly that his film crew was essentially “a dysfunctional family.” The dysfunction worked for him in the ’60s...

Yorgos Lanthimos is reuniting with his “The Favourite” screenwriter Tony McNamara for an adaptation of Richard Brautigan’s 1974 Gothic Western novel “Hawkline Monster” (via The Wrap). The project is backed by New Regency and Element Pictures. McNamara’s script will follow two gunslingers who are hired by a 15-year-old girl to kill a monster that lives underneath the basement in the home of the title character Miss Hawkline. Lanthimos is set to direct the project, which has floated around Hollywood for years and has courted the likes of Hal Ashby and Tim Burton. Ashby’s attempt to adapt the book was to star Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman.

The news of “Hawkline Monster” comes at a major moment for Tony McNamara, the writer who is currently earning praise for creating the new Hulu period comedy “The Great,” starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult. McNamara co-wrote “The Favourite” with Deborah Davis.

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSHong Sang-soo directing on the set of a new production.Above: We don't know the backstory behind this, but we're nonetheless glad to see Hong Sang-soo back in the director's chair after a year with no new Hong Sang-soo movie. (via @lil_coincoin)Yorgos Lanthimos is set to direct and produce a limited series adapted from Mark Seal's The Man in the Rockefeller Suit. The non-fiction book traces the various lies and grifts of Clark Rockefeller, who claims to be a member of the Rockefeller clan. Recommended VIEWINGAbel Ferrara's Tommaso now has an international trailer, which offers a deeper glimpse into the life of an ex-pat filmmaker (Willem Dafoe) in Rome, who struggles to balance his artistic passion and familial commitments. Read our Cannes interview with Ferrara here.An official trailer for Jennifer Reeder...

The Favourite and The Lobster director Yorgos Lanthimos is headed to TV with The Man in the Rockefeller Suit. The series is based on the nonfiction book by Mark Seal, and tells the story of Christian Gerhartsreiter, a man who posed as a descendant of the famous Rockefeller family, along with several other aliases. The plan was originally to […]

The post ‘The Man in the Rockefeller Suit’ Series Coming From ‘The Favourite’ Director Yorgos Lanthimos appeared first on /Film.

After crafting the hermetically sealed, horrifying/hilarious original worlds of Dogtooth, The Lobster, and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos took on a real story, making the Oscar-winning The Favourite. For his next project, Lanthimos will be moving to TV, but staying in the world of real stories. As reported by Deadline, Lanthimos will be directing and producing a miniseries through Searchlight TV about the true story of Clark Rockefeller. Or, should I say, "Clark Rockefeller." The Lanthimos miniseries will be an adaptation of Mark Seal's acclaimed nonfiction book The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: …...

“The Favourite” director Yorgos Lanthimos is set to direct and executive produce a limited series for Searchlight Television based on Mark Seal’s nonfiction book “The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Imposter.” The adaptation will center around the man known as Clark Rockefeller, who posed as a member of the famed family as part of a decades-long con game that came crashing down in 2008 after he kidnapped his daughter (Via Deadline).

Rockefeller, whose real name is Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, moved to the Us from his native Germany in the 1970s, used a variety of aliases — film student, English royalty, and as a member of the American industrialist dynasty. It was under that false identity that he married his wife, who before long began to suspect her husband is not who he says he is.

In addition to the custodial kidnapping conviction,...

Yorgos Lanthimos is set to direct an adaptation of “The Man in the Rockefeller Suit,” which is development at Fox Searchlight Television, a rep for the division confirmed to TheWrap. It is based on the best-selling book by Mark Seal.

David Gilbert is adapting the screenplay for the limited series, which will tell the true story of Clark Rockefeller, a gregarious, successful, and mysterious descendant of the Rockefeller clan. When his wife Sandra begins to suspect that Clark isn’t who he says he is, his decades-long web of deception slowly begins to unravel.

Lanthimos and Fox Searchlight worked together earlier this year on “The Favourite,” which earned 10 Oscar nominations – among them Best Picture and Best Director with Olivia Colman winning for Best Actress.

Also Read: Elle Fanning, Yorgos Lanthimos, Pawel Pawlikowski Get Jury Duty at Cannes

The project was originally set to be a feature, with Pablo Trapero previously...

Exclusive: The Favourite and The Lobster director Yorgos Lanthimos is set to direct and executive produce an adaptation of The Man In The Rockefeller Suit based on Mark Seal’s New York Times bestselling non-fiction book, which is being developed as a limited series at Searchlight Television. Donald De Line and Element Pictures will exec produce with Lanthimos.

Written by David Gilbert, based on the book The Man In The Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Impostor, the limited series adaptation tells the true story of Clark Rockefeller, a gregarious, successful, and mysterious descendant of the Rockefeller clan. When his wife Sandra begins to suspect that Clark isn’t who he says he is, his decades-long web of deception slowly begins to unravel.

This reunites Fox Searchlight and Lanthimos following their collaboration on The Favourite, which earlier this year was nominated for 10 Oscars, including best picture and director for Lanthimos,...

It’s not about the robbery. King of Thieves wouldn’t be worth telling if it was just watching these senior actors ranging from 60 to 85 fictitiously accomplish the “biggest jewel heist in British history” since there obviously won’t be any foot-chases or complex wire-suspended acrobatics. No, the reason this tale (adapted by Joe Penhall from a Vanity Fair article by Mark Seal) proves interesting is due to the characters they portray. How do diabetes, incontinence, and hearing loss affect their chances of success? What incentive do these seasoned criminals have to avoid using their wiles to take advantage of the others regardless of any notions of friendship they might possess? And exactly how menacing can their jovial smiles turn once a million quid is put on the line?

Good on director James Marsh and the producers for seeing what must have been a huge news reveal back in 2015 (the...

Saban Films has acquired U.S. distribution rights to James Marsh’s King of Thieves, the heist movie about the 2015 robbery of the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company, which was pulled off by a gang led by four senior-citizen criminals and repped the biggest heist in UK history. Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay and Michael Gambon star in the pic, which is now getting and early 2019 U.S. theatrical release after already playing the UK and elsewhere.

Joe Penhall penned the script, based on material from Mark Seal’s Vanity Fair article and The Guardian’s crime reporter Duncan Campbell. It details the heist, in which the quartet stole a reported £14 million during Easter weekend. A total of seven members of the gang were eventually convicted of the crime. Ray Winstone and Charlie Cox also star.

Working Title Films’ Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner produced with Michelle Wright and Ali Jafaar.

Distributor plans Q1 2019 release.

Saban Films has acquired Us rights from Studiocanal to Working Title Films’ Michael Caine and Ray Winstone heist film King Of Thieves.

James Marsh (The Theory Of Everything) directs the story about the April 2015 Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company heist in which a gang of retirees aged between 59 and 75 made off with more than $18m (£14m) in what remains the biggest heist in UK history.

Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay, Michael Gambon, and Charlie Cox round out the key cast.

Joe Penhall adapted the screenplay based on source material from Mark Seal’s Vanity Fair article and...

Saban Films has bought U.S. distribution rights to James Marsh’s crime drama “King of Thieves,” starring Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay, Michael Gambon, Ray Winstone, and Charlie Cox.

Working Title Films’ Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner produced the pic alongside Michelle Wright and Ali Jafaar, with Studiocanal financing. “King of Thieves” will be released next year.

Joe Penhall wrote the script, based on source material from Vanity Fair’s Mark Seal and The Guardian’s veteran crime reporter Duncan Campbell about the 2015 Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company burglary, the biggest heist in U.K. history.

Caine portrays 76-year-old Brian Reader, who pulled together a band of misfit criminals who were mostly in their 60s and 70s. Posing as servicemen during the Easter bank holiday, they drilled a hole into the wall of the safe and escaped with allegedly over £200 million worth of stolen jewels and money. Reader...

Saban Films has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to James Marsh’s “King of Thieves,” starring Sir Michael Caine, Sir Tom Courtenay, Jim Broadbent and Sir Michael Gambon.

Charlie Cox and Ray Winstone also star in the film produced by Working Title Films’ Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner alongside Michelle Wright and Ali Jafaar. Studiocanal financed the film.

Joe Penhall wrote the script based on source material from Mark Seal’s Vanity Fair article and The Guardian’s veteran crime reporter Duncan Campbell. The drama is about the April 2015 Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company burglary in which robbers reportedly stole over £14 million in loot, culminating in being the biggest heist in U.K. history.

Also Read: Saban Films, DirecTV Acquire Johnny Depp's 'Richard Says Goodbye'

“‘King of Thieves’ is led by a stellar British ensemble cast,” said Saban Films’ Bill Bromiley in a statement. “The pedigree of Michael,...

Saban Films has picked up U.S. rights to the film King of Thieves from director James Marsh (The Theory of Everything).

Michael Caine and Jim Broadbent star in the true story about the biggest heist in U.K. history, where in April 2015 robbers stole £14 million in the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company burglary. Tom Courtenay, Michael Gambon, Ray Winstone and Charlie Cox also star in the pic.

Joe Penhall wrote the screenplay based on source material from Mark Seal’s Vanity Fair article and The Guardian’s veteran crime reporter Duncan Campbell.

Working Title Films’ Tim Bevan ...

Saban Films has picked up U.S. rights to the film King of Thieves from director James Marsh (The Theory of Everything).

Michael Caine and Jim Broadbent star in the true story about the biggest heist in U.K. history, where in April 2015 robbers stole £14 million in the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company burglary. Tom Courtenay, Michael Gambon, Ray Winstone and Charlie Cox also star in the pic.

Joe Penhall wrote the screenplay based on source material from Mark Seal’s Vanity Fair article and The Guardian’s veteran crime reporter Duncan Campbell.

Working Title Films’ Tim Bevan ...

Sir Michael Caine and an all-star cast of British wrinklies bicker and creak their way through the audacious Hatton Garden heist that shuffles into an lacklustre crime caper.

The Hatton Garden heist is the biggest robbery in British history since Bruce Reynolds slipped into a train conductor’s uniform and ransacked £2.6 million pounds (that’s £50 million quid in today’s money) from a Royal Mail train back in 1963. Surely, in 2015 a new breed of lithe, cunning and internet ready thieves, tunnelled their way into Hatton Garden’s safety deposit box vault and pinched jewellery, cash and gold to the tune of an estimated £300 million pounds…?

No. Maybe, ten or so years younger than The Great British Train Robbers, Brian Reader at 76 with his four man crew of old lags and a so-called security alarm expert, pulled off an audacious Easter Bank Holiday robbery that gripped the nation, and the wider world.

Lovable British rogues have enthralled cinema goers for the better part of a century in classic London crime capers like Brighton Rock, The Lavender Hill Mob, The Italian Job and The Long Good Friday, through to McVicar, Lock Stock, Sexy Beast and Legend (2015). Even when brandishing knuckle dusters, plotting to off little old ladies, threatening to shit the Ira or taking their shirts off (cas they’re “sweating like a c*%t”), these antiheroes have made a massive mark in cinema over the decades. Despite being synonymous with heist movies they are arguably a genre unto themselves yet, but while the widespread affection remains, there hasn’t been a truly memorable cockney/ London crime film or character for quite some time.

In 2015, the infamous Hatton Garden robbery, in which £200 million’s worth of cash and jewels were stolen from safety deposit boxes, provided film producers with the basis for a fresh and relevant take.

From RedBand.Ca Sneak Peek restricted 'redband' footage from director James Marsh' truet crime thriller "King of Thieves", based on a magazine news article by Mark Seal, starring Michael Caine ("Zulu"), Tom Courtenay ("King Rat") and Ray Winstone ("Sexy Beast"), opening September 14, 2018 in the UK:

"...a crew of retired crooks pull off a major heist in London's jewelry district..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "King Of Thieves"...

Everyone loves con men. Right? That's what film and tv have taught me. Some criminals are bad but con men? Con men are just misunderstood. Like the Music Man. What a guy! Well, Benedict Cumberbatch is about to join the ranks of likable con men in the new film by Fox Searchlight, The Man in the Rockefeller Suit.

The film is about the true story of Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter. He was a man who posed as a member of the famous Rockefeller family to get various jobs on Wall Street and even to get married. He used his fake identity to get close to the richest and most powerful people on earth until he finally gets caught and then fears losing custody of his daughter. I mean, if your name was Gerhartsreiter, wouldn't you want to pretend to be someone else to?

Cumberbatch, of course, is wonderful so I have...

Author: Zehra Phelan

Reports are emerging that Doctor Strange and Sherlock Holmes actor, Benedict Cumberbatch is currently in talks with Fox Searchlight to take the lead in David Bar Katz adaptation of The Man in the Rockefeller Suit.

The Man in the Rockefeller Suit is based on Mark Seal’s book on the real life con man Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, a convicted murderer and con man who is currently serving a prison sentence in the United States, who later took on the identity, Clark Rockefeller as well as other aliases including Chris C. Crowe, Chris Chichester, Charles Smith, Chip Smith. He conned his way into many jobs on Wall Street as well as marrying a wealthy woman with whom he had a child.

The book’s synopsis reads; In 2008, Clark Rockefeller, wealthy scion of a great American family, made headlines when he kidnapped his own daughter and vanished. The FBI and police were baffled.

After playing a Marvel superhero Doctor Strange and returning as the iconic detective Sherlock Holmes on the small screen, Benedict Cumberbatch may be shifting gears, eyeing a new true story adaptation. The actor has entered negotiations to play con artist Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter in The Man in the Rockefeller Suit for Fox Searchlight Pictures. If a deal comes together, this will mark just the latest in a long line of fascinating real-life characters the Oscar-nominated actor has portrayed in his career.

Deadline reports that David Bar Katz (The Pest) will write the adapted screenplay, based on Mark Seal's book of the same name. Donald De Line will produce, with Fox Searchlight currently searching for a director before setting a production schedule. It remains to be seen if the studio wants to start production this year, of if they are aiming for a specific release date at this time for the biopic.

Few actors working in Hollywood today are juggling as many projects as Benedict Cumberbatch – save for maybe Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Fresh off his title role in Marvel’s Doctor Strange, the British thesp has signed on to reprise as the Sorcerer Supreme in both Thor: Ragnarok and next year’s marquee ensemble movie, Avengers: Infinity War. And that’s before you factor in the more drama-oriented fair such as The Current War and Andy Serkis’ long-delayed Jungle Book movie, the latter of which will see Cumberbatch play the iconic role of Shere Khan – no relation to his villain from Star Trek Into Darkness, of course.

It looks likely that Benedict Cumberbatch will have to carve out room on that bustling slate for another project, too, with Deadline reporting today that the actor has entered talks to become The Man In The Rockefeller Suit for Fox Searchlight. Negotiations are ongoing,...

Exclusive: Benedict Cumberbatch is in early negotiations with Fox Searchlight to star in The Man in the Rockefeller Suit for Fox Searchlight Pictures. David Bar Katz has adapted the book by Mark Seal. Donald De Line is producing. The film tells the true story of Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, an imposter who conned his way into various jobs on Wall Street — as well as a marriage — posing as a member of the Rockefeller family. After achieving a life in rarefied social…...

Deadline is reporting that The Theory Of Everything and Man On Wire filmmaker James Marsh has a new directing project lined up. According to the site, Marsh will helm a caper pic about last year's Hatton Garden jewelry heist, and he'll be directing from a script by The Road scribe Joe Penhall. The currently untitled film will be an adaptation of Mark Seal's Vanity Fair article, which... Read More...

Exclusive: The Theory Of Everything helmer James Marsh is back together with Working Title partners Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, set to direct a caper pic about the unlikely gang of retirees that pulled off the daring Hatton Garden jewelry heist of 2015. Working Title last month closed a deal for rights to a Vanity Fair article by Mark Seal headlined “The Over The Hill Mob,” which was published in the March issue. Joe Penhall is set to write the script; Penhall, whose…...

Exclusive: Working Title partners Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are planning a caper pic about the unlikely gang of retirees that pulled off the daring Hatton Garden jewelry heist of 2015. They’ve closed a deal for a Vanity Fair article by Mark Seal headlined”The Over the Hill Mob,” which was published in the March issue. The robbery brought a loot haul of up to $300 million, leading to theories that the culprits were a precision team of super-thieves who had pulled off the…...

Here’s a good sign of momentum: weeks after a documentary premiered at Sundance and received its first wave of fine reviews, the figure known as Jt Leroy is having their life story turned into a feature film. THR tell us Kristen Stewart, James Franco, Helena Bonham Carter, and writer-director Justin Kelly (the Franco-led I Am Michael) will team for Jt Leroy, which examines the eponymous figure — itself the outlet for a writer and actor who fooled the world with “a man who identifies as transgender, tricking the rich and famous in Hollywood, the fashion world and elite literary circles.”

If contracts are arranged, Carter and Stewart will respectively star as Laura Albert and Savannah Knoop, Leroy’s writing and public personas. There are many directions in which this narrative can reach, evidenced by the fact that writer-director-actress Asia Argento, who adapted Leroy’s The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things,...

A bunch of directors just lined up some flash new gigs.

First up Lino Di Salvo, the head of animation on Disney's "Frozen," has come on board to direct the $75 million animated feature "Playmobil: Robbers, Thieves & Rebels" based on the iconic toy brand for On Animation Studios.

The project is the first in a potential trilogy based on the toy brand, which has sold more than 2.8 billion figurines in more than 100 countries.

Next, 20th Century Fox has optioned Eisner Award-winner Cullen Bunn's 2014 graphic novel "The Empty Man" and have brought David Prior onboard to pen and direct the film adaptation of it.

The supernatural thriller deals with a terrifying entity that may be responsible for a string of mysterious disappearances in a small midwestern town. The project is part of Fox’s first-look deal with Boom! Studios. Ross Richie and Stephen Christy will produce.

Then, Argentinian filmmaker Pablo Trapero...

Mark Seal's book, "The Man In The Rockefeller Suit," is one that Hollywood has been trying to crack for a while now. At one time attached to Scott Cooper (before he would go on to direct "Out Of The Furnace"), Walter Salles was linked to the film way back in 2013 with his longtime collaborator Jose Rivera penning the script. Now, three years later, the project is back to life with another big name behind the camera. Read More: Venice Review: Pablo Trapero's Venice Silver Lion Winner, True Crime Tale 'The Clan' Pablo Trapero, the filmmaker behind "Carancho" and "White Elephant," and coming in hot off his gangster tale "The Clan" which will hit U.S. cinemas this spring, is now set to direct 'Rockefeller.' David Bar Katz has penned the script that tells the true story of Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, a German-born con man who for decades...

Pablo Trapero, a newly minted Goya winner for his film “El Clan,” is in final negotiations to direct “The Man in the Rockefeller Suit,” TheWrap has learned. Argentinian Trapero, who also took the Silver Lion at last year’s Venice Film Festival, will helm the tale of lifelong con artist Christian Gerhartsreiter, who pretended to be a descendant of the monied American family. Screenwriter David Bar Katz adapted the book by Mark Seal, a contributing editor to Vanity Fair magazine. Donald De Line is producing. Also Read: Lupita Nyong'o in Talks to Star in Amblin Sci-Fi Thriller 'Intelligent Life' CAA handles Trapero.

Exclusive: Fresh from winning the Goya Award this weekend for his film El Clan, Argentinian filmmaker Pablo Trapero has been set to direct The Man In The Rockefeller Suit for Fox Searchlight Pictures. David Bar Katz has adapted the book by Mark Seal. Donald De Line is producing. The film tells the true story of Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, an imposter who conned his way into various jobs on Wall Street — as well a marriage — posing as a member of the Rockefeller family…...

Paul Newman‘s daughter, Susan, is speaking out against Newman’s Own president and CEO Robert Forrester, who she complains has taken her family “hostage.” “Some family members may be angry at me for speaking out, but I feel like the Newman family has been taken hostage by Bob Forrester,” she told Mark Seal in the August issue of Vanity Fair. Forrester took charge of the company and foundation after Paul passed away in 2008, and Susan is apparently not happy with what was left to her in her father’s will. According to Susan, she and her four sisters were shortchanged.

Wendi Deng was physically abusive to her husband Rupert Murdoch and lusted after Tony Blair, according to Vanity Fair. The sprawling look at the disintegration of the News Corp. and 21st Century Fox mogul’s marriage is not kind to the third Mrs. Murdoch. More shocking than her allegedly wandering eye, however, are reports of her explosive and violent temper. At one point, Deng got so upset with Murdoch that she shoved him into a piano in their living room and onto the floor, reporter Mark Seal writes. The full text of the article is only available online in excerpted form,...

It's Sunday afternoon — your last chance to read all that stuff you meant to read last week before Monday brings a new deluge of things you will want to read. Below, some of our recommendations: "Connie Britton Is a Late Bloomer" by Susan Dominus (New York Times Magazine): The unlikely story of an actress whose career got way better with age. "Cinema Tarantino: The Making of Pulp Fiction" by Mark Seal (Vanity Fair): Because people never really get tired of talking about Pulp Fiction."Deep Inside: A Study of 10,000 Porn Stars and Their Careers" by John Millward: A totally safe-for-work look at the porn industry's answer to IMDb. "Interview: Johnny Marr" by Carrie Battan (Pitchfork): The former Smiths guitarist talks about his new album, Portland, and his attempts to "not be a dick." "Where Has the Love Gone?" by Andy Greenwald (Grantland): On the rise of the romantic sitcom.

"On the Road" and "The Motorcycle Diaries" director Walter Salles is in talks to direct "The Man in the Rockefeller Suit" at Fox Searchlight.

The story is based on Mark Seal's 2011 book about German-born imposter Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter.

Gerhartsreiter passed himself off as a member of the Rockefeller clan and got away with it for decades until his marriage ended and he was arrested for kidnapping his daughter. Later he was charged with a murder from back in 1985.

Donald De Line will produce and is seeking a writer for the project. "Crazy Heart" writer-director Scott Cooper was previously attached to the film back in 2011.

Source: Variety...

In 2011, Crazy Heart director Scott Cooper was in negotiations to write and direct The Man in the Rockefeller Suit, a true life con man film based on Mark Seal's 2011 book. But Cooper moved on to direct the revenge story Out of the Furnace, and now Variety reports that On the Road and The Motorcycle Diaries helmer Walter Salles is in talks to take over. The story chronicles the incredible deception of Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, a German-born man who conned his way through high society for years, posing as a member of the famous Rockefeller family and lying to his wife of twelve years about his identity. Read on! Gerhartsreiter's wife figured out the truth, and after the two got divorced, Gerhartsreiter was arrested for kidnapping their daughter. A few years later, he was charged with a murder that happened in Los Angeles in 1985. It's a pretty wild story, ...

We’ve got a couple of director-related news stories to share this afternoon. First up, Variety reports that Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook, Alpha Dog) has settled on 20th Century Fox’s The Other Woman as his next project. The director intended to next helm the gritty actioner Cali, but star Kristen Stewart abruptly dropped out following Huntsman-gate her personal drama late last summer. The Other Woman centers on a woman (surprise!) who, “after realizing she is not her boyfriend’s primary lover, teams up with the man’s wife to plot a mutual revenge.” Cameron Diaz was previously rumored to star with Kristen Wiig in the mix for the other lead role, but those rumors were apparently premature as neither actress is attached at this time. The studio wants to move quickly on this one, and they hope to have the leads locked up within the next week. Melissa Stack is writing the screenplay.

For a while there, riding in the wake of the success of "Crazy Heart," director Scott Cooper put his name to a not insignificant number of potential projects, before finally mounting "Out Of The Furnace" last year. And it looks like one of those movies is moving on without him. Walter Salles is in talks to direct "The Man In The Rockefeller Suit" for Fox Searchlight, which should mark a pretty interesting gear shift from the director of "The Motorcycle Diaries" and the upcoming "On The Road." Based on the book by Mark Seal, this is fascinating true story the tells the tale of Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, a German-born conman who for decades passed himself off as Clark Rockefeller, a member of the famed and powerful family, rising up the social ladder as a result.  The project is still in early stages, and a writer is still being sought to...

Can you imagine Daniel Day-Lewis arguing with Samuel L. Jackson about the meaning of foot massages? Well, at one point in the development process of "Pulp Fiction," Harvey Weinstein could.

As relayed to Vanity Fair, Weinstein was not all that pleased when Tarantino, a then-upstart, said he wanted John Travolta to play the role of Vincent Vega.

"One of the actors I had on the list was John Travolta," Tarantino said to Vanity Fair contributing editor Mark Seal. "And it came back: 'The entire list is approved ... except for John Travolta.' So I got together with Harvey, and he's like, 'I can get Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Penn, William Hurt.'" As Tarantino's agent, Mike Simpson, recalled to Seal, Day-Lewis had apparently read the script and wanted the part. That, coupled with Travolta's career, which was described as "cold," put Ddl in the driver's seat for Weinstein.

In the end,...