Kit Bowen's Weekly Role Call, Oct. 15
By Kit Bowen, Hollywood.com Staff
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Friday, October 15, 2004
Colin Farrell |
Casting heats up on the Miami Vice project, Merchant/Ivory head to Shanghai for next flick, Burt Reynolds may visit Hazzard County, plus more.
Crockett and Tubbs, together again
Cue the Miami cityscape, with Jan Hammer's pulsing soundtrack blasting: A big-screen treatment of the intense cop TV show Miami Vice, which ran on NBC from 1984-89, is hot on track. Universal is zeroing in on Colin Farrell to star as Det. James "Sonny" Crockett and Jamie Foxx to star as Det. Ricardo Tubbs, the two slick Miami vice cops who dealt with the various and nefarious drug dealers populating the sizzling South Beach locale. The show's creator, Michael Mann, now an A-list feature film director in his own right, is in negotiations to write, produce and direct. Foxx, who toplines Universal's upcoming Ray Charles biopic Ray, recently told the Latino Review that he planned to star as Tubbs and expressed a hope that Mann would helm the film. We think at the very least, Don Johnson, the original Sonny Crockett, should make a cameo appearance sporting the same white suit with pink T-shirt underneath; he really needs the money right now.
Merchant and Ivory, together again
And it's about friggin' time, too! Known for their brilliant, high-minded English period dramas, including A Room With a View and Howard's End, the producing-directing team of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory are heading to Shanghai for their 47th movie together, The White Countess, starring the fine British actors Ralph Fiennes and Natasha Richardson. Set in the vibrant, cosmopolitan city of the 1930s, the film portrays the relationship between a blind, disillusioned former American diplomat (Fiennes) and an exiled Russian noblewoman (Richardson). Shooting began two weeks ago using Shanghai's row houses, art deco hotels and hulking stone banks of the river Bund that predate the 1949 communist takeover. Oh, we are there, even though it does sound a little like English Patient.
Reynolds' role of a lifetime
Burt Reynolds is heading back to his Smokey and the Bandits roots, this time on the other side of the law, as he finalizes negotiations to play the evil Boss Hogg in the big-screen version of The Dukes of Hazzard. Reynolds will join Johnny Knoxville as Luke, Seann William Scott as Bo and Jessica Simpson as cousin Daisy, while country singer Willie Nelson is also in negotiations to play the kindly Uncle Jesse, played in the original 1979-1985 CBS show by the late Denver Pyle. Yee-haw, one big happy family!
Wahlberg's got Brothers
Three of them, to be exact, and we're not talking about the Funky Bunch. Mark Wahlberg is in negotiations to star in Four Brothers, a drama about siblings who set out to avenge the death of their mother. That's some serious familial bonding. John Singleton, who most recently directed 2 Fast 2 Furious, has signed on to shoot the Paramount Pictures project.
Vardalos, Cumming live in Dreams
Nia Vardalos, Alan Cumming, Marilyn Manson, Daryl Hannah and Jonathan Pryce are joining the cast of the indie feature Living in Neon Dreams, the first feature by writer/director Jeremy Tarr. The film is described as a modern-day retelling of Alice in Wonderland in which a girl enters a fantasyland after a car accident puts her into a coma. The actors will play multiple roles, appearing in both the real and the fantasy worlds. Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) will play an aunt and the Duchess. Cumming (X2: X-Men United) will play the King of Hearts. Color me intrigued.
Arsenio Hall turns documentary filmmaker
Arsenio Hall is adding the title of documentary filmmaker to his resume. The former talk show host has inked a deal with Lions Gate Television to direct and executive produce a feature-length documentary that will take a behind-the-scenes look at the black standup comedy circuit. Tentatively titled The Other 23 Hours, the film will explore the lives of urban comedians on and off-stage, focusing on relatively unknown up-and-comers. "I'm going after this new world; I'm kind of like the ringmaster to a new circus," Hall told The Hollywood Reporter. "These guys make you laugh for an hour, but I want to also document the other 23 hours of their lives that I find to be compelling and entertaining and interesting." A veteran standup comedian, Hall got the idea to chronicle the new generation of black comedians in 2000, when, after a 10-year hiatus to do his talk show and features, he returned to the comedy circuit. While touring the country, he did shows with such younger comedians as Mike Epps, Tracy Morgan, Mo'Nique and Bruce Bruce. The more up-and-coming black comics he met and got to know offstage, the more passionate he became about the idea of showcasing them in a documentary. "I was realizing that they're funny onstage, but in the (other) 23 hours, they are just as funny," Hall said. Well, of course they are.
Until next week…
Photo(s) by Ken Kwok- © 2004- Hollywood.com, Inc- All Rights Reserved