By Kit Bowen, Hollywood.com Staff
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Friday, July 16, 2004
Sharon Stone |
Sharon Stone goes with her Basic Instincts
Looks like a sequel to director Paul Verhoeven's 1992 classic erotic thriller Basic Instinct, in which Sharon Stone starred as femme fatale Catherine Trammel, is finally on track after years floundering in development. The actress told the syndicated entertainment show Access Hollywood that Basic Instinct 2 was in the early stages. "We are putting it together now," she said. "We don't have a production schedule yet." Stone also denied the film had been delayed by her purported list of demands. "Well funny enough, we are making the movie now, and nothing has changed, so there you are," she said. I think she's just itching to wield that ice pick again.
Teen queen strikes it rich
Lindsay Lohan isn't getting meaner, just richer. The young star of such popular teen fare as Disney's sleeper Freaky Friday and Paramount's Mean Girls is in final negotiations to star in Lady Luck, which would net her a cool $7 million. Not too shabby for an 18-year-old. How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days director Donald Petrie is inked to helm the comedy, which centers on the luckiest girl in the world who, through a chance encounter with a perennial loser, finds her good fortune swapped for his incredibly bad luck. If they're gonna put her in another body-switching-type flick, at least they came up with a unique twist on it--ya think?
Let's part the Red Sea…again
Almost half a century after the classic Old Testament story hit the big screen, Paramount Pictures is contemplating making another The Ten Commandments, which would be a more serious, research-based treatment (wouldn't have it any other way). This would be Paramount's third Commandments; the first two incarnations were directed by Cecil B. DeMille, first as a black-and-white silent in 1923 and then again in 1956 with the Oscar-nominated version starring Charlton Heston. Why another? Because after the huge success of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, it seems moviegoers are in the mood for a little fire and brimstone. Bring it on, Moses!
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair
It's about time the Rapunzel fairy tale got a Mouse House makeover. Reese Witherspoon is in negotiations to lend her voice to Disney's animated musical Rapunzel: Unbraided, which would also include the voice of Broadway's Wicked star Kristin Chenoweth in the title role of the longhaired beauty trapped in a tower. In a new take on the tale, Rapunzel encounters a modern girl and boy who have been thrust into her world with Witherspoon voicing the role of the girl, named Claire, who becomes a contemporary version of Rapunzel as she mixes with ogres, witches and other fairy tale characters. Let's hope for Disney's sake this one is a hit; the studio needs one--badly.
McDormand, Theron in Class Action suit
I was thinking how this would be a great news story, if it were really true--Frances McDormand and Charlize Theron locked in some legal battle. But alas, it's only a movie--the Warner Bros. drama Class Action. The two Oscar winners are set to star in the film, which is a fictionalized account of the first successful sexual harassment prosecution in the United States--Jensen v. Eveleth Mines, to be directed by Whale Rider's Niki Caro. McDormand would play the role of Glory, a tough but tender iron miner who befriends and mentors Theron's character, Josie, a harassed mine worker who becomes the key plaintiff in the case. (Will more Oscars be on the way?) The actresses are also currently teamed up on Aeon Flux, a live-action adaptation of the ultra-cool Japanime series of the same name, in which Theron will play the titular futuristic assassin. Forget the iron miner/sexual harassment crap, that's the one I want to see.
Jones tackles directing
Hollywood's leading curmudgeon, Tommy Lee Jones (honestly, he's such a sourpuss on- and off-screen), is making his feature directing debut with The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, an indie film in which he will also star. The story follows ranch hand Pete Perkins (Jones), who attempts to keep a promise to a recently deceased friend by making sure that he is buried in his hometown in Mexico. Yep, right up Jones' alley.
X-Files' Carter is back!
We've kind of missed X-Files creator Chris Carter and all his "they're out there" conspiracy theories. Now, he is back in the spotlight, set to direct the thriller A Philosophical Investigation. Based on the novel by Philip Kerr, the story is set in the near future where genetic testing is mandatory to identify individuals predisposed to violence and centers on a female Scotland Yard inspector who's drawn into a cat-and-mouse game with a sociopathic computer expert who finds himself on the list and decides to kill others on it. If Carter can steer the film away from being a Minority Report rip-off, this could work.
Dave gets familiar with Candy
David Letterman has so far kept his nose out of the feature film business but something has finally caught the Late Show host's eye. His production company, Worldwide Pants, who usually produces TV shows such as Everyone Loves Raymond, will hang its shingle on a big-screen version of the excruciatingly funny Comedy Central show Strangers With Candy, which starred Amy Sedaris as a 40-ish reformed prostitute and substance abuser who goes back to high school. Letterman cited Strangers star Sedaris, who will reprise her role as well as write the script, as a motivating factor for his decision to don a producer's cap. "Amy Sedaris is one of a handful of folks who actually make me laugh," Letterman told Variety. "I have no doubt her film will be as appealingly peculiar and funny as she is." We don't doubt it either.
Until next week…
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