HOLLYWOOD - We love it when Robert De Niro decides to be funny--he's a natural at it, as evident with films like Meet the Parents and Analyze This. He's now negotiating to star in the comedy, Scared Guys for Columbia Pictures and director Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest). De Niro will play a therapist who suffers from agoraphobia. He hasn't left his apartment in six years and treats his patients via the Internet. However, when his attractive neighbor across the street, whom he has admired from afar, is targeted for murder, he and his similarly disabled roommate must try and make it across the street to save her life. Maybe they can get Jack Nicholson to play the roommate (you know, the whole obsessive-compulsive thing he did so well in As Good As It Gets). Columbia Pictures nearly got Jim Carrey for the lead role, but lost him to Frank Darabont's next project The Majestic. But getting De Niro was a big surprise--and a big plus--for the producers.Kaufman in Hitchcock's shoes
Director Philip Kaufman (Quills), whose skewed films are often misunderstood, has decided to take on the daunting task of remaking an already established classic--the 1941 Alfred Hitchcock suspense thriller Suspicion. The original film, based on Francis Iles' novel Before the Fact, starred Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. A reserved young woman marries a charismatic man after a brief whirlwind romance but begins to suspect that he is trying to kill her for her money. It is a tad tiresome that the studios, in this case Dimension Films and RKO Pictures, keep resorting to past movies as subjects for new ones. But with Kaufman on board, it could be interesting--and certainly unique. Possible casting suggestions? George Clooney and Renee Zellweger.
Zeta-Jones has just gotta dance
Having been turned down for Nicole Kidman's part in the recent Moulin Rouge, Catherine Zeta-Jones is determined to show off her singing and dancing skills. She is in early negotiations to star in Chicago, a big screen adaptation of Bob Fosse's popular musical. The Miramax film, to be directed by Rob Marshall, centers on two murderers, Velma and Roxie, who become famous through the media in Chicago during the Roaring '20s. Zeta-Jones, who began her career on stage as a singer and dancer in London, wants to play the homicidal Velma (oh, don't we all), a part originated by Chita Rivera on Broadway in 1977 and played by Bebe Neuwirth in the recent Tony-Award winning revival. Other cast mentions are Hugh Jackman for the role of the sleazy lawyer Billy Flynn and Kathy Bates for the prison warden Mama Morton. But Zeta-Jones wants this-she can taste it.
Diesel's truckin' along
Well, it looks like actor Vin Diesel, hot off his hit The Fast and the Furious, is gearing up to be the next muscle-bound hero-dare we say, the next Arnold Schwarzenegger? Ahrnold probably wouldn't like to hear that; he still thinks he's a box office draw. The rumor going around was that Diesel was going to replace Schwarzenegger in the third Terminator installment. But, alas, it is not true. The film, put on hold pending the outcome of the writers and actors talks, is being produced by Intermedia Films after James Cameron and his company, Lightstorm Entertainment, bowed out. Director Jonathan Mostow (U-571, Breakdown), who took over when Cameron and director John McTiernan both passed, has said he is interested in having Diesel play the villain in the film-an updated version of the liquid-metal baddie from T2. But Schwarzenegger announced earlier that his nemesis would be a female. So, who's to say? Diesel isn't sitting around, picking his nose. He's next project may be a sequel to his sleeper hit Pitch Black and is also looking to re-team with Furious director Rob Cohen in Triple X.
Great gobs of green
Guess it pays to lend your vocal talents to a smash hit animated film about a green ogre-especially if there's already buzz about a sequel. Looks like the fabulous trio of Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers are in talks to reprise the roles in DreamWorks' Shrek 2--for a price that could reach $5 million apiece, salaries which would be unique for an animated film other than perhaps Toy Story 2. For the original Shrek, the actors deferred their salaries to slightly over scale, but have made approximately $3 million apiece based on their share of the domestic gross, which currently stands at $240 million. Now, they can all finally go buy that new car! Still, DreamWorks shouldn't be sweating too much on the sequel deal--Shrek looks to become one of the most profitable animated movie in history.
Stoltz having a "Horrible Year!"
And yet another fine actor decides to take his skill and knowledge behind the camera. Eric Stoltz, last seen in The House of Mirth, has made his directorial debut with the TV movie My Horrible Year!. The family film, about a teen who worries that her parents may be planning a divorce, stars Allison Mack, Karen Allen and Brian Heighton. Stoltz had a few words about directing, which he told The Associated Press: "Actors for the most part-this is a big news flash-are incredibly spoiled. People cater to us and try to understand us and give us what we want all the time...[Directing] was like juggling buzz saws on a tightrope, a thousand feet in the air while being strafed by machine guns." Are you drunk? Stick to the acting. The movie will air Sunday, July 15, on Showtime.
Streep and Son
The very private Meryl Streep, who rarely speaks about her family to the press, is getting to show off her 21-year-old son. She and son Henry Gummer will star in the upcoming all-star revival of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull in Central Park, along with Kevin Kline, Christopher Walken, Natalie Portman, John Goodman, Marcia Gay Harden and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Wow. That's some production. Gummer, a student at Dartmouth (who's probably soaring to be in such company), will portray Yakov, a worker on the estate owned by Sorin (Walken). Streep will star as the imperious actress Arkadina.