Don’t You Get Hostel with Me
Three young chicks and one seriously violent and twisted place to stay in Slovakia–now that’s what I call a vacation. Yep, they are making Hostel 2 and instead of three men, we’ve got Lauren German (A Walk to Remember), Heather Matarazzo (The Princess Diaries) and Bijou Phillips (Venom) all in varying stages of negotiations to star. Eli Roth is directing once again. The first Hostel, which was released this year and grossed about $50 million domestically, is a happy little film that followed three men who end up in a Slovakian hostel which serves as a front for an organization specializing in torture. This time, the story follows three women who, while studying abroad for the summer, learn the grim truth behind the Slovakian hostel and its international counterparts. Can’t wait to see the pics!
Phoenix, Ruffalo Head Down the Road
Focus Features has set Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo to star for director Terry George in Reservation Road, an adaptation of the John Burnham Schwartz novel. Phoenix and Ruffalo will play fathers on opposite sides of a hit-and-run: The Ruffalo character kills Phoenix‘s son and flees. As the grieving father seeks revenge, the tragedy wears on both men in unexpected ways. Yikes, I should say so. Sound like there might be a few “Oscar consideration” clips in this one.
Ace Is Back!
Actually, it’s Ace Ventura’s son who’s making an appearance. Production company Morgan Creek has hired Jeff Sank and brothers Jason and Justin Heimberg to write a third installment of the hit franchise Ace Ventura. Why, you might ask? Well, the two previous Ventura comedies-1994’s Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and the following year’s Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls–grossed more than $180 million domestically and helped establish Jim Carrey as one of the highest-paid comedy actors in Hollywood. The latest pet project is expected to center on the eccentric detective’s son, who steps into his father’s shoes to take over the family business. It is not yet known who will fill the pet detective’s Hawaiian shirts, pompadour hairdo and 1972 Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the third installment, but I’m sure Carrey won’t have anything to do with it. Maybe they should hire the same actor who played him in that Dumb & Dumber prequel, Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd. When did Ace get married, by the way? I don’t remember that.
Anderson Dips into Darjeeling; Ball Wears Towel
I just love Wes Anderson’s movies (Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums, Life Aquatic), so I’m rather excited about his latest, The Darjeeling Limited, starring Anderson vets Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman, along with Adrien Brody. The three will play brothers on a spiritual journey through India after the death of their father and is based on a screenplay from Anderson, Schwartzman and Roman Coppola (Sofia’s brother). Oh yeah, all manner of weird and wild things should happen. Speaking of slightly odd writer-directors, Six Feet Under’s Alan Ball (who also won the Oscar for writing American Beauty) is finally moving forward with his long-awaited feature directing debut. The untitled drama will star Aaron Eckhart, Toni Collette and Maria Bello and is based on Alicia Erian novel Towelhead. The film tells the story of Jasira (played by newcomer Summer Bishil), who struggles with identity and sexual issues as the daughter of a Lebanese-American father and an American mother in Texas during the Gulf War. Topical.
Banks, Weisz Are a Maybe
Elizabeth Banks and Rachel Weisz are in negotiations for Definitely, Maybe, a romantic comedy written and directed by Adam Brooks. Definitely centers on a soon-to-be-divorced political consultant who has to answer some hard questions from his 11-year-old daughter as he explains his promiscuous past. Ryan Reynolds, Derek Luke and Isla Fisher already have been cast. Banks will play Reynolds‘ college sweetheart, who dumps him for his brother. Weisz will play a woman Reynolds dates after Banks. Maybe Weisz just wants to take a break from all the drama, after winning her Oscar for playing a doomed activist in The Constant Gardener and playing Hugh Jackman’s love interest in upcoming trippy time-travel flick The Fountain, directed by her real-life boyfriend Darren Aronofsky. Or maybe she just wanted a paycheck.
Lillard’s the One; Wood Is in Bloom
Matthew Lillard, probably best known as Shaggy in the Scooby-Doo movies, has been cast in the indie domestic drama One of Our Own. The story begins when a thirty-something couple, desperate to have a baby against all odds, engage a young woman to bear their child. When the man’s boss (Lillard) falls in love with the surrogate and decides to become a father himself, chaos ensues, thrusting the couple’s marriage to the brink of ruin. Sounds complicated. Also cast are Josh Randall (Ed), Claire Rankin (Stargate: Atlantis) and Kate Beahan (The Wicker Man). Meanwhile, young star Evan Rachel Wood (thirteen) will join Uma Thurman in the indie thriller In Bloom, playing the younger version of Thurman‘s character. The action revolves around a teenager who witnesses a high school shooting. Fifteen years later, unable to recover from her survivor’s guilt, her grip on reality begins to break, and she faces a shocking truth.
Delpy Takes 2 Days
What’s with Julie Delpy and her obsession to go traipsing around Europe, talking incessantly about nothing at all? The French actress, who starred in and co-wrote Richard Linklater‘s Paris-set Before Sunset (as well as the Vienna-set original Before Sunrise) has written and will direct the romantic comedy 2 Days in Paris, set over a 48-hour period in the City of Light. She’ll star as well, opposite the kinda obnoxious Adam Goldberg, as the French half of an extremely neurotic New York-based couple. The stressed-out twosome make a misguided attempt to re-infuse their relationship with romance in Paris–home of several of her ex-boyfriends and high-maintenance, non-English-speaking parents. I have a headache already.
Until next week…
