1. David Fincher on The Right Track.
I didn’t love The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but the “making of” section on the Blu-ray showed me a hugely impressive side of David Fincher. He’s one of the best directors out there, and having Zodiac, Fight Club and Se7en on his resume drives the point home. Now we get word that Fincher will take up the English language adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The Swedish film was pretty damn good, but in the grand spirit of The Departed (from Infernal Affairs) and Vanilla Sky (from Abre Los Ojos), Fincher will try and bring this moody and complicated film into Academy Award contention. He’s got the ability, though I think we could be looking at a three hour running time to tell a story of this magnitude. If you’re a reader, and you like mystery thrillers, you should check out the entire trilogy. Very solid writing.
Bonus Random Thought: The casting of Lisabeth Salander, the ultimate anti-hero, will be critical. The names I’ve seen, Ellen Page and Carey Mulligan, have the physical build, but lack the requisite grittiness. If I were the casting director I’d look very hard at Kristen Stewart’s work in Welcome to the Rileys. She clearly has an angry (and physical) side that would be perfect for this part.
2. The Hangover Gang Gets Paid!
The first Hangover film made a stunning $467m worldwide, and on a budget of less than 10 percent of that. Each of the leads made a paltry $300k per, and Todd Phillips took less up front for potential back-end cash, a move that evidently earned him around $50 million. Yowsers. Should Todd Phillips be teaching business classes at an Ivy League school? None of the gentleman was contractually obligated to do a sequel, so the leverage all went one way, and now it looks as though the guys are going to absolutely bank. For starters, they’ll each get a handsome $5 million, as well as a four percent cut of any profits. Phillips is getting $10 million, and ten percent. Warner Bros. had to have swallowed hard when they made that deal, but what choice did they have? A Hangover sequel will make at least $300m worldwide, and possibly double that, and it would be impossible to accomplish without the same team involved. It’s the rare story of artists pulling one over on a major studio, not a tale that comes along every day.
Bonus Random Thought: Potential storm cloud: can the sequel use the same non-linear methods as the original? The real comic secret of The Hangover was that they played everything backwards. You saw a destroyed room, you saw a tiger, you saw a baby, and then everyone, audience included, had to figure out what had happened. The laughs were in the set-up itself, and it’s not a set-up you can repeat, at least not without coming off as a cheap copy. So what will Phillips and Co. come up with this time?
Most weeks are good ones for Leonardo DiCaprio, but this one has been exceptionally interesting. First up, the news that he might play in a J. Edgar Hoover biopic for a fella by the name of Clint “mandatory Oscar Nom” Eastwood. Hoover is a fascinating historical subject, and DiCaprio could bring a lot of authenticity to a complicated man. My only concern? He’s already played a “larger than life” icon from that era. Does anyone remember The Aviator? Plus, didn’t Howard Hughes once offer J. Edgar Hoover a job? Would Leo reprise his role as Hughes for that scene?
Bonus Random Thought: Other DiCaprio news: Oliver Stone wants him too. You’d better hope Leo D. doesn’t want your job anytime soon. Can we get him working on the economy?
4. A New Ride on a Fantastic Voyage?
For those who haven’t seen the original 1966 version of Fantastic Voyage, allow me to catch you up:
The storyline centers on a dying scientist whose only chance for survival rests with five colleagues who are miniaturized and injected into his bloodstream.
Yes, you read that correctly, miniaturized, Rick Moranis style. Does that sound like Paul Greengrass to you? James Cameron would be an executive producer on the project as 20th Century Fox and Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment would be prominently involved. But in today’s market I think it would come off like a children’s film, and none of these guys make children’s movies. Family friendly? Sure. But not out and out silly. My guess is this deal falls apart, just like it did for Roland Emmerich.
5. Lucille Ball to Goldie Hawn to Anna Faris.
I’ve listed the passing of the torch above, girls who put comedy, and especially physical comedy, first and foremost in their careers. Faris has been quietly building a solid resume, and the news came down this week that she’s been tapped to star in a remake of Private Benjamin. Those who have seen the original know that the script will need some updating. But for its time it was perfectly zany, and it allowed Goldie Hawn to shine. I expect no less for Faris. Yeah, she’s chosen a few clunkers, but her talent is going to win out. And we do need a new leading lady of laughs. She’s already appeared on the cover of Comso, Playboy, and Self. Next up? Entertainment Weekly, with the headline “The Funniest Woman in America: from Playmate to Private.”
On that note, I hope you all have a solidly entertaining weekend!
Check out last week’s Movie Musings here
Laremy is the lead critic and senior producer for a website named Film.com. He’s also available on Twitter.
