Indiana Jones, Part IV
So the wily Indy is back in the game, eh? Apparently, producer George Lucas and director Steven Spielberg have finally ironed out all the necessary details and are moving forward on a fourth installment to the Indiana Jones franchise, 19 years after the last one, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Harrison Ford is also onboard to once again don the fedora and crack the whip. In a statement, 64-year-old Ford told the Hollywood Reporter he was ready for another action-packed turn. “I’m delighted to be back in business with my old friends,” he said. “I don’t know if the pants still fit, but I know the hat will.” Added Lucas: “These films are such great fun to make. I’m looking forward to reuniting with the team and starting this new journey.” “George, Harrison and I are all very excited,” Spielberg said. “We feel that the script was well worth the wait. We hope it delivers everything you’d expect from our history with Indiana Jones.” Are the rest of us excited? That remains to be seen since the guys didn’t give any details about the script. So long as they stay away from cannibalistic Indians who steal children (as in the second Indiana Jones) and stick with some kind of biblical find, they should be fine.
Spike Pays Tribute to James Brown
On the heels of his death, Spike Lee has signed on to direct a feature on the life of the late great James Brown for Paramount and Imagine Entertainment, Variety reports. Of course. Biopics are still all the rage and you know the music’s going to rock one way or another. “Like everybody, I was surprised and saddened that James Brown died,” producer Brian Grazer told Variety. “Having known him well, and after spending lots of time with him and researching his life, it’s somehow not surprising that he died on Christmas Day. He was the ultimate showman, all the way to the end.” Lee will also rewrite a script draft recently turned in by Jezz and John Butterworth and which was originated by screenwriter Steve Baigelman. Brown met with Baigelman and the Butterworth brothers and was an active part of the development of his biopic project before he died. Brown’s longtime sideman Bobby Byrd also was interviewed for two days by the Butterworth duo. The rights package includes Brown’s life rights, and also access to all his music rights. Now, let’s just see who they get to play the “ultimate showman”—singer Usher has shown interests but not sure if he’s right. He’d have to gain weight, for one.
Heroes Star Heads to Big Screen
Masi Oka–who recently snagged a Golden Globe nod for playing the lovable time-bending Hiro on NBC’s rookie hit Heroes–will co-star in the casino-set thriller 21. Based on Ben Mezrich’s bestseller Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, the film is inspired by the true story of a group of men who learned the art of card counting and won millions of dollars gambling. Jim Sturgess will star, along with Oka, in the long-gestating project, which picked up steam last year when director Robert Luketic dropped out of a big-screen adaptation of Dallas to take the helm of 21, according to the Hollywood Reporter. But this is interesting: Oka, who once appeared on the cover of Time magazine under the headline “Those Asian-American Whiz Kids,” worked for years as a computer-animation artist at George Lucas‘ Industrial Light and Magic on such films as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and the recent Star Wars trilogy. I did not know that. Go Masa!
Two LOTR Vets Get New Gigs
Elijah Wood will head the international cast of the English-language whodunit Oxford Murders. Wood joins previously announced British veteran John Hurt in cult director Alex de la Iglesia’s much-anticipated film, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Wood, best known as Frodo in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, will play a student at Oxford University who becomes intrigued by a murder. He is taken under the wing of a Sherlock Holmes-style mentor (Hurt), who uses logic and math symbols to try to stop a series of murders. I’m feeling nonplussed about it. Meanwhile, Ian McKellen—Gandalf to LOTR fans—will be the narrator in Stardust, whose cast includes Claire Danes, Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer. The film centers on a young man who promises his beloved that he will retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the Faerie realm, where he encounters witches, goblins, gnomes, talking animals and evil trees. That all sounds vaguely familiar.
Azaria Steps Behind the Camera
As another actor-turned-director, Hank Azaria, who recently gained some notoriety with his Emmy-winning show Huff, is in negotiations to make his feature directing debut on the comedy Outsourced. The story is set in motion after an American factory is shut down and transported to Mexico. Two workers venture south of the border to get their jobs back. Columbia Pictures originally envisaged it as a vehicle for Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson (that would’ve been fun), but currently, no cast is attached. Azaria is a pretty funny guy, so I’m somewhat intrigued with the idea of him helming a film.
Bynes Goes to College
Amanda Bynes (She’s the Man) will star in the college comedy Sydney White with Joe Nussbaum (Sleepover) directing. Bynes will play a college freshman who pledges her late mother’s once-dignified sorority, finds a new home with seven outcasts and attempts to transform the school’s misguided social hierarchy. Wow, she’s really stretching her acting skills, huh?
Wilson Serves It Up
Guess who’s hot, hot, hot these days? Rainn Wilson, that’s who–the guy who plays the toady Dwight on NBC’s cult hit The Office. He’s set to star in Kanan Rhodes: Unkillable Servant of Justice, a comedy that follows the misadventures of a man who serves subpoenas with the suaveness, intensity and conviction of James Bond, though that is where the similarity ends. “It’s a souped-up Pink Panther/Ace Ventura and overflowing with comic characters,” the film’s director, Bob Odenkirk, told the Hollywood Reporter. “The appeal of Rainn is that Rainn can play a character who is absolutely sure of himself, who is full of bravado and braggadocio, and in the course of being that guy, he’s hilarious and extremely sympathetic.” Well, ain’t that the truth. Wilson is also writing Bonzai Shadowhands, a ninja comedy director Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking) will direct.
Until next week…
