Streep Works Her Pipes
Meryl Streep will star in the movie version of the popular ABBA musical Mamma Mia!, with theater veteran Phyllida Lloyd in negotiations to make her feature directorial debut. ABBA members Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus are among the executive producers. The story revolves around a bride-to-be and her formerly rebellious mom (Streep) who raised her on a Greek island and never disclosed the identity of her father. The bride locates three men who might be her father and invites them to her wedding. The musical features 22 ABBA songs, including “Dancing Queen,” “Take a Chance on Me” and “The Winner Takes It All.” This is the first full-blown musical for Streep, who has clearly showed her skills as a songstress in such movies as A Prairie Home Companion, Postcards From the Edge and Death Becomes Her. Not since Muriel’s Wedding have we had a chance to hear those classic ABBA tunes. Should be fun.
The Avatar Showdown
Both James Cameron and M. Night Shyamalan are set to direct movies titled Avatar, although they are two completely different movies. First up is Cameron–returning to the director’s chair for the first time since his 1997 Oscar-winning blockbuster Titanic (if you don’t count his directorial “effort,” helming the fictional Aquaman on HBO’s Entourage)–who will be shooting his Avatar in a new digital 3-D format. The film centers on a wounded ex-Marine, Jack Sully (played by newcomer Sam Worthington) who is sent to settle and exploit the faraway planet Pandora and gets caught up in a battle for survival by the planet’s inhabitants. Zoe Saldana also stars. Cameron told Variety, “We’re going to blow you to the back wall of the theater in a way you haven’t seen for a long time. My goal is to rekindle those amazing mystical moments my generation felt when we first saw 2001: A Space Odyssey, or the next generation’s Star Wars. It took me 10 years to find something hard enough to be interesting.” Cameron may sound arrogant, but he rarely disappoints, so we’ll give him the benefit of doubt.
Then there’s Shyamalan, who has really been taking a beating of late. The wunderkind–who seemed to do no wrong for awhile there with thriller classics such as The Sixth Sense and Signs–missed the mark with The Village and then completely sunk the ship with last year’s Lady in the Water. I personally still love his stuff, even if it’s too out there for the gen pop to understand. Now he’s decided to make a rare foray into family films with a feature based on a popular Nickelodeon animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, influenced by Asian art, mythology and fighting styles. Avatar is set in a world balanced on four nations–Water, Earth, Fire and Air. In each society, there are masters who can manipulate their native elements, while the Avatar can master all four. When the current Avatar, a 12-year-old boy still learning to master his powers, seemingly dies, the Fire nation launches a war for global domination. One hundred years later, two teens discover and free the Avatar from suspended animation, and he must fight to restore harmony among the four nations. Shyamalan will write, direct and produce the live-action adaptation. But let’s see who will win the battle of the titles.
Charlie Kaufman as a Director?
Yes, indeed. The eccentric Oscar-winning screenwriter, who has turned in peculiar gems such as Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, is looking to helm his very own feature film. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener and Michelle Williams are in negotiations to star in Kaufman‘s directorial debut Synecdoche, New York. Hoffman will play an ambitious theater director who attempts to put on a play by creating a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse. Keener is set to play his first wife, and Williams his second wife. Samantha Morton will appear as his sometime lover, and Tilda Swinton will portray Keener‘s best friend and the dubious mentor to the daughter of Hoffman and Keener‘s characters. “It takes the term ‘living theater’ to a whole new level,” Anthony Bregman, one of the producers, told the Hollywood Reporter. “We were kind of hoping that Charlie would write a small, contained film set in a kitchen with a couple of easy-going characters. Instead, he came up with a massive undertaking of visually elaborate worlds and stunningly complex characters and ideas.” Please. Do we expect anything less? I cannot WAIT for this.
Jackass Guys Get Hosed
Four members of the Jackass gang will star as misfit firefighters in a comedy feature called Hosed. The film, now in development, follows an uncoordinated, over-enthusiastic volunteer firefighter who is finally assigned to a firehouse where he has to deal with a band of firefighters from the wrong side of the tracks, according to the Reporter. Chris Pontius, Steve “Steve-O” Glover, Preston Lacy and Jason “Wee Man” Acuna will play the misfits. The volunteer firefighter with whom they interact has not been cast. Oh yeah, this’ll make some bucks.
Mummy 3 Could Be on Its Way
The Fast and the Furious director Rob Cohen is in talks with Universal Pictures to take the reins on a third edition of its Mummy franchise. The film has been in active development for about a year, and both stars Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz have had discussions about reprising their roles. Not much has been disclosed about the Mummy 3 story, but if I could make a suggestion? Pick a new mummy. Reviving poor Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) for a third time would just be too much. Besides, didn’t he get pulled down into hell or something at the end of the second one? Yeah, it’s time to move on to a bigger, better and more mummified bad guy.
Until next week…
