Lindsay On the Move
Lindsay Lohan is a busy girl lately, signing up for two projects at once. First up, she’s set to bring a long-forgotten Tennessee Williams screenplay, The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond to the big screen. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the screenplay tells the story of Fisher Willow (Lohan), the disliked 1920s Memphis debutante daughter of a plantation owner with a distaste for narrow-minded people and a penchant for shocking and insulting those around her. After returning from studies overseas, Fisher falls in love with Jimmy (Chris Evans), the down-and-out son of an alcoholic father (David Strathairn) and an insane mother who works at a store on her family’s plantation. She tries to pass him off as an upper-class suitor to appease the spinster aunt (Ann-Margret) who controls her family’s fortune, but when she loses a diamond, it places their tenuous relationship in further jeopardy. Ellen Burstyn is attached to play Fisher’s mother. Then, Ms. Li-Lo is doing I Know Who Killed Me, a psychological thriller scheduled to begin shooting next month. She will play Aubrey Fleming, a young woman who is rescued after being abducted and tortured by a serial killer. When Fleming returns home, she claims to be someone else, raising questions as to whether she is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or if something more sinister is going on. I’d say something more sinister is going on all right: Lohan is being pushed into areas she probably isn’t suited for.
Dunst’s a Jealous Woman
Following in Lohan’s footsteps, Kirsten Dunst will star in and produce the supernatural thriller A Jealous Ghost. The project, set up at art-house studio Paramount Vantage, is based on the 2005 novel by A.N. Wilson about a young woman studying in London who, upon beginning a relationship with one of her professors, starts seeing demons. Boy, hate THAT when it happens. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Dunst, who has expressed interest in finding a dark, elevated psychological thriller in the vein of The Shining and Roman Polanski‘s Repulsion, has not appeared in such a movie since her 1994 breakthrough Interview With the Vampire. Unlike Lindsay, however, I think Kirsten is good in this kind of stuff. That is, if she doesn’t turn into Sarah Michelle Gellar.
“Go, Speed Racer. Go Speed Racer. Go Speed Racer, Go!”
Speed, aye! After years of idling, the big-screen, live-action version of Speed Racer is ready to helmed by the one and only Matrix brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski. Oh, this should be very interesting. At the very least, you know the racing scenes will be a visual treat. Based on the classic 1960s TV series created by anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida that later was retooled for North American audiences, the big-screen Speed will follow the adventures of the young race car driver Speed in his quest for glory in his thundering gadget-laden vehicle, Mach 5. The movie will feature other characters from the show, including Speed’s family and his mysterious archrival, Racer X. Nobody’s been cast as yet. I’d go with unknowns, personally. But are they going to use a real chimpanzee as Chim Chim?
Freeman, McAvoy Are Wanted
Morgan Freeman is in final negotiations to star opposite James McAvoy in the sci-fi actioner Wanted, a project based on a Top Cow comic book miniseries. It follows a put-upon man (McAvoy) who discovers that his long-lost father is an assassin. After his dad is murdered, the son is recruited into a covert organization of killers and trained to follow in his father’s footsteps. Freeman will play Sloan, the lead assassin who trains McAvoy. Not another one! For the love of Pete, stop making the same comic book movie over and over again.
Basinger Opts Out
Kim Basinger will star in While She Was Out, an indie real-time thriller. The script centers on a suburban housewife who heads to the mall on Christmas Eve and ends up fighting for her life against four hooligans in a nearby forest. Screenwriter and rookie director Susan Montford intends on shooting the movie in an intense, you-are-there style. Bold move but not quite sure if that’ll translate well on the big screen. Maybe at least they can get Kiefer Sutherland to co-star.
Dali’s Story Comes to the Big Screen
Lord of War director Andrew Niccol is attached to shoot a movie about Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dali. Dali & I: The Surreal Story, based on art dealer Stan Lauryssens’ autobiographical book Dali and I, is set to start shooting next spring. The movie will span the 1960s-1980s, when most of Dali’s great work was behind him. “What I think is interesting about this period in his life is that he painted less and sold more, just as modern art became more commercialized,” producer David O. Sacks told the Hollywood Reporter. “There are pictures of him turning his mustache into dollar signs. He became very obsessed by money and this was spurred on by (his wife) Gala.” Gala, a Russian immigrant 11 years his senior, was his muse and inspiration and the artist was very dependent on her through their tempestuous relationship. “We don’t want to do another artist biopic,” said Sacks. “We want this to ask questions like ‘What is modern art? Does it have value? Is it worth the millions of dollars that people are paying for?”‘ Oh boy, sounds thrilling.
And Yet Another Action-Packed Movie…
NOT. Universal Pictures and director Tom Shadyac will bring Planetwalker to the big-screen based on the memoirs of John Francis, who walked from one end of the country to the other and didn’t speak a word for nearly two decades. After witnessing a collision of two oil tankers that wiped out the ecosystem in San Francisco Bay in 1971, Francis boycotted motor vehicles and took off on foot for a cross-country pilgrimage to raise environmental awareness, taking a vow of silence that lasted 18 years. And how is not talking a way to raise awareness exactly? He finally broke silence when he defended his Ph.D. thesis, which he wrote on the subject of oil spills. Francis was named a goodwill ambassador by the United Nations Environment Program, and the U.S. government recruited him to write regulations to deal with oil spillage accidents after the Exxon Valdez debacle. Francis’ life rights are part of the deal, and the filmmakers will spend time with him right after Francis takes a 1,000-mile canoe trip to unite Eskimo tribes in Alaska. Well, of course. You have to do that FIRST.
Little Girls Everywhere Can Rejoice!
Lionsgate is handling their own Bratz. In a twofold deal announced Thursday, the studio has acquired U.S. distribution rights to the first Bratz live-action theatrical feature, based on the popular fashion-conscious dolls. Bratz: The Movie centers on four teenage girls from diverse backgrounds who use their friendship to discover their individuality. Casting has not been announced. It won’t matter much, though, who they get. It’s the branding that counts.
Until next week…
