Sandler and Rock, together again
These two just can’t get enough of each other. After their successful collaboration on The Longest Yard, Adam Sandler‘s production company, Happy Madison, will produce The Gilmores of Beverly Hills, a comedy Chris Rock co-wrote and is attached to star in. The story centers on the misadventures of a lower-income black family living in Beverly Hills. No, Gilmores is not a sequel to the 1998 The Slums of Beverly Hills, about a dysfunctional family barely making it in the 90210 area code, or Down and Out in Beverly Hills, about a bum making it BIG in the 90210 area code. But it sounds close, doesn’t it? Sandler is not set to co-star with his SNL pal, you can be sure he’ll make a cameo–or two.
Cage and Smith team up for the first Time
Nicolas Cage and Will Smith are attached to star in and produce Time Share, a comedy about two fathers who lock horns when they discover their families are booked into the same time share on what should have been their dream vacation. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Cage, coming off the biggest film of his career with National Treasure, had been itching to do a project with Smith, and the two quickly fell for the idea. It’s an unlikely comic pairing to say the least, but I’m sure the two of them can pull it off. Just so long as they stick to that National Lampoon’s Vacation mentality.
Poseidon revisited
I’m shaking my head on this one. Josh Lucas, the cutie pie from Sweet Home Alabama, has joined the cast of director Wolfgang Petersen‘s remake of The Poseidon Adventure. Yes, that’s right. The very same campy ’70s disaster flick in which a stout Shelley Winters exclaims, “In the water, I’m a very skinny lady.” Apparently, this remake follows along the same lines as the 1972 original in which the survivors of the S.S. Poseidon, an ocean liner overturned by a giant wave, are trapped inside and are forced to work their way to the surface of the upside-down ship through the hull. Already cast are Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss, Emmy Rossum and Mike Vogel. Now, I ask you, why in God’s name would they want to remake that? Of course, I’m obsessed with the original, watch it every single time its on TBS, but I really don’t need to see an update. Unless they bring back Winters.
Stiller and Coogan are persuaded to work together
In yet another strange comic pairing, Ben Stiller will produce and star in a feature remake of 1971 British TV series The Persuaders, for DreamWorks, with British comic actor Steve Coogan–who starred in last summer’s flop Around the World in 80 Days (but it wasn’t his fault)–as his co-star. The series, which aired in the U.S. on ABC and in the U.K. for a season, revolved around the adventures of two rich playboys. Tony Curtis played the street-smart millionaire from the Bronx and Roger Moore played the rich British upper cruster. They mingled in exotic locales, romancing women and righting wrongs along the way. Stiller will naturally take on the Curtis role while Coogan slips into the Moore part. According to the Reporter, Coogan and Stiller also had developed a mutual desire to work together (must be catching), and it was Coogan, who suggested The Persuaders. “As soon as Steve mentioned the series, the guys started riffing off each other, and you could see the chemistry potential,” said producer Stuart Cornfeld, Stiller‘s partner. Since I’ve never heard of The Persuaders and therefore have no preconceived idea about it, I’m all for it. Stiller apparently can do no wrong.
Douglas stands as Sentinel
Principal photography has begun in Toronto on The Sentinel, a feature film starring Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Eva Longoria, and Kim Basinger. Directed by Clark Johnson, the story revolves around Pete Garrison (Douglas), a trusted Secret Service agent who works to foil a plot to assassinate the president while carrying on an affair with the First Lady, played by the lovely Basinger. That’s a romantic pairing that makes sense, but Douglas might be getting a little long in the tooth to keep playing these dashing lotharios, don’t you think? I reported a while back that Sutherland was the one who was suppose to play the agent having the affair, but he’s apparently playing another fellow agent on the presidential detail and former friend of Garrison’s. Desperate Housewives‘ Longoria takes on the role of a new agent and protégée of Garrison’s who comes to work for Breckinridge. Oh, who am I kidding? This one sounds like fun.
Chiklis on the Rise
I’m sorry but everytime I hear Michael Chiklis‘ name, I think of the gum Chicklets. Anyway, the Emmy-winning actor of TV’s The Shield fame is taking his cop routine to the big screen starring as a detective hunting down his daughter’s killers in Sebastian Gutierrez’s horror thriller Rise. “It doesn’t’ seem like a big stretch,” Chiklis explains to Entertainment Weekly, “but there are some substantial differences between this guy and The Shield‘s Vic Mackey. Mackey’s all about ambiguity. This guy is very clear about what drives him. He’s a much more damaged, hurting soul.” Ah, a damaged and hurting soul is far more compelling. Shooting this summer in L.A., the flick also costars Lucy Liu, who may or may not be on the good side. Chiklis won’t tell. “I don’t want to give the whole thing away!” But he does give EW this much: There’s a cult, some vampires and “a lot more ambiguity in Lucy’s role than in mine…” Come on, that’s saying a heck of a lot! Cults? Vampires? Doesn’t seem like your ordinary garden variety crime movie to me.
New York hawks get their 15 minutes
Some of you may have been following the real-life plight of two red-tail hawks, who had made their nest, and lived for several years, in the upper crevices of a Fifth Avenue co-op, only to be rudely evicted when tenants complained about the mess (pigeon entrails, bird poop, et. al.) and destroyed the nest. It caused an uproar with many Gothamites, who felt the birds had every right to live there. Sounds like stuff movies are made of, right? Right. Deb Kaplan and Harry Elfont, who’ve written and directed such films as Can’t Hardly Wait and Josie and the Pussycats have optioned Red-Tails in Love. Written by Wall Street Journal nature columnist Marie Winn, the book tells the story of a group of bird watchers in Central Park who became captivated by Pale Male and its mate, Lola, when they set up a nest at the co-op–an exceptional occurrence. The group chronicled the activities of the birds and got involved when residents of the co-op served an eviction notice. Kaplan and Elfont want to create an ensemble romance about disconnected people who bond over the birds. “The idea is that as crowded as New York is, it can be a very lonely place,” Kaplan told Variety. “Hawks are solitary creatures, a good metaphor for the universal difficulty in finding a mate.” Added Elfont: “The story also gives us the chance to use Central Park almost as a character in the movie. The aspiration is Love Actually set in Central Park.” OK, so maybe Kaplan and Elfont don’t have the best of pedigrees, but I’m reaching for the tissues as I write this just the same.
Until next week…
