How could you not? Last week, I talked about the man doing just about every other movie being made. Now, he’s decided he wants to put away his martial arts moves and try for some serious drama, with the help of Steven Spielberg. He’ll begin shooting Tuxedo Sept. 10–a story about a cab driver (Chan) sent to the home of a wealthy man to retrieve personal belongings while the man lies in a coma. While at the house, the cab driver puts on the man’s tuxedo and weird things start to happen. Spielberg will produce the film, which will have some action, some special effects and, most importantly, drama. “I don’t like people always talking about Jackie Chan, the action star. I want to be an actor. An actor has a life that goes on forever,” Chan told Reuters. Of course that may also mean killing himself in the process if he doesn’t quit saying yes to everything offered to him.
Oh my God! It’s Brandon!
Well, actually it’s actor Jason Priestley–who played pretty-boy Brandon Walsh in the now-defunct Beverly Hills 90210 series–and he’s finally coming back to television. Priestley signed on to star in the drug drama pilot Dope for cable’s FX. The ensemble drama follows the path of a kilo of heroin and how it brings together a band of disparate characters. What happens in season two? Another kilo enters the fray? Whatever the premise, it’ll be nice to see his familiar face again.
Cusack meets Hitler
John Cusack always aligns himself with interesting projects. This time, he, Leelee Sobieski (Here On Earth), Noah Taylor (Almost Famous) and Molly Parker (who played a sexually charged stripper in Wayne Wang’s The Center of the World) will star in the indie Hoffman, the directorial debut of writer Menno Meyjes (The Color Purple). Here’s the interesting part: The story focuses on a local gallery owner living in Munich in the 1920s who is befriended by a young Adolf Hitler (Taylor) as he returns from World War I. Pay attention studio heads–this is the kind of unique script that should be made into a film. Quit relying on silly sequels or old TV shows.
Ruffalo is moving on up
Actor Mark Ruffalo, who put in a critically acclaimed performance as the wayward brother in last year’s indie darling You Can Count on Me, can finally say he’s made the big time. He’s in negotiations to star with Mel Gibson in M. Night Shyamalan’s supernatural thriller Signs, which Disney picked up last month, inking a multimillion deal with the talented director of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. Although the plot is being kept firmly under wraps, we do know that it revolves around the mysterious appearance of crop circles on a family farm in Pennsylvania. Ruffalo will also be starring in Windtalkers with Nicolas Cage, a World War II drama from director John Woo. And he’s expecting his first child any day now (evident from his fairly pregnant wife at the Academy Awards this past March). He’s got to be a happy guy.
Hoffman wants to direct
Dustin Hoffman has decided to direct his first film, and it’s about time. Seriously, all his friends are doing it, so why shouldn’t he? He’ll helm the legal thriller Personal Injuries for Disney, in which he’ll also star and produce through his Punch Productions. The film is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s novel about an attorney who has been bribing judges to win favorable decisions. The crooked lawyer is then pressured into assisting the FBI in a sting operation with the help of a sexy female FBI agent. Sounds like a stretch for the older, and none too sexy, Hoffman to play a romantic lead, but hey, we’ll go with it. Because, gosh darnit, he’s finally directing.
