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KRISTEN LOVES ROCK ‘N ROLL!
Ray Charles and Johnny Cash, OK. But a Joan Jett biopic!? Yep … and Twilight babe Kristen Stewart is set to play the rocker in The Runaways, named after Jett’s all-girl band. (Jett wishes she looked like Kristen Stewart.) The Runaways included guitarists Jett and Lita Ford, drummer Sandy West, singer-keyboardist Cherie Currie and bassist Jackie Fox and was brought together in late 1975 by impresario Kim Fowley, who thought a novelty act of teen girls performing in leather and lace would be an easy sell, according to the Hollywood Reporter. But the girls proved to be serious and influential musicians with songs like “Cherry Bomb.” The band lasted about four years before falling apart over management, money issues — and disillusionment. Sounds familiar.
KEEP READING: Is He the New Arthur?
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IS HE THE NEW ARTHUR?
When I first saw this headline about Russell Brand as the new Arthur, I immediately thought, “Oh, another King Arthur movie.” Which is a stretch in and of itself. Then I read further on Cinematical.com that Brand is considering remaking 1981 Dudley Moore comedy Arthur — and I just threw my hands up in the air. Seriously, folks, this is one that should just be left alone.
KEEP READING: Swank Takes Up Residency
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SWANK TAKES UP RESIDENCY
Hilary Swank is an odd one. When she chooses the right projects, as with Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby, she wins Oscars. But then she’ll do such stinkers as The Reaping and P.S. I Love You. Now Swank has signed up for another probable stinky thriller The Resident. She’ll play a doctor who moves into a Brooklyn loft. Becoming suspicious that she’s not alone in her new home, she discovers her landlord is a stalker. Sigh
KEEP READING: Depp Tackles Dante
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DEPP TACKLES DANTE
Now, unlike Ms. Swank, Johnny Depp’s choices rarely disappoint. His production company has acquired screen rights to the Nick Tosches novel In the Hand of Dante, Variety reports. It revolves around The Divine Comedy and tells parallel storylines involving Dante in 14th-century Italy as he tries to complete the work, and a contemporary storyline involving Tosches (Depp), who is asked to authenticate what might be the original manuscript. No, Tim Burton is not directing.
KEEP READING: Stevenson’s the New Badass
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STEVENSON’S THE NEW BADASS
Of course, I’ve known what a badass Ray Stevenson can be from watching him play Titus Pullo in HBO’s Rome, but now the rest of the world is catching up. After blowing up baddies in Punisher: War Zone, Stevenson will BE the baddie in The Book of Eli, hunting down star Denzel Washington, Cinematical reports. The plot revolves around a man named Eli (Washington), who protects a book that may be humanity’s salvation, Gary Oldman is the despotic mayor of a struggling town, and Mila Kunis is an assassin sent to kill Eli but who ends up joining him. Stevenson gave us a little more when he sat down with Reelz Channel recently: “The world in which it is set is completely uncompromising. The most precious commodity is actually water, because virtually all of the water is poison, toxic — whether it’s due to eruptions from the earth or the poisons in the sky. These very basic things are what drives human nature down to almost animalistic qualities. But what still separates us from the animals?”
KEEP READING: Faris Lines Up the Comedies
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FARIS LINES UP THE COMEDIES
Doing what she does best, Anna Faris has set up two rom-coms. The first is an untitled pitch about two estranged sisters who team up to land a husband. The second is an adaptation of 20 Times a Lady, a novel about a woman who goes on a trek through her sexual past in an effort to find Mr. Right, exploring the idea of a person’s sexual quota and whether those numbers matter. It’s SIZE that matters.
LAST WEEK’S DOTTED LINE: More ‘Rome,’ New ‘Fame’ and ‘Hairspray 2?’
