Got a scoop...tell us here!
or email Joey Baloney directly here
 

October 19, 2001

Robert De Niro has become the first cast member of ANALYZE THIS to officially sign on to star in the film's sequel, tentatively titled ANALYZE THAT.  The actor will get his biggest paycheck yet with a whopping $20 million to reprise his role as mental mobster Paul Vitti. Co-stars Billy Crystal, Lisa Kudrow and director Harold Ramis are currently in negotiations to return as well.  De Niro dropped out of another mental role, that of an agoraphobic therapist in the comedy SCARED GUYS, to return to ANALYZE territory. The star was in talks to co-star with Adam Sandler in that film but chose ANALYZE because he was unhappy with changes made to the SCARED script.  Up next for De Niro is the cop drama CITY BY THE SEA, which opens next March.
  

October 19, 2001

The man, the myth, the hair!! VANILLA SKY is scheduled to open wide on December 14, 2001.

 <click above to see the larger image from CA>
 

October 19, 2001

Drew Barrymore has signed with Miramax to star as the female lead in George Clooney's CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND.  Nicole Kidman had previously been reported to be starring but the actress recently pulled out for unknown reasons. Clooney worked quickly to convince Drew, who was set to star with Ben Stiller in DUPLEX, to join the film.  After josteling around her schedule, the actress signed on to play the love interest of game show host turned CIA hitman Chuck Barris (played by Sam Rockwell from CHARLIE'S ANGELS) in the film.  Clooney and pal Steven Soderbergh are producing the film from a script by Charlie Kaufman (BEING JOHN MALKOVICH).  Filming is expected to begin by the end of the month.
 

October 19, 2001

Wax dummy come to life Michael Jackson will play a small role in next summer's blockbuster MEN IN BLACK 2 and NO not as an alien.  Director Barry Sonnenfeld said he shot a day's worth of footage with Michael and found him to be "charming, funny and really cool to work with."  He added, "despite all that, he's just really creepy to look at. Doesn't his nose look like a door-stopper?" OK, I made that last part up. Sonnenfeld didn't really say that.  Please don't sue me.  I have no money.  In any event, it appears that Jackson is trying to boost his public image with high-profile yet small acting gigs in movies.  Sony, who also is behind the singer's new album INVINCIBLE due out October 30th, apparently set Jackson up with the part in a calculated PR move. 
 

October 19, 2001

Filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Kevin Smith, Spike Lee, Edward Burns and comedian Jerry Seinfeld have each created a short film to be premiered this Saturday at the CONCERT FOR NEW YORK CITY at Madison Square Garden.  The concert will feature performances from Paul McCartney, The Who, David Bowie, Neil Young, Jon Bon Jovi, Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton among others and its unclear how the films will fit into the night's events.   Miramax films reportedly coordinated the films (all have worked with Miramax at some point except Seinfeld) and were produced by Double A Films.  You can watch the special, and the short films, when it airs live on VH1 this Saturday night at 7:00pm EST.
 

October 19, 2001

At a lecture at the University of Michigan, writer/director Christopher McQuarrie revealed he has been fired from Simon West's remake of THE PRISONER and has since moved on to write an UNTITLED WESTERN for Benicio Del Toro to star.  The two struck up a friendship on the set of THE USUAL SUSPECTS (for which McQuarrie won an Academy Award) and continued on THE WAY OF THE GUN.  The scooper from AICN relayed the first scene of the movie as told by the director:

"The main character in a prison uniform, barefoot, in the snow (his presence there is unexplained). He is freezing, and comes across a trapper at a campfire with warm coat, food, etc. The character decides he can't possibly explain himself to the trapper, so he sneaks up behind him and bashes his head in with a rock. Once he's taken the coat and looks through the trapper's belongings, he finds a wanted poster for the trapper, and some gruesome clues that this trapper was really a sort of serial killer of the old west. So our hero cuts off the trapper's head (as was the fashion at the time) and takes it to town to claim the bounty."

Sounds like it could be a real sweet flick. To check out the rest of the article and what else McQuarrie had to say, read the scooper's full report over at AICN.
  

October 19, 2001

Source: Joey Baloney

• Reviews of THE MAJESTIC and THE SHIPPING NEWS can be found here and here respectively
• Will a SPEED RACER movie finally happen?  Director Hype Williams is aboard but what movement has been made lately?  Find out more here
• News about who's going to compose the score for X-MEN 2 can be found here

October 18, 2001

I would love to see Russell Crowe truly stretch his acting ability to play Cinderella in a movie, but I just don't think that's gonna happen. This may be the closest the Aussie ever gets to playing anything remotely Cinderella. Crowe's name is attached to star in Lasse Hallstrom's (THE CIDER HOUSE RULES) boxing biopic THE CINDERELLA MAN for Universal and Miramax.  The film will follow the life of boxer Jim Braddock who achieved fame when he beat the heavily favored champ Max Baer in a 15-round 1935 match. The film has been stuck in that famous development hell at Universal for about five years (Billy Bob Thornton and Ben Affleck were once attached to direct and star respectively) but picked up considerable steam once Hallstrom stepped aboard and should gain LOTS of steam should Crowe officially sign. Both Hallstrom and Crowe have high-profile Oscar caliber pics coming out this Holiday season - Hallstrom's THE SHIPPING NEWS with Kevin Spacey and Crowe's A BEAUTIFUL MIND directed by Ron Howard.
  

October 18, 2001

The folks at Coming Attractions scored an exclusive look at the one-sheet for Jim Carrey's next bid at Oscar-dom, THE MAJESTIC, which you can see a glimpse of below. I'm not sure what director Frank Darabont is thinking but his last two posters, this one and THE GREEN MILE, have been awful.  I like the overall feel of the poster but what the hell is with these odd looking images of the film's stars.  First we get a shiny, pudgy Tom Hanks and now a watercolored Jim Carrey. While I'm really REALLY looking forward to seeing this film, I wish I had better things to say about this poster. Judge for yourself:

 <click above to see the larger image from CA>
 

October 18, 2001

Francis Ford Coppola has pushed back the start date (once thought to be early fall 2001) of his ambitious MEGALOPOLIS project almost a full year so he can continue work on the script.  The film revolves around the rebuilding of New York after an economic catastrophe cripples the city and leaves it in desperate need of renovations.  The project, budgeted at $50-60 million, has already begun pre-production work and Coppola reportedly has 30 hours worth of second-unit footage of New York (with the same digital camera pal George Lucas used to shoot THE PHANTOM MENACE) before and after the tragic events of September 11th. A script reading has taken place but producers would not comment on which actors/actresses took part.  It is assumed that Coppola will take some time to figure out how to appropriately deal with how the terrorist attacks reshaped New York.
 

October 18, 2001

Rob Schneider will re-team with long-time collaborator Tom Brady (writer of THE ANIMAL and co-creator of MEN BEHAVING BADLY) for Disney's THE HOT CHICK.  In the film, a self-absorbed attractive young girl wakes up one morning to find she now looks like a pale, doughy 30+ year old man (Schneider).  Wackiness and hijinks ensue when the teen struggles to go about her life while trying to find out exactly what happened and how to correct it.  By the end of the film, the girl learns a lesson about finding inner-beauty and blah, blah, blah.  Who cares about that stuff.  I go to see a Rob Schneider film to laugh (theoretically) not to learn a lesson.  Schneider and Brady wrote the script and Brady will make his feature film debut with this one.  No word on how this affects the rumored TINY ELVIS movie that Sandler and Schneider were working on.
 

October 18, 2001

Wow, that headline fills my head with all kinds of naughty images.  OK, snap out of it. What was I gonna say again?  Oh yeah, Renee Zellweger has signed on to DOWN WITH LOVE, a romantic comedy directed by Peyton Reed (BRING IT ON).  DOWN follows a feminist writer (Zellweger) who despite her personal beliefs falls for a womanizing colleague.  If you'll remember, Reed will eventually be directing the film version of THE FANTASTIC FOUR for Fox but is moving on with other projects while the lengthy pre-production process goes on and on.  Zellweger also has other irons in the fire, most notably the film version of CHICAGO with Catherine Zeta-Jones.  DOWN WITH LOVE will be produced by Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen who won Academy Awards for their last film, AMERICAN BEAUTY.
  

October 18, 2001

Director Antoine Fuqua, hot off the success of TRAINING DAY, has signed on to direct an UNTITLED SPY THRILLER for production company Myriad Pictures (PEOPLE I KNOW).  All that is known about the film at this point is that it follows two CIA agents - one or both of whom may be traitors, secretly working with the Russians.  Fuqua will direct this film once he has finished his next project (formerly MAN OF WAR, which has now since changed to UNTITLED because of the likelihood we may actually be at war), an action film with Bruce Willis and Monica Bellucci.  JoBlo got a chance to interview Antoine when he was out promoting the Jamie Foxx film BAIT and you can read that interview here.
 

October 18, 2001

Source: Joey Baloney

• Think you can do a pretty mean Austin Powers impersonation? What about Dr. Evil?  If you think you've got what it takes, why not audition for a part in GOLDMEMBER as a younger version of the AUSTIN POWERS characters.  Find out more details here
• The official site for SHALLOW HAL has expanded with some publicity stills from the film
• Find out more about the Kevin Smith short film that will premiere at the Concert for New York (with Paul McCartney, The Who, Mick Jagger and more) at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night here

October 17, 2001

John Dahl, who recently directed JOY RIDE and in 1998 ROUNDERS, has signed with Miramax to direct THE GREAT RAID, with Johnny Depp in negotiations to take the lead role. According to The Hollywood Reporter, RAID "is set during World War II and follows a group of U.S. soldiers, led by an ambitious young colonel, who are sent to liberate American prisoners of war from a Japanese camp in the Philippines." The script was written by newcomers Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard.  Read what Paul Walker and Steve Zahn had to say about their JOY RIDE director here and here.
  

October 17, 2001

Talk about horror sequels that we don't need to see.  New Line is inexplicably moving ahead with a sequel to the moderately successful film FINAL DESTINATION and it makes me wonder why this crap gets the greenlight while another, much better horror sequel, JASON X, languishes in post-production hell with still no release date set.  Anyway, here are some details on DESTINATION 2.  Ali Larter will return to the role of Clear Rivers but it will reportedly be in a smaller, cameo-type role.  She's basically there to tie the link from the first film to the new characters - headed up by newcomer Andrew Downing. From there the plot pretty much follows the same track as the first film with a bunch of attractive young teens narrowly escaping death by avoiding a plane that later explodes.  Where's the September 11th sensitivity when you need it?...
 

October 17, 2001

We need more films like RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK these days. I know that, you know that and the promotions people at the studios know that we know that. So now any action/adventure pic with the slightest bit of history and/or archeology gets described as the next "INDIANA JONES."  Next up is the pitch recently bought by MGM to turn the real-life story of lawyer and Genghis Khan aficionado Maury Kravitz (doesn't have the same ring as "Indiana Jones" does it?). Kravitz set out a few years back with a group of experts  to find the legendary ruler's sepulcher. Maury and buds did even better and found a tomb that Khan may have been buried in along with his riches.  The script will be written by Craig Titley, who to date has done rewrites for SCOOBY-DOO and SEE SPOT RUN.
 

October 17, 2001

You, much like myself or most other folks, have probably never heard of the film NO MAN'S LAND.  But Coming Attractions was sent a press package on the film yesterday that has piqued the interest of that site and has everybody buzzing. The film has been described as "ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT meets THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE with a bit of THE THING" and is currently filming in Prague.  First-time director Michael Bassett leads BILLY ELLIOT prodigy and Russell Crowe pal Jamie Bell, along with other notable British actors in this thriller.  On his official website (www.michaelbassett.com), the director pitches us the film:

Certainly sounds interesting enough.  And if that wasn't enough information for you, check out the director's site above for over 50 stills from the production site in Prague.  Certainly sounds like this could be a lot of fun.

UPDATE! - I just learned as I was about to send today's news in that the name NO MAN'S LAND has been scrapped and is the film is now referred to as THE UNTITLED TRENCH DRAMA.  Could it be changed to WHO GOES THERE?  That's what I hear...
 

October 17, 2001

For anyone who will be in the Montreal, Canada area over the next week or so, Cineplex Odeon is presenting the CANNES LIONS winners, which consists of all the Best Commercials from around the world, as chosen at the International Festival of Commercials in Cannes. Remember...David Fincher started out in TV commercials also.. You can check 'em out at the Latin Quarter theater from October 12-25, at 1:30, 4:00, 7:00 and 9:30pm. For more info, call 514-849-3456
 

October 17, 2001

Source: Joey Baloney

• An early review of the upcoming Disney/Pixar film MONSTERS, INC. is online here
• Read a script review of the Jack Nicholson drama ABOUT SCHMIDT here
• A neat exclusive over at Film Force - the official poster for the re-release of ET: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL.  Check it out here
• If you click here and fast forward to 3 minutes and 40 seconds to watch footage from the upcoming RESIDENT EVIL movie

October 16, 2001

After Gary Ross (PLEASANTVILLE) left the director's chair of the CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, the search for a replacement went on rather quickly.  Warner Bros found themselves a new director rather quickly in Rob Minkoff whose previous work includes such successful and notable children's films as THE LION KING and STUART LITTLE. Although he left the project with Ross, Scott Frank's script is still planning on being used.  CHARLIE, based on the novel by the same name by Roald Dahl, is considered to be a more faithful version of the Willy Wonka tale than the Gene Wilder film of 1971 which the author reportedly hated.  Casting is scheduled to begin once the deal between Minkoff and the studio is final.
  

October 16, 2001

October 16, 2001

Consider yourself lucky if you live in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle or Washington DC because you may be the only cities that get to see the restored version of Stanley Kubrick's 2001 as it is re-released on the big-screen.  An article in this month's Wired says that Warners is afraid the re-release will not turn a profit and is waiting to see whether a limited release in select cities will turn up any money before going wide.  Unfortunately, the timing would be lost as a wide release would take place in 2002, one year after the events that take place in the film. The restored print was featured at Roger Ebert's film festival in Chicago where it was shown in 70mm format.

October 16, 2001

Source: Joey Baloney

• Will Val Kilmer be starring as the villain in AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER?  A scooper sent in an unconfirmed report here that seems to say so
• Video clips from this Friday's film THE LAST CASTLE can be downloaded here
• An early test screening review of Mel Gibson's next film WE WERE SOLDIERS can be read here
• Stax has checked in with his script review of KING CONAN: CROWN OF IRON and you can read it here

October 15, 2001

It was reported as a possibility almost a month ago and now it's official. Eric Bana (CHOPPER) has signed on to play Dr. Bruce Banner in Universal's adaptation of THE HULK.  I don't think many people (before the original reports) could've seen this coming, considering most expected a bigger "name" actor to take the coveted role.  But apparently, director Ang Lee was very impressed by Bana's performance in CHOPPER and that's what piqued his interest.  The actor can be seen next starring in Ridley Scott's BLACK HAWK DOWN.  THE HULK will will film from a script originally written by David Hayter but will feature extensive rewrites by Lee's producing partner James Schamus.

October 15, 2001

Ewan McGregor and Heath Ledger have signed on to star in the suspense film NAUTICA for director Ted Demme (BLOW).  The RASHOMON-esque tale revolves around three young men who each recall their version of a murder that occured onboard a yacht sailing in the Carribean.  The script was written by Richard McBrien who is making his feature film debut.  Producers have compared this fim to BODY HEAT which leads me to believe there's an element of eroticism to the plot.  Presumably there is a young woman aboard the boat who is screwing one too many people and surprise, surprise, she turns up dead.  Sounds like LOVE CRUISE gone bad.  McGregor is starring next in ATTACK OF THE CLONES and Ledger in this Christmas' MONSTER'S BALL with Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton.
 

October 15, 2001

Before I start, I'd just like to say that I will try and stay away from making the obligatory Harry/Beyonce Knowles joke.  That being said, it was announced on Friday that Destiny's Child lead singer Beyonce Knowles was the frontrunner to follow in the footsteps of Elizabeth Hurley and Heather Graham as the third "Powers Girl" in AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER.  The article in the Hollywood Reporter stated that Knowles was in "advanced negotiations" to star as the female lead in the project, whose name has not yet been revealed.  The singer/actress would join Myers and Michael Caine who signed last week to play the role of Austin's father (a role that Sean Connery had been offered and turned down). GOLDMEMBER begins filming in November and is scheduled for a July 26th release date.

OK, you knew you weren't getting away that easy.  Of course I have to share my two cents on this tidbit of information.  I can understand where producers were going with this type of decision. I imagine they went into casting looking for a beautiful, young black female lead. That, of course, to me isn't the problem.  I have no problem staring at Beyonce for an hour and a half. But does the singer, who only has one other acting credit on her resume (MTV's made-for-TV-movie CARMEN) have the chops to handle this type of assignment?  Maybe they know something we don't and she blew everyone away in the audition.  Or maybe she's just got a REALLY good agent at CAA. I guess we'll have to wait until next July to see.
 

October 15, 2001

Reports at Dark Horizons (and over at Coming Attractions as well) report that only one new character will be introduced in X-MEN 2 - Nightcrawler. While it seems that Nightcrawler would be one of the easiest characters to add (besides possibly Gambit), it does seem to contradict the previous reports that Beast, who was very close to making the first film, would be the first new character added. Their report states that the reason for the decision lies with more budgetary constraints from Fox and the desire to not add too many characters to the film battling for screen-time (a la BATMAN).

If early reports on the script are correct, the plot will heavily feature Wolverine and it's possible producers just don't want any new major characters getting in the way of that storyline.  Plus any new characters mean new origins which means precious time taken away from the project 90-100 minute film length.  Is there any validity to these reports?  Apparently, they're trusted scoopers but this has been neither confirmed nor denied by Fox or X-MEN producers.
 

October 15, 2001

Source: Joey Baloney

• The first detailed set reports complete with pictures from Mel Gibson's SIGNS (currently filming in Pennsylvania) are detailed here
• A few new pictures from this Christmas' Jim Carrey/Frank Darabont collaboration THE MAJESTIC are online here
• Will McG (CHARLIE'S ANGELS) be directing SUPERMAN 5?? Find out more about these rumors here
• It appears the Steve Oedekerk comedy once titled DUBBED ACTION MOVIE: ENTER THE FIST will now be called the less complicated KUNG POW! 

The 2002 Movie Preview !

Below is a list of movies that are coming out next year. Want more info? Click on the links...