November 2, 2000

Matt Damon portrayed the character of Tom Ripley in last year's THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY and now eccentric actor John Malkovich is attached to star in yet another Ripley-based film entitled RIPLEY'S GAME. Pierce Brosnan was originally noted as being in negotiations for the role, but he is apparently no longer in the running. The film will concentrate on the life of Ripley as he is married and in the need of an assassin to kill two rivals. The film is based on the third novel of the Patricia Highsmith series.
           

November 2, 2000

Australian actor, and "Wolverine" to X-Men movie fans, Hugh Jackman, has signed on to co-star opposite Meg Ryan in the time-travel romantic comedy, KATE & LEOPOLD (Meg Ryan in a romantic comedy? Say it ain't so!). The film project follows the tale of a late-19th century duke who falls in love with a modern-day Gotham gal and must traverse time to be with her. Director James Mangold (COPLAND) rewrote the original draft from Steven Rogers and is now ready to take on the Miramax project, which has been in development for six years.
 

November 2, 2000

DEATH RACE 2000: Sylvester Stallone is apparently looking to remake the film that gave him his first break in Hollywood back in 1975. The story is about five fanatical racing car rivals driving coast- to-coast across America, scoring points by killing pedestrians en route. Stallone said that "With the special effects we have today it could be an incredible movie, the greatest race ever seen."

THE PINK PANTHER: Mike Myers has been offered $20 million to take on the role that made Peter Sellers famous back in the 70s, Inspector Clouseau. The film apparently has Ivan Reitman in the seat as producer.
 

November 2, 2000

Charlton Heston starred in the original PLANET OF THE APES movie and has now agreed to appear as a cameo in the remake of the flick, currently being cast and prepped by goth director Tim Burton. Some of the folks already cast in the film include Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth and Michael Clarke Duncan.
           

November 2, 2000

Toronto-based writer/director Atom Egoyan has decided on his next project and it will be dealing with the genocide of the Armenians during World War I by the Turks. Egoyan, who was born in Cairo to Armenian parents, has decided to shoot part of the film in Toronto and has already chosen the Paris-based Armenian singer Charles Aznavour as one of its leads. Egoyan was prompted to take his cause more seriously after he protested a Canadian Liberal MP back in February of 1999, for questioning the description of the Armenian slaughter as a "genocide". 
 

November 2, 2000

Everybody on this site and their uncles are anxiously awaiting the next kewl Kevin Smith flick, which is now starting to come together with a certain deja-vu-esque cast. Here are some of the folks who have apparently signed to be in "View Askew 5" (working title): Jason Lee (as Brodie and Banky), Jeff Anderson (as Randal), Brian O'Halloran (as Dante), Ben Affleck (as Holden and two new characters (NOT Shannon Hamilton)), Matt Damon (as a character from a non-View Askew movie which Kevin was associated with (Will Hunting?) and two new characters), Renee Humphrey (as Trish The Dish), Scott Mosier (Kevin's producer will also play a part), George Carlin (as a new character), Chris Rock (new character), Alanis Morrisette (a character but Kevin would not reveal if it was the same as her Dogma character), Kevin Smith (as Silent Bob) and Jay (as Jay). Other possibles include Joey Lauren Adams (as Alyssa Jones) and Dwight Ewell (not specified who he'd return as). Who's NOT coming back? Linda Fiorentino, Shannon Doherty, Claire Forlani, Alan Rickman, Salma Hayek and Jeremy London. The film will apparently receive a budget of $15 million, which would be the biggest budget film that Kevin has ever directed. Woo-hoo, sounds like fun!
            

October 30, 2000

In what can only be described as yet another questionable LAPD operation, a police officer responding to a noisy Halloween party at a mansion north of Beverly Hills on Saturday night, shot and killed an actor, who police said pointed what turned out to be a fake gun at him. Actor Anthony Dwain Lee, 39, who appeared in the 1997 Jim Carrey movie LIAR, LIAR and on several TV shows including "NYPD Blue" was shot several times early Saturday, at a crowded party attended by scores of costumed guests, many of them actors and other entertainment industry professionals.

Police said that when Lee saw the officers he pulled out what looked like a handgun and pointed it at Tarriel Hopper, who, in fear for his life, fired several shots from his service pistol, wounding Lee, who was later pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. It was not known if Lee was wearing a costume or if he realized that Hopper was a real officer with a real gun. One of the victim's friends, Mary Lin, told the newspaper, "His biggest fear was getting killed by cops, because he's a tall black man."' Read more about this shocking incident here
           

October 30, 2000

With the planned Michael Mann biopic of famed boxer Muhammad Ali back under the green light at the studios, word now comes out that actor Jamie Foxx, best known for his top-notch performance as the football quarterback in Oliver Stone's ANY GIVEN SUNDAY, is up for the part of Drew "Bundini" Brown, a flamboyantly dressed man who is the court jester of the boxer's entourage. Brown's character goes on to become an alcoholic and eventually sell an Ali championship belt, for which the boxer forgives him. Will Smith is set to portray Ali, with shooting set to begin in January 2001.

Click here to hear Foxx's impression of Morgan Freeman
        

October 30, 2000

Director David Cronenberg's next project is entitled SPIDER, based on a book by Patrick McGrath, about a man who attempts to piece together his life after his release from a mental hospital. With a budget of only $12 million, the film will star Ralph Fiennes and Miranda Richardson, and is set to begin shooting in London near the end of 2001.
 

October 30, 2000

Cameron Diaz and Christina Applegate, best known for playing Al Bundy's funny, slutty daughter on TV's "Married with Children", are now paired to star in THE SWEETEST THING, which is the story of a club-hopper (Diaz) and her best friend (Applegate) breaking hearts and searching out the wrong men while looking for real love. When they do finally find this "real love", chaos apparently ensues. The man who directed last year's surprisingly good CRUEL INTENTIONS, Roger Krumble, is set to direct, from a script by Nancy Pimental, who helped write SOUTH PARK.
            

October 30, 2000

After spending a couple of years curled up next to actress Ellen DeGeneres, Anne Heche is now single again and apparently ready to hit the big screen once more. Mike Myers and Helen Hunt are now in negotiations to co-star with Heche in TIMEPIECE, a $20 million comedy set to start shooting next February. Myers would play a director making a documentary about a woman (Heche) from a quiet rural community who is fighting against the tyrannical rule of the nearby big city.
  

October 30, 2000

After doing "who-knows-what" for the past few years, infamous writer/director Quentin Tarantino has finally broken his silence and announced his next couple of projects. His next big film will be based on an unfinished script of his own (which he's still completing), will be called KILL BILL and will star Uma Thurman. The film is being touted as a "genre" film and will be "revenge-minded". Tarantino also has another project in the works at Miramax, an epic World War II drama, which has even fewer details available about it at this time.