Archive for August, 2010
Malcolm McDowell Bites Into Vamps
He’s joining Amy Heckerling’s comedy
Amy Heckerling continues to pick up actors to appear in her new fanged fiend comedy, Vamps. Malcolm McDowell, Marilu Henner and Zak Orth have all signed on.
The plot, for those just joining us, follows two beautiful young female vampires (Alicia Silverstone and She’s Out Of My League’s Krysten Ritter), who are content to enjoy the nightlife of New York and use the single bachelors of the city as their suck toys.
But then trouble rears its head as they fall in love (not with each other, as we understand it. There’s no need to call James Corden), and must decide whether to follow their hearts (is that possible when they don’t technically beat?) and risk the wrath of their senior vamp, played by Sigourney Weaver. The likes of Richard Lewis, Wallace Shawn, Justin Kirk and Kristen Johnston are also on board.
Henner has agreed to play a deathly ill woman who reclaims her former hotness, while Orth will be Renfield, a nerdy follower of Ritter’s character who keeps claiming he’s tougher than he is. And McDowell sounds like he’ll have the most fun, playing Vlad the Impaler, who struts around the city as Vlad Tepish, velvet jogging suit aficionado and knitting fanatic. The comedy stock value of the film just jumped several points…
Could Jolie Be Unforgiven?
McQuarrie adapting ITV miniseries
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Despite the fact that both State of Play and Edge of Darkness were largely ignored at the box office, the tide of filmmakers looking at UK miniseries to makeover into movies has not been stemmed. Now Producer Graham King has hired Christopher McQuarrie to write a script based on ITV series Unforgiven for Angelina Jolie.
McQuarrie will be adapting the series, which saw a woman trying to edge her way back into society after 15 years in prison for murdering two police officers. She’s looking for a quiet life with her troubled sister, but runs into problems with the sons of one of the coppers.
As Deadline reports, even with the solid talent at the keyboard, Jolie’s involvement is nowhere near sure yet, since she doesn’t tend to accept any projects without a finished screenplay. But King’s GK Films is apparently trying to develop a working relationship with her, having partnered with the actress on The Tourist. And the fact that the company now has regular collaborations with the likes of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio should help her make her mind up. That, and the fact that McQuarrie did some of the script work on The Tourist…
Jennifer Aniston Goes Topless, Smokes Pot and Has Orgies in New Apatow Film
There’s no easy way to say this without sounding like I hate her, because I really don’t, but I have never been excited about a movie solely because it has Jennifer Aniston in it. At this stage in her career, her film work is about as prolific as her television work, but recently it’s been narrowing away from films like The Good Girl and straight to an overly familiar formula. It’s gotten to the point where you can describe a certain style of movie by saying “Sure, it’s a romantic comedy, but it looks like a Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy,” and that tone is just no good for anyone (unless, of course, you’re a big fan of the string of aggressive, battle-of-the-sexes style romcoms she’s been locked into).
It looks like that’s going to change thanks to Aniston’s next film Wanderlust, co-starring Paul Rudd and produced by Judd Apatow, about a married couple that decide to live in a hippie commune after they can no longer afford to live in NYC.
Sure, it’s not the most jaw-dropping premise, but the fact that it is an Apatow branded comedy should be a good enough sign that Wanderlust will be a bit raunchier than her usual films. If his track record isn’t enough of an indicator, though, Hollywoodlife.com have read the script and are eager to report back on some of the juicier bits. As it stands right now, life on the free-spirited commune is going to call for Aniston to do more than just smoke pot (though naturally that is in there): Her character is also going to have a lesbian three-way after she rips off her top in order to stun a bunch of bulldozers primed to tear down a forest to build a new Wal-mart.
So… yeah… not exactly the standard-issue “men suck” romcom she’s been known for over the last few years. That said, I wouldn’t exactly hold my breath for any of that content to be particularly shocking when it’s in the final film. The great Ken Marino and David Wain (who is also directing) can write in all the nudity and sex they want, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be up there on screen. The camera will no doubt hide whatever its cast is not comfortable with showing, so I wouldn’t take any of this as a guarantee that you’re going to see Aniston’s private parts, but it is nice to think about.
And no, I’m not talking about Aniston naked. I’m talking about the idea that Aniston is finally taking on roles that are a bit edgier than what she’s known for. I could not care less whether any of it is shown, I’m just excited that that this doesn’t sound like anotherBreak-Up, Bounty Hunter, or Switch.
Karate Kid Sequel Gets New Writers
And they’re from Kung Fu Panda
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Cyrus Voris and Ethan Reiff, the guys behind the script for Kung Fu Panda, the original version of Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood (back when it was still called Nottingham) and TV’s Sleeper Cell, are set to write The Karate Kid sequel. So basically it’ll be just like Kung-Fu Panda, only with fewer animals and fewer jokes. OK, so the only way in which it’s likely to resemble that animation is in using the same martial art, but it’s very early in the morning.
There’s no word yet on where the sequel will be set, or whether it will change location as did the original Karate Kid 2 (wherein Daniel-San travelled to Okinawa to visit Mr Miyagi’s ancestral home), but we do know that the result is tentatively pencilled in for 2013.
This most recent Karate Kid cost about $40m to make and made nearly $300m, so one thing’s for sure: don’t expect to stop waxing on and waxing off anytime soon.