'Secretariat' gets a Poster

Going by the poster, one of those actors is playing the horse...

Behold the Trailer for 'Love Ranch'!

Take a gander:

-I'm not sure it's Oscar material or not, but we'll see...thoughts?

'Love Ranch' gets a Poster!

Thoughts?

Naomi Watts to play Marilyn Monroe in Andrew Dominik's biopic of the star!

Here's the story from First Showing:

Back in December we heard about a film called My Week with Marilyn, which isn't so much a biopic of the legendary Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe, but rather a focus on a very short amount of time she spent in London while filming Laurence Olivier's The Prince and the Showgirl in 1957, as told in Colin Clark's book. However, it looks like a more definitive biopic about the late actress is on the horizon as ScreenDaily is now reporting Naomi Watts is set to play the blonde starlet in an Andrew Domink (of The Assassination of Jesse James) directed adaptation of a fake memoir (we'll explain more below) appropriately titled Blonde.

The Joyce Carol Oates book in question is referred to as a fake memoir because it takes the liberty of being told from the point of view of Monroe with the names of certain well-known male suitors changed to vague descriptions including The Ex-Athlete (Joe DiMaggio), The Playwright (Arthur Miller) and The President (John F. Kennedy). But there's no argument that this is a very accurate, eye-opening and emotional look into the life of one of Hollywood's most famous blondes. Here's what Publisher's Weekly says about the book:

Dramatic, provocative and unsettlingly suggestive, Blonde is as much a bombshell as its protagonist, the legendary Marilyn Monroe. Writing in highly charged, impressionistic prose, Oates creates a striking and poignant portrait of the mythic star and the society that made and failed her. In a five-part narrative corresponding to the stages of Monroe's life, Oates renders the squalid circumstances of Norma Jeane's upbringing: the damage inflicted by a psychotic mother and the absence of an unknown (and perpetually yearned for) father, and the desolation of four years in an orphanage and betrayal in a foster home. She reviews the young Monroe's rocky road to stardom, involving sexual favors to studio chiefs who thought her sluttish, untalented and stupid, while they reaped millions from her movies; she conveys the essence of Monroe's three marriages and credibly establishes Monroe's insatiable need for security and love. To a remarkable extent, she captures Monroe's breathy voice and vulnerable stutter, and the almost schizoid personality that produced her mercurial behavior.

After seeing her in certain scenes in Peter Jackson's King Kong, there's no doubt that Watts has the looks to pull off a Marilyn Monroe biopic, and though she may have over-emphasized the period dialect of the time (of course, this could very well have been done purposely to make the film feel like an older movie) I have no doubt of her talent for portraying Monroe either. I'm surprised there hasn't been a more high profile biopic about Marilyn Monroe until now. Various films have featured her as a minor character and there have been plenty of made-for TV films focusing on her, but as far as I can recall, this will be the first feature film about her. Should be something to look forward to. What do you guys think of Watts as Marilyn Monroe?

-I'm certainly interested...thoughts?

Today's Trailers: Nowhere Boy and Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

We begin today with a look at the John Lennon childhood biopic 'Nowhere Boy':

We end today with the documentary 'Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work':

-Thoughts?

Terrence Howard to play Nelson Mandela?

Indeed he is, according to this in The Hollywood Reporter:

Terrence Howard ("Iron Man") is to portray Nelson Mandela in the Jennifer Hudson-starring feature "Winnie," based on the story of Winnie Mandela, Nelson Mandela's former wife.

Darrell Roodt is directing the $15 million historical drama, a South Africa-Canada co-production set to start production May 31 in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner for 18 years.

Also Friday, Canadian distributor D Films said it acquired the Canadian rights to "Winnie," a co-production of Canadian producer Equinoxe Films and South African partner MaAfrika Films.

Toronto-based D Films recently picked up a second Equinoxe title, the $6.4 million film "A Million Colors," another Canada-South African production directed and co-written by Montreal-born and New York City-based Peter Bishai.

-Thoughts?

Lindsay Lohan to play the role of porn star Linda Lovelace?

So it seems, according to The Hollywood Reporter:

Lindsay Lohan has landed the lead role in an independent movie about 1970s porn star Linda Lovelace, one of the film's producers said.

The 24-year-old actress will play Lovelace, who shot to fame with the landmark 1972 porno movie "Deep Throat," while Bill Pullman will portray Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner in the period drama, producer Wali Razaqi told The Los Angeles Times.

The film, called "Inferno," will be based on the events of Lovelace's life and will delve into the "difficult stuff she went through and overcame," Razaqi said.

Razaqi said he and director Matthew Wilder are confidant the "Mean Girls" star will deliver.

"I would say it's probably one of the most challenging roles any actor could play -- and not because of the sexual content, necessarily -- but more because she was so battered and beat up emotionally, that I think it's gonna take everything Lindsay has to really be able to pull it off," he told the Times.

"Not that Lindsay's life is similar in any way -- but she's been through a lot of ups and downs. A lot of times you're loved and then you're hated, and I think she can relate to those emotions and feelings."

Razaqi added that an official announcement about the film's casting will be made at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.

Lohan's agent Nick Styne and manager, Justin Grey Stone, could not immediately be reached for comment early Wednesday.

Lovelace, whose real name was Linda Susan Boreman, starred in several adult films before gaining stardom with the runaway hit "Deep Throat," one of the first porn movies to reach into mainstream culture.

She later denounced her pornography career and became a spokeswoman for the anti-pornography movement.

In her autobiography "Ordeal," Boreman revealed that she gave birth to a son out of wedlock when she was 20, and that her mother put him up for adoption.

Boreman died in 2002 following a car crash in Denver.

Pullman made his film debut in a supporting role in 1986's "Ruthless People" and later appeared in such films as "Spaceballs," "Independence Day" and "Scary Movie 4."

-These are the types of films she should be getting back to making, so this is good news to me...thoughts?

The writer of 'World Trade Center' to script an N.W.A. film...

...according to this in The Hollywood Reporter:

Andrea Berloff, who wrote Oliver Stone's true-life movie "World Trade Center," is tackling the story of seminal rap group N.W.A.

Berloff is writing "Straight Outta Compton," the story of the rise and fall of the Compton, Calif.-based group, whose initials read Niggas With Attitude. The members included drug dealer turned label founder Eazy-E, young disc jockey Dr. Dre and the politically bent Ice Cube, plus MC Ren and DJ Yella.

Another member, Arabian Prince, left N.W.A. before the group released the ground-breaking "Straight Outta Compton" album in 1988. The album, which featured the title track as well as "Fuck tha Police," introduced gangsta rap to the world and triggered sales of 9 million units.

As the group rose, however, egos and jealousies surfaced.

Cube left in 1990 over royalty disputes, went solo and warred with the group via songs. All grappled with violence, charges of anti-Semitism, misogyny and homophobia, and even more infighting, this time between Eazy-E and Dr. Dre.

Eazy-E's death, from AIDS-related causes, set the ex-members on a reconciliatory path. Cube has gone on to a successful career as an actor and producer, and Dre has become a top music producer.

Cube and Matt Alvarez are producing via Cube Vision. Eazy-E's widow, Tomica Woods, who inherited his share of the song rights, also is producing. Michelle Weiss and Dave Neustadter are overseeing for New Line.

Having a white writer on black-themed projects, especially biopics, is a fairly recent trend. Sheldon Turner penned a draft of the Rick James project "Super Freak," while Brad Kane wrote the draft of the Richard Pryor project that attracted director Bill Condon.

Especially noteworthy is that the person tackling the N.W.A. adaptation is a white woman.

However, the scribe, repped by UTA and Benderspink, is known around town for tackling true-life stories. On top of "World Trade Center," she wrote "The Fugees," adapting a New York Times article for Universal, about a group of international refugee soccer kids who settle in Atlanta.

She also is working on an adaptation of Mark Bowden's book "Guests of the Ayatollah: The First Battle in America's War With Militant Islam," about the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, for HBO and producer Bill Horberg.

-Thoughts?

Secretariat gets a Trailer

Take a look:

'Secretariat' Secretariat Trailer 1 @ Yahoo! Video

-Thoughts?

Will Mickey Rourke play Genghis Khan?

According to Mickey, yes. Here's the story from The Wrap:

Is Mickey Rourke preparing to play Genghis Khan for writer-director John Milius?

That's what the "Iron Man 2" star told the Orlando Sentinel in an interview publicizing his villainous turn in the superhero sequel. If true, it would be a bizarre pairing of actor and historical figure, not that Rourke doesn't have the chops to play the fearless warrior.

"I’m playing Genghis," revealed Rourke. "John wrote [the] piece [as] told from the son and grandson’s point of view, how they saw this mythic figure from their family. You see him in flashbacks, back when he was in his mid-40s. And back then, being in your mid-40s was being REALLY old.”

Surprisingly, the 57 year-old actor considers himself an expert horseback rider, saying "I probably ride a horse better than I drive a car," and insists that he'll be well-prepared to shoot arrows on horseback with the help of veteran stuntmen Garrett Warren ("Iron Man 2") and Mark Colburn. Rourke also claims that the production will lens in parts of India and possibly China.

Two years ago, Rourke brought his pet chihuahua, Loki, to various Hollywood events, and one of the things he likes about Genghis Khan is that he was, apparently, a dog lover. "The Mongols used dogs in battle, and dogs rarely made it out of the battle. But in one instance, in this script, [Khan] orders his men – ‘Hold the dogs back.’ He was looking out for the dogs. I like that.”

Rourke sounded excited to work with the legendary screenwriter. “I read his script and you know, the man is known for his tough writing," said Rourke. "He wrote "Conan" and "Dirty Harry" and "Apocalypse Now," and it’ll be interesting to see how he works behind the camera."

Milius also directed 1982's "Conan," as well as 1984's "Red Dawn," a remake of which will be released this summer starring Chris Hemsworth ("Thor"), but he hasn't worked behind the camera since the 1997 TV movie "Rough Riders." Milius has also been developing the historical adaptation "The Chosen Few" with Mark Cuban's 2929 Productions.

As for Rourke, he's been in talks to join Javier Bardem and newly-frequent co-star Jason Statham in Tony Scott's "Potzdamer Platz." Rourke told the Orlando Sentinel that he's been working on a script about motorcycle gangs for 20 years and has been talking to Scott about a Hell's Angels movie. Rourke also revealed that "St. Vincent," a project that would've re-teamed him with his "Johnny Handsome" director Walter Hill, is "not gonna happen."

Rourke is currently in Montreal filming Tarsem Singh's sword-and-sorcery epic "Immortals." He's already wrapped "Passion Play" with Megan Fox and a pair of films with Statham -- Sylvester Stallone's "The Expendables" and Gela Babluani's remake of his own Russian roulette thriller "13."

-He'd be an interesting choice...thoughts?

James Mangold is in talks to helm the long in development Joe Namath biopic...

...making today "biopic day" on the blog. Here's the story from the Los Angeles Times:

It's not just because we're hard-core, bleed-green New York Jets fans that we're interested in a Joe Namath movie.

The quarterback and all-around media personality (no Suzy Kolber jokes!) is one of the more fascinating biopic subjects out there. Mediocre subjects get developed as biopics all the time, but Namath -- the brash, victory-predicting, fur-coat-wearing countercultural icon -- is the real deal, cinematically speaking. There's the on-field drama, the off-field exploits, and of course, the historic Super Bowl win that basically changed the face of televised sports and celebrity all at the same time.

Which is why it makes plenty of sense that we're hearing that James Mangold would take on Namath the way Broadway Joe took on the Baltimore defensive line that January 1969 afternoon. The director is in talks with producer Andrew Lazar, who's developing the untitled Namath movie, to come aboard the project.

Mangold is of course best known for taking on a different kind of countercultural icon (more of a working-class icon, actually) in Johnny Cash and "Walk the Line." More than most, the filmmaker gets the intersection of pop culture, image and talent, which is something Cash and Namath both mined to perfection.

Darren Aronofsky, incidentally, was also on the short list for the Namath movie, back when producers were interested in moving it forward and Mangold was working on "Knight and Day." But now "Knight" is finished -- the Tom Cruise vehicle comes out this summer -- and Aronofsky is busy (he's in postproduction on "Black Swan" and likely moving on to the period drama "Serena" with Angelina Jolie). So Mangold it will be.

Lazar (he was behind "Get Smart" and the upcoming "Jonah Hex") is set to meet with the director shortly to see if they can hammer out the details. There's also no official casting yet, though Jake Gyllenhaal had come aboard several years ago; for the sake of moviedom and Broadway Joe's legacy, we're hoping it's someone else, but that's just us. It's also not set up at a studio, but expect both Universal and Paramount to be in the running, among some other big players.

Lazar owns life rights to Namath, which should pave the way to a thorough telling of the Joe Namath story. And hopefully the former NFLer's cooperation will help, not hinder, that goal. (There's also Mark Kriegel's comprehensive book on the quarterback, which Lazar does not own.)

Of course in writing about the Jets and the movies, we can't help but think of the scene from Adam Sandler's "Mr. Deeds." Informed that he now owns the Jets, Sandler, a high-profile Jets fan in real life, quips: "I do? That (stinks). I hope they don't play the Pats."

-I'm a huge Jet fan, so I'd love to see Broadway Joe get the proper film treatment...thoughts?

Darren Aronofsky to direct Rachel Weisz in a Jackie Kennedy biopic!

Coming Soon has the story:

Entertainment Weekly reports that Rachel Weisz is attached to star in Jackie, about the immediate days following President Kennedy's assassination.

Weisz's fiance, director Darren Aronofsky will direct and produce, along with his producing partner Scott Franklin and their Protozoa Pictures film company.

The project had been rumored to be a TV film, but it is going to theaters instead. Noah Oppenheim wrote the script.

The magazine says that Jackie "catalogs the four days between Kennedy's assassination and his burial, showing the beloved Kennedy at both her most vulnerable and her most graceful."

-I've heard the script turned some heads in Hollywood, so we'll see if this turns into a future Oscar player or not...thoughts?

David Gordon Green picks another project to direct...

...and it's an unusual biopic, from the sound of it. The full article from /Film can be found here, but this is a snippet:

Restless authority-types and newscasters have referred to him as “the Teen Houdini,” “the Boy Who Loved to Fly,” and “the Barefoot Bandit.” Over a two year period, he’s allegedly stolen and crashed a handful of cars and aircraft, having taught himself to fly from video games and a flight manual purchased using a stolen credit card. Citizens of western Washington State say he lives in the woods, where he catches animals for food with a pair of illegally obtained night-vision goggles. Others say he risks capture due to a weakness for ordering pizzas.

And now Fox and Rough House Pictures, the new production company founded by David Gordon Green, Jody Hill, and Danny McBride, own the movie rights to a book proposal about his life. We think a bitchin’ congratulations is in order to the precocious teen rebel in question, Colton Harris-Moore, the D.B. Cooper of a new generation. Run kid. Run hard.

-Sounds interesting...thoughts?

'Love Ranch' finally gets an official release date!

The Hollywood Reporter has the story:

After months on the shelf because of legal and financial issues, Taylor Hackford's "Love Ranch," starring his wife Helen Mirren and Joe Pesci, finally will feel the love of a limited U.S. release in June.

The drama will be distributed by Canadian company E1 Entertainment, which has an agreement in principle to partner on domestic marketing costs with Aramid Entertainment Fund. E1 also acquired rights for the U.K., Scandinavia, France, Australia and elsewhere, and it will sell other foreign rights next month at Cannes.

The June release is expected to be in a handful of theaters in seven to 10 North American cities, including New York and Los Angeles. If the movie gets positive reviews and does good business, the release would be expanded.

Hackford, Mirren and Pesci are expected to do promotional work for the film, which was inspired by the real-life story of Joe and Sally Conforte, who in 1971 opened Mustang Ranch, the first legalized house of prostitution in Nevada.

The pic is based on an article that appeared in New York Magazine written by Mark Jacobson, who also wrote the screenplay.

This will be the second time "Love Ranch" has been marketed globally. It was presold by Capitol Films, which financed the production for more than $20 million, according to estimates. Capitol was acquired by David Bergstein and Ron Tutor, who beginning in spring 2008 borrowed about $8.8 million from Aramid using "Love Ranch" as collateral.

Aramid said in a lawsuit filed against Bergstein and Tutor last month in Los Angeles that it also put in an additional $1.94 million to complete the movie in postproduction and for other costs.

Bergstein and Tutor failed to make the payments on the loans, and Aramid foreclosed on "Love Ranch" and another movie, acquiring the films in December 2008.

One result of the foreclosure sale was that international distributors who acquired rights to "Love Ranch" from Capitol, in some cases paying cash advances, lost rights to the movie, which is why E1 will be able to resell it worldwide.

A spokesman for Aramid declined comment, no one at E1 could be reached for comment, and Hackford did not return a call seeking comment.

-While I think this is a long shot for some Oscar "love", I'm still very interested in seeing it...thoughts?

Is Leonardo DiCaprio going to be J. Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood's upcoming biopic?

Well apparently Deadline (in this article here) believes that he's in negotiations for the role. I'm not sure if he's the right choice or not, but he's certainly an interesting one, if nothing else.
-Thoughts?

Clint Eastwood to make a J. Edgar Hoover biopic his next film?

So it seems, and it's a script by Dustin Lance Black of 'Milk' fame as well. Here's the story in The Hollywood Reporter:

Clint Eastwood is lining up his next directing project, a biopic of controversial FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.

Eastwood is teaming with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment on the pic, which was initially set up at Universal, where Imagine has been developing it. Dustin Lance Black, who wrote biopic "Milk," penned the script.

Hoover was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935 and turned it into an efficient crimefighting organization. He remained its director until his death in 1972, but his sculpted persona was already coming apart at the seams; he employed the FBI to harass political activists and used illegal methods to make secret files on leaders. Many biographies also assert the man was a closeted homosexual and cross-dresser.

The Hoover project isn't set up at a studio, though it will most likely end up at Warner Bros., where Eastwood and his Malpaso shingle are based, as a Malpaso-Imagine production. Malpaso's Robert Lorenz also would serve as a producer in addition to Eastwood and Grazer.

There is a small connection between Hoover and the studio: Warners hired Hoover to act as a consultant on its 1959 movie "The FBI Story" and on the ABC spinoff series "The F.B.I."

Eastwood, who is in post on his drama "Hereafter," worked with Imagine in 2008 on the 1920s-set Angelina Jolie drama "The Changeling."

-This has a lot of potential...thoughts?

Matt Damon to play Bobby Kennedy in a biopic?

It seems as though this is the case, and I for one am very excited. The story can be found here, but I'm a big RFK fan, so a proper biopic would thrill me to no end. This one is to be written by the scribe of Eastern Promises (Steven Knight) and helmed by the director of Pleasantville and Seabiscuit (Gary Ross), so there's potential here.
-Thoughts?

The director of 'The Messenger' to tackle a Kurt Cobain biopic next!

Cinematical has the story:

Although it's faded from the memory, it has not disappeared: It's been two and a half years since word hit that David Benioff was penning a Kurt Cobain biopic, and now the project is gaining some steam. THR's Risky Business Blog reports that Oren Moverman, writer and director of the double Oscar-nominated The Messenger, is in talks to spruce up Benioff's screenplay and then direct it.

The biopic is based partially on the Charles R. Cross' Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain, which Courtney Love had already optioned. That, of course, brings up the warning bells since she's far from a beloved widow, and has had -- no surprise -- a crappy post-suicide relationship with Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl. On the plus side, Benioff is said to have gone to Cobain's old friends in Seattle and Aberdeen to help paint the proper picture of him.

Eh, maybe that's not a huge plus. There's definitely new promise with Moverman in the mix, and it seems that Universal wants to take this seriously, but that Love... and Kurt... It looks to be no Guitar Hero fluff, but the cynic in me imagines a future where Nirvana regains steam (like Queen a la Wayne's World), but in a totally merchandise-ridden, Disney co-opt sort of way, where the ability to make Cobain sing Rick Springfield would be the least of the old Nirvana fan's worries.

-Thoughts?

Today's Posters: The Runaways, The Ghost Writer, The Wolfman, and Repo Men

Thoughts?

The upcoming biopic of Martin Luther King Jr. has found a screenwriter...

...and it's an Oscar winner to boot. Here's the story from Variety:

DreamWorks has tapped playwright and screenwriter Ronald Harwood to pen its Martin Luther King Jr. biopic.

DreamWorks acquired the life rights of the slain civil rights leader in May, with Steven Spielberg, Suzanne de Passe and Madison Jones producing (Variety May 19, 2009).

Project marks the first bigscreen film to be authorized by King's estate and gives DreamWorks access to King's intellectual property -- including his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Harwood, who won an Oscar for penning "The Pianist," explained how he will approach the project: "I will not say anything about my approach to this screenplay except to say what I always say: 'I will do my utmost to be true to truth.'"

DreamWorks co-presidents of production Mark Sourian and Holly Bario praised Harwood for the breadth of his experience, which make "him particularly suited to portraying this deeply personal story against the background of such a turbulent time."

One of the most critically lauded contemporary playwrights and screenwriters, Harwood is known for a career-long fascination with themes surrounding race, conscience and moral choices as well as history.

His credits also include "The Dresser," which lifted the curtain on backstage life in a World War II theater, and for adapting "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."

Harwood, a South Africa native, has also written extensively about apartheid, including the films "Mandela," written while the future South African leader was still in prison, and an adaptation of Alan Paton's classic "Cry the Beloved Country." He has also penned two anti-apartheid novels and two such plays ("Tramway Road," "Another Time.")

His theater credits also include a 2008 stage revival of "Taking Sides," which was paired with his newest play, "Collaboration," about the conduct of composer Richard Strauss during the Third Reich.

-Thoughts?