Tuesday, August 21

• Beautiful ladies joining Nine and Death Race

  Today is deal day for Hollywood's beauties.

  Director Rob Marshall and producer Harvey Weinstein are in talks with Penelope Cruz (Volver, Vanilla Sky), Marion Cotillard (A Good Year, La Vie en Rose), Sophia Loren (Grumpier Old Men) and Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago, No Reservations) to star in Nine, the film adaptation of the musical based on Fellini's 8 1/2.

  Javier Bardem (Collateral) will be playing the lead, a man named Guido Contini who has trouble balancing all the women in his life, says Variety. Cruz will play his mistress and Cotillard his wife. Marshall and Weinstein are trying to convince Zeta-Jones to play his nurse and Loren the ghost of his mother.

  And model Natalie Martinez is in talks to star opposite Jason Statham (War, Crank) in the upcoming remake of Death Race. It will be the former model's first feature film, says The Hollywood Reporter.

  
  

  Posted 08/21/2007 by Heather

  Marion Cotillard | Penelope Cruz | Nine | Death Race 3000

Wednesday, July 18

• Adaptations Abuzz: Ron Howard, Mao's Last Dancer, and more

  Hollywood loves its adaptations, and a bunch of them are in the works.

  First, Ron Howard has signed on to direct The Emperor's Children, which Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale) adapted from Claire Messud's 2006 novel. The story is about New York Ivy League grads angst-ridden over their approaching 30s.

  Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy) will be directing an adaptation of Mao's Last Dancer, the 2003 autobiography of Chinese ballet dancer Li Cunxin who defected to the West in 1981. Jan Sardi (Shine) wrote the adaption, which will begin filming in February.

  And what better choice than Rob Marshall (Chicago) to direct Nine, Michael Tolkin's (The Player) adaption of the 1982 Broadway musical of the same name? The story is based on the Fellini film 8 1/2.

  And finally, director of the breakthrough Irish indie rock-musical Once, John Carney, will be making his US studio debut. Carney has signed to direct Town House, a comedy about a hermit who maintains his lifestyle by selling off memorabilia left to him by his dead rock star father. It was adapted from Tish Cohen's 2007 novel by screenwriter Doug Wright (Quills).

  Source: Variety.

  
  

  Posted 07/18/2007 by Heather

  Ron Howard | Rob Marshall | Jan Sardi | Noah Baumbach | Doug Wright | Michael Tolkin | John Carney | Bruce Beresford | Nine | The Emperor's Children | Mao's Last Dancer | Town House