Saturday, September 22

• Movie newz: Ben Kingsley & Giovanni Ribisi

  Ben Kingsley's production company has bought the rights to Will, Christopher Rush's fictional novel about a deathbed meeting between Willian Shakespeare and his lawyer over his last will and testament. The movie, which will start shooting next year, will star Ben Kingsley as Shakespeare. No director has yet been named.

  In other news, Giovanni Ribisi has signed on to the cast of Avatar, the 3-D feature James Cameron is mounting as a long-awaited follow up to Titanic. He will be joining Sigourney Weaver and Michelle Rodriguez in the cast.

  Source: The Hollywood Reporter.

  
  
  

  The Dead Girl trailer

  Giovanni Ribisi can be seen in this movie on DVD.

  Posted 09/22/2007 by Heather

  James Cameron | Ben Kingsley | Will | Avatar

Friday, August 3

• Movie newz: Jennifer Aniston, James Cameron, and Sarah Jessica Parker

  Jennifer Aniston has signed to star in a new romantic comedy opposite one of our favorites, Steve Zahn (Reality Bites, Rescue Dawn).

  Management, written and directed by Stephen Belber (The Laramie Project), is about a traveling saleswoman (Aniston) who has a fling with a hotel manager (Zahn) who then decides to follow her around the country trying to win her love. Sounds like a pretty high-profile gig. We hope this means Zahn's star is rising!

  More news on James Cameron's long-awaited follow-up to Titanic. The live-action digital 3-D Avatar has added two new cast members: Michelle Rodriguez (Girlfight, Lost) and Stephen Lang (Gods and Generals, Niagara Niagara).

  Rodriguez will play an ex-Marine pilot and Lang a Marine colonel who must oversee the troops on planet Pandora.

  Finally, Sarah Jessica Parker has an indie flick coming out in advance of the Sex and the City movie we are all so eagerly anticipating. SJP stars as a dean at a New England college at the center of a racial hate crime investigation in Spinning Into Butter, adapted from Rebecca Gilman's play of the same name. It will premiere at next month's National Conference on Race, Reparation and Reconciliation in Atlanta.

  Source: Variety.

  
  

  Posted 08/03/2007 by Heather

  James Cameron | Jennifer Aniston | Steve Zahn | Michelle Rodriguez | Sarah Jessica Parker | Stephen Belber | Stephen Lang | Spinning Into Butter | Avatar | Management

Thursday, July 19

• Date changes for Nanny Diaries, Monsters vs. Aliens

  The adaptation of the 2003 bestselling roman a clef The Nanny Diaries has had its opening date changed--again.

  The Scarlett Johansson comedy, which was originally slated to open months ago was originally moved to September 7. But now, thanks to a desire not to open against the potential Oscar-contender 3:10 to Yuma (a Western with Christian Bale and Russell Crowe), the opening date for The Nanny Diaries has been moved up to August 24.

  Juggling dates is traditionally not a good sign for a movie, but The Weinstein Company stands behind its product.

  Elsewhere in Hollywood, the opening date for the 3-D Dreamworks cartoon Monsters vs. Aliens has been changed to May 15--2009-- to avoid going up against Avatar, the first James Cameron feature project since Titanic.

  Monsters vs. Aliens is a remake of the 1950s movie, and will be directed by Conrad Vernon (Shrek 2) and Rob Letterman (Shark Tale). Avatar will feature CGI and live action.

  Source: Variety.

  
  

  Posted 07/19/2007 by Heather

  Conrad Vernon | James Cameron | Rob Letterman | Scarlett Johansson | The Nanny Diaries | Monsters vs. Aliens | Avatar

Thursday, May 10

• T4 a go, Ah-nold and J-Cam a No

  Terminator 4 is coming, like it or not.

  Variety is reporting that the men behind the rights to the Terminator franchise, Andy Vajna and Mario Kassar, have sold the rights to a privately funded company named Halcyon, which sounds suspiciously like Cyberdyne to me.

  Halcyon Co. is headed by entrepreneurs Victor Kubicek (who looks a little like a young Michael Bay) and Derek Anderson.

  Neither James Cameron nor a post-governator Arnold Schwarzenegger will be involved in the project.

  Although the script isn't finished and there is no cast, director or start date, the movie is already being slated for a summer 2009 release date.

  What little is known about the storyline involves another iteration of John Connor, now in his 30's, leading the resistence against the rise of the machines.

  
  

  Posted 05/10/2007 by Jeff

  Arnold Schwarzenegger | James Cameron | Terminator Salvation