|
|
Behind the Scenes
 |
| V for Vendetta | Jim Slotek
October 2009
Movie Entertainment
And If You Could Be A Tree?
With two months to go, this stands as my favourite response of the year to an inane press conference question. The place: L.A.’s Four Seasons Hotel. The celebrity: Katherine Heigl. The question: “What, in your opinion, is the secret of happiness?” Heigl shrugged and said: “Geez, I don’t know ... vodka?”
The Dead-ManWriting Conundrum
Next to maybe Elvis, is there any dead celebrity selling more product than Robert Ludlum? It’s been eight years since the death of the author known for his conspiracy-laden plots and Byzantine titles (Salman Rushdie once suggested that if Ludlum had written Hamlet, it would have been titled The Elsinore Vacillation). The Jason Bourne series of books/movies alone have continued to drum up 10-figure revenues.
Now Ron Howard is set to direct a film version of Ludlum’s The Parsifal Mosaic, about a CIA agent whose girlfriend has apparently been executed for being a double agent. Sounds like franchise material to us.
And there are still 18 Ludlum books yet to be filmed.
Funny Is As Funny Does
He hasn’t been crowned the new Judd Apatow yet, but Todd Phillips (Old School) has become a go-to director after The Hangover became the highest grossing R-rated comedy of all time (and made a star out of comic Zach Galifianakis). And who knows? With 10 films to be nominated in the Best Picture category, there’s even buzz about The Hangover getting Oscar consideration.
This month he’s filming Due Date, a comedy about two mismatched guys on a
road trip – played by Galifianakis and Robert Downey Jr. “It’s sort of a ‘buddy comedy’ without the buddies,” Phillips says. “It’s kind of like Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but different, in the same way that The Hangover is kind of like Bachelor Party.”
After that? Phillips has a sizable list of weirdly named directing/producing projects we had to coax him to talk about. Like, say, Man-Witch and Psycho Funky Chimp. “Man-Witch is a movie we have in development. It’s about a man who’s a witch. I think the title basically says it all,” he says with a laugh. And Psycho Funky Chimp? “That’ll be the greatest film ever made,” he enthuses dryly. “One day you’ll remember talking to me when it displaces The Godfather as the greatest movie ever made. Let’s just say it’s one of the more surreal and obtuse projects I’ve ever taken on.”
Graphic Novelties
Last month it was Kate Beckinsale in the Antarctic thriller Whiteout. Earlier this year, it was Watchmen. Producer Joel Silver, who brought you the former, as well as V For Vendetta, has a couple more graphic novel movies in the pipeline.
These include The Gamekeeper from Guy Ritchie, and an adaptation of DC Comics’ Lobo, about an alien biker bounty hunter.
“Comic book stories kind of match my vision,” says Silver, who maintains he could have done a better job on Watchmen than the filmmakers who ultimately made it. “Predator (another of his productions) might as well have been a graphic novel.”... Meanwhile shooting begins soon on Red, starringBruce Willis and Morgan Freeman, and based on the WildStorm/DC comic about an ex-“black ops” hit man who comes out of retirement when a younger assassin targets him and his loved ones. ... And for those keeping score, Marvel has confirmed that its Avengers movie will feature Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Nick Fury and the Hulk. Due date is 2012. Excelsior!
|
|
|
|