weitz-lee

Chris Weitz’s sure-to-be-a-blockbuster New Moon is about to hit theaters, but according to a recent conversation he had with MovieMaker (via In Contention), he might soon be ready to hang up his spurs. Meanwhile, we also learned that actor Jason Lee is finally stepping behind the camera to direct his first feature-length film. Hit the jump to find out more details on both.

The news about Weitz might seem odd. After all, the man has previously commanded budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and his star is about to burn a little bit brighter in the wake of the new Twilight film. According to MovieMaker, Weitz spoke of his next film, The Gardener, as potentially being his last:

It’s a script by Eric Essen called The Gardener…It’s sort of an homage to The Bicycle Thief. The intention is that we will shoot half in Spanish, half in English, in Los Angeles. On the one hand it’s a very small, intimate story, but its implications are very grand…I’m always looking for my last film, where I can put the brush down, and this is the one. It’s a beautiful story… I feel that I have now spent a decade of my life in training to know how to make films—how to accomplish every aspect of it—and I feel that if I were to do this one film, I’d feel okay just sitting back and reading. I’d really like to read some books.

Why might Weitz be thinking leaving the industry? It’s likely that his experience on The Golden Compass factors into his current attitude. Studio meddling combined with a relatively disastrous performance at the box office undoubtedly did a lot to ruin his spirits. “I wanted that to be my masterpiece,” Weitz said. “Unfortunately, the edit was taken from me and whatever chance I had at that was also taken from me, which is kind of sad.” Is Weitz serious? Many Hollywood directors have flirted with leaving the profession, but I’m betting that despite  The Golden Compass and the stressful, accelerated timeline for putting New Moon together, Weitz still has more than one more movie in store for us; it just might take him a few more years before he gets to it.

While one director might be stepping down, another one may be just getting started. According to THR, Jason Lee’s directorial debut will be the indie film Get Back, “the story of two music-obsessed friends who time travel back to 1966 London, where one gets caught in a love triangle with John Lennon and Yoko Ono.” I have no idea what the result will be when you combine time travel, buddy comedy, a love triangle, the music of the Beatles, and Jason Lee’s directorial sensibilities, but I have a feeling it will be interesting at the very least.

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  • rockinrors
    Wow!
    That Jason Lee film sounds perfect!
  • Crashlander
    Chris Weitz had a big old breakdown at the end of making The Golden Compass, so that's probably why he doesn't want to direct forever. Health reasons, like how George Lucas nearly had a heart attack making Star Wars.

    Making fantasy movies is deadly.
  • Sounds like an ambitious start to directing for Jason Lee! Just diving right in to the tricky stuff - period piece, love triangle, time travel... I wish him all the best (I'm a fan) but I ain't holding my breath.
  • topheavy
    I had mucho respect for Weitz when he did Chuck & Buck, and now he goes on about studio issues publicly. I truely hope he decides to stay and perhaps make movies that are a little less studio friendly in the future.
  • kotaronakagawa
    Aww man, Chris Weitz is quitting film? I guess he got shafted by with the whole Golden Compass scenario. I read the books and that film was edited to a point that was beyond anything that resembled the story. Then again, an adaptation of a children's book about metaphysics and atheism wouldn't have done well to begin with anyway so.. I guess it was all bad.
  • freemachine
    I didn't realize that "Chuck" from "Chuck and Buck" was a director! How did he get a job directing feature films? Especially after The Golden Compass bombed? (not like Twilight requires a capable filmmaker)
  • It's actually pretty clear Twilight would near a capable filmmaker as the average rate directors who have taken the property thus far have produced poor results (first I've seen chunks of and the opinion on the second is based off of reviews thus far).
  • After just coming out of New Moon, I'm not sure if any filmmaker can make a "good" Twilight movie unless they completely stop following the source material :P
  • @freemachine that might perk Twilight up a bit.
  • freemachine
    @ Tercotta

    My fear of Aronofsky's vision of "Twilight" would involve some scene with big black double-dildos...
  • Thanks for the heads up. After reading Ebert's review this evening it seemed to me that most of the problems he outlined could be remedied by someone with enough talent. Though I suspect it would require someone like an Aronofsky, Paul Thomas Anderson or Alfredson. I'm glad guys of that calibre are doing their own stuff. And Alfredson has made his vampire love movie already.

    Hmmm, now I'm envisioning Aronofsky's Twilight in a pure philosophical/theoretical sense.
  • CRASHkennedy
    ^ahh my first "first". now i can live with ease. no more firsts

    on topic: oh man im so excited that jason is going to direct. i hope it turns out well
  • CRASHkennedy
    FIRST!!
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