Posted on Tuesday, July 17th, 2012 by Angie Han
When we last checked in on David O. Russell‘s crime drama American Bullshit, it was looking like a double reunion for the director. His Oscar-winning The Fighter actor Christian Bale was rumored for one of the leads, while Silver Linings Playbook star Bradley Cooper was in talks for the other.
Since then, however, Bale’s dropped out, and Russell’s now adding another fast-rising star to the roster. The ubiquitous Jeremy Renner is reportedly negotiating to replace Bale as FBI agent Jimmy Boyle, who teams up with “the world’s greatest con man” (Cooper) for a sting. Oh, and the movie’s not called American Bullshit any more — it’s going without a title at the moment until filmmakers and marketers can come up with something less profane. Read more details after the jump.
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Jennifer Lawrence exploded as a great new talent thanks to Winter’s Bone, and some of her major roles that followed (such as X-Men: First Class, and The Hunger Games) had her playing a variation on the young girl who steps up to adult responsibility in a big way.
So it’s a joy to see her in footage from David O. Russell‘s new film Silver Linings Playbook. This is Lawrence playing a really adult sort of role, as she is a woman with some pretty serious, if occasionally gently comic mental issues. The film nominally revolves around Bradley Cooper, playing a guy recently released from institutionalization and trying to segue back into “real” life with the help of his parents (Jacki Weaver and Robert De Niro). He meets Lawrence, and their particular problems seem to mesh. Oh, and Chris Tucker shows up, too.
The film looks like a partial return to the sort of story on which Russell cut his teeth (think Flirting With Disaster and Spanking the Monkey), though there seems to be a lighter, more generally crowd-pleasing third act here. Lawrence looks great in the role, and Cooper also seems to be expanding under Russell’s tutelage. (Something that we’ve seen other actors do in the past.)
Check out the trailer below. Read More »
Cannes is a big festival when it comes to film premieres, but there are also occasionally (very occasionally) previews of titles that weren’t ready for the festival. Today the Weinstein Company showed off footage from three new films: Quentin Tarantino‘s Django Unchained, Paul Thomas Anderson‘s The Master, and David O Russell‘s The Silver Linings Playbook.
Reactions to this footage preview are starting to appear, and we’ve collected the highlights below. Read More »
Posted on Thursday, April 19th, 2012 by Angie Han
The last we heard of Sony’s American Bullshit, David O. Russell‘s reps were adamantly denying his involvement in the picture, as well as the rumor that he’d cast his The Fighter star Christian Bale in the lead role. As of today, however, it seems that not only are Russell and Bale indeed attached, they’re about to add a couple more collaborators. Indie financer Megan Ellison is negotiating to fund the picture, while Bradley Cooper is in talks to join Bale on the cast list. Not a bad start for a movie whose very existence looked kind of iffy just a few weeks ago. More details after the jump.
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Posted on Tuesday, April 17th, 2012 by Angie Han
As David O. Russell puts the finishing touches on The Silver Linings Playbook, he’s weighing a few different options for his next move. As of last month, it looked like a real possibility that he could be headed to American Bullshit, about a real-life sting of Congress by the FBI in the 1980s, but now it seems the Oscar-nominated director is set for a different political tale.
According to a new report, Russell has signed on to direct a biopic of Rhode Island mayor Buddy Cianci, based on Cianci’s memoir Politics and Pasta: How I Prosecuted Mobsters, Rebuilt a Dying City, Advised a President, Dined With Sinatra, Spent Five Years in a Federally Funded Gated Community and Lived to Tell the Tale. Although Russell has been circling the picture for about a year now, he’s finally made his attachment official. More details after the jump.
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Posted on Wednesday, March 21st, 2012 by Angie Han
I can hardly keep track of all the projects David O. Russell has been attached to or rumored for since his Oscar nomination for The Fighter, but here’s another one to add to the list. Recent reports claim that he’s signed on for Sony’s American Bullshit, a 2010 Black List script by Eric Warren Singer that Ben Affleck was eyeing earlier this year. The crime drama recounts the true tale of “Abscam,” a Congressional sting set up in 1980 by the FBI in an effort to eradicate corruption. The operation was masterminded by an individual described as “the world’s greatest con man.”
THR writes that Russell may or may not stick with the movie depending on who gets cast in the two lead roles; one rumor names Christian Bale as a potential star for the project. However, according to Deadline, Russell’s reps have flat-out denied that the filmmaker has anything to do with the picture at all. We’ll have to wait and see how this one pans out, but either way, it’s worth noting that Russell’s involvement is far from a sure thing at this point.
After the jump, Jake Kasdan gets sexy with Jason Segel.
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Posted on Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 by Angie Han
What do Bridesmaids and The Devil Inside have in common? Not a lot, except that both performed even better than expected at the box office, and execs are now eager to get going on terrible-sounding sequels. After the jump:
- Melissa McCarthy refuses to do Bridesmaids 2 without Kristen Wiig
- Mark Wahlberg reports that The Fighter 2 is looking for a new director
- Joe Carnahan discusses the (non) possibility of an A-Team 2, and more interestingly, the possibility of a Narc 2
- The Devil Inside exec producer Steven Schneider says he’d “love” to do a sequel
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Posted on Wednesday, November 16th, 2011 by Angie Han
This Thanksgiving brings a slew of intriguing releases, from family-friendly fare like The Muppets and Hugo to possible Oscar contenders like The Artist and My Week with Marilyn, and now we have at least one reason to look forward to next year’s holiday as well.
The Weinstein Co. have just decided on a November 21, 2012 release for David O. Russell‘s The Silver Linings Playbook, which suggests the company sees the film as a potential player in next year’s awards season — no surprise, considering Russell’s last film The Fighter was nominated for seven Oscars in 2010 including Best Picture and Best Director. The date also gives the movie plenty of time to make the festival rounds and garner some good buzz before hitting theaters.
Based on a novel by Matthew Quick, the film follows a former high school teacher (Bradley Cooper) who moves back home after spending years in a mental institution. He initially sets out to try and win back his ex-wife, but soon finds himself developing a relationship with an eccentric young widow (Jennifer Lawrence) who lives in his neighborhood. Robert De Niro, Julia Stiles, and Chris Tucker also star. Read the official synopsis after the jump.
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