Posted on Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 by Angie Han
2012 is already shaping up to be the biggest year yet of Adam Brody‘s post-OC career, as the actor books two more high-profile roles. One is Some Girls, a feature adaptation of Neil LaBute‘s recent play about an almost-married man who travels across the country to visit his ex-girlfriends. [Update: The Hollywood Reporter writes that Mad Men helmer Jennifer Getzinger will direct the drama.]
But Brody’s next project will likely be Rob Meltzer‘s Welcome to the Jungle, as that project will shoot next month in Puerto Rico. The story centers around a design firm that goes on retreat to a tropical island, only to become stranded and see Lord of the Flies-style chaos break out. Brody will play the protagonist, who must save his colleagues from a power-hungry leader. Brody’s only one of a rather eclectic cast that also includes Rob Huebel, Dennis Haysbert, Kristen Schaal, and Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Brody is currently filming Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s Lovelace, in which he plays porn star Harry Reems opposite Amanda Seyfried’s Linda Lovelace. This year also sees him starring in Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Whit Stillman’s Damsels in Distress, the indie dramedy Revenge for Jolly!, and last year’s TIFF entry The Oranges.
After the jump, The Comedian fathers Hit Girl.
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The latest addition to the cast of Dexter‘s sixth season is a great one: Edward James Olmos has signed on to play “a brilliant, charismatic professor of religious studies.” Colin Hanks and Mos Def are other recent additions to the core cast of the show, which begins shooting on May 25 and will premiere in the fall, likely in mid to late September. Being the definition of a good sport, Mr. Olmos tweeted right after the news broke: “It’s true… I’m coming for you Dexter….” [Deadline]
After the break, the ever-great Richard Jenkins joins Elizabeth Olson in an indie, and we catch up with the extensive casting of Crooked House. Read More »
Neil LaBute’s career has taken him to some crazy places. He started off with the visceral and brutal In the Company of Men and followed that up with more films sharing the same dark humor, honestly and venom. At some point though, things changed and he became more of a mainstream director with films like Lakeview Terrace and the abysmal The Wicker Man and Death at a Funeral remakes. It seemed like his talent for inciting controversy had gone away.
It now seems like he’s attempting to blend those more mainstream sensibilities with his earlier independence as he’s set to reteam with the star of his earlier films, Aaron Eckhart, as well as Ed Harris, for The Geography of Hope. The script was written by LaBute, well before he achieved success, and follows two thieves who flee to Mexico only to find another problem: whether to rob or romance all the beautiful women they meet. Read more after the jump. Read More »
Years ago, the idea of Brendan Fraser working with Neil LaBute would have been appealing. In 1998 it would have been the guy from Gods & Monsters being directed by the firebrand behind Your Friends and Neighbors. Good stuff. Now, well, it’s the guy from Furry Vengeance directed by the guy behind The Wicker Man. Not such an easy sell.
Still, let optimism reign. Brendan Fraser will star in Seconds of Pleasure, the new film Neil LaBute, about which details are non-existent. All we know is it will shoot in the UK this March. Alongside him will be Kristin Scott Thomas, with possible additions Colin Firth and Ed Harris. So that’s quite a solid cast if things come together. I’d love to see both these men make a good film again, so fingers are crossed. [Deadline]
After the break, that Kevin James MMA film gets a director. Read More »
The 2011 Sundance Film Festival is shaping up quite nicely. The films in competition, and out of competition, have already been announced and each has some incredibly exciting entries. Monday brought the announcement of the 81 short films, chosen out of 6,467 entries, that will play in Park City, Utah this January. And while the majority of them are by currently unknown filmmakers, there are a few that jump out featuring names like Elijah Wood, Danny McBride, Seth Rogen, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly and Jack Black. Actually, those guys are all in the same short. Other notables include Neil LaBute, Tim & Eric and Isabella Rossellini. After the jump, we’ll highlight those films and show you the full list. Read More »
Just about the last person I’d expect to see making a short film to promote a video game is Neil LaBute, the theater director who has made films like In the Company of Men, Your Friends and Neighbors and the remake of The Wicker Man. But the team behind Sony’s game Heavy Rain hired LaBute to make a film that explores one of the themes of the game, which is ‘how far would you go to save someone you love?’
So here is How Far Would You Go?, in which we see LaBute and directors like Peter Bogdanovich, Stephen Frears, Nicolas Roeg and Chris Weitz talk about the lengths to which they’d go for someone they love, and about the nature of love and creativity in general. Actors like Samuel L. Jackson, Nicholas Hoult and Ben Chaplin chime in as well. It’s an odd collection of talent, and an unusual piece of film. Read More »
Here’s a little indie starring Adam Scott, J.K. Simmons, and I guess I should continue, Brittany Snow, that a growing number of people are on the lookout for. Entitled The Vicious Kind and executive produced by sometime-gangster Neil LaBute, the film sees the irreverent, dry-witted Scott in a more serious role compared to those in Step Brothers and the addictive Starz series Party Down. (That said, fans of Party Down witnessed a glowing coal rock of dramatic potential during the actor’s debut season.)
The movie recently nabbed two Independent Spirit Awards, one for Best Screenplay, and one for Scott’s performance, placing him—with some surprise—alongside other notable noms/Oscar locks Jeff Bridges and Colin Firth. Find out what Vicious is about and watch Simmons commit attempted murder in the encouraging, amusing, if hipster-hirsute trailer below.
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Screen Gems has released the first trailer for Chris Rock-produced re-imagining of Frank Oz‘s 2007 British comedy Death at a Funeral. Although Oz’s original was well-received by many critics, it didn’t get very much traction with theatergoers, drawing only a niche audience. The new film has a primarily African-American cast and focuses on a funeral that “devolves into a debacle of misplaced cadavers, indecent exposure and family secrets.” Basically, they have decided to remake an English-language film, dumbing down the jokes, in an effort to attract a more black audience (and to clarify: this comment is a statement on Hollywood chooses to treat ticket-buying African-Americans, and not a statement on the intelligence of that audience). It seems completely unnecessary. If you think that sounds horrible, watch the trailer — it’s much worse.
The remake was directed by Neil LaBute (In The Company of Men, The Wicker Man, Lakeview Terrace), was written by Dean Craig (Caffeine), and stars Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Tracy Morgan, Danny Glover, Regina Hall, James Marsden, Zoe Saldana, and Columbus Short. Watch the trailer now embedded after the jump. Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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