Paul Weitz is scripting and directing an adaptation of the Nick Flynn memoir Another Bullshit Night in Suck City and he has a hell of a cast assembled: Paul Dano plays Nick Flynn, who runs into his down and out father (Robert De Niro) while working at a Boston homeless shelter. Olivia Thirlby plays the romantic interest who gets Flynn the job at the shelter, and Julianne Moore is now onboard as well.
The info comes from a casting call looking for a stand-in for Julianne Moore, so we don’t have any official info on her role at this point, but something is likely to be out soon as the film starts shooting next week in New York City. (Edit: Deadline confirms the casting, but only says she has a ‘small role.’) The film is currently working under the shortened title Another Night in Suck City, but even that seems likely to change. [OnLocationVacations]
After the break, Catherine Zeta-Jones steps into the gambling film Lay the Favorite, and Sienna Miller is Just Like a Woman. Read More »
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Training Day and Harsh Times writer David Ayer is putting together his next film: a cop drama called End of Watch that he’ll write and direct. Jake Gyllenhaal is now in negotiations to star. Variety says the film is “a gritty drama that follows the friendship between longtime partners.” David Ayer is also tapped to write the remake of the Arnold Schwarzenegger action film Commando, but we haven’t heard much about the progress of that film in some time.
After the break, Olivia Thirlby joins the long-gestating memoir adaptation Another Night in Suck City and Dermot Mulroney and Mira Sorvino find Trade of Innocents. Read More »
“We’re not lost, we’re just finding our way.”
I’ve heard nothing but good things about Kelly Reichardt‘s Oregon Trail western Meek’s Cutoff, which premiered at Venice last year and has gone on to do well at other festivals. Michelle Williams stars as one member of a multi-family wagon train that is led into the wilderness by co-called frontier expert Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood). Check out the trailer for the film after the break. Read More »
Little Miss Sunshine became a rare indie to mainstream crossover hit, and directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris haven’t made another feature film since. Now they’re set to finally move forward on another picture, called He Loves Me. And the movie is shaping up to be a full-fledged LMS reunion. Read More »
While the Captain America and Super 8 trailers seemed to be the big winners yesterday at the Superbowl, the new spot for Jon Favreau‘s Cowboys & Aliens did pretty well. It went further than the first teaser by showing us some more effects and action, including some daylight shots of the alien ships. (Even as it avoided the aliens altogether — expect that trend to continue.)
Part of the intent of the spot was to manage public perception of the film’s tone, as the title still seems to be leading people to the wrong conclusions. (That is, that the film is a comedy, or intentionally camp.) That was something that the filmmakers and Universal have known all along that they’d have to deal with, but it now seems like getting people to know what the tone of the film is will be the main hurdle to leap before the film opens on July 29. Jon Favreau talks about that exact subject, after the break. Read More »
For some time now, Paul Weitz has been attached to direct Another Night in Suck City, based on Nick Flynn‘s 2004 memoir Another Bullshit Night in Suck City. The last time we heard about the film was a year ago, when a report about Robert De Niro casually mentioned that he was attached to a role in the film. It’s been quiet on the Suck City front since then, but now Paul Dano is reportedly attached, too, for the role once meant for Casey Affleck. Read More »
Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine, There Will Be Blood, Cowboys & Aliens) is in talks to join Brick director Rian Johnson‘s sci-fi thriller Looper, reports Variety. Dano will join Joseph Gordon Levitt (500 Days of Summer, Inception), Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada, The Wolfman).
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The moment where I start to wonder if Cowboys & Aliens might just work isn’t when I’m standing just to the edge of set and Harrison Ford strolls by all dirty, bloody and decked out in period garb. The actor cuts an impressive figure as a beat-down cowboy, but anyone could have predicted that. The convincing moment was a bit later when, during close-up takes for the large scene we saw being filmed, he ad-libbed jokes before and after ‘cut’ was called, coming to life as the impish, smart Harrison Ford we always hope to see on screen. Its a man who enjoys acting and has a lot of life left in him. He might have been acting for us, the visitors, as well as for the camera — I’d bet on it — but to a certain degree it doesn’t matter.
Other moments presented themselves as well. I can’t tell you about the scene we saw being filmed. It’s a big one, and I understand why Universal doesn’t want a description floating around. It’s not from the comics because, well, very little of the film is really from the comics. This is very much an ‘inspired by’ scenario. While early stories about the film pegged it as an adaptation of the comic book version of the story, director Jon Favreau insists that this is a unique take on the idea of a Western territory besieged by aliens, and with new characters to go along with it.
So what can I tell you? Quite a bit, actually. I’ll be posting extensive interview transcripts over the next couple days, but in the meantime hit the jump for a more detailed look at Cowboys & Aliens. Read More »
