Posted on Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 by Angie Han
As Salt director Phillip Noyce weighs the options for his next move, one long-gestating project has begun to pick up steam. Late last year, Noyce took over the helm of My Wild Life (formerly titled Our Wild Life), a drama based the real-life story of Kenyan elephant conservationist Daphne Sheldrick, and Nicole Kidman began circling the lead role this past spring. As Noyce and Kidman got busy with other things, however, My Wild Life seemed to fall by the wayside.
But Kidman is now officially attached to star, and with Mandalay Pictures working on getting the rights from New Line, the biopic could be hitting theaters during next year’s holiday season. More details after the jump.
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Posted on Tuesday, October 25th, 2011 by Angie Han
Since directing last year’s Salt, Phillip Noyce has been considering a number of different projects for his next move. There was the submarine drama Hunter Killer, which eventually went to Antoine Fuqua; the conservationist biopic Our Wild Life; the remake of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Bloodsport; and the sci-fi romance Timeless, which just cast Liam Hemsworth in the lead. Now he’s attached to one more. Noyce has signed on to helm The Arrangement, a Mandate Pictures thriller by Brian Tucker (Broken City) which is basically Indecent Proposal with more racial subtext. Hit the jump for more details.
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Posted on Friday, October 14th, 2011 by Angie Han
Dave Franco has become the latest addition to Summit’s magician heist film Now You See Me, boarding a very promising cast that already includes Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Melanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman, Isla Fisher, and Woody Harrelson. Franco is probably still best known for being the younger brother of Oscar nominee/host James Franco, but he’s become a rising star in his own right, with his recent turn in Fright Night and his upcoming appearances in 21 Jump Street and the zombie romance Warm Bodies.
Louis Leterrier is directing the film from a script by Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt. The film follows a group of illusionists called the Four Horsemen, who pull off bank heists during their stage shows and then shower their oblivious audiences with the stolen cash. Franco will play one of the Four Horsemen, joining Eisenberg, who plays the team’s arrogant leader. [Deadline]
After the jump, Thor’s kid brother books yet another new role.
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Posted on Wednesday, May 4th, 2011 by Angie Han
Late last year, Salt director Phillip Noyce became the latest director to sign on for Our Wild Life, based on the story of Kenyan elephant conservationist Daphne Sheldrick. (Whose work was recently documented in the IMAX film Born To Be Wild.) The project had already racked up a pretty troubled history by this point — Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook) was originally attached to direct, but left on bad terms. He eventually sued New Line for not letting him direct from his own rewrite of Jeff Stockwell’s original script. Since then, The Motorcycle Diaries director Walter Salles has picked up and dropped the project, and Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet, Charlize Theron, and Drew Barrymore have each been reported or rumored to star at some point.
Now, a new story suggests that Nicole Kidman may be the latest actress to attempt to get the project up and running — but her involvement is nowhere near certain. Kidman is said to have “read and liked the script,” which is certainly not the same thing as “signing on to the project.” Indeed, her rep at CAA has said that she is not officially attached to Our Wild Life at this point. Still, it’s possible we’ll be hearing about more solid negotiations sometime in the near future.
Then again, maybe we won’t. As The Playlist points out, scheduling conflicts may ultimately prevent Kidman from coming on board, no matter how much she loved the script. Our Wild Life is reportedly aiming to begin shooting in September, but Kidman has already committed to starring opposite James Franco in Sweet Bird of Youth on Broadway this fall. We’ll keep you updated as Kidman’s involvement, or lack thereof, becomes clearer. [The Wrap via The Playlist]
After the jump, an actress you’ve probably seen but don’t know by name snags not one, not two, but three new roles.
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What is Page 2? Page 2 is a compilation of stories and news tidbits, which for whatever reason, didn’t make the front page of /Film. After the jump we’ve included 36 different items, fun images, videos, casting tidbits, articles of interest and more. It’s like a mystery grab bag of movie web related goodness. If you have any interesting items that we might’ve missed that you think should go in /Film’s Page 2 – email us!
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Briefly: Reported earlier this week by Moviehole, we’ve now got official word via press release that Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games, Salt) will direct a Black Hawk Down-style film called Hunter Killer. The source material is a novel called Firing Point by Don Keith and George Wallace. Read More »
Briefly: The creative teams behind Enchanted and Salt are coming together in an unlikely sci-fi pairing. Enchanted scripter Bill Kelly has penned a spec script called Timeless, which Salt director Phillip Noyce is working on a deal to direct. The connective tissue between them is Sunil Perkash, who produced both Enchanted and Salt, and would produce Timeless as well.
Deadline positions the time-travel script as a sort of sci-fi romance: “A recently wed man loses his wife and discovers after the fact she has left him a fortune. Haunted by an unresolved issue between himself and his wife, the man invests the money to build a time travel device, just to see her one last time.”
No cast is attached at this point. Angelina Jolie is not a part of the film — I’ve merely used a photo of Mr. Noyce on the set of Salt as illustration.
Do you want a sequel to Salt? Opinion on the film is decidedly mixed, but without (it seems) a lot of middle ground. I’ve talked to people who like the movie a lot, and dislike it a lot, which might be good enough response to earn a sequel. The film has earned $166m worldwide so far — not a huge return on the $110m production budget, but it’s an Angelina Jolie movie. There’s still money to be made there.
The LA Times says that writer Kurt Wimmer has a sequel idea and that director Phillip Noyce is reportedly interested in a return, as is Angelina Jolie. But the talk seems pretty speculative. Jolie has possible films (Maleficent, the nascent Kay Scarpetta series) and Noyce has possibles like Wenceslas Square and Dirt Music, but nothing firmed up. So if Sony decides it really wants things to be Saltier, then don’t be surprised to see all involved take the easy plunge.
After the break, more theoretical sequel talk as Michael Jai White drops a little Black Dynamite 2 dirt. Read More »
