Weekly Entertainment News - Guitars101

FH · 03-01-2005, 03:32 AM

Fuqua Helming Gibson in Under and Alone
Source: ComingSoon!

Warner Bros. Pictures is negotiating with Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, King Arthur) to direct Mel Gibson in his next film titled Under and Alone, reports Variety. The project is being prepped by Icon partners Gibson and Bruce Davey.

Written by Ned Zeman and Daniel Barnz, who developed it with Gibson, Under and Alone is based on the true story of Vietnam veteran William Queen. He channeled his Special Forces training into undercover work with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and became a full-fledged member of the San Fernando chapter of the Mongols motorcycle gang.

The movie is expected to shoot this summer. It will mark Gibson's first major role since M. Night Shyamalan's Signs in 2002. Though he had a small role in The Singing Detective, Gibson took time off from acting to direct The Passion of The Christ.

FH · 03-01-2005, 03:35 AM

Russell & Kretschmann Head to Butterfly
Source: ComingSoon!

Former Felicity star Keri Russell will star in Butterfly, a Grimm Love Story, an independent horror feature based on the Internet cannibal movement.

The Hollywood Reporter says Russell will play an American student who is in Germany researching the life of a cannibal killer (played by Thomas Kretschmann) for her graduate thesis. She becomes obsessed with him and plunges into a deeply alienated lifestyle.

The film will be shot in Germany with production beginning this week. It will be directed by Martin Weisz, who is best known for shooting music videos for Korn and Sean Combs.

FH · 03-01-2005, 03:36 AM

Lee and Evans Producing Foreverman
Source: ComingSoon!

Robert Evans and Stan Lee are teaming up to produce Foreverman, a new superhero franchise for Paramount Pictures, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Hellboy writer Peter Briggs has been hired to write the screenplay in collaboration with Lee, who is creating an original superhero, complete with all the trappings of the best-known of Lee's other creations. The character will have the problems of saving the world as well as the problems of dealing with everyday life.

Evans and Lee's POW! Entertainment is producing the feature in tandem with Idiom Films. The partners plan to create a range of ancillary ventures to complement the franchise, which will include comic book material on the superhero and other characters in the story.

FH · 03-01-2005, 03:38 AM

Arquette, Johnston and More Aboard TV Projects
Source: ComingSoon!

David Arquette has been tapped to star in CBS' one-hour pilot The Commuters, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Meanwhile, Marilu Henner is returning to series television. She and up-and-comer Nick D'Agosto are set to star in ABC's comedy pilot Joint Custody.

Also making a return to series are 3rd Rock from the Sun alumna Kristen Johnston, cast in Fox's Don't Ask, and Just Shoot Me's Laura San Giacomo, who will co-star in the WB Network's untitled Liz Tuccillo project.

Other pilot-casting highlights include Bill Bellamy joining Fox's Amy Coyne and Susanna Thompson coming on board NBC's Book of Daniel.

The Commuters, from Paramount Network TV, revolves around the lives of three couples in the New York suburbs whose husbands, one of them played by Arquette, commute to the city. The pilot was written by Dan Bucatinsky, producing partner of Lisa Kudrow, the former Friends co-star of Arquette's wife, Courteney Cox.

Joint Custody centers on a recent college graduate (D'Agosto) who returns home to find his mother (Henner) and father divorced. Shawn Levy is directing the comedy pilot for 20th Century Fox TV.

The comedy Don't Ask, from 20th Century Fox TV and Phase Two Productions, centers on a 13-year-old who struggles to keep his family functioning when his dad leaves his mom (Johnston) for another man.

The untitled Liz Tuccillo one-hour project, from Warner TV and Class IV Productions, revolves around four adult sisters navigating career, romance and relationships in New York. San Giacomo will play one of the sisters.

Amy Coyne, from 20th TV, centers on a young woman who inherits her father's sports agency after he dies.

Book of Daniel, from Sony Pictures TV and NBC Universal TV Studio, centers on an Episcopalian minister (Aidan Quinn) with a prescription drug problem who converses with a hip, modern Jesus. Against strong competition, Thompson landed the role of the minister's wife. Also cast in the drama pilot are Christian Campbell and Alison Pill as the couple's children and Garrett Dillahunt as Jesus.

FH · 03-01-2005, 03:39 AM

Zach Braff Frontrunner for Fletch Won?
Source: ComingSoon!

Writer/director Kevin Smith has hinted on the View Askew message boards that Scrubs star Zach Braff is the top choice for the role of Fletch in Miramax's Fletch Won.

Smith wrote the script for the film which will continue the exploits of the journalist-mystery solving character played in two films by Chevy Chase. Smith promised a close adherence to the distinctive dialogue and plotting that Gregory Mcdonald put into his novel series.

Braff previously wrote, directed, and starred in Garden State.

FH · 03-01-2005, 03:41 AM

Mike Werb on Tekken & Face/Off 2
Source: ComingSoon!

Screenwriter Mike Werb confirmed to Screenwriting Magazine that footballer Brian White is in talks for a lead role in the big screen adaptation of video game Tekken.

"You can't go too far off the map when you're working with a film thats source material is a computer game. The idea here is to make a realistic movie out of an unrealistic stencil," says White. "You get guys like White, and whoever else, and suddenly you've got people that look like they belong in the world...What we hope to do with 'Tekken' is to entertain both those who have played the game,and those that haven't - there's got to be more than effects and skirmishes on screen to hold an audience".

Werb has also had talks with director John Woo about writing a follow-up to 1997's hit action-thriller Face/Off, which starred John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. "Initially, it was just a similiar idea, then we decided we might as well make it a sequel, not a direct sequel, but a sequel all the same. Imagine two females in the Nic and John roles and we're bound for a good time". Werb said he's already suggested Angelina Jolie, as "There's no going past her".

Werb added that he has written a scriptment for a new version of Double Dragon as well.