what's tasty and new in show business. [beta]
The Tourist is once again shuffling its dance card. Originally set with Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day’s Bharat Nalluri to direct and Tom Cruise and Charlize Theron to star, the film then changed to a Sam Worthington and Angelina Jolie vehicle directed by The Lives of Other’s Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.
Now, it looks like both the director and Worthington have dropped out due to the ol’ “creative differences” play. Who could possibly fill those not inconsiderable shoes? Well, according to Variety’s BFDealMemo, Johnny Depp is in talks to step in for the departed Avatar star and among the directorS (emphasis on S) that are circling the project is none other than Alfonso Cuaron. As passively interested as I had become about this remake to the 2005 French thriller Anthony Zimmer, I’m suddenly extremely intrigued by a possible Cuaron project with Depp and Jolie playing the leads. I mean, c’mon! Who doesn’t want to see two stars of that caliber collide in an action thriller from the guy who gave us Children of fucking Men?
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Ready for more portion-controlled goodness in this week’s Quick Hits & Snack Bits? Read on to find out who will be directing Monster Squad and The Tourist; casting news for Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum, and Gerard Butler; new projects for Billy Ray and Cary Fukunaga; updates on Ghost in the Shell; a helluva early-developing rumor involving Leonardo DiCaprio, plus a whole bunch more!
First up is Monster Squad, the long-in-gestation supernatural comedy that is NOT a remake of the much beloved 1987 film from Fred Dekker and Shane Black. This one’s brand new, and if you’re wondering what it’s about, so are we. Brian Lynch first wrote the spec about an international coalition of kids who battle monsters under the bed (then titled Nightcrawlers), but Michael Arndt later retooled it to feature a neurotic father who had to face childhood demons. Brian Copeland has written the latest draft, but the new logline is being kept under wraps. One thing we do know is that Shrek Forever After director Mike Mitchell has been tapped as the new director. [via Variety]
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There’s been a lot going on this week in the QH&SB realm of news! A few current projects undergo some changes, and a host of new projects get underway.
First up is James Mangold’s Wichita, starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. The film has changed it’s rather ambiguous title to the still pretty ho-hum Knight & Day. Peter Sarsgaard, Viola Davis, Olivier Martinez, Paul Dano, Maggie Grace and Mark Blucas also co-star. [via Variety]
The Tourist, which was set to star Cruise at one point, has shuffled its female lead. Charlize Theron has vacated the role and Angelina Jolie has stepped in. Sam Worthington has already been announced as the lead. [via THR's Risky Biz Blog]
If you’ve ever wondered why we haven’t seen a sequel for Independence Day yet, Latino Review got a chance to speak with director Roland Emmerich about it. Hit the jump to find out what he had to say, and what Will Smith has to do with all of it.
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