The Movieline Interview
Kieran and Michele Mulroney are no stranger to massive blockbusters — they contributed production rewrites to Mr. and Mrs. Smith and wrote the draft that rocketed George Miller’s DC superheroes collection Justice League to just short of a shooting date — so it may come as some surprise to find that the key to their big-studio success was their Sundance Labs background. Five years ago, their script Paper Man won them entree into both the Labs and Hollywood’s top rewrite lists, and this past month, the Mulroneys finally saw their finished Paper Man premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival. We talked to them about how exactly the Park City experience can lead to putting words in Superman’s mouth.
Week in Review
As you approach the 233rd anniversary of our bold nation’s independence, pause for a moment and reflect on the things that make it great. And if you need help, look no further than Movieline’s handy Week in Review, as trenchant a glimpse into the agony, ecstasy and honor of American life as you’re likely to find anywhere. At least until next week.
The Last Word
· Microsoft’s most nauseating ad since the Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates Shoe-Shopping Experience and the Songsmith commercial has mysteriously been pulled — wonder why? [via TheAwl]
Comments of the Week
Congratulations to our five best commenters of the week, but watch your back: Your aging diva friends will no doubt come out of the woodwork with some damaging quotes about you. “He needed a beard!” Phylicia Rashad will claim. “Her autopsy is gonna prove one thing: She was a looney-tunes pill popper!” Elaine Stritch will crow. Still, we suppose the only bad publicity is no publicity.
So who are our winners?
Introductions
In time for July 4th, we bring you a real American hero: Guadalupe Zambrano, the domain squatter who owns thejaylenoshow.com, which currently brings you to a real estate sales page.
Casting Notices
When you heard today that Universal had beat four other studios in an intense bidding war to make a film from the arcade game Asteroids, we know what you were thinking: “What?” “No really, what?” and “Couldn’t they just have made a space movie with asteroids in it and avoided a whole bidding war, if they wanted an asteroids movie so bad?” Well! The answers to your questions, insolent one, are “Asteroids, that’s what,” “No really, Asteroids,” and “They couldn’t have, because the arcade game provides such excellent parts for actors.” Don’t believe us? Check out our casting suggestions, and leave a few of your own:
michael jackson
Hey — you know what would be really bittersweet and slightly macabre? If there were some way to watch Michael Jackson putting on the comeback performance of a lifetime 48 hours before his death, only it’s a dress rehearsal, so instead of cheering throngs, you just hear a stage manager going “hold for applause…hold for applause.” What’s that you say? There is?
When Star Trek came out earlier this year, Winona Ryder’s elevated press profile brought with it a fresh new wave of chatter about a potential sequel to Heathers. “Whatever you hear, there is a sequel in the works. I swear to God,” Ryder told Empire. “But for some reason the writer Dan Waters and director Michael Lehmann don’t want to talk about it.”
However, when we interviewed Lehmann about the Sundance Labs, he was entirely willing to talk about it, even though his prognosis was one Ryder might not be happy to hear. Read on for Lehmann’s thoughts on the matter:
WHAT'S ON
Of all the shows on network television, NBC’s The Listener might have the most interesting title. Other shows have punny titles (The Biggest Loser) or names that suggest sexy things (Private Practice, Big Brother), but there is nothing deep or ironic about The Listener. It’s a guy who listens to stuff and then helps people. If this show succeeds, don’t be surprised when it spins-off The Hearer.
The Movieline Nine
Movieline wants to wish everyone a very Happy Fourth of July Weekend. We’ll not be posting tomorrow — save for Part 5 of our Sundance Labs series — but will be back on Monday … with a very special surprise! (No hints, sorry.) In the meantime, we thought we’d celebrate America’s birthday with something of a listy standby: a round-up of terrible, weird, and generally noteworthy performances of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” We’ve eliminated some of the clichés from the regular rotation of greatest patriotic, ear-raping hits (sorry, Roseanne), and thrown in a couple of curveballs.
As the director of the seminal high school film Heathers, Michael Lehmann knows a thing or two about navigating a world filled with peer pressure and backstabbing -- just the attributes that make him the perfect creative adviser to talk...
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Editor
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After putting in his time in a series of studio comedies early this decade like Road Trip and 40 Days, 40 Nights, Paulo Costanzo found his indie groove, lending his wry presence to the Douglas Coupland-scripted Everything's Gone Green and...
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