Steven Spielberg to Explore the Intricacies of Man/Rabbit Relations with Harvey

spielberg_ink.jpg

· Steven Spielberg and 20th Century Fox had nothing better going on over the weekend than to finalize their deal on a remake of Harvey, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play and classic Jimmy Stewart film from 1950 about Elwood P. Dowd and the six-foot invisible rabbit who changes his life. DreamWorks will co-finance with Fox; Spielberg will tackle the project after completing his current Tintin film. I presume Spielberg vet Tom Hanks is a favorite for the lead, and the motion-capture CGI title character will no doubt set an imposing standard for all humanoid movie bunnies to come. And you know what? Mel Gibson and his $10 beaver puppet will still crush them. [Variety]

Will Ferrell leaves the Neighborhood, Denzel Washington is like a good neighbor, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.

· Across the Fox lot, Will Ferrell and Wedding Crashers director David Dobkin are likely goners from Neighborhood Watch, a comedy about a new suburbanite who discovers an alien plot after joining his community's watch group. Troubling news, but the studio has options; for starters, just think of the cash it could save by consolidating it with Ridley Scott's planned Alien prequel. Who's in? [THR]

· Prepare to be uplifted (and have your TiVo fooled): State Farm Insurance has managed to recruit Denzel Washington, Katherine Heigl, Cameron Diaz and others as shills for its branded "Being There" profiles on Entertainment Tonight. [THR]

· The bitter contract stand-off between Fox TV and the voice cast of Futurama was looking increasingly irreconcilable before the weekend, when John DiMaggio, Billy West, Katey Sagal and the rest finally dropped their per-episode salary requests by nearly half and settled on a deal that will return the series to Comedy Central by mid-2010. [Variety]

· Tom Arnold has been enlisted to create and possibly star in a new series for NBC Universal. That is all. [Variety]



Comments

  • The Pope says:

    Once upon a time, Spielberg made one type of picture; a studio picture. That those pictures were the ones he wanted to make was a fortuitous coincidence for the studios. But then he wanted to make other pictures, so they struck the familiar deal: "one for you, one for me."
    But now, it appears he has entered a new realm: "one while I'm waiting." How much longer before we get to see "Lincoln"?

  • Furious D says:

    1. Harvey will probably star Shia Labeouf as Elwood, and Tom Hanks as Harvey, for a $25 million paycheck.
    2. I think that's a brilliant idea. It could be as big as Aliens in the Attic.
    3. Like a good neighbour who steals your People mag from the mailbox and leaves the ads behind, State Farm is there.
    4. Gee, Fox having something associated with aliens that hasn't crashed and burned, yet.
    5. That's the lowest point you can reach in entertainment today. And I mean that for poor Tom Arnold.