It looks like Russell Crowe might be adding another line to his renaissance man-like resume. Deadline reports that the Oscar-winning actor is toying around with the idea of making his directorial debut with 77 -- a film idea that not only sounds dynamite, but would re-team Crowe with the work of James Ellroy.
The long, strange trip that is casting The Three Stooges took another turn late Monday: Chris Diamantopoulos has emerged as the top choice to play Moe in the film for directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly. If signed, Diamantopoulos -- last seen being a jerk on the final season of 24 and playing Frank Sinatra in The Kennedys -- would join Will Sasso and Sean Hayes in the slapstick-y cast. [Deadline]
Over a dozen new photos from Woody Allen's summer comedy A Midnight in Paris have surfaced today and most of them feature a despondent Owen Wilson exploring his inner sadness in the City of Light. So gather your friends, click through to view Movieline's compilation of of the star's European melancholy and decide whether "Owen Wilson Sad in Paris" is the hottest new Internet meme of the summer!
Mark one in the "WTF" column in the annals of random movie marketing ideas. In addition to McDonalds, candy, toy, and video game tie ins, the animated sequel Kung Fu Panda 2 will also team up with House Foods America to package 8 million units of tofu with the image of series hero Po, the rotund martial arts-practicing panda voiced by Jack Black.
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 hits theaters November 18, but it appears we're getting all the good stuff right now. Thanks to honeymoon reshoots in the Caribbean, scandalous photos of R-Pattz and K-Stew swimming in W-Ater have just hit the internet. The skimpy suits and dark sea remind me of Jennifer Lopez's old "Waiting for Tonight" video! Ay, yiy, yiy! Tender words I say! Take my breath away!
Whether you're going with a date or a bunch of bros, The Hangover Part II is sure to be one of the biggest films of the summer. It goes to reason then that one of its many stars would travel to Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center to host Saturday Night Live during the promotional tour. Just which star will be forced to do an awkward monologue? (Hint: Not the monkey.)
Frightening news: Ryan Phillippe, who I sincerely enjoyed in Gosford Park and ironically adored in Cruel Intentions, 54, I Know What You Did Last Summer, may be quitting acting. I'm not making this up. I Know What He's Threatening This Spring. And it's terrifying.
Back in 1990, Stephen Rebello, writing for Movieline, wondered if this Johnny Depp kid would manage to transcend the teenybopper stardom of his hit undercover cop show and make it as a bona fide movie star. Over two decades later, Depp is one of the biggest stars on the planet -- and, according to reports, will return to the property that started it all. That's right, folks: The 21 Jump Street movie is getting a visit from the original Officer Tom Hanson!
Your Monday morning is about to get a little better. 3-D technology company MasterImage 3D is in final negotiations with several luxury car makers to put glasses-free 3-D screens in their automobiles. This means that you and your passengers will not have to juggle sunglasses, 3-D glasses and you know, vehicular caution on your way to the supermarket. MasterImage is also in discussions with airlines to put their glasses-free 3-D screens in aircrafts sometime within the next three years. [THR]
The last thing I look for in a summer blockbuster is a standout performance. By law, thespian prowess takes a backseat when CGI spectacle and slapstick humor enter the fore. But this summer, we're keeping an eye out for ten performances to defy the odds, mark breakout roles for their respective actors, and even validate an entire movie's existence. Hopefully, these ten performances will add critical depth to a season traditionally devoid of actorly gravitas.
· Didn't get enough of watching Vera Farmiga supervise one of Hollywood's brightest leading men in Source Code? Then Safe House could be for you! Deadline reports that Farmiga was just added to the cast as a CIA operative in-charge of Ryan Reynolds' young agent. Denzel Washington stars as the "dangerous criminal" Reynolds' character must help shepherd to safety when their safe house comes under attack. Fun! Click ahead for more Buzz Break.
On Saturday, Robert De Niro sat down with NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams for a sprawling conversation at this year's Tribeca Film Festival which covered everything from an upcoming collaboration with Martin Scorsese to De Niro's annoyance with Republican "birthers" like Donald Trump who are questioning President Obama's birth certificate. "I won't mention names, but certain people in the news the last couple weeks, just, what are they doing?" De Niro said. "Go get the facts before you start saying things about people." Just two days later, Trump has responded.
One of my least-favorite tasks is writing about movies I haven't seen yet: It means reviewing advertising and hype, which is hardly the same as reviewing an actual movie. Even so, I'm as susceptible as anyone to the siren song of the summer-movie trailer. Based on those seductive wisps of promise, these are the pictures I have the highest hopes for:
Summer already? Believe it. The dawn of the 2011 blockbuster season looms as early as this Friday's Fast Five, which gives way to a nearly four-month slate of superhero flicks, top-shelf comedies, breakthrough performances, huge gambles, and untold sleeper hits in the making. This calls for a full-scale preview -- Movieline-style.
Mondays usually suck for everyone, but things are different on this particular Monday for Joss Whedon. That's because he's beginning production on The Avengers. "[Today] we start shooting (I THINK I'm legally permitted to say that)," Whedon wrote on his blog. "That's right. We'll be shooting the pivotal death/betrayal/product placement/setting up the sequel/coming out scene, at the following address: [Marvel Lawyers rush in, take Joss's keyboard, blowtorch a picture of his family like in 'Stormy Monday', drink his milkshake, leave the seat up, fluff his pillows, violently unfluff his pillows, leave]." So far, so good! [Whedonesque]
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