It looks like The King's Speech won't be the only Weinstein Company film headed to Broadway in the near future. The New York Post reports that Harvey and Bob Weinstein are planning to "mine the Miramax and Weinstein Co. vaults for material for eight to 10 projects." Already on deck is Finding Neverland, with Chocolat and perhaps Cinema Paradiso on the way. Maybe this could be a way for the notoriously sequel-averse Harvey Weinstein to continue Rounders? "Pay That Man His Money" could be a show-stopper! [NYP]
Today's entry in the annals of Hollywood dilettantism can be found on the back lot at Universal, where recently retired NBA legend and erstwhile rapping genie Shaquille O'Neal has taken up... film school.
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Following his appearance at the Academy Awards back in February, Billy Crystal said that "got a little itchy" to host the ceremonies again. "We'll see what happens," the eight-time Oscars MC said during a 20th anniversary screening of City Slickers in Los Angeles over the weekend. "I can't promise anything." Ain't that the truth! Reached for comment by Deadline about Crystal's possible Oscars return, producer Brett Ratner seemed rather unmoved. "I didn't see what Billy said. I'm really focused on finishing my film Tower Heist right now. I was told by the Academy that I don't have to make a decision until mid-September." Good job getting that plug in, Brett! [Deadline]
Illustrator/writer Lisa Hanawalt saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes over the weekend, and came away feeling a bit overwhelmed. "If there's one thing I've learned from this movie, it's that apes are CONSTANTLY jumping through glass windows. The shattering glass must feel good on their fur?" [The Hairpin]
That awesome Bring It On musical about to hit Los Angeles for a preview run? It might not happen -- at least if the film's original screenwriter Jessica Bendinger has any say. Bendinger, through the Writers Guild of America, has filed a claim that states Bring It On: The Musical production company Beacon Communications Corp. is exploiting Bendinger's rights without her consent. Said the screenwriter, who has been left out in the cold like a Clover from the home video Bring It On sequels as well: "Imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery. Compensation is." Beacon's counsel says the claim is without merit. [THR/Hollywood, Esq.]
Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, 12 Rounds) is not the first director -- or the second or third or heck, the 20th -- you'd expect to direct a serious movie about a recent political conflict that resulted in numerous human rights violations, civilian deaths, and tenuous relations between Russia and neighboring Georgia. But that's just what the genre veteran did in the Aug. 19 pic 5 Days of War, telling The New York Times he "wanted to shift to films that he said would 'allow me to look at myself in the mirror' in the morning." Congrats, Renny! You're that much closer to making up for Cutthroat Island. [NYT]
Less than a month after a bizarre incident in which The Amazing Spider-Man actor Rhys Ifans was cited for a backstage altercation at Comic-Con, the city of San Diego has declined to press charges: "After reviewing differing witness accounts, our prosecutors concluded there was not sufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt," a rep for the Attorney's Office told E! News, leaving Ifans free to pester his true nemesis: Spidey! [E! Online]
Just a quick heads-up for our distinguished readers in New York: I'll be at the Apple Store SoHo tonight with Jesse Eisenberg discussing his new comedy 30 Minutes or Less. It's out today! You should see it! It will no doubt form the basis of a range of stimulating questions for the actor, though I can think of a certain David Fincher project and/or upcoming Woody Allen film that might come up as well. You never know.
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Here's some big casting news to spice up this particularly slow news day: Julie Christie, Susan Sarandon and Richard Jenkins will star in The Company You Keep, the drama which Robert Redford will direct and star in alongside Shia LaBeouf, Nick Nolte and Brit Marling. The film is being adapted from Neil Gordon's novel about "an ex-Weather Underground militant wanted by the FBI for 30 years, who must go on the run when his true identity is exposed by a young, ambitious reporter." Production begins in Vancouver next month. [Deadline]
Colton Harris-Moore -- a teen who spent two years stealing airplanes, boats and cars, evading authorities, and burglarizing homes -- is picking up $1.4 million in restitution money to be paid to his victims from Fox for the rights to his story (though he'll only collect if Fox exercises its options). Known as the 'Barefoot Bandit" because he once committed a crime without shoes, the convicted Harris-Moore is in jail awaiting trial for an October sentencing which could land him 10 years in jail. The Oscar-winning scribe Dustin Lance Black was hired to write the picture. May I suggest a title? Barefoot in the Clink? [Deadline]
"The first woman I ran into, one of the PAs, I think, said, 'You can't take pictures here.' It was on the sidewalk and I said, 'I know my rights; I'm on a public sidewalk,'" paparazzo Jared Wickerham told Moviefone about the process behind the now-famous photos he snapped on the set of The Dark Knight Rises. "So she went up to one of the security guards and came back and just decided to stand in front of me. Since I shoot sports, I had a nice, long lens, so I just took a few steps back and shot around her." [Moviefone]
Almost all of the original American Pie gang is back for American Reunion -- even MILF Guy Number 2 himself, John Cho -- but producer Craig Perry admits it took a while for some of the cast to get over what the series had become: "As much as you say that the people maybe wanted to put that behind them, age and distance have made them realize that it's their legacy, and you can either disavow it or embrace it and be happy," he tells Box Office Magazine. However, Perry promises, Stifler will be more of a human being this time around. Wait a minute -- Stifler, the buffoon who ingests all manner of disgusting crap accidentally for our entertainment, a fully-fleshed out character? What fun is that? [Box Office Magazine]
TMZ reports that Kiowa Gordon, the 21-year-old actor who plays Quileute tribe member (and Jacob BFF) Embry Call in New Moon, Eclipse, and the Breaking Dawn chapters of the Twilight Saga, has been arrested in Tempe, Ariz., "for an active warrant stemming from a drug paraphernalia possession arrest in 2010" when he was busted for having a marijuana pipe and drinking a Four Loko while underage. Tsk, tsk young shapeshifter! The Wolf Pack (and fellow Mormon Stephenie Meyer, who recruited Gordon to the franchise from her own church group) should be none too pleased... [TMZ]
Today in iconic filmmakers backhanding other iconic filmmakers, this quote from Orson Welles about Jean-Luc Godard: "His gifts as a director are enormous. I just can't take him very seriously as a thinker -- and that's where we seem to differ, because he does. His message is what he cares about these days, and, like most movie messages, it could be written on the head of a pin." Burn. To be fair, Welles was a lot nicer than David Cronenberg was about M. Night Shyamalan. "I HATE that guy!" Flavorwire has 28 other directors-hating-directors quotes for you to enjoy. [Flavorwire]
Your 2012 Christmas week movie schedule just got a little more crowded. Paramount has set Dec. 21, 2012 as the release date for Marc Forster's adaptation of the zombie infestation novel World War Z. That means star and producer Brad Pitt will be battling Lone Ranger, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Life of Pi and Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained at the December box office. Good luck to all. [Deadline]
