So we can cover as many films as possible, we thought we’d give you these quick updates on some of today’s smaller film announcements…
Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer have reportedly signed up to star in the new movie from Thumbsucker director, Mike Mills. The film will be called Beginners, although at the moment there’s no news on what the movie will be about. The film will start shooting next month in LA, and will presumably show off Mills’ quirky style. (Source: Production Weekly)
Postman Pat is apparently getting a movie! The stop-motion children’s TV star is being lined up for a film in which he discovers he has an incredible singing voice and wins a Britain’s Got Talent-style talent show, becoming the talk of the nation in the process. Jess the Cat will also have problems to deal with, when he comes up against a rival animal. It all sounds a bit random to us, but as the series has been popular all around the world since it first debuted in 1981, and has seen renewed success with recent TV revivals, it seems some people think he’s a good bet for a movie. The film will still be made using stop-motion animation, but with aded CGI and 3D effects. (Source: The Guardian)
Nightmare Before Christmas director, Henry Selick, has left Laika, the animation company he helped establish and through which he made Coraline. The apparent reason is that his contract was up and he’d had difficulty finding a new project for him to tackle through Laika and wasn’t happy heading up their feature department. (Source: Variety)
Rapper RZA has been added to the cast of Due Date, the new Robert Downey Jr. road-trip comedy, which is due to be directed by Hangover helmer, Todd Phillips. Downey Jr. plays a man trying to get home before his baby is born, who becomes the unwilling travelling companion of Zach Galifianakis. Jamie Foxx and Michelle Monagham have previously been anounced for the film, and now RZA has been added, although there’s no news on what role he’ll be playing. (Source: Variety)
Disney has bought the family fantasy pitch, Reel To Real, from Eric Saiet and Andrea Maywhort-Scully. The story is said to centre around a magical film projector, although few more details on the story are available. Saiet and Scully are both new to the screenwriting trade, although Saiet had previously been an actor, appearing in the likes of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. (Source: THR)
Last year Taxi Driver writer Paul Schrader said he was abandoning Hollywood, and now it’s emerged that he’s heading to Bollywood. The writer/director’s latest project will be a bi-lingual collaboration with Indian screenwriter, Mushtaq Shiekh. They’ve been working on a movie called Xtreme City, about a U.S. ranger who joins forces with an Indian commando to rescue the ranger’s sister-in-law, who’s been kidnapped by a crime lord in Mumbai’s underworld. The producers hope to get well-known actors from both Hollywood and Bollywood to appear in the movie, with filming set to begin next year. (Source: Variety)