Here’s the latest update on some of the smaller stories coming out of Hollywood…
Steven Soderbergh is certainly lining up stars thick and fast for Contagion. Only a couple of weeks ago there were no actors attached, and now we’ve got Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow, with the latest reports saying that Morpheus himself, Laurence Fishburne, has joined the throng. Well, at least it’ll give him some time off from being gloomy in CSI. The film itself is described as following multiple plotlines, in the style of Soderbergh’s Traffic, detailing what happens after the outbreak of a deadly disease, with the action spread across four continents. The movie also now has its budget secured, with Warner signing on to make it. (Source: The Playlist)
When it was announced that the Spider-man reboot would take Peter Parker back to high school and make him more angsty, many supposed that it would largely be based on Brian Bendis’ reinvention of the comic book character in Ultimate Spider-man. Now it appears Sony and director Marc Webb may be consulting with the comic writer about the new film. While a few days ago Bendis tweeted that “i work as a consultant on the marvel movies. this is a sony movie. i have no involvement. but maybe if you all scream loud enough :)”, yesterday he said “Just spent a very interesting morning at Sony with the entire spidey movie team!! Very very cool stuff!!” While that’s not exactly a lot of info, it does seem Bendis is now involved, and gives credence to the idea that it is the Ultimate Spider-man direction that Sony is taking the films. (Source: Twitter)
WWE still seems keen to make movies, but while their previous efforts have been farcical action and horror pics designed as vehicles for their wrestlers’ limited acting talents, Big Red is a bit different. It’s a drama about a 12-year-old called Andy. who’s teamed up with his school’s biggest outcast, ‘Big Red’, on a project. However, when Andy sees Red confront a school bully, events are set in motion that change the course of their lives. Now it’s been announced that Ed Harris, Amy Madigan and WWE stars Rady Orton have signed on to star in the film, with Harris as the English teach who pairs the boys up, Madigan as the school’s Principal and Orton as the father of the bully, who wants Harris’ character fired. Filming is due to begin next week. (Source: Variety)
Universal has picked up a pitch from writer Rodney Rothman called The Something, paying in the mid-six figure range for it. Although the idea is being kept under wraps, it’s descibed as an ensemble comedy/horror hybrid set in deep space, with a tone similar to Zombieland. The sale will give hope to writers who’ve been hit massively by Hollywood reining in spending on scripts that don’t come with a director and/or talent attached, or which aren’t based on a known property. However it’s not like Rothman is just a hick from the sticks, as he was the youngest head writer ever on The Late Show With David Letterman, which means he’s well known and well placed to make a sale. (Source: Variety)
Julian McMahon will star in Faces In The Crowd, opposite Milla Jovovich. The movie is about a woman (Jovovich) who witnesses a murder but then falls off a bridge and wakes up with ‘face blindness’, meaning she can’t recognise anybody (which is a real medical condition, and isn’t a form of amnesia, as sufferers can never learn to recognise people normally again). McMahon will play a policeman who eventually becomes Jovovich’s love interest. (Source: Variety)