Here’s the smaller stories coming out of Hollwood over the last 24 hours…
You might think Keanu Reeves saying he’s up for Bill & Ted 3 would warrant a major news story, but the fact is, he’s probably just joking. While on the Oscar red carpet, MTV asked him if we’d be seeing a Bill & Ted follow-up anytime soon, to which he replied, “I’m trying, I’m trying.” Then, when asked whether he’s was joking, “I’m not,” Reeves said. “We’ll see.” However if you watch the video of the incident, it seems clear he’s just playing along and would prefer not to have to do red carpet interviews at all. However, there is a chance he’s telling the truth (click below and judge for yourself), but we’d need more than this to convince us. (Source: MTV)
Jack & Diane has been in development for over four years, coming close to going into production several times, but never quite making it. However with the success of Twilight, there’s been new momentum behind the project, most recently with Alison Pill (who was replacing Ellen Page) and Olive Thirlby lined up to play the leads in the lesbian werewolf romance, when two young women struggle to keep their love alive despite the fact one of them has lycan proclivities. Now it appears Pill is out and Juno Temple (Year One, Wild Child) has been drafted in to replace her. Shooting is set to start in May. (Source: Bloody Disgusting)
Last week director Lee Daniels said Hugh Jackman has signed up for an unspecified role in his civil rights drama, Selma, and while at the time many wondered whether this meant the Robert De Niro wasn’t going to play the role of Governor Wallace as rumoured, Daniels has since confirmed De Niro will indeed be in the movie. There’s also been a bit more casting news. While talking to E! on the Oscar red carpet, Lenny Kravitz revealed he’d be re-teaming with Precious director Daniels for Selma, and would play the role of sctivist Andrew Young, who because of his involvement if the protests in the film will document, became one of Martin Luther King’s senior lieutenants. (Source: The Playlist)
Veteran TV writer Alexa Junge (Big Love, Friends) has been hired to adapt Melissa De La Cruz’s book series, Au Pairs, into a feature film. The project has been in development for years, but now Warner is getting serious about actually making the movie, which follow three teenagers thrust into the life of the super-rich when they take a summer job with a family in the Hamptons. R.J. Cutler is onboard to direct. (Source: Variety)
According to early figures, this year’s Oscars was the most watched in the US for the last five years. While ceremony itself drew mixed reviews for being workmanlike and rather boring, it’s believed that the presence of a massive hit like Avatar as one of the top contenders helped draw viewers in. The ratings always go up if several successfull movie are involved and the Academy consciously arranged things this year to try and include more big flicks (such as raising the number of Best Picture nominees from five to 10) after several years of declining viewers (although it’s still the second biggest annual TV event in American, after the Superbowl). It seems to have worked, with 41 million Americans tuning in, up 13.6% from last year, marking the biggest audience since 2005 and the second year of ratings gains for the ceremony, which seemed to be plummeting only a few years ago. (Source: Variety)