Movie Muser

Matthew McConaughey may defend his previous life as king of lazy rom-coms, but most people would agree that the more picky McConaughey of recent years is a far better proposition. The actor is continuing his run of interesting projects by getting on board to star in Free State Of Jones, according to Deadline.

The film is based ‘based on the untold and extraordinary story of Newton Knight, the leader of one of the greatest rebellions in Civil War history… McConaughey is in talks to play the Mississippian, who defected from the Confederate Army, banded together with a group of like-minded soldiers, and set out to form their own State known as the Free State Of Jones.’

Knight is seen by some as a hero and by others as an outlaw, however it seems clear he really didn’t believe in the Confederacy’s attempts to retain slavery, as he eventually married a former slave himself, which was one of the first mixed race marriages in Mississippi after the Civil War.

The hope is to get backing for the film so that it can shoot at the beginning on 2015.

Neither Al Pacino nor director Brian De Palma are the all-conquering film names they were when they teamed up for the classic remake Scarface in 1983, or when they also had success a decade later with Carlito’s Way. They’ll be hoping then that a reunion can do both of them a little good, as Screendaily reports that they’re reteaming for Retribution.

The movie is a remake of a 2003 Belgian thriller called The Memory Of A Killer, and focuses ‘on the story of a hitman and a cop who will go to any length to stop a Philadelphia child prostitution ring.’ However if this follows the story of the original, the thing that makes it a little different is that the hitman has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s (indeed the original title translates as The Alzheimer Case), which alters his worldview and make him reassess his past and his future.

It’s not clear when the movie will shoot, but Retribution will be looking buyers shortly at the American Film Market.

Tarantino may have had a major hissy fit after the script for Hateful Eight leaked and said he wasn’t going to make the film, but he’s since changed his mind and is now putting his cast together. The latest name to join the throng is Channing Tatum, who is circling a major role according to Deadline.

Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bruce Dern, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Kurt Russell are already set to star in the film, which is set in Wyoming shortly after the Civil War. It’s about a group of eight people who during a blizzard hole up in a store while they wait to be able to get out. However as the title suggests, things soon get out of control partly due to the fact these aren’t the nicest of people.

Tarantino plans to start shooting the movie in early 2015 (assuming no one else leaks anything and he gets pissed off again, of course). It should be in cinemas by the end of the year.

In the seven year gap between Sideways and The Descendants, Alexander Payne worked on several projects, but despite the success of his earlier films he had difficulty getting a movie off the ground. One of those projects was Downsizing, which got trapped in development despite having a cast in place including the likes of Paul Giamatti, Reese Witherspoon and Sacha Baron Cohen.

Now though it’s back and it may have a better chance of getting made, as Deadline reports that Matt Damon is on board and 20th Century Box is backing it.

The slightly odd sounding film is about a man (Damon) who decides that his life would be much better if he shrunk himself (he must have never seen Honey I Shrunk The Kids, or he’d know shrink rays are a bad idea).

As with Sideways, which won them a Best Screenplay Oscar, Alexander Payne co-wrote the script with Jim Taylor. It isn’t known Downsizing will shoot, but it won’t be for a while as Damon is just about so start shooting The Martian for Ridley Scott.