Elston Gunn's WEEKLY SCRIPT REPORT (Major Sales, Events, and other News!)
September 15th, 2000
- Anthony Anderson (ME, MYSELF & IRENE, SEE SPOT RUN) and Adam Glass will write an untitled urban comedy for Disney and producer Robert Simonds. Anderson will star. It's about Earl Washington, a public defender who is tired of having poor clients, so he tries to scam his way into a Beverly Hills law firm that is looking for a token black attorney.
- Jan Skrentny and Neal Tabachnick have written a contempory forensic thriller script entitled TRACES, picked up by Columbia Pictures, the plot of which is being kept under wraps (though it's been reported to involve a set-up). Mike Lobell will produce.
- Steven Soderbergh is in talks with James Cameron to write an adaptation of Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 Russian sci-fi epic SOLARIS for Cameron to produce and Soderbergh to direct. The 1972 film was based on Stanislav Lem's novel. It centers on an astronaut who journeys to a space station orbiting Solaris and finds out that the commander of an expedition studying Solaris has mysteriously died.
- Kimberly Peirce (BOYS DON'T CRY) has written an untitled film for New Line Cinema with Andy Bienen in which she will direct as part of a two-year first-look production deal with the studio. The project is said to be a murder mystery based on a true story. Jersey Films will co-produce.
- Dan Myrick (THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT) and J.D. Shapiro will write the post-apocalyptic project SALVAGE which Myrick will direct with Shapiro starring. Kevin Foxe will produce.
- Anthony Zuiker will adapt the novel HELL'S ANGEL based on the autobiography by Ralph "Sonny" Barger--in charge of security at the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont in 1969-- for Fox 2000 as a producing/directing vehicle for Tony Scott.
- Timothy Scott Bogart will direct his script TOUCHED for Interlight Pictures about the relationship between a man who has lost his ability to feel and the nurse determined to save him.
- John August will write a script for Columbia Pictures about a three-man expedition that discovers the true cause of the extinction of dinosaurs.
- Joe Gangemi has written ELIZA GRAVES based on a short story by Edgar Alan Poe. Icon Prods. may produce the pic about a medical student beginning his residency at an insane asylum where the patients have taken over not long after the Civil War. Ian McKellen and Heath Ledger are in talks to star.
- J.H. Wyman (THE MEXICAN) will write the tenatively titled thriller PROJECT 3 for Revolution Studios. Gore Verbinski will direct and develop the project as a Julia Roberts starring vehicle. The story is being kept under wraps but is said to be similar to GASLIGHT. Shooting wouldn't begin until the second half of 2001.
- William Brent Bell and Matthew Peterman have written the suspense thriller MERCURY to be produced by Digital Domain and Valhalla Motion Pictures for Universal. It's about a small-time criminal and the world of online gaming.
- New Line Cinema picked up Dennis Bartok's and Tom Abrams' script AMERICAN PRINCESS about a young English peasant who fantasizes about becoming a princess, but is sent to America after she's caught trying on the queen's clothing. There, she falls for the head of the resistance movement.
- Dominic Minghella scripted a remake of the classic tale THIEF OF BAGHDAD which Steven Barron (CONEHEADS) will direct THIEF OF BAGHDAD for producer Robert Halmi (MERLIN). Shooting begins Feb. 1.
I'm pretty curious about the John August project as well as J.H. Wyman's project, but my pick of the week goes to the SOLARIS remake. Steven Soderbergh collaborating with James Cameron? Soderbergh appears to be the hardest working man in Hollywood. I'm looking forward to the next three films he's doing.
-- Elston Gunn
(Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, Variety)
- Jan Skrentny and Neal Tabachnick have written a contempory forensic thriller script entitled TRACES, picked up by Columbia Pictures, the plot of which is being kept under wraps (though it's been reported to involve a set-up). Mike Lobell will produce.
- Steven Soderbergh is in talks with James Cameron to write an adaptation of Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 Russian sci-fi epic SOLARIS for Cameron to produce and Soderbergh to direct. The 1972 film was based on Stanislav Lem's novel. It centers on an astronaut who journeys to a space station orbiting Solaris and finds out that the commander of an expedition studying Solaris has mysteriously died.
- Kimberly Peirce (BOYS DON'T CRY) has written an untitled film for New Line Cinema with Andy Bienen in which she will direct as part of a two-year first-look production deal with the studio. The project is said to be a murder mystery based on a true story. Jersey Films will co-produce.
- Dan Myrick (THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT) and J.D. Shapiro will write the post-apocalyptic project SALVAGE which Myrick will direct with Shapiro starring. Kevin Foxe will produce.
- Anthony Zuiker will adapt the novel HELL'S ANGEL based on the autobiography by Ralph "Sonny" Barger--in charge of security at the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont in 1969-- for Fox 2000 as a producing/directing vehicle for Tony Scott.
- Timothy Scott Bogart will direct his script TOUCHED for Interlight Pictures about the relationship between a man who has lost his ability to feel and the nurse determined to save him.
- John August will write a script for Columbia Pictures about a three-man expedition that discovers the true cause of the extinction of dinosaurs.
- Joe Gangemi has written ELIZA GRAVES based on a short story by Edgar Alan Poe. Icon Prods. may produce the pic about a medical student beginning his residency at an insane asylum where the patients have taken over not long after the Civil War. Ian McKellen and Heath Ledger are in talks to star.
- J.H. Wyman (THE MEXICAN) will write the tenatively titled thriller PROJECT 3 for Revolution Studios. Gore Verbinski will direct and develop the project as a Julia Roberts starring vehicle. The story is being kept under wraps but is said to be similar to GASLIGHT. Shooting wouldn't begin until the second half of 2001.
- William Brent Bell and Matthew Peterman have written the suspense thriller MERCURY to be produced by Digital Domain and Valhalla Motion Pictures for Universal. It's about a small-time criminal and the world of online gaming.
- New Line Cinema picked up Dennis Bartok's and Tom Abrams' script AMERICAN PRINCESS about a young English peasant who fantasizes about becoming a princess, but is sent to America after she's caught trying on the queen's clothing. There, she falls for the head of the resistance movement.
- Dominic Minghella scripted a remake of the classic tale THIEF OF BAGHDAD which Steven Barron (CONEHEADS) will direct THIEF OF BAGHDAD for producer Robert Halmi (MERLIN). Shooting begins Feb. 1.
I'm pretty curious about the John August project as well as J.H. Wyman's project, but my pick of the week goes to the SOLARIS remake. Steven Soderbergh collaborating with James Cameron? Soderbergh appears to be the hardest working man in Hollywood. I'm looking forward to the next three films he's doing.
-- Elston Gunn
(Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, Variety)
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