**Alec Baldwin to Star in Woody Allen’s Next Film **CRAZY HEART Director Scott Cooper to Helm THE LOW DWELLER [UPDATED] **Alyson Hannigan Confirmed for AMERICAN REUNION **Cameron Diaz Interview BAD TEACHER

CRAZY HEART Director Scott Cooper to Helm THE LOW DWELLER [UPDATED]
by Adam Chitwood Posted: April 11th, 2011
Scott Cooper, whose feature film debut was 2009’s Crazy Heart, has been tapped to rewrite and direct the film The Low Dweller for Relativity Media. The script was written on spec in 2008 by Brad Ingelsby and sparked an intense battle for the rights to the film. In the initial deal, Leonardo DiCaprio was attached to produce and star in the film, with Ridley Scott directing. Deadline reports that DiCaprio and Scott will now simply be producing the film.


The Low Dweller is described as a dark drama set in 1986. The story focuses on Slim, “a man released after serving years in prison for murder who wants only to follow through on his promise to marry his long-suffering girlfriend. But when he discovers his brother has been murdered after getting involved in a gambling racket, his goals change and he avenges the murder.” Hit the jump for an update on the other projects that Cooper is currently attached to.


[Update: We've been sent the press release for the film and apparently, though based on the script The Low Dweller, the title of the film is Out of the Furnace. The full press release is included after the jump]
http://collider.com/scott-cooper-the-low-dweller/85359/








Alec Baldwin to Star in Woody Allen’s Next Film
by Jason Barr Posted: April 11th, 2011
Alec Baldwin is attached to star in Woody Allen’s next film, an untitled comedy that will shoot in Rome. Deadline breaks the news of Baldwin’s involvement while also proposing that The Social Network star Jesse Eisenberg could soon be a part of the film’s casting fold as well. In addition to this most recent project, Baldwin is set to star alongside Tom Cruise, Paul Giamatti, Julianne Hough, and Russell Brand in New Line’s Rock of Ages. He is also attached to the indie pic Lucky Them alongside Marisa Tomei and Thomas Haden Church. As for Allen, the writer/director will release his film Midnight in Paris starring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Michael Sheen, Adrien Brody, and Marion Cotillard, stateside on May 20th.
..... http://collider.com/alec-baldwin-woody-allen/85401/
 




Alyson Hannigan Confirmed for AMERICAN REUNION
by Adam Chitwood Posted: April 11th, 2011
It looks like the upcoming American Pie sequel American Reunion may be a proper reunion after all. After some concern over whether or not the actress would sign on, Alyson Hannigan is set to reprise her role in the film alongside fellow original cast members Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott and Eugene Levy. Negotiations are also underway for Thomas Ian Nicholas, Tara Reid, Chris Klein, Mena Suvari, and Jennifer Coolidge to return as well. Deadline reports that Hannigan’s neogtiations took a while because she has a bit of leverage given that the plot of Reunion revolves around her marriage and child with Biggs’ character.


The franchise has been lingering in direct-to-DVD spinoffs ever since 2003’s American Wedding, but it appears the original cast is now up for one more go-around. Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg (Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle) are on board to write and direct the fourth installment of the franchise. Filming is set to begin next month. If you don’t mind potential spoilers, read our previous article with a breakdown of the possible plot for American Reunion.
...... http://collider.com/alyson-hannigan-american-reunion/85442/




Cameron Diaz Interview BAD TEACHER
by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub Posted: April 11th, 2011
At this year’s CinemaCon in Las Vegas, I got to participate in a small roundtable interview with Cameron Diaz for her new comedy Bad Teacher. Written by The Office writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky and helmed by the talented Jake Kasdan (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story), Bad Teacher centers on a “foul-mouthed, gold-digging seventh-grade teacher who, after being dumped by her boyfriend, sets her sights on a colleague (Lucy Punch) who is dating a substitute teacher (Justin Timberlake), who also is the scion of a watch fortune.” Bad Teacher also stars Jason Segel, Phyllis Smith (The Office), John Michael Higgins and Molly Shannon. As you might imagine with this talented group of actors, the films been on my radar for awhile now, and after watching both the green and red band trailers, I really can’t wait to check it out this June.


During the interview, Diaz talked about how Bad Teacher compares to There’s Something About Mary, working with Timberlake, Segel and Phyllis Smith, how the project came together and how the studio was very hands off, and a lot more. Hit the jump to either read or listen to the interview.
Click here for the audio, otherwise the full transcript is below. Bad Teacher gets released June 24.
Question: In earlier films, you had great success with you reacting to other people’s over-the-top, naughty, X-rated antics. In ‘Bad Teacher,’ you get to be doing the X-rated material and the poor behavior. Is that a weird reverse blow for feminism, that now you can behave badly and have that be the centerpiece of the film?


Cameron Diaz: I think for me, I’m not a feminist. Everything has evolved over a period of time. I think this character is meant to represent good and bad of what is possible in a human being, and I think that’s something that I appreciated the fact that there’s certain things she doesn’t apologize for and there’s certain things she admits that she needs to do better on. All of it being nothing. Then as an audience member, not appreciating that it isn’t so over-the-top done in a Hollywood way where you’re like, “Ah, please. Why did you have to take her that far?” She has a human level of incremental growth that we all have.


It seems anything goes: there’s swearing, there’s all kinds of stuff going on. Is there a limit to the raunchy stuff that’s happening? Exactly how far are we going with this dirty humor?


Diaz: There’s some bits. The word raunchy, to me, is all relative, of course. Everybody has their own level of behavior that we consider raunchy.


Is there a There’s Something About Mary scale that we can compare it to?


Diaz: I think that there’s a couple moments that people are like, “Wow. Didn’t expect that.” But it’s fun. It’s obviously all in good humor.


What do you think of Justin Timberlake now maturing as an actor?


Diaz: I think he’s doing a great job. He’s so talented, obviously. He’s proven himself as a comedian over the years, starting with Saturday Night Live. We got our wish list on this movie cast-wise. We wanted to have the best people possible for the parts, and we got Jason Segel, we got Justin Timberlake, we got Phyllis Smith. Being able to have these amazing comedians and all of the other wonderful actors and comedians who colorfully occupy these characters around us is really, really fun. I feel we scored on our cast members for this movie.


What’s Jake been like to work with on this movie? What does he bring to the table?


Diaz: He’s fearless. He loves to push it and have fun and he goes straight to the edge first and then maybe backs off a little bit. He’s a lot of fun. He has a great laugh and you hear it during the take, which is encouraging.


Projects change and shift as people get involved in the project. When you first got involved, how did the project shift to encompass your tone or the way you wanted the way to play the character?


Diaz: It’s the exact script I got the day I read it the first time to when we shot it. It didn’t change at all. Maybe 4 words got changed in the whole script. It was a great script. We all went, “There it is.” It’s rare you get a script that you go, “Let’s not touch this” or where you go, “Man, we better fix this.” There wasn’t anything in that script. It breathed very easily into its own identity.


Sometimes producers or people in power like to justify why they’re there and offer notes. You didn’t have to deal with any stuff like that?


Diaz: No. Lee and Gene did an amazing job at creating these characters, and there was really nothing — they would come to set and throw out some alternative lines, and that was it. That was all. They’d be, “Ah, say this!” during the middle of the take, and we’d start laughing and go, “Okay, I’ll try to get it out without laughing.” That was about it. It was really such a pleasure to do it. We did this movie very quickly. We were hauling ass; we went non-stop. There was not a moment of downtime. I knew that going in, that there’s not very many takes, we all had to come hit the ground running every day, we packed a lot in every day. It was a small film. We made it work because one, that’s the luxury of having a great script. Oftentimes on bigger budget films where scripts are not working, they have the money to go, “We’ll fix it as we go.” You spend a lot of time on set trying to figure it out and unravel the mystery of the characters and the plot, as you’re filming. We’re really lucky. We went, “Let’s just take this as is and shoot it.”


Which is more exhausting: shooting the modern action film or shooting a comedy like this where you spend the entire day representing the human id run rampant?


Diaz: I’ll tell you what’s really exhausting: shooting the action movie for 6 months and then going directly into shooting the human id running rampant.


For 6 weeks or a much shorter time?


Diaz: Exactly. I went 6 months of the action movie, had about 4 days off, and went straight into this movie. I was tired. I was like, “God, I should have taken a nap.”


After spending a whole day being a horrible human being, do you want to shake it off?


Diaz: You roll into it the next day. The great thing about Elizabeth is she says the truth, she says it how she sees it. There’s great wisdom in what she says, in fact. It’s how she delivers it, which I’m sure would be more effective or more appreciated if she delivered it in a less cutting way, but that’s not who she is. The fun thing is that she ends up understanding herself better knowing her truth and realizing what she has to offer. I appreciate that she chooses not to change how she delivers it.


What’s Phyllis Smith been bringing? She’s hilarious on The Office and I know a lot of them write down material. Is she so on all the time?


Diaz: She’s a genius. Honestly, she is the funniest. I’ve never seen something so effortless, someone deliver a created character with such effortlessness. There’s a lot of times I would call her Lynn, and I’d be like, “Ah, Phyllis” because she was so Lynn. When she’s not on-camera, she’s Phyllis. I loved working with her. There was so many times when I could not hold myself back from laughing. I felt really bad sometimes, because there’s such brilliance in her performance and I’m laughing, “Oh my god, Phyllis.” She’s so funny.


I feel like I remember she never did anything before The Office. So this is her second thing before The Office.


Diaz: Yeah, I think so. She’s amazing.


What about working with America’s favorite Sasquatch Jason Segel?


Diaz: Amazing. You mean the uber-charming, incredibly seductive, 6-foot-5 man meat they call The Segel? Amazing. He’s wonderful. He doesn’t miss. Everything is dead-on. He hits it every time. He’s hilarious and so much fun to work with. He keeps it all light and fuzzy and friendly and wonderful.


When you’re playing a character like this that’s letting everything loose, what do you get to bring out on screen that you don’t when you’re playing more moral characters or more likeable characters? It seems like there’s a freedom as an actor and showing an audience something you haven’t done before.


Diaz: Playing Elizabeth was very liberating, only because you really don’t care. She doesn’t care, so you can’t really care. In the end of it all, I think that her lack of self-respect comes from she wasn’t given skills, she wasn’t given the skills to recognize what she has to offer and who she is and to value herself. What I do appreciate is that there’s something innately in her that wants other people to understand that about themselves. That’s her gift.


She’s trying to liberate all of us to not care.


Diaz: Exactly, and to empower themselves, because the way that she has empowered herself is probably not the best way, and she learns that. As she’s learning it about herself, she’s able to pass on the wisdom to others.


When you are going to CinemaCon and you’re going to stand in front of 3000 to 5000 theatre owners, how much do you think about what you’re going to say, or is it just improv?


Diaz: I’m going to go with straight from the heart when I get there.


Everyone else has sung Celine Dion so far. Do you have a song set?


Diaz: What?


Everyone else has sung Celine Dion. Jack Black did it–


Diaz: Jack Black is gifted. No, I do not sing, and I would not be able to pull off a Celine Dion song. Even if I did it poorly, people would still be, “What’s going on? What’s she singing?”
http://collider.com/cameron-diaz-interview-bad-teacher/84901/

**Alyson Hannigan Confirmed For American Reunion **Tom Wilkinson Joins Samuel L. Jackson In The Samaritan **Alec Baldwin Attached To Woody Allen's Rome Project, Jesse Eisenberg Rumored **Trailer for PASSION PLAY

Tom Wilkinson Joins Samuel L. Jackson In The Samaritan
published: 2011-04-11 20:54:22 Author: Eric Eisenberg
You will never find anyone who can say with a straight face that they don't like Tom Wilkinson. The man has played in over fifty films spanning the last five decades and has always shown incredibly versatility, going from prestige films like In The Bedroom, to superhero movies like Batman Begins, to comedies like The Full Monty. Simply put, the more Tom Wilkinson the better, so let's all celebrate the fact that he's just been cast in a new project.


Wilkinson has joined Samuel L. Jackson, Luke Kirby and Ruth Negga in The Samaritan, according to Variety. In the film, Jackson plays a criminal who is trying to go straight after spending 20 years in jail, but gets roped in to a grift by his former partner's son. Wilkinson will play a crime boss that gets caught up in the plan. Directed by David Weaver, the film is already in production in Toronto and is scheduled to move down to Rio de Janiero next month. The film is doesn't have a set release date yet, but is expected to hit theaters next year.


While researching this story, the thing that took me by surprise is the fact that Wilkinson and Jackson have actually never been in a film together, which is strange for two actors with such extensive resumes. Let's hope that there's more than one scene that allows the two of them to square off.
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Tom-Wilkinson-Joins-Samuel-L-Jackson-In-The-Samaritan-24150.html
 


Alyson Hannigan Confirmed For American Reunion
published: 2011-04-11 18:20:49 Author: Eric Eisenberg


Of all the American Pie alumni, Alyson Hannigan is easily the most successful - though I suppose it's not that hard when your cohorts include Jason Biggs, Tara Reid, Chris Klein, Shannon Elizabeth, Thomas Ian Nicholas, etc. Part of the incredibly successful sitcom How I Met Your Mother and still swimming in geek praise after all of her years on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, she is the one member of the cast who would probably benefit least from a fourth American Pie movie, but one can't deny the power of nostalgia.


Deadline reports that Hannigan has officially signed on American Reunion, which will bring the cast back together for the first time since 2003's American Wedding. But while Hannigan may have missed playing the part of band geek Michelle, apparently she's quite familiar with the rules of supply and demand and, as the site puts it, "leverage[d] for a nice piece of the pie." The report says that the story revolves around her character's marriage and family with Biggs' character, Jim. The film will shoot while How I Met Your Mother is on break.


The more I hear about this sequel, the more I get a really bad Little Fockers vibe. It seems as though the people behind this seem to think that these are characters that we've grown up with, but I'm not sure anyone sees the original three films as more than a collection of sex and toilet jokes. Why do I care if Jim and Michelle have a kid? It was boring enough when they were getting married. At the very least let's hope there's a heavy focus on the other characters.


http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Alyson-Hannigan-Confirmed-For-American-Reunion-24148.html






Alec Baldwin Attached To Woody Allen's Rome Project, Jesse Eisenberg Rumored
published: 2011-04-11 17:51:46 Author: Eric Eisenberg
Last month it was announced that Woody Allen would be setting and filming his next movie in Rome, but said that he was superstitious divulging details about both the story and the actors involved. Then Penelope Cruz blabbed that she is attached, and apparently that was enough to open the floodgates. Deadline reports that Alec Baldwin has officially signed on for the untitled film in a (surprise!) unspecified role. What's more, the site also says that Jesse Eisenberg is in line for a lead role. While the film would be the first time the young Eisenberg works with the famed director, Baldwin starred alongside Mia Farrow in 1990's Alice.


Albeit Eisenberg only reached A-list status in the last year thanks to his performance in David Fincher's The Social Network, I'm amazed that he and Allen have only just found each other. I don't want to sound insensitive in any way, but this may be the perfect opportunity to pass off the neurotic Jew torch.
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Alec-Baldwin-Attached-To-Woody-Allen-s-Rome-Project-Jesse-Eisenberg-Rumored-24147.html






Trailer for PASSION PLAY Starring Mickey Rourke, Megan Fox, and Bill Murray
by Matt Goldberg Posted: April 11th, 2011

A trailer for the upcoming drama Passion Play has gone online.  The film stars Mickey Rourke as a jazz trumpeter who falls in love with winged circus performance (Megan Fox).  The film was widely panned when it played at the Toronto Film Festival last year and while Image entertainment has set the film for a limited theatrical run on May 6th, it will be dumped on to DVD a few weeks later on May 31st.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  Passion Play also stars Bill Murray and Rhys Ifans. http://collider.com/passion-play-trailer/85273/

**Liam Neeson Is Back for Taken 2! **Wes Craven Talks More Scream Sequels, Plus Scream 4 Viral Site **American Reunion Lands Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott and Eugene Levy **Underworld: New Dawn Kate Beckinsale Photo **Phillip Seymour Hoffman Joins Upstate

Liam Neeson Is Back for Taken 2!


Liam Neeson to reprise Role in Taken 2A scheduling snafu between talent and writers has been worked through so that Liam Neeson can now team up with writer Luc Besson for a sequel to 2009's surprise global hit Taken, which sees the actor reprise his role as Bryan Mills, the retired government operative who decimated the Paris underworld to free his kidnapped daughter, portrayed by Maggie Grace.


Luc Besson has teamed up with Robert Mark Kamen on the script, while he is in talks with Olivier Megaton to direct the sequel.


Production on Taken 2 is being eyed for the end of the year, or early 2012.


Taken was released January 30th, 2009 and stars Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Leland Orser, Jon Gries, David Warshofsky, Holly Valance, Katie Cassidy, Xander Berkeley. The film is directed by Pierre Morel.


Untitled Taken Sequel comes to theaters in 2013 and stars Liam Neeson.




Sources: Deadline
http://www.movieweb.com/news/liam-neeson-is-back-for-taken-2

 





Wes Craven Talks More Scream Sequels, Plus Scream 4 Viral Site


Wes Craven says he is down for two more sequelsA new fan-created, viral site has cropped up for Scream 4: WoodsboroHighSchool.com, which is centered around the old school of Sidney Prescott in the fictional Woodsboro. The site is set up like the school's website that has been hacked, littered with easter eggs, although I wonder if it really is a school's site that has been hacked.


Also, in the latest issue of Total Film (via Scream-Trilogy) Wes Craven was asked if there are any more Screams to come after Scream 4:




"When I initially met with Kevin Williamson, he sketched out what the next two would be, and I found it really fascinating," he concludes. "A lot depends on whether they come up with scripts to flesh out. But certainly, I'm up for it, if the script is there. It's a fascinating thing to do two trilogies in a career."




Scream 4 comes to theaters April 15th, 2011 and stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Hayden Panettiere, Rory Culkin, Emma Roberts, Ashley Greene, Nico Tortorella. The film is directed by Wes Craven.




Sources: Scream-Trilogy


http://www.movieweb.com/news/wes-craven-talks-more-scream-sequels-plus-scream-4-viral-site



 

American Reunion Lands Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott and Eugene Levy


Jason Biggs will star in American Reunion for Universal PicturesUniversal Pictures has locked up deals with original American Pie stars Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, and Eugene Levy to star in the fourth theatrical installment in the franchise, American Reunion.


The studio is also in negotiations with original cast members such as Tara Reid, Chris Klein, Mena Suvari, Thomas Ian Nicholas, and Jennifer Coolidge to return for the sequel.


We reported last April that Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg will write and direct American Reunion. No plot details were given, but it is believed the story will center on a high school reunion. It isn't clear when production will start on American Reunion.


The last theatrical outing in the franchise was 2003's American Wedding, where Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan's characters got married. Since then, Universal has produced several straight-to-DVD movies under the American Pie Presents banner, including American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile, American Pie Presents: Band Camp, and American Pie Presents: Beta House.


American Reunion comes to theaters in 2012 and stars Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Eugene Levy. The film is directed by Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg.




Sources: The Hollywood Reporter


http://www.movieweb.com/news/american-reunion-lands-jason-biggs-seann-william-scott-and-eugene-levy

 



Underworld: New Dawn Kate Beckinsale Photo
A new photo has just arrived from the upcoming vampire adventure Underworld: New Dawn, which hits 2D and 3D theaters nationwide on January 20. Click on the photo below, which features Kate Beckinsale returning as Selene, to access our gallery.


Underworld: New Dawn is currently shooting in Vancouver. We reported yesterday that Michael Ealy has signed on as the male lead, a detective who hunts down Selene and ultimately becomes her ally.


Underworld: New Dawn comes to theaters January 20th, 2012 and stars Michael Sheen, Kate Beckinsale, Bill Nighy, Michael Ealy. The film is directed by Måns Mårlind, Björn Stein.




Sources: Too Fab
http://www.movieweb.com/news/underworld-new-dawn-kate-beckinsale-photo



Phillip Seymour Hoffman Joins Upstate


Philip Seymour Hoffman to executive produce the HBO series Upstate
Philip Seymour Hoffman is on board to produce the new TV drama Upstate, a project we exclusively broke the news on in January. While Philip Seymour Hoffman will executive produce the new HBO series, it isn't clear if he will star in the project.


The story centers on a prison guard named Roy who lands a new job, relocating his family to a town that has been built around a for-profit prison facility. Robert Glaudini and Brett C. Leonard (Hung) wrote the pilot script. Emily Ziff will also serve as executive producer alongside Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robert Glaudini, and Brett C. Leonard.


Philip Seymour Hoffman will reunite with Robert Glaudini once again on this project. Robert Glaudini wrote the stage play for Jack Goes Boating and the screenplay for the movie version, both of which featured Philip Seymour Hoffman as the title character. Philip Seymour Hoffman also made his directorial debut with the movie version of Jack Goes Boating.


We spoke with Robert Glaudini back in January, when he was promoting the Blu-ray and DVD release of Jack Goes Boating. Here's what he had to say about Upstate back then.




"Upstate is the story of the community that develops around a private prison, which is run for profit. In other words, the prison is built and as people work there and as the economy improves in that immediate area, a suburban community develops around this industry. It will not be an upstairs-downstairs story. The main characters are a correctional officer, his wife and his two kids. It will be about how the job impacts his family and other families in the community. We're kind of excited about it. We think it could make a great story."




No production schedule was given for Upstate at this time.




Sources: Deadline http://www.movieweb.com/news/phillip-seymour-hoffman-joins-upstate