Posted: March 19th, 2011 by WorstPreviews.com Staff
Universal Pictures is in negotiation to pick up a pitch for "Do Gooders" comedy from Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck, who will write the script. Judd Apatow will produce, but not direct.
The plot details are being kept a secret. Although the comedic script is known to center on Hollywood actors who board charities with hopes to help those in need.
Gregory and Huyck are comedy writers, who have worked on such shows as "King of the Hill" and "The Tracy Morgan Show," among others. The duo recently wrote and directed "A Good Old Fashioned Orgy," a comedy whose ensemble cast includes Jason Sudeikis, Will Forte, Lindsay Sloane and Lake Bell.
Source: THR
Read more: http://www.worstpreviews.com/headline.php?id=21026&count=0
Judd Apatow Bringing His Producing Power To Comedy Pitch Do Gooders
published: 2011-03-18 18:09:57 Author: Katey RichJudd Apatow is in the process of casting his next directorial effort-- if you need a reminder, Megan Fox and Albert Brooks are the latest to join what's being described as a Knocked Up spinoff-- but he's still keeping busy as a producer as well. THR reports that he'll be shepherding the film Do Gooders, based on a pitch from writers Alex Gregor and Peter Huyck, who will also be writing the script.
Apatow definitely won't be directing the movie, which as THR puts is, "is known to center on actors with caring hearts keen to help those in need." My guess is it will be a somewhat satiric take on the subject, maybe targeting actors who do philanthropic stuff for the positive media attention, or who get involved in causes they don't know anything about. I mean, if they actually are targeting people who genuinely do charity work, that seems kinda mean and pointless. Gregory and Huyck have done work on TV for King of the Hill, but maybe the best test of their screenwriting skill will be in A Good Old-Fashioned Orgy, the long-delayed comedy that's premiering next month at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Apatow's track record as a producer is far spottier than as a director-- in the last few year's he's been behind stuff as good as Pineapple Express
and Forgetting Sarah Marshall and as bad as Drillbit Taylor and Year One. We never run out of a need for good comedies, though, so cross your fingers this will be one of the ones that works out for the better. http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Judd-Apatow-Bringing-His-Producing-Power-To-Comedy-Pitch-Do-Gooders-23756.html
Jodie Foster Already Planning To Direct Again, This Time A Sci-Fi Project
published: 2011-03-18 15:42:11 Author: Katey Rich
Jodie Foster's no stranger to sci-fi as an actress, having memorably starred as an astronaut in Contact and taking another extraterrestrial role in Neill Blomkamp's upcoming Elysium. But as a director her work has been a lot more earthly-- Little Man Tate, Home For The Holidays and her new film The Beaver are much more human-scaled projects, a modesty that makes sense for a skilled actress who only directs occasionally. But fresh off the success of The Beaver at SXSW, Foster has set her sights on yet another directorial effort, and as she puts it, "it's much more a genre movie" than a family drama.
Talking to The LA Times Foster said the project is still in very early stages, with an unnamed screenwriter writing the script and Foster planning to do some rewrites. But here's how she described her interest in a sci-fi project to begin with:
“I’d like to do that ’cause that’s a world I live in as an actor but I’ve never really gone to as a director. I’d still have to have all the other stuff in a film. It can’t just be, ‘There’s a bad guy, there’s a monster.’ It has to have all the other stuff too.”
It's hard to figure out exactly what she means by that, but given that Foster is incredibly thoughtful as both an actress and a director, it's safe to assume she's making she doesn't turn in just another blow-'em-up alien movie-- not that we'd ever expect her to do so anyway. Given that it's been 16 years since Foster last directed a film, it's an amazing treat to have her returning behind the camera again so soon.
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Jodie-Foster-Already-Planning-To-Direct-Again-This-Time-A-Sci-Fi-Project-23753.html
Rumor: Robert Pattinson Could Play Daredevil For David Slade, Maybe
published: 2011-03-18 14:02:48 Author: Katey Rich
Now that David Slade is confirmed to direct a new Daredevil reboot for Fox, the latest round of superhero casting speculation can revolve around the blind hero who fights, like they all do, for justice. And because Slade's last film was The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, that speculation was obviously going to include Robert Pattinson sooner or later. Today Moviehole is the first out of the gate, talking to a friend who was also up for the directing job, and who reports "some kind of talk" about Pattinson taking the lead role.
Granted this is pretty much the vaguest kind of rumor you can get-- there's no word on who's talking about it, how serious that talk is, or even how much anyone wants to see Pattinson take the part. Then there's the fact that Pattinson may not even be interested; unlike fellow Twilight kid Taylor Lautner, who seemingly signs on to every big-budget project that looks at his abs, Pattinson seems more interested in smaller stuff like Remember Me or the upcoming Water for Elephants. I'm skeptical that he'd want to get involved at all, though who knows-- when the Twilight paychecks finally stop coming, he'll have to find some other projects that make actual money.
.............. http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Rumor-Robert-Pattinson-Could-Play-Daredevil-For-David-Slade-Maybe-23748.html
Jim Sturgess, Lesley Manville Up For British Noir Ashes
published: 2011-03-18 09:21:58 Author: Katey Rich
The biopic sex & drugs & rock & roll didn't get much traction when it was released in the United States; though it featured a tremendous performance by Andy Serkis, an actor known better playing motion-capture creatures for Peter Jackson, it was telling the life story of punk musician Ian Dury, a guy not nearly as well known in the U.S. as he is in Britain. Happily for director Mat Whitecross, though, the film was seen by at least enough people to get his next effort off the ground. According to Variety he's set to direct Ashes, which will star a whole host of great British talent, including Ray Winstone, Jim Sturgess and Lesley Manville.
It's described only as a "contemporary noir thriller" and there's no specific details on who will play which roles, but I don't really need to know more. Both Manville and Sturgess had great, underappreciated performances last year, Manville in Mike Leigh's Another Year and Sturgess in The Way Back. And Winstone, who had a role in sex & drugs & rock & roll as Ian Dury's father, is pretty much a requirement any time you're assembling a large British cast. Also on board are Jodie Whittaker, seen in SXSW hit Attack the Block, and Luke Evans; weirdly enough, one of the major contributors to the film's $8 million budget is the band Coldplay. Production starts at the beginning of next week on the Isle of Man.
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Jim-Sturgess-Lesley-Manville-Up-For-British-Noir-Ashes-23744.html
Betty Thomas To Follow Up The Chipmunks Squeakquel With Desperados
published: 2011-03-18 06:18:38 Author: Will LeBlanc
THR has it that there’s been a director shake-up on Desperados, the Isla Fisher vehicle coming out of Universal. Betty Thomas, the director most recently behind Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, has stepped in to helm the film after fledgling director Wayne McClammy left due to creative differences. Maybe it’s just me and my weak morals, but if the only directing credits you have are shorts that appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and several episodes of the not-funny Sarah Silverman Program, maybe you--well, McClammy--should swallow your creative differences and just get a feature film under your belt. Just an opinion.
Desperados was penned by young writer Ellen Rapoport, whose most significant contribution to Hollywood has been her 21 writing credits on the Jamie Kennedy Experiment. The film has been described as the female version of The Hangover, but it may be beaten to the punch by the upcoming Bridesmaids starring Kristen Wiig, which wouldn’t look more like it was trying to be The Hangover if Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zack Galifianakis showed up.
........... http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Betty-Thomas-To-Follow-Up-The-Chipmunks-Squeakquel-With-Desperados-23741.html
