Mike Newell to Direct Adaptation of GREAT EXPECTATIONS
by Matt Goldberg Posted: February 7th, 2011
Director Mike Newell (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) will direct an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. From what I gathered about the tale when South Park adapted it, it’s about an old woman who uses the tears of men to power her Genesis device. Of course, the more famous adaptation is David Lean’s 1948 film and the book was adapted again in 1998 with Alfonso Cuaron at the helm and starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Ethan Hawke, Anne Bancroft, and Robert De Niro. Strangely, neither Lean nor Cuaron’s versions featured the Genesis device. THR reports that Newell will have a “fresh take” on the material, but doesn’t specify if Newell will go classic like Lean’s version, modern like Cuaron’s, or absurd like South Park.
Newell’s Great Expectations will be part of the Dickens’ bicentenary in 2012. Hit the jump for a real (read: no Genesis device) synopsis of Dickens’ classic novel.
First Set Photos from Rian Johnson’s LOOPER
by Matt Goldberg Posted: February 7th, 2011
Rian Johnson’s The Brothers Bloom was my favorite film of 2009 and I’m excited out of my mind for his follow-up, Looper. The sci-fi flick concerns hitmen (“loopers”) who use time-travel to cover the tracks of their murders. The film is currently shooting and has been posting photos from the set.
Hit the jump to check out the set photos which don’t really show stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, and Paul Dano, let alone major spoilers.
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Casting Call: Diane Kruger and Lea Seydoux to Star in LES ADIERUX A LA REINE; Richard Gere Joins ARBITRAGE
by Matt Goldberg Posted: February 7th, 2011
We have two pieces of casting news for you this afternoon. First up, Variety reports that Diane Kruger and Lea Seydoux (Robin Hood) have joined the French period drama Les Adieux a la reine. The film is based on the novel by Chantal Thomas and centers on “the three decisive days of the French Revolution in July 1789, told from the point of view of Marie Antoinette’s reader.” Kruger will play Antoinette in the film, which also stars Gerard Depardieu and Noemie Lovski (The French Kissers). Benoit Jacquot will direct.
Hit the jump for news on Richard Gere joining Arbitrage.
According to Deadline, Richard Gere is close to signing on to Nicholas Jarecki’s debut feature film Arbitrage. When we first reported on the story in November, Al Pacino had signed on, but since there’s no mention of him in Deadline’s story, I assume that he’s dropped out and Gere is replacing him. The story is about “troubled hedge fund magnate desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help.” Jarecki, who previously directed the documentary The Outsider and wrote the script for Gregor Jordan’s The Informers (shudder), also penned the script for Arbitrage. Eva Green and Susan Sarandon are attached to co-star and shooting is scheduled to begin mid-April in New York.
