WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 18, 2009 « Film News Briefs

February 18, 2009

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 18, 2009

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

David Matalon and Andy Vajna have tapped the scripting team of Aaron Rapke and Stewart Kaye to adapt action comedy “School for Scumbags,” based on Danny King’s novel. “School for Scumbags” centers on a teen who, after being expelled from a long list of schools, lands at a campus for “misdirected” teens where the teachers are actually professional thieves who teach them to execute the heist of the century. Rapke and Kaye co-wrote the short film “The Money Shot,” which Rapke directed.

Ashton Kutcher is looking to tackle a football comedy for Paramount Pictures. Thesp is in final negotiations to star in the sports-themed pic “Traded,” which had been developed at DreamWorks but became the property of Par following DreamWorks’ exit in the fall. Storycenters on a superstar NFL quarterback and a 12-year-old middle school geek who magically trade bodies, then quickly learn valuable lessons about humility and courage. David Stem and David Weiss, who wrote the upcoming 20th Century Fox family pic “They Came From Upstairs,” penned the most recent draft.

Robert Rodriguez is set to reteam with Dimension for his next film, the futuristic thriller “Nerverackers.”The multihyphenate will write and direct the pic, which already has a release date of April 16, 2010. Set in 2085, the story centers on a character named Joe Tezca who is part of an elite unit dispatched to quell a crime wave in a theoretically perfect future society.

Alcon Entertainment has acquired “Back to America,” a pitch that will be drafted as a potential star vehicle for Martin Lawrence. Lawrence, who has a first-look deal with Alcon partners Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove, hatched the pitch and will produce the film via his Runteldat Entertainment banner alongside the Alcon duo. Nicole Rocklin is also producing. The comedy centers on a working-class man from Queens who discovers he is heir to the throne of an African country and travels there to claim his birthright.

Irish DreamTime is going to war. The Pierce Brosnan shingle is developing a story about famed Hungarian photojournalist Robert Capa, attaching Paul McGuigan to direct. Born Andre Friedmann in early-20th century Budapest, Capa memorialized many conflicts, including the Spanish Civil War and World War II. The colorful journalist also helped found Magnum Photos and traveled in glamorous circles that included a friendship with John Steinbeck and an affair with Ingrid Bergman. Capa, who was killed in 1954 when he stepped on a land mine during the Indochina War, perhaps is best known for his photos of D-Day. He was one of the few photographers to land on the beach in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944, and capture images of the Allied invasion.

PROJECT UPDATES

Owen Wilson and Paul Rudd are in talks to star opposite Reese Witherspoon in James L. Brooks’ untitled romantic comedy for Columbia Pictures. Brooks, who is directing and producing, wrote the screenplay, which involves a love triangle. Rudd would play a white-collar executive vying for Witherspoon’s affections, while Wilson would portray a professional baseball pitcher who is also a love interest. As is customary with Brooks’ projects, logline is being kept vague for the film, which has the working title “How Do You Know?”

Ang Lee is in talks to direct “Life of Pi,” the Fox 2000 adaptation of Yann Martel’s coming-of-age survival tale. Novel revolves around a youth who is the lone survivor of a sunken freighter and winds up sharing a lifeboat with a hyena, an injured zebra, an orangutan and a hungry Bengal tiger. The novel, which won the Man Booker Prize, was a global publishing phenomenon when Fox 2000′s Elizabeth Gabler acquired rights to the tome.

Kevin Zegers is packing his mittens and long underwear. The “Transamerica” actor has been cast in the snowy survival tale “Frozen.” Written and directed by Adam Green, the film will be produced by Peter Block and Cory Neal of GreeneStreet Films/A Bigger Boat. In “Frozen,” Zegers plays a snowboarder who gets stranded on a chairlift halfway up a New England mountain along with his best friend (Shawn Ashmore) and his girlfriend (Emma Bell) as the slopes close for the weekend. The college students must fight the icy elements and a hungry pack of wolves to survive.

ACQUISITIONS/FESTIVAL NEWS

The news that Geoffrey Gilmore is leaving his post as director of the Sundance Film Festival to take the job of chief creative officer of Tribeca Enterprises has roiled the indie world. The move leaves a void at the top of the fest he intimately shaped while also providing a jolt to one that’s still trying hard to find its niche. Gilmore’s new gig — which technically has him working for the larger Tribeca Enterprises, not the fest itself — will contain elements of marketing, distribution and strategy. But, at least in 2010, it will not involve programming the Tribeca Film Festival, which continues to be run by Peter Scarlett. The fest veteran acknowledged his new role was amorphous.

BUSINESS NEWS

Twentieth Century Fox has pushed back the release of Sandra Bullock romantic comedy “All About Steve” from March 6 to the fall rather than risk saturating the market with too many femme-driven pics. The delay also keeps “About Steve” from having to go up against Warner Bros.’ “Watchmen,” in which Fox now has a stake after a long legal wrangle over rights to the property. “Watchmen,” Zack Snyder’s adaptation of the graphic novel, debuts March 6. Fox hasn’t set a new release date for “About Steve,” also starring Bradley Cooper and Thomas Haden Church, but notes that the fall is much quieter in terms of female fare.

“Nash Bridges” star Don Johnson is suing series producer Rysher Entertainment and the company’s current owner, Qualia Capital, for “tens of millions of dollars” over the profits of the CBS series. In a breach of contract lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court by Don Johnson Prods., Johnson claims that, as part of his original agreement with Rysher over “Bridges” — which he helped develop, executive produced and starred in — he obtained 50% of the copyright to the show if the series ran for more than 66 episodes. It ended its run in 2001 after 122 episodes.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

The Screen Actors Guild has resumed contract talks with the congloms for the first time in three months amid expectations a tentative deal will emerge soon — though the timetable remains elusive. Talks on SAG’s master primetime-feature contract launched Tuesday morning amid a news blackout at the Sherman Oaks headquarters of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. The get-together — the first without Doug Allen leading SAG — lasted into the evening, and a second day of talks is set for today. SAG, now headed at the bargaining table by longtime guild exec John McGuire, has given conflicting signals as to how rapidly the talks will go. It’s scheduled a national board meeting for Saturday, which could result in that panel approving a tentative deal for ratification by members –meaning that members would be receiving ballots in the mail as early as next week. But if SAG doesn’t reach a deal this week, the talks probably wouldn’t resume until March 1, since McGuire’s set to begin a week of negotiations Monday on the commercials contract in New York.

NEW GRAPHIC NOVELS

AMBER ATOMS #1 (Image): Blast-off with the newest sci-fi adventure heroine Amber Atoms! Follow the ongoing adventures of this modern day “Flash Gordon” as Amber dreams of leaving her mundane life, but not exactly how she imagined. Mercenaries and aliens suddenly invade Amber’s world as she learns that her family history could decide the fate of the galaxy.

WEBSITE TO WATCH

http://www.kylepiccolo.com/

One of our favorite web series returns today after several months away. Kyle Piccolo: Comic Shop Therapist premiered last June with several episodes sponsored by a little indie flick called “The Dark Knight.” Now, the team behind this comedic look at a comic shop clerk who solves people’s problems (while also always making the sale) has found another little flick to sponsor it. Perhaps you’ve heard of this new “Watchmen” thing coming out in a couple weeks? No? Well, anyway, this three-episode arc of the series —starring the incomparable Eric Zuckerman in the title role— is up on the site now, with a new episode each of the next two Wednesdays, leading to the Watchmen release on the 6th of March. There are also some Kyle Piccolo-related contests around the web (at, for instance, IESB.net and Acedmag.com) tying into the Watchmen release, though we think the webisodes (each running around three minutes or so) are well worth watching on their own merits. Don’t just take our word for it, click on this link above and see for yourself.