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Updated 04/14/02
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Movie News - 4/14/02
-> Our excitement that production on ''The Hulk'' has finally begun ain't nothing compared to the happiness of producer Gale Ann Hurd, who has been attached to the project for more than a decade. ''It's always been alive and kicking,'' says Hurd, ''but we opened the floodgates about a year and a half ago,'' when director Ang Lee (''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'') signed on. (Explains Hurd of her rather artistic choice, which she made before she had seen ''Crouching Tiger,'' ''You want to make this film a character-driven film with amazing action.'')
Starring Eric Bana (''Black Hawk Down'') as the mercurial Bruce Banner and costarring Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly, ''Hulk'' will actually benefit from its long time in development, since the less-than-jolly green giant will be entirely CGI. Says Hurd, ''If we started a few years ago, I don't think the technology would have been up to it.''
-> Looks like Austin Powers will be re-membered after all. Nine weeks after MGM refused to let New Line call July's spy spoof sequel ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' because the title allegedly infringed on the copyright of its James Bond classic ''Goldfinger,'' the Bond studio is ready to relent. MGM had also objected three years ago to the title ''Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,'' but New Line filed a proper appeal with the Motion Picture Association of America, which it failed to do with ''Goldmember.'' New Line did, however, get MPAA approval for such possible new titles as ''Live and Let Shag,'' ''You Only Shag Thrice,'' ''Never Say Member Again'' and ''License to Shag.'' Since the MPAA was going to let New Line parody 007 one way or another, MGM has relented, on the condition that New Line splice trailers for ''Die Another Day'' (the upcoming Bond film) and other MGM movies to prints of ''Goldmember'' and New Line's still-popular ''The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.'' All this is assuming that the Broccoli family, which produces the Bond movies, approves the deal.
-> It seems ''Gangs of New York'' just can't win against Dreamworks and Tom Hanks. One of the reasons Miramax decided last weekend to push the long-delayed Martin Scorsese epic from July 12 back to December was to avoid opening on the same day as ''Road to Perdition,'' DreamWorks own period gangster drama; it stars Hanks and Paul Newman and is director Sam Mendes' follow-up to ''American Beauty,'' so it's also a possible Oscar contender. But now that ''Gangs'' is opening Christmas week, its star Leonardo DiCaprio will be facing off against himself, in Dreamworks' ''Catch Me If You Can,'' a crime drama directed by Steven Spielberg and co-starring DiCaprio and Hanks. At least DiCaprio is used to competing against himself; his ''Man in the Iron Mask'' opened in the spring of 1998, only to be sunk by his three-month-old ''Titanic.''...
-> He spent years playing a guy investigating his sister's disappearance. Now, ''X-Files'' star David Duchovny will play a man investigating his mother's murder. He'll star as hard-boiled crime novelist James Ellroy in ''My Dark Places,'' an adaptation of the ''L.A. Confidential'' author's memoir about his effort to solve the mystery of his mother's 1958 slaying, some four decades after the fact.
-> For the first time since ''The Postman'' five years ago, Kevin Costner is returning to the director's chair. He's shooting and starring in ''Open Range,'' a western co-starring Robert Duvall. Shooting begins in June in Calgary.
-> Matt Damon is lending his voice to the DreamWorks Pictures animated feature Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. The actor will provide first-person narration for the title character, a wild and rambunctious mustang stallion that defies being broken, even as he develops a friendship with
a young Lakota brave named Little Creek. "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" also features the voice talents of James Cromwell, who plays a Cavalry Colonel determined to break this defiant mustang; and Native American actor Daniel Studi, who is the voice of Little Creek. The movie is due to open May 24 nationwide.
-> Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox have announced that "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" will premiere on May 12 in 11 cities across the United States and Canada, with benefit screenings to raise funds for local charities. "Throughout the years, 'Star Wars' films have entertained generations of children," said producer-director George Lucas. "I'm delighted that these premieres will provide an opportunity to benefit the children who need it the most."
-> Production on the live-action Fat Albert feature was "temporarily" halted on Thursday as a result of creative differences between producer-writer Bill Cosby and director Forest Whitaker. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Whitaker has agreed to step down and the search for a new director is underway.
-> An off-off-Broadway play written in response to the Sept. 11 attacks is headed to the big screen. The Guys which tells the true story of a fire captain who lost eight men in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers and the editor who helps him write the eulogies is being made into a feature film. Sigourney Weaver and Anthony LaPaglia, who appeared in the stage version, will star in the movie.
-> Wesley Snipes next movie reportedly will be a modern-day biker film titled "When The Ride Is Ruff." The Hollywood Reporter says Kirk Wong ("The Big Hit") will direct the film, which concerns a biker gang known as the Ruff Ryders, led by Snipes' character. While attending a biker rally in
Myrtle Beach, S.C., the hero is framed for murder and must lead his gang on a ride back to New York through hostile rival biker territory. The publication said Ruff Ryder Records is co-producing the project and will provide the
soundtrack.
Spider-Man News:
Spider-Man doesn't land in theaters for another month, but Columbia Pictures is already hard at work on the sequel. The studio has signed Sam Raimi who directed the first flick to helm the follow-up. Spider stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst have already committed to the sequel, which will begin shooting early next year.
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SPIDEY WILL BE BACK:
According to a report in Daily Variety, Columbia Pictures has
signed most of the creative team behind "Spider-Man" for a
sequel. That includes stars Tobey Maguire and Kirstin Dunst,
director Sam Raimi and producers Laura Ziskin, Avi Arad and
Ian Bryce. Plans calls for the second installment to begin
shooting early next year. Columbia executive vice president
Matt Tolmach told Variety the studio doesn't need to see how
"Spider-Man" performs in the marketplace next month -- it's
ready to commit now to the sequel. "All of this because of
our complete belief in the movie," said Tolmach. Alfred Gough
and Miles Millar -- who wrote the Jackie Chan-Owen Wilson hit
"Shanghai Noon" and went on to create and produce the WB TV
series "Smallville" -- will write the "Spider-Man" sequel.
Gough and Millar also wrote the Eddie Murphy-Robert De Niro
comedy "Showtime," now playing in theaters.
(Thanks to UPI Hollywood Reporter Pat Nason)
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''Spider-Man'' won't be swinging into theaters until May of 2002, but fans are already watching his every move. Sony's official site recently posted early footage of both Spidey and the Green Goblin (played by Willem Dafoe), addressing nagging concerns about the costumes of our hero and his arch foe.
Raimi is already plotting the second Spidey movie, for which stars Tobey Maguire (Spiderman/Peter Parker) and Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane) have already signed on (their ''Spider-Man'' contracts have an option for two more films).
-EW.com-
Visit the Official Spider Man Site 
Robert Downey Jr. Movie News:
Fret not, even after Downey's past history he is still being sought after for more feature films! But will he ever go back to Ally McBeal?
**THE WRIGHT STUFF: Robin Wright Penn has been cast opposite Robert Downey Jr. in the upcoming film The Singing Detective, Variety reports. Meanwhile, Mel Gibson who is producing the pic has signed on to play a supporting role.
** Robert Downey Jr. is poised to star in The Singing Detective, a big-screen remake of the famed BBC series, Variety reports. Mel Gibson's Icon Productions will produce the pic.
**According to a report in Daily Variety, Robert Downey Jr. is in talks to star in "Six Bullets From Now" -- described as the story of the 1972 robbery of $10 million in cash and jewelry from the Pierre Hotel in New York. Director Ridley Scott ("Black Hawk Down," "Gladiator") is producing
the project.
**The late Dennis Potter was well-known in England for writing several surreal, musical mini-series, but he was never a big hit over here -- remember Steve Martin's screen adaptation of Potter's ''Pennies From Heaven''? That's not stopping Mel Gibson's Icon Productions from adapting a U.S. feature version of Potter's ''The Singing Detective,'' about a writer with a horrible skin disease. Francois Girard (''The Red Violin'') will direct, and Gibson hopes his ''Air America'' costar Robert Downey Jr. will star.
MOVIE NEWS - 3/1/02
Shooting has begun on Steven Spielbergs latest movie.
*Catch Me If You Can stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom
Hanks in the true story of Frank Abagnale Jr., the
youngest man ever to be listed on the FBIs Most Wanted
list. The film also stars Christopher Walken. It will
be released by DreamWorks Pictures.
*Matthew McConaughey is in talks to star opposite Kate Hudson in the romantic comedy How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Danny DeVito will direct the pic, which finds McConaughey playing a womanizer who bets his cronies that he can stay in a relationship for more than 10 days.
* Ralph Fiennes is signing on to star with singer/actress Jennifer Lopez in the new romantic comedy The Chambermaid, according to Variety. J.Lo will star as the maid in a hotel where Fiennes, a well-known politician, is staying, in a script penned by Breakfast Club scribe John Hughes.
TERMINATOR 3 NEWS:
Warner Bros. Pictures won a bidding war earlier this month, plunking down a reported $50 million for the right to distribute what may be the most expensive movie ever made: ''Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines.'' With a leather-clad Ah-nuld returning to the battle-hardened franchise, analysts say the deal is a near-certain coup for Warners (two outside production companies are funding the majority of a budget that could reach $170 million).
But before ''T3'' rumbles into theaters on July 4, 2003, moviegoers who've memorized every Austrian- accented quip from the first two films will have to adjust to some changes. ''Terminator'' auteur James Cameron will be gone, as will be stars Linda Hamilton and Edward Furlong, leaving Shwarzenegger as the sole returning creative force. Jonathan Mostow (''U-571'') will direct from a script by John Brancato and Michael Ferris (''The Game'') -- and a female Terminator will be along for a ride. Here's what else to expect:
Sarah Connor: Terminated After starring as waitress-turned-warrior Sarah Connor in the first two movies, Linda Hamilton (once married to James Cameron) opted out of ''Terminator 3.'' ''I retired as a champ,'' she tells EW.com, explaining that the role reached its peak in the second movie.
John Connor: Replaced Edward Furlong made his movie debut in 1991's ''Terminator 2,'' playing Sarah Connor's son John, who's destined to lead humanity in future battles against machines that take over the world. But Furlong, who has reportedly struggled with substance abuse, will not appear in ''Terminator 3,'' despite earlier reports that he had signed on to the project.
Long-running rumors of a female Terminator are true: She will be ''sexy, beautiful, composed and lethal,'' according to the movie's casting call. And ''T3'''s producers say they're looking for a performer of ''any ethnicity or nationality,'' as long as she's in fighting shape and between the ages of 20 and 30 -- a category that could encompass anyone from Lucy Liu or Jessica Alba to ''Mission Impossible 2'''s Thandie Newton. To Read this entire article at EW.com, Click Here! More Movie News: Updated 2/3/02
**It's official: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz will reprise their roles as the ogre, the donkey and the princess in Shrek 2. According to reports, the trio could earn $5 million apiece for their voice work. The sequel is expected to hit theaters in 2004.
**Ewan MacGregor will join Rene Zellweger on the big screen in Down with Love, a new romantic comedy, according to Variety.
**The late Dennis Potter was well-known in England for writing several surreal, musical mini-series, but he was never a big hit over here -- remember Steve Martin's screen adaptation of Potter's ''Pennies From Heaven''? That's not stopping Mel Gibson's Icon Productions from adapting a U.S. feature version of Potter's ''The Singing Detective,'' about a writer with a horrible skin disease. Francois Girard (''The Red Violin'') will direct, and Gibson hopes his ''Air America'' costar Robert Downey Jr. will star....
**REEL DEALS Reese Witherspoon will net her highest paycheck yet to star as a tennis pro in a still-untitled drama. She'll earn $8 million to play a 24-year-old burnout who gets a shot at returning to the tournament circuit. Shooting begins in May.
**Look for Halle Berry to follow up her James Bond and ''X-Men'' sequel work with ''Nappily Ever After,'' a romantic comedy in which she'd star as a woman who dumps her commitment-phobic boyfriend, only to see him take up with another woman.
**It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas for Ben Affleck. DreamWorks is about to pick up Sony's option on the comedy ''Surviving Christmas,'' to which Affleck is attached. He'd play a guy who, rather than spend the holiday alone, goes to his childhood home and cajoles the family of strangers living their now to let him join their celebration.
**Spike Lee will direct Edward Norton in a big-screen adaptation of David Benioff's novel The 25th Hour, about the final day of freedom for a young man before he begins serving a seven-year jail term, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
**Hollywood dream team Tom Cruise and director Steven Spielberg whose first collaboration, Minority Report, arrives in theaters on June 28 will reunite for the WWII POW pic Ghost Soldiers, Variety reports. The film is based on Hampton Sides's bestseller.
**Bruce Willis will star as an amnesiac in the upcoming thriller Me Again, about a man who has lost his memory and has to figure out whether he's a hitman or the hitman's target, Variety reports. Filming is expected to begin later this year.
**Steven Spielberg confirmed that he's planning a third sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark to star Harrison Ford. "We have a title, but we're not ready to announce it," he told Fox News. Ford, meanwhile, told reporters at Sunday's Golden Globe awards that he's "got another [sequel]" in him, adding, "I look forward to it."
**Ryan Phillippe is in final talks to join the cast of the in-the-works Exorcist prequel. Liam Neeson has already been signed to star.
Movies Coming in 2002:
**Halle Berry begins filming opposite Pierce Brosnan in the 20th James Bond adventure. Berry plays a characteur named Jinx. The picture starts shooting on January 14th, 2002.
**In February, DENZEL WASHINGTON stars in 'John Q,' a taut drama about a desperate father who takes an emergency room hostage to save his dying son.
**NICOLE KIDMAN, dyes her hair black to play a Russian mail-order bride in 'Birthday Girl.'
**GUY PEARCE (of 'Memento' and 'L.A. Confidential' fame) returns to the screen with a new version of the classic 'The Count of Monte Cristo,' just in time to beat the release of his other remake, 'The Time Machine,' in March. Believe it or not, that movie is directed by author H.G. WELLS' grandson, SIMON WELLS, and opens March 8.
**March also brings the first of two MEL GIBSON offerings in 2002, 'We Were Soldiers,' opening March 1. The Vietnam War epic, based on a true story, re-teams Mel with 'Braveheart' writer RANDALL WALLACE, now in the director's chair.
Later this summer, Mel gets some 'Signs' that we are not alone -- in the form of crop circles -- in the newest sci-fi thriller from spook king M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN ('The Sixth Sense').
**Come May, the blockbusters start to arrive at a multiplex near you!
'Spider-Man,' starring TOBEY MAGUIRE and KIRSTEN DUNST, leaps from the comic book to the silver screen on May 3, while the much-awaited 'Star Wars Episode II - Attack of the Clones,' opens May 16. Don't be surprised if young Jedi Knights start lining up for that one now!
**In June, TOM CRUISE makes his 'Minority Report,' his first pairing with megadirector STEVEN SPIELBERG.
Based on a short story by PHILIP K. DICK ('Blade Runner' was based on one of his tales), 'Report' tells the tale of a futuristic world in which people are arrested for crimes before they actually commit them!
**Of course, 'Star Wars' isn't the only franchise with a sequel coming out this summer. In July, WILL SMITH and TOMMY LEE JONES are together again for more out-of-this-world action with 'Men in Black II.'
**And MIKE MYERS gets shagadelic for a third time, baby, with the spy spoof, 'Austin Powers in Goldmember.'
All release dates are subject to change! ->HULK CASTING: Sam Elliott and Nick Nolte have been added to the cast of Universal Pictures upcoming big-screen adaptation of the Marvel comic book The Hulk. Directed by Oscar-winner Ang Lee, the film stars Eric Bana as the green giant (aka Dr. Bruce Banner) and Jennifer Connelly as his love interest.
->Jack Nicholson will star opposite Adam Sandler in "Anger Management," a comedy about a timid businessman (Sandler) who is wrongly sentenced to an anger-management program, Variety reports. Nicholson will play his ultra-aggressive instructor who hardly practices what he preaches.
->George Clooney's next film project is starring in and
directing "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind", based on
the old Dating Game show. Clooney has already gotten
Ocean's 11 co-stars Brad Pitt and Matt Damon to agree
on cameo roles as bachelor contestants.
->Brittany Murphy (Don't Say a Word) and Ashton Kutcher (That '70s Show) will star in the romantic comedy "Just Married."
->Fox says it will release "X-Men 2" on May 2, 2003. The
announcement will probably keep other studios from plan-
ning any major releases for that weekend, which still
leaves the Memorial Day weekend slot up for grabs.
"X-Men 2" will reunite director Bryan Singer with "X-Men"
stars Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry, and
will feature some new mutants from the "X-Men" comic
book series. The summer box-office season for 2003 also
includes -- tentatively -- "The Hulk," "The Matrix
Reloaded" and "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines."
->Anthony Hopkins is returning as Hannibal Lecter in the
prequel, Red Dragon. Ralph Fiennes will play the title
role as serial killer Red Dragon.
->Cameron Diaz will get $20 million to costar in the "Charlie Angels" sequel. She will be the second actress to get that amount of money...The first one is Julia Roberts.
-> Danny DeVito will direct Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore in the Miramax comedy "Duplex."
->"Terminator 3" will begin shooting in April with a budget of more than $170 million. According to a report in Daily Variety, Arnold Schwarzenegger stands to make as much as $30 million for "Terminator 3."
The report cited sources "close to the production" as deny-
ing the $30 million figure, but said that "other sources"
revealed that Schwarzenegger's payday "will slightly exceed
the $25 million" he made for playing Mr. Freeze in "Batman
and Robin" (1997).
->TV's "Crocodile Hunter" is headed to the big screen. Steve Irwin has signed a deal with MGM to headline the feature Crocodile Hunter Collision Course. Filming is underway in Australia.
->Actor-director Keenen Ivory Wayans is in talks with Universal to direct Eddie Murphy in a remake of The Incredible Shrinking Man, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The pic is slated to go into production in June.
-> Director Steven Soderbergh is changing the name of his next film in light of Sept. 11. How to Survive a Hotel Room Fire will now be called Full Frontal. "It seemed not so funny after Sept. 11," Soderbergh told The Associated Press. The pic stars the filmmaker's muse, Julia Roberts, as well as David Duchovny, Catherine Keener, David Hyde Pierce and Blair Underwood.
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