Elston Gunn's WEEKLY SCRIPT REPORT (Major Sales, Events, and other News!)
August 25th, 2000
- David Hayter (X-MEN) will write THE INCREDIBLE HULK as well as PITCH BLACK 2, both for Universal Pictures.
- Ellen Rapoport has written CLOSURE about a young female lawyer who seeks closure with all of her ex-boyfriends after she gets dumped by her fiance. Andy Fleming (DICK, THE CRAFT) will direct.
- Alcon Entertainment hired Eric Nicholas to adapt the upcoming Gil Roscoe novel COYOTE ENTERPRISES for the big screen. It tells the story of a guy who is who is seduced into becoming a con by his "femme-fatale ex girlfriend."
- David Hubbard (upcoming DELIVERING MILO) will write the comedy/drama DAD'S NEW LIFE for Jerry Bruckheimer Films about a daughter who must deal with her stepmom, whom she doesn't trust.
- Simon Davis Barry (THE ART OF WAR co-writer) will write the third installment of the I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER series for Columbia Pictures and Original Films. The project is said to involve all-new characters in a tale of morality--as opposed to relying on camp or comedy to
tell the horror story.
- Ted Tally (THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS) will adapt Joe R. Lansdale's 1995 novel MUCHO MOJO for New Line Cinema about a straight white man and a gay black man and their small town adventures. The two men start fixing up a house an uncle left to one of them. They discover the skeletons of many
children and set out to find out the truth and clear the uncle's name.
- Christopher Hampton (DANGEROUS LIASONS) adapted the 1955 Graham Greene novel THE QUIET AMERICAN into a screenplay for a feature to star Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser. It centers around a British reporter whose Vietnamese girlfriend becomes the interest of an American CIA agent. Shooting begins in early 2001 with Phillip Noyce (THE BONE COLLECTOR) directing.
- Boaz Yakin (REMEMBER THE TITANS, FRESH) will direct and co-write BATMAN BEYOND for Warner Bros. based on the WB Kids animated series. Series creators Paul Dini and Alan Burnett will write the script with Yakin with sci-fi novelist Neal Stephenson serving as a creative consultant. The
series takes place 40 years in the future with a high schooler taking on the role of Batman, fighting evil corporate forces who killed his father and
took control of Bruce Wayne's empire.
- Jonathan Gruber and Erik Bress will write FINAL DESTINATION 2 for New Line Cinema.
- Don Rhymer (BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE) will write JUMANJI 2 for Columbia Pictures. It apparently picks up with the dreaded game being fished out of the ocean by the vice president.
- Ken Kaufman (SPACE COWBOYS co-writer) will write a live action/animated film for the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes characters (a la SPACE JAM). Quincy Jones Media Group is producing the film with Billy Gerber.
- Writer/director Robert Towne and producer Fred Roos are developing a feature ASK THE DUST based on the John Fante love story novel with Conrad Hall (AMERICAN BEAUTY) handling cinematography. It's about a young man who was castigated in Colorado for his Italian heritage, who comes to L.A. to become a novelist. He meets and falls in love with a Mexican waitress.
- Peter Elkoff wrote GET WELL SOON which James Merendino (SLC PUNK) will direct and produce for Avenue Pictures. Production begins in November. It centers on a young man trying to overcome his drug addiction and his attempts to win the woman he has adored since college.
- Paul Thomas Anderson will write/direct a comedy feature to possibly star Adam Sandler with New Line Cinema getting a first look.
- Ray Romano ("Everybody Loves Raymond") and Kevin James ("King of Queens") will star in a romantic comedy for Paramount based on their own idea. They'll also be involved in writing the script.
- Dominique Lett will adapt SIS BOOM BAH, Jane Heller's comedic novel about two sisters who must stop their lifelong bickering when their mother has a heart attack. They find themselves competing for the attention of a doctor, who turns up dead. Revolution Studios acquired the rights to the book and is developing the project.
- John Harrison (DINOSAUR co-writer) will write the thriller THE LINEUP for Warner Bros. based on his own pitch about an innocent man who is falsely singled out for a crime after he agrees to participate in a police lineup. Overbrook Entertainment will produce.
- Kendrew Lascelles (FOCUS) will pen the screen adaptation of Harold Nebenzal's thriller novel THE LION CULT for Total Film Group. It centers on a group of foreign companies that face danger from competing cartels, Swiss banks and diamond merchants.
- Jon Bokenkamp (BLAIR WITCH 2) will rewrite WW3.COM for 20th Century Fox and producer Luc Besson about cyber-terrorists waging war on the U.S. The studio hopes to get it into production before the strike.
- Mark L. Andrus wrote LIFE AS A HOUSE for Kevin Kline to star as a very sick man who sets out to build a house, coaxes his son to help him and learns to understand the son and his estranged wife. Shooting begins in November.
- Mike Rich (FINDING FORRESTER) scripted ROOKIE based on the true story of a Texas high school teacher who follows his dream of becoming a professional baseball player. John Lee Hancock (A PERFECT WORLD scribe) is in talks to direct for Disney.
- James Vanderbilt has written the thriller BASIC which Lee Tamahori is set to direct for Sony-based Phoenix Pictures. Shooting begins in January. It follows a U.S. DEA agent who is investigating the mysterious disappearance of a legendary Army Ranger drill instructor and several of his cadets during a training exercise.
- Eric Kmetz wrote THE OTHER SIDE OF SIMPLE which Ted Demme is in talks to direct for New Line. It follows two thieves who reunite with one of the thieves' slow-witted younger brother, who was arrested 10 years earlier when they abandoned him during a botched robbery. Using him as a patsy in their upcoming job, the thieves find out the brother is not as dumb as he seems and his forgiveness is a ruse.
- Walter Mosley (DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS) will write an untitled drama for New Line based on the Moulin Rouge, the first interracial hotel and casino. It opened in 1955 and mysteriously closed at the height of its popularity. Will Smith is in talks to star with Gary Ross possibly directing.
My pick of the week is solely based on curiosity. What would a Paul Thomas Anderson comedy be like? And with Adam Sandler as his star? This news really sticks out to me. HARD EIGHT was film noir, BOOGIE NIGHTS was a very nice retro epic and MAGNOLIA was Anderson's NASHVILLE. I'm very interested to see how he's going to pursue a laffer.
-- Elston Gunn
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, Variety)
- Ellen Rapoport has written CLOSURE about a young female lawyer who seeks closure with all of her ex-boyfriends after she gets dumped by her fiance. Andy Fleming (DICK, THE CRAFT) will direct.
- Alcon Entertainment hired Eric Nicholas to adapt the upcoming Gil Roscoe novel COYOTE ENTERPRISES for the big screen. It tells the story of a guy who is who is seduced into becoming a con by his "femme-fatale ex girlfriend."
- David Hubbard (upcoming DELIVERING MILO) will write the comedy/drama DAD'S NEW LIFE for Jerry Bruckheimer Films about a daughter who must deal with her stepmom, whom she doesn't trust.
- Simon Davis Barry (THE ART OF WAR co-writer) will write the third installment of the I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER series for Columbia Pictures and Original Films. The project is said to involve all-new characters in a tale of morality--as opposed to relying on camp or comedy to
tell the horror story.
- Ted Tally (THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS) will adapt Joe R. Lansdale's 1995 novel MUCHO MOJO for New Line Cinema about a straight white man and a gay black man and their small town adventures. The two men start fixing up a house an uncle left to one of them. They discover the skeletons of many
children and set out to find out the truth and clear the uncle's name.
- Christopher Hampton (DANGEROUS LIASONS) adapted the 1955 Graham Greene novel THE QUIET AMERICAN into a screenplay for a feature to star Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser. It centers around a British reporter whose Vietnamese girlfriend becomes the interest of an American CIA agent. Shooting begins in early 2001 with Phillip Noyce (THE BONE COLLECTOR) directing.
- Boaz Yakin (REMEMBER THE TITANS, FRESH) will direct and co-write BATMAN BEYOND for Warner Bros. based on the WB Kids animated series. Series creators Paul Dini and Alan Burnett will write the script with Yakin with sci-fi novelist Neal Stephenson serving as a creative consultant. The
series takes place 40 years in the future with a high schooler taking on the role of Batman, fighting evil corporate forces who killed his father and
took control of Bruce Wayne's empire.
- Jonathan Gruber and Erik Bress will write FINAL DESTINATION 2 for New Line Cinema.
- Don Rhymer (BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE) will write JUMANJI 2 for Columbia Pictures. It apparently picks up with the dreaded game being fished out of the ocean by the vice president.
- Ken Kaufman (SPACE COWBOYS co-writer) will write a live action/animated film for the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes characters (a la SPACE JAM). Quincy Jones Media Group is producing the film with Billy Gerber.
- Writer/director Robert Towne and producer Fred Roos are developing a feature ASK THE DUST based on the John Fante love story novel with Conrad Hall (AMERICAN BEAUTY) handling cinematography. It's about a young man who was castigated in Colorado for his Italian heritage, who comes to L.A. to become a novelist. He meets and falls in love with a Mexican waitress.
- Peter Elkoff wrote GET WELL SOON which James Merendino (SLC PUNK) will direct and produce for Avenue Pictures. Production begins in November. It centers on a young man trying to overcome his drug addiction and his attempts to win the woman he has adored since college.
- Paul Thomas Anderson will write/direct a comedy feature to possibly star Adam Sandler with New Line Cinema getting a first look.
- Ray Romano ("Everybody Loves Raymond") and Kevin James ("King of Queens") will star in a romantic comedy for Paramount based on their own idea. They'll also be involved in writing the script.
- Dominique Lett will adapt SIS BOOM BAH, Jane Heller's comedic novel about two sisters who must stop their lifelong bickering when their mother has a heart attack. They find themselves competing for the attention of a doctor, who turns up dead. Revolution Studios acquired the rights to the book and is developing the project.
- John Harrison (DINOSAUR co-writer) will write the thriller THE LINEUP for Warner Bros. based on his own pitch about an innocent man who is falsely singled out for a crime after he agrees to participate in a police lineup. Overbrook Entertainment will produce.
- Kendrew Lascelles (FOCUS) will pen the screen adaptation of Harold Nebenzal's thriller novel THE LION CULT for Total Film Group. It centers on a group of foreign companies that face danger from competing cartels, Swiss banks and diamond merchants.
- Jon Bokenkamp (BLAIR WITCH 2) will rewrite WW3.COM for 20th Century Fox and producer Luc Besson about cyber-terrorists waging war on the U.S. The studio hopes to get it into production before the strike.
- Mark L. Andrus wrote LIFE AS A HOUSE for Kevin Kline to star as a very sick man who sets out to build a house, coaxes his son to help him and learns to understand the son and his estranged wife. Shooting begins in November.
- Mike Rich (FINDING FORRESTER) scripted ROOKIE based on the true story of a Texas high school teacher who follows his dream of becoming a professional baseball player. John Lee Hancock (A PERFECT WORLD scribe) is in talks to direct for Disney.
- James Vanderbilt has written the thriller BASIC which Lee Tamahori is set to direct for Sony-based Phoenix Pictures. Shooting begins in January. It follows a U.S. DEA agent who is investigating the mysterious disappearance of a legendary Army Ranger drill instructor and several of his cadets during a training exercise.
- Eric Kmetz wrote THE OTHER SIDE OF SIMPLE which Ted Demme is in talks to direct for New Line. It follows two thieves who reunite with one of the thieves' slow-witted younger brother, who was arrested 10 years earlier when they abandoned him during a botched robbery. Using him as a patsy in their upcoming job, the thieves find out the brother is not as dumb as he seems and his forgiveness is a ruse.
- Walter Mosley (DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS) will write an untitled drama for New Line based on the Moulin Rouge, the first interracial hotel and casino. It opened in 1955 and mysteriously closed at the height of its popularity. Will Smith is in talks to star with Gary Ross possibly directing.
My pick of the week is solely based on curiosity. What would a Paul Thomas Anderson comedy be like? And with Adam Sandler as his star? This news really sticks out to me. HARD EIGHT was film noir, BOOGIE NIGHTS was a very nice retro epic and MAGNOLIA was Anderson's NASHVILLE. I'm very interested to see how he's going to pursue a laffer.
-- Elston Gunn
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, Variety)
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