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[DISNEY]
Emma Stone is in talks to play
puppy-hating villainess Cruella
de Vil in a live-action origin story
for Disney. Certain key elements
of the fi lm are yet to be locked
down—like, for example, a director—but
Disney is reportedly aiming
for production to begin later
this year. Cruella was written by
Fifty Shades of Grey’s Kelly Marcel,
with Aline Brosh McKenna (The
Devil Wears Prada) working on an
earlier version of the script.
A rumored shortlist is making
its way around for the role
of young Han Solo in Phil Lord
and Chris Miller’s 2018 Star Wars
spinoff. Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort,
Dave Franco, Jack Reynor, Logan
Lerman, Emory Cohen and Blake
Jenner are reportedly being considered,
with Disney for the most
part keeping its eye on actors in
the low- to mid-20s. Harrison
Ford, by comparison, was 34 when
Star Wars: Episode IV–A New Hope
fi rst debuted. The Han Solo prequel
doesn’t come out until May
25, 2018, with shooting commencing
next January. However, rumor
has it that Disney wants to lock
down a star soon so their chosen
young Han can potentially fi lm a
cameo for Star Wars: Rogue One,
out next December.
[DRAFTHOUSE FILMS]
Drafthouse Films has found
their latest cult-friendly film: the
documentary Raiders! The Story of the
Greatest Fan Film Ever Made, about
the decade-spanning attempts by
two friends to create a shot-for-shot
remake of Steven Spielberg’s Raiders
of the Lost Ark. Jeremy Coon and Tim
Skousen wrote and directed the film,
which has made waves on the festival
circuit with screenings at SXSW,
Hot Docs and more. Drafthouse
will give the film a limited theatrical
release, along with a VOD/digital
rollout, this summer.
[FIRST RUN FEATURES]
First Run Features acquired
U.S. and Canadian English-speaking
rights to Australian comedy/drama
Last Cab to Darwin, about a curmudgeon
(Michael Caton) suffering
from a fatal illness who sets off on
a continent-crossing drive so he
can take advantage of a local euthanasia
law. Ningali Lawford-Wolf
and two-time Oscar nominee Jacki
Weaver (Animal Kingdom, Silver Linings
Playbook) co-star in the factbased
fi lm, which was directed and
co-written by Jeremy Sims. It will
open theatrically this summer.
[NEW LINE]
The screenwriting duo of Chad
and Carey Hayes (The Conjuring,
2005’s House of Wax) have sold
their pitch for action-adventure
fi l m The Burn, about “elite wildlife
fi refi ghters,” to New Line Cinema.
The brothers are a hot property
right now, with The Conjuring 2
opening this summer, The Crucifi xion
now fi lming and Journey 3: From the
Earth to the Moon slowly gravitating
towards theatres. Can we go ahead
and put in a request for Dwayne
Johnson to play a heroic fi refi ghter
with a heart of gold, please?
[MAGNOLIA]
Magnolia Pictures has acquired
the worldwide rights to two
upcoming music-related docs. The
fi rst, director Brendon Toller’s
Danny Says, is about eccentric
music executive Danny Fields, who
managed Iggy and the Stooges,
MC5 and the Ramones. The
second, Matthew Miele and Justin
Bare’s Harry Benson: Shoot First,
turns its camera on photographer
Harry Benson, who throughout
his career captured iconic images
of, among other subjects, The
Beatles’ famed fi rst trip to the
United States.
[OSCILLOSCOPE]
Oscilloscope Laboratories
acquired U.S. rights to The Wait
(L’Attesa), starring Juliette Binoche
as a woman meeting her son’s fi ancée
(French actress Lou de Laâge)
for the fi rst time. This is the
feature directorial debut of Piero
Messina, who served as Paolo
Sorrentino’s assistant director on
COOGLER CORNERS BLACK PANTHER
Ryan Coogler—of Creed and, earlier, Fruitvale Station
fame—has officially been tapped by Marvel Studios to direct
Black Panther, coming to theatres on Feb. 16, 2018. Chadwick
Boseman (Get on Up) stars in the film, about a superhero/leader of
the (fictional, for those not up on their geography) African nation
of Wakanda. Boseman will make his official Marvel debut in
Captain America: Civil War, opening this May.
LAWRENCE TEAMS WITH ARONOFSKY
The first filmic collaboration between Jennifer Lawrence and
Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky has landed at Paramount.
Little is known about the yet-untitled film, save that it focuses
on a couple whose calm, happy life is disrupted by the presence
of unwanted houseguests. Javier Bardem is reportedly in talks to
co-star in the film, which is expected to hit theatres in 2017.
NOLAN LANDS AT DUNKIRK
Christopher Nolan is venturing into war-movie territory
with Dunkirk, about the famed evacuation of more than 300,000
Allied troops from a French beach during World War II. This is
the film that Warner Bros. previously slated for a July 21, 2017
release, back before we knew anything about it other than who
its director is. Now we know that Nolan wrote the script and
Kenneth Branagh, Mark Rylance and two-time Nolan collaborator
Tom Hardy are in talks to join the ensemble cast, though the
leads will reportedly be unknowns.
the Oscar-winning Italian fi lm The
Great Beauty. Oscilloscope plans to
release The Wait in the spring of
this year.
[PARAMOUNT]
“Bayhem” returns! Michael
Bay has confi rmed to Rolling
Stone that he will be back to
direct the fi fth installment of the
multi-billion-dollar Transformers
franchise, which is tentatively
slated to hit theatres in 2017.
Bay’s return was in some doubt,
as Paramount has made clear
their intention to retool the
franchise somewhat, establishing
a writer’s room to convert their
smash ’em, bash ’em series into
something more like a Marvelesque
shared universe. The
writing duo of Art Marcum and
Matt Holloway (Iron Man) will pen
Transformers 5, along with Ken
Nolan (Black Hawk Down).
Paramount’s World War Z
sequel has hit a snag, with director
Juan Antonio Bayona, who
directed the fi rst fi lm, stepping
down. An offi cial statement from
Paramount cites “pre-existing
fi lm commitments” on the director’s
part; Bayona is in the midst
of post-production on Focus
Features’ fantasy fi lm A Monster
Calls, which opens this October.
Paramount still plans to make the
World War Z sequel this year, thus
keeping to their June 9, 2017 release
date. Brad Pitt will return in
his dual roles as star and producer,
though World War Z’s writers (Damon
Lindelof, Drew Goddard and
Matthew Michael Carnahan) have
been replaced by Steven Knight
(Eastern Promises, Locke).
[SONY]
Emmy- and Oscar-winning
screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is set
to make his directorial debut with
Molly’s Game, based on the true
story of Molly Bloom, a skier who
made the unlikely career transition
to “underground Hollywood
poker madam.” Sorkin is also on
scripting duties for the project,
which will see him working off
of Bloom’s 2014 memoir Molly’s
64 WWW.FILMJOURNAL.COM
FEBRUARY 2016