New Films in Production

[Murdoch]

Not that I wasn't going to see this already, but that pair just makes this even more of a must-see.

[ambrose]

Yoji Yamada 50th Anniversary Film Cast Named.

The cast has been announced for Yoji Yamada’s 50th anniversary film, Tokyo Kazuko (Family), the veteran director’s homage to Yasujiro Ozu’s classic, Tokyo Story.
Etsuko Ichihara (Black Rain) and Bunta Sugawara will play the elderly mother and father who visit their children in Tokyo -- played by Chishu Ryu and Chieko Higashiyama in the Ozu original.
Yu Aoi (About Her Brother) will play the girlfriend (played by Setsuko Hara in the original film) of the younger son. The son had been killed during WWII in Ozu’s original, but will be played in this version by Satonshi Tsumabuki, winner of last week’s Japan Academy Prize for Best Actor in Villain.
Other cast members include Yui Natsukawa (Still Walking), Masahiko Nishimura (Welcome Back Mr. McDonald) and Shigeru Muroi (Villon's Wife).
Ozu’s original features on numerous "best film of all-time" rankings and has been remade and imitated before. Ozu was Yamada’s mentor when he first entered Shochiku and Yamada had long talked about paying some kind of homage to Tokyo Story.
Yamada turns 80 this year, and this will be his 82nd feature since his 1961 debut with Nikai no Tanin (A Stranger Upstairs). He will also direct a stage version of Tokyo Story at a Tokyo theater next year, when Tokyo Kazoku is due for release.
Filming is scheduled to begin in April.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Bunta Sugawara!? I still can't imagine him in any role that doesn't require him having to get physically violent or scream at people (something Yamada doesn't particularly specialize in).

[knives]

In all honesty I have no clue where to put this, but it's one of the most fascinating reads I've had in a while. [PDF]

[Jeff]

one of the most fascinating reads I've had in a while.

That's pretty hilarious. I can't believe that an attorney actually wrote that with a straight face. The part about how the Weinstein company is clearly incompetent because Nine sucked is pretty great, but my favorite part is this:

...with his children present, Harvey Weinstein attempted to consume an entire bowl of M&M candies despite being diabetic. When a TWC executive sought to retrieve the bowl of candy out of obvious concern for Harvey Weinstein’s health, he fought to keep it, and in the tumult the M&Ms ended up scattered all over the floor. Then, instead of watching the reel, Harvey Weinstein got down on his hands and knees and began eating M&Ms off the floor.

[Murdoch]

Love this part:

When Inerfeld sought to speak directly to Harvey Weinstein about Escape's financial problems, he would not take or return Inerfeld's calls, finally stating that: "I take Obama's calls."

[ianungstad]

Not a film but Fincher's next project will be House of Cards. It's a one hour drama series starring Kevin Spacey. David Fincher will executive produce the series as well as direct the pilot episode. Currently being shopped to the various television networks. Will probably wind up at either HBO, Showtime or AMC.

[ambrose]

DreamWorks lines up WikiLeaks film

Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of Guardian News & Media, said: "The Guardian's unique collaboration with WikiLeaks led to what some have described as one of the greatest journalistic scoops of the last 30 years."

Discussing the proposed film, he added: "It's Woodward and Bernstein meets Stieg Larsson meets Jason Bourne. Plus the odd moment of sheer farce and, in Julian Assange, a compelling character who goes beyond what any Hollywood scriptwriter would dare to invent."

One joke circulating on the internet was that Leigh, Guardian investigations editor, could be played by No Country for Old Men star and supposed lookalike Javier Bardem. In addition to snapping up the Leigh/Harding bestseller, DreamWorks has secured rights to Inside WikiLeaks, by Assange's former colleague Daniel Domscheit-Berg. This has led insiders to speculate that DreamWorks executives are planning a heavily fictionalised thriller.

[ambrose]

Liv Ullmann’s first film role after several years of directing

The German film fund Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen joins the Norwegian Film Institute in backing the film entitled To liv (Two lives), described as a fictional thriller-drama based on historic facts. It tells the story of a former Stasi spy named Katrine who falls in love with a Norwegian and settles in Bergen with family and a career.
Her past, however, comes back to haunt her when tormented children born of Norwegian mothers and German fathers during World War II sue the Norwegian state over the ill treatment they received after the war. As one of the children, now grown, Katrine is approached to get involved in the suit, which threatens to expose her Stasi connections.
Liv Ullmann is due to play the leading role as Katrine’s mother, although she told newspaper Dagsavisen that she hasn’t signed a contract yet. Ullmann’s character, Åse, is that of a Norwegian woman who had a child with a German soldier and then was tormented herself and forced to give up the child. The child was sent to Germany and grew up in the former East Germany. Mother and child weren’t reunited for 25 years.

[Cosmic Bus]

First set of stills from Guy Maddin's Keyhole

[Finch]

At The Mountains of Madness is supposedly ready to shoot in June which is great news but word is that Tom Cruise is going to be in it which I'd file under "blah" news. The man can be good in certain roles but I can't picture him in the Lovecraft universe.

edit: the June rumour has been debunked by Deadline. Don Murphy says no start date has been set for Madness.

[Jeff]

At The Mountains of Madness is supposedly ready to shoot in June which is great news but word is that Tom Cruise is going to be in it which I'd file under "blah" news. The man can be good in certain roles but I can't picture him in the Lovecraft universe.

edit: the June rumour has been debunked by Deadline. Don Murphy says no start date has been set for Madness.

Del Toro confirms it's dead

[ambrose]

Kiarostami’s The End

Abbas Kiarostami, whose Certified Copy (starring Cannes Best Actress winner Juliette Binoche and William Shimell, above left) opens March 11, is developing The End, a Japanese-language relationship drama through MK2 Productions. MK2’s Nathanael Karmitz says the film, to star Aoi Miyazaki, is a “continuation of Certified Copy” that will look at modern love in Japan. The film will shoot on location this April.

[Finch]

Del Toro speaks to Deadline after the Mountains debacle.

[ambrose]

Julianne Moore Will Play Sarah Palin in HBO Movie Game Change

[mfunk9786]

HBO: Just donate the money that's going to be used making that largescale preach to the choir to the 2012 Obama re-election campaign.

[James Mills]

Del Toro speaks to Deadline after the Mountains debacle.

Seems like GDT is always in the news for what he's either recently scheduled or cancelled. Though he's only done seven films in the past twenty years, to me it feels like his name has been attached to at least 20ish...

[flyonthewall2983]

Not a film but Fincher's next project will be House of Cards. It's a one hour drama series starring Kevin Spacey. David Fincher will executive produce the series as well as direct the pilot episode. Currently being shopped to the various television networks. Will probably wind up at either HBO, Showtime or AMC.

Nope

[Matt]

This is such an interesting precedent. As much as it makes me fret about the decline of traditional broadcasting and the tangible "ownership" model of home video, it's really kind of cool to see a major production circumvent the networks altogether.

[willoneill]

I agree that it's kind of cool, but I doubt that was the show's primary motive for choosing Netflix; more likely, Netflix was willing to guarantee two seasons sight unseen, which would never happen at any channel, network or cable, any more. MJy curiosity is how is Netflix going to deliver the show. Right now, A show premieres at a specific time on a specific channel ... so is Netflix going to upload each episode at a specifc time each week, or what? Last question, will this show be less or more susceptible to pirating?

[Roger Ryan]

The New York Times reports that Aronofsky has withdrawn from THE WOLVERINE.

[James Mills]

The New York Times reports that Aronofsky has withdrawn from THE WOLVERINE.

I'm actually happy to hear this. I've personally had enough of these comic book movies anyways.

[mfunk9786]

The New York Times reports that Aronofsky has withdrawn from THE WOLVERINE.

I'm actually happy to hear this. I've personally had enough of these comic book movies anyways.

They're not going to stop making comic book movies because Darren Aronofsky dropped out of directing this one, you know. No one is forcing you to see them, either.

[James Mills]

But DA being behind the camera does somewhat force me to see it.

[flyonthewall2983]

HBO: Just donate the money that's going to be used making that largescale preach to the choir to the 2012 Obama re-election campaign.

They took that into consideration, but decided instead to develop a mini-series about Dick Cheney.