tbrief
In a blog post last month, before The Hobbit …
8:45AM Defamer Hollywood | In a blog post last month, before The Hobbit officially landed a director, Lord of the Rings veteran Sir Ian McKellen was more certain he would reprise his role as Gandalf than he was of his former castmates’ sexualities. He was even surer in a recent interview with Empire magazine, in which the 68-year-old confirmed he was coming back for filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. “Yes, it’s true,” McKellen said. “I spoke to Guillermo in the very room that Peter Jackson offered me the part and he confirmed that I would be reprising the role. Obviously, it’s not a part that you turn down, I loved playing Gandalf.” And if McKellen’s happy, then we’re happy — especially when it means we don’t have to further wrack our tired, beaten brains conjuring a suitable replacement. Thank God for small favours. [Reuters] More »
After all that misdemeanor-ing, warrant-issuing …
7:10AM Defamer Hollywood | After all that misdemeanor-ing, warrant-issuing and not-guilty pleading drama that followed Shia LeBeouf’s recent adventures in cigarette consumption, a judge in Burbank on Thursday tossed out those nagging charges of unlawful smoking. “He was cited in February, but court documents did not contain details on the circumstances or location of the offense,” reports the AP, but even we know he lit up outside the front door of tacky.gift palace Skyblupink to keep those headlines coming in advance of the junket-less Indiana Jones 4. He’s tough! He’s tender! He’s innocent! Works for us, we guess. [AP] More »
Variety today predicted that next month could …
9:00AM Defamer Hollywood | Variety today predicted that next month could be Hollywood’s biggest May ever, with four consecutive weeks of big titles — Iron Man, Speed Racer, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Indiana Jones 4 — leading the way into the more conventional blockbuster season of June and July. Of course, it was only a couple of weeks ago when some analysts suggested that a weak May hinted at an overall weak summer to come, but Pamela McClintock takes a more optimistic view: “For studios, the question isn’t whether three of the May films can shoot past the $300 million mark domestically, as Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End ultimately did,” she notes. “The question is whether the product is strong enough as a whole to make up for the lack of the three mega-franchises. … Speed Racer, rated PG, may not open as big as the others but could have strong legs.” Also of note: the bankable chick flicks Made of Honor and Sex and the City, whose $100 million won’t be enough to break those studio heads’ falls if and when their tentpoles snap. We’ll know where to look for casualties in about a month. [Variety] More »
This just in! Swaggering $3 million man and …
6:30AM Defamer Hollywood | This just in! Swaggering $3 million man and new Yoko Ono lawsuit target Ben Stein responds to his latest nemesis via press release: “So Yoko Ono is suing over the brief Constitutionally protected use of a song that wants us to ‘Imagine no possessions’? Maybe instead of wasting everyone’s time trying to silence a documentary she should give the song to the world for free? After all, ‘imagine all the people sharing all the world…You may say I’m a dreamer But I’m not the only one I hope someday you’ll join us And the World can live as one.’” No doubt a fitting rejoinder from a man who once provided legal counsel to Richard Nixon. Good luck, Ben! [Movie City Indie] More »
Tetro
8:15AM Defamer Hollywood | The prospect of Francis Ford Coppola imposing a “sex change” on Javier Bardem had us a million ways of excited (and just a little faint) today — and then we read the fine print. It turns out the director decided during rehearsals for his upcoming film Tetro that a woman would be a better mentor to his title character, played by Vincent Gallo. “As I read and reread (the script),” Coppola told The Hollywood Reporter, “I felt that the interaction between the two characters would be far more intriguing if they were of the opposite sex.” Of course, the casting of Spanish actress Carmen Maura had nothing to do with Bardem reportedly “becoming unavailable” while keeping himself open for the Rob Marshall musical Nine, which shoots this fall. A similar scenario arose earlier in preproduction when Coppola, reportedly wanting to “go skeevy” with his lead, instinctively replaced Matt Dillon with Gallo. Either way, we think he’s earned the benefit of our doubt. [THR] More »
The impossible dream imagined last year as …
6:45AM Defamer Hollywood | The impossible dream imagined last year as word of the scintillating, straight-to-DVD Zombie Strippers — an actual movie starring Jenna Jameson and Nightmare on Elm Street veteran Robert Englund — circulated around the Web inched closer to reality last week, with Sony Pictures so certain of the magic at hand that it announced theatrical releases in more than a dozen cities April 18. A note slipped over the Defamer transom this morning (with the accompanying poster) alluded to “worldwide media sensation” Jameson’s role in a strip club that gets hit with a secret government virus: “As one of the strippers gets the virus, she turns into a supernatural, flesh-eating zombie stripper, making her the hit of the club. Do the rest of the girls fight the temptation to be like the star stripper, even if there is no turning back?” We can hardly wait to find out, though we’re guessing that like all canonical zombie films with ripe moral metaphors on hand, only a forceful 20-spot to the G-string can save the afflicted dancers from an eternity of brain-chomping damnation. [Sony Pictures] More »
The curse
7:10AM Defamer Hollywood | Just as we surmised, the bad luck for director Terry Gilliam continues, as recent news from the Vancouver set of The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus suggests production on the fantasy pic will be permanently shut down following Heath Ledger’s sudden death. Tragedy aside, we are especially sad to report that this news also means that everyone’s favourite Mini Me, serial public urinator Verne Troyer, is out of a job. But we’re sure Little Person obsessive Gilliam will find room for the hairless hamster in his next sure-to-be-doomed film. [Us Magazine.com] More »
Live from Sundance
7:04AM Seth | Lest you fret that enduring Hollywood success might somehow deaden you to the simple, everyman pleasures of spotting a good pal on the TV set, this report from Sundance about No Country for Old Men star Woody Harrelson should bring you much comfort: “After a hard day on the slopes, Harrelson retired to the MySpace Cafe, where he looked up at the TV screen and remarked, ‘Wow, there’s my friend Owen Wilson!’ Another MySpace Cafe guest tells us, ‘We think he thought Owen was actually there at the MySpace Cafe. I have never seen someone be so excited about seeing a friend.’” [nydailynews.com] More »
Delayed
6:30AM Mark | Wanting to avoid any accusations of cynically using Heath Ledger’s death as a news peg for the debut of a new PSA discouraging teens from abusing prescription drugs, the President’s staff postponed his public preview of the ad until later in the week; while that still might not be enough time to avoid all associations with yesterday’s tragedy, the chief executive will be able to better rehearse his answers about his complicated feelings on Brokeback Mountain. Said Press Secretary Dana Perino: “Given the tragedy of yesterday’s passing of the beloved actor, we did not want anyone to think we were trying to link into that story in any way.” [ABC Political Radar] More »
