This week:
John Badham romances the stone with In The Rough; Sylvester Stallone’s latest film takes a Bullet to the Head on its release date; Dominic Cooper and Karoline Herfurth share some Passion with Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace; Paul Walker gets fast and furious in Skyscraper and McG dies hard in the Puzzle Palace.
1. Saturday Night Fever helmer John Badham hasn’t directed a film since 1997’s Incognito – as he’s been toiling away in episodic television, but it looks like he might be coming back to the big screen with In The Rough.
According to Movie Hole, the Leslie Boehm scripted film will be in the vein of Romancing the Stone:
“The Adventure-pic would team a retired hunter, female Red Cross employee, and a go-getting Jack Colton-esque CIA agent as they hunt for priceless jewels in the jungles of India. Along the way, they encounter danger at all angles – both human and animal.”
Badham had quite a run in the 80s and 90s with such films as Stakeout, WarGames and the little seen (and under appreciated) Johnny Depp real-time thriller Nick of Time among others.
Sounds like it might be worth the wait.
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2. Deadline reports that Sylvester Stallone actioner Bullet to the Head (formally Headshot) has been pulled from its April 13, release date.
The Walter Hill film would have gone head-to-head with the long in development The Three Stooges and the oft-delayed The Cabin In The Woods, so maybe studio Warner Bros, felt like they wanted the Stallone starrer to have a weekend all to itself.
Joel Silver’s Dark Castle production shingle produces the film which also stars one-time Conan Jason Momoa, Sung Kang and Christian Slater.
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3. Brian DePalma’s latest thriller is moving along in the casting process, with Dominic Cooper and Karoline Herfurth joining Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace in Passion.
Passion is a remake of Crime d’Amour, a 2011 French film which sees a woman murder her boss after she steals her idea.
DePalma, heir to Hitchcock’s throne as “Master of Suspense” starts shooting the film, his first since 2007’s Redacted next month in Berlin.
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4. With the Fast and the Furious franchise continuing to score megabucks at the box office, it looks like Universal Pictures intends to keep Paul Walker around. The studio has just inked a two year, ‘first look deal’ with the actor’s Laguna Ridge Pictures.
The first film to be made will be Skyscraper, an action thriller which will see Walker star and executive produce, alongside Fast and Furious producer Neal H. Moritz.
Hmmmm…an action thriller called Skyscraper – sounds like I might have heard about that concept before. Paging Mr. Willis.
A Universal statement said:
“It is impossible that the Fast and Furious franchise would have become the phenomenon that it has without Paul’s imprint on the series. We’re excited to be the beneficiaries of his creative work as he branches out as a filmmaker and tackles the projects as a producer.”
Walker is quoted as saying:
“I’ve had a long and successful relationship with Universal so it’s the obvious and ideal home for Laguna Ridge Pictures.”
Sounds like everyone is going to be very happy and very rich. Good for them.
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5. McG doesn’t get much fan-boy love, and even casting Captain Kirk and Bane in This Means War led to him coming under fire from multiple directions. This might change with his next potential project, Puzzle Palace.
The Charlie’s Angels director is quoted as saying:
“Puzzle Palace, I like a lot. It’s a picture I might make next. That’s with David Guggenheim, who’s a fantastic screenwriter, just did a picture with Tony Scott. His brother is Mark Guggenheim. That’s my answer to Die Hard. I love pictures of that nature. It’s about a kid who has to restore his dad’s good name by breaking into 1 Police Plaza in New York, which is effectively the most secure building in the world after 9/11.”
Die Hard, eh? McG can talk the talk, but can he walk the walk? That, my friend, remains to be seen!
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That’s it for now. See you at the movies.
