So apparently it’s 1993 again, because there are two competing Wyatt Earp movies in development. Upon reading this, we immediately checked to make sure we weren’t perusing the movie news page on Prodigy via dial-up connection. But no, we’ve not entered some kind of wormhole: instead of Tombstone and Wyatt Earp racing each other to theaters, we’ve got Tombstone co-star Val Kilmer signing on to the indie Western The First Ride of Wyatt Earp, while Warner Brothers has picked up the spec script for the fictionalized Earp-and-Holliday adventure tale Wild Guns.
Parallel thinking is nothing new in Hollywood — hell, there’s half a dozen (no exaggeration) Peter Pan-related projects in development now, and nearly as many re-bootings, re-imaginings, and re-whatevers of Wizard of Oz and Snow White in the pipeline. Sometimes executives, writers, and producers just have the same ideas (or the idea to go back to the same ideas) at the same time. Often, competing projects will disappear as one gets into production first — but sometimes that game of Hollywood chicken leads to multiple versions of, basically, the same movie or TV show making it all the way to release (witness Deep Impact and Armageddon, Dante’s Peak and Volcano, 1492: Conquest of Paradise and Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, and many more). Usually, the better project ultimately wins the respect of critics and audiences — though there have been a few occasions when the second place runner is unfairly overlooked. Join us after the jump for a few unjustly forgotten runners-up.
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Today at Flavorpill, we knocked iPhones. We celebrated Woody Allen’s 74th birthday (!) by gazing at a lifetime’s worth of his muses. After reading this recap, we decided that Breaking Dawn must be made into a movie — and we didn’t even like Twilight. We argued over the rise of “snuck” over “sneaked.” We watched Marilyn Monroe get stoned and Jake Gyllenhaal just look stoked in the new Prince of Persia poster. We weren’t surprised to hear that the 18 to 49 demographic really loves Hoarders. Kids and old people never want to throw anything away. We listened to Norah Jones get remixed by the Beasties. We were sorry to hear that David Mamet’s Oleanna will close on Broadway this Sunday. Bill Pullman deserves better. And finally, we were left speechless upon viewing Draft Dick Cheney 2012. (“No other Republican leader has the stature or experience of Dick Cheney. He alone can lead the Republican coalition to victory in 2012!”) Apocalyptic insanity!
Back to the turnabout, as Disney has rejected David Mamet’s re-imagining of The Diary of Anne Frank, citing fears of a story “too dark” and “intense.” Given the source material, what were they expecting? Apparently not this: According to The Wrap Mamet’s adaptation tells the story of modern anti-Semitism through a contemporary Jewish girl’s travels to Israel and the trauma is induced by a suicide bombing. Read More »
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Production designer David Wasco and set decorator Sandy Reynolds-Wasco have worked on more than 30 films in the past 25 years. The husband-and-wife team has collaborated with some of the most talented filmmakers working today, including Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, David Mamet, and Michael Mann, to create seamless, life-like sets for their pictures. The duo’s design work on Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums was featured in the Smithsonian’s National Design Triennial in 2003 and Wasco has been nominated for Art Directors Guild’s award for excellence in production design three times, including a nod for his work on Mann’s Collateral. With Inglourious Basterds opening in theaters today, the couple shared some of the behind the scenes action of working with QT. Read More »
1. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet is producing a new film version of The Diary of Anne Frank for Disney. [via Variety]
2. David Byrne is auctioning off the folding bike he has ridden all over the world on eBay; proceeds will be donated to the London Cycling Campaign. [via David Byrne]
3. Thom Yorke says Radiohead will not release more full-length albums; they might put out some singles. [via Billboard]
4. Stephen King has sold the film rights to his Dark Tower series to J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof (co-creator of Lost) for $19. [via Cinematical]
5. Bansky might have put a new piece up — of a crucified Jesus in a graphic tee — in his hometown of Bristol. [via Evening Post]
1. Anna Wintour will attend the New York City premiere of The September Issue; she skipped a Sundance screening of the Vogue doc earlier this year. [via NYDN]
2. Lily Allen wears glasses like those favored by her ex, White Cube gallery owner Jay Jopling, for a dinner date with Damien Hirst. [via Daily Mail]
3. Why is David Mamet’s new play Race clouded in so much secrecy that even potential backers aren’t allowed to see the script? [via NYP]
4. A sneak peek at Zaha Hadid’s MAXXI building in Rome; this long-delayed art museum will open to the public in 2010. [via Metropolis]
5. Sony Pictures will pay $60M for a film being crafted out of Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” rehearsals and release it on Halloween. [via THR]
Sarah Palin has, albeit unwittingly, honed what David Letterman is calling a “slutty flight attendant look.” This style — a blue suit jacket with a skirt and glasses — is, in addition to sharing a striking similarity with folks who serve you delicious orange juice from concentrate, the stuff of refined MILF-dom. Hence the “slutty flight attendant look.” And the Palin-inspired porn.
But instead of taking Letterman’s comments in stride, Palin has responded with a remarkably uninspired “pathetic.” In five short clips, past interviewees Crispin Glover, Joaquin Phoenix, Gene Simmons, Drew Barrymore, and Madonna show Palin the “appropriate response” to a host who has made a career of interviewing/mocking celebrities. Read More »
It’s been a grief-ridden week for Broadway: Tony-winning actress Natasha Richardson passed away this week after a skiing accident; she was 45. Typically charming Michael Riedel treated the incident with a slight leaning of insensitivity, running a story headline that screamed: “NATASHA RICHARDSON IS BRAIN DEAD.” Riedel since changed his tone, and is now feeding his investigative impulses, tirelessly covering the incident. The Post is now quoting a Canadian newspaper that ambulances at the resort where Richardson’s accident happened were initially turned away. She’s not the only loss Broadway experienced this week, sadly: Ron Silver — who won a Tony for his performance in the original production of David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow, also passed away from complications relating to esophageal cancer; he was 62.
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Luhrmann to remake Gatsby: After Australia was met with lukewarm reviews, director Baz Luhrmann is already thinking about his next project: remaking The Great Gatsby. He’s already purchased the rights, and work on a script will begin after Australia’s awards run, he says. This is an ambitious project, because can anyone’s Jay Gatsby live up to Robert Redford? Does anyone else remember when rumors circulated about a remake starring Lance Bass and Paris Hilton? [Variety]
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Starck speakers on the market: Attention last-minute holiday shoppers: design star Philippe Starck just came out with an aesthetically pleasing and minimalistic set of wireless iPod speakers. Starck is known for his ability to combine the everyday with his artistic visions, but with a suggested retail price of $1,500, you better hope you’ve been mighty nice. [IBT]
Piven quits Mamet play: Jeremy Piven abruptly left the cast of Speed-the-Plow, David Mamet’s acclaimed revival of the play. Piven cited high mercury levels as the reason for his departure, to which Mamet (bitterly?) responded that perhaps Piven should take up a career as a thermometer. The show must go on without the exhausted actor, though a replacement has yet to be named. This is NOT good for the producers, who are likely to have plenty of people angry that they paid $200 only to find that the guy they paid said $200 to see is out. If it were Raul Esparza or Elizabeth Moss (sorry Peggy!), different story. [Playbill]
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