Update: October 27th ,1998

NEWS

 

 

 

Long Walk to Freedom : Morgan Freeman is in negotiations to play Nelson Mandela in a $23 million film about the South African president's life. Long Walk to Freedom, based on Mandela's 1994 autobiography of the same name, will trace the 80-year-old president's life from his childhood as a cowherd, through his 27 years in jail, to his becoming South Africa's first black leader.

Lovesick Blues : Robert Benton will team with Nicole Kidman again for Lovesick Blues. Paramount is talking with Matthew McConaughey as a possible co-star for Kidman, who hasn't committed yet.

Slow Burn : James Spader and Josh Brolin have joined Minnie Driver and Stuart Wilson in the independent feature Slow Burn. The film centers on a young woman (Driver) who searches the Mexican desert for her family's lost diamonds which have already been found by two escaped convicts (Spader and Brolin). She enlists the help of a family friend (Wilson) to help retrieve the jewels.

New Trailers

"The Faculty" Full Trailer (10.3 Mb, MOV) Robert Rodriguez and Kevin Williamson project. Cast :Elijah Wood, Christopher McDonald, Robert Patrick and Salma Hayek

"The Faculty" Full Trailer (6.2 Mb, MOV)

"The Faculty" Full Trailer (3.3 Mb, MOV)

"The Theory Of Flight" Full Trailer (22.7 Mb, MOV) Cast : Helena Bonham Carter and Kenneth Branagh

"The Theory Of Flight" Full Trailer (12.0 Mb, MOV)

"The Theory Of Flight" Full Trailer (6.6 Mb, MOV)

Spy Game : Mike van Dien, who directed this year's best foreign language Oscar winner Character, is now attached to Beacon Communications' Spy Game project starring Robert Redford. Spy Game concerns a CIA agent on his last day at the agency who must mastermind the rescue of a younger agent (his protege) captured by the Chinese.

Miniseries : Tom Hanks and HBO are getting closer to start a miniseries about the computer industry that is similar to TNT's movie that began production Saturday. The HBO project, tentatively dubbed Apple, is one that Hanks' Playtone company and Gary Goetzman have had in development for HBO that will focus on the two co-founding Steves of Apple Computer, Jobs and Wozniak. After being ousted at Apple during a turbulent period, Jobs has since been brought back to run the company along with his Pixar computer animation studios. Casting has not yet begun on the HBO project that is being developed as a six-hour miniseries.

Kimberly : Gabrielle Anwar, Molly Ringwald, Sean Astin and newcomer Robert Mailhouse will headline writer-director Frederic Golchan's indie romantic comedy Kimberly. The film also stars Patty Duke, Chris Rydell (For the Boys) and Jason Lewis (Next Stop Wonderland). The film follows four young men who fall in love with the same woman (Anwar) and struggle to keep their pact with each other not to woo her.

Like a Man : Up-and-comer Peter Sarsgaard (The Man in the Iron Mask) will co-star in Take It writer-director Kimberly Pierce's indie drama Take It Like a Man for Killer Films. the film stars Hillary Swank as a Nebraska woman who moves to a nearby town and passes herself off as a swinging ladies' man. But after her secret is revealed, she is found raped and murdered in a violent triple homicide.  

Universal Soldier II : Jean-Claude Van Damme is about to begin filming a sequel to the sci-fi actioner Universal Soldier, which grossed roughly $100 million worldwide. Tentatively titled Universal Soldier II, the pic is slated for an August 1999 release from Columbia Pictures. Soldier II continues with Van Damme’s character as a technical expert working to improve the government’s Universal Soldier training program. When the supercomputer controlling the soldiers goes haywire and takes over, Van Damme must battle the elite team of deadly warriors.

Fatalis : Universal has optioned Fatalis, a thriller by Jeff Rovin about the return of saber-toothed tigers. The deal, which is said to be in the seven-figure range, was done with Sylvester Stallone in mind. In the story, tigers have sprung to life thanks to climatic shifts of El Nino — and are set on invading Los Angeles. The book’s hero is an academic expert who tries to stop the attack and has a penchant for ancient weaponry.

Hogan's Heroes : Mel Gibson, who was in talks to headline Paramount Picture's big-screen adaptation of the World War II prisoner-of-war sitcom Hogan's Heroes, has left the project. Mel Gibson did not give a reason for backing out.

Rush Hour -- The Sequel : New Line has rushed to hire Jeffrey Nathanson to pen Rush Hour -- The Sequel to its hugely successful Jackie Chan-Chris Tucker action comedy.

Mission: Impossible 2 : Steve Zahn (Out of Sight), will star opposite Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible 2. The film will be directed by John Woo. Mission also stars Thandie Newton, Ving Rhames, Luther Stickell and Dougray Scott.

Dragonfly: NASA and the Crisis Aboard Mir : Universal Pictures has paid mid- against high-six figures for Bryan Burrough's nonfiction space odyssey Dragonfly: NASA and the Crisis Aboard Mir, with Will Smith and James Lassiter's Overbrook Entertainment to produce. The book, to be published next month by HarperCollins, details the tragic events that transpired in 1997 aboard the Russian space station after a collision ripped a hole in the ship and caused the first decompression in orbit.

Simpatico : Catherine Keener has been set to co-star in Simpatico. The independent film, which also stars Nick Nolte, Jeff Bridges and Sharon Stone, is based on Sam Shepard's play of the same name and is expected to start shooting early next year.

End of Days : Director Peter Hyams (The Relic) is set to replace Marcus Nispel on supernatural thriller End of Days, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Pic is set at the turn of the millennium, when Satan comes to New York City in search of a bride, and a former cop (Schwarzenegger) who heads an elite security firm is the only person who can stop the angel of darkness from destroying the world.

Flawless : Goldwyn Films has secured international sales rights to Tribeca Films' Flawless, written and directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Robert De Niro. Flawless is the story of an ultraconservative security guard (De Niro) who suffers a debilitating stroke and is assigned to a rehabilitation program that includes singing lessons -- with the drag queen next door.

The Blue Streak : Les Mayfield (Flubber)has signed to direct Martin Lawrence in The Blue Streak for Columbia Pictures.Pic is about a gentleman thief (Lawrence) who disguises himself as a cop so he can retrieve his lost loot.

Lazarus and the Hurricane : Greg Kinnear (As Good As It Gets) is in talks to join the cast of Lazarus and the Hurricane, the Norman Jewison-directed film for Universal Pictures and Beacon Entertainment. Kinnear would star alongside Denzel Washington in the film based on the life of boxer Rubin Hurricane Carter, the black 1960s middleweight who was twice wrongly convicted for the murder of three white men in a New Jersey bar.

New Trailers

"Apt Pupil" Full Trailer (20.9 Mb, MOV) Directed by Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects) from Stephen King story. Cast includes Ian McKellen, Brad Renfro (Sleepers), David Schwimmer.

"Apt Pupil" Full Trailer (10.7 Mb, MOV)

"Apt Pupil" Full Trailer (5.9 Mb, MOV)

"Gloria" Full Trailer (19.1 Mb, MOV) Cast : Sharon Stone, George C. Scott

"Gloria" Full Trailer (9.9 Mb, MOV)

"Gloria" Full Trailer (5.5 Mb, MOV)

The Crow: Salvation : Kirsten Dunst (Interview With the Vampire) will star in The Crow: Salvation. Dunst will portray Erin Randall, who teams with new Crow hero Alex Corvis to solve the sinister conspiracy-mystery surrounding the murder of Erin's sister, for which Corvis was wrongly convicted. It is slated to begin production in early 1999 under the direction of Bharat Nalluri.

Life Before This : Joe Pantoliano joins Sarah Polley, Stephen Rea and Catherine O’Hara in Life Before This. The pic is about strangers who intertwine when they find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Lost Souls : Sarah Wynter will star opposite Winona Ryder and Ben Chaplin in Lost Souls, the $25 million New Line production that will serve as the directorial debut for Oscar-winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminski. In Lost Souls, a young woman (Ryder) who becomes aware of a plot that would enable the devil to walk the earth in human form and must convince a crime journalist (Chaplin) that he's the conspiracy's target. Wynter will portray Chaplin's girlfriend who secretly contrives to make Chaplin turn to the devil.

Mickey Mantle Biopic : Fox 2000 is stepping up to the plate on a biopic of Yankee great Mickey Mantle. Fox 2000 wants Mantle look-alikes such as Brad Pitt and Matt Damon to star in the pic. Angelo Pizzo hopes to direct.        

Dominion : Sean Connery is attached to star in Dominion, the story of Scottish-born American naturalist the film with Michael Apted set to direct and Gale Ann Hurd to produce along with Connery.

Marching to Valhalla : Oliver Stone has closed a deal to develop Marching to Valhalla, with a view to directing it. The film, which is being adapted by Michael Blake (Dances With Wolves) from his book of the same name, is a retelling of the story of George Custer. While many of the recent histories of Custer have cast him as a villain, the film depicts him in a more complex light. It follows him from his days at West Point (where he graduated at the bottom of his class), through his bravery at the Battle of Gettysburg.

50 Violins : Gloria Estefan has snagged her first dramatic feature film role, joining Meryl Streep in Wes Craven’s 50 Violins for Miramax Films. In the pic, which is based on a true story, Streep plays Roberta Tzavaras, a single mother who moves to East Harlem to teach the violin to deprived kids. Despite numerous bureaucratic obstacles, her pupils end up playing concerts in Carnegie Hall. Estefan will play Streep’s friend and co-worker. Shooting begins Oct. 26 in New York.

Rocky and Bullwinkle : Monica Potter (Without Limits) is set to star as a young eager-beaver FBI agent who teams with the title characters in Rocky and Bullwinkle. While Potter is the first cast member to sign onto the pic, Robert De Niro is in negotiations to star as the baddie, Fearless Leader. Tony Award winner Des McAnuff is set to direct from Kenny Lonergan’s screenplay.

The Clean and Narrow : Jack Noseworthy and Laura Leighton will star in The Clean and Narrow, an indie film that marks the directorial debut of actor William Katt (House). The gritty tale, which Katt and Kermit Christman wrote, is set in the industrial wasteland of Texas City, where a young man resorts to petty larceny to escape his blue-collar roots so he and his wife can start anew in another town.

The Haunting of Hill House : Owen Wilson (Armageddon, Anaconda) has joined the cast of the Jan De Bont-directed The Haunting of Hill House. Wilson joins Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Lili Taylor. The pic is a group of people who gather in an old house to decide whether a ghost inhabits the home.

To Catch a Falling Star : Alfonso Arau (Like Water for Chocolate) is in final talks to direct the magical fantasy To Catch a Falling Star sources said. The film is set in a dying Midwest town where a mysterious stranger arrives to sell tokens that induce love in all shapes and forms -- self-love, friendship and romance. Michael Cohn (When the Bough Breaks) had been attached to direct.