News (January - April 1999).

click here to see Gus' upcoming projects

April 19, 1999: No news for two months, then in one day, a whole slew. Special thanks to Hyden for the new information, all of which sounds more than reliable. First off, Standing Room Only has been placed on indefinite hold (October is now the likely starting date), due to John Travolta's schedule (too many movies too little time). But wait, this is actually good news, because Van Sant's new project could very well be the already delayed Brokeback Mountain, a story of two cowboys in love in the old west. Produced by Scott Rudin (Truman Show), this film was supposed to be Van Sant's first project after Psycho, until Standing Room Only came along. Will Van Sant attempt to squeeze it in while waiting around for Travolta? Let's hope so, as it sounds far more interesting...

February 19, 1999: Sorry for the relative lack of news lately, not a whole lot to report. there was a little tidbit about Standing Room Only in the enterainment weekly online page today (www.ew.com): "For their first on-screen pairing since meeting on the set of 1988's forgettable "The Experts," Kelly Preston will join hubby, John Travolta, in "Standing Room Only," a biopic of Jimmy Roselli, the mob's favorite singer who turned on the family. After this Gus Van Sant-directed drama, the two plan to team up again in a film version of "The Shipping News"...." keep checking in for more details.

February 3, 1999: According to film.com, it's official. Kelly Preston has signed on to play Jimmy Roselli's wife in Standing Room Only. john travolta will definitely be playing the night club singer and van sant is "officially" directing this biopic originally entitled The Jimmy Roselli Story. This will mark the first time that travolta and preston, real life husband and wife, have worked together since The Experts (1988), where they met for the first time.

January 30, 1999: John Travolta's real life wife, Kelly Preston, is set to co-star with Travolta in standing room only. John is supposedly in preparation for the role, though i've heard no further news of van sant's involvement. stay tuned.

January 19, 1999: After posting the news about standing room only, i received a few emails telling me of other projects supposedly in development for van sant. they are projects i, too, had heard of, but no little or nothing about. in the fantastic DVD of good will hunting which features commentary from van sant, matt damon, and ben affleck, he discusses how he'd always wanted to work with robin williams. supposedly, they were going to collaborate on a film about harvey milk, a gay politician who was assasinated in the early 80's (check out the amazing the times of harvey milk, a documentary on the man). van sant said they could never really get the project off the ground. however, with the massive success of good will hunting, don't be surprised if it surfaces again. the other rumor deals with a "gay cowboy" story. i don't remember where i heard about it, but it was confirmed by Hyden (hyden@aic-fl.com) who said he heard about it in premiere magazine a little while back. and there's always the outside chance that he'll decide to film his own novel, pink, someday. check back to see which of the projects he actually starts in on, and thanks to the readers who emailed me, keep 'em coming.