The Playlist

Joe Wright A Frontrunner To Direct 'Fifty Shades Of Grey'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 10, 2013 9:45 AM
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8 Comments

News

Perhaps the trickiest adaptation cooking in Hollywood at the moment is the big screen version of "Fifty Shades Of Grey." Yes, the fan fiction turned erotica bestseller film adaptation will likely increase handcuff sales, but the question is, who should direct? While there has been lots of rumors on the casting front, we've only really heard about Gus Van Sant making a pitch for the gig by shooting a test sex scene with Alex Pettyfer, but a few more names have popped up.

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Premature Predictions: The 2014 Best Director Nominees

By Oliver Lyttelton
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March 1, 2013 12:23 PM
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12 Comments

Features

In recent years, trying to predict the Oscar nominees in the Best Director category has been especially tricky. In the past, you could just translate over your Best Picture nominees, maybe swap one out for a better-known or showier filmmaker, and you were relatively likely to be correct. But ever since the Academy made the switch to having more than five nominees in the top category it's become more unpredictable, especially if you're trying to make your predictions a year in advance.

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Megan Ellison Hates Harvey Weinstein & More: 7 Highlights From The Juicy Vanity Fair Profile On The Annapurna Scion

By Edward Davis
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February 1, 2013 10:00 AM
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33 Comments

News

Vanity Fair’s 2013 Hollywood issue is kind of the gift that keeps on giving. It not only has an awesome oral history of “Pulp Fiction” (highlights of which you can read here), but it also has some pretty in-depth and juicy profiles. But, the most tantalizing is about Megan Ellison, the 27-year old daughter of the third richest man in the U.S. She’s rumored to have been given a bankroll as large as $2 billion from her Dad on her 25th birthday (though her reps deny the figure), with the movie buff using the amount to help bankroll her slate of films.

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5 Directors Who Could Helm The Next James Bond Film

By Oliver Lyttelton
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November 13, 2012 12:20 PM
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41 Comments

Features

Even by the standards of the second most successful franchise in cinema history, "Skyfall" is doing extraordinarily well. The 23rd James Bond film, which has picked up some of the best reviews in the history of the franchise, has topped off an amazing couple of weeks at the box office with a $90 million opening weekend in the U.S., bringing it to over $500 million worldwide in only 17 days. By next weekend, it will easily have overtaken "Casino Royale" to be the franchise's top worldwide grosser, and could be on course to be the first billion-dollar Bond.

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Watch: Penelope Cruz Is Super Mario In New Ad For Nintendo 3DS; Bennett Miller Directed M&Ms Commercial

By Kevin Jagernauth
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August 17, 2012 12:29 PM
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1 Comment

News

Well, here are two talents lending their skills to two products in a couple of surprising ads. Video games and chocolate candy will never be the same.

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Exclusive: Bennett Miller & Francis Lawrence In The Mix To Direct 'Catching Fire'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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April 17, 2012 7:07 PM
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14 Comments

News

Well, the hunt is now on for a director to take the helm of "The Hunger Games" sequel "Catching Fire," and before the end of last week a crop of names on Lionsgate's wishlist appeared that included David Cronenberg, Alfonso Cuaron and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. Well, you can now add two more directors who are also in the mix for the job and some conversations with them have already begun.

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Mark Ruffalo Joins Bennett Miller's 'Foxcatcher' With Steve Carell & Channing Tatum

By Kevin Jagernauth
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April 16, 2012 7:10 PM
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1 Comment

News

The saying goes that you gotta keep your eyes on the prize, and for director Bennett Miller that has certainly been true for "Foxcatcher." The long developing project was one he had hoped to tackle after "Capote," but he wound up helming last year's Best Picture nominee "Moneyball" instead. Not bad as far as consolation prizes go. But with the heat off that, he's been re-building the film. Last fall, Steve Carell and Channing Tatum both came on board, and now, an indie veteran is lining up for what is turning out to be a very promising cast.

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2011's Potential Oscar Nominees For Acting, Directing & Writing Get Together To Talk At THR's Awards Roundtable

By Ryan Sartor
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December 9, 2011 2:33 PM
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9 Comments

News

One of the necessities for any Oscar candidate is to do a lot of smiling, gladhanding interviews where they answer the same questions over and over again. An antidote to this madness is the annual Hollywood Reporter Roundtable Interviews. They’re awesome. You take six leading Oscar potentials in the categories of writers, directors, actresses and actors, put them in a room for an hour and see how they interact.

Steve Carell To Star In 'Moneyball' Director Bennett Miller's Next Film 'Foxcatcher'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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September 30, 2011 2:20 AM
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2 Comments

First, we just need to get something off our chest. It's an absolute crime that with his run on the "The Office" now over, six-time Emmy nominee Steve Carell didn't win one time for his fantastic turn as the Michael Scott. More than just a bumbling boss, Carell found real depth and heart in Michael Scott that allowed the character to flourish over seven seasons. Okay, mini rant over. Regardless of industry accolades, Carell has used his sitcom success to spread his wings as a dramatic actor in fare like "Dan In Real Life" and "Crazy Stupid Love," however, his greatest challenge as an actor will find him paired up with "Capote" and "Moneyball" director Bennett Miller for what is an ambitious project for them both.

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Mychael Danna's Rousing 'Moneyball' Score Feat. This Will Destroy You & A Lenka Song Is A Big Winner

By The Playlist
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September 23, 2011 7:33 AM
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9 Comments

Discussing soundtracks, especially scores can be, in some instances, sort of dull. It's easy to confabulate when a pop or rock figure like Trent Reznor ("The Social Network"), Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead ("There Will Be Blood") or Karen O & The Kids ("Where The Wild Things Are"), but aside from Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, Clint Mansell, Jon Brion and maybe John Murphy known for his great collaborations with Danny Boyle, there are very few "superstar" composers that mainstream audiences appreciate or generally want to read about. For example, Alberto Iglesias (known for his work with Pedro Almodovar) is probably, aside from Alexander Desplat, one of the greatest living composers on the planet right now, but not that many spend time spilling ink over his work. In our minds, Abel Korzeniowski ("A Single Man") is certainly a composer to watch, but can anyone hum one of his works?

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