The Playlist

Joe Wright Drops Out Of The Race To Direct 'Fifty Shades Of Grey'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 13, 2013 1:09 PM
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5 Comments

News

Deadline were pretty miffed last week when other sites went forward with the news that Joe Wright was in the frontrunner position to direct "Fifty Shades Of Grey." It wasn't quite clear what their beef was, other than they didn't get to report it first, and they went on some vague rant about trades "firing a rifle filled with buckshot," when there is nothing Deadline loves more than a good shortlist story. Anyway, they are pretty overjoyed with the latest development.

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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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Adaptations: Mike White Gets ‘Good Luck Of Right Now,’ Wentworth Miller Hired For A 'Se7en'-Esque 'Scare Me'

By Diana Drumm
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March 24, 2013 12:49 PM
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1 Comment

News

A little bit of "writers hired to adapt things" news this Sunday afternoon. DreamWorks has hired Mike White (“School of Rock,” the recently-cancelled “Enlightened”) to adapt the latest novel from Matthew Quick, author of “Silver Linings Playbook.” Quick’s “The Good Luck of Right Now” will be published Spring 2014 and is about a man who takes care of his mother with dementia and falls for a librarian who believes she and her brother were once abducted by aliens.

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6 Directors Who Could Helm The Next James Bond Film

By The Playlist Staff
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March 6, 2013 12:02 PM
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13 Comments

Features

Somewhat shocking (to fans), but not completely surprising news this AM. Sam Mendes, the director of "Skyfall," the highest grossing -- by a large margin with $1.1 billion -- and arguably most popular James Bond film ever decided to pass and won't be directing "Bond 24." While the "American Beauty" director suggested in recent interviews he might take on the next installment -- something the Bond producers would have loved, we're sure -- he had flipped and flopped and it doesn't come as huge surprise Mendes moved on if you've paid attention to his creatively peripatetic career.

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Joe Wright To Direct Adaptation Of Neil Gaiman's 'The Ocean At The End Of The Lane'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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February 28, 2013 8:13 PM
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5 Comments

News

Trying to predict what Joe Wright will do next is a fool's errand. The director has moved effortlessly from literary adaptations ("Pride & Prejudice") to WWII sagas ("Atonement") to assassin thrillers ("Hanna") to Powell & Pressburger styled melodrama ("Anna Karenina") with ease. But making a fantasy has long been an itch he's been eager to scratch, and a new version of "The Little Mermaid" was once something he was eager to do (though the recent run of fairy tales movies has taken a bit of his enthusiasm out of doing it). But now he's latched onto something that could finally see him take on the fantasy genre.

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For Your Consideration: 5 Directors Who Deserve Oscar Nominations This Year

By The Playlist Staff
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December 21, 2012 5:40 PM
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56 Comments

Features

Unlike Best Picture, the Best Director category at the Academy Awards is still only made up of five slots, and it's tough to crack in there, especially as nominees are usually aligned with the Best Picture nominees. More than almost any other category, the merits of a film's direction can sometimes be overlooked in favor of the helmer of the best-liked film, rather than the one who did the most surprising, boldest and impressive work of the year.

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The Essentials: 5 Amazing Joe Wright Scenes You Need To Know

By Drew Taylor
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November 15, 2012 1:14 PM
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6 Comments

Features

In just five movies, British director Joe Wright has established himself as a master stylist with an almost painterly eye for shot compositions and spatial geography. On the eve of his newest film, "Anna Karenina," we thought we would go through the five most amazing shots in his oeuvre (whittling them down was something of a challenge). As an added bonus, we got to talk to Seamus McGarvey, the cinematographer behind behind three of the five scenes, including the one from "Anna Karenina," about what it was like crafting these truly unforgettable moments. We've included the scenes where possible, but of course, you can check out each of these films on home video.

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Watch: Chanel No. 5 Ad Starring Brad Pitt, Directed By Joe Wright

By Kevin Jagernauth
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October 15, 2012 9:00 AM
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10 Comments

News

With Joe Wright coming off the magnificently theatrical "Anna Karenina," you would think that the folks over at Chanel might want him to do something that requires more than turning on a camera and pointing it at Brad Pitt. Guess not. The fashion company has unleashed the new spot for their upcoming campaign for Chanel No. 5 and it looks like Pitt has some leftover voiceover from "The Tree Of Life" he didn't use.

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'Anna Karenina' Director Joe Wright Could Direct 'The Secret Life Of Houdini'

By Edward Davis
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October 12, 2012 8:15 PM
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4 Comments

News

The great escape artist and magician Harry Houdini was all the rage earlier this year. DreamWorks acquired a Houdini-centered spec script from “Changeling” writer J. Michael Straczynski called “Voices From The Dead,” Sony enlisted the upcoming "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" filmmaker Francis Lawrence to direct an untitled biopic and Summit paired with hot new screenwriter Noah Oppenheim (the "WarGames" remake) to adapt "The Secret Life of Houdini."

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Joe Wright Says He Wanted To Work With Keira Knightley Again & "Challenge" The Conventions Of Naturalism In The Stylized 'Anna Karenina'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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September 11, 2012 4:35 PM
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3 Comments

Interviews

Near the eleventh hour of pre-production, while director Joe Wright (“Atonement,” “Hanna”) was preparing to shoot his adaptation of “Anna Karenina,” it became clear that the budget was going to be an issue -- plans to shoot on location were causing the film’s budget to double in cost. As such, Wright and his team had to quickly rethink the picture. As it turns out, they reimagined it with ideas that had been simmering in the filmmaker’s mind for quite some time.

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