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12 Great & Not-So-Great Debuts From Screenwriters-Turned-Directors

  • By The Playlist Staff
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  • June 6, 2013 4:03 PM
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  • 20 Comments
Screenwriters Turned Directors, Best/Worst
Features
“...but what I really want to do is direct,” goes the hoary old Hollywood refrain. Actors, key grips, wardrobe assistants, the odd ambitious caterer -- sometimes it feels like everyone who’s ever stepped on to a movie set dreams, idly or with calculation, of one day calling the shots. Even the clapper loaders, who technically are the ones who call shots. But of all those jealously eyeing the director’s megaphone (metaphorical sadly, they seem to have gone the way of the plus-four as part of the director’s standard kit) perhaps those with the most reason to be covetous are the screenwriters, the hardy souls who turn in 120-page draft after draft, only to have their baby wrested from their grasp and dressed up, maybe brilliantly but often not, in clothes they might not have chosen themselves.
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More: Features, Violet & Daisy, Geoffrey Fletcher, Feature, Charlie Kaufman, Steven Zaillian, Shane Black, David Mamet, Joss Whedon, Frank Darabont, Tony Gilroy, Frank Miller, William Monahan, Mitch Glazer, Dustin Lance Black

Gus Van Sant Says He's Still Working Out How To Make 'The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test'

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • September 16, 2011 1:32 AM
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  • 3 Comments
But 'Restless' Helmer Was Never Going To Direct Artist Drama 'The Golden Suicides'Gus Van Sant is not an easily predictable director. His films are always instantly identifiable, but can vary between experimental, difficult pictures like "Gerry" and "Last Days," to more nakedly commercial fare like "Finding Forrester," and, occasionally, as in "To Die For" and "Milk," a sweet spot in between. His latest, "Restless," is another left turn, a quirky teen romance from a first time screenwriter, Jason Lew, that stars Henry Hopper, son of Dennis, and "Alice in Wonderland" lead Mia Wasikowska.
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More: Films, Gus Van Sant, Restless, The Golden Suicides, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Dustin Lance Black

New Looks At Leonardo DiCaprio In 'J. Edgar,' Film Will Keep Hoover's Sexual Orientation Ambiguous

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • August 12, 2011 9:40 AM
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  • 6 Comments
Last night, we got our first taste of Leonardo DiCaprio in Clint Eastwood's "J. Edgar" and while these new pics from EW don't do much to sway us from the opinion that the actor looks more like himself than he does Hoover, we've also yet to see the prosthetic work that will age the actor 50 years over the course of the film. As befits one of the most controversial Americans in history, the film itself will touch on his long-rumored closeted homosexuality, but don't expect the filmmakers to give you a definite answer on the matter.
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More: Films, Actors, J. Edgar, Dustin Lance Black

Ron Howard & Dustin Lance Black Are 'Under The Banner Of Heaven'

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • July 19, 2011 11:23 AM
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  • 1 Comment
With multi-platform "The Dark Tower" dead for now, and also freeing up years of Ron Howard's life he would have spent toiling on the picture(s), he hasn't wasted any time in lining up a batch of new projects. His Formula 1 drama "Rush" with Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl will shift into gear in late 2011/early 2012 and he's currently got a "Spy Vs. Spy" movie and the mysterious Robert Ludlum-meets-Tolkien pic "Amnesty" sitting on his backburner for now, and it looks as though they will also be competing for space alongside a new endeavor.
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More: Films, Ron Howard, Under The Banner Of Heaven, Dustin Lance Black

Diablo Cody Dreams Of Brian Wilson Biopic, Teases Her Own Directorial Ambitions

  • By Simon Dang
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  • June 20, 2011 2:44 AM
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  • 2 Comments
Dustin Lance Black Admits TIFF Cut Of 'What's Wrong With Virginia' Was "Pretty Bad," Planning New EditThe L.A. Film Festival is proving to be quite the headline-making event with several stories already flying out of the west coast. Now, at a meet titled "Coffee Talk: Screenwriters," scribes Diablo Cody and Dustin Lance Black have provided updates on their current slate of projects.
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More: Films, What's Wrong With Virginia, Dustin Lance Black

Oscar Winning 'Milk' Scribe Dustin Lance Black To Adapt Green Day Musical 'American Idiot'

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • April 13, 2011 1:20 AM
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  • 1 Comment
The Broadway hit is no longer the dead cert for a transfer to a big-screen that it once was, but as ever, if studio executives see the queues forming on the Great White Way, they smell the kind of built-in audience that makes their lives easier, even if the path to the big-screen proves trickier than it used to be. The new management at Universal, in particular, having made a pretty penny with "Mamma Mia" a few years back, seem convinced that the stage musical is as fruitful a subject for adaptation as it was in its 1960s heyday: the company has hired recently-minted Oscar winner Tom Hooper for the long-running musical "Les Miserables," and has been developing a version of "The Wizard Of Oz"-themed megahit "Wicked" for some time.
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More: Musicians, Broadway Musicals, Green Day, Dustin Lance Black, American Idiot

First Look At Leonardo DiCaprio In Clint Eastwood's 'J. Edgar'

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • February 9, 2011 5:02 AM
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  • 3 Comments
Dustin Lance Black Says Story Won't Be De-Gayed For The Big Screen; Photos Of Judi Dench Arrive TooWe told you Clint Eastwood moves fast. It seems only moments ago that Eastwood had firmed up the major roles for "J. Edgar" and what do you know, filming is already underway.
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More: Films, Actors, J. Edgar, Dustin Lance Black

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