Thompson on Hollywood

Oscar Watch: New Look at Naomi Watts as Princess 'Diana'

News

A new image has arrived of Naomi Watts as Princess Diana in Oliver Hirschbiegel's "Diana" (previously titled "Caught in Flight"). The film follows the last two years of Diana's life, charting her various romances and her evolution into a major international campaigner and humanitarian. Entertainment One has picked up the distribution rights, and plans an Oscar season release later this year.

By Beth Hanna
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May 23, 2013 2:59 PM
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Casting Watch: Tom Cruise Gears Up for Fifth 'Mission: Impossible,' as Abrams Defects to 'Star Wars'

News

Tom Cruise has signed on to star in and produce the fifth "Mission: Impossible" film following the wildly successful "Ghost Protocol" (2011).

By Anne Thompson and Ryan Lattanzio
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May 7, 2013 12:47 PM
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In the Works: Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio and Mikhail Gorbachev Teaming for HBO's 'Gorbachev'

News

Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio and former Soviet Union president Mikhail Gorbachev will be collaborating on HBO film "Gorbachev," chronicling the last years before the Soviet Union's fall. Hanks and DiCaprio will both be taking on executive producing roles.

By Beth Hanna
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April 5, 2013 12:30 PM
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Liam Neeson Is Go-To Global Star, Takes on Matt Scudder in 'A Walk Among the Tombstones'

News

In a world where you can't count on many movie stars--Tom Cruise? Will Smith?--and foreign sales financing dictates non-studio indie production, most of it formula genre fare aimed at a global market, Liam Neeson is king. The "Schindler's List" and "Taken" star has taken the place of aging tentpole anchors Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Tom Hanks, Tommy Lee Jones, Anthony Hopkins and Al Pacino as the older guy with authority, gravitas and menace who can handle some action and romance as well as carry a movie in multiple markets around the world. He can believably play presidents and kings, fathers, lovers and action heroes. His presence even for a short bit in a movie is worth millions and can get it made.

By Anne Thompson
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March 13, 2013 2:26 PM
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ABC Takes Miniseries Rights to Oscar-Nominated AIDS documentary 'How to Survive a Plague'

News

ABC Studios has bought the rights to David France's Oscar-nominated documentary "How to Survive a Plague" in hopes of turning it into a mini-series, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

By Jacob Combs
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March 1, 2013 1:22 PM
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When Hollywood Met Broadway: Screen Stars Hit the Stage as Stage-to-Screen Musicals (and Vice-Versa) Move Through the Pipeline

Features

Let's face it, movie musicals are usually bad. Don't get me wrong, nobody should love them more than me: I'm a movie nerd and a musical nerd, so a movie musical should be exactly what the doctor ordered. But sometimes the whole ends up a lot less than the sum of its parts. Think pickles plus peanut butter: Just. Don't. Do it. (Or think "Rock of Ages." Exactly.) But every now and again something like "Les Miserables" happens and we remember that movie musicals can be awesome. Sure, they're bombastic and unrealistic. Yes, it's weird that people start singing on the street and orchestral music seeps out of the very air.

By Jacob Combs
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February 28, 2013 12:35 PM
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Filming Begins in London on 'Hello Carter,' Starring Charlie Cox and Paul Schneider

News

Principle shooting has begun on "Hello Carter," a London-based comedy helmed by first-time director Anthony Wilcox. Charlie Cox ("Stardust") stars in the title role, alongside Jodie Whittaker ("Attack the Block"), Paul Schneider ("The Newsroom," "Bright Star") and Judy Parfitt ("The Girl with the Pearl Earring").

By Beth Hanna
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January 24, 2013 12:48 PM
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Dano to Star as Young Brian Wilson in Pohlad's 'Love & Mercy'

News

"The Tree of Life" producer Bill Pohlad has been planning to direct a second film for some time. Now he's cast Paul Dano ("Ruby Sparks") as the young Brian Wilson in Oren Moverman's script, "Love and Mercy." The film picks key moments in Wilson's life, with and without the Beach Boys, through decades, and Pohlad is seeking an actor to play the older Wilson as well.

By Anne Thompson
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January 17, 2013 8:04 PM
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In the Works: 'Assassin's Creed,' Reddit's 'Rome, Sweet Rome' and Warner Bros' Sci-Fi 'Odyssey' Get Writers

News

Brit playwright Michael Lesslie ("Prince of Denmark") has been enlisted to write the script for "Assassin's Creed," starring Michael Fassbender and based on the Ubisoft video game. Two-year-old Ubisoft Motion Pictures is developing the film with New Regency...

By Beth Hanna
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January 15, 2013 12:29 PM
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In the Works: Witherspoon Recruits Hornby for Memoir Adaptation 'Wild'

News

Brit author and screenwriter Nick Hornby is set to adapt Cheryl Strayed's memoir "Wild," which centers on a woman so broken by her mother's death and the dissolution of her own marriage that she embarks on an 1100-mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail as a way to heal. Reese Witherspoon is attached to star in the lead role.