Thompson on Hollywood

IN THE WORKS: Damon & Affleck Together Again for Bulger; Bana as Elvis; Akira Casting

It's about time. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will work together again along with Casey Affleck to bring life to the story of Whitey Bulger at Warner Bros. Bulger was a New England mob boss and subsequent 16-year fugitive before being caught in Santa Monica, CA, last June. Affleck will direct as well as co-produce and co-star with Damon, who will play Bulger. Neither of the Affleck brothers' roles are confirmed. It gets better: Boardwalk Empire writer and creator Terence Winter is writing the script, which will track the mobster's youth in Alcatraz, his rise to the top of the crime world and his secret involvement as an FBI informant.

By Sophia Savage
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October 24, 2011 11:04 AM
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Soderbergh's Liberace Goes to HBO with Douglas and Damon

Milk's Sean Penn and James Franco, J. Edgar's Leonardo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer, now add Michael Douglas and Matt Damon to the list of Hollywood actors playing romantic leads. And yes, yet another high-profile filmmaker and project are finding a safe harbor at HBO Films. Steven Soderbergh will direct Douglas as the flamboyant lounge pianist Liberace and Damon as his lover Scott Thorson in a movie adapted by Richard LaGravanese from Thorson's memoir Behind the Candelabra in this long-in-development biopic. HBO plans to sell the movie to theatrical distributors overseas via film festivals, but it will air on HBO in North America.

By Anne Thompson
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October 11, 2011 6:17 AM
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My Week with Marilyn Reviews: Well-Mounted Period Fantasy Earning Mostly Raves for Michelle Williams

The New York Film Festival is in full swing, reaching its midpoint Sunday with the centerpiece gala, Simon Curtis's My Week with Marilyn. Telluride eagerly wanted to book the film, but Curtis was working with distributor Harvey Weinstein on adding material and the film wasn't finished in time; in fact the filmmaker was fiddling until the last possible minute.

By Anne Thompson
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October 10, 2011 4:34 AM
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New Stills from My Week With Marilyn: Seduction of the Media Begins with Gorgeous Michelle Williams

We just got a peek at the trailer, and now Moviefone has a few new stills from My Week with Marilyn. Star Michelle Williams may not be a dead ringer for Marilyn Monroe, but she's channeling something that rings true. The synopsis and more photos of Williams' co-stars Eddie Redmayne and Kenneth Branagh are below. The film premieres October 9.

By Sophia Savage
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October 7, 2011 4:22 AM
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Poster Watch: Eastwood's J. Edgar Features Angry Multi-Colored DiCaprio

New word on Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar from someone who has seen it: Leonardo DiCaprio is even better as the old J. Edgar Hoover than he is as the young one. The movie, written by Milk Oscar-winner Dustin Lance Black, cuts back and forth between the beginning and the end of Hoover's stellar five-decade FBI career, and suggests the tragedy of a hidden romance between the FBI chief and his longtime assistant Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer). And yes, DiCaprio gives an Oscar-worthy performance. "To me, it's really a story of how absolute power corrupts absolutely," the star told EW. "He was always an outsider."

By Anne Thompson and Sophia Savage
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October 7, 2011 4:19 AM
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Trailer Watch: Michelle Williams Wows in My Week with Marilyn Trailer

If anybody could do it, it's Michelle Williams. Check out the first trailer for My Week with Marilyn, featuring what looks to be a knockout performance by Williams as icon Marilyn Monroe. I'll seeing the film at its gala premiere at the New York Film Festival on Sunday, October 9. Williams is an Oscar perennial, so she should never be counted out of the Best Actress Oscar race.

By Anne Thompson
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October 6, 2011 5:25 AM
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Moneyball, Warrior Directors Parlay Heat Into New Projects

Well, Moneyball director Bennett Miller is riding his current heat to attach Steve Carell to star in his long in-the-works Foxcatcher, which returns Carell to a serious dramatic role. And after grabbing raves for wrestling pic Warrior, Gavin O'Connor has sold his speculative script with co-writer Michael Wilson, The Samurai, to Warner Bros.

By Anne Thompson
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September 30, 2011 12:03 PM
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Oscar Talk: Ides of March's Clooney vs. Gosling vs. Hoffman, Supporting Categories

Now that we've both seen George Clooney's political thriller The Ides of March, Kris Tapley and I dig into not only Oscar prospects for that film, but the list of supporting players in contention for this year. We also debate the respective box office fates of Drive and Warrior as well as how success in theaters impacts a film's awards chances. (CORRECTION: Yes, Clooney won best supporting actor for Syriana and not Good Night, and Good Luck.)

By Anne Thompson
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September 30, 2011 4:15 AM
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Spielberg's Tintin Opens in Europe First; Director Talks Robopocalypse, Lincoln

With the Tintin comics much more well-known in Europe than stateside, the plan was always to open the Peter Jackson/Steven Spielberg collaboration The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn overseas first, in late October, followed by a December holiday-friendly release in North America. (Trailer below.)

By Anne Thompson
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September 29, 2011 5:38 AM
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Kalliope's Van Gogh Biopic Seeks Director

The rich, dramatic story of Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh--who has his own museum in Amsterdam-- hasn't been brought to life (in English, anyway) in a feature film since Robert Altman's underappreciated Vincent and Theo (1990), starring Tim Roth. Vincente Minnelli's 1956 Lust for Life memorably starred Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh; Anthony Quinn won the supporting actor Oscar as Paul Gauguin. Australian Paul Cox also directed a 1987 documentary on the painter, featuring John Hurt reading his letters (clip below).