Thompson on Hollywood

Now and Then: 'Haywire,' 'Bourne' Trilogy Prove That Style Is Substance

Reviews

Steven Soderbergh is a tough guy to peg. He made his name with a densely talkative indie about orgasms ("sex, lies, and videotape"), and in 22 films since has tackled everything from classy capers ("Out of Sight, the "Ocean's" trilogy) to the biopic of an iconic revolutionary ("Che"). But one thing is clear: the man's got style.

By Matt Brennan
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May 7, 2012 6:06 AM
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Long-Running Ron Meyer Wins Universal Game of Survivor; More Changes in Store?

As I predicted, Ron Meyer has won the NBC Universal game of survival. The wily ex-CAA partner has successfully run Universal Pictures as president and COO through three owners over 16 years. While former NBC Universal president and CEO Jeff Zucker is gone, Meyer remains. Hollywood's longest-running studio chief has signed a new contract to continue as President and Chief Operating Officer, Universal Studios. He will remain with the company at least through through 2015 and he will continue to report to Comcast CEO Steve Burke. He joined Universal in August 1995.

By Anne Thompson
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June 27, 2011 9:00 AM
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Jeremy Renner Offered Lead in Tony Gilroy's Bourne Continuation: Not as Bourne, Folks

It's confirmed, but no surprise. Writer-director Tony Gilroy has offered Jeremy Renner the lead in his Bourne franchise continuation. But he'd be playing a different assassin, who went through the same training program as Matt Damon's Bourne. (Which leaves open the possibility of Damon's eventual return.)

By Sophia Savage
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April 22, 2011 4:20 AM
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Casting Watch: Hemsworth & Hutcherson Cast In Hunger Games, Renner vs. Evans for Bourne

- UPDATE: The Hunger Games's Jennifer Lawrence now has two male co-stars: Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson have just been cast as characters Gale Hawthorne and Peeta Mellark, respectively. The former is Katniss Everdeen's (Lawrence) hunting partner and the latter is her competitor in the fight-to-the-death televised competition. Hemsworth and Hutcherson were included in THR's March 25 short list of actors being considered. Hutcherson was also on Moviefone's March 8 list of Five Actors Better Than Alex Pettyfer for the Lionsgate franchise. The film adaptation of Suzanne Collins's novels is slated to start shooting with director Gary Ross in late May. Whoever lands these coveted roles will play second fiddle to Lawrence; here are more details on her character.

By Sophia Savage
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April 4, 2011 5:27 AM
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Paul Greengrass Talks Bourne, Green Zone, Short Movie Day 8

Brit actor David Morrissey interviews director Paul Greengrass (Bourne films and Green Zone) in this short movie for Dunhill’s Day 8:

By Anne Thompson
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December 16, 2010 5:18 AM
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Weekly Wrap: Award Watch, Production News, Talking to Boyle and League

OSCARS & AWARDS: While Black Swan promotional endeavors impress, the Godard anti-Semitism issue clouds his Honorary Oscar. And as The Hollywood Reporter's new glossy weekly hits the stands with its Actress Roundtable (considered in this week's Oscar Talk), Variety shuffles its editorial deck. Awards are being given to Biutiful star Javier Bardem, The Kids Are All Right's Annette Bening, Cinema Eye helps to anoint award-season documentary frontrunners and Peter Weir's The Way Back kicks off the Museum of Tolerance Film Festival. The King's Speech, with a Gala screening Friday night as part of AFI Fest 2010, leads the Gurus 'o Gold poll along with star Colin Firth and Bening.

By Sophia Savage
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November 6, 2010 3:57 AM
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Weekly Wrap: Oscar Contenders Big and Small, Production News, Lawrence and Morgan Talk

AWARDS

By Sophia Savage
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October 29, 2010 6:06 AM
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Production Watch: Bourne Disses Damon, Tony Scott for Top Gun Sequel, How To Reject A Movie Plot

Matt Damon says he found out about writer-director Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) directing the fourth Bourne installment the same way we did - the internet. He told Parade Magazine, “I found out they’re making another when somebody saw it on the Internet. Nobody bothered to call me." Just as we suggested, he surmises: "I’m not in it, but even so, they’ll work Bourne into the title, I guess. Universal just wants to call everything the Bourne something. So I guess they are trying to make another franchise, and as they say, ‘It isn’t over until it’s over.'" Damon boxed himself into this corner by refusing to rejoin the franchise without director Paul Greengrass. Gilroy, who helped create the franchise as the writer of all the previous entries, has come up with a way to work around Bourne.

By Sophia Savage
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October 25, 2010 4:22 AM
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Production News: Bourne Without Bourne, Mad Max Stalls, Eastern Promises 2

- Writer-director Tony Gilroy is trying to have it both ways. He confirms that The Bourne Legacy will be made without Matt Damon - but he contradicts himself. "This is not a reboot or a recast or a prequel. No one's replacing Matt Damon," Gilroy says. "There will be a whole new hero, a whole new chapter…this is a stand-alone project" that happens to be using the title of Robert Ludlum's book, "but will not use the story":"The easiest way to think of it is an expansion or a reveal…Jason Bourne will not be in this film, but he's very much alive. What happened in the first three films is the trigger for what happens. I'm building a legend and an environment and a wider conspiracy...the world we're making enhances and advances and invites Jason Bourne's return [down the road]…Everything you saw in the first three films actually happened, and everyone who got into them will be rewarded for paying attention. We're going to show you the bigger picture, the bigger canvas. When you see where we're going and see what we're doing it'll be pretty obvious."

By Sophia Savage
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October 11, 2010 12:36 PM
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Director Watch: Snyder Takes Superman, Gilroy on Bourne 4, Hobbit Inches Closer, Luhrmann Goes Glee

- Superman has a new daddy: Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) will direct Warner Bros' franchise revival, with Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas producing--the dynamic duo that rebooted Batman. Nolan came up with the story; Batman Begins scribe David S. Goyer wrote the screenplay, which brings back villain General Zod. “I feel super awesome,” Snyder told the LAT, while admitting that he lies awake at night thinking of how his Superman - who "has to be a man" - will be recreated. No boys need apply for the job; this is a the "biggest and baddest of them all," Snyder says, "The greatest of them all, right? We all want to know how the next chapter takes shape. I want to know how it will take shape.”