Thompson on Hollywood

Denzel for Secret in Their Eyes Remake, Kevin Costner Out of Upcoming Tarantino, Source Code to TV

Kevin Costner was forced to back out of Quentin Taratino's Django Unchained due to scheduling conflicts and will no longer play Ace Woody, a "sadistic asshole who trains slaves to fight" in Tarantino's coming film. Meanwhile, as expected, Samuel L. Jackson has been confirmed to join the cast as a head house slave. The movie will star Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave who escapes from his vicious owner, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and joins forces with a German bounty hunter, played by Christoph Waltz. The film will begin production this November and has a planned release date of December 25, 2012.

By Maggie Lange
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September 16, 2011 4:05 AM
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In the Works: Kelly Reilly On Board Washington's Flight; Farmiga, Arkin & MacLaine; Nolte & Waits

Denzel Washington has a leading lady for Robert Zemeckis' Flight. It's Kelly Reilly, who we suggested to play Daisy Buchanan before Carey Mulligan snagged the role in Baz Luhrmann's 3-D The Great Gatsby. You'll recognize the British Reilly from Sherlock Holmes (the first and upcoming sequel, as Jude Law's lady love) and Pride & Prejudice (Caroline Bingley). She deserves to be showcased, and this should be a meaty role. Here are Flight plot details.

By Sophia Savage
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September 12, 2011 6:55 AM
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Washington to Star in Zemeckis's Flight for Paramount

Denzel Washington will topline director Robert Zemeckis's return to live action filmmaking, Flight, for Paramount and producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald under Zemeckis, Steve Starkey and Jack Rapke's ImageMovers banner. It's the first pairing for the star and the director. The movie is set to begin shooting this October in Atlanta, GA.

By Anne Thompson
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September 9, 2011 10:28 AM
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Spike Lee Can’t Get Funding, Ashton Kutcher vs. Village Voice in Social Media Brawl

Spike Lee can’t get financing for his films, even with Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster joining a follow-up to Lee’s most successful feature, Inside Man. In an interview with Charlie Rose, Lee griped about everything from Do the Right Thing’s Academy snub in 1989 and making a film with LeBron James to his hesitancy about acting and Obama’s reelection. Lee's difficulties acquiring backers are countless, but he's particularly peeved that due to his 2008 financial disaster, the World War II period piece Miracle at St. Anna, even though Inside Man was his most successful film, "we can’t get the sequel made. And one thing Hollywood does well is sequels. The film’s not getting made. We tried many times. It’s not going to happen.”

By Maggie Lange
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July 2, 2011 3:49 AM
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Hollywood's Creme de la Creme Memorialize Class-Act Agent Ed Limato

Long-Time ICM agent Ed Limato--who forged the careers of Richard Gere, Mel Gibson, Denzel Washington and Michelle Pfeiffer--stood out among Hollywood's agent elite as a class act. He was old-school, yes, and he cared deeply about his clients. Agenting wasn't so much a business to him, although he was competitive: I remember him hanging late at a Twentieth Century Fox premiere party, hoping to catch a word with the recently agentless Kevin Costner. Limato looked after Robert Downey, Jr., for years, and Winona Ryder, too. He loved his exotic fish, and his white patent leather shoes. He was tickled pink when Vanity Fair did a photo shoot. Here's my obit.

By Anne Thompson
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January 12, 2011 8:05 AM
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Weekend Box Office: Families Gobble Up "Harry Potter" and "Tangled"; "Love & Other Drugs" Stumbles

Families flocked to fantasy this record Thanksgiving holiday; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I (on its second weekend) and Disney animated fairy tale Tangled 3-D dominated the five day frame. On the indie side, indieWIRE reports that Tom Hooper's Oscar favorite The King's Speech enjoyed a very royal Thanksgiving, breaking the 2010 record for highest per-theater-average in its massive limited debut.

By Anthony D'Alessandro
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November 28, 2010 5:25 AM
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Weekend Box Office: Megamind Slows Unstoppable; Morning Glory Stalls in Fourth Place

Mighty Megamind held off all takers with an estimated $30-million on its second weekend, while well-reviewed Denzel Washington actioner Unstoppable followed behind with $23.5 million, and newsroom comedy Morning Glory took a miserable fourth place--after raunch-fest holdover Due Date and VFX-crammed newcomer Skyline. Anthony D'Alessandro reports:Superhero toon Megamind put the brakes on runaway train movie Unstoppable at the weekend box office. The Paramount/DreamWorks animated title remained more powerful than a locomotive in its second session, maintaining first place with $30.1 million at 3,949 theaters while Tony Scott’s choo-choo actioner arrived in second with estimates of $23.5 million at 3,207 whistle stops – the director’s second highest three-day take, behind 1987’s Beverly Hills Cop II ($26.3 million). Despite the competition from a speeding-bullet train, Rogue Pictures’ alien invasion feature Skyline, released through Universal, was able to chip $11.7 million at 2,880 while crowds failed to wake up to Paramount’s Morning Glory with $9.6 million at 2,518.

By Anthony D'Alessandro
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November 14, 2010 5:11 AM
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Chris Pine in Details: "I think I’ll be more like … the George Clooney.”

Chris Pine shows off his charisma in the November issue of Details. The rising star will appear across Denzel Washington in Unstoppable, out November 12th, and will return as the fourth iteration of Tom Clancy's beloved Jack Ryan (after Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck) in the rebooted franchise--not to mention a return as Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek sequel. Also coming up: McG's This Means War with Reese Witherspoon and Tom Hardy.

By Sophia Savage
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October 19, 2010 9:19 AM
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Idris Elba as Alex Cross, Bateman's Reckless Masturbation, Fair Game's Identity Crisis

- It's no longer Morgan Freeman's time on the James Patterson murder mystery series (Kiss the Girls, Along Came A Spider). The veteran actor last played the role of Dr. Alex Cross in 2001, but now a new man is taking over the role for Cross, the next cinematic installment in the best-selling series: Idris Elba, of The Wire, The Office, and Obsessed. The 37-year old Brit actor has a long TV and film resume and is due for a meatier lead in a studio feature. Although he's stepping into a role played by Freeman, he's reminiscent of Denzel Washington circa 1999's The Bone Collector. Washington at 43 was in his prime: dignified, sexy, powerful. David Twohy will direct Cross, which follows the character as he tracks a rapist he believes to have murdered his pregnant wife years ago.

By Sophia Savage
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August 19, 2010 3:59 AM
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Casting News: Adams On the Road, Grace and Pearce, Tony Scott does Grisham, Road To Purgatory

- Amy Adams is building up quite a resume of juicy roles. She's joining Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst and Kristen Stewart in Walter Salles' Jack Kerouc adaptation, On the Road; she plays the junkie-mother-of-two. Her other roles include: a bartender who dates Mark Wahlberg in David O. Russell's The Fighter, a manic depressive in the upcoming adaptation of Jacki Lyden's novel Daughter of the Queen of Sheba, and an attorney-turned-housemaid in the comedy The Undomestic Goddess (based on the Sophie Kinsella bestseller).