Thompson on Hollywood

Casting News: DiCaprio in Wolf, Washington in Safe House, Lost's Pellegrino Goes SyFy

- Leonardo DiCaprio is teaming with Ridley Scott (not Scorsese, as once planned) for the screen adaptation of Jordon Belfort's memoir The Wolf of Wall Street, according to Deadline. The screenplay by Sopranos (and Boardwalk Empire) writer Terry Winter follows a head stockbroker (DiCaprio) as he leads his team in coaching clients to purchase stocks that fund their extravagant lives--until they get caught. Scott and DiCaprio are both busy: Scott's helming 3-D Alien prequel and DiCaprio is prepping a Hoover biopic, so it's unclear when Wolf will land on their schedules.

By Sophia Savage
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July 8, 2010 5:40 AM
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Tonys Go Hollywood, Red's Logan Pens Miraculous Year, Nolan Hates 3D, It's a Wrap for Harry Potter

The Tonys went Hollywood Sunday night, from winners Denzel Washington and Viola Davis in best revival winner Fences to best featured actress and actor Scarlett Johansson and Eddie Redmayne, respectively, and Catherine Zeta-Jones as best actress (in musical revival A Little Night Music). The Tonys also favored two 50s-set shows as Memphis -- a rocking musical about underground Tennessee dance clubs and interracial love -- won best musical, and Red --starring Alfred Molina as artist Mark Rothko --won Best Play. Vanity Fair posted a gorgeous gallery of black and white portraits of select nominees.

By Sophia Savage
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June 14, 2010 2:27 AM
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Regards to Broadway, En Route to Cannes

On the way to Cannes every year, I stop somewhere to break up the long journey, usually London or Paris (where the Cinematheque Francaise museum is a must-see). This year I stopped in Manhattan to catch the tail end of the Tribeca Film Fest (for the first time) and relax a bit before heading to the Riviera. It worked like a charm.

By Anne Thompson
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May 11, 2010 7:22 AM
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Who Should Star in Harvey?

Now that Tom Hanks is no longer in the running for Steven Spielberg's remake of the Universal classic Harvey--because he was understandably leery, I hear, of the inevitable comparisons with James Stewart in the original role--who could pull this off? Hanks is probably too close to Stewart on some level--people have been comparing them his entire career. The role should be played by a warm and likable man who can convince us that he is talking to a six-foot rabbit. That means a top-notch actor who can hold the screen and pull in audiences. Here's my list: vote! And write in anyone you think I've overlooked.

By Anne Thompson
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August 17, 2009 11:28 AM
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Cruise's Star Status in Flux

Clearly, Tom Cruise is not the mega-star he was when MGM chairman and CEO Harry Sloan gave him and then-partner Paula Wagner a piece of United Artists. Now he has the flop Lions for Lambs behind him and Bryan Singer's tarnished Valkyrie looming ahead--the film that looks like more of an expensive art house play than a commercial one. And having lost his partner Wagner last week, Cruise now runs UA alone (with ongoing help from hard-charging MGM prexy Mary Parent).

By Anne Thompson
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August 19, 2008 5:33 AM
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Golden Globe Nominations: Atonement Leads Pack with Seven

With seven nominations, Joe Wright's Atonement led the field of Golden Globe nominations Thursday morning. It was a good day for Denzel Washington, who stars in two films out of seven in the motion picture drama category: American Gangster, in which he stars as a Harlem kingpin, and The Great Debaters, a heart-tugging period drama about an upstart debate team at a black college who take on Harvard, which he also directed. He was also nominated for best actor for American Gangster.

By Anne Thompson
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January 12, 2008 8:11 AM
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Oscar Watch: Seeking Consensus

While I admire Kris Tapley's attempt to make some sense out of the blizzard of Oscar predictions out there, I remain convinced that until the prognosticators see Charlie Wilson's War and Sweeney Todd, the two films that many of us got invited to see Monday, none of these lists make much sense. Richard Corliss in Time suggests that "audiences will have a great time watching" Charlie Wilson's War, which seemed to play for Oprah Winfrey's Chicago audience. Oprah raved about Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance, as guests Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts (who tried to get out of shooting a bikini scene while four weeks pregnant) nodded politely. My hunch is that Hoffman won't get nommed for best actor for The Savages or Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, but will get a supporting nom for Charlie Wilson's War.