Thompson on Hollywood

IN THE WORKS: A-Listers Lining Up Projects: Damon, Krasinski, Mulligan, Zeta-Jones, Cooper

- Matt Damon will be known as director soon, with both Father Daughter Time: A Tale of Armed Robbery and Eskimo Kisses (at Warner Bros.) and a newly announced drama which he co-wrote with John Krasinski, who developed the idea with writer Dave Eggers (this project is also at Warner Bros.). Krasinski and Damon will also star in the film, and while plot details are few we know Damon will play a salesman whose life changes when he arrives in a small town.

By Sophia Savage
|
October 21, 2011 5:39 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

IN THE WORKS: Theron's Career Comeback Includes Horror Remake; The Departed Prequel; Night Train

Don't be surprised if Charlize Theron decides not to interrupt what looks like a promising career revival-- via Young Adult/Prometheus/Snow White and the Huntsman--with an ugly step-sister. It's a remake of Zwart Water, a Dutch horror film about a little girl whose new friend is the ghost of her mother's dead twin, in which Theron (her production company Denver & Delilah bought the rights; they also produced Young Adult) is set to play the mother. Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) will direct. This sounds like the kind of project Hilary Swank would do (see: The Reaping). We're betting that Theron won't end up in the film.

By Sophia Savage
|
October 18, 2011 11:25 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

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
|
October 11, 2011 6:17 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Contagion Holds Strong at Box Office; Burns Talks Script, Viral Power of Bloggers

Steven Soderbergh has a solid commercial double in his disease thriller Contagion, which is holding strong at the box office in second place this weekend, with $44.2 million to date. Part of the credit goes to screenwriter Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum, The Informant) who helped to supply what Soderbergh calls "an ultra-realistic feel about a pandemic."

By Anne Thompson
|
September 19, 2011 2:37 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Film in the Decade Since 9/11: From Superheroes to Westerns, What Came After

This week's “Now and Then” column started out comparing and contrasting two movies about assassins — Hanna (Joe Wright, 2011) and Léon: the Professional (Luc Besson, 1994)—and ended up ruminating on 9/11. Trailers below:Life and culture are too messy to be divided into easy categories like “Before” and “After,” but for all the continuities in the way films are made and viewed, a long view of the last decade reveals some important, if subtle, shifts. Watching the network news coverage of September 11 to prepare for this column, I was reminded of how much we didn’t know that day, how much our fear stemmed from no longer being able to control the course of events.

By Matt Brennan
|
September 12, 2011 11:36 AM
|
0 Comments

Box Office: Contagion Runs $23-Million Fever Over Cold Weekend

Steven Soderbergh's pandemic ensemble thriller Contagion posted a healthy opening despite an overall downer weekend. Anthony D'Alessandro breaks down the box office:

By Anthony D'Alessandro
|
September 11, 2011 4:21 AM
|
3 Comments

More:

Venice Reviews: Soderbergh's Contagion, Alps, Chicken with Plums, That Summer

Brit correspondent David Gritten reports from Venice: Traditionally, weekends are the busiest time in Venice, but today has felt quieter -- perhaps because of the lack of high profile competition films on offer.

By David Gritten
|
September 3, 2011 5:43 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Video: Before They Were Famous

Matt Damon made his on screen debut in the 80s coming-of-age film Mystic Pizza. He had one line, spoken to his mother while eating lobster: "Mom, do you want my green stuff?"

By Anne Thompson
|
August 18, 2011 5:47 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Dangerous Method's S&M, Jolie's Blood & Honey, Soderbergh Killing Oscar Winners & More from EW

We culled the best soundbites from EW's Fall Movie Preview for your pleasure below, from Brad Pitt's struggle to get Moneyball made and Steven Soderbergh killing off Oscar-winners in Contagion to what Mickey Rourke has in common with the animals in Cameron Crowe's We Bought a Zoo.

By Sophia Savage
|
August 15, 2011 8:10 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Hollywood Politics: Alec Baldwin Studies for Mayor, Michael Moore Backs Matt Damon for President

“Alec Baldwin is not running for mayor of New York—yet,” reports the NYT. The politically ambitious actor plans to finish his role on critically acclaimed 30 Rock and then enroll in a master’s program in politics and government to learn more about what the job entails. He says that despite his fame, he still has a blue-collar mindset: "There are people who make a lot of money who become rich people, and then there are people who make a lot of money, but they don’t think like rich people do. No matter how much money they have, they are the same from their own upbringing. I would definitely put myself in the latter class."