Sienna Miller Is Just Like A Woman

Sienna Miller Is Just Like A Woman
Belly dancing housewife comedy, anyone?

Source: Deadline

Director Rachid Bouchareb might have lost out on the Foreign Language Film Oscar to Susanne Bier at this past weekend’s ceremony, but he won’t be too worried, as he’s about to start work on Just Like a Woman, a drama that features Sienna Miller in a belly dancing costume.

The story finds a Chicago housewife (Miller) who leaves her mundane life behind to flee with her belly-dancing teacher to a Las Vegas dance competition. But this is not some tawdry jigglesploitation flick (stop making that disappointed face), but something that explores honesty and emotion with a sure touch. At least, we think so – and Miller certainly appears to have faith in her director.

“Rachid is one of the most exciting directors working today,” she says. “He’s one of those people who understand the medium of film in a way that’s not manipulative but that’s honest and raw. As a director he’s capable of anything. The kinds of films he makes are the ones I like to watch.”

Despite the fact that she is about to open in Trevor Nunn’s new play Flare Path this week, she’ll start learning the noble art of the belly dance in preparation for the film, which kicks off shooting in New Mexico this June.

Source: EmpireOnline

Percy Jackson 2 Underway

Percy Jackson 2 Underway
Fox gets kraken with Sea Of Monsters
Source: LA Times

It all went a bit quiet for Percy Jackson following the release of The Lightning Thief last year. The adaptation of the first in Rick Riordan's young adult series didn't quite break even during its US run, but its performance overseas has apparently now persuaded Fox to get moving on a sequel after all. Sticking faithfully to the chronology of the books, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters is now being actively developed, with Logan Lerman set to return as the titular dyslexic demigod.

There's no director attached yet, with Chris Columbus, who helmed the first film, acting only as producer this time, along with Twilight's Karen Rosenfelt. Different writers too, with The Lightning Thief's Craig Titley (Scooby Doo, Cheaper By the Dozen) handing over the reins to Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. The pair previously wrote the kid-friendly Agent Cody Banks, but also brought us Stephen King adaptation 1408 and a trilogy of quirky biopics in Ed Wood, The People Vs Larry Flynt and Man on the Moon.

The Sea of Monsters is the Argonautical entry in the franchise, involving Percy, demigoddess Annabeth, and Clarissa La Rue (daughter of war god Ares; no relation to Danny) on a quest to find the Golden Fleece and rescue Grover the Satyr from the evil forces of Kronos.

Along with Lerman, The Lightning Thief's main co-leads Alexandra Daddario, Brandon T Jackson and Jake Abel all look set to return (having signed contracts for a series). The starrier bit players (Sean Bean, Rosario Dawson, Pierce Brosnan) are less certain. It's early days yet though: the project doesn't quite have the green light, although according to the LA Times' sources it could start shooting as early as this summer.

Source: EmpireOnline

Barry Levinson Takes OKC
A true story about the Oklahoma bombing

Source: Deadline

Barry Levinson has often taken a sideways look at real life, especially in his political satires such as Wag the Dog and Man of the Year. And he’s also dabbled in hefty, emotional drama. But now it appears he’s looking to combine the two, setting up indie drama O.K.C., which will follow some of the real-life events that occurred after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

Clay Wold is behind the script, and he has a very personal connection to the tale. His brother was, at the time, a young legal clerk who found himself recruited to the legal team charged with defending bomber Timothy McVeigh, the man ultimately convicted of detonating a truck bomb outside the Alfred P Murrah Building in the city. The attack left 168 people dead and injured 450.

Wold’s brother began digging as ordered into the case and soon found himself unravelling a bigger conspiracy that put him at serious risk.

The latest draft of the script is expected to arrive on Levinson’s desk next week and, while he’s busy shooting sci-fi drama Isopod, he’s looking to make O.K.C. his next job.

Source: EmpireOnline

New Transformers 3 Pic On Empire's Cover

New Transformers 3 Pic On Empire's Cover
Sentinel & Optimus are 'bot to trot

Source: Exclusive

The April issue of Empire hits the shelves this week with an uncharacteristic clank. That's right, Michael Bay is putting the polish on Transformers: Dark Of The Moon, the third instalment of his box-office-hoovering franchise, and this month's cover is adorned with a double-dose of metallic panic. Optimus Prime and his mentor Sentinel Prime front up, the former looking battle scarred, the latter boasting what looks like Cybertron's equivalent of a hattori hanzo.

Empire tracked Bay down to his LA post-production studio to quiz him about what he's calling the least "dorky" Transformers adventure yet. What followed is an interview well worth hunting for like your neighbour's AllSpark. "We made some mistakes," the director admits of Transformers 2. Part 3, though, will be a different matter. Bay is promising gravitas and 3D worthy of the gajillion dollar FX. Not to mention all those 'splodey bits that will again blow us to the back of our chairs.

Transformers: Dark Of The Moon is out in cinemas on July 1, and you can read all about it, and a tonne of other big summer releases, when the new Empire lands in stores on March 3.

Source: EmpireOnline

Exclusive: Due Date Deleted Scene

Exclusive: Due Date Deleted Scene
Peter and Ethan on Chuck Sheen

We can't process Charlie Sheen with normal brains, that we know, so luckily we have Due Date's odd couple roadtrippers Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) and Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis) to help on that score.

In this freshly minted cut scene from the movie that will MELT YOUR FACE and EXPLODE YOUR BODY, the pair share their thoughts on Two And A Half Men, a show Ethan is so fanatically attached to he's set up a blog in its honour called It's Raining Two And A Half Men.

In fairness, he does look like a man who's since lost the will to struggle on, as he battles valiantly to get back to his wife's side in time for the birth of their first child. You definitely wouldn't want to be the one to tell the poco-loco Ethan that Two And A Half Men has gone to the big CBS graveyard in the sky.



Due Date is out now on DVD and Blu-ray.

Source: EmpireOnline

Harmony Grove

Harmony Grove

If you have these signals:

• rapid onset of obesity or a sudden and noticeable weight gain
• not having any control over how much food you are eating
• feelings of depression, disgust, or guilt after binge eating
• eating until you are physically uncomfortable or nauseated because of the amount of food you have eaten
• eating large amounts of food even if you are no longer hungry
• eating more food faster during than normal during the binge
• eating out of boredom or depression
• eating larger quantities compared to what others consume
• eating alone when binging so no one discovers you have the disorder

and moore you need medical attention and treatment for binge eating disorder

There are 3 types of eating disorders:

Anorexia Nervosa, Binge eating disorders, Bulimia Nervosa
The Symptoms and warning signs are:

• backs of hands are scarred due to repeated chewing on them
• chronic or painful gastric reflux occurs after eating
• continual fluctuations in the individual’s weight
• constipation
• dehydration because of continual vomiting
• electrolyte imbalances
• enlarged glands in the neck, especially under the jaw line
• inflamed esophagus
• delayed emptying
• infertility
• lacerations to the mout

You need a medical attention and a residential eating disorder treatment.


Eating disorders:

The speculative causes that in-patient eating disorder treatment centers are aware of are both biological and psychological in nature.

Find help is a good choose.
With the growth in the number of eating disorder cases in the US today, the number of in-patient eating disorder treatment facilities has grown in number as well. Although this is all well and good, and is enabling many suffering individuals a way to be treated for and recover from the disorder, it is also creating a bit of a problem for the individual.

Tarantino Making His Western At Last?

Tarantino Making His Western At Last?
Christoph Waltz rumoured to feature...

Source: The Playlist

Intriguing and potentially exciting news for all of us rooting for Quentin Tarantino to step back behind the camera: rumours are building that he’s planning to fulfil a long-harboured ambition and get a pure spaghetti Western up and running, with Inglourious Basterds MVP Christoph Waltz in a prime role.

Actor Franco Nero talked to Italian site Movieplayer about future plans and he spilled some of what he apparently knows: “The film will be called The Angel, The Bad And The Wise and is a tribute to Sergio Leone. It’s a movie that contains humour, lots of action, but also a great plot. We have already been signed by a dozen people who will be part of project. Among the filmmakers involved include Quentin Tarantino, Keith Carradine, Treat Williams, 15 people in all.”

Ain’t It Cool did a little digging and found that the title isn’t correct (chances are it could be a working name QT has been toying with), Nero left out the little detail that Waltz is likely to join the cast, plus word that the movie could should later this year in Italy and Spain.

Of course, nothing is set yet and Tarantino has made no official announcement, so treat it as strict speculation until we hear more. Expect this one to keep developing, though, and if it turns out to be even a little bit true, this could be something to really look forward to.

Oh, and in more solid QT news, the full, uncut, footage-added version of Kill Bill, The Whole Bloody Affair, will be playing in Los Angeles this month at the New Beverly theatre as part of his latest programming session there. Which makes us hopeful that it might finally find its way to shiny disc or Blu-Ray before the year is out. Fingers (and swords) crossed…

Source: EmpireOnline

New X-Men: First Class Posters

New X-Men: First Class Posters
Less mutant, more moody

Source: Coming Soon

We’re getting to the point where the X-Men: First Class marketing strategy is less a release schedule and more a barrage, with two new posters arriving online today. You can check them both out in the gallery below.

Originally spotted on the Danish FilmZ site by Coming Soon, the images go more for moody emotion and ties between the past and the future than OTT superhero imagery, continuing the theme of the recent trailer. We’ve constantly been told that First Class features the early days of Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) before they became the wheelchair-bound Professor X and driven enemy Magneto.

While the posters also continue the slightly iffy Photoshop work, the use of reflections to show what each man will end up as is a nice touch. Take a look at the posters and let us know your thoughts.

X-Men First Class also features Rose Byrne, Kevin Bacon, January Jones, Nicholas Hoult, Jason Flemyng, Zoe Kravitz, Jennifer Lawrence and Lucas Till. Director Matthew Vaughn is racing to get this one finished in time for its May 30 release date.

Source: EmpireOnline

Tim Burton Developing New Hunchback

Tim Burton Developing New Hunchback
With Josh Brolin involved

Source: Heat Vision Blog

Despite some seriously mixed reviews, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland scored big at the box office and won a couple of little golden men at the Oscars. So you can imagine that studios would want to encourage him to find other classic tales to adapt. He’s already got a take on Sleeping Beauty’s Maleficent bubbling away in his development cauldron and now Warner Bros. has secured the director to develop The Hunchback of Notre Dame with Josh Brolin.

The actor is actually the one spearheading the film’s early stages, which will see the1831 Victor Hugo novel adapted by Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows writers Kieran and Michele Mulroney.

It’ll be a challenge to find something fresh as the story – which sees deformed bell-bothered Quasimodo falling tragically in love with beautiful gypsy girl Esmerelda – has been brought to the screen many times before, including one in 1905 and the 1997 hunch-off between Disney’s ‘toon take and an action-orientated TV movie version with Mandy Patinkin and Salma Hayek. But, as the Heat Vision blog points out, the darker themes – repression, hatred, revenge and a lonely individual falling in love – are seemingly a perfect match for Burton’s sensibilities.

We’re frankly more surprised that Warners would want to ugly up Josh Brolin again after Jonah Hex tanked, but at least we’re pretty certain the studio won’t be hiring Megan Fox as Esmerelda…

Source: EmpireOnline

Jane Russell RIP

Jane Russell RIP
Legendary actress dead at 89

Source: The Wrap

We lost a bona fide cinematic legend yesterday as Jane Russell, most famous for the likes of 1953’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, died at the age of 89.

Born with the somewhat unwieldy name Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell in Minnesota in 1921, she moved with her family to California when her father retired from the army and accepted a job in the state. Both her parents were influential on her future career, with her mother’s work as an actress as a guiding influence and the sudden death of her father curtailing her thoughts of becoming a designer. She took work as a secretary and receptionist to help support her father, but an underlying interest in drama, born of school clubs, still pulled at her.

She continued to study drama and it was while working as a receptionist that she was spotted by director Howard Hughes, who had been hunting for an actress to star in The Outlaw. He quickly snapped up the beautiful Russell and signed her to a seven-year contract. The film quickly became controversial when the Hayes Office refused to allow it to be released without judicious editing largely because of the way Russell’s cleavage was shown off on screen. As part of the campaign to get the film seen, the starlet was sent out on a promotional tour, which saw her quickly become a household name.

With the film finally seeing the light of projector bulbs in 1943, Russell was confirmed as a new star, though she didn’t appear on screen again until 1946's Young Widow. Her career took off, and she won numerous film roles, including some of her more famous work, such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Paleface and her smouldering partnership alongside Robert Mitchum in His Kind of Woman and Macao.

She wasn’t just known for her film work, however – she also cracked the music charts, recording alongside Frank Sinatra and enjoying a diverse career that included a nightclub solo tour and a gospel group.

In real life, she married high school sweetheart Bob Waterfield and, unable to have children of their own, the couple adopted three children and the experience inspired Russell to launch the World Adoption International Fund, which helped families looking to adopt children of their own. She and Waterfield were divorced in 1968 and she married twice more. Her last film appearance was in 1970’s Darker Than Amber.

Her three children, her six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren survive her. Our thoughts are with them.

Source: EmpireOnline

Will Smith Attached To Joe

Will Smith Attached To Joe
Biblical tale meets modern update

Source: Movie BS Podcast

For a while there, it was looking like Will Smith was choosing to permanently be known as a producer and the driving force behind getting his kids to slowly take over the entertainment world. Well, between suiting back up for Men in Black III and the variety of other possible films he has simmering away in development, it looks like Will Smith: actor might just be back. And now, according to the writers of the movie, it appears he’s adding another likely project, Biblical update Joe.

Screenwriter Paul Tamasy, who was part of the team responsible for crafting The Fighter (and scored an Oscar nomination for his work) went on the Movie BS podcast hosted by Eric D Snider and Jeff Bayer and chatted up the idea, which is a modern version of the story of Job.

He’ll be playing Joe. The movie’s called Joe,” said Tamasy. “It’s about a man who is living the American dream. He’s got the nice house, white picket fence, great kids, great wife, nice cars. God and the devil get together every thousand years to bet on a man’s life, and the fate of the world is at stake. What all of us get hit with in a lifetime, this man gets hit with in one week. And it’s about whether or not he can still pick himself up from that and survive it. It’s a dramedy. At its heart, it’s a comedy — but it’s got, obviously, a real dramatic core to it.”

So it’s a comedy with drama at its heart? Or a drama with a vein of comedy running through it like Blackpool rock? Suppose we’ll find out. Tamasy and scripting partner/fellow Fighter writer Eric Johnson are busy with the latest draft that Sony and Smith’s Overbook Productions are waiting to see. Oh, and the writers are trying to convince David O Russell to direct, but he’s already got a busy diary.

Smith, meanwhile, is waiting for production to gear back up on MIB III, and will then likely knuckle down and pick a follow-up film, with The City that Sailed (the magical realism novel adaptation he pushed aside to put the Ray-Bans on again), Kathryn Bigelow’s Triple Frontier, a possible re-working of the Robin Hood story with the Wachowskis and vampiric thriller The Legend of Cain among the possible choices.

A tip of the hat to Collider for tracking down Tamasy's comments.

Source: EmpireOnline

Tobe Hooper Haunted By Djinn

Tobe Hooper Haunted By Djinn
He'll direct the genie horror pic

Source: Imagenation

Tobe Hooper, the man who brought the world The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Poltergeist and more, just can’t stop dabbling in dark forces. Abu Dhabi-based Imagenation has announced that he’ll tackle Arabian horror Djinn for the company.

David Tully has penned the script, which will apparently offer a fresh twist on the haunted house genre and digs into the horrific history of fairytales about genies. The story follows a young Emirati couple that come home from America to lovely new apartment in a sparkling, fresh-built high-rise. There’s just one small detail the construction company forgot to mention – the place was erected on the site of an abandoned fishing village and is the home to a nasty group of Djinn. Who welcome the new arrivals with fruit baskets and a guided tour of the neighb… No, sorry. They unleash terror.

“The horror genre speaks an international language and I am so pleased to be involved in a project with Imagenation that will transcend cultures and borders,” says Hooper in a statement. “Simply put, this movie will scare everyone, no matter where you live or what you believe in!"

One of the more intriguing wrinkles of the production, aside from the fact that it’ll shoot in the United Arab Emirates starting later this month, is that short film director Nayla Al Khaja will be performing the double duty of making sure the cultural references are accurate and learning the art of wielding the megaphone on a full-length film from Hooper…

Source: EmpireOnline

Gary Winick RIP

Gary Winick RIP
13 Going on 30 Director dead at 49

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Following a long, tough battle with brain cancer, director/producer Gary Winick has died at the age of 49.

His name might not have the instant recognition factor of, say, a Tarantino or a Scorsese, but Winick skipped easily between more mainstream films such as 13 Going on 30 and, more recently Letters to Juliet, and indie pics, most successfully with Tadpole.

But it’s his contribution to other filmmakers’ work that might have even more resonance, since he co-created digital video collective IndigEnt with John Sloss and IFC Films, which helped get the likes of Rebecca Miller’s Personal Velocity, Steve Buscemi’s Lonesome Jim and Richard Linklater’s Tape made on thrifty budgets.

Winick got his start in horror, directing the 1989 film Curfew. His varied career saw him acting as an editor, producer or director on a raft of movies, including Sam the Man, Chelsea Walls, Charlotte’s Web, and, as mentioned above, last year’s Amanda Seyfried romantic drama comedy.

"He was suffering from brain cancer for quite some time, and it ultimately metastasized throughout his body," his manager Rosalie Swedlin, tells The Hollywood Reporter. "What's remarkable is that after his first surgery, he was able to direct Letters to Juliet. It was a battle that we thought he had won, and ultimately they just didn't get it all.” He'll be missed.

Source: EmpireOnline

Devil May Cry For Screen Gems

Devil May Cry For Screen Gems
Kyle Ward scripting videogame adaptation

Source: Variety

Despite the fact that neither Kane and Lynch or Hitman 2 have seen the light of day yet, screenwriter Kyle Ward is still apparently the go-to guy for videogame adaptations. His next gig translating pixels into pages will be the action-horror franchise Devil May Cry.

The first in the series of button-mashing fighters was released in 2001, and spawned three sequels, with a fifth game announced at the end of last year. Plot-wise, they involve silver-haired son-of-a-demon Dante, a paranormal private detective who has superhuman ass-kicking, ten-string-laying abilities and is sworn to avenge the death of his mother and the corruption of his brother Virgil at the hands of the underworldly. Dante and Virgil. Do you see?

Ten million game sales in, developer Capcom has branched the property out into comics, toys and anime, so a movie at some point was a no-brainer. Fittingly, given that Devil May Cry began its life as a Resident Evil game before leaping off in its own direction, the film version is in the hands of Screen Gems, the Sony offshoot behind the Milla Jovovich Resi movies.

Across the four existing games (the first of which, chronologically, is the third) there's a lot of plot to play with, so hopefully Ward will be able to crowbar some storyline in between the swordfighting and the shooting. No start date or mooted cast yet, but Screen Gems are banking on this as their next ongoing series, so expect regular developments.

Source: EmpireOnline