Christian Bale to Play Robin Hood in Ridley Scott’s Nottingham?
UPDATE: According to sources, this rumor is totally bunk. Thanks for the new pollution, Daily Mail. Anyhow, who should play Robin Hood for Scott?
Bruce Wayne. John Connor. Bryan Adams’ muse? According to the Daily Mail, director Ridley Scott is seeking out Christian Bale for the role of Robin Hood in Nottingham, which is scheduled to begin filming this summer…
“Nothing is signed for Bale, but director Ridley Scott is exceedingly keen to cast him. Costume fittings begin next week, so he’ll be either in or out by then. Vanessa Redgrave and William Hurt are also in discussions about being in the film, which is called Nottingham.”
Bale would join a cast that also includes Scott-staple Russell Crowe (as the Sheriff of Nottingham) and the freshly signed Sienna Miller as Maid Marian. However, both of those actors have expressed moderate concern about a looming SAG strike putting the kibosh on the project. Unlike prior versions of the tale, Crowe’s sheriff will be the protagonist and Robin Hood will be a quiver-carrying bad guy (terrorist for the poors?). Bale and Crowe faced off in last year’s superb Western remake 3:10 to Yuma.
Earlier today we reported on the teaser for Terminator 4 with Bale starring as John Connor. He remains attached to the Pablo Escobar adaptation, Killing Pablo, though news on that film has been very quiet as of late. Scott will follow-up his 180-degree Robin Hood flick with a longtime dream project, Brave New World, based on Aldous Huxley’s 1932 sci-fi classic. He also has an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian on the burner. More on Nottingham/Bale as it develops…
Mark Wahlberg to Star as Cocaine Cowboy for Peter Berg
Continuing his ascent as one of Hollywood’s go-to lead actors, Mark Wahlberg is set to star as an international drug dealer in a still untitled film based on real events for Hancock’s Peter Berg. The drug dealer in question is Jon Roberts, who a few of you may have seen in the shockingly good ‘06 documentary Cocaine Cowboys. Roberts operated a few clubs in New York, did a successful stint in Vietnam and soon after migrated to Miami where he became a top domestic distributor for the notorious Medellin cocaine cartel. His power and notoriety reached a level where he could pay off the Miami PD to shut down causeways and race cars, and other madness only seen in the visions of Rockstar Games. He later did a decade in prison. Wahlberg is currently filming Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones, followed by Darren Aronofsky’s The Fighter alongside Brad Pitt, and you’ll see him next on screen in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening. Dream a little dream, right?
It’s fascinating to me to see drug dealers become immortalized more and more with their very own Hollywood films. Now, Pablo Escobar is one thing, as anyone who’s read Killing Pablo (in development) can attest. He helped start one of the longest world wars of all time, the so-called War on Drugs. Then there’s George Jung, who had the luck of having Johnny Depp play him in Blow even though he looked more like Pizza the Hut. It’s debated that Jung introduced America to its billion dollar love affair with cocaine.
Most recently, we saw the life of ex-heroin dealer Frank Lucas in American Gangster, and watched the real guy brag to any outlet that would listen that Denzel Washington bought him a large house in appreciation for such a great role. And then Jay-Z got the urge to make a new bestselling album inspired by Lucas and the film. I’m not going to lie, I thought American Gangster was ethically questionable, basically attempting to mold an important historical figure out of foul air. And perhaps the dudes in Entourage would have been better off bringing the life story of the Ramones to the big screen, instead?
How do you feel about the new drug dealer biopic trend?
Source Link: Variety
Joe Carnahan To Shoot Killing Pablo in High Definition
Joe Carnahan plans to embrace the new high definition revolution, and hopes to shoot his upcoming Pablo Escobar biopic Killing Pablo on the new Red camera system.
“I really want to do a great deal of KP on the Red or another digital format that gives me the same kind of freedom that that particular system grants. We took it out in Sacramento and shot all over the place with it and I was just amazed on how simple the set-up was. Now I don’t think the Red can handle low light like the Genesis. Not yet at least. I think around 1000asa was where we were most comfortable with it. BUT, in its handheld configuration, it’s probably 10-12lbs lighter than the Genesis and that’s huge. It’s ease of use is unsurpassed as far as I’m concerned.”
They are using the new Red system on the new Gerard Butler movie currently titled Game (butt his will change) and it was incredible. The way the digital workflow frees the production process is the future, no doubt.
source: SmokinJoe
Joe Carnahan Updates Killing Pablo/White Jazz
Joe Carnahan still isn’t sure which of his two greenlit films will go into production next, but he gives us this update:
“There are two actors that I’m interested in for [White Jazz]. Both are available and both are apparently keen on the script. But it’s all speculation at the point. [Killing Pablo] on the other hand, seems likes it’s about to blow and blow big. I’ve got somebody. We met for an extended period when I was in NYC and he is my absolute first and only choice for the film since that meeting. This enthusiasm is mutual. If I was a betting man, I would go with [Killing Pablo] happening quickly. But I’m repeatedly waylaid by the twists and turns of this business, so to pretend like I know or could even gauge an outcome is pretty preposterous.”