The Screengrab : alice in wonderland

Morning Deal Report: Anne Hathaway Over the Rainbow

Scott Von Doviak — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:30:00 GMT

Already set for an appearance in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, Anne Hathaway will go over the rainbow in a Judy Garland biopic from the Weinstein Company. The movie will be based on Get Happy, a biography by Gerald Clarke, that “draws on numerous real-life sources to tell the life story of Garland, who began singing and acting as a toddler and continued doing so all the way through her premature death at the age of 47,” per The Hollywood Reporter.

Nick Cassavettes will visit The Peaceable Kingdom for his next directorial project. “Story is based on the true life and work of Dame Daphne Sheldrick, the leading animal conservationist in Kenya, who has devoted her life to preventing elephant extinction by endeavoring to save baby elephants left orphaned by war, poaching and culling.”

“New Regency has acquired Freedom Formula: Ghost of the Wasteland, an adaptation of the Radical Publishing comicbook series that will be developed as a potential directing vehicle for Bryan Singer,” Variety reports. “The comicbook has a futuristic premise in which fighter jets have been replaced by pilots who battle in racing exo-suits.”

Related:
Anne Hathaway in Wonderland
Improving Moby Dick

Morning Deal Report: Jim Carrey Believes – Or Not

Scott Von Doviak — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:30:00 GMT

Sequels ruled the weekend box office, with High School Musical 3: Senior Year opening to a “Holy shit, America, first the Chihuahua and now this?” $42 million. And moviegoers still can’t get enough of that lovable mass murderer Jigsaw, as Saw V took in $30.5 million, good for second place. Pride and Glory performed about as well as you’d expect from a movie that’s been sitting on the shelf since there were only three Saw movies, mopping up $6.3 million. And it should come as no surprise that W. dropped precipitously in the polls, with a weekend take of $5.3 million.

Believe it or not, Jim Carrey is set to play Robert Ripley for director Chris Columbus. The Ripley’s Believe It or Not project has been floundering in development hell for a while (Tim Burton was formerly attached), but Paramount has given Columbus the go-ahead. “Once Columbus’ deal is closed, the studio will hire a writer to draft the project, which remains a Par priority: The studio is aiming for a 2011 release and is hoping the pic spawns a franchise,” Variety obviouslies.

Speaking of Burton, the inevitable has happened: Crispin Glover has joined the cast of Alice in Wonderland. The Mad Hatter role is already taken, so Glover will appear as the Knave of Hearts, who is “put on trial for stealing the Queen of Hearts' tarts and is defended by Alice,” per The Hollywood Reporter.

Related:
Crispin Glover Requires Cash, Sushi
Anne Hathaway in Wonderland

Morning Deal Report: Anne Hathaway in Wonderland

Scott Von Doviak — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:30:00 GMT

You probably already know that Tim Burton is directing Alice in Wonderland for Disney, and you most likely wouldn’t be terribly surprised to learn that Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are attached (as the Mad Hatter and Red Queen, respectively). Now Burton has found his White Queen, and it’s Rachel Getting Married star Anne Hathaway. “The White Queen needs Alice to slay a creature known as the Bandersnatch,” The Hollywood Reporter reminds us. Ah, but who is frumious enough to play the Bandersnatch? We’re putting our money on Christopher Walken.

It turns out that October brings not only baseball’s playoffs, but really bad ideas for baseball movies. (I’m still haunted by the image of Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore dancing on the field when the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series.) Now we learn that Kevin Costner and Ron Shelton are cooking up a sequel to Bull Durham. Our first thought is that Costner and Tim Robbins are a little old to pass for baseball players (even older than some of the current Yankees), but according to this UPI report (via the New York Post), a solution has been found. “Real-life couple and Durham co-stars Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, who played a pitcher and a baseball groupie respectively in the first installment, are also expected to return for the second film. This time around, they will play the married owners of a Major League Baseball team Costner's character manages, the Post said.”

Tennis, anyone? Frank DeFord’s novel Big Bill is coming to the big screen. It’s based on the true story of tennis legend Bill Tilden, who “dominated tennis in the 1920s, winning six straight U.S. Open singles titles and becoming the first American to win Wimbledon. He was also a contract bridge champ, musicologist, novelist, playwright and actor. On the other side of the ledger, Tilden was famously self-destructive, going to jail twice for sexual misbehavior with teenage boys and dying penniless,” says Variety. Sounds like the feel-good sports story of the year.

Related:
When Good Directors Go Bad: Planet of the Apes (Tim Burton)
Hathaway Hotness, Rourke Smackdowns Head Venice Comp Lineup