News Bites: A Freaky Geek Gets Writing & The Tale of Moulin Rouge
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Deals, Scripts
Here's a few Vegas-themed Monday nibblets:- All the way back in 2006, there was news that New Line had grabbed Burt Dickenson: The Most Powerful Magician on Planet Earth. Set in Vegas, the comedy was said to focus on rival magicians and how one of the magic men's partners dies, leaving his ex to "find a way to rediscover his love for magic." Well, it's not quite ready for the camera yet, and The Hollywood Reporter posts that Freaks and Geeks and Bones actor John Francis Daley is going to whip up a rewrite with Jonathan Goldstein. Now the plot is being described as the tale of "a big-time Las Vegas illusionist whose preeminence is threatened by a younger 'extreme magician.'" Whatever the film ends up being, hopefully it won't take another 2 years to get a step further. And hopefully it will be better than The Illusionist.
- Meanwhile, Variety reports that a feature on the first desegregated hotel and casino in Vegas, the Moulin Rouge, is in development. Titled The Fabulous Moulin Rouge, and penned by Milosz Feigin, the film will center on "a fictional African-American character who rises from mob debt collector to manager of the Moulin Rouge." It should be a pretty interesting production. A replica of the 1955 casino is getting built in Dubai, where the film will be shot late next year, and the casino itself might have attracted performers like Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra, but closed a mere 6 months after opening.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-18-2008 @ 6:39PM
Travis Tidmore said...
While I'm glad to see Daley working and the plot sounds intriguing, I have to say that I really enjoyed The Illusionist and am wondering why you're dogging it?
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8-18-2008 @ 7:56PM
Jay said...
I usually agree with you guys, but...you didn't enjoy the Illusionist? Paul Giamatti is awesome, and I really dug the visuals. It was really enjoyable.
What didn't you like?
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8-18-2008 @ 8:55PM
Monika said...
I really, really disliked it. I figured the twist out immediately, and found it to be a feature full of unsurprising "surprises." Sometimes I figure out the twist right away but can still be charmed by the story, but in this case, it all seemed tedious.
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8-19-2008 @ 4:42PM
nate said...
the illusionist was terrible, and had one of the lamest "twist endings ever". if i remember correctly, early on in the movie edward norton says "this is what i'm going to do" and everyone laughs him off. and then he does it. and the end is a complete ripoff of "the usual suspects". complete. meanwhile "the prestige" is all but forgotten about despite the fact that it's a near masterpiece.
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