Betty Thomas Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I know there's been a lot of consternation the last few days over who will direct the Twilight sequel now that Catherine Hardwicke has been shown the door, but I'd hate for that important story to overshadow another equally monumental issue: the search for a director for the Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel.

Who can fill the shoes previously worn by cartoon-maker-turned-Chipmunk-wrangler Tim Hill? Who can take the original Chipmunk concept (one-off novelty-record artists), mix it with the modern sensibilities of the 2007 film (singing rodents terrorize human, occasionally eat each other's poop), and come up with something new, innovative, and lucrative?

I'm pleased to report that the search is over! According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox 2000 has hired Betty Thomas to helm the follow-up, which is being called -- I hope you're sitting down and have already poured yourself a drink -- Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel.

Looking at Thomas' past films, you can see how she's ideal for the job:

• Dr. Dolittle -- worked with talking animals.
• The Brady Bunch Movie -- worked with trios.
• Howard Stern's Private Parts -- worked with rodents.
• John Tucker Must Die -- comedy with a memorable title that nobody actually wanted to watch.
• I Spy -- took a familiar product and reworked it so that it was unrecognizable and unappealing.
• 28 Days -- oversaw Sandra Bullock playing an alcoholic, which can't be that different from directing Jason Lee to talk to a blue screen.

P.S. The squeakuel will have Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney return as the voice of the Chipmunks, and the female Chipettes will be added, too. And it's really important to get different actors to play each of them because it's not like all the chipmunks sound exactly the same anyway.

You would have thought that by now 20th Century Fox would have given up on the idea of a Dallas movie. What with casting changes and script overhauls -- not to mention a mediocre fan reaction to the whole idea in the first place. Now it looks like yet another snafu has hit the production. Page Six (the Mecca of gossip) is reporting that John Travolta has been dropped from the cast and replaced by Ben Stiller in the role of J.R. Ewing. According to Page Six's sources, Travolta was "let go about two weeks ago. He had the role of J.R. Ewing taken from him" -- ouch! But don't feel too bad for Travolta; the same sources went on to say that, "John was given a nice seven-figure 'gift' to go away quietly".

So if you are still keeping track, Travolta is officially the last remaining element of the original Dallas film that Fox had planned back in 2006. Originally the film was going to be a big-budget drama with an all star cast including Jennifer Lopez and Shirley Maclaine. Cut to one year later and the budget shrunk from $65 million to what is now described as "much less" and the cast has been scrapped. Also, instead of a drama, Fox changed directors to hire Betty Thomas to make a comedic 'behind-the scenes' version of the series. This would probably explain how Stiller got involved in the film, since he's almost as an unlikely a choice for the role as Travolta was in the first place. Stiller's reps have yet to comment on his involvement, so stay tuned to Cinematical for updates.

It's funny, for a movie that probably only ten people are looking forward to seeing in the theater, there's certainly a lot of gossip surrounding it. Cinema Blend is reporting that their sources are telling them James Brolin, Minka Kelly (Friday Night Lights), Diane Ladd, and Julie Bentz are in negotiations to star in the update of the classic 80's soap, Dallas. Brolin would star as Jock Ewing, Ladd would play Ms. Ellie, and Kelly would take over from Victoria Principal in the part of Pamela Ewing.

Last April, word spread that the production had stalled, and I think most of us thought this would be the last anyone would hear about the film. But, this August, Scott brought us the news that the film was not only back on track, but this time it would be made as a comedy with Betty Thomas at the helm. There was was no more talk of Jennifer Lopez and Luke Wilson, but John Travolta is supposedly still on board to play the big kahuna himself; J.R. Ewing.

If Blend's sources can be trusted, then the film has gone back to being a drama and the comedy script has been tossed -- yeesh, can't these people make up their minds? But I would be inclined to believe that the film will be a comedy after all since Thomas has signed on to direct. Dallas is expected to go into production this summer, that is if they can ever make up their minds about what movie they are going to make. Oh, and there's also a little strike that might happen too.

I already love the sound of this movie because, essentially, it's the story of my life (circa three years ago). And, for some odd reason, Fox Atomic seems to think my life is worthy of the big-screen treatment, as they've gone out and picked up the novel The Average American Male by Chad Kultgen, a former Weekly World News writer. Here's how The Hollywood Reporter describes the story: "Average's" unnamed narrator is a man in his late 20s who hangs out with his friends and girlfriend, plays video games and holds an insignificant job. He reveals to readers his racy thoughts on his girlfriend, watching porn, his disgust with people in general and that he should either live life alone or bite the marriage bullet." It's freaky how similar my life was to the one of this so-called "unnamed narrator," although I was never much of a porn fan. And I don't know who this Chad Kultgen guy is, which means there's no way this book was based on me. Or was it, Chaaaad???

The fascinating part of this story is that interest in the book rose considerably after publisher Harper Perennial produced three one-minute videos promoting it on YouTube. Each one got increasingly more popular, and with more than one million views, book sales went up. For those of you interested in watching said videos (which do contain some harsh, sexually-explicit language -- just so you're warned), you can check them out here, here and here. I found them to be pretty damn funny (especially that third one), and they should serve as a message to those aspirings looking to get your self-published project a little buzz. Go to YouTube! And be creative! Betty Thomas (John Tucker Must Die) has hopped onboard to produce, as well as possibly direct, and there's currently no word on who they're thinking about casting as The Average American Male. Heck, I'll do it!

The last time we heard anything about the pointlessly-long-in-development big-screen rendition of Dallas, it was April of 2006 and Ms. Jessica Barnes was saying this: "The flick has been put on hold." Period. And we pretty much hoped figured the project was dead. Well it's back.

Yes, John Travolta will still be playing J.R. Ewing (well, thank GOD), but the director will no longer be Gurinder Chadha. Now think carefully, movie geeks. If you were producing a comedy version of a corny and antiquated ol' prime-time soap opera ... who would you get to direct the thing? Sure, why not the woman who helmed The Brady Bunch Movie and Private Parts? ...and Doctor Dolittle and ... well, I Spy. Yep, according to Variety it's Betty Thomas who'll be directing the inevitably uproarious big-screen version of Dallas. Hot Rod screenwriter Pam Brady will take over on scripting duty.

And yes, they're going for laughs with this version. On purpose, I mean. The original series had to get its chuckles the hard way: unintentionally. But don't go into this new version if you're a fan of the source material. We're told "there is also hope that a comedy about the dysfunctional Ewings will appeal to a younger audience." Makes perfect sense: Take a show that kids have never heard of, make a movie out of it, and gear it towards those kids. Production is scheduled to get underway in January, so expect all sorts of wacky casting announcements real soon.