Bruce Beresford Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Beresford to Helm Aussie Viet Nam Flick
Filed under: Drama », Deals », Scripts », Newsstand »
Australian writer-director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy, Black Robe, Paradise Road) has signed on to write and direct a film about the Battle of Long Tan, "one of the seminal battles of the [Viet Nam] War for Australian and New Zealand troops." (I feel I must confess here that, despite taking a semester-long seminar on Viet Nam in college, I don't think I've ever heard of Long Tan. Go, American education system.) In the battle, which took place in 1966, 108 Australian and New Zealand forces took on and defeated 2500 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops; the causality numbers were 24 wounded, 18 killed on the Oz/NZ side, and 750 wounded and at least 275 deaths suffered by the Vietnamese forces. Wow. So this is going to be one of those incredibly harrowing, depressing, "But hey, we won!" movies, huh?Beresford is currently at work on the script for the as-yet-untitled film, with production due to start sometime next year.
Quickhits: Bratz on the Big Screen, Hudson, Watanabe Dream of Red Mansions and Spaceballs: The Animated Series?
Filed under: Animation », Comedy », Drama », Casting », RumorMonger », Fandom », Family Films », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand »
Odds and ends from Tuesday:
- Seeing as I'm a 29-year-old man who, as of this minute, does not father any children nor hang out with and/or babysit the little buggers, it's safe to say I'm probably not the world's greatest expert on Bratz dolls. Apparently, they seem to be pretty popular, with over 400 licenses and distribution across 65 countries. How come I don't have one yet? Anyway, Variety reports that MGA Entertainment, Crystal Sky Pictures and Avi Arad are teaming up to produce and finance a live-action Bratz film. John Doolittle will write the screenplay, with production to begin this fall. Yay!
- Kate Hudson and Ken Watanabe have signed on to star in A Dream of Red Mansions, to be directed by Bruce Beresford. Set in 1949 and using the Chinese Revolution as a backdrop, pic is inspired by a true story and will focus on the romance between an American photojournalist (Hudson) and an idealistic revolutionary (Watanabe). Damn you Ken -- why can't she fall for some dorky movie news writer instead?
- While it may not be considered his greatest film, you have to admit there's something inside of you that craves Mel Brooks' Spaceballs. C'mon, you've got John Candy, Bill Pullman and Rick Moranis in their prime ... not to mention Daphne Zuniga! Wait, whatever happened to her? In a recent interview with TV Guide, Brooks admits that more Spaceballs may indeed be on the way. "There is a shot at Spaceballs becoming a half-hour animated TV series. I wouldn't mind doing the voice for President Skroob or Yoghurt, if they wanted me to. So I'm hoping that will happen with Spaceballs." Hey, I'm hoping it happens too!
Woo hoo: a Rachmaninoff biopic!
Filed under: Drama », Independent », Music & Musicals », Romance », Deals », Newsstand », Cinematical Indie »
Aussie Bruce
Beresford will direct a movie about the one person we're all really hankering to know better: Russian composer
Sergei Rachmaninoff. No, this is not a joke. Apparently Beresford is a big fan of classical music (his Bride of the Wind, while not about the composer, featured Gustav
Mahler is a central role), and the Rachmaninoff pic - entitled Rhapsody - is doubly appealing because it's
"a love story first and foremost, with political upheaval and a large canvas in the spirit of Doctor
Zhivago." (Did you just say Doctor Zhivago? I'm so there.)Talks are underway between American producers Prelude Features and an unnamed Russian film company with the goal of having the film in production (in Russia, of course) by the end of the year. Additional talks have taken place with EMI, which agreed to allow the composer's music to be used in Rhapsody, thus sparing us vaguely Rachmaninoff-esque themes.
I'm sorry, I sort of missed that last paragraph because I was still thinking about Omar Sharif. Hell - a sweeping, romantic epic, set in revolutionary Russia? Um, ok. Please. But I can't believe I'm actually excited about a Russian composer movie.
Josh Harnett as Chet Baker?
Filed under: Drama », Music & Musicals », Casting », Newsstand »
Josh Hartnett, whose career
appears to have gone into mini-revival mode with the pending releases of Lucky Number Slevin and The Black Dahlia, is also hoping take advantage of the current
explosion of music biopics. According to Variety, Hartnett is in talks to play the title role in the
forthcoming The Chet Baker Story, which will likely be directed by Bruce
Beresford. The screenplay was written by co-producer Julie Allan, and is an adaptation of
James Gavin's bio of the jazz superstar, Deep
in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker. With his prominent cheekbones and dark eyes, Hartnett actually looks
a bit like Baker, so this is one of those rare celebrity castings that isn't completely outrageous - one hopes that
he's actually become as good an actor as James Ellroy claims, and might be
able to do justice to the role.Interestingly, there's another Baker picture in the works, also based on a book. Looking for Chet Baker, however, is a novel-based thriller, which is in an earlier stage of development than the Hartnett project.
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