ChasePalmer Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Craig Gillespie had a unique start last year, when he released his first two feature films. Lars and the Real Girl was an amazing and memorable film that proved to be one of the highlights of last year's fest in Toronto. But there's also Mr. Woodcock, which was just about Lars' polar opposite. So, what could the future possibly bring with his third film? Thank God, it looks like it's going to be more like the former than the latter.

Variety reports that Ryan Gosling is currently negotiating to re-team with Gillespie in The Dallas Buyers Club for Universal and Strike. Unfortunately, it's not more sweet turns on the notion of dysfunction. Instead, the film will focus on the true story of late Texan Ron Woodroof. He was an electrician who was diagnosed with AIDS in the '80s and given only 6 months to live.

Hollywood loves dueling biopics -- Columbus, Capote, Amy Fisher; if there's more than one source to mine from, there's more than one movie to be made. The latest figure to get head-to-head films is Charles Darwin. Though I haven't heard anything more on Chase Palmer's take, titled Evolution's Captain, since I wrote about it last November, it is supposed to be released some time in 2009. If that remains true, it will have some company, because Oscar-winning producer Jeremy Thomas is also planning to deliver a Darwin film the same year (the bicentennial of the naturalist's birth).

Thomas' version will be based on "Annie's Box" (aka "Darwin, His Daughter and Human Evolution"), a bio written by Darwin's descendant Randal Keynes. While Palmer's film should deal more with Darwin's scientific explorations, this one will be centered more on the naturalist's home life, particularly with the death of his daughter Annie, which he blamed on inbreeding (Darwin married his first cousin). The adaptation is being written by John Collee, who I had actually thought would be appropriate for Palmer's film, and will be directed by Jon Amiel. A good guess is that Keynes' son Skandar, who acts in the Narnia films, will get a part as one of Darwin's kids (he had 10).

Other dueling biopics headed your way:

Miles Davis

Marvin Gaye

Chet Baker

Napoleon

Ever since I went to the Museum of Natural History's Darwin exhibit earlier this year, I've been hoping for a film about the pioneer of evolution theory. My main interest is actually in Darwin's marriage to his cousin, his ten children with her, and his subsequent ideas about the ill effects of in-breeding, but I'll be happy with the story of the voyages of the HMS Beagle, the ship that took Darwin on his scientific travels. And that is the story I'll be getting thanks to a planned adaptation of Peter Nichols' novel Evolution's Captain: The Dark Fate of the Man Who Sailed Charles Darwin Around the World.

Chase Palmer, who is on the rise as a hot new helmer of historical fictions, has been tapped to write the screenplay and to direct the film, which will be titled simply Evolution's Captain (this makes sense since different versions of the book have different subtitles). Though the book concentrates on the life of the Beagle's commander, Robert FitzRoy, the film will likely focus more on the captain's relationship with Charles Darwin. Fitzroy, who was nicknamed "Hot Coffee" due to his violent temper, famously disagreed with Darwin on the topic of man's origins, and their arguments should make for a nice parallel to the current creation vs. evolution debates. In addition to being topical, though, it should also be intriguing in a way similar to the better parts of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, which feature Paul Bettany's character conducting some pre-Darwin studies of South American flora and fauna.

Production on this film will probably begin once Palmer's debut, Number 13, is finished. Since that film isn't scheduled to begin until February, though, it will probably be some time before we get to see any actors donning Darwin's distinguishably long facial hair.

More on Palmer's projects:

When You Think of Hitch, Think Fogler

Kingsley Counts to Number Thirteen

I'm a huge fan of the "master of suspense," Alfred Hitchcock. He is an icon of modern cinema who directed so many fantastic films -- including classics like Strangers on a Train, The Birds, North by Northwest and Psycho. Most people probably know him best for those films. But he is also the director of a mysterious film known as Number 13 which is his first film, and was never finished.

No one really knows the exact reason for Number 13's unfinished state, but now, according to a story in Production Weekly, Oscar-winner Ben Kingsley has come aboard the new thriller Number Thirteen, which will attempt to shed some light on the mystery. Kingsley joins a cast which already includes Ewan McGregor, Emily Mortimer, and Dan Fogler, to tell the story of the mystery surrounding Hitchcock's unfinished film.

Chase Palmer makes his feature writing/directing debut on Number Thirteen, which in true Hitchcockian fashion, tells the story of the young Hitchcock (played by Fogler) who is caught up in a love triangle with two members of his Number Thirteen crew. Then, when his lead actor turns up dead, the editor of the film suspects the director and tries to unravel the mystery and bring the killer to justice.

Reading what I just wrote there and thinking about the film makes it sound pretty interesting. As a fan of the master, I have always wondered what did happen with his mysterious first film. Why was it never finished? It's the only one in his huge list of credits that was never completed. Was it something simple like lack of funds or "creative differences" which led to the film's unfinished state? Or, was it, perhaps, something more sinister, as this new film suggests? As a fan, I like to think it was the latter because it fits so much better with the legend that is Alfred Hitchcock. I just hope this new film comes close to living up to Hitchcock's legend when it hits theaters. Shooting on Number Thirteen is expected to start in February.

Are any other Hitchcock fans out there excited to see this film?

On the heels of the largely unexpected success of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Dan Fogler's life has been pretty darn awesome. Not only does he have a Tony statuette to keep on his coffee table, but he's also scored starring roles in a bunch of major(ish) films, including Balls of Fury, School for Scoundrels and Good Luck Chuck -- not bad for a guy whose movie career had previously consisted of a handful of supporting parts in indie projects.

According to this morning's Variety, Fogler has just accepted his biggest (at least in terms of girth and the stature of his character) part yet: He'll star as Alfred Hitchcock in Number Thirteen, an indie drama about "Hitchcock's lost and unfinished first film Number 13." Chase Palmer wrote and will direct the film, the story of which finds Hitch "caught up in a Hitchcockian dilemma when he ends up in a love triangle with two crew members while making the film. When the lead actor turns up dead, the editor suspects the director and tries to uncover the truth." Based on the summary alone, I'd say this one could turn out to be both very odd and very entertaining; throw in the news that Ewan McGregor and Geoffrey Rush are rumored to be in talks to join the cast and you've got something with serious potential. Production is expected to begin in January.