Posts tagged DaveEggers at Cinematical

Posts with tag DaveEggers

Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels Joining Untitled Sam Mendes Comedy

Posted Apr 21st 2008 9:32PM by Eugene Novikov
Filed under: Comedy, Casting, Focus Features

Great day in the morning! Two of my favorite actors on the planet are joining the cast of Sam Mendes' increasingly promising 2009 comedy, which has yet to find a title. According to a Focus Features press release that landed in my inbox, Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara will round out an ensemble that already includes John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Toni Colette, Cheryl Hines and Allison Janney. The screenplay was co-written by McSweeney's founder and Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius author Dave Eggers and novelist Vendela Vida. The film "follows the journey of an expectant couple as they travel the U.S. in search of a place to put down roots and raise a family."

O'Hara is probably the funniest woman on the planet, and Daniels can bring heart and humanity to any film, so this is good news indeed. With Christopher Guest taking a break from making the movies that have been her bread and butter over the years, O'Hara can use the high-profile work; her only screen appearance this year or last has been in the underrated Penelope.

Mendes also has the DiCaprio-Winslet reunion movie Revolutionary Road in the works -- it will headline the 2008 Oscar season -- but this new project will be his first stab at comedy. Eggers co-wrote the adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are with Spike Jonze, which should finally see the light of day next year as well.

Forest Whitaker Supports 'Wild Things'

Posted Mar 27th 2008 3:32PM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Classics, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Warner Brothers, RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, Family Films

Things have been quiet in the land of the monsters. Too quiet. But support for the the film came from an unexpected source -- Forest Whitaker. He actually provides a voice for one of the monsters, Ira. "He puts the holes in the trees," the Oscar-winner told MTV. "I have a wife and kid, and we're the only family unit inside [the land of the Wild Things]."

Whitaker was appalled at the rumors that Warner Bros was planning to reshoot the entire film, and promised to call director Spike Jonze to get the story. In the meantime, he wanted to stress his support for the film, and report that at least three children handled a screening of it just fine -- his own. "My children are 9, 11, and 16. It was intense. They liked it, though. They enjoyed it ... It's a good movie. I saw an early cut of it. I brought my kids to see it, and I was really impressed."

Continue reading Forest Whitaker Supports 'Wild Things'

John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph are in Love

Posted Mar 7th 2008 10:32AM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Comedy, Romance, Casting, Scripts, Focus Features

John Krasinski has had a bit of a rough start transitioning his TV career into a movie career. For starters, have you seen License to Wed? Luckily for my favorite office drone, his upcoming projects look a lot more promising. Variety reports that Krasinski, SNL's Maya Rudolph, and Cheryl Hines have signed to star in Sam Mendes' new untitled comedy. News of the film first appeared back in January, and just over a month later, three top-notch comedians have signed on for the film. That has got to be a good sign, right?

Celebrity novelist Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida (author of Girls of the Verge and Egger's wife) wrote the script for the romantic comedy. Eggers made his name with his memoir, Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, but is still relatively new to the screenwriting trade. In the film, Krasinski and Rudolph will play an expectant couple traveling around the country looking for a place to settle down and start a family.

If you have ever read anything written by Eggers or the McSweeney's 'brand' then you know that this slight premise is just the kind of story you would expect. Knowing Egger's penchant for personal touches, I'm sure some of the details of his life with his own family found their way into the script. The production is expected to start shooting this April in Connecticut, and the film is set for release in 2009.

Sam Mendes Gets Funny

Posted Jan 24th 2008 3:02PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Comedy, Deals

American Beauty had its comedy, but it was a pretty dark film. After that came Road to Perdition, which jumped into the crime drama vein. Then there was Jarhead. It was all sorts of amusing to see Jake Gyllenhaal gyrate while clothed in nothing more than two Santa hats, but the rest was pretty serious. And we've still got a documentary, Revolutionary Road, and Middlemarch on the way. It's no wonder that Variety is reporting that director Sam Mendes is now running towards comedy!

He has signed on to direct a still-untitled "contemporary comedy" for Focus Features this spring. The film was written by McSweeney's head honcho, and the brain behind A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers and his wife Vendela Vida (who edits The Believer and wrote Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name). As Variety describes it, the flick "follows a young couple's journey around the U.S. as they search for somewhere to put down roots and raise the baby they are expecting." Ah, there's nothing like getting impregnated and then trying to find out where you want to live. Unfortunately, there's no word on the cast yet (Mrs. Mendes, perhaps??), but as soon as we hear it, we'll let you know.

Lauren Ambrose Replaces Michelle Williams in 'Wild Things'

Posted Nov 26th 2007 10:02AM by Patrick Walsh
Filed under: Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, Warner Brothers, Scripts, Family Films, Newsstand

No, it's not another sequel to the Neve Campbell/Denise Richards classic! The extremely likable Lauren Ambrose (Claire on Six Feet Under, Denise Fleming in Can't Hardly Wait) will voice a character in the upcoming adaptation of Maurice Sendak's beloved childrens' book -- Where the Wild Things Are. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ambrose is playing KW -- "one of the giant characters in the land of the Wild Things. When a young boy named Max visits their strange world, KW and company turn him into their king."

Ambrose is taking over the role from Michelle Williams. Apparently Williams got along well with the filmmakers, but "her voice didn't match their original vision of how the Wild Things should sound." Where the Wild Things Are mixes flesh-and-blood actors, computer animation, and live-action puppetry. I can't wait to see it, I adored the book as a kid and I love pretty much everyone involved with the film. Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation -- a couple of my favorite flicks) will direct, and wrote the screenplay with Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, one of my favorite books). You can go into the Wild in Fall 2008.

NY Mag Gets a Look at 'Where the Wild Things Are' Script

Posted Oct 24th 2007 6:32PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Warner Brothers, Scripts, Family Films, Newsstand

It's probably hard enough adapt a book into a screenplay, especially if your source material only runs about 15 pages long. New York Magazine reports that they have managed to get hold of a copy of the screenplay for Where the Wild Things Are by Dave Eggers and Spike Jonze. Now for the good news: according to them, it is pretty darned good (that's if it's still the same version written back in '05). NY's Culture Vulture blog posts, "Where the Wild Things Are is filled with richly imagined psychological detail, and the screenplay for this live-action film simply becomes a longer and more moving version of what Maurice Sendak's book has always been at heart: a book about a lonely boy leaving the emotional terrain of boyhood behind".

If you have never read Wild Things, my first question would be -- did you even have a childhood? But I realize there are probably at least a few of you out there who, for one reason or another, never picked it up. Where the Wild Things Are centers on "Max, who one evening plays around his home, 'making mischief' in a wolf costume (chasing the dog with a fork, etc.). As punishment, his mother sends him to bed without supper. In his room, a mysterious, wild forest grows out of his imagination and Max journeys to the land of the Wild Things"

According to NY Magazine, the flick now makes Max an "8-year-old with an absent father, an older sister who's drifting away from him, a mother whose personal and job concerns leave her little time or energy for the rambunctious boy she dearly loves". Even though Culture Vulture didn't offer up many details, I've read enough Dave Eggers to know that no one can pluck the 'familial heartstrings' like he can, so I would be inclined to get behind their enthusiasm. Combine Eggers writing with Jonze's style and the odds seem pretty good that this could be the family film to beat in 2008.

Process Media Chases Eggers' 'You Shall Know Our Velocity'

Posted Sep 18th 2007 2:02PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Drama, Deals, Scripts

Dave Eggers created a sensation with his debut -- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius -- a memoir about raising his younger brother, Toph, after the deaths of their parents. It reached the top of the New York Times bestseller list, and was a Pulitzer finalist. Way back in 2000, New Line picked up the rights, in 2002, Nick Hornby and D.V. DeVincentis were going to write it, which sounds solid, but then it slipped into development hell when they handed over their script. While we won't be getting any cinematic, Staggering Genius any time soon, Variety has reported that Process Media, the dudes behind Shortbus, have grabbed the feature rights to Eggers' first novel -- You Shall Know Our Velocity.

The story is about two childhood friends, Will and Hand, who decide to set off on a whirlwind, global, week-long journey after Will comes into a huge sum of money -- because he is uncomfortable having it. Instead of just blowing the money on fun, the two plan to give chunks of the cash away to people they find to be the most deserving. Believer (which is part of the Eggers fold) writer Wells Tower has been picked to adapt the story, in what is looking to be his first screenplay. The real icing on this cake is who they tapped to direct -- Miguel Arteta -- he's the guy who brought two of Mike White's indie faves to life -- Chuck & Buck and The Good Girl. If this adaptation gets past the first attempt, the next step will be casting. Who would you pick?

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Monika Bartyzel	160	0
2	Erik Davis	121	49
3	Elisabeth Rappe	84	0
4	Eugene Novikov	56	18
5	Kim Voynar	41	20
6	Jessica Barnes	39	0
7	Scott Weinberg	39	15
8	Peter Martin	27	17
9	James Rocchi	25	1
10	Eric Kohn	25	4
11	Jeffrey M. Anderson	21	4
12	Eric D. Snider	19	0
13	Matt Bradshaw	13	1
14	Joel Keller	13	1
15	Christopher Campbell	9	6
16	Jette Kernion	5	2
17	Patrick Walsh	3	1
18	Willy Volk	2	0
19	Nick Schager	1	0
20	Richard von Busack	1	0

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Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels Joining Untitled Sam Mendes Comedy

Forest Whitaker Supports 'Wild Things'

John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph are in Love

Sam Mendes Gets Funny

Lauren Ambrose Replaces Michelle Williams in 'Wild Things'

NY Mag Gets a Look at 'Where the Wild Things Are' Script

Process Media Chases Eggers' 'You Shall Know Our Velocity'

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