Dukes of Hazzard Tagged Articles at Cinematical

So, you remember Kristin Cavallari? The random blonde who "starred" in an MTV reality show and is still inexplicably all over the gossip pages, and in the media? You know, the even poorer man's Paris Hilton? Well, despite her obvious lack of talent, the girl is apparently about to get another starring role in a movie: Word is that she's the producer's first choice to replace Jessica Simpson in the eagerly awaited (choke) straight-to-DVD Dukes of Hazzard prequel. (Also, speaking of the producer, here's a direct quote from him about the movie: "It's a prequel, like Batman." Honestly. Words fail me.)

Now that they've (sort of) land themselves a washed-up reality chick to play Daisy, producers are still search for the rest of the cast, including the Duke boys, Boss Hogg, Uncle Jesse and, my personal favorite character from the show, Roscoooooe P. Coltrane. (And Flash is going to be a puppy in the prequel! Aw. Jeez, I may have to see it after all.) Interested in the roles? Well, lucky for you, Moviehole has tracked down the casting call. Here are some highlights:

• "Daisy's beauty is hidden under a frumpy dress, big glasses and bigger hair ... She makes some changes in her appearance and suddenly Daisy is breathtakingly hot."
• Bo "tends to run, drive, and leap into things. Literally."
• And new characters, teen twins Brooke and Ali Handy? Get ready, boys: "At the Hazzard County High School, they have reps for doing anything. They like to hang out by Hogg's Ravine, get naked and lather each other up with tanning oil, which has it's [sic] desired effect on Bo and Luke...SOME NUDITY REQUIRED."

Nothing like soft-core porn to increase sales, huh?

Even with its three main stars bailing on the franchise as if it were infected with a career-ending disease, The Dukes of Hazzard will indeed be returning ... to a much smaller screen. However, instead of a traditional sequel, it appears as if they're going with a prequel for their sequel. Yee-haw!  According to Cinema Blend, the casting notice for the film also lists it as "straight to DVD."

So, will we find them Duke boys strutting around in diapers? Almost. The plot for the film is said to focus on the boys as teenagers, while we follow them through their first wild confrontations with Boss Hogg. There's something in there about Uncle Jesse and the origins of Daisy's dukes but, in the end, does anyone really care what this movie will be about? As Martha stated previously, Johnny Knoxville, Sean William Scott, Burt Reynolds and Jessica Simpson will have nothing to do with the prequel. Such a shame, seeing as the first one was just so entertaining. Oh well, perhaps Jessica wants to move onto bigger and better things. Either that, or she's just swapping out the Dukes for a bathing suit.

Hooray for Friday:

• According to the great Johnny Knoxville, another Jackass movie is currently being filmed. Yippee, more screen time devoted to morons hurting themselves! Can you handle the excitement? Yes? Well then, how about the irony that Knoxville decided against The Dukes of Hazzard 2 because, as his costar said, "the reviews [were] just so bad", but is going ahead full force with this sequel? The mind boggles.
  

• Bad sign #295 for Dallas: director Robert Luketic has left the project, reportedly because he's unhappy with some of the casting choices. He didn't mention any names but I think it's clear that like many of you, readers, he too hates JLo. Though Fox is acting like they'll get right back on the horse (Betty Thomas is rumored be in line to take over), the fact is that the film has been quietly pulled from their fall release schedule - get ready to wait.
  

• Robert Englund (that's Freddie Krueger to you) has signed on to direct only his second feature, and his first in nearly 20 years, a horror comedy called Killer Pad. The movie is about three friends who move into a house in the Hollywood Hills, refusing to believe that it really has "a dark history." While it would be sort of refreshing to see a movie in which everyone just does laundry and hangs out in a decidedly non-haunted house, I'm guessing that's not going to be the case here: all sorts of blood and nastiness is undoubtedly in store for the lads.
  

With the success of Starsky & Hutch, the drooling masses who turned up to ogle Jessica Simpson's Daisy Dukes-clad ass in The Dukes of Hazzard, and the imminent arrival of Miami Vice, it was pretty much inevitable that somebody would eventually decide that Magnum, P.I. would also be a cash cow. That somebody turned out to be both a wise suit at Universal, who have long held the rights, and Brian Grazer, who will be producing the film (through Imagine Entertainment). The screenplay will be written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, who penned both Dodgeball and the brilliant Terry Tate, Office Linebacker short that was turned into possibly the best Super Bowl ad of all time.

As someone who loved Magnum as a kid and was shocked to discover as an adult that it's often well-acted and surprisingly well-written, I read this news with a bit of trepidation. Since the big screen version of TV shows that have been most successful have been incredibly campy (affectionate, I admit, but still campy), I was worried that the same approach would be taken with this adaptation. Somehow that just seems wrong, not to mention weirdly disrespectful of a pretty complex TV show. But then I got to the good part of the article: according to the Hollywood Reporter, the film will not be a "spoof but rather something akin to the tone of the show, which mixed humor and danger." Excellent. Now I'm officially not completely scared.

Based on a survey given by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, consumers rank alternate endings and beginnings as their favorite DVD extra. Finishing ahead of other been-around-for-awhile features like commentaries, deleted scenes and "making of" documentaries, the alternate ending excites people because it helps provide them with "an inside look at how studios test movies." Actually, if you really want to see how they test movies, someone should place a tape recorder inside an executives office once all those surveys come back smeared with phrases like, "this is the worst movie I have ever seen - please try again."

DVDs for films like, The Interpreter, Titanic, Fever Pitch (only alternate ending I would like is if the Red Sox lost to the Yanks) and The Outsiders have all included some sort of alternate ending or beginning within its special features this year. With all this praise, I'd imagine we're going to see a ton more "alternate whatever" showing up in our DVDs real soon. Hmm, maybe they could release an alternate version of the entire Dukes of Hazzard movie called, "The One That Doesn't Suck."

Personally (and I agree with the folks over on the Movie Blog), I'm more of a fan of the cast and crew commentaries than I am of alternate endings. These are what really give you an inside look at the movie-making process - if that's what you're into. Tell me consumer: What's your favorite DVD extra?

[via Movie Blog]