ElmoreLeonard Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Oh, the irony of ironies when the Dennis Quaid serial killer mystery The Horsemen had a tagline that said "Come and see," only to receive an unceremonious dump on something like 75 screens in early March and its first formal review just this week in Variety (and they had to catch it in Paris, apparently!). Box Office Mojo can't even claim any exact figures for what the thing grossed in its very limited run.

In similar straits was the Diane Lane/Mickey Rourke thriller, Killshot, which was formally dumped in Arizona and Arizona alone at the end of January. $18,000 on five screens -- way to capitalize on that Wrestler buzz, Weinsteins. But soon, scarcity will matter not for either film, as Fangoria says that the former film will get its DVD release on July 14th, while Amazon claims a May 26th bow for the latter.

There's no word on special features for Killshot yet, which makes me wonder if we'll see any sign of Johnny Knoxville's reportedly excised character... but maybe I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

The first time I came across a trailer for the Diane Lane/Thomas Jane/Mickey Rourke hitman thriller Killshot (only remaining on an AICN archive page and the errant DVD release), it was back in September of 2006. Since then, the Elmore Leonard adaptation has endured reshoots in January of 2007 and countless changes in release dates after that. Of course, there's also at least three test screening reviews that bring to light the entire removal of a character played by Johnny Knoxville from the film.

Now, not long after the Weinstein Company issued its latest round of supposed scheduling, Killshot's most recent date -- November 7, 2008 -- has been dashed away by this Los Angeles Times piece, and as pointed out, how does one struggle to release anything that John Madden, Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack and Quentin Tarantino all had hands in at some point? How does one struggle to even sell off domestic distribution rights to a film with this cast and that crew? The obvious answer is, of course, that the film is a downright dud, though the general pedigree and harshest reviews seem to suggest that it's not a total turkey.

The best-case scenario at this point is that the film rides the awards buzz of Rourke's performance in December's The Wrestler as suggested and gets a theatrical release in the early winter dumping grounds (through the Weinsteins' Third Rail arm, I'd bet), while the worst-case scenario is the film being directly downgraded to the level of a Blockbuster-exclusive curio. We shall see...

When the name Matthau enters the ear, you can't help but think of both the older and more recent classics of Walter Matthau. He created the world around the dirty Oscar Madison in the Odd Couple, sauced his way into the Candide-infused satire Candy and then rejoined Jack Lemmon for some Grumpy Old Men before his death in 2000. However, there's another Matthau to keep an eye on, his son, Charlie -- he's been an actor, mainly in his father's films, and has directed a few under-the-radar features.

Now the spotlight seems to be turning to the younger Matthau. According to Variety, he is going to direct his own adaptation of Freaky Deaky, an Elmore Leonard novel from the 80's. It was originally optioned by Quentin Tarantino, but it's no surprise that it didn't go anywhere after the flop that was Jackie Brown. After Tarantino, John Malcovich let it gather dust until it once again became Leonard's property. Matthau anxiously and relentlessly hounded the novelist for the rights, and subsequently bought them with his own money.

The novel, in a nut shell, covers two ex-revolutionaries who are fresh out of prison and want to make a profit on their explosive talents while also taking revenge on the man they believe is responsible for their prison sentence. The man in question is also the focus of a Motown cop. Obviously, this leads to explosive action and tricky confrontation. The film, however, will be updated. Matthau has moved the action from Detroit to LA, and moved the timeline from the 80s to the 70s. This doesn't seem to be something Leonard fans should worry about, however, since Leonard is incredibly positive about the changes: "I see this as a chance for my favorite book to become my favorite screenplay adaptation." How's that for optimism?

3:10 to Yuma is a fantastically tight little western about honor and duty, starring Van Heflin and a frighteningly charismatic Glenn Ford. It's a perfect example of the the great things that can be done in film when you've got about $6, 90 minutes, a solid story (written by Elmore Leonard), and a pair of great actors. But, because Hollywood a) is out of ideas, and b) can't leave well enough alone, James Mangold has decided to follow up Walk the Line by remaking a movie that's been pretty much perfect for almost 50 years. Oh, and he's going to kick it up a notch, don't you worry. Apparently, you see, "There are a lot of good-bad themes that were only touched on in the original...This is a total struggle culminating in a showdown, which has the potential to be one of the great movie gunfights." So, let me get this straight: a movie that's all about acting, honor, and subtly is going to be turned into a huge shootout? Fan-freaking-tastic.

Mangold and his wife Cathy Konrad will also produce the film, which is expected to begin shooting this summer.

• Jim Carrey and Ben Stiller - the new Hope and Crosby! Except, instead of travelling various roads litered with various types of homo-innuendo, Stiller and Carrey will co-star in UsedGuys, about two "pleasure clones" who deal with obsolescence by making a run for it. The picture will be directed by Jay Roach, who ushered Stiller through the Meet the whatevers series.
• The Venice Film Festival starts today, and is expected to draw the likes of Harrison Ford, Calista Flockhart, and George Clooney. Though festival officials are said to be "on high alert", fest head Marco Muller insists that "security will not be an issue." Premiere's include Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, and Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown.
• Thomas Jane, Diane Lane, and Micker Rourke will likely star in director John Madden's adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Killshot. The Weinsteins are producing the hitman drama, which will start shooting in Toronto in October.
• How is it possible that they're still casting Mission: Impossible 3? Billy Crudup is said to have taken "a lead role" in J.J. Abrams' sequel, which has been shooting for nearly two months after a problematic preproduction.