JeffNathanson Tagged Articles at Cinematical
'Houdini' Has a Writer and a Director in Jeff Nathanson
Filed under: Action », Deals », Mystery & Suspense », Celebrities and Controversy », Scripts », Newsstand »
Earlier this year, Summit decided that they needed another franchise, one that would cater to those who don't particularly dig sparkly vampires. Their answer was Harry Houdini, and they optioned a controversial biography with an eye to making him an Indiana Jones type. If you were thinking "That's a pretty weird idea, I bet it'll never happen," it's become a little more solid today. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Summit has hired Jeff Nathanson to adapt and direct William Kalush and Larry Sloman's biography, The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero. Kalush and Sloman's book claims that Houdini was an English spy, and was once offered an position at Tsar Nicholas II's court. (This means the movie will have him fighting Rasputin.) They also try to stir up a conspiracy theory around his unfortunate death, suggesting that he was murdered by the charlatans he enjoyed debunking. Summit has the idea of adding lots of action, and turning him into something akin to Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes.
Jeff Nathanson Penning '39 Clues', Spielberg to Direct?
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Deals », Mystery & Suspense », Scripts », Family Films », Newsstand », Dreamworks », Steven Spielberg »
Remember that ginormous project called 39 Clues that was announced awhile back -- a worldwide mystery to span books, interactive games, trading cards and a movie deal, courtesy of Steven Spielberg? The first book in the series, The Maze of Bones, hits shelves all over the world next Tuesday, the same day as its interactive online game. Will it spark an obsession along the lines of Twilight or Harry Potter? Time will tell.Steven Spielberg has confidence in it, though. Acccording to Variety, he's hired his old pal Jeff Nathanson to pen the script, marking their fourth collaboration together. They paired up previously on The Terminal, Catch Me If You Can, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Spielberg is still eying Clues' director's chair, and it will be interesting to see where this can fit into his busy schedule, where Tintin and Lincoln were taking precedence. Does he want this worldwide money hunt (the prize for solving the project's mystery is $10,000) to be over before the movie, or will the bloom be off the rose by then? What if the whole multiplatform concept fails spectacularly? Are the books still filmable? The ambition of 39 Clues leaves me doubting whether it can deliver -- but I can hardly pretend to have better judgment than Spielberg. At any rate, I'll be watching the book pages with interest to see what audiences make of The Maze of Bones -- if anyone out there buys it, give us the scoop!
Girl You Know It's True: Milli Vanilli Movie Coming Soon
Filed under: Drama », Music & Musicals », Universal », Steven Spielberg »
Every great music group deserves its own biopic, and Milli Vanilli is no exception. Don't laugh, and don't try to deny you liked "Blame it on the Rain" and "Girl You Know It's True" before the duo was infamously outted as being fakes. I have no problem admitting to still owning the cassette and listening to it for novelty effect every so often. But if you somehow lost your copy, you may look forward to a possible soundtrack to the new film about the group coming soon from Universal.Jeff Nathanson, who previously wrote about a famous fraud for Catch Me If You Can, is working with Fabrice Morvan and the estate of Rob Pilatus in order to script the Milli Vanilli story from their point of view. He is also set to direct the movie. He has his work cut out for him, as it will be difficult to get audiences to accept the duo as a tragic pair and not the joke they still are thought of as. Especially out of respect to Pilatus, who committed suicide in 1998, the tale will have to be told as a serious drama. If it need mock anything, it would do fine to ridicule the pop music industry. But it shouldn't go so far as to treat the guys like victims.
It is hard to tell if Nathanson will pull it off, even with regular Spielberg producer Kathleen Kennedy overseeing things. Nathanson's directorial debut, The Last Shot, wasn't much of a success with critics or audiences, and even if he actually makes a great film about Milli Vanilli, the chances of it appealing to moviegoers might be probably pretty slim. Not everyone is as nostalgic as I am.
Is Chris Tucker Holding Rush Hour 3 Hostage?
Filed under: Action », Comedy », New Line », Celebrities and Controversy », Remakes and Sequels »
Chris Tucker was really freakin' hilarious in the original Friday. I sure think so, anyway. I open this piece with that admission because, well, that flick was the last time I ever actively enjoyed a Chris Tucker performance. His subsequent work (in The Fifth Element, Money Talks and both Rush Hour movies) left me irritated, unamused and suffering from a semi-large migraine. So when the guy turned down a $20 million paycheck for Rush Hour 3 (despite the fact that he hadn't worked since 2001's Rush Hour 2), I pretty much gave up on the Eddie Murphy clone and pointed my attentions elsewhere.But when New Line ponied up a full $25 million for Tucker to star with Jackie Chan in Brett Ratner's second sequel, I knew I was in trouble. Chris Tucker was coming back, and I'd have no choice but to deal with the shrill-voiced shrieker. Now get this: According to The New York Post, Mr. Tucker has taken to (allegedly) locking himself in his trailer while demanding last-minute script changes. Yes, a man earning $25 million for a half-year's work is (allegedly) pouting in his trailer while screenwriter Jeff Nathanson churns out extra pages. As if something like Rush Hour 3 actually needs a screenplay. No offense to Mr. Nathanson (who also penned Catch Me If You Can, The Terminal and the underrated The Last Shot), but a flick like this doesn't even require a screenwriter -- just a few pre-planned action scenes and a big platform for Tucker to do his patented high-pitch squeal routine. Rush Hour 3 hits screens on August 10, and if it's anything like the first two.....I'll hate it.
Lucas Gives the Green Light: Indiana Jones Claims May 2008!
Filed under: Action », Classics », Remakes and Sequels »
So after years of waiting, wondering and whining, now we get the word from George Lucas himself. The as-yet-untitled Indiana Jones 4 will begin shooting next year. Seems that Lucas and Steven Spielberg have finally signed off on a screenplay they like, and Paramount has already circled May 2008 for the release date. Obviously Harrison Ford will be returning to play the globe-trotting troublemaker, most likely for one last hurrah ... but boy it'll be fun, I bet.That's all the real news we've gotten so far, but stop by ComingSoon.net to see their full report.
For those who've been living exclusively in the arthouses for the past twenty years, Indiana Jones is the swaggering hero found in three Steven Spielberg films: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). All three flicks represent a whole lot of old-fashioned adventure-time fun, but it's the original that still holds up as maybe one of the best movies ever made. (It just never gets old. Trust me.)
Long in development, the fourth chapter has been semi-promised for ages, and the lengthy screenwriting process has involved the likes of Tom Stoppard, M. Night Shyamalan, Chris Columbus, Frank Darabont, Jeff Nathanson and David Koepp -- although I bet there were even more than that. Rumors have been running rampant about the project for years (Kevin Costner as Indy's brother!?!) but just last week Lucas said "It's going to be the best one yet."
Yeah, we'll see about that.
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