Jonathan Jakubowicz Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Warner Bros. Prepping Female 'Scarface,' Maybe for JLo
Filed under: Drama », Casting », Deals », RumorMonger », Fandom », Newsstand »
Which one of the following actresses would you like to see playing a badass drug kingpin: Jennifer Lopez, Eva Mendes or Penélope Cruz? I ask this question because those are the three names currently circling the lead role in Queen of the South. Warner Independent has just nabbed Jonathan Jakubowicz (Secuestro Express) to helm the film, which revolves around a "Mexican woman who escaped Spain after her drug mule boyfriend is killed, then becomes a drug kingpin and seeks revenge for her boyfriend's murder." Based on Arturo Perez-Reverte's novel, they're calling this one a female version of Scarface -- which automatically piques my interest -- and appears to be one of the more sought-after female roles out there right now.
If you want my opinion, I'd have to say J-Lo is the frontrunner here. Cruz is too cute and fragile, and Mendes hasn't shown me enough range to take on a role like this -- whereas Lopez is a pretty decent actress when she's given the right material. I know folks love to bash Lopez, but I thoroughly enjoyed her in Out of Sight, really liked her in the soon-to-be-released Bordertown (check out my Berlinale review of that film here), and heard lots of good things about her performance in the upcoming El Cantante. But as a woman with a huge fanbase (who also has a music career to worry about), is "drug kingpin" dangerous territory from a PR standpoint? Would you J-Lo fans like to see her in a role like this? And if not, who would you choose to play the female Scarface? Perhaps we should just dress Pacino in drag, a la Travolta in Hairspray -- whaddya think?
Robert Ludlum, depsite being very dead, is king of the world
Filed under: Action », Drama », Thrillers », Deals », Fandom », Newsstand », Remakes and Sequels »
Robert
Ludlum is quite the hot property in Hollywood these days - it's just too bad that he's not around to enjoy his own
success. In addition to being used as the sources for the wildly popular (not to mention totally awesome) Bourne series, his novels have recently been picked up for a TV miniseries and the upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle, The Chancellor Manuscript. And, just this
morning, The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Universal - the home of the Bourne films - has acquired
up yet another book for adaptation.The Sigma Protocol is about an American economist who finds himself targeted for assassination. "When a U.S. intelligence agent investigating his case finds herself discredited, the two end up on the run and uncover a vast multinational conspiracy manipulating the global economy and world events." Sweet - vast multinational conspiracies are box office gold. The movie will be written and directed by Venezuela's Jonathan Jakubowicz, whose feature work to this point - including last year's Secuestro Express, which was his home country's highest grossing film of all time - has all been in Spanish.
Though no timeline for the film has yet been set, it's safe to assume that late 2006/early 2007 is going to feature a whole lotta Ludlum.
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