Let it be known that little live but lies,
Love-lies, and god-lies, and lies-to-please. Dylan Thomas

Back in 2006, I couldn't say that I was itching to see The Edge of Love, which was then titled The Best Time of Our Lives. Keira Knightley was attached to star, which wasn't surprising since her mom wrote the script, but Lindsay Lohan was attached to co-star. LiLo was already getting into tabloid trouble and it seemed like a slap in the face to Dylan Thomas fans, and a moment of insanity within the casting powers that be. Luckily, she dropped out, and Sienna Miller stepped in.

Now, finally, we've got a trailer. I could do without the first pointless closeup of Keira's face, but the trailer soon goes through the basics of the story, and it's looking like a sweet literary drama. Edge focuses on the love triangle between Caitlin (Miller) and Dylan Thomas (Matthew Rhys) and friend Vera Phillips (Knightley), and how this led Vera's husband, William Killick (Cillian Murphy), to open fire on the Thomas home with a machine gun and hand grenade in retaliation. Normally, I get a bit perturbed about literary dramas that focus on the romance rather than the writer, but this is a strange story, and it looks like it was captured well for the big screen.

I'd be remiss to not mention that this certainly has Atonement similarities (although one quote in the movie says that this flick is better!), but as a Thomas fan, I'm hoping it can shine in its own light.

The Edge of Love currently has no US release date, but is scheduled to arrive in the UK at the end of June.

What did I not expect to read today? "Keira Knightley is releasing an album." This surprising tidbit comes from The New Zealand Herald. Now, it sounds more like she'll be featured on the soundtrack for The Edge of Love, since the article goes on to describe the other artists featured on the soundtrack, and makes no mention of any non-movie Keira songs. However, they do say that she's the one releasing it, so who knows!? Whatever the case, the woman who once said she couldn't really sing is going to find her music on disc.

Meanwhile, Cinematical isn't the only blog at Sundance, and the folks at Cinema Blend nabbed some new Helen Hunt news during a press conference for her directorial debut, Then She Found Me. She has already written another movie, which she says is an "original idea" this time around (the other is based on a novel). The script isn't completely finished, but she said: "It's similar in tone in that it's a comedy about some things that are funny and some things that are not funny." Gee, that's specific.

Finally, this last bit surprised me so much that I had to read through my recent Samantha Morton posts to see if I was completely blind and missed something. Guardian reports that the actress had a secret stroke two years ago and was close to death. They say "friends, family and managers made a concerted effort to protect her from publicity." That's putting it mildly! Some people say they can't keep out of the spotlight, but maybe they're doing something wrong because Morton kept a serious injury and her long rehab (she had to re-learn how to walk) away from us all. This is the real reason behind her pulling out of Transsiberian. Man, I thought she was tough before... Check out the article for the whole story.

No source knows Disney better than Jim Hill Media, which is why anyone interested in the future of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise should pay attention to this new info. Actually, some of it is not that new -- you may remember a couple months back when Keira Knightley told reporters that she had no intention of returning to the series for a fourth film -- well, Hill reports that the current thinking inside the house of mouse for how to proceed with an inevitable fourth Captain Jack adventure would not involve either the Elizabeth or Will characters, who were so neatly wrapped up in the button at the end of the last film. Their show is wrapped. The fourth film, according to Hill, will "toss the Elizabeth and Will characters over the side in favor of doing a bawdy buddy picture which would star Jack Sparrow and Barbossa. Where both captains of the Black Pearl would initially be competing for the exact same prize."

"Eventually, all the double crossing would have to stop as these two rivals were then forced to join forces in order to defeat some supernatural terror," Hill says, going on to speculate on a possible problem with the Pirates franchise and the National Treasure franchise both wanting to pursue a 'fountain of youth' story in their next installment. "Wouldn't it be funny if -- when Benjamin Gates arrived at the Fountain of Youth -- he then found Captain Jack Sparrow and Barbossa?" Hill asks. "It could be the Disney version of Alien vs. Predator." Not likely. And anyway, who are they going to replace Keira Knightley with in this next film? If I'm going to be watching another three hours of poor CGI and sitcom-level humor, they better have some saucy wenches for me to look at.

[via IGN]

At the press junket for Atonement in Manhattan on Tuesday, one brave soul piped up during the roundtables to ask Keira Knightley if she was or was not interested in returning for a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film. You may remember that the third one ended on that rather ambiguous note, but then sort of doubled-back with a pretty definitive, boxed-into-a-corner end-credit teaser. Knightley seemed to be ready for this question and had a very definitive answer. She quickly responded, with a tone of sadness and seriousness in her voice, "I can't imagine doing another one. That was an amazing experience, really was, totally extraordinary, but I think three for me is probably enough." This was probably to be expected. The Pirates series is subject to the same industry realities as the X-Men series -- the more money those movies make, the bigger the paychecks the cast members are going to demand for future installments. I think you can almost certainly say goodbye to Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner.

Regarding her other projects, Knightley reported that she has completed her work on The Duchess, as well as The Edge of Love, opposite Sienna Miller and Cillian Murphy. As far as future work, she had nothing to report on that front. Another interesting note: although Knightley showed up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for today's junket along with her co-star James McAvoy, director Joe Wright was a no-show despite being in Manhattan as recently as last night. Joe, are you sick of us press people already?

Ian McEwan's novel Atonement thrilled and devastated me when I read it several years ago. The story of would-be lovers Cecilia (Keira Knightley) and Robbie (James McAvoy), whose happiness is ruined by the false accusation of Cecilia's sister Briony (Saoirse Ronan and Romola Garai), stayed with me for days; I passionately recommended the book to everyone I know. Still do, as a matter of fact. Now, if only the person who borrowed my copy would give it back to me.

When I first heard there was going to be a film adaptation of McEwan's novel, my friends and I were all trepidatious. But one piece of good news followed another: two of Hollywood's hottest young actors, Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, would star; Joe Wright (who directed Knightley in Pride & Prejudice, a movie with which I'm shamelessly obsessed) was at the helm. And then the early reviews came in from the Toronto Film Festival, and they were as glowing as Knightley herself. (We're told McAvoy glows, too. But only in the dark.)

So with Atonement currently leading the Oscars pack, we've scored something of a coup: In just a week's time, Keira Knightley and James McAvoy will interview each other for Moviefone's Unscripted series using your questions. That's where you come in. Whether you're a fan of the novel, Knightley, McAvoy or all three, hit us with whatever you're dying to know, and then check out their Unscripted interview on December 24 to see if your question made the broadcast. Just think! Your words, in James McAvoy's Scottish lilt; Keira Knightley, thanking you -- yes, you, Joe Schmoe from Podunk -- for your insight. I sense some awesome ringtone and wallpaper possibilities here. I'm just sayin'.

To submit a question, you can leave it here in the comments, or you can text one to AskCelebs@aol.com (brought to you by Verizon Wireless). Please provide your first name and your city and state, and if you're looking for inspiration -- stunned into silence by all the beauty and talent facing you at once -- then take a look at some of our past Unscripted interviews here. Good luck!

According to the New York Daily News, Catherine Zeta-Jones will no longer co-star in Nine, the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, which itself was an adaptation of Fellini's classic film 8 1/2. Zeta-Jones would have played the role of Claudia, "the alluring muse of skirt-chasing director Guido Contini." The reason for the falling out is allegedly -- it's always allegedly with the Daily News -- because director Rob Marshall (the inexplicably Best Picture-winning Chicago) "wouldn't give in to her demand to beef up her role." The script is adapted by Michael Tolkin (The Player), and apparently the creative team wasn't willing to change the story around. A friend of Zeta-Jones told the Daily News "She was never 100% committed to Nine. She had a meeting with Rob. She'd love to work with him again. But she felt she'd done the same sort of role in Chicago. The script wasn't an issue."

Marshall has moved on and is looking for a younger actress to hop in and play Claudia. The list of possibles includes Natalie Portman, Liv Tyler, Keira Knightley, Kate Hudson, and Gwyneth Paltrow. (In what world is Gwyneth Paltrow a reasonable substitute for Zeta-Jones?) The cast of Nine, one of the more attractive bunches of actors in recent memory, features Javier Bardem as Guido, Sophia Loren as Guido's mother, Penelope Cruz as his mistress Carla, and Marion Cotillard as Luisa Contini. Reportedly (another word for "allegedly"), Katie Holmes was "heartbroken" when Marshall turned her down for a role. Who would you guys like to see in the part? We'll keep you posted on how this drama turns out.

Additionally, Variety has announced today that the Weinstein Co. has officially delayed production on Nine due to the script not being ready.

Silk demonstrates a growingly frequent conundrum of modern moviemaking -- namely, what do you do when the departures from the formulaic, repetitive, predictable mainstream are, in their way, just as formulaic, repetitive and predictable? Based on Allesandro Barrico's novel, Silk tells the story of a 19th-Century man who leaves France, and the woman he loves, to travel into the heart of Japan -- where few Westerners have been -- to bring back silkworm eggs to help stop a devastating plague that's wiping out the European industry. On his journeys to Japan, he becomes obsessed by the concubine of the local warlord -- so much that he returns again and again, despite the risk and expense, in the hopes of one more glimpse of her.

Silk is also, in less specific language, another in an endless series of pretty, vapid period pieces where the exquisitely tailored costumes hide racing hearts -- a by-now standard tale of passion under petticoats, strong connections under starched collars. It is also another period piece where a distant land and a distant love supposedly inflame our protagonist, but the ponderous, lumbering slow chill restraint in the staging sucks any connection and passion and heated risk out of the film. Finally, even with the stage set for globe-trotting clichés and reheated concepts, the film's dealt a mortal blow by the casting of actors who are, bluntly, out of their depth -- and not thrown a rope by director Francois Girard.

One of the best-received films at this year's TIFF, Atonement tells the story of a 13 year-old girl who, thinking she's doing something right, actually does something horribly wrong and starts a chain reaction of terrible events that will go on for several years. To say more than that seems unfair, since this is the kind of film that everyone should go into tabula rasa the first time, if at all possible. However, those who have read the highly-praised novel by Ian McEwan already know the ins and outs and can marvel at how delicately and faithfully McEwan's prose has been brought to vivid life on the screen. Christopher Hampton, the film's screenwriter who also penned Dangerous Liaisons, agreed to sit down with Cinematical at this year's festival and talk about the unique challenges of creating a film script that could capture everything great about McEwan's writing and working with Joe Wright, who is proving himself to be one of the most clever and talented filmmakers in the business today. Here's the interview.

Cinematical: Talk a little about the third part, the nursing section -- did you feel, as I did, that Briony paints herself a little too well in that part? When I doubleback after the ending, I look at that section suspiciously, like maybe she's taking liberties with the truth.

CH: The whole motivation of that nursing section -- which, by the way, I think is sort of the best written bit of the book, really exceptionally precise and well-pictured -- I think she throws herself into this job out of guilt. The book is about a life, her life, being ruined by the knowledge that she's ruined other people's lives. I see no reason to doubt her sincerity, although you're perfectly free to do so.

Cinematical: What were the major challenges of adapting the latter part of the book -- part three and the 1999 afterward?

CH: That was a particular problem that one had to find a solution, to find a way to crack it, and in fact what we wound up with was something that was the briefest of the many versions that we had done. You tend to elaborate, when you've got such a complicated thing to get over to an audience. Then we sort of thought, the shorter and more lucid and simpler we did it, the better it would work. But to answer your question about part three, in my original first draft, I had conflated the Dunkirk section and the hospital section. I had intercut, you know, gone back and forth between them. And at a certain point, I decided to go back to what the book does, which is keep them in sections. They are simultaneous in time, those two sections, so it was worth a try. But there's something about having the focus on each character, chapter by chapter, that works very well. Also, it works because Joe made the very smart decision ... there was a lot of talk about whether we could get one actress to do the child and the 18 year-old. You know, if we'd found someone, I could have upped the age to 15 or something, but of course it's not about a 15 year-old. So Joe was very clear about that, and that was a great help, that he said 'no, no, we're gonna have two different actresses.' So that also assisted the idea of focusing on one character at a time somehow.

In case you haven't noticed, I can get pretty vocal about my skepticism. One thing I often complain about is the immigration of talented foreign filmmakers, who come over and make disappointing English-language debuts. I won't name names this time around, but you know it is common. Now, the great Dane Susanne Bier announced her own debut long ago, and the film, Things We Lost in the Fire, is actually due next month and it could actually be decent (even with Halle Berry). Then there's her English-language screenplay debut (co-written with Jeffrey Hatcher), The Duchess, which is being directed by Saul Dibb and which stars Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes. That will probably be pretty good, too. But her newly announced second film in English, well, that could be awful.

According to Variety, Bier has signed to helm Lost for Words, a romantic comedy or something about a movie star who falls in love with a Chinese actress and her female translator. I'm not sure if its a love triangle thing or a threesome thing or what, but it was scripted by Jamie Curtis, who co-wrote Spice World, so it is sure to be hokey. Now, I make no secret of the fact that I love Spice World. Doesn't matter, I still think this is going to be bad, if only because of my skeptical prejudice. The movie has some more British talent involved, too; it will be produced by Love Actually writer-director Richard Curtis, along with Mr. Bean's Holiday (and Hot Fuzz) producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner.

In her native Danish language, Bier last gave us After the Wedding, which was nominated for an Oscar earlier this year. She's also the director of festival hits Open Hearts (aka Dogme #28) and Brothers, both of which are being remade into English. Zach Braff (Garden State) is tackling the former while Jim Sheridan (In the Name of the Father) is helming the latter. We'll just have to wait and see what translates better, her films or her filmmaking skills.

Chalk up another stunning achievement for Joe Wright, who must now be recognized as an auteur with few equals of his age and experience in world cinema. With Atonement, an exacting and relentlessly faithful adaptation of Ian McEwan's 2002 novel about the seismic repercussions of a betrayal in a WWII-era English family, Wright has shaped and refined that uniquely blended style -- at once as calculating as Kubrick and yet receptive and attentive to intimacy and raw feeling -- that made his debut film, 2005's Pride & Prejudice, such an unexpected and welcome surprise. Much like Anthony Minghella, his more senior contemporary who has a bold acting cameo in this film, Wright is an artist who staunchly refuses to run away from the artificiality of cinema. Instead, he co-opts and embraces it. He does so in big ways, such as in a splurgy and acrobatic tracking shot that occurs halfway through Atonement and takes about six minutes to complete, and in smaller, throwaway moments, such as an aggressively painted three-shot on a boat, with Keira Knightley posed exactly in the center.

The year is 1935 and Knightley is Cecilia, a chain-smoking waif who, despite the advantages of her upper class existence, seems on the verge of expiring through sheer boredom. Her only noticeable activity is her flirtation with Robbie (James McAvoy) who is, he tells us, "not a toff." In other words, his situation is closer to that of Elizabeth Bennett in Pride & Prejudice -- he knows how to move in high society, but has not yet found a means to anchor himself to it. When we first see Cecilia and Robbie together, it's through the spying eyes of Cecilia's little sister Briony (Saoirse Ronan), a young teen whose natural tendency is toward fantasy and make-believe -- a passion that's only partly diverted into useful pursuits, like writing. As the movie opens, we see Briony finishing one of her childish plays and recruiting the household members to put it on. Later, she watches from afar as Cecilia and Robbie flirt by an outdoor fountain -- he accidentally breaks a vase, and she sinks into the water to fetch a piece of it, before stepping out again in a mostly transparent dress.

Here's a few bites to chew on:

• Back in July, I alerted you to the news that Keira Knightley signed on to play Georgiana Cavendish, the 18th century Duchess of Devonshire in an upcoming flick called The Duchess. Now Variety is reporting that Lord Voldemort -aka- Ralph Fiennes, Dominic Cooper of The History Boys, and Cassandra's Dream co-star Hayley Atwell have also signed on to the film that starts shooting on the 23rd in the UK. Fiennes will play the Duke of Devonshire, Cooper will be Georgiana's lover, Earl Grey, and Atwell will take on the role of her best friend, Lady Bess Foster. And yes, this Earl Grey is the man linked to the tea. Georgina's life was pretty wild -- affairs, lovers, and messed-up marriages, so this could be one fun flick.
• Variety has also posted that Reese Witherspoon and Christina Ricci's Penelope is finally coming out in theaters. Summit Entertainment has picked up the North American rights, and it will be released on February 1. You might remember that IFC and the Weinsteins nabbed the rights in Toronto last year, set it up for release in April, and then stopped it all to focus on "its core business of smaller-budget indies." You'd think they could've at least put out what they'd purchased. Luckily, Summit head Rob Friedman says: "It is the kind of material that will allow our marketing group to really shine," and it looks like its time has finally come. (Crosses fingers.) While we wait, you can check out Kim's review here, and the trailer here.

The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Jamie Foxx is returning to the genre that brought him loads of acclaim and an Academy Award -- he has signed on for another musical biopic. Foxx will be portraying Nathaniel Anthony Ayers in The Soloist, the true story of "a homeless musician with schizophrenia who dreams of playing at Walt Disney Concert Hall." Wow. A 1) Homeless 2) Musician with 3) Mental Problems and 4) A Dream? Foxx is pretty much demanding the award here, isn't he? Can't we just give him the Oscar before production begins? They're probably polishing it up for him right now.

So how does this movie differ from all the other schmaltzy musical biopics? Producer Gary Foster tells the Los Angeles Times: "Midnight Cowboy is a perfect example of what we want this movie to feel like. It won't be slick and glossy. It's going to be emotional and real." He says that now, but I'll bet you $100 the movie ends with a teary-eyed audience jumping to its feet and bursting into applause. Joe Wright (director of the surprisingly non-boring Keira Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice as well as the upcoming Knightley film Atonement) will direct the film. Susannah Grant (writer of a very solid run of chick flicks that includes 28 Days and Erin Brockovich) wrote the script, which is based on a 12-part series of articles by Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez. The film will focus on the relationship between Ayers and Lopez. Lopez has yet to be cast, and his photo doesn't have any casting choices leaping out at me. Any ideas?

For a relatively low-profile film, Keira Knightley's Atonement has certainly produced a lot of promotional stills already. The Telegraph is now hosting a new gallery of photos from the period romance, and these latest photos give you a behind-the-scenes look at director Joe Wright at work with the cast (This is Wright's second project with Knightley, having already worked together on Pride and Prejudice, back in 2005). Add this to the first teaser Monika told us about back in April and a second, full length trailer released in July that gave us a bit more background to the story.

Atonement is based on Ian McEwan's novel of the same name; the story centers on a young girl with dreams of becoming a writer, who falsely accuses her sister's lover of a crime. Set against the back drop of WWII, the story follows the characters throughout their lives, and what would a period romance be without plenty of suffering for all three because of that one mistake?

Knightley has the role of the older sister with James McAvoy as the falsely accused lover, and Saoirse Ronan as the young girl with an appearance by Vanessa Redgrave as the girl later in life. Both McAvoy and Ronan have some major projects on the horizon' McAvoy has signed to star opposite Angelina Jolie in the comic book adaptation Wanted, and Ronan recently scored the part of the young murder victim in Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones). Atonement is set for limited release on December 7th -- just in time for Oscar season.

It was only a few months ago that the book Diana and the Paparazzi sparked a huge bidding war at Cannes, with Keira Knightley at the top of the casting buzz. Now we've got other Di-like Knightley news, which might ax the possibility of the actress taking on the role of the famous princess. What could save the possibility -- we're not talking about a 20th century story, but a film set in the 18th century.

According to Variety, Knightley has signed on to play Georgina, duchess of Devonshire in an upcoming co-production between Pathe and BBC Films called The Duchess. The movie will be helmed by Saul Dibb, which is a bit of a jump for the director, as his last and only other title is the ghetto/gangster movie, Bullet Boy. Penned by Casanova and Stage Beauty writer Jeffrey Hatcher, Duchess follows the controversial life of Georgina, who has been called the Princess Diana of her time. Georgina lived "an extravagant, profligate and promiscuous life of political and romantic intrigue, becoming an important powerbroker amid Blighty's ruling elite, but also running up catastrophic gambling debts."

People loved and hated the duchess, which is, I guess, where Di comes in. We all know that Knightley can't resist the period pieces, so the question is whether she'd want to venture closer to the present with the Paparazzi pic. The Duchess will begin shooting this October.