Peter Weir Tagged Articles at Cinematical
More 'Master and Commander'? Aye-Aye, Captain!
Filed under: Action », Drama », RumorMonger », 20th Century Fox », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand », War »
I know from comments on past posts that I'm not the only moviegoer desperate for more of Captain Jack Aubrey. I'll go on record and say that as much as I enjoyed Captain Jack Sparrow, I'd much sooner take another journey with Aubrey and Stephen Maturin over a fourth Pirates.There's a glimmer of hope now, as Russell Crowe talked to USA Today and said that very early talks were underway for a new Master and Commander installment. A script based on Patrick O'Brian's The Reverse of the Medal has been written, and like Far Side of the World, it's a combination of several different stories. Negotiations are currently underway to obtain the rights, but USA Today doesn't specify if they've lapsed, or if Fox lacks the neccessary books of the 20 volume series.
Crowe said that "there's still a long way to go," and that it's one of several projects he's considering, so we can't hold our breath. Medal would be quite the follow-up, since it would be an older Aubrey than we met before, and one who is embroiled in fraud charges and dealing with illegitimate offspring. It would also introduce that other side of Maturin, one that's distinctly different from his naturalist ways. I hope it happens, though. It would be a good time on land and sea for all!
Scenes We Love: Witness
Filed under: Action », Drama », Romance », Mystery & Suspense », Scenes We Love »
Witness is one of my all time favorite films. It's not only one of the best crime thrillers this side of L.A. Confidential, it's one of the most original. A cop who is forced to hide in a closed Amish community? It had the potential to be a farce, but it's intelligent and sensitively handled by Peter Weir. It's also achingly romantic, beautifully shot, surprisingly funny, and a fascinating glimpse into a world few knew much about. Even today, most people outside of the Midwest have gleaned their knowledge of the Amish communities from Witness.
There's not many scenes of it available on YouTube. I'd love to post the scene where Kelly McGillis' Rachel decides to let her hair down (almost literally -- she abandons her starched cap) and meets Harrison Ford in a twilight cornfield. Or the brusque "time for milking!" lesson where city boy Book regrets ever volunteering for morning chores. But this scene well ... it's the one you probably remember most. It begins at 1:05. (For some reason, someone has mashed two unrelated scenes together to prove a political point.) Watch for a baby Viggo Mortensen in the background, this film was his big screen debut.
Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, and Saoirse Ronan Will Find 'The Way Back'
Filed under: Drama », Casting », War »
The latest theme to hit the Hollywood water supply and spread -- WWII Russia. Just as Defiance (the story of three Jewish brothers who escape Poland and join Russian resistance fighters) gears up to hit screens, the cast for another is just about set. Variety reports that Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, and Saoirse Ronan are in final negotiations to star in Peter Weir's The Way Back, which Eugene wrote about back in October.The film will focus on a group of soldiers who engineered a grueling escape from a Siberian gulag in 1942 -- walking thousands of kilometers through the Gobi desert and over the Himalayas to India and freedom. Like many stories these days, Slavomir Rawicz's tale has been challenged, but it's an interesting story, and true or not, it should make for a compelling film -- especially under Weir. Should the negotiations work out -- Farrell will be a tough and tattooed Russian, Harris will play an American, Sturgess will play a Polish inmate, and Ronan will be a Russian on the run who joins the fugitives.
I'm intrigued, and will definitely check this out, but could we please have more true, or at least confirmed accounts? Many stories coming out of WWII are compelling without added embellishments like food throwing over fences and hikes across the desert. I grew up hearing my grandfather's accounts of working for the resistance and escaping camps, plus reading accounts of fighters like the Kosciuszko Squadron -- there's plenty of cinematic war fare out there. Oh well, at least it's not more Iraq war cinema!
Peter Weir Picks His Next Project
Filed under: Drama », Scripts », War »
Peter Weir directs movies about as often as I do, these days, which is a damn shame, since he's one of the best there is. He hasn't touched a camera since Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World in 2003, and 1998's The Truman Show before that. He was attached for a while to Johnny Depp's Shantaram as well as the WWII epic War Magician, but neither of those panned out. This week, Variety reports that he's committed to a new project: The Way Back, a true story of a group of soldiers who escape from a Siberian gulag in 1940. As with Master and Commander and his best film, Gallipoli, Weir wrote the screenplay for The Way Back himself. He starts shooting the movie in March, in eastern Europe.
I suspect that Weir's selectivity is the key to his fantastic track record. He's a solid, straightforward director, but he really knows how to pick the great stories -- the ones that mean something. (Though I hate Dead Poets Society, so go figure that one out.) Two of his films are among my all-time favorites -- Gallipoli and The Truman Show -- so I'm basically obligated to get excited about anything he does. He does anything rarely enough that it's not too much of a burden.
Best Movie Blog April Fools Gag 2008
Filed under: RumorMonger », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
Bahahahahahaha. Yesterday was chock full of huge, monumental movie news. A disproportionate amount of it involved the geek realm, with casting and sequel bites galore. For example, we reported that Christian Bale and Brandon Routh were headlining the new Justice League movie as Batman and Superman. JoBlo insisted that all the rumors are true and Jake Gyllenhaal is replacing Tobey Maguire in the role of Spider-Man. (On the other hand, maybe it's Nicholas Brendon, or -- dear god no -- Jason Biggs.) From GFR, we learned that the Cloverfield monster was going to be putting in an appearance in Transformers 2. IGN even created an entire fake trailer for The Legend of Zelda movie! In slightly less shocking news, it turned out that Iron Man might get an April release date after all, depending on where you live. But my favorite piece of news announced yesterday? Slashfilm's bombshell that Daniel Day-Lewis was headlining a Peter Weir remake of Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo -- the one about a man who decides to build an opera house in the Peruvian jungle. This version, however, will be set 50 years in the future and feature a soundtrack by Mick Jagger. Weird, subtle, and just plausible enough (at least until you get to the futuristic setting) to make you frown before remembering what day it is. (After reading the first paragraph, I did more than frown: I rushed to start a Cinematical post!) Well-played, gentlemen.
Writer's Strike Delays Johnny Depp's 'Shantaram'
Filed under: Drama », Warner Brothers », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand », Johnny Depp », Politics »
Well it looks like we can chalk up another victim of the writers strike. Right after news broke that The Weinsteins had put their big-screen version of the musical Nine on hold, it now looks like Johnny Depp's Shantaram will be joining the list of casualties as well. Variety reports that Warner Bros. has halted production on the adaptation of Gregory David Robert's best-selling novel. Depp was set to co-produce and star in the drama about "an Australian heroin addict who escapes a maximum-security prison, reinvents himself as a doctor in the slums of India and eventually uses gun-running and counterfeiting skills to fight against the invading Russian troops in Afghanistan". Mira Nair had signed on to direct back in January after Australian director Peter Weir left the project due to those pesky "artistic differences".As was the case with The Weinsteins Nine, Shantaram's delay was a direct result of the strike. Mainly because it meant there was zero chance of any re-writes taking place before the film was set to begin shooting. According to Variety, screenwriter Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) was working on the project until the very last minute before the strike. But when combined with the problems securing a location for the shoot due to monsoon season in India, it looks like the film is going to be put on hold for the foreseeable future. I wouldn't worry though, the film has been a passion project for Depp for some time now, so I doubt he will let if fall by the wayside. There is no word yet on whether Depp is looking for a replacement project in the meantime, but stay tuned for any updates that come our way.
Depp's Shantaram Gets Some Nair Care
Filed under: Drama », Casting », Warner Brothers », Johnny Depp »
Of all the actors who are regularly mentioned on Cinematical, Johnny Depp certainly seems to be the most popular. So, I am glad to be able to give the readers another update on Depp's passion project, Shantaram, which has just acquired a new director. Indian auteur Mira Nair has signed on to the film, which is based on Gregory David Roberts' mostly autobiographical novel. Shooting is now slated to begin later this year, once Depp is done with Sweeney Todd. It has been awhile since we last heard about this film -- its formerly attached director, Peter Weir, dropped out last summer. But there were probably few worries that Depp would run out of projects to work on. Aside from Sweeney, he's also slated for The Rum Diary and maybe Rex Mundi. Plus, his production company has a number of adaptations he could star in. Still, Shantaram is the film that Depp paid $2 million for rights to, so he was probably most interested in getting it off and running again.
Weir Goes Diving with Shadows
Filed under: Drama », Deals », Warner Brothers », 20th Century Fox », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand »
It appears as if director Peter Weir has come down with a nasty case of "James Cameron disease," as he is in negotiations to once again return to sea for his next pic. If all goes well, Weir will produce and direct Shadow Divers for 20th Century Fox, based on a nonfiction book by Robert Kurson with a much longer title -- Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Discovered Hitler's Lost Sub. Weir's last pic came in 2003 when he helmed Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.
Partly explained in the book's title, story revolves around two deep-sea wreck divers who risk their lives for six years in an attempt to identify a sunken U-boat that's discovered 60 miles off the coast of New Jersey. Why was Hitler traveling to New Jersey? Well, to take in a scrumptious meal at one of the state's many 24-hour diners, of course. Actually, the plot isn't so much about Hitler as it is about the sailors who lost their lives onboard the ship, as well as these two divers who leave their lives, marriages and friends behind on a hunt for the truth. Bill Broyles (Cast Away) will pen the adaptation, and no cast or production schedule was announced. Currently, Weir is also in development with a film called Pattern Recognition for Warner Bros., though it's not certain which pic the man will direct first.
Artistic Differences Cost Depp a Director
Filed under: Drama », Warner Brothers », Newsstand »
Late last year, the news broke that Johnny Depp was to star in Shantaram, an Eric Roth-penned adaptation of Gregory David Roberts' novel of the same name. The novel is a story of drug addiction, armed robbery, prison and other similarly romantic subjects, and is based on Roberts' real-life experiences in Melbourne, Bombay, and Germany; it's thought that the movie will focus on Roberts' time in Bombay, where, among other things, he acted as a slum doctor and dabbled in organized crime.Reportedly driven almost entirely by Depp's passion -- it was at his urging that Warner Brother's dropped $2 million on the rights to the story -- the movie was originally to be directed by Australian helmer Peter Weir, he of Gallipoli and The Year of Living Dangerously fame (and Green Card infamy, though I admit I sorta liked it). This morning, though, Variety reported that Weir has left the project. Depending on who you believe, Weir and Depp either disagreed over the direction of the film and parted amicably, or Weir was so out in left field with his interpretation that he had no one in the studio on his side, and finally just moved on. Either way, the movie has a star and a new rewrite (which Roth penned and Weir supervised), now all the cast needs is someone to tell it what to do. The hope is that production will being next spring.
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
Shelf Life: Fight Club_thumbnail.jpg)
Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
_thumbnail.jpg)
