RichardPetty Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Disney might be the last studio I'd trust to get behind a political comedy, but Disney's Touchstone Pictures has picked up distribution rights for Swing Vote, an indie starring Kevin Costner that began filming last month. In the movie, Costner plays a single father whose vote will determine the outcome of a Presidential election. Disney chairman Dick Cook likens the film to a Capra classic, which hopefully doesn't mean it will be as bad as Disney/Hollywood's Mr. Smith sorta-remake, The Distinguished Gentleman.

As the candidates, Dennis Hopper is the Democrat contender and Kelsey Grammar is the Republican (in my imagination: Frank Booth vs. Sideshow Bob -- who would be the better Prez?). As reported previously, the cast also includes Stanley Tucci, Nathan Lane, George Lopez and little Madeline Carroll. Variety now adds Judge Reinhold (hopefully as a Supreme Justice -- "Mr. Reinhold's Courtroom"!), former Brat Packer Mare Winningham, NASCAR racer Richard Petty (as himself) and Willie Nelson (returning to political comedy after his great cameo in Wag the Dog). The IMDb also lists Deja Vu's Paula Patton in a major role.

You may remember that Disney refused to distribute Fahrenheit 9/11 due to its politics. Sure, Swing Vote is likely very far from being so specific in its attacks or its comedy -- it may not even be meant as a relevant or biting satire -- but I'm still surprised the studio would want to touch anything political. Costner, who is co-producing and financing Swing Vote, considers himself a conservative, so maybe the movie is closer to Disney's interests. But then again, CelebPolitics.com rates the actor as "somewhat liberal" and he's reportedly been voting for Democrats since the mid-90s (he's registered as Independent). I guess real politics don't need to come into play with a comedy like Swing Vote and I'm simply letting my mind wander with regards to all this information. The movie, which is scheduled for release next year (in time for the 2008 elections, perhaps?) was co-written by Jason Richman (Joel Schumacher's terrible Bad Company) and Joshua Michael Stern, who is directing.

In case you missed the news, the premiere of Pixar's Cars will take place at the end of this month in Charlotte, North Carolina. Why Charlotte, you ask? Um, duh -- it's because the Lowe's Motor Speedway is there. The premiere, you see, is going to be a NASCAR-style blowout, with four massive screens constructed on the track's infield -- big enough, at least, for all 30,000 ticket-holders to get a clear view of the movie (it's "the first multi-screen digital cinema premiere ever," don't you know). Attending the event will be the movie's voice stars Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Larry the Cable Guy, and Richard Petty, along with director and Pixar god, John Lasseter. All of which begs the question: is Disney making a massive mistake by focusing their advertising so tightly on the motor sports crowd? Massive thought it undoubtedly is, I can't imagine that audience alone will be enough to bring in the profits we've come to expect from Pixar productions.

NASCAR fan or not, if you wanted to go you're out of luck: every single ticket is gone. That's right: 30,000 freaking tickets have been sold, and we're still almost three weeks from the big day. The nice thing, though, is that a proceeds from ticket sales are going to Speedway Children's Charities and Association of Hole in the Wall Gang Camps, two local charities. Good Pixar.