RobertEvans Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Memories can be hazy things. Did Francis Ford Coppola really question the necessity of The Godfather Part II? Did he really want Martin Scorsese to direct the sequel, rather than himself? Referring to The Godfather, Coppola told Esquire: "The ending was clear and Michael has corrupted himself - it was over. So I didn't understand why they wanted to make another Godfather." He then made the executives at Paramount Pictures an offer they could refuse: "I said, 'What I will do is help you develop a story. And I'll find a director and produce it.' They said, 'Well, who's the director?' And I said, 'Young guy, Martin Scorsese.' They said, 'Absolutely not!' He was just starting out."

What an amusing, colorful anecdote, offering fresh insight into the making of a classic film! Except, er, it's not so fresh, since Coppola told Peter Biskind the same thing for his 1998 book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. In the book, Coppola said that after he recommended his friend to Robert Evans, then a studio executive, Evans replied: "Absolutely not! Marty Scorsese is a horrible choice. Over my dead body." Coppola eventually agreed to do the picture when he was offered one million dollars.

As it happens, I've been working my way through the magnificent Coppola Restoration versions of the Godfather films on DVD, which includes Robert DeNiro's audition for The Godfather. Six months after The Godfather opened, Scorsese and DeNiro were filming Mean Streets. What if Scorsese had followed that up with The Godfather Part II instead of Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore?

Before you start twitching and shaking uncontrollably at the thought of Brett Ratner remaking Back to the Future, that's not what's going on here ... thank god. Instead, Variety tells us Ratner is teaming with James Toback and producer Robert Evans on a biopic about the rise and fall of the innovative car designer John DeLorean, whose car is most widely remembered as being used as a time machine in the Back to the Future trilogy.

Oh yes, if you're not a child of the 80s or a car nut, you probably have no idea who John Delorean is or that the Delorean automobile was named after an actual dude ... and that his story is interesting enough to spawn not one biopic, not two biopics, but three freakin' biopics!. The second film, which doesn't seem to have quite the star power as the first, involves producers David Permut and Steven Lee Jones, who are working off the life rights of Delorean's longtime attorney, Mayer Morganroth. The third teams Time Inc. Studios and XYZ Films on a biopic that will come from old magazine articles.

So what's so fascinating about John DeLorean other than the fact that you can turn his car into a time machine by adding a flux capacitor? Well, turns out the guy was busted by the FBI back in 1982 on charges of drug trafficking in an apparent attempt to raise funds for his damaged company, which later went bankrupt that same year. However, DeLorean defended himself in court and won by claiming the FBI tried to set him up. Ratner will direct the film with Toback writing the script, which, from the looks of it, will be very pro DeLorean and simply tell the rise-and-fall story of a great entrepreneur who beat the system, but lost his dream in the process.

As rumors go, at least the latest one surrounding director Paul Thomas Anderson makes a lot more sense than some of the other talk surrounding the gifted director. The Anderson fan site, Cigarettes and Red Vines, has reported on a rumor that's been gaining speed over the last few days: namely, that Anderson will direct the Las Vegas drama Power Play for Paramount. Play has been making the rounds at the studio for 10 years now and was picked up for Robert Evans to produce. Originally, Jack Nicholson was slated to star, and even then, Anderson's name was being bandied about to direct.

Variety Editor-in-Chief Peter Bart wrote the story about "a forward-looking Native American who, having made a fortune on his reservation, decides to take on the gambling elite in Las Vegas. The Vegas players do not take this invasion lightly, especially since their new competitor has also plunged into the exotic world of Internet gambling." Anderson is known to take his sweet time in between projects (much to my dismay), so until we get confirmation, a gal can still dream that we'll see another film by Anderson before too long.

Remember, this is all just idle speculation at this point, so stay tuned to Cinematical for the official word.

[via Big Screen Little Screen]

Well, the cat is out of the bag -- all is not well over at Warner Bros. Hopefully the rocky state of affairs at WB isn't going to cause problems for their latest purchase. Variety reports that the studio has picked up Due Date, a pregnancy comedy by Alan Freedland and Alan Cohen.

The story centers on a first-time father and burgeoning workaholic whose wife goes into labor while he is stuck hundreds of miles away in a snowstorm. The only way he can make it to the birth in time is by hitching a ride with a college student. So I can only assume that Due Date will be another one of those movies about a young man lamenting his lost youth in the face of fatherhood. I'm thinking the film will be something along the lines of She's Having a Baby, but with a dash of road movie humor thrown in for good measure.

Cohen and Freedland are two of the writer-producers of the Fox animated show, King of the Hill, and were also behind the Robert Evans cartoon, Kid Notorious. The two recently sold a comedy script to Disney with with Adam Shankman (Hairspray) lined up to direct. These two might want to stay tight with the 'Mouse', because things are starting to look a little shaky over at WB.

It does strike me a little funny that after watching the trailer for the documentary Chicago 10, it managed to make me just a little less interested in watching the flick (not the best start for a movie trailer, IMO). Written and directed by Brett Morgan, the doc is a re-enactment of the infamous trial of the Chicago Seven in 1969. For those of you out there who aren't up on your counter-culture history: In 1968, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, Lee Weiner, and Bobby Seale organized a large scale protest at the 1968 Democratic convention. After an unfair conviction of inciting violence and numerous appeals, five of the eight members finally had their convictions overturned and were able to walk away free men in 1972.

This is Morgan's second animated documentary, and uses the same style as Morgan's acclaimed Robert Evans flick, The Kid Stays in the Picture. Last November, a NYT piece had profiled the doc as a brand new approach to making documentary films. Instead of a bunch of talking heads, Morgan decided to use actual court transcripts to re-enact the trial with actors providing the voices on the infamous seven (well, eight if you count Seale, and in my opinion you really should). The cast includes Mark Ruffalo, Hank Azaria and Nick Nolte. Initial buzz surrounding the film was good, and there was even talk of a bidding war for the property. But after reading James' review back in January, as well as getting my first good look at the motion capture, I have to admit my enthusiasm has been dulled ever so slightly. Luckily, I'm a big enough documentary nerd that I can probably overlook it. Chicago 10 is scheduled for release in February.

Now that CBS is no longer part of Viacom (it happened early this year, where you been?), and thereby no longer affiliated with Paramount Pictures, it needs a movie studio of its own. The company's CEO, Les Moonves, discussed this need at a PricewaterhouseCoopers event on Wednesday, stating that they are looking into the prospect, which would consist of either the acquisition of another already existing company or the establishment of a brand new entity. The one thing that is for certain is that the studio will start off fairly small with 6-8 productions a year with lower budgets of $20-30 million each. No blockbusters just yet.

As surprised as I was about Viacom's split, I have been mostly curious about the CBS Corp. half of the deal being without a film division. After all, no media corporation is complete without one. CBS only came away from the split with the CBS and UPN networks (which will soon no longer exist, but CBS will own half of the new CW channel), the television studios of CBS, Paramount and King World, and the Paramount Parks. I guess with nothing but TV experience, Moonves might not be the greatest new hope for film production, but every time there's talk of a new studio, I always dream that it can become a saving grace for the quality of new movies. I imagine something along the lines of the Robert Evans era at Paramount, of course. Instead we're likely to get Survivor: The Movie.