Scott Rudin Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It's a common experience to read a book slated for a film adaptation and then approach the movie, if at all, with a trepidation bordering on fear. As an optimist who doesn't get too offended when his favorite stories get changed for a different medium, I generally try to minimize that reaction. Yet that is exactly how I feel about Stephen Daldry's imminent adaptation of Bernhard Schlink's The Reader. A large part of me is convinced that Schlink's lovely, challenging little novel – almost more of an essay than a novel, really – can't possibly survive Daldry's questionable prestige picture instincts. The book demands a small film, melancholy, withdrawn. Can we get that from one of the year's big Oscar hopefuls?

The logline IMDb plot summary [Ed.: corrected upon being informed that this is not the official studio "logline"] is already all wrong: "Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Burk is reunited with his former lover (Winslet) as she defends herself in a war-crime trial." No. I'm loath to give too much away, but "reunited" is not the right word. In fact, the lack of a bona fide reunion between the two is part of what makes the novel so interesting, and the reason for that lack of reunion is at the heart of the moral questions it grapples with.

In news that is equally rumored and dreaded, it looks like the Weinsteins' haste to get The Reader in the running for this year's awards season might be a matter of John Hillcoat's anticipated adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's acclaimed novel, The Road, not being ready for its limited release a month from now, let alone year's end.

It's bad enough that neither film was ready for any of the big fall film festivals, but a good friend told me something similar three days ago, and now, Kristopher Tapley at In Contention and Dave Karger's EW Oscar Watch are talking along the same lines. I can't say that I'm the same William who posted the following reaction on Karger's page -- and I quote: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" -- but my own sentiments on the (possible) move aren't all that far off.

For that matter, my feelings on the novel and film themselves are akin to those of our own Eugene Novikov: that the book is merely Damn Good, but could make for a Great movie. We may not have a poster, or a trailer, or a fully functioning website just yet, but for all the Weinsteins' release date shell games, I can't help but think they have more to lose holding off on this than The Reader, which producer Scott Rudin took his name off after it was bumped up to contend with star Kate Winslet's other awards prospect, Revolutionary Road (itself based on an acclaimed novel).

I mean, I'm not exactly wishing that The Reader is Winslet's next All the King's Men or anything, but is this studio not big enough for the both of them? Or is this year merely not long enough?

Call me skeptical, but I'm willing to sustain myself entirely on a diet of my own words if writer Aaron Sorkin and producer Scott Rudin can actually manage to make something entertaining out of a film about the formation of social networking site Facebook and the success of its founders, as Variety reports they are working on over at Sony.

Honestly, what can an Oscar-winning producer and an oft-acclaimed scribe do with a rags-to-riches arc and the sight of two guys tapping away at computers and taking meetings? Sure, at least Sorkin and Rudin are two talented guys in their own right, but I'm really missing whatever inherent, original, exceedingly relevant drama they might see in this project. Killing time at work on Facebook is one thing; this is something else.

On the one hand, I'd like to see this fall through, and on the other, I'd only be rewarded with a good flick if proven wrong. Regardless, here's what appears to be the official Facebook group of the whole shebang, and if any of you guys get wind of a Fox-backed MySpace project with a title like Major Tom or something, be a pal and pass it on.

The big screen is about to get more Richard Price. His pen has already brought us the diverse likes of The Color of Money, Mad Dog and Glory, Michael Jackson's Bad, Clockers, Ransom, and Shaft. (Which one of these is definitely not like the others!?) Now Variety reports that Miramax and Scott Rudin have picked up the rights to the scribe's latest novel, Lush Life -- which they say is grabbing him the best reviews of his career.

The story revolves around a restaurant manager and his bartender, who walk a drunk friend home one night in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. "One of the men winds up on the wrong end of a bullet, and a murder investigation reveals much about the city and the characters involved in a mugging gone wrong." But there's a bit more to it than that -- conflicting eye-witness accounts, alleged shooters, and a shocking climax -- all that tantalizing cop fare.

Variety also points out that Rudin and Price have a long history together, which started back when Rudin was only 19 and working as a casting director on the first Price adaptation, The Wanderers, back in the '70s. Price is currently adapting the novel himself, and we should have more news once he's finished.

Sometimes I guess it really does help to know the right people. Variety reports that Scott Rudin along with Miramax have secured the rights to the novel The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Oscar was written by Junot Diaz, and the novel centers on an awkward overweight teen struggling to fit in at Rutger University. While following Oscar in his quest for love, the reader learns of the troubled history of his family in the Dominican Republic. Rudin had managed to score an early look at the manuscript for the book and was setting up meetings with Diaz, before the book had even come up for auction -- see what I mean about 'knowing people'?

Rudin, along with Miramax, already has some high profile flicks headed for theaters this fall. It's quite a coup that Rudin has managed to score; including some of the big Oscar contenders for 2007: Wes Anderson' The Darjeeling Limited (you can catch Erik's NYFF review here), Noah Baumbach's Margot at the Wedding, the Coen's No Country for Old Men and Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood (you can read Scott's review of Blood here). Rudin will be co-producing Oscar with Miramax, but there is no word on a director or a cast. Rudin has already lined up more Oscar-bait for the coming year. In 2008, he will produce The Reader with Nicole Kidman and Ralph Fiennes (if they can ever find a location, that is) and he will also be producing the animated flick The Fantastic Mr. Fox with Cate Blanchett. So start setting the odds for your Oscar pools now.

After a hunt with the likes of Warner Brothers, Universal and Working Title, Scott Rudin has nabbed the screen rights to I, Claudius, the historical novel by Robert Graves. According to Variety, this deal has been set for a whopping $2 million. See, the BBC had the rights years ago, and had turned the work into a large, 13-part miniseries back in the seventies. When the rights lapsed, Hollywood began salivating. Rudin has come out the big victor, to produce with Alison Owen (they last teamed up for The Other Boleyn Girl).

Nothing else has been set, but word has it that Disney will probably be the studio for the feature, and Leonardo DiCaprio and screenwriter William Monahan will likely sign on. The novel is about Roman Emperor Claudius, written as his secret memoir. It follows the assassination of Julius Caesar, through to Caligula's -- which should make for a good plate of politics and sauciness (although probably not as shocking as Caligula's infamous trip to starring territory). Will they go the British-as-Romans route? Or Americans as Romans? There's lots of ways this could play out, although I'm positive that with the money that's sure to be invested, it will be pretty epic no matter who ends up on the roster. Nevertheless, who would you cast?

Variety is reporting that two of Hollywood's palest and chilliest stars are joining forces for The Reader. Nicole Kidman and Ralph Fiennes will star in the romance, which is to be based on the international bestselling novel by German writer Bernhard Schlink. IMDb lists Anthony Minghella as director of the film, but it appears that information is inaccurate or has changed. Minghella will produce, along with Sydney Pollack and Scott Rudin. Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot) is now set to direct the movie, and David Hare will write the script. The project is something of a reunion of the team that worked on 2002's The Hours. Daldry directed that film, Hare wrote it, Rudin produced it, and it won Kidman a Best Actress Oscar.

The Reader is set in contemporary Germany, where "a man recounts the story of his erotic awakening in a covert love affair with an older woman in the wake of World War II." I assume Fiennes is playing the man recounting his story and Kidman is playing the older woman here? That might be tricky to pull off, considering Kidman is five years younger than Fiennes. And "erotic awakening?" I thought that term wasn't used outside of Cinemax plot descriptions. I must admit, I have a real problem getting into a lot of these period romance films, they all just sort of run together for me. I'm glad Minghella isn't at the wheel, though. Just writing that guy's name makes my eyelids heavy. The Reader was an Oprah's Book Club selection, and with her massive following, the film adaptation should have a built-in audience. Have any of our readers read The Reader? And can you say that three times fast? And what did you think of the book?

Conn and Hal Iggulden's resoundingly popular The Dangerous Book for Boys is about to become a movie, and it's producer Scott Rudin and the Disney studio who'll be bringing the best-seller to the screen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, prolific producer Scott Rudin (Lemony Snicket, The Hours, Sleepy Hollow) is the winner in a hotly-contested rights battle, and he'll be heading over to Disney to bring the teen-friendly tome to cinematic life. The book's been a powerfully hot seller since it was released last May; The Iggulden brothers also have The Daring Book for Girls in the works -- and if you think Rudin and Disney haven't considered the sequel possibilities, well, welcome to the movie world.

Our source indicates that the award-winning book is a "tongue-in-cheek manual, which gives today's coddled youth instructions on potentially hazardous activities, such as how build go-carts and make a bow and arrow. It also provides trivia, historical anecdotes and advice on life that have inspired interest from fathers and nostalgic middle-aged men." Neat. For a whole lot more on this book (which, yes, I definitely plan to read soon) check out the Amazon page, which also offers a fine interview piece with the authors.

I may be going out on an obvious limb here, but I'm betting this movie turns out to be a big hit. Here's hoping this strange little book can be transformed into a movie better than The Darwin Awards was. (Hire good writers!!) As soon as Rudin and Disney have signed a screenwriter, tapped a director and locked in some stars, we'll be sure to let you know. Who knows? Maybe they'll do it animation-style.

Scott Rudin can add another movie to his large list of upcoming films. The producer has already lined up films such as Nicole Kidman's Margot at the Wedding and The Other Boleyn Girl (Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson) for 2007, and Daniel Clowes' next project and The Darjeeling Limited in the works for 2008. To top that off, he's teaming with Allison Owen to produce an adaptation of The Coram Boy, a young adult book by Jamila Gavin.

According to Variety, the novel is "an epic adventure about orphans raised in Britain's Coram hospice in 1741." Sounds a bit like an Oliver-like tale, doesn't it? However, it's a little more than that -- think Oliver! meets Christopher Pike or R.L. Stine. On the Egmont website for the book, the description starts off with: "Otis takes babies and money off desperate mothers, promising to deliver them to the Coram Foundling Hospital in London. Instead, he murders them and buries them by the roadside, to the helpless horror of his mentally ill son, Mish." Nice, eh? The description goes on to talk about families and babies, so I'm not quite sure how the hospice fits in to it all.

If you're curious, there's already a theater adaptation of the book, which you might have heard of. After a successful turn at London's National Theater, the adaptation is set to open this May in New York. However, this is a completely separate production.

For some odd reason (and this has everything to do with my own weird idiosyncrasies), I could never tell the difference between the stage plays Proof and Doubt. Both of them were on stage in New York City at the same time and, even though they're two completely different animals, I would always confuse them. Oh, and it doesn't help that Miramax is involved with the big screen adaptations of both Proof and Doubt.

However, when Proof finally came out in theaters (after getting somewhat lost in the post-Weinstein fall out with Miramax), it was one of the last Miramax films to have Bob and Harvey listed as executive producers. Now, the new Miramax has teamed up with producer Scott Rudin to bring John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Doubt to the big screen. The play is set in 1964, and revolves around a nun who confronts a priest she suspects is abusing a black student. While the play doesn't even feature said black student, the film will apparently include the character, as well as other students, and utilize several locations throughout Bronx, New York -- not just the school. Currently, there's no word on casting -- in the play, Cherry Jones played the nun and Brian O'Byrne played the priest. Miramax and Rudin also teamed up on The Queen which, as you're already aware, is nominated for everything this year.

I'm curious, is there some sort of unspoken Hollywood rule that if Scott Rudin doesn't have at least one film nominated for Best Picture every year, the entire world will somehow collapse? (Oh, and ladies -- I specifically chose the above picture of Rudin just for you. Enjoy the weekend!)