The Art of War Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Josh Greenbaum to Direct 'The Art of Cool'
Filed under: Comedy », Deals », Scripts »
One of the best examples of the idea that some things never change is The Art of War. Written in the 6th century BC by Sun Tzu, the book is one of the oldest texts on military strategy in the world, employing concepts that are still used today -- influencing military thought as well as many other areas beyond the realm of war. Well, now we're seeing that theory hit the scary halls of high school. Last year, Columbia Pictures picked up a spec by Alex Sabeti for $600,000 against $850,000. Now Variety reports that the film, The Art of Cool, has a USC student director helming the project -- Josh Greenbaum -- who recently won an award at ShoWest. He's got a few shorts under his belt, but this will be his first feature.So the story... The comedy focuses "on a geeky student who discovers the classic book The Art of War by Sun Tzu and literally uses it as a survival guide for navigating the social politics of high school." I wonder if he discovers it all by drinking a little Sun Tzu while trying to stay away to study for a big exam? Talk about prime product placement! It sounds like it could be a decent flick. One, hopefully, that will tackle the themes of high school without the over-used stereotypes that always seem to pop up. We'll have to wait and see. There is no word on when Columbia will kick this production into action, but stay tuned for all that tasty casting and production news when they do.
Wesley Snipes Now Filming 'The Art of War 2'
Filed under: Action », Casting », Remakes and Sequels »
Last week, I posted that Wesley Snipes had backed out of Spike Lee's upcoming period drama Miracle at St. Anna, due to his legal woes and international travel issues. (The young Derek Luke was surprisingly tapped to take his place.) While Snipes can't head to Europe for a big, Lee dramatic production, he was somehow able to head north and cross the border into Canada for other work, it seems. Moviehole reports that he "has spent the majority of October [sic] filming The Art of War 2" in BC." Since we're only a week into October, and the original is in DC, methinks there are a few typos. Or, even though there has been lots of warnings lately about border control, Snipes' tax woes weren't enough to keep him from heading north.At first, they say, he wasn't going to star in the sequel, but maybe money problems and traveling issues inspired him to reconsider. Snipes starred in The Art of War in 2000; it was a mid-range, generally-forgotten action movie that starred him as UN covert op that uses questionable means to keep the peace. However, then he's framed for the murder of a bunch of Vietnamese refugees, and he has to find the answers in the typical wrongly-accused film fashion. The film isn't quite the blockbuster that is itching for a sequel (although that's never stopped filmmakers before), but I wonder if we'll now see Snipes revisiting more of his lesser-known roles to get a good payroll going to help his tax woes. If not, he might want to try to break up Pam and Rick and get in on his sex-for-money offers.
Quickhits: Scoop to Focus, Costly Art of Cool, Jolie is Croft Again?
Filed under: Action », Comedy », Romance », Casting », Deals », RumorMonger », Distribution », Focus Features », Newsstand », Angelina Jolie », Steven Spielberg », Remakes and Sequels »
Odds and ends for Friday:- The
internets have been buzzing for the last 24 hours with word that Angelina Jolie has agreed to star in Tomb Raider 3. According to
reports in UK tabloid The Daily Express, Paramount has option the third film and Jolie has signed on -- she's
even "already in training to make sure she gets rid of her post-pregnancy bulge." (Correct me if I'm wrong
here, but isn't that bulge known as a baby at this point?)
- As Karina mentioned in today's podcast, Focus Features has picked up the North American distribution rights (as well as those to New Zealand and Australia) to Woody Allen's Scoop. Set in London, Allen's new favorite-est city EVER, the movie stars Hugh Jackman and the inescapable (trust me, I've tried) Scarlett Johansson, and involves a young American student journalist -- one guess who that is -- stumbling upon both a scoop and a romance while studying abroad. Focus plans to have the film in theaters in the US this summer.
- Columbia has snapped up a comedy pitch from Alex Sabeti entitled The Art of Cool, about a boy who uses Sun Tzu's The Art of War as "a template for how to approach surviving the social politics of high school." According to The Hollywood Reporter, the fact that Michael Ovitz has apparently given everyone in the industry a copy of Sun Tzu's book has made it a running joke for many including Sabeti, who laughed about it for years before he decided to turn the book into the root of his first script. Whatever its source the story must be really, really funny -- Columbia spent over $500,000 on it.
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