about a boy Tagged Articles at Cinematical

According to a source over at Deadline Hollywood, Golden Compass director Chris Weitz has been offered the directing gig on New Moon and possibly Eclipse, should both films shoot back-to-back. Nikki Finke's source says Weitz, who's apparently "still considering" the offer, was chosen because Summit Entertainment "liked the look" of Compass, even though it bombed at the box office, and also because Weitz is buddies with Summit's president of production, Eric Feig.

Apart from Compass, Weitz had a big role in the original American Pie (as a producer and uncredited director); he also co-wrote and directed the excellent About a Boy adaptation, and served as producer on flicks like Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, In Good Company and American Dreamz. Personally, I'm a fan of Weitz (and his brother Paul), and blame the domestic failure of Compass more on some folks' inability to wrap their heads around the story's vast universe. However, he is a boy ... and last I checked, boys might not be allowed into the Twilight clubhouse.

What do you folks think of Weitz? Is he a good replacement?

With the Writer's Guild members on strike, it's time for you wannabe screenwriters to push through the picket lines and get noticed. I don't actually know how possible this is. I kinda shrugged off my own mother's suggestion of this idea thinking it not possible -- well, that and the fact that I haven't really wanted to be a screenwriter for many years now. But I figure, if possible, the easiest way to get noticed would be to write up a brilliant adaptation of a popular book that's been in need of a good script. Need some examples of such books? Check out The Onion's latest list, "If you film it ... : 21 good books that need to be great films, like now." Many of these books have already been optioned by or sold to producers and some of them are currently on the track to getting made. Others, like Confederacy of Dunces, have been attached to multiple filmmakers and stars for nearly thirty years now. Someday it will probably get filmed, but the point of this list is not that it needs to be adapted. It needs to be adapted well. Actually, better than well. In the satirical paper's words, it needs to be a great film.

To admit how badly read I am, at least with regards to popular fiction, I've only read three of the 21 books. The rest I'm at least familiar with through news of their respective film deals and/or development, much of which Cinematical has covered. Of those three I've read, one is something I was recently excited about being adapted until it fell through, one is something I can't imagine making a great film because memoirs hardly work cinematically, and one I've seen adapted once and could care less about being adapted again, especially since it's the subject of an annoying legal battle (can you guess the three?). Anyway, the list is pretty well-thought out, but it made me wonder what most people think makes a great adaptation. Do people really prefer movie versions to be literal translations, or do they want something less redundant in their adaptations? Personally, I've always championed the latter. To me, a great film is one that is brilliant enough that: 1) You don't easily say the usual, "the book was better," nonsense; 2) You can still read the book without it having been ruined by the film -- major points if you can even ignore the cast of the film while reading; 3) It utilizes the film medium so that it now seems necessarily appropriate that the story is being depicted visually rather than verbally; 4) That it communicates new ideas that the novel didn't communicate. I know of three adaptations that come closest to fulfilling these four standards of excellence, To Kill a Mockingbird, About a Boy and Adaptation. I'm sure there's plenty others, but like I said, I'm not well-read enough to be sure.

[via Fark.com]

Is that not the greatest title you've ever seen in your entire life? Man, if that doesn't sum up most of my teenage years, I don't know what does -- it's a fact, no matter where you live or how cool the city is, there will forever be nothing to do. Or, at least, you and your clan of friends will see it that way. Apart from describing the way I felt about most of my childhood, Another Bullsh*t Night in Suck City is also a memoir written by Nick Flynn, which was adapted for the big screen by none other than American Pie man himself, Paul Weitz.

Now, almost two years after we first reported on the deal, Weitz's Suck City has found its way to Fox 2000 after originally being set up at Sony Pictures, then thrown into turnaround. Based on the title alone, you probably expect the memoir and the movie to be about a bunch of kids, cruising the streets with nothing better to do than complain about how much their town sucks the big one. You'd think that, right? However, the story follows the relationship between a case worker for the homeless and his brilliant self-destructive father. Oh. Okay. Weitz also plans to direct the pic ... and that's the best part of this whole thing.

See, I'm a big Weitz Brothers fan (save for American Dreamz, but we won't mention that one). Paul Weitz is responsible for writing and directing (along with his brother Chris) the adaptation of one of Nick Hornby's best novels, About a Boy. Heck, they rock it as a team, as well as solo -- do I need to mention the little gem that was In Good Company (written and directed by Paul)? And Chris is currently wrapping up his own epic solo effort, The Golden Compass. Unlike the Farrelly Bros., who made a name for themselves in comedy and refuse to venture off that course, the Weitz Bros. travel all over the map and make certain to mix it up enough so that you feel good about what you just watched while departing the theater. Together or alone, these boys got the goods ... and I dare you to call bullsh*t on that.

Because the concept of Neil Strauss' The Game wasn't distasteful enough in written form, Columbia has decided to produce a film based on it. Strauss' book, which was based on an article he wrote for The New York Times, "chronicle[s]...[his] transformation from lovelorn loser to lothario" under the guidance of "a man named Mystery, who dispenses advice on the art of seduction using the mantra - find, meet, attract, close." And, in case you were questioning his pedigree, Strauss has a strong literary background: he's a rock critics who co-wrote both How to Make Love Like a Porn Star (with Jenna Jameson, no less), and a Motley Crue biography. Do you want to puke now, or later?

Columbia has placed Strauss' brilliant book (which did sell quite a few copies) in the capable hands of Chris Weitz, who will write the screenplay and produce the film with his brother Paul. Weitz, whose nuanced work on About a Boy was nominated for the best adapted screenplay Oscar, is an undeniably talented writer, so I suppose there's an outside chance he could turn a story about women as objects into something not completely repulsive. Good luck with that, Chris.