bunny lake is missing Tagged Articles at Cinematical

What a surprise! It seems that the whole Bunny Lake is Missing kerfuffle isn't as bad as reports made it out. This isn't the first time that Joe Carnahan has been painted to be pissier than he is. (You might remember Scott Weinberg's post in February that talked about the whether the director was actually mad at comparisons made between him and Quentin Tarantino, as reports suggested.) To rewind, Reese Witherspoon backed out of Bunny at the last minute, and reports circulated that Carnahan was so angry about it that he fired his manager, who also represents the actress. Now Carnahan has blogged about the drama on his website, and says that it wasn't really dramatic at all. Straight from the horse's mouth:

Guys:

Scuttlebutt: How about NOTHING. How about a situation where the press tries to stir it up. These things happen. Movies go away every day. Reese is dealing with a lot of stuff in her life. So am I. We were running up against it as far as time for prep and shooting and scripting, etc. I had already commited to 'White Jazz' and the longer we stretched 'Bunny' the more in jeopardy the WJ schedule became. And there was just no way I could let that happen. I need a nice extended prep period for that flick.

And now I've got it.

That's it guys. I wish there were some truly tasty bits of gossip but there just aren't. Sorry.

Onward and upward ya'll! White Jazz awaits.

Is Jake Gyllenhaal too much for poor Reese to handle? Let's get the next rumors started now! As for Carnahan, there is no drama for the director, and he's going to be putting all of his directorial energy into Jazz. All he needs is spell-check, and the guy will be set!

[via FilmIck]

With only five weeks to go before production was to begin, Reese Witherspoon has pulled a "La Lohan" and ditched Bunny Lake is Missing, a film she was set to star in and produce. It's an odd move, one that's pissed off director Joe Carnahan (Smokin' Aces) who was gearing up to shoot back-to-back films, with work on White Jazz to begin almost immediately after Bunny Lake. Now, folks are scrambling to find a replacement (cursing Witherspoon to no end, I imagine) and a delayed production start is all but certain. If that's the case, they'll probably lose Carnahan and Bunny Lake will most likely be lost in the shuffle.

Pic, which is a remake of the 1965 Otto Premlinger film, tells the story of a woman who reports her daughter missing only to be confronted with the possibility that her missing daughter didn't even exist in the first place. Here's where you say: "Wait, wasn't that film already remade back in 2005 when it was called Flightplan?" You'd think that, right? Currently, there's no word on why Witherspoon left after developing the film for three years -- I am of the opinion that she wasn't jiving with Carnahan, as he's apparently taken this very personally. Variety reports Carnahan is so angry about the ordeal that he's already dumped manager Evelyn O'Neil, who also happens to represent Witherspoon. And you thought you were having a bad day -- poor Evelyn, she's the real casualty here.

In David Lynch's new Inland Empire (8 screens), an actor is told that the movie he's working on is actually a remake. "I wouldn't have done it if it were a remake," is his angry reply. Not long after I saw that movie, I interviewed director Joe Carnahan about his movie Smokin' Aces. He spoke about some of his upcoming projects, including a film called Bunny Lake Is Missing. "A remake," I replied. "Not a remake," he retorted. He explained how his version would be different from Otto Preminger's 1965 film, which somehow made it "not a remake."

It's a touchy subject, apparently, and yet every other movie that comes out these days is a remake of something: a video game, a TV show, another movie. Sometimes we get sequels of remakes, or remakes of sequels or even more complicated configurations. In my less-than-400-screens realm, we have The Painted Veil (275 screens), which was already made back in 1934 with Greta Garbo. We have Casino Royale (187 screens), which is completely different from the version made in 1967. We have Black Christmas (4 screens), an already forgotten remake of a great, underappreciated 1974 horror film.

While we recently brought you the news that Joe Carnahan (Narc) was teaming up with George Clooney to direct White Jazz, it appears he will first helm a remake of Otto Preminger's 1965 pic Bunny Lake is Missing. The project is quickly taking shape with Spyglass Entertainment reportedly set to finance and Columbia Pictures tapped to distribute domestically. Currently in talks to star in the thriller is none other than everyone's favorite recently-divorced Oscar-winning blonde, Reese Witherspoon.

Though I never had a chance to watch the original, its description sounds very much like the recent Jodie Foster flick Flightplan, in that it revolves around a woman who claims her daughter, Bunny Lake, is missing. However, when police begin to investigate, they cannot find any evidence suggesting that Bunny ever existed -- which leads everyone involved to believe this woman has gone bonkers. Witherspoon would play said woman and if she signs on, the role would be a fascinating departure for a girl we're used to seeing tackle cookie-cutter romantic comedies, not thrillers. Doug Wright penned the script, and is currently working on a rewrite alongside Carnahan. The director's next effort, Smokin' Aces, arrives in theaters next month, while Witherspoon is currently shooting the drama Rendition with Meryl Street and Jake Gyllenhaal. What do you think about Witherspoon in a thriller? Can she pull it off?