dana fox Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Talk about a guy who's money, Universal is all over Vince Vaughn following the success of The Break-Up ($205 million worldwide), and has decided to nail him down to a two-year, first-look producing deal with the studio. Vaughn helped produce The Break-Up, as well as brought Uni the idea for it, and so they feel there's a lot more where that came from. In fact, Vaughn's Wild West Picture Show Prods. has already lined up three features with the studio; all of which are potential starring vehicles for the actor. The first is a high-concept comedy called Male Doula. Based on Vaughn's own idea, the flick will be penned by Dana Fox. Since they're keeping this one under wraps, I decided to do a tad more investigating. What I found (via our sister site Parent Dish) was that a 'doula' is "someone who accompanies a woman in labor. She 'mothers the mother,' taking care of her emotional needs throughout childbirth." From what I've seen, a male doula is very rare, which immediately opens the subject up for tons of comedic potential.

Apart from the high-concept birthing flick, Vaughn also lined up an untitled comedy about couples who attend a retreat to reinvigorate their marriages. That one was scripted by Vaughn's "Vegas, baby!" buddy Jon Favreau, which leads me to believe there might be a Vaughn/Favreau reunion in the works. The third and final project seems right up Vaughn's fast-talking alley. It's called Realtors, and is a comedy that follows rival realtors duking it out for commissions in the residential housing market. If that's not the perfect set-up for a hilarious ensemble comedy, I don't know what is. No word on which project will go first, but all those realtor-related television shows are hot right now. If I were a betting man (which I'm not, because I always lose), I'd say Realtors will be fast-tracked with one or more of Vaughn's usual buddies (Owen Wilson? Ben Stiller? Luke Wilson? Will Ferrell?) joining forces to sell some real estate. Which project sounds the most appealing to you?

We recently passed on to you the news that Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher have signed to star in a new romantic comedy called What Stays in Vegas, about two people who wake up in Vegas to find themselves married. Then one of them uses the other's quarter to play the slots and wins a jackpot, which makes for further love-money complications. Didn't Larry David already make a 'you took my quarter and won' movie a while back? Anyway, at the time, the movie was set to be directed by Julian Farino, a director of Entourage, but now word is coming that he is off the project. LatinoReview.com is reporting that Tom Vaughan, director of Starter for Ten, has replaced Farino. The film will still use the script by Dana Fox, who wrote The Wedding Date.

The website is also reporting that director Joe Kosinski is the guy who is going to take over Logan's Run, now that Bryan Singer is supposedly out of the running. That film, of course, deals with a society that kills its youth when they turn 21, and one youngster decides to plan an escape from that fate. No more details on the Vegas change-up were given and right now, the film has no firm release date. As for Diaz, she has no other commitments lined for the immediate future, save the inevitable Shrek sequels. Jeffrey Katzenberg recently said there will be a Shrek 4 and Shrek 5, so that should take up at least a few weeks of her time.

While her day-to-day job on Grey's Anatomy seems to less-than-cheery, what with arguments, insults, unrest and pay struggles, Katherine Heigl can at least let out a smile about her side job. She made a stellar professional decision to co-star in Knocked Up, which Scott Weinberg raved about from SXSW. If you can be funny, and you're looking to step into film, there's really no better way right now than to hop on the Judd Apatow train. Now the tow-headed actress is signing on for a more typical romantic comedy -- 27 Dresses. At this rate, I give Heigl a year before she turns into the next Sandra Bullock.

The flick isn't some sort of fashion comedy, but rather the cinematic version of "always the bridesmaid, never the bride." Heigl will star as a young, single woman who has taken on the wedding side-job 27 times, and must be super best friends with an entire sorority, or be part of the Cheaper by the Dozen house. When she's offered her 28th trip down the aisle, it's for her sister, who is marrying the man she is in love with. Well, no wonder she's single if she's sitting around pining after her sister's man. Hopefully it's one of those tales where she comes to her senses, rather than her trying to steal her husband's man, or her having a sister who is written as wicked and unworthy. There are only so many Cinderella nods we can take! The original script was written by Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada), with a re-write by Dana Fox, and it will be directed by Step Up helmer Anne Fletcher. The latter is also a choreographer, so does anyone want to bet on the chances that there is some sort of dance number in the movie? Production is set to begin this May in New York City and Rhode Island.

Odds and ends from Tuesday:

• Hey, at least someone's involvement with Lindsay Lohan didn't end in rehab. Chris Pine, who co-starred with Lohan in Just My Luck, is in final negotiations to star in an untitled post-apocalyptic thriller with the Pastor brothers set to write and direct. Pic will revolve around four friends who, while trying to escape a viral pandemic in the American West, discover that it's not the virus they should be escaping, but each other. Recently, Alex Pastor was awarded the Sundance jury prize for his international short, The Natural Route (or La Ruta Natural). Here's hoping this new route propels these boys to bigger and better places.
• What is it about Las Vegas that's just so funny? The sex? The crime? The drugs? The booze? The bankruptcy? Actually, all of that is pretty hilarious -- strike that first sentence. 20th Century Fox has pre-emptively dropped a boat-load of money on a comedy pitch by Dana Fox (no relation ... I think) with Michael Aguilar and Dean Georgaris set to produce. The plot for Untitled Vegas Comedy (has a nice ring to it, right?) is being kept under wraps, but folks are saying it's a romantic comedy in the vein of Wedding Crashers. This leads us to assume it will have something to do with all of those Vegas quickie weddings and three-legged trapeze artists. Okay, so the three-legged trapeze artist was my idea ... but a boy can dream, right?
•  I've always said that if Robert Downey Jr. were ever to become a school principal, life as we know it would get a whole lot cooler. While the actor will not be a real-life principal, he has signed up to play one in a film called Charlie Bartlett. Also starring Hope Davis, Anton Yelchin, Kat Dennings and Tyler Hilton, the coming-of-age dark comedy will focus on a wealthy teen who charms his way into becoming his school's resident "psychiatrist." Jon Poll, who has edited for Jay Roach on films like Meet the Fockers and Austin Powers in Goldmember, will make his directorial debut.