david levien Tagged Articles at Cinematical

For all that I Am Legend imploded with that awful doctored ending, it was actually really interesting for a while -- mostly because both Will Smith and director Francis Lawrence were willing to go surprisingly far in suggesting that isolation had actually driven Smith's Robert Neville to no-kidding insanity. It's the kind of bold move that can make an otherwise frivolous summer blockbuster into something special.

It's promising, then, that Lawrence and Smith are looking to team up on a project that reads like one enormous bold gesture. The City That Sailed, which Lawrence has signed on to direct and develop for Smith to star in, is about a father and daughter who live on different continents, he in New York and she in England -- until the daughter's wish for a reunion is granted in the form of the island of Manhattan breaking off from the U.S. seaboard and carrying dad across the pond.

Hold onto your seats, Rounders fans -- it looks like round two is about to descend. Now, I'm not talking about a sequel, even though we'd all love more screen-time with the poker movie's killer cast, but rather a new gambling feature from Rounders scribes Brian Koppelman and David Levien. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Paramount has picked up the writers' latest pitch, and Leonardo DiCaprio (who is also starring in the pair's Beat the Reaper) will grab the lead.

Per usual, not a whole heck of a lot is being released about the plot right now. However, the little that is being said reveals a modern edge -- the feature will delve into the world of online casinos based in Costa Rica. Whether that focus is on the casinos themselves or the people who frequent them remains to be seen, but I'm betting on the latter.

Is it wrong to already be antsy for this film? Koppelman and Levien don't have a perfect track record, but Rounders merged with DiCaprio, who always seems to pick great gigs, seems like something darned close to a perfect bet. Heck, at the very least, it has to be better than the gambling schlock that's hit the screens and boob tubes recently.

When we encounter prostitutes in the movies, they're almost invariably destitute, sick, absurdly dressed, and roaming the red light district in search of a client or a fix. That may well be accurate for a majority of women in the profession, but the rarely-glimpsed high-priced call girl is just as much of a curiosity. After he finishes The Informant with Matt Damon, Steven Soderbergh will direct The Girlfriend Experience -- a look at the life of a prostitute who commands a fee of $10,000 a night and earns over $1,000,000 a year. The filmmaker dropped a hint about this project over a year ago, but now plans for the movie are coming together, and we have a lot more details.

The movie, written by Ocean's Thirteen scribes Brian Koppelman and David Levien along with Soderbergh, will be shot over 14 days this fall, in the same improvisational style Soderbergh used for Bubble. It will also follow Bubble's controversial pattern of a simultaneous theatrical and DVD release. According to the Variety story, Soderbergh is considering casting an adult film actress, instead of a Hollywood star, in the lead role. The title refers to encounters where men pay not only for sex, but also for the woman to act like the perfect girlfriend in the experience.

Dear Lord, Soderbergh is prolific: if his two (already-completed) Che Guevara movies hit their 2008 release dates (they're premiering at Cannes), and The Informant and The Girlfriend Experience stay on track for 2009, he will have directed 13 movies in a 10-year span. The man loves to work. This new project is particularly intriguing since it looks like it might give us a well-researched look into a world that I, at least, know virtually nothing about. And it might also confound the usual arguments for why prostitution is a Bad Thing...

Goodfella, Raging Bull, and Taxi Driver Robert DeNiro is reportedly attached to star in The Winter of Frankie Machine. Brian Koppelman and David Levien are writing the adaptation of Don Winslow's novel; they wrote the poker classic Rounders, as well as the upcoming Ocean's Thirteen. Frankie Machine is about a former mob hitman/Vietnam vet who has put his gangster days behind him and now spends his time surfing when he's not busy operating a linen service, a seafood company, and a bait shop. And for two hours, he sells worms to fishermen and his past never comes back to haunt him? Of course not! When the son of a mob boss asks for Frankie's help in settling a dispute with another mobster, Frankie agrees. But soon he finds he's been set up and is next on the hit list. The story is said to deal with both Frankie's current adventure and also with him trying to figure out what in his past got him into trouble.

The Latino Review has the story here and a script review here. The reviewer calls it "the leanest, tightest script I read so far this year," and "a masterpiece," adding a little something you never heard from Pauline Kael: "The shit is hot." This does sound like a really cool story, and the book has earned several comparisons to Elmore Leonard's stuff, which is really all I need to hear to get on board. Sounds like a blast, and here's hoping it's got a touch of black humor to it, all of the best mob stories do. I don't need to see DeNiro in a wet suit surfing while firing a machine gun, but with this premise, it sounds like there's a lot of potential for some dark laughs. Regardless of how it turns out, I think we can all agree that it's got a pretty badass title. Color me interested in this one!

If you've ever tried to master the craft of screenwriting, and have gone so far as to do even the tiniest bit of online research, there's a good chance you've heard of the Writers Boot Camp. Based primarily in New York and Los Angeles, folks can sign up for the Boot Camp's Basic Training (their most popular course) -- a six-week workshop that deals with everything from characters to format to re-writing. Personally, the screenwriters I've come in contact with aren't too fond of Writers Boot Camp. Usually, what they'll do is invite you to a free seminar and then spend most of it pitching their product, trying desperately to convince you to shell out a ton of money for their services. And, from what I understand, some of these folks are pretty pushy when it comes to getting you to open your wallet -- then again, I've never taken one of their courses, so I cannot say how valuable they are. Some of the folks that have signed up for Basic Training include David Levien (Ocean's Thirteen), Heather Hach-Hearne (Freaky Friday) and Shawn Schepps (Drumline).

With that said, Boot Camp founder Jeffrey Gordon has teamed up with producer Paul Rosenberg to create Writers Boot Camp Prods. The goal: To develop a wide array of feature projects "through the Writers Boot Camp alumni community in Los Angeles, New York and internationally." Honestly, it's one helluva smart move on Gordon's part, as he now has a new way to market his product (I'm sure these newbie writers will hear all about the possibilities of their scripts being produced through Writers Boot Camp Prods. when deciding whether or not to sign up for a course) and he'll also have his hands on a tremendous amount of material. I'd be curious to see just how shady this gets -- will incoming writers be asked to sign some sort of contract giving Writers Boot Camp Prods. first dibs on an option? The Variety article says the production shingle will operate as an entirely separate division from the various workshops, but you know just as well as I do that they'll be using this as a selling tool.

If you're a writer who's attended the Writers Boot Camp, feel free to share your thoughts on their program, as well what you think about their latest move into production.

Though the weather is slowly becoming colder here on the East Coast, writers Brian Koppelman and David Levien are nothing but hot, having just signed a low seven-figure deal to adapt Don Winslow's novel, The Winter of Frankie Machine. Attached to star in yet another mob-related film, Robert De Niro will play the lead role, as well as produce the pic alongside partner Jane Rosenthal through their Tribeca Films shingle.

The writing duo, who are currently working on Ocean's Thirteen and previously shelled out the scripts for Rounders, Knockaround Guys and Walking Tall, are in charge of a story that revolves around a mob hitman who has since retired from "the business" in exchange for a quiet life as the owner of a bait shop. However, he finds himself back in action when the son of a mob boss asks for his help on a job, though it doesn't take long for him to discover the entire thing is nothing but a set up, as he is the intended target for a hit.

I don't know about you, but I'm really losing interest in mob flicks. While I thoroughly enjoyed The Departed (which I just saw last night), I feel Hollywood should take its mob train and let it collect dust in a yard for awhile. Anyone else feel that way?