dirty tricks Tagged Articles at Cinematical

"Good eeevening." The last we heard about writer/director Ryan Murphy's Alfred Hitchcock biopic was back in February. At the time it was just speculation, but today MTV Movies Blog has confirmation -- Anthony Hopkins will play Hitch. They've even got a clip of him doing the voice over there. I think it's pretty solid casting, but Hopkins better start eating! The February report mentioned Helen Mirren possibly stepping into the role of Hitchcock's wife and lifelong creative collaborator, Alma Reville, but that casting is not confirmed yet. The film is expected to be called Alfred Hitchcock Presents and will detail Hitchcock's experiences making the 1960 classic Psycho. At the time, the screenplay was seen as far too dark for mass audiences, and Hitch faced quite a few hurdles to bring the project to the big screen.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents will be written and directed by Ryan Murphy. I am a fan of Murphy's FX series Nip/Tuck, particularly the first few seasons. But any faith I had in his filmmaking went out the window with the absolutely dreadful Running with Scissors, one of my least favorite movies of 2006. Hopefully, he can redeem himself here. I can't say for certain when we'll see Alfred Hitchcock Presents, as Murphy is currently very busy in both the television and film worlds. On TV, he's overseeing Nip/Tuck and an upcoming F/X drama about a transsexual father called 4 oz. On the big screen, he's working on the Tricky Dick flick Dirty Tricks, starring Brad Pitt and Meryl Streep, with Jim Broadbent as Nixon, and Need with Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts. So it's conceivable that we won't get to see AFP for a few years. Hey, now that the wheels are in motion on the story of how Hitchcock's Psycho came to be, is it too much to ask to get a making-of biopic for Gus Van Sant's critically acclaimed remake? I kid, I kid.

Odds and ends from Monday:

• I'm not sure how many times we've talked about the film Jumper here on Cinematical, but trust me -- if they jump, we write about it. Rachel Bilson is now set to jump in and replace Teresa Palmer in one of the film's starring roles opposite Hayden Christensen. This marks the second swap-a-roo for Jumper, as earlier this year Christensen (who's more well-known) took over the lead from Tom Sturridge. In the pic (which may or may not turn into a trilogy), Samuel L. Jackson plays an NSA agent placed in charge of tracking a boy with the ability to teleport places. Sweet! Looks like Jackson finally managed to teleport himself into a good role.
• Wayyy back in August of 2005, we told you about Dirty Tricks -- a pic based on the play by John Jeter. The real-life story revolves around the wife of Richard Nixon's attorney general and how she defended her husband following the Watergate scandal. Oh yes, Capote had his turn and now the flavor of the year is Dicky Nixon. Well, director Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck, anyone? Running with Scissors?) recently spilled some casting tidbits, noting that Brad Pitt, Sharon Stone and Jim Broadbent will now star alongside Meryl Streep, Annette Bening, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jill Clayburgh. Beat that cast Ron Howard! Murphy hopes to begin shooting next fall with plans to release the film at some point during the fall of 2008.
• [In my best Sly Stallone impersonation]: "Um, yo -- like why you wanna go and sue me? What I ever do to you, huh?" That's right, Rambo is set to face off against his toughest (and dare I say, largest) opponent yet -- those dangerous Weinstein boys. In a suit filed Friday, The Weinstein's contend that they've owned distribution rights to a Rambo sequel since 2004 and, supposedly, producers Nu Image had recently offered distribution to Lionsgate instead. This one looks hot and heavy folks, and we'll be sure to let you know what happens at the next rose ceremony.