elmore leonard Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Oh, the irony of ironies when the Dennis Quaid serial killer mystery The Horsemen had a tagline that said "Come and see," only to receive an unceremonious dump on something like 75 screens in early March and its first formal review just this week in Variety (and they had to catch it in Paris, apparently!). Box Office Mojo can't even claim any exact figures for what the thing grossed in its very limited run.

In similar straits was the Diane Lane/Mickey Rourke thriller, Killshot, which was formally dumped in Arizona and Arizona alone at the end of January. $18,000 on five screens -- way to capitalize on that Wrestler buzz, Weinsteins. But soon, scarcity will matter not for either film, as Fangoria says that the former film will get its DVD release on July 14th, while Amazon claims a May 26th bow for the latter.

There's no word on special features for Killshot yet, which makes me wonder if we'll see any sign of Johnny Knoxville's reportedly excised character... but maybe I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

The first time I came across a trailer for the Diane Lane/Thomas Jane/Mickey Rourke hitman thriller Killshot (only remaining on an AICN archive page and the errant DVD release), it was back in September of 2006. Since then, the Elmore Leonard adaptation has endured reshoots in January of 2007 and countless changes in release dates after that. Of course, there's also at least three test screening reviews that bring to light the entire removal of a character played by Johnny Knoxville from the film.

Now, not long after the Weinstein Company issued its latest round of supposed scheduling, Killshot's most recent date -- November 7, 2008 -- has been dashed away by this Los Angeles Times piece, and as pointed out, how does one struggle to release anything that John Madden, Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack and Quentin Tarantino all had hands in at some point? How does one struggle to even sell off domestic distribution rights to a film with this cast and that crew? The obvious answer is, of course, that the film is a downright dud, though the general pedigree and harshest reviews seem to suggest that it's not a total turkey.

The best-case scenario at this point is that the film rides the awards buzz of Rourke's performance in December's The Wrestler as suggested and gets a theatrical release in the early winter dumping grounds (through the Weinsteins' Third Rail arm, I'd bet), while the worst-case scenario is the film being directly downgraded to the level of a Blockbuster-exclusive curio. We shall see...

Heck yeah -- I cannot wait to see this movie! Cinematical has been handed the final one-sheet for the upcoming 3:10 to Yuma remake, starring Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. If being able to watch two of the finest actors of this generation square off against one another on the big screen isn't enough, then you might want to know that the film is also directed by James Mangold -- whose last flick, Walk the Line, won all sorts of praise (and a few Oscars, if I recall). In the film (which is based on a short story by Elmore Leonard, and a remake from 1957), Bale plays a small-time rancher who's placed in charge of watching a recently-captured outlaw (Crowe) while they await the 3:10 train to Yuma, where said outlaw is scheduled to appear in court. As you can probably imagine, things don't go so well from there. For more on the film, check out our coverage of the ComicCon poster, a couple still photos and the trailer. 3:10 to Yuma arrives in theaters on September 7.

When the name Matthau enters the ear, you can't help but think of both the older and more recent classics of Walter Matthau. He created the world around the dirty Oscar Madison in the Odd Couple, sauced his way into the Candide-infused satire Candy and then rejoined Jack Lemmon for some Grumpy Old Men before his death in 2000. However, there's another Matthau to keep an eye on, his son, Charlie -- he's been an actor, mainly in his father's films, and has directed a few under-the-radar features.

Now the spotlight seems to be turning to the younger Matthau. According to Variety, he is going to direct his own adaptation of Freaky Deaky, an Elmore Leonard novel from the 80's. It was originally optioned by Quentin Tarantino, but it's no surprise that it didn't go anywhere after the flop that was Jackie Brown. After Tarantino, John Malcovich let it gather dust until it once again became Leonard's property. Matthau anxiously and relentlessly hounded the novelist for the rights, and subsequently bought them with his own money.

The novel, in a nut shell, covers two ex-revolutionaries who are fresh out of prison and want to make a profit on their explosive talents while also taking revenge on the man they believe is responsible for their prison sentence. The man in question is also the focus of a Motown cop. Obviously, this leads to explosive action and tricky confrontation. The film, however, will be updated. Matthau has moved the action from Detroit to LA, and moved the timeline from the 80s to the 70s. This doesn't seem to be something Leonard fans should worry about, however, since Leonard is incredibly positive about the changes: "I see this as a chance for my favorite book to become my favorite screenplay adaptation." How's that for optimism?

The proposed remake of the classic thriller 3:10 to Yuma has bounced from certainty to limbo, and recently, the odds of it actually being made were looking rather shaky. Back in February, James Mangold (Walk the Line) announced he would direct (and improve, in his opinion) the remake for Sony/Columbia. However, Sony dumped the production in June even though Russell Crowe was attached.

Now Lionsgate has picked up the remake for distribution, although at nearly $80 million, the budget is a little higher than Lionsgate's usual fare (the Saw series). However, It's a risk the studio is willing to take. The new cast includes not only Crowe in the role that the late Glenn Ford originally made famous, but Christian Bale (in the Van Heflin role) and an actor whom Serenity/Firefly fans might recognize, Alan Tudyk. No word yet on how much Mangold has "improved" the script from the 1957 film, which is based on an Elmore Leonard story. Shooting is expected to start in October.

3:10 to Yuma is a fantastically tight little western about honor and duty, starring Van Heflin and a frighteningly charismatic Glenn Ford. It's a perfect example of the the great things that can be done in film when you've got about $6, 90 minutes, a solid story (written by Elmore Leonard), and a pair of great actors. But, because Hollywood a) is out of ideas, and b) can't leave well enough alone, James Mangold has decided to follow up Walk the Line by remaking a movie that's been pretty much perfect for almost 50 years. Oh, and he's going to kick it up a notch, don't you worry. Apparently, you see, "There are a lot of good-bad themes that were only touched on in the original...This is a total struggle culminating in a showdown, which has the potential to be one of the great movie gunfights." So, let me get this straight: a movie that's all about acting, honor, and subtly is going to be turned into a huge shootout? Fan-freaking-tastic.

Mangold and his wife Cathy Konrad will also produce the film, which is expected to begin shooting this summer.

Actually, it's just a single image - and a boring one at that. But it's nevertheless proof that the movie is actually happening, which is something to hold on to. Directed by Oscar-nominee John Madden and executive-produced by Quentin Tarantino - aka the busiest person alive who isn't Joss Whedon - Killshot is based on an Elmore Leonard novel about a husband and wife who "become entangled in a scam with a bumbling small time con artist..and his over-the-hill hit man partner." The husband and wife are played by Thomas Jane and Diane Lane (no word on if their character names also rhyme), and the con men are a potentially interesting duo: Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Mickey Rourke.

Until I hear a flood of negative reports, I'm going to try to stay optimistic about this one - Tarantino's not in it after all, and both the cast and story have a lot of potential. In addition, Leonard's novels tend to be sharply written and very smart, though a lot depends on the adaptation. The film is currently in post-production, and is due for release in March of 2006.