nine Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Those of us eager to see a movie based on a Broadway musical based on a play based on a Fellini film will have to wait just a little longer, perhaps to give us time to figure all that out. Nine, originally set to open on Nov. 25, has been pushed back a month. It will now open on Dec. 18 in New York and L.A. and Christmas Day everywhere else.

The move -- which was first announced at Rope of Silicon -- is sadly lacking in controversy. The distributor is The Weinstein Company, and they already have another movie opening on Nov. 25, The Road. (The real question is why two Weinstein films were ever scheduled for the same day in the first place.) Thanksgiving weekend is terribly crowded anyway; Christmas will give Nine a little more breathing room. The real scandal would have been if they'd pushed it all the way back to 2010, but nope. Unless someone has some juicy info we haven't been able to get our hands on, this appears to be purely a marketing decision.

The film is directed by Chicago's Rob Marshall, returning to musicals after Memoirs of a Geisha. The Chicago connection isn't the only reason people are talking about Oscar potential, though -- have you seen the cast list? Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, and Sophia Loren -- all Oscar winners! And Kate Hudson, an Oscar nominee! Also, for some reason, Fergie!

Nine is based on a Tony-winning musical that opened on Broadway in 1982 and had a successful revival in 2003. The musical, co-written by Mario Fratti, was based on his own non-musical play, Six Passionate Women. That play, in turn, was based on Federico Fellini's autobiographical 1963 film 8 1/2. And the star of 8 1/2: Kevin Bacon. (Just kidding.)

The Princess and the Frog
Disney returns to old school 2-D animation (is that still legal?) with this feature about Princess Tiana who lives in New Orleans during the Jazz age. If I'm not mistaken, this character represents the first African-American addition to the Disney Princess line. I'm not quite in the right age group here, but this is what Disney does best so I'm betting the kids will love it. The amphibious lovin' commences on November 25.

Nine
Chicago director Rob Marshall helms this film based on the Tony Award-winning 1982 musical. A film director suffers from both creative and personal crises while balancing the the many women in his life. I can enjoy a well produced stage musical, but they rarely work for me onscreen. Watch for it on November 25.

Gamer
This one will have you looking at your XBox 360 in a whole new way. In the not too distant future, convicted felons serve as player characters in a real life video game and the survivor gets to go free. The influences of The Running Man and the recent Death Race seem pretty obvious. Gerard Butler and Dexter's Michael C. Hall star so this may be worth a look come September 4.

Now I know I'm not the only one who is fascinated by the prospect of watching the great Daniel Day Lewis singing and dancing in Rob Marshall's Nine. But the first trailer has been released on Apple for Marshall's adaptation of the Tony-nominated play of the same name, and if you were hoping for a glimpse of Lewis doing jazz-hands, then you're going to be disappointed. But, jazz-hands aside, after watching this trailer I think I may have to change my opinion of the directing talents of Mr. Marshall -- because Marshall's musical skills look better without Renee Zellwegger doing '3/4 shot' dance numbers while warbling her heart out.

Nine is based on the classic Fellini film, 8 1/2, and centers on the famous film director, Guido Contini. The story is set in early-1960s Venice, and on the eve of Contini's 40th birthday he is struggling to complete his latest film, and attempting to balance the women in his life. Those women include his wife Luisa (Marion Cotillard), his mistress Carla (Penélope Cruz), his muse Claudia (Nicole Kidman), his producer Liliane (Judi Dench), and his mother (Sophia Loren). But that's not all, because as Monika told us back in 2008, Stacy Ferguson (better known as Fergie) will play a whore from Contini's youth, and Kate Hudson also has a small role as an American fashion journalist. It's not often you get this many big name actresses in one film, but I'm sure Lewis won't have any trouble handling all that estrogen.

So to the strains of 'Be Italian' we finally get our first glimpses of the big-budget musical, and it looks like Marshall may owe a small debt to the style of Bob Fosse's production numbers once again. But that doesn't mean Nine won't be a good time at the movies for fans of both Broadway, and classic cinema. So take a look, and tell me what you think. Oscar contender?

Nine will arrive in theaters on November, 25th.

(Warning: Foul language in the clip, and a helping of gore in the final seconds.)

It didn't seem all that surprising when Fergie (Stacy Ann Ferguson) signed on for a role in Grindhouse. It was a pulp, grindhouse film -- one that suited random cameos. But watching her performance above, did you ever think "Gee, she'd be great acting alongside the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis and Judi Dench"?

Variety reports that the singer and actress is in negotiations for a part in Nine -- the musical re-do of Fellini's 8 1/2. She'll play Saraghina, who "introduces Guido to the world of sexuality." Yes, that means she gets to teach Daniel Day the saucy ways of love. Is this for real? Am I the only one wondering how on earth this came to be?

Shooting starts this October in the UK, and features a wickedly diverse cast that boasts Day-Lewis, Marion Cottilard, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman, and Judi Dench.

This just in to Cinematical headquarters: The Weinstein Co. announced that Kate Hudson has joined Rob Marshall's adaptation of the famed musical, Nine. Hudson will co-star alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Sophia Loren, Penélope Cruz and Marion Cotillard -- and if that beautiful cast doesn't get asses in seats, I don't know what will. Day-Lewis will play director Guido Contini who, while preparing for his latest picture, has trouble balancing the many women in his life.

Personally, I've been waiting for Hudson to take a little departure from starring in cheesy rom-coms for awhile now, though I'm sure some of you would be happy if she disappeared forever at this point. That said, I still remain a Hudson supporter (damn you Almost Famous!), and I know she's got some good stuff holed up in places we just haven't been fortunate to discover yet. What do you think? A step up for Hudson, or a step down?

So after what's felt like a gazillion years, I finally managed to catch Jersey Boys on Broadway last night ... and all I could think about the entire time was why this hasn't been turned into a movie yet. (But in a good way.) In the past few years, we've had Chicago, Rent, Hairspray and The Producers, with Mamma Mia and Nine on the horizon. Where's Jersey Boys? The damn show gets a standing ovation every night, not to mention it's got a great story, great characters and, well, fantastic music. It'd be like Goodfellas: The Musical -- and something like that would probably rake in more cash (from both men and women) than most of these movie-musicals to date.

I haven't had this much fun watching a musical in years; probably since Wicked (which is another one that needs to hit the big screen at some point). But when I sat there, picturing how they could adapt each scene and make it really work on the big screen, one annoying issue kept beating me over the head: Who in the world do you cast? Since Hollywood is all about sticking names in these sorts of roles, you'd need four young guys who not only can sing (Valli gets UP there), but also come with thick Jersey accents. Off the top of my head, I don't know of any young, Hollywood stars who fit the bill. MAYBE Zac Efron, but he might be a tad too young ... and I've never seen him do a tough, Jersey accent (honestly, I don't know if I want to ...)

At the moment we have to consider this a rumor, but can you imagine an Academy Award-winning psychotic oilman in a musical? Daniel Day-Lewis is in talks to replace Javier Bardem in Rob Marshall's film version of the musical Nine, according to Variety. As Monika Bartyzel told us a couple of weeks ago, Bardem dropped out of the lead role due to exhaustion. A spokesman for distributor The Weinstein Co. denied that a new lead had been set.

What an exciting prospect, though! Day-Lewis is famously selective about the roles he chooses, which means it's safe to assume that he was impressed by the elements that have been brought together. Those elements include: (1) script by Michael Tolkin, re-written by Anthony Minghella shortly before he died; (2) a fabulous cast of women, led by Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench (as Elisabeth Rappe reported recently), but also Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard and Sophia Loren; (3) director Rob Marshall. I know that Marshall isn't universally loved -- I'm not a fan of Chicago -- but presumably he has some kind of dazzling vision that inspires confidence among actors with hidden musical talents.

If he takes the part, Day-Lewis would play Guido Contini, "a famous film director who experiences personal and creative crisis while trying to balance all the women in his life." In the 1982 Broadway musical, inspired by Federico Fellini's 8 1/2, Raul Julia originated the role. I'm hoping for confirmation soon.

Last month, he gets replaced by a woman. This month, he's just too tired to go on. Variety reports that Javier Bardem is backing out of his lead role in Rob Marshall's upcoming musical, Nine. They say: "Though his camp said that Bardem loved the script and the idea of working with Marshall, he pulled out because he is exhausted from work and awards seasons, and will take as long as a year to recharge his batteries."

I'm sorry, but that seems like overkill. Getting tired is understandable, as is needing a break. But let's recap. In the last few years, there was Goya's Ghosts, No Country for Old Men, and Love in the Time of Cholera. He's topping that off with two more -- Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Killing Pablo. Needing a year break after this seems like overkill. I mean, in the same amount of time, Peter O'Toole has taken on 12 roles (being 37-years Javier's senior), Scarlett Johansson, his Vicky co-star, has nine roles, a TV gig, and a directorial gig, Robert Downey Jr. has 11, and so on and so forth.

If this handful of roles and awards has worn him down too much, I have to wonder if he will be able to continue this career for many years to come. Then again, maybe he isn't tired of working, but just tired of the big-name system. Since he got his first credit role in The Ages of Lulu in 1990, he's had at least one gig a year, except for 2005, which remained Bardem-free. It's not like he's a complete newbie. Oh well. At least we still have Vicky and Pablo on the way.

They're still in talks, but everyone is reporting the deal as done, so I will too. Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench are joining Nine, Rob Marshall's film adaptation of the 1982 Broadway musical. The Hollywood Reporter says they'll be joining the already impressive cast of Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard and Sophia Loren.

Bardem will be playing the lead, a film director juggling the demands of several women in his life. The musical is an adaptation of Federico Fellini's autobiographical 8 1/2. Shooting was supposed to have begun in March, but due to the recent loss of Anthony Minghella, it has now been delayed to September. As Kidman is due to become a mother this summer, it would give her a nice maternity break.

Well it looks like we can chalk up another victim of the writers strike. Right after news broke that The Weinsteins had put their big-screen version of the musical Nine on hold, it now looks like Johnny Depp's Shantaram will be joining the list of casualties as well. Variety reports that Warner Bros. has halted production on the adaptation of Gregory David Robert's best-selling novel. Depp was set to co-produce and star in the drama about "an Australian heroin addict who escapes a maximum-security prison, reinvents himself as a doctor in the slums of India and eventually uses gun-running and counterfeiting skills to fight against the invading Russian troops in Afghanistan". Mira Nair had signed on to direct back in January after Australian director Peter Weir left the project due to those pesky "artistic differences".

As was the case with The Weinsteins Nine, Shantaram's delay was a direct result of the strike. Mainly because it meant there was zero chance of any re-writes taking place before the film was set to begin shooting. According to Variety, screenwriter Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) was working on the project until the very last minute before the strike. But when combined with the problems securing a location for the shoot due to monsoon season in India, it looks like the film is going to be put on hold for the foreseeable future. I wouldn't worry though, the film has been a passion project for Depp for some time now, so I doubt he will let if fall by the wayside. There is no word yet on whether Depp is looking for a replacement project in the meantime, but stay tuned for any updates that come our way.