salt Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Once upon a time, Tom Cruise was going to star in an espionage thriller that had him getting into some heavy action MI-style. But that didn't last long and Mr. Edwin A. Salt got a sex change and a sexy new lead with Angelina Jolie. One would think the Edwin A. would become Edwina and all would be well, but now the character is Evelyn Salt, the movie is Salt, and you can check out the first teaser trailer after the jump.

Salt focuses on a CIA officer who's in for a shock when a Russian captive tells her that a Russian agent will head to Manhattan to kill the president. The spy's name: Evelyn Salt. Rather than let her co-workers detain her, she escapes, striving to prove that she's no spy. She's a patriot. "Using all her skills and years of experience as a covert operative, she must elude capture and protect her husband or the world's most powerful forces will erase any trace of her existence." (Sony IMDb summary)

The action chaos is just what any good adrenaline thriller needs to thrive, and the flick seems to have it in spades with Jolie jumping around in Live Free or Die Hard style. Unfortunately, it also has a good dose of fake hair with Angelina sporting a distracting blond wig, and later, a jet-black 'do. It's amazing how wigs can stay on in high-pressure situations, yet still look so damned fake. Nevertheless, this should be a fun ride. Are you ready for more hardcore Jolie action?

Angelina Jolie's pet project The Tourist might finally have a director, according to Variety. Internationally acclaimed director and writer Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck "hasn't formally entered into negotiations," but it's looking likely that the man behind the critically hailed film The Lives of Others will be hopping behind the camera for this 2011 release.

Jolie reportedly turned down the sequel of Wanted in favor of The Tourist (although the rumors of her return of the sexy tattooed assassin remain at large) but she was holding out on officially signing on to The Tourist until Spyglass found a director she approved of.

Strangely enough, Tom Cruise was originally set to costar but dropped out in favor of Knight & Day with Cameron Diaz. Jolie's latest film, Salt, was originally set to star Tom Cruise, but then he backed out, the writers did a quick fix-me-up on the script, and voila -- here's Evelyn Salt!

In any case, this remake of Anthony Zimmer is about an Interpol agent hot on the trail of a former paramour and criminal; the spy makes use of an American tourist to help find her. Sam Worthington (Avatar) costars as the tourist, and according to /Film, Jolie plays the ex. On the other hand, Variety is reporting that she plays the Interpol agent. Hollywood Reporter is taking the safer route and not saying what Jolie's role will be. Yikes!

2011 sounds like one of those things where the movie keeps getting pushed back more and more until the stars and director are all like, "Whatever, I have no idea what's happening with that any more." But remember when Angelina Jolie provided us guilty pleasure movies like The Bone Collector? I would be happy to see her as the spy or the criminal; what do you think?

If you read these pages with any regularity, you already know that I'm quite a fan of Ellen Page. Her work thus far, in Hard Candy, An American Crime, and, most recently, in the lovable, fabulous Juno, has been superb. I noted a while back that Page has several films warming up in the bullpen, and one of them is Jack and Diane, in which she's set to costar opposite Olivia Thirlby, who plays her best friend in Juno.

Now let me tell you about Jack and Diane (oh, you knew I had to go there, c'mon). According to its website, the film, which is supposed to be directed by Bradley Rust Gray (Salt), is about: "Jack and Diane, two teenage lesbians, meet in New York City and spend the night kissing ferociously. Diane's charming innocence quickly begins to open Jack's tough skinned heart. But, when Jack discovers that Diane is leaving the country in a week she tries to push her away. Diane must struggle to keep their love alive while hiding the secret that her newly awakened sexual desire occasionally turns her into a werewolf."

Lesbian teenage werewolves? Holy jeepers, what's the world coming to? This excerpt from the director's statement gives a better idea of what Gray has in mind: "I see JACK & DIANE as an investigation of love. It's unapologetically romantic. Love is the most instinctive way for us to understand other people regardless of cultural background, race, or sexuality. Everyone has the same desire to love and to be loved." (You can read a lot more about the film at its official website.)