* Warren Beatty hasn't written and directed a movie since Bullworth
back in 1998. That film is notable to me as being the punchline in one of Kool Keith's best rap songs("So wack you sound like the Bullworth soundtrack!". But while he doesn't appear to have Dick Tracy 2 anywhere on his to-do list(despite his recent claims), he is getting back into the filmmaking game. Paramount is on board to back a new untitled comedy from Beatty which he'll write, produce, direct, and star in. It's set to shoot sometime this year. [Deadline]* Penn Badgley(Gossip Girl
) has been attached to a pair of biopics on the life of late musician/songwriter Jeff Buckley, who died in a drowning accident in 1997. Now it's been revealed that he'll be starring in Greetings from Tim Buckley, a film by director Dan Algrant that tells the story of Buckley's landmark 1991 performance at St. Anne's Church. Shooting begins in New York in August.* Guillermo Del Toro would "take the meeting" if Disney asked him to direct Maleficent, their reimagining of the Sleeping Beauty
story from the perspective of the evil fairy godmother. Angelina Jolie is set to star, but the film is looking for a new helmer since Tim Burton dropped out. Darren Aronofsky and David O. Russell's names have been floated as possible replacements, but does anyone think Disney wouldn't side with Del Toro if his schedule opened up? Here's what he told the LA Times...Del Toro: Let me put it this way, if they ask I’ll take the meeting… I think Maleficent’s dragon is the only design with the wings separate from the front legs, the only time that design has ever worked. And let me tell you how much of a fan I am… It’s one of my three favorite Disney films. I would love to. But I don’t want to put too many hopes on it. They’re probably on a fast track and I cannot take any more projects on a fast track.
