* What? You mean a major movie studio balked at the idea of Mel "fu**king Jews" Gibson making an action movie about one of the most important periods in Jewish history? Pfft! Surely you jest! Gibson had been planning to direct a film based on the story of Judah Maccabeus, the Jewish hero whose exploits are celebrated during Hanukah. Well, Warner Brothers has said "forget that sh*t, man!", and pulled the plug on the whole idea. What'll happen to the film now? The script by Joe Eszterhas(Basic Instinct) is still out there, so maybe it'll get made with somebody who isn't so toxic. Then again, it's the script that's being cited as the reason for the film being held, but that sounds like a smokescreen to me. [The Wrap]
* Julia Stiles, Ciaran Hinds, and Riz Ahmed(Four Lions), and Anne-Marie Duff(The Magdalene Sisters) have joined the cast of the untitled international thriller from director John Crowley(Boy A). Starring Eric Bana, Jim Broadbent, and Rebecca Hall with a script by Steven Knight(Dirty Pretty Things), the film follows two ex-lovers who are thrown together as part of a defense team in a terrorism trial. Production kicks off next week, and with a creative line-up like that could we be looking at a possible Oscar contender?
* An actor I think is a star in the making is Alden Ehrenreich, who so far has mostly appeared in the works of anybody with the last name Coppola. He starred Francis Ford Coppola's Tetro and will appear in Twixt. He also made an appearance in Sofia Coppola's Somewhere. After missing out on a potential franchise in the shelved Akira adaptation, he'll jump into another by taking over the lead role in Beautiful Creatures. He'll snag the role once held by Jack O'Connell, who had to drop out due to scheduling. This is what I like to call "trading upwards". Directed by Richard LaGravanese, Ehrenreich will star opposite Alice Englert as Ethan Wate and Lena Duchannes, two youngsters who are drawn together by long held family secrets and mysterious powers. Viola Davis, Emma Thompson, Emmy Rossum, and Jeremy Irons co-star.
