Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It: Once again “hot,”
Tom Cruise is looking for something to do next year after he completes filming of mystery thriller
One Shot and sci-fi action flick
Horizons. He’s considering
We Mortals Are, to be directed by Doug Liman (
Mr. and Mrs. Smith), based on Japanese graphic novel
All You Need is Kill; Cruise would play a soldier stuck in a time loop when Earth is invaded by aliens. (
The Hollywood Reporter)
Western Heroine Ready to Blast Off Into Space: Academy Award-nominated teen
Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) is “in talks” for a lead role in
Ender’s Game, the big-screen adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s classic science-fiction novel. Casting news began heating up after Asa Butterfield was confirmed to play young Ender, with Harrison Ford among the names circulating for an older training commander character. (
Variety)
Jesus Wept: Writer Seth Grahame-Smith (
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) sold the movie rights to his forthcoming opus,
Unholy Night, to Warner Bros. for an amount “in the vicinity of” $2 million. The novel converts the Biblical “three wise men,” who visited young Jesus, into action-adventure heroes. (
Deadline)
From Phone to Big Screen: A
movie shot on a smartphone will play in a Los Angeles theater for a week. Entitled
Olive and directed by Hooman Khalili, the project ended up costing $500,000 (!) and the filmmakers had to build a 35-millimeter camera from scratch -- and then attach it to the phone with double-sided tape. (
Los Angeles Times)
To Be or Not to Be: Nearly one month ago, film critic
Roger Ebert revealed that his movie review show on public television was in financial trouble; now he’s announced that the show will go
on hiatus at the end of the year while they suss out their options. Meanwhile, industry analyst Anne Thompson advises: “Let it go, Roger,” saying his new reviewers “simply lacked the right stuff.” (
Roger Ebert’s Journal |
Thompson on Hollywood)