Can there be a better lead item today than a shot of Mel Gibson running with a stuffed Beaver doll in his hands on the set of Jodie Foster’s upcoming directorial effort, “The Beaver,” which stars Gibson, herself and Anton Yelchin (“Terminator Salvation”)?The logline of the film, in case you’ve somehow forgotten, is about a guy (Gibson obviously) that walks around with a puppet of a beaver on his hand and treats it like a living creature. Uhh, yeah, pretty much and who also seemingly goes for jogs with it too. Foster plays the wife and Yelchin plays the son in what is supposed to be a black comedy set for release sometime in 2010. The script was featured in last year’s “The Black List,” which is a list compiled of Hollywood executives of their favorite and not necessarily best, scripts. [CelebGossip via MovieLine]
Mitch Rouse and Christopher Nelson have sold their action horror spec script “Supermax,” to Columbia. It takes inside a maximum security prison, but should not be mistaken for the other maximum-security-prison-action property from Warners’ called “Super Max,” which is based on D.C. Comics hero Green Arrow and a story that chronicles his stay in prison, written by one of “The Dark Knight” scribes David Goyer, but is still evidently in development. [THR]
AICN has a spoilerish review of Noah Baumbach’s “Greenberg,” or Untitled as it was last referred to. The film, as you’ll recall stars Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, and centers on a New Yorker (Stiller) who moves to L.A. to house-sit for his brother and figure out his life and ends up having a relationship with his brother’s assistant (Gerwig). Rhys Ifans, Brie Larson and Juno Temple also star, but the big takeaway is the review is very positive and that Baumbach’s comedy is still as acidic and black as ever. Aspect ratio nerds can note that Baumbach’s cinematographer Harris Savides has evidently shot the film in a wide anamorphic scope.
This slipped under our radar (or we didn’t really care at the time), but it appears “Avatar” isn’t the only James Cameron 3D film we can expect to come down the pike. Cameron’s production company, Lightstorm Entertainment, have recently finished up 3D testing on two of the director’s biggest films — “Titanic” and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” according to THR. While there are no firm commitments that these will grace theater screens anytime soon, we can guess that any further development is hinging on “Avatar.” Anything short of a colossal take at the box-office for Cameron’s forthcoming game-changer will probably be considered a disappointment so don’t count on seeing Leo screaming “I’m king of the world” in your face anytime soon.
"The Beaver" = Mr. Garrison from South Park?
Sucks about Mitchell. He's such a great part of the critical community, that whenever he pops up doing a show or writing the occasional piece it's a treat. He seems to have some kind of odd private life that involved carrying large sums of money, but hopefully he'll avoid any kind of jailtime. Hey, maybe being in financial ruin will make him work more, that'd be a win-win!
(I'm also rather interested in Savides shooting 2.35:1, or as this site calls it 2:3:5, especially in Baumbach's newly minted handheld Louis Malle-esque style. But that guy needs to ditch the mumblecore friends, that shit will tear him down.)
I'm with you on the mumblecore friends, but maybe a real director can make them work and real talent will help them rise to the occasion?
Let's hope.
Confused about your skeptical tone regarding The Beaver. Have you read the script?
Not meant to sound skeptical. It sounds funny. No i haven't read it, but i have it lying around somewhere.
I think Justin marks wrote Super Max, Goyer is only producing.