Nick Cassavetes, the master of three-hankie weepies such as “The Notebook” and “My Sister’s Keeper” is suing New Line for bumping him off “Peaceable Kingdom,” a biopic about Dame Daphne Sheldrick‘s efforts to prevent elephant extinction in Kenya.
According to THR (and Cassavetes), New Line head honcho Toby Emmerich asked the director to do a page one rewrite (meaning a total overhaul) of the script, with the promise that he would be able to direct the project. Cassavetes agreed but once he turned in the script, Emmerich promptly told him his services were no longer needed. Cassavetes is now suing the studio for $1,050,000, $750,000 of which is his usual writing fee (note to self: we need to get an agent) plus another $300,000 which New Line initially promised him for script development services ($25,000 of which was earmarked for an office — we seriously need to get an agent). He is also suing for millions more for his directing fee, and wages lost on other jobs he turned down while working on this film.
The project, also known under the working title “Elephant Orphanage,” definitely sounds like something that would be right up Cassavetes’ alley. It’s an “issues” film like “John Q” with a heart-tugging center, and we would wager the studio was eyeing a “Gorillas In The Mist” kind of vibe. There is no word yet on who New Line who has lined up to take the director’s chair, but we would advise them to stay clear of Cassavetes.
I would cut my balls off before spending $12 on "Nick Cassavetes' Elephant Orphanage"
I was at a university screening of Alpha Dog a few years ago with Cassavetes in attendance. The room was maybe 100 seats, mostly used for film classes, and there were maybe 6 other people there besides a friend and I. It was sad and I felt for Cassavetes. For one, he's the son of one of the great actor/writer/directors in American cinema history, and one of the great actresses of the world. Beyond that, I respect directors like him, Curtis Hanson and Marc Forster who do solid jobs in different genre's and are above all else reliable, if not very stylisticly adventerous directors. I also thing Alpha Dog was unfairly maligned and incredibly poorly released. Even beyond that though was the way Cassavetes handled the low attendance (all of us received promotional Alpha Dog hats too, and there were dozens and dozens left over in the box). He stayed, talked for a half an hour to everyone who had a question and didn't seem fazed by the lack of turn-out. So while I may not think he's an incredible filmmaker who's every project a studio should greenlight immediately, I do think he's an asset to any studio and mainstreem American film in general. He makes solid movies in different genres, and I for one would much rather have a slate of good, story driven films than films based on toys.
In short: I'd like to see the damned Elephant movie with Cassavetes in the directors chair.
Marc Forster hasn't made a good movie yet either.