You knew this was coming. Wes Anderson’s “The Darjeeling Limited” expands to 600-700 screens this Friday and the short “Hotel Chevalier” will finally come attached. The short is so popular (and in some cases more popular and more favorably reviewed then ‘Darjeeling’) that Fox Searchlight plans to promote it as a contender for the live-action short Academy Awards category.
And once again Natalie Portman’s “nude scene” is hardly a nude scene, unless you’re trying to make headlines (which you are). [Hollywood Reporter] Looking past the animated “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” film (which is currently being shot), Anderson has another live-action film that he hopes to start shooting next year. “Ideally, I’d like to have two movies opening at the same time,” he said optimistically without revealing anything about its plot of course (maybe the other film written with Noah Baumbach?) [Cleveland Free Times]
A day before he’s set to shoot Peter Jackson’s “Lovely Bones,” Ryan Gosling quits his lead role in the film due to creative differences with the LOTR director. Mark Wahlberg has stepped in at the last minute. Gosling gained 20 lbs and grew a chunky beard to play the part. [Variety]
First Brian DePalma raises a huge fucking stink about his controversial “Redacted” Iraq film being censored, then he gives up cause he knows he doesn’t have legal leg to stand on and now he’s whining about it again. Make up your mind, dude. [Reuters]
Soon to be C-list torture porn “director” Eli Roth is mad at hell for the goons who leaked his “Hostel II” film. By his accounts they’re responsible for the film tanking at the box office (suuuuure, dude). He’s also taking a fun 2-minute idea (the trailers from “Grindhouse”) and making it into a feature-length film called “Trailer Trash.” Dude obviously doesn’t understand the concept of less is more. [MTV]
Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers’ “Where The Wild Things Are” script has leaked, or at least Vulture has got their hands on a copy and they say it’s “really, really good.” [Vulture]
Francis Ford Coppola – who incidentally is going around dissing old friends left, right and center – says, you should be in no rush to decide whether his new film, “Youth Without Youth” is good or not and you should take your time to mull it over. “I only ask you to think that my film was interesting,” Coppola said in what sounds like a preemptive apologetic strike to some bad reviews. [Associated Press]
You remember that Gregg Araki film “Smiley Face” we mentioned way back in the spring? It’s a stoner comedy starring Anna Faris and it was due in the spring and then got pushed back to the summer. We said then don’t be surprised if it gets pushed yet again. Well, it’s been pushed alright. Straight to a DVD only release. [MTV]
