On the surface, the news that the Lauren Conrad, former star of “Laguna Beach” and “The Hills,” has successfully sold the rights to her first novel to Temple Hill Entertainment sounds like a bad thing. However, I am actually quite pleased with this news and I will tell you why.

According to the Variety article, Conrad’s book L.A. Candy is semi-autobiographical look at what it’s like for a 19-year old girl to become a reality TV star in California. A quick perusal of the 1 and 2-star Amazon.com reviews reveals that even though the book is crap, there’s some interesting things that it reveals about exactly how much “reality” is in a reality TV show.

This is echoed by Marty Bowen, one of the movie’s producers:

“Lauren, who became an icon in that reality show world, came to us with a structure of how to tell the story in an interesting fashion that was separate and apart from the book,” Bowen said. “We loved her take. Her book is an honest portrayal of what it must be like to set out to be normal, then sign on to become famous and eventually realize, wow, this isn’t at all what I’d planned for myself.”

And yes, I know that The Truman Show and EDtv have already covered this ground, but think of how many good movies there have been about the same subject! Like you wouldn’t throw out A Star is Born just because you prefer Funny Girl, would you?

Truly, how good or how bad this project will be hinges completely on the screenwriter’s identity (which is yet to be determined) and how good Bowen and co-producer Wyck Godfrey will be at getting Conrad to stay out of his/her way, even if she is an executive producer and has it written into the contract that she gets to have a hand in the direction the script takes.

My first reaction to hearing the news that the new David Mamet film was not going to be an adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank and that it has been put into turnaround was a hearty, “Oh, fuck.”

From Sharon Waxman at The Wrap.com, comes the news that the script that Mamet turned in to the Disney executives was a bit too much for the House of Mouse:

[The] screenplay is not a retelling of the famous Holocaust drama taken from the diaries of Frank, but about a contemporary Jewish girl who goes to Israel and learns about the traumas of suicide bombing.

With the studio in a state of limbo after the ouster of chairman Dick Cook, it is unlikely that any projects will be getting the go-ahead at the moment, say executives doing business there.

“It’s very intense, and dark and scary,” said the executive. “It’s not a film version of The Diary of Anne Frank. The story evolved into something more intense.”

To this I say, “He’s David Fucking Mamet! What the hell did you expect?”

No word on where the project will end up, if anywhere.

Related Posts: David Mamet + Anne Frank = Verbal explosion!

It may be slow-going thanks to the economy, but news of the Toronto Film Festival buys keeps coming in.

The latest was Newmarket Films’ acquisition of the rights to Creation, directed by Jon Amiel and starring married couple Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly as Charles Darwin and his wife Emma, according to Variety.

As Gordon and I argued about when this project was first cast last year, I’m not entirely convinced that a story about “Charles Darwin and his family as he struggles to finish On the Origin of Species” is going to be compelling if it just focuses on his work and not the interpersonal relationships between him, his wife, his colleagues as he was writing the book; from the trailer, it looks like I’m right and that’s the direction Amiel took the project:

I guess the only way I’m going to find out for sure is if I actually go and see the movie. Luckily, I’ll get a chance to when Newmarket sends it to theaters this December. I’ll also give mad props to Newmarket for choosing to have this on a slate which also included The Passion of the Christ.

Heresy for Christmas, anyone?

Related Posts: Real Life Marrieds Bettany and Connelly to Uncover the Origin of Darwin’s Species

I’ve been a pretty bad Facebook friend to writer Aaron Sorkin’s page about his upcoming movie, but I sincerely hope that this post makes up for it.

From an article in Variety comes the news that the movie will be called The Social Network, and here are its cast members (from left to right) and the people who they’re playing:

• Jesse Eisenberg (the upcoming Zombieland) will be playing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
• Justin Timberlake will be playing Sean Parker, founding president (and former co-founder of Napster)
• Andrew Garfield (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Boy A) will be playing Eduardo Saverin, the ex-co-founder who according to the novel the movie’s based on, fell out with Zuckerberg over money.

Production is starting next month in Facebook’s birthplace of Massachusetts in Boston, and will then move to L.A.

Related Posts: Aaron Sorkin Wants to Be Facebook’s Friend

It’s been a strange September for the folks who work at the Walt Disney Studios.

Just two weekends ago, chairman Dick Cook was riding high on the waves of fan and industry approval as he and Captain Jack Sparrow (played by Johnny Depp in full costume with part of a pirate ship in the background) announced the title of the fourth film in the Pirates of the Carribbean franchise at D23, the first fan convention sponsored by the Walt Disney Company.

Last Friday, the studio announced Cook’s departure in a press release that seemed to take everyone by surprise… everyone who doesn’t talk to Cook on a regular basis, that is.

In his Variety article, writer Marc Graser painted a paradoxical picture:

Officially, Cook and Disney sold the move as the end of a long run.

“To wrap up my Disney experience in a neatly bundled statement is close to impossible,” Cook said. “Our talent roster is simply the best in the business. I believe our slate of upcoming motion pictures is the best in our history. But most of all, I love the people, my colleagues, my teammates, who are the most talented, dedicated and loyal folks in the world. I know that I leave the studio in their exceptional hands.”

Behind the scenes, however, Cook told colleagues a different story. During a meeting with staffers, Cook declared that change is coming at the studio and that he isn’t part of that future. He called himself a “square peg in a round hole.”

More troubling to fans who are awaiting the fourth Pirates film is the idea that Cook’s departure could have an impact on Depp’s commitment to the project as Cook was instrumental in getting him on board to do the film. From a reaction piece in the L.A. Times’ entertainment blog:

Depp said one of the reasons he committed to the movie was because he trusted Cook.

“He’s instantly trustworthy. And you generally don’t meet people at the studios you trust,” Depp said. “He’s a rare beast.”

Depp said Cook’s true character was evident right from the get-go. “When things went a little sideways on the first Pirates movie and others at the studio were less than enthusiastic about my interpretation of the character, Dick was there from the first moment. He trusted me,” said Depp, referring to his controversial choices to fill his mouth with gold fillings and wear “things tied into my hair” that made him resemble Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards as much as he did a pirate.

While some of the Disney executives were “opposed to my body language,” Cook “was completely supportive of me,” Depp said.

As for the fourth planned Pirates movie, Depp said while he has a potential deal in place that will depend on how good the script is, his passion for the project at the moment has been severely dampened by the news that Cook will no longer be around.

“There’s a fissure, a crack in my enthusiasm at the moment,” Depp said. “It was all born in that office.”

Let’s hope that October brings better news from the Disney Studios.

Related Posts: Quick Cuts: D23 spills beans on Pirates, Guillermo del Toro, and more

A quick Twitter exchange yesterday afternoon with a fellow Disney buff from California revealed that I missed some pretty important news that came out of the D23 expo that was held last weekend as well as some other Disney-related news, so here’s a quick recap:

• After playing 30 min. of The Princess and the Frog and telling the Sunday attendees that the studios made a mistake when they shunned traditional 2D animation for 3D computer generated fare, Disney/Pixar studio head John Lasseter proceeded to announce that the next Disney animated musical will be based on the story of Rapunzel will star pop star Mandy Moore as the long-haired princess and Zachary Levi (“Chuck”) will be her prince. The movie will be coming out in theaters during the winter holidays in 2010—and it will also be Disney’s first CG animated musical. (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)
• Tron Legacy will be released to simultaneously to regular theaters and IMAX on December 17, 2010—but if there isn’t an IMAX theater near you, don’t worry! The regular theaters will also allow you to view it in Disney’s Digital 3D format. (Source: Variety)
• The title of Forgetting Sarah Marshall star Jason Segel’s upcoming Muppet movie has been revealed as The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made. Details on the plot are a little conflicting because the movie title references an old idea Muppets creator Jim Henson had where Gonzo blows the production budget on the opening credits and everything else needs to be filmed on the cheap whereas the plot line that Segel is working on concerns the Muppets “putting on a show in the barn” to raise enough money to buy it from a sleazy tycoon who wants the oil underneath it. (Source: /Film.com)

There can’t have been anything else important that I missed, can there?

According to Variety, Charlize Theron will no longer play the wife to Nicole Kidman’s role in The Danish Girl, the real life story of the first person to undergo a male-to-female transsexual operation. They also announced that Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In) will be the movie’s director, and that he’s been in talks with the production staff for almost a year.

Written by Lucinda Coxon from a novel by David Ebershoff, the story revolves around Lili Elbe, who started out life as Einar Wegener in Denmark in the late 1800s and underwent five surgeries in 1931 to complete a transition from living as a male transvestite into a woman. Elbe died after complications from her last surgery which was to implant a uterus and allow her to “become a mother.”

No word yet on who will now play the role of Gerda Gottlieb, who traveled and lived with Wegener as a lesbian couple in Paris.

From Variety comes news that the cast for the upcoming A-Team movie has solidified.

• Liam Neeson will take on the role of leader Col. John “Hannibal” Smith (originally played by George Peppard), who “loves it when a plan comes together.”
• Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) will play Lt. Templeton “Faceman” Peck, the team’s con artist and procurement specialist (originally played by Dirk Benedict).
• Sharlto Copely (District 9) is in “final talks” for the role of Capt. H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock, the team’s pilot who is legally insane (originally played by Dwight Schultz).
• UFC fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will be playing Sgt. B.A. “Bad Attitude” Baracus, the team’s mechanic and tough guy (written for and played by Mr. T), contradicting a previous report.
• Jessica Biel is in “final talks” to play one of Peck’s former love interests, who in an interesting nod to the current make-up of the military, is also the general pursuing them after their escape.

Joe Carnahan is directing this large screen remake with Ridley Scott producing with Jules Daly and original series creator Stephen J. Cannell from a script by Skip Woods that updates the team from having been in Vietnam to one of the Gulf Wars.

Perhaps the only reason why I’d see a remake of one of my favorite TV shows growing up is to see how they play out the team trying to evade capture by a female general. Everything else—even knowing that Neeson and Cooper are going to be in it—makes me go “Meh.”

Filming starts this fall in Vancouver, Canada.

Robert Redford is throwing his hat back into the directorial ring with a period drama called The Conspirator, and he’s bringing two fine actors along with him.

Based on the real life events surrounding the investigation of former President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, according to the Variety article, Robin Wright Penn (the upcoming The Private Lives of Pippa Lee) will play Mary Surratt, the only woman who was charged in the conspiracy and James McAvoy (Wanted) will play Frederick Aiken, the man who is charged with defending her and who eventually comes to believe in her innocence.

James Solomon wrote the script, and the film is being produced through the American Film Co., a new production company headed by an online broker named Joe Ricketts whose aim is to tell historically accurate American stories.

Though most of the time period dramas tend to leave me going, “Meh” I like the idea of a production company that’s interested in telling American stories because as Neil Gaiman pointed out in his first novel American Gods, the United States both does and doesn’t have a rich history of lore and legend from which great stories can be told.

I mean, honestly? If more young women heard about the story of Hannah Duston when they were growing up? Think of what kind of societal shifts could take place if women knew that they could be the equal of men when it comes to fighting for freedom.

As un-P.C. as it would be, wouldn’t that be an awesome movie?

Word is that Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen) is in “final negotiations” to join the cast of the Red Dawn remake as the leader of a U.S. Special Forces team who finds the teen warriors’ hideout while he is trapped behind enemy lines, taking the role that Powers Boothe had in the original. Considering that most audiences today know him as the former Marine Corps father who taught his sons Sam and Dean how to fight ghosts in “Supernatural,” this casting is a slam dunk. (Source: Variety)

Despite having sold at Sundance last year, Brooklyn’s Finest had to be sold again after director Antoine Fuqua made some edits and initial buyer Senator wasn’t able to raise the prints and advertising funds needed to distribute the film. The new distributor will be Overture Films, which is paying $2 million—about half the amount that Senator paid last year. (Source: Variety)

Related Posts: Making Out with the Media: The Sundance deals

I don’t know what it is about director Steven Soderbergh, but I’ll bet you that some other filmmakers currently at the Toronto Film Festival are pissed that a film he’s directing that he hasn’t even started has already been picked up for distribution when their finished pictures haven’t yet.

From the article by Variety writer Michael Fleming, Soderbergh’s newest film called Knockout has been picked up by Lionsgate Films for domestic distribution with Mandate handling the international sales. The film will also be fully financed by Relativity Media.

Written by Lem Dobbs (The Limey) and starring Gina Carano (a mixed martial artist and nouveau American Gladiator) the film is to be a spy thriller in the vein of La Femme Nikita, and filming will begin in January 2010 in Ireland, Turkey, and the United States.

I’m not sure I ever talked about this before, but back when I was living in Southern California, I had the pleasure of being at official Disney-sponsored press events as both a reporter for Sequential Tart.com and as a press liaison as a Disney Cast Member.

As such, I think I can definitely envision how D23, the first Disney “fan convention”—and allegedly, its answer to the San Diego Comic Con—kicked off on Friday and how almost all the presentations were run. Thankfully, the Associated Press was also there to cover the first day, and here’s a rundown of the crunchy news bits:

• The title of the new Pirates of the Carribbean movie is Pirates of the Carribbean: On Stranger Tides, and it will be released in Summer 2011. Incidentally, it goes without saying that Johnny Depp was on hand and was dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow while Walt Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook gave this announcement and arrived on stage at the Anaheim Convention Center in a pirate ship, yes? (Source: AP)
• Guillermo del Toro appeared via video from New Zealand to discuss the deal he has with Disney to produce “scarier” animated features via the new brand “Disney Double Dare You.” The first movie will be called Trollhunters, based on an original story by del Toro (Source: AP)
• Robert Zemeckis was also on-hand to show off footage from the upcoming 3-D version of A Christmas Carol, the one that has Jim Carrey playing eight different parts. His next project with Disney will be a 3-D adaptation of the Beatles’ 1968 classic animated film Yellow Submarine. (Source: AP)

I’d be surprised if there was more news to come this weekend because it’d be hard to follow Johnny Depp and a pirate ship, right?