1.) The stars continue to line up for Winter’s Tale, the directorial debut from screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (Cinderella Man, I Am Legend). Matt Bomer (Magic Mike), Lucy Griffiths (“True Blood”) and legendary Hitchcock muse Eva Marie Saint (North by Northwest) are the latest to join the already impressive cast. Colin Farrell stars as thief who breaks into a mansion and falls for the dying young woman (Jessica Brown Findlay of “Downton Abbey”) living there. That’s just one aspect of the film’s plot, which also somehow involves a flying white horse and shifts between 19th Century New York and the present day.
Bomer and Griffiths will play Farrell’s parents, presumably in flashbacks, while William Hurt, Russell Crowe and Will Smith are also on board. Smith and Crowe’s roles are believed to be on the small side, as they’re taking part as a favor to Goldsman. The film will mark Saint’s first on-screen appearance since 2006’s Superman Returns. If the cast wasn’t enough to pique your interest, Goldsman has also tapped 5-time Oscar nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel and composer Hans Zimmer. [Deadline]
2.) Michael Bay explained his decision to return for a fourth Transformers movie, and it has a lot more to do with a theme park ride than I would have expected. Here’s the quote via Huffington Post:
I thought I was done. Then the ride came out [at Universal Studios Hollywood] and the two-and-a-half-hour lines. And then you’re thinking, Oh my God, someone’s going to take this over. And you start doing a lot of soul-searching. Like, OK, I’m about to do a little movie, Pain & Gain … and the studio says they want to restart the franchise. And someone could come in here and screw it up, you know? So I’m thinking that if I do this last one, we set it on a new footing, we change a lot of things — but we keep the history of the three in place. But we broaden it so it can be set up and be carried on — it would have a better chance for survival, I guess.
3.) Have you been dying to see an independent filmmaker knock out one of his biggest critics? Well, today is your lucky day. Check out the following video to watch Joe Swanberg (V/H/S, Nights and Weekends) lay the smack down on Bad Ass Digest editor Devin Faraci over the weekend at the annual “Fantastic Debates” portion of Fantastic Fest.
4.) Reno 911! co-creator Robert Ben Garant will direct Paramount’s comedic adaptation of Baywatch. The script from Peter Tolan (creator of “Rescue Me”) is said to feature roles written for Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff, though they wouldn’t be playing the same characters they did in the series. Tolan has also mentioned that the tone will be similar to that of Stripes, which makes sense given that Baywatch will be produced by Stripes director Ivan Reitman. I’ll be ready. Will you? [Vulture]
5.) Production for Kick-Ass 2 is underway in Toronto, and just above you’ll see a picture of Donald Faison in full costume as Doctor Gravity, tweeted from the set by director Jeff Wadlow (Never Back Down). In addition to that, I have video below of Aaron Johnson and Jim Carrey filming a scene. Johnson plays the title character, while Carrey plays a character named Colonel Stars. [Mr. Will Wong]
