Sony Pictures Classics announced Monday that it has acquired the North American rights to “David Crosby: Remember My Name,” the documentary on the career and life of the Crosby, Stills and Nash singer that premiered Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival.
The deal also includes several other territories outside the U.S. — Sony Pictures Classics has yet to set release plans.
Cameron Crowe produced the documentary directed by A.J. Eaton that is competing in the U.S. Documentary section at Sundance. “Remember My Name” attempts to go beyond the conventions of typical rock-doc profiles and observes the often candid Crosby throughout his 50-year career in music.
Also Read: Csny Comeback? David Crosby Calls for Reunion With Stills, Nash and Young (Video)
It follows Crosby, now in his ’70s, back out onto the road while looking back on his days with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and in The Byrds,...
The deal also includes several other territories outside the U.S. — Sony Pictures Classics has yet to set release plans.
Cameron Crowe produced the documentary directed by A.J. Eaton that is competing in the U.S. Documentary section at Sundance. “Remember My Name” attempts to go beyond the conventions of typical rock-doc profiles and observes the often candid Crosby throughout his 50-year career in music.
Also Read: Csny Comeback? David Crosby Calls for Reunion With Stills, Nash and Young (Video)
It follows Crosby, now in his ’70s, back out onto the road while looking back on his days with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and in The Byrds,...
- 1/29/2019
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Sony Pictures Classics has bought the North American rights to the documentary “David Crosby: Remember My Name” in a deal in the low seven figures.
The film, which premiered on Jan. 26 at the Sundance Film Festival, is produced by Cameron Crowe and directed by A.J. Eaton in his feature directing debut. It includes interviews by Eaton and Crowe (“Almost Famous”) with Crosby about his career, which dates back to the Byrds in the 1960s and the formation of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, along with archival footage.
“Remember My Name” also includes Crosby’s discussion of his health issues, which have included at least two heart attacks and a liver transplant. “Addiction takes you over, like fire takes over a burning building,” he observes at one point.
Crosby, 77, has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice as a member of the Byrds and of Csny. He...
The film, which premiered on Jan. 26 at the Sundance Film Festival, is produced by Cameron Crowe and directed by A.J. Eaton in his feature directing debut. It includes interviews by Eaton and Crowe (“Almost Famous”) with Crosby about his career, which dates back to the Byrds in the 1960s and the formation of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, along with archival footage.
“Remember My Name” also includes Crosby’s discussion of his health issues, which have included at least two heart attacks and a liver transplant. “Addiction takes you over, like fire takes over a burning building,” he observes at one point.
Crosby, 77, has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice as a member of the Byrds and of Csny. He...
- 1/28/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Another one on the Sundance deal hit parade. Sony Pictures Classics has won an auction for David Crosby: Remember My Name, the A.J. Eaton-directed documentary about the folk singing legend. Deal is low seven-figures for North American rights plus some other territories. Pic premiered Saturday at the Marc.
Produced by Cameron Crowe, Meet David Crosby is a documentary portrait of a man with everything but an easy retirement on his mind. The film is an honest, warts and all self-examination of the life and career of Crosby, as the musical icon seeks a creative renaissance at age 77. This followed Crosby facing an uncertain future after the 2015 dissolution of Crosby, Stills and Nash. We learn that Crosby is not on speaking terms with Steven Stills and Graham Nash, and it is part of a very complex man. The film expresses his regrets, fears, exuberance, faith in family and the transformative nature of music.
Produced by Cameron Crowe, Meet David Crosby is a documentary portrait of a man with everything but an easy retirement on his mind. The film is an honest, warts and all self-examination of the life and career of Crosby, as the musical icon seeks a creative renaissance at age 77. This followed Crosby facing an uncertain future after the 2015 dissolution of Crosby, Stills and Nash. We learn that Crosby is not on speaking terms with Steven Stills and Graham Nash, and it is part of a very complex man. The film expresses his regrets, fears, exuberance, faith in family and the transformative nature of music.
- 1/28/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Cameron Crowe and his Vinyl Films banner will produce a documentary about the life and career of musician David Crosby.
The as-yet untitled project comes from first-time feature doc director A.J. Eaton, who has been following Crosby for the past few years.
BMG, the company behind the Joan Jett doc Bad Reputation, is both financing and executive producing the film.
Michele Farinola of Pch Films and Greg Mariotti of Vinyl Films will also produce. Justus Haerder and Kathy Rivkin-Daum of BMG will executive produce, along with Jill Mazursky, Norm Waitt and James Keach for Pch Films.
"It’s just such a compelling story," said...
The as-yet untitled project comes from first-time feature doc director A.J. Eaton, who has been following Crosby for the past few years.
BMG, the company behind the Joan Jett doc Bad Reputation, is both financing and executive producing the film.
Michele Farinola of Pch Films and Greg Mariotti of Vinyl Films will also produce. Justus Haerder and Kathy Rivkin-Daum of BMG will executive produce, along with Jill Mazursky, Norm Waitt and James Keach for Pch Films.
"It’s just such a compelling story," said...
- 4/3/2018
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cameron Crowe has signed on to produce BMG’s documentary about David Crosby, the mustachioed one-third of the great Crosby Stills & Nash classic rock trio. The film will be directed by A.J. Eaton.
“It’s just such a compelling story,” said Crowe. “David Crosby has been near the forefront of music and social change for the last four decades. Now 76, he’s forging a new path by seeking out younger musicians and trying to make a mark in a world now so different from the generation he came to define in the ’60s.”
Crowe said the untitled doc will be “a raw and moving portrait, rough edges and all,” and that Eaton (pictured, with Crosby and Crowe) has been “filming Croz for the last several years.”
The Crosby film will be produced by Michele Farinola for Pch Films and Greg Mariotti for Vinyl Films, in addition to Crowe. Executive producers...
“It’s just such a compelling story,” said Crowe. “David Crosby has been near the forefront of music and social change for the last four decades. Now 76, he’s forging a new path by seeking out younger musicians and trying to make a mark in a world now so different from the generation he came to define in the ’60s.”
Crowe said the untitled doc will be “a raw and moving portrait, rough edges and all,” and that Eaton (pictured, with Crosby and Crowe) has been “filming Croz for the last several years.”
The Crosby film will be produced by Michele Farinola for Pch Films and Greg Mariotti for Vinyl Films, in addition to Crowe. Executive producers...
- 4/3/2018
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Cameron Crowe and his Vinyl Films banner will produce a documentary about the life and career of musician David Crosby.
The as-yet untitled project comes from first-time feature doc director A.J. Eaton, who has been following Crosby for the past few years.
BMG, the company behind the Joan Jett doc <em>Bad Reputation</em>, is both financing and executive producing the film.
Michele Farinola of Pch Films and Greg Mariotti of Vinyl Films will also produce. Justus Haerder and Kathy Rivkin-Daum of BMG will executive produce, along with Jill Mazursky, Norm Waitt and James Keach for Pch Films.
"It’...
The as-yet untitled project comes from first-time feature doc director A.J. Eaton, who has been following Crosby for the past few years.
BMG, the company behind the Joan Jett doc <em>Bad Reputation</em>, is both financing and executive producing the film.
Michele Farinola of Pch Films and Greg Mariotti of Vinyl Films will also produce. Justus Haerder and Kathy Rivkin-Daum of BMG will executive produce, along with Jill Mazursky, Norm Waitt and James Keach for Pch Films.
"It’...
BMG announced today that Oscar-winning filmmaker Cameron Crowe, best known for rock-themed films such as “Singles” and “Almost Famous,” has signed a deal with the company to produce a documentary on the life of rock icon David Crosby. It is the first documentary about the veteran rocker — a founding member of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young — to be fully authorized by the artist. BMG is both financier and executive producer of the film, with all rights available worldwide.
The still-untitled film is helmed by first time feature-doc director A.J. Eaton (pictured above with Crosby, center, and Crowe, right), who has been following the singer for several years. In addition to producing the documentary, Crowe has conducted multiple interviews with Crosby. Crowe previously wrote and directed the musical documentaries “Pearl Jam Twenty (PJ20)” and “The Union,” on the 2011 collaboration between Elton John and Leon Russell.
“It’s just such a compelling story.
The still-untitled film is helmed by first time feature-doc director A.J. Eaton (pictured above with Crosby, center, and Crowe, right), who has been following the singer for several years. In addition to producing the documentary, Crowe has conducted multiple interviews with Crosby. Crowe previously wrote and directed the musical documentaries “Pearl Jam Twenty (PJ20)” and “The Union,” on the 2011 collaboration between Elton John and Leon Russell.
“It’s just such a compelling story.
- 4/3/2018
- by Variety Staff
- Variety Film + TV
It's been 12 years since Nia Vardalos won over audiences with her rowdy and sweet romantic-comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding. And in her mind, it's time for a good old-fashioned sequel. Variety reports Gold Circle Films and HBO Films are reteaming to produce My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, which has not yet released an official title. Nia Vardalos and John Corbett, who starred in the first film, will be back reprising their roles, and it's likely producers will work to reunite much of Vardalos' onscreen family as well. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are back on board as producers, alongside Gary Goetzman. Paul Brooks, Norm Waitt, Steven Shareshian return as executive producers, adding Scott Niemeyer and Vardalos herself. In a statement, Nia Vardalos, who also wrote the script for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, was quick to explain the inspiration for the sequel, while defending it against anticipated cynical attacks.
- 5/28/2014
- cinemablend.com
Nia Vardalos has written sequel to hit comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Playtone, HBO and Gold Circle are developing a sequel to 2002’s hit comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Nia Vardalos and John Corbett will reprise their roles from the first film.
Written by Vardalos, the sequel will be produced by Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.
Paul Brooks, Scott Niemeyer, Norm Waitt and Steven Shareshian will executive produce, along with Vardalos.
Good Universe will handle international sales.
The sequel will centre on the reveal of a family secret and a new wedding that brings the Portokalos family back together again.
Vardalos commented: “Now that I’m experiencing motherhood, I’m ready to write the next chapter of my family story. Of course a few jaded folks in the press corps will claim I ran out of money or just want to kiss John Corbett again. One of these things is true.”
The first film...
Playtone, HBO and Gold Circle are developing a sequel to 2002’s hit comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Nia Vardalos and John Corbett will reprise their roles from the first film.
Written by Vardalos, the sequel will be produced by Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.
Paul Brooks, Scott Niemeyer, Norm Waitt and Steven Shareshian will executive produce, along with Vardalos.
Good Universe will handle international sales.
The sequel will centre on the reveal of a family secret and a new wedding that brings the Portokalos family back together again.
Vardalos commented: “Now that I’m experiencing motherhood, I’m ready to write the next chapter of my family story. Of course a few jaded folks in the press corps will claim I ran out of money or just want to kiss John Corbett again. One of these things is true.”
The first film...
- 5/27/2014
- by ian.sandwell@screendaily.com (Ian Sandwell)
- ScreenDaily
Nia Vardalos has written sequel to hit comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Playtone, HBO and Gold Circle are developing a sequel to 2002’s hit comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Nia Vardalos and John Corbett will reprise their roles from the first film.
Written by Vardalos, the sequel will be produced by Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.
Paul Brooks, Scott Niemeyer, Norm Waitt and Steven Shareshian will executive produce, along with Vardalos.
Good Universe will handle international sales.
The sequel will centre on the reveal of a family secret and a new wedding that brings the Portokalos family back together again.
Vardalos commented: “Now that I’m experiencing motherhood, I’m ready to write the next chapter of my family story. Of course a few jaded folks in the press corps will claim I ran out of money or just want to kiss John Corbett again. One of these things is true.”
The first film...
Playtone, HBO and Gold Circle are developing a sequel to 2002’s hit comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Nia Vardalos and John Corbett will reprise their roles from the first film.
Written by Vardalos, the sequel will be produced by Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.
Paul Brooks, Scott Niemeyer, Norm Waitt and Steven Shareshian will executive produce, along with Vardalos.
Good Universe will handle international sales.
The sequel will centre on the reveal of a family secret and a new wedding that brings the Portokalos family back together again.
Vardalos commented: “Now that I’m experiencing motherhood, I’m ready to write the next chapter of my family story. Of course a few jaded folks in the press corps will claim I ran out of money or just want to kiss John Corbett again. One of these things is true.”
The first film...
- 5/27/2014
- by ian.sandwell@screendaily.com (Ian Sandwell)
- ScreenDaily
Some 12 years after it was released and became one of the biggest independent films of its era, My Big Fat Greek Wedding is getting a feature sequel from Gold Circle, HBO and Playtone. Nia Vardalos, who wrote the first, has scripted the second installment and will star with John Corbett, her groom in the original Joel Zwick-directed romantic comedy. Also back is the brash Portokalos family. Rita Wilson is producing with Playtone partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, with Gold Circle’s Paul Brooks exec producing with Scott Niemeyer, Norm Waitt, Steven Shareshian and Nia Vardalos. Good Universe is handling international sales. That is a long wait for a sequel, but the original reflected the sensibilities of Vardalos, and it took time for her to find the second installment. “Now that I’m experiencing motherhood, I’m ready to write the next chapter of my family story,” Vardalos said in a statement.
- 5/27/2014
- by MIKE FLEMING JR
- Deadline
Exclusive: Gold Circle Films is out to cast on The Brotherhood of the Rose, an adaptation of the David Morrell novel that will be the next film directed by Ross Katz. Katz will shoot it early next year. After getting Oscar nominations for producing In the Bedroom and Lost in Translation, Katz made his directing debut on the 2009 HBO film Taking Chance. The film starred Kevin Bacon as a soldier escorting home to Wyoming the body of a 19- year old marine soldier who was killed in action. Katz, who wrote the script, won DGA and WGA Awards, and Bacon won a Golden Globe for his performance. Katz and his producing partner Fred Berger adapted The Brotherhood of the Rose from the 1984 novel by Morrell, who also wrote First Blood, the novel that hatched the Rambo series with Sly Stallone. The Brotherhood of the Rose was turned into a 1989 NBC...
- 7/19/2011
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
Alright guys, let’s just say it. Katherine Heigl is an uber babe. Problem is, she is cold as ice, but there is one thing that all her movies have in common. They show you how to get the actress in 90 mins or less. Here are some things to consider - be an asshole, and wait ninety minutes, pretty simple. Oh, and it’s preferable if you’re slightly unshaven with brown hair. I found this great video that looks at her movies like 27 Dresses, The Ugly Truth and Knocked Up and compares the trend of how she eventually hooks up with these guys. Knocked Up is the only interesting one because Rogen did impregnate her first. That being said, Heigl’s latest film, Life as We Know It stars her and Josh Duhamel as two singles whose friends die and they are left to take care of their child Sophie.
- 10/7/2010
- by Kevin Coll
- FusedFilm
F. Gary Gray, director responsible for Law Abiding Citizen with Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler has a new project!
This time it’s the mystery thriller titled Hair of the Dog, for Gold Circle Films.
Casting news has not been announced at this time, no production schedule was released for the film as of yet, but we still have some details to share with you.
Kirsten Elms penned the story that will “center on a successful executive who becomes the victim of a vicious blackmail scheme that threatens to destroy his family. But he discovers he is just a pawn in the midst of a much darker agenda.”
Paul Brooks will produce, and his Gold Circle partners Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt will exec produce, while Guy Danella and Jeremy Platt are onboard to co-produce.
Gray’s Gold Circle slate includes Life as We Know It starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel,...
This time it’s the mystery thriller titled Hair of the Dog, for Gold Circle Films.
Casting news has not been announced at this time, no production schedule was released for the film as of yet, but we still have some details to share with you.
Kirsten Elms penned the story that will “center on a successful executive who becomes the victim of a vicious blackmail scheme that threatens to destroy his family. But he discovers he is just a pawn in the midst of a much darker agenda.”
Paul Brooks will produce, and his Gold Circle partners Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt will exec produce, while Guy Danella and Jeremy Platt are onboard to co-produce.
Gray’s Gold Circle slate includes Life as We Know It starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel,...
- 8/12/2010
- by Fiona
- Filmofilia
F. Gary Gray is in talks to direct Gold Circle.s thriller "Hair of the Dog." According to Variety, Kirsten Elms wrote the screenplay.Paul Brooks and Guy Danella will produce, with Gold Circle.s Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt executive producing. The film centers on a successful executive whose family is targeted by a blackmail scheme, which is a front for a much darker agenda. Gray is coming off of the success of the Gerard Butler-Jamie Foxx film "Law Abiding Citizen," which earned $120 million worldwide.His other films include "The Italian Job," "The Negotiator," "A Man Apart" and "Friday."...
- 8/5/2010
- by Adnan Tezer
- Monsters and Critics
F. Gary Gray isn't taking much of a break ever since his thriller "Law Abiding Citizen" came out in theaters. Okay, so it's been since October when "Citizen" came out, but that doesn't mean there isn't any attention on the director now. That's where "Hair of the Dog" comes in. No, he's not turning into a pet groomer, but he's directing the latest mystery thriller from Gold Circle Films. The story, penned by Kirsten Elms, focuses on a successful executive who becomes the victim of a vicious blackmail scheme that threatens to destroy his family. But he discovers he is just a pawn in the midst of a much darker agenda. Set to produce is Paul Brooks, Norm Waitt and Scott Niemeyer under Gold Circle. Unfortunately there's no word on when this will be going in front of the camera anytime soon.I don't know about you guys, but "Law Abiding Citizen...
- 8/4/2010
- LRMonline.com
Tom Elkins, (”Wanted”, “A Haunting In Connecticut, “The Da Vinci Code”) has been tapped to direct “A Haunting In Georgia”, the follow-up to the 2009 film “A Haunting in Connecticut”. “A Haunting In Georgia” was written by David Coggeshall, and tells the true story of a young family that encounters a mysterious entity in their Southern home that may or may not have malicious intentions. Paul Brooks from Gold Circle will be producing the project, with Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt on as executive producer for the film. “A Haunting In Georgia” is scheduled to start shooting in August. No casting information has been released yet. Stay tuned for more on [...]...
- 4/15/2010
- by Costa Koutsoutis
- ShockYa
Editor Tom Elkins, who has worked on such films as Wanted and The Da Vinci Code , will direct Gold Circle Films' A Haunting in Georgia, a follow-up to 2009's A Haunting in Connecticut , which he also edited. Ti West was originally attached to the project. Written by David Coggeshall, Georgia centers on the true story of a young family imperiled by mysterious entities inhabiting their property in the rural South. Gold Circle topper Paul Brooks will produce, with Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt executive producing. Filming is scheduled to start in August. West explains why he departed the project here .
- 4/15/2010
- shocktillyoudrop.com
Editor Tom Elkins, who has worked on such films as Wanted and The Da Vinci Code , will direct Gold Circle Films' A Haunting in Georgia , a follow-up to 2009's A Haunting in Connecticut , which he also edited. Written by David Coggeshall, "Georgia" centers on the true story of a young family imperiled by mysterious entities inhabiting their property in the rural South. Gold Circle topper Paul Brooks will produce, with Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt executive producing. Filming is scheduled to start in August.
- 4/14/2010
- Comingsoon.net
The Safran Company and Gold Circle Films have picked up the spec script Atm by Buried writer Chris Sparling. David Brooks will direct. Peter Safran, who also produced Buried , will produce the project along with Paul Brooks ( A Haunting in Connecticut ). Scott Neimeyer, Norm Waitt and Dan Clifton are executive producing. The film centers on three co-workers who - on a routine stop at an Atm - unexpectedly end up in a desperate fight for their lives. The project will be shot in the fall.
- 2/5/2010
- shocktillyoudrop.com
The Safran Company and Gold Circle Films have picked up the spec script Atm by Buried writer Chris Sparling. David Brooks will direct. Peter Safran, who also produced Buried , will produce the project along with Paul Brooks ( A Haunting in Connecticut ). Scott Neimeyer, Norm Waitt and Dan Clifton are executive producing. The film centers on three co-workers who -- on a routine stop at an Atm -- unexpectedly end up in a desperate fight for their lives. The project will be shot in the fall.
- 2/5/2010
- Comingsoon.net
Sounding very similar to how Darren Lynn Bousman's Mother's Day kicks off comes Atm, which centers on three co-workers who -- on a routine stop at an Atm -- unexpectedly end up in a desperate fight for their lives. The Safran Co. and Gold Circle Films picked up the spec script by Buried writer Chris Sparling. David Brooks, who gained fame with his short "Gone", will get behind the camera this fall. Paul Brooks ("A Haunting in Connecticut") will also produce. "Buried," starring Ryan Reynolds, was the first major sale at Sundance with Lionsgate snapping up domestic distribution rights for $3.2 million. Scott Neimeyer, Norm Waitt and Dan Clifton are exec producing "Atm." Safran is also producing actioner "Elephant White," starring Djimon Hounsou, and action-comedy "Flypaper," starring Patrick Dempsey. Paul Brooks is a producer on Warner Bros.' "Life as We Know It," starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel.
- 2/5/2010
- bloody-disgusting.com
Olatunde Osunsanmi who last helmed "The Fourth Kind," is set to next direct the action-thriller "The Commuter" for Gold Circle Films. Filming is being eyed to start this summer with Gold Circle topper Paul Brooks is producing and Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt serving as exec producers. The story follows a man's deadly commute from work in New York City and is based on a screenplay by writing duo Byron Willinger and Philip De Blasi. Willinger and De Blasi are currently rewriting "The Fourth Horseman" for Intrepid as well as Legendary's "Paradise Lost" for Legendary. Osunsanmi is also set to write and may take the wheel of the big screen adaptation of Daniel Jevons game "Zero-g." Temple Hill, Union Entertament and Gotham Group are producing for Fox. That story tells of an attack on a major U.S. city with a brutal weapon which has never been seen before that...
- 1/25/2010
- Upcoming-Movies.com
The Fourth Kind helmer Olatunde Osunsanmi will direct action-thriller The Commuter for Gold Circle Films. Gold Circle's Paul Brooks is producing, with Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt as executive producers. Byron Willinger and Philip De Blasi wrote the script. The film follows a man's deadly commute from work in New York City. Filming is set to start this summer. Osunsanmi is also set to write and with an eye to direct Zero-g , based on the game created by Daniel Jevons. The Fox release revolves around an attack on a major U.S. city with a devastating, never-before-seen weapon that creates a state of zero gravity.
- 1/24/2010
- Comingsoon.net
Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel are attached to write and direct a remake of the Danish thriller "Murk"/"Mørke" for Gold Circle Films.
Gold Circle president Paul Brooks will produce alongside Bridge Films president Matthew Riklin. Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt will executive produce.
Guy Danella and Brad Kessell will oversee the project for Gold Circle.
"Mørke," released in 2005, details a journalist's investigation into his sister's mysterious death on her wedding night and the whereabouts of her missing fiance. Anders Thomas Jensen co-wrote the original film with Jannik Johansen, who also directed.
Sarmiento and Harel, repped by the Gotham Group, plan to add a high-tech twist to the update.
The pair's debut film, "Deadgirl," premiered in the Midnight Madness section of the Toronto International Film Festival in September and will be released next year by Dark Sky Films. The low-budget horror film scripted by Trent Haaga, about two high school...
Gold Circle president Paul Brooks will produce alongside Bridge Films president Matthew Riklin. Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt will executive produce.
Guy Danella and Brad Kessell will oversee the project for Gold Circle.
"Mørke," released in 2005, details a journalist's investigation into his sister's mysterious death on her wedding night and the whereabouts of her missing fiance. Anders Thomas Jensen co-wrote the original film with Jannik Johansen, who also directed.
Sarmiento and Harel, repped by the Gotham Group, plan to add a high-tech twist to the update.
The pair's debut film, "Deadgirl," premiered in the Midnight Madness section of the Toronto International Film Festival in September and will be released next year by Dark Sky Films. The low-budget horror film scripted by Trent Haaga, about two high school...
- 12/17/2008
- by By Jay A. Fernandez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Now in post on their first feature together, Gold Circle Films and Spanish filmmaker Luis A. Berdejo are reteaming for "Pod," a sci-fi thriller that Berdejo will write and direct.
The film is described as an intergalactic tale of discovery, love and adventure and epic in scope.
"Pod" is an original idea and will be Berdejo's first English-language gig. He wrote the Spanish-language hit "Rec," which recently was remade by Screen Gems. The plan is for Berdejo to shoot "Pod" after he directs his passion project, the Spanish-language "Jennifer Can," the first screenplay he wrote.
Gold Circle topper Paul Brooks will produce "Pod" with Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt exec producing. Guy Danella, Gold Circle's newly promoted vp production, will oversee the project, which will be fully financed by the company.
Berdejo, repped by CAA and the Safran Co., and Gold Circle are in post on "The New Daughter," a thriller starring Kevin Costner.
The film is described as an intergalactic tale of discovery, love and adventure and epic in scope.
"Pod" is an original idea and will be Berdejo's first English-language gig. He wrote the Spanish-language hit "Rec," which recently was remade by Screen Gems. The plan is for Berdejo to shoot "Pod" after he directs his passion project, the Spanish-language "Jennifer Can," the first screenplay he wrote.
Gold Circle topper Paul Brooks will produce "Pod" with Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt exec producing. Guy Danella, Gold Circle's newly promoted vp production, will oversee the project, which will be fully financed by the company.
Berdejo, repped by CAA and the Safran Co., and Gold Circle are in post on "The New Daughter," a thriller starring Kevin Costner.
- 12/15/2008
- by By Borys Kit
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Gold Circle Films has preemptively booked a ticket for "Inside Passage," a thriller spec by Jonathan W.C. Mills.
Gold Circle's Paul Brooks will produce along with Raygun's Aaron Ryder and Untitled's Laura Rister.
The story, in the vein of "Dead Calm" and "Breakdown," centers on a young couple whose honeymoon aboard a luxury yacht is turned upside down when they come across a murder at sea.
Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt are exec producing. Raygun's Carolyn Harris also will have a producing role.
Gold Circle exec Guy Danella, who brought in the material, will oversee.
Mills, repped by Caliber Media, is set to make his feature directing debut with "Brutal" a thriller for Emmett/Furla.
Gold Circle is in post on "The Haunting in Connecticut," starring Virginia Madsen; "Chilled in Miami," starring Renee Zellweger; and "The New Daughter," starring Kevin Costner. The company also is in production on "The 4th Kind" starring Milla Jovovich.
Gold Circle's Paul Brooks will produce along with Raygun's Aaron Ryder and Untitled's Laura Rister.
The story, in the vein of "Dead Calm" and "Breakdown," centers on a young couple whose honeymoon aboard a luxury yacht is turned upside down when they come across a murder at sea.
Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt are exec producing. Raygun's Carolyn Harris also will have a producing role.
Gold Circle exec Guy Danella, who brought in the material, will oversee.
Mills, repped by Caliber Media, is set to make his feature directing debut with "Brutal" a thriller for Emmett/Furla.
Gold Circle is in post on "The Haunting in Connecticut," starring Virginia Madsen; "Chilled in Miami," starring Renee Zellweger; and "The New Daughter," starring Kevin Costner. The company also is in production on "The 4th Kind" starring Milla Jovovich.
- 7/14/2008
- by By Borys Kit
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego will make his English-language directorial debut with the Gold Circle Films/Safran thriller "Solo".
Details are being kept under wraps for "Solo", which is based on a spec script from writer David Coggeshall. The film is said to be a "Misery"-style thriller for the teen set, with elements of "Lord of the Flies" and "Blue Lagoon".
Gold Circle's Paul Brooks and Safran's Peter Safran are producing and plan to begin principal photography within the next few months. Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt are exec producing. Gold Circle is financing, with Guy Danella overseeing production for the outfit.
Lopez-Gallego made a splash in September at the Toronto International Film Festival when the Weinstein Co. picked up his Spanish survival thriller "King of the Hill".
Lopez-Gallego is repped by Paradigm.
Coggeshall is repped by ICM and Circle of Confusion.
Details are being kept under wraps for "Solo", which is based on a spec script from writer David Coggeshall. The film is said to be a "Misery"-style thriller for the teen set, with elements of "Lord of the Flies" and "Blue Lagoon".
Gold Circle's Paul Brooks and Safran's Peter Safran are producing and plan to begin principal photography within the next few months. Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt are exec producing. Gold Circle is financing, with Guy Danella overseeing production for the outfit.
Lopez-Gallego made a splash in September at the Toronto International Film Festival when the Weinstein Co. picked up his Spanish survival thriller "King of the Hill".
Lopez-Gallego is repped by Paradigm.
Coggeshall is repped by ICM and Circle of Confusion.
- Remember this name: Luiso Berdejo. Add the name to your mental rolodex. Chances are he is the best next thing in terms of Spanish filmmakers who've got a taste for the darker material and an eye for great designs - his "La Guerra" and "Limoncello" are proof of that. Churning out screeplays and short films (he won the prestigious Silver Méliès in 02' for best fantastic short) since the beginning of this decade, Berdejo who was last prepping the Cannes Atelier project (The Quagmire) has been tapped to direct New Daughter a project to be fully financed by Gold Circle, with international sales handled by Mandate Pictures. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Paul Brooks will produce, and Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt will executive produce. Also on board is Kevin Costner - he is paired with Ivana Baquero (the little girl from The Pan's Labyrinth). Adapted by John Travis
- 10/24/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
NEW YORK -- Kevin Costner will star as a dad whose daughter begins displaying scary behavior in the Gold Circle thriller "The New Daughter". Spanish helmer Luis Berdejo is attached to direct in his feature debut.
Costner will play John James, a single father who moves to a farm with his two kids after a painful divorce. Soon, his daughter (Ivana Baquero of "Pan's Labyrinth") starts behaving ominously, and Dad begins to suspect that the burial mound in a nearby field might have something to do with it.
"Daughter" is adapted by John Travis from a story by John Connolly, published in his 2005 short fiction collection "Nocturnes". Principal photography is set to begin in the first quarter.
The film will be fully financed by Gold Circle, with international sales handled by Mandate Pictures. Paul Brooks will produce, and Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt will executive produce. Gold Circle's Guy Danella brought the material to the company and shepherded its development with senior executive Brad Kessell.
Costner will play John James, a single father who moves to a farm with his two kids after a painful divorce. Soon, his daughter (Ivana Baquero of "Pan's Labyrinth") starts behaving ominously, and Dad begins to suspect that the burial mound in a nearby field might have something to do with it.
"Daughter" is adapted by John Travis from a story by John Connolly, published in his 2005 short fiction collection "Nocturnes". Principal photography is set to begin in the first quarter.
The film will be fully financed by Gold Circle, with international sales handled by Mandate Pictures. Paul Brooks will produce, and Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt will executive produce. Gold Circle's Guy Danella brought the material to the company and shepherded its development with senior executive Brad Kessell.
- 10/24/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- Kevin Costner will star as a dad whose daughter begins displaying scary behavior in the Gold Circle thriller "The New Daughter". Spanish helmer Luis Berdejo is attached to direct in his feature debut.
Costner will play John James, a single father who moves to a farm with his two kids after a painful divorce. Soon, his daughter (Ivana Baquero of "Pan's Labyrinth") starts behaving ominously, and Dad begins to suspect that the burial mound in a nearby field might have something to do with it.
"Daughter" is adapted by John Travis from a story by John Connolly, published in his 2005 short fiction collection "Nocturnes". Principal photography is set to begin in the first quarter.
The film will be fully financed by Gold Circle, with international sales handled by Mandate Pictures. Paul Brooks will produce, and Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt will executive produce. Gold Circle's Guy Danella brought the material to the company and shepherded its development with senior executive Brad Kessell.
Costner will play John James, a single father who moves to a farm with his two kids after a painful divorce. Soon, his daughter (Ivana Baquero of "Pan's Labyrinth") starts behaving ominously, and Dad begins to suspect that the burial mound in a nearby field might have something to do with it.
"Daughter" is adapted by John Travis from a story by John Connolly, published in his 2005 short fiction collection "Nocturnes". Principal photography is set to begin in the first quarter.
The film will be fully financed by Gold Circle, with international sales handled by Mandate Pictures. Paul Brooks will produce, and Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt will executive produce. Gold Circle's Guy Danella brought the material to the company and shepherded its development with senior executive Brad Kessell.
- 10/24/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Writer-turned-director Randall Wallace has stepped on board to helm The Arcanum, a Thomas Wheeler-scripted fantasy adventure being produced by Paul Brooks' Gold Circle.
Adapted from Wheeler's debut novel, the 1919-set story follows Arthur Conan Doyle as he leads a secret society known as the Arcanum -- whose members include magician Harry Houdini, voodoo priestess Marie Laveau and horror writer H.P. Lovecraft -- against a powerful supernatural force that threatens the world. Wheeler is doing a production polish before going out to cast.
Gold Circle's Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt will executive produce. Gold Circle's Guy Danella, who brought the project into the shingle, will shepherd through production.
Mandate Pictures will handle international sales.
Gold Circle is in postproduction on Joel Schumacher's horror thriller Town Creek, which Lionsgate will distribute, and is prepping the romantic comedy Chilled in Miami, starring Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr.
Wallace most recently adapted Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged for Lionsgate and was nominated for a best screenplay Oscar for Braveheart. His directing credits include We Were Soldiers and The Man in the Iron Mask. He is repped by WMA.
Adapted from Wheeler's debut novel, the 1919-set story follows Arthur Conan Doyle as he leads a secret society known as the Arcanum -- whose members include magician Harry Houdini, voodoo priestess Marie Laveau and horror writer H.P. Lovecraft -- against a powerful supernatural force that threatens the world. Wheeler is doing a production polish before going out to cast.
Gold Circle's Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt will executive produce. Gold Circle's Guy Danella, who brought the project into the shingle, will shepherd through production.
Mandate Pictures will handle international sales.
Gold Circle is in postproduction on Joel Schumacher's horror thriller Town Creek, which Lionsgate will distribute, and is prepping the romantic comedy Chilled in Miami, starring Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr.
Wallace most recently adapted Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged for Lionsgate and was nominated for a best screenplay Oscar for Braveheart. His directing credits include We Were Soldiers and The Man in the Iron Mask. He is repped by WMA.
- 10/23/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mark T-Man Teitelman has been hired to direct The Push, a romantic comedy for Gold Circle being produced by the company's Paul Brooks as well as Kiwi Smith and Seth Jaret.
Written by Sonny Postiglione, the romantic comedy follows a coterie of New York guys who engage in the art of "pushing," which occurs when an ordinary man invents a creative, elaborate, convincing persona in order to pick up gorgeous, ordinarily unattainable women. The story centers on a master of "the push" who meets his match when he falls for an unpushable strong-willed beauty.
Push was the first feature sale for Postiglione, a former assistant on ABC's NYPD Blue who is coming off a season as a writer on NBC's Law & Order.
Norm Waitt and Scott Niemeyer are executive producing the project, which is out to cast and eyeing a January start.
Gold Circle exec Brad Kessell brought the project in and is overseeing.
Smith is the co-writer of Legally Blonde and the untitled Anna Faris/Bunny project in production at Columbia with Happy Madison producing.
Written by Sonny Postiglione, the romantic comedy follows a coterie of New York guys who engage in the art of "pushing," which occurs when an ordinary man invents a creative, elaborate, convincing persona in order to pick up gorgeous, ordinarily unattainable women. The story centers on a master of "the push" who meets his match when he falls for an unpushable strong-willed beauty.
Push was the first feature sale for Postiglione, a former assistant on ABC's NYPD Blue who is coming off a season as a writer on NBC's Law & Order.
Norm Waitt and Scott Niemeyer are executive producing the project, which is out to cast and eyeing a January start.
Gold Circle exec Brad Kessell brought the project in and is overseeing.
Smith is the co-writer of Legally Blonde and the untitled Anna Faris/Bunny project in production at Columbia with Happy Madison producing.
- 8/22/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Virginia Madsen will star in A Haunting in Connecticut, a supernatural thriller that Peter Cornwell is directing for Gold Circle.
Haunting tells the true story of a family forced to relocate near a clinic where their teenage son is being treated for cancer. There, they discover that the home they have rented is a former mortuary with a dark history that might account for the extraordinary manifestations of the boy's illness and the supernatural events that threaten the family.
Tim Metcalfe and Adam Simon wrote the screenplay.
Gold Circle Films is financing. Mandate Pictures will handle international sales.
Gold Circle topper Paul Brooks is producing with Andrew Trapani, Wendy Rhoads and Daniel Farrands. Scott Niemeyer, Norm Waitt and Steve Whitney are executive producing.
Gold Circle's Brad Kessell, who brought the project in, is overseeing.
A late summer start is being eyed.
Cornwell, repped by UTA and Gotham Group, wrote, produced and directed the acclaimed animated short film Ward 13.
Madsen, who was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Sideways, most recently appeared on the big screen opposite Jim Carrey in The Number 23. She is repped by CAA and Untitled Entertainment.
Haunting tells the true story of a family forced to relocate near a clinic where their teenage son is being treated for cancer. There, they discover that the home they have rented is a former mortuary with a dark history that might account for the extraordinary manifestations of the boy's illness and the supernatural events that threaten the family.
Tim Metcalfe and Adam Simon wrote the screenplay.
Gold Circle Films is financing. Mandate Pictures will handle international sales.
Gold Circle topper Paul Brooks is producing with Andrew Trapani, Wendy Rhoads and Daniel Farrands. Scott Niemeyer, Norm Waitt and Steve Whitney are executive producing.
Gold Circle's Brad Kessell, who brought the project in, is overseeing.
A late summer start is being eyed.
Cornwell, repped by UTA and Gotham Group, wrote, produced and directed the acclaimed animated short film Ward 13.
Madsen, who was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Sideways, most recently appeared on the big screen opposite Jim Carrey in The Number 23. She is repped by CAA and Untitled Entertainment.
- 5/15/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ivana Baquero, the young actress best known for starring in Pan's Labyrinth, has signed on for her first English-language role.
In her first post-"Pan" gig, Baquero will star in the title role of Gold Circle Films' The New Daughter.
Written by John Travis and based on a short story by noted horror-thriller writer John Connolly, the story follows a single dad who has moved his two children to a remote farm where a strange mound in the surrounding fields appears to be the key to his daughter's increasingly ominous behavior.
Daughter will be produced by Paul Brooks. Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt are executive producers. Gold Circle execs Brad Kessell and Guy Danella brought the material into the company and also will have producing roles.
The film will be fully financed by Gold Circle Films, with international sales handled by Mandate Pictures.
The project is out to directors.
Gold Circle is in production on Town Creek, with Joel Schumacher directing and Lionsgate on board as domestic distributor.
In her first post-"Pan" gig, Baquero will star in the title role of Gold Circle Films' The New Daughter.
Written by John Travis and based on a short story by noted horror-thriller writer John Connolly, the story follows a single dad who has moved his two children to a remote farm where a strange mound in the surrounding fields appears to be the key to his daughter's increasingly ominous behavior.
Daughter will be produced by Paul Brooks. Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt are executive producers. Gold Circle execs Brad Kessell and Guy Danella brought the material into the company and also will have producing roles.
The film will be fully financed by Gold Circle Films, with international sales handled by Mandate Pictures.
The project is out to directors.
Gold Circle is in production on Town Creek, with Joel Schumacher directing and Lionsgate on board as domestic distributor.
- 4/27/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This review was written for the theatrical release of "Because I Said So". Like the architectural-wonder cakes Diane Keaton's character constructs in "Because I Said So", the film is a stylishly gooey piece of work that demands to be oohed and aahed over. With its magazine-spread interiors and pretty dresses, this romantic comedy about a meddling mom and her unlucky-in-love youngest daughter might get what it wants. Using a recipe overloaded with adorable, too reliant on slapstick and spiced up with "modern" ideas about sex, the movie is as predictable as a crowd-pleaser can get. But crowds are likely to be pleased nonetheless, especially women who connect with its pat observations about the mother-daughter bond.
It's dispiriting to see a great actress like Keaton buying into this nonsense with such gusto. Still, as Daphne, the control-freak cake entrepreneur nearing her 60th birthday, she's the closest thing to a three-dimensional person in the film. Mandy Moore is an appealing performer, but ultimately she can't turn Milly, the object of Daphne's pathological concern, into more than a collection of comely pouts and tantrums.
The script by Karen Leigh Hopkins and Jessie Nelson, two of the writers of 1998's "Stepmom", is a compendium of cliches. Chief among these is the montage of comical interviewees -- that overused shorthand for L-O-S-E-R that parades across the screen for our condescending enjoyment, a succession of inadequate candidates for a job or a date. In this case, the would-be boyfriends are interviewed not by their potential mate but by her mother. Having placed an online ad, "Mother looking for life partner for daughter" (have more menacing words ever been printed?), Daphne holds court in a hotel lobby bar, driven to drink by the bad and the ugly. The good arrive, too. Jason, Tom Everett Scott) is an architect -- the movie occupation du jour, signaling financially successful and creative -- and Daphne couldn't be more thrilled. There's also bystander Johnny (Gabriel Macht), a musician working in the bar. He observes Daphne with interest, and for a moment it seems this might turn into a younger man/older woman romance. But against Daphne's wishes, the faux bohemian guitarist (he wears a fedora and vest) pursues Milly, a caterer with a snorting laugh not unlike Annie Hall's. After an inventive meet-cute with Johnny involving static cling, Milly finds herself dating both him and Jason.
Who Milly will end up with is as obvious as the contrasts between the two men. Johnny's the single father of a precocious boy (Ty Panitz), and they live with his single dad (Stephen Collins) in a fashionably cluttered house on the Venice canals. Against all that humanity, Jason lives in minimalist splendor and takes Milly to sleek downtown eateries. The dream-date deck is stacked. When Milly accidentally breaks one of Jason's family heirlooms, he gets a bit testy, the brute. But Johnny is all hugs and forgiveness after the accident-prone caterer shatters a plate that he probably got on sale at Pier 1.
Still, they're both decent guys, and what's a girl to do but sleep with both of them? The film pushes a cheery attitude toward sex, complete with cell-phone conference calls about uncircumcised penises between Daphne, Milly and her two married sisters. The sole characteristic of middle sis Mae (Piper Perabo) is her love of sex. It's clear from the get-go that Daphne's sense of urgency over Milly's love life is really about her own regrets as a single woman, but the script milks the notion for all its cheap, orgasm-centric psychology.
Director Michael Lehmann ("Heathers"), who keeps the story moving if not believable, isn't above using Daphne's pet dog for frequent reaction shots. Director of photography Julio Macat showcases L.A. dream locales -- not counting a woeful Korean spa scene -- while the creations of production designer Sharon Seymour and costume designer Shay Cunliffe have pizzazz but never feel lived-in. David Kitay's music score aids and abets the script in pushing emotional buttons.
Amongst the cardboard-cutout supporting characters, Lauren Graham brings a welcome deadpan sensibility to the overeager proceedings as oldest sibling Maggie, a wry psychologist.
BECAUSE I SAID SO
Universal Pictures
A Universal Pictures and Gold Circle Films presentation
Credits:
Director: Michael Lehmann
Screenwriters: Karen Leigh Hopkins, Jessie Nelson
Producers: Paul Brooks, Jessie Nelson
Executive producers: Scott Niemeyer, Norm Waitt, Michael Flynn
Director of photography: Julio Macat
Production designer: Sharon Seymour
Music: David Kitay
Co-producer: Wendy Rhoads
Costume designer: Shay Cunliffe
Editors: Paul Seydor, Troy Takaki
Cast:
Daphne: Diane Keaton
Milly: Mandy Moore
Johnny: Gabriel Macht
Jason: Tom Everett Scott
Maggie: Lauren Graham
Mae: Piper Perabo
Joe: Stephen Collins
Lionel: Ty Panitz
Running time -- 101 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
It's dispiriting to see a great actress like Keaton buying into this nonsense with such gusto. Still, as Daphne, the control-freak cake entrepreneur nearing her 60th birthday, she's the closest thing to a three-dimensional person in the film. Mandy Moore is an appealing performer, but ultimately she can't turn Milly, the object of Daphne's pathological concern, into more than a collection of comely pouts and tantrums.
The script by Karen Leigh Hopkins and Jessie Nelson, two of the writers of 1998's "Stepmom", is a compendium of cliches. Chief among these is the montage of comical interviewees -- that overused shorthand for L-O-S-E-R that parades across the screen for our condescending enjoyment, a succession of inadequate candidates for a job or a date. In this case, the would-be boyfriends are interviewed not by their potential mate but by her mother. Having placed an online ad, "Mother looking for life partner for daughter" (have more menacing words ever been printed?), Daphne holds court in a hotel lobby bar, driven to drink by the bad and the ugly. The good arrive, too. Jason, Tom Everett Scott) is an architect -- the movie occupation du jour, signaling financially successful and creative -- and Daphne couldn't be more thrilled. There's also bystander Johnny (Gabriel Macht), a musician working in the bar. He observes Daphne with interest, and for a moment it seems this might turn into a younger man/older woman romance. But against Daphne's wishes, the faux bohemian guitarist (he wears a fedora and vest) pursues Milly, a caterer with a snorting laugh not unlike Annie Hall's. After an inventive meet-cute with Johnny involving static cling, Milly finds herself dating both him and Jason.
Who Milly will end up with is as obvious as the contrasts between the two men. Johnny's the single father of a precocious boy (Ty Panitz), and they live with his single dad (Stephen Collins) in a fashionably cluttered house on the Venice canals. Against all that humanity, Jason lives in minimalist splendor and takes Milly to sleek downtown eateries. The dream-date deck is stacked. When Milly accidentally breaks one of Jason's family heirlooms, he gets a bit testy, the brute. But Johnny is all hugs and forgiveness after the accident-prone caterer shatters a plate that he probably got on sale at Pier 1.
Still, they're both decent guys, and what's a girl to do but sleep with both of them? The film pushes a cheery attitude toward sex, complete with cell-phone conference calls about uncircumcised penises between Daphne, Milly and her two married sisters. The sole characteristic of middle sis Mae (Piper Perabo) is her love of sex. It's clear from the get-go that Daphne's sense of urgency over Milly's love life is really about her own regrets as a single woman, but the script milks the notion for all its cheap, orgasm-centric psychology.
Director Michael Lehmann ("Heathers"), who keeps the story moving if not believable, isn't above using Daphne's pet dog for frequent reaction shots. Director of photography Julio Macat showcases L.A. dream locales -- not counting a woeful Korean spa scene -- while the creations of production designer Sharon Seymour and costume designer Shay Cunliffe have pizzazz but never feel lived-in. David Kitay's music score aids and abets the script in pushing emotional buttons.
Amongst the cardboard-cutout supporting characters, Lauren Graham brings a welcome deadpan sensibility to the overeager proceedings as oldest sibling Maggie, a wry psychologist.
BECAUSE I SAID SO
Universal Pictures
A Universal Pictures and Gold Circle Films presentation
Credits:
Director: Michael Lehmann
Screenwriters: Karen Leigh Hopkins, Jessie Nelson
Producers: Paul Brooks, Jessie Nelson
Executive producers: Scott Niemeyer, Norm Waitt, Michael Flynn
Director of photography: Julio Macat
Production designer: Sharon Seymour
Music: David Kitay
Co-producer: Wendy Rhoads
Costume designer: Shay Cunliffe
Editors: Paul Seydor, Troy Takaki
Cast:
Daphne: Diane Keaton
Milly: Mandy Moore
Johnny: Gabriel Macht
Jason: Tom Everett Scott
Maggie: Lauren Graham
Mae: Piper Perabo
Joe: Stephen Collins
Lionel: Ty Panitz
Running time -- 101 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Like the architectural-wonder cakes Diane Keaton's character constructs in "Because I Said So", the film is a stylishly gooey piece of work that demands to be oohed and aahed over. With its magazine-spread interiors and pretty dresses, this romantic comedy about a meddling mom and her unlucky-in-love youngest daughter might get what it wants. Using a recipe overloaded with adorable, too reliant on slapstick and spiced up with "modern" ideas about sex, the movie is as predictable as a crowd-pleaser can get. But crowds are likely to be pleased nonetheless, especially women who connect with its pat observations about the mother-daughter bond.
It's dispiriting to see a great actress like Keaton buying into this nonsense with such gusto. Still, as Daphne, the control-freak cake entrepreneur nearing her 60th birthday, she's the closest thing to a three-dimensional person in the film. Mandy Moore is an appealing performer, but ultimately she can't turn Milly, the object of Daphne's pathological concern, into more than a collection of comely pouts and tantrums.
The script by Karen Leigh Hopkins and Jessie Nelson, two of the writers of 1998's "Stepmom", is a compendium of cliches. Chief among these is the montage of comical interviewees -- that overused shorthand for L-O-S-E-R that parades across the screen for our condescending enjoyment, a succession of inadequate candidates for a job or a date. In this case, the would-be boyfriends are interviewed not by their potential mate but by her mother. Having placed an online ad, "Mother looking for life partner for daughter" (have more menacing words ever been printed?), Daphne holds court in a hotel lobby bar, driven to drink by the bad and the ugly.The good arrive, too. Jason, Tom Everett Scott) is an architect -- the movie occupation du jour, signaling financially successful and creative -- and Daphne couldn't be more thrilled. There's also bystander Johnny (Gabriel Macht), a musician working in the bar. He observes Daphne with interest, and for a moment it seems this might turn into a younger man/older woman romance. But against Daphne's wishes, the faux bohemian guitarist (he wears a fedora and vest) pursues Milly, a caterer with a snorting laugh not unlike Annie Hall's. After an inventive meet-cute with Johnny involving static cling, Milly finds herself dating both him and Jason.
Who Milly will end up with is as obvious as the contrasts between the two men. Johnny's the single father of a precocious boy (Ty Panitz), and they live with his single dad (Stephen Collins) in a fashionably cluttered house on the Venice canals. Against all that humanity, Jason lives in minimalist splendor and takes Milly to sleek downtown eateries. The dream-date deck is stacked. When Milly accidentally breaks one of Jason's family heirlooms, he gets a bit testy, the brute. But Johnny is all hugs and forgiveness after the accident-prone caterer shatters a plate that he probably got on sale at Pier 1.
Still, they're both decent guys, and what's a girl to do but sleep with both of them? The film pushes a cheery attitude toward sex, complete with cell-phone conference calls about uncircumcised penises between Daphne, Milly and her two married sisters. The sole characteristic of middle sis Mae (Piper Perabo) is her love of sex. It's clear from the get-go that Daphne's sense of urgency over Milly's love life is really about her own regrets as a single woman, but the script milks the notion for all its cheap, orgasm-centric psychology.
Director Michael Lehmann ("Heathers"), who keeps the story moving if not believable, isn't above using Daphne's pet dog for frequent reaction shots. Director of photography Julio Macat showcases L.A. dream locales -- not counting a woeful Korean spa scene -- while the creations of production designer Sharon Seymour and costume designer Shay Cunliffe have pizzazz but never feel lived-in. David Kitay's music score aids and abets the script in pushing emotional buttons.
Amongst the cardboard-cutout supporting characters, Lauren Graham brings a welcome deadpan sensibility to the overeager proceedings as oldest sibling Maggie, a wry psychologist.
BECAUSE I SAID SO
Universal Pictures
A Universal Pictures and Gold Circle Films presentation
Credits:
Director: Michael Lehmann
Screenwriters: Karen Leigh Hopkins, Jessie Nelson
Producers: Paul Brooks, Jessie Nelson
Executive producers: Scott Niemeyer, Norm Waitt, Michael Flynn
Director of photography: Julio Macat
Production designer: Sharon Seymour
Music: David Kitay
Co-producer: Wendy Rhoads
Costume designer: Shay Cunliffe
Editors: Paul Seydor, Troy Takaki
Cast:
Daphne: Diane Keaton
Milly: Mandy Moore
Johnny: Gabriel Macht
Jason: Tom Everett Scott
Maggie: Lauren Graham
Mae: Piper Perabo
Joe: Stephen Collins
Lionel: Ty Panitz
Running time -- 101 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
It's dispiriting to see a great actress like Keaton buying into this nonsense with such gusto. Still, as Daphne, the control-freak cake entrepreneur nearing her 60th birthday, she's the closest thing to a three-dimensional person in the film. Mandy Moore is an appealing performer, but ultimately she can't turn Milly, the object of Daphne's pathological concern, into more than a collection of comely pouts and tantrums.
The script by Karen Leigh Hopkins and Jessie Nelson, two of the writers of 1998's "Stepmom", is a compendium of cliches. Chief among these is the montage of comical interviewees -- that overused shorthand for L-O-S-E-R that parades across the screen for our condescending enjoyment, a succession of inadequate candidates for a job or a date. In this case, the would-be boyfriends are interviewed not by their potential mate but by her mother. Having placed an online ad, "Mother looking for life partner for daughter" (have more menacing words ever been printed?), Daphne holds court in a hotel lobby bar, driven to drink by the bad and the ugly.The good arrive, too. Jason, Tom Everett Scott) is an architect -- the movie occupation du jour, signaling financially successful and creative -- and Daphne couldn't be more thrilled. There's also bystander Johnny (Gabriel Macht), a musician working in the bar. He observes Daphne with interest, and for a moment it seems this might turn into a younger man/older woman romance. But against Daphne's wishes, the faux bohemian guitarist (he wears a fedora and vest) pursues Milly, a caterer with a snorting laugh not unlike Annie Hall's. After an inventive meet-cute with Johnny involving static cling, Milly finds herself dating both him and Jason.
Who Milly will end up with is as obvious as the contrasts between the two men. Johnny's the single father of a precocious boy (Ty Panitz), and they live with his single dad (Stephen Collins) in a fashionably cluttered house on the Venice canals. Against all that humanity, Jason lives in minimalist splendor and takes Milly to sleek downtown eateries. The dream-date deck is stacked. When Milly accidentally breaks one of Jason's family heirlooms, he gets a bit testy, the brute. But Johnny is all hugs and forgiveness after the accident-prone caterer shatters a plate that he probably got on sale at Pier 1.
Still, they're both decent guys, and what's a girl to do but sleep with both of them? The film pushes a cheery attitude toward sex, complete with cell-phone conference calls about uncircumcised penises between Daphne, Milly and her two married sisters. The sole characteristic of middle sis Mae (Piper Perabo) is her love of sex. It's clear from the get-go that Daphne's sense of urgency over Milly's love life is really about her own regrets as a single woman, but the script milks the notion for all its cheap, orgasm-centric psychology.
Director Michael Lehmann ("Heathers"), who keeps the story moving if not believable, isn't above using Daphne's pet dog for frequent reaction shots. Director of photography Julio Macat showcases L.A. dream locales -- not counting a woeful Korean spa scene -- while the creations of production designer Sharon Seymour and costume designer Shay Cunliffe have pizzazz but never feel lived-in. David Kitay's music score aids and abets the script in pushing emotional buttons.
Amongst the cardboard-cutout supporting characters, Lauren Graham brings a welcome deadpan sensibility to the overeager proceedings as oldest sibling Maggie, a wry psychologist.
BECAUSE I SAID SO
Universal Pictures
A Universal Pictures and Gold Circle Films presentation
Credits:
Director: Michael Lehmann
Screenwriters: Karen Leigh Hopkins, Jessie Nelson
Producers: Paul Brooks, Jessie Nelson
Executive producers: Scott Niemeyer, Norm Waitt, Michael Flynn
Director of photography: Julio Macat
Production designer: Sharon Seymour
Music: David Kitay
Co-producer: Wendy Rhoads
Costume designer: Shay Cunliffe
Editors: Paul Seydor, Troy Takaki
Cast:
Daphne: Diane Keaton
Milly: Mandy Moore
Johnny: Gabriel Macht
Jason: Tom Everett Scott
Maggie: Lauren Graham
Mae: Piper Perabo
Joe: Stephen Collins
Lionel: Ty Panitz
Running time -- 101 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Dominic Purcell and Jesse Metcalfe are heading to Town Creek, a vampire horror movie that Joel Schumacher is directing for Gold Circle. The two will star as brothers on a mission of revenge who become trapped in a harrowing occult experiment that dates back to the Third Reich. A March 1 start date is being eyed. Gold Circle topper Paul Brooks is producing along with Tom Lassally and Robyn Meisinger. Norm Waitt and Scott Niemeyer are exec producing. Zak Kadison is co-producing and overseeing for Gold Circle.
- 11/15/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Joel Schumacher has signed on to direct Town Creek, a vampire horror movie for Gold Circle. The story centers on a West Virginia man who comes to terms with his moral qualms and helps his brother wipe out a family that had been protecting a Nazi vampire and who had kept his brother captive for him to feed off of for years. Dave Kajganich wrote the screenplay. Gold Circle topper Paul Brooks is producing along with Tom Lassally and Robyn Meisinger. Norm Waitt and Scott Niemeyer are exec producing.
- 9/12/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Just when it seemed like the zombie cannibal/parasite from outer space horror comedy had pretty much run its course, along comes "Slither", a particularly lively addition to the remarkably durable undead genre.
Like "Shaun of the Dead" before it, this feature directorial bow by screenwriter James Gunn strikes a surprisingly effective yuks-to-yuck balance. Factor in a cast that totally gets the desired heavily ironic tone, and you've got a parody picture that pays blood-soaked homage to 1980s-style excess yet still manages to work on its own queasy terms.
That sense of something different should translate into solid grosses in a saturated market that hasn't exactly been crying out for horror product in recent weeks, while DVD sales should be tasty.
With apologies to David Cronenberg's "Shivers" and Frank Henenlotter's "Basket Case" films, Gunn, whose early career as a writer at Troma made him the right man for the job, fuses together the various influences to come up with an agreeable mutation.
Always reliable Michael Rooker ("Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer") gleefully nails the part of Grant Grant, a card-carrying redneck denizen of the folksy town of Wheelsy, who one night gets a little too close to the noxious fallout of what appears to be a meteor, only to become the unwitting host of a diabolical alien life force.
As if Grant's transformation into a hideous, tentacle-bearing, meat-craving monster isn't bad enough, he also is beginning to spawn hundreds of these crimson killer slugs that creep their way into victims' mouths and turn them into flesh-eating zombies.
Determined to stop this sinister plague in its bloody tracks is noble police chief Bill Pardy ("Serenity"'s Nathan Fillion), who's driven in part by the torch he has been carrying for Grant's pretty wife, Starla (Elizabeth Banks). Joining them in their quest is the town's foul-mouthed mayor (played hysterically by Gregg Henry), who vows to find Grant even if he does look like "a damn squid."
Gunn, whose previous writing credits run the gamut from "Tromeo & Juliet" to "Scooby-Doo" to the 2004 reworking of "Dawn of the Dead", maintains the ideal glib pitch for most of the picture, flirting with camp but never hanging around it long enough to water down the squirm-inducing stuff.
That winning blend extends to the performances, which all follow Rooker's no-nonsense lead, and to the special effects, which neatly combine old school prosthetics with just the right amount of CGI enhancement.
Slither
Universal
Universal Pictures and Gold Circle Films present a Strike Entertainment production
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: James Gunn
Producers: Paul Brooks, Eric Newman
Executive producers: Marc Abraham, Thomas A. Bliss, Norm Waitt, Scott Niemeyer
Director of photography: Gregory Middleton
Production designer: Andrew Neskoromny
Editor: John Axelrad
Costume designer: Patricia Louise Hargreaves
Music: Tyler Bates
Cast:
Bill Pardy: Nathan Fillion
Starla Grant: Elizabeth Banks
Jack MacReady: Gregg Henry
Grant Grant: Michael Rooker
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 94 minutes...
Like "Shaun of the Dead" before it, this feature directorial bow by screenwriter James Gunn strikes a surprisingly effective yuks-to-yuck balance. Factor in a cast that totally gets the desired heavily ironic tone, and you've got a parody picture that pays blood-soaked homage to 1980s-style excess yet still manages to work on its own queasy terms.
That sense of something different should translate into solid grosses in a saturated market that hasn't exactly been crying out for horror product in recent weeks, while DVD sales should be tasty.
With apologies to David Cronenberg's "Shivers" and Frank Henenlotter's "Basket Case" films, Gunn, whose early career as a writer at Troma made him the right man for the job, fuses together the various influences to come up with an agreeable mutation.
Always reliable Michael Rooker ("Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer") gleefully nails the part of Grant Grant, a card-carrying redneck denizen of the folksy town of Wheelsy, who one night gets a little too close to the noxious fallout of what appears to be a meteor, only to become the unwitting host of a diabolical alien life force.
As if Grant's transformation into a hideous, tentacle-bearing, meat-craving monster isn't bad enough, he also is beginning to spawn hundreds of these crimson killer slugs that creep their way into victims' mouths and turn them into flesh-eating zombies.
Determined to stop this sinister plague in its bloody tracks is noble police chief Bill Pardy ("Serenity"'s Nathan Fillion), who's driven in part by the torch he has been carrying for Grant's pretty wife, Starla (Elizabeth Banks). Joining them in their quest is the town's foul-mouthed mayor (played hysterically by Gregg Henry), who vows to find Grant even if he does look like "a damn squid."
Gunn, whose previous writing credits run the gamut from "Tromeo & Juliet" to "Scooby-Doo" to the 2004 reworking of "Dawn of the Dead", maintains the ideal glib pitch for most of the picture, flirting with camp but never hanging around it long enough to water down the squirm-inducing stuff.
That winning blend extends to the performances, which all follow Rooker's no-nonsense lead, and to the special effects, which neatly combine old school prosthetics with just the right amount of CGI enhancement.
Slither
Universal
Universal Pictures and Gold Circle Films present a Strike Entertainment production
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: James Gunn
Producers: Paul Brooks, Eric Newman
Executive producers: Marc Abraham, Thomas A. Bliss, Norm Waitt, Scott Niemeyer
Director of photography: Gregory Middleton
Production designer: Andrew Neskoromny
Editor: John Axelrad
Costume designer: Patricia Louise Hargreaves
Music: Tyler Bates
Cast:
Bill Pardy: Nathan Fillion
Starla Grant: Elizabeth Banks
Jack MacReady: Gregg Henry
Grant Grant: Michael Rooker
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 94 minutes...
- 3/31/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Josh Holloway and Sarah Wayne Callies have been cast in the supernatural thriller Whisper. Stewart Hendler is making his directorial debut on the film for Gold Circle Films. Callies plays the girlfriend of a convict/kidnapper, to be played by Holloway, in the story of a New England-set kidnapping of a young boy. The screenplay is from producer-turned-writer Chris Borrelli. The producers are Gold Circle president Paul Brooks and H2F partner Walter Hamada and Deacon head Damon Lee. The executive producers are Gold Circle chief financial officer Scott Niemeyer and chairman of the board Norm Waitt and H2F partner Chris Fenton. Gold Circle's production executive Zak Kadison will co-produce and shepherd the film through production. Callies recently shot the Fox pilot Prison Break, which was directed by Brett Ratner. She also stars in the film The Celestine Prophecy, based on the novel, which will be released this year by Barnet Bains Films. She is repped by WMA. Her attorney is Jason Sloane. Holloway's credits include the TV series Lost and the features Cold Heart and Moving August. He is repped by Diverse Talent Group and Brillstein Gray. Hendler, who is repped by Foursight Entertainment and CAA, is a USC film school graduate. His previous films include the Sundance short One and the short Beyond Suspicion.
- 4/13/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
From its opening shot of the Manhattan skyline to its soft-pop soundtrack, The Wedding Date signals movie romance of the effervescent kind. Familiar but never overly broad, this well-cast, crowd-pleasing comedy benefits from a low-key emphasis on character over high jinks. Despite the stock feel of many of its characters and a sometimes laughably obvious script, the film has an energetic grace, directed with fluid efficiency by Clare Kilner. Wedding, which should click especially with females, looks destined for a date with solid boxoffice.
Debra Messing stars as Kat, a New York-based airline employee on her way to London for her half-sister's wedding. In order to convince her family and her ex-fiance -- best man at the upscale shindig -- that she's deliriously happy and not still gazing wistfully at the ring he gave her more than two years ago, she hires a male escort as her dream date. Himbo Nick (Dermot Mulroney), who has all the self-confidence Kat lacks, makes it clear that, for an additional sum, the business transaction can include services of a more intimate nature. She's shocked, just shocked.
When Kat's American mother (Holland Taylor) and English stepdad (Peter Egan) open-mindedly put the visiting couple in one room, it prompts a 21st-century version of the Wall of Jericho in It Happened One Night: a barrier of pillows between them in the bed they share. Like all such walls, it's built for toppling; by the time she's indulged in a night of drunken bachelorette-bash revelry, Kat has all but forgotten about ex Jeffrey (Jeremy Sheffield).
Kat tells anyone who asks that Nick is a therapist -- the joke being that he is, in a way, breathing you-go-girl affirmations in her ear with knee-weakening expertise. As an unsure gal who would withdraw $6,000 from her 401(k) in order to play-act romantic bliss, Messing is convincing and likable. But Kat isn't the only one play-acting here. Over the course of a week's worth of luxe nuptial dinners, picnics and parties, the wedding couple (well played by Amy Adams and Jack Davenport) are headed on a sure path from picture-book romance to major revelation. In the romantic comedy scheme of things, the repercussions of that twist are momentary at best.
Messing ("Will & Grace") brings a sweet, self-deprecating humor and impressive gift for physical comedy to her first big-screen lead. Limited here by the smoldering restraint he's called upon to deliver, the talented Mulroney more than fits the bill as the sexiest man money can buy. If this hunk-for-hire with a comp lit degree from Brown doesn't seem quite convinced spouting simplistic pearls of ostensible wisdom ("Every woman has exactly the love life she wants"), there's no question that he was a way with a raised eyebrow.
Dana Fox's script, based on the novel Asking for Trouble by Elizabeth Young, offers no shortage of cliches, the most unfortunate being the hackneyed role of the single, sex-obsessed woman who provides comic relief (which Sarah Parish nonetheless puts over with verve).
Wedding just barely dusts the spiderwebs off formula tricks, but Kilner (How to Deal) keeps the party moving. All of it plays out with mild Brit conviviality -- the booze bill alone for this week of nuptial excess could keep a developing country afloat. DP Oliver Curtis and production designer Tom Burton showcase the posh London and Surrey County locations, and costumer Louise Page outfits the cast with a frothy sense of elegance.
THE WEDDING DATE
Universal Pictures and Gold Circle Films
26 Films Prods.
Credits:
Director: Clare Kilner
Screenwriter: Dana Fox
Based on the book Asking for Trouble by: Elizabeth Young
Producers: Nathalie Marciano, Michelle Chydzik Sowa, Jessica Bendinger, Paul Brooks
Executive producers: Norm Waitt, Scott Niemeyer, Steve Robbins, Jim Reeve
Director of photography: Oliver Curtis
Production designer: Tom Burton
Music: Blake Neely
Co-producer: Jeff Levine
Costume designer: Louise Page
Editor: Mary Finlay
Cast:
Kat Ellis: Debra Messing
Nick Mercer: Dermot Mulroney
Amy: Amy Adams
Edward Fletcher-Wooten: Jack Davenport
TJ: Sarah Parish
Jeffrey: Jeremy Sheffield
Victor: Peter Egan
Bunny: Holland Taylor
MPAA rating: PG-13
Running time -- 88 minutes...
Debra Messing stars as Kat, a New York-based airline employee on her way to London for her half-sister's wedding. In order to convince her family and her ex-fiance -- best man at the upscale shindig -- that she's deliriously happy and not still gazing wistfully at the ring he gave her more than two years ago, she hires a male escort as her dream date. Himbo Nick (Dermot Mulroney), who has all the self-confidence Kat lacks, makes it clear that, for an additional sum, the business transaction can include services of a more intimate nature. She's shocked, just shocked.
When Kat's American mother (Holland Taylor) and English stepdad (Peter Egan) open-mindedly put the visiting couple in one room, it prompts a 21st-century version of the Wall of Jericho in It Happened One Night: a barrier of pillows between them in the bed they share. Like all such walls, it's built for toppling; by the time she's indulged in a night of drunken bachelorette-bash revelry, Kat has all but forgotten about ex Jeffrey (Jeremy Sheffield).
Kat tells anyone who asks that Nick is a therapist -- the joke being that he is, in a way, breathing you-go-girl affirmations in her ear with knee-weakening expertise. As an unsure gal who would withdraw $6,000 from her 401(k) in order to play-act romantic bliss, Messing is convincing and likable. But Kat isn't the only one play-acting here. Over the course of a week's worth of luxe nuptial dinners, picnics and parties, the wedding couple (well played by Amy Adams and Jack Davenport) are headed on a sure path from picture-book romance to major revelation. In the romantic comedy scheme of things, the repercussions of that twist are momentary at best.
Messing ("Will & Grace") brings a sweet, self-deprecating humor and impressive gift for physical comedy to her first big-screen lead. Limited here by the smoldering restraint he's called upon to deliver, the talented Mulroney more than fits the bill as the sexiest man money can buy. If this hunk-for-hire with a comp lit degree from Brown doesn't seem quite convinced spouting simplistic pearls of ostensible wisdom ("Every woman has exactly the love life she wants"), there's no question that he was a way with a raised eyebrow.
Dana Fox's script, based on the novel Asking for Trouble by Elizabeth Young, offers no shortage of cliches, the most unfortunate being the hackneyed role of the single, sex-obsessed woman who provides comic relief (which Sarah Parish nonetheless puts over with verve).
Wedding just barely dusts the spiderwebs off formula tricks, but Kilner (How to Deal) keeps the party moving. All of it plays out with mild Brit conviviality -- the booze bill alone for this week of nuptial excess could keep a developing country afloat. DP Oliver Curtis and production designer Tom Burton showcase the posh London and Surrey County locations, and costumer Louise Page outfits the cast with a frothy sense of elegance.
THE WEDDING DATE
Universal Pictures and Gold Circle Films
26 Films Prods.
Credits:
Director: Clare Kilner
Screenwriter: Dana Fox
Based on the book Asking for Trouble by: Elizabeth Young
Producers: Nathalie Marciano, Michelle Chydzik Sowa, Jessica Bendinger, Paul Brooks
Executive producers: Norm Waitt, Scott Niemeyer, Steve Robbins, Jim Reeve
Director of photography: Oliver Curtis
Production designer: Tom Burton
Music: Blake Neely
Co-producer: Jeff Levine
Costume designer: Louise Page
Editor: Mary Finlay
Cast:
Kat Ellis: Debra Messing
Nick Mercer: Dermot Mulroney
Amy: Amy Adams
Edward Fletcher-Wooten: Jack Davenport
TJ: Sarah Parish
Jeffrey: Jeremy Sheffield
Victor: Peter Egan
Bunny: Holland Taylor
MPAA rating: PG-13
Running time -- 88 minutes...
- 2/23/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Elizabeth Banks and Michael Rooker are toplining Slither, a horror movie written and being directed by James Gunn. Strike Entertainment has stepped up to co-produce with Gold Circle Films. A creature feature in the vein of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Slither revolves around an alien plague that infects a small town, setting a local (Rooker) on a murderous spree. His wife (Banks) teams up with an old flame to combat the situation. Producing are Paul Brooks and Eric Newman. Executive producers include Marc Abraham, Tom Bliss, Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt. Universal is releasing domestically via its first-look distribution deal with Gold Circle. Production is scheduled to start next month in Vancouver. Banks, repped by UTA and Untitled Entertainment, appeared in Seabiscuit and the Spider-Man movies. She next appears in indie feature The Sisters. Rooker's credits include The 6th Day and The Bone Collector. He is repped by Innovative Artists and Erik Kritzer of Fenton/Kritzer Entertainment.
- 1/23/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Comic book powerhouse Platinum Studios and Gold Circle Films have signed an agreement to produce 10 pictures in the $12 million-$25 million range. The films will be based on characters from Platinum's extensive library of characters. Gold Circle is the production and distribution company best known for My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Gold Circle founder Norm Waitt has earmarked $200 million for the new venture, putting Gold Circle, which signed a first-look deal with Universal in March, at the forefront of the comic book-to-movie business. The first four projects to fall under the agreement have been identified. Readying for production as early as next year, the projects include the thriller Seen, which focuses on a photographer who finds himself stalked after accidentally photographing a crime. A second thriller, Casting Shadows, revolves around a group of friends whose seemingly harmless magical games turn serious when one of them turns up dead. Based on the comic book stories by Alan Moore, Book of Mercury is about a magical book with the power to rewrite the future. In Law and Order is an action comedy about an FBI agent forced to team up with his tough-cop dad and his mother-in-law, a fiery liberal judge.
- 10/26/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Ring producers Mike Macari and Neal Edelstein have optioned the rights to Don't Say a Word writer Andrew Klavan's new, untitled script in a six-figure deal. Gold Circle Films (White Noise, Something Borrowed) will finance the horror project, which revolves around a widow and her daughter, who is haunted by her dead father. "The script offers a really strong role for a female lead," Klavan said. "So many horror films have offered the same twist as 'Sixth Sense' recently, but this is really different." Klavan is the author of several best-selling novels, including True Crime, which was turned into a Warner Bros. Pictures film for Clint Eastwood, and Don't Say a Word, which was the basis for the 20th Century Fox film starring Michael Douglas. Klavan also is working on an untitled Warners script. Macari and Edelstein's Macari/Edelstein will produce with Gold Circle's Paul Brooks. Gold Circle's Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt are executive producing. Other Macari/Edelstein projects include No Place Like Home, from director Amy Heckerling. Zach Kadison, who brought the project to Gold Circle, Will Shepherd the film through production. Klavan is repped by Endeavor.
- 3/24/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
CineVegas International Film Festival
Pool movie junkies and fans of its illustrious supporting cast will have a good time with "Poolhall Junkies", the creation of debuting director, co-writer and lead actor Mars Callahan. A big coming out for Callahan (nee Gregory "Mars" Martin) -- whose most notable credit as an actor before this project is Tom Hanks' "That Thing You Do!" -- this low-budget indie is entertaining and doesn't take itself too seriously, while drawing one into a fairly predictable but strongly executed guy flick.
With liberal use of voice-overs and the portrayal of the playing of pool as a fiercely physical sport that includes violent breaks and characters holding cues like weapons, "Poolhall" is another potential sleeper for Production Company Gold Circle Films ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding"). Johnny (Callahan) is so good at playing pool as a young man that his mentor Joe (Chazz Palminteri) dishonestly steers his career away from legitimate competitions and into the lucrative gambit of hustling lesser-talented players in games that can include thousands of bucks won and lost.
With a stop-gambling-or-lose-me girlfriend in Tara (Alison Eastwood) and a younger brother (Michael Rosenbaum) who wants to emulate him, Johnny tries to get a real job after an ugly falling out with Joe. In a fateful development, Joe is beat up by some of Johnny's friends and sets about getting revenge, which entails grooming another hungry shark (Rick Schroder) for the inevitable big-stakes game against Johnny.
In the process of giving it up and then rushing back to the tables to save his wayward brother, Johnny picks up Tara's uncle Mike (Christopher Walken) as a supporter with deep pockets and gets good advice from poolroom operator Nick (Rod Steiger). He also gets a little payback from Joe that makes the big finish a crowd-pleasing display of cuemanship.
Callahan as performer and director is unabashed about his fondness for pool, and the film has a seemingly endless bag of tricks for making the game cinematic. The performances are a plus, led by Callahan with wily charisma and table-jock energy to burn.
Walken and Palminteri's rich dudes' face-off in the climax is worth the wait, while less demanding roles are memorably played to their fullest by Eastwood, Rosenbaum and Schroder. Steiger evokes his feisty movie persona at just the right moment, making the kind of don't-be-a-loser-kid speech that heroes on the verge of blowing it always need to keep them in the game.
POOLHALL JUNKIES
Gold Circle Films
Cutting Edge Entertainment, Newman/Tooley Films
Credits:
Director: Mars Callahan
Screenwriters: Mars Callahan, Chris Corso
Producers: Tucker Tooley, Vincent Newman, Karen Beninati
Executive producers: Norm Waitt, Paul Brooks
Director of photography: Robert Morris
Editor: James Tooley
Costume designer: Kristen Persson
Music: Richard Glasser
Casting: Jeff Johnson
Cast:
Johnny: Mars Callahan
Tara: Alison Eastwood
Danny: Michael Rosenbaum
Joe: Chazz Palminteri
Brad: Rick Schroder
Mike: Christopher Walken
Nick: Rod Steiger
Running time -- 94 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Pool movie junkies and fans of its illustrious supporting cast will have a good time with "Poolhall Junkies", the creation of debuting director, co-writer and lead actor Mars Callahan. A big coming out for Callahan (nee Gregory "Mars" Martin) -- whose most notable credit as an actor before this project is Tom Hanks' "That Thing You Do!" -- this low-budget indie is entertaining and doesn't take itself too seriously, while drawing one into a fairly predictable but strongly executed guy flick.
With liberal use of voice-overs and the portrayal of the playing of pool as a fiercely physical sport that includes violent breaks and characters holding cues like weapons, "Poolhall" is another potential sleeper for Production Company Gold Circle Films ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding"). Johnny (Callahan) is so good at playing pool as a young man that his mentor Joe (Chazz Palminteri) dishonestly steers his career away from legitimate competitions and into the lucrative gambit of hustling lesser-talented players in games that can include thousands of bucks won and lost.
With a stop-gambling-or-lose-me girlfriend in Tara (Alison Eastwood) and a younger brother (Michael Rosenbaum) who wants to emulate him, Johnny tries to get a real job after an ugly falling out with Joe. In a fateful development, Joe is beat up by some of Johnny's friends and sets about getting revenge, which entails grooming another hungry shark (Rick Schroder) for the inevitable big-stakes game against Johnny.
In the process of giving it up and then rushing back to the tables to save his wayward brother, Johnny picks up Tara's uncle Mike (Christopher Walken) as a supporter with deep pockets and gets good advice from poolroom operator Nick (Rod Steiger). He also gets a little payback from Joe that makes the big finish a crowd-pleasing display of cuemanship.
Callahan as performer and director is unabashed about his fondness for pool, and the film has a seemingly endless bag of tricks for making the game cinematic. The performances are a plus, led by Callahan with wily charisma and table-jock energy to burn.
Walken and Palminteri's rich dudes' face-off in the climax is worth the wait, while less demanding roles are memorably played to their fullest by Eastwood, Rosenbaum and Schroder. Steiger evokes his feisty movie persona at just the right moment, making the kind of don't-be-a-loser-kid speech that heroes on the verge of blowing it always need to keep them in the game.
POOLHALL JUNKIES
Gold Circle Films
Cutting Edge Entertainment, Newman/Tooley Films
Credits:
Director: Mars Callahan
Screenwriters: Mars Callahan, Chris Corso
Producers: Tucker Tooley, Vincent Newman, Karen Beninati
Executive producers: Norm Waitt, Paul Brooks
Director of photography: Robert Morris
Editor: James Tooley
Costume designer: Kristen Persson
Music: Richard Glasser
Casting: Jeff Johnson
Cast:
Johnny: Mars Callahan
Tara: Alison Eastwood
Danny: Michael Rosenbaum
Joe: Chazz Palminteri
Brad: Rick Schroder
Mike: Christopher Walken
Nick: Rod Steiger
Running time -- 94 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"My Big Fat Greek Wedding" is a slight but agreeable comedy about the courtship and wedding of a Greek-American woman by -- to the shock of her large, loud family -- a non-Greek. Most of the movie's humor stems from the characters' ethnicity and the clashing of cultures. The film offers no special insights into the Greek-American community; it would play exactly the same if the family were Latino or Chinese or Indian. Indeed, several indie films with similar stories played at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
Co-produced by Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson (who is of Greek heritage), this IFC Films release will probably have little impact theatrically outside of its obvious ethnic audience but should make a pleasant cable diversion. The major hook here is that actress-writer Nia Vardalos is playing her own story. The script for "Greek Wedding" is based on an autobiographical one-woman show written and starring this Second City alumna.
Her character, Toula, is nothing but a headache to the extended Portokalos clan of Chicago. At 30, with her clothes disheveled and wearing glasses, she is "past my expiration date" for marriage to a nice Greek boy. She works in her parents' restaurant, Dancing Zorba's, where everyone treats her as an ugly duckling.
Seizing control of her life, Toula enrolls in a computer class over the objections of her Old World dad. Fixing herself up -- new hairdo, contacts, makeup and form-fitting clothes -- Toula is ready to meet the man of her life. Which she promptly does. Only he is a WASP schoolteacher named Ian John Corbett, reminding you a little of a young Jeff Bridges), not at all what the Portokalos clan has in mind.
Thus begins an awkward romance away from prying family eyes, the eventual discovery of the affair, the to-ing and fro-ing over her engagement to a "foreigner" and finally the big fat Greek wedding of the title where, seemingly, everyone of Greek ancestry in the greater Chicago area gets invited.
This scenario contains a few good lines, and Vardalos' vivacity carries the day despite cliches and caricatures. But if you think the Greek characters are stereotypical, they're not half as bad as Ian's anal-retentive WASP family.
Tearing into their roles as if they were fresh meat are Michael Constantine as Toula's male-chauvinist dad, Lainie Kazan -- who else? -- as her more sympathetic mom, Andrea Martin as her busybody aunt and Gia Carides and 'N Sync's Joey Fatone as flamboyant cousins.
Shot in Toronto under the direction of TV sitcom veteran Joel Zwick, "Greek Wedding" lacks cinematic flair. It looks more like a film designed for the small screen. But, like Toula, is has a good-natured personality.
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING
IFC Films
Gold Circle Films in association with HBO and MPH Entertainment
A Playtone Picture
Credits:
Producers: Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman
Director: Joel Zwick
Writer: Nia Vardalos (based on her play)
Executive producers: Norm Waitt, Paul Brooks, Steven Shareshian
Director of photography: Jeffrey Jur
Production designer: Gregory Keen
Music: Chris Wilson, Alexander Janko
Co-producer: David Coatsworth
Costume designer: Michael Clancy
Editor: Mai Goldman
Cast:
Toula: Nia Vardalos
Ian: John Corbett
Gus: Michael Constantine
Maria: Lainie Kazan
Aunt Voula: Andrea Martin
Angelo: Joey Fatone
Nikki: Gia Carides
Nick: Louis Mandylor
MPAA rating PG
Running time -- 95 minutes...
Co-produced by Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson (who is of Greek heritage), this IFC Films release will probably have little impact theatrically outside of its obvious ethnic audience but should make a pleasant cable diversion. The major hook here is that actress-writer Nia Vardalos is playing her own story. The script for "Greek Wedding" is based on an autobiographical one-woman show written and starring this Second City alumna.
Her character, Toula, is nothing but a headache to the extended Portokalos clan of Chicago. At 30, with her clothes disheveled and wearing glasses, she is "past my expiration date" for marriage to a nice Greek boy. She works in her parents' restaurant, Dancing Zorba's, where everyone treats her as an ugly duckling.
Seizing control of her life, Toula enrolls in a computer class over the objections of her Old World dad. Fixing herself up -- new hairdo, contacts, makeup and form-fitting clothes -- Toula is ready to meet the man of her life. Which she promptly does. Only he is a WASP schoolteacher named Ian John Corbett, reminding you a little of a young Jeff Bridges), not at all what the Portokalos clan has in mind.
Thus begins an awkward romance away from prying family eyes, the eventual discovery of the affair, the to-ing and fro-ing over her engagement to a "foreigner" and finally the big fat Greek wedding of the title where, seemingly, everyone of Greek ancestry in the greater Chicago area gets invited.
This scenario contains a few good lines, and Vardalos' vivacity carries the day despite cliches and caricatures. But if you think the Greek characters are stereotypical, they're not half as bad as Ian's anal-retentive WASP family.
Tearing into their roles as if they were fresh meat are Michael Constantine as Toula's male-chauvinist dad, Lainie Kazan -- who else? -- as her more sympathetic mom, Andrea Martin as her busybody aunt and Gia Carides and 'N Sync's Joey Fatone as flamboyant cousins.
Shot in Toronto under the direction of TV sitcom veteran Joel Zwick, "Greek Wedding" lacks cinematic flair. It looks more like a film designed for the small screen. But, like Toula, is has a good-natured personality.
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING
IFC Films
Gold Circle Films in association with HBO and MPH Entertainment
A Playtone Picture
Credits:
Producers: Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman
Director: Joel Zwick
Writer: Nia Vardalos (based on her play)
Executive producers: Norm Waitt, Paul Brooks, Steven Shareshian
Director of photography: Jeffrey Jur
Production designer: Gregory Keen
Music: Chris Wilson, Alexander Janko
Co-producer: David Coatsworth
Costume designer: Michael Clancy
Editor: Mai Goldman
Cast:
Toula: Nia Vardalos
Ian: John Corbett
Gus: Michael Constantine
Maria: Lainie Kazan
Aunt Voula: Andrea Martin
Angelo: Joey Fatone
Nikki: Gia Carides
Nick: Louis Mandylor
MPAA rating PG
Running time -- 95 minutes...
- 4/17/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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