Scorsese May Work on Wolf; Stamps Honor Star Wars; Cool Hand Luke Director Dies
April 2007 News
Wolf May Attract Departed Duo: Martin Scorsese (left) and Leonardo DiCaprio may team up again for an adaptation of soon-to-be-published The Wolf of Wall Street. If the deal comes to fruition — a big if, considering how much the director and actor are in demand these days — DiCaprio would star as Jordan Belfort, a stockbroker who went to jail after refusing to become a federal informer, and Scorsese would direct. DiCaprio, by the way, will be pairing with Titanic co-star Kate Winslet for suburban disillusionment drama Revolutionary Road, to be directed by Sam Mendes.
Other development news: M. Night Shyamalan has gotten the greenlight from 20th Century Fox to write and direct The Happening. The film, which is currently scheduled for a June 2008 release, will be a thriller about a family, led by Mark Wahlberg, who must go on the run when a natural crisis threatens to destroy the world . And Will Smith will co-produce Cooked, a memoir by a drug dealer turned celebrity chef, for Columbia.
Star Wars stamps: The U.S. Postal Service announced on March 28. that it will be releasing a set of 15 Star Wars stamps to commemorate the film's 30th anniversary. The set, which features Darth Vader, Yoda, Luke Skywalker, Boba Fett, and other characters, will be available May 25, two weeks after first-class postage goes up to 41 cents.
Actors' attachments: Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep have been cast in Mamma Mia!, the film version of the hit ABBA musical. Penelope Cruz, Ben Kingsley and Patricia Clarkson will star in an untitled adaptation of Philip Roth's Dying Animal. Angelina Jolie added two projects to her slate: The Changeling, to be directed by Clint Eastwood, and Wanted, with James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman.
Scarlett Johansson must like working with Woody Allen; she'll star in the untitled film he's shooting this summer. And happily for Harry Potter fans, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are on board for the franchise's final two films. Joe Carnahan probably won't want to work with Reese Witherspoon ever again, who dropped out of Bunny Lake Is Missing five weeks before filming was supposed to start.
Premiere magazine shuts down: On March 5, Hachette Filipacchi, the publisher of Premiere, announced that the magazine's April issue will be its last. The decision came after a slump in advertising revenue for 2006; Hachette tried to sell the magazine earlier this year, but got no takers. Some of the staffers may not have to look far for a job, though, since Premiere will keep its website up and running.
Valenti suffers stroke: Jack Valenti, the former head of the Motion Picture Association of America, was hospitalized March 27 after suffering a stroke. He had gone to a specialist at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, complaining of eye problems, and was promptly admitted. Warner Bros. chairman Barry Meyer, a friend of Valenti, said that doctors were "encouraged" by his progress.
In memoriam: Director Stuart Rosenberg died of a heart attack March 15 at age 79. The director worked in TV, most notably with Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone, before making his feature film debut with Cool Hand Luke, the first of four films he would make with Paul Newman. He made 14 pictures in all, with the biggest box-office success being 1979's Amityville Horror. Actress Betty Hutton (Annie Get Your Gun) and film composer Herman Stein (Creature from the Black Lagoon and other sci-fi cult classics) also died March 15. Hutton was 86, Stein was 91.
Cinematographer and director Freddie Francis died March 18 at age 89. He received critical acclaim for his camera work, winning Oscars for 1961's Sons and Lovers and 1989's Glory, but also directed cult horror films for British studios Hammer and Amicus.
