Hey, Gretchen: You made “fetch” happen for me.
‘Red Band Trailer’ with Amanda Seyfried [lStudio]
Full Story » 
Happy Thursday! Also in today’s edition of The Broadsheet: James Bond’s 23rd may have a title… Octavia Spencer could deal for Diablo Cody… Javier Bardem may return to villainy (animation-style)… And the Nobel literature winner is… and more.
· Steve Jobs — Apple co-founder, Pixar patron saint and all-around visionary — lost his battle with pancreatic cancer Wednesday at age 56. Countless tributes followed, with everyone from George Lucas to Mark Zuckerberg to Steven Spielberg and many more paying their respects. Apple invited comments from the public at rememberingsteve@apple.com. Filmmakers cited his influence on digital editing (and thus much of the last decade of microbudget and independent cinema). Nikki Finke speculated about a biopic. And it’s only getting started for arguably the most influential American of the last quarter-century. Thoughts? [NYT]
· Here’s some pretty compelling evidence that the next, Sam Mendes-directed James Bond film will be titled Skyfall: 15 domain-name registrations linking the franchise, the title and Sony Pictures. Do with that that what you will. [Fusible via THR]
· Just when you thought Javier Bardem could never possibly have a more frightening bad-guy visage than he did in No Country For Old Men, the Oscar-winner is in discussions to voice the villain in the imminent sequel to Universal’s animated hit Despicable Me. [THR]
· Oscar hopeful Octavia Spencer may join Diablo Cody’s untitled directorial…
Full Story »
Footloose remake co-star and Dancing with the Stars ingénue Julianne Hough has landed the lead in Diablo Cody’s newly untitled feature directorial debut about a conservative young woman who regains her faith after heading to Sin City. And who will play the wild and crazy figure that helps her on her debauched path to redemption? None other than Russell Brand. Perfect casting, no?
Mandate Pictures made the announcement today in a press release that curiously referred to the project, previously titled Lamb of God, as Untitled Diablo Cody Project. Maybe the film’s undergoing a title change?
Regardless, Brand’s sort of a no-brainer in the way of mentoring anyone in the ways of Vegas-style depravity, and Hough’s acting career is on the rise; she’s certainly got the innocent, All American look down even if her dramatic talents are relatively unproven. With Cody both writing and behind the camera, it’ll be interesting to see how much Hough can stray from her good girl image.
Press release follows…
===========
Mandate Pictures announced today that Julianne Hough (FOOTLOOSE) and Russell Brand (GET HIM TO THE GREEK) will star in the UNTITLED DIABLO CODY PROJECT. Academy Award® winner Diablo Cody will make her feature directorial debut from her original screenplay. Mason Novick (500 DAYS OF SUMMER) will produce. Mandate president Nathan Kahane (50/50) will executive produce alongside Diablo Cody. Nicole Brown, EVP of Production, is overseeing the project on behalf of Mandate Pictures. The project is on a fast track for a spring production start. Lionsgate is handling international sales and will present the film as part of their upcoming American Film Market slate.
The comedy follows a sheltered young woman (Hough)…
Full Story »Last week during Movieline’s Fall Preview, we repeatedly named Young Adult as one of our most anticipated autumn films. The Jason Reitman/Diablo Cody collaboration stars Charlize Theron as a teen-lit author who returns to her hometown to reclaim her happily married high school crush (Patrick Wilson). And judging by the movie’s first poster, that hometown mission does not go so well.
Young Adult hits theaters Dec. 9. For Diablo Cody’s most anticipated movies of the fall, click here.
[THR]
Full Story »
Diablo Cody has her own movie to anticipate with the release of her third feature Young Adult this December (featuring a thoroughly unamused Charlize Theron), but the Academy Award winner took time out tell Movieline which three films she most looks forward to seeing. What will make the cut? The Iron Lady? Carnage? A Dangerous Method? Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip Wrecked? Click through for her adroit (and quite cheeky) observations.
Take it away, Diablo!
1. Carnage: “Ooh, I bet this is going to be super gory! I heard there’s a scene where Christoph Waltz has to bite off his own finger and the finger reanimates itself and flies up Jodie Foster’s nostril. Polanski proves once again that he’s the master of horror.”
2. Melancholia
“Those posters featuring Kirsten Dunst as a gorgeous bride have me psyched— what girl doesn’t love a good wedding comedy? Plus, I’ve missed that cutie Kirsten and those irresistible dimples. Hey Lars von Trier: Bring it on!”
3. Moneyball
“This is the Channing Tatum stripper movie, right? Soderbergh put that together fast. I think it’s really great that Jonah Hill lost all that weight to play an adult entertainer. Healthy choices should be applauded. I give Moneyball a standing O!”
The potentially Oscar-attractive Young Adult comes out in theaters December 16.
Full Story »After nabbing Oscar nods for their first collaboration, the 2007 indie darling Juno, screenwriter Diablo Cody (who won the Academy Award) and director Jason Reitman reprise their partnership in this December’s Young Adult, the story of a YA novel author (Charlize Theron) who returns to her hometown to win back her now-married high school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson). After the jump, get your first look at Theron traveling in a slightly less glamorous getup than we’re used to seeing.
Observe: The baggy Hello Kitty t-shirt. The hair pulled back. The luxury toy dog half-slipping off the shoulder. The last-minute Victoria’s Secret purchase for use upon arrival. This woman does not give a crap right now. She’s probably wearing Uggs, too.
Now, compare this to what real-life Charlize Theron looks like when traveling the world:
Would real Charlize Theron ever wear sweat pants to the airport? HELL NO.
Conclusion: This is what you call acting. And I kind of love the idea of slightly sloppy, slightly not-together, living in the past Charlize Theron trying inappropriately to break up a marriage. Sounds like My Best Friend’s Wedding for the YA author community.
The official synopsis of Young Adult, courtesy of Paramount Pictures and Mandate Pictures:
Academy Award® winner Charlize Theron plays Mavis Gary, a writer of teen literature who returns to her small hometown to relive her glory days and attempt to reclaim her happily married high school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson). When returning home proves more difficult than she thought, Mavis forms an unusual bond with a former classmate (Patton Oswalt) who hasn’t quite gotten over high school, either.
Young Adult will be released December 16, 2011.
[via Slashfilm]
Full Story »
Oscar-winning Juno scribe Diablo Cody will make her directorial debut with Lamb of God, about a conservative woman who loses her faith and goes to Las Vegas to sin it up — which kind of sounds like Kristen Wiig’s character from Paul, only (let’s hope!) even naughtier. Cody also wrote the script and will re-team with producer Mason Novick, who produced Cody-penned films Juno, Jennifer’s Body, and the forthcoming Jason Reitman-directed comedy Young Adult. [THR]
The L.A. Film Festival’s “Coffee Talk” series — where film professionals in the same occupation gather to discuss the job and upcoming projects — enjoyed one of its most noteworthy moments of the season on Sunday with its “Screenwriters” meetup: Dustin Lance Black (of Oscar-winning Milk fame) and Diablo Cody (of Oscar-winning Juno and Movieline fame) spoke most, while Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely (The Chronicles of Narnia, Captain America) and Josh Olson (A History of Violence) also fielded questions, offered insights, and even deigned to make us laugh.
Most of the buzziest returns came courtesy of Black, whose Leonardo DiCaprio-starring, Clint Eastwood-directed biopic of J. Edgar Hoover comes out this winter, and Cody — who said her new movie Young Adult is a less “congenial” turn for director Jason Reitman.
Dustin Lance Black agrees that his last film wasn’t good, so he’s revising it
Black’s What’s Wrong with Virginia debuted at TIFF last year to poor reviews. He concurred: “I directed a film last year and took it to the Toronto Film Festival and it got murdered. And they were right, it was pretty bad. So I opened up the edit and got a new editor and went back to script and finishing that film. Doing color correction on that tomorrow.” The harsh feedback became a necessary turning point for the film. “It took a month or two of me going, ‘I can sell it, it’ll be in theaters for a week, then it’ll go to video, and it’ll never quite be what it should’ve been — or I thought, I can listen to what just happened… and revive it.”
Diablo Cody’s dream writing project is a biopic of Brian Wilson
…
