There’s nothing like a good bit of alternate “What if?” casting to make you appreciate a movie whose stars’ chemistry works, so picture what might have been if David O. Russell had made his Oscar contender Silver Linings Playbook a few years back… with Vince Vaughn and Zooey Deschanel.
“I wrote this five years ago and I rewrote it 20 times,” Russell told The Huffington Post. “And I thought I was going to make it with Vince Vaughn and Zooey Deschanel before The Fighter. And then it didn’t happen, for any number of reasons that were out of my hands.”
Head here to read the full Silver Linings chat, in which Russell big ups stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence and offers little hope that we’ll ever see the infamously stalled Nailed.
Meanwhile, as awards pundit Anne Thompson notes, Silver Linings is flagging in the crowded Oscar race after enjoying a burst of momentum in previous weeks. Maybe a celebrity endorsement from Oscar-winner Charlize Theron will help? Here’s Theron waxing enthusiastic over Lawrence in EW’s Entertainers of the Year cover story:
“How is it that she can just stand there, not saying a word, and make us feel so much? Her talent is undeniable, and she is a force to be reckoned with.”
Theron should know; she starred as the older version of a pre-fame, pre-Hunger Games Lawrence (or vice versa — Lawrence starred as the young Theron, opposite Revolution’s J.D. Pardo) in 2008’s The Burning Plain.
[Huffington Post, EW, Thompson on Hollywood]
Also in Wednesday afternoon’s round up of news briefs, Rob Reiner may join Martin Scorsese’s latest project and Zooey Deschanel has a round about kind thing to say about the internet. And what does Piranhaconda director have to say to a critic who panned his latest? It isn’t pretty…
Lee Daniels The Paperboy Hits in October
Oscar-nominated director Lee Daniels’ latest The Paperboy will open theatrically October 5th distributor Millennium Entertainment said. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, David Oyelowo, Macy Gray, John Cusack and Nicole Kidman. The Cannes debut erotic thriller is set in 1969 revolving around a young man who returns to his small Florida hometown to help his reporter brother uncover the truth about a man on death row, who might have been wrongly convicted. In the process, he falls for the convict’s lover.
Around the ‘net…
Rob Reiner in Consideration for Wolf of Wall Street
Reiner is in negotiations to join Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street. He’s play Max, the father of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Jordan Belfort. he film is based on the memoir by Belfort with the script being written by Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter, Deadline reports.
Zooey Deschanel on the Internet: It Will Get More Positive
The actress told THR that “There’s way too much negativity online. But it will eventually change.” But Veep’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus countered, “It will get worse.”
Ryan Phillippe to Make Directorial Debut with Shreveport
The actor will make his debut behind the camera with the indie thriller which he’ll also star in, playing a fading star who is suddenly kidnapped and tortured while making a low budget film, Variety reports.
Piranhaconda’s Director Has Words for a Critic
Jim Wynorski’s latest Piranhaconda…
……and it’s going to star Zooey Deschanel as Loretta Lynn. I’ll wait here while you ask Siri, “WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?“
At a show at the Grand Ole Opry in 1979, Loretta brought Sissy Spacek onstage and announced she handpicked Sissy to play her in the Coal Miner’s Daughter. Loretta did the same thing for Zooey at the Ryman Auditorium last night. According to Playbill, Loretta told the audience:
“It’s a long way from Butcher Holler to Broadway in New York City. I never imagined I’d see ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter’ on a movie screen, and now I can’t believe it’s going to be on a stage for people to see,” said Lynn. “I’m going to be right there in the front row. And I know Zooey is going to be great – she sings and writes her own songs just like I do, and we even have the same color eyes!”
The show has a star, a website and producers, but it doesn’t have writers or a director, so it might not even happen. Yeah, I’d rather Loretta Lynn play Loretta Lynn on Broadway (yes, she still can) than a come-to-life Holly Hobbie doll who is too damn lazy to look outside her window to see if it’s raining, but I don’t have any feelings either way about this. But mostly that’s because the only feeling I’m feeling right now is queasiness. It isn’t from this news, it’s from eating a multi-vitamin with my lunch. See, I try to do something healthy and my body rejects it! I bet this wouldn’t have happened if I ate a donut with my lunch. Fuck vitamins!
Also in Friday morning’s Biz Break, the Weinsteins go for a sneak of their latest French release paired with Oscar-winner The Artist, the Time Warner chief’s recipe for how to combat movie piracy, and more.
Robert De Niro and Michael Douglas Team for CBS Films’ Vegas
Last Vegas is a comedy about four old friends who decide to throw a Las Vegas bachelor party for the only one of them who has remained single. De Niro will play the party-averse Paddy Connelly, who reluctantly agrees to fly to Vegas at the request of his friends. Douglas will play Billy Gerson, a lifelong bachelor, who has finally decided to take the plunge. Good Universe, which launches its global sales operation in Cannes this month led by principal Joe Drake, is handling international sales.
Around the ‘net…
Rachel McAdams to Star in About Time
McAdams is in negotiations to star in the latest romantic comedy from British filmmaker Richard Curtis. McAdams would play the dream girl, a role Zooey Deschanel had once been attached to play, THR reports.
Zooey Deschanel to Play Loretta Lynn on Broadway
Lynn introduced Deschanel on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville Thursday night. Back in 1979, Lynn introduced Sissy Spacek on stage at the Grando Ole Opry in the movie Coal Miner’s Daughter, which would eventually win Spacek an Academy Award. THR reports.
Weinsteins Sneak Intouchables with The Artist
Six theaters in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles will host a sneak of French-language hit The Intouchables tied to The Weinstein Company’s re-release of The Artist on Saturday. Intouchables opens May 25th in the U.S., Variety reports.
Movie Windows Must Collapse to Combat Piracy
Time Warner CEO…
Which popular talk-show host has never cared for Jennifer Aniston and isn’t afraid to say she’s on “Team Angelina”? The chatty star won’t go public with her views because the former “Friends” beauty has been a returning guest on her show, but she was very vocal behind the scenes when Jen’s BFF Chelsea Handler slammed Angelina Jolie as a home wrecker! (National Enquirer via Blind Gossip)
I wish this was about Chelsea Handler and she’s really an undercover mole working for Maddox, but that’s not possible. Chelsea and Jennifer Aniston are practically related since both of them have nothing but vodka flowing through their veins. And vodka is thicker than EVERYTHING.
This could be about Ellen Degeneres, because studies show that 9 out of 10 lesbians love Angelina Jolie. But I’m going to guess this is Kelly Ripa, because skinny ass bitches stick together and this Friday could really use a picture of belly peen.
This A list actress recently told friends that she is not living her dreams. Her dream job is to be a truck-stop waitress and she’s sad she’ll never be able to do it. She says she loves the idea of having a job of serving food and just making people happy, and living a life of simplicity and anonymity. (BuzzFoto)
I asked Siri this and she automatically ordered me some
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