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It took director David O. Russell some time to figure out how he was going to follow-up his highly lauded 2010 biopic The Fighter, but after dropping out of his adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and then splitting from his video game adaptation Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Russell is finally back with The Silver Linings Playbook.
Based on the 2008 novel by Matthew Quick, The Silver Linings Playbook follows Bradley Cooper as a former teacher who moves back in with his parents (Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver) after spending years in a mental institution. While trying to reconcile with his wife, he finds himself drawn to his eccentric neighbor (Jennifer Lawrence. The first trailer from the movie reveals that Russell has his entire cast doing great work, even Chris Tucker.
watch the trailer >> Posted 06.29.12 by Ryan -
Mash-up author Seth Grahame-Smith isn't finished writing books (his third novel, Unholy Night, will be published in April), but he's been spending plenty of time in Hollywood. Along with working as a screenwriter for director Tim Burton's Dark Shadows, Grahame-Smith is adapting his second best-selling novel, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Blending Lincoln's actual history with vampires (or finally revealing Lincoln's actual vampire history, depending on how you want to look at it), Grahame-Smith's book took a more scholarly approach, but as the writer told SlashFilm in a recent interview, the movie version became more action-oriented once director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) got involved.
what is happening with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? >> Posted 03.28.12 by Ryan -
In August, Mark Wahlberg joined the comic adaptation of 2 Guns just as The Fighter director David O. Russell was dropping out. Looks like Wahlberg will reunite with his Contraband director instead.
Variety reports that Baltasar Kormákur is in negotiations to direct 2 Guns which follows a DEA agent and a naval intelligence officer who separately go undercover to steal mob money while simultaneously investigating each other. While not the exact same plot, Contraband, as revealed in the movie's first trailer, sees Wahlberg brought back into the world of smuggling in order to save his family. Reportedly, the trailer got good online buzz, which helped convince the studio to hire the Icelandic director.
more about 2 Guns >> Posted 10.04.11 by Ryan -
Now that Fright Night is in theaters, Craig Gillespie can concentrate on directing Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The movie's based on the 2009 best-selling mashup novel from Seth Grahame-Smith, who added the undead to Jane Austen's classic story.
While talking to The LA Times, the Australian director explained that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies will stay "incredibly true to Austen," making tone the ultimate challenge of the movie.
more on the tone issue >> Posted 08.25.11 by Ryan -
In January, The Fighter director David O. Russell began negotiations to take over writing and directing Universal’s adaptation of the Boom! Studios comic book 2 Guns, which had been in development since 2008. With a script in place from TV writer Blake Masters (Brotherhood) and actors Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson attached to star as two undercover agents trying to investigate each other while pulling off a job to steal from the mafia and have no idea about the real identity of the other.
While Wilson eventually left the project, THR reports that Mark Wahlberg is entering into final negotiations to join the movie, which would reunite him with his Fighter director. There's only one problem: Both Russell and Vaughn have dropped out.
new roles for Morgan Freeman and Eddie Murphy >> Posted 08.11.11 by Ryan -
After pairing together for the March thriller Limitless, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro are looking to reunite for The Silver Lining Playbook, the next movie from The Fighter director David O. Russell.
Based on the 2008 novel by Matthew Quick, The Silver Lining Playbook follows a former high school teacher who is released from a mental institution into the custody of his mother. He then tries to win back his ex-wife but falls for his neighbor instead. Cooper was originally attached to the role, but recently it looked like Russell was going to re-team with Fighter actor and producer Mark Wahlberg instead. Deadline reports that Wahlberg had to drop out due to scheduling issues, and now Cooper is back in talks.
What part De Niro will play is unknown, though the report adds that Jennifer Lawrence (X-Men: First Class) will play the part of Cooper's neighbor after Anne Hathaway has dropped out due to conflicts with her The Dark Knight Rises shooting schedule. Production will begin this fall.
more Gangster Squad, Bowden becomes a nurse in 3D >> Posted 08.03.11 by Ryan -
Earlier this month, director Neil Burger (Limitless) took over helming duties on Sony Pictures' adaptation of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune from David O. Russell (The Fighter) after Sony Pictures balked at Russell's unconventional script that turned the Playstation video game from a solo-led adventure to one that included a whole family of antiquities hunters.
When Burger landed the job, what wasn't clear was whether the director would use Russell's script or the initial draft from Conan the Barbarian screenwriters Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly. In a recent interview with Crave Online, Burger was quick to point out that neither script will be used.
who could replace Wahlberg? >> Posted 07.18.11 by Ryan -
Writer-director David O. Russell (The Fighter) is becoming quite adept at taking on a project, providing a script, and then quitting. First was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which reportedly received a great script from Russell but after he balked at the budget Lionsgate was giving him, he quit.
The next was the video game adaptation Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Russell lined up Mark Wahlberg for the lead role of Nathan Drake, but his unconventional script didn't please Sony Pictures, so the studio and Russell parted ways.
According to ComingSoon, Neil Burger, the director of the March thriller Limitless, will take over for Russell. Whether Wahlberg remains involved is unknown, as is who will take over rewriting the script, though it could be Burger. Conan the Barbarian screenwriters Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly wrote the initial draft, and reportedly their script will be the one used as a starting point for rewrites, not Rusell's.
Uncharted has yet to be given a release date.
Posted 07.07.11 by Ryan -
Director David O. Russell (The Fighter) dropped out of his own adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies last October, but explained in January that Lionsgate wouldn't give him the budget he felt he needed to make the movie.
Russell quickly rebounded, being hired to write and direct an adaptation of PlayStation 3 game Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, with Mark Wahlberg set to star in the lead role of Nathan Drake. Like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies before it, Russell dropped out of Uncharted in May. In an interview with THR, Russell explained why he left the project.
what's next for Russell? >> Posted 06.15.11 by Ryan -
Since before this year's Academy Awards ceremony that brought Oscars to The Fighter actors Christian Bale and Melissa Leo, actor-producer Mark Wahlberg was discussing a possible sequel to the boxing drama. While accepting the award for Guy Movie of the Year at the Spike TV Guys Choice Awards (via WorstPreviews), Wahlberg again spoke confidently about the sequel.
We left out the Arturo Gatti fights for a reason, because that's for Fighter 2. We're not going to do Fighter 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, but we're gonna do 2. We're gonna do the Ward/Gatti trilogy.
more about The Fighter sequel >> Posted 06.11.11 by Ryan