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Film division's decision to schedule screening of country singer movie could be awards push
Published on Thursday, Nov 05, 2009
From Beacon Journal wire services
Fox Searchlight became the toast of awards season in 2008 by cutting it close — it picked up the season's two darlings, Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler, as late as August and September, respectively.
This year it could be cutting it even closer.
After the lukewarm response to one-time hopeful Amelia, the specialty division may be making a fall push for Crazy Heart, the country-music drama starring Jeff Bridges.
At the moment, the picture remains dated for next year, as it has been since Searchlight acquired it this summer. But the specialty division has scheduled a surprise, last-minute screening for Wednesday in what wagging tongues are saying is a trial balloon for a 2009 release and awards push.
Company reps aren't saying whether there's a calendar move or awards-push in the offing. But given how much Searchlight has been a fixture on the Oscar circuit the past few years (best picture nominations or wins three straight years) — and how high expectations are for this picture — it would almost be odd if it didn't make a move.
Scott Cooper makes his directing debut with Crazy Heart, which is based on Thomas Cobb's novel and centers on a washed-up country singer (Bridges) who gets his life back on track thanks to the help of a female reporter, and a close but complicated relationship with a younger country star.
Music icon T-Bone Burnett is a producer, and Colin Farrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Robert Duvall also star.
Early buzz had the picture as The Wrestler for country music.
Shakespeare drama
Gerard Butler has signed on star opposite Ralph Fiennes in Fiennes' directing debut, Coriolanus.
The project is billed as a contemporary version of Shakespeare's Rome-set political drama.
Butler will play Tullus Aufidius, commander of the Volscian army. He joins a cast that includes William Hurt, Eddie Marsan, Jessica Chastain and Vanessa Redgrave.
The project is set to begin shooting in Serbia in March.
Bank-heist comedy
Patrick Dempsey will find himself in the middle of a couple of stickups in an untitled bank-heist comedy written by The Hangover's Lucas and Scott Moore. Paul McGuigan (Lucky Number Slevin) is directing.
Dempsey (Grey's Anatomy) will play a man caught in the middle of two robberies at the same bank. Complicating matters, he tries to protect a bank teller with whom he's secretly in love.
Production will begin in April.
Dempsey next appears on the big screen in Warner Bros.' ensemble comedy Valentine's Day, directed by Garry Marshall and set for release in February.
Comic-book movie
Helen Mirren is going to do her first comic-book movie.
The Oscar winner has signed to play an assassin in Red, Summit Entertainment's adaptation of the Wildstorm/DC Comics miniseries. Robert Schwenke is directing.
Mirren joins Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman in the tale of a former black-ops agent (Willis), now in retirement, who has to contend with younger assassins who show up to kill him. Mirren plays an old associate of Willis with a lethal set of skills.
Mirren has several films in the can, including The Tempest, Julie Taymor's take on the Shakespearean play and Love Ranch, a drama directed by her husband, Taylor Hackford.
Academy Awards
Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are joining forces to co-host the 82nd Annual Academy Awards.
As a solo act, Martin hosted the Oscars in 2001 and 2003, earning an Emmy nomination for his first turn at-bat. He's also been a presenter on a number of occasions including this year, when he appeared with Tina Fey to hand out a trophy.
Baldwin has appeared as a presenter, most recently in 2004 when he was nominated as best supporting actor for his appearance in The Cooler.
The 82nd Oscars will be held March 7 and broadcast live by ABC from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
From Beacon Journal wire services
Get the full article here.
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