Vulture brings news that Darren Aronofsky, after backing out of The Wolverine, is now eyeing a new project called Human Nature. The fifteen-year-old original spec script from Jeff Welch tells of a man who is cryogenically frozen and wakes up years later to a world in which humans have become pets of another species. George Clooney has attached himself for the lead role. Warner Bros.-based Akiva Goldsman (I Am Legend) is currently budgeting the project, but given Clooney’s attachment and the Warner’s possible involvement, it sounds like the film could be a larger production than we’re accustomed to seeing from Aronofsky. I suppose that was bound to happen after the breakthrough success of Black Swan. Human Nature could be his next project if things progress as planned, though I have no idea what that means for his other proposed projects (Machine Men, Jackie and The Tiger). Stay tuned.
Director F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job) will return to the heist genre and bring Sam Worthington with him in The Last Days of American Crime, according to THR. The graphic novel adaptation is set in a near future where the government plans to implement a form of legal mind control (Clockwork Orange?), making it impossible for its citizens to commit unlawful acts. Worthington will play a career criminal looking to put together the last great heist in American history on the last night such a crime is possible.
Deadline reports Charlie Hunnam (“Sons of Anarchy”) has entered negotiations to star in director Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim. The film now appears on track to become del Toro’s next feature, after Universal put the brakes on the Tom Cruise-led At the Mountains of Madness. Pacific Rim certainly brings the promise of more of del Toro’s always imaginative critters, as it takes place in a future where giant malevolent creatures threaten to destroy the world.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s untitled religious drama known around the web as The Master looks to be back on track with The Weinstein Company acquiring worldwide distribution rights. Deadline reports the film will begin production June 13. Philip Seymour Hoffman will star as a man who creates a new belief system (a la L. Ron Hubbard), while Joaquin Phoenix will play the alcoholic drifter who becomes his disciple. Anderson is also said to be looking at actresses such as Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Madisen Beaty (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and Lena Endre (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), presumably not all for the same role.
Gotti: Three Generations is now showing a lot of potential after I was set to dismiss it as pure trash just a couple of weeks ago. Al Pacino is the latest name to jump aboard the project, while THR also reports director Barry Levinson’s Bugsy screenwriter James Toback has been hired to revise the script. Previously attached actors include John Travolta, Kelly Preston and their daughter Ella Bleu Travolta, Joe Pesci and Lindsay Lohan.
Director Rob Marshall (Chicago, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) will reteam with Johnny Depp on Warner Bros’ The Thin Man. The film is a remake of the 1934 comedy-mystery featuring a former detective and his rich, playful wife who solve a murder case mostly for the fun of it. Do any Thin Man fans here have any suggestions for who should play the wife? Myrna Loy played the original and as anyone that saw Public Enemies surely noticed, Depp’s co-star Marion Cotillard, is a spitting image of Loy. Should they just go by looks? Could the two pull it off together? And is Depp a good fit for the role made famous by William Powell? I suppose it’s about time I get around to watching the original.
And finally, we’ve got more exciting news on the cast for The Hunger Games involving a name you actually know. Stanley Tucci has officially joined the film and will play Caesar Flickerman, the outrageous host of the deadly Hunger Games. Tucci is the type of actor who possesses the power to make virtually any film worth watching, so this is a definite win for the franchise.
