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Now that we know "The Tree Of Life" will finally hit theaters in 2011, we can start obsessing on the director's next project, the untitled feature that currently is shooting in Oklahoma.
Starring Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Rachel Weisz and Olga Kurylenko, plot details are as usual completely under wraps, but during the film's production, numerous pics and video of Malick and his crew shooting the film have made their way online. Now, more pics emerged thanks to local Osage County newspaper The Bigheart Times, along with a couple intriguing bits of info.
First up, the solid and continually underrated Barry Pepper has joined the cast of the film and along with Javier Bardem, plays a priest in the pic. So what does this indicate about the plot? We have no idea except that perhaps there will be some thematic crossover from "The Tree Of Life." The article goes on to indicate that shooting wrapped in Osage County last week, but no word yet on how many work weeks are slotted for filming. And of course after that comes Malick's painstaking editing process, so this is one is still a long time from being seen (hell, we're still waiting on something official from "The Tree Of Life"; a release date even, not to mention an official still or trailer).
But, we're mostly just thrilled not to have to wait a decade for another Malick film. That said, we don't expect this one to be ready until 2012 at the earliest so we will have to be patient. Two Malick films within such proximity is something to be excited for.
Update: Variety reports that Mark Duplass, who starred in Shelton's "Humpday" will be joining the film playing a man who comes between the two sisters.
We're beginning to suspect that Rachel Weisz has cloned herself. The actress has two projects in the can, the well-reviewed drama "The Whistleblower," and Jim Sheridan's supernatural thriller "Dream House," and now, no less than four new films lined up. She's making an appearance alongside Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and Javier Bardem in the untitled Terrence Malick film that's currently shooting, she takes the lead in Terrence Davies' "The Deep Blue Sea" in November, and was the first to sign on for the ensemble cast of Fernando Meirelles' "360," and has now somehow found the time to fit in another project along the way, one that's just as tantalizing as the others.
In an apparent bid to pick up all ten available Oscar nominations in 2012, Weisz will star alongside Emily Blunt (who's almost as busy, with "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" currently filming, and recently signing on to Rian Johnson's "Looper") in an untitled new film from director Lynn Shelton, who was behind last year's Sundance hit "Humpday." The film will revolve around a pair of sisters, played by Blunt and Weisz, and like Shelton's earlier film, will be semi-improvised.
While we weren't quite convinced by "Humpday," the idea of two of our favorite actresses teaming up like this is enough for us to book a ticket right now. Production, which will only last a couple of weeks, begins in Seattle later in the month. There's no news of any other talent involved, but we suspect some other biggish names may find room in their schedules to join them.
In the same story, Deadline also report that Weisz will be spending only one week on the Malick film, suggesting that her role is likely to be little more than a cameo, at least until more details leak out about that one. We've got a hunch that the secrecy is because Malick's actually making a sequel to "Daredevil." [Deadline]
After his semi-autobiographical acting debut in "8 Mile" proved to feature both a pretty solid performance, and a pretty decent movie, many expected hip-hop star Eminem to carve out a profitable side-career in acting. But outside of a pretty good cameo as himself in Judd Apatow's "Funny People," it never materialized, partly due to the rapper's struggle with addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs.
But with his latest record, Recovery proving to be something of a return to form, commercially at least, it looks like Marshall Mathers is set to return to acting, as Production Weekly have reported that the actor is in negotiations to join the cast of Fernando Meirelles' sex drama "360," which Rachel Weisz signed on to a few weeks back. Furthermore, Frances McDormand is also said to be in talks, while Anthony Hopkins appears to have signed on to the project officially.
All in all, it's lining up to a very exciting, eclectic cast for the Peter Morgan-penned reworking of Arthur Schnitzler's "La Ronde." The original is made up of several short scenes between couples, who span class and social divides, who are shown before or after a sexual liaison. After each scene, one character from the pairing is then shown with another partner, who is then shown with another partner, and so on, until the promiscuity comes full circle. With this in mind, we can expect quite a few other casting announcements before filming kicks off later in the year. But frankly, even the faint prospect of a sex scene between Slim Shady and Marge Gunderson kind of blows our minds.
With Meirelles coming off the misfire "Blindness," he's got a little more to prove this time at bat, but he certainly seems to be assembling the right kind of cast here. Eminem, meanwhile, may be seen at some stage in a 3D horror anthology "Shady Talez," although there's been no word on this for almost a year, so don't hold your breath.
Our enthusiasm for "The Deep Blue Sea," the return of terminally underrated British director Terrence Davies, and his adaptation of Terrence Rattigan's 20th century drama classic, hasn't exactly been a secret since it was announced. The prospect of the film itself was exciting enough, but once Rachel Weisz was attached to the lead character, Hester Collyer, the suicidal wife of judge in 1950s Britain, locked in a destructive affair with a former RAF pilot, we knew this would be one of our most anticipated films of 2011.
Now, according to Baz Bamigboye at the Daily Mail, Weisz has two terrific actors joining her; Tom Hiddleston, soon to be seen as Loki in "Thor," will play Freddie Page, her younger lover, while stage veteran Simon Russell Beale will play her estranged husband. It's the latest high-profile role for Hiddleston: besides "Thor," and possibly "The Avengers," he's also got roles in Steven Spielberg's "War Horse" and Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" coming up next year.
But it's Russell Beale that we're really excited about here. A legend in the theatre world, called by some "the greatest stage actor of his generation" (he's probably best known in the States for appearing on Broadway in "Spamalot," and for Sam Mendes' "The Cherry Orchard" and "A Winter's Tale"), Beale very rarely appears on film -- the last time being the forgotten 2002 Christina Ricci chiller "The Gathering." But he's just kicked off a recurring role on the BBC show "Spooks," and it's reminded us of how compelling a presence on screen he can be.
Filming kicks off in November, with Weisz squeezing it in between several other projects -- presumably including the untitled Terrence Malick film currently underway, and Fernando Mereilles' "360" (and Jesus, what a line up of projects.) But it's clear why Weisz made the effort, and Davies says that she was his first and only choice, recalling the first time he saw her, in Beeban Kidron's "Swept From The Sea;" "I fell off the sofa when I saw her. She has the kind of luminosity that will last till she's 90. When producer Sean O'Connor suggested we do "The Deep Blue Sea," I said: "Offer it to her!" The film should open this time next year, just in time for the awards season, and we've got to assume at this point that it'll be a major contender.
Now that we know "The Tree Of Life" will finally hit theaters in 2011, we can start obsessing on the director's next project, the untitled feature that currently is shooting in Oklahoma.
