Paul Dano Joins Cruise And Diaz In “Wichita”
Paul Dano will star alongside Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz in action comedy, formerly titled “Wichita.”
The movie will be directed by James Mangold (”3:10 to Yuma,” “Walk the Line,” “Kate & Leopold“). Scott Frank and Dana Fox wrote the script but Mangold rewrote the screenplay with Laeta Kalogridis (”Shutter Island“).
The story follows a secret agent Milner (Cruise) who finds himself teamed with a Midwestern single woman June (Diaz) who has had terrible luck with men.
Dano will play a charming but mysterious scientist whose invention is at the center of Cruise and Diaz’s chase.
The movie will also star Maggie Grace and Marc Blucas.
Mission: Impossible 4 Officially Confirmed for 2011!
Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams have agreed to co-produce “Mission: Impossible 4″ the sequel, which is set for a 2011 release.
“Tom and I have come up with a really cool idea we are pursuing,” Abrams said earlier. “I am incredibly honored that Tom has invited me back as a producer.”
The only problem with the production of “Mission: Impossible 4″ is negotiating the schedules of Cruise and Abrams.
Some are surprised to see Cruise returning to the studio, considering that it was Paramount who gave him the boot back in 2006. If you remember correctly after MI:3 Cruise left Paramount Studio after it’s chief Sumner Redstone ousted him after a 14 year partnership. A lot of people believed the decision had to do with Cruise’s behavior in the media at the time, which seemed to dampen his favor with audiences. Cruise has been hanging out at United Artists ever since.
Abrams is set for a Star trek sequel, while Cruise is working on a untitled film (formerly called Wichita) for 20th Century Fox that will be directed by James Mangold and co-star Cameron Diaz.
J.J. Abrams Producing “Mission: Impossible 4″
“Mission: Impossible 3” and “Star Trek” director J.J. Abrams tells TV Guide via Spoiler TV that he’s set to produce “Mission: Impossible 4“
“I am incredibly honored that Tom [Cruise] has invited me back as a producer on ‘Mission: Impossible 4′. Tom and I have come up with a really cool idea we are pursuing” said Abrams who directed 2006’s “Mission: Impossible 3″.
Earlier this year, Cruise revealed that he would reprise his role of Ethan Hunt in the film.
Yet with a $134 million from the domestic market and $397.9 million worldwide, almost triple its $150M budget, the franchise has been highly profitable for the studio so interest in a fourth outing comes as no surprise.
Tom Cruise And Cameron Diaz In Wichita
Tom Cruise will probably do the 20th Century Fox action comedy formerly titled “Wichita” as his next film.
Cameron Diaz will also star in this movie that will be directed by James Mangold (”3:10 to Yuma,” “Walk the Line,” “Kate & Leopold“). Apparently, both Cruise and Diaz approved the script, and their negotiations with Fox are in the “advanced” stage.
Recent rewrites to the script were done by Scott Frank. Mangold is presently rewriting the screenplay with Laeta Kalogridis (”Shutter Island“).
The story follows a secret agent (Cruise) who finds himself coming into and out of the life of a single woman who has had terrible luck with men.
Chris Tucker and Eva Mendes were attached last year along with director Tom Dey, but that combination was unsuccessful.
Cruise and Diaz appeared together back in 2001’s “Vanilla Sky,” US version of “Abre Los Ojos” (1997) directed by Alejandro Amenábar.
Fox has not officially dated the picture, but the studio hopes to release the film in the summer of 2010.
Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz To Star Together Again?
James Mangold (”3:10 to Yuma,” “Walk the Line,” “Kate & Leopold“) will be directing an untitled romantic comedy for 20th Century Fox.
The project formerly is known as “Wichita” and “Trouble Man” and screenwriter Scott Frank is working on a rewrite.
Story revolves around a woman who has terrible luck with men but finds her path intertwined with that of a mysterious handsome man she meets on a blind date.
Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz might star in this project but this is not official.
The project is one of several films that Cruise is considering and Diaz just became attached to Paramount’s romantic comedy “Swingles.”
Cruise and Diaz appeared together back in 2001’s “Vanilla Sky,” US version of “Abre Los Ojos” (1997) directed by Alejandro Amenábar.
Chris Tucker and Eva Mendes were attached last year along with director Tom Dey, but that combination was unsuccessful.
Tom Cruise To Join Washington In Movie Based On Ludlum’s Matarese Circle
As we know, Denzel Washington will star in action thriller project “The Matarese Circle” a film adaptation of Robert Ludlum’s novel. Now, Tom Cruise is in talks to join Denzel Washington, actually, he is getting ready to partner with Denzel Washington in the David Cronenberg-directed adaptation of Ludlum’s 1979 book for MGM.
Unlike in the action drama “American Gangster“, Washington would be portraying the good guy in this film. “Matarese” centers on the collaboration of two rival secret agents, an American Bradley Scofield, CIA, and a Russian KGB agent Vasili Taleniekov. The two are forced to work together after spending two decades trying to kill each other who in order to fight a mysterious murderer group called the Matarese.
The script will be written by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas (”Wanted“), who both are said to be attached to the project.
Like many books by the late Ludlum, “The Matarese Circle” is set during the Cold War. Insiders said the Cold War tensions will be dropped and the storyline contemporized.
Ludlum wrote a second book “The Matarese Countdown,” which MGM also acquired the follow-up novel, so, Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington are teaming up for what could possibly turn into a new franchise.
Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Nick Wechsler will produce with Jeffrey Weiner and Ben Smith’s newly formed Captivate Entertainment. Henry Morrison is exec producer. While Cruise is a co-owner of Lion sibling studio United Artists, “The Matarese Circle” will strictly be an MGM picture.
The studio is hoping to go into production this year, shooting for a 2010 release.
Valkyrie First Six Minutes
United Artists have unveiled the first six minutes from the Bryan Singer’s “Valkyrie,” probably to get more people to go see it. Check out the clip below.
In the movie, Cruise plays Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, the aristocratic German officer who led the heroic attempt to bring down the Nazi regime and end the war by planting a bomb in Hitler’s bunker. The “July 20 Plot” on Hitler’s life is one of the most heroic but least known episodes of World War Two. Severely wounded in combat, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg returns from Africa to join the German Resistance and help create Operation Valkyrie, the complex plan that will allow a shadow government to replace Hitler’s once he is dead. But fate and circumstance conspire to thrust Stauffenberg from one of many in the plot to a double-edged central role. Not only must he lead the coup and seize control of his nation’s government… He must kill Hitler himself.
Bryan Singer On Valkyrie & Brand New Poster
Check out one more photo and new poster for Bryan Singer’s “Valkyrie” starring Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, David Bamber, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Eddie Izzard and Terrence Stamp which features Tom Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and David Bamber as Adolf Hitler.
Bryan Singer, the director of “The Usual Suspects” and “X-Men” agreed to speak with MTV News for one of his first interviews since completing the film.
MTV: Is “Valkyrie” done?
Bryan Singer: The film is done! I looked at the first completed film print. That was pretty much the final process for “Valkyrie,” or so I’ve been led to believe. [Laughs.]
MTV: It’s been a long road for this one, with a lot of shuffling of release dates. Are you happy with where you ended up?
Singer: Ultimately, it was the right decision. By the time the release date moved up to Christmas, I was already on track to finish it. It all worked out probably the way it should have from the very beginning.
Tom Cruise Laughable in “Valkyrie”
MSNBC’s The Scoop and New York Times has some very unsettling reactions to a “Valkyrie” screening. The thriller, directed by Bryan Singer, sees Tom Cruise’s Claus Von Stauffenberg attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany during WWII.
According to people from the test audience the film is far from being a thriller. But reportedly worse seems to be Tom Cruise’s performance as Claus Von Stauffenberg even going as far as saying his performance elicits inappropriate laughs.
MSNBC quotes various reports:
A scene where Cruise’s character, Claus Von Stauffenberg, is forced to give the infamous “Heil Hitler” salute. “It’s an unsettling scene but you almost start to laugh,” the source says. “His character is resisting it but you never forget it’s Tom Cruise saying ‘Heil Hitler.’ It’s funny and shocking at the same time.”
Another described a scene where Cruise’s character removes a false eye.
“It was disgusting,” said another who saw the film. “It was like watching someone pluck their contacts out. The film just isn’t a thriller at all. It’s a bunch of white guys in Nazi uniforms. It’s too bad. And Tom doesn’t speak with a German accent, though they did add a voice-over of him speaking German to the beginning of the film. Still, it’s as if he could say ‘I complete you’ at any time. This is not his Oscar moment.”
Is it possible Valkyrie is still the steaming pile we thought it once was? Will Tom Cruise have the worst movie with a coveted pre-Oscar release date?
“Valkyrie” opens to theaters on December 26th.
New “Valkyrie” International Poster
The international poster for director Bryan Singer’s (Superman Returns, Usual Suspects) upcoming historical thriller “Valkyrie” is now online featuring a shot of the lead characters.
Tom Cruise heads an international cast as Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, the aristocratic German officer who led the heroic attempt to bring down the Nazi regime and end the war by planting a bomb in Hitler’s bunker. The “July 20 Plot” on Hitler’s life is one of the most heroic but least known episodes of World War Two. Severely wounded in combat, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg returns from Africa to join the German Resistance and help create Operation Valkyrie, the complex plan that will allow a shadow government to replace Hitler’s once he is dead. But fate and circumstance conspire to thrust Stauffenberg from one of many in the plot to a double-edged central role. Not only must he lead the coup and seize control of his nation’s government… He must kill Hitler himself.
Valkyrie is produced by Bryan Singer, Christopher McQuarrie and Gilbert Adler. McQuarrie co-wrote the original screenplay with Nathan Alexander who also serves as co-producer. The executive producers are Chris Lee, Ken Kamins, Daniel M. Snyder, Dwight C. Schar and Mark Shapiro.
“Valkyrie” also starring Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Carice van Houten, Kenneth Branagh and Patrick Wilson and is scheduled to hit theaters on December 26th. Continue Reading…
