Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant Join Opera Drama; Luke Wilson to Play NFL's Roger Goodell

 According to Baz Bamigboye of DailyMail, Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant are set to star in an untitled biopic by Stephen Frears about opera singer Florence Foster Jenkins. Jenkins was mocked by audiences for her inability to actually sing or keep rhythm, but she nonetheless packed in the crowds. Streep will play Jenkins, naturally, while Grant will be her manager and lifelong friend, St. Clair Bayfield.

Embattled NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had it pretty easy earlier this year in Draft Day, having a chance to play himself in the football dramedy. Things might not be so smooth in the upcoming NFL concussion drama produced by Ridley Scott and starring Will Smith. Luke Wilson will play Goodell in the film which is based on the GQ magazine article "Game Brain", which centers on the forensic neuropathologist who made a connection between football head injuries and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The film will be directed by Peter Landesman (Parkland) with Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks, Gugu Mbatha Raw, and Paul Reiser co-starring. Just wait until they start making movies about the NFL's domestic abuse scandals. Goodell is really going to hate that.  [TheWrap]

Read More

Hugh Grant and Marisa Tomei Learn to Love Again in Trailer for Rom-Com 'The Rewrite'

For a good stretch in the '90s and early 2000s you couldn't spit without hitting a new romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant. He was basically the poster boy for the entire genre, but after the $145M-grossing Music and Lyrics in 2007 Grant has been going in a different direction with Cloud Atlas and The Man from UNCLE. Now he's back doing what he knows best in The Rewrite, a comedy that sees Grant romancing Marisa Tomei.

Marking Grant's fourth collaboration with director Marc Lawrence, the film follows an award-winning screenwriter who has hit the skids. Broke, divorced, and in the midst of a midlife crisis, he takes a job teaching a screenwriting course at a small college, which is where he meets and falls in love with a single mom (Tomei) working towards her degree. It's as light and fluffy as you might expect, with Grant showing he can still play the lovable cad when called upon. Honestly, the first thing I thought of while watching the trailer was Josh Radnor's Liberal Arts, which did nothing for me.

Also starring Alison Janney, Bella Heathcote, J.K. Simmons, and Chris Elliott, The Rewrite opens in the UK on October 8th but has yet to secure a US date.

Read More

Hugh Grant Joins 'The Man from UNCLE'

Other than playing a half dozen different characters in last year's Cloud Atlas, we haven't seen very much of Hugh Grant lately. He's only starred in four movies over the last seven years, most of them forgettable (it's a problem when Music & Lyrics is a highlight), and basically it's become a special occasion to see him on screen. So it's kind of a big deal that he's taken on a major studio film with franchise potential, joining Guy Ritchie's The Man from UNCLE.

Instantly becoming the most senior member of a young cast that includes Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, and Elizabeth Debicki, Grant will play the head of British Naval Intelligence in the remake of the cult favorite TV series. Cavill plays American spy Napoleon Solo, with Hammer as his partner Illya Kuryakin, who battle the forces of global terrorist organization, THRUSH.

Just how closely Ritchie and co-writer Lionel Wigram will stick to TV show's groundwork is unclear. But considering Ritchie and Wigram's Sherlock Holmes has practically nothing to do with detective work, we can probably deduce (like Holmes himself!!) that espionage won't be all that important in The Man from UNCLE.  It's an unexpected move for Grant, who will next revert back to rom-com mode for an untitled film with Marisa Tomei and directed by Marc Lawrence.

Read More

Marisa Tomei to romance Hugh Grant in Marc Lawrence's untitled comedy

Long one of the most likable actresses around, Marisa Tomei has far too often been overlooked as a credible leading lady. Never was quite sure why, but part of me thinks she's always been held back by the undeserved surprise Oscar she won for My Cousin Vinny all those years. She's improved greatly in the years since, but has mostly been relegated to shining in supporting roles.

The Wrap reports she'll be tackling the female lead opposite Hugh Grant in his upcoming romantic comedy, to be directed by Marc Lawrence. We first learned about the project last month, marking the fourth collaboration between Lawrence and Grant, with all of their previous flicks as box office hits. The untitled film follows a washed up award-winning screenwriter who's forced to take a job teaching at a small East Coast college, where he's fortunate enough to meet and fall in love with a single mom played by Tomei.

Sounds potentially horrible, but it has to be better than where we'll see Tomei next. She'll co-star with Bette Midler and Billy Crystal in the family comedy, Parental Guidance, which opens next month. 

Read More

Hugh Grant to star in Marc Lawrence's untitled romantic comedy

Hugh Grant will probably forever be known for his highly successful romantic comedies(well, and for this), and that's not likely to change even with him playing a bad guy of sorts in The Wachowskis' Cloud Atlas. Those who have been clamoring to see Grant in another one of his adorable cad rom-com roles won't have to wait much longer, as he's teaming up with the director of some of his biggest hits for a new project.

Grant will join writer/director Marc Lawrence's untitled romantic comedy, marking the fourth collaboration between the two, having worked on Two Weeks Notice, Music and Lyrics, and Did You Hear About the Morgans? All of them hits, I might add, even 'Morgans' which must have been dragged up from the pits of Hell it's so unwatchable. But hey, what do I know? The role sounds like something Grant can do in his sleep, playing a washed up award-winning screenwriter who must take a job teaching at a small East Coast college. Everything seems terrible until he meets that one special woman who will warm his heart and those of easily manipulated audiences. I threw that last part in, sorry.

Eh, people will turn out to see this regardless of who they cast in the female lead, so why bother to speculate?  Whatever this movie will be called begins shooting next April. I just find it funny that Lawrence has directed three hit feature films and written even more, and yet this is the first I've ever heard of him! What does that tell you? [Deadline]

Read More