Jason Reitman to Direct Heist Dramedy 'I Would Only Rob Banks for My Family'

After a couple of critically panned films in Labor Day and Men, Women & Children, Jason Reitman is looking to bounce back with something lighter. While he is set to exec-produce and direct the pilot episode of Casual, which just got picked up for series by Hulu, Reitman is also planning his next feature film. He's set to direct an adaptation of the Texas Monthly article, "I Would Only Rob Banks for My Family", and there's some impressive talent behind it.

Penned by Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, Wild), the story is based on the article written by Skip Hollandsworth, the guy who wrote the article that became the amazing Richard Linklater film, Bernie. Those are some solid credentials there, and it sounds like the kind of material Reitman needs right about now. It centers on an everyday Texas family who pull off a couple of bank heists together, only to get caught attempting a third.

So a new look at American family values, similar to what Reitman was able to do with Juno? Sounds pretty good. This should be Reitman's next film after wrapping up with Casual but that hasn't been nailed down just yet. [THR]

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Review: 'Draft Day' Starring Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner

If there's one actor most closely associated with the sports movie genre, it's Kevin Costner. If there's a guy who has exemplified the middle-aged, lousy in life but king on the field archetype it's him, and he's done it unabashed classics like Bull Durham and Field of Dreams. But even in the underrated golf comedy, Tin Cup, Costner has excelled at this very specific sort of character, which is why it's been so strange to see him away from it for so long. For me at least, it's a role I've sorely missed seeing, but never would I have thought to see it re-emerge in a football dramedy/thriller like Draft Day.

In a sense, all of those earlier Costner films are a form of wish fulfillment. Wish fulfillment for guys, anyway, where the breaks go exactly right on the green or the home run sails over the fence with glorious perfection, all while some gorgeous woman cheers on from the stands. Draft Day kind of follows that same pattern, except replace the stands with an office and the home runs with draft picks. Think the behind-the-scenes insider jargon of Moneyball mixed with the Cleveland woe of Major League, all wrapped in the effortless branding and gigantic egos of the NFL.

Costner proves he's a natural of the gridiron as much as the baseball diamond, playing Cleveland Browns general manager Sonny Weaver, Jr. Sonny's life is in disarray, and it couldn't happen at a worse time. His father, the team's legendary head coach he was forced to fire a couple of seasons ago, has recently passed away. The tension this decision has created with his mother (Ellen Burstyn) is thicker than an offensive tackle; he's been having a secret romance with the team's salary cap analyst, Ali (Jennifer Garner), who has just revealed she's pregnant; and all of this occurs just as the NFL Draft is mere hours away. Coming off a mediocre year plagued by injury, Sonny is basically given an ultimatum by the team owner (Frank Langella) to "make a splash" at the Draft or risk getting canned.

While the life decisions Sonny is forced to make, like choosing whether he even wants to be a father, are familiar and play out with few surprises, it's the wheeling 'n dealing of big time professional football that really moves the chains. It's new ground for Ivan Reitman, the legendary director of many comedy staples in the 1980s, and he overcompensates when trying to capture the frenetic pace and anxiety of NFL war rooms where every decision literally means millions of dollars. Through a combination of 24-style ticking clocks and split screens that would make Jack Bauer throw up his arms in protest, Reitman zips us through the many internal and external factors intruding in on Sonny's decisions. Taking the ultimate gamble, he decides to mortgage the team's future, trading away three future #1 draft picks to secure the top spot right now. Not only does it send ripples through the league, but what should have made his choice easier only gets tougher.

The consensus #1 choice, and would fit the owner's splash-making criteria, is blue chip quarterback Bo Callahan (Josh Pence), a pretty boy with a hot shot agent (P. Diddy, appropriately) and possible character issues. On the other end of the spectrum is the guy Sonny wants, linebacker and tackling machine Vontae Mack (Chadwick Boseman), a natural team leader and a genuinely good guy. There's also the hometown boy, running back Ray Jennings (played by Houston Oilers RB Arian Foster), whose father (Terry Crews) played for the Browns. Choosing Callahan would make the franchise happy, including their arrogant Super Bowl-winning coach (Denis Leary), but is it necessarily the right thing to do?

So yeah, this is one of those alternate realities where things like morals and personal codes of honor intrude in the high-stakes world of NFL decision making. Like that exists! It's often hokey and preachy, frequently serving as a self-aggrandizing advertisement for the NFL and the purity of its wealthy players. When one player, who is destined to make millions even if he drops a few spots, laments how badly his family needs him to be the #1 pick so he can make more, it's a little tough to sympathize with his "plight". But Sonny is a guy you genuinely want to see succeed, and Costner gives him all of the rough edges we've seen in most of his other genre characters. His chemistry with Garner, at her feistiest for the first time in way too long, is playful and a lot of fun until it comes time to make some tough choices. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones might see a little of himself (okay, a lot) in the performance given by Langella.

But at the same time, Draft Day is an authentic window into the NFL like we've never seen before on the silver screen. There's a certain thrill in actually seeing your team represented as part of the story; their actual team uniforms, logos, stadiums, and players are all there. Even league commissioner Roger Goodell shows up, only to get booed by the Draft's typically rowdy fans. It really does feel like you're being let in on a secret peek behind the curtain, or sitting right there at Radio City Music Hall. While Draft Dayis hardly a Super Bowl champ, NFL fans aching for some football will want to run and check it out.

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'Ghostbusters 3' Loses Ivan Reitman; Shoots Early 2015

When Harold Ramis passed away a couple of weeks ago, it seemed like a natural end to the overlong saga of Ghostbusters 3. The film has been plagued by script troubles, a lack of genuine fan support, and 100% less Bill Murray than the prior movies had.  The project didn't go away but instead was delayed so the script could be retooled, and now comes word that a new director will also need to be found.

According to Deadline, Ivan Reitman has decided to step down from directing Ghostbusters 3, but will stick around long enough to help find his replacement. Reitman worked on the most recent draft with Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder), and here's what he had to say about it and the reasons for his departure...

Reitman: "[W]e now have a draft that is very good, that the studio is very excited about... It’s a version of 'Ghostbusters' that has the originals in a very minor role. When I came back from Harold’s funeral, it was really moving and it made me think about a lot of things. I’d just finished directing Draft Day, which I’m really happy with and proud of. Working on a film that is smaller and more dramatic was so much fun and satisfying. I just finally met with Amy and Doug Belgrad when I got back. I said I’d been thinking about it for weeks, that I’d rather just produce this Ghostbusters. I told them I thought I could help but let’s find a really good director and make it with him. So that’s what we’ve agreed will happen."

He also revealed that they have a handful of directors in mind to take over, and that filming is being planned for early 2015....

Retiman: "I’m not going to say how many Ghostbusters there will be in the new cast, but we are determined to retain the spirit of the original film, and I am pleased that all of this seems to have happened organically,” he said. “I’m hoping we can get started by the fall, set in New York, but given the logistics and the stuff that happens, the beginning of 2015 seems more likely."

 

Along with a new director they'll need to find a cast to star as the next generation of Ghostbusters. Ha anybody asked if Slimer will be coming back? 

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Kevin Costner Makes the Top Pick in First 'Draft Day' Trailer

For fans of the NFL, the day of the college draft is full of promise. It's the time when Hall of Fame careers begin and championship franchises are built. It can be pretty intense, and director Ivan Reitman hopes to capture that energy in the sports drama Draft Day, and judging by the first trailer he may have it nailed.

Kevin Costner stars as the general manager of the Cleveland Browns who finds himself under the gun when his team trades for the #1 draft pick. Set over the course of a single day, he must try and save football in Cleveland while balancing his personal and professional life, which includes flirting over football with Jennifer Garner. Obviously the comparisons to Moneyball are there as the film goes into the internal mechanics of a pro ball club, and if this proves half as successful as that was Draft Day won't have to worry about being labeled "Mr. Irrelevant".

Directed by Ivan Reitman and co-starring Frank Langella, Joe Manganiello, Chadwick Boseman, Denis Leary, Terry Crews, Sam Elliott, Ellen Burstyn, Tom Welling, Sean Combs, and Rosanna Arquette, Draft Day gets selected on April 11th 2014.

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Believe it or not? 'Ghostbusters 3' set for summer shoot

At this point you know my feelings on Ghostbusters 3. The first one's great, the second less so, the third one is unnecessary and nobody would care about it. But more than that, from all the fits and starts and rewrites and rumors and Bill Murray stringing people along, it's just had the stink of failure all over it. I don't think we'll ever see the film happen, and this latest blurb of info doesn't change my mind a bit.

Buried in a Deadline story where they reveal that Kevin Costner and Ivan Reitman's football drama Draft Day has been put into turnaround(basically means it's shelved unless someone else wants it), they also drop this little nugget...

Paramount chose not to make it in the small window that Reitman has before he is expected to finally get the long-gestating Ghostbusters reboot in front of the cameras next summer for Sony Pictures (sans Bill Murray).

So assuming this thing does happen, we know that Etan Cohen was the latest writer brought on to try and salvage it, and we expect the story will involve a new set of ghostbusters to replace the old guard. The 30th anniversary of Ghostbusters would be in 2014, which makes it a likely target date.

Anyway, we'll see if Ghostbusters 3 happens. I'm not convinced, and won't be until we see something more official.

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Ivan Reitman huddles up to direct 'Draft Day'

Ivan Reitman is considered by many to be one of the great comedy directors, but the truth is his resume is about 80% crapola. Sure, we can all look towards Ghostbusters, Stripes, and Meatballs as gems, but...what else? It wasn't just in recent years with junk like My Super Ex-Girlfriend and the mediocre No Strings Attached that he started to fall off. That mid-section of his career is a little doughy, too. So it's hard to get excited over anything he's attached to, whether it's Ghostbusters 3 or his newest project, the football comedy titled Draft Day.

Deadline reports that Reitman is attached to produce and direct the sports comedy from newbie screenwriters, Rajiv Joseph(Nurse Jackie) and Scott Rothman. The story actually sounds rather inspired, especially if you're a fan of the inner workings of the NFL. It follows the general manager of the Buffalo Bills as he spends the day of the NFL Draft scrambling around and doing whatever it takes to secure the #1 pick for his struggling team. After reach the Super Bowl four straight season in the early 90s, they haven't been to the playoffs at all since 1999.

Am I the only one who thinks Will Ferrell would be perfect for this? It depends on the kind of tone they're aiming for, I guess. No word on when production would begin, but considering Reitman tends to take years between projects, it could be awhile.

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