Michael Shannon and Kevin Spacey are 'Elvis & Nixon'; Naomi Watts is 'Shut In'

Cary Elwes' passion project Elvis & Nixon has undergone a number of different incarnations over the last couple of years, but now it seems to have settled in with Michael Shannon and Kevin Spacey starring in the incredible-but-true comedy. Shannon will play Elvis Presley with House of Cards' Spacey as President Nixon, with the story centering on their odd 1970 meeting in the White House when the rocker asked to be sworn in as a federal agent. Elwes wrote the script himself and considered making it his directorial debut for awhile, but instead the job has gone to Liza Johnson (Hateship Loveship).

Naomi Watts, who can be seen right now in St. Vincent and Birdman, has agreed to headline the psychological thriller, Shut In. Farren Blackburn (The Fades) will direct from Christina Hodson's Black List screenplay, which is having its plot details kept under wraps for now. [THR]

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New Trailer for 'Hateship Loveship' Starring Kristen Wiig, Guy Pearce, and Nick Nolte

Alice Munro's tenth celebrated collection of short stories, Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, has already produced one terrific film adaptation. Sarah Polley took the short story "The Bear Came over the Mountain" and adapted it into Away from Her a few years ago. Now Kristen Wiig, Nick Nolte, Hailee Steinfeld, and Guy Pearce have gathered for Hateship Loveship, an adaptation of the collection's title story.

Directed by Liza Johnson (Return), the film looks like a clear step into low-wattage dramatic territory for Wiig. She plays Joanna, a housekeeper to a family rife with internal conflict. Nolte plays the elderly grandfather who is having problems with his outcast son-in-law Ken, played by Pearce. Steinfeld is Ken's daughter, Sabitha, and she's responsible for tricking Joanna into thinking Ken has a romantic interest in her. It makes for an odd blend of tones, even in this trailer, and one can only think it continues into the film as a whole.

Hateship Loveship is available now exclusively on DirecTV (review to come), and will hit VOD and theaters April 11th.


HATESHIP LOVESHIP by Teaser-Trailer.com

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Kristen Wiig, Hailee Steinfeld, Guy Pearce, and Nick Nolte find 'Hateship, Friendship'

How do you manage to keep a film starring Hailee Steinfeld, Kristen Wiig, Guy Pearce, and Nick Nolte hidden until its mere days away from shooting? I don't know but the people behind the indie dramedy Hateship, Friendship deserve a friggin' medal or something.

The foursome will star in the film from writer/director Liza Johnson(Return), and based on Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, a collection of short stories by Alice Munro(Away From Her). Rather than unpacking the plot, here's the official book synopsis...

In the nine breathtaking stories that make up her celebrated tenth collection, Alice Munro achieves new heights, creating narratives that loop and swerve like memory, and conjuring up characters as thorny and contradictory as people we know ourselves.

A tough-minded housekeeper jettisons the habits of a lifetime because of a teenager’s practical joke. A college student visiting her brassy, unconventional aunt stumbles on an astonishing secret and its meaning in her own life. An incorrigible philanderer responds with unexpected grace to his wife’s nursing-home romance.

Another bold move for Wiig, and the same can be said of Steinfeld who finally seems to be capitalizing on her True Grit breakthrough. With filming getting underway in New Orleans next week, we should see this on the festival circuit some time in 2013. [THR]

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Trailer Time: 'Return', starring Linda Cardellini and Michael Shannon

We've seen movies like Return before, with the war veteran returning home to a world that seems unfamiliar. The inability to adjust to normal society, the depression that follows, and the impact it has on their family who have no idea what to do to help make things better. Only we very rarely see it from the perspective of a female soldier, which is one reason why this film could be interesting.

Written and directed by Liza Johnson, Return stars Linda Cardellini as a reservist returned home from the Middle East to her husband(Michael Shannon) and kids, only to discover that the life she once knew no longer really exists for her.  Return will hit theaters on February 10th, to be followed On Demand a couple of weeks later. Check out the trailer below....

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