Rachel McAdams and The Weinstein Company Exit 'Passengers' with Keanu Reeves

Well, this isn't looking good at all for the Keanu Reeves-led sci-fi film, Passengers. Despite a Black List script by Jon Spaihts (Prometheus), it had some trouble getting off the ground and securing a lead actress. Reese Witherspoon was attached at one time but dropped out, but when the project was resuscitated last year it had gained Rachel McAdams, a director in Brian Kirk, and a distributor in The Weinstein Company. Well, one of those three things is still around.

THR reports that Weinstein is no longer involved with the film, and Rachel McAdams has also dropped out. This will push back the production by "at least several weeks" and kills the planned April 3rd 2015 release date. The female lead is extremely important because the sci-fi romance centers on only two characters. Reeves plays a mechanic in extended hibernation while on a centuries-long journey to a distant planet. When the machine fails and wakes him up early, he wakes up a beautiful passenger rather than dying alone.

McAdams may have been the hook for getting this movie made in the first place as she's a proven draw in this genre. Without her it could be tough to find another distributor.

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Is a 'Sin City' TV Series in the Works?

By the time Sin City: A Dame to Kill For opens in a few months it will have been nine years between films, with a couple of delays thrown in for good measure. Despite Sin City performing well, Robert Rodriguez's busy schedule doesn't bode well for the chances of a third movie any time soon, but perhaps the serialized nature of Frank Miller's comic would work better on the small screen, anyway? Bob and Harvey Weinstein seem to think so, and in an interview with The New York Times, talked about bringing Sin City to TV...

Bob Weinstein, interviewed separately from his brother, said he was developing original projects that would be in tune with his horror- and action-oriented Dimension brand, along with several shows based on movies he has overseen for the company. He is preparing a pilot based on the “Scream” films for MTV, for instance, and developing a proposed 10-part series with Frank Darabont, based on Dimension’s film version of Stephen King’s “The Mist.”

 

Mr. Weinstein said he was also hoping to quickly follow the August release of the film “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For,” directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez, with a “Sin City” television series from Mr. Miller and Mr. Rodriguez.

 

Weinstein also mentioned Silver Linings Playbook and August: Osage County as more recent films that could work well as TV shows. Sin City would probably turn out the best of these since it's basically tailor made for episodic television, but I'm quite intrigued by seeing what could be done with The Mist, a film I absolutely love. Keeping a close eye on this story.

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Nicole Kidman Lands Aussie Mystery 'Strangerland' as 'Grace of Monaco' Controversy Heats Up

While the most recent new wave of Australian cinema has mostly been led by directors such as David Michod, Cate Shortland, and John Hillcoat, there are plenty of veteran actors from Down Under who have been carrying the torch for some time. As part of a substantial $32.3M deal for a package of six feature films that will unite some of Australia's best directors and actors together, and the most promising of which will bring together the talents of Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce.

Variety reports the trio will return to their native home for Strangerland, an Aussie mystery about a couple whose relationship crumbles when their children mysteriously go missing in the Outback. The film marks the feature directorial debut by Kim Farrant (Naked On the Inside), with a script by Fiona Seres and Michael Kinirons.

Certainly it sounds promising, and it will be good to hear all three in their native accents rather than ducking behind American ones. Screen Australia describes the film as having “strong creative potential and massive A-list festival potential.”, which is something that also could have been said for Kidman's biopic, Grace of Monaco. The Grace Kelly film was meant to arrive this fall and likely would have secured Kidman a place in the Best Actress race, but The Weinstein Company bumped it into next year, saying the film simply wasn't finished. Think that's the end of the story? Not when Weinstein is involved.

According to director Olivier Dahan, the real flap is over the final cut of the film, and yes Harvey "Scissorhands" Weinstein has his paws all over this one as well. Dahan tells Liberation (via THR) that he's basically fighting to put out the version he always intended....

Dahan: "The film that I am in the process of finishing is complicated to finalize, although actually, for me, it is finished. What's complicated at the moment is ensuring that you, the critics, can review my version of the film and not that of somebody else. It's not over yet. I haven't given up."

He went on to add that Weinstein is essentially trying to back him into a corner to agree on the studio version of the film, but based on his answers this could be a long battle....

Dahan: "It's right to struggle, but when you confront an American distributor like Weinstein, not to name names, there is not much you can do. Either you say 'Go figure it out with your pile of shit' or you brace yourself so the blackmail isn't as violent … If I don't sign, that's where the out-and-out blackmail starts, but I could go that far. There are two versions of the film for now: mine and his … which I find catastrophic."

So who knows how this will turn out, but Kidman should be good to go either way. Besides Strangerland she also recently agreed to produce and star in an adaptation of best-selling novel, The Silent Wife.

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James Ponsoldt to direct adaptation of Matthew Quick's next novel; adapting musical 'Pippin'

Let's just say that James Ponsoldt is having a moment. It may have taken a few years after his debut feature for him to really make an impact, but when he did it was with the terrific alcoholism drama, Smashed. His follow-up, The Spectacular Now, premiered recently at Sundance (review here) and sold for a hefty sum after rave reviews for him and stars Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller. A couple of months ago he signed up to bring Pure, the young adult novel by Julianna Baggott, to the big screen. Now he's keeping himself busy by adding two more major projects to his schedule, thanks to a new deal struck with The Weinstein Company.

Ponsoldt will write and direct an adaptation of Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock, the upcoming novel from Silver Linings Playbook author Matthew Quick. The story centers on a young man on his birthday, who decides that's the time to pack his grandfather's gun, go out and murder his former best friend then commit suicide. Along the way he'll say goodbye to the four people that mean the most to him. Pondsoldt has shown an aptitude for darker material, so he should be right at home.

He'll also pen a big screen take on the honored Broadway musical, Pippin. For those who maybe didn't take theater class in high school and think the story revolves around a hobbit, it actually follows the titular son of King Charlemagne who seeks to find adventure and a place in the world.

So lots for Ponsoldt to do in the next few months. You can check out The Spectacular Now when it opens on August 2nd.  [Deadline]

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Antoine Fuqua's boxing drama 'Southpaw' picked up by The Weinstein Company

Even before he had signed on to direct Olympus Has Fallen, Antoine Fuqua had a ton of projects at various stages of development. The one that sounded the most promising for a time was Southpaw, a boxing drama initially pegged for Eminem to star, and it seemed like a natural fit. The film is basically 8 Mile with a pair of boxing gloves, but for whatever reason Sony and MGM couldn't get rolling on it, putting it on ice last spring.

But now The Weinstein Company have stepped in before the 10-count, snagging the rights to and pushing full steam ahead to begin production later this year. Eminem has since moved on, and casting talks to replace him are already underway. Written by Kurt Sutter (Sons of Anarcy), the story follows a lefty welterweight boxer who fights his way to the championship and wins back the love of his daughter while enduring personal tragedies.

We'll see if this finally happens, although with Fuqua's backlog of projects who knows if he'll even stay attached. He's got the heist film, Chicagoland; a Miles Davis biopic with Don Cheadle; an adaptation of Storming Las Vegas; a possible Chinese Tang Dynasty epic; and he's even been rumored for the 24 film. [LA Times]

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Another Amityville Horror?? But...but...why??

What's this trend of remaking movies that just got remade like last week? Bloodydisgusting is reporting that The Weinstein Co. is aleady looking to remake The Amityville Horror...even though it was just remade back in 2005. Remember? With Ryan Reynolds and the lovely Melissa George? God that movie was terrible. But it grossed north of $100M, so somebody must've dug it. Rumors are a director is already on board, but no details are immediately available. I fail to see the point in this, but I'm guessing after the success of Paranormal Activity studios are trying to ratchet up their psychological horror projects.

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