Jodie Foster is in negotiations to direct and co-star in the drama The Beaver, and Mel Gibson is in talks to play the lead role. The story by Kyle Killen is about a man who treats a beaver puppet he wears on his head like a real person. Anonymous Content is producing the film, which would mark the first collaboration for Foster and Gibson since Maverick in 1994. Foster previously directed several films, including Home for the Holidays and Little Man Tate. She is also slated to direct the circus tale Flora Plum. Gibson's last big-screen acting credit was in The Singing Detective in 2003. His upcoming releases include the conspiracy thriller Edge of Darkness (2010).
Michael Moore has named his latest documentary, about the current economic crisis, Capitalism: A Love Story and dubbed the film the "perfect date movie", Variety reports. "It's got it all - lust, passion, romance, and 14,000 jobs being eliminated every day," Moore said. Overture will release the film in the US in October, with Paramount Vantage handling international release.
Nicole Kidman is to act in and produce a film adaptation of Chris Cleave's novel Little Bee for BBC Films, Variety announced this week. Gail Mutrux and Per Saari will also produce. Shawn Slovo (A World Apart) is adapting this story of a Nigerian orphan who has a fateful encounter with a British couple holidaying on an African beach. Kidman's Blossom Films is currently completing its first production, Rabbit Hole, an adaptation of David Lindsay-Abaire's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, in which Kidman stars.
The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles is launching a fund that will cover the making of a film from development to distribution and award a $10,000 prize each January thanks, in part, to Slumdog Millionaire. The festival director Christina Marouda said: "A lot of festivals had a hard time. They cut down on days or films, but for us, this was our best year. There was so much interest in India (and) the success of Slumdog Millionaire, we were just able to put it all together and launch the fund."
Tobey Maguire has signed on to star in the independent comedy The Details, Variety reports. Maguire will co-star with Elizabeth Banks in this film about a marriage that becomes a bit more complicated when the couple discover raccoons burrowing under their garden. Ray Liotta, Dennis Haysbert, Anna Friel and Laura Linney round out the cast. Mark Gordon is producing.
Beau Bridges has joined the cast of Columbus Circle, an independent thriller that will be directed and co-written by George Gallo. The film revolves around a reclusive Manhattan heiress, Abigail (Selma Blair), whose life takes a turn for the worse after she gets new next-door neighbours (Amy Smart and Jason Lee) and a detective (Giovanni Ribisi) arrives to investigate a homicide. The film has started shooting in Los Angeles for Oxymoron Entertainment and Blue Star Entertainment.
DreamWorks is in talks to acquire the film rights to Mattel's View-Master toy, which features 3D pictures visible through a viewfinder. The Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, have been asked to produce a feature film adaptation of the toy from a script by Brad Caleb Kane, who will have to come up with a story from scratch, like many current films based on games. Revenge of the Fallen, which is based on toys by Hasbro, has been a huge success at the box office since its release earlier this month.
Many notable directors have come to Hollywood's attention through flashy video spots and games. The latest example is Rupert Sanders, who turned heads with his work on the video game for X-Men Origins: Wolverine and several respected commercials. Now Sanders is in negotiations to direct The Low Dweller, a drama about an ex-convict that Leonardo DiCaprio is reportedly starring in and producing with Tony Scott's Scott Free Productions and Relativity Media. Sanders is also set to direct The Wild Geese for the producer Gianni Nunnari (300), according to The Hollywood Reporter.
