Tag: Geena Davis

US REMAKE OF ELLE TO STAR SHARON STONE

HOLLYWOOD – Paul Verhoeven’s hit film Elle starring Isabelle Hupert is to get a US remake directed by Paul Verhoeven himself and starring Basic Instinct star Sharon Stone.

Gus Van Sant did it with Hitchcock’s Psycho. Michael Haneke did it with himself and Paul Verhoeven is set to follow. A US set English language remake of controversial rape comedy Elle is to be filmed by the director himself. Sharon Stone stars in the lead. The Starship Troopers director spoke with the Studio Exec EXCLUSIVELY in the Studio Exec bungalow:

We knew that this film would have some legs, but we didn’t expect it to do so well in the US. It is a French language film, dealing with a controversial subject, but once I saw the response I knew I had to remake it.

How will the US version differ?

We want to do a shot for shot remake. Of course, the setting and the cast will change but everything else will continue.

Will you tone down some of the ambiguity?

 This has always been a worry with working in the US. They don’t really get nuance, but then again I’m not really a nuanced film maker. After all, this is kind of a comedy with a rape at the centre. A lot of people thought it was ambiguous because it was in French and starred Isabelle Hupert, but we shall see how they feel now that it is in English with Sharon Stone.

Is it good to be back together again?

Sharon Stone is the only American actress who could take on this role convincingly. Or Susan Sarandon. Actually Geena Davis would have been good. And Meryl Streep obviously, but she’s booked up until the end of next decade.

She will be released in 2018.

 

RENNY HARLIN STILL ALLOWED TO MAKE FILMS

HOLLYWOOD – The Legend of Hercules director Renny Harlin will still be allowed to make films, following a ruling by the US Supreme Court that quashed an attempt to halt the former Mr. Geena Davis’ film making career.

A note from the court by Chief Justice Roberts stated:

Although arguments of prior restraint have been strongly maintained against Mr. Harlin, his first amendment rights must take precedent even at the cost of producing such horrors as Deep Blue Sea and Die Hard 2. It is not the business of this nor any court to pass judgement on the pale watery plop that is Mr. Harlin’s IMDb page.  

The Anti-Harlin Lobby Group – led by John Pesnick – issued a statement professing disappointment at the ruling but promising that the ‘fight continues’. Pesnick told the Studio Exec:

No one respects free speech and artistic freedom as much as I, but there is a limit to every right. Crying fire in a theatre for instance. Or making The Exorcist: The Beginning and Mindhunters. It’s a no-brainer. 

Renny Harlin’s new film Fallen Cross will begin filming soon.

RIDLEY SCOTT RULES OUT THELMA AND LOUISE 2

HOLLYWOOD – He might be gumming up the Alien universe with his Prometheus films and he might be up for Blade Runner 2, but Ridley Scott is absolutely adamant there will not be a sequel to his 1991 girls on the run movie Thelma and Louise.

The White Squall director seemed surprised at the question. ‘No, I don’t have any plans to revisit that story,’ he told the Danish bacon monthly, Swine. ‘I think the ending that we shot was pretty … well … conclusive.’
However Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon both have expressed a wish to return to the characters. Sarandon told the New York Frisbee:

I don’t see why not. We’ve had prequels before and I think knowing what happens to there characters would add a tragic luster to the film and also. Obviously I would be more than happy to Louise once more.

Davis however seemed to be suggesting a slightly different approach. 

Okay what we see at the end seems fairly clear. The car… okay? But we never see it actually land and so there are a number of possible options. I’m thinking it could have got caught in a bush, or it could reach the other side. Or maybe they had parachutes. Shucks! With digital technology you can do anything these days.

Callie Khouri – the original screenwriter – has already written several drafts for a possible sequel and brushes off Scott’s apparent reluctance: ‘When Ridley reads what I’ve done – sending Thelma off to space as a kind of Jesus alien figure – I’m sure he’ll come round.’

However, the project, if it ever happens, will certainly have to wait as Ridley Scott already has a full dance card, what with the new Prometheus film, Blade Runner 2 as well Somebody to Watch Over Me 2 and 1493 all slated for production in the next two years. 

Thelma and Louise 2 might still be released in 2015.