Tarantino Takes A Leak

As a web leak of the cover page of his new script Django Unchained bullets around the internet, Quentin Tarantino begins casting on a "Tarantino" variation of the Western film. A genre he calls a "Southern." Tarantino has written a spaghetti Western, that stylized and violent brand of films popularized in the 1960s by Sergio Leone and a few other directors. This is certain to be right up Taranto's creative alley and will bring Tarantino further hollywoodteur status as he puts his auteur stamp on the Western genre as he did with the war mission film genre with his highly successful and acclaimed Inglourious Basterds.

Tarantino is reuniting with Pulp Fiction producer Stacey Sher. Sher will produce with Pilar Savone, while Weinstein, who distributed Pulp Fiction, will spearhead domestic distribution on Django Unchained through TWC. Universal International has the inside track to co-finance and handle foreign distribution because of the relationship built on 2009's Inglourious Basterds, which grossed $190 million overseas, and $314 million overall.

Production starts later this year depending on Tarantino's top shelf talent availability. The word from the Hollywood convertible is, after the leak of the cover page, everyone involved will be working harder to keep the script under wraps -- unless it ensures 1 more ticket sale, then all "leaks" on.

Mike's Magic for Steven Soderbergh

Hold onto your g-strings and grab your one dollar bills! Oft declared retiring auteur film director Steven Soderbergh, the visionary filmmaker who broke Hollywood barriers with sex, lies, and videotape and Out of Sight is committed to direct Channing Tatum in Magic Mike. Tatum plays the title character, who schools a young dancer in how to hustle on and off the stage during a wild summer of dancing, partying and women. At its core, Magic Mike is a story of friendship set in the world of male strippers inspired by Channing's own experiences as a stripper when he was 19.

"When Channing talked to me about this, I thought it was one of the best ideas I'd ever heard for a movie," Soderbergh said in a statement. "I said I wanted in immediately. It's sexy, funny and shocking. We're using Saturday Night Fever as our model, so hopefully we're on the right track." As for Tatum: "This was a wild and pivotal time in my life and I couldn't be more thrilled to go down the rabbit hole with Steven." Currently, shooting 21 Jump Street, Channing will next be seen starring in The Vow with Rachel McAdams.

With his blurred notion of retirement, Soderbergh has several projects in the pipeline including the newly completed the action driven Haywire starring maritial arts fighter Gina Carano, releasing in August. Soderbergh followed that by shooting Contagion, a drama about the outbreak of a deadly virus with Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Marion Cotillard for October. Also on the Soderbergh docket are Liberace with Douglas and Damon and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. with his former partner and frequent onscreen collaborator George Clooney.

Soderbergh's film production single-handedly changed the landscape of independent cinema by forging monetary success commanded by hollywoodteurs along with intelligent indie films which reached audiences well beyond the arthouse cinema circuit.

Tyler Perry Continues to Shine with Less Screens More Cash Phenom

While Twentieth Century Fox’s 3D cartoon Rio was Easter's weekend's top grossing film and became the top global grossing film of 2011 with a worldwide cume of $286 million, the real news is Tyler Perry's continued home box office domination with his brand of cost effective lowbrow formulaic cinematic entertainment.

Coming in # 2 over the holiday weekend is Perry's new joint, Madea’s Big Happy Family --seeming like the least one and the one before that one too. Nevertheless, Medea collected a solid $25.8 million from 2,288 locations in its debut. By sticking to his cliches, Perry's core fanbase gave Medea the best per screen average of any wide release of $11,255 and drew a pleasing A CinemaScore.

So, say what you want about Tyler Perry's novice filmmaking skills and generic stories of religious tinged, and the moral of the story is, and other buffoonery laden cross-dressing stereotypes -- and everyone from Spike Lee to the Boondock's creator Aaron McGruder has chimed in on Perry's movie mogul visions -- yet Perry has easily become the most profitable and bankable Black filmmaker in the history of Hollywood and one of its most prolific in terms of hollywoodized mass produced movies to be well on his way of being one of the most financially successful hollywoodteurs of all-time.

Lionsgate president of theatrical distribution David Spitz said, "Tyler Perry has such a loyal following." Spitz did not comment as to whether he, his family and friends saw the latest Medea which played great in the urban markets of New York, Washington DC, and Baltimore, as well as the South, such as Atlanta - home to Tyler Perry Studios.

Filmed In A Day

Life In A Day, is a historic global experiment which created the world’s largest user-generated feature film. Life In A Day is a documentary film shot in a single day by well people all over the globe. Produced by Sir Ridley Scott and directed Kevin Macdonald on July 24, 2010, un-famous and non-celebrity world denizens were given 24-hours to capture a glimpse of a day in their lives on camera.

From the more than 80,000 clips submitted, the most compelling and distinctive 1,125 scenes were selected and edited into the final film - an experimental documentary film. The finished film had its world premiere screening at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was then made available for worldwide viewing on YouTube, but only for a very limited time.

Now comes its theatrical release, set for July courtesy of National Geographic Entertainment. Life In A Day is groundbreaking, innovative and transcendent filmmaking.">

Oliver Stone's Savages

For the upcoming Savages, the drama based on Don Winslow’s bestselling novel, Oliver Stone has put together a brilliant cast arranging a Pulp Fiction reunion of John Travolta and Uma Thurman. Also casting in is Blake Lively, who beat out a bevy of young, single, white, blonde, females to play the integral role of O. Travolta will play Dennis, a burned out DEA agent while Thurman will play O’s mom, Paqu.

Savages is the druggy dilemma of best friends and Laguna pot growers Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and Ben (Aaron Johnson), who live a blazed-out lifestyle with their trippy galpal, O. Their Laguna pot is so good that the Mexican cartel wants in. When they refuse, the cartel kidnaps O and charges a heavy ransom to get her back. Chon, a Navy SEAL, and Ben pay the ransom by covertly ripping off the cartel’s own shipments setting the stage for a most dangerous international thief.

Also in the mix are Salma Hayek, who plays the role of Mexican cartel queen-pin Elena and Benicio Del Toro, as the vicious cartel enforcer Lado. The script is by Winslow and Shane Salerno. Production on Savages begins in July with Universal Pictures financing and distributing.

Casting Notes - Gangster Squad

Warner Bros has begun negotiating with Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin to star in Gangster Squad. The Will Beall, scripted crime drama will be directed by Zombieland helmer Ruben Fleischer. Production begins this fall.

Penn will play Los Angeles mobster Mickey Cohen, while Gosling and Brolin are in talks to play two cops assigned to bring him down when the gangster's violent ways leaves no one safe in the City of Angels. Dan Lin and Kevin McCormick are producing.

Miral

It is 1948 in Jerusalem when a middle aged woman, Hind Husseini (Hiam Abbass), on her way to work comes across 55 orphaned children in the street. She takes them home to give them food and shelter. Within six months, 55 grows to nearly 2,000 young students, and thus the Dar Al-Tifel Institute is birthed.

From Julian Schnabel, Academy Award nominated director of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Before Night Falls and Basquiat, comes Miral, the story of four women whose lives intertwine amid a world overshadowed by conflict, rage and war.

In 1978, at the age of 7, Miral (Freida Pinto) was sent to the Institute by her father following her mother's death. Brought up safely inside the Institute's walls, she is naïve to the troubles just beyond the wall in front of her. Then, in 1988, at the age of 17, she is assigned to teach at a refugee camp where she is awakened to the reality of Palestine and Israel.

Schnabel's direction unfolds this material, based on the experiences of Rula Jebreal, who also wrote the screenplay, in a soap opera rather than Shakespearian. His usual auteur vision of cinematizing amazing novels onto the big screen with with style and cinematography failed him this time around, as the sometimes awkward camera feels like a gimmick - like out takes from The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

Hiam Abbass's performance is stellar as usual. Freida Pinto is certainly miscast as a Palestinian and that's all I will say about that. With all of the elements of an epic, Schnabel gives his audience a movie.