Katheryn Winnick Joins The Black Marks
Starring with Kurt Russell…
Brothers and schemes involving money: has no one learned the lessons of A Simple Plan or Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead? These things never end well. Clearly Matt Dillon and Kurt Russell were unaware, as they’re playing siblings hatching a scam in The Black Marks. And now actress Katheryn Winnick has decided to join the fun.
Jonathan Sobol is directing the indie crime comedy based on his script. The plot finds Crunch Calhoun (Russell), a low-rent motorcycle daredevil and partly reformed art thief who agrees to go back into the criminal life for, you guessed it, one last big score. His brother Nicky (Dillon) convinces him that it will solve all their problems and they rope in another schmuck (Jay Baruchel) to help out. But when it goes surprisingly well, the heist leads to another, riskier plan that Nicky has dreamt up and the brothers suddenly realise that they’re both working their own agendas.
Winnick has signed on to play a Ukrainian showgirl who happens to be Crunch’s girlfriend and the majority of his support system. No doubt she’ll also get dragged into the crime… She was last seen in Love And Other Drugs and has recently shot A Glimpse Inside The Mind Of Charles Swan III alongside Charlie Sheen.
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Keanu Reeves Talks Filmmaking
In the new trailer for doc Side By Side
If you’re a documentary filmmaker, you usually have to struggle and strain to find famous folk who will agree to be interviewed. But what if your name is Keanu Reeves and you’re looking to talk to a variety of creative types on the subject of film’s development, its history and its digital future? The result is Side By Side, which will get its premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival next month and has pumped out a trailer that you can see below.
Reeves has rounded up a truly impressive roll call of cinematic creators to spark some debate about the use of 35mm, digital, 3D and beyond. Among the people popping up to talk? James Cameron, Christopher Nolan, Robert Rodriguez, David Lynch, George Lucas and a young newcomer named Martin Scorsese who sounds like he could be a rising star of the format…
With the campaign to save 35mm still raging and endless debates about the creative benefits of 3D versus the cash-grabbing side of the format, this is one that should interest anyone fascinated by the technical soul of cinema. There’s no word on a release date here yet, but we’re hoping it’ll at least hit a few festivals and find an outlet on VOD or disc.
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Keanu Reeves Talks Filmmaking
PJ Hogan Directing Bone
And it has a new writer…
It’s been a while since we’ve heard much about progress on the animated adaptation of popular graphic series Bone. But now there appears to be fresh movement on the project, with Muriel’s Wedding director PJ Hogan signing on to direct and TV writer Patrick Sean Smith locked in to crank out the next draft of the script.
Published by Jeff Smith between 1991 and 2004, Bone is an odd and absorbing tale that tracks Fone Bone, Smiley Bone and Phoney Bone, who are kicked out of Boneville after Phoney screws up a run for mayor. Chased across medieval fantasy land The Valley by locusts and rats, they eventually find shelter with a girl named Thorn. And they’re then sucked into a battle against an evil Dark Lord. What begins as a fairly slapsticky tale soon evolves into something more serious, which is part of the reason why lots of people love it.
Sherlock Holmes producer Dan Lin has been overseeing the project since he convinced Warner Bros. to snap up the rights a few years ago. Australian writer Justin Monjo scribbled the first few drafts of the script and Happy Feet ‘toon company Animal Logic crafted some test footage so everyone involved can get a sense of what it will look like.
Now, though, it appears it’ll sit in development a little longer as Smith – Patrick Sean, not Jeff – retools the screenplay. He’s been responsible for TV comedy drama Greek and has written on shows including Supernatural and Everwood. According to the Heat Vision blog, Hogan will re-write it again before he starts directing in Australia with the Animal Logic team handling the animation. Until then, he’s still busy putting the final touches to Mental, the film that sees him reunite with Muriel star Toni Collette.
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PJ Hogan Directing Bone