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Casino Jack from Gibney and Hickenlooper?
It was on my radar and then suddenly the little blip on the screen disappeared. Originally Casino Jack, a documentary film on Jack Abramoff and directed by Alex Gibney was “a few months away from completion” and already acquired by Magnolia Films. How odd is it that Production Weekly announces that George Hickenlooper is making an indie drama going by the same title and which would feature Kevin Spacey as businessman/con man Abramoff and Hayden Christensen would play Michael Scanlon, Abramof's co-conspirator.
Daily Recommendation: Grey Gardens
While there is no substitution for Maysles' 1976 doc film, tonite on HBO (8pm ET), Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange are portraying the Beales. This Grey Gardens expounds on the documentary film and from what I understand from the synopsis below, details the "riches", rather than the "rags" portion of their story.
Coppola Skipping Cannes
Thierry Frémaux thought he made Francis Ford Coppola an offer that he couldn't refuse. The result. Tetro (06.11.2009) won't be showcased on the Croisette this year. The first sign that perhaps the film is not strong enough for a competition slot, or further proof that some old school American filmmakers (e.g. Woody Allen) aren't getting the preferred red carpet treatment from yesteryear.
All Things ‘Nice’ for Fox Searchlight
Looks like Fox Searchlight and Reese Witherspoon are taking Spring cleaning to heart - they have dusted off a decade's worth of inactivity on the book-to-screen translation of author Jen Sacks' Nice.
Coppola Finds ‘Somewhere’ to Film Her 4th
I'm not sure if motherhood entered the picture, but it has been a long time since we saw Sofia Coppola behind the camera. Having locked up distribution deals in several territories, she and Focus Features appear to be fully immersed in the pre-production stages of her fourth feature film.
