Getting ever so closely to the Top 10, our top 20 is filled with an interesting mix of heavyweights (Tarantino, Cronenberg, Boyle and Wes Anderson) and up-and-comers (Sachs, Gillespie, Tarsem, Perelman). Enjoy!
When: Paramount Vantage – September 21st date most likely a prelude by a Toronto film fest preem.
Who: Sean Penn’s last time behind the camera was for Sept 11th short film.
What: Penn adapted the screenplay from Jon Krakauer’s book of the same name. Hirsch will portray Christopher McCandless, who graduated from college in 1992, abandoned his possessions and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness and return to nature.
Why: If this hits some of the dramatic notes found in The Pledge – then we can bank on some fine performances from one actor to another.
Who: Unknown director Craig Gillespie also has New Line’s Mr. Woodcock coming out months later.
What: Based on the script by Nancy Oliver, this tells the offbeat story of Lars (Gosling), a lonely, delusional young man whose life changes dramatically when an Internet friend comes to visit. The beautiful, religious missionary is in fact an inanimate replica of a woman.
Why: threesome in Patricia Clarkson, Ryan Gosling and Emily Mortimer surround highly regarded screenplay. Kimmel Int. produces.
Who: Tarsem‘s passion project was filmed all over the world.
What: Inspired by a short, Bulgarian film the director saw at a film festival almost a decade ago – the film is based around the relationship between a little girl and an injured stuntman she meets in a hospital.
Why: Preemed at the Toronto Film Festival. Got highest marks for its visual splendor.
Who: Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez give us a double bill – retro style.
What: Inspired by ’70s exploitation films, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez are each directing a 60-minute horror tale for “Grind House”. Rodriguez’s part, “Planet Terror,” will be a zombie movie, while Tarantino’s section, “Death Proof,” will be a slasher film. Faux trailers and ads will run between the two pics as an intermission.
Why: Guilty pleasure experiment should be a blast.
Who: Little known Ira Sachs last made the rarely seen Sundance winner Forty Shades of Blue.
What: Based on British pulp mystery John Bingham novel “Five Roundabouts to Heaven,” this is set in San Francisco in 1949. It’s the story of a middle-aged man who is married, and who falls in love with another woman, but he’s such a gentle figure, so he decides that to divorce his wife would humiliate her too much, so it’s better to kill her.
Why: Talented cast consists of Pierce Brosnan, Patricia Clarkson, Chris Cooper and Rachel McAdams. Production co’s are Sidney Kimmel Ent and Anonymous Content.
When: 2929 Productions will find a buyer at festival. Perhaps a Cannes presentation?
Who: This is only Vadim Perelman’s 2nd feature.
What: Written by Emil Stern, this is an adaptation of Laura Kasischke novel “The Life Before Her Eyes” a thriller that revolves around a teenager who witnesses a high school shooting. Fifteen years later, unable to recover from her survivor’s guilt, her grip on reality begins to break, and she faces a shocking truth.
Why: House of Sand and Fog was a remarkable first effort – and Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood should strike viewers with dramatic fair.
When: Crossroads Films’ will be looking for big deal at Sundance – should preem in crisp Fall season.
Who: Busy writer and filmmaker David Gordon Green’s 4th film.
What: Adapted from the novel by Stewart O’Nan and scripted by David Gordon Green, the story interweaves the life of a teenager, Arthur, with his one-time baby sitter Annie (Beckinsale) – a small-town waitress who has suffered through a tumultuous relationship with her estranged husband Glenn (Rockwell). Peet plays Barb, the female lead.
Why: Trading his familiar Dixon Mason line for wintery north should be interesting.
When: Fox Searchlight Pictures – Spring release is set – perhaps a festival appearance beforehand?
Who: Brit Danny Boyle takes on all genres.
What: Inspired by Henri-Georges Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear, this is set 50 years into the future the sun is dying. Man’s last hope lies with a heroic group of eight astronauts and scientists aboard the spaceship Icarus II charged with delivering a stellar fission bomb into the heart of the sun. Their predecessors on the Icarus I mysteriously failed in their mission never to be heard from again…until now.
Why: Tired of watching 2001? Boyle will do better in space than on The Beach.
When: Focus Features – Sept. 14th with a 99.99 percent sure Toronto or Venice film festival slot just prior.
Who: 2nd straight mafia-related material for David Cronenberg.
What: Penned by Steve Knight, this follows the mysterious and ruthless Nikolai (Mortensen), who is tied to one of London’s most notorious organized crime families. His carefully maintained existence is jarred when he crosses paths with Anna (Watts), an innocent midwife trying to right a wrong, who accidentally uncovers potential evidence against the family. Now Nikolai must put into motion a harrowing chain of murder, deceit, and retribution.
Why: Viggo Mortensen (A History of Violence) delivers his best work with the Canadian filmmaker.
