Sam Mendes

Started by TenseAndSober, February 27, 2003, 10:51:50 PM

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MacGuffin

Sam Mendes to Direct Universal's Jarhead
Source: Variety

Director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition) is set to helm Jarhead, a Universal drama based on Anthony Swofford's Persian Gulf War memoir, reports Variety. Cast Away screenwriter William Broyles wrote the script for the film, which begins shooting in the fall.

Drawing on his own experiences as a Marine grunt in Vietnam, Broyles wrote a script that studio and producers felt captured Swofford's voice and vivid descriptions of war, says the trade. While Mendes has no background in soldiering, he liked the world enough to commit after reading the script and doing some work on it with Broyles.

"This is equal parts black humor, honesty, rage, lyricism, profanity and the mixture of machismo jarhead culture. With the exception of 'Three Kings,' this is a war that has been overlooked but which has a burning relevance to what is happening right now in the Middle East," Mendes said.

The production will start casting and scouting locations right away, with the deserts of the Southwest a possible destination, after they made a convincing backdrop for Three Kings.

To tackle Jarhead, Mendes will have to postpone film adaptations of Stephen Sondheim's musical Sweeney Todd and Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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ElPandaRoyal

I like how Mendes seems to be looking for different genres as he builds up his career in movies. I'm curious to see how this is going to be now that sadly he won't be able to use Conrad Hall anymore  :(  But I absolutely trust Mendes.
Si

El Duderino

yeah, this looks good.
Did I just get cock-blocked by Bob Saget?

MacGuffin

Trio Set for 'Jarhead' Boot Camp

Jake Gyllenhaal , Jamie Foxx and Lucas Black are in various states of enlistment for "Jarhead," a coming-of-age tale about a platoon of U.S. Marines during the Gulf War .

The Universal Pictures project, based on Anthony Swofford's 2003 Scribner memoir of the same name, will be directed by Sam Mendes ("American Beauty").

Gyllenhaal is set to star as Swofford while Black is in final negotiations. Foxx is expected to sign up soon.

Also cast as members of the platoon are Laz Alonso ("Eyes"), Brian Geraghty ("Art School Confidential"), Jacob Vargas ("Traffic") and Evan Jones ("8 Mile").

An early December start date is being eyed, with shooting to take place in Los Angeles and El Centro, Calif., the latter doubling for Saudi Arabia. The actors are expected to undergo boot camp training in November.

Gyllenhaal, who starred in "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Donnie Darko," will next appear in Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" and "Proof." Foxx plays the title role of Ray Charles in Universal's biopic "Ray," which opens Oct. 29.

Black starred in "Friday Night Lights" and appeared in "Cold Mountain."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Pedro

fuck this, i want sweeney todd :(

SiliasRuby

Quote from: Pedro the Alpacafuck this, i want sweeney todd :(
Me too, gosh darn it. (sorry, trying to cut down on the cursing). But this looks pretty awseome too.
The Beatles know Jesus Christ has returned to Earth and is in Los Angeles.

When you are getting fucked by the big corporations remember to use a condom.

There was a FISH in the perkalater!!!

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Redlum

Quote from: flagpolespecial
Quote from: TictacbkI really don't think I could say anything about Mendes until I see some of his work without the help of Conrad Hall.

hmmm. he'll just enlist the help of someone like roger deakins and his next movie will look just as good.

I just started thinking about how good Road to Perdition was and (I look forward to watching it again) and then I started thinking about the greatness of Conrad Hall and just looked to see who his "replacement" on 'Jarhead' will be and it IS Roger Deakins! A fine choice. Two great Brits working on this...a little National pride for once.

I agree with you on your comments about the knowledge Mendes demonstrates in the AB commentary. I look forward to watching that again too and just loving the craft like I do with Punch Drunk Love. I hope the parodies and jokes made about the 'floating bag' scene arent too present in my mind because that was so powerful the very first time I watched it.
\"I wanted to make a film for kids, something that would present them with a kind of elementary morality. Because nowadays nobody bothers to tell those kids, \'Hey, this is right and this is wrong\'.\"
  -  George Lucas

MacGuffin

DiCaprio, Winslet to star in 'Road'
Duo together again for 'Revolutionary'
Source: Variety

Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are teaming for the first time since "Titanic" to star in DreamWorks' "Revolutionary Road."

Sam Mendes will direct the pic, based on the acclaimed 1961 novel by Richard Yates about post-war disillusionment.

John N. Hart, Scott Rudin, Bobby Cohen and Mendes, who's married to Winslet, will produce in association with BBC Films.

Yates' heart-rending and bleak tome, celebrated for its storytelling style, follows a seemingly happy suburban couple with two children in the mid-1950s who find themselves caught between their true desires and the pressure to conform -- with explosive consequences.

Mendes begins lensing this summer from an adapted screenplay by scribe Justin Haythe, said DreamWorks chair-CEO Stacey Snider.

Paramount Pictures has worldwide rights.

Winslet and DiCaprio have each worked continuously since 1997's "Titanic," but never together. "Road" marks the first time that Mendes has directed either star.

DiCaprio most recently starred in "Blood Diamond" and "The Departed," both from Warner Bros. "Road" marks his second DreamWorks project after Steven Spielberg's 2002 "Catch Me if You Can."

Winslet also had a busy 2006, starring in "Little Children," a story about modern-day suburban angst, "The Holiday" and "All the King's Men."

Mendes has longtime ties to DreamWorks, having directed his first film, "American Beauty," there. He also directed "Road to Perdition" for the studio and is producing two DreamWorks films that will be released later this year, "Things We Lost in the Fire" and "The Kite Runner."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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polkablues

Prettiest movie of 2007 (so far).
My house, my rules, my coffee

MacGuffin

Mendes to direct mini-Middlemarch
Source: Guardian Unlimited
 
Having already boiled much of the English literary canon down to TV serials, Andrew Davies is setting his sights on an even more ambitious project. The adapter of choice for both ITV and the BBC is now turning to Hollywood, and a film version of Middlemarch.

This will be the first film version of George Eliot's 19th century masterpiece, which is perhaps understandable, since the book is one of the longest in English. It features a complex weave of interconnected stories focused on idealistic young heroine Dorothea Brooke.

Sam Mendes, making his first film set in his native England, will direct. Mendes, who is married to Kate Winslet and whose other films include American Beauty and Jarhead, has yet to announce casting decisions.

His producing partner, Pippa Harris, told Variety: "Sam's first film was for an American studio, so he started off in a slightly different place than other British directors. But he's as determined to tell stories about England as he is about America."

Mendes will take on the project after completing his upcoming film, Revolutionary Road, based on the Richard Yates novel and starring the director's wife, Kate Winslet, opposite Leonardo DiCaprio.

Davies has written numerous TV versions of novels by the likes of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and William Thackeray. He has already abbreviated Middlemarch to a 375-minute serial for the BBC but a mainstream film is unlikely to permit more than a third of that time.

It seems a daring feat, but Tolstoy's even longer War and Peace has already been filmed several times. After that, Middlemarch should be a stroll in the country estate.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

Bates hits DW's 'Road' for Mendes
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Kathy Bates has signed on to reteam with her "Titanic" co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Sam Mendes' "Revolutionary Road" for DreamWorks.

David Harbour, Michael Shannon and Zoe Kazan also are boarding the 1950s-set drama, which revolves around a suburban Connecticut couple whose relationship deteriorates into an endless cycle of squabbling, jealousy and recriminations.

Justin Haythe adapted Richard Yates' acclaimed 1961 novel, which was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Bates will play Mrs. Givings, who sells the couple their home and introduces them to the town. Harbour will play Shep Campbell, a neighbor. Shannon will play the son of Bates' character. And Kazan will play Maureen, secretary of DiCaprio's character, with whom she embarks on an affair.

Scott Rudin, John Hart, Bobby Cohen and Mendes are producing the film, which begins shooting outside New York in June. David Thompson, Henry Fernaine and Marion Rosenberg are executive producing.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Pubrick

Quote from: MacGuffin on April 24, 2007, 01:03:18 AM
...and Zoe Kazan also are boarding the 1950s-set drama, ...

Kazan will play Maureen, secretary of DiCaprio's character, with whom she embarks on an affair.

granddaughter of elia.



my age, currently naked on broadway
under the paving stones.

MacGuffin

Sam Mendes shifts to comedy
Director to helm Eggers/Vida's 'Place'
Source: Variety

Sam Mendes will next direct an untitled contemporary comedy for Focus Features in March.

The low-budget project, previously titled "This Must Be the Place," is based on an original screenplay by husband-and-wife team Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, best known as novelists and magazine editors.

It follows a young couple's journey around the U.S. as they search for somewhere to put down roots and raise the baby they are expecting. No casting has yet been confirmed.

Pic is being produced by Ed Saxon and co-financed by Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf's Big Beach ("Little Miss Sunshine"). Mendes will get a producing credit through his own Neal Street Prods. Focus will co-finance and distribute worldwide.

This movie will be the first Mendes has made for a studio specialty division.

Mendes is finishing "Revolutionary Road" for DreamWorks, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. Pic is due for release at the end of 2008.

Mendes originally intended his next directing project to be his first British movie, an adaptation of George Eliot's 19th century masterpiece "Middlemarch," which Andrew Davies is writing for Neal Street.

But after so much heavy-duty drama, Mendes decided instead that it was time to flex his comedic muscles with "This Must Be the Place."

Eggers wrote the novel "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" and runs the publishing house McSweeney's. Vida edits the magazine "The Believer" and has written novels including "Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name."

"This Must Be the Place" will be their first produced screenplay, although Eggers is also collaborating with Spike Jonze on "Where the Wild Things Are" and is adapting his own recent book "What Is the What."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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tpfkabi

named after the Talking Heads song: Naive Melody (This Must Be the Place)?
I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away.

MacGuffin

Krasinksi, Rudolph join Mendes film
Cheryl Hines to co-star in untitled Focus comedy
Source: Variety

John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph will star in Sam Mendes' untitled relationship comedy for Focus Features.

Cheryl Hines has signed on to co-star.

Film follows an expectant couple (Krasinski, Rudolph) as they travel the country in search of a place to put down roots and raise a family.

Author Dave Eggers penned the screenplay with his wife, editor-novelist Vendela Vida.

Shooting is scheduled to start in April in Connecticut.

Ed Saxon is producing alongside Big Beach's Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf.

Krasinski will next be seen opposite George Clooney in the period sports comedy "Leatherheads," which opens April 4. He made his feature directorial debut with the upcoming indie "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men," which he adapted from David Foster Wallace's novel.

Film credits for Rudolph, a long-running cast member of "Saturday Night Live," include "A Prairie Home Companion" and "Idiocracy." She and Krasinski previously teamed for voice work in "Shrek the Third."

Hines ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") recently wrapped her feature directorial debut with the indie "Serious Moonlight," from a screenplay penned by the late Adrienne Shelly. Her upcoming film acting credits include "Henry Poole Is Here" and the animated "Space Chimps."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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