Gus Van Sant

Started by pilgrim, June 22, 2003, 09:33:52 PM

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MacGuffin

Scribes make suicide pact
Gus Van Sant, Bret Easton Ellis team on film
Source: Variety

Gus Van Sant and author Bret Easton Ellis will team to write a feature about the double suicide of artists Theresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake.

PalmStar Entertainment, Celluloid Dreams and K5 Film have acquired screen rights to "The Golden Suicides," a Vanity Fair article written by Nancy Jo Sales.

Van Sant, who helmed "Milk" and is prepping the Columbia Pictures drama "Restless," is involved only as writer at this point.

Ithaka Entertainment's Braxton Pope will produce with PalmStar's Kevin Frakes and Celluloid Dreams' Hengameh Panahi.

Duncan and Blake formed a popular couple on the downtown New York and Venice, Calif., art scenes. She was one of the first videogame designers for girls, and his "digital paintings" -- kaleidoscopic images shown on plasma screens -- established him as a rising star on the circuit.

The couple descended into a paranoid spiral when the artists developed a consuming belief that government and religious organizations were conspiring against them. She killed herself in 2007. Blake found her body on the floor of their bedroom, and walked into the Atlantic Ocean a week later, ending his life.

Patrick Siaretta, Oliver Simon and Daniel Baur will be exec producers, and Courtney Andrialis is co-producer.
"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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matt35mm

Wicked!  I heard some shady stuff about their connections to Scientology...

john

After I read that Vanity Fair article last year, I immediately thought Van Sant would be the perfect choice to make a film about their unraveling. I then dismissed the idea as being a little too on the nose and repetitive to some of the work Van Sant had already done. However, teaming up with Ellis seems like a really promising collaboration. I hope it comes to fruition, and I hope Van Sant does direct it. It's an affecting story that really lends itself to both Ellis and Van Sant's sensibilities and strengths.

Maybe every day is Saturday morning.

modage

I think anyone who has seen Gerrelephlastdayranoid Park has pretty much already seen this movie.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Stefen

I hope Chris Doyle is the DP. Imagine what he could do with some of Blake's artwork? :tightpants:
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

socketlevel

Quote from: matt35mm on October 14, 2009, 01:33:23 AM
Wicked!  I heard some shady stuff about their connections to Scientology...

Ya some have thought this is what depressed PTA for a while. blake did the art for punch drunk, and i believe they grew close.

when i was in university i wrote a thesis on Scientology and did a lot of studying into their history. the use of the word 'paranoid' is used very liberally in that description, almost implying it was all in their heads.  what that description doesn't know, or leaves out, is the spotty history of Scientology. i wouldn't be surprised if they were feeling real pressure and retaliation from the religion. the almost military style religious hierarchy is notorious for going after people that decide to leave the cult.  ruining many lives with horrible tactics, mainly blackmailing the exposure of undesired information; information that was gathered during their time of faith. Scientology has a very aggressive black list process.

I hope that these topics are in the movie if it was the reality of the situation. because everything, including the suicide, isn't uncommon when dealing with similar tragic real life occurrences with said religion.
the one last hit that spent you...

MacGuffin

Gus Van Sant film keeps it in the family
Henry Hopper, Schuyler Fisk join drama
Source: Hollywood Reporter

The casting process of Columbia and Imagine's untitled Gus Van Sant drama is keeping with the project's familial theme.

The feature, on which Bryce Dallas Howard is teaming with father Ron Howard to produce with Brian Grazer, is opening its arms to Dennis Hopper's son Henry Hopper, who will star opposite Mia Wasikowska.

Schuyler Fisk, daughter of Sissy Spacek, also is boarding the movie, as are Chin Han, Ryo Kase and Jane Adams.

The drama, formerly known as "Restless," revolves around a teenage boy and girl (Wasikowska) who share a preoccupation with mortality.

In his first starring role, Hopper is playing the boy, who is trying to get over the death of his parents. Fisk will play Wasikowska's sister.

Chin Han plays a doctor treating Wasikowska, and Kase is a spirit of a World War II kamikaze pilot who regularly visits the boy. Adams plays the boy's aunt.

The movie begins production today in Portland, Ore., a favorite locale of Van Sant's; he shot 1989's "Drugstore Cowboy" and 1991's "My Own Private Idaho" there.

Rookie scribe Jason Lew, who attended film school with the younger Howard, penned the screenplay, developing it from a play he wrote.

"It captures the profoundly defining turning point of a young person's life with stark realism, irreverent humor and intense emotion," Bryce Dallas Howard said of the story. "I think that Gus was drawn to this story because he has an uncanny ability to convey the complexities of youth and outsiders, and this is, above all else, the journey of an outsider."

Hopper's only acting credit is "Kiss & Tell," in which he appeared at age 6. He was set to star in Wes Craven's "My Soul to Take" but had to bow out when he contracted mononucleosis.

Fisk, repped by CAA, most recently appeared in the 2006 indie film "I'm Reed Fish" with Jay Baruchel.

Chin Han, a veteran actor-producer in his native Singapore, might be best known in the English-speaking world for playing gangster Lau in "The Dark Knight." He next appears in Roland Emmerich's "2012," which opens today. The actor is repped by Echelon Talent and Untitled Entertainment.

Kase has numerous acting credits in his native Japan and appeared in Clint Eastwood's "Letters From Iwo Jima." Adams, repped by Framework Entertainment, appears in HBO's "Hung."
"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

US director Gus Van Sant wins Stockholm film award

STOCKHOLM - Organizers of the Stockholm film festival say director Gus Van Sant has been named the winner of this year's visionary award, hailing him as one of modern cinema's greatest American filmmakers.

Van Sant is expected to visit Stockholm in November to pick up the award — a 16-pound bronze horse.

Festival director Git Scheynius said Thursday that Van Sant's depiction of an alternative America "is a celebration of film art," adding that his films have been a part of the annual festival throughout its 20-year history. Van Sant's films include "Good Will Hunting" and "Milk."

The visionary award is one of the festival's most prestigious prizes. Previous winners include Wong Kar Wai, Wes Anderson and Terry Gilliam.
"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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Mr. Merrill Lehrl

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=31011

QuoteGaspar Noe Directing Golden Suicides?

It's an announcement to strike fear into even the most steel-hearted cinema-goer: Gaspar Noe is in talks to direct The Golden Suicides, from a screenplay by Brett Easton Ellis and Gus Van Sant.

Not usually a director-for-hire, the idea that Noe (the controversial talent behind Seul Contre Tous, Irreversible and Enter the Void) could be employed on someone else's project is an odd one. Ellis' involvement could be a clue to the attraction however: the author's penchant for mixing the bleak, the violent and the absurd seeming a good fit for an artist who told a botched-rape-revenge drama backwards and made a three-hour FX extravaganza from the POV of a dead guy.

The Golden Suicides stems from a Vanity Fair article by Nancy Jo Sales, and is based on the true story of the double suicide of Jeremy Blake and Theresa Duncan, popular New York artists who, for reasons unknown, became increasingly paranoid that they were being conspired against by the US government and the church of Scientology. Duncan overdosed on Tylenol in July 2007, and Blake is believed to have drowned himself in the Atlantic a week later.

We'd previously thought this a possible new entry in Van Sant's Death cycle (Gerry, Elephant, Last Days), but while Noe is reportedly only one of several names in contention at this point, there no longer seems to be any mention of Van Sant at all.

Mysteries to unravel then (Noe will be pleased), with Chris Hanley and Jordan Gertner of production companies Muse and Hero, currently schmoozing deals at Cannes. More news as it arrives.
Owen Williams
"If I had to hold up the most heavily fortified bank in America," Bolaño says, "I'd take a gang of poets. The attempt would probably end in disaster, but it would be beautiful."

wilder

#69

Pubrick

is he gonna direct any more episodes other than the pilot?

imdb makes it seem like mario van peebles is the main director.

it could be like scorsese and boardwalk empire.. a low point, but nothing more.
under the paving stones.

MacGuffin

Taylor Lautner to Star in Gus Van Sant Indie Film (Exclusive)
The 'Twilight' and 'Abduction' actor also will produce the project which is based on a New Yorker article.
Source: THR

Get ready for Taylor Lautner, independent film star.
 
The Twilight actor, fresh from the disappointing performance of September's action thriller Abduction, is about to move into arthouse territory. Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Lautner is finalizing a deal to team with auteur director Gus Van Sant (Milk, Drugstore Cowboy) on a small-budget film based on a nonfiction article in The New Yorker magazine that Lautner has optioned.

Details are still emerging about the project, but sources say an announcement is expected later this week revealing who is write the script for the Van Sant-helmed film. The aim is to shoot the film in the first quarter of next year.
 
The move is an interesting one for the Twilight star, who has shown eagerness to capitalize on his burst of fame from the blockbuster teen fantasy series, the penultimate installment of which, Breaking Dawn: Part I, hits theaters November 18.
 
Since becoming a star in 2008's Twilight, Lautner has attached himself to several projects--with his price tag ratcheting up to $7.5 million. He circled Max Steel, based on a Mattel action figure, then decided to make Stretch Armstrong, based on a Hasbro property, at Universal. That project has lost momentum at the studio but sources say it is not dead.
 
Lautner also flirted with Northern Lights, a project from producer David Ellison about extreme flying, but he chose to do Abduction for Lionsgate instead. That movie, which opened in September, pulled in only $26.9 million in the U.S. It managed another $44.5 million overseas. Lautner also was reported as being attached to Incarceron, a sci-fi project at Fox. According to an insider, that project is headed into turnaround but Lautner is still attached.
 
The new project would almost certainly take Lautner's career in a new direction. He is said to be determined to work only with top directors and writers from now on as he strives to define himself as an actor.  
 
Lautner also will produce the project via Quick Six, the production shingle he runs with father Dan Lautner.
"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

Gus Van Sant Taking Matt Damon's Place on Dave Eggers Project
After the actor pulled out of directing the untitled film due to "scheduling conflicts," Van Sant will now take his chair.
Source: Playlist

Matt Damon might not be directing his untitled drama he co-wrote with John Krasinski and Dave Eggers, but the project is far from dead.

Gus Van Sant will sit in the director's chair after Damon fell out due to "scheduling issues." (The actor said yes to several movies this year, and the time required to prep what would have been his directorial debut would have impacted his other commitments.)

Damon came to the realization he would be unable to direct during the holidays and called Van Sant, who helmed him in his 1997 breakthrough Good Will Hunting, to step in.  

Damon will still star in the movie, along with which centers on a salesman (Damon) who arrives in a small town only to have his life changed. Krasinski was also due to star. The two are producing as is Chris Moore.

The next step for the project, which hopes to shoot in the spring, is financing. The project was initially set up at Warner Bros. in October but is no longer there. Discussions are underway with financiers to take it over.

Van Sant, repped by WME, last directed Restless, which starred Mia Wasikowska.
"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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pete

good boys from Boston are running Hollywood right now!
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

MacGuffin

Gus Van Sant Shot Sex Scene Starring Alex Pettyfer in Bid to Direct 'Fifty Shades of Grey' (Exclusive)
Source: TheWrap

Two-time Oscar nominee Gus Van Sant has shot a steamy sex scene featuring Alex Pettyfer as Christian Grey in a bid to direct "Fifty Shades of Grey," the film version of the erotic bestseller, individuals familiar with the project have told TheWrap.

The scene, insiders said, is when the ingénue Anastasia Steele loses her virginity to Grey.

Van Sant previously directed "Promised Land" and "Milk" for Focus Features, which has the rights to EL James' novel along with Universal Pictures. Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti are producing.

Insiders stressed that Pettyfer was cast as Grey just for the tape, not the movie, though Universal just got into bed with the 23 year-old actor on its sexy remake of "Endless Love," which he is currently shooting in Atlanta. TheWrap was unable to confirm the identity of the actress cast at Steele, the impressionable young woman who falls for kinky billionaire Grey.

Universal and Focus have declined to comment on any list stories, long or short, though a Universal spokesperson said that the studio isn't out to directors or actors, nor have they commissioned any test reels. WME has also declined comment.

Van Sant has not settled on a follow-up film since wrapping "Promised Land," which makes him available to begin working on the project as soon as writer Kelly Marcel delivers a finished draft of the script.

Van Sant was not officially asked by the studio to shoot a test tape. But doing so may indicate how badly he wants the coveted assignment.

Universal and Focus spent at least $3 million in a bidding war to crack the whip on "Fifty Shades of Grey," and they'll certainly be expecting the pop culture phenomenon to be a hit, and a franchise for the studio. Van Sant has only directed one film to cross the domestic $100 million mark -- 1997's "Good Will Hunting" grossed $138 million in the U.S. -- and only one more to cross the domestic $50 million mark, as "Finding Forrester" grossed $51 million in 2000.

Van Sant has long been considered a director who confronts themes such as sex and sexuality head-on, from his debut film the "Mala Noche" to the hustlers in "My Own Private Idaho" to Nicole Kidman's provocative dance in "To Die For" to serving as the executive producer of Larry Clark's explicit "Kids."

Van Sant's candidacy confirms the producers' intentions to hire a high-class filmmaker to deliver a tasteful adaption of the steamy novel. It's possible the success of Steven Soderbergh's male stripper movie "Magic Mike" and its appeal to female audiences is why Van Sant chose to use Pettyfer in his test tape.

"Fifty Shades of Grey" sold to Universal and Focus in March 2012, just two months after WME-repped Van Sant did Focus a favor by stepping in late in the game to replace his "Good Will Hunting" star Matt Damon as the director of "Promised Land," which Focus released to generally strong reviews in December.
"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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