Xixax Film Forum

Queen knights Gladiator director

Oscar-winning film director and producer Sir Ridley Scott has received his knighthood from the Queen at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fnewsimg.bbc.co.uk%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F39258000%2Fjpg%2F_39258344_scott203.jpg&hash=e3aa421b0cd539ac2d85e3618f4728696d0764be)

The man behind Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator was honoured for his services to the British film industry.

The 65-year-old said he was "stunned and truly humbled" to have been named a sir in the New Year's honours list.

"As a boy growing up in South Shields, I could never have imagined that I would receive such a special recognition," he said.

Sir Ridley Scott rose to fame with the 1979 film Alien, starring Sigourney Weaver, marking him out as a sci-fi film visionary.

Scott said: "I've just been re-editing Alien for re-issue later this year.

"We are digitally expanding it. I hadn't seen it for 15 years and it is still good - the original script was extremely dynamic."

I wonder how Matchstick Men will be... I refer to it as "Ridley's 'Catch Me If You Can'"... a giant of giants making a small film about crime...


Nick

Yes, my question as well...

Is Ridley poncing her? If so, good job, old chap.

he looks kinda pleased.

my guess is he's stoned.

Christ, he looks fuckin stoned out of his gourd!  :lol:

its his wife. she cameos in a couple of his movies. in black hawk down, when the one guy calls home before they all go out to blow up brown ppl, the chick who comes into the house w/ all the groceries is her. also in hannibal she's the chick who checks the finderprints on the bracelet for mason verger- she's sitting at a laptop i think. yea she's pretty smoke. i wish i was ridley scott.

incredibly eerie.  i was just thinking about starting a Ridley Scott thread THIS week since i was re-watching Blade Runner.  weird.  well, lets look at some of the career highlights...

-ALIEN (1979)
-BLADE RUNNER (1982)
-LEGEND (1985)
-BLACK RAIN (1989)
-THELMA AND LOUISE (1991)
-1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE (1992)
-WHITE SQUALL (1996)
-G.I. JANE (1997)
-GLADIATOR (2000)
-HANNIBAL (2001)
-BLACK HAWK DOWN (2001)

and the upcoming already mentioned MATCHSTICK MEN (2003).  i actually havent seen black rain, 1492, or white squall, anybody want to per/disuade me from seeing any of those?  alien and blade runner though is pretty fucking great back to back like that.  some of the cornerstones of modern science fiction films. he seemed to disappear for a few years, but seems to be back with a vengance making some pretty good movies.  he atleast seems to be more inspired than he was for a while.  really inventive camerawork in gladiator and bhd was great.  excited about mm.

Does anybody know what Matchstick Men is about???  Or is there a thread that explains this?

A phobic con artist and his protege are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the con artist's teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly.

TRAILER
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/matchstick_men/

Thanks.  This flick appears to be very funny.

Quote from: themodernage02-WHITE SQUALL (1996)

It's hard for me to pinpoint what it was about White Squall that just didn't work.  It was ambitious and beautiful by turns, but....I dunno.  Just didn't do it for me.

Anyone wanna elaborate on that?

Quote from: themodernage02A phobic con artist and his protege are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the con artist's teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly.

TRAILER
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/matchstick_men/

hmmmm.... what does that remind me of... oh yeah, i remember!

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2FB000056H29.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=edbd379895bf8c5f3db6fdc3af339b26ff8d34a7)


my thoughts exactly, macaulay.

I'm looking forward to 'MM'. I remember watching the making of 'Hannibal' and it showed him while he was filming the 'pig attack' scene and he said something like 'I've got to do a comedy next'. But after 'Hannibal' he did 'Black Hawk Down'; his most violent film yet. I was like 'a Ridley Scott comedy, that'll be the day'.

And whattayaknow.......

Nic Cage...Sam Rockwell...Ridley Scott: Can't wait.

I think GIJane totally sucks ass. I didn't even know it was Ridley Scott, I can't believe it!

Blade Runner is a masterpiece, his best film. The book is good too.

Hannibal...I hate him.....fuck Ratner too....while we are at it!

ATTN: future camera men/women


for his films black hawk down and hannibal  he seems to use dirrferent lensing or somewthing while shooting these(black hawk down esp.)   ho does he achieve this effect?...........curious george asked me to ask this

Ridley Scott's still doing the "Matchstick Men" rounds out there, and continues to talk up both it and his upcoming "Alien: Director's Cut" opening next month. Over the last few weeks he's mentioned minor details about his proposed "Crusades" epic now that "Tripoli" has fallen by the wayside, today he discussed it a little more with The San Bernardino County Sun: "It's a movie I've been thinking about for 20 years. It's going to take place in the middle of the Crusades, around 1130, 1136, and feature Saladin, a Muslim, who was the wisest of all the knights, a trustworthy man of his word. He kept the peace around Jerusalem, which was held by Baldwin, a Christian who believed that any religion should be able to come to the city and pray. The two men had a connection of respect. I don't want the movie to be about knights in armor and chaps charging around with red crosses and waving swords and hacking off heads. It really should be a fundamental discussion between the two religions and not only that, but the actual misrepresentation of the Holy Roman Empire by the Catholic church, which was in those times seriously corrupt. When they got down there, the people the church regarded as infidels had a faith that was as strong, if not stronger than the fundamental rules of Christianity". What comes after that? "It will be "Gladiator 2,' probably in '05. The script is done. It's very simply the next generation. Roman history is so exotic that where you go next is taking the son, Lucius, somewhere". There's also some talk about the additions to the "Alien" re-release: "I added 4 1/2 minutes of unseen material. There's more stuff at the alien's nest; you see where the crew members disappear to and you see their demise more vividly spelled out. Mainly though, it's an opportunity to reconfigure the negative digitally and get the bloody thing looking like it should for new generations that haven't seen it properly, i.e. on the big screen".

"King of Heaven" Next for Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott and 20th Century Fox are mobilizing the Crusades-era epic "Kingdom of Heaven" for a January production start in Morocco.
The film will be Scott's next directorial effort and the first since he and brother Tony set their Scott Free banner to an overall Fox deal. Scott will also produce the William Monahan-scripted film.

The film is as ambitious as Scott's Oscar-winning Roman epic "Gladiator". Set in the 12th century, the drama focuses on a young blacksmith who becomes a knight and helps defend Jerusalem against the Crusaders. There is also a love story, as the young knight falls in love with a princess. Scott is actively casting and word is that "Lord of the Rings" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" star Orlando Bloom is atop the list.

Scott expressed the desire to make a film set around the Crusades last year. Scott was impressed by Monahan's script for "Tripoli", the story of how U.S. soldier William Eaton joined forces with an exiled king to overthrow the corrupt ruler of what is now Libya.

Scott planned to direct that pic but it got temporarily shelved, partly because he wanted to reteam with "Gladiator" star Russell Crowe, who had a scheduling conflict. The pic was slated to shoot in Morocco, but the timing wasn't good because of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

A budget north of $100 million has just about been signed off on and Scott will begin casting immediately.

Director Ridley Scott on a Possible Alien 5
Source: The Star-Ledger, DVD Rama  

With Alien: The Director's Cut opening at the end of the month, Ridley Scott is talking about the re-release and also the possibility of him directing a fifth film.

The Star-Ledger says that Scott is in talks with 20th Century Fox and that he would take a less-is-more approach and return the franchise to its horror genre roots.

"I'd like to go back to do a tight movie, one-on-one," said Scott. "I think that's always scarier. When you get too many aliens, it diminishes the terror. It becomes an action movie, whereas ours was about flat-out terror."

The trade reports that he's also talking to James Cameron about the project.

Meanwhile, DVD Rama has up an interview with Scott written in French and here's a rough translation.

Fox and Sigourney Weaver contacted me, they wish to conclude the series by that which began it. But there is nothing advanced, we are not even really at the stage of the serious discussions. I do not know really what I could do... unless precisely turning over to the questions put in the first episode. From where does the vessel crushed on the planet comes from with this mysterious extraterrestrial inside? One could wonder whether they're used as weapons of massive destruction, which could threaten the Earth.

Keanu Reeves Replaces Russell Crowe in Tripoli
Source: Variety Monday, November 17, 2003

Keanu Reeves has replaced Russell Crowe in director Ridley Scott's Tripoli. However, 20th Century Fox has put the film into turnaround, and now co-financing companies are kicking the tires. The movie could have been Reeves' first big role after the "Matrix" trilogy.

Reeves is now attached to the story of how U.S. soldier William Eaton joined forces with an exiled king to overthrow the corrupt ruler of what is now Libya.

Screenwriter William Monahan wrote the script.

Ridley Scott = Overated as hell.

Director Ridley Scott is Having A Good Year
Source: Variety

Ridley Scott will direct the adaptation of Peter Mayle's upcoming novel, A Good Year, for Fox 2000 and has signed Serendipity writer Marc Klein to pen the script.

A Good Year is the story of a failing London banker who moves to Provence after inheriting a vineyard, only to encounter a beautiful Californian who has her own claim on the estate. Knopf will publish the novel June 1.

Variety says Scott plans to make the film his next project. He is currently shooting the Crusades drama Kingdom of Heaven in Morocco with Orlando Bloom for 20th Century Fox.

Quote from: RoyalTenenbaumRidley Scott = Overated as hell.

agreed. for me, it was the imgination of giger's world that titilated my senses. regardless, he's still a good filmmaker and picks good subjects to film, but a bit overrated.

Quote from: SmellyBoobFungusagreed. for me, it was the imgination of giger's world that titilated my senses. regardless, he's still a good filmmaker and picks good subjects to film, but a bit overrated.

I think it's that he's so obsessed with visual perfection that the story suffers time and time again.  Every frame of every film he directs is flawless but DAMN, he needs to start paying attention to the story again.  I'm still burning about how bad Black Hawk Down was.  And don't get me started on Hannibal.

I haven't seen Matchstick Men mainly because of this.

You know it's bad when you're longing for the days of Thelma and Louise.   :?

But I have faith that he'll rock out Blade Runner/Alien style once again.

Ridley May Return to ALIEN

MediasharX has a transcription of an interview with director Ridley Scott in which he mentions possible new Alien and Predator films. Here's clips from the article:

FW : Is Nicolas Cage an easy man to work with?
RS : Nic is the most gracious, giving, talented person one could hope to work with. He's so far removed from everything Hollywood represents. Best thing about Nic is he can do anything - anything..

FW : Do you think he tarnished his career by doing popcorn action movies?
RS : Not at all, money talks sir. If there's room for him in the new Alien movie, we'd love to get him. He's a guy that chooses the movies he does on the terms 'would he like to see this movie'?

FW: And what of the rumor of another Alien movie?
RS : We have been talking about doing another one for years. It's been a complex situation. At the end of the day, a studio has to be pleased, a core audience has to be pleased, and a director has to agree to all that. I am glad to say things are progressing...

FW : With you as Director?
RS: I don't think I'll be directing, but I will have some involvement. It'll probably be based on an idea I have, so I hope I'm asked to be involved.

FW : Can you talk about the idea?
RS : In broad terms, It's something for those folks that want to see Ridley's Journey come full circle and..

FW : Does that take her to the home planet of the Aliens?
RS : She won't necessarily see the home planet, but you might...

FW: Do you know when this will happen?
RS : Fox are waiting to see how Aliens vs Predator does, and then they'll do the Alien movie, and I believe a Predator film too. Again, if I'm involved in it, great, if not, then that's luck of the draw.

Talk talk talk. Get going already! A Scott produced Alien ought to revive the franchise from the garanteed death that is Alien Vs Predator.

Scott on Alien 5, Gladiator 2
Ripley and Ridley re-team?
 
Towards the end of last year during IGN FilmForce's interview with Sigourney Weaver, the actress discussed the future possibility of re-teaming with the director of the original Alien film, Ridley Scott.

Today, FilmForce had the chance to pose the question directly to Scott. "She should have asked me the second time," Scott says with a tinge of resentment. The room laughs, but apparently Scott is serious that he was not asked to return for the second film. When asked to reiterate if he was ever asked, he smiled and answered with a resounding, "No."

All hope is not lost, although Scott's response as to whether he might ever consider returning was a pretty stock answer. "It's all to do with the material. If the script is great, of course."

As far as other Scott-based sequels go, a script is still in the works for a Gladiator sequel, although it's likely Scott would be aboard solely as producer. "We're trying to find a good solution for a sequel. [The script] is not quite there yet. Remember, there's no Maximus anymore, so I think the task is more difficult. There is a next generation idea, but the thing is, it's very loose at the moment."

I had previously felt that Ridley Scott was over-rated, that he was strong visually but weak with story.  It wasn't until Black Hawk Down that I started to appreciate his talent.  Black Hawk Down is one of the best war films of the past 20 years.  Gladiator, upon first viewing, seemed a little corny, but now that I've read a little more about Roman history, and seen the film again, I realize it's better than I first assumed.

I also watched Legend for the first time recently, which was certainly well-made.

Scott has a flair for staging epic battle sequences, so Kingdom of Heaven is perfectly suited to his strengths.

Ridley Scott Considers Shadow Diving
An underwater exploration tale.
 
Ridley Scott's next film could be an underwater exploration tale, reports Empire Online. The accomplished director, whose historical epic Kingdom of Heaven is currently playing in theaters, has tentatively agreed to head up Shadow Diving for Fox 2000.

Shadow Diving, originally a book by Robert Kurson, is the factual tale of two wreck divers who discovered a sunken German U-boat from the Second World War in deep waters off the coast of New Jersey. The duo put together an exploration team and spent the next seven years uncovering the story behind the submarine and its occupants.

Fox 2000 recently purchased the story from Kurson and hired William Broyles (Cast Away, Apollo 13) to adapt it for the screen.

Shadow Diving will reportedly require a lot of preparatory work, so it's not certain if Scott will move on that once his current directing project, A Good Year, is complete. Scott was also expected to shoot the historical war film Tripoli next year, but that project currently appears to be on hiatus.

'Good Year': Wine, woman and Crowe
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Russell Crowe is going from the boxing ring to the vineyards of France.

The actor is in discussions to star in Ridley Scott's next directorial effort, "A Good Year," for Fox 2000.

Adapted from a Peter Mayle novel by Marc Klein ("Serendipity"), "Good Year" follows a London banker who moves to Provence after inheriting a vineyard. But when he arrives, he meets a California woman who claims that she owns the place.

Scott is producing through his Scott Free Prods.
 
The film has a tentative September start date in Paris.

Quote from: MacGuffin'Good Year': Wine, woman and Crowe
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Russell Crowe is going from the boxing ring to the vineyards of France.

The actor is in discussions to star in Ridley Scott's next directorial effort, "A Good Year," for Fox 2000.

Adapted from a Peter Mayle novel by Marc Klein ("Serendipity"), "Good Year" follows a London banker who moves to Provence after inheriting a vineyard. But when he arrives, he meets a California woman who claims that she owns the place.

Scott is producing through his Scott Free Prods.
 
The film has a tentative September start date in Paris.

"Sideways" meets "House of Sand and Fog".  With a big swig of "Year of the Comet".

I hate when a movie is designed to be nothing more than Oscar bait.  This is the exact reason "Cinderella Man" fell flat on its face.

Quote from: polkablues
I hate when a movie is designed to be nothing more than Oscar bait.  This is the exact reason "Cinderella Man" fell flat on its face.

...and then gets up to win the whole thing!

Classic story of overcoming obstacles.

Quote from: polkablues
"Sideways" meets "House of Sand and Fog".  With a big swig of "Year of the Comet".

And a splash of Under the Tuscan Sun.

Why stop there?

With a dash of last tango in paris.

This movie has it all. I smell oscar and interesting costumes, and hetero steamy relationships, and red carpet extravaganzas, and juicy gossip filled post premier interviews. Smells like penis to me.

:yabbse-thumbup:

Quote from: Ravi

Quote from: polkablues
"Sideways" meets "House of Sand and Fog".  With a big swig of "Year of the Comet".

And a splash of Under the Tuscan Sun.

$50 says Diane Lane is cast as the "California woman."

Quote from: hacksparrow

Quote from: Ravi

Quote from: polkablues
"Sideways" meets "House of Sand and Fog".  With a big swig of "Year of the Comet".

And a splash of Under the Tuscan Sun.

$50 says Diane Lane is cast as the "California woman."

Spot on.  Her name leapt to mind immediately.

And who will play Crowe's neighbor, a rich hip-hop producer who has purchased the adjoining property?  How about Sean Combs?

Quote from: soixanteAnd who will play Crowe's neighbor, a rich hip-hop producer who has purchased the adjoining property?  How about Sean Combs?

Chris Williams a.k.a Krazee-Eyez Killa.

Warners, Scott play spy game
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Warner Bros. Pictures has bought David Ignatius' novel "Penetration" for Scott Free Prods. and Donald DeLine, with Ridley Scott on board to direct. Joining DeLine as producers are Scott and Scott Free's Michael Costigan. Set in the house-of-mirrors world of international spying, the story centers on an American intelligence officer who goes beyond conventional intelligence gathering to capture a top Middle Eastern operative.

Ridley Scott to Direct American Gangster
Source: Variety February 14, 2006

Ridley Scott is in talks to direct Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington in the Brian Grazer-produced American Gangster, the drama that had its plug pulled in late 2004 by Universal Pictures. The hope is to shoot this summer, says Variety.

The studio will decide this week whether to finance or co-finance the revamped '70s crime drama, or possibly let it go. Two other studios are circling the project if Universal backs down.

The story revolves around a Harlem heroin kingpin who figured out a way to smuggle heroin in the coffins of American soldiers returning from the Vietnam War.

Crowe, who would play a cop, appears to have the most challenging schedule. He's booked to star with Nicole Kidman in Baz Luhrmann's untitled period epic.

Crowe and Scott just completed A Good Year and previously made Gladiator together. Grazer made A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Story with Crowe. Crowe and Washington previously played adversaries in Virtuosity.

Ridley Scott Plots Middle East Thriller
Kingdom of Heaven filmmaker's next.

News comes from Variety that Warner Brothers has found a writer and director for their Middle East spy thriller, Penetration.

Helming the picture will be none other than Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator), whose recent historical epic Kingdom of Heaven provided a fascinating and insightful view of the Crusades. William Monahan, who penned Scott's Kingdom of Heaven, has been hired to adapt Penetration from an espionage novel by David Ignatius. The story involves a CIA agent who must work with a Jordanian intelligence chief while pursuing a wanted terrorist. Along the way, moral and cultural clashes put the operation at risk.

The movie is likely to provide an interesting look at the CIA and the politics that drive espionage and conflict in the Middle East. Ignatius, in addition to being a fiction author, is a Washington Post columnist and critical observer of the CIA.

Scott reminds me of Michael Curtiz in many respects.  Aside from the immaculate composition and attention to set design and other technical effects, he's really at heart a blue collar director who puts together top-tier studio productions that aim a little higher than the average crap.  I admire that about him, but it's pretty frustrating.  If he had anything to say, he'd probably be one of the great directors.  As it stands, he's one of the most reliable directors working today in English-language cinema.  But for as much as he's done, I still feel like he has yet to reach his full potential.  He inserts enough of himself into his projects to truly call each "a Ridley Scott film," but I wonder if they're memorable because they're his, or if he just brings out the best in each project because he's a great technician.

Gladiator: The Musical?

While a Gladiator sequel is all but dead in the water, London-based fans of the original film will soon get to re-live their favorite scenes through song and dance. That's right -- Ridley Scott's Gladiator is heading to a place no warrior has ever been before: musical theater. The musical, to run in London's West End, will be adapted for the stage by William Nicholson, who also wrote the film's screenplay. While Russell Crowe will not be reprising the role of Maximus, Hans Zimmer's original score will be used throughout.

Replacing Crowe will be Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell, who some of you may know from his appearance on the show Crossing Jordan.

Quote from: MacGuffin on May 15, 2006, 02:46:06 PM
Brian Stokes Mitchell, who some of you may know from his appearance on the show Crossing Jordan.

That seems unlikely.

Ridley Wears Gucci
Source: Now Playing Magazine   

Andrea Berloff has been hired by Paramount Pictures to write a screenplay based on the Gucci clan, with Ridley Scott attached as director. Berloff has previously penned Oliver Stone's World Trade Center.

Variety reports that Scott's Scott Free production company will produce the picture along with Giannina Facio, who brought the project to Scott Free. The story will span several years and locations, following the lives of the world-famous Gucci family, those fashionistas of the fashion world. Wait, is that redundant?

The trade paper says that while the exact details of the script have not been revealed yet, it is commonly known that there was plenty of drama and wailing going on behind the scenes of the family, not the least of which included murder (of Maurizio Gucci, as ordered by his widow).

R. and R.
Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott: Our extended Q&A. The Aussie actor and his ''Gladiator'' director tell Josh Rottenberg more about two new big-screen collaborations

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.timeinc.net%2Few%2Fdynamic%2Fimgs%2F060621%2F161949__scott_crowe_l.jpg&hash=11324e7794ec5b17f327afde8c78d52d0edd7ad9)

The swords-and-sandals smash Gladiator was just their opening act. Now Russell Crowe and director Ridley Scott are reuniting with A Good Year (Nov. 10), a surprisingly gentle comedy about a British businessman (Crowe) who takes over his uncle's vineyard in Provence. But that's not all! Next month, the duo will start production on the crime drama American Gangster, with Crowe starring opposite Denzel Washington as a cop trying to take down a notorious Harlem drug lord. EW called the frank filmmaking duo for a three-way chat.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: A Good Year seems like an unlikely project for you guys to take on.
RUSSELL CROWE That's one of the reasons we did it. I mean, it would be very easy for the two of us to make something grand and epic, but then people would say, ''Oh, they're repeating themselves.'' It just seemed more fun to go into this smaller place, where the problems weren't as vast.
RIDLEY SCOTT The key is to keep challenging yourself. I haven't done much in the way of comedy, and I've been living in Provence for 15 years, so this is something I've had on my mind for a while.

Making this film must have been a more pleasant experience than Gladiator.
CROWE Oddly enough, regardless of the problems that were to be solved on Gladiator, we always had fun every day — and that's the whole point. But going into an area that Ridley had such a deep connection with, I knew that he would know how to approach Provence as a subject matter, as a character. But you're dead right. I mean, it just went through my mind a little while ago, while I was on the set of a film [the indie drama Tenderness] out in some unkempt part of New York State: If you could go to Provence once a year to make a film, it would be a damn fine life.
SCOTT The thing also about doing Gladiator is, despite all the running problems which occurred on a daily basis, I think we both figured we were onto something that was going to be certainly very interesting. When something good is happening on a movie, you get a sense of it when you're making it. It doesn't happen often.

What's the secret to your collaboration?
CROWE It's about trust. If Ridley says, ''Jump off a cliff,'' I go, ''Right-o, mate.'' Our friendship was forged in fire. We've been in the situation [on Gladiator] of standing in Morocco, with thousands of people standing around, going, ''What do we do now?''
SCOTT Sometimes you've got to be able to say, ''I'm not sure,'' in which case the other person can kick in and you can solve the problem. I think that's sometimes the best way things can be worked out, rather than one dominant factor saying, ''This is the way to go.''

Ridley, has Russell mellowed at all since Gladiator?
SCOTT Not really. He's still feisty —
CROWE [Cutting in] When the situation demands it.
SCOTT Russell expects people to be ready, and I expect people to be ready, and if they're not, they sometimes get an ear-bashing.
CROWE The other half of that story is that I have to work out the moods and needs of the guy I'm working for as well. In any creative relationship, that's valid. And if you're a creative person, most of the time it's effortless. We both have on certain days a take-no-prisoners approach when we really believe in something. But that's f---ing valid, and I respond to Ridley's passion, and Ridley responds to mine. We're really lucky.

Any truth to the rumors of a Gladiator prequel?
CROWE Ridley and I talk about that quite regularly. It's probably not something we want to discuss right now. But I hope that in the future we've got some gigantic stories to tell together.

In the meantime, you're taking another 180-degree turn with American Gangster, about the real-life 1970s drug kingpin Frank Lucas.
CROWE Yeah, now we're going to get the sledgehammers out and bang some doors down. The Frank Lucas story is pretty well known. Frank took over from a fellow who was a big gangster in Harlem and basically found his own source for drugs, and he cut out the Italian Mob and thereby increased his financial earnings capacity dramatically and also his power base. What we're coming down to with this script is this battle of wits, really, between this gangster and a police investigator.
SCOTT It's two very interesting characters who are both paradoxical, really. One [played by Crowe] is a cop who's obsessive about doing the right thing and being honest, and at the same time has a private life which is totally f---ed up. On the other hand, you've got a gangster [played by Denzel Washington] who has the life of a middle-class bank manager and yet is shipping heroin from Cambodia and putting it on the streets of New York. It's two quite different characters and yet similar in many respects.
CROWE The really intriguing thing is that in real life these guys have become friends. The guy who put him away essentially was the only person who was there to meet Frank Lucas when he came out of prison, and they're still in touch on a regular basis now.

When do you go into production?
SCOTT We're shooting in Harlem in August, which is hotter than hell.
CROWE And in between times, hopefully my wife will complete the production in Australia of my second child. Hopefully she sticks to the schedule, because it's pretty tight this year.

Quote from: MacGuffin on June 24, 2006, 12:03:50 AM
a surprisingly gentle comedy about a British businessman (Crowe) who takes over his uncle's vineyard in Provence.

don't be fooled, it turns out the fucking vineyard is not really his daughter. I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU RIDLEY!!!!!!!! (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fkeizai.ll.u-ryukyu.ac.jp%2Fbbs%2Fskin%2Fposter%2Femoticons%2Fangry_smile.gif&hash=d014cd86235052ddb69418b1c43535d52d6db31d) :yabbse-cry: (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fkeizai.ll.u-ryukyu.ac.jp%2Fbbs%2Fskin%2Fposter%2Femoticons%2Fangry_smile.gif&hash=d014cd86235052ddb69418b1c43535d52d6db31d)  :yabbse-cry: (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fkeizai.ll.u-ryukyu.ac.jp%2Fbbs%2Fskin%2Fposter%2Femoticons%2Fangry_smile.gif&hash=d014cd86235052ddb69418b1c43535d52d6db31d)

RZA, Ortiz, Ejiofor join 'Gangster'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Chiwetel Ejiofor, RZA and John Ortiz have joined the cast of "American Gangster," Imagine's 1970s crime drama starring Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington that Ridley Scott is directing for Universal Pictures. Rappers-turned-actors T.I. and Common, as well as Ted Levine, John Hawkes and Yul Vazquez also have been cast. The movie is based on the life of drug kingpin-turned-informant Frank Lucas (Washington), who shipped heroin to the U.S. in the coffins of soldiers killed in Vietnam. Lucas was brought to justice by lawman Richie Roberts (Crowe). The two then worked together to expose the crooked cops and foreign nationals. Ejiofor will play Washington's brother, who helps Frank run his heroin empire.

Scott to Bring Crowe Back to Life for 'Gladiator' Sequel
By WENN

Director Ridley Scott has confirmed he plans to make a Gladiator sequel with Russell Crowe, despite Crowe's character having been killed off.

Scott intends to write around the problem of Crowe dying at the finale of his 2000 smash hit.

He had originally tried to get a follow-up made in 2003, before abandoning the idea, but things are now back on track.

Scott says, "I will probably do a sequel to Gladiator. The only problem is Russell Crowe was such a powerful presence and, of course, Maximus dies at the end.

"We'll have to get Russell back somehow."

Quote from: Pubrick on June 24, 2006, 01:27:05 AM

Quote from: MacGuffin on June 24, 2006, 12:03:50 AM
a surprisingly gentle comedy about a British businessman (Crowe) who takes over his uncle's vineyard in Provence.

don't be fooled, it turns out the fucking vineyard is not really his daughter. I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU RIDLEY!!!!!!!! (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fkeizai.ll.u-ryukyu.ac.jp%2Fbbs%2Fskin%2Fposter%2Femoticons%2Fangry_smile.gif&hash=d014cd86235052ddb69418b1c43535d52d6db31d) :yabbse-cry: (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fkeizai.ll.u-ryukyu.ac.jp%2Fbbs%2Fskin%2Fposter%2Femoticons%2Fangry_smile.gif&hash=d014cd86235052ddb69418b1c43535d52d6db31d)  :yabbse-cry: (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fkeizai.ll.u-ryukyu.ac.jp%2Fbbs%2Fskin%2Fposter%2Femoticons%2Fangry_smile.gif&hash=d014cd86235052ddb69418b1c43535d52d6db31d)

Didn't he also say Thelma & Louise was a comedy?

Director Ridley Scott Talks Penetration
Source: ComingSoon

Director Ridley Scott has been in New York City the last few months shooting his new crime drama American Gangster with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. With four more weeks of shooting to go, he took a break to talk with ComingSoon.net about his previous collaboration with Crowe, A Good Year. During the interview, Scott told us a bit about the next big project he has planned, currently dubbed Penetration.

"The thing I'm doing next will almost certainly be something [based on] a book coming out, which is really about what's happening now in the Middle East, our complete misunderstanding of what's going on and how we're not dealing with it. Inevitably, [it gets] into the heat in terms of a man who is actually a par journalist that gets sucked into working on a peripheral level in a special department where he gets into real trouble in the Middle East. But it's so accurate. It's by a journalist called David Ignatius. It was called 'Penetration' which I think is a really good title for this, but it's now changing. It's coming out next March. It's a fantastic book! Anyone who has spent 30 years in Iran and Iraq and Syria, [who] can speak Arabic, is the man to come up with the right kind of notion, where the idea of maybe you can't have it tie off neatly because there isn't a neat ending to what is going on." The book was adapted by William Monahan, who wrote Martin Scorsese crime drama The Departed, which looks to be the #1 movie this weekend.

And what about all those reported rumors of a prequel to Scott and Crowe's previous blockbuster Gladiator? "It's possible," Scott told us. "You can deal with that and bring back Russell," Scott told us. "I know what to do, and you don't do a prequel."

Ridley has also been developing a remake of Walter Hill's 1979 action-drama The Warriors with his brother Tony, and he hinted that Tony might actually be directing it. Although there was talk of it taking place in L.A., Ridley thinks that it should still be set in New York. We'll see how all of that pans out in the next few weeks when Tony does the rounds for his next movie Déjà Vu, also with Denzel Washington.

Ridley Scott's next movie A Good Year comes out on November 10 with American Gangster scheduled for November 2, 2007, both with Russell Crowe. Stay tuned to ComingSoon.net for a full interview with the master filmmaker later this month.

DiCaprio to star in 'Body of Lies'
Scott will direct the project for WB
Source: Variety

Leonardo DiCaprio is in early talks to star in Warner Bros.' adaptation of the new David Ignatius novel, "Body of Lies."

Ridley Scott will direct the project, which reunites DiCaprio with screenwriter William Monahan, Oscar-winning writer of "The Departed."

Donald De Line and Scott are producing the co-production of Scott Free Prods. and De Line Pictures. Scott Free's Michael Costigan is exec producer.

DiCaprio's deal has to be negotiated, but he already has worked the picture into his busy schedule. He'll make it this fall after first reteaming with "Titanic" co-star Kate Winslet on "Revolutionary Road," the Sam Mendes-directed DreamWorks drama that shoots in April.

Scott already is scouting venues in Morocco for a film that will shoot in Washington, D.C., Europe and the Middle East.

DiCaprio will play an ex-journalist-turned CIA agent who's sent to Amman to work with Jordan's intelligence chief to track an Al Qaeda leader rumored to be planning attacks against America.Monahan and Scott aligned to the project last year, when Warner bought the novel, then titled "Penetration," by Washington Post columnist Ignatius. Middle East-set project is the third that Monahan has scripted for Scott, after "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Tripoli," the latter of which hasn't yet been made.

Quote from: MacGuffin on April 09, 2007, 01:37:58 AM
first reteaming with "Titanic" co-star Kate Winslet on "Revolutionary Road," the Sam Mendes-directed DreamWorks drama that shoots in April.

oh man, that is a bad move. sam mendes will never do this book justice.

Fox 2000 is with 'Child'
Scott to direct film '44'
Source: Variety

Fox 2000 has optioned screenwriter Tom Rob Smith's debut novel "Child 44" for Ridley Scott to direct and the filmmaker's Scott Free banner to produce.

There were at least two other bidders for the film rights to the thriller, including another major.

Smith's yet-to-be published novel, due out in 2008, was sold at auction in the U.S. to Warner Books in a two-book deal that contemplates a sequel. Simon & Schuster will publish in the U.K.

Set in Stalinist Russia, storyline revolves around an officer in the secret police who is framed by a colleague for treason. On the run with his emotionally estranged wife, he stumbles upon a series of child killings and launches his own rogue investigation, even though it means risking his own capture.

Scott Free president Michael Costigan and senior VP of production Michael Ellenberger brought in the project. At Fox 2000, Carla Hacken helped drive the deal.

Smith, a Cambridge graduate, has written for several British television shows, including "Doctors" and "Dream Team." He also penned the story for Cambodia's first-ever soap opera for the BBC World Service Trust.

Scott's next directing project is "Penetration," a political drama about modern-day intelligence and terrorism that he begins lensing in August.

Leonardo DiCaprio is lined up to star in the pic, which is based on David Ignatius' tome "Body of Lies." Scribe William Monahan ("The Departed") will adapt for the bigscreen. Scott Free is producing with Donald De Line's De Line Pictures.

Scott is next in theaters with crime drama "American Gangster," set for release in November.

Scott set for 'Nottingham'
Director to helm Crowe drama
Source: Variety

Ridley Scott is set to direct Russell Crowe in the Universal Pictures drama "Nottingham," which Brian Grazer is producing for Imagine Entertainment.

Universal earlier bought the spec script by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris, creators of the Showtime series "Sleeper Cell," in an auction for seven figures. Crowe was attached at that time (Daily Variety, Feb. 1).

Crowe stars as the Sheriff of Nottingham in a revisionist take on the Robin Hood tale, with Nottingham as a noble and brave lawman who labors for a corrupt king and engages in a love triangle with Maid Marion and Robin Hood.

Production will start next year.

Scott will direct the film after he helms Leonardo DiCaprio this fall in a CIA thriller for Warner Bros., based on the David Ignatius novel "Body of Lies." William Monahan is writing that script and Scott is producing with Donald De Line.

Scott has directed Crowe in "Gladiator," "A Good Year" and the upcoming "American Gangster."

Director on board for movie
Source: The Sunday Times

FILM director Ridley Scott is preparing the most unlikely movie of his career: a feature-length version of the venerable board game Monopoly.

The 69-year-old British film-maker, whose hits include Gladiator and Black Hawk Down, has been offered the pick of young actors to help turn the property game into a comedy thriller.

William Morris, the oldest theatrical agency in Hollywood, has promised Hasbro, which owns Parker Brothers, the manufacturer of Monopoly in the US, that the cream of its stable of 2000 actors will help create a blockbuster movie.

Scarlett Johansson and Kirsten Dunst are being considered for roles. Hasbro, which claims that Monopoly has been played by 750 million people since the 1930s, wants the film to feature "sexy young people" in an attempt to attract teenagers to board games.

Crowe joins the pack for 'Lies'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Twelve years after working together in the "The Quick and the Dead," Russell Crowe is in negotiations to reteam with Leonardo DiCaprio in "Body of Lies," a spy thriller that Ridley Scott is directing for Warner Bros. Pictures.

Scott and Donald De Line are producing the picture, which is an adaptation of Washington Post columnist David Ignatius' novel.

The novel centers on an idealistic CIA agent (DiCaprio), newly stationed in Jordan, who develops an intricate scheme to sow seeds of suspicion among the terrorists he is hunting. However, the plan puts his life in turmoil and threatens his relationship with the head of Jordanian intelligence. Crowe will play DiCaprio's boss.

William Monahan wrote the adaptation. The project was previously known as "Penetration." A late-summer start date is being eyed.

Scott Free's Michael Costigan is executive producing. Lynn Harris is overseeing for Warner Bros. Pictures.
 
In "Quick and the Dead," Sam Raimi's 1995 Western, Crowe and DiCaprio had second billing to Sharon Stone, who had personally cast them after watching their performances in "Romper Stomper" and "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," respectively.

Crowe is a Scott favorite, having starred in three of the director's films, with another, "Nottingham," in development. Crowe next stars in James Mangold's remake of "3:10 to Yuma" opposite Christian Bale and "American Gangster" opposite Denzel Washington.

Ridley Scott and 'Monopoly: The Movie'?
The "Blade Runner" director talks board games and "The Company."
Source: Los Angeles Times

"The Company," a three-episode miniseries (starring Michael Keaton, Alfred Molina and Chris O'Donnell) about the spies working in the heat of the Cold War, premieres tonight on TNT. Ridley Scott, one of the executive producers, is also the director of "Gladiator," "Alien" and the forthcoming "American Gangster," starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. And there's chat about a movie based on the board game Monopoly.

They've got you scheduled left and right. What's in your day today?

I'm finishing off the grading on the 25-year-old "Blade Runner" -- we're digitally grading the prints for the release of the five-DVD box set. I'm doing my publicity for "American Gangster," which opens Nov. 2, and casting for a film I'm doing with Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, which starts in a month. I'm in choppy water, and the waves are slapping against my mouth as I try to talk. Which makes you choke. You get used to it. The trick is: Don't worry.

Last week you teased people again with the idea of a "Blade Runner" sequel. What is the deal?

There is no sequel. And I intend probably never to do a sequel. . . . I like to do the first one, and if they want to do a sequel? Fine.

You're a very successful rebounder, in terms of what have been termed "flops" like "Blade Runner" becoming culturally significant movies. But what is it? You? The system?

I was right the first time, see? That's why I have no regrets about anything. One of the biggest decisions was to keep moving and change from genre to genre. That's why I found my way to doing love stories, then finally down the road to "Thelma & Louise," which was a social-comment, realism kind of movie. And I hadn't done a war movie, so I thought I'd better do "Black Hawk Down." I'm a bit like a pool ball.

"Monopoly: The Movie"?

Monopoly is still the most popular board game -- I might be misquoting! -- in the world. So it's really finding the universe for that game. Because clearly it ought to be humorous and for the family -- the funny way it brings out, particularly when your uncle suddenly gets Park Lane and -- in England, we have Park Lane, Mayfair and Barclay Square, what's it in America? Park and Madison? So you watch people change. You're witness to Jekyll and Hyde. Somewhere in that is a hysterically amusing and I think rather exciting film.

About our gilded age of greed?

That as well. Isn't that comical?

Sort of! Perhaps you can take cues from "Clue."

I never really saw "Clue." But I think it was quite clever. It was one of the first-ofs, wasn't it, where you kind of engage the audience? Listen, in this business you have to examine everything, every direction that media is taking us. Because media is taking us into where, more and more, people have more and more time for more and more leisure. What's happening is it's affecting this shift and change in cinema, both with the material you do and the audience driving movies. . . . Aren't you supposed to ask me about "The Company"?

Yes! Is working with CBS and TNT funner, easier or less annoying than the film studio system?

[Brother and partner] Tony [Scott] has just shot the pilot for the fourth season of "Numb3rs." TNT, this is our first real experience with them. It was a film I was starting at to do, and by the time I got to it, I think "The Good Shepherd" was already beginning to tremble forward, and Sony didn't want to go into a venture which would take them into competition.

So it sat momentarily there. And I thought, I can turn this around with TNT into a terrific miniseries. . . . These were guys behind enemy lines and they had their lives at risk on a daily basis. They were doing it in those days to protect the world from communism, as it was propagandized. So to do it in two hours is tough; a six-hour series is fantastic.

Leonardo DiCaprio And Russell Crowe Will Be A Good 'Fit' In CIA Flick, Ridley Scott Hopes
Director plans to start shooting yet-untitled flick in Morocco soon.
Source: MTV

Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the hottest stars on the planet. Russell Crowe is arguably one of the most talented actors of his generation. Ridley Scott is the legendary mastermind behind such films as "Blade Runner" and "Gladiator." And "Body of Lies" is an intense CIA novel adapted by William Monahan, the Oscar-winning screenwriter behind "The Departed."

If you aren't intrigued at this point, perhaps we could recommend DailyKitten.com as a more appropriate choice for your Web-surfing pleasure.

MTV News recently caught up with DiCaprio and Scott for separate interviews, and we eagerly prodded them for details on their "Body" adaptation, which begins filming next month. Sure enough, what they had to say makes the flick already sound like a 2008 Oscar heavyweight.

"I'm going to go work with Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe in Morocco on an untitled film," DiCaprio revealed.

"I start with Russell and Leonardo in five weeks," Scott said. "It's based on [Washington Post columnist] David Ignatius' book, which originally was called 'Penetration,' and then it was called 'Body of Lies.' So we're still wrestling with the title. There's another interesting, [possible] title called 'Chatter.'

"So send in which one you like," he joked, suggesting an online poll. "[It's between] 'Chatter,' 'Penetration' or 'Body of Lies.' It's not about sex; it's about politics in the Middle East, and it's really good."

Ignatius' novel is a post-9/11 spy tale of an idealistic CIA agent stationed in Jordan after being wounded in Iraq. Using an old British plan that helped take down the Nazis, the agent turns the terrorists against each other by planting suspicion — but when people begin to uncover his efforts, he finds himself as a target.

"It's a throwback to the political films that I enjoyed in the '70s," DiCaprio said of why he decided to take part in the project. "Certainly [it's reminiscent] of films like 'The Parallax View' and 'Three Days of the Condor,' and I'd love to be a part of more films like that."

"If I tell you about the plot, it sounds usual, suspect," Scott teased, insisting that there's a lot more to Monahan's script than any one-sentence pitch could capture ("Schindler's List" screenwriter Steven Zaillian is currently giving the script a final polish). "But take my word for it; it's a great book ... it takes place in Dubai, Washington and Morocco. I'm going back to Morocco for the fourth time."

"I love when it's a good-enough story and it has a great narrative in it, and it's gonna be a good film first and foremost — I'm a huge advocate for making those types of movies," DiCaprio said. Then, comparing that aspect of the flick to another Oscar-nominated drama he released last year, he added: "That's why 'Blood Diamond' was huge on my radar, why I jumped at that opportunity — and certainly this film with Ridley."

Going head-to-head with DiCaprio, Russell Crowe has signed on to play a right-wing suit in the CIA who clashes with the young agent. "You'll see something different," Scott promised, referring to Crowe's knack for transforming himself. "We're still circling and deciding. I'll leave a lot to him and say, 'What do you want to do? Do you want to go thin? Glamorous? Fat? [Do you want to] eat too much or eat very little?'

"We have that kind of conversation," Scott said of the star, who has previously been his leading man in "Gladiator," "A Good Year" and November's "American Gangster." "You give the audience a long list that's absolutely definitive as to who this character must be but, for the most part, that's bullsh--. What I think makes [Crowe] most engaging is that he can fit into anything. It's the same with Leo."

And as DiCaprio has become more concerned with world affairs, his choices of films like "Diamond" and the global-warming documentary "The 11th Hour" have allowed the young star to speak his mind — a trend he hopes to continue by using the untitled CIA flick to explore thorny Iraq war issues close to his heart.

"This is the way that people are educated about issues nowadays. This is the main avenue for learning in today's world," he said of the movies. "I would just hope that enough people go to see them, so the studios will be encouraged to make more films like that in the future and that there is an audience for them and they are profitable."

Scott adds that the combination of the source material and his two stars will make him pretty confident when he strolls onto the set in a few short weeks. "I never say it's a home run," the director grinned. "But I'm keeping my fingers crossed."

Ridley Scott to roll with 'Stones'
Director attached to Fox 2000 thriller
Source: Variety

Fox 2000 has attached Ridley Scott to direct "Stones," a supernatural thriller scripted by Matt Cirulnick. Scott Free will produce.

Project is a big-scale supernatural thriller revolving around the mysterious destruction of ancient religious sites around the world. It turns out that Stonehenge is the tie that binds together artifacts that still have primeval powers.

Cirulnick got the assignment after scripting "Elysium" for New Regency, a film that weaves Greek mythology into a drama. He fixed on the idea that Stonehenge, the great pyramids and other artifacts were built for a specific unified purpose.

Pic will resume development after the Writers Guild of America strike concludes. Scott is busy directing Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe in "Body Of Lies" for Warner Bros., and he is expected to follow by moving with Crowe right into "Nottingham," the Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris-scripted drama for Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment.

"Stones" is Fox 2000's second recent Scott Free deal involving a directing assignment for the sibling helmers. Tony Scott just set up to direct a biopic on the life and death of cigarette boat inventor Don Aronow.

Am I the only one who just doesn't care anymore about what Ridley Scott does? If "American Gangster" turns out to be disappointing I'm gonna start research for a romance that proves, behind the shadow of a doubt, that someone else directed "Alien" and "Blade Runner".

Not that his recent movies are BAD, but... he's just not that great as his name sugests...

Go ahead and start that research...and let us know what you find out!

They were directed by Brett Ratner...

Gucci film on Fox's runway
Ridley Scott to direct pic on fashion family
Source: Variety

Fox 2000 will fashion the story of the Gucci dynasty into a feature directing vehicle for Ridley Scott. Scott Free will produce with Giannina Facio.

Charles Randolph ("The Interpreter") will write the drama once the WGA strike ends.

Fox 2000 got the project after Paramount Pictures put it in turnaround. The film will chronicle the wild and glamorous story of the Gucci family in the 1970s and '80s, when its 153 shops moved $500 million in product annually.

The catalyst will be Maurizio Gucci, the grandson of founder Guccio Gucci who emerged as the unlikely winner of a bloody power struggle to run the family business. Just when Maurizio was on the verge of his greatest success -- a daring fashion show debuting the clothes of newcomer Tom Ford -- his penchant for accumulating enemies caught up with him; Maurizio was gunned down in front of his Milan apartment in 1995.

Fox 2000's "The Devil Wears Prada" exec Carla Hacken brought the project in.

Scott is in Morocco, directing "Body of Lies" with Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe for Warner Bros. He'll follow with the Crowe starrer "Nottingham" at Universal in March.

Scott, DiCaprio team for 'Dweller'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio will reteam for a dark thriller titled "The Low Dweller" that Ryan Kavanaugh's Relativity Media has bought after a heated bidding war.

Scott and DiCaprio will produce the film, with DiCaprio attached to star and Scott eyeing to direct. The project has echoes of "The History of Violence" and "No Country for Old Men," is a spec from first-time writer Brad Ingelsby, a twentysomething working as an insurance salesman in Pennsylvania.

Ingelsby had been working on the script in his spare time and has yet to step foot in Hollywood. But he has hit the spec jackpot, with the project selling for $650,000 against $1.1 million.

Set in Indiana in the mid-1980s, the movie centers on a man (DiCaprio) trying to assimilate into society after he's released from jail, only to find someone from his past pursuing him to settle a score. In addition to the pursuer, a third male character and a female love interest are said to figure prominently in the script.

The spec piqued bidders across town, including Warners and Sony, who stayed in the bidding for some time before Relativity came away the winner late Wednesday night. The movie is thought to have a prestige bent a la "No Country," and those familiar with the project say they could see it being distributed by a studio or a specialty division.

Relativity, which is financing and producing the project, could package and make the movie itself or try to set it up at a studio. Ryan Kavanaugh's outfit, one of a select few entities that could compete with studios on higher-profile projects like this, counts Jim Sheridan's "Brothers" and Steve Zahn-starrer "A Perfect Getaway" among its current projects.

"Dweller" will be produced by Scott's Scott Free Prods. and DiCaprio's Appian Way as well as Ingelsby manager Brooklyn Weaver. Michael Ireland at Appian Way brought the project to the shingle.

The movie would be the second for DiCaprio and Scott. They just wrapped the geopolitical thriller "Body of Lies" for Warners. DiCaprio next reteams with another A-list director when he begins shooting Martin Scorsese's period thriller "Shutter Island" this spring. Scott is prepping "Nottingham," the Robin Hood romance with Imagine/Universal.

The project is one of the first big spec sales after the writers strike, though given Ingelsby's frosh status, he wouldn't have been affected by the labor stoppage.

WB taps Ridley Scott for 'Kind One'
Casey Affleck to star in period noir drama
Source: Variety

Ridley Scott will direct and produce period noir drama "The Kind One" for Warner Bros.

Casey Affleck is attached to star in the film, which is based on a novel by Tom Epperson, who will pen the screenplay.

Story, set in 1930s Los Angeles, centers on an amnesiac who finds himself working for a mobster -- a killer given the nickname "the Kind One" -- and falling in love with the thug's girlfriend.

Scott and Jules Daly are producing for Scott Free; Ideaology's Sean Bailey ("Gone Baby Gone") is also producing.

"It's a world that Ridley has never touched before, so that's what drew him to the project," said Daly, who worked with Affleck when she produced "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." Scott's "Body of Lies," starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, is scheduled to be released by Warners in the fall.

Quote from: MacGuffin on April 17, 2008, 01:27:38 AM"It's a world that Ridley has never touched before, so that's what drew him to the project," said Daly...

yeah because he's never touched the noir genre before, or done a movie about mobsters... :yabbse-undecided:

honestly if hollywood shut down production on all mob and serial killer movies for the rest of my movie-watching life i wouldn't blink twice.

INTERVIEW: The great Ridley Scott Speaks with Eclipse by Scott Essman

Our resident Studio Plant (who hates it when I call him that), has landed a plum interview for us at Eclipse. He sits down with the great Ridley Scott. I had a chance to watch him direct a scene for the Television show Numbers last year and it was pretty surreal watching him work. He's the Executive Producer of the The Andromeda Strain. You can read Scott's fabulous interview after the break. 

QUESTION: Why did your production company decide to get involved in The Andromeda Strain?

RIDLEY SCOTT: We do quite a lot of television. There is a show called Numbers which is now in its fifth year. I think it is one of the smartest shows on television. Somehow we get away with a mathematical equation every week. There has also been The Gathering Storm with Albert Finney as Churchill, RKO 21 and we have just finished Churchill At War with Brendan Gleeson because Albert said he did not want to do Churchill again. But Brendan has turned out to be a very, very good Churchill. This year we also did The Company, which is fundamentally The Good Shepherd. So we do for television things that would not necessarily fly as a feature film. For instance why would you necessarily think that Winston Churchill would be commercial? The opinion five or six years ago was that audiences did not like history films, but now I think that is changing rapidly. We are so short of good stories that a lot stuff is now addressing history and fact is always much more stranger than fiction. I am a history buff and I love to re-examine things.

The Andromeda Strain was one of the films that got my attention way back when – as did On The Beach and The Day The Earth Stood Still, which are all classics. I think they have just re-made The Day The Earth Stood Still. So we thought that The Andromeda Strain would make a great mini-series. At one point we thought of it as a film but people were not so interested and there were contractual things with the studio. So we decided to make it as a mini-series. I have mentioned the three most interesting films – The Andromeda Strain, The Day The Earth Stood Still and On The Beach – that would address science fiction...prior to 2001: A Space Odyssey, one of the films that opened the door for me. Those three films were done almost at the peak of the Cold War, so when you are talking about things like alien invasion that is clearly a metaphor for our insecurity at that particular time when we were worrying whether the Russians would come or if they would drop the bomb. That paranoia was held in place for almost 30 years.

Today The Andromeda Strain seems just as potent because there is a combination of things – what we have done to our planet and global warming. Under that massive heading there are questions about whether we have really done it or whether it is reversible or not. Then there is what have we done to ourselves politically, religiously, economically. We have really messed up in several measures...and fundamentally a lot of it is greed. So that is where my science fiction comes from because we don't watch it, very quickly we are approaching what would have been under the heading of science fiction is becoming fact. The worst will happen!

QUESTION: The timing does seem right for this version of The Andromeda Strain because it makes you think this is all possible?

RIDLEY SCOTT: Entirely and not only that, the more uncover about the environment.... At one stage I was going to something called The Ebola which would examine the 'big daddies' that suddenly come for no reason out of nowhere, descend on a community, wipe out 90 to 100 per cent, stay for a few weeks and then, inexplicably, go. I got very close to making it with Jodie Foster. I went to this place in the Carolinas called USAMRIID, which is a military facility, which is a seven-acre laboratory – SEVEN ACRES! - Which apart from anything else protects the health of the military wherever they are and also monitors world health and conditions. When something kicks in, they are usually the first out there - I bet they are circling Burma right now – waiting for some terrible outbreak of something. It is almost like a military task force of doctors, which can tell a nation that they are coming in to control the outbreak. The film's thesis was the more we rip down rain forests and disturb places that have not been touched for millions of years, we are going to uncover things that have been dormant. Ebola was a dormant thing that was believed to have come from a cave in Kenya. Also it is not irrational to believe that from time to time small particles land on Earth. Thank God they are not big ones. These particles burn up as they enter and they are tiny pieces that are probably not worth thinking about – but what kind of bacteria are they carrying?

QUESTION: There are even Biblical references when an infected soldier screams that it is the end of days. So there is a suggestion that man has ignored God's warning?

RIDLEY SCOTT: The way the Celtic nature takes me means that I tend to look towards the interesting and dark side of things and the dark side of things frequently go hand in hand with the truth. Right now I own two Prius cars and an SUV Lexus – I have no other cars – and I am gradually getting myself into the position of being sensible in every possible form because I think we may have done it! People say I am so depressing, but I am not depressing, I am being factual. And it might not be your children's children – you might see it yourself. There was a newspaper article about how a guy would look after himself and his family in a heartbeat when things suddenly change. It is simple...you go home at night in January, the worst possible time of the year, there is a storm and all the power goes out. Have you got candles? Have you got matches? No, you are going about in the dark at the entire mercy of when the lights might go back on. It is THAT simple. So I am systematically thinking about the next 20 years and beyond...making that cottage entirely solar or using wind power.

QUESTION: Michael Crichton – who wrote the original novel The Andromeda Strain – is such a prolific writer. Are you a fan of his work?

RIDLEY SCOTT: Yeah he has always got these great notions. He comes up with the key to the engine and he also has these great ideas that are closely linked with fact. He takes fact and stretches it just a little bit to make it almost fantastical. Most of the things that he has thought up are happening or will happen. I think a lot of scientists sometimes look to the very best of the best science fiction thinkers. We were talking about replicants and replication 25 years ago [in Blade Runner] and then 12 years after Blade Runner the Senate made application to genetically replicate sheep. What they wanted to do was start cloning what would be the perfect animal for consumption. So if you can replicate a sheep, you can replicate a human being. Science fiction frequently is a visionary notion that actually is probably definitely going to happen.

QUESTION: It seems that in your version of The Andromeda Strain you have kept many of the same themes that were in the Robert Wise 1971 film?

RIDLEY SCOTT: It is such a classic, so why change the engine! Mikael Salomon directed this and it is the second thing for the company. He did The Company and did that so well and so creatively that I asked him if he wanted to do this. He is now going to do a film for us. The writer is starting the script now and it is under the heading of Oceana and it deals with what we have done to the ocean and that the ocean has rights.

QUESTION: You directed Blade Runner and Alien, which are seminal science fiction films. Why have you not done more science fiction films?

RIDLEY SCOTT: I am going to do one. I waited for a book for 20 years and I have got the book. I am not going to tell you what the book is but that film is going to probably be written within the next month. That will definitely be what I do next after Nottingham, the Robin Hood film that I am doing now in England.

QUESTION: Are you working with Russell Crowe again on the Robin Hood film?

RIDLEY SCOTT: I am, I just finished with him and Leonardo di Caprio on Body Of Lies, which is now going to be called A House Of Lies. It is pretty good, I am very happy with it. In Nottingham Russell is the Robin Hood figure.

QUESTION: Your work with Russell Crowe has been brilliant.

RIDLEY SCOTT: Well it makes life a lot easier if you know each other. You can cut the crap.

QUESTION: Russell Crowe has said you are very gifted and you obviously feel the same about him?

RIDLEY SCOTT: I know that he is gifted. There are a lot of good actors out there but very few gifted ones.

QUESTION: Are you still planning to make Blood Meridian?

RIDLEY SCOTT: We got it down as a screenplay and the problem is that it is so savage. But that's what it is. If you did it properly it would be an X-certificate. But you can't apologise for the violence and you can't quantify the violence and you shouldn't try to explain the violence. It is what it is...an exercise in brutality, savagery and violence. For the most part it is probably relatively accurate. It shows the flipside to Dances With Wolves of how the United States was probably taken. It was taken by the throat.

QUESTION: Do you still manage to get home to the UK as often as you would like?

RIDLEY SCOTT: I am still what I call a UK resident. But I have done four films in North Africa so I am never here. But I do love London and that's where I am right now. But I don't get here as much as I should or could.

QUESTION: Do you have a favourite place in London?

RIDLEY SCOTT: Hampstead, I live there.

QUESTION: Why have you decided to make another film about Robin Hood?

RIDLEY SCOTT: I think it is a challenge in the sense that with a few exceptions they were never any good. So it is wide open to be made properly.

QUESTION: What were the circumstances that led you to re-cutting an extended version of Kingdom Of Heaven?

RIDLEY SCOTT: You can get gradually adjusted in a lengthy production when you start to preview it. Previews are purely a guidance system, a tool and no more than that. The danger, when you take a high budget movie and preview it and the previews are not as good as they should be, is that you start to think that the film may be too long or it's this or that...You can start to tear away what you had. It happened with me when I did Blade Runner. I think Kingdom Of Heaven was the last time it will happen because now I will not cut them. One has to be one's own critic. After all I am just about as experienced as just about anyone on the planet right now at making movies.

Quote from: MacGuffin on June 06, 2008, 01:15:49 AMAfter all I am just about as experienced as just about anyone on the planet right now at making movies.

hah, okay.

Ridley Scott's 'Nottingham' hits delay
Revisionist Robin Hood on hold
Source: Hollywood Reporter

The Sheriff of Nottingham will not be chasing Robin Hood into England's Sherwood Forest this fall.

Although "Nottingham," director Ridley Scott's revisionist take on the Robin Hood tale, had been aiming for a mid-August start date, production on the film, which is to star Russell Crowe as a sympathetic Sheriff of Nottingham, has been indefinitely postponed. A new production start date probably couldn't be set until next year.

Script concerns, location logistics and the current labor unrest all played a role in the decision.

Produced by Universal and Imagine, the film has been one of the handful of high-profile productions pushing ahead despite the labor uncertainty surrounding the current stand-off between the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers and SAG.

In explaining the production shutdown, Universal cited the "cloud of the SAG strike" as one of three factors that led to the postponement.

It also said that "the film's forest locations need to be green," which suggests even if other factors were to be resolved later this year, the production could not now resume until next spring.

The third key factor was the project's script by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris, with a rewrite by Brian Helgeland. "The current version of the screenplay," the studio said, "is not yet where the studio and the filmmakers want it to be in terms of realizing the full value of the story.

"Universal could have moved forward with one of these challenges, but the confluence of the three caused the studio to reconsider and take the time for all conditions to be optimal."

The statement said that Universal, Imagine, Scott and Crowe all remain committed to the project.

"Nottingham" had been on track to be released Nov. 6, 2009.

BREAKING: Russell Crowe Will Play Robin Hood AND The Sheriff In Ridley Scott's 'Nottingham'

How do you find an actor of Russell Crowe's caliber to play against him? Well, Ridley Scott seems to have found the answer: let the Oscar winner play both roles! That's right, in one of the odder casting ideas in at least a few days (it just so happens this news comes in the same week Johnny Depp signed on to play Tonto), Crowe is going to play both the sheriff of Nottingham and Robin Hood himself in Ridley Scott's upcoming flick, "Nottingham."

The news comes straight from the helmer himself, with Scott revealing "He's playing both!" exclusively to MTV News during an interview for his new film "Body of Lies," which co-stars Crowe. While Scott held additional details close to his chest — saying they would take too long to describe — he did exclaim that Crowe's dual roles would be "a good old clever adjustment of characters. One becomes the other. It changes."

It's certainly not news that Crowe is playing the sheriff in this revisionist take on the Robin Hood legend (i.e. maybe that dastardly sheriff wasn't the evil guy we all thought he was). He signed on a long while back for the title role. But the casting of the Robin Hood character was rumored to involve names like Christian Bale, not Crowe again.

Clearly Scott sees these two characters as two sides of the same coin, but will audiences find his method plausible? I mean, is Russell going to simply have a goatee as the sheriff and a pointy green hat as Robin to differentiate for the audience? It's certainly a daring move for Crowe and Scott who will be collaborating for the fifth time on the project.

Ridley Scott takes on 'War'
Film based on Haldeman novel 'Forever'
Source: Variety

Fox 2000 has acquired rights to Joe Haldeman's 1974 novel "The Forever War," and Ridley Scott is planning to make it into his first science fiction film since he delivered back-to-back classics with "Blade Runner" and "Alien."

Scott intended to follow those films with "The Forever War," but rights complications delayed his plans for more than two decades.

The film will be produced by Scott Free. Vince Gerardis and Ralph Vicinanza will exec produce. Their company, Created By, reps Haldeman and spent the last decade trying to get back the rights.

"I first pursued 'Forever War' 25 years ago, and the book has only grown more timely and relevant since," Scott told Daily Variety. "It's a science-fiction epic, a bit of 'The Odyssey' by way of 'Blade Runner,' built upon a brilliant, disorienting premise."

Book revolves around a soldier who battles an enemy in deep space for only a few months, only to return home to a planet he doesn't recognize some 20 years later, Scott said.

"The Forever War" rights were acquired right after publication by f/x titan Richard Edlund, who spent $400,000 of his own money and intended to make the book his directorial debut. The book became an iconic sci-fi title but Edlund, who won two Oscars — including one for visual effects on "Raiders of the Lost Ark" — never got "The Forever War" off the ground. After a Sci Fi Channel miniseries stalled, Scott became interested again and Edlund was ready to make a deal. It took six months to secure all the rights.

Scott Free and Fox 2000's Elizabeth Gabler and Rodney Ferrell will hire a writer immediately. Scott, whose "Body of Lies" was released Friday, next plans to direct "Nottingham," starring Russell Crowe. He has several other projects percolating that include the thriller "Child 44," for which Richard Price just penned a script, and "Gucci," about the internecine squabbles within the fashion family that led to the murder of Maurizio Gucci. That Fox 2000 pic has a new draft by Charles Randolph.

'Monopoly' has electric company
Ridley Scott will direct; Pamela Pettler to write screenplay
Source: Hollywood Reporter

The Hasbro-Universal collaboration "Monopoly" is jumping a large number of spaces up the board.

The feature project has brought on Pamela Pettler to write the screenplay; She penned Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride," Gil Kenan's "Monster House" and the upcoming animated adventure "9," produced by Burton and Timur Bekmambetov.

And Ridley Scott, who has been attached as a producer on "Monopoly" and has been mentioned as a possible director, is now officially attached to helm the project, with an eye toward giving it a futuristic sheen along the lines of his iconic "Blade Runner."

In addition to Scott, Giannina Facio and Hasbro's Brian Goldner are also producing the movie, which will shape a narrative out of the iconic real-estate game. Lawrence Grey will oversee for Universal and Bennett Schneir will oversee for Hasbro.

"Monopoly" marks the latest Hasbro property to look to pass go and head to the big screen. Board games and branded properties have become more attractive as studios look to mitigate risk by finding built-in audiences.

Universal is working with Hasbro on several projects as part of a long-term development deal. Platinum Dunes is producing its feature adaptation of "Ouija Board," while the maritime classic "Battleship" is also in development. Elsewhere at Hasbro, Paramount this summer is set to release Stephen Sommers' feature based on its "G.I. Joe" character. And "Trivial Pursuit: America Plays" is now airing as a syndicated television program.

Unbelievable. 

At first I balked, and then I realized that this could be such a great movie!!

I would have liked a chance at making this.

This reminds me of when my friend and I were writing adaptions for "MineSweeper" and "Solitaire: Starring Kenny Rogers as The Gambler".

Exclusive: Scott Talks Blood Meridian
Sir Ridley on his dark Western project
Source: Empire Online

We talked to Sir Ridley Scott recently about his new Middle East-set spy thriller Body of Lies and he told us a little bit about his long-mooted adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's blistering Western, Blood Meridian, and the difficulties of adapting a book that is steeped in violence and which deals with seriously un-PC topics.

"It's written. I think it's a really tricky one, and maybe it's something that should be left as a novel. If you're going to do Blood Meridian you've got to go the whole nine yards into the blood bath, and there's no answer to the blood bath, that's part of the story, just the way it is and the way it was. When you start to scalp Mexican wedding parties that'll draw the line. One scalp of coarse black hair is pretty well either Mexican or Indian, and there was no difference to the scalp hunters in Arizona at that time, who didn't draw the line."

He also passed on a few tidbits about the background and setting for another proposed film, Tripoli,  a William "Kingdom of Heaven" Monaghan-scripted tale of high adventure in 19th century North Africa, as a US diplomat teamed up with the dispossessed heir to the throne of Tripoli to challenge the heir's usurper brother.

Quote from: RegularKarate on November 12, 2008, 01:03:59 PM
This reminds me of when my friend and I were writing adaptions for "MineSweeper" and "Solitaire: Starring Kenny Rogers as The Gambler".

Oh, you did this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHY8NKj3RKs

LOOKS LIKE THE UBIQUITOUS, SUPER-TALENTED Cate Blanchett (she can play anything!) will take over the Maid Marian role in Ridley Scott's Robin Hood movie titled "Nottingham." They decided Sienna Miller was too young for their Robin, the somewhat rotund, weighty and contentious Russell Crowe. So, if they have Cate, they have upped their "classy" status considerably and are ready to roll -- except for their leading man. Where is Errol Flynn when we need him the most?

Cate Blanchett could act circles around Russell 'assault with a telephone' Crowe.  I predict Crowe will throw temper tantrums and threaten to quit if he's not made to look like the better actor here. 

Quote from: private witt on February 10, 2009, 12:20:02 AM
Cate Blanchett could act circles around Russell 'assault with a telephone' Crowe.  I predict Crowe will throw temper tantrums and threaten to quit if he's not made to look like the better actor here. 

Oh come on. Crowe will be working with his collaborator of choice, Ridley Scott, and the film prodction will be a finely tuned machine. There will be no headlines of Crowe's misbehaviors. And considering he's playing two roles, his acting will dominate the film too much for him to be concerned about Blanchett.

Well he's certainly put on enough weight to pass for two people.
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg111.imageshack.us%2Fimg111%2F3568%2Frussellcrowefat1yu1.jpg&hash=cf266129f4dac4b25db5a67214a47f48e94f1a55) (http://imageshack.us)

EXCLUSIVE: Ridley Scott Reveals New Name For 'Nottingham' And It's Back To Basics
Source: MTV

When I caught up with the legendary Ridley Scott last week, I was there to discuss his "Alien" character Ellen Ripley being named one of our "Top 10 Movie Badasses of All Time ."

While I was there, however, I couldn't resist running over a few other key projects that could become his next classic. "I am in a constant stage of development," he told me in a conference room of his Scott Free Productions office. "I am liable to do 'Gucci.' I am liable to do a thing called 'Child 44,' and I am doing 'Robin Hood' next."

That statement is notable, not only in that those first two projects are moving forward, but that "Nottingham" has now officially been renamed to reflect its lead character. "Oh yes, I think we are just going to call it 'Robin Hood'," Scott revealed. "We start in almost 2 months."

In an attempt to clarify all the confusion from a few months ago about Russell Crowe playing multiple roles, Scott was eager to say that he had changed his mind, and that Crowe will simply portray the famed archer who rises from an unlikely background. "Robin Hood is in the army of Richard Coeur de Lion," he said of how we'll find the character early in the film "He is a bowman in the army of Richard Coeur de Lion."

"[Crowe as both Robin and the Sheriff of Nottingham] was an idea so far back, way back when at the time I had this proposed to me, and I read it and thought, 'I don't really know what it does for it, but it's alright'," Scott recalled of the now-abandoned idea. "It is better to simply have the evolution of a character called Robin Hood, who will come out of a point in the Crusades which is the end."

As a result, in Scott's film the Sheriff will be "less important; the Sheriff of Nottingham is always a kind of an amusing character in most of the movies, who represents the hierarchy in the story at that point," Scott explained. "The hierarchy and the wealthy always ruled over the under class, and fundamentally that doesn't change, because Robin Hood is actually the person who finally - in terms of the overall classical idea of the film - will help the poor, probably taking from the rich."

So, rather than the Robin-vs.-Sheriff showdowns we've come to expect from "Robin Hood" movies, Scott has instead employed the history of the time to make an entire country the villain. "It is from France. It is the French," he insisted. "The villain is much bigger in that sense; much more important, and much more dangerous."

"[In] 1066 Harold II went against William the Conqueror. Harold took an arrow in his eye, and William the Conqueror took over England, and so France owned everything right through," Scott explained of the turmoil of that age. "Even to the extent of changing the architecture of the churches from Anglo-Saxon to Roman, that's French; they changed the arches in the churches."

And speaking of physical changes: While some have questioned whether Russell Crowe can ditch his "Body of Lies" gut and lose enough weight to play Robin Hood, Ridley says it's not a problem. "Oh that is silly; all that stuff is bullsh-t," Scott insisted. "He is going to be totally fit. That is not a problem at all."

"And he's been working on his bow and arrow for about 4 months," Scott revealed. "He sends me tapes of him hitting targets at about 45 meters. He's pretty good!"

EXCLUSIVE: Ridley Scott's Monopoly Movie To Address Real-Life Economic Problems
Source: MTV

Bringing board games to the box office may sound ridiculous at face value, particularly if the game is "Monopoly" and the director is "Alien" and "Blade Runner" visionary Ridley Scott. But Scott and executive producer Brian Goldner, who also happens to be the CEO of "Monopoly" owner Hasbro, have a single driving plot device that they hope will get audiences' attention — the economy.

"The whole world is about the financial markets," Goldner told MTV News. "You can't turn on the news today without understanding the financial markets and what's going on out there."

If there is one underlying theme that will resonate with filmgoers across the world right now, it's the drama behind money and houses. Owning railroads and big red hotels may be a little outside of that everyday scope, but Goldner, who is also producing films based on "Stretch Armstrong" and the "Ouija Board," sees a feature-length story to be told within the the "personal story" he characterizes as the "Monopoly" experience that is worthy of Scott's direction.

"He's built these great big worlds of imagination," Goldner said of the director. "Combine that with Pamela Pettler who's writing this great script about real people kind of playing a real-life game of 'Monopoly,' not the board game, although they're icons of the game. And then you really get the idea why this story could make sense right now."

Scott seems to agree. Though he is hesitant to reveal specifics right now, he did corroborate Goldner's vision. So like it or not, there is a large-scale reality-based "Monopoly" game on its way.

"I have to direct it," the Oscar-nominated director told MTV News. "We're in progress right now. We're having it written. We have identified a pretty good story and it is fundamentally a movie, not a game, probably describing in a way the characters in the film, the passion of the game, and how the game came about."

Trio join Ridley Scott's Robin Hood film
Scott Grimes, Kevin Durand, Alan Doyle are Merry Men
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Scott Grimes, left, Kevin Durand and Alan Doyle

Robin Hood has found his Merry Men.

Scott Grimes, Kevin Durand and Alan Doyle have been cast as the group of adventurers in Universal and Imagine's untitled Robin Hood tale being directed by Ridley Scott.

Russell Crowe toplines the movie, which is being billed as a retelling of the origins of the key characters of the Robin Hood legend. Cate Blanchett is on board as Maid Marian in the project written by Brian Helgeland.

Scott is producing with Imagine's Brian Grazer.

Grimes has been cast in the role of Will Scarlet, a skilled swordsman and Hood's nephew. The actor, repped by Domain and Levine Okwu Talent, appears on NBC's "ER" and does voice work for Fox's "American Dad."

Durand is playing Little John, Hood's right-hand man. He is best known in the legends for fighting a duel with Hood using quarterstaves while trying to cross a river. Durand, who appears as the Blob in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," is best known for his work on ABC's "Lost," where he played a mercenary named Martin Keamy. Durand is repped by Abrams Artist Agency and Alchemy Entertainment.

Doyle is playing Alan a Dayle,CQ who in lore was a roving minstrel and needed help when his love was being forced to marry another man. Doyle, repped by Sonic Entertainment Group, is the lead singer of Great Big Sea, a Canadian folk-rock band known for its sea shanties.

An April shoot in the U.K. is being eyed.

Ridley Scott's 'Robin Hood' Will Feature 'A Lot Of Singing'
Source: MTV

Recently, it was announced that Alan Doyle — lead singer of the popular Canadian band Great Big Sea — had been cast as Allen a-Dale in Ridley Scott's upcoming "Robin Hood" film. We caught up with the frontman soon after, and Doyle was ready to dish on his new role. The film is set to star Russell Crowe as Robin Hood and Cate Blanchett as Lady Marion.

Doyle's character, Allen a-Dale, is one of the Merry Men in the Robin Hood story. "He's a troubadour," exclaimed Doyle. "He's an Irish lute playing balladeer. He's an artist who loves to sing a song. With two or three other guys, Allen a -Dale is one of the Merry Men who's followed Robin Hood for a long time and hopes to continue to do so. Yes, I will be playing the lute in the film."

Doyle explained that Ridley's re-imagining of Robin Hood is to be surprisingly musical. "There is a lot of singing in the film," he told us. "A lot of it by different people in different parts of the film. I don't know quite yet if Russell and I will be singing together. But there will be lots of music in the film."

So, how did this Canadian rock star with very little acting experience land such a gig? Doyle explained that Russell Crowe is a longtime close friend. "Russell knew there was a role coming up in this film and they needed a guy that could do the training and the physical stuff that was required, but also someone who has a long history in Celtic music and somebody who could play the lute. I'm sure there's lots of people in the world who can do that, but he called me and asked me if I'd like to come to LA to read for the part. And off we went."

With filming to begin in England on April 1st, there is still much mystery surrounding Ridley's vision and the script is still evolving. However, there will clearly be some "Gladiator"-esque action scenes for Crowe and Doyle, as they have been training with horses, archery and sword fighting.

"I was just training in Australia with a couple of the other Merry Men," he said. "It's like a ten-year-old boys fantasy schedule; you wake up and have horse riding at ten o'clock, archery at eleven o 'clock, sword fighting at twelve o'clock. It was really fun, I'm really looking forward to it all."

It should be interesting to see Crowe and Doyle on screen together in this film. The duo has performed together in the past, so perhaps they'll be bringing their musical collaborations to the big screen as well. "I wrote a few songs with Russell for his band, and he wrote a few with me for Great Big Sea, and I also produced a record for his band and actually toured a couple of times in Australia and in Europe, I was sort of a guest in his band. It was a great collaboration, to be honest. He's got a real different skill set than I have. He's a real keen word smith as most of my actor friends are.

"It's funny how they can do that isn't, those actor types." Doyle laughed, "But I'm an actor type now, so I have to stop referring to them in the third person!"

Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood" is slated for a 2010 release.

Ridley Scott to shoot Forever War in 3-D
Source: SciFi Wire

Ridley Scott, who is developing a film version of Joe Haldeman's seminal SF war novel The Forever War, told reporters in Britain that James Cameron's Avatar is inspiring him to shoot War in 3-D, according to SlashFilm.

"I'm filming a book by Joe Haldeman called Forever War," Scott reportedly said. "I've got a good writer doing it. I've seen some of James Cameron's work, and I've got to go 3-D. It's going to be phenomenal."

First published in 1974, The Forever War chronicles the interstellar war between humanity and the enigmatic Tauran species.

Ridley Considers Return to Aliens
Could the director return to the beloved franchise?

IESB is reporting on comments made by Fox Co-Chair Tom Rothman from the Wolverine premiere that director Ridley Scott could potentially be mulling over a return to the franchise that helped to make him a legend.

"There's been some talk. Ridley Scott, Ridley is right now working on Robin Hood, but I think he's toying with the idea and that would be great for us. I mean, it's always been a matter of, really, if you can get the originator to do it that would be the greatest thing, so I've got my fingers crossed, all of them."

A new world for a 'Brave New World'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Ridley Scott is going back to the futurism.

The director who helmed "Blade Runner" will take on one of the most highly regarded dystopian works of literature, Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World."

Scott will produce the project as a directing vehicle at Universal, while his occasional collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio is on board to produce as a starring vehicle.

The studio has brought on "Apocalypto" scribe Farhad Safinia to pen the script; he's expected to be working shortly.

Scott and DiCaprio also will produce via their respective Scott Free and Appian Way banners, with Michael Costigan also producing for Scott Free and George DiCaprio producing at Appian. Peter Cramer is overseeing for Uni.

Scott has mentioned casually in interviews that he's interested in the 1931 novel, which Appian Way owns, prompting a flurry of rumors on sci-fi and other blogs over the past year. But the studio details as well as DiCaprio's personal involvement always have been murky.

Now, with a writer on board and Scott Free and Appian execs meeting frequently during the past six months, the project has more momentum, though several people familiar with it emphasize that it remains at the development stage.


Much of the timing going forward will depend on the script. Scott is not committed to direct anything beyond "Robin Hood," his period actioner that's in post. DiCaprio is shooting the Christopher Nolan adventure tale "Inception" but does not have a movie lined up after that.

"Brave" has had several go-rounds on television, including a Leonard Nimoy-Peter Gallagher pic on NBC in 1998. But Huxley's idea-rich novel hasn't had a shot on the big screen.

Huxley sets his book in a seemingly perfect 26th century world that has achieved harmony by tightly controlling birth, which takes place mainly in laboratories, and outlawing family. The world is populated by a series of five castes, each with its own defined roles.

Characters who figure in are Bernard, a lower-caste member, and Lenina, the woman with whom he is infatuated. DiCaprio is would likely play Bernard, who is persecuted when the leaders of the society find his behavior antisocial.

Dystopian stories have sometimes proved difficult to film. George Orwell's "1984" has had several theatrical turns, including Michael Anderson's Columbia version in 1956 and the somewhat better regarded John Hurt-toplined take 25 years ago.

Scott, repped by WME, has been regarded as one of the few who can pull it off. The director took the Philip K. Dick novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and turned it into the 1982 futurist pic "Blade Runner." While the movie divided critics and didn't enjoy a great theatrical run, it has had a long life on video and become a cult classic.

Safinia, repped by Category 5 Entertainment, has experience in man-on-the-run action pics with "Apocalypto," Mel Gibson's chase movie set in the Mayan jungle.

Scott directed DiCaprio, repped by The Firm, in Middle East thriller "Body of Lies," and the two are also producing dark thriller "The Low Dweller" at Relativity.

Logan runs to 'Passage'
Fox 2000 bites vampire tale
Source: Variety

In a seven-figure deal, John Logan has been set by Fox 2000 to adapt "The Passage," the Jordan Ainsley vampire novel being developed for Ridley Scott to potentially direct. It marks the first time that Logan and Scott have collaborated since the Oscar-winning "Gladiator."

Fox 2000 acquired the book two years ago, paying seven figures for the three-book series right after its publishing rights sold to Ballantine for $3.75 million (Daily Variety, July 9, 2007). Ainsley -- pseudonym for PEN Hemingway Award-winning author Justin Cronin -- sold the book based on the first 400 pages and an outline, but the film adaptation awaited his completion of the book, which is nearly 1,200 pages.

In the novel, terminally ill patients become healthy after they are bitten by bats in South America, and the government conducts secret tests on human subjects to see if the virus can cure illness. The result is an apocalyptic unleashing of bloodthirsty vampire test subjects that include death row inmates.

Logan, who scripted "Gladiator" with David Franzoni and William Nicholson, most recently scripted the Gore Verbinski-directed animated Paramount film "Rango," the Juan Carlos Fresnadillo-directed "Bioshock" and "Empire" for Michael Mann. Logan's play "Red," will debut at London's Donmar Warehouse on Dec. 3 and runs through Feb. 6.

Columbia caught 'Red'-handed
Ridley Scott, Steve Zaillian in talks for film
Source: Variety

Columbia Pictures has acquired rights to remake the U.K. miniseries "Red Riding," and is negotiating with Steve Zaillian to write the script and Ridley Scott to direct.

The project, based on four David Peace novels, will be distributed in the U.S. this fall by IFC. Studio bought rights to the mini and the novel series.

Scott will produce through his Scott Free banner, along with Zaillian, through his Film Rites banner, and Andrew Eaton of Revolutionary Films, which produced the mini. Garrett Bosch of Film Rites will be executive producer.

The miniseries is a study of power and police corruption framed around the investigation of the disappearance of several young girls. For the pic, the setting will be transferred from Britain to the U.S. The mini clocked in at more than five hours, so Zaillian and Scott have their work cut out for them to compress it into one film.

Zaillian last worked for Columbia on a rewrite of the Michael Lewis book "Moneyball" to star Brad Pitt that the studio was ready to put into production until Steven Soderbergh did his own rewrite that prompted the studio to halt the film days before it was skedded to begin production.

Scott and Zaillian previously collaborated on the films "American Gangster" and "Hannibal." Zaillian at present is adapting Par's drama "I Hear You Paint Houses" for Martin Scorsese.

Jolie Dresses Up Scott's "Gucci" Film
Source: Variety

Ridley Scott is in discussions with Angelina Jolie for the femme fatale role in "Gucci," a drama about murder and decadence in the Gucci fashion dynasty.

Fox 2000 is fashioning a 2010 start date for the film, and Scott is talking with Jolie to play Patrizia Gucci, who was sentenced to 29 years in jail for plotting the murder of her ex, Maurizio Gucci.

The drama is a priority for Fox 2000's Elizabeth Gabler and Carla Hacken, with Scott Free and Giannina Facio producing.

The studio is about to hire a scribe to rewrite the drama that recaptures the glamorous days of the Gucci family dynasty in the 1970s and 80s, when the family was selling $500 million in product annually. Squabbles hobbled the clan until Maurizio, the grandson of founder Guccio Gucci, came out on top of a power struggle to run the family business. Just when he was about to reestablish the brand name by debuting a line designed by newcomer--and now film director--Tom Ford, Maurizio was gunned down in front of his Milan apartment in 1995.

There are still moving pieces in the package--the script is still being developed and Scott needs to lock down an actor to play Maurizio. The director has approached his "Body of Lies" star Leonardo DiCaprio, but he is not attached at this point.

"Gucci" becomes the second big project at Fox 2000 for Jolie. The studio is developing the Patricia Cornwell novel series about medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta for Jolie to play the lead role in a film produced by Mark Gordon and Geyer Kosinski. 

As for Jolie, she is likely to next star with Sam Worthington in "The Tourist," the Spyglass thriller that has Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck in line to direct. Pending a deal with the director, the hope is to begin production early next year.

Scott is in post-production with the Russell Crowe-Cate Blanchett-starrer "Robin Hood" for Universal Pictures and Imagine.

I was watching Black Hawk Down today. I couldn't help but notice how the majority of the film (in its effects, story, action) mainly resembled a video game. Only in a video game is the sincerest dedication to the turmoil of a soldier in how you display their fighting moments. I remember when Black Hawk Down was released, I thought the action was a new staple of realism for war, but at the time I didn't understand that this new realism was a vacuous hole for exploitation. Essentially, video games have adapted Black Hawk Down and revealed its qualities better.

can you give an example or two of the games you're thinking of.  i generally find games that try to look like realistic warfare fail in execution.

Probably Modern Warfare I and II.

I still like Black Hawk Down.

The Alien Prequel has turned into an original film.  Crazy.

QuoteLos Angeles (January 14, 2011) __ Twentieth Century Fox announced today that Ridley Scott
will direct PROMETHEUS, an original science fiction epic, for worldwide release on March 9,
2012. The initial draft of the script was written by Jon Spaihts (The Darkest Hour) from Scott's
idea. Damon Lindelof (Lost, Star Trek) and Scott have since been working together on the
current version which has expanded the story into new directions.

Story details are being closely guarded so as not to spoil surprises for moviegoers, but Scott
explained the outlines of the film and its genesis as follows: "While Alien was indeed the
jumping off point for this project, out of the creative process evolved a new, grand mythology
and universe in which this original story takes place. The keen fan will recognize strands of
Alien's DNA, so to speak, but the ideas tackled in this film are unique, large and provocative. I
couldn't be more pleased to have found the singular tale I'd been searching for, and finally return
to this genre that's so close to my heart."

"In a world flooded with prequels, sequels and reboots," said Lindelof. "I was incredibly struck
by just how original Ridley's vision was for this movie. It's daring, visceral and hopefully, the
last thing anyone expects. When I sat in a movie theater as a kid, feet raised off the floor for fear
that something might grab my ankles, I never dreamed in my wildest imagination I would one
day get to collaborate with the man responsible for it. Working alongside him has been nothing
short of a dream come true."

Of the five major roles to be cast, Noomi Rapace is the first actor signed to star in the film. The
young Swedish actress landed the role of scientist Elizabeth Shaw after Scott saw her portrayal
of fictional Lisbeth Salander in the film The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo, for which she was
lauded by Time magazine as a 2010 Performance of the Year. Rapace starred in all three entries
of the breakout global franchise based on Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy of books (The Girl
Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest are the other two entries),
which have collectively grossed more than $212 million worldwide.

Ridley Scott To Follow 'Prometheus' With 'Blade Runner' Sequel
via The Playlist

We did not, in a million years, see this one coming. Ridley Scott seems to be getting nostalgic these days: despite having dozens of projects he wants to make, he's looking to his back-catalog for potential films. Next year will see "Prometheus," a sequel/prequel/sidequel/upquel/downquel to his sci-fi classic "Alien" (one that all involved claim is a separate entity to the horror franchise, but seems to have some kind of connection regardless), and now, the director has lined up a follow-up to perhaps his most beloved film: The 1982 future noir "Blade Runner."

The film, based on Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep," wasn't well-regarded on release, but has become widely seen as one of the classics of the sci-fi genre, and certainly competes with "Alien" for the title of Scott's magnum opus. Alcon Entertainment, producers of "The Blind Side," acquired the rights back in March, and were quoted as saying that, while they hadn't spoken to the original director, they were keen to, saying "We haven't met Ridley but the thought of re-engaging with his artistic vision is very exciting, and [him directing] is something we think would be wonderful."

And it looks like the company, based at Warner Bros, got their wish, as Deadline report that Scott has signed on to direct and produce another film in the "Blade Runner" universe, although it's unclear whether he's planning a sequel, a prequel, or, like "Prometheus," something else entirely. After "Cowboys & Aliens," Harrison Ford could certainly do with a return to one of his best-known roles, although anyone who's seen the Director's Cut of the original knows that there may be certain... limitations about that possibility. Also, Sean Young is still batshit crazy.

We've got mixed feelings about this: our general feeling about prequels/sequels isn't positive, particularly for a film that's so seminal, and has certain ambiguities that wouldn't necessarily be preserved by a follow-up. However, "Prometheus" is one of the more exciting prospects of 2012, and if Scott can take a similar approach—making a film in the same universe, without necessarily picking up Deckard's story—this could be hugely exciting. But that's all dependent on "Prometheus" working out, of course—if it's botched, our excitement about a "Blade Runner" sequel will drop considerably.

There's no writer on board yet, so this is likely a way off: we imagine Scott will make one of the four hundred other projects—films like "Red Riding," "Reykjavik" and good old "Monopoly"—he has on his dance card in between the release of "Prometheus" next year, and the script for this being ready. But we could be wrong. We'll be nervously watching "Prometheus" unroll on June 8th, 2012, by which time we're sure much more will be known about Scott's other sci-fi sequel. And from there? "G.I. Jane 2: Retaliation?" "A Better Year?" "1493: Revenge Of Paradise?"

Ridley Scott In 'Exodus' Talks With Ben Kingsley, John Turturro, Sigourney Weaver, Aaron Paul
BY MIKE FLEMING JR | Deadline

BREAKING: 20th Century Fox and director Ridley Scott have set four more stars for Exodus, the Biblical epic that already has Christian Bale set to star as Moses and Joel Edgerton as the Egyptian pharoah Ramses II. Ben Kingsley is in talks to play a Hebrew scholar, John Turturro is set to play Seti, father of the Pharoah Ramses, Sigourney Weaver is set to play Ramses' mother Tuya, and Emmy-winning Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul is negotiating to play Joshua, the Hebrew slave who leads the people into the promised land after Moses.

The script is by Steve Zaillian, and Adam Cooper and Bill Collage were the first writers who sold the pitch to Chernin Entertainment, which is producing along with Scott Free. CAA and Independent Talent rep Kingsley, ICM Partners reps Turturro, UTA reps Weaver and UTA and Leverage rep Paul.

Prometheus sequel script ready to go, says Ridley Scott
Follow-up to much-hyped sci-fi blockbuster now finished, according to director of original film
Source: The Guardian

The screenplay for Ridley Scott's sequel to science fiction thriller Prometheus has been completed, the British film-maker has told Empire magazine.

Scott, 75, said the script by Jack Paglen was finished and described his return to science fiction on the 2012 film as a "great experience". "Prometheus 2 is written," he said. "I have already got the next two films ready to go. That will be 2014, 2015."

"I thought I'd left science-fiction for too long, that I had better climb back in. Prometheus was a great experience for me. Chasing number two, we can start evolving the grand idea."

Prometheus, which starred Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender and Idris Elba, centred on the human crew of a spaceship sent to investigate a distant planet where the answers to mankind's origins may lie hidden. The film, written by Lost's Damon Lindelof, is famous for answering almost none of the questions it initially posed and culminating with an open-ended finale which left plenty of room for a sequel. Complicating matters is the fact that the film exists within the same universe as Scott's classic 1979 space slasher flick Alien.

Paglen is the writer of the the upcoming sci-fi thriller Transcendence. Scott's next film is likely to be Moses tale Exodus, starring Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Joel Edgerton and Ben Kingsley. His 2015 project could be either Prometheus 2 or (more likely) the previously announced The Forever War, yet another sci-fi project based on the 1974 Joe Halderon novel about a soldier who returns home from space to find his now-unrecognisable home planet has advanced many years into the future. Scott has also touted a big screen take on Aldous Huxley's classic dystopian novel Brave New World, though there has been little news about the project since 2008. He is still said to be planning a sequel to his iconic 1982 cold-hearted future vision, Blade Runner.

Michael Fassbender, who played android David in Prometheus, described the slow gestation process for the sequel as a positive thing. "You know, it takes time," he said. "I don't want them to rush it. I mean the reason that Pixar movies are so amazing is because they spend years throwing it out the window, re-jigging it, coming up with an idea, breaking it down, starting again, you know.

"So to make it correctly, I think it's actually very encouraging. Because a lot of the times they're like 'we made some money let's jump on the back of this. We wanna make more money again as soon as possible. [But] it's nice to actually have a little bit of time to develop it."

Ridley Scott To Direct Film About Deadly Effects Of Concussions In Football Players
BY MIKE FLEMING JR; Deadline
   
EXCLUSIVE: While Ridley Scott is taking on the massive Moses movie Exodus with Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton, he and producing partner Giannina Facio have been meeting with A-list writers for what he hopes will be the next film he directs. Scott wants to create a drama focusing on the debilitating effects that concussions are having on our sports heroes, and the role that league owners play in allowing it to happen. His plan is to create a morality tale on that issue, much the way that Michael Mann's The Insider took on the tobacco industry's complicity in covering up the addictive and cancer-causing effects of cigarette smoking.

It sounds like a most worthy project to me. Scott is a big fan of sports including rugby and football, but he is going to focus on pro football. He has been moved reading all that has been written on athletes including former NFL stars Junior Seau and Dave Duerson, both of whom committed suicide after suffering chronic traumatic encephalopathy, with each making sure to leave his brain intact so it could be studied in the hope the results would help their gridiron brethren who also are suffering.

John Mackey, arguably the greatest tight end in football history who became a brilliant president of the NFL Players Association, saw his mental faculties erode so badly because of dementia that he ended up in an assisted living facility before he died. Former Chicago Bears QB Jim McMahon suffers extreme memory loss, and that has grown more commonplace among players over the past two decades. This is not restricted to football: It happens in contact sports like soccer, rugby, hockey and boxing. Whether it's through evolution, better nutrition or substances like steroids and Human Growth Hormone, athletes are getting larger, stronger and faster.

Football is a worthy subject for Scott's camera. National Football League revenues have grown exorbitantly as has the value of television rights and franchises, and much has to do with showcasing the devastating collisions that take place all over the field. Players hit like freight trains, and until recently they hid injuries. The business of concussions has only recently been taken seriously because of lawsuits. Pro football is my favorite sport, and I can watch three games on a Sunday. But I must say it has become harder to enjoy, knowing that so many of the stars I grew up admiring are faring terribly in retirement after having put their bodies and brains on the line. The casualties are everywhere, and every helmet-to-helmet hit makes you cringe.

Scott likes to follow a big project with a smaller one, much the way he directed The Counselor after Prometheus. I hope he, Facio and whatever top scribe they hire find a handle on this in time for Scott to direct it after he completes Exodus. Scott's repped by WME.

Ridley Scott Captivated By 'The Prisoner', Film Version Of Patrick McGoohan TV Series
via Deadline

Scott is in early negotiations on a deal to come aboard and direct The Prisoner, the screen version of the 1968 Patrick McGoohan British TV series. This has been a plum project at Universal for some time with numerous A-list scribes including Christopher McQuarrie writing drafts. The most recent version was by The Departed scribe William Monahan. The film is being produced by Bluegrass Films Scott Stuber and Dylan Clark. Scott's Scott Free team will likely become part of it as they get the script that makes the director happy. Numerous writers are circling to do that, and the elbowing by several top actors has also begun, now that word is getting around that Scott is coming aboard.

The Prisoner (known only as Number Six) is a former government agent who abruptly resigns from his job and finds himself imprisoned in an idyllic yet bizarre seaside village isolated from the world by the sea and mountains. He can't escape because he knows too much, but that doesn't stop others trying to capture him for his knowledge. What he wants is to keep them at bay and find his way to freedom.

Scott is prepping Alien: Covenant for Fox, which he'll shoot shortly, and he hasn't set a film after that. Covenant wraps up the storyline teased in 2012's Prometheus, the film that picked up the storyline he started with his groundbreaking Alien. Scott is repped by WME.

Guess what. Alien: Covenant is really good! Possibly the best Alien sequel since the first two. It begins with space travel porn (feels a bit like Interstellar) then blossoms into very satisfying space horror. Given Ridley Scott's recent filmography, I'm actually surprised how sharp the movie was.