The Dukes of Hazzard

[Squawks]

Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke?
May 27, 1:59 PM EST

The Associated Press

Jessica Simpson says she's close to slipping into a pair of Daisy Dukes.

The singer and reality TV star told The Associated Press she's in the lead to star as Daisy Duke in a movie version of "The Dukes of Hazzard," which is scheduled to come out sometime next year.

Catherine Bach played the sexy Duke cousin, known for wearing denim micro-shorts, in the TV series that ran from 1979-85. Britney Spears had been among the stars reportedly vying for the movie role, but Simpson, who's starting a summer tour next month, says she's the first choice.

"That's looking very, very good and that will happen after my tour.

As of right now, I'm (in) the No. 1 slot for Daisy, so hopefully nothing changes," she said Wednesday.

If Simpson does get the part, it could be a consolation. This month, ABC passed on her comedy pilot, in which she played a not-too-bright starlet named Jessica Sampson who joins a television news program.

The 23-year-old — whose fame has skyrocketed with the success of the MTV reality series "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica" — said ABC wanted to recast the show, something she wasn't willing to do.

"I connected with my cast, and I loved how it turned out, and I think that it could have been successful the way it was," she said.

In the end, she says it worked out for the best, because with her upcoming tour and movie plans, she didn't have time for a series. And she'll still do variety specials with her husband, Nick Lachey; the couple's variety special in April pulled in strong ratings for ABC.

"Everything works out for a reason and I'm glad there was a compromise," she said.

[MacGuffin]

Scott, Knoxville: Oh, Them Dukes?

Dude, where's the General Lee?

Seann William Scott, who had a hard time mastering parking logistics in Dude, Where's My Car?, will share driving duties with Jackass Johnny Knoxville in the planned big-screen rendering of The Dukes of Hazzard, People magazine says.

A spokesman for Warner Bros., a corporate cousin of People in the Time Warner clan, could not confirm the reported hires. The film, still minus an announced director and cast, is nonetheless slated to speed into production in mid-November, the studio says.

According to People, Scott, 27, will play Bo Duke, aka the one with blond hair (actor John Schneider in the 1979-85 Dukes TV series); Knoxville, 33, will play Luke Duke, aka the one with brown hair (Tom Wopat in the TV show).

Jay Chandrasekhar of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe, makers of Super Troopers, et al., reportedly is in line to direct.

At this point, screenwriters Jonathan Davis and John O'Brien are the only official Dukes boys. O'Brien cowrote Warners' most recent TV-to-film transformation, Starsky & Hutch. Any resemblance between Dukes and S&H, which grossed $88 million at the box office last spring, likely will be encouraged.

Though Jessica Simpson was said to have nabbed the plum, if drafty role of shorty-shorts devotee Daisy Duke earlier this year, the part remains up for grabs.

Simpson is in the running, though. She told Access Hollywood that a recent audition "went amazing."

"I actually wore a short skirt, not shorts," the risk-taking singer-actress-famous person shared with the TV show.

Others whose names have been in the Daisy Duke mix: Jessica Biel, Elisha Cuthbert and Mandy Moore.

Britney Spears, a real-life shorty-shorts devotee, was the reputed frontrunner to succeed Catherine Bach (TV's Daisy) when news of the movie first surfaced last year. But that was one marriage, one annulment, one engagement, two future step-children and one entirely different image ago.

Paul Walker, who raced cars in The Fast and the Furious, and Ashton Kutcher, Scott's Dude costar, were the original picks for Bo and Luke Duke, respectively--at least according to circa 2003 buzz dismissed by Warners.

In addition to Dude, Scott has goofed in the American Pie trilogy. Knoxville has appeared in Walking Tall and Men in Black II, among other films, after finding fame for doing unwise things on Jackass, his MTV stunt show.

No word on a storyline for the big-screen Dukes. Suffice to say the TV series rarely deviated from the following plot: Bo, Luke and their Dodge Charger, known as the General Lee, get chased all over Hazzard County by the lackeys of Boss Hogg (the late Sorrell Booke).

Burt Reynolds is the "top choice" to play big-screen Hogg, People says.

Presumably, the fender-bending production is after Reynolds for his expertise in car-chase movies (Smokey and the Bandit, et al.)--and not his MAACO connection.

[Sleuth]

An opportunity to redirect Mac...squandered!

[MacGuffin]

Simpson puts up her 'Dukes' for first feature role
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Jessica Simpson has been cast as Daisy Duke in Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow's "The Dukes of Hazzard." The role effectively serves as her feature film debut, though she did make an appearance playing herself in the 2002 feature "The Master of Disguise." Seann William Scott and Johnny Knoxville already had been cast as Bo and Luke Duke, respectively, in the big-screen version of the television series that Jay Chandrasekhar is directing, and Bill Gerber is producing. John O'Brien wrote the screenplay that attracted Chandrasekhar's interest. Chandrasekhar and the rest of comedy troupe Broken Lizard will do additional writing. Bruce Berman is exec producing for Village Roadshow. Greg Silverman and Dana Goldberg are the execs overseeing for Warners and Village Roadshow, respectively. Pop star Simpson shot to fame when her marital misadventures with fellow singer and husband, Nick Lachey, aired on MTV's "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica." She has played herself in countless TV appearances and had a guest starring run on "That '70s Show."

[Myxo]

[Sleuth]

Haha!  I'm straight too!!

[MacGuffin]

Trailer here.

Release Date: August 5th, 2005 (wide)

Cast: Johnny Knoxville (Luke Duke), Seann William Scott (Bo Duke), Jessica Simpson (Daisy Duke), Burt Reynolds (Boss Hogg), Willie Nelson (Uncle Jesse), M.C. Gainey (Sheriff Roscoe P. Coletrane), Michael Weston (Enos), Lynda Carter Pauline, David Koechner (Cooter Davenport)

Director: Jay Chandrasekhar (Broken Lizard's Club Dread, Super Troopers)

Screenwriter: Jonathan Davis (debut); rewrite by John O'Brien (cowriter of Cradle 2 the Grave, Starsky and Hutch and Catwoman)

Based Upon: This project is the feature film adaptation of the popular action/comedy TV series, The Dukes of Hazzard, which aired on CBS from 1979 to 1985, and has enjoyed a healthy life in cable reruns and syndication ever since.

Premise: Set in present day, the story follows the adventures of Bo (Seann William Scott) and Luke (Johnny Knoxville) Duke, who, along with their eye-catching cousin Daisy (Jessica Simpson) and moonshine running Uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson), look to save the family farm from destruction by Hazzard County's corrupt commissioner Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds).

[Kal]

Looks like fun... mmmm... not

[pete]

man, that trailer looks awesome.  I mean I'll probably still never see it, but the trailer makes it look great.

[Myxo]

'Cooter': Don't Go to 'Dukes of Hazzard' Movie 'Unless It's Cleaned Up'

http://www.cootersplace.com/

Hey Y'all,

I thought this would be a good time to let everybody know my feelings about the upcoming "Dukes of Hazzard" feature film, since if it weren't for the "Dukes" fans, our show would have been long since "put out to pasture." The folks who love our show have kept it alive and well, despite the lack of respect it has been shown by "Hollywood."

Web sites like ours have been an extraordinary means of communication for the "Dukes" community. The power of the internet has enabled us to not only keep the show viable, but to help make it a hit show all over again. CMT is getting record ratings and the kids of America think it is a new show. In our business, it doesn't get much better than that.

Like our fans, those of us who worked on the show have a special affection for it. For over 25 years we have cared about it, nourished it, and fought for it. And it seems to me that it is time for us to have our voices heard again. From all I have seen and heard, the "Dukes" movie is a sleazy insult to all of us who have cared about the "Dukes of Hazzard" for so long.

You probably know that the creators of this film wanted absolutely nothing to do with the original members of the cast. Doesn't that seem strange to you, given how popular our show is right now, and how popular our cast still is? After all, our huge success for so many years is the reason they are making the film, and the film, after all, is about us.

In the last few years I reckon I've done many hundreds of interviews around the country on radio and television and for dozens of newspapers. I always tell them that ours is a classic family show with positive values, great action, wonderful slapstick comedy, mighty fine country music, and a very gifted cast who had great chemistry. America could tell that we were clearly enjoying what we were doing and for that hour folks could forget their troubles and just have fun along with us. It is exactly the kind of entertainment that families crave right now.

Lately most of the interviewers want to know my opinion of the "movie" version that is coming out in August. I've always tried to be candid with my opinions, and when it comes to this film, I think it would be a mistake for me to pull the punches. Like you, I haven't seen the film, but I have read the script, I've talked to a lot of people who worked on the set, and I've seen the raunchy TV commercial. Frankly, I think the whole project shows an arrogant disrespect for our show, for our cast, for America's families, and for the sensibilities of the heartland of our country.

Unless they clean it up before the August 5th release date I would strongly recommend that true blue Dukes fans hold their noses and pass this one up. And whatever you do, don't take any youngsters to see it. As plain as I can put it, the only thing this movie shares with our show is the title. Oh, they do have the General Lee flying through the air, although according to the New York Times, they didn't even use stunt drivers.

Sure it bothers me that they wanted nothing to do with the cast of our show, but what bothers me much more is the profanity laced script with blatant sexual situations that mocks the good clean family values of our series. Now, anybody who knows me knows that I'm not a prude. But this kind of toilet humor has no place in Hazzard County. Rather than honoring our legendary show, they have chosen to degrade it.

When CMT brought our series back on the air in February of this year, 23 million viewers tuned in on that first weekend. Very few, if any, movies have ever matched those kind of numbers for an opening weekend. Our show is a hit right now! Very young children have fallen in love with the "Dukes" on CMT, just as their parents did 25 years ago. They love the positive values of our show, its wholesome friendliness, and the fact that Bo and Luke are heroes who always make the right moral choice. How can the producers of this film be so cynical, so jaded, so out of touch with America's heartland as to trash a great family show in this way?

Well, there may not be much we can do, but we have to do all we can. Let's send them a message: "If you don't clean it up, we're not going to see it." Maybe a kick in their pocketbook will get their attention.

[Pwaybloe]

Cooter somehow forgets that he is no longer a target market.  

And, by the way, good ol' Cooter lives about 45 minutes from my house.  I visited him a few hours after I read this and I found him drunk on his porch, screaming (again).  He was yelling about fried chicken, them Duke boys, and broken carburetors.  I said hellooo, and we exchanged handshakes cordially.  He gave me some of his "oooh white lightnin'" which I had to wrestle from his hands (which of course made him stumble and puke from the dizziness).  I told him to get his ass up and clean up this shit or I was going to drink all of his moonshine.  He stumbled to get up, and I thought it was too damn slow, so I busted that Bell jar over his fuckin' head.  He started cryin' and was sayin somethin' about them "Duke boys, dem Duke boys, y'know?  They was some good ones, and my pension gotdamn army with them gooks I'm gonna KILL MY SISTER GOTDAMN WHORE!"  So I told him to shut his gotdamn mouf or I'm gonna take out my bow.  "I'm gonna get it if you don't shut the fuck up!"  He shut up, but I hit him across the mouf with a 2x4 to make sure of it and then he started lickin' the gotdamn porch to get alla that moonshine so I took out my lighter.  "I'm gonna light this fuckin' porch on fire, you grease-monkey!"  I did, and the porch lit up with Cooter in the middle of it.  He ran like a beaten mule straight into that horse trouf to put himself out.  "Get in the truck, cause I gotta take you to the gotdamn hospital.  You done burned yourself up."  "I'macomminthatsomefriedchickenUNCLEJESSE!"  So we got in the truck and we talked about the new Dukes of Hazzard movie, and he said he didn't want to go see it cause his bifocals don't come in until Tuesday.  New prescription.

[Ravi]

Sure it bothers me that they wanted nothing to do with the cast of our show, but what bothers me much more is the profanity laced script with blatant sexual situations that mocks the good clean family values of our series. Now, anybody who knows me knows that I'm not a prude. But this kind of toilet humor has no place in Hazzard County. Rather than honoring our legendary show, they have chosen to degrade it.

Isn't the main attraction of the show a hot girl who wears short shorts that bore the name of said hot girl?

[Myxo]

[Ravi]

"Kind of like an Ingmar Bergman film!" raves Robert Wilonsky.

[Brazoliange]

the best Ingmar Bergman film in years