Ron Howard

[Alethia]

exactly.

[modage]

he didnt do seabiscuit.  that was gary ross (pleasantville).

[Redlum]

Yeah I know, but Cinderella Man has a very similar "triumph of the working man/underdog" story line. Or at least the trailer gives that the most emphasis.

[Alethia]

"when the world was on its knees, he brought us to our feet..."


hm.

[MacGuffin]

Opie Heads Home
Howard to helm Iraq thriller.

Variety reports that Oscar winner Ron Howard will direct Last Man Home for Universal Pictures, which has acquired Jamie Moss' spec script. Howard and Brian Grazer's Imagine shingle will produce along with Tom Lassally.

The trade says Last Man Home follows a U.S. covert ops unit on a mission in Iraq during the days before the invasion. The main character is looking for his brother, an AWOL U.S. trooper who went missing during the first Gulf War.

[MacGuffin]

Ron Howard could direct THE CHANGELING
Source: Variety

Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment have grabbed the rights to J. Michael Straczynski's (Babylon 5) thriller THE CHANGELING. Ron Howard is thinking about directing the film as his next project.

The story of the film is based on actual events about a mother who prays for the return of her kidnapped son. When her prayers are answered and her son returns, she begins to suspect that the boy who comes back is not her child.

Howard has still not signed on to helm the sequel to THE DA VINCI CODE.

[MacGuffin]

Exclusive: Ron Howard to Direct "Frost/Nixon"

Breaking News: Pardon me?

TMZ has learned that Oscar-winning director Ron Howard has his eye firmly fixed on Tricky Dick: Howard's Universal Pictures-based Imagine Entertainment is in negotiations to acquire the feature film rights to Peter Morgan's hit stage play, "Frost / Nixon," currently playing to packed houses at the Donmar Warehouse theater in London.

The play, which opened to rave reviews earlier this month, centers on the legendary 1977 television interviews between President Richard Nixon and interviewer David Frost, with Frank Langella playing the president on stage. No stranger to projects steeped in politics, Langella starred last year as CBS network owner and (mostly) benevolent despot, William Paley, in "Good Night, and Good Luck."

Frost, of course, is the only person to have interviewed all of the past six British prime ministers and the past seven US presidents. His successful 1977 cat-and-mouse game with Nixon to secure the ultimate "get" - several interviews with the only U.S. president ever to resign the office - is both the subject of the stage play and of Howard's new film project.

Per the Hollywood Reporter 's review of the stage play,

"Frost had ridden to success on the wave of satirical comedy that surged out of the U.K. in the 1960s. Lacking comedic talent but being glib and confident, he had segued into talk shows in his homeland, Australia and the U.S. According to Morgan, by 1977 it was all coming apart. Desperate for a major splash, Frost decided to risk everything by contracting with the disgraced U.S. president for a series of confessional interviews. With legendary Hollywood agent Swifty Lazar (Kerry Shales) acting for Nixon, negotiations resulted in agreement on how many minutes would be devoted to the president's highs and lows and a fat fee that Frost had great difficulty in raising. In fact, the play suggests there is no guarantee the four-hour series of interviews will ever air, and Frost ends up putting a huge chunk of his own money into the project."

Insiders familiar with the talks stressed that while there are still a few open deal points, a formal announcement could come as early as Wednesday.

Howard's Imagine also recently picked up the rights to J. Michael Straczynski's thriller "The Changeling" as a potential film for Howard, who hasn't decided how to follow up this year's international box office hit, "The Da Vinci Code," which grossed some $753 million worldwide. It's not yet clear which project will tickle Howard's fancy, but insiders say that Howard has not made casting the Straczynski property a priority; as a result, we may be in for an early "Frost" at the box office next year.

[MacGuffin]

Grazer to produce 'Colossus'
Universal, Imagine to remake sci-fi saga
Source: Variety

Universal and Imagine Entertainment will remake the 1970 sci-fi saga "Colossus: The Forbin Project" as a potential directing vehicle for Ron Howard. Brian Grazer will produce.

Jason Rothenberg has been set to write the screenplay for a pic to be called "Colossus."

Based on a book by D.F. Jones, the original film was a forerunner of movies like "Terminator," introducing the idea of a government-built computer that becomes sentient and then takes control.

Rothenberg will use the original's premise as a springboard and will incorporate two subsequent "Colossus" novels written by Jones to hatch a much broader film premise.

After a brainiac designs a supercomputer for the government as a means of protection, the computer decides itself that the most effective way it can act as protector is to assume complete control. The WMA-repped Rothenberg wrote the original draft of "The Sparrow," which has Brad Pitt attached at Warner Bros., and he adapted the graphic novel "Proximity Effect" at Universal.

Dave Collins, who was integral in tying up the rights to the series, will be exec producer.

Howard is next directing "Frost/Nixon" and then will tackle the Akiva Goldsman-scripted "Da Vinci Code" follow-up that's based on the Dan Brown novel "Angels and Demons."

[MacGuffin]

Howard ready to father 'Children'
Baumbach to adapt Messud novel for Universal
Source: Variety

Ron Howard has said yes to another directing assignment for Universal.

Imagine Entertainment's co-topper will helm U's adaptation of "The Emperor's Children," Claire Messud's 2006 novel about Gotham's upper crust, based on a script by Noah Baumbach.

Imagine acquired the tome, about Ivy League grads approaching their 30s with trepidation in 2001, early this year as a possible directing vehicle for Howard, with partner Brian Grazer aboard to produce (Daily Variety, Jan. 26). Baumbach, a writer who has shown an affinity for writing about the East Coast elite, has been circling the project since at least mid-March.

Howard's busy directing slate includes "Frost/Nixon," the screen adaptation of the legiter skedded to begin production Aug. 24, and "Angels & Demons," the prequel to "The Da Vinci Code" for Columbia. Imagine has also set up remakes of the French thriller "Cache" and '70s sci-fi film "Colossus: The Forbin Project" at U as possible directing projects for Howard.

Imagine reupped with U last week in a deal that keeps the shingle in the studio fold through the end of 2013. The shingle has many productions in the works including the Ridley Scott-helmed "American Gangster," Michael Dowse's "Kids in America" and "The Changeling," a co-production of Imagine and Malpaso directed by Clint Eastwood.

Baumbach has delivered his adaptation of "Prep" to Lorne Michaels and John Goldwyn for Paramount's adaptation of that novel. Previously, he penned and directed "The Squid and the Whale" and did double duty on Paramount Vantage's upcoming "Margot at the Wedding."

[MacGuffin]

Howard moves fast with 'Code' sequel
Director finalizing 'Angels' before strike
Source: Variety

As Hollywood scrambles to make deals before the Oct. 31 expiration of the WGA pact, one fast-tracked project has almost flown under the radar -- though it could become one of the biggest films assembled during this frenzied period.

Columbia has formalized a February start in Europe for "Angels & Demons," the Ron Howard-directed sequel to "The Da Vinci Code" that will be released in December 2008.

Producers Brian Grazer and John Calley, Col, Howard and writer Akiva Goldsman are seeking to finalize the shooting script before next week's deadline. Meanwhile, the "Angels" team have begun casting around Tom Hanks, who will reprise his role as Robert Langdon.

The film guarantees a manic year for Howard, who will be multi-tasking to get the picture done. Howard will shoot "Angels & Demons" as he supervises editing and post-production on the screen adaptation of the Peter Morgan play "Frost/Nixon." That film, which Howard wrapped shooting last week, has tentatively been slotted for a late 2008 release.

This means Howard could have a double-pronged post-production schedule and will have two high-profile projects opening in a relatively short time.

The rush-rush schedule echoes Steven Spielberg's back-to-back shooting of "Jurassic Park" and "Schindler's List" and Clint Eastwood's double duty on "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima."

Hanks' character, a Harvard-based expert on religious symbols, this time sleuths a mystery that involves a secret society and a conspiracy that leads to Vatican City and threatens the future of the Catholic Church.

Dan Brown wrote "Angels & Demons" prior to "The Da Vinci Code," but after the first film grossed $218 million domestic and $758 million worldwide, the studio made a seven-figure deal with Goldsman to turn the earlier novel into a sequel.

[MacGuffin]

Universal, Imagine team on 'Strange'
Duo gear up 'Lovecraft' graphic novel
Source: Variety

Universal and Imagine Entertainment are gearing up for "The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft."

The studio has bought the film rights to Image Comics' graphic novel, with the project a potential directing vehicle for Ron Howard. The book bows April 8.

U sparked to "Lovecraft" because its take on classic horror fits in well with the studio's library of monster fare featuring Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy and the Wolf Man, the last of which is being brought back to the bigscreen later this year.

Created by Mac Carter and Jeff Blitz, book borrows elements from Lovecraft's life, such as his family's struggle with mental illness and his own bouts with writer's block, and transforms the young writer's darkest nightmares into reality when he comes across a book that puts a curse on him and lets the evils he conjures up loose on the world.

Lovecraft, who died in 1937, is considered one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th century.

Carter, a commercial director, will pen the script and serve as executive producer alongside Blitz.

Carter and Blitz both helmed commercials for Anonymous Content, working on spots for such clients as McDonald's, Yahoo, Coca-Cola and Toyota. Carter has since gone solo and has helmed more than 100 ads for clients.

Imagine's Brian Grazer and Howard are producers. David Bernardi, shingle's senior VP, and director of development, Chris Wade, will serve as co-producers.

Image Comics also publishes the popular "Spawn" books, as well as "Witchblade," "WildC.A.T.s," "The Walking Dead" and "Youngblood."

[MacGuffin]

Bryce Dallas Howard pens 'Originals'
Universal, Imagine pick up drama; Ron Howard may direct
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Universal and Imagine have picked up "The Originals," a drama written by Bryce Dallas Howard and writing partner Dane Charbeneau that could serve as a directing vehicle for her father, Ron Howard.

Imagine is producing.

"Originals" is an ensemble film about a group of twentysomethings who reconvene for a weekend in New York after learning that the teacher who shaped their childhoods has fallen into a mysterious coma.

The idea for "Originals" germinated a few years ago, when Howard, an actress with such films as "The Village" and "Spider-Man 3" under her belt, took to the idea of writing something that tackled the quarter-life crisis issues her contemporaries were dealing with. She roped in Charbeneau and the two have been working on the script for the past couple of years, as Howard shot "Terminator Salvation" and gave birth to her son Theodore.

"Originals" also became more of family affair during the writing process, as Charbeneau began dating Howard's sister Jocelyn. The two are now are engaged.

Howard, repped by ICM and Management 360, and Charbeneau eventually showed it to Ron Howard, who saw it as a potential antidote to the huge productions for which he is known.

"Originals" is still in development though the elder Howard, who is coming off Columbia's worldwide hit "Angels & Demons" and has not picked his next helming gig.

The director will return to his home at Universal for his next movie, with projects like "Colossus," a sci-fi thriller about a supercomputer, high on the priority list. "Originals" also is on that list.

[MacGuffin]

Ron Howard tiles U's 'Mosaic'
Director takes on Ludlum adaptation
Source: Variety

Universal Pictures has attached Ron Howard to direct "The Parsifal Mosaic," an adaptation of the espionage thriller by "The Bourne Identity" author Robert Ludlum.

David Self will adapt the Ludlum novel about a CIA operative who thinks he witnessed the execution of his lover after she was identified as a KGB double agent.

Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer will produce with Captivate Entertainment partners Jeffrey Weiner and Ben Smith. Imagine's David Bernardi will be exec producer.

The studio, which is separately developing a fourth "Bourne" installment with director Paul Greengrass, and "The Sigma Protocol" (an adaptation of yet another Ludlum thriller), began negotiating the rights for "Parsifal Mosaic," for which it had first-look rights in a deal U made with Captivate, which controls screen rights to the late author's books.

Self, best known for "Road to Perdition," most recently co-scripted "The Wolf Man" for Universal.

[MacGuffin]

Vince Vaughn set for Ron Howard pic
Universal project centers on infidelity
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Universal has a cheating heart.

The studio is putting the pieces together for a film project exploring the subject of infidelity that will be directed by Ron Howard and star Vince Vaughn.

Imagine topper Brian Grazer came up with the idea and is producing with Vaughn, who will produce with his Wild West Picture Show Prods. Allan Loeb wrote the currently untitled script, which would go before cameras in the spring.

The story follows a man who learns that his best friend's wife is cheating and must then navigate treacherous waters to decide what do with that knowledge.

The project is said to continue Vaughn's interest of tackling the dark areas of relationships, which he did with "The Break-Up" and, to a lesser extent, "Couples Retreat," which ended up leaving its darker moments on the editing room floor. The script is said to walk a fine line of being comedy and drama, much like "Break-Up" did.

Imagine's Kim Roth will serve as executive producer. Universal's vp of production Kristen Lowe will oversee the project for the studio.

It's been a while since Howard tackled a comedy. While the CAA-repped director's last movie was "Angels and Demons," his previous comedic movie was 1999's "Edtv."

Vaughn and Loeb, who wrote "Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleep" as well as "The Baster," are repped by CAA.

[Stefen]

Did anyone read what The Playlist said about this? They really roasted Ron Howard and Vince Vaughn. HILARIOUS.

Here. http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2010/01/vince-vaughn-is-not-to-be-trusted.html