Kit Bowen's Weekly Role Call, June 18
By Kit Bowen, Hollywood.com Staff
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Friday, June 25, 2004
Danny Bonaduce with daughter Isabelle |
This week: The search for Partridge people, Amityville casting news, a weird proliferation of gun movies, and more.
Calling all Shirley Jones look-alikes!
Ah, finally a reality show easy to get behind. I really think the press release explains it all: "Are you a musical mom like Shirley? A teen idol in the making like Keith? America's sweetheart like Laurie, or a rambunctious schemer like Danny?" If so, VH1 is looking for ya. All you talented people who think you sing like, act like and resemble the original members of The Partridge Family, c'mon, get happy--here's your chance to join a new seven-episode reality series, In Search of the Partridge Family. Open casting calls will be held in Orlando, New York, Minneapolis and Los Angeles beginning July 17." We're there with bells and tambourines on.
Reynolds gets spooked in Amityville
Van Wilder actor Ryan Reynolds--that's the future Mr. Alanis Morissette to you--is set to star in a remake of The Amityville Horror, in which a house possessed by satanic forces (as well as a charming ability to spew out swarms of flies) terrorizes a young family just moving in. The cool thing about the 1979 original starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder was that it was supposedly based on a true story that had recently happened and was detailed in Joe Anson's bestselling book. But a remake? Some of that ooh-that's-really-creepy-'cause-it-just-happened appeal will be lost on today's savvy audiences--unless they can really crank the horror up and make it work, à la 2003 Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Burton's wacky world of Chocolate Factory
Speaking of remakes that make sense, I think it's brilliant Tim Burton has decided to do Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka. You just know the director and his muse are going to infuse Roald Dahl's classic, albeit dark, children's tale with their innate quirkiness. For the film, about five kids who take a tour of an eccentric candy factory and its oddball owner, Burton has wisely rounded out the cast with a cache of unknown children, including pixie-faced Freddie Highmore (who can be seen in the upcoming Two Brothers) as the young Charlie Bucket. It'll be tough for these young newcomers, though, because the kids in the 1971 musical left an indelible impression on Chocolate Factory fans, especially Julie Dawn Cole as the spoiled Veruca Salt ("If I don't get it NOW, Daddy, I'll screeeeeeeeeeam!") But we're betting the new cast can pull it off if Burton is at the helm.
The Bow Wow Bounce
Just don't call him "Lil'"--Bow Wow, aka Shad Gregory Moss, is 17 now, and ready for action. The rapper's next move is to star with Chi McBride (The Terminal) in Roll Bounce, a retro roller-skating movie set in the '70s (well, they didn't have roller-blading back then, you know). I can see this movie making money for two reasons: 1) Bow Wow, Lil' or not, made a splash with his cute Like Mike and obviously can draw in the younger urban crowd and 2) with a killer soundtrack, the roller-skating scenes will be a lot of fun to watch. Smart thinking, Bow. Or should we say, Mr. Wow now?
Leo grins and bears it
Leonardo DiCaprio and his production company, Appian Way, have teamed with Columbia Pictures to produce The Man Who Loved Grizzlies, a biopic about environmentalist Ted Treadwell. Wait a minute, who? Apparently, Treadwell, a controversial and charismatic figure who looks like a Malibu surfer, became a self-appointed "goodwill ambassador" to bears. Yes, bears. Spending months at a time in the wilds of Alaska, he took the anti-poaching cause as his own but had no training beyond his talents as a photographer and naturalist. Oh, I can see the tears now. Think Gorillas in the Mist ("Get off my mountain!") meets Gentle Ben. Leo, Leo, what are you thinking?
The stars are grabbing their guns lately…what's up with that?
This week, no less than three movies involving war and/or heavy artillery shot down the pike. First to hit the battlefield is Morgan Freeman, set to star in a film about the first black armored unit to enter combat during World War II. Wait, didn't Freeman star in Glory, about the first black Union unit in the Civil War? Ah, hmm. The DreamWorks project focuses on the relationship between two men--one a fearless black soldier from the streets of Detroit, the other a Yale-bred white officer--and their struggle to prove their worth to each other.
Then there's the Jennifer Aniston project in which the actress is being touted to play famed war photographer Dickey Chapelle in a Warner Bros. biopic. Chapelle, a blonde, blue-eyed beauty who covered WWII for Look magazine and Reader's Digest, became a heralded photographer because of her willingness to march to the front lines. She died in Vietnam after tripping a landmine while accompanying Marines on a secret sabotage mission. We smell an Oscar moment, if she can pull it off.
Finally, Forest Whitaker is set to star in American Gun, an ensemble drama described as "a series of interwoven story lines focusing on how the proliferation of guns in America affects and shapes lives." (Wait, didn't Michael Moore already win the Oscar for that?)
Until next week…
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