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ROLE CALL: Fraser, Weisz Go Digging For 'Mummy 2'
ROLE CALL: Fraser, Weisz Go Digging For 'Mummy 2'
By
Chuck Walton
, Hollywood.com Staff
|
Friday, January 21, 2000
SANTA MONICA - Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz have unwrapped their plans to co-star in "The Mummy 2," set to begin shooting this spring for a May 2001 release. The dynamic duo will reprise their roles as rugged hero Rick O'Connell and love interest Evelyn Carnahan.
Both actors had been expected to return to action after Universal received a commitment from "Mummy" writer-director Stephen Sommers six months ago. Also returning to the fold is co-star John Hannah. Daily Variety reports that it's his first $1 million deal.
Fraser's expected to receive somewhere in the $12.5 million range, up from the $5 million he collected for the first installment. The actor's most recent payday was $10 million for 20th Century Fox's update of "Bedazzled." The new story will follow the entombed terror as it resurfaces in London. The script reportedly includes a 9-year-old son for Fraser and Weisz's characters who shares his father's knack for adventure. The studio says possible locations for the shoot include Egypt, Morocco and London.
MORSE GETS 'LIFE': "The Green Mile's" David Morse is ready to be taken hostage in the Taylor Hackford-directed "Proof of Life." Morse will co-star with Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe and David Caruso. It's the third Castle Rock Entertainment film for the actor, after "The Green Mile" and "Extreme Measures." The story involves a hostage negotiator (Crowe) who falls for the wife (Ryan) of the person (Morse) he's hired to save.
'LOVE RETURNS' FOR BARRYMORE: Drew Barrymore's latest romance is an adaptation of Robert Nathan's 1958 book "So Love Returns." Variety notes that the "Ever After" star has signed on to direct and headline the supernatural love story after obtaining the rights from the author's estate.
The story involves a writer who can't get over the death of his wife. He isolates himself from the world and his two kids. But then he meets a magical woman (Barrymore in the flesh) who appears out of the sea to help him recover.
Barrymore will produce the feature with Middle Fork Productions, after passing on studios that wanted to turn her character into a mermaid. Budget for the indie project is $5 million.
STONE'S BROADWAY INSTINCT: Sharon Stone might be ripe for Broadway. The "Casino" star is considering a role in David Mamet's "Boston Marriage," with Variety reporting that she's already met with "The Iceman Cometh" stage director Howard Davies about the project. The sexy star could be just the right enticement. The play's involves two lesbians at the turn of the century.
TARANTINO THE ACTOR: "Pulp Fiction" director Quentin Tarantino will flex his thespian chops once again (after flopping in the Broadway play "Wait Until Dark") in a cameo for the Adam Sandler flick "Little Nicky." Sandler stars as the son of Satan in the pic, while Tarantino plays a blind preacher whom "senses" Sandler's presence.
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