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Scripts

Mike White Starts a Santa Claus Civil War

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:02:00 EST

Filed under: Comedy, Deals, Scripts

Mike White Starts a Santa Claus Civil War

Not pleased with the likes of our latest serving of A Christmas Carol? Want a little more originality served with your ho-ho-ho's? This might be the answer: Variety reports that Paramount Pictures has tapped Mike White to write the script for a new comedy called Santa Wars. Oh yes, it's just like you'd imagine.

This project will follow the story of two rival factions that emerged within a group of professional Kris Kringles, and how they "became arch enemies during a Santa Claus civil war." And I should probably point out -- this concept is based on a true story. It all stems from a segment on Ira Glass' radio show This American Life, which aired last December and talked about how two professional Santas formed the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas, only to become bitter rivals.

Talk about picking the perfect pen. White is the writer of all things weird, whether that be with creepy stalkers, transcript trouble, discontent with mundane life, rock 'n' roll classes, strange wrasslers, or dog obsession. Furthermore, he's jumped back and forth between mainstream and edgy indies, which means the potential for a film that will appeal to more than just the casual, family fare moviegoer. Let's just hope Paramount ignores this year's strange release schedules (Valentine's Day in the summer, Christmas before Thanskgiving) and serves this puppy up during the right season.

Sam Worthington Gets Gritty in 'American Crime'

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:32:00 EST

Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Casting, Deals, Noir, Scripts, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek

Sam Worthington Gets Gritty in 'American Crime'

Few of us have had the chance to read Rick Remender's upcoming series, The Last Days of American Crime, but it's already tapped for the big-screen treatment. To sweeten the deal, American Crime already has a face. An Australian one. Mania is reporting that Sam Worthington has signed on to play the series' star criminal, Graham Brick.

American Crime is set in a near-future where the government has found a way to kill the criminal impulse in its citizens. That's good for everyone but the criminals, and chaos erupts as the unsavory element goes mad trying to get in one last job. One of these men is Graham Brick, who is in the midst of planning a big heist, and gets to watch all his best laid plans fall apart in a bloody fashion. I read the preview Radical handed out at Comic-Con this year, and like all previews, it was too short to really get a handle on the story. But the art was incredible, it was ridiculously violent, and it had that slimy feeling of Sin City. You can check out three pages here, and Radical has 15 pages up on MySpace. The first issue is scheduled to hit stands in December.

Remender will be penning the screenplay himself, and Radical will be producing it under their film shingle. We'll supposedly be getting a studio, a director, and more cast-members very soon, but it's tough to get excited without having read issue #1. Still, if this is really the mix of James Ellroy and David Mamet's Heist that Remender promises, Crime will be something to look out for.

'Precious' Director Circles 'Selma' & Antoine Fuqua's Life of Crime

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:15:00 EST

Filed under: Drama, Deals, Scripts, Comic/Superhero/Geek

'Precious' Director Circles 'Selma' & Antoine Fuqua's Life of Crime

The men behind Precious and Shooter are going back in time, according to Variety:

Having had wild success with Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, Lee Daniels is itching to go historical for his next feature. He's in "advanced negotiations" to helm Selma, a big-buzz Civil Rights-era drama penned by Paul Webb (Lincoln). The film, which would team him with Slumdog Millionaire producer Christian Colson, focuses on the marches between Selma and Montgomery in 1965, which were the peak of the Civil Rights movement. This means that while prospects of a Martin Luther King Jr. film might be hazy, he will get some time here, one would assume -- he was one of the leaders drawn to the area where marches quickly turned to "Bloody Sunday" with force from local and state police.

And in a wholly different historic affair, it seems Antoine Fuqua and Spike Lee are getting ready for a pimp-n-ho crime spree. Fuqua will direct John Ridley's adaptation of the graphic novel Miss: Better Living Through Crime, with Lee executive producing. Set in 1900s New York, the project focuses on Sola and Slim, "a poor white girl who has learned to survive by hook or by crook since being expelled from the orphanage," and the "black pimp with an uncertain past, trying to keep one foot out of the grave." But, it's not as you might think -- the pair team up to become killers for hire.

Along with Jennifer Hudson as Winnie Mandella, it's refreshing to see a whole slew of projects in the works free of African-American crossdressers-for-laughs.