Screen Junkies » Weinstein Company

Will Smith Rolls Into The Wild Wild Tarantino Western?

Geoffrey Golden — Fri, 06 May 2011 22:54:07 +0000

After Wild Wild West, I thought the Western genre put a restraining order on Will Smith. However, I’m told that such a thing is not possible, and that Smith may ride off into the sunset on a giant metal spider again… and for Quentin Tarantino, no less. Fluzzubah?

Django Unchained is Tarantino’s follow-up to Inglorious Basterds, a spaghetti Western about the team-up of a slave and a German bounty hunter, who search for the slave’s wife and together take on an evil plantation owner. Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz are apparently also in talks for major roles, as the house slave to the plantation villain and the bounty hunter, respectively. No surprises with those names. They’re regular Tarantino pal-arounds.

Though Smith is Tarantino’s top choice, no official deal has been made, and the money-factor could be a problem. Smith commands giant, novelty-sized checks for his movies, and rightfully so, as he’s one of the few stars today you can really bank on. Still, Tarantino would save money if he gets Smith’s “Willenium Package,” which includes his acting services, the acting services of his two children, and a radio-friendly end credits rap.

I bet there’s some furious number crunching going on in the Weinstein Co.’s accounting department right now. (Hollywood Reporter)

Billy Bob Might Be Dusting Off His Santa Suit

Joseph Gibson — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 18:56:23 +0000

Actor Billy Bob Thornton‘s Christmas classic Bad Santa has warmed the hearts of yuletide movie-watchers for years. And millions of children across the world have looked up at their parents and asked, “what happened to Billy Bob Thornton‘s character after the end of Bad Santa?” Well, now you can finally stop lying to your children, because Billy Bob Thornton has been interested in doing a sequel for a while, and now is actually in negotiations to do it. Here’s a Weinstein Company spokesman, who I like to imagine is wearing a Santa hat:

“We feel that it’s a Christmas perennial for the R rated crowd. Everyone loves the character and Billy Bob’s excited to be in talks with us.”

It was actually Thornton who initially let slip about this at South by Southwest, so it looks like this might actually be happening. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! (via The Wrap)

The Weinsteins Getting In Bed With Miley Cyrus

Dave Horwitz — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:06:33 +0000

The Miley Cyrus comedy So Undercover has finally found a distributor in the Weinstein Company. Our nation can breathe a collective sigh of relief to know that this October, the viewing public will be treated to an action comedy starring Miley Cyrus, Jeremy Piven, Mike O’Malley, and Kelly Osbourne with the following plot:

“Cyrus plays a young girl who is hired by the FBI to go undercover at a college sorority. She’s a tough streetwise private detective who has to become a refined sophisticated university girl to protect the daughter of a former mobster.”

A (made up) Weinstein Company exec was (fake) quoted as (not) saying:

“Yes, that face and twang DO say ‘tough streetwise private detective,’ why do you ask? I think she’ll totally pull it off. Well, maybe she does look a little young in the face, and maybe she doesn’t have a tough bone in her body, but… um, Piven! Piven will pull this thing together right? He’s dependable! Oh god, what have we done?”

(Deadline)

‘Apollo 18′ Trailer Is Go For Launch

Geoffrey Golden — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:32:38 +0000

Apollo 17 was the last official mission to the moon, supposedly due to “budgetary constraints.” Yeah, right, NASA. We all know it’s because you found aliens and didn’t want to tell us. The question is: what types of aliens. Michael Bay says they were Transformers, but we all know that’s total bullshit. So, which is it? Are there Predators? ETs? ALFs?

Watch the trailer (link above) for a look at Apollo 18, a movie in Cloverfield-esque NauseaVision that tells the story of a secret NASA flight to poke a stick at the real moon-beasts. I like the use of different cameras, from shaky handhelds to ship cameras. Looks like it could be a fun thriller, and very different from the recent murder-on-the-moon drama Moon.

Houston, you should totally get off the moon, if you want to live. The moon infection is spreading… dear god no…

The Weinstein Company is set to launch this puppy on April 22, 2011.

‘Scary Movie 5′ To Be The Fifth ‘Scary Movie’ Yet!

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 02:06:00 +0000

Attention people who like hearing “I’m Your Boogie Man” in trailers: Scary Movie 5 is officially happening, according to a Facebook posting made by The Weinstein Company. OK, so The Weinstein Company has time to release statements regarding Scary Movie 5, but my friend request from last summer continues to go unanswered? Dick move, The Weinstein Company.

I really don’t know what else to say about a fifth entry into the Scary Movie franchise. The one possible intriguing factor (for me anyway) would be to see how the death of spoof-hero (and Scary Movie sequel President) Leslie Nielsen is handled. Maybe a funeral scene that goes hilariously awry? An appearance by zombie Leslie Nielsen? A complete lack of references to Leslie Nielsen’s death? We’ll have to wait and see. (via Cinema Blend)