Photo: Michael Och’s Archive/Getty Images
So Harvey Seh: Weinstein Company Options Bob Marley Biopic
Lohman Takes Page’s Place in Hell: Alison Lohman replaces Ellen Page in Sam Raimi’s new horror film Drag Me to Hell after Page had to depart owing to “scheduling conflicts,†which is maybe industry slang for when a popular actress with an incredibly crowded work schedule drops the gig with all the running and screaming. [Variety]
Marley & Me: The Weinstein Company hooks some serious Oscar bait by optioning the rights to No Woman No Cry: My Life With Bob Marley, Rita Marley’s memoir of her tempestuous marriage to the reggae icon. If Beyoncé can play Etta James, you gotta imagine every name actor who even vaguely shares Marley’s ethnicity just hired a dialect coach. [Variety]
Radiohead, Petty, Johnson Head for Outside Lands: San Francisco inaugurates the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival this August featuring headliners Radiohead, Tom Petty, and Jack Johnson. Oh, Outside Lands, you adorable youngster, don’t you know that these days, your lineup can’t just be impressive, it has to be absolutely ridiculous to make us to feel anything? [Billboard]
Campbell Courts Vivaldi: Are you ready for the red-hot dream-teaming of Neve Campbell and Joseph Fiennes? Well, break out the fire-retardant overalls, ’cause these sizzling stars of the silver screen finally team up as Campbell (Scream 3) joins Fiennes (“Stephen Baldwinâ€) in the composer biopic Vivaldi. Caliente! [Variety]
Pras Not in Kansas: Pras Michel options the Caliber Comics trilogy Dark Oz, a more macabre take on the Wizard of Oz stories, with plans to produce three feature films and star in each as the Scarecrow. We liked the Fugees, but doesn’t this guy have to pay some dues before anointing himself Peter Jackson–and–Viggo Mortensen–in–one? [Variety]
Nottage Gets Ruined: So Manhattan Theater Club just added a new play to their 2008–2009 season (following a world premiere at Chicago’s Goodman Theater). The playwright? Lynn Nottage. The setting? A brothel in the Congo. The title? Ruined. We’re gonna call our bookie and bet on a downer. [Playbill]
Rutles Reunite!: Skeptics scoffed and swore it would never happen, but all four original Rutles (Eric Idle, Neil Innes, Ricky Fataar, and John Halsey) will appear at the Mods and Rockers Film Festival in Hollywood in a celebratory screening of their 1975 classic All You Need Is Cash. [HR]