Last week Michel Gondry completed a round of press about his new triptych vignettes film, “Tokyo!” with directors Bong Joon-ho and Leos Carax, a lovely, modest and amusing little omnibus you should see.
Meanwhile, press were instructed to stay on topic/target, which we did. However, one reporter waited til after hours and asked Gondry about the long-gestating time travel project, “Master of Space And Time,” which was supposed to star Jack Black and Mos Def (and then rumored to be David Chapelle at one point, who allegedly was on board and then walked out; Black definitely confirmed his willingness to participate, should it get greenlit, years ago). Black and Def went on to star in “Be Kind Rewind,” last year and Chappelle starred in his own live-concert movie, “Dave Chappelle’s Block Party,” which Gondry directed.
We happened to be right there. Gondry, who seemed more than happy to talk about it, basically said that he was still doing “Master of Space And Time,” and his teenage son Paul Gondry, a cartoonist — who he had already planned to collaborate with on an untitled animated project — would be involved in some capacity. He mentioned that Daniel Clowes, another cartoonist (and screenwriter of “Ghost World,” “Art School Confidential”) was still working on the screenplay.
It’s possible we misheard, Gondry’s Gallic accent is thiiiiiick, but we’re fairly certain we heard the director say Steve Buscemi would be one of the actors involved. He didn’t offer any further details so we’ll leave the speculating to others on what his role might be (ok, we can’t resist? taking Black’s spot?), but either way, it was nice to hear Gondry confirm that he’s still working on this exciting-sounding project.
According to Gondry’s IMDB-pro page, “Master of Space and Time” is still in development and is being targeted for 2011, a year after “The Green Hornet” is aimed to hit theaters (summer 2010).
Amazon.com describes the plot as such:
“The real world is unbearable to madcap inventor Harry Gerber, so he uses his genius to twist the laws of science and create his own tailor-made universe. Master of Space and Time combines high physics and high jinks, blurring the line between science and magic. From a voyage to a mirror-image world wheresluglike parasites make slaves of humanity, to trees and bushes that grow fries and pork chops, to a rain of fish, author Rudy Rucker—two-time winner of the Philip K. Dick Award—takes readers on the ultimate joyride. But once the gluons at the core of Harry’s creation run out … disaster looms for Harry and his friends.”)
Meanwhile, you can see Gondry’s work in “Tokyo!” in select cities this Friday (along with great shorts by Bong Joon-ho and Leos Carax, and they’re seriously great too). Thank god it doesn’t have any huge, geek-entrenched competition this weekend, right? Right? – Drew Taylor