So what happens when you win an Oscar? Your long-developing project gets the kick in the pants it needs to get made. And that's just what happened for "The Descendants" writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. Originally set for director Shawn Levy ("Real Steel") in 2007, "The Way, Way Back" was first delayed by the WGA strike of that year, and was stuck in limbo before finally coming back to life last fall. After the pair took home an Oscar for the screenplay for "The Descendants," everything started moving fast, and with a pretty great cast on board.
Reuniting "Little Miss Sunshine" stars Steve Carell and Toni Collette with Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, AnnaSophia Robb, Allison Janney, Rob Corddry, Zoe Levin and Liam James in support, the story follows a teenage boy who, over the course of a summer vacation, strikes up a friendship that gives him the courage to stand up to his carousing, boozing stepfather and reconnect with his mother (Colette). Janney plays a next-door neighbor; Rockwell is a water-park manager who befriends the teenager, Carell portrays Collette's jerky new boyfriend and Rudolph is a water park employee. All told, it looks like it could be an indie charmer.
However, there is no word yet on when we'll see it. The film has no distributor at the moment and is mulling festival appearances in 2013 (and we'd reckon this New York Times piece, which dropped the first image, is not-so-coincidentally timed to arrive before the TIFF market next month) but we'd wager it'll find a home soon. For Faxon and Rash it has been a labor of love to bring this Black List script (from 2007) to the big screen, and hopefully it'll pay off.
Are you ready to rock? Well, whether you are or not, "The Sopranos" creator David Chase's "Not Fade Away" is coming with some guitars and drums to nab your attention this fall.
Led by the trio of Jack Huston, Will Brill and John Magaro, with Brad Garrett, Bella Heathcote, James Gandolfini and Lisa Lampanelli in supporting roles, the coming-of-age tale centers on three Italian-American kids, (Magaro, Brill, Huston) who form a rock band in the 1960s. The legendary Steve Van Zandt of Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band fame produced the soundtrack, and the film itself looks like it could be an interesting piece about shifting cultural tides, particularly in an immigrant community.
"Not Fade Away" is the Centerpiece Selection at the New York Film Festival and opens on October 12th.
Will Oscar ring its bell once again for Denzel Washington? Well, he's playing a dude with issues who is seeking redemption or something, so all the ingredients are there, but it will depend on whether "Flight" takes off with critics.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis, who left the CGI funtime tools at home this time around, the story centers on the hilariously named Whip Whitaker (Washington), a seasoned airline pilot who miraculously crash lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving nearly every passenger on board. Although he is immediately acclaimed as a hero, it soon comes to light that Whip’s behavior before and after the accident put him into a questionable light. CAN HE BE SAVED/FORGIVEN? A pretty solid supporting cast is lined up for this as well, with John Goodman, Don Cheadle, Melissa Leo, Bruce Greenwood and Kelly Reilly all along for the ride, so we'll see if the movie can deliver the dramatic goods, even if it does have a scene with a plane flying upside down.
"Flight" closes the New York Film Festival and hits cinemas on November 2nd.Lastly, here is Victoria Justice in "Fun Size." Uh, yeah. We're not sure what else to say about this movie other than it's "Adventures In Babysitting" for people who were actually young enough to have a babysitter when that movie came out. Or more likely, weren't even born yet.
Co-starring Jane Levy, the film tells the story of Wren, who gets stuck babysitting her little brother on Halloween, the same evening when the hottest guy in school is throwing a party. Oh noes! But things really get out of hand when Wren loses her little brother and sets out to find him, leading to an adventure in babysitting. "Fun Size" unwraps October 26th.