Circuit Round-Up, 07/31

* Last week, I previewed some rather interesting films opening on the last weekend of July.

* Joey Magidson recommended yet another acclaimed sci-fi thriller for his DVD Picks of the Week, and gives us his favorite Ryan Gosling performances.

* Mike Ward reported a surprising drop in the attendance for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 for last weekend.

* Joey also argued that – as a director – Ben Affleck’s star may shine brighter over time than Clint Eastwood’s.

* John H. Foote listed films from the Aughts that he feels are under-appreciated.

* Finally, the results of the ACCA 2001 are in, and I’m proud to say that the Awards Circuit community made some unexpected and delightfully idiosyncratic choices. Well done!

Bryan Cranston is the latest actor cast by Ben Affleck in Argo...

...his much anticipated next directorial outing. Here's the story from The Hollywood Reporter:

Bryan Cranston is in negotiations to join the cast of Argo , Ben Affleck’s drama revolving the 1979 Tehran hostage crisis.

Affleck, Alan Arkin and John Goodman as starring in the political thriller ensembler, which is being produced by George Clooney andGrant Heslov. David Klawans is also producing.

Chris Terrio wrote the script based on a Wired article titled “How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran.” It told the true story of how the CIA, with help from Hollywood, used a fake movie project to smuggle six U.S. diplomats out of Tehran during the 1979 hostage crisis. Argo was the name of the fake movie.

Affleck is playing Tony Mendez, a CIA technical operations officer that led the operation. Arkin will portray Hollywood producer Lester Siegel while Goodman will play Academy Award winning special effects master John Chambers who helped with the CIA’s cover story.

Cranston will play CIA agent Jack O'Donnell, a man who used to be President Eisenhower's bodyguard and is now Affleck’s boss.

Cranston, the star of AMC’s Breaking Bad, is repped by UTA.

-Joey's Two Cents: More strong casting for this film...thoughts?

Ben Affleck will star in his upcoming directorial project Argo!

The Playlist has the story:

Directing isn’t easy. It’s a lot of little decisions and delegating jobs to other people who you hope can execute the vision you have in mind down to the last detail. It’s communicating with actors and crew and hoping that you can bring everybody together under one unified, specific goal and sometimes, you just have to take on a little more to get the job done right.

With that in mind, Variety reports that Ben Affleck has cast himself in the lead of his next directorial effort, “Argo.” The film is based on the true story about a C.I.A. plan to rescue a group of diplomats from Tehran after the 1979 Iranian revolution by claiming that they were part of a Hollywood movie crew shooting a film in the country. Alan Arkin is on board to play Lester Siegel, a former O.S.S. spy, now a movie producer, described as “equal parts bookie and rabbi,” who helps get the fake movie rolling, with John Goodman playing the Oscar-winning “Planet of the Apes” makeup artist John Chambers who is brought in on the elaborate scheme. As for Affleck, he’ll take the central role of Tony Mendez, the CIA exfiltration expert who gets the whole scheme up and running.

Affleck previously directed himself in the heist pic “The Town” and seems to listen very well to his own instructions. Still no start date just yet, but it looks like it will be imminent with casting continuing to move along steadily. Though the film will be lighter in tone than “The Town” or “Gone Baby Gone”—the fake movie stuff should be pretty amusing—it will also have a strong dose of realism too, as Affleck plans to have the actors who will play hostages live together in a “safe house” for two weeks prior to the start of filming so they can become acquainted with what their real life counterparts went through. No release date yet, but an Oscar season 2012 bow seems inevitable.

-Joey's Two Cents: I think he directed himself incredibly well in The Town, so I'm anxious to see him do it again...thoughts?

Ben Affleck might have his 4th directorial endeavor coming together...

...and it's his first remake. Here's what Deadline has to say:

Harlan Coben, one of the biggest selling mystery writers in America, is finally in line to have one of his books made into a major Hollywood film. And all he had to do was make a detour through France.

Warner Bros and Universal Pictures have optioned rights to turn Coben’s thriller Tell No One. Ben Affleck is attached to direct and the script will be written by Chris Terrio. Terrio scripted Argo, the film Affleck is preparing to direct next for Warner Bros. Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall will be the producers. The studios will co-develop the picture, with Warner Bros releasing domestically and Universal Pictures International launching it overseas. The deal involves Luc Besson’s Europacorp and that’s where the French connection comes in. The new project is basically a remake of the French film adaptation of Coben’s book, which was directed by Guillaume Canet.

Coben originally set up his book at Sony Pictures in 2002. The studio hired Star Trek scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, no less. Coben has a page-turning writing style, but his mysteries aren't seamless screen transitions. It never quite came together and Sony let it go. Canet then got involved, figured out how to make the premise work onscreen, set it up at Europacorp and turned it into French film. The plot involves a pediatrician who is out one night frolicking by a lake with his wife when she suddenly vanishes and he is severely beaten when he tries to find her. When she turns up murdered, he is prime suspect. That’s until she’s declared a victim of a caught serial killer. Years later, bodies turn up in the same spot and the nightmare is repeated as the pediatrician is again under suspicion. Right around that time, he’s given evidence that his wife wasn’t dead at all. Canet managed to make all that work, anchored by the fact the protagonist never got over the death of his wife. Sara Schechter and Greg Silverman are running the project for Warner Bros and Adam Yoelin is steering it for Kennedy/Marshall.
Maybe this gives hope to Coben's other books. That includes the series revolving around hoops star-turned sports agent and sleuth Myron Bolitar. John Calley bought those rights at Sony Pictures years ago but could never get a script he could make. Do they have sports agent/sleuths in France?

-Joey's Two Cents: At this point, anything Affleck directs I'm interested in...thoughts

Alan Arkin joins Ben Affleck's next directorial project Argo...

...and here's the story, via Variety:

Ben Affleck has tapped "Little Miss Sunshine" star Alan Arkin as the first actor to join his Tehran hostage crisis pic "Argo."

Arkin is in negotiations to play Hollywood producer Lester Siegel, an O.S.S. veteran described as equal parts bookie and rabbi.

Chris Terrio adapted Joshuah Bearman's April 2007 Wired magazine article, titled "How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue American from Tehran," which told how the CIA and the Canadian government teamed to rescue six U.S. dipomats who'd been taken hostage at the American embassy by a group of Iranians in 1979. The CIA's ruse involved the explanation that the six hostages were actually a Hollywood film crew scouting a movie titled "Argo," and using those fake identities, they were able to flee the country.

George Clooney and Grant Heslov are producing Warner Bros.' political drama through their Smoke House banner along with David Klawans ("Nacho Libre").

Arkin will soon be seen playing Ryan Reynolds' father in Universal's comedy "The Change-Up," and he also appears in Disney's "The Muppets."

Arkin is repped by ICM and Principal Entertainment.

-Joey's Two Cents: It's an interesting sounding project, and I'm very curious to know what the tone will be...thoughts?

Video - Ben Affleck Does Keith Olbermann On SNL

Ben Affleck visited his friends at Saturday Night Live last night, and in addition to a killer open with John McCain and Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, managed to pull of a great Keith Olbermann skit.

Related: John McCain And Tina Fey On SNL - Video

Affleck lambasted current president George Bush for being a racist and bigot, and did a spoof of Olbermann's "Worst Person In The World" segment.

In his "Special Comment" section, Affleck goes after the coop manager of his apartment complex, after he is evicted for having a pet in a no pet apartment.

The result was controversial, with the host going off on Japanese internment camps, equal rights, justice, and fairness.

It was uncomfortable.

Watch Ben Affleck Do Keith Olbermann On SNL


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