We begin where the action is these days—on TV. Sally Hawkins and Catherine Keener have joined Michael Cera and John Hawkes in the cast of Charlie Kaufman’s FX comedy, How and Why, reports Cynthia Littleton for Variety. The show “revolves around a man who can explain the workings of a nuclear reactor but is clueless about life.”
Netflix “has ordered Grace and Frankie, a half-hour comedy from Marta Kauffman, the creator of Friends, starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin,” reports Esther Zuckerman for the Wire. The show will focus on “‘nemeses Grace (Fonda) and Frankie (Tomlin) facing the last chapter of their lives, though not in the way they expected.’ The two women are thrown for a loop when their husbands declare they are in love and planning to get married. Presumably, Grace and Frankie become reluctant friends.”
Back to the sort of films you actually have to leave the house to see. “Arte France Cinéma (headed by Olivier Père) has conducted its second selection committee of 2014, choosing to commit to co-producing and pre-purchasing three projects, including L’ombre des femmes by Philippe Garrel,” reports Fabien Lemercier at Cineuropa. Garrel’s 25th feature, starring Stanislas Merhar, Clotilde Courau and Lena Paugam, “will revolve around a love triangle in modern-day Paris (the screenplay has been written together with Jean-Claude Carrière, Caroline Deruas and Arlette Langmann).” The other two projects are Philippe Faucon’s Fatima, a “loose adaptation of the autobiographical story Prière à la Lune (Prayer to the Moon) by Fatima Elayoubi” about “a North African cleaning lady, a single mother bringing up her teenage daughters who were born in France,” and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s La femme de la plaque argentique, “a fantasy film that is due to be shot in France at the end of 2014.”
A new trailer for Kelly Reichardt‘s Night Moves
“Sofia Coppola is negotiating to direct The Little Mermaid, a live-action version of the classic Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale,” reports Deadline‘s Mike Fleming Jr. “The intention is to move quickly.” Writing for the Atlantic, Noah Gittell explains why Coppola is the ideal choice.
The Playlist‘s Kevin Jagernauth reports that Woody Harrelson is joining Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Winslet, Aaron Paul, Michael Pena, Teresa Palmer and Gal Gadot in John Hillcoat’s Triple Nine, a “thriller about a group of crooked L.A. police officers who realize they must shoot one of their own in order to get away with planning a major heist.” Also, Tilda Swinton will join Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Brie Larson and Colin Quinn in Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck.
John Travolta and Ethan Hawke are in negotiations to star in Ti West’s In a Valley of Violence, “a revenge Western film set in the 1890s,” according to the Hollywood Reporter‘s Borys Kit, who also notes that it looks as if there’ll be a third Ghostbusters after all. Ivan Reitman, who directed the first two, will serve this one as a producer only. Now that Harold Ramis has passed away, and with Bill Murray unlikely to make even a cameo, III will be more of a reboot than a sequel.
Brad Bird is developing The Incredibles 2 and, as Jesse David Fox notes at Vulture, another Cars sequel is on the way from Pixar as well.
“The feeling of being isolated on an island, the impact of the Cold War and subculture all had an influence on life in West Berlin in the 1980s, while the city was still surrounded by the Berlin Wall,” writes Birgit Heidsiek for Cineuropa. “In his new film, Tod den Hippies, es lebe der Punk, German writer-director Oskar Roehler describes the feeling of entering a wild world where anything seems possible: hippies, sex, drugs and rock’n’roll—but mainly punk.” Tom Schilling (Oh Boy!) takes the lead and shooting’s just wrapped.
A new clip from Richard Ayoade’s The Double
“Andy Serkis will direct a live-action version of The Jungle Book for Warner Bros., a move to catch up with Disney’s rival project,” reports Variety‘s Dave McNary.
Warner Bros. is also “lining up Ryan Gosling for a starring role in a biopic about Busby Berkeley,” reports Antonia Molloy for the Independent. “The studio has optioned Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley by Jeffrey Spivak for an adaptation to be produced by Marc Platt and Gosling.”
“Roman Polanski will direct the stage musical version of his 1967 movie The Fearless Vampire Killers in a production that is scheduled to open in October in Paris.” David Ng reports for the Los Angeles Times.
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