CATE PROJECTS
There is so much news on the Cate Projects front, we hardly know where
to begin.
We will begin with the enticing project of Sam Raimi's "The Gift", news
of which grows more exciting, and troubling, virtually every week.
We were informed that Keanu Reeves has joined the cast. In a story first
broken by Variety, Keanu Reeves has committed to the supporting
role of a vicious, wife-beating murder suspect in "The Gift".
Giovanni Ribisi has also been set for the film, which stars Cate, Katie
Holmes and Ron Eldard. With the addition of Reeves and Ribisi and
several roles yet to be finalized, "The Gift" is shaping up as a pic
with an exceptionally strong cast given its budget of less than $10
million.
Reeves' commitment is akin to Tom Cruise joining the ensemble of New
Line's "Magnolia," in that he took a pay cut to work with a noted
director and play a part far from his usual heroic mode. Reeves jumped
at the chance to work with Raimi and, without the burden of carrying the
movie, play a part far different than any he's tried before. Reeves, who
usually gets $15 million will work for scale.
The drama, scripted by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson, concerns a
clairvoyant woman from a small Southern town who becomes enmeshed in a
murder investigation. Reeves will play a redneck who becomes the prime
suspect in that murder and who threatens the psychic's life after she
counsels his battered wife.
Ribisi, who'll next be seen in New Line's upcoming drama "The Boiler
Room," will play a troubled youth with a scarred past who turns to the
clairvoyant for support and proves an important ally to her as well.
Filming is slated to begin in Savannah, Georgia Feb. 7, giving Reeves
time to make that film before stepping into the remake of "Sweet
November," to be directed by Pat O'Connor ("Circle of Friends"). An open
casting call was reportedly recently held in Savannah to cast the parts
of Cate's three children in the film.
However, all this has become more precarious with the following
entanglements, also reported by Variety:
Columbia Pictures wants Sam Raimi to direct its big-budget adaptation of
the Marvel Comics franchise "Spider-Man." The emergence of Raimi over
the past two weeks comes with a web of intrigue and entanglements that
has prevented Columbia from making a formal offer.
While Raimi is an avowed "Spider-Man" fanatic who wants to direct the
film, Sony needs the film for summer 2001 to facilitate the Marvel
merchandising blitz that will surely follow through the holidays.
Raimi is about to begin principal photography on "The Gift" later this
month, and he will not helm "Spider-Man" unless an accommodation can be
reached with Tom Rosenberg's Lakeshore Entertainment (the "Gift"
financier) and Paramount.
The only way that Raimi will be able to direct "Spider-Man" is if Sony
can persuade Lakeshore to freeze the post-production on "Gift" so Raimi
can begin principal photography on "Spider-Man" by late spring or early
summer, then work on post-production of both films later in the year.
While that places a hardship on "The Gift," Sony has offered a
seven-figure deal as compensation for the delay. Despite its modest
budget, "The Gift" has become an impediment to event films at rival
studios, as Universal has set its sights on Cate Blanchett to replace
Jodie Foster in the lead female role of "Hannibal." While recent
speculation has focused on Chris Columbus and David Fincher for
"Spider," Raimi blew away the Sony execs in a meeting to discuss the
character and script written by David Koepp.
So, while the shoot for "The Gift" could go ahead next month as planned,
it is becoming increasingly possible that we might not see "The Gift" in
theatres until early 2001 if Sam is lured away by "Spider-Man" and Cate
gets thrown a ton of $$ to do "Hannibal".
Although initially Cate's involvement in "Hannibal" appeared unlikely,
the pressures grow in that direction. Word is that Universal is intent
on capturing Cate to play the female lead of an FBI agent put under
Lecter's spell. The studio will need Steven Zaillian to engage in a bit
of script surgery to explain the presence of a new character, but
Universal can likely use most of the same storyline from Zaillian's
current script. Word is already floating around that Cate has knocked back the part because of too many other commitments.
Cate's name continued to be bandied about last week in association with
Spielberg's "Minority Report" with one publication stating she's on
board. And, as we reported last issue, the "Charlotte Gray" project is
still looming large, particularly now that John Madden (Shakespeare In
Love) is set to direct.
And, echoing a story we first broke back in JULY of last year, it was
reported last week that Cate is said to be Anthony Minghella's top pick
for his next project , "Cold Mountain".
It's a role all of Hollywood is hot for, according to London's Daily
Mail, with Blanchett's 1998 Oscar rival, and Ripley co-star, Gwyneth
Paltrow also reportedly after the job. Male stars including Tom Cruise;
Brad Pitt; and Matt Damon, a Golden Globe nominee for "Ripley" are said
to be hot for the project as well.
Responding to news of his own Globe nomination, Minghella said it would
be a couple of years before "Cold Mountain" hits theaters.
The19th century Civil War drama, based on Charles Frazier's best-selling
novel, is about a woman who waits in her Blue Ridge Mountains home for
her lover to return after the Civil War.
So, hopefully this will all shake out before too long. Until then, we
will try to keep pace "As Cate's World Turns".
