"King of California"
A guy sent me a script this afternoon of Michael Cahill 's The King of California, a Michael Douglas-Evan Rachel Wood movie that Michael London and Alexander Payne are producing along with about ten others. The IMDB says it's about "an unstable dad (Douglas) who after getting out of a mental institution tries to convince his daughter (Wood) that there's Spanish gold buried somewhere under suburbia." Under a Costco store, actually.
Michael Douglas
The guy who e-mailed it to me reads scripts all the time and claims "it's one of the best I've have read in a while." On top of the basic plot, which reminds me for some reason of Kurosawa's Dodeska Den, it's "a story about the history of California and the commercialism of the U.S...very quirky and sweet-natured with a lot to say. If the movie comes out as good as the script look for Douglas to get nominated for an Academy Award. He hasn't had a role this great in years." He says the film doesn't have distribution because London and Payne didn't want any interference from anyone while it was being shot. King wrapped a few weeks ago, and London-Payne, according to this guy, "are said to be so impressed with the assemblage that they might start start up with screenings for distributors as soon as possible so it might come out this year. If not, I assume it would go to Sundance." I'll read it tonight or tomorrow and render a verdict. I called London twice today and no callback yet. Has anyone else heard anything? Cahill has zip IMDB credits besides this one thing.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 26, 2006 at 5:49 PM
comment #1
Daniel Zelter says ...
Sounds like a vanity project trying to appeal to yuppies...
Posted by Daniel Zelter at June 26, 2006 7:48 PM
comment #2
Patty says ...
They showed footage of Douglas hamming it up absurdly (shooting The King of California) on Entertainment Tonight a fee weeks ago; it looks goofy.
Posted by Patty at June 26, 2006 8:19 PM
comment #3
Mike says ...
Alexander Payne talked briefly about the movie at the Nantucket Film Festival; he apparently played "producer schmuck" on set, as this was his UCLA buddy's film. Which means that a new Jim Taylor collaboration is now only in the beginning stages of being scripted.
He did mention that their new film will have a "science fiction element" that utilizes technology developed in the last ten years, which sounds interesting...
Posted by Mike at June 26, 2006 8:28 PM
comment #4
delbomber says ...
What is up with that pic of Douglas? Did he vacation on Mercury?????
Posted by delbomber at June 26, 2006 8:30 PM
comment #5
Anonymous says ...
"Sounds like a vanity project trying to appeal to yuppies..."
More sight-unseen bashing from DZ. Man, you are miserable.
Posted by Anonymous at June 26, 2006 10:23 PM
comment #6
Dubbs says ...
I'm pretty sure the Douglas photos are right after he had a face lift. He was vacationing with his family at a resort, and had the surgery on the trip. I don't know where, but I remember reading this in a celebrity fanzine/tabloid.
Posted by Dubbs at June 26, 2006 10:38 PM
comment #7
Nick says ...
Until I see the movie, I'm disappointed, I just saw those pictures and thought Douglas was trying to one up Nolte for the title of greatest mug shot of all time. The preformace better be great.
Posted by Nick at June 26, 2006 11:07 PM
comment #8
Colin says ...
The DP is Jim Whitaker, who shot The Cooler and Running Scared. That's a plus in my book; probably a minus for others.
Posted by Colin at June 27, 2006 6:27 AM