Lost in the Fire

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The hope/talk/rumble is that Susanne Bier's next film, the English-language Things We Lost in the Fire, will play at the Cannes Film Festival two and half months from now. The Dreamamount release is just about done, I've been told, and Pete Hammond, who interviewed Bier last Monday night at a film class, has written that Benicio del Toro's performance in the upcoming film is allegedly "dynamite award-calibre." Pic also stars Halle Berry, David Duchovny and Alison Lohman.

The official Dreamamount press website synopsis reads as follows: "When Audrey Burke (Berry) loses her husband in an act of random violence, she forges an unlikely relationship with Jerry Sunborne (Del Toro), a heroin user who was her husband's best friend from childhood."

Sounds a little 21 Grams-y...no?

"DreamWorks Pictures Presents a Scamp Films Production of a Susanne Bier film, Things We Lost in the Fire . Directed by Susanne Bier, from a screenplay written by Allan Loeb. The film's producers are Sam Mendes and Sam Mercer, and Executive producers are Pippa Harris and Allan Loeb. This film is not yet rated."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on March 1, 2007 at 1:33 PM

comment #1

Kristopher Tapley says ...

This was one of the most coveted unproduced screenplays for a while.

Posted by Kristopher Tapley at March 1, 2007 1:46 PM

comment #2

p.Vice says ...

Having Halle Berry in this movie makes it a near-certainty that it will be complete shyte. Whoever decided to cast her must have lost their mind in the fire. Kiss those Palme d'Or hopes goodbye, Susanne!!

Posted by p.Vice at March 1, 2007 1:55 PM

comment #3

actionman says ...

The screenplay that I read a year ago was incredible. It's a spare, tight, wrenching script that provides the actors with amazing dialogue, pathos, and humanity. I really hope the finished product is as engrossing as the script was. And it never crossed my mind that it was similar to 21 Grams, a movie that I've seen a few times and loved.

Posted by actionman at March 1, 2007 2:07 PM

comment #4

Chicago48 says ...

As far as Halle and scripts, maybe she's like Eddie Murphy - "they never offer me roles like this". She's just fine doing TV movies like Dorothy Dandridge and Eyes Watching God.

Posted by Chicago48 at March 1, 2007 2:29 PM

comment #5

Breedlove says ...

I'm no Halle Berry fan. She clearly has lousy taste in projects and 99% of her films are terrible. But I thought she was legitimately outstanding in 'Monster's Ball' and deserved the Oscar. So she does have a lot of potential in the right role. If this screenplay really is great I doubt Berry will sink it from a performance standpoint.

Posted by Breedlove at March 1, 2007 3:23 PM

comment #6

ArchiveGuy says ...

"When Audrey Burke (Berry) loses her husband in an act of random violence, she forges an unlikely relationship with Jerry Sunborne (Del Toro), a heroin user who was her husband's best friend from childhood."

Compare that to

"When Leticia Musgrove (Berry) loses her son in a random accident, she forges an unlikely relationship with Hank Grotowski (Thornton), a prison guard who was her husband's executioner."

Posted by ArchiveGuy at March 1, 2007 4:36 PM

comment #7

malibugigolo says ...

Is this the script with the heroin called Mother's milk...but the real mother's milk....is Halle's character.....deep, man.

how sweet.

Posted by malibugigolo at March 1, 2007 5:12 PM

comment #8

Jeff says ...

The script was at the top of the black list last year, which is the list of the favorite scripts of the year voted by stuido execs, producers and agents. I read it about a year ago and thought it was very solid. I was pretty surpised when Berry signed on becuase I didn't picture her in the movie at all.

Posted by Jeff at March 1, 2007 6:56 PM

comment #9