Back in the Saddle
Count on it -- Cameron Crowe will direct his self-written, Sony-financed comedy-adventure with Ben Stiller and Reese Witherspoon, which will roll early next year under producer Scott Rudin.
Ben Stiller, Cameron Crowe, Reese Witherspoon
Variety's Michael Fleming and Tatiana Siegel posted a story last night about Columbia's Amy Pascal having beat out various bidders for a C.C.-authored "comedy adventure" project with Stiller and Witherspoon costarring and Rudin producing. Fleming/Siegel said the film, which will begin shooting in January '09, is based on a Crowe script, and that Crowe will produce. But it didn't say he'd be directing.
That seemed weird. Why wouldn't the director of Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous want to take the reins on his latest creation? So I wrote and was told a few minutes ago by a Rudin spokesperson that Crowe will in fact be the helmer. Hooray -- the post-Elizabethtown afterburn era is finally over (after two and a half years) and the Man Called C is again strapping on the leg irons, just like Gene Wilder's gunslinger did in Blazing Saddles.
Way back in April '07 I wrote about the E-Town trauma and how the abysmal failure of that '05 dramedy had affected Crowe's rep around town.
I passed along a second-hand piece of information in that same story about Crowe having written a vehicle that he wanted Adam Sandler to be in -- is this the same thing?
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 9, 2008 at 8:46 AM
comment #1
Geoff
says ...
I couldn't get past the first 40 or so minutes of Elizabethtown. I'm glad he's back to work.
Posted by Geoff
at June 9, 2008 11:49 AM
comment #2
Mark
says ...
I can't believe that Jerry MaGuire came out almost 12 years ago. At the time, it seemed like such a nascent moment for everyone involved. As it turned out, it was everyone's peak, though they would cash in for sure.
Boogie Nights, the following year, then became the true launching movie of the 90's.
Posted by Mark
at June 9, 2008 12:04 PM
comment #3
York "Budd" Durden
says ...
Reese Witherspoon reminds me of "The Scream" in that head shot...yikes.
Posted by York "Budd" Durden
at June 9, 2008 12:18 PM
comment #4
lesterg
says ...
No, that is not a very flattering shot of Ms. Witherspoon.
Posted by lesterg
at June 9, 2008 12:44 PM
comment #5
Joshua Mooney
says ...
Those are three... remarkable chins! Each one distinctive and frightening in its own way. I'm a big Crowe fan, to a point. But while I never saw "Elizabethtown," I did try reading the script last week and had to stop around page 25. Seemed fairly self-indulgent. Was the movie better? Also, can't ever forgive Cameron for his "Song Remains the Same" liners notes, especially 2.0. When I was 13, I bought Jimmy Page's "weary" slug of Jack Daniels and "There's no escaping our roots." A million years later, we all know better.
Posted by Joshua Mooney
at June 9, 2008 1:04 PM
comment #6
Edward Havens
says ...
Elizabethtown was a great movie, one I expect will be rediscovered in years to come. Especially when Crowe gets around to putting out a special edition DVD of it with the original cut.
Posted by Edward Havens
at June 9, 2008 1:42 PM
comment #7
ZacharyTF
says ...
While I thought Elizabethtown was good, I know that it's Cameron's worst movie.
The stuff with the family, both his mom and sister and his dad's family doesn't work real well. Neither does the job stuff. Not for one second did I believe that Drew cost the company almost a billion dollars. $100 million would be stretching it, $10 million would've been much better.
What does work is the Drew and Claire scenes. It's in those scenes that Cameron's gift for writing crisp sparkling dialogue shines through. If the whole would've been about Drew and Claire, I would've liked it a lot more.
I wish that the DVD would've had both the Toronto version and the theatrical version, if just to compare the two.
Posted by ZacharyTF
at June 9, 2008 1:43 PM
comment #8
Monument
says ...
Elizabethtown failed for me at the very beginning. There is no way that the shoes designer would take the heat for its failure. The exec that approved the design, the marketing team that promoted it... all of those guys would be the ones to get axed, not the designer.
Edward, if you really think that E-town was a "great" movie, then I want what you're smoking.
Posted by Monument
at June 9, 2008 2:10 PM
comment #9
Mark
says ...
i can get beyond the idea of one person taking the fall for a $1 billion bomb. what i can't get beyond is the amaturish writing that frames this idea:
"a failure is simply the nonpresence of success. Any fool can accomplish a failure. But a fiasco is a disaster of mythic proportions..." Uhg.
And Bloom did Crowe no favors with his pronunciation of the word fiasco. The movie had no shot after that word. Though i still have faith in Crowe.
Posted by Mark
at June 9, 2008 2:28 PM
comment #10
Monument
says ...
In Bloom's defense, it probably didn't help that he was a last minute replacement for Ashton Kutcher and had little to no time to develop a decent American accent.
Posted by Monument
at June 9, 2008 2:33 PM
comment #11
Arran
says ...
Also in Bloom's defence, Ashton Kutcher would've been fucking terrible. Topher Grace would've been the man for the job.
Posted by Arran
at June 9, 2008 2:44 PM
comment #12
Joshua Mooney
says ...
Yeah, "Monument," that's the major reason I stopped reading the script, though there were at least three or four other reasons. There was the scene at the airport with his mother? Actually, I read past that. It was the stuff on the plane with the flight attendant? That's what killed it for me.
I should finish reading the script. As Fred Sanford said to Lamont: "Son, we learn by doing."
Monument says ...
Elizabethtown failed for me at the very beginning. There is no way that the shoes designer would take the heat for its failure. The exec that approved the design, the marketing team that promoted it... all of those guys would be the ones to get axed, not the designer.
Posted by Joshua Mooney
at June 9, 2008 2:59 PM
comment #13
frankbooth
says ...
Ow! She chinned me in the eye!
I have fond memories of not seeing Elizabethtown.
Posted by frankbooth
at June 9, 2008 3:01 PM
comment #14
nemo
says ...
PTA should have cast RW in TWBB. She could drill for oil with that chin.
Posted by nemo
at June 9, 2008 3:45 PM
comment #15
nemo
says ...
"... again strapping on the leg irons, just like Gene Wilder's gunslinger did in Blazing Saddles."
Again with the leg irons! Didn't we go through all this a few months ago? Them's shooting irons. Leg irons is what they slap on prisoners like the Count of Monte Cristo.
To make this post complete all we need to see Joaquin Phoenix's last name spelled Pheonix.
Posted by nemo
at June 9, 2008 3:51 PM
comment #16
PoisonSkin
says ...
fuck. no way in hell do I want to watch ben stiller yapping at reece whitherspoon.
I don't want to know what the hell her problems are either. quiet
Posted by PoisonSkin
at June 9, 2008 4:56 PM
comment #17
lipranzer
says ...
Certainly, I'm always looking forward to a Cameron Crowe film, but Ben Stiller and Reese Witherspoon have both been on automatic pilot lately (him more than her). I hope Crowe is able to steer them right.
Posted by lipranzer
at June 9, 2008 5:42 PM
comment #18
Dan Revill
says ...
I hope for a more subdued Stiller in a Cameron Crowe film - pick Zero Effect or The Royal Tenenbaums for reference.
Posted by Dan Revill
at June 9, 2008 7:35 PM
comment #19
Undercover Brother
says ...
Stiller and Witherspoon in a Crowe adventure/comedyfilm? I smell desperation. On the part of everyone involved.
Posted by Undercover Brother
at June 9, 2008 8:16 PM
comment #20
janeygotagun
says ...
Elizabethtown was ace! Great movie to watch while stoned. The insane writing and situations take on a whole new meaning...
Posted by janeygotagun
at June 10, 2008 1:12 AM
comment #21
janeygotagun
says ...
Elizabethtown was ace! Great movie to watch while stoned. The insane writing and situations take on a whole new meaning...
Posted by janeygotagun
at June 10, 2008 1:12 AM
comment #22
janeygotagun
says ...
Elizabethtown was ace! Great movie to watch while stoned. The insane writing and situations take on a whole new meaning...
Posted by janeygotagun
at June 10, 2008 1:16 AM
comment #23
jany
says ...
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at April 22, 2011 6:42 AM