Star Wars, Episode 2: Harry Knowles is, perhaps, famous for the millions of rumors and gossip (which turned out to be true) over at his site at Ain't It Cool News. Now, apparently, Harry is confirming that one of the first new cast members to join Episode 2 is none other than Christopher Walken. Some of you Star Wars fanatics may recall that Walken was originally the choice to play Han Solo in the original trilogy before a little-known man (then, at least) named Harrison Ford took it out of his hands.

Now, Lucasfilm has not made an official announcement yet but knowing Harry's history with exclusive Star Wars scoops, there is probably no reason to doubt him just yet. Knowles did not comment as to what role Walken will play.

Runt: "It's just one of those days, when you wake. Everything is ---" oh excuse me, just hearing this guy's name makes me want to sing...Fred Durst from the band "Limp Bizkit" is committed ot directing thisdark tale following a picked-on high schooler who takes up arms against his rivals. The musician is being mentored for his feature directing debut by David Fincher (director of Se7en, Fight Club). The script was written by William J. Coakley and Christian Van Gregg.

Crimes of Passion: Is it really worthy to continue to believe anything The New York Post says anymore? The paper, infamous for gossip, now reports that Monica Lewinsky may be headed for her first, big-screen role. Director Douglas Keeve (Unzipped) was recently at a reading by Alan Cumming and spied the infamous intern there. He had a chat with her and handed over a copy of the script for the romantic comedy "Crimes of Fashion" which he begins casting this week. Keeve says "I just plopped it into her arms, she said ‘I'll read it, and then what do you want me to do?' I told her, ‘Call me, and we'll figure it out'". The story follows a designer who uses mob money to finance his failing collection, then can't pay back the loan. Shooting is scheduled to begin in July. Thanks to Dark Horizons for the info.

Forbidden Planet: New Line Cinema is in "preliminary" talks with director Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) to take over directing and producing duties for this remake of the classic film. Darabont is "testing the waters" and is currently searching for a screenwriter. New Line hopes to have the project in time for a late 2001 release.

D-Tox: The long awaited Sylverster Stallone cop picture has now been pushed to an early 2001 release from its originally planned fall 2000 date. The reason? Universal does not want it to conflict with Stallone's other film, Get Carter, which also opens this fall.

Hannibal: Director Ridley Scott had a meeting with Virginia governor Jim Gilmore to discuss production of Hannibal in the state. In particular, the two are reported to have discussed Richmond and other central state shooting locations. Location shooting in Virginia will take up two months of the film's production schedule.

Harry Potter: Empire Online reports that a massive search for a litle boy to play Harry Potter has now gone underway and prospective child actors may contact the production office for auditions. Susie Figgs is looking for 9 - 11 year old actors for two roles: If you're a boy with black hair & green-eyes, red hair & freckles, or a girl who can be "bossy", then send in photos and resumes to (professionally done) to:

Susie Figgis
Harry Potter Production Office
Pinewood Studios
Iver Heath, Bucks S20 0NH, England
(Serious submissions only, please.)

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Wednesday April 12, 2000

Spider-Man: In a recent interview with Big Hit Magazine (according to Clint Morris), "Dawson's Creek" star Kerr Smith stated that if the heavily rumored Jude Law won't be able to sport the Spider-Man costume in Sony's feature film for 2001, he said he would be willing to give it a try. An official Sony spokesman has said the Jude Law casting is just a rumor for now, however, with no final decision. Still though, Smith would be competing against other heavily rumored names including Chris O'Donnell and Nicholas Brendon.

Green Hornet: In an effort that has been applauded by many fans, Jet Li is close to signing on Universal's remake of the 60's TV series. Li would play the Green Hornet's sidekick, Kato. As of right now, the long-delayed project still does not have a lead actor or a director.

Men in Black 2: Despite Linda Florentino's cynicism about bringing Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones back in the sequel, Will Smith revealed on Access Hollywood that he had recently completed reading the script for Men in Black 2 and stated that he thought that the script was "brilliant" and that it involved some kind of intergalactic war.

Star Wars: Episode 2: In a not-so-surprising move, George Lucas announced that Star Wars, Episode 2 will, indeed, by shot entirely using digital camera technology. The official Star Wars website states that the technology has been tested "using a prototype digital acquisition system consisting of a Panavision modified Sony HDW-F900 integrated camera recorder, a series of carefully prescribed tests were initiated by teams from ILM and Lucasfilm working in conjunction with Sony and Panavision."

Road Trip: A couple of raunchy clips from the Dreamworks picture were made available the past couple of days. Below are two links to two different, raunchy clips that are just plain wild (I can't even describe the clips because they're so explicit). A bit thanks to Jawad's Dreamworks Page.

"Road Trip" Clip #1 (MPG)
"Road Trip" Clip #2 (Quicktime)

The Lord of the Rings: Approximately 1.7 million fans all around the world downloaded the Lord of the Rings teaser trailer, which became available on the Internet last Friday, which is enough to beat Star Wars: Episode I's record. Part of the success of the teaser is due to New Line's marketing strategy to target movie websites (such as Cinema Confidential) and sucker them into promoting the announcement of the teaser trailer (George Lucas, take note next time. We're always here to help.)

Angel Eyes: The Jennifer Lopez film is set to go into production next month, but suddenly there's no one to look at her. Romantic lead Aaron Eckhart has dropped out of the project, sending the producers in search of a replacement according to Variety. The project is under the direction of Luis Mandoki and is based off the script by Gerald DiPego (Message in a Bottle). Echart was apparently dissatisfied with the revamped role of Catch Lambert, a man who, after losing his wife and child, saves the life of police officer Sharon Pogue (Lopez) and falls in love with her. The film is set for domestic release by Warner Bros.

Death: The High Cost of Living: IGN Movies reported yesterday that Neil Gaiman will be directing the project based off his own script and the characters he created in his own comic book series. The comic series involves "Death" returning to Earth every one hundred years and spends a day, living the life of a human-being.

Blade 2: Bloodhunt: 'STAX' has another script review to report, this time from the sequel to Blade. You can read his review by clicking on this link here.

The Girl Next Door: What's in the life of an adult film-star? Director Christine Fugate answers this question in this documentary, set for limited release later this year. The Girl Next Door follows the life of Stacey "Valentine" Baker during a period of two years, catching the ups and downs of the industry. Below is a link to Cinema Confidential's review of the documentary.

Cinema Confidential reviews "The Girl Next Door"