I happened to be in the heart of North Carolina's Nascar country in 2001, when Dale Earnhardt died at the Daytona 500. By the end of our weekend trip, Earnhardt's fans had begun making pilgrimages to his home in the area; everyone we saw seemed to want to talk about the racing legend's death.
So it doesn't surprise me that there's a big enough fan base out there to merit a biopic about Earnhardt's life. Variety reports that the Sony-based Red Wagon Entertainment has secured the rights to Earnhardt's life from his son, racer Dale Jr., and his widow Teresa. The movie will tell his life story, including the romance with his wife and the collaboration between him and his son as they both made their names in the racing world.
The article also mentions that racing-themed movies haven't exactly been hits, citing Days of Thunder as an example. It seems to be, though, that Nascar gets more popular every year, and all those devoted fans who drove to North Carolina to pay tribute to Earnhardt will come out in droves to see this movie. With all the talk that goes on about how Hollywood doesn't pay attention to the people in the middle of the country, this could be a great example of how to make movies aimed at middle America that doesn't condescend. Also, it'll have badass racing scenes, and that's something everyone can enjoy.
Ellen Page's career is blowin' up now that Juno has become a bona fide surprise hit, and every week she seems to announce a new role in a strange-but-exciting project. Next up is Peacock, which The Hollywood Reporter describes as a psychological thriller about a man with split personalities. Cillian Murphy will co-star, as a man who convinces the residents of his small town that his two personalities are a married couple. Wait, what? I know Murphy played a drag queen in Breakfast on Pluto, but can one crazy guy really be that convincing?
Page will play a young mother in the same town who somehow sparks a battle between the two personalities. Is this the beginning of Ellen Page being typecast as a woman too young to have a kid? Eh, probably not. She seems a little too smart for that. And if she's as smart as we think she is, this screenplay is awesome; she told the Reporter, "This is one of the boldest screenplays I've come across in my albeit short career. It's a character and story I can throw myself into and exactly the type of movie I love to be part of."
Murphy, too, had high praise for the script: “Peacock stunned me as a script from start to finish. It offers an incredible challenge to an actor -- one I couldn't turn down.” So its this completely crazy-sounding movie actually going to be good? Cillian Murphy has been really good at playing nutjobs in the past, from the killer in Red Eye to the supervillain Scarecrow in Batman Begins. And Ellen Page, as we know, is pretty game for just about anything, and seems totally capable of being a key part of a supernatural thriller. So for now, I'm staying optimistic. Cillian Murphy may not be leading man status yet, but he's so good at playing psychos, I'm happy for him to stick to that for now.
Rumors are rumors, as we know, and rumors reported in Spanish are even more suspect, especially when the person reporting the rumor doesn't speak Spanish at all. Still, if JoBlo's Spanish translation skills are to be trusted, Rachel Weisz will be taking a role in the next film from Alejandro Amenabar, the director of The Others and The Sea Inside. But it's no ghost story or biographical drama: it's a story set in Biblical times, and it apparently involves slaves.
According to JoBlo's source, Oscar Isaac of The Nativity Story will play a slave who becomes one of the earliest Christians, and tries to use his faith to secure his freedom. Weisz will play his mistress, a philosopher named Hypatia. If you don't currently have a mental image of Weisz all done up in princess garb from The Fountain, well, get your head in the right place!
So, as I said, there's no telling whether or not this source is true, or whether it's been so mangled from Spanish that Rachel Weisz isn't even involved. Still, it's an intriguing rumor, even if this movie sounds so strange that I don't really understand it. Then again, maybe it's just my poor Spanish talking.
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Rachel-Weisz-May-Be-Heading-To-Biblical-Times-7839.html
