CIA drama spies thesp
Sarsgaard joins Gyllenhaal, Witherspoon in 'Rendition'
By MICHAEL FLEMING

New Line has set Peter Sarsgaard to star with Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon in "Rendition," director Gavin Hood's followup to his Oscar-winning "Tsotsi."

Kelley Sane wrote the script, with filming to begin this fall.

Pic centers on a CIA operative in the Middle East who questions his assignment after observing a secret-police grilling of a suspect in a suicide bombing.

Sarsgaard has completed the comedy "Year of the Dog" for Paramount Vantage. He also just wrapped the lead role in "Mysteries of Pittsburgh," which Michael London is producing and financing through his Groundswell Prods. banner.

Thesp is repped by CAA and man-ager Jon Rubenstein.

- posted by Ally 
- credits: Variety.Com
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Brokeback Mountain
Collector's Edition
Release Date: 01/23/2007
Packaging: Digipak with Slip Sleeve


Winner of three Academy Awards', including Best Director, the movie that became a cultural phenomenon is now available in a remarkable 2-Disc Collector's Edition. Relive the sweeping epic that explores the lives of two young men (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal), a ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy, who meet in the summer of 1963 and unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection. With all-new bonus features, never-before-seen footage and highly collectible postcards, this definitive set magnifies the emotion, drama and power of one of cinema's most groundbreaking films.


Disc 1
Run Time: 2 Hours 15 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R
CARA Reasons: Sexuality, Nudity, Language and Some Violence Technical Information
Audio

French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
English DTS 5.1 Surround
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Picture: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)
Color

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc 2 Technical Information
Audio

English

- posted by Ally 
- credits: UniversalStudios.Com
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Left Bank Of Old
By Liz Smith

October 12, 2006 -- 'EXPLORE AS we may in the vast regions of self-esteem, undiscovered territories remain there still," said La Rochefoucauld.

PICTURE IT: Paris, 1912, the Left Bank, which was then a hotbed for art, fashion, sexual liberation and the latest controversial theories. In one dilapidated apartment complex lived five young men, struggling artists, all convinced of their own particular genius, all sharing ideas, women, hostilities, jealousies. Each would eventually become quite famous. They were the rock stars of their day, a moment in which Levi's were the hot American import, neon lights were beginning their gaudy transformation of Parisian boulevards. Tattoos and piercing were omnipresent. Coke - still laced with cocaine - was imbibed.

Those five artists were Picasso, Chagall, Rivera, Soutine and Modigliani! This true story has never been told. But it will be now, if producer/director/writer Linda Yellen has her way. Yellen, of "Playing for Time," "Chantilly Lace," "Parallel Lives," "Sweet Bird of Youth" fame, has a fascinating script ready to go, titled "The Hive." James Franco and Gena Rowlands are attached, and almost every hot young actor in the business has been approached, and many have expressed interest, in playing one of the legendary painters. Yellen's dream cast? The already onboard Franco, followed by Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix and - but of course - Leonardo DiCaprio.

Linda says, "No film has really been able to capture the energy and vitality of what it was like to live on the Left Bank then, to be young and ambitious and wildly sexual. The film won't look like anything seen previously. I'm working with Hybride, the SFX house that Robert Rodriguez uses to create the look for the movie." (Apparently, MAC Cosmetics liked the script concept so much they agreed to create special face and body makeup for "The Hive.")

Linda recently attended a screening of Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette" and was impressed by the writer-director's modern twists on the tragic tale of France's doomed Queen. "I don't know that I'd use rock music, though that was a daring, brilliant gimmick, but like 'Marie Antoinette,' I certainly see 'The Hive' as a movie a young, modern audience could relate to. Those creative men and women of 1912 were the MTV generation of the early 20th century!"

Ms. Yellen hopes to have full cast and crew ready to go by the spring or summer of 2007.

- posted by Ally 
- credits: NYPost.Com
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GYLLENHAAL LAUGHS OFF BATMAN LEDGER REUNION

JAKE GYLLENHAAL has laughed off internet rumours claiming he will reunite with his BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN co-star HEATH LEDGER in the forthcoming BATMAN BEGINS sequel. Gyllenhaal was reportedly in talks to play HARVEY 'TWO-FACE' DENT - the role taken on by TOMMY LEE JONES in 1995 film BATMAN FOREVER. Ledger has already been cast to play THE JOKER in THE DARK KNIGHT, which sees CHRISTIAN BALE taking on the Caped Crusader for a second time after his successful debut in 2005. But Gyllenhaal's agent says, "No, the other guy from Brokeback Mountain is in it if you haven't heard."

- posted by Ally 
- credits: ContactMusic.Com
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Homebody actors good for California business
By Borys Kit

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Hollywood stars are fighting back against "runaway" production to cheaper foreign locales, though for personal rather than patriotic reasons.

New Line Cinema's "Rendition," being directed by Gavin Hood ("Tsotsi"), is a globe-spanning political thriller centering on a Cairo-based CIA analyst who finds his world spinning out of control after he witnesses the interrogation of a foreign national by the Egyptian secret police. Jake Gyllenhaal has signed on to play the analyst, and Reese Witherspoon will portray the foreign national's Chicago-based pregnant wife.

Matching its story line, the movie has shoots planned around the world, with locales in Morocco, South Africa and Washington being prepped. The movie was to have also shot in Toronto, where Hollywood movies often relocate, but now will shoot beginning next month in Los Angeles.

The reason? Witherspoon.

Witherspoon did not want to go to Canada, insisting that she remain close to her husband Ryan Phillippe and their two kids.

"She's got a family, she wanted to stay here," a source close to the production says.

In accommodating Witherspoon, New Line rearranged the shoot so that Los Angeles will double for Chicago and Washington and provide most of the U.S. interiors. Even some of the North African interiors might be filmed here.

According to the California Film Commission, there is a definite decline in studio film production in California. Between 2003-05, about 25% of productions were shot entirely in the state. "In '06, we are projecting that number will go down to 11%," the commission's Amy Lemisch says.

If officials want to fight to keep productions closer to home, they might find no better allies than homebody actors with clout.

In her new memoir, "Killer Life," producer Christine Vachon writes about how, when making 2002's "Far From Heaven," Julianne Moore agreed to sign on to the movie, accepting its low-budget wages, but wanted the production to switch from Toronto to New York because she wanted to be close to her husband and son. The filmmakers wanted Moore, and the location was switched, though the budget shot up $1.5 million.

Stars have exerted their power before in order to work close to home. David Duchovny grew so tired of Vancouver during his many seasons of shooting "The X-Files" that he strong-armed the series to move to Los Angeles for its sixth season. One of the few actors to move a production for patriotic reasons was Arnold Schwarzenegger, who insisted that "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" be made in California. Tony Shalhoub brought "Monk" to Los Angeles after its first season. And Adam Sandler tried to shoot as many scenes as possible of the Hawaii-set "50 First Dates" in California.

The "Rendition" news sent waves of joy throughout the community of location managers and local film commissioners, who cheered the somewhat rare reversal of having a production come back into California.

"We applaud celebrities who ask for feature and TV production to stay home," FilmLA president Steve MacDonald says. "However, policymakers need to come up with real incentives. We can't rely on the goodwill of celebrities to keep production here."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

- posted by Ally 
- credits: Scotsman.Com
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