Screenwriting News!

Above is the notorious film of Klaus Kinski berating Werner Herzog.

(Personally, I could’ve calmed Kinski down. I would’ve told him, “Dude, I loved you as Jack the Ripper.”)

Why do I share such a video?

Because the most interesting thing on the web right now (in my humble opinion) has to be Dennis Cozzalio’s post on The Huckabees Maelstrom. You must see Lily Tomlin's dual tirades, David O. Russell's on-set explosion, and also take in the stories Clooney told about Russell while filming Three Kings.

Cozzalio writes, “I’d be curious to hear from those who have film production experience, be they actors, directors, crew members, whoever—How do actors and directors involved in something this grotesque and public get themselves back on the rails, creatively and interpersonally? Clooney suggests that Russell walked away and, upon his return, pouted for the rest of the shoot in, I would assume, relative silence. But recounting the aftermath in such a sketchy way doesn’t indicate just how awful it must really have been, and it doesn’t seem much of a jump to think that the creative juices that Tomlin felt were oozing rather than flowing at the time of the blow-up must have dried up completely, at least for a while. And while I’m fishing for answers, I’ll fish for an opinion or two as well: Can working with a volcanic director actually be good for the creative process?”

Sure, Dennis. It’s possible. But I’ll let someone else be the guinea pig, thank you very much.

Note to self: don’t ever work for David O. Russell.

Jim Emerson’s follow-up on this topic is noteworthy as well.

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New Screenplays:

Crank

The Number 23

Mini’s First Time (Hey, it's a TriggerStreet Production! He really could’ve used our reviews.)

Nick of Time

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Around Scribosphere:

Don't forget - A Screenwriting Blog-a-thon THIS WEEKEND!

You gotta love Billy Mernit’s last dozen posts. Why aren’t you reading him?

Unk’s Transformational Character Arcs parts three and four.

I loved Serge Daney’s analysis of Lynch’s Elephant Man.
“It is the monster who is afraid.”

John August’s Writer/Directors and Co-Ops.

Craig Mazin’s take on The Whole Writer’s Co-Op Thing.

And MaryAn Batchellor’s take on The Whole Writer’s Co-Op Thing.

Danny Stack’s Fund Your Feature, Parts 1, 2, and 3.

Girish’s post on Abbas Kiarostami’s Early Films. (Why? Because the video was really sweet and now I’m interested in his films. I also read Zach Campbell’s post on Kiarostami. Why aren’t screenwriters this brilliant? Maybe we're just too busy being brilliant in our scripts...)

A new David Koepp interview.
“I'd be a fool if I didn't consider the history and impact of the Indiana Jones movies before starting this one. I mean, Raiders was the movie that made me first consider screenwriting as a valid career choice. Until then, it had never occurred to me that somebody actually WROTE these things and that, in this case anyway, it seemed like they had a pretty good time at the office while they were doing it. Of course, I'm somewhat daunted by the past when trying to push "Indy" into the present, but the first thing you have to do in any writing job is put all the voices -- studio, critics audience, etc. -- out of your head and write a movie that you, yourself, would enjoy seeing. Any other approach and you're chasing the parade instead of leading it.”

You know a script sucks if LatinoReview hates it
On Rush Hour 3

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Thanks to GreenCine Daily:

"Marilyn Monroe may have been tricked into killing herself as part of a plot hatched with the knowledge of the former US attorney general, Robert Kennedy, according to a secret FBI file." Kathy Marks reports for the Independent and Australian writer and film director Philippe Mora lays out the evidence for his argument in the Sydney Morning Herald: "The document [PDF], hidden among thousands of pages released under freedom-of-information laws last October, was received by the FBI on October 19, 1964 - two years after her death - and titled simply 'ROBERT F KENNEDY.'" The document says (starting around page 17) that Marilyn was "induced" to make a suicide attempt, as a way of garnering sympathy for her plight, and they led her to believe that she would be found in time to get her stomach pumped. Instead, she was left to die.

I hate it when the conspiracy theorists are right. Bastards.

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MovieByets:

ASA Announces Quarterfinalists

WBW Interview: Screenwriter Dave Kalstein

Hollywood Nexus Announces Contest Results

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SlashFilm:

Jonah Nolan to write Spielberg’s Interstellar
Bastard. I’m so jealous.

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Variety:

Superman Won’t Fly
Gee, maybe there is a God. Let it be said that in the war between Batman and Superman, Batman kicked his ass.

Despite Cruise’s best effort, Sony acquires Coppola’s film.
“Youth Without Youth' is what we call a full meal, satisfying in all departments," said Sony Classics' Michael Barker and Tom Bernard. "It is personal, sweeping, and entertaining. It is unlike anything we've seen before. It is the kind of innovative movie we've come to appreciate from new successful independent filmmakers while at the same time possessing a mastery of story, sound, and visuals that you can only get from a Francis Coppola movie. The title says it all.”

Also, Coppola talks Tetro, his next film.

Joe Roth recut Julie Taymor’s “Universe”
And, well, Julie’s not happy. Julie may take her name off the film.

Scribe duo sells animal-trainer comedy
"Warner Bros. has preemptively snapped up an untitled comedy pitch by Mike Lisbe and Nate Reger ('Space Invader') set in the world of wild animal training for mid- against high-six figures." The - what? Bastards. I can’t believe they bought that shit.

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CS Daily:

Attention Screenwriters With Fresh Out of Ideas
All Jonathan Lethem is doing is giving away the rights to his next book for free! If you're interested, you may want to click above. And, even better, in five years, the rights enter the public domain. (Dear CS Daily, you DO know how to write, don't you? Your title makes no sense.)

Writers Going to the Wells
John Wells Productions begins the Writers Co-Op, a production venture designed to give gross participation to screenwriters in the making of their films.

Crowe Looks Good in Bra
Russell Crowe will make his directorial debut for Imagine Entertainment with Stuart Beattie's Bra Boys, a fact-based drama about a surf community in Australia.

Beattie Gets His Gears In Motion
And in further Beattie news, New Line acquires the rights to Microsoft video game franchise Gears of War and hires him to write the script. Yes, he's busy.

Kevin Smith Is Somewhere Crying
Columbia Pictures options the rights to The Green Hornet, vowing to get the film onto the big screen after several false starts at various studios.

The Biggest Mystery of All
Even though the first one hasn't been released yet, the team behind this summer's Nancy Drew film announce their plans for a sequel, with Andrew Fleming returning to write and direct.

Another Dance for Adler
Fox Atomic buys an untitled spec from Save the Last Dance and Step Up writer Duane Adler. The script is said to be a music-driven tale of forbidden teen romance. Good to see he's branching out.

First Time's a Charm
First Snow's Mark Fergus how he and co-writer Hawk Ostby took their little independent film and turned into a writing gig on Iron Man.