Paul Thomas Anderson may have found yet another brooding actor to balance out his newfound collection of yellow-haired Vince Vaughn co-stars. PTA blog Cigarettes & Red Vines (via) reports Sean Penn has entered talks to join Joaquin Phoenix, Benicio del Toro, Reese Witherspoon, and Owen Wilson in the director's next film, Inherent Vice. Penn would likely be playing a powerful and violent loan shark, also joining Jena Malone, Kevin O'Connor, and, amazingly, Martin Short in the Thomas Pynchon adaptation. Penn has never worked with the director before but nearly did back in 2002, when he was attached for a time to Philip Seymour Hoffman's role in Punch-Drunk Love. And speaking of, is there a reason Philip Seymour Hoffman not in this yet? I know he wasn't in There Will Be Blood, but come on. We all want to see that pudgy little face looking distressed. Let's get it in there.
Having built a reputation on his ability to take an aging, self-serious actor and press him into a one-dimensional killing machine, Taken director Pierre Morel has been hired to attempt another such transformation on Sean Penn.
Here's Gangster Squad's new trailer--the one unofficially dubbed "the trailer where there isn't all that shooting-up-a-theater stuff, because, well, you know." In light of the Colorado shooting, all the scenes involving gunfire in a theater have reportedly been removed from the picture, but this trailer should assure everyone that, otherwise, Ruben Fleischer's film seems to have its heavy violence in tact, with pretty much every non-sex scene involving some kind of Tommy gun, shotgun, handgun, exploding car, beating, and/or whatever violence happened to make Sean Penn's face look like that.
Watching Tree of Life--beholding all the beautiful imagery of space, creation, life, family, dinosaurs, and Sean Penn--Sean Penn could not help but be taken aback and wonder, "Do we really need all the Sean Penn? Seriously, what is this guy doing here?" In fact, he wondered so hard that his wondering came out aloud in a recent interview with Le Figaro. Speaking about his brief role in Terrence Malick's latest film, the actor somewhat scornfully pondered:
I didn't at all find on the screen the emotion of the script, which is the most magnificent one that I've ever read. A clearer and more conventional narrative would have helped the film without, in my opinion, lessening its beauty and its impact. Frankly, I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing there and what I was supposed to add in that context! What's more, Terry himself never managed to explain it to me clearly.
Come on, Terry, just give this guy an explanation. For example, in certain instances, the explanation for what Sean Penn is doing there might be, "He's there to pretend he's retarded and enjoy the Beatles," and Sean Penn will seemingly be perfectly alright with that terrible answer. Just something like that; don't think about it too much. His explanation standards aren't really that high.
I've heard actors say--particularly recently, with all the superhero films--that they sometimes only fully form an understanding of their character once they get their costume on, so I can sort of see how when you put a Robert Smith wig on Sean Penn, he might feel some need to project The Cure-style sullenness mixed with Edward Scissorhands-style meekness. But is there a reason he's playing "retired rock star" as "autistic goth who can't wait to mutter statistics about Cocteau Twins"? I'm genuinely not sure if there's an answer to that, but here that is:
- Agatha Christie rights holders claim the deal for Jennifer Garner to play a 38-year-old version of elderly detective Miss Marple isn't yet closed, though Deadline's investigation was unable to determine exactly what's going on with the project. Sounds like a case for Ben Affleck's wife.
- Ridley Scott wants to tell the Lawrence of Arabia-like story of Gertrude Bell and has hired The Constant Gardener writer Jeffrey Caine to put together a script to direct. After he tells the equally important story of Monopoly, presumably.
- And in mobster news: Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling have been offered the parts of mobster Mickey Cohen and a cop trying to bring him down, respectively, in Ruben Fleischer's Gangster Squad. Meanwhile, John Travolta is playing John Gotti, as was rumored. The Dogfather is finally on Netflix instant watch, too.
Filled with the kind of beautiful, carefully-shot imagery usually reserved for selling you things on TV, the trailer for Terrence Malick long-awaited film, The Tree of Life, is finally here for the watching. Let me tell you: the story of Brad Pitt raising child Sean Penn looks pret-ty epic.
Government cover-ups, everyone in trenchcoats and suits, gratuitous shots of D.C. landmarks, Sean Penn wearing his smartguy glasses--ut oh, guys, we've got a political thriller!
Sean Penn and Robert Pattinson are circling Fox 2000's "Water for Elephants," with Reese Witherspoon already attached to star and Francis Lawrence attached to direct.
Film is based on the best-selling historical tome of the same name by Sara Gruen. Scribe Richard LaGravenese will adapt for the bigscreen.
Set during the Great Depression, Gruen's book tells the story of a Cornell Unviersity veterinary student who leaves his studies after his parents are killed, and joins up with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, working as a vet for the circus.
Dammit! I hope this falls through. I'd picked Tim Robbins/Taylor Lautner in the office Mystic River/Twilight cross-over pool.
“We got him back,” Bobby Farrelly told the Track. “He always said he wanted to do it after, you know, taking care of his family.”
Allegedly, the Rhode Island-bred bros wanted to replace Penn with Paul Giamatti, but that didn’t pan out. So with their August shoot for “Stooges” DOA, Bobby and brother Peter turned their attention to another project - the lower-budget “Hall Pass,” a comedy starring Owen Wilson .
The funny flick is about a ho-hum hubby whose wife, looking to spice up their sex life, gives him a “pass” to play the field for a week. Hilarity ensues.
Forget this Three Stooges crap--this Hall Pass thing sounds HILARIOUS! For those too dim to immediately suss out that Owen Wilson will desperately struggle with accomplishing his week's task before ultimately reaching the conclusion that he loves his wife too much to sleep with any other woman, this film should prove a laughter-filled affirmation of the institution of marriage. Maybe you don't hate your wife as much as you claim when you drink.
The chances of finding Sean Penn jammed in a doorway with two other men has just radically decreased. Citing personal reasons, Milk has dropped out of both Asger Leth's Cartel and the Farrelly Brothers' Three Stooges, in which he was to play Larry alongside Jim Carrey's Curly and Benicio Del Toro's Moe. Variety notes it's unclear if the studio will wait out Penn's "personal reasons" or find someone even more unlikely-but-oddly-appropriate to fill out the trio. Maybe glue some hair tufts on the side of Dave Attell's head? Or just put absolutely anyone in this incredibly convincing mask.
The nyucking is all coming together. Variety reports that Sean Penn has officially signed on to play Larry in the Farrelly Brothers' modern take on a Three Stooges comedy; meanwhile, Jim Carrey is in talks to put on 40 pounds to play Curly, and Benicio Del Toro may be getting a bowl-cut:
Studio has set Sean Penn to play Larry, and negotiations are underway with Jim Carrey to play Curly, with the actor already making plans to gain 40 pounds to approximate the physical dimensions of Jerome "Curly" Howard.
The studio is zeroing in on Benicio Del Toro to play Moe.
The film is not a biopic, but rather a comedy built around the antics of the three characters that Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Howard played in the Columbia Pictures shorts.
Steve Martin grave robbing the magnifying glass from Peter Sellers' cold hands has got me used to the idea of modern actors recreating iconic roles. I'm numb to it. Even though I'd say this is far more heinous, being that the actors who played the Stooges are completely synonymous with these roles, I'm willing to let this stand as a misguided tribute.
What worries me, though, is the standard this is setting for the future. In 40 years, when I'm taking my grandchildren to see the latest Ice Age movie (this one has prehistoric mammals, dinosaurs, and jets), I don't want to be greeted with a trailer for a new Austin Powers, with some new actor shouting familiar catchphrases through prosthetic teeth. If we're going to let Three Stooges: 2010 stand as a precedent, the possibility seems too real for comfort.
"Never blend in." Just like Milk never blended in. I mean, actual milk blends into nearly any powder or other liquid with just a light stirring, but not Harvey Milk, and that's the point. I think. I don't actually get the point.
Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man elected to a public office in the U.S. (though some of the Founding Fathers seemed a bit iffy at times). He was then murdered by a fellow city supervisor who hated Harvey Milk being the first openly gay man elected to a public office in the U.S., because that's the American way. Gus Van Sant has made the story into a biopic starring Josh Brolin, James Franco, Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna, and Sean Penn as Milk, a role that will surely get him Oscar nominations and other prizes made of gold. Here's the trailer:
I knew Sean Penn was going to take on the role of politician and gay rights activist Harvey Milk for Gus Van Sant's Milk, but I had no idea he was going to be playing it as Dustin Diamond. I guess the gay angle would do a lot to explain Screech's willingness to join Zack's various harebrained schemes so eagerly; I just worry it could get distracting if he keeps hiding in his locker when a rival politician shows up.
