Happy Film Friday, a phrase coined by my editor Luke Owens. A lot occurred this past week, mainly announcements regarding the development of projects and the scrapping of one highly anticipated remake. Some of my favorite directors are getting ready to direct again and honestly, that’s all I care about.
Before we get into it, to celebrate David Fincher’s recent feature film hitting Netflix today, give my review of it a read. Spoiler alert, it’s an absolutely glowing review that’s void of criticism. In the same way Jared Carrabis is a homer for the Red Sox, I’m a sycophant for David Fincher.
Luca Guadagnino’s Scarface Remake Joins A Graveyard of Other Guadagnino Projects
Add another tally to the list of dead Luca Guadagnino projects. Guadagnino announced this week that he is no longer developing his remake of the 1983 Brian De Palma film, Scarface. Honestly, as much as it’d be cool to see, this is probably for the best. It’s so difficult to remake a classic. Just look at It from 2017 or 3:10 to Yuma in 2007. Neither hold a candle to what the originals were.
On top of that, who would play the role of Tony Montana? No current, young actor brings a vivacious energy close to Al Pacino. Guadagnino doesn’t really work with actors that are rough around the edges like Pacino. He’s worked with Timothee Chalamet, Armie Hammer (cannibal), Ralph Fiennes, and Josh O’Connor. Like I mentioned, this is probably a good thing that it’s not happening because Guadagnino also does a fantastic job with original projects like A Bigger Splash, I Am Love and Challengers.
While this project being dead is big news, it’s interesting to look at the other scrapped projects Guadagnino wanted to direct. There were rumors about a sequel to both Suspiria and Call Me By Your Name, two films where I don’t think a sequel is needed. He also had a remake of the 1963 adventure thriller, The Lord of the Flies that has been shelved recently.
What we do know about upcoming projects for Guadagnino is he has Challengers coming out in 2024. The tennis love triangle film stars Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist. In addition, filming on his movie Queer starring Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey wrapped over the summer. It’s nice to know that some of his projects avoid the axe and I’m excited for both.
Plot Details For Ari Asters Eddington Have Been Revealed
One of the most divisive directors of the past ten years has been Ari Aster. There’s no gray area when it comes to his movies, you either love them his films or loathe his films. For me, I’m split. I adore the horror genius of Hereditary, HATE Midsommar and enjoyed Beau Is Afraid. If you ask ten other people about Asters films, they’ll give you a different answer. And that’s what is amazing about a director like him. His films start a dialogue that showcases the beauty of movies.
With that being said, we have more information about his upcoming film Eddington. According to Letterboxd, the plot is “A couple, Lindsay and Marc, are driving through New Mexico on their way to Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic. The couple runs out of gas just outside of small copper mining town: Eddington. Lindsay and Marc decide to enter the town for help. They are at first greeted very warmly, but as nightfall comes, the picturesque setting soon turns into a nightmare.” What I find especially interesting about this film is the genres it falls in. It’s been filed under five different ones — comedy, western, crime, horror, and mystery. For Aster, that’s on brand. Beau Is Afraid is a mix of horror and thriller aspects with macabre comedy throughout.
Along with learning about the plot, we’ve learned about the cast of Eddington. In the roles of Lindsay and Marc, we’ll see Emma Stone and Christopher Abbott. This will be the first time either actor has worked with Aster. Along with them, in unidentified roles are Pedro Pascal and Joaquin Phoenix. Phoenix reunites with Aster after starring in Beau Is Afraid this year, so that definitely excites me. The film will be produced by A24, his fourth with the production company.
An Elon Musk Biopic Directed By Darren Aronofsky Is In The Works
When I saw that an Elon Musk biopic being directed by Darren Aronofsky for A24 was in the works, I had a lot of questions. The one that loomed the most though was, why? Why do we need a biopic of Musk now. I understand his cultural significance and I’m not a snowflake lib that’s offended by everything he does, but I don’t think this is entirely necessary. Musk is 52 years old and while there have been substantial moments in his career, what would the focus of the film be? When we saw The Social Network, we saw the rise of Mark Zuckerberg and (The) Facebook. The same goes for Blackberry this year, as the story of Blackberry is closed. Nothing else is happening with it. I’m curious what that “moment” is in an Elon Musk biopic.
I’m also puzzled about Darren Aronofsky being attached to direct it. All of his films are about devastation. From Requiem For A Dream to The Wrestler to The Whale, we see devastation and depression. Is that going to be a focus of this Musk biopic? I’m not too familiar with his backstory, but again, I don’t think there’s a moment that lives up to Aronosky’s past films that could make for an interesting biopic. Maybe Aronofsky will write in Musk doing heroin and getting gangrene on his arm or having Musk nearly eat himself to death. I just don’t know where the hook lies with this. I’ll follow along this story to see updates, but don’t be shocked if this ends up as a dead project.
We Are FINALLY Getting Denis Villeneuve’s Cleopatra… Or Are We
For years, we the people who love films have been teased with the idea of Denis Villeneuve directing Cleopatra. At some point, I gave up hope. I figured it’d be lost in the ether of other rumored projects like Coppola’s Megalopolis. But our wait is over… sort of. In a blog from World of Reel, they wrote about a report from Daniel Richtman that Denis Villeneuve’s next film, after Dune: Part II, will be the highly anticipated Cleopatra.
The rumored cast consists of Zendaya as Cleopatra and it was reported that Timothee Chalamet was offered the role of Octavius and Daniel Craig was being pursed to play Caesar.
NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND. In that same blog from World of Reel, they edited it with a note reading “Denis Villeneuve’s reps have contacted me and are denying Richtman’s story.” What the hell? Did we just get blue balled by a movie reporter with a Patreon? I got my hope sky high for this just to be let down in an insane manner.
The idea for the Cleopatra film will continue to intrigue me and even if this report’s not true, I’m holding out hope for Villeneuve to direct it. The script has been described as a political thriller that is dirty, bloody and contains a lot of sex. Hell yeah (Shane Gillis voice). But for now, we wait.