Casting rumor

A POSSIBLE EN project?. FilmFour.com reports that Kevin Spacey is in talks to star in a remake of Elling, a Norwegain film that was Oscar nominated for Best Foreign Film this year (Thanks to Eric for the info!). EN is expected to take the other lead role. EN was offered the role of John Kelso in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil opposite Spacey, but passed on it due to "family and scheduling problems." Kevin Spacey in line for remake of Norwegian movie

McCain movie

Producers have bought the rights to Senator John McCain's memoir "Faith of My Fathers" to turn it into a film. EN was mentioned among the casting wish list for the role of a younger McCain. However, this triggered a weird sort of recall on something I had seen before on McCain, but it involved another Norton. Edward Norton's father Ed Norton, when he served as the Executive Director of the Grand Canyon Trust, called McCain "the Grand Canyon's best friend in Congress". Read for yourself in a speech McCain made to the League of Conservation Voters in April 1997. Ed Norton is no longer the director of the Grand Canyon Trust, he is working for the Nature Conservancy on the Yunnan Great Rivers Project in China- read Harvard Law Bulletin Feature Sacred Space. EN and his father apparently have different middle names, so the "Jr." and "Sr." designations don't apply.

EN on the NY stage

EN is returning to the theater. Today's New York Times reports that EN and his Death to Smoochy co-star Catherine Keener will star in the Off-Broadway production of Lanford Wilson's "Burn This" with the Signature Theatre Company next season. Before his film debut in Primal Fear, EN was in the world premiere of Edward Albee's "Fragments" for the Signature Theatre Company and is currently on its Board of Trustees. The Signature Theatre Company devotes an entire season to the works of one playwright. The exact dates of the production have not yet been decided. NY Times article [The New York Times requested that I remove this article from my website]. Burn This page

Palm Beach Film Festival

Hollywood.com has an article and pictures about EN, Anthony Hopkins, and director Brett Ratner receiving awards at the Palm Beach International Film Festival this past Saturday. Also, the Film Festival was treated to the "first public screening" of the Red Dragon trailer (although it might have been shown at ShoWest). Palm Beach honors "Red Dragon" cast, director [Thanks to Mindy for the info!]. There is also an additional article in the Palm Beach Post; Ed Norton, Anthony Hopkins at film fest fete The Paramount Pictures website has listed among their upcoming DVD releases "The Score Special Edition," but they don't give the release date or the new special features for this DVD.

Various news

Just some peripheral news this morning: Corona Coming Attractions reports that a teaser trailer for Red Dragon will be shown in front of "The Borne Identity" and "Windtalkers," which will both be released on June 14 [Thanks to Joanne for the info!]. Also, John Cusack is set to star in "The Runaway Jury." In May 1997, EN was signed for the film about a landmark tobacco trial which would have included Gwyneth Paltrow and Sean Connery and would have been directed by Joel Schumacher. It fell apart when big tobacco started losing trials in real life, it has now been reworked as a trial against gun manufacturers. Another interesting fact, EN turned down a role in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," due to family and scheduling problems, and the role went to John Cusack. For more on role that never worked out, go to the nonprojects page. Cusack selects "Jury" duty.

Baltimore Red Dragon filming

The Baltimore Sun has a great article on Red Dragon filming including the first picture from the set- a stuntman on fire rolling down the street Baltimore is stunt double for Chicago in new movie

V-day

Happy Easter! EN was one of the attendees at Saturday's V-Day Harlem at the Apollo Theatre which featured all-star cast of black, Hispanic and Asian performers including Salma Hayek, Rosie Perez, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Lynn Whitfield, and rapper Eve performing "The Vagina Monologues." V-day is held to raise money and awareness to stop violence against women. Go to V-day official website or All-Star Cast Performs at Apollo Smoochy placed 7th in the box office this weekend with an estimated $4.3 million.

Smoochy TV appearances

Smoochy is just days away, so check the Schedule of Appearances to find out when the Comedy Central Smoochy special will air again and when Edward Norton, Robin Williams, and Danny DeVito will show up on the Today Show and Letterman and other shows. Also, Comedy Central has a Death to Smoochy contest. Comedy Central website Today's Dark Horizons features interviews with EN, Robin Williams, and Catherine Keener. Dark Horizons interviews. Also, take a look at the conversation between Robin Williams and EN published in Interview Magazine.

Smoochy press

TONIGHT Entertainment Tonight will have an interview with Robin Williams [Thanks to Mindy for the info!] Read Robin's Rockin' Rhino. Both Variety and Hollywood Reporter have posted reviews on Death to Smoochy, however both are unfavorable. This comes as a complete surprise to me since all of the early info I've seen has been completely positive. The script reviews (and EN's comments about the script) have indicated that this was one of the funniest scripts out there. And the early reviews from people who have seen the test screenings have also been extremely positive. I don't know, but it might be too dark or edgy for the mainstream audience, so I guess we'll have to see how it turns out.

People And Places With No Name

EN will be one of the guests at the live auction benefit People And Places With No Name, which provides awareness and aid to victims in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and Angola, on Tuesday, March 19 at the Ace Gallery in Los Angeles. The benefit will feature performances by Lauryn Hill, magician David Blaine, and percussionist Burhan Ocal. Lauryn Hill To Perform At Event To Benefit Afghanistan, Ethiopia, And Angola. Just in case you haven't checked the Red Dragon page, you'll be happy to find out that Red Dragon has been pushed up to Oct 4 (from Nov 22)

Red Dragon on-set

Lights Out Entertainment has provided some behind-the-scenes info from the set of Red Dragon. Take a look at the quote below. EN as the Lone Ranger? Well, there's definitely a return of the Lone Ranger in the works with Variety even mentioning the possibility that Tonto could be played by a female. The trades don't include the possible actors, but The Sunday Herald does, mentioning Matt Damon, Josh Hartnett and Edward Norton for the masked man and Cameron Diaz, Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz for the female Tonto (or, as I like to call her, the "Tontette"). Hi-Yo Silver screen [Thanks to TruKalima for the article!]. But keep in mind, EN has steered clear of these iconic heroes in the past; he was previously rumored for lead roles in "Daredevil," "X-men," and "Spiderman." Then again, he is wearing a pink rhino suit in Smoochy, so who can tell? EN, Anthony Hopkins, James Whitmore and Red Dragon director Brett Ratner will be honored at the Palm Beach International Film Festival in April More info [Thanks to Joanne for the news!] Here's the Red Dragon info:

Edward Norton had some time off from the set of Red Dragon, while the crew finished up scenes with Anthony "call me Tony" Hopkins. Hopkins finished up his work as the menacing Hannibal Lecter about a week ago. Hopkins worked a total of three weeks on the film. A few scenes with Lecter took place in the cell from the film The Silence of the Lambs, which Oscar winning Production Designer Kristi Zea (who also did Silence), faithfully reproduced on one of the stages at Universal. A few changes were added which have to do with several new plot points. The film is about midway thru production with the remainder having to do with Ed Norton's character Will Graham's pursuit of Frances Dollarhyde (played by Ralph Fiennes). The company has several more weeks to shoot in L.A. before going off to Baltimore and Florida. Word is Ed Norton's behavior on set was strictly professional while in the presence of Anthony Hopkins, but now that Sir Anthony is off to his next gig, the real question is: Will Norton and director Brett Ratner get back to their shouting matches and stand-off's? We'll keep you posted. Thanks to Dr. Chilton for the scoop.

Red Dragon info

EW.com has posted an article which provides some new details on Red Dragon - How Anthony Hopkins will play a young Hannibal and Dark Horizons posted an interview with Death to Smoochy director Danny DeVito

Red Dragon trailer tests

Coming Attractions has a report from someone who was shown a test trailer of Red Dragon for market research purposes. Red Dragon page

Death to Smoochy premiere in Aspen

Death to Smoochy premieres TONIGHT at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen along with a Q & A with EN, Robin Williams, Danny DeVito, Catherine Keener, Jon Stewart, and producer Andrew Lazar. A segment on Smoochy will be shown on Friday's Entertainment Tonight which hopefully will include footage from the Aspen screening (you may also want to check Fri's Access Hollywood and E! News Daily for coverage) [Thanks to Joanne for the info!]. You may want to keep an eye on the Mag/VCR alert page in the future as more EN- and Smoochy-related related articles and TV programs start appearing: on March 5th- "Who is Alan Smithee" (includes American History X) will show on AMC and in a few weeks Comedy Central will air "Reel Comedy: Death to Smoochy", a behind-the-scenes look at the film [Thanks to Joanne for the info!]. An new Fight Club pic from a David Fincher article in March's Interview shows EN, DF, and Brad Pitt relaxing on the set in between takes (coffee in one hand, crotch grab with the other) [Thanks to Margaret for the pic!]. Unfortunately, EN and Fincher are set to go head-to-head on Easter Weekend: Death to Smoochy and Fincher's Panic Room (with Jodie Foster) will both be released on Good Friday.

Death to Smoochy official website

It's here and it's disturbing (but in a good way!). The official Death to Smoochy website is up and running: Do the Jiggy Ziggy!!! (don't ask, just click)

Hart's War, Who is Alan Smithee

EN's decision to pass on Hart's War is the topic of a small article in Entertainment Weekly (3/1/02) Broken Hart. AMC will air the special "Who is Alan Smithee" on March 5. The special deals with "disgruntled directors who ask to have their names removed from movie credits" with the bulk of the program looking at the conflict over American History X [Thanks to Joanne for the info!]

Smoochy banners

Warner Bros. has put out a number of interesting banners to promote Death to Smoochy (see above)

Smoochy TV segment

TONIGHT's Entertainment Tonight will feature a segment on Death to Smoochy

Smoochy trailer online

The Death to Smoochy trailer is now online at Yahoo! Movies Click here for the trailer. [Thanks to Joanne for the info!] If you want to see the trailer on the big screen, I saw it playing before Hart's War which is pretty interesting since EN was signed to play the lead in Hart's War, and then backed out, and then later signed on for the role of "Smoochy". Check the Mag alert page for some articles now available on Death to Smoochy

Casting rumor

POSSIBLE EN PROJECT- Ananova reports today that Sean Connery and Michael Caine are expected to star in the thriller Kolymsky Heights with Julianne Moore and Edward Norton also expected to take starring roles. Notice the word "expected", which means nothing's been signed yet. How would this fit into EN's already busy schedule? Production is due to start in the spring of next year. Sean Connery and Michael Caine set for big screen reunion [Thanks to Nina for the news!!!]

25th Hour announcement, Peter Salett performance

THREE ITEMS OF INTEREST!!!

• NEW EN PROJECT!!!- Today's Hollywood Reporter announced that EN and Spike Lee will be teaming up on the film adaptation of David Benioff's novel "The 25th Hour." Production begins in May in New York. Read the announcement- Norton, Lee clocking in for Disney's 'Hour'.
  
  
• I received word from one of EN's representatives that Peter Salett, who wrote and performed "Heart of Mine" for the "Keeping the Faith" soundtrack, will be performing TOMORROW Night (Thursday) at The Mint (6010 W. Pico) at 8 PM Sharp. He will perform his new, as yet unreleased record and EN is encouraging people to come to the show. EN and PS have been good friends since childhood. EN is currently filming "Red Dragon" in L.A., and he's trying hard to be at the show (and his schedule seems to indicate that he will be able to attend). So please go if you can. And you might even bump into EN. The Mint official site and Peter Salett official site
  
  
• The World Premiere of Death to Smoochy will occur February 28, 2002 at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, CO. Robin Williams, Edward Norton, Danny DeVito, Catherine Keener, Jon Stewart and producer Andrew Lazar will be present for a Q&A session. Read the press release

Frida official site

Miramax has posted a preliminary website for Frida with credits and a movie summary. However, the notable section is the screenplay credits which read "Rodrigo Garcia and Edward Norton (Based on a book by Hayden Herrera)". It's not news that EN worked on the Frida screenplay, this was reported about a year ago. Nor is it that surprising, since he has worked with the screenwriters on his previous films and is working on adapting the screenplay for Motherless Brooklyn . However, to my knowledge, this is the first time he has ever received the screenwriter credit on a film. I believe three additional people worked on the script that are not included in this credit and I don't know the WGA criteria, but I thought it was worth mentioning it.

Common Ground Film Festival

After working nonstop over the past several weeks preparing abstracts for the International AIDS Conference, I can finally do some well needed updates. And I just came home to some news: Edward Norton chaired an advisory committee to select films for the Common Ground Film Festival to be held on Nova Southeastern University (Davie, FL) Friday, February 8 through Sunday, February 10. The film festival is free to the public and the films were selected because they "emphasize the common humanity shared by people in conflict, illustrating why they feel, think, and act as they do." Read the press release. This event is sponsored by Search for Common Ground, an organization dedicated to conflict resolution and prevention. This is not the first association EN has had with the organization. Last December, EN received a Common Ground Award for directing and starring in Keeping the Faith, and his grandmother Libby Rouse received a lifetime award for her work with the organization.

Smoochy pics

Before I fall asleep in front of the computer, I added two new pictures from Death to Smoochy (see above). Also, found out that Warners Publicity is giving out the url for the official site as www.smoochymustdie.com. Unfortunately, it appears that Smoochy must die a little later than expected: Upcomingmovies.com reports that the film has been pushed back two weeks to March 29, 2002 (Good Friday).

Red Dragon filming

Happy New Year! Filming on Red Dragon is scheduled to start Monday and there are a few new pieces of info. The Chicago Sun-Times (12/31/01) had some comments from Emily Watson about the film (as well as a quip from Anthony Hopkins) Good Eats. Along with that article is some info from the Baltimore Sun (12/31/01) that seems to confirm the earlier info by 13thstreet.com that filming will take place in Baltimore- Around Town. Also of note, CHUD reports that discussions on a sequel to Hannibal are underway - HEEEERE'S HANNIBAL! Also, Upcomingmovies.com reports that the release date for Frida is October 11th, 2002 [Thanks to Joanne for the info!]