Ang Lee’s next project is set to go before the cameras later this month. Lee’s longtime producing partner James Schamus has adapted the memoir Taking Woodstock by Elliot Tiber, “who played a role in helping the historic 1969 music fest unfold on his neighbor's farm.” Variety sez Demetri Martin of The Daily Show will play Tiber, “an aspiring interior designer in Greenwich Village obliged to run the family business, a Catskills motel. In summer 1969, he found himself at the center of a generation-defining experience when he volunteered the motel to be the home base for Woodstock concert organizers after his neighbor, Max Yasgur, made his farm available for the event.” Our advice to young Mr. Martin: avoid the brown acid.
Jackie Chan is set to star in an action-comedy that the Hollywood Reporter assure us is 100% Chris Tucker-free. The Spy Next Door “centers on a man (Chan) who is called to baby-sit his neighbor's children and winds up having to fight off secret agents after one of the kids inadvertently downloads a secret code.”
Remember when John Grisham adaptations were all the rage? I don’t recall what the last one was and I had no idea the legal thriller maestro had written something called Playing for Pizza, but that will be the next Grisham flick to reach the screen. The story “revolves around a veteran NFL quarterback who winds up on a semi-pro team in Italy after blowing his last chance to lead a team to the Super Bowl,” according to Variety. Director Adam Shankman (Hairspray) envisions a cross between North Dallas Forty and Jerry Maguire. Maybe we’ve finally found a landing spot for Brett Favre.
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