on the slate
Carrey plays a lovestruck prisoner, Harris books a cop drama and Cook is a bad date for hire
By Ingrid Randoja
Carrey breaks out with prison love story
It’s been a rough year for Jim Carrey. He fired his longtime agent last fall, three movies he desperately wanted to make — Used Guys, A Little Game and Ripley’s Believe It or Not — were shelved before filming started (although a revamped Ripley’s may begin shooting next year) and his last effort, The Number 23, pulled in a mediocre $35-million (U.S.) at the box office. But the Scarborough, Ontario, native hopes to change his luck with the just announced I Love You Phillip Morris, based on crime reporter Steve McViker’s book about the life of conman Steven Russell. Russell, a former police officer, was sent to prison for fraud but managed to escape from jail four separate times — one time he faked his own death certificate to break out — but he could never escape the love he felt for his one-time cellmate, Phillip Morris, which proved to be his undoing. The film marks the directorial debut of Bad Santa writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa.
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Naomie Harris in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
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Harris is one to Watch
Sorry to break it to you Johnny, Orlando and Keira, but you guys looked a little tired and droopy in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,
and it was Naomie Harris who stole the boat right out from under you.
The 30-year-old British actor’s portrayal of sea goddess Calypso,
a.k.a. Tia Dalma, in the Pirates
pic was both fierce and tender, and Hollywood types are taking notice
of the classically trained thespian. She recently started work on the James Ellroy-scripted cop drama Night Watch, alongside Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie and Chris Evans.
The film focuses on an alcoholic L.A. detective (Reeves) who is framed
for murder by his mentor (Whitaker), but who finds solace with a woman
played by Harris. Night Watch hits theatres in 2008. |
Cook fires up Bachelor
Stand-up comedian-turned-actor Dane Cook’s career is sizzling. His performance in the thriller Mr. Brooks turned heads, next month’s rom-com Good Luck Chuck will surely please his female fans, and guys may appreciate his upcoming comedy Bachelor No. 2, which starts shooting this month. Directed by Howard Deutch (The Whole Ten Yards), the movie follows the adventures of an emotionally stunted dude named Tank (Cook), who is hired by men to take their ex-girlfriends out on absolutely horrendous dates so the women flee back to their former beaus.
Briefly
• The last time Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell co-starred in a film (Overboard) Ronald Reagan was President, but that all changes when the couple team up for the set-in-India dramedy Ashes to Ashes.
• Stranger Than Fiction castmates Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman reunite for the romantic comedy Last Chance Harvey.
• Patrick Stewart is set to star in yet another adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.
• Mike Myers steps into Danny Kaye’s shoes when he remakes the classic comedy The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which focuses on a meek man’s heroic fantasies.