How can you pass up the Tinseltown rumor mill when Thomas Pynchon's name is invoked? According to the Hollywood Reporter, Robert Downey Jr. "is making plans to fill the fall hole in his schedule with the lead role in Inherent Vice for writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson. Anderson has been working on a screenplay adaptation of the 2009 Thomas Pynchon novel while trying to get another film--an untitled exploration of a religious organization sometimes referred to as The Master--off the ground. Once Downey dropped out of Disney's Oz, the Great and Powerful last month, it freed him to do another movie later this year after he shoots The Avengers for Marvel and Disney. His commitment to Anderson's movie has recently grown serious."
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Comic actor Steve Carell, who is leaving NBC's hit series The Office, will star in and produce a film adaptation of Carolyn Parkhurst's novel Dogs of Babel for Mandate Pictures. The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Mandate "plans on finding a director ASAP."
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Martin Scorsese plans to direct The Wolf of Wall Street, adapted by Terry Winter (Boardwalk Empire) from Jordan Belfort's memoir. Deadline.com reported that Scorsese will begin shooting the film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, "after he finishes post on Hugo Cabret and then films his dream project, Silence, an adaptation of the Shusaku Endo book that now has Benicio Del Toro attached."
"After almost four years in development, I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I am to finally be working with Leo and Marty on this," said Belfort. "They're the ultimate dream team, and it was definitely worth the wait."
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It's a long way from Long Island, but Baz Luhrmann's 3D version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby will begin shooting in Sydney, Australia, next August after a deal was signed with the New South Wales (NSW) state government recently. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Jay Gatsby, while Carey Mulligan has been offered the role of Daisy Buchanan, the Hollywood Reporter wrote.
"This comes at a good time for the film industry," said NSW Premier Kristina Kenneally. "Australia was thought to be losing international filmmaking due to the strong Aussie dollar--put simply, this is a big win."