Photo by Art Streiber

THE VISION THING

BY RICK TETZELI

How Marty Scorsese risked it all and lived to risk again in Hollywood.

AT 69, AN AGE WHEN MOST HOLLYWOOD DIRECTORS have been packed off after a hollow cavalcade of plaudits, roasts, and nostalgic fetes, Martin Scorsese is once again panicked about hitting a deadline. His new movie is Hugo, a 3-D children’s movie being released by Paramount Pictures this Thanksgiving weekend, and Scorsese has never before directed in 3-D, nor, God knows, made anything resembling a kid flick. But this is what life is like for Marty, as everyone calls him. The director has achieved the trifecta of a fulfilling, creative life: enough money to do only what truly interests him, enough freedom to attack those projects in a way that is satisfying, and enough appreciation from his peers to tame–just slightly, just ever so slightly–the neurotic beast of self-doubt.

via Martin Scorsese On Vision In Hollywood | Fast Company.

If this sounds familiar, like youve heard this same story just over a year ago, then dont worry youre not crazy. Brian Fuller last season had tried to reboot the classic 60s comedy. A pilot was ordered, but the first script was less than satisfactory, so NBC didnt move ahead. In the past year things have changed as the new NBC chief Bob Greenblatt took over the network, and decided to keep The Munsters alive. Apparently Fuller has worked out the kinks in the initial script, and all steam ahead.

via NBC Orders Pilot for The Munsters Remake.

We were more than a little disappointed when Kevin Costner left Quentin Tarantinos Django Unchained a couple of weeks ago, but QT has recast someone even more awesome in the role: Kurt Russell.Yep, the former child actor and all-round 80s icon will be playing Ace, a cruel SOB who runs Calvin Candies Leonardo DiCaprio plantation with an iron fist, making the lives of the slaves unbearable.This isnt the first time Russell has stepped up to the plate for QT; he also replaced Mickey Rourke in Death Proof at the 11th hour and, in doing so, bagged one of his most badass roles in ages.With Ace, it sounds like Tarantino is going to exploit that side of Russell again, and we cant bloody wait to see the results.

via Kurt Russell replaces Kevin Costner in Django Unchained | TotalFilm.com.

Foxx will play the title role of Django, a freed slave who teams with a German bounty hunter to take on an evil plantation owner in order to retrieve his long-lost love, Broomhilda. Kerry Washington, who played opposite Foxx in “Ray,” has met with Tarantino for the latter role; she’s one of a handful of contenders in the mix.Leonardo DiCaprio has been set as the sadistic slavemaster Calvin Candie, while Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” star Christoph Waltz will play Django’s friend and mentor. Samuel L. Jackson is expected to play Stephen, Candie’s right-hand man.

via Tarantino unchains Django: It’s Foxx – Entertainment News, Film News, Media – Variety.

Johnny Depp has officially signed on to star in the remake of Oscar-nominated 1934 film noir The Thin Man.The Pirates Of The Caribbean actor has signed on to lead the new version of Dashiell Hammett’s film, with his Pirates 4 director Rob Marshall at the helm.“John and I are overjoyed at the idea of working with Johnny again, especially on such a classy and classic project,” says Marshall.“We are also thrilled to be partnering this time with such wonderful producers as Christi Dembroski and Kevin McCormick, and we are looking forward to working with Warner Bros. to create a reinvention of a beloved story.”

via Johnny Depp and Rob Marshall remaking The Thin Man | TotalFilm.com.

Will Smith is the front-runner to star in Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming “Southern,” Django Unchained, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The Django script is said to be receiving “wide acclaim” from insiders. Tarantino wants Smith to play the title character, a freed slave in search of his wife. The director is also eyeing Christoph Waltz to play Django’s sidekick, a German bounty hunter aiming to take down an evil plantation owner

via Quentin Tarantino Eyeing Will Smith for Django Unchained — Vulture.

Filmmakers know that finding cash is one of the hardest parts of filmmaking. While some film festivals offer prestige and exposure as their only rewards think Sundance, Toronto, many smaller festivals offer prizes with cash or in-kind awards—often the first financial return for the filmmakers’ hard work. With that in mind, indieWIRE has collected information from some of the world’s most important film festivals on what cash prizes they offered in association with their film awards.

via Filmmaker Toolkit | Where to Win Film Festival Cash Awards – indieWIRE.

Quentin Tarantino is coming back home to America — and entering one of the darkest times in its history — for his next major film.After taking on Nazi Germany with the Brad Pitt-led band of “Inglourious Basterds,” WME, Tarantino’s agency, confirmed that he’s finished writing the script for “Django Unchained,” a Spaghetti Western that, according to Tarantino Archives via Indiewire, will pay homage to Italian director Sergio Corbucci’s original “Django” and Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike’s “Sukiyaki Western Django.”Tarantino actually appeared in “Sukiyaki,” making a cameo as a character named Ringo.

via ‘Django Unchained’: Quentin Tarantino’s Spaghetti Western Script Finished.

The movie investors Robert Ogden Barnum, left in foreground, and Michael Benaroya at the American Film Market.

A flood of new investors, cautions Mr. Kosove, might easily expand the number of films being made, once again pushing up costs and making it difficult to find distributors. For the moment, however, “it’s a great time” for those with ready capital, said Rick Schwartz, a producer who has been aligned with Alan Bernon, a Texas dairy executive and investor.Among their projects is “Machete,” an over-the-top action caper that was directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis, and took in about $26.6 million at the domestic box office after 20th Century Fox released it in September.Mr. Schwartz reckons that the film cost $10.5 million, after some help from a Texas subsidy program. Domestic rights went to Fox for about $9 million, and foreign rights, he said, brought nearly $12 million — so the film’s revenue to the producer and partners was roughly double its cost.And that, he said, “is a pretty good model.”

via With Studios Wary, Investors Come to Hollywood – NYTimes.com.