Bob Ellis was one of Australia’s greatest curmudgeons – but he should also be celebrated as a screenwriter, playwright, director and, yes, a critic
Bob Ellis, prolific writer and former Labor speechwriter, dies aged 73
Related: Bob Ellis: grubby, funny, wayward and original – and Labor to his core
As many of the obituaries written about him have observed, Bob Ellis, who died on Sunday at the age of 73, wore many hats and dabbled in many trades. His campaign against Bronwyn Bishop is legendary, launched well before denouncing the helicopter-chartering politician’s behaviour went viral. People have spoken about a lacerating wit and an indisputably brilliant ability to produce snap-crackle snark.
Continue reading...
Bob Ellis, prolific writer and former Labor speechwriter, dies aged 73
Related: Bob Ellis: grubby, funny, wayward and original – and Labor to his core
As many of the obituaries written about him have observed, Bob Ellis, who died on Sunday at the age of 73, wore many hats and dabbled in many trades. His campaign against Bronwyn Bishop is legendary, launched well before denouncing the helicopter-chartering politician’s behaviour went viral. People have spoken about a lacerating wit and an indisputably brilliant ability to produce snap-crackle snark.
Continue reading...
- 4/4/2016
- by Luke Buckmaster
- The Guardian - Film News
Production company Beyond has commissioned a script from writer Bob Ellis featuring the leadership battle between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd, reports The Daily Telegraph.
Tony Tilse, who directed several of the Underbelly telemovies is reported to be attached to the project as director with Stuart Quinn as producer, although there is not yet a commission from one of the TV networks.
Beyond’s Mark Hamlyn is reported to have been leading the project although he is moving to a job with Screen Nsw. Last year Beyond’s factual project Whitlam – with Hamyln attached won $70,000 project finance from Screen Nsw.
Meanwhile, as Mumbrella reported last year, Ellis is also working on a script about media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Last week Gillard said that she intended to hold the election on September 14.
The post Rudd and Gillard’s leadership battle set to be turned into TV drama by Beyond appeared first on mUmBRELLA.
Tony Tilse, who directed several of the Underbelly telemovies is reported to be attached to the project as director with Stuart Quinn as producer, although there is not yet a commission from one of the TV networks.
Beyond’s Mark Hamlyn is reported to have been leading the project although he is moving to a job with Screen Nsw. Last year Beyond’s factual project Whitlam – with Hamyln attached won $70,000 project finance from Screen Nsw.
Meanwhile, as Mumbrella reported last year, Ellis is also working on a script about media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Last week Gillard said that she intended to hold the election on September 14.
The post Rudd and Gillard’s leadership battle set to be turned into TV drama by Beyond appeared first on mUmBRELLA.
- 2/3/2013
- by mumbrella
- Encore Magazine
Veteran Australian producer Al Clark will receive the Aacta Raymond Longford Award in recognition of his three-decade career which has included iconic films such as Chopper and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
Clark, who emigrated from the UK in the 1980s after representing music acts such as the Sex Pistols and Phil Collins, has produced or executive produced 19 feature films. He has also served on the board of the Australian Film Commission (1989-1992) and participated in official juries of several international film festivals, including the San Sebastian and Valladolid Film Festivals.
..With a love of films that always transcends the frustrations of getting them made, I.ve tried to choose distinctive projects, to navigate them soundly, to find gifted people to work with, and to bring out the best in their considerable talents," Clark said after being told of the award. "I.m grateful to Aacta for...
Clark, who emigrated from the UK in the 1980s after representing music acts such as the Sex Pistols and Phil Collins, has produced or executive produced 19 feature films. He has also served on the board of the Australian Film Commission (1989-1992) and participated in official juries of several international film festivals, including the San Sebastian and Valladolid Film Festivals.
..With a love of films that always transcends the frustrations of getting them made, I.ve tried to choose distinctive projects, to navigate them soundly, to find gifted people to work with, and to bring out the best in their considerable talents," Clark said after being told of the award. "I.m grateful to Aacta for...
- 11/20/2012
- by Brendan Swift
- IF.com.au
Rupert Murdoch, the 81-year-old billionaire and the closest living embodiment of Montgomery Burns, is set to have his life story told, in indie movie biopic form, no less. The noted evil genius behind Fox News and an international illegal wiretapping scandal is going to be the subject of a new biographical film called "The News of the World," using the newspaper of the same name as a framing device for the narrative. What's more is that the movie, funded by Screen Australia and written by Bob Ellis and Stephen Ramsay, will be followed by a fourteen-part miniseries. Apparently what "The Dark Tower" project couldn't accomplish, a super-lengthy Rupert Murdoch biopic can. Ellis wrote the journalism drama "Newsfront" for Philip Noyce and co-wrote a miniseries in the '80s with Ramsay. Although casting has yet to be finalized, Ellis said that his first choice for the part of Murdoch would be New Zealand actor Marton Csokas,...
- 9/4/2012
- by Drew Taylor
- The Playlist
Lefties, beware. Looks like Rupert Murdoch might be finding a new forum to shine: the big screen. News has come in that the media mogul behind the television giant Fox New Channel will be the subject of an upcoming biopic project. Australian film funding agency Screen Australia has decided to invest money in the development of a script chronically the life and times of Murdoch, one of the biggest names in media today:
Called The News of the World, the biopic aims to tell the story of Murdoch’s rise (and fall from grace?) and frame it using the story of that newspaper - starting when he bought the paper in the 1960s.
Though he’s not every poli-sci major’s favorite name in the news, Murdoch’s rise to dominance is a fascinating one and based on the strength and experience of the writing staff alone, it looks like...
Called The News of the World, the biopic aims to tell the story of Murdoch’s rise (and fall from grace?) and frame it using the story of that newspaper - starting when he bought the paper in the 1960s.
Though he’s not every poli-sci major’s favorite name in the news, Murdoch’s rise to dominance is a fascinating one and based on the strength and experience of the writing staff alone, it looks like...
- 8/30/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Taxpayer-Funded Screen Australia Backs Anti-Murdoch Project Rupert Murdoch seems unlikely to be bothered that unabashed left-wing writer Bob Ellis is co-writing a movie about the publisher entitled The News of the World. Murdoch might, however, ask why Australian taxpayers’ money is being spent to develop the project. Funding agency Screen Australia is giving money to Ellis and his co-writer Stephen Ramsey to support development. No Australian distributor is involved yet. Ellis told Mumbrella the biopic will trace Murdoch’s career from his purchase of the Sydney Daily Telegraph in the 1960s to his buying the now-defunct The News of the World and becoming a U.S. citizen so News Corp could own U.S. TV stations. Ellis’ blog regularly accuses Murdoch of using his media outlets to champion his causes. After penning the screenplay of Newsfront in 1978, Ellis had a burgeoning career in the 1980s with films such as Fatty Finn,...
- 8/30/2012
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
Screen Australia has provided funding development for "The News of the World", a telemovie and potential 14-part miniseries follow-up which would explore the early career and rise of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Political commentator, speech writer, journalist and filmmaker Bob Ellis is co-writing the script with Stephen Ramsay. The famously left-wing Ellis has worked a lot on film and television, penning such features as "Newsfront," "The Nostradamus Kid," "Goodbye Paradise" and "Fatty Finn". He also hit controversy last year for heavily criticising current Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard while simultaneously gushing praise over conservative Opposition leader Tony Abbott.
Ellis tells Mumbrella: "What we have done starts at 1960 with his early career when he bought the Daily Telegraph off Packer and then to when he bought News of the World and how he burst on the world of America and became a friend of Nixon and got a license as a foreigner media owner.
Political commentator, speech writer, journalist and filmmaker Bob Ellis is co-writing the script with Stephen Ramsay. The famously left-wing Ellis has worked a lot on film and television, penning such features as "Newsfront," "The Nostradamus Kid," "Goodbye Paradise" and "Fatty Finn". He also hit controversy last year for heavily criticising current Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard while simultaneously gushing praise over conservative Opposition leader Tony Abbott.
Ellis tells Mumbrella: "What we have done starts at 1960 with his early career when he bought the Daily Telegraph off Packer and then to when he bought News of the World and how he burst on the world of America and became a friend of Nixon and got a license as a foreigner media owner.
- 8/29/2012
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Just last week, Landon and I discussed the risk Orson Welles and Rko took in making Citizen Kane, likening it to a major studio making a fictional movie based on Rupert Murdoch at the height of his power. According to Twitch, it won’t be made by a major studio, but an indie outlet is pushing forward with a direct biopic of the media mogul. Screen Australia is investing funds into developing a script called The News of the World, which will focus on Murdoch’s purchase of that same-titled newspaper in the 1960s as a way to tell his life story. Judging by his recent legal problems, it may not come with a Hollywood ending. The screenplay will come from Bob Ellis (Newsfront, Man of Flowers) – who hasn’t been active in filmmaking since the mid-1990s – alongside Stephen Ramsay. The acute danger of a project like this is that it will be far too blunt...
- 8/29/2012
- by Cole Abaius
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Screen Australia has committed almost $700,000 in development support across 23 feature projects.
Fifteen new projects have been added to Screen Australia.s development slate, while eight teams will receive continued support to develop their projects.
Two Australian filmmakers will also be supported to undertake overseas internships: producer Ma.ara Bobby Romia will work for six months with Screentime Group in New Zealand and director Ariel Martin-Merrells will work under the mentorship of director James Foley in Los Angeles for five months.
Screen Australia.s head of development Martha Coleman said in a statement: .Following a now well-established tradition, the development slate announced today includes a diverse range of compelling stories from both established and emerging filmmakers. The high calibre of screenplays coming through our door backs up positive feedback we are getting from the domestic and international marketplace and I.m looking forward to seeing the best of these projects make...
Fifteen new projects have been added to Screen Australia.s development slate, while eight teams will receive continued support to develop their projects.
Two Australian filmmakers will also be supported to undertake overseas internships: producer Ma.ara Bobby Romia will work for six months with Screentime Group in New Zealand and director Ariel Martin-Merrells will work under the mentorship of director James Foley in Los Angeles for five months.
Screen Australia.s head of development Martha Coleman said in a statement: .Following a now well-established tradition, the development slate announced today includes a diverse range of compelling stories from both established and emerging filmmakers. The high calibre of screenplays coming through our door backs up positive feedback we are getting from the domestic and international marketplace and I.m looking forward to seeing the best of these projects make...
- 8/29/2012
- by Staff reporter
- IF.com.au
The story of Rupert Murdoch’s rise to become the world’s biggest media mogul looks set to become an Australian TV telemovie,
Screen Australia has provided funding development for the work which is being written by Bob Ellis and Stephen Ramsay.
The announcement comes days after Southern Star’s production of Howzat, the story of how Australian media mogul Kerry Packer took on the cricket establishment delivered the Nine Network with 2m+ ratings.
The series has the working title of The News of the World.
The British Sunday tabloid the telemovie is named after was closed by Murdoch last year in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.
Bob Ellis wrote the Australian journalism drama Newsfront and most recently ABC’s Infamous Victory: Ben Chifley’s Battle for Coal while Stephen Ramsey wrote and directed The Baby Boomers Picture Show and Flashbacks.
Ellis told Mumbrella: “What we have...
Screen Australia has provided funding development for the work which is being written by Bob Ellis and Stephen Ramsay.
The announcement comes days after Southern Star’s production of Howzat, the story of how Australian media mogul Kerry Packer took on the cricket establishment delivered the Nine Network with 2m+ ratings.
The series has the working title of The News of the World.
The British Sunday tabloid the telemovie is named after was closed by Murdoch last year in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.
Bob Ellis wrote the Australian journalism drama Newsfront and most recently ABC’s Infamous Victory: Ben Chifley’s Battle for Coal while Stephen Ramsey wrote and directed The Baby Boomers Picture Show and Flashbacks.
Ellis told Mumbrella: “What we have...
- 8/28/2012
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
So three months ago, we made something of a leap when we launched an iPad edition of Mumbrella’s sister title Encore magazine.
Today we’re making another leap – we’re making it free. You can find it on the App Store here.
At the time, I promised to share what we learned along the way – and our numbers, no matter “how embarrassingly small”. And I’ll do that in a moment.
A lot has happened since then, and we’ve learned a lot.
For starters, I’m still in love with the iPad as a means of delivering a magazine.
When you’re writing about visual content such as ads, it makes a huge difference to be able to play them right there. And the experience of reading longer pieces beats doing it on your average website.
I’ve also found myself in various conversations – including at the Oomph-curated...
Today we’re making another leap – we’re making it free. You can find it on the App Store here.
At the time, I promised to share what we learned along the way – and our numbers, no matter “how embarrassingly small”. And I’ll do that in a moment.
A lot has happened since then, and we’ve learned a lot.
For starters, I’m still in love with the iPad as a means of delivering a magazine.
When you’re writing about visual content such as ads, it makes a huge difference to be able to play them right there. And the experience of reading longer pieces beats doing it on your average website.
I’ve also found myself in various conversations – including at the Oomph-curated...
- 7/9/2012
- by mumbrella
- Encore Magazine
When Prisoner began in 1979, no one could have predicted it would go on to air 692 episodes and become a cult classic. In light of Foxtel’s commissioning of Prisoner re-imagining Wentworth, Bob Ellis looks back at the original.
Watching the first episodes of Prisoner today, when Helen Travers (Kerry Armstrong) and Lynn Warner (Pieta Toppano) are ‘settling in’ (one is innocent of burying a baby alive, the other guilty of stabbing an adulterous husband who bullied her into an abortion, his death a scene reminiscent of Psycho) and Bea (Val Lehman) and Mum are released from what Scott Morrison would call ‘luxury accommodation’, we are less drawn into the unfolding stories and characters than we were in 1979.
We are less keen now to accept the bullying, the furniture-smashing violence, the unremarked corruption, the Governor’s piss-elegant Toorak accent, the male doctor’s bad acting, and the, well, imprecise morality at...
Watching the first episodes of Prisoner today, when Helen Travers (Kerry Armstrong) and Lynn Warner (Pieta Toppano) are ‘settling in’ (one is innocent of burying a baby alive, the other guilty of stabbing an adulterous husband who bullied her into an abortion, his death a scene reminiscent of Psycho) and Bea (Val Lehman) and Mum are released from what Scott Morrison would call ‘luxury accommodation’, we are less drawn into the unfolding stories and characters than we were in 1979.
We are less keen now to accept the bullying, the furniture-smashing violence, the unremarked corruption, the Governor’s piss-elegant Toorak accent, the male doctor’s bad acting, and the, well, imprecise morality at...
- 3/6/2012
- by Brooke Hemphill
- Encore Magazine
More than a decade after the controversial film’s release, Bob Ellis considers whether Geoffrey Wright’s Romper Stomper, starring Russell Crowe, has stood the test of time.
It was nine years before Tampa, four years before Hanson, but there it was, ugly, prophetic, violent, Romper Stomper. ‘This is not your country’. A frankly Hitlerist gang of tattooed thugs going after Asians with baseball bats, bricks and knives in Footscray alleys, defending Australia’s racial and cultural purity. ‘Won’t let what happened to the Abos happen to us,’ says Hando, the headshaven pack leader, urging his eager swarm of war-painted dysfunctionals on, despising pasta as ‘wog food’ and smashing up Japanese cars, pushing back the yellow hordes with Howardite gravitas, we will decide who comes here, and tribal pride. He may lose this war against the unceasing invader, but he will give it his best shot. Russell Crowe in...
It was nine years before Tampa, four years before Hanson, but there it was, ugly, prophetic, violent, Romper Stomper. ‘This is not your country’. A frankly Hitlerist gang of tattooed thugs going after Asians with baseball bats, bricks and knives in Footscray alleys, defending Australia’s racial and cultural purity. ‘Won’t let what happened to the Abos happen to us,’ says Hando, the headshaven pack leader, urging his eager swarm of war-painted dysfunctionals on, despising pasta as ‘wog food’ and smashing up Japanese cars, pushing back the yellow hordes with Howardite gravitas, we will decide who comes here, and tribal pride. He may lose this war against the unceasing invader, but he will give it his best shot. Russell Crowe in...
- 11/30/2011
- by Brooke Hemphill
- Encore Magazine
Subscribers to Encore magazine will this week receive the first new look edition following a major redesign.
The relaunch – one of the most significant in the title’s three decades – sees Encore remain focused on the screen industry, and widened to include content creation across other media too.
The pagination of Encore has been doubled as part of the relaunch.
Features in the first new edition include an in depth examination of Australia’s breakfast television shows, an on set visit to The Celebrity Apprentice, Bob Ellis asking whether Romper Stomper has stood the test of time and an interview with Trop Fest boss John Polson.
Regular columnists include Popcorn Taxi’s Chris Murray who discusses film funding and Ben Shepherd who examines how to get investment in online video production. The In Production section of Encore has also been doubled in size.
As a special offer, until next week...
The relaunch – one of the most significant in the title’s three decades – sees Encore remain focused on the screen industry, and widened to include content creation across other media too.
The pagination of Encore has been doubled as part of the relaunch.
Features in the first new edition include an in depth examination of Australia’s breakfast television shows, an on set visit to The Celebrity Apprentice, Bob Ellis asking whether Romper Stomper has stood the test of time and an interview with Trop Fest boss John Polson.
Regular columnists include Popcorn Taxi’s Chris Murray who discusses film funding and Ben Shepherd who examines how to get investment in online video production. The In Production section of Encore has also been doubled in size.
As a special offer, until next week...
- 11/21/2011
- by Tim Burrowes
- Encore Magazine
Festival director/CEO Katrina Sedgwick will step down from her position at BigPond Adelaide Film Festival at the end of 2011.
Sedgwick began as founding director of the festival in 2002 as well as managed and curated the Festival’s Investment Fund investing in 47 Australian films to premiere at the festival.
Sedgwick as also introduced the International Jury Prize, linked film to art with the Art and Moviing Image program and this year created The Hive, bringing together filmmakers and artists of other films such as theatre, dance, visual art music and writing which led to the $600,000 Hive production with partners the ABC TV and the Australia Council for the Arts which will see outcomes at the 2013 festival.
South Australian Premier Mike Rann said in a statement “Our vision was for a film festival that would commission, as well as screen films. When Bob Ellis and I met Katrina, who had done...
Sedgwick began as founding director of the festival in 2002 as well as managed and curated the Festival’s Investment Fund investing in 47 Australian films to premiere at the festival.
Sedgwick as also introduced the International Jury Prize, linked film to art with the Art and Moviing Image program and this year created The Hive, bringing together filmmakers and artists of other films such as theatre, dance, visual art music and writing which led to the $600,000 Hive production with partners the ABC TV and the Australia Council for the Arts which will see outcomes at the 2013 festival.
South Australian Premier Mike Rann said in a statement “Our vision was for a film festival that would commission, as well as screen films. When Bob Ellis and I met Katrina, who had done...
- 9/5/2011
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
There will be a public memorial service at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre on Thursday 26 May, at 2pm, for Bill Hunter’s passing.
For those in Sydney, there will be an informal get together at Bondi Icebergs’ downstairs bistro, also at 2pm.
Alternatively for those around the country, in the words of Hunter’s management, Mark Morrissey & Associates, “We invite you – whether you be in your favourite pub, a theatre, at home, in country towns, on the land, with friends – anywhere throughout Australia – on Thursday 26 – to ‘Raise your glass to Bill Hunter’ as a salute and a final farewell to a great man.”
Bill Hunter passed away on Saturday 21 May, approximately 8pm, from cancer, surrounded by friends and family.
Hunter had battled the disease and refused to enter hospital but was admitted to a Melbourne hospice earlier in the week, reports ABC News.
Encore contributor and Newsfront screenwriter Bob Ellis remembers...
For those in Sydney, there will be an informal get together at Bondi Icebergs’ downstairs bistro, also at 2pm.
Alternatively for those around the country, in the words of Hunter’s management, Mark Morrissey & Associates, “We invite you – whether you be in your favourite pub, a theatre, at home, in country towns, on the land, with friends – anywhere throughout Australia – on Thursday 26 – to ‘Raise your glass to Bill Hunter’ as a salute and a final farewell to a great man.”
Bill Hunter passed away on Saturday 21 May, approximately 8pm, from cancer, surrounded by friends and family.
Hunter had battled the disease and refused to enter hospital but was admitted to a Melbourne hospice earlier in the week, reports ABC News.
Encore contributor and Newsfront screenwriter Bob Ellis remembers...
- 5/23/2011
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
Bob Ellis on the Oscar-winning The King’s Speech (available on DVD this month), Biutiful, The Company Men and the passing of Sidney Lumet.
The Oxford scholar Peter Levi had a theory that Shakespeare was popular because he had only one theme. A man or a woman, he said, is given a task to which he or she is unequal, and comedy or tragedy follows. Thus Hamlet, an adequate joshing student, is a poor avenger, Brutus, an adequate stoic philosopher, a poor generalissimo, Othello a fine generalissimo but a dumb older husband of a young white wife, Malvolio a shambolic wooer, Viola a lousy transvestite, and so on.
This theory well fits The King’s Speech and explains its international popularity. We all of us as children have been made to recite, or sing, or perform acrobatics on stage, and have dreaded the anguished humiliation the experiment was bound to bring to us.
The Oxford scholar Peter Levi had a theory that Shakespeare was popular because he had only one theme. A man or a woman, he said, is given a task to which he or she is unequal, and comedy or tragedy follows. Thus Hamlet, an adequate joshing student, is a poor avenger, Brutus, an adequate stoic philosopher, a poor generalissimo, Othello a fine generalissimo but a dumb older husband of a young white wife, Malvolio a shambolic wooer, Viola a lousy transvestite, and so on.
This theory well fits The King’s Speech and explains its international popularity. We all of us as children have been made to recite, or sing, or perform acrobatics on stage, and have dreaded the anguished humiliation the experiment was bound to bring to us.
- 4/11/2011
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
Bob Ellis looks back at this year’s Sydney Film Festival.
We are forbidden urination after a three-hour film and herded bursting out into the rain and pushed in front of speeding traffic by big Tongan guardians of the Red Carpet while inside, in the ever-gorgeous art-deco foyer, barmen and pie vendors gazed on its lovely emptiness planning their bankruptcies and other careers and cursing, like all of us, the Clare Stewart Effect on world cinema.
Audiences entering successive sessions without hellish incident these last 113 years have not educated this woman; clamour, ticketless offices, caffeine deprivation, pissed trousers and lack of a chance to chat between sessions (or even sit on the marble steps) have characterised her Cromwellian rule for years now and several deaths, I calculate, from the pelting rain and it is wrong for her to preen her ghastly dress sense in golden spotlight just because certain films...
We are forbidden urination after a three-hour film and herded bursting out into the rain and pushed in front of speeding traffic by big Tongan guardians of the Red Carpet while inside, in the ever-gorgeous art-deco foyer, barmen and pie vendors gazed on its lovely emptiness planning their bankruptcies and other careers and cursing, like all of us, the Clare Stewart Effect on world cinema.
Audiences entering successive sessions without hellish incident these last 113 years have not educated this woman; clamour, ticketless offices, caffeine deprivation, pissed trousers and lack of a chance to chat between sessions (or even sit on the marble steps) have characterised her Cromwellian rule for years now and several deaths, I calculate, from the pelting rain and it is wrong for her to preen her ghastly dress sense in golden spotlight just because certain films...
- 6/23/2010
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
Here's your dose of casting updates for May 20, 2009:
• Colin Firth and Kevin Spacey are in talks to star in Hugh Hudson's big-screen adaptation of "Catalonia" by George Orwell. The story follows Orwell's journey to Barcelona, where he joined the Anarchist brigade to fight in the Spanish Civil War. Bob Ellis wrote the script. (Variety)
• Camilla Belle ("Push") and Tom Wilkinson have joined the English remake of Susanne Bier's "Efter brylluppet" (After the Wedding). Michael Caton-Jones ("Shooting Dogs") will direct the flick, which centers on a social worker who works in a Mumbai orphanage and receives a mysterious but huge donation from a businessman. (Variety)
• Chris Pontius, whose credits include "Wildboyz" and "Jackass," is set to star in Sofia Coppola's upcoming "Somewhere," about an actor who lives an extravagant lifestyle at the Chateau Marmont until he gets an unexpected visit from his 11-year-old daughter. Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning co-star.
• Colin Firth and Kevin Spacey are in talks to star in Hugh Hudson's big-screen adaptation of "Catalonia" by George Orwell. The story follows Orwell's journey to Barcelona, where he joined the Anarchist brigade to fight in the Spanish Civil War. Bob Ellis wrote the script. (Variety)
• Camilla Belle ("Push") and Tom Wilkinson have joined the English remake of Susanne Bier's "Efter brylluppet" (After the Wedding). Michael Caton-Jones ("Shooting Dogs") will direct the flick, which centers on a social worker who works in a Mumbai orphanage and receives a mysterious but huge donation from a businessman. (Variety)
• Chris Pontius, whose credits include "Wildboyz" and "Jackass," is set to star in Sofia Coppola's upcoming "Somewhere," about an actor who lives an extravagant lifestyle at the Chateau Marmont until he gets an unexpected visit from his 11-year-old daughter. Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning co-star.
- 5/20/2009
- by Franck Tabouring
- screeninglog.com
Hugh Hudson will direct the bigscreen adaptation of George Orwell's "Catalonia," with Colin Firth and Kevin Spacey set to star. According to Variety, Hudson ("I Dreamed of Africa," "Chariots of Fire") will direct from a script by Bob Ellis.Orwell's book tells the real-life story of how he and his wife Eileen traveled to Barcelona to fight Stalinism. Orwell then joined the Anarchist brigade and fought in the Spanish Civil War. The film will focus on the relationship between Orwell and Georges Kopp, the commander of the Anarchist brigade.Al Clark will be producing alongside French producer Alian Sarde and Fernando Meirelles.Clark was co-producer on the last film adaptation of an Orwell book, "1984." The film, released in 1984, was directed by...
- 5/19/2009
- by Adnan Tezer
- Monsters and Critics
Usually when I write about my surprise over a piece of news, it's in exasperation. You know -- writing about the umpteenth adaptation, remake, or reimagining. But could the movie industry finally be getting the hint? We've got Papa Hemingway on the way a few times (not to mention that yet-to-be-released Garden of Eden), Coriolanus, and now ...
Variety reports that Hugh Hudson is directing Bob Ellis' adaptation of George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia (simply titled Catalonia), with Colin Firth and Kevin Spacey starring. Yes folks -- Orwell did write more than 1984 and Animal Farm. In fact, the books inspired by his own life are some of his best work. This account focuses on his move to Catalonia (Barcelona) with his wife in the late 1930s to fight Stalinism*, where he joined the Anarchist brigade and fought in the Spanish Civil War -- which almost killed him. But rather than focus squarely on Orwell,...
Variety reports that Hugh Hudson is directing Bob Ellis' adaptation of George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia (simply titled Catalonia), with Colin Firth and Kevin Spacey starring. Yes folks -- Orwell did write more than 1984 and Animal Farm. In fact, the books inspired by his own life are some of his best work. This account focuses on his move to Catalonia (Barcelona) with his wife in the late 1930s to fight Stalinism*, where he joined the Anarchist brigade and fought in the Spanish Civil War -- which almost killed him. But rather than focus squarely on Orwell,...
- 5/19/2009
- by Monika Bartyzel
- Cinematical
Hugh Hudson will direct the big screen adaptation of George Orwell's Catalonia , with Colin Firth and Kevin Spacey attached to star, reports Variety . Hudson ( I Dreamed of Africa , Chariots of Fire ) will direct from a script by Bob Ellis. Orwell's book revolves around the real-life story of how he and his wife Eileen traveled to Barcelona to fight Stalinism. There, Orwell joined the Anarchist brigade and fought in the Spanish Civil War. The film will highlight the relationship between Orwell and Georges Kopp, the charismatic commander of the brigade. Filming is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2010 in England, Spain and then Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Uruguay.
- 5/19/2009
- Comingsoon.net
In more adaptation-y news from Cannes, Kevin Spacey, Colin Firth and director Hugh Hudson (Chariots Of Fire) have signed on for a big-screen adaptation of George Orwell's Homage To Catalonia. Literary icon, satirist, animal lover: there were many strings to George Orwell's bow, but it's less well known that he was also a rifle-toting socialist who was gunned down fighting fascists in the Spanish Civil War. Needless to say, he got up again and his Chumbawamba-style recovery is recorded in Homage To Catalonia, written on his return to England in 1938. It should provide a rich backdrop for the Hudson's first film since 1990's I Dreamed Of Africa. Catalonia will be magicked into script form by veteran screenwriter Bob Ellis, who will focus on the relationship between Orwell and Georges Kopp, the charismatic commander in the International Brigade with whom he formed a strong bond. Smart money is on...
- 5/19/2009
- EmpireOnline
Even Cannes looks short on ideas. Most of the projects to be born out of the festival have so far been adaptations. Eesh. The same goes for Catalonia, the bigscreen adaptation of George Orwell's book that will feature both Colin Firthand Kevin Spacey.
Colin Firth, Kevin Spacey for Catalonia
To be directed by Hugh Hudson off a script by Bob Ellis, Catalonia revolves around the real-life story of how Orwell and his wife Eileen traveled to Barcelona to fight Stalinism. There, the author joined the Anarchist brigade and fought in the Spanish Civil War. Film will highlight the relationship between Orwell and Georges Kopp, the charismatic commander of the brigade.
The film is expected to enter production during the first half of 2010.
Colin Firth, Kevin Spacey for Catalonia
To be directed by Hugh Hudson off a script by Bob Ellis, Catalonia revolves around the real-life story of how Orwell and his wife Eileen traveled to Barcelona to fight Stalinism. There, the author joined the Anarchist brigade and fought in the Spanish Civil War. Film will highlight the relationship between Orwell and Georges Kopp, the charismatic commander of the brigade.
The film is expected to enter production during the first half of 2010.
- 5/19/2009
- www.canmag.com
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