BOP Daily News
November 3, 2003
The spirit of BOP News lives on in
This is So Last Week,
our pop culture week-in-review,
presented in a pleasing quiz form.
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Nice work if you can get it. First Renée Zellweger was given a bonus to gain weight in order to reprise her role as Bridget Jones, and now she’s being offered several million to lose it. Weight Watchers, apparently looking to replace former royal Sarah Ferguson as their spokesperson, is trying to tempt Zellweger into appearing in their commercials as she loses the 30 pounds she gained for filming. The deal, reportedly worth $3.2 million, is considered by many insiders to be easy money, although most normal women would consider the money Zellweger got to gain the weight in the first place the more painless end of the deal.
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The Rock is becoming quite the sought-after fellow. Currently lensing the remake of the 1973 hicksploitation classic Walking Tall, and being courted for roles in the Get Shorty sequel Be Cool and the live action/animated film Instant Karma, The Rock is now also reportedly attached to Warner Bros’ live-action adaptation of the Cartoon Network’s Johnny Bravo. The film would follow the title character in his search for his long-lost father, and is being touted as a coming-of-age action/comedy. As far as we can tell, the Rock would neither be gay nor just a voice in this one, but whether he will be required to beat up large numbers of people, swing a large, sharp object or wander around for extended periods in a loincloth has yet to be determined.
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Perhaps the news isn't all bad for Ben Affleck these days. Having recently received Tom Clancy’s endorsement for the next Jack Ryan film, Affleck is now reportedly attached to star in Jerry Bruckheimer’s next film, Glory Road. The film would focus on college basketball coach Don Haskins, who shattered the collegiate color barrier by leading the first all-black line-up in NCAA history to the 1966 championship. Affleck previously worked on the Bruckheimer-produced blockbusters Armageddon and Pearl Harbor. No word on a director yet for the project, but if Affleck’s luck truly is changing, it won’t be spawn of Satan Michael Bay.
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Sigh. As if there wasn’t enough to horrify audiences about pending releases, now comes a report that there will be a race between Dimension Films and MGM to see who gets to the theatres first with a remake of The Amityville Horror. Yes, you read that correctly; two studios are competing with each other to see who wins the distinction of remaking a contender for one of the worst horror films of all time. In order to skirt the rather delicate legal issue of MGM owning the remake rights to the original film, Dimension has instead bought up the rights to George Lutz’s story. The Lutzs, you may or may not recall - or care - are the family that were so terrorized by the voices and ghostly writings and flies appearing out of nowhere that they fled the house after only living there for a brief period. The Dimension film would reportedly be set 25 years after the Lutzs beat a hasty retreat. Meanwhile, several studios are in a pitched battle to secure the rights to tell the disaster story of two studios competing to remake a film that never should have been made in the first place.
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Universal Pictures has optioned yet another comic-book character for the big screen, this one DC Comics’ The Psycho. The story centers on a man forced to become a superhuman government agent, an occupation for which he has great hatred, when he is accused of a crime he didn’t commit. Since the character lasted through three comic books, Universal no doubt hopes for - say it with us now - a franchise. One rejected plotline would have had the reluctant superhero working feverishly to prevent a new Amityville Horror flick from getting to theatres.
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"Did IQs just drop sharply while I was away?"
Box Office Prophets offers quality, reliable news about the entertainment industry. BOP is also entertaining. To that end, please be advised that some content in this column is intended to be humorous and should not be considered factual.
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