What’s
Ahead For The Stars Who Sat Out The Year
by Patrick Corcoran
There are many reasons stars disappear
from time to time. Detox. Botox. Liposuction. The state assigns
them to collect freeway litter for six or nine months. Sometimes
they just get tuckered out and decide to give the less-experienced
actors an opportunity. Who knows for sure?
What matters is we haven’t seen some of them for a
whole year and that’s grist for our mill, cream for
our coffee, sauce for our goose – in honor of which
we’re taking a gander at stars who’ve inexplicably
failed to grace our screens in 2004.
Missing: Sandra Bullock
Career Peak: “Speed” (1994)
Career Peak Domestic Theatrical Gross (DTG): $121.2 million
Two years notice, actually. Enough time for FBI special agent
Gracie Hart to go undercover again – this time as a
Las Vegas showgirl – in “Miss Congeniality 2.” It’s
a sequel to Bullock’s 2000 comedy blockbuster. Other
returnees from part one include screenwriter Marc Lawrence
(“Two Weeks Notice”) and actors Ernie Hudson
(“Mr. Magoo”) and William Shatner (“Dodgeball”).
Newcomers to the franchise include director John Pasquin
(“Joe Somebody”) and actors Enrique Murciano
(“Black Hawk Down”), Regina King (“Ray”),
Elisabeth Rohm (“Deconstructing Harry”), Lusia
Strus (“50 First Dates”), Leslie Erin Grossman
(“The Opposite of Sex”), Susan Chuang (“Simone”),
John DiResta (“How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days”),
William O’Leary (“Terminator 3”), Diedrich
Bader (“EuroTrip”), Heather Burns (“Two
Weeks Notice”), Nick Offerman (“Murder By Numbers”),
Abraham Benrubi (“Without a Paddle”), Becky Stockton
and Treat Williams (“Hollywood Ending”). Warner
Bros. cops to a March 18 release.
She then bumps into “Crash.” The drama, about
a car crash that brings together a multiethnic group of Los
Angeles residents, marks the feature directorial debut of
screenwriter Paul Haggis (TV’s “Mister Sterling”)
from his own script. Don Cheadle (“After the Sunset”),
Matt Dillon (“City of Ghosts”), Jennifer Esposito
(“Breakin’ All the Rules”), Brendan Fraser
(“Looney Tunes: Back in Action”), Thandie Newton
(“Shade”), Ryan Phillippe (“Igby Goes Down”),
Daniel Dae Kim (“Spider-Man 2”) and Tony Danza
(“Meet Wally Sparks”) co-star. It was seeking
a distributor following its debut at September’s Toronto
International Film Festival.
Bullock then essays the role of “To Kill a Mockingbird” author
Harper Lee in “Every Word Is True.” It’s
a drama about the making of the book “In Cold Blood,” and
writer Truman Capote’s relationship with the sociopathic
Kansas killers who murdered an entire family. It’s
based on George Plimpton’s 1997 oral biography “Truman
Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances
and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career.” The film
was written and directed by Douglas McGrath (“Company
Man,” “Nicholas Nickleby”). Toby Jones
(“Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc”) stars
as Capote, with Gwyneth Paltrow (“Sky Captain and the
World of Tomorrow”) as Peggy Lee and Sigourney Weaver
(“The Village”). Warner Independent Pictures
promises a November 2005 release.
Missing:
Jack Nicholson
Career Peak: “Batman” (1989)
Career Peak DTG: $251.1 million
He’s one of the biggest American movie stars of the
last 30 years, and guess what? He’s not doing jack.
Missing: Keanu Reeves
Career Peak: “The Matrix Reloaded” (2003)
Career Peak DTG: $281.4 million
Nicholson’s “Something’s Gotta Give” romantic
rival had three major films released in 2003 (The two “Matrix” sequels
and “SGG”), so we’re cutting him a little
slack on the whole couldn’t-be-bothered-with-2004 thing.
He pops back into action quickly in 2005, bowing “Constantine” Feb.
11. The Warner Bros. action thriller is about a pragmatic
occultist who teams with a female cop to investigate a suicide – a
suicide that may be tied to an angel fallen to earth. It’s
based on the comic-book character created by Alan Moore (“The
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”) and “Hellblazer,” the
DC Comics series in which John Constantine stars. Veteran
video director Francis Lawrence (POD’s “Alive”)
makes his feature directorial debut from a screenplay by
Frank Cappello (“Suburban Commando,” “No
Way Back”) and Kevin Brodbin (“The Glimmer Man”).
Reeves’ co-stars include Rachel Weisz (“Envy”),
Michelle Monaghan (“The Bourne Supremacy”), Peter
Stormare (“Bad Boys II,” “Birth”),
Tilda Swinton (“Young Adam”), Djimon Housou (“Biker
Boyz,” “Beauty Shop”), Pruitt Taylor Vince
(“Identity”), Shia LeBeouf (“I, Robot”),
Jose Zuniga (“First Daughter”), Max Baker (“Life
or Something Like It”), Laz Alonso (“Down to
Earth”), Larry Cedar (“Paparazzi”) and
Gavin Rossdale (“Little Black Book”).
The “Matrix” series cemented Reeves’ status
as the go-to guy for playing slightly disassociated sci-fi
heroes and “A Scanner Darkly” calls on those
skills once again. The thriller is about a narcotics agent
whose addiction prevents him from realizing that he’s
actually keeping himself under surveillance. It’s based
on the 1977 novel by Phillip K. Dick, upon whose work the
movies “Blade Runner,” “Total Recall,” “Screamers,” “Impostor,” “Minority
Report” and “Paycheck” are based. Richard
Linklater (“School of Rock,” “Before Sunset”)
directs from his own screenplay. Winona Ryder (“Simone”),
Robert Downey Jr. (“Gothika”), Woody Harrelson
(“She Hate Me,” “After the Sunset”),
Rory Cochrane (“Hart’s War”), Heather Kafka
(“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”), Jason Douglas
(“Secondhand Lions”), Marco Perella (“Friday
Night Lights”) and Dameon Clarke (“The Alamo”)
co-star. Warner Independent Pictures expects it to brighten
screens Sept. 16.
A supporting role as a no-doubt slightly disassociated
orthodontist is Reeves’ next appointment. “Thumbsucker,” based
on the novel by Walter Kim, is a comedy about a thumb-sucking
teen who, in a desperate attempt to kick the childish habit,
turns to his orthodontist and high school debate coach for
help. Music-video director Mike Mills (Air’s “All
I Need” and “Sexy Boy”) makes his feature
directorial debut from his own screenplay. Co-stars include
Lou Taylor Pucci (“Personal Velocity”), Tilda
Swinton (“Constantine”), Vince Vaughn (“Anchorman”),
Kelli Garner (“Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”),
Benjamin Bratt (“Catwoman”) and Vincent D’Onofrio
(“The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys”). It has
yet to retain a distributor.
Missing: Tommy Lee Jones
Career Peak: “Men in Black” (1997)
Career Peak DTG: $250.1 million
“The Missing,” indeed. Jones remains somewhat out of
sight in “Man of the House.” The comedy is about
a militant Texas Ranger who goes undercover as a cheerleading
coach to protect a squad of murder-witness cheerleaders.
Stephen Herek (“Rock Star,” “Life or Something
Like It”) directs from a screenplay by Robert Ramsey & Matthew
Stone (“Intolerable Cruelty”), John McLaughlin,
Scott Lobdell and Barra Grant. Jones’ co-stars include
Liz Vassey (“Calendar Girl”), Vanessa Ferlito
(“Spider-Man 2”), Kelli Garner, Monica Keena
(“Freddy Vs. Jason”), Paula Garces (“Harold & Kumar
Go To White Castle”), Christina Milian (“Torque”),
Paget Brewster (“Eulogy”), Anne Archer (“The
Art of War”), Brian Van Holt (“S.W.A.T.”),
Tom Reynolds (“House of Sand and Fog”), Shea
Whigham (“All the Real Girls”), Ricky Cavazos,
Ash Christian (“Serving Sara”) and Curtis Armstrong
(“Ray”). Sony releases it March 4 and couldn’t
be prouder. If you can’t hear it, they’ll say
it a little louder.
Jones is then set to make his feature directorial
debut with “The
Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada,” from a screenplay
by Guillermo Arriaga (“Amores Perros,” “21
Grams”). Jones also stars as a ranch hand trying to
honor a promise to his recently deceased best friend by returning
him to his Mexican hometown for burial. Ricky Cavazos (“Man
of the House”) was also set to star. Filming was expected
to have begun in late September. It has yet to dig up a distributor.
Missing: Matthew McConaughey
Career Peak: “A Time To Kill” (1996)
Career Peak DTG: $108.7 million
McConaughey is back to his stalwart action-adventure persona
in “Sahara.” It’s about an agent with the
National Underwater and Marine Agency who teams with a beautiful
U.N. medical advisor to uncover the source of a life-threatening
pollutant. Based on the 11th Dirk Pitt adventure-series novel
by Clive Cussler (“Raise the Titanic”), it was
directed by Breck Eisner (TV’s “Taken” miniseries)
from a screenplay by Josh Oppenheimer & Thomas Dean Donnelly
(“A Sound of Thunder”) and James V. Hart (“Contact”).
Penélope Cruz (“Head in the Clouds”),
William H. Macy (“Cellular”), Steve Zahn (“Shattered
Glass”), Delroy Lindo (“The Core”), Lennie
James (“24 Hour Party People”), Nathan Osgood
(“Velvet Goldmine”), Glynn Turman (“Men
of Honor”), Ranin Wilson (“House of 1,000 Corpses”),
Mark Wells (“Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”),
Billy Seymour (“Sylvia”) and Dayna Cussler co-star.
Paramount plots a March 25 release.
“Two
For The Money” finds McConaughey in a drama about
a star football player who, after a career-halting injury,
enters the world of sports gambling. D.J. Caruso (“The
Salton Sea,” “Taking Lives”) directs from
a screenplay by Dan Gilroy (“Chasers”). Al Pacino
(“The Recruit”), Rene Russo (“Big Trouble”)
and Jeremy Piven (“Chasing Liberty”) co-star.
Warner Bros. has yet to bet on a release date.
The actor brings his raffish
charm to “Tishomingo Blues,” based
on the novel by Elmore Leonard (“Get Shorty,” “Out
of Sight,” “The Big Bounce”). The comic
thriller is about a traveling stunt diver who becomes involved
with a drug trafficker, a con man and a Civil War battlefield
reenactment after he witnesses a murder from 80 feet above
a Mississippi casino. Even as you read this, actor Don Cheadle
(“After the Sunset”) is likely making his feature
directorial debut from a screenplay by John Richards (“Nurse
Betty”). Cheadle also serves as one of McConaughey’s
co-stars. Warner Bros. hasn’t set a release date for
this one either.
Missing: Jennifer Connelly
Career Peak: “A Beautiful Mind” (2001)
Career Peak DTG: $170.7 million
Connelly emerges from “House of Sand and Fog” into “Dark
Water.” The thriller is about a woman who, escaping
the misery of a custody battle, moves with her young child
into a dilapidated apartment that turns out to be haunted.
It’s an English-language remake of the 2002 Japanese
thriller “Honogurai mizu no soko kara” written
and directed by “Ringu” helmer Hideo Nakata.
Walter Salles (“Central Station,” “Behind
the Sun,” “The Motorcycle Diaries”) directs
from a screenplay by Rafael Yglesias (“Les Miserables,” “From
Hell”). Connelly’s co-stars include John C. Reilly
(“Criminal”), Tim Roth (“Silver City”),
Dougray Scott (“Enigma”), Ariel Gade (“Envy”)
and Pete Postlethwaite (“The Shipping News”).
Buena Vista goes with the flow Jan. 7.
Missing: Russell Crowe
Career Peak: “Gladiator” (1994)
Career Peak DTG: $187.6 million
The Royal Navy’s mighty sailin’ man continues
fightin’ round the world in “The Cinderella Man.” The
sports drama is based on a true story of a Depression-era
working-class hero who entered the boxing ring to feed his
family, and ended up defeating heavyweight champ Max Baer.
Crowe’s “A Beautiful Mind” director Ron
Howard (“The Missing”) helms from a screenplay
by Akiva Goldsman (“A Beautiful Mind,” “I,
Robot”), Charlie Mitchell and Clifford Hollingsworth.
Renée Zellweger (“Cold Mountain,” “Bridget
Jones: The Edge of Reason”), Craig Bierko (“Dickie
Roberts: Former Child Star”), Paul Giamatti (“Sideways”),
Bruce McGill (“Collateral”), Paddy Considine
(“In America”), Matthew G. Taylor (“Resident
Evil: Apocalypse”), Fulvio Cecere (“The Perfect
Score”) and Ron Canada (“The Human Stain”)
co-star. Universal puts up its dukes March 18.
Missing: Martin Lawrence
Career Peak: “Bad Boys II” (2003)
Career Peak DTG: $138.3 million
Lawrence continues to make a name for himself in movies,
this time quite literally. “Untitled Martin Lawrence,” formerly
known as “Rage Control,” is a comedy about a
college basketball coach who, having behaved badly at a game,
is reduced to coaching a junior high school team. Steve Carr
(“Dr. Dolittle 2,” “Daddy Day Care”)
directs from a screenplay by Ed Decter & John Strauss
(“The Santa Clause 2,” “The Lizzie McGuire
Movie”), William Wolff (TV’s “G vs E”),
Scott Moore and Jon Lucas. Patrick Warburton (“Men
in Black II”), Horatio Sanz (“Boat Trip”),
Steven Anthony Lawrence (“Cheaper by the Dozen”),
Oren Williams (“The Players Club”), Tara Mercurio
(“Daddy Day Care”), Amy Bruckner (TV’s “Phil
of the Future”), Alia Shawkat (“Three Kings”)
and Fred Stoller (“Daddy Day Care”) co-star.
Fox plans a March 25 release and a more descriptive title.
Lawrence lends his voice to “Open Season.” The
animated tale is about a deer who becomes pals with a domesticated
grizzly (the pet of a forest ranger) when the two find themselves
lost in the woods during hunting season. Veteran animator
Jill Culton (the “Toy Story” series) and veteran
visual effects animator Anthony Stacchi (“Ghost,” “Hook”)
direct. Ashton Kutcher voices the deer, Debra Messing the
ranger and Lawrence the bear. Sony has tentatively set 2006
for the release.
2006 is also when Fox plans to release “Big Momma’s
House 2.” Lawrence is slated to reprise his role as
undercover FBI agent Malcolm Turner underneath layers of
fat and house dresses. John Whitesell (“Malibu’s
Most Wanted”) was reportedly set to direct from a screenplay
by Don Rhymer (“Big Momma’s House,” “The
Santa Clause 2,” “Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination
London”).
Missing: Ralph Fiennes
Career Peak: “Schindler’s List” (1993)
Career Peak DTG: $96.0 million
Long out of sight, but soon not out of hearing range, Fiennes
is due next in “The Wallace & Gromit Movie.” The
stop-motion animated comedy – about a man and his dog
as they are called upon to protect an imperiled vegetable
garden – was co-directed by Steve Box and Nick Park
(“Chicken Run”) from a screenplay by Park. It
features the voices of Peter Sallis as Wallace, Helena Bonham
Carter as Lady Tottington and Fiennes as Lord Victor Quatermaine.
DreamWorks puts it in motion Oct. 7.
Fiennes gives a face to the long unseen evil
Lord Voldemort (himself missing in action since Harry was
a baby) in “Harry
Potter And The Goblet Of Fire.” The fourth installment
of the blockbuster fantasy-adventure series finds 14-year-old
Harry, having grown tired of the prudish and anti-wizard
muggle branch of his family, deciding to spend the balance
of his summer vacation with Hermione, Ron and the other Weasleys,
who are off to see the Quidditch World Cup. It’s based
on the 2000 novel by J.K. Rowling. Returnees from the first
three movies include screenwriter Steven Kloves as well as
actors Daniel Radcliffe (“The Tailor of Panama”)
as Harry, Rupert Grint as Ronald Weasley, Emma Watson as
Hermione Granger, Michael Gambon (“Sky Captain and
the World of Tomorrow”) as Albus Dumbledore, and Robbie
Coltrane (“Van Helsing”) as Rubeus Hagrid. Newcomers
to the series include director Mike Newell (“Pushing
Tin,” “Mona Lisa Smile”) and actors Predrag
Bjelac (“Eurotrip”) as Igor Karkaroff, Frances
de la Tour (“The Cherry Orchard”) as Madame Maxime,
and Robert Pattinson (“Vanity Fair”) as Cedric
Diggory. Other additions to the cast include Brendan Gleeson
(“The Village”) as Potter’s new “defense
against the dark arts” teacher, the fearsome Mad-Eye
Moody, and Miranda Richardson as Rita Skeeter, a gossip columnist
for a magical newspaper. Warner Bros. pours it into theatres
Nov. 18, 2005.
“The Constant Gardener” is a drama, set in Africa, about
a once-complacent English diplomat who, while investigating
his wife’s mysterious and brutal murder, discovers
that helpless Africans are being exploited and abused by
a major Western pharmaceutical company. It’s based
on the novel by John Le Carré (“The Tailor of
Panama”). Fernando Meirelles (“City of God”)
directs from a screenplay by Jeffrey Caine (“GoldenEye”).
Fiennes stars with Anthony LaPaglia (“The Salton Sea”),
Rachel Weisz (“Constantine”), Sidede Onyulo (“Nowhere
in Africa”) and Danny Huston (“Silver City,” “Birth”).
Focus expects it to sprout sometime in 2005.
“The Chumscrubber” is a drama about a high school loner
who discovers his purpose in life when another student is
kidnapped. It was directed by Arie Posin from a screenplay
by Zac Stanford. Fiennes co-stars with Glenn Close (“The
Stepford Wives”), Carrie-Anne Moss (“Suspect
Zero”), Jamie Bell (“Undertow”), Rory Culkin
(“Mean Creek”), Caroline Goodall (“The
Princess Diaries 2”), Lauren Holly (“What Women
Want”), Allison Janney (“How to Deal”)
and Rita Wilson (“Raise Your Voice”). It has
yet to secure a domestic distributor.
Fiennes returns to the kind of romantic drama
that made his career in “The White Countess.” Set in late-1930s
Shanghai, it examines a romance shared by a blind American
diplomat and a former Russian countess forced to work as
a taxi dancer. James Ivory (“The Remains of the Day,” “The
Golden Bowl,” “Le Divorce”) directs from
a screenplay by novelist Kazuo Ishiguro (“The Remains
of the Day”). Natasha Richardson (“Two Weeks
Notice,” “Asylum”), Vanessa Redgrave (“The
Pledge”), John Wood (“Imagining Argentina”),
Madeleine Potter (“The Golden Bowl”) and Lynn
Redgrave (“Kinsey”) co-star. Sony Pictures Classics
has yet to set a release date.
Fiennes rejoins his “English Patient” co-star
Kristin Scott Thomas (“Gosford Park”) in “Chromophobia.” It’s
a psychological drama about a middle-class family coming
apart under the stress of celebrity and success. It was written
and directed by Fiennes’ sister, Martha (“Onegin”).
Penélope Cruz (“Sahara”), Rhys Ifans (“Vanity
Fair”), Ian Holm (“The Day After Tomorrow”),
Ben Chaplin (“Stage Beauty”), Damian Lewis (“Dreamcatcher”),
Harriet Walters (“Bright Young Things”) and Fiennes’ brother, Joseph (“Luther”) co-star. It has yet to secure
a domestic distributor.
Missing: Michael Douglas
Career Peak: “Fatal Attraction” (1994)
Career Peak DTG: $156.6 million
Douglas is reportedly set to star in the adaptation of Arthur
Miller’s play “The Ride Down Mt. Morgan.” The
comedy is about a bigamist who worries his two wives will
meet after a car accident hospitalizes him. Nicole Kassell
(the upcoming “The Woodsman”) is expected to
direct from a screenplay by Kassell and Jesse Wigutow (“It
Runs in the Family”). No other cast or distributor
has been set.
Douglas is also in the planning stages for “Racing
the Monsoon,” a sequel to his 1980s adventure comedy
hits “Romancing the Stone” and “Jewel of
the Nile.” According to newspaper reports in India,
Douglas was in that country scouting locations and wooing
actress – and former Miss World – Aishwarya Rai
(the upcoming “Bride and Prejudice”) to play
adventurer Jack Colton’s beautiful nemesis. There is
no word on whether Kathleen Turner would reprise her role
as romance novelist Joan Wilder or Danny DeVito would return
as Ralph. Filming is reportedly set to get underway in 2005.
Fox released the two earlier installments, but no distributor
or release date has been announced.
Missing: Chris Tucker
Career Peak: “Rush Hour 2” (2001)
Career Peak DTG: $226.0 million
MIA poster child Tucker (with three consecutive appearances)
has been called the highest paid non-working actor in Hollywood.
His reported $20 million salary for “Rush Hour 2” might
seem inducement enough to lure him back before the cameras,
but the enigmatic funnyman has remained stubbornly absent
from cinema screens. “Rush Hour 3” and “4” may
finally change that. New Line reportedly plans to film the
sequels simultaneously (sparing them the trouble of wooing
the recalcitrant Tucker a fourth time). Returnees from the
first two installments of the culture-clash action comedy
series are expected to include stars Tucker and Jackie Chan
(“Around the World in 80 Days”) and director
Brett Ratner (“Red Dragon,” “After the
Sunset”). The script is by Jeff Eastin (“Held
Up”). New Line plans a 2005 release for “3” and
is keeping mum about “4.”
Missing: Winona Ryder
Career Peak: “Mr. Deeds” (2002)
Career Peak DTG: $126.2 million
In addition to her role in the previously mentioned drug-themed
project “A Scanner Darkly,” Ryder in January
is set to begin filming “Mary Warner” with her “Heathers” director
Michael Lehmann (“The Truth About Cats & Dogs,” “My
Giant”). It’s a comedy about the misadventures
of an unambitious actress who accidentally eats a batch of
her roommate’s marijuana-laced brownies. Actor Dylan
Haggerty (“Con Air”) wrote the screenplay.
Missing: Harrison Ford
Career Peak: “Star Wars” (1977)
Career Peak DTG: $460.2 million
Ford is reportedly set to begin filming “The
Wrong Element” this fall. The thriller
is about a high-powered security expert who, in order to
rescue his kidnapped family,
must “withdraw” a large sum of money from the
bank he was hired to protect. Mark Pellington (“The
Mothman Prophecies”) was originally set to direct from
a screenplay by Joe Forte until family issues forced him
to withdraw. A replacement hadn’t been announced at
press time, but published reports had Warner Bros. holding
to an autumn start to filming. Ford (“Hollywood Homicide”)
and Paul Bettany (“Wimbledon”) were set to star.
No release date has been announced. 
