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Simon Baker will co-produce and star in an adaptation of Tim Winton's Breath, which won the Miles Franklin Literary Award this year. Published in 2008, the novel is set in a small town in Western Australia where two 16-year-old boys take up surfing under the tutelage of an enigmatic surfer named Sando (Baker) and his mysterious wife. Spurred on by their mentor, the boys test the limits of courage and recklessness as they try to escape their mundane lives. (Variety)
Winton, along with the likes of Thomas Keneally and Peter Carey, is one of our (by which I mean, Australia's) best-known writers internationally. Along with countless other high school-goers here, I was forced to read and analyse his novels in English, which pretty much ruined the chances of me picking up one of his books voluntarily until...about now. Jules Smith is spot on with this description: 'His books are boisterous and lyrical by turns, warm-hearted in their depictions of family life but with characters that often have to be in extremis in order to find themselves. They have a wonderful feeling for the strange beauty of Australia; are frequently flavoured with Aussie vernacular expressions, and a good deal of emotional directness. They question macho role models (his books are full of strong women and troubled men) and are prepared to risk their realist credibility with enigmatic, even visionary endings.'
Two other of Winton's books are also currently being adapted: Phillip Noyce (Rabbit Proof Fence) is directing a film version of Dirt Music, which Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz were attached to before the project was delayed; and Cloudstreet is being turned into a miniseries by Screentime.
Writer/producer Gil Grant talks about his ideas for the one-hour police procedural based on Andrew Niccol's futuristic thriller Gattaca. (MTV Movies Blog)
Trailer for Crazy Heart, starring Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall and Colin Farrell. Bad Blake (Bridges) is a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who's had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times. And yet, Bad can't help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean (Gyllenhaal), a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician. [imdb]
Stuart Townsend, Ray Stevenson, and Tadanobu Asano will play Warrior's Three in Kenneth Branagh's Thor. The trio are travelling companions of the Norse god Thor, played by Chris Hemworth. (Variety) [imdb]
Cinematographers roundtable with Dion Beebe (Nine, Collateral), Roger Deakins (A Serious Man, No Country for Old Men), Greig Fraser (Bright Star), Stephen Goldblatt (Julie & Julia, Closer), International Cinematographers Guild president Steven Poster (The Box, Donnie Darko) and Eric Steelberg ((500) Days of Summer, Up in the Air).