After taking home the Best Director Oscar with Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle’s next film is 127 Hours, the story of Aron Ralston, the mountain climber who had to amputate his own arm with a dull knife after a 2003 hiking accident. The film will employ some interesting techniques, such as having two cinematographers and almost an hour of no dialogue. Joining James Franco, Kate Mara and Amber Tamblyn is Cloverfield and Party Down star Lizzy Caplan. Movieweb reports that Caplan will be playing Ralston’s sister and the film will start shooting in Utah this April. Read the full story

Last year’s Academy Award winner for Best Director, Danny Boyle, is planning to begin shooting on his next film, 127 Hours. It is expected to begin filming very soon with James Franco in the lead. It’s based on the true story of Aron Ralston, a mountain climber who amputated his own arm with a dull knife after being trapped for five days. Much decision was directed towards the movie when it was revealed that the film would have apparently over an hour of no dialogue in its running time which would presumably be around twice that length at two hours. How this would be accomplished in a successful manner is still being debated. Now, a second unconventional decision has been made for the production of the film.

The Playlist has learned that Boyle will be using two cinematographers for the film, the first of whom is Anthony Dod Mantle, who did his 28 Days Later, and the second is Enrique Chediak who worked on 28 Weeks Later, which Boyle himself did not direct. His reasoning for such a decision is a unique and follows as such:

We’ve got this idea that because there are so few characters in it, we’ll use two cinematographers: Anthony Dod Mantle, who did 28 Days Later, and Enrique Chediak, who did 28 Weeks Later. One is from Northern Europe and the other is South American. They’ll bring different things to it. Like in a conventional film you’d have a comic character and a villain.

This decision is one that I initially think “ehh” to, seeming like a gimmick at first glance. But when his reasoning is laid out, I actually like it. I’m not entirely clear if it will be a clear split or an interchanging, although I imagine the latter would present a bigger problem than the former, having a rotation of cinematographers on the set. Regardless, I’m confident in Boyle to make this work, because his work has shown that he’s a brilliant director, even when working with lesser material.

What do you think of Boyle’s decision to use two cinematographers for 127 Hours?

Several major casting updates have been confirmed by Mike Fleming over at Deadline Hollywood, and perhaps the most notable (at least in my opinion) is information regarding Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire follow up 127 Days. As most of you probably know, the film follows Aron Ralston, the infamous mountain climber who cut off his own arm to save his life. The big announcement has already been made that James Franco will star as Ralston, but we now know that Amber Tamblyn will co-star as Ralston’s girlfriend, with their relationship played out primarily (if not entirely) through flashbacks. I am extremely excited for this film, and after Franco’s masterful performance in Milk was overlooked by awards voters, I’d have to think he could be easy Oscar bait if this film delivers. Read the full story

According to Katie Featherston’s official twitter page, she has auditioned for Danny Boyle’s upcoming film 127 Hours starring James Franco.

Auditioned this morning for Danny Boyle (and he read the scene with me!) …Awesome.

For those that don’t know the name, Featherston played the haunted Katie in 2009’s breakout horror film Paranormal Activity. 127 Hours tells the story of Aron Ralston. The hiker who in 2003 fell down a cliff and got his arm crushed in a massive boulder. After 5 days he had no choice but to amputate the arm and make another hike to safety. The film is set for a winter release. It is unknown at this point what role Featherston auditioned for.

Would you like to see Katie Featherston is a Danny Boyle movie?

A few months ago it was revealed that director Danny Boyle’s follow-up to Slumdog Millionaire will be 127 Hours, which tells the story of Aron Ralston, the mountain climber who had to amputate his own arm with a dull knife after a 2003 hiking accident. It was rumored that Ryan Gosling may take the role, but now Production Weekly confirms it will be James Franco. The script is written by Simon Beaufoy, the man behind Slumdog. The first hour of the film will have no dialogue, as previously reported. Fox Searchlight is also behind this production. Read the full story

Here are some photos of the Sundance competitor Howl, which tells the story of Beat poet Allen Ginsberg’s famous obscenity trial against the State for the public reading of his controversial poem “Howl.” The film is directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, starring James Franco as Ginsberg, Mad Men’s Jon Hamm as lawyer Jake Ehrlich, who defended Lawrence Ferlinghetti (played by Andrew Rogers) for publishing the poem at his bookstore City Lights Books. David Strathairn plays prosecuting attorney Ralph McIntosh.

Photos courtesy of Slash Film:

Presumably Franco’s Ginsberg during his legendary reading of “Howl” in San Francisco at the Six Gallery in 1955.

Here’s two photos of the trial:

And here are the directors, Epstein and Friedman respectively:

Are you excited for Howl? Do you like Ginsberg’s work?

Sundance has announced it’s 112 films that are entering in U.S. and World Cinema Documentary and Dramatic film competitions. The films represent “38 countries by 43 first-time filmmakers, including 24 in competition. These films were selected from 3,724 feature-length film submissions composed of 1,920 U.S. and 1,804 international feature-length films. 79 films at the Festival will be world premieres.” The festival takes place between Jan 21st and 31st at Park City Utah. Some interesting films to note are Mark Ruffalo’s directorial debut, a new documentary by Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, It Might Get Loud) and films starring Jesse Eisenberg, Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Natalie Portman, James Franco, John Hamm, Melissa Leo, Laura Linney, Orlando Bloom, and more.  Check out the full list below. Read the full story

Variety has reported Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, Common, Kristen Wiig, Taraji P. Henson and Leighton Meester are all joining Tina Fey, Steve Carrell for Shawn Levy’s Date Night.The only synopsis we have is that a regular old date night becomes much more than one couple expected.

/Film breaks down the characters:

• Mark Wahlberg: a “successful and crazily buff securities expert” who gets to flirt with with Tina Fey. Note that their description says securities, not security. The ‘crazily buff’ description is what inspired the Wahlberg component of the top-of-post image.
• James Franco: a “not-too-bright con man and petty criminal”, so I guess he’ll be bringing back the face fuzz…?
• Leighton Meester: the babysitter. I bet this is the typical 20-somethings as teens casting gambit again.
• Taraji P. Henson: a cop. Variety didn’t include the P, so maybe she ditched it while I wasn’t looking. Apparently, she’s playing the only character to suspect that Tina and Steve’s characters are in trouble.
• Common: a villain. No more information given. Hmmmm.
• Kristen Wiig: Tina Fey’s best friend. Hmmm. Maybe Amy Poehler had something better to do.

It looks like Franco is continuing with comedy after Pineapple Express and the upcoming Your Highness. I’m interested in see Wahlberg in a real comedic role, as Max Payne and The Happening were both pretty funny, but in the wrong kind of way.

The film could hit theaters as soon as 2010. Look for Levy’s next directorial effort with Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.

What do you think of Date Night?

Hollywood Reporter is saying  Cillian Murphy (Sunshine, The Dark Knight), Ellen Page (Juno, Smart People), and Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose, Public Enemies) are joining Leonardo DiCaprio (Body of Lies, Revolutionary Road) in The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan’s 2010 summer sci-fi thriller, Inception.

DiCaprio’s character is mentioned as a CEO-type, while Cotillard would play his wife. Page is a young college grad student and DiCaprio’s sidekick. James Franco was also in talks to join the project but had to bow out due to a scheduling conflict with Your Highness. Nolan has kept the script strictly under wraps, only describing the film as a contemporary sci-fi action set within “the architecture of the mind”.

Inception is set for July 16th, 2010.

What do you think of this casting news?

Although some rumors have been circulating it is now official that Danny McBride and James Franco will be together again with director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Snow Angels) for the comedy Your Highness. The comedy follows two spoiled and arrogant princes in a medieval fantasy setting. When an evil wizard casts a spell on their father and kidnaps the older prince’s fiance, they’re forced to go on a quest to save their family and the kingdom. It will be scripted by Danny McBride and Ben Best, who played Chuck ‘The Truck’ Wallace in Jody Hill’s hilarious Foot-Fist Way.

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