Has any casting decision ever carried with it the same air of inexplicable perfection as Willem Dafoe playing Andy Warhol? Expanding his slate of controversial ’60s artists, a Film Stage favorite has been added to the lineup of the much-anticipated Saint Laurent, which sees helmer Bertrand Bonello (House of Pleasures) explore the famed, titular fashion designer; their paths crossed in 1972, and art history was made. While Allocine, with the news, remind us that this is hardly the first time an esoteric Factory leader has been portrayed onscreen — Crispin Glover in The Doors; David Bowie in Julian Schnabel‘s Basquiat; Guy Pearce in Factory Girl; and… Bill Hader in Men in Black III, as you surely forgot — dare I say this could be one of the best? I dare say this could be one of the best.
Luckily, Saint Laurent may not be so far off: the project in question is already rolling cameras, while a French release is expected to commence May 14, 2014 — Cannes commences that very day; might we have an opening title this far out? — and, we might add, an incredible cast has been lined up, too. Foreign stars don’t carry much financial potential stateside, sure, but that’s not to discount the immense appeal of Gaspard Ulliel as Yves Saint Laurent, Olga Kurylenko, Léa Seydoux, Jérémie Renier, Lisa Ulliel, Robinson Stévenin, Louis Garrel, Amira Casar, and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi.
In other news, Variety report that Lizzy Caplan has been circling The Interview, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg‘s screenwriting / directorial follow-up to the summer hit This Is the End. A high-concept comedy less in the spirit of that picture — more closely tied to Pineapple Express, if anything — it reunites Rogen with James Franco, the latter of whom is expected to play a talk show host whose interview with the leader or North Korea throws him into the midst of an assassination plan.
Circumstances behind the potential involvement of their Freaks and Geeks co-star hasn’t been divulged, though this writer is a bit hard-pressed to imagine many holding an active concern as to who the (nevertheless talented / enjoyable) actress might wind up playing. We’re not asking for much past a few laughs and competent filmmaking, after all; since it’s something we felt This Is the End brought in acceptable (if not entirely expected) quantities, The Interview is something possibly worth keeping an eye out for.
Finally, word tells us Richard Gere has found his co-stars for the personal vehicle Franny: Dakota Fanning and Theo James (Divergent, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger), who have boarded writer-director Andrew Renzi‘s project in a pair of crucial roles. In the screenplay, “a hedonistic philanthropist who ingratiates himself into the lives of a newlywed couple in order to re-create the life he once had” — and this is where the next players come in, as strange / unsettling as it may be that Dakota Fanning could now fill a wife role.
Treehouse Pictures are producing Franny, which begins shooting in a few weeks’ time.
Are you at all encouraged by this round of additions?