Daily Dose of George Clooney!
|
||
|
News Pt. 9
|
|
| GEORGE IS TOP OF THE BOTTOMS Aug 20 2003
THE best of George Clooney's acting career is behind him - according to cheeky female fans.
The 42-year-old actor's rear view, as seen in the recent sci-fi chiller Solaris, has been voted the sexiest male bottom in Hollywood history.
Second and third spots went to Scots actor Ewan McGregor and Hollywood hunk Brad Pitt.
Latina lovely Jennifer Lopez's much-discussed derriere took number one spot in the women's Top 10 - ahead of Oscar- winner Halle Berry and Charlie's Angels stars Cameron Diaz and Demi Moore.
J-Lo's husband-to-be Ben Affleck made it a double for the couple - his behind made it to number five in the boys' bums.
A total of 2000 men and women took part in the survey for an internet DVD sales company.
A spokesman for the company said: "Solaris has proved to a really big seller - much bigger than we'd expected for what is really an art-house movie.
"But what really interested us was that the majority of buyers were women.
"Let's face it - if it means you can get a better quality view of George Clooney's bottom, there are going to be even more women flocking to buy the film.
|
|
|
|
| Who Doesn't Want the Healing Touch of Hollywood's Love Doctor? It's hard to believe--but George Clooney is still single.
At 42, he's the ultimate eligible bachelor. He comes from a show-biz family, he earns $20 million a movie, he owns a mansion in L.A. and an estate in Italy, he's best friends with Steven Soderbergh--and after lensing Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, he's becoming an auteur in his own right.
Of course, Clooney does everything in his own time. After struggling for years to get on TV, he struck gold in his late thirties with ER, where he became a household name overnight and raised the blood pressures of patients and viewers alike.
He's a confirmed ladies' man and considers Renée Zellweger and Nicole Kidman among his closest friends, though he says neither are conquests. Instead, he usually dates outside the limelight. A lot. He was thisclose to marriage with Celine Balitran, a waitress he met in France.
 And while his first wife, Talia Balsam, is in the business, she's not as well known as, say, Kimberly Russell (Head of the Class)--whom Clooney dated before anyone knew his name--Kelly Preston (John Travolta's wife), Karen Duffy (from MTV) and Dedee Pfeiffer (Michelle's sister). All of them can say they've spent time with the good doc.Find out where else Clooney has made house calls, including to the home of a woman from another well-known show-biz family. Learn about all this and more on the all-new Love Chain: George Clooney, premiering Sunday, August 17, at 10 p.m.
Premieres:
Aug. 17, 10 p.m.
Encores:
Aug. 18, 1 a.m.
Aug. 20, 5 p.m.
Aug. 23, 10 a.m.
Aug. 24, 12 p.m.
|
|
|
|
| Clooney's Section Eight Turns on the Tube Nellie Andreeva
Los Angeles(Hollywood Reporter) - George Clooney (news) and Steven Soderbergh (news)'s company Section Eight is ramping up television production.
Section Eight, formed in 1999 as a Warner Bros.-based film production partnership, has launched Section Eight Television and has inked a two-year first-look deal with Warner Bros. Television.
Section Eight vice president Grant Heslov has been tapped as president of the newly-formed TV division, which is already working on several projects under the deal with WBTV, including an untitled live TV movie about legendary broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, to be written by Jon Robin Baitz and directed by Clooney.
"Grant has an incredible talent for finding the type of properties Section Eight wants to develop and produce, and now he brings that insight to the television division," Clooney said.
The pact builds on Clooney's long history with WBTV.
The actor hit stardom with his role as Dr. Ross on the studio's flagship drama series "ER" on NBC. As part of the overall deal with WBTV of his now-defunct Maysville Pictures, Clooney executive-produced and starred in the 2000 live broadcast of "Fail Safe" for CBS and created and executive-produced the 1999 pilot "Kilroy" for HBO.
"The opportunity to work with George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh and Grant Heslov is a no-brainer," WBTV president Peter Roth said. "Their track records in our industry clearly speak for themselves."
Section Eight's first television project is the upcoming HBO series "K Street," a semi-improvised show set in the world of political consultants. Clooney and Soderbergh are executive producing, but the project does not fall under the deal with WBTV.
Section Eight's new TV division will focus on "finding interesting writers and filmmakers that we want to continue working with," Heslov said. "We're attracted to stuff that is inherently either different or difficult; we're not going to be the company that's going to put on another 'CSI'- type show. We're always going to be looking to think and look at a different angle."
Clooney and Soderbergh will be intimately involved in the development and production of Section Eight TV's first projects, Heslov said. The two will be in Washington for the filming of "K Street," with Soderbergh directing many of the episodes, while Clooney has been "the sole impetus" behind the development of the untitled Murrow project, Heslov said.
Heslov, who joined Section Eight in 2001, has been involved in the development of such features for the company as "Jennifer Government," "The Jacket," "The Informant" and an untitled John Dillinger project.
Heslov also was a co-producer of the Coen brothers' upcoming romantic comedy "Intolerable Cruelty" starring Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
|
|
|
|
| No worries for George 6/8/03
 Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney, regularly voted one of the most attractive men in the world, has said he never worries much about his looks.The star said: "I don't care a lot about my looks, I don't even have a personal stylist. It is unmanly and unsexy if you always worry about it.
"Great women belong in great clothes. I have the advantage of being a man. I am allowed to just wear my white shirts and jeans.
"I can become grey, bald or wrinkled, but nobody is going to think: 'Lord, what does he look like'", he added.
The 42-year old said he was not keen to make an effort to look younger than he actually was.
 "If you are a man, you should be lucky that you are allowed to age in dignity. I don't use any make-up in films and I don't wear any clothes that don't suit me. I am 42, and I want to be treated like an adult."Clooney has often been praised for his dress sense.
"I have no idea why everyone always finds me so great. For years, I have worn the same old tuxedo and the same black shoes to all events.
"When women wear the same outfit twice, they are practically lynched. But for me, everyone cheered and said it was classic."
|
|
|
|
| George going for goal Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney is poised to snap up Italian football team Como for £15 million.
The Ocean's Eleven star has told friends he is "about to buy a small soccer team" near his Italian lakeside home Villa Oleandra.
Club president Enrico Preziosi is reportedly keen to sell the team.
Como, who have recently been relegated from Serie A football after only one season in the top flight, are said to be delighted by the star's interest.
A supporter said: "Someone saw George at the ground last week. Buying it would make sense - he only lives 20 minutes up the road.
"He has money for extra players and would attract female fans, bringing in extra gate money."
A receptionist at the club added: "I have seen all the reports and I hope Clooney does buy the club. He's gorgeous.
"Signor Preziosi has put it up for sale and has had several meetings in Milan about it."
|
|
|
|
| Malick Poised to Direct Che Guevara Film Los Angeles (Hollywood Reporter) - Reclusive filmmaker Terrence Malick (news) may be starting to pick up the pace.
Although 20 years passed between his 1978 film "Days of Heaven" and 1998's war film "The Thin Red Line," he's already contemplating another stint in the director's chair.
The director is attached to direct Benicio Del Toro (news) in "Che," an epic about the life and death of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara that Laura Bickford is producing.
Steven Soderbergh (news) was originally considering directing the project but now is likely to be involved in a producing capacity.
"Che" is not yet set up at a studio, but if Soderbergh continues his involvement, one likely possibility is that Warner Bros. Pictures might step in.
The studio houses Section Eight, the production company headed by Soderbergh and partner George Clooney (news). At this point, however, neither Warner nor Section Eight is part of the picture.
*****************************************************
Latest Hollywood Script Deals
Universal Pictures has picked up an untitled pitch to be written by screenwriter Paul Attanasio. Di Bonaventura Pictures and Section Eight are producing.
The project, which features the theme of man vs. nature, is about a wilderness experience and how it transforms a group of people.Lorenzo di Bonaventura, George Clooney (news) and Steven Soderbergh (news) are producing the project, which reunites the trio with Attanasio. When di Bonaventura was the production head at Warner Bros. Pictures, he hired the scribe to adapt Section Eight's "The Good German," which is moving forward at the studio. Attanasio was twice nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay adaptations of "Donnie Brasco" and "Quiz Show." His other credits include "The Sum of All Fears," "Sphere" and "Disclosure." Di Bonaventura has a first-look deal at Paramount Pictures, while Section Eight is based at Warners.
|
|
|
|
| Will the "Oceans" of Rome be better? 6/26/03
After several months of rumours, the “Oceans Eleven” sequel has finally been confirmed. Star, George Clooney has announced that “Oceans Twelve” will start filming in Rome in February. In the sequel, scheduled for a December 10, 2004 release date, the gang is back and has their eye set on a big caper in England. But Terry Benedict hasn't forgotten what happened last time, and is hot on their trail. From what we know, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and Andy Garcia are all back on board, with Steven Soderbergh returning as Director. Rumours about Barbara Streisand being involved are still hearsay.
|
|
|
|
| "Barbarians" at gate for Toronto festival 6/24/03
Toronto (Hollywood Reporter) - Denys Arcand's "The Barbarian Invasions" will open the Toronto International Film Festival on September 4, organisers have announced.
This year's 28th annual event will also include the world premieres of Robert Altman's "The Company" and John Sayles' "Casa de Los Babys," and the North American premiere of Lars von Trier's Cannes competition entry "Dogville," a parable of small-town prejudice starring Nicole Kidman; Lions Gate Films has picked the film up for North American distribution.
At the same time, Handling and fellow Toronto programmers are taking to the road this week to see if they can snag from rival Venice International Film Festival several movies by top-drawer directors that were not yet ready for Cannes last month.
These include Joel Coen's comedy "Intolerable Cruelty," starring George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones; Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill"; Emir Kusturica's "Life Is a Miracle"; Wong Kar-wai's "2046"; Jane Campion's "In the Cut"; and Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Dreamers."
|
|
|
|
| I HAVEN'T A CLOONEY! 5/26/03
HOLLYWOOD hunk George Clooney may be an international megastar, but his tennis technique leaves plenty to be desired.
The Ocean's 11 star was having a hit-about at his new luxury villa, near Lake Como in northern Italy.
And while his tennis fans might include his mother and grandad, who are on holiday with him, George certainly won't be seen at Wimbledon any time soon.
|
|
|
|
| Still 'Golden'! May 26, 2003
BEA ARTHUR, BETTY WHITE, RUE McCLANAHAN and ESTELLE GETTY will always be known as "The Golden Girls," four widowed and/or divorced women who roomed together in the Emmy Award-winning series.
Set in Miami, FL, during the golden years of these young-at-heart women, the show quickly became a staple on NBC, airing from 1985-1992, and can currently be seen in encore performances six days a week on Lifetime TV. The cable network's tribute to the series, "The Golden Girls: Their Greatest Moments," premieres Monday, June 2, 8-9:30 p.m
ET went on the set for a behind-the-scenes look at the 90-minute salute to the memorable comedy. Our camera crews captured Bea, Betty and Rue as they reminisced about their favorite scenes from the 180 episodes of the sitcom, including the agonies of sagging skin, wobbly thighs, and sex for the over-60 set. Also part of the special is never-before-seen footage provided by the series' creators -- PAUL WITT and TONY THOMAS.
"The humor and the characters are timeless," Betty comments. "We're in 48 countries around the world, and what they see about four old broads in Sri Lanka, I will never know."
Sadly, Estelle's absence was conspicuously noted. The 79-year-old actress has been living with Parkinson's Disease for more than five years, and chose not to participate in the tribute. So it's up to the three remaining women to indulge in one of their famous cheesecake sessions.
BURT REYNOLDS, JULIO IGLESIAS, GEORGE CLOONEY, JERRY ORBACH, HAL LINDEN and MARTIN MULL are among the manly male guest stars appearing in clips.
"What made 'The Golden Girls' click was that no topic was forbidden," Rue says. "We got away with a lot by injecting a key ingredient -- humor!"
"We were like 'Sex and the City' for women over sixty," Bea laugh
Catch the special on Lifetime TV, Monday, June 2 at 8 p.m.
|
|
|
|
| BIRTHDAY SUIT FOR JORDAN Michael Christie
5/26/03
IT might have been EastEnders Dean Gaffney's birthday but all eyes were on Jordan and her eye- popping outfit.
The actor, who plays Robbie Jackson in the BBC1 soap, was upstaged by the surgically enhanced model who was a guest at his 25th party.
The young mum was bursting out of a revealing dress as she strode into the Embassy Club in London in stockings and suspenders.
Midway through the bash - which had a pimps and prostitutes theme - she stripped down to her bra and knickers.
Gazing at her skimpy get-up, onlookers cast doubt on claims she made to the Daily Record's Joan Burnie that her breasts are size 32D.
Other celebrities at the party included TV's Richard Blackwood and Hollywood actor George Clooney's ex, model Lisa Snowdon. Footballers' Wives star Gary Lucy was also present, as was Sarah Harding, of Girls Aloud.
|
|
|
|
| George Clooney Dyes His Hair? May 19, 2003
Hollywood hunk George Clooney was caught red-handed in a supermarket buying a bottle of hair-dye.
The sexy Solaris actor was at the checkout with his lone purchase when he drew the attention of other shoppers. According to gossip website peoplenews.com, a source says, "People were cracking up at the checkout line. A woman shouted out to George, telling him he didn't need it, he was gorgeous anyway." However, George insists that the cosmetic item wasn't for him - but his pal Tommy Hinckley.
A source adds, "George was buying the product for a friend - though he appreciated the joke."
|
|
|
|
| Clooney Big On Oprah's List Of 'Mesmerizing Men' 5/16/03
George Clooney is "savage, smoldering, virile, charming, witty" and lots of other things.That's why he's on the Oprah magazine's "O Man" short list of "mesmerizing men," which also includes Tom Hanks and Sidney Poitier. While Clooney's photo is the largest, the list is in no particular order. It includes Chris Rock, John Travolta, Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Haysbert and Paul Newman.
|
|
|
|
| People often ask me where to best spot celebrities in Las Vegas. Las Vegas Sun
5/9/03
Well, I do have a tip if you want to get some face time with, alphabetically, Marc Anthony, Jim Belushi, Jimmy Buffett, Jackie Chan, George Clooney, Jamie Lee Curtis, David Duchovny, Clint Eastwood, Andy Garcia, Elton John, Tea Leoni, Heather Locklear, Matthew McConaughey, Dennis Miller, Mike Myers, Dennis Quaid, Ray Romano, Kurt Russell, Sylvester Stallone, Justin Timberlake and Mark Wahlberg.
They are all coming to Vegas for Michael Douglas' golf tournament next weekend.
No one will be able to get near the celebs at the private charity dinner Douglas is hosting May 16 at a secret location with Catherine Zeta-Jones. Robin Leach is emceeing that one.
|
|
|
|
| Hair today, gone tomorrow 5/9/03
We realize it's a shameless plug for publicity, but given the fact that some members of the Pulse! team find this issue a little close to their hearts, we're willing to oblige.
Bosley, "the world's most experienced medical hair restoration practice," has announced the winners of the "Bosley Awards."
Honored for having the "best hair" were George Clooney and Denzel Washington. The worst hair award went to Dermot Mulroney for his wacky mullet-job in "About Schmidt."
|
|
|
|
| Sydney Film Fest Marks 50th Year By Blake Murdoch
5/9/03
SYDNEY (Hollywood Reporter) - Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the Sydney International Film Festival will open June 6 with the world premiere of the Australian political satire 'The Honorable Wally Norman.'
Other screenings during the two-week event include George Clooney (news)'s 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,' Chan Kaige's 'Together' and Catherine Breillat (news)'s 'Sex Is Comedy.' The festival closes June 20 with the Francois Ozon (news) thriller 'Swimming Pool,' a Cannes competition entry this year.
The lineup also includes a focus on Indian films, kicking off with the Australian premiere of Buddhadev Dasgupta's 'A Tale of a Naughty Girl,' and a retrospective program of films chosen by previous festival directors over the past 49 years. Other sections will be devoted to documentaries, new filmmakers and shorts.
Directed by Ted Emery, 'The Honorable Wally Norman' stars Kevin Harrington and Shaun Micallef, and is being released locally later this year.
|
|
|
|
| Who is Mr Fantastic? AICN
5/8/03
Who is Mr Fantastic? Silly Wabbit, it has to be that dreamboat George Clooney!
Harry here... As X2 passes $100 million today, Fox has... well, frankly they've seen the light as the Marvel Age of Cinema has firmly grasped hold in Hollywood. The next big Marvel Property that Fox is going to get moving on is the FANTASTIC FOUR, the one that started it all for Marvel Comics, and a film that fans have been dreaming decades for. The key to the property is nailing Reed Richards and right now while Mark Frost tunes up what is allegedly going to be THE draft of FANTASTIC FOUR that gets to the screen on Novermber 4th, 2004 (according to SuperHeroHype's reporting of the 1st Quarter Marvel Enterprises Earnings Conference Call today)... well right now... as in RIGHT NOW... Fox is in deadly serious talks with George Clooney to play Reed Richards.
Why?
Cuz, Avi Arad wants Clooney to be Reed Richards, and right now... what Avi wants, Avi gets and the word I'm hearing is that George is going to do it. You see, Avi wanted George for two different Marvel Characters... Reed Richards aka Mr Fantastic and... NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. George passed on that project because he was more into doing the Steranko cool as all fuck Nick Fury of the 60's and not the Ultra Violent Modern Take that they are apparently developing. PERSONALLY... GEORGE CLOONEY IS RIGHT! Ahem...
Ok, so we're not going to get George as Nick Fury, but we are going to get him as Mr Fantastic. SO... Now we have George as Reed... Who can we see as the others? PERSONALLY, since it seems Peyton Reed is going to be the director, I'd cast Renee Zellwegger as Sue Storm, get Matt Damon as Johnny Storm and cast John C Reilly as Ben Grimm. Ahem... But that's just me.
If Fox and Marvel are aiming for a November 4th, 2004 release date for FANTASTIC FOUR, that means they're going to want to get shooting no later than about October, cuz that's one helluva active post-production on that film... Of course, if it looks like the production is going to be pushed later... they could always open on JULY 4TH the following year, of course opening on a Monday is just... kinda weird...
|
|
|
|
| Clooney firm on Sinatra path 5/5/03
Washington, May 5 (ANI): George Clooney seems to be walking on the footsteps of Frank Sinatra. After having played Danny Ocean (the role Sinatra played in the original Oceans Eleven), he is now eyeing another role that Sinatra played earlier.
According to News.com.au, Clooney is reported to have turned down the lead role in a remake of "From Here To Eternity" for a lesser role in the film, the one originally played by Sinatra. He may well be looking for an Oscar as Sinatra won a Best Supporting Actor for his part in "From Here to Eternity". (ANI)
|
|
|
|
| Gorgeous George in 3-D! 5/1/03
GEORGE CLOONEY in 3-D! Tonight on ET, get the eye-popping glimpse of George and a look at the summer release 'Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over'!
In the third film of the trilogy, out July 25th, audiences will be catapulted into the movie mix on a whole new level. Moviegoers will be given 3-D glasses to wear during certain segments of the adventure.
Back in action is that sweet spy family the Cortezes -- ANTONIO BANDERAS, CARLA GUGINO, DARYL SABARA and ALEXA VEGA -- all returning for yet another crucial mission. This time, the crafty clan must apprehend a deadly video game entitled "Game Over" -- which, if played, could literally mean "game over" for the world.
Their evil adversary -- sporting a nice, silver mane -- is SYLVESTER STALLONE, known as the "Toymaker." Also on-board are SALMA HAYEK, ALAN CUMMING, STEVE BUSCEMI, RICARDO MONTALBAN as the grandfather -- and, of course, there's George Clooney, who makes a special re-appearance as Devlin!
Directed by ROBERT RODRIGUEZ (who also directed the first two 'Spy Kids' flicks), 'Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over' opens this July 25th! Watch tonight's ET for a look at the incredible movie!
|
|
|
|
| The View From 'K Street' Washinton Post
Lloyd Grove
4/30/03
Representing Hollywood were George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh and the cast and crew of "K Street," an HBO series set to premiere this fall.
Representing Washington -- in the ninth-floor conference room of Edelman Public Relations, the K Street spin-doctors -- were image guru Mike Deaver and Democratic shouting head James Carville and his wife, Mary Matalin, Vice President Cheney's political adviser. About 20 folks in all were seated yesterday around a gleaming conference table with a plate-glass vista of downtown D.C.
"We're filming a television series about the procedure of government," Clooney told us. Director Soderbergh, Clooney's partner in Section 8, the production company for "K Street," fiddled with his hand-held digital camera. "We want to show how it really works," Clooney added. "This is not a political statement."
Soderbergh elaborated: "We want to show the things you don't get to see on TV." He added that when the half-hour dramedy is up and running, each episode will be filmed only two weeks in advance of broadcast to permit the use of current events.
But is there an audience for, um, the procedure of government?
"I don't know," Clooney answered. "We'll find out."
We wondered if Matalin has promised to wrangle Cheney to boost ratings. "No, but we've wrangled Bob Strauss," Deaver said, noting that the publicity-friendly Washington power broker will be lunching today at the Palm, ready for his close-up.
As for Deaver, Carville and Matalin, "They'll be doing the singing parts," Clooney said. Slumped at the opposite end of the long table, gazing with hooded eyes, Carville was unnaturally quiet. Had he nothing to say? "We're like piano players at a whorehouse," he managed. "We're just trying to pick up things as we go along."
To which Matalin reacted, "Please, please, don't use that line." Sorry, we couldn't resist.
|
|
|
|
| Clooney leads wave of 'actor power' 4/25/03
When it comes to getting films made, big-name stars are doing it for themselves.
Ed Harris and Salma Hayek both produced their own dream projects, with Pollock and Frida respectively, which both went on to win Oscars.
George Clooney has gone one stage further, as the most prolific of the stars with "actor power".
Within two months he has released three films he produced himself, Solaris, Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, and Welcome To Collinwood.
"I love the ability to sit in an office at Warner Brothers, and just by virtue of the fact that I say, 'This is something I want to do', they make it," Clooney told BBC World Service's The Ticket programme.
Batman disaster
Clooney's production company, Section Eight, was set up jointly with director Steven Soderbergh, and has already produced hits such as Out Of Sight and Ocean's Eleven.
Clooney said that after playing the lead role in 1997's critically panned Batman And Robin - complaints that the film was an over-comercialised mess were commonplace - he had been determined to star in films he believe in.
You have a window of opportunity where you get to call the shots, and at the end of the day say, 'this was my stamp on this'
George Clooney
"After Batman And Robin was when I realised that if I was going to be the guy that was going to greenlight a film and get it made, I had a responsibility not just to getting the role, but to getting the proper films made," he said.
"You have to understand that no-one is encouraging any actor to do what we're doing," he said.
"No agents, no lawyers, no-one - because we're not making money."
Gamble
The latest project, Welcome To Collinwood, is one example.
"This is a script that has been held up as the best unproduced script ever," Clooney said.
"The film had been basically put in a trash bin, so I picked it up and said, "look, I think I can get the film made"."
Indeed, after Clooney - reluctantly - agreed to star in the film, he agreed to take the absolute minimum permitted by the actors' union in order not to push the budget too high.
Clooney could normally expect $15-20m for a role in a major Hollywood production.
"The gamble is of course that those films may very well not do well," Clooney added.
"Jimmy Stewart took a percentage and Bette Davis took a percentage, and those were people who were smart about getting films made.
"You get to a point where you go, 'well I have money.'
"You have a window of opportunity where you get to call the shots, and at the end of the day say, 'this was my stamp on this'.
"I don't think that window is open for a very long period of time."
Successes
But the huge increase of stars acting as producers is not solely down to philanthropy - there is money to be made too.
Increasingly, actor's names are seen on the producers' credits of box office smashes - Demi Moore has had a hand in the Austin Powers trilogy, Robert De Niro funded About A Boy, while Tom Cruise put up the money for his ex-wife Nicole Kidman to star in The Others.
But these projects have not starred the actors themselves.
Meanwhile, Section Eight relies on one success in every five films it makes to keep going.
Thanks to Brenda
|
|
|
|
George Clooney regrets doing Batman and Robin
4/24/04
George Clooney has admitted he has starred in a number of films that make him wince. He names Batman And Robin and Return Of The Killer Tomatoes as two of his most regrettable projects....more
|
|
|
|
| Reilly, Luna in 'Criminal' Mode 4/21/03
Zorianna Kit
Los Angeles (Hollywood Reporter) - John C. Reilly and Diego Luna are in talks to star in "Criminal," an English-language remake of the Argentine thriller "Nine Queens."
The project, which begins production in June, is a con artist caper about two men (Reilly and Luna) who team on a scam involving a forged set of extremely valuable stamps, the Nine Queens. Gregory Jacobs will direct.
The project is set up at Warner Bros., and being produced by Section Eight Prods., the banner run by Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney. Jacobs, Soderbergh's longtime first assistant director, co-wrote the English version of the screenplay with Soderbergh.
Reilly was nominated for a supporting actor Oscar this year for his performance in "Chicago." His other recent credits include "The Hours" and "Gangs of New York."
Luna is in production on "Havana Nights: Dirty Dancing 2." The actor, who most recently appeared in "Y Tu Mama Tambien" and "Frida," next stars opposite Kevin Costner in the Costner-directed feature "Open Range."
|
|
|
|
| Vegas Nights GQ UK
16 April 2003
Hollywood actors George Clooney and Matt Damon partied with a group of seven strippers during a recent boozy trip to Las Vegas, and didn't emerge from the soiree until six in the morning. The pair, who starred together in 2001's Ocean's Eleven, ogled the girls while sitting with the owner of the Crazy Horse III strip joint, according to the Daily Sport. A club regular said: "George and Matt had a really good time. The women in there seemed to enjoy dancing for them." Clooney is well known for his passion for strippers and recently offered money to his favourite New York club to help battle against its proposed closure.
-----------
Sightings
April 16, 2003
LVRJ
George Clooney, tipping the ballroom wait staff at the Bellagio after the CaP Cure dinner Saturday with handsful of gaming chips. He pulled about $3,000 in chips out of a vase filled with his team's golf tournament winnings....
---------------
At Picasso, which was closed to the public on Friday night for a special dinner prepared by chef Julian Serrano for Michael Milken's CaP Cure: "Ocean's 11" remake co-producers George Clooney and Jerry Weintraub and his wife, Jane Morgan; Matt Damon; Pete Sampras and his actress wife, Bridgett Wilson; James Garner; Don Johnson; Cheech Marin; Milken; Robert Wagner and wife; Elaine Wynn; Wayne Gretzky; Terry Lanni and wife Debbie; Donna Baldwin, wife of Mirage Resorts Chief Executive Officer and Bellagio President Bobby Baldwin; and TV sports broadcaster Al Michaels....
|
|
|
|
| Gentlemen, start your chariots! Globe Correspondent
Hugh Hart
4/20/2003
 In Hollywood, what's old - really old - is new again, as studios plan box-office conquests with film sets in ancient times.Los Angeles - Nothing inspires Hollywood like a half-billion-dollar box office and a best picture Oscar. Behold the spawn of ''Gladiator.''
Beginning in the summer of 2004, a horde of ''toga movies'' set in ancient times will be poised to invade local cineplexes. As befits the epic scale required by this new breed of old sagas, studios are spending big money on big directors and big stars.
To wit:
Brad Pitt will play mythic Greek hero Achilles in ''Troy,'' for Warner Bros.
Budgeted at about $140 million, the movie from director Wolfgang Petersen (''The Perfect Storm'') draws from Homer's ''Iliad'' to focus on the 10-Year War between Greece and the rival Trojan Empire around 1200 BC.
Oliver Stone will direct Colin Farrell in ''Alexander'' (Warner Bros.), basing his own script on Oxford scholar Robin Lane Fox's 1973 biography of Alexander the Great.
A second Alexander the Great project, untitled and budgeted at $160 million (Universal), will feature Leonardo DiCaprio as the Macedonian conqueror under the direction of Baz Luhrmann.
''Gladiator'' director Ridley Scott revisits the Roman Empire with ''Hannibal the Conqueror'' (Revolution Studios), starring Vin Diesel as the Carthaginian general from North Africa who crossed the Alps on elephants to wreak havoc in Italy before immolating himself in 183 BC
''Kleopatra'' author Karen Essex is writing a screenplay based on her novel for Warner Bros.-based producer Adam Schroeder. The story covers the Egyptian queen in exile as she awaits Julius Caesar.
George Clooney is producing and will likely appear in ''Gates of Fire'' (Universal) about the Battle of Thermopylae. Michael Mann (''Ali,'' ''The Insider'') will direct the script from David Self (''Road to Perdition'').
That very same battle, in which a brigade of Spartan soldiers tried to hold off 2 million Persian invaders at a mountain pass north of Athens in 480 BC, also inspired an earlier film. The year was 1960, the picture was called ''The 300 Spartans,'' and ''toga movies'' were all the rage.
Stories that take place two millennia ago seem fresh again, thanks in large part to the smashing 2000 success of ''Gladiator.''
|
|
|
|
George Clooney to Appear in Local Whisky Ad
Hollywood star George Clooney is to appear in local whiskey advertisements in the near future.
According to Yoo Kyung-jong, a public relations team manager for Hite Beer, said yesterday that it has received a verbal promise from George Clooney’s agency that he will star in the brewery’s new premium whisky Lancelot advertisement....more
|
|
|
|
| Wahlberg tries on a new JACKET...New sci-fi project for PLANET OF THE APES star The Hollywood Reporter
Patrick Sauriol
4/11/03
Mark Wahlberg has attached his name to a sci-fi action/thriller titled THE JACKET. He would play a suspected murderer who, while being tortured by his jailors, suddenly finds himself with the power to see his own death. Using this ability the prisoner tries to stay one step ahead of his captors and remain alive while imprisoned.
British director John Maybury has also attached his name to the project which is being produced by Section 8's Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney and by Mandalay Pictures' Peter Guber. First refusal of distribution rights will be given to Warner Bros. If all can be worked out between Wahlberg and Maybury filming would commence this fall.
|
|
|
|
| Playgirl Salutes the Lusty Month of May 4/9/03
New York, April 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The weather's getting hotter and so is Playgirl. Our pages are packed with features and photos to pleasure and inform ... everything you ever wanted to know about the male body is all here. So sit back, relax and enjoy the heat wave. Highlights include:
* You'll be seeing stars and stripes after our exclusive chat with
country singer Darryl Worley. This patriotic honky-tonk man tells us
what makes a romantic evening, why talk of broom closets in airports is
off limits and how the strains of Enigma and Barry White light his fire
... Page 18
* Playgirl makes its very own music with the hunks who strike all the
right chords. Our Sexiest Men In Music includes steamy photos of 11
musicians guaranteed to rock you. Can you guess who made the cut for
Dirtiest Dancer, Most Skintillating Video or Dripping With Sexuality
Award? Winners just may make you blush ... Page 34
* Oh, it's just so hard to get it right ... but when you do it's heaven.
We've got the scoop on how to achieve the perfect orgasm. Just a little
repositioning in the bedroom -- and a little help from Playgirl --
gives readers some great new ways to reach nirvana. AND our
play-by-play photos make sure you can't miss! ... Page 26
* It's springtime and lust is in the air ... so what better fantasy than
the perfect male organ? Playgirl's done some research to give readers a
heads-up on almost any entry ... thick ones, skinny ones, short ones,
long ones and some you may have never even seen before. Find out what
constitutes member-ship in categories like The Bullet, Steel Rod or
S Man. A truly penetrating analysis ... Page 54
* Hungry for a sneak peek at some of your favorite superstars but just
don't know where to look? No problem. Playgirl editors took to the
screening room to give readers the "skinny" on the movies that include
the barest essentials of their favorite stars. Nudes In The News
includes David Duchovney's full monty in "Full Frontal Nudity," George
Clooney's rapturous rump in "Solaris" and Greg Kinnear's beautiful buns
in "Auto Focus." Oh, what you can do in the privacy of your home with
the help of a VCR! ... Page 68
PLAYGIRL Magazine hits newsstands nationwide on April 8th.
|
|
|
|
United Way Board of Trustees
On Friday (4/4/03), United Way of America named 13 new members to its board of trustees -- including actor George Clooney and Vanguard Group mutual fund CEO John J. Brennan -- to replace retiring board members.
|
|
|
|
| The big interview...Still Mr Nice Guy Sky Magazine
April 2003
He's a risk-taking producer, critically praised director, devoted father to a pet pig, and not entirely bad-looking. Oh, and he acts too. Is George Clooney, star of this month's Ocean's Eleven, just too perfect?
There were many reasons for remaking Ocean's Eleven, the Las Vegas-set heist movie that established Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack as the height of cool in the early 1960s. But for George Clooney, whose Danny Ocean leads a new group (including Matt Damon, Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt) on high-tech knockover of a mega-casino, there was only one motivation.
"George called six months before the movie and said, `We've really got to start on our research,'" recalls a laughing Matt about the preparations that George and director Steven Soderbergh had planned.
"You should know me well enough by now to know that I'm a method actor, so I spent literally years training for the drinking and carousing that I had to do in this film," retorts George, who never fails to jump on a joke, especially if it's at his own expense. "I was perfectly prepared when I go in there."
|
|
True, George may be one of Hollywood's irrepressible good-time guys. And the former TV actor has managed to achieve both commercial success and artistic credibility without becoming egomaniacal, pretentious or jaded. He's still the most approachable movie star you'd ever want to meet, eager to share the fruits of his success and, yes, a devoted father to his pet pig, Max.
But spend even a small amount of time with George, and it becomes clear that deep feelings and serious thoughts are never far beneath the surface. Sometimes, Hollywood's most eligible 41-year-old will describe swinging bachelorhood in terms that sound like a lament. "I'm gettin' old, fallin' apart," he'll say glibly, but quickly turns wishful about his single status. "I don't know why I ever said I'd never get married again on national TV," he sighs - his first brief marriage, to actress Talia Balsam, collapsed a decade ago.
He's also quite obviously saddened by the loss last year of his beloved aunt and role model, singer-actress Rosemary Clooney, whom he mentions in every interview. And don't get George started on the subject of classic films unless you're ready for a dissertation. Nobody loves serious cinema more than he does, and he can tell you
why and which films, endlessly. Which seems odd coming from a guy who remade a movie that had all the depth of a martini glass. But with Ocean's Eleven, George saw a chance to combine two passion - good movies and that good-time "research" - and pay homage to another influential set of role models by doing them one better.
|
|
"I love those guys, those guys are heroes of mine," he says of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin et al. "But once we started shooting the movie with such a great script, we never looked back at that. We never once said, Oh, this is sort of like Frank and Sammy and Dean. That never really existed; this was a whole movie unto itself.
"Look, we're never going to be as cool as those guys. That's their thing, man, and the (original) movie was successful because of that. Their movie kinda works and kinda doesn't. This movie, we have a better director and better writing and we just went in and had a blast and great parts."
It was so much fun, in fact, George convinced many of his usually press-shy co-stars to get back together for a European publicity tour to coincide with the release of the movie. Of course, he paid a price for the effort - in dignity. "I'm, like, very famous in Italy, I thought," he recalls. "But we get to the airport there, and all the Italians came to rush me, but then literally ran over the top of me to get to Brad!"
Lately, George has become accustomed to embarrassments of all kinds- from unfounded rumours that his friendship with Julia Roberts was putting strains on her marriage to a publicised ratings flap in the US over his most recent film with Steve, Solaris. It's a dark sci-fi drama, in which the Clooneyus Maximus is bared in two tastefully intimate scenes with his wife, played by Natascha McElhone.
George downplays the impact of his controversial posterior in this PG-13 rated film. "I was a little disturbed. I mean, there was a PG- 13 rated Steven Segal movie that was wall-to-wall violence that came out when Solaris did. And the Jackass movie. which, I admit, I laughed my ass off watching."
Besides his and Soderbergh's work together (they also made Out Of Sight, with Jennifer Lopez), their Section Eight company produced one of the US's most acclaimed movies of last year. Todd Haynes's Far From Heaven, as well as the superb Al Pacino / Robin Williams thriller Insomnia.
|
|
"As producers, we want to help filmmakers we love get films made," he says. "Get out of their way creatively, back them when they need us. We can't guarantee is the attempt to allow the filmmaker to fail or succeed based on what they want to do, as opposed to getting all of the edges knocked off after a studio tests the film 10 times."
Of course, this means risking money. One of the main reasons George went into business with Steven was their mutual aversion to excessive greed.
"We have the same sensibilities," says George. "We like the same films, we stick up for the things we like and we're both willing to lose money to get something done right. I love the idea that we're in the position that we can afford to. We can say, okay, lets put our money where our mouth is, just to get some of these films made.
That's fun."
George recently went even further with the mouth-pushing thing. He directed his first movie, Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, based on the "unauthorised autobiography" of US TV game-show host Chuck Barris, and George called in favours from his Ocean's Eleven cast- mates Brad, Matt and Julia to take cameos.
"I was attached to this screenplay as an actor six years ago; the reason I directed it was not because I wanted to direct, but because the project was falling apart," says George, whose movie was met with critical praise for its cinematic ingenuity, wit and strong performances from Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, Julia and the director himself. "I just thought it was one of the best screenplays around."
Now he's starting to sound like St George of Hollywood. And he will even more if his formidable powers of persuasion convince his otherwise high-paid co-stars to cut their salaries again for the forthcoming Ocean's Twelve, which partner Steve wants to be the first big studio sequel to pay its key players less than the original.
That would be a serious blow to Hollywood's usual avaricious business practices. But it's really just another way that closet serious guy George has a good time. "Life gets boring if we're not going to have some fun with it," he says. "Especially when I'm in a
business where you can take yourself pretty seriously - and that, to me is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. That the work seriously, but if you take yourself seriously, I think you're in trouble."
Thanks to Maya
|
|
|
|
| Clooney, Soderbergh Get 'Blues Claude Brodesser
3/27/03
Hollywood (Variety) - Producing partners George Clooney (news) and Steven Soderbergh (news) have come aboard to produce "Tishomingo Blues," actor Don Cheadle (news)'s directing debut.
Originally set up at Britain's FilmFour, which left the film financing business in 2002, the Elmore Leonard adaptation would mark a Leonard reunion for the trio: Clooney and Cheadle appeared in 1998's "Out of Sight," based on the Leonard book of the same name and directed by Soderbergh.
Clooney and Soderbergh, through their WB-based Section Eight banner, and Cheadle have an established working relationship, with Cheadle appearing alongside Clooney in Soderbergh's "Ocean's Eleven."
With a script by John Richards ("Nurse Betty"), "Tishomingo Blues" follows a high diver at the Tishomingo Hotel & Casino in Mississippi who witnesses a Mafia murder and becomes entangled with a Detroit con artist.
It is unclear whether WB will come aboard to finance the movie; production executives there have not had a chance to examine the project yet, which Cheadle will co-star in and is trying to cast.
In typical Elmore Leonard fashion, the movie includes such elements as two daredevils, a sexy high diver, a black gangster from Detroit, the Southern Mafia, and a Civil War re-enactment.
|
|
|
|
MOVIE bad boy Colin Farrell is in top form with a jokey T-shirt saying You Ought To Be In Pictures . . . Everything You Do Is A Big Production.
 The Irish romeo, 26, sported the clobber as he sank a few beers with a group of beauties at LA’s Chateau Marmont Hotel. But Colin was on his best behaviour as his mum Rita joined them......more |
|
|
|
| See Stars' 'Secret' Commercials Actors' Overseas Ads Can Be Seen On Japander.com
3/20/03
  You'll soon see the stars strut their stuff in the 75th Annual Academy Awards, and while many of them are happy to showcase clips of their film work, there is a bit of screen time that they don't want many of us to see -- their overseas commercials.While you can't see those ads on TV here there are places in cyberspace where you can. The actors, such as Laura Flynn Boyle, agree to make those commercials with the understanding that they won't be shown in the United States but with the World Wide Web, those boundaries can be easily crossed. What's a world away is now only a click away.
On the site Japander.com you can see some of the ads that have aired in Japan.
Brad Pitt even speaks a little Japanese in his commercials for beer and jeans. There's also video clips of George Clooney driving around in a Toyota and Oscar winner Jodie Foster praising a Japanese skin care product.
The stars make these commercials because the pay is very good for a few day's worth of work, but they don't want these ads aired in United States because they think they'll lose their credibility as actors if we see them advertising a product.
However, since these ads can now be seen online, actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Arnold Schwarzenegger have already started to take action to get them removed from various Web sites. So check them out before they're gone for good!
|
|
|
|
| Clooney, Soderbergh get Scanner Darkly Warner Bros., the studio that released Blade Runner 20 years ago, has snagged the rights to A Scanner Darkly, Philip K. Dick’s story of drug addiction for Steven Soderberg and George Clooney’s Section 8 production company.
The book, a fictionalized account of Dick’s drug troubles, tells the story of a drug cop from the future who has an alter ego strung out as an addict.
SCANNER has been bouncing around Hollywood for years, and was once set up at Universal with Leonardo DiCaprio set to star from a script by BEING JOHN MALKOVICH’s Charlie Kaufman.
The movie is being contemplated as some sort of animated film, so it is not known if Soderbergh will direct or Clooney will star.
|
|
|
|
| Operation Arthouse New Zealand Herald
Helen Barlow
3/15/03
  Looking like he'd fit right in as an icon of old Hollywood, George Clooney cut a dashing figure as he rolled up at the Berlin Festival for the premieres of his latest two films - Solaris and his directorial debut, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.His hair is greying but Clooney remains boyish at heart, and the 41-year-old was in fine clowning form as he presented his films to the press, joking about how his brief butt scene dominated the American promotional campaign for Steven Soderbergh's Solaris.
Earlier in the week when Clooney had met the press for Solaris, a journalist had raised his ire by saying that the film, in which he plays a love-lost astronaut, was boring. The former ER star retaliated with "What a jerk! I'd like to see you make a film."
The Clooney machine - Clooney accompanied by Soderbergh, his partner in Section Eight productions - has been at full throttle travelling to one European city after another to spread the word. Not just about their movies, that is, but also the word about the new Soderbergh-esque direction (arty, non-linear films) Clooney's career is taking.
|
|
A few years ago the star had sat down with his accountant who had told him his bank account was so healthy he could largely live off his investments for the rest of his life. So he thought why not make the edgier movies he wanted to make and cash in his collateral - that is, most of his star paycheque - to get the films made.
  If he stars in one film a year that makes money, all the better. With Ocean's Eleven both Clooney and Brad Pitt took a back-end deal that saw both actors receive their largest payday ever. The film's success also gave Clooney and Soderbergh the licence to embark on wilder adventures, at the studios' expense."Together we wanted to force some projects down the studios' throats that they might not normally do," says Clooney.
Ultimately Clooney found himself involved in two high-profile films at once, starring in Solaris (with a US$48 million budget ) while preparing to direct Confessions (US$30 million), in which he has a supporting role.
"I'm sitting here in the best time of my life, creatively and personally," says Clooney.
"The fun part for both Steven and I is that they're letting us get away with things in our movies. They'll take that away soon, but we're going to play with all the toys while we can."
The plan had never been for Clooney to star in Solaris, a cerebral romantic thriller, and certainly it's a more sombre role for the actor, whose films have largely revolved around robberies.
  Yet when Soderbergh sent him the screenplay, simply to have his opinion, Clooney could see himself in the part. Given the film's pedigree - it's based on Stanislaw Lem's novel, which had been previously filmed in 1972 by lauded Russian auteur Andrei Tarkovsky - the role presented his biggest challenge to date. He had to drop the wisecracking and wear a spacesuit with the kind of crotch-pad that tends to distract the audience's focus. |
|
Recalls Soderbergh: "The first version of the suit was too tight around his a** and I said he looked like one of the Village People, so I had to re-do it. It was heavy and hot and when I said I wanted him to be sweaty and tired, he'd take off and run around the set, and by the time he'd walk into the frame, he'd be covered in sweat. He didn't want it to be fake and be sprayed with fake sweat."
Initially Clooney had no desire to direct Confessions either, but Charlie Kaufmann's (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation) screenplay had already passed through too many hands.
"I just wanted to get the film made, and it turned out to be fun - I loved bossing Julia Roberts around," chuckles Clooney. Like her co-star, Drew Barrymore, Roberts took a meagre $250,000 fee, while Brad Pitt and Matt Damon received little for their hilarious cameos. "The hard part," continues Clooney, "was directing myself. When you're acting in a film nobody asks you what you think, but as a director everyone asks you what you're trying to say. So it's a fun conversation, about what's going on inside of your head."
  Confessions is based on the curious life of Chuck Barris, the man who invented American quiz shows like The Dating Game, The Gong Show and The Newlywed Game, and who claimed in his autobiography to have been a CIA hitman at the same time.His liking for comedy at the expense of others branded him the forebear of the likes of Jerry Springer and Survivor. But, says Clooney, his humour was less nasty and more naive.
"He should get some of the blame, but not all," says Clooney. "He always had a wink of the eye. I decided to make that double life for him also be a metaphor for the assassination of the American viewing audience."
Clooney readily admits that he knows a lot about bad TV, having done some before ER. "I did a series called Sunset Beat where I played an undercover cop on a Harley during the day, and a rock star at night. You should have read the script."
He grew up around on television sets as well. "My father had a live game show when I was 9 years old called Money Maze, a giant maze where the husband would run through it and the wife would stand alongside and go left or right. I grew up on sets at exactly the same period as in the film. I worked as a cue card kid, and the moment the Money Maze was over, we'd go to do The Bowling Show in the bowling alley and my dad would host that, too. It was local television."
 His father, Nick Clooney, would eventually become a news anchor, which he remains today. At school young George would always be known as the son of the famous man on television, and he became the class clown, while at family events the extroverted youngster put on a show, too. His sense of humour, he says, comes from his father. "He's a pretty funny guy, my old man," Clooney says with a constant grin. "I grew up in a small town in Kentucky where they have a very thick accent. Can't understand a word they say. But because of my father being an anchorman in this small town where everyone sounded like a bunch of hicks, I talked like an anchorman."He still does. And that's all part of his charm.
|
|
Clooney's transition into movies from ER star wasn't the smoothest. His first three studio films, One Fine Day, The Peacemaker and Batman & Robin were all critically mauled, but he hit his stride with Soderbergh on Out of Sight and on the Gulf War heist flick Three Kings.
Teaming with Soderbergh, their company produced Confessions, Ocean's Eleven, Far From Heaven, Insomnia and the upcoming Welcome to Collinwood. Next year they will re-team for Ocean's Twelve, which will require a drop in pay for the all-star cast as heists will be filmed in several international cities, making the film's production more costly. Clooney has also re-united with the Coen Brothers, for Intolerable Cruelty, where he plays a crooked lawyer.
"He's a marital lawyer whose job is to make pre-nups ironclad, but he's kind of like the grandson of the guy I played in O Brother, Where Art Thou. Joel and Ethan [Coen] are working on another film called Hail Caesar where they want me to come and play another idiot and call it my trilogy of idiots. I'm a little offended."
These days being a glamour-puss seems far from the agenda of the actor who in 1997 was voted the Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine. But that was a while ago.
"Well, you know, I was dethroned as Sexiest Man Alive four or five years ago by pretty boy Brad Pitt," Clooney says with mock disdain. "I'll tell ya, that hurt, that hurt a lot, because where do the retired Sexiest Men Alive go? Is there like, a home?"
* Solaris opens on March 27; Confessions of a Dangerous Mind features in the World Cinema Showcase Festival which plays at the Paramount Theatre, Wellington, April 10-23, Academy cinema, Auckland, May 1-21.
|
|
|
|
| Clooney: 'Pitt and Damon helped me out' Teletext
Annette Dasey
3/15/03
George Clooney's directorial debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is superb. Cynics may assume he called in mate Steven Soderbergh for help. But listening to Clooney, it's clear he knows his stuff, although he admits other heavyweight friends assisted.
"I called Julia Roberts and she said, 'I'm doing it,' and the same with Drew Barrymore," he says. "It wasn't because they wanted to work with me as a director. They were great parts."
Clooney gave Brad Pitt and Matt Damon blink-and-you'll-miss-them roles as contestants on a TV dating show.
"Burt Reynolds and Tom Selleck were on The Dating Game and didn't get picked so I thought it would be funny if those guys came out," says the 41-year-old debutant director.
"We were on tour for Ocean's 11 and were shooting confessions in Montreal so they had to fly up. I still can't believe they did it but that speaks of what nice men they are."
George didn't want a "banker" to star as game show creator and host Chuck Barris who claims he also worked as a CIA killer.
Instead, he was set on Sam Rockwell, the indie kid and character actor who played a psychotic inmate in The Green Mile, a lawnmower man in Lawn Dogs, a goofy space cadet in Galaxy Quest and the computer geek who'd had his voice recognition software stolen in Charlie's Angels.
"I have a golf club that I left stuck in my wall in my office at Warner Bros," says Clooney. "After two months of screen-testing and everything I still wasn't able to get Sam for a while and I slammed it into the wall and put a date on it."
Like everyone who encounters George, Sam is a Clooney convert. "It's rare in Hollywood that someone'll go in to bat for you the way George did so I didn't want to disappoint him. It was a big thrill," says the 34-year-old.
"He has a great generosity of spirit, he brings that to the work. He's very compassionate to the actors and smart, really smart. He was well prepared, did his homework and didn't leave a rock unturned."
Clooney isn't ashamed to admit he's influenced by directors he's worked with. "Joel and Ethan Cohen and Steven Soderbergh have a great way of running a set - it's fun and easygoing but they're all, as directors very responsible with other people's money," he explains.
"I thought it was important to finish ahead of schedule and under budget because I didn't want them to edit the film by pulling pages on the floor. I'd rather edit in the editing room.
"Who I was really ripping of, and I sent letters of apology to them, was Mike Nicholls, Sidney Lumet and the guys I grew up loving like Alan Pakula.
"This is sort of a comedy version of Pakula's The Parallax View, that's who I was really trying to emulate when I was doing it."
George fought hard to get Confessions of a Dangerous Mind made. "It was a studio script and the problem was it was a great screenplay but fell right in that, 'It's not cheap enough for a real independent studio to make and not expensive enough for Warner Bros to make.'
"And it didn't fall into any of the categories that they knew how to sell so for about five years they used it as bait to bring good directors in by saying, 'Hey that's great but why don't you take a look at this,' and they'd go do another project. It ended up getting about $5m in pre-production costs.
"We started up once with Curtis Hanson, David Fincher, PJ Hogan, there were a bunch of directors attached and I was just attached as an actor. But because there was so much money against it, it wasn't going to get made.
"I thought, 'If I grab it and do it for scale and get everyone else to do it for scale then we can get the film made for way under the budget it was being budgeted for.' That was my pitch."
'Most of all, I'd like to thank my family...'
George Clooney is a clever kid - he won't divulge if he believes Chuck Barris's claims to have worked as a CIA hitman, revelations The Dating Game and Gong Show creator and host made in his memoirs on which which the film is based.
"I don't know how much I believed it," says Clooney. "I didn't want to officially ask him because I didn't want him to turn around and say, 'No, I made it up,' as I wanted to tell the story.
"I think it's fairly obvious in the film where that all falls - we didn't want to answer it completely because we wanted to have the question out there. I felt how interesting if it's all made up, why someone as wealthy and successful as Chuck Barris would have to do that. He was an interesting person to explore.
"That's what we wanted to do with the film, explore that guy and why it was important to write his story. But officially we didn't want to ask him. Whatever his reasons for writing that it was pretty fun. I love the idea of comparing the CIA to bad television."
Rockwell's not giving away anything either. "I think we had to act as Chuck's defence attorney. We didn't want to know too much about the CIA stuff because we wanted to tell his story, we didn't want to be biased.
"He's a really warm guy and funny to hang out with. I spent about two and half months with him. He was really generous with himself and really sweet about hanging out. And he trusted George implicitly. George trusted me, so Chuck trusted me, too."
Betraying a fellow celeb's trust is one thing Clooney knows a lot about. His father was TV anchorman and talk show host Nick Clooney and his dad's sister '50s singer and actress Rosemary Clooney
"Aunt Rosemary was a huge influence," says George. "I moved out from Kentucky and I lived with her for the first year while trying to be an actor. You know, a struggling actor living in Beverly Hills was strange but she taught me a lot about the trappings of fame.
"The trick is that you can't spend all your time trying to correct all the things that are said that are inaccurate about you. I'd love to be able to say, 'You've got to not give a damn what people think and what they say about you but you do.' It does matter when you get a bad review it affects you.
"Sometimes that's healthy and good, sometimes, because you're an actor, you obsess on it. All I know and the only advice I got from my dad and my aunt Rosemary was, 'Don't wake up at 70 years old and say what you think you should have tried. Just do it, be willing to fail and then if you fail, at least you gave it a shot.' That seems to be the best advice I've received."
|
|
|
|
| Flower-shop girls cut Clooney down to size 3/12/03
ROSES are red, violets are blue, and a bunch of girls made George Clooney feel old at 42! Ladies' man George started playfully chatting up some high-school girls while browsing in Moe's Flowers on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. The Ocean's Eleven star was getting his share of squeals when one of the girls told him: "Wait till I tell my mom I saw you! She was in love with you when she was my age! Ouch! Poor George suddenly looked like he had been shot. But he managed to regain his composure and make fun of himself. Clutching his heart, he staggered out moaning that he'd left his walker outside.
|
|
|
|
| Theatre staff bet on Broadway hit IC liverpool
Joe Riley
3/12/03
LIVERPOOL Playhouse staff are seeking future fortune on Broadway.
There to help them will-be stars like Julia Roberts and George Clooney.
A 15-strong Playhouse team, including executive director Josephine Beddoe and board members, are backing a former award-winning Liverpool show about to open in New York.
The Morecambe and Wise tribute comedy, The Play What I Wrote, was premiered at the Playhouse in 2001, directed by Kenneth Branagh.
It went on to win a West End Olivier Award and became famous for its surprise guest appear-ances by famous names. This week's first Broadway preview featured former James Bond actor Roger Moore.
Now Julia Roberts and George Clooney are among those said to be waiting in the wings for when the play opens in New York on March 30.
Jo Beddoe said: "This is fantastic news and we have put our money where our mouth is. If all goes well, we will double our stake."
The Playhouse "bet" of £1,500 has been placed in 75 units of £20.
"It's a good bit of fun," said Ms Beddoe. "If we come up trumps, I shall give my stake back to the Playhouse towards a bursary for new talent."
The Liverpool theatre is hoping the comedy, written by and starring Hamish McColl and Sean Foley, will run on Broadway for at least eight months.
It is the first time a major Liverpool show has been seen in America's theatre capital since Bill Kenwright took the Playhouse production of Willy Russell's musical, Blood Brothers to New York exactly 10 years ago.
|
|
|
|
| Clooney-Rizzolo friendliness raises eyebrows 3/9/03
A coziness between actor George Clooney and embattled Las Vegas strip club owner Rick Rizzolo raised some eyebrows at a VIP nightclub party at Green Valley Ranch on Friday.
Clooney and Rizzolo greeted each other warmly at Rande Gerber's Whiskey Bar, and later Rizzolo, owner of Crazy Horse Too, the target of a massive Feb. 20 federal raid, acknowledged to a columnist that Clooney "is my buddy."
Clooney and Rizzolo have known each other since before the 2001 filming here of "Ocean's Eleven," which included a lap-dance scene that was shot at Crazy Horse Too involving Brad Pitt.
At that time, Rizzolo told me he turned down a $100,000 offer from the film's co-producers, Clooney and Jerry Weintraub, for closing down to shoot the scene.
After the 11-hour raid, which involved 85 agents, including DEA, IRS and FBI plus Las Vegas police and SWAT teams, Rizzolo acknowledged that the feds have been trying to bust him for years.
|
|
|
|
| True Confessions Scotsman
Chrissy Iley
3/1/03
The first time I get to see George Clooney, he’s dancing. Not well, I have to say. He’d insisted that the bar stayed open until 2am after the premiere party for his latest film, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (which he both stars in and directs), but his foot is in plaster and he seems a bit unsteady. Not too unsteady, though. As you’d expect of the man who made his name in ER as the doctor with the looks to die for but the gutsy attitude of an ordinary guy, Clooney is well practised in the art of having a good time.
The next day when I meet up with him in Claridge’s, he’s absurdly inviting. The last time he was here he stole some of the hotel’s cutlery and hid it in a journalist’s handbag as joke, but they’ve let him back in. We have a surprisingly normal conversation - or, at least, one that isn’t punctuated by awkward "let me plug my movie" type stuff. But then, as he admits himself, "it’s a lot easier talking about films you’re proud of than having to sell things you’re embarrassed by".
|
|
I can’t imagine that George has made many films he’s been embarrassed by (except maybe his famously ludicrous debut, Revenge of the Killer Tomatoes), but he disagrees. "Batman and Robin wasn’t a great film," he protests. "I’ve had a few bad ones. It started out from the beginning to be very bad and it didn’t get any better because, at the time, I was just a getting a job, you know? I wasn’t in a position to say no, or I thought I wasn’t."
To the outsider, it seems unlikely that Clooney should still think of himself as a being in that kind of position by the time he did Batman. Surely he was already a huge star? "Yeah," he says reflectively. "It’s a funny thing - people’s perceptions of you compared to what your own perception is. It takes a while to catch up so you can understand what other people are thinking, because things happen very quickly. But the truth of the matter is, if I hadn’t done Batman and Robin, I wouldn’t have got Out of Sight."
Out of Sight is generally regarded as the film that pushed him from small-screen fame to big-screen stardom, but George doesn’t see it quite so simply. "It’s been such a weird road, you know. I was 33 when I did ER. I’d done eight television series before that. I’d been around. I just got lucky. I mean, you create your own luck, obviously, by being available and by working hard.
|
|
"I think I sort of changed my luck by changing my focus. I had read for Brad Pitt’s role in Thelma and Louise and it was between Brad and me. I had really long hair and stuff and I thought I was going to get it because I could see it was a career-making part. When I didn’t, I realised there was such snobbery in films. I thought, ‘I’ve been an actor for 14 years - why am I still trying to read for three lines in a movie when I could just focus on doing better television?’ There was such a chasm between the two."
At around the same time, the Thursday 10pm slot opened on NBC (it had been filled for 20 years by the consistently popular NYPD Blue and LA Law) and the role of Doug Ross in ER came up. The series made Clooney’s career and it brought him offers of the kind of film roles he’d been hankering after for so long. "The hardest part for me was to come out of the most popular TV show in history because I knew the films I was going to make while I was doing that show weren’t going to be popular - if they can watch you for nothing on Thursday nights, why would they pay?" he says.
So he made the leap to film, first as an actor and now as a director. His involvement with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was originally limited to acting, but he decided to try his hand at directing when it looked like the project was losing studio backing and might not get made. Clooney admits he sought advice from his friend, the Oscar-laden Steven Soderbergh, who at that point was directing him in Solaris. "I went to Steven and said, ‘Do you think I can tell this story? Do you think I can direct?’ I stayed with him every day on set and he showed me how things work," he says enthusiastically.
Confessions is based on the controversial autobiography of TV producer Chuck Barris. It’s a surreal memoir in which Barris spills the beans about his twin careers as the man who singlehandedly dumbed down American television with programmes such as The Dating Game, The Newly-wed Game and The Gong Show and, allegedly, as a CIA hit-man.
Clooney’s movie may have tapped into the paranoia currently dictating American foreign policy, but he himself saw the film as a test of his own talents. Like the boy who’s been given the key to the sweet shop, he says with great excitement, "Suddenly you realise you can make a film. You can get it made. And then you can focus more on what you’re trying to do. You think, ‘I’m getting these opportunities that most people don’t ever get.’"
|
|
To focus on the film, Clooney found himself looking into his past. His father Nick, brother of the celebrated US singer Rosemary Clooney, spent most of his career as a respected TV newscaster, but for a short time previously, he had been the host of a game-show called Money Maze, where a husband would run through the maze while his wife would stand above it, urging "Go left, go right!" Clooney used his memories of the show to create some of the sets for Confessions. He draws the line, though, at the suggestion that there might be any further resemblance between his father and Barris.
"My dad had a lot more integrity," he scoffs. "He did game-shows for a couple of years and then he became a news anchorman for 25 years. To go from being a game-show host to news, he had to be more diligent and more rigid about the rules of journalism than anybody else." In the end, Nick Clooney quit the business when his bosses tried to send him to a media consultant. "They wanted him to comb his hair a certain way and wear a blue suit and to become all the things he didn’t want to be."
Clooney’s voice softens when he talks about his father, whom he obviously greatly admired. "It’s about doing it for my dad sometimes," he admits.
|
|
Born in Kentucky in 1961, Clooney grew up in a place where cliched, middle-American views prevailed, and the admiration he feels for his father partly stems from the way Nick refused to conform. "There was still a great deal of racial prejudice around where we were and my dad would be the guy who would get up and walk out of the room and make a scene if he came across any," he says. "If we were out having dinner in a restaurant, say, and someone said, ‘Well, you know those people...’, my sister and I just knew to start wolfing down the food because it wouldn’t be long before my dad would start making a scene and walking us out of there.
"As a little kid, you want to pretend you didn’t hear. You’re embarrassed. But those are the very things you are most proud of later. When you become high-profile, you have to pick your fights carefully or your focus gets lost and it just looks like you’re fighting all the time.
"Fame is an interesting thing. It’s nice being famous - it’s nice being in a room full of friends who laugh at your jokes. But when you’re in a room full of strangers who are laughing, it’s embarrassing. You have no choice but to hear what people say, but you can’t believe it if it’s bad and you can’t believe the good things either.
|
|
Despite his terror of becoming a Hollywood monster surrounded by yes-men, he acknowledges that "Actors want to be liked. I think that’s why they get into the business in the first place." Yet Clooney has never really had a problem with being liked. At least not by women.
Mirroring his latest character (the movie centres around Barris’s on-off relationship with a woman called Penny, played by Drew Barrymore, whom he loves but can’t commit to), Clooney is possibly the world’s most famous bachelor.
"Barris had a real anger with the person he was from an early age," he says. "My life has not been like that. I don’t have any great self-hatred. I don’t go around telling myself I’ve failed or that I didn’t do the things I wanted to do. I believe there’s only one window of opportunity where you get to be creative and you have to seize it. I feel like I have to do that just now. Just for once, I’m in a position to force a studio to do what I want. If a picture looks like it isn’t getting made, I can make them make it. But that might not last very long."
George has been linked to some fabulous women in the past. Of Renee Zellweger, he says they’re "just friends". Further back, there were relationships with Kelly Preston, French law student Celine Balitran and actress Kimberly Russell, who once said, "George loves women, but he doesn’t want all the emotional baggage that comes with them." For a while he was with TV presenter Lisa Snowdon and, back in the late 1980s, he was married, briefly, to actress Talia Balsam.
|
|
He insists he doesn’t have a girlfriend at the moment."You can’t go out looking for a girlfriend," he argues, adding that the kind who are looking for him aren’t the kind he’s looking for. "You have to take life as it comes. I’ve had great, long relationships that worked really well for a period of time and then they stopped working."
Because they have to be undemanding? "No. You have to find somebody that you mesh with. My life is completely different now to when I was married. I’m a different guy. I don’t know if I would have found my ex-wife if I were in this position. Believe it or not, it’s actually difficult to meet women." I don’t believe him.
"Here’s the difference," he argues. "Normally, when you meet a girl, you get to reinvent yourself each time. You get to say, ‘This is who I am now. I learned something from the last relationship, but this is what I’ve grown into, this person I am with you. This is what I’ve become.’ But I don’t get to do that because everybody has a history with me. They come up and say, ‘Hey, you do this, you do that.’ From the moment we meet, I already have a history that people think they know, and most people make a judgment on that. You don’t get that same sort of discovery period. Instead, it’s all about damage control."
|
|
I’m still not convinced. The man has women falling over themselves to meet him. Surely he’d like someone to share stuff with? "Well, sure. Everyone wants to be in love and be happy and all those things, but you can’t just decide you’re going to go out and fall in love. You’ve got to find it. I’ve done really dumb things. Kelly Preston and I moved in together after our first date. We bought a house in the first month.
"I’m getting better at not doing that now. Partly because I’m busy and partly because you get less impulsive as you get older. You realise that one action does lead to several others and you want to make sure that that action is thought through. When you’re young, you go, ‘Let’s do it!’ You don’t think through the idea about not hurting anybody or about getting hurt yourself. You just think, ‘Who cares?’ I’m better at being careful."
Maybe he’s too careful. "That could be true," he admits, halting what has been an extremely smooth, fast flow of words for the first time. Are the rumours true about you and Mariella Frostrup? Are you just friends, I ask, hinting that it didn’t look that way watching them dance the previous night. "She’s engaged to one of my dearest friends," he counters. "The two of them are my best friends out here by far. They’re coming to my place in Italy this weekend," he adds, boasting about his newly purchased hideaway.
|
|
But despite his obvious fondness for women, most of his friends are men. "I have four or five close female friends, but I’ve been best friends with the same eight guys for 20 years. It’s now a badge of honour for us. They’re not sycophants. They’re all successful. They all have their own careers. But we work hard at staying close. It’s important. It’s my family. When you are in the position I’m in, you meet a lot of nice people. I have a lot of nice acquaintances. But this is my core group."
And I think I do know. It’s all part of Clooney’s constant battle to remain grounded. Of course, the trouble is that, no matter how hard he tries to persuade us otherwise, he can never go back to being just an ordinary bloke.
|
|
|
|
| Give us a ring, George Eileen Condon
Evening Gazette
2/28/03
Great news, girls ... the world's most eligible bachelor says he's looking for love and marriage!
George Clooney, once unsuccessfully bet $10,000 by Nicole Kidman, that he'd be married again by 40, now says walking down the aisle might not be such a bad option.
"About ten years ago I once said 'I've done it once and I'm not doing it again,' and it became a big thing," says the 41-year-old star. But I'm not anti-marriage. A lot of my best friends are married and it's worked for them."
He may insist he's ready for a quieter lifestyle, but the man sure knows how to party. On a recent trip to London he hit the capital's clubs with a vengeance - always with a female entourage in tow.
You can't blame him for letting his hair down. Clooney has worked non-stop in the past few years, appearing in the hit movie Ocean's Eleven alongside Brad Pitt, shooting two new films Solaris and Intolerable Cruelty, and making his directorial debut in Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind.
Clooney, who co-produced the upcoming Far From Heaven starring Julianne Moore, says: "It's been an insane schedule. I've been working seven days a week, 18, 19 hour days. It's the hardest I've ever worked."
He might be exhausted but his fans will be delighted by the slew of Clooney movies headed our way - particularly Solaris, on our screens this week, in which they'll get to see a whole lot more of him.
In several scenes the star bares his bum, causing a huge flurry of excitement among film fans - though he fails to see what all the fuss is about.
"I think all the attention surrounding that just happened because it was the first bit of publicity to come out about the film," he says.
"I think it was just a marketing buzz."
The sci-fi drama hasn't gone down well in America, maybe because audiences have struggled with the fact that it's a very different departure from Clooney's usual, witty debonair roles.
In the remake of a 1972 Russian movie he plays a psychologist who travels to a planet where his late wife (Natascha McElhone, pictured above with Clooney) visits him from beyond the grave.
Clooney admits that the film may have a tough time finding an audience.
"I also think it's the kind of film that will catch on internationally because they might be willing to sit still a little bit longer and watch it.
"It dares the audience to sit still and ask questions, which is always dangerous," he says. "But I want to try and do films that are going to last past an opening weekend."
Clooney was desperate to work with Steven Soderbergh again - even though the director had already chosen British actor Daniel Day-Lewis for the role.
"He'd offered it to Daniel, who works and then he doesn't work, so the project was just sitting there.
"So I wrote telling Steven that he might not think I was the right guy for the job but I'd give it my best shot," says Clooney. "He called me up and said 'let's do it'."
|
|
|
|
| 'Ocean's 11' Team Produce Cheadle's Directorial Debut 2/27/03
Hollywood (Zap2it.com) - Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney will be producing Don Cheadle's directorial debut "Tishomingo Blues," through their Section Eight company. Cheadle worked with the duo in the past in "Out of Sight" and "Ocean's Eleven."
Based on Elmore Leonard's best seller of the same name, the story centers on Robert Taylor, a con artist from Detroit who is trying to take over the Dixie mob's Gulf Coast drug business. He finds a way in by aligning himself with a circus high diver who witnessed a murder. The story culminates in the reenactment of a famous Civil War battle.
The project was set up at U.K. independent production company FilmFour in February 2002. But when the company dissolved five months later, the rights reverted back to the author, according The Hollywood Reporter. Leonard and his manager Michael Siegel are producers on the film. Casting for the picture is currently under way.
|
|
|
|
| Looking to the future. . . 2/27/03
Great news girls! The world’s most eligible bachelor says he’s looking for love and marriage.
George Clooney, who has always prided himself on being footloose and fancy free, seems to have had a surprising change of heart.
The 41-year-old star, who was once unsuccessfully bet $10,000 by Nicole Kidman, that he’d be married again by the age of 40, now says walking down the aisle might not be such a bad option after all.
“I’m not put off by it,” he smiles, flashing those perfect white teeth. “About 10 years ago I once said, ‘I’ve done it once and I’m not doing it again,’ and it became a big thing, but I’m not anti-marriage.
“A lot of my best friends are married and it’s worked for them. I still really enjoy my freedom, but maybe I’ll meet the woman who makes me rearrange my priorities.”
There’s certainly no shortage of offers. He’s fast approaching his 42nd birthday, but “gorgeous George” more than lives up to the nickname. Oozing sex appeal and with a highly- flirtatious smile, it’s hardly surprising the star didn’t want for female company during his recent trip to London.
And as much as he insists he’s ready for a quieter lifestyle, the man knows how to party, hitting the capital’s bars and clubs with a vengeance, and always with a female entourage in tow.
|
|
“I enjoy drinking. I’m a professional drinker,” he grins mischievously. “And London is one of the best cities in the world. I love the nightlife. Great restaurants and clubs, it’s really alive.”
You can’t blame him for letting his hair down. Clooney has worked non-stop in the past couple of years, appearing in the hit movie Ocean’s Eleven, alongside Brad Pitt, shooting two new films – Solaris and Intolerable Cruelty – and making his directorial debut in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. He also co-produced Far From Heaven, starring Julianne Moore.
“It’s been an insane schedule,” he says. “I’ve been working seven-days-a- week, 18- or 19-hour days. It’s the hardest I’ve ever worked. It’s been exhausting and I looked beat. So no, I’m not dating anyone. There hasn’t been time, it just wouldn’t have been fair on anyone.”
He might be exhausted, but his fans will be delighted by the slew of Clooney movies heading our way, particularly Solaris, in which they’ll get to see a lot more of him.
In one scene the star bares his backside, not surprisingly, causing a huge flurry of excitement among film fans.
“I think all the attention surrounding that just happened because it was the first bit of publicity to come out about the film,” he says. “I think it was just a marketing buzz.”
It’s not just Clooney’s naked buttocks which are causing a stir. The film itself hasn’t gone down well in America, marking the first serious hiccupp in his career for a long time.
|
|
In the film – a remake of a 1972 Russian movie – he plays a mournful psychologist who travels to a planet where his dead wife (Natascha McElhone) visits him from beyond the grave, leaving him to decide whether he should bring her back to life.
“I think it’s going to have a tough time finding an audience,” he says honestly. “But I also think it’s the kind of film that will catch on internationally because they might be willing to sit still a little bit longer and watch it. It dares the audience to sit still and ask questions, which is always dangerous, but I want to try and do films that are going to last past an opening weekend.”
Apart from that, the movie was also a chance for Clooney to reunite with director Steven Soderbergh. The pair have collaborated together on several projects - including Ocean’s Eleven – and Clooney admits he was desperate to work with him again – even though Soderbergh had already chosen British actor Daniel Day-Lewis for the Solaris role.
“He’d offered it to Daniel, who works and then he doesn’t work, so the project was just sitting there,” explains Clooney. “So I wrote to Steven telling him he might not think I was the right guy for the job, but I’d give it my best shot. He called me up and said let’s do it. Steven and I seem to have the same taste in things, we seem to work the same way and we both want to fight for films that we want to see get made.”
Clooney is more respectful of the director now he’s made his own directorial debut with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, out next month. Happily he has not completely disappeared behind the camera though. He also has a supporting role in the film, alongside Julia Roberts and Drew Barrymore, but admits directing is his new passion. Now Clooney can add ‘successful director’ to his already bulging CV, it’s hardly surprising the multi-talented star doesn’t worry too much about the future.
“It’s fun to be where I’m at right now,” he beams. “I’m in the position to pick and choose and pick the ones that I think are fun. I’m really enjoying where my life’s at right now. I’ve always felt life is short and there would be nothing worse than waking up at 65 and thinking you didn’t give it your best shot. Well, I’m having fun giving it my best shot.”
And who knows, the icing on the cake might just be meeting that elusive Ms Right. Hopefully not too soon though!
|
|
 |
