Ten Years Ago! McConaughey in PURE EVEL, Dawson spreads out from CREEK
Joseph Gordon-Levitt secured a huge six figure deal to join the already cast Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles in the modern day updating of ‘The Taming of the Shrew”, the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You.
The film was expected to be the actor’s true breakout from his recurring role on Third Rock From the Sun. In truth the movie did much for it’s other two leads whereas Levitt would move into relative Indie obscurity before finally finding acclaim for his good performances in Brick and The Lookout which led to him being cast recently in G.I. Joe. [Variety]
Matthew McConaughey was nearing a deal to play the daring and iconic performer Evel Knievel in a biopic for director Marco Brambilla (Demolition Man) which was setup at Universal from a script by hot newcomer John Logan. The actor was so keen on the film, he was aiming to jump on board as a producer and had even met Knievel, with the idea for the flick being more about the icon’s rise as an American symbol than his death-defying stunts.
Director changes with Betty Thomas (Dr. Dolittle), McG (Charlie’s Angels) and a new draft from Andrew Kevin Walker would occur over the following ten years with McConaughey always staying interested in the movie but to date it has never actually been given the greenlight. McConaughey did say an eulogy at Knievel’s funeral late last year and I don’t think it would surprise anyone if this project revived itself again…
Dawson’s Creek actor James Van Der Beek (jesus, where did he go?) struck a deal to lead Varsity Blues for hack director Brian Robbins at Paramount/MTV. It would be the first leading film role for Van Der Beek, the last actor from the main foursome of Creek to get a movie deal. A limited performance (it was clear he had one persona at this point) and a couple of movies later and Van Der Beek was to fall off the face of the Earth whereas his co-stars would continue to make something of a success with their careers. [Variety]
NEW RELEASES THAT WEEK:
GREASE (re-issued)… yawn! (Travolta & Newton John 1998 Interview)
THE NEWTON BOYS… decent (Siskel & Ebert Review)
MEET THE DEEDLES… never heard of it (Siskel & Ebert Review)
source - box office mojo
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