DAN’S MOVIE DIGEST 126

BASIC INSTINCT 2Sharon Stone (right) told ‘Access Hollywood’ that her character, Catherine Tramell,will have a bisexual relationship in the sequel Basic Instinct 2: RiskAddiction.

Stone: “There is lesbian love. We’re testing for her now.”

Stone said she was surprised at the attention her interrogation scene in theoriginal 1992 Basic Instinct movie received: “People still want to see somemore of that.” When asked if that was the plan for the sequel, she smiledand replied: “You can spend your $12 and go find out for yourself.”

In the follow-up slated for release in 2006, Catherine relocates from SanFrancisco to London and quickly finds herself on the wrong side of the law.

David Morrissey (TV’s Blackpool) plays a criminal psychologist assigned thetask of evaluating her by Scotland Yard, and she may finally have met hermatch in the shrink.

DIE HARD 4.0’Empire Online’ spoke to Bruce Willis about the Die Hard 4.0 script, whosaid that: “Doug Richardson, who wrote Hostage, took a shot at Die Hard 4.0and it’s a good idea. The script will be done by summer and they want toshoot it in the fall. McClane’s retired, he’s not a cop anymore.

It’s completely different from the other three films. The only one of theother three films that I thought had any merit to it was the first one.Actually, in the third one I think Sam Jackson’s work was really strong.”

And why Die Hard 4.0? “Well, it has something to do with computers…”

CASINO ROYALEActor Julian McMahon (TV’s Nip/Tuck, right) is apparently a front-runner for the007 role in Casino Royale. The 36-year-old Australian reportedly said: “I’ma big James Bond fan. I met the producers for a final audition. They told meto expect a decision in a couple of months and they said it was between meand one other person. It’s going to be a very nervous wait.”

Another late contender is British actor Daniel Craig (Layer Cake) and CliveOwen (Closer), who has been long associated with claiming the Bond title.

In related news, speaking to the ‘New York Daily News’, director MartinCampbell (Goldeneye) revealed the concept behind Casino Royale and how thecharacter will be unlike anything we have seen before.

Campbell: “There are things that will have to be changed from the originalnovel. The Cold War elements will have to be reconfigured, for example, butCasino Royale will be a grittier, tougher and more realistic Bond movie.We’ll be getting away from the huge visual effects kind of films.”

“In the new film, Bond is essentially starting out in his career, and hasjust recently become part of the double-0 section. The idea is to put a bitof the dash back in Bond. By the end of the movie, the character will havebeen forged into the wiser, harder Bond we know.”

“The door is open for Bond, emotionally. He’s in love with Vesper [Lynd] andhe sees there’s another side to all of this, that life might be far morepleasurable, more gratifying, than being a secret agent. And ultimately thatdoor is slammed in his face, which makes him the tempered steel kind of guythat we know.”

On the subject of the graphic torture that Bond suffers at the hands of LeChiffre, Campbell said: “I don’t know what we’re going to do about that. Itranks up there with the teeth-drilling scene in Marathon Man. I’m lookingforward to humanizing Bond a bit. In the novel, Bond smokes 70 cigarettes aday – unbelievable. And he gets a little drunk.”

All figures are weekend box-office gross.

• 1. Diary of a Mad Black Woman ($21.9m)
• 2. Hitch ($20.4m)
• 3. Constantine ($12.0m)
• 4. Cursed ($9.63m)
• 5. Man of the House ($8.92m)
• 6. Million Dollar Baby ($7.34m)
• 7. Because of Winn-Dixie ($6.82m)
• 8. Are We There Yet? ($4.11m)
• 9. Son of the Mask ($3.82m)
• 10. The Aviator ($3.74m)

UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)

• 1. Hide and Seek (£1.59m)
• 2. Meet the Fokkers (£1.03m)
• 3. Ocean’s Twelve (£0.65m)
• 4. Shall We Dance (£0.64m)
• 5. Are We There Yet? (£0.58m)
• 6. The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (£0.55m)
• 7. Sprung! The Magic Roundabout (£0.53m)
• 8. Coach Carter (£0.46m)
• 9. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (£0.45m)
• 10. Racing Stripes (£0.38m)

All the following are U.K. release dates, and are subject to change.

• 4th March 2005: Hitch, Somersault, Kinsey, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Boogeyman, Flight of the Phoenix, King’s Ransom
• 11th March 2005: Hungry Heart, The Choir, 9 Songs, Hostage, The Machinist, Stalker
• 18th March 2005: 5×2, Non ti muovere, Robots, Monster Man, Constantine, The City of No Limits
• 25th March 2005: Melinda and Melinda, Maria Full of Grace, Wild Side, Valiant, Pooh’s Heffalump Movie, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
• 1st April 2005: Be Cool, The House Keys, The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse (London), Mean Creek, The Rage in Placid Lake, The Ring Two
• 8th April 2005: The Assassination of Richard Nixon, The Cave, Bullet Boy, Sahara, DiG!
• 15th April 2005: The Edukators, The Weather Man
• 22nd April 2005: Tarnation, Sin City, Palindromes, Machuca, The Wedding Date, Unleashed, The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse
• 29th April 2005: In Your Hands, One Love, XXX: State of the Union
• 6th May 2005: Rubber Johnny, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Mysterious Skin, Twin Sisters, Kingdom of Heaven, Monster-in-Law
• 13th May 2005: The Eye 2, Friday Night Lights, A Good Woman
• 20th May 2005: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (19thh), Saint Ralph, What the Bleep Do We Know?
• 27th May 2005: Clifford’s Really Big Movie, Torremolinos 73, Ong-bak, The Pacifier
• 3rd June 2005: House of Wax
• 10th June 2005: Silver City, Screaming Blue Murder
• 17th June 2005: Mr and Mrs Smith
• 24th June 2005: Batman Begins, Wonderful Days
• 1st July 2005: Stray Dogs, Madagascar
• 8th July 2005: War of the Worlds (2005)
• 15th July 2005: Fun with Dick and Jane (2005)
• 22nd July 2005: The Wedding Crashers, Whisky, Fantastic Four (2005)
• 29th July 2005: The Skeleton Key, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
• 5th August 2005: Stealth, Because of Winn-Dixie, Nanny McPhee
• 12th August 2005: The Island, Herbie: Fully Loaded
• 19th August 2005: Doom, Bewitched (2005), Dark Water
• 26th August 2005: The Dukes of Hazzard (2005), Edison, Goal!
• 2nd September 2005: Cinderella Man, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
• 9th September 2005: Elizabethtown
• 16th September 2005: TBA
• 23rd September 2005: Pride and Prejudice (2005)
• 30th September 2005: The Perfect Man
• 7th October 2005: TBA
• 14th October 2005: Wallace & Gromit Movie: Curse of the Wererabbit
• 21st October 2005: Aeon Flux, Sky High, Corpse Bride
• 28th October 2005: Noel, Flightplan, Halloween 9 (31st)
• 1st November 2005: Bad Blood
• 18th November 2005: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• 9th December 2005: Underworld: Evolution, The Chronicles of Narnia: Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
• 14th December 2005: King Kong (2005)

All the following are U.S. release dates, and are subject to change.

• MARCH: Be Cool (4), A Sound Of Thunder (11), The Ring 2 (18),
• APRIL: Sin City (1), Amityville Horror (15), XXX State Of The Union (29),
• MAY: Kingdom Of Heaven (6), Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (6), Star Wars Episode III (19)
• JUNE: Mr & Mrs Smith (10), Batman Begins (17), War Of The Worlds (29)
• JULY: Fantastic Four (1), Bewitched (8), Charlie & The Chocolate Factory (15), The Island (22), The Dukes Of Hazzard (29)
• AUGUST: 3001 (5), Doom (5), Deuce Bigelow European Gigolo (12),
• SEPTEMBER: Birth Of The Pink Panther (23), Legend Of Zorro (23), Serenity (30), Spy Hunter (30)
• OCTOBER: Wallace & Gromit (7), The Fog (14), Land Of The Dead (21)
• NOVEMBER: Cars (4), Harry Potter 4 (18), Brother Grimm (23)
• DECEMBER: Chronicles Of Narnia (9), Underworld 2 (9), King Kong (14), The Producers (24), Zathura (21), Mad Max Fury Road (31), Die Hard 4 (31)

Page Content copyright © Dan Owen, 2005.