– Since news dropped that Edward Norton won’t be reprising his role as Bruce Banner/The Hulk in The Avengers, words have been exchanged between Marvel’s Kevin Feige and Norton’s WME agent Brian Swardstrom, who calls Marvel’s statement “[an] inappropriate attempt to paint our client in a negative light.” Feige had said that Marvel’s decision was ““rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members. The Avengers demands players who thrive working as part of an ensemble.”
Now, Joaquin Phoenix (presumably “playing” a questionably sane person in Casey Affleck’s doc I’m Still Here: The Lost Year of Joaquin Phoenix) has been offered and is considering the role. So if Marvel did indeed drop Norton because he was a difficult actor to work with, they must be vetting Phoenix as a safe replacement.
– Angelina Jolie, who, thanks to the July 23rd release of Salt is doing interviews, gave MTV an update on the projects she’s considering. Tim Burton’s Maleficent – “I would love to” she says, but “it’s all new and being discussed, but i loved her when i was a little girl; she was my favorite”; Cleopatra? – “There’s a lot about her that not been covered yet so if we can do something original we will”; A Kay Scarpetta project? – “it’s all very ‘in development'”, and Darren Aronofsky’s Serena? – “I’d love to work with Darren one day, so if it’s not that, it’ll be something else; he’s one of my favorites.” Few other actresses, if any, have this range of leading characters to choose from; fairy tale evil nemesis, legendary Queen, medical examiner and murderous head of a North Carolina timber empire (not to mention the rumored Gucci biopic).
– The Sam Mendes directed adaptation of Ian McEwan’s 2008 novel On Chisel Beach will find Carey Mulligan as one of the currently screen-testing young Brits in the leading roles of Honeymooning virgins, reports the Daily Mail. Shooting will begin in September from a script adapted by McEwan, set ‘in a time when a conversation about sexual difficulties was plainly impossible’ – as stated in the opening paragraph of the book.
– Julianne Moore, star of Focus Features’ The Kids Are All Right, which opened this past weekend with the best (specialty release) screen average of the year ($72,127), and fifth best of the last five years, sat down with film blogger Nathaniel Rogers and discussed fame – “I don’t know if fame is anything in particular. I feel like it’s an offshoot of something else”; her job – “to facilitate [the director’s very strong visions], to be a conduit for their words and imagery”; and working alongside Annette Bening; “It was definitely a partnership, a marriage. It was our job to illuminate that and the dynamics of that marriage. And insomuch as she [Jules] doesn’t seem to be the dominant partner, you realize that she has an emotional transparency and fluidity that her wife [Nic] doesn’t have. She might not be the one making the decisions or the money or whatever but then you realize, oh, but she’s the fun one. It might seem like someone is in charge but then you go ‘noooo…’ There’s all this balance, I think.”
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