Farragut North
Three years ago, George Clooney announced his intention to direct a big-screen adaptation of the off-Broadway play Farragut North, a political drama about campaign dirty tricks written by former Democratic political operative Beau Willimon. Now it seems like Clooney is finally electing to do it: Vulture hears that he plans to start shooting this February, and a cast that includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, and possibly Chris Pine is coming together.
Willimon (who also wrote the initial draft of the movie adaptation) was inspired to write the screenplay after his work campaigning for Howard Dean in 2004. Accordingly, the story is set in Des Moines, Iowa, just weeks before the state’s Democratic caucuses officially commence; it follows the exploits of a twentysomething presidential campaign spinmeister/wunderkind named Stephen Myers, and the dirty pool he plays to get his candidate the nomination against a rival senator. Leonardo DiCaprio was once attached to play the role of Myers, but appears to have backed out; sources tell Vulture that Clooney is planning to offer the role to Star Trek’s Chris Pine, who received accolades when he played the part in last year’s L.A. stage production. (I got to see it, and Pine was fantastic.)
Brad Pitt had originally wanted to do the play’s other major role: Paul Zara, Myers’s hard-bitten veteran boss on the trail. However, with a packed schedule that may prove this impossible, Hoffman has agreed to step in.Giamatti is set to play the campaign manager of the rival candidate, and Clooney has offers out to Evan Rachel Wood (to play a teen staffer with whom Myers has a sexual dalliance) and Marisa Tomei (for the role of a probing journalist). We also hear Clooney plans take a small role in the movie; the only one left seems to be that of the candidate himself, who is never seen in the stage version and is a minor character in the screenplay.
Most bang for your buck
According to Forbes, these days studios are squeezing every cent they can out of actors, and that means many stars only earn the big bucks after the studio gets back its money.
In these frugal times it’s useful to look at which actors earn studios the most for their money. Pay someone $10 million to star in your big summer blockbuster and what can you expect for your investment? If you hire Shia LaBeouf, expect a lot. For the second year in a row, he tops the list of Hollywood’s Best Actors for the Buck.
When LaBeouf starred in the first Transformers movie in 2007, Viacom’s Paramount Studio was able to pay him under $5 million. It had to bump that up considerably for the second film (which earned $833 million in 2009), but LaBeouf still isn’t earning $20 million upfront to star in a picture.
As a result, he offers a great return on investment. For every $1 studios spend on the 24-year-old actor his films return an average $81 of profit. For our list this year LaBeouf also benefits from the fourth Indiana Jones film, which earned $790 million in 2008. George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford split the bulk of the profits from that movie leaving LaBeouf as a profitable costar.
As the actor’s fame (and box-office earnings) increase he’ll be able to demand more for each film which will hurt his return on investment number unless the films are gigantic blockbusters. That could be the case with the next Transformers movie. LaBeouf was able to ask for more money upfront but because the movie is being filmed in 3-D, it should earn even more than Transformers 2.
In order to create their list Forbes looked at the top 36 earners in Hollywood. To qualify, each actor had to have starred in at least three movies in the past five years that opened in more than 500 theaters. Movies that opened after June 1 of this year are not counted. They did not include animated films because the actors aren’t really the draw and they tend to take pay cuts for voice work.
They then used data gathered for their annual Celebrity 100 list to calculate each star’s estimated earnings on each film (including upfront pay and any earnings from the movie’s box-office receipts, DVD and TV sales). They then looked at each movie’s estimated budget (not including marketing costs, which are susceptible to accounting chicanery) and box-office, DVD and television earnings to figure out an operating income for each film.
They added up each star’s compensation on his or her last three films and the operating income on those films and divided total operating income by the star’s total compensation to come up with each return on investment number. The final number represents an average of how much a studio earns for every dollar paid to the actor.
Because women typically earn less than men in Hollywood, they make up a full half of our top 10 list. Anne Hathaway is the highest-ranking woman in the No. 2 spot. For every dollar she earns studios earn $64 off of her films.
Most of that payback is coming from Alice in Wonderland. The Disney 3-D film was a gigantic hit earning $1 billion at the global box office, and Hathaway earned much less than star Johnny Depp. But she also benefits from 2009’s Bride Wars, which was a modest hit earning $115 million at the global box office on a low estimated budget of $30 million.
Another woman on our list: Jennifer Aniston. The star makes a surprising appearance in sixth place with a $21 return for every $1 she is paid. (She’s tied with Meryl Streep.) Although one of her included movies, Love Happens, was a huge flop, The Bounty Hunter actually did well with $136 million at the global box office on an estimated budget of $40 million.
Daniel Radcliffe ranks third with a $61 return for every dollar he earns. Even though the star is now earning huge bucks for the last few Harry Potter films, the movies do so well that it balances out. He also benefits from the inclusion of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which came out before his quote skyrocketed.
In fourth place: Robert Downey Jr. The actor has gone from being a Hollywood pariah to the star of some of the highest-earnings films of the last few years. Sherlock Holmes brought in $517 million last Christmas, and Iron Man 2 has earned $622 million at the global box office. The better his movies do, the more he’ll be able to demand per film but for now, he’s still a good Hollywood investment.
Now this is what I call a sexy cover!!! My jaw’s on the floor! (far sexier than True Blood’s)
GET LOW in Santa Barbara
Somebody told me he was turned away from a screening of GET LOW in Santa Barbara this past weekend. Good to hear this film’s selling out. It’s one of the best films of the year so far. One of the writers lives here – C. Gaby Mitchell.
Who is the audience for this movie? :-)
my idea of hell…
my happy place scene…I’m allowed this once a year…but only once a year…
MAD MEN rules
Deservedly so, for the past three years MAD MEN has won the Emmy for Best TV series!!
Sign me up!!!!
John Cusack has announced that he will star as writer Edgar Allan Poe in The Raven.
The High Fidelity actor revealed his latest role via a post on his Twitter page, claiming that shooting will begin this autumn.
Cusack wrote: “officiali- will play edgar allen poe in fall-a-film called the raven, send any poe- gold – my way as i begin this journey into the abyss (sic)”
V For Vendetta director James McTeigue is making the movie, which will be a fictionalised account of the final five days of Poe’s life tracking the American writer as he chases a serial killer taking inspiration from his works.
Ewan McGregor and The Hurt Locker’s Jeremy Renner had previously been in talks for The Raven, but their roles were not specified and it is unclear if the duo are still involved with the project.
Last week reports surfaced stating that The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo star Noomi Rapace had met with McTeigue for an undisclosed role in the period thriller.
Volver
One of my favorite movies in the past ten years is Almodovar’s VOLVER with Penelope Cruz. It’s all about how hard it is to come home – to go back. You can never have things the way they were. I sat with my dad this weekend to watch VOLVER and BROKEN EMBRACES. It’s hard to see my father who is the backbone of my existence, and the man who encouraged me to be who I am today being weakened by Parkinson’s. My dad is a wonderful man. I snuck out this weekend to Panama before the Fall Season and all the Festival madness begins to spend time with him. Nothing else mattered. The world stopped – as it should. And both of us found refuge (I hope!) watching movies…together. Priceless.