Zoe Kazan, Analeigh Tipton and more vying to join Taylor Swift in female rocker biopic “Girls Like Us”

September 22, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

A plethora of rising young actresses are lining up for the chance to star in a biopic of three of the most influential women in music. Country singer Taylor Swift is already attached to the role of Joni Mitchell in “Girls Like Us”, and now Variety reports actresses are being auditioned for the remaining two roles of Carole King and Carly Simon.

For the role of King, filmmakers are reading actresses Analeigh Tipton, Allison Williams and Jessica Pare; while Alison Pill, Olivia Thirlby, Zoe Kazan and Ari Graynor are up for the role of Simon. When Swift became attached to the project, Pill was already in consideration for the role of Simon, but it appears she’s got it far less locked up than Swift. Variety also warns this project is in the exploratory stage, with casting needing to be firmed up – and the chemistry between the three leads passing muster – before it gets the green light at Sony Pictures.

Taylor Swift may play Joni Mitchell in female rocker biopic “Girls Like Us”

April 20, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Joni Mitchell fans, I’m not sure how you’ll take this news, but here it is anyway. Variety reports country singer Taylor Swift may play Joni on the big screen. An adaptation of Sheila Weller’s book “Girls Like Us” – following the lives and careers of Mitchell, Carly Simon and Carole King in the 1970s – is headed for the big screen, and Swift has been circling the role for months.

Weller’s book follows the coming of age and rise to stardom of now-legendary singers Mitchell, Simon and King in the late 1960s and early 1970s. For Mitchell, the daughter of Canadian farmers, epiphanies and inspirations came in the form of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and French chanteuse Eith Pilaf. Simon was influenced by the operatic Broadway musicals of Gershwin while King idolized the more accessible and populist Rogers and Hmmerstein. Variety also reports indie actress Alison Pill has auditioned for the role of King, though how close she is to the part is unknown. Swift herself also does not yet have an official offer, though one could be coming soon. The film itself hasn’t even been greenlit, but production is already tentatively scheduled for later this year.

Swift caused quite an internet firestorm when several months ago it was revealed she may be close to landing the role of Eponine in Tom Hooper’s “Les Miserables.” For whatever reason, West End stage actress Samantha Barks got the role instead and Swift maintains she never officially got the role in the first place. She made her big screen debut in Gary Marshall’s ensemble rom-com “Valentine’s Day” and also voiced the year’s first blockbuster smash, “The Lorax.” “Girls Like Us” would mark Swift’s first leading dramatic movie role.

Woody Allen’s “To Rome With Love” starring Jesse Eisenberg and Ellen Page to Open LA Film Festival

April 12, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in General News Leave a comment

Ahead of its June 22nd US release, Woody Allen’s latest international ensemble rom-com “To Rome With Love” will open the Los Angeles Film Festival, it was announced via press release this morning. The festival will serve as the North American premiere for the film, while the world premiere will take place tomorrow in – where else? – Rome, Italy.

The film “is a story about a number of people in Italy — some American, some Italian, some residents, some visitors — and the romances and adventures and predicaments they get into.” Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Greta Gerwig and Alison Pill are joined onscreen by Allen himself, along with Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penélope Cruz and Judy Davis.

“I can’t think of a better way to kick off this year’s festival than with the original independent filmmaker himself, Woody Allen. It’s a true honor for Los Angeles to host the North American premiere of To Rome With Love,” said Festival Director Stephanie Allain.

The full press release is below.

Watch: Jesse Eisenberg caught between Greta Gerwig and Ellen Page in first trailer for Woody Allen’s “To Rome With Love”

April 3, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Videos Leave a comment

Some plot and character details are cleared up with our first look at the trailer for Woody Allen’s newest globe-trotting filmmaking venture, “To Rome With Love.” Allen himself is back on the screen in this one, about interlocking stories of love, infidelity, family, politics, fame and more. He joins Jesse Eisenberg, an American living in Rome with his girlfriend Greta Gerwig. When her newly dumped best friend Ellen Page shows up to stay a while, an instant love triangle is formed. Alec Baldwin plays his visiting father, while elsewhere in the city Alison Pill plays Allen’s daughter, dating an Italian her father disapproves of and Penelope Cruz plays the hottest prostitute that could only exist in the movies.

Typical of Allen’s films, the dialogue is sharp and funny and the situations playful and silly. Bring on Copenhagen. In the meantime, “To Rome with Love” opens on June 22nd and the first trailer can be viewed below.

First Look: Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page and Alison Pill in stills from Woody Allen’s “To Rome With Love”

March 22, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images 1 Comment

After the massive critical and commercial success of “Midnight in Paris”, all eyes are on Woody Allen’s next stop on his globe-trotting tour of filmmaking. The recently renamed “To Rome with Love” (which you may have been familiar with under the titles “Bop Decameron” and “Nero Fiddled”) takes Americans – including Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Greta Gerwig, Alec Baldwin and “Paris” alum Alison Pill – to Italy this time, and now we have our first look at the characters and relationships, thanks to CinemaBlend and The Playlist.

Like “Midnight in Paris”, plot details are vague, but will somehow revolve around interweaving groups of people in Rome, tourists, residents, families, lovers – perhaps with some time traveling? We can only hope. From the images, we can discern that Baldwin and Eisenberg are probably father and son, while Eisenberg and Page seem to be taking over for Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams as the young visiting couple, and Pill may be finding romance with the locals.

“To Rome With Love” opens on June 22nd. See the first stills below.

Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” to open Cannes Film Festival

February 2, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in General News 2 Comments

Woody Allen’s Transatlantic romantic comedy “Midnight in Paris” has officially been selected to open the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, which runs from Wednesday, May 11th to Sunday, May 22, 2011. The film “is a romantic comedy that follows a family traveling to the city for business. The party includes a young engaged couple that has their lives transformed throughout the journey. The film celebrates a young man’s great love for Paris, and simultaneously explores the illusion people have that a life different from their own is better.”

Walking up the famed red carpeted stairs to the Grand Theatre Lumiere will be cast members including Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Alison Pill, Lea Seydoux, Michael Sheen and the First Lady of France herself, Carla Bruni. “Midnight in Paris is a wonderful love letter to Paris”, said Festival director Thierry Frémaux via press release. “It’s a film in which Woody Allen takes a deeper look at the issues raised in his last films: our relationship with history, art, pleasure and life. His 41st feature reveals once again his inspiration.”

The film, set for release by Sony Pictures Classics later this year, will also open in France on 400 theaters on May 11, to coincide with the opening of the Festival.

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