So, I was debating what to title this post. I was going to go with News of the Weird, but, aside from being cliché, it didn’t really fit. The news isn’t exactly weird, just a little different. Not your typical news.
I found this entry while perusing The Hollywood Reporter’s preproduction section and found this entry:
Weekend • Action/Drama
V.P.R. Studios Production
Shooting in United States, Serbia
Start October 20, 2008
Cast: Michael Madsen, Dennis Hopper, Vladimir Rajcic, Harvey Keitel
ExPrd., Dragan Savic, Vladimir Rajcic; Prd., Vladimir Rajcic, Michael Madsen, Bret Davidson; CoPrd., Predrag Rajcic; Dir., Michael Madsen, Bret Davidson; Scr., Bret Davidson; DP, Greg Patterson; LinePrd., Benita Allen; Cstg., Johanna Ray
Note the highlighted names. Yep, this looks to be Michael Madsen’s directorial debut. His co-director, Bret Davidson, is a long time stunt man/stunt coordinator, crossing paths with Madsen several times over the years. Madsen will probably be remembered for the ear cutting ability on display in Reservoir Dogs, but while reading about him, it sounds like he’s always just on the verge of breaking through to the mainstream. IMDB claims the role of Bud White (Russell Crowe) in L.A. Confidential was initially written for him, he was offered the role of Vincent Vega (John Travolta) in Pulp Fiction but couldn’t get out of rehearsals for Wyatt Earp, and was squeezed out of Natural Born Killers. How would his career have turned out if any of those happened? And what of John Travolta and Russell Crowe? Those movies launched them into (or back into) the limelight.
It could be real interesting: a long time stunt man writing, said stunt man and an actor known for mainly appearing in smaller movies co-directing, Johanna Ray casting (she has quite the resume), and Madsen, Hopper, and Keitel starring. Pretty decent talent for a little movie by first time directors.
