HOLLYWOOD — Things
have fi nally returned to normal
(at least relatively speaking)
along Hollywood Blvd.
But even as they’ve rolled up
that red carpet and carted off
all those security barricades,
several of this year’s Oscar
winners are already
working on projects
that could soon put
them back in the
nominees circle.
Or not.
Let’s start with
supporting-actress
winner Penelope
Cruz, who recently
spent quality time
in Italy, joining
fellow Oscar bait
Daniel Day-Lewis,
Nicole Kidman, Marion
Cotillard, Dame Judi Dench
and Sophia Loren shooting
a big-screen version of the
Broadway musical, Nine.
Directing is another
individual who also has
previously basked in Oscar’s
glow — namely Chicago
director Rob Marshall.
Prior to his death,
supporting-actor winner Heath
Ledger had been working on
Th e Imaginarium of Doctor
Parnassus, another off beat
movie from the certifi ably
inspired mind of Terry Gilliam.
Completing Ledger’s
unfi nished performance was
a trio of respected
actors — Johnny
Depp, Colin Farrell
and Jude Law —
but even though
there probably
wasn’t enough
stand-alone Ledger
to be considered
for Oscar
consideration, a
bigger question
at this point
in time is, will
the fi lm even qualify?
To date, Parnassus has
failed to land a North
American distributor.
While best-actress
winner Kate Winslet has
not yet decided how to
follow up on her Reader/
Revolutionary Road banner
year, best actor Sean Penn
is looking like he won’t be
announcing his retirement
again any time soon.
He’s got one film in the can
— a small performance in a
shrouded-in-secrecy period
drama by the notoriously
reclusive Terrence Malick
that’s set for release this year
and stars Brad Pitt in a role
that had at one point been
considered for Ledger.
But we’re more intrigued
by the persistent rumours that
Penn is seriously considering
unleashing his inner Spicoli
by playing Larry Fine in the
long-in-development Th e
Th ree Stooges, to be directed
by the Farrelly Brothers.
Although they still haven’t
chosen their dream Curly yet,
Peter and Bobby are said to
be going after Johnny Depp to
play Moe for the origins story.
Best director Danny
Boyle, meanwhile, could
well be going from India
to South Africa for his next
assignment, a political thriller
called Johannesburg.
At one point he was
considering making Solomon
Grundy his Slumdog follow-
up, but the project, inspired
by the old nursery rhyme
about a guy who ages a
lifetime during the course
of a week, just might have
been permanently derailed
by one Benjamin Button.
And although she was
unable to add another best
actress Oscar to her mantel
last Sunday night, we’re
betting Meryl Streep will be
walking the red carpet next
year for nomination No. 16,
thanks to her can’t-miss
portrayal of irrepressible chef
Julia Child in Julie & Julia.
The Nora Ephron-directed
biographical drama, which
reunites Streep with her
Doubt co-star Amy Adams
(who plays an ambitious
amateur attempting to cook
her way through Child’s
exhaustive Mastering the Art
of French Cooking program
in the space of a year) hits
theatres in late summer.
We’re sure Meryl will hit it
home, but, to be honest, we
don’t know if we’ll ever be able
to get Dan Aykroyd’s immortal
SNL portrayal out of our heads:
“Oh, now I’ve done
it! I’ve cut the dickens
out of my finger ...”
Now that’s golden!
