the sky is falling
In what sadly may become a regular feature of our industry coverage here at Defamer, we feel compelled today to recap one of the ugliest weeks in recent memory among those toiling in the independent-film trenches. if you haven't been able to keep it all straight before now, please read on (and keep the liquor handy):
· The week started with ex-Miramax/present Film Department topper Mark Gill declaring at length to LA Film Festival attendees that, "Yes, The Sky Really is Falling":
The marginally good news is it won't hit the ground everywhere. The strongest of the strong will survive and in fact prosper. But it will feel like we just survived a medieval plague. The carnage and the stench will be overwhelming.
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Derailed
Bad news for film fans but
delicious news for those of you who love DVD extras: David O. Russell's political comedy
Nailed has been shut down again, for the fourth time. As per
Nikki Finke, the
trouble-plagued production "was shut down by IATSE on Friday for the same reasons as before: crew not getting paid," though
Variety reports that filmmaking is scheduled to resume today for two more days of principal photography. As enticing as the film's synopsis sounds (
Jessica Biel has nail shot into her forehead, becomes nymphomaniac) we must concur with Hollywood Elsewhere's
Jeff Wells, who'd prefer to skip straight to the making-of documentary where the
mercurial O. Russell calls Biel a string of nasty names she hasn't heard since Ruthie hit puberty on
7th Heaven.
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cash crunches
As if the indie film climate wasn't poisonous enough with Picturehouse and Warner Independent
biting the dust last month, another recent Oscar-winner is on life-support after a pair of lawsuits crashed down on it in the last week. Troubled distributor ThinkFilm, whose owner
David Bergstein and corporate sibling
Capitol Films have faced an
infamous series of production stoppages over the last month, is now ensnared in a pair of lawsuits from ad media buyers claiming they're owed
$4.5 million in outstanding fees. A troubling breakdown of the debts follows after the jump.
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Here we go
again: Nikki Finke is
reporting that production on David O. Russell's
Nailed has shut down once more as IATSE brass pulled members off the set over "payroll irregularities." "Friday was supposed to be the deadline set for the crew to get paid since there was a promise of a loan being made by then," Finke writes. "But IATSE apparently lost its patience with all the smoke-and-mirror promises so today the union ordered its crew to walk off the production." No word yet from
Capitol Films chief and
noted yacht renter David Bergstein, who attributed SAG's earlier walk-off to dodgy bridge financing that he insisted had since been resolved. We hear that Russell, meanwhile, still smarting from
Cookiegate and his previous work stoppage, is spending his day off calling around for quotes on jinx insurance. [
DHD]
strictly business
All the drama affecting David O. Russell's new film Nailed settled down a bit Monday when production resumed on the South Carolina set. But while the producers squared away their money issues with SAG, which shut shooting down last Friday, our own suspicions about precariously-budgeted distributor ThinkFilm got another look from Variety yesterday afternoon:
ThinkFilm is known to owe substantial amounts to media outlets, among others. Sources say the company was going to announce an acquisition from Senator Entertainment this week but then canceled its press meetings. ...
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strictly business
We can't imagine how or why, after the ordeals of
Three Kings and
I Heart Huckabees, trouble could
possibly find its way back to the set of a David O. Russell film. Alas, there it is — or,
was, rather, in South Carolina, where only three weeks after
resident cookie-choking expert James Caan quit the project, both the Teamsters and IATSE are grumpy and SAG reportedly shut production down because of "insufficient funds on deposit with the guild." And that's just the beginning,
writes Nikki Finke:
Rumors also are circulating that the state of South Carolina could withdraw its incentive monies because of the financing problems. Filmmakers hope to resolve the cash crunch and re-start shooting next week since principal photography is only at the halfway point. "I am confident we will finish," an insider on the pic just told me. "The financing on this like most indies is based on bank loans and bridge loans. This is a matter of waiting on the bridge loan. Hopefully, it will all be resolved."
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From the cancer-stricken title character of
Brian's Song to the broken-footed novelist of
Misery (don't even get us started on
The Godfather),
James Caan knows a thing or two about suffering onscreen. So naturally we're stunned to learn that the "creative differences" that
irreparably fractured the actor's relationship with David O. Russell on the set of
Nailed came down to... the proper way to choke on a cookie? "Russell asked him to cough as he choked, but Caan argued that the character couldn't cough and choke to death at the same time,"
wrote Gregg Goldstein today in The Hollywood Reporter. "Russell suggested that they shoot it both ways, but the actor expressed distrust that his version would be considered and left the South Carolina set." Caan's replacement has yet to be determined, but will be screened carefully by the newly wary Russell for his knowledge of (and loose adherance to) basic physiological functions. [
THR]
acting out
James Caan and
Jake Gyllenhaal are the latest casualties of David O. Russell's tastefully hands-on directing style, which this week resulted in the Caan's departure from and Gyllenhaal's apparent whimpering around the set of Russell's latest film,
Nailed. As reported today,
Caan walked out after "creative differences" with the tempestuous filmmaker best known for
berating Lily Tomlin while shooting
I Heart Huckabees (or is it for fighting George Clooney during
Three Kings? It's always been too close for us to call).
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what's got two thumbs and nailed a troubled pop star last night? this guy!
Now that enough time has passed following 21-year-old music video extra Matt Salinas's soggy, twisted night of rooftop hot tub captivity, it seems that he's ready to go before the syndicated celebrity newsmagazine cameras—here, he spends some couch time with Access Hollywood's— to share his experience with the world . Yes, the story is identical to the one he first told to Us, but his tale carries far more heft now that we can inspect his face for signs of lasting emotional damage. (Though it would have helped somewhat if Billy Bush had provided a doll upon which Salinas could show us the naughty places where Britney touched him.) Fortunately, it seems that our victim has pulled through his ordeal largely intact, as he practically tries to reach through the screen and high-five each and every one of us, his virtual frat brothers, and declare, "Dudes! I totally hit that!"
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