Being Gustav Klimt.

By Alison Willmore on 01/11/2007

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Michelle Williams, Samantha Morton and Tilda Swinton are all in talks to star in Charlie "Mindfuck" Kaufman's directorial debut "Synecdoche, New York." And isn't that just as quirky/charming a cast as you could hope for? Some plot:

Hoffman will play a theater director who ambitiously attempts to put on a play by creating a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse. Keener is set to play his first wife, Williams will play his second wife, Morton will appear as his sometime lover, and Swinton will portray Keener's best friend and the dubious mentor to the daughter of Hoffman and Keener's characters. [Via Hollywood Reporter.]

Distributor Outsider Pictures has picked up "Klimt," a biopic starring John Malkovich as the college dorm wall favorite, and "Adam's Apples," a black comedy from Anders Thomas Jensen, the director behind the strange, grisly and oddly good "The Green Butchers." (Via Hollywood Reporter.)

Stephen Chow's new film "A Hope," aka "Long River 7," has finished shooting and is now in post-production — the film's rumored to be one of the most expensive Chinese productions ever, but that's a tough record to hold these days. Next, he's looking into a dance-themed project for the kiddies, but details have yet to be finalized. (Via Variety.)

Paul McGuigan, late of "Lucky Number Slevin," will direct an adaptation of 80s crime show "The Equalizer." Novelists Michael Connelly and Terrill Lee Lankford will write the script. "Don't do something you won't live to regret." (Via Hollywood Reporter.)

Elsewhere in the world, Olivier Dahan's Edith Piaf biopic "La Vie en Rose" will be the opening film at Berlin (via AFP). The New York Daily News has an only slightly ghoulish piece (with images) on the late Adrienne Shelley's Sundance film "Waitress." Former Limp Bizkit Fred Durst has recently wrapped shooting of his directorial debut "The Education of Charlie Banks." His lead, Chris Marquette, has only high praise for Durst's skillz as an auteur:

Marquette credits Durst's laid-back style with helping him develop as an actor. "The best advice he gave me was like this," Marquette said. "I was like [raising his voice and jumping up and down], 'OK, Fred, how was that?' [In a calm voice, mimicking Durst] 'Very good.' His confidence was incredible." [Via MTV.]

And, if you've been keeping track of the escalating New Line/Peter Jackson feud, which is being played out in the strangest of news outlets, it goes like this:

Jackson announces, via fandom stronghold TheOneRing.net, that he won't be making "The Hobbit" because of the lawsuit he's currently involved in with New Line.

New Line head Robert Shaye tells Sci Fi Wire that New Line won't be working with Jackson while he's in charge:

"I do not want to make a movie with somebody who is suing me," Shaye—New Line's chief executive officer—said in an interview on Jan. 5 while promoting The Last Mimzy, a New Line family fantasy that marks his first time in a director's chair since 1990's Book of Love. "It will never happen during my watch."

And now Jackson responds over at Ain't It Cool and takes the higher ground: "Fundamentally, our legal action is about holding New Line to it's contractual obligations and promises. It is regrettable that Bob has chosen to make it personal."

Ugly, ugly. But also funny, in the way that only power players behind a billion-dollar movie franchise squabbling in fan forums can be.

+ Five on way to Kaufman's 'Synecdoche' (Hollywood Reporter)
+ Outsider in with 'Klimt,' 'Apples' (Hollywood Reporter)
+ 'Hope' in post production (Variety)
+ Weinstein eyes 'Equalizer' redo with duo (Hollywood Reporter)
+ French torch singer Edith Piaf's biopic to open 57th Berlinale (AFP)
+ A haunting legacy (NY Daily News)
+ Fred Durst An 'Insanely Calm' Director, Says Star Of His Film Debut (MTV)
+ Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh Talk THE HOBBIT (TheOneRing.net)
+ Shaye: New Line Blacklists Jackson (Sci Fi Wire)
+ Wingnut and Peter Jackson respond to Bob Shaye's tongue-lashings!! (AICN)