Deep Inside Hollywood
by Romeo San VicenteClooney Is The Fantastic Mr. Fox
What’s the connection between the Coen Brothers’s dark, violent No Country for Old Men and the upcoming animated family feature The Fantastic Mr. Fox? Besides Coen collaborator George Clooney in the starring voice role, that would be gay superproducer Scott Rudin, the man whose recent Oscar acceptance speech included a loving thank-you to his partner (which then strangely was excised from the Academy’s official transcript).
Rudin tends to go where the hits are, and this Wes Anderson-directed, Clooney- and Cate Blanchett-voiced feature—about a quick-witted fox and three unpleasant farmers trying to do him in—looks like a surefire holiday hit. In this instance, “holiday” means Christmas 2009. But not to worry—Clooney has Burn After Reading (the next one from the Coens) arriving during the interim.
Like Strangers With Candy, But for Kids
Until he crossed over to the PG-13 Law and Order SVU, Chris Meloni was most notorious for gay sex scenes and full-frontal nudity on Oz. Now, he’s set to become even more family-friendly. He’ll star in Gym Teacher: The Movie for Nickelodeon as a down-on-his-luck coach vying for the Gym Teacher of the Year award, and finding an especially uncoordinated student standing in his way.
But this broad family comedy won’t be another High School Musical. That’s because some people from a much stranger high school environment—Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris from Strangers with Candy—are involved, too. Dinello, who played gay art teacher Mr. Jellineck on the bizarre sitcom, is directing. Meanwhile, Sedaris will star as the school’s principal, who has an obsessive crush on Meloni’s character. The movie airs this August.
A Metal Wedding for Simon Callow
American audiences remember him best as the joyfully gay heart attack victim who put the “funeral” in Four Weddings and a Funeral. Now, gay Brit character actor Simon Callow gets his own wedding, even if it is something of an odd one. He’s starring in the recently wrapped Chemical Wedding, about a shy professor who manages to bring legendary occult figure Aleister Crowley back to life.
If that plot weren’t oddball enough, there’s the film’s lineage: It was cowritten by Bruce Dickinson, a name metal fans will know as the leader of the hugely successful rockers Iron Maiden. The sure-to-be-destined-for-cult-status film is due for release later this year. No word yet on whether Iron Maiden’s songs will hog the sound track spotlight.
Romeo San Vicente prefers Metallica, Judas Priest, and W.A.S.P. to Iron Maiden. He can be reached care of this publication, or at DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com.