Adam Shankman – We Are Movie Geeks

See Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Maya Rudolph, Idina Menzel And James Marsden In New Trailer For Disney+ DISENCHANTED

Amy Adams as Giselle in Disney’s live-action DISENCHANTED, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2022 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Disney+ has released a delightful new trailer for “Disenchanted,” the all-new musical comedy and sequel to “Enchanted.” The film, which reunites original cast members Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Idina Menzel, and James Marsden and also stars Maya Rudolph, Gabriella Baldacchino, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Jayma Mays, is directed by Adam Shankman and features new songs from Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. “Disenchanted” debuts November 18, exclusively on Disney+.

It has been more than ten years since Giselle (Adams) and Robert (Dempsey) wed, but Giselle has grown disillusioned with life in the city, so they move their growing family to the sleepy suburban community of Monroeville in search of a more fairy tale life. Unfortunately, it isn’t the quick fix she had hoped for. Suburbia has a whole new set of rules and a local queen bee, Malvina Monroe (Rudolph), who makes Giselle feel more out of place than ever. Frustrated that her happily ever after hasn’t been so easy to find, she turns to the magic of Andalasia for help, accidentally transforming the entire town into a real-life fairy tale and placing her family’s future happiness in jeopardy.Now, Giselle is in a race against time to reverse the spell and determine what happily ever after truly means to her and her family.

(L-R): Pip (voiced by Griffin Newman) and Amy Adams as Giselle in Disney’s live-action DISENCHANTED, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2022 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

“Disenchanted stars Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Maya Rudolph, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jayma Mays, Gabriella Baldacchino, with Idina Menzel and James Marsden. Directed by Adam Shankman from a screenplay by Brigitte Hales and a story by J. David Stem & David N. Weiss, and Richard LaGravenese, “Disenchanted” is produced by Barry Josephson, Barry Sonnenfeld, and Amy Adams, with Jo Burn, Sunil Perkash, and Adam Shankman serving as executive producers. The movie features songs with music by 8-time Oscar®-winning composer Alan Menken and lyrics by three-time Oscar-winning lyricist Stephen Schwartz, whose work on “Enchanted” garnered three Academy Award® nominations and a score by Alan Menken.

The digital soundtrack from Walt Disney Records will be available on Nov. 18 and is available for Pre-Save/Pre-Add here.

HOCUS POCUS 2 Casting Its Spell On Disney+ Viewers In 2022 – Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy Star In Sequel

Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy will reprise their roles as the delightfully wicked Sanderson Sisters in the live-action comedy “Hocus Pocus 2,” the spooky sequel to Disney’s 1993 Halloween cult classic “Hocus Pocus.” The film will premiere exclusively on Disney+ in 2022.

Singer/actress Bette Midler (“The First Wives Club,” “Beaches”) returns as Winifred Sanderson, with Sarah Jessica Parker (“Sex and the City”) and Kathy Najimy (“Sister Act”) back as her sisters, Sarah and Mary, respectively.

In “Hocus Pocus 2,” three young women accidentally bring the Sanderson Sisters back to modern day Salem and must figure out how to stop the child-hungry witches from wreaking a new kind of havoc on the world.

“Hocus Pocus 2” will begin production this fall under the direction of Anne Fletcher (“The Proposal,” “27 Dresses”), who is taking over directing responsibilities from her friend and colleague Adam Shankman (“Hairspray,” “The Wedding Planner”), with Lynn Harris (“The Shallows”) serving as producer. Shankman is currently in production on “Disenchanted” for the studio, which he is directing, but will remain on this project as an executive producer along with Ralph Winter (“Adrift”) and David Kirschner (“Curse of Chucky”). Steven Haft (“Tigerland”) is co-producer.

Fletcher and Shankman first met in 1990 when they were both dancers for the Academy Awards® broadcast. Shankman went on to hire her as his assistant choreographer, working together on over 100 different jobs. Fletcher’s first directing gig was in 2006 on “Step Up,” which Shankman produced.

“As heartbroken as I am that I won’t be able to direct my friends Bette, Sarah Jessica and Kathy in what is sure to be nothing short of a major event for Disney+ due to scheduling conflicts, I couldn’t be more pleased to be handing over the reins to Anne, who has brought so much laughter and joy into people’s lives with her previous work,” says executive producer Adam Shankman. “I am still grateful and proud to help shepherd this ingenious project as executive producer alongside producer Lynn Harris, whom I have loved and admired as a colleague and friend since she helped get me the job choreographing ‘Boogie Nights.’”

“Now more than ever, people need to laugh. We should be laughing every day, and there is so much fun to be had with these three unbelievable women playing delicious characters from such a beloved film,” says director Anne Fletcher. “I am so grateful to be able to play a part in bringing these witches back to life, and to be working with my friends at Disney again makes it all the more special. This is a movie for everyone, from the fans who grew up with the first film to the next generation of viewers, and I can’t wait to get started.”

WHAT MEN WANT – Review

*Taraji P. Henson in What Men Want from Paramount Pictures and Paramount Players. © 2018 Paramount Players, A Division of Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.*

Taraji P. Hensen plays an ambitious sports agent trying to make partner at an agency dominated by white men in the comedy WHAT MEN WANT, a gender-switch re-make of Mel Gibson hit WHAT WOMEN WANT. Despite the title, and the obvious answer it might spark, the focus of this film is still what women want, and specifically want Hensen’s character wants: to succeed in the workplace.

Hard-working, aggressive sports agent Ali Davis (Taraji P. Hensen) thinks she is a sure-thing to make partner at her firm at long last but when she is passed over – again – it creates a crisis for her. As the only female agent at the firm Summit Worldwide Management (SWM), she is has signed a slew of Olympic stars but has yet to sign one in pro sports. Tired of being repeatedly passed over, she is determined to sign the likely number one NBA draft pick, Jamal Barry (Shane Paul McGhie). While Ali obsesses about breaking that glass ceiling, she gets a distraction in the form of a bachelorette party for one of her trio of best friends. The party’s entertainment includes a fortune teller (Erykah Badu) and the weird woman inadvertently gives Ali a strange power – to read men’s minds.

That bit of information shouldn’t be much of a spoiler as this comedy is a gender-reversed remake, of sorts, of the Mel Gibson film WHAT WOMEN WANT. The Gibson movie was a hit but basically standard Hollywood comedy stuff, in which a clueless man magically gains the power to read women’s thoughts and finds out what they REALLY think of him.

WHAT MEN WANT skews chick flick, but one with more of a workplace focus than all about romance. While the Gibson movie was more about general male cluelessness about women and romance, the gender switch takes this comedy in a different direction. Gaining the ability to read her male co-workers thoughts allows Hensen’s character to out-maneuver them in the work place as well as giving her some personal insights. There is a romance subplot too but it is not the main point.

The sports management agency’s initials are SWM, also meaning “single white male” which describes many of Ali Davis’ co-workers, or at least the white and male part. As the name of the agency indicates, subtle does not describe this comedy by director Adam Shankman (HAIRSPRAY) and producers Will Packer and James Lopez (GIRLS TRIP) but it does offer a little feminist twist to the familiar genre outline. The comedy focuses more on the main character’s workplace, her self-absorption and difficulty reading people, more than on romance (although there is romance). On the other hand, some of the comedy is rude and crude, including a joke about a misplaced condom, and Hensen’s character hilariously acts like a stereotypical selfish man after she picks up a guy at a bar.

Still, the comic efforts of the cast, more than the script, are the major appeal of this popcorn comedy. Taraji P. Hensen, familiar to many as Cookie on “Empire,” gets a surprising amount of humor out of this familiar farce-based comedy premise. Hensen leads a good cast, with Brandon (Josh Brener) as her overworked gay assistant, Richard Roundtree as her supportive single dad, Tracy Morgan as the NBA prospect’s goofy overbearing dad/manager. Other cast members who are good in less comedic roles include Aldis Hodge as the love interest and Shane Paul McGhie as the young NBA prospect.

The big scene-stealer is Erykah Badu as the weird fortuneteller, who gets every drop of humor out of her crazy character. She generates some many laughs that the film feels like the part was expanded to make room for her, much to the audience’s delight.

Make no mistake: this is dumb comedy stuff, just like the Mel Gibson original, but sometimes that is just what audiences want. WHAT WOMEN WANT is a gal pal popcorn comedy with more laughs than you might expect from its silly Hollywood fantasy premise, largely thanks to Taraji P. Hensen and a hard-working supporting cast.

WHAT MEN WANT opens Friday, Feb. 8.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

ROCK OF AGES – The Review

ROCK OF AGES is the latest stage musical to be adapted for the big screen in the wake of the enormous success of CHICAGO over ten years ago ( wow! ). It bucks the popular current trend on Broadway in that it’s not based on a film, so we’re not getting the full-circle vibe from THE PRODUCERS and HAIRSPRAY ( although this is from that remake’s director Adam Shankman ). AGES harkens back to the shows built around known songs like ” Smokey Joe’s Cafe ” and ” Ain’t Misbehavin'” on stage and HOLLYWOOD REVUE OF 1929 and SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN on screen. This work takes the rock anthems from several 80’s bands and attempts to connect them in a story set in that era. It was a big hit on the Great White Way, but will movie audiences be boppin’ their heads to the beat down at the multiplex?

In the far off year of 1987, hopeful singer Sherrie Christian ( Julianne Hough ) is looking wistfully out the window of the bus that’s taking her to that entertainment mecca, Los Angeles ( Hmm, sounds a lot like one of Hough’s previous films, 2010’s BURLESQUE ). On Sunset Boulevard she meets cutie Drew Boley ( Diego Boneta ) who works at the town’s rockinest’ club, the Bourbon Room. He helps her get a waitress job from the owner, Dennis ( Alec Baldwin ) and his right hand man Lonny ( Russell Brand ). The club’s got some tax problems, but Dennis is sure that the final concert of Arsenal will put things right. Unfortunately the club is threatened with closure from the rock hating wife of Mayor Whitmore ( Bryan Cranston ), Patricia ( Catherine Zeta-Jones ). Dennis must also deal with sleazy manager of Arsenal, Paul Gill ( Paul Giamatti ) and the band’s spaced-out frontman, rock god Stacee Jaxx ( Tom Cruise ). The film follows the ups and downs of Sherrie and Drew’s romance and music dreams while leading up to the big concert night and its aftermath. So will those two crazy kids be harmonizing before the final fade-out?

The hard-working cast really put out a lot of energy, but I’ve got a feeling that this material may have worked better in a live venue ( I’ve never seen the stage version ). We’ve got a film here that seems to be a good 20 minutes or so too long. It would’ve benefitted the film’s flow if much of the youngsters’ love story was trimmed. Hough and Bonetta are very photogenic, but there’s little chemistry, and their big break-up fight ( or misunderstanding ) is contrived and cliche’. This does set up an amusing subplot in which Bonetta sells out to Giamatti’s mustache-twirling evil manager. We know the guy is bad news, but does he have to be bathed in a red light in all his backstage close-ups? Giamatti is still a most welcome addition to any supporting cast even as an obvious villain. Speaking of villains, Zeta-Jones is reduced to playing a shrill, bug-eyed gargoyle in most of her scenes as a cartoon wicked witch out to stop all the fun. She has very few chances to light up the screen with her impressive musical talents as she did in CHICAGO. Another great musical talent, Mary J Blige, doesn’t appear till well past the one hour mark as the owner of a gentleman’s club. She’s given a couple of rock standards to sing as her ladies really, really work those poles. AGES promotes Cruise as the main star, but his over-indulged, tattooed space cadet, sex machine grows tiresome early on. Yup, he’s believable screaming into the mike, but the film makers rely too much on close-ups of his primate double, Hey Man for easy chuckles. The supporting comic actors do deliver some big laughs. Brand may be a bit much as a film’s lead so his club manager is better suited to his screen persona. Baldwin’s a delight as the grizzled party animal turned business owner. Too bad he’s not given more to do. Malin Akerman thankfully shows off some of her comedic chops she honed on TV’s ” Children’s’ Hospital ” as an ambitious Rolling Stone reporter. There’s other laughs provided by cameos of a couple of gifted comic actors and , of course, there’s those funny 80’s stuff ( Look at that huge wireless phone! Lookit’ that big hair! ), not to mention a very surprising love duet. The sets and costumes are impressive, but the sanitized version of the Sunset Strip takes the film too far away from reality ( hey, I know people break into song! ). That,along with a clunky, cumbersome script and heavy-handed direction prevent this stage triumph from really coming alive on screen. Those great rock anthems will live on long after this misfire has faded from memory.

Overall Rating: 2.5 Out of 5 Stars

Cameras Roll On New Line Cinema’s ROCK OF AGES

Burbank, CA, June 6, 2011 — New Line Cinema’s film adaptation of the smash hit Broadway musical ROCK OF AGES has begun principal photography under the direction of Adam Shankman (“Hairspray”). The movie musical stars Julianne Hough (“Burlesque”), with actor/singer Diego Boneta in his feature film debut, Oscar® nominee Paul Giamatti (“Cinderella Man”), Russell Brand (“Arthur,” “Get Him to the Greek”), R&B queen Mary J. Blige, Malin Akerman (“The Proposal”), multiple Emmy®-winner Bryan Cranston (TV’s “Breaking Bad,” “The Lincoln Lawyer”) and Academy Award® winner Catherine Zeta-Jones (“Chicago”), with Oscar® nominees Alec Baldwin (“The Cooler”) and Tom Cruise (“Born on the Fourth of July”).

ROCK OF AGES tells the story of small town girl Sherrie and city boy Drew, who meet on the Sunset Strip while pursuing their Hollywood dreams. Their rock ‘n’ roll romance is told through the heart-pounding hits of Def Leppard, Joan Jett, Journey, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Whitesnake, and more.

Shankman (Twitter: @adammshankman) directs ROCK OF AGES from a screenplay by Chris D’Arienzo, based on his musical. The film is being produced by Matt Weaver, Scott Prisand, Carl Levin, Tobey Maguire and Jen Gibgot, with Garrett Grant, Adam Shankman, Janet Billig Rich, Hillary Weaver, Toby Emmerich, Michael Disco and Samuel J. Brown serving as executive producers.

Rounding out the ROCK OF AGES creative team are cinematographer Bojan Bazelli (“Hairspray”), production designer Jon Hutman (“It’s Complicated”), Oscar®-nominated costume designer Rita Ryack (“How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Hairspray”), editor Emma E. Hickox (“A Walk To Remember”), Grammy-nominated music supervisor Matthew Rush Sullivan (“Dreamgirls,” “Nine”), executive music producer Adam Anders (TV’s “Glee”) and Emmy Award-winning choreographer Mia Michaels (“So You Think You Can Dance”).

The film is being shot entirely in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, areas.

From New Line Cinema, ROCK OF AGES will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

ABOUT NEW LINE CINEMA:

New Line Cinema continues to be one of the most successful independent film companies. For more than 40 years, its mission has been to produce innovative, popular, profitable entertainment in the best creative environment. A pioneer in franchise filmmaking, New Line produced the Oscar®-winning “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which is a landmark in the history of film franchises. New Line Cinema is a division of Warner Bros.

New Line’s Open Casting Call For Lead Role Drew Boley in Adam Shankman’s ROCK OF AGES

Producer/Director Adam Shankman;s film adaptation of the popular musical “Rock of Ages” is hosting an open audition for the leading role of Drew Boley. Drew is in his early 20s and is the nicest aspiring rocker you’ll find in the Bourbon Room, or anywhere else for that matter. He’s a talented singer/guitarist who’s already working with a band, when he is immediately smitten by the lovely Sherrie. They quickly fall in love to the greatest songs of the 1980s.

“Rock of Ages” is an arena-rock love story told through the heart-pounding hits of Journey, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, Night Ranger, Reo Speed Wagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Whitesnake and many more. The film is scheduled to commence principal photography in May 2011.

They are specifically looking for a male actor between 18 and 25 with a real rock-n-roll singing voice. The open casting call is taking place in Los Angeles on Saturday March 26, at Central Casting (220 South Flower St. Burbank, CA 91502). Please call (818)725-7425 for all the details on how to attend. Or, if you can’t make it to the open call but still want to submit yourself to the casting directors, go to: www.rockofagesmoviecasting.com You will find instructions on how to download the music to audition, as well as instructions on how to upload your video to the casting website.

Julianne Hough, Alec Baldwin, Mary J Blige, and Tom Cruise were confirmed by Shankman in early March over on his Twitter page ( @adammshankman).

The film is being produced by New Line Cinema and Warner Bros Pictures is handling distribution. Adam Shankman (HAIRSPRAY) is directing “Rock of Ages.” Matt Weaver, Scott Prisand, Carl Levin, Tobey Maguire and Jen Gibgot are the producers, with Janet Billig, Hillary Weaver and Shankman serving as executive producers.

ABOUT NEW LINE CINEMA:

S.S. Oscar: Under Full Sail

Three weeks left til the big night and as this year’s poster says, “You’ve Never Seen Oscar Like This!” Without a doubt, AMPAS has made huge steps this Oscar season in broadening their appeal and inviting everyday people into their inner workings like never before. In doing so, a few internet film bloggers, including We Are Movie Geeks.com, were allowed to attend the nomination announcement at the Academy. From the moment I arrived on Monday to pick up my credentials badge right through to early Tuesday morning, I was welcomed \ as a Movie Geek with a new found respect that I found surprising and refreshing. It was very apparent that the tv, print and radio journalists weren’t the only ones being given the royal treatment, even as I showed up at 3:30 in the morning for the media breakfast, proudly flying the WAMG flags (ie t-shirt). I was heartilychecked in and reminded that I was surrounded by movie geeks at AMPAS. I’m a year-round Oscar Obsessiva, who loves the award season, the guessing game, and, yes, a long Academy Awards show. Hey, fine by me if it, and my annual party, goes 4+ hours. I even admitted as much back in October when I said that we die-hards will stay tuned to the conclusion, especially this year, to see who wins Best Picture. In the end, I truly had a “pinch me, I must dreaming” moment while sitting in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theatre, simply as a fan, waiting for the momentous announcement of the 10 Best Picture Category.

Needless to say I was thrilled when this year’s telecast producers, Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic, took some time after the nominations to discuss their plans for the show. They’re understandably trying to make it more appealing to the mainstream audience and were extremely pleased with the 10 Best Picture nominees. In the hope that their show will attract the desirable college viewing audience, Shankman and Mechanic spoke a little about this year’s hosts, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, including the possibility of Tina Fey as a third host, along with an Academy Awards Twitter contest and interactive, online Oscar viewing parties.

Just last week, AMPAS announced that on Monday 14 of the 20 nominees in the acting categories will be among more than 120 Academy Award nominees who will gather at Noon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honors this year’s Oscar contenders at its annual Nominees Luncheon. From the Leading Actor and Actress categories, Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Colin Firth, Morgan Freeman, Jeremy Renner, Sandra Bullock, Carey Mulligan, Gabourey Sidibe and Meryl Streep are expected to attend. Vera Farmiga, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Anna Kendrick, Woody Harrelson and Christoph Waltz will represent the Supporting Actress and Actor categories. All five nominees from the Directing category “Kathryn Bigelow, James Cameron, Lee Daniels, Jason Reitman and Quentin Tarantino“ are expected to attend.

In a funny sidenote, Steve Pond over at The Wrap wrote:

….the best thing about the Nominee lunch is the AMPAS gift, the Academy’s official Oscar nominee sweatshirt that sports a little Oscar statuette with “NOMINEE” discreetly emblazoned below.

Who knew?

In a gesture to include the public, AMPAS will be LIVE streaming the Nominee Luncheon as well and everyone will be able to watch it on their site, on LIVESTREAM, or over on the Academy’s Facebook page. For the first time, you can also ask the nominees questions in the Nominees Interview Room on Monday at 11:30 AM PST. Just go to the Academy’s official Facebook page, HERE, enter the nominees name and your question and it could be asked LIVE!

Check out the Oscar promo running on ABC…

Academy Awards ® for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PT/ 8 p.m. ET. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Adam Shankman ROCKing the AGES

Adam Shankman, the director behind the latest, film version of HAIRSPRAY, is going back to the musical. Via Variety, he has signed on to helm the feature film adaptation of ROCK OF AGES, the five-time Tony nominated musical featuring songs from 80s bands like Twisted Sister, Journey, and Bon Jovi. Shankman will direct and choreograph the film for New Line with production set to begin next Summer.

Says Shankman about stepping back into the musical world:

I had the best time of my life making ‘Hairspray’ and badly wanted another musical, and when I watched ‘Rock of Ages,’ I was struck by the fact that not only had much of the audience seen it more than once, every guy in the audience knew the words to the songs. What an extraordinary opportunity to open the genre to an audience that otherwise wouldn’t go see a musical.

Chris D’Arienzo, the musical’s creator, has scripted the movie version. Warner Brothers plans to release the film in 2011.

Justin Long is ‘Going the Distance’

New Line has selected Justin Long (Zack and Miri Make a Porno) to star in their new romantic comedy ‘Going the Distance’. The film will be directed by documentary filmmaker Nanette Burstein (American Teen) from a script by Geoff LaTulippe.

[The story…] centers on a man and woman in a long-distance relationship who ultimately come to the realization that they would be happier dating someone closer to home. — Variety

I like what Justin Long can do with well-written comedy, and I dig what Burstein has done in the arena of documentary filmmaking, but I’m not sure what to expect from this combination of Burstein, Long and fictional romantic comedy.

[source: Variety]

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