Curtis Hanson

Michael Apted Filling in for Curtis Hanson to Finish Directing OF MEN AND MAVERICKS

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: November 23rd, 2011 at 4:34 pm

Walden Media is currently in production on Of Men and Mavericks, a drama about the mentorship of big wave surfer Jay Moriarty.  Curtis Hanson (8 Mile) was directing the picture, but is now recovering from “health complications” from a recent heart surgery.  Deadline reports that Michael Apted (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) is stepping in to finish the final 15 days of principal photography.

Gerard Butler stars, playing mentor to Moriarty (played by newcomer Jonny Weston), a soul surfer who made his name on the waves of Mavericks in Northern California.  Elizabeth Shue, Abigail Spencer, and Levin Rambin also star in the October 26, 2012 release.  Best of luck to Hanson on a speedy recovery.  Hit the jump for background on Moriarty.

Casting Call: Elizabeth Shue and Abigail Spencer Board OF MEN AND MAVERICKS; M.C. Gainey Joins DJANGO UNCHAINED

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: October 3rd, 2011 at 6:10 pm

A couple more casting stories for you today. Firstly, Elizabeth Shue and Abigail Spencer (Mad Men) are set to star in Curtis Hanson’s surfing pic Of Men and Mavericks. The real-life story stars Gerard Butler as a local surfing legend and mentor to Jay Moriarty (Jonny Weston), a world champion surfer who died in a diving accident at 22. THR reports that Shue will play Moriarty’s mother, while Spencer will take on the role of Butler’s character’s wife. The film will chronicle Butler’s transformation from reluctant mentor to father figure through the training of the young Moriarty. Leven Rambin also stars. Fox 2000 will co-finance and distribute with Walden Media. Jim Meenaghan and Mark Johnson penned the script.

Hit the jump for the casting news regarding Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained.

Gerard Butler to Star in Curtis Hanson’s MAVERICKS

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 11th, 2011 at 2:08 pm

Gerard Butler has signed on to play surfer Rick “Frosty” Hesson in Curtis Hanson’s Mavericks.  We first reported on the film about a year ago when we learned that Hanson was developing a movie based on the late legendary surfer Jay Moriarty and that Sean Penn was considering the Hesson role.  According to Variety, the story will center on Moriarty’s “quest to ride the iconic Northern California break known as Mavericks, where winter swells bring in treacherous waves the size of five-story buildings. Moriarity trained for more than a year under Hesson, forging a relationship that transformed both their lives.”  Hanson, whose last film was 2007′s Lucky You, will direct from a script by Kario Salem and Brandon Hooper.

While Lucky You was a misfire, Hanson tends to deliver solid movies and I’m interested to see what he’ll do with this story.  I’m also thrilled to see Gerard Butler in a movie that isn’t a disposable, lowest-common-denominator, get-a-new-agent rom-com.

Curtis Hanson to Direct True Story about Fake Lawman

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: April 15th, 2010 at 8:45 pm

Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) is set to direct a film about Bill Anthony Jakob, a 36-year-old bank security guard who was indicted on a 23-count federal indictment for impersonating a law enforcement officer in a small Missouri town.  Jakob led a crackdown on the town’s meth labs, but unfortunately, he was nothing but a lot of talk and a fake badge.  According to Deadline, Jakob was able to get away with it by convincing the officials of the small town that he was within his rights granted by the Patriot Act and the Department of Homeland Security.  I have to admit: it’s not the worst ruse ever.

Unfortunately, the downside to all this is that his felonies in turn tainted all the arrests made by Jakob’s busts.  It will be interesting to see if screenwriter Clark Gregg (Choke) will go for a comedic route or take a darker tone of a disturbed individual trying to do the right thing.  I’m not sure what you get if you cross The Informant! with Observe and Report, but it’s fascinating to consider.

Curtis Hanson to Direct Surfing Biopic JAY MORIARTY; Sean Penn May Play Title Character’s Mentor

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: March 29th, 2010 at 9:49 pm

After 2007′s poker-movie flop Lucky You, director Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) is getting back in the game with a biopic about surfing legend Jay Moriarty with possibly Sean Penn attached to play Moriarty’s mentor, Rick “Frosty” Hesson. Via Production Weekly’s Twitter feed, the story will be “based on the true adventures of the surfing wonderboy.”  His bio on Surfline.com says Moriarty was a laid-back, happy-go-lucky guy.  There’s nothing negative about him in there and that may be due to the fact that he died the day before his 23^rd birthday.  So rather than a rise-fall-redemption story, this will probably be an overcoming-the-odds kind of tale.

The problem with most surfing movies is that it’s difficult to capture the exhilaration of the sport on film.   Perhaps Hanson will have more success than others.

NORTH BY NORTHWEST Blu-ray Review

by Andre Dellamorte    Posted: November 7th, 2009 at 10:02 am

Going back to the old masters, going back to the classics is always illuminating. Someone like Alfred Hitchcock knew how to frame a film. He knew where he was putting his camera, and why it was there. As in North by Northwest he achieved one of the great visual representations of sex. Cary Grant lifts Eva Marie Saint up to bed, and then a train enters a tunnel. Not exactly subtle, but undeniably brilliant. My review after the jump.

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