Liberace

Steven Sodebergh’s Liberace Movie, BEHIND THE CANDELABRA, to Air on HBO; Michael Douglas and Matt Damon Confirmed to Star

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 11th, 2011 at 10:48 am

Michael Douglas and Matt Damon are confirmed to star in Steven Sodebergh’s long-in-development Liberace biopic, now titled Behind the Candelabra.  The more surprising news [via EW] is that the movie will air on HBO rather than head to theaters.  Executive Producer Jerry Weintraub (Ocean’s Eleven trilogy) says, “I’ve wanted to make a film about Liberace for a very long time, and after the amazing experience I had with HBO on His Way [Doug McGrath's documentary about Weintraub] I knew that they were absolutely the right place for this movie.”

Michael Douglas is set to play the delightfully flamboyant Liberace who was the world’s highest paid entertainer from the 1950s to 1970s (thanks, Wikipedia!).  Damon will play Liberace’s secret lover Scott Thorson.  Filming is set to begin in summer 2012, with locations in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Palm Springs.

Steven Soderbergh’s Schedule Before Retiring: MAGIC MIKE, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., LIBERACE

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: June 15th, 2011 at 10:18 pm

Steven Soderbergh is retiring from filmmaking soon, and I will weep when he does.  But the director puts the move in the proper perspective:

“I’m still following my plan. I’ve been stupid about it, I should have kept my mouth shut, but at the same time, I don’t think there’s anything that unusual about it. By the time I finish with the series of projects I’m planning, it will be 26 or 27 films. That’s plenty and if you take volume over quality, I’m twice as good as Kubrick.”

Indeed, there are five more Soderbergh movies to come.  Contagion opens on October 21 and earlier today Relativity announced a January 12, 2012 release for Haywire.  In September, he’ll start work on Magic Mike, which casts Channing Tatum and Alex Pettyfer as male strippers (finally!).  The Man from U.N.C.L.E. starring frequent collaborator George Clooney is up next with a February 2012 start date.  The final project on Soderbergh’s to-do list is Liberace, led by Michael Douglas and Matt Damon.  More quotes from Soderbergh after the jump:

Michael Douglas Still on for LIBERACE; Shooting Set to Begin in May or June 2011

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 30th, 2010 at 12:03 pm

When it was reported this past August that Michael Douglas was suffering from throat cancer, concerns arose not just for his health but for the future of the long-in-development Liberace biopic.  Douglas was to play the famous musician with Steven Soderbergh directing and Matt Damon co-starring.  However, a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter informs us that not only is Douglas recovering from his treatment, but he still has Liberace in his sights.  Douglas tells THR, “I’ve got a bunch of tapes of performances.  I’m thinking; I’m a blank slate. Everything shows me he was a lovely man; I just want to reconfirm that.”  THR also reports that shooting is scheduled to begin in May or June of next year, which confirms Damon’s claim earlier this year that he was planning to shoot the film next summer.  Damon will play Liberace’s lover Scott Thorson.

While I’m happy that Liberace is moving forward, I’m even happier that Douglas is feeling healthy enough to start working again and hopefully we can look forward to more performances from him.

Matt Damon Talks THE BOURNE LEGACY, CONTAGION, WE BUILT A ZOO, and LIBERACE

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 27th, 2010 at 3:20 pm

Universal is moving ahead with the Jason Bourne franchise and they’re doing it without Matt Damon.  As we previously reported, Tony Gilroy will direct The Bourne Legacy from his own script and the movie will be Bourne-less.  While initial reports seemed the show that Damon was miffed at his exclusion, in a recent interview with EW, he explains that he thinks it’s a smart move and it opens the door for a future Bourne movie directed by Paul Greengrass (who helmed The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum).  Said Damon:

As I understand it, Jason Bourne is alive in the world that Tony’s going to create. I don’t appear in it, but it’s very much that world. As far as Paul and I are concerned, as long as there’s room for us to come in and do another one, we’re thrilled.

Hit the jump for more on what Damon had to say regarding his schedule concerning Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion and Liberace biopic, and Cameron Crowe’s We Built a Zoo.

Matt Damon Says Liberace Biopic to Shoot Next Summer; Keeps BOURNE 4 Hopes Alive

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: July 6th, 2010 at 12:23 pm

Originally set to shoot this summer, Steven Sodebergh’s Liberace biopic starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon has been pushed back to summer 2011.  Filming was delayed when Soderbergh decided to go forward with the world-spanning thriller Contagion instead (which will also star Damon as well as Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Marion Cotillard).  Now, according to the Las Vegas Sun [via The Playlist], filming has been slightly delayed, but Damon says he’s still on board to play Liberace’s lover Scott Thorson and Douglas is still set to play Liberace.

But if flamboyant 60s entertainers aren’t really your thing, how would you like to have your emotions toyed with by having Damon not completely rule out a return to playing Jason Bourne?  Hit the jump for more.

Matt Damon talks Future Projects, Oscars and Directing His First Feature – Info on the Coen Brothers TRUE GRIT, the RFK Project with Gary Ross, Clint Eastwood’s HEREAFTER, Liberace, CONTAGION, More

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: February 27th, 2010 at 2:09 pm

Yesterday I was able to participate in a small roundtable interview with Matt Damon for his new movie Green Zone.  While I’ll have the full interview posted closer to release, we were able to get updates on a ton of his upcoming projects like the Coen Brothers True Grit, Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, the Gary Ross’s Robert Kennedy project (Damon would play Kennedy), Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter, playing a New York Yankees pitcher with Ben Affleck, and Liberace.  And on top of updates on his future projects, he talked about being nominated for an Oscar on Invictus, and how he’s incredibly excited to direct his first feature.

If you’d like to hear more…hit the jump:

Steven Soderbergh to Spread CONTAGION With Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Marion Cotillard

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: February 8th, 2010 at 4:27 pm

The Playlist reports that Steven Soderbergh, the hardest working man in show business, has once again lengthened his to-do list.  Soderbergh will re-team with The Informant! scripter Scott Z. Burns for Contagion, an “action-thriller about the outbreak of a deadly virus.”  The film doesn’t have a distribution deal yet, but with such heavy hitters as Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Marion Cotillard attached to star, you can expect a bidding war for the rights.  More on the origins of Contagion and the rest of Soderbergh’s slate after the break.

Matt Damon Believes Paul Greengrass WILL Return for BOURNE 4; Also Provides Updates on LIBERACE and TRUE GRIT

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 4th, 2009 at 1:22 pm

Steve is currently at the press junket for Clint Eastwood’s Invictus and while there he was able to get updates from Matt Damon on Steven Soderbergh’s biopic Liberace, the Coen Brothers adaptation of True Grit, and most importantly, what’s happening with Bourne 4 now that director Paul Greengrass has left the project.  Damon provided brief updates on all of these in less than a minute.  It was impressive.

According to Damon, they’re still waiting on a script for Bourne 4 but that he’s planning to wait for Greengrass and when Greengrass wants to do it, they’ll do it.  He also says that he won’t make a fourth Bourne without Greengrass but he’s optimistic that the director will return at some point down the road.  As for Liberace, they’re planning on shooting it in the summer, and he confirmed he’s playing the role of La Beouf in True Grit which he’ll be shooting in March.  Hit the jump to read the transcript.

Matt Damon and George Clooney’s HAMDAN V. RUMSFELD May Not Go to Court until 2011

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 9th, 2009 at 10:31 am

It seems a bit unfair for me to whine about how George Clooney’s next directing gig, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld starring Matt Damon will probably be pushed back until 2011.  These two actors have done outstanding work throughout most of the decade and it’s selfish of me to demand this movie when they’ll each be so busy working on other projects throughout next year that they simply won’t have time to do it.  But I will continue to selfishly whine because it’s such an exciting combination and potentially powerful story.  Hit the jump to find out why you’re losing your right to a speedy trial (and a laywer and habeus corpus and protections afforded by the Geneva Convention).

Matt Damon Flings Himself into Clint Eastwood’s HEREAFTER

by Nicole Pedersen    Posted: September 17th, 2009 at 6:44 pm

Matt Damon is having a big week.  Not content with appearing on every talk show known to man in support of his new movie “The Informant!”, or with announcing that he will reteam with “Informant!” director Steven Soderbergh for his new “Liberace” biopic, Damon is also getting some play in the trades for a project that has nothing to do with Soderbergh for a change.  Damon will next star in “Hereafter”, a supernatural thriller from director Clint Eastwood that is set to film this fall.  To give Matt Damon another topic to discuss at press junkets, hit the jump.

Steven Soderbergh’s LIBERACE Biopic is Moving Forward With Matt Damon and Michael Douglas

by Ramses Flores    Posted: September 16th, 2009 at 10:34 am

I really love how busy Steven Soderbergh keeps himself.  The prolific director has directed 13 films so far this decade and always has a couple of projects lined up next.  One of those many projects that he has been talking about recently has been a biography of Liberace with Michael Douglas playing Liberace and Matt Damon playing his longtime lover, Scott Thorsen.  Even though we already kind of knew that this was one of the upcoming projects for Soderbergh, he has now confirmed that the project is definitely moving forward by saying that they are already doing some wardrobe and costume tests for Douglas.  You can get some more details when you click on the jump.

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