Today is Sam Shepard's 66th birthday - so Happy Birthday to the man who plays Jake's father in Brothers.
An accomplished playwright, screenwriter and actor, Shepard was the source of this amusing moment for Brothers director Jim Sheridan:
Stage actors adhere to a playwright's words. But movie actors, more committed to the action portrayed, often change dialogue. For a dinner scene in this ensemble about a family changed by the war in Afghanistan, director Jim Sheridan remembers actors Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire talking about who would say what: "We were having a grand old time rewriting the script, when in walked Sam Shepard, who was playing the father but who, of course, is a great playwright. And Sam said, 'Isn't this a fantastic scene?' Immediately, we shut up and performed David Benioff's scene just as he wrote it."
I'm sure Benioff was happy to hear that. As hard as it is to remember, Brothers was shot during the writers strike, so Benioff could not be on set for the filming:
CS: This is an interesting time because there's a highly-publicized strike going on and you have like a thousand projects in the works in various stages of being filmed. How's that been working out? I know that "Brothers" just started filming in New Mexico...
Benioff: Yeah, "Brothers" they're shooting in Santa Fe, and unfortunately, I can't be there with them, because I'm not allowed to be on set, so maybe with any luck, the strike will be over before the movie finishes shooting, and I can fly over there and check it out. I've never not been on set for at least a part of the time for any movie that I've written, and it would be sad if I couldn't see them for a little bit.
CS: Did you get a chance to spend some time with Jim Sheridan beforehand?
Benioff: I did and we were working together pretty intensively right up until the deadline, which was a great experience. I was working with Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman and that was also a lot of fun.
He goes on to discuss the idea of remaking a Danish film, believing that it makes more sense for the story to be set in America:
Benioff: Yeah, I think the American setting part actually makes a lot of sense. In a weird way, it's one of those movies where the original I thought was such a great movie, but it kind of makes more sense being about Americans, because there are like 50 Danish soldiers in Afghanistan. It's not like a real big national issue for them. Obviously, there are thousand and thousands of Americans there, and it's much more of present in the American psyche. As wonderful as that movie was, moving it to America didn't frighten me as much as it would with certain remakes...
Making things even more interesting is the current state of the war in Afghanistan. This is much more of a hot topic now than it was at the time the movie was filmed. Tobey Maguire discussed the pressures and issues soldiers face, in his recent interview with the LA Times.
IGN has a Video Rewind feature, in which Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner reviews and comments on the trailer, including the first moment he saw Jake Gyllenhaal on set.
"One of the really cool moments for me was meeting Jake in character, in costume on set, and seeing that he had the dagger of time in his belt. I was like, "Excuse me - is that..." "Yeah, do you want to hold it?"
Finally, some news on the production company for Nailed. Lots more legal woes - it's a mess and it's too late for me to sort through. But this could be promising:
There are other movies Bergstein's companies did finance that might be releasable, including "Nailed," a $33 million production directed by David O. Russell and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jessica Biel and Tracy Morgan. "Nailed" was shut down several times during production by SAG and the DGA, but Bergstein resolved the concerns of those guilds.
Matthew Rhodes, a producer on "Nailed," said there are funds for postproduction, and "Nailed" will be offered to domestic distributors and international buyers next year at Cannes. He called the movie "fantastic" and "wonderful."
We need to see this movie! I hope that isn't just spin, and that the movie really can be saved. And seen.
(Photos courtesy of IHJ.)
12 comments:
I hope this means that Liosnsgate is stepping up with publicity for Brothers, I'm really looking forward to seeing this. With the war in Afghanistan still going on I think it will be an important and powerful film. I forgot that the writers strike was going on during filming.
I have my fingers crossed for Nailed, the movie sounds really funny and it would be a shame if we didn't get to see it on hte big screen.
Pop, Brothers and Nailed, what a great week for Jake movie news!
I need it this week, the Skanks won the WS and Bloomberg will be hanging around for another 4 years, sigh.
I've been away for a couple of weeks, so much catching up to do. Thanks UV/FL for keeping on top of all things Jake.
p.s. Usually post as Anon but have given myself a name at last.
Thanks for all these great updates, UV! The real world is not very hospitable this past week, chica, adding New Jersey, Virginia, and Maine to the pot, too!
I love the dagger exchange between Jake and Jordan.:)
I have a suspicion, based on nothing at all, that maybe they'll open PoP with huge fanfare in Cannes in May. Ironic if Nailed is there too and gets a distribution deal!
I forgot to mention NJ, Virginia and Maine too Bobbyanna, what a week.
Pop at Cannes, I didn't think about that but it could happen and the possibility of Nailed too! It may turn out that Jake will have 3 movies out next year(LOAD).
I got a chuckle out of that exchange between Jake and Jordan too!
To look at all these pictures of Jake, I'm just amazed at how he can change his looks in such a subtle ways. I mean, on Sesame Street he looks so young! More like a 16 year old than somebody whose going to be 29! But with POP he looks rugged and maybe in his mid-twenties. He looks sort of young in Nailed, but he looks tough and maybe 30-ish in Brothers. The way he looks in real life he looks really young, too, I guess, way younger than his actual age.
*Snort*
LOL obviously I'm the only one so far who noticed the deliberate lack of punctuation in today's blog post title.
*Snort*
Great sum up of everything to date. :-)
No you weren't, but I'd rather it read Prince Of Persia Nailed Brothers. LOL!
Hee, FL. It's the little things that keep you going!
Welcome, Ginny - thanks for choosing a screen name. There has been a lot of news over the last few weeks. Have fun catching up!
Let's all hope Lionsgate gets its rear in gear. Their "insider" tweets are pathetic.
The news from Maine and the Bronx was just depressing. I'm glad Disney/Bruckheimer have given us so much else to smile about this week.
The Jake news is the only bright spot for me this week. Politically it was real nasty IMO.
BrothersNailedPrinceofPersia, the only film title missing is Love and other Drug, ha, ha!!
We are getting spoiled with all of this, happy to finally get some news on Nailed, I hope we aren't getting teased. Looking forward to the Brothers PR, I hope Jake makes the rounds , it's been too long.
Yes Disney and Jerry has made Jake fans very happy this week!
as i was trolling thru the new gossip mags as i do on thursday when they come out in in touch or life&style dont remember which one but they had a picture of jake with the octopus said that the episode with jake would be shown dec 11, it was adifferent one of jake with the octopus sitting on his head why they used that one i dont know you couldnt really see jake just him peeking out between the octopus legs
I don't know how many times I have watched both Pop trailers so far!
I think Disney knows they have a winner!
Lionsgate has done a lousey job so far in promoting Brothers. Hopefully there will be more in the coming weeks.
The last time Jake had 3 movies out in one year was 2005: Proof, Jarhead and BBM, hopefully next year it will happen again with Pop, Nailed and LOAD.
I don't know if all of the Jaek quotes were posed here from Reese's In Style interview, but here they are:
"Her boyfriend of two and a half years, Jake Gyllenhaal, is off exploring the markets cluttered stalls and will return later to show off the breakfast sausage and fried chicken he's collected to bring home to her kids, Ava, 10, and Deacon, 6. The foursome have set up camp in Philadelphia while Reese works on a movie in which she stars as a pro softball player opposite Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson.
....
"Do you like to cook?"
I do. And Jake is a great cook - he does a lot. We spend the weekends outside L.A. , in Ojai, where I have a farmhouse. We have chickens and we grow cucumbers and tomatoes. I love it. It reminds me of where I grew up in Tennessee.
...
Someone told me recently to live in the present but make plans and take pictures. And I am. I'm writing more, I'm reading more. Going to more concerts. Jake and I went to Coachella this year.
...
"Would you say your approach to your relationship with Jake is different from your last one because of what you've been through in the past?"
I don't know. But I do know I'm not trying to be something I'm not. As you get older, you know what you like and what you don't like, and you're not apologetic about it. I definitely feel much more confident in it.
What a lucky woman!
Thanks for the InStyle excerpts, Tweety. And thanks for the info on Sesame Street, Mary!
Surprise - new trailer, new post :)
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