Sandra Bullock to Boldly Go Where No Sandra Bullock Has Gone Before
It's a very exciting adventure for her! Also today: a sad story about Mike Myers, a sad story about Jimmy Smits, a somewhat happy story about Maura Tierney, and a sad story about a beloved Brooklyn neighborhood.
First it was Angelina Jolie, then it was Natalie Portman, and now it looks to be Sandy Mae Bullock who will be shot into space by a Mexican. Yes, she is in talks to play the lead (and basically only character) in beautiful genius Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity, a space thriller about space. Natalie Portman to Sandra Bullock is quite a shift! "We're thinking... twentysomething indie-ish elegant OR mid-forties romantic comedy heroine. You know. That type." It's pretty cool that Sandra Bullock gets to work with Cuarón, though, because he is very much the best. Plus sci-fi! She's never done sci-fi. (Update: yes, duh, of course, she was in Demolition Man. Oops.) Unless you count The Net. Which you really shouldn't, because that's a documentary about some terrible computer things that happened to Sandra Bullock in the mid-'90s. It's not fiction at all. [THR]
Oh dear. Looks Gail O'Grady has a new NYPD Blue alum drinking partner. Production on Jimmy Smits' new poorly received show Outlaw, about a Supreme Court justice who quits to get his hands dirty in little cases again, has been halted indefinitely due to poor ratings. So the two old coworkers will slump over at some ratty bar. Smits will splutter boozily, "I was pretty good on Dexter, wasn't I? I mean, I was pretty good..." O'Grady will issue one loud cackle and light a cigarette. "Eh you were all right. I had American Dreams, 'member that one? You 'member that show. Little Willie Estes. He had an ass on him, boy howdy, I tell ya. All that's over though... All that's done..." Smits will shake his head knowingly. "I had Star Wars?" O'Grady huffs. "Yeah, the new ones. Y'know what I'm doing now, Smity? Y'know what the hell I'm doin' just to keep the beans on the table? I'm on a show called Hellcats, about cheerleaders. You believe that? You fuckin' believe that? 'Member on Blue? 'Member how big we were?" Smits, crying a little, nods his head. "Yeah, baby. We were big. We were real, real big..." And outside there's the city and cars and millions of strangers just making their way on by. (Oh, and the show Raising Hope, on which Martha Plimpton is very good, has been extended for a full season.) [Variety]
Well, this rarely happens. The lovable Maura Tierney's new legal show, The Whole Truth (Rob Morrow's in it too, wish he could still feel that Alaskan chill in his bones), went up in the ratings, 17% up, last night. At 4.5 million viewers it's still wayyy too low for an hour-long network drama, but still, some cheery news. They don't have to go sit at the sad bar for sad TV people just yet. Probably in two weeks they will, but for now... well, for now they're OK. [THR]
Ohh, this is interesting casting. Remember Anil Kapoor from Slumdog Millionaire? Y'know, the host of the show? "Chai walla..... Computergee!! Lokee-a-jah..." (My Hindi is fabulous, I know.) Well, he's been cast as a villain in Mission: Impossible 4, alongside French beauty Lea Seydoux as a bad lady. That's fun! Kapoor was a good villain-ish character in Millionaire. Plus he's certainly better than Dougray Scott, who was the villain in the second one. Remember that mess? Tom Cruise's hair? Yowsers. [Deadline]
Ughhhh. Lifetime has ordered 12 episodes of Brighton Beach, which is basically going to be a Russian version of Jersey Shore. Well, OK. Maybe it'll be fun. "Svetlana! You are stinking of beets. Always of beets." "Mikhail! You are leaving your guns everywhere! Please to stop with these guns in places everywhere." I would watch that. Especially if it takes a fun left turn and gets really sad and spare and Chekhovian. "Olga, don't you love to look at the sea?" "I do." [long pause] "Rain's coming." Could be good. So, yes, Brighton Beach, I am ready for you. Come on over. I will watch you. [THR]
Mike Myers will provide the voice of Pepe le Pew in an upcoming live action/animation hybrid movie. So, good to see things are going well for him. [Vulture]