We have some news today about a new Robert De Niro film that pokes fun of the Hollywood Machine and the Cannes Film Festival. We get the following scoop from the fabled caves of Yahoo:
Robert De Niro plays a movie producer whose professional and personal life lurches from crisis to crisis in a new comedy on the cut-throat world of Hollywood and its relationship with the Cannes film festival.
De Niro plays Ben, who must juggle two ex-wives and their families, a pill-popping bi-polar director, a ruthless studio boss demanding radical changes to his picture and Willis steadfastly refusing to shave his beard for an action hero role. The film casts an ironic eye on the process of getting movies made, how cash outweighs quality almost every time and how no one in Hollywood is safe from the whims of studio bosses, superstar actors and the movie-going public.
This sounds like a fun film that spills the beans, and shows the man behind the curtain. The manpower that goes into a film is staggering; it’s easy to forget that the 90 minutes we enjoy as entertainment, took months to make (and was made to make money).
This film sounds like it will be enjoyed by insiders and outsiders alike. Bruce Willis not shaving his beard for a role sounds like a funny part of the film. I am sure stuff like this happens all the time, but the news never gets past those involved in the shoot. There is a funny behind the scenes example of this on the Toxic Avenger 4 DVD extras. A girl who signed on to be a Troma slut in the film refused to get topless in a lesbian make out scene. The script clearly called for nudity, but when the cameras were about to roll – she refused.
No word yet on when What Just Happened will be released, but we will be sure to keep our ears to the tracks for information!
This movie has gotten absolute atrocious reviews. It’s now played two major festivals (Sundance and Cannes) without being picked up for U.S. distribution. That should tell you all you need to know.
check out “Living in Oblivion” with steve buscemi. hysterical little film about making a low budget feature.
eerily close to the reality of a student film i worked on around the same time.