Deep Inside Hollywood
Mitchell takes Eckhart and Kidman down the Rabbit Hole
Why is that so many hack directors crank out movie after movie while the really talented filmmakers make us wait? John Cameron Mitchell took five long years after Hedwig and the Angry Inch to get 2006’s Shortbus into theaters, and he’s only now getting rolling on his third feature, which sounds both fascinating and mass-audience friendly. Mitchell has been tapped to bring the Pulitzer Prize–winning Broadway hit Rabbit Hole to the big screen, and he’s got Aaron Eckhart and Nicole Kidman in the lead roles. David Lindsay-Abaire will adapt his own play, which tells the story of a married couple taking an emotional journey after sudden tragedy strikes. Kidman is producing and will play the role that won lesbian actress Cynthia Nixon a Tony. Shooting starts in late May, so Rabbit Hole might be finished in time for Oscar contention at the end of the year. Or next. Or maybe the one after that.
Kristanna Loken rolls up to Janjaweed
Oh, Kristanna Loken, you may be married now, but to Romeo you’ll always be the loose-lipped bisexual who outed her girlfriend in an Advocate interview and set Shane’s hair salon-skateboard park-clothing store-smoothie hut on fire on The L Word. And now you’re reuniting with your Bloodrayne director, the infamous Uwe Boll, for another movie. And it’s about Darfur. Because, really, who doesn’t want to see a film about one of the great tragedies of the modern era directed by the guy who gave us grade-Z entertainment disasters like Alone in the Dark and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale? Joining Loken on what promises to be a fascinating journey are Billy Zane and the long-out-of-the-spotlight Edward Furlong. Shooting commences soon, but Boll’s got a very full schedule (quantity, not quality, is this man’s m.o.), so a release date is anyone’s guess.
Green Day’s American Idiot becomes a musical
Hit-making (and very pro-queer) pop-punks Green Day are taking their multi-platinum 2004 concept album American Idiot and turning it into a stage musical. (You’ll recall the title song, in which lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong reasoned, “Maybe I am the faggot America/I’m not part of a redneck agenda.”) American Idiot, like the album that spawned it, is about coming of age in an America rocked by 9/11, and it makes its stage premiere in September at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in California. Running the show is gay Broadway biggie Michael Mayer, who won a Tony for putting together Spring Awakening; his other credits include the musicals Thoroughly Modern Millie and the revival of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, so he knows what he’s doing. Don’t be surprised to see this Idiot go all the way to the Great White Way.
Showtime goes Way Out
Every gay man and lesbian has his or her own coming-out story, but the process of disclosing your sexual orientation to the world is about to become good TV. Showtime has brought on two producers of the utterly addictive Intervention to create Way Out, a weekly show that will follow GLBT subjects on their journey out of the closet. A nationwide search is currently underway to find the subjects for the first season; the creators say the goal of the show is to help out not only the people who go before their cameras but also viewers who might not think they know any queer folks or who don’t understand the toll involved in keeping a major part of one’s life a secret. Look for a Way Out in late 2009 or early 2010.
Romeo San Vicente takes no responsibility for outing that A-list actor. The man in question should have picked a hotel with better soundproofing. He can be reached care of this publication or at [email protected].
