Now that “Pearl Harbor” has been launched successfully (though with a somewhat less stellar start than the $90 million opening that weekend insiders were hoping for), Ben Affleck is turning to new projects that will pay him a wee bit more than the $250,000 he reportedly earned for the Disney film.
Affleck is in talks to star in the Columbia Pictures’ comedy “Surviving Christmas,” in which he’ll play a man forced to spend Christmas alone. Feeling lonely, he goes back to his childhood home, where he’s taken in by the family that now lives there.
The picture (still in its early development stage) adds to a packed schedule for Affleck, who also has commitments to make Revolution Studios’ “Gigli” and to take over the Harrison Ford/Alec Baldwin role of Jack Ryan in Tom Clancy’s “The Sum of All Fears” for Paramount for which he’s getting a whole lot more than he did for “Pearl Harbor.” Think $10 million.
—
Speaking of Alec Baldwin, the producer of his feature directing debut, “The Devil and Daniel Webster,” said he expected Baldwin will be back at work this week after temporarily staying away from the editing room.
Two and a half months after shooting wrapped, Baldwin alleged that the movie’s financiers had failed to come through with money for himself, the crew and co-stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Anthony Hopkins an allegation that Cutting Edge Entertainment’s David Glasser strenuously denied.
“Baldwin has been paid in full,” Glasser said. “There is one minute, tiny little investor who backed out of the picture at the last minute, and Alec flipped out. Meanwhile, the editor is cutting (the film), Alec has been paid in full, every cast and crew member has been paid. The bond company and bank are very content. Alec will be back at work (this) week.”
Baldwin’s reps did not return calls seeking comment.
Following in Baldwin’s footsteps, Eriq La Salle of “ER” fame will make his feature directing debut on “Crazy as Hell,” an independent movie about a psychiatrist making a film about the mentally ill, who finds himself drawn to a man who claims to be the devil.
La Salle starts shooting the picture this month, during his hiatus from “ER.” He still has one year to run on the NBC show part of a three-year contract extension that netted him some $27 million.
—
Actor Edward Norton (“The People vs. Larry Flynt”) is also expanding his reach. After directing the comedy “Keeping the Faith,” he’s turning his hand to screenwriting.
Norton is adapting “Motherless Brooklyn,” a novel by Jonathan Lethem about a man with Tourette’s Syndrome who has to solve a murder. Norton is also attached to star in the project, which will re-team him with his “American History X” home, New Line Cinema.
Over at New Line, marketing head Joe Nimziki, a controversial figure who was lampooned when one of the bad guys was named after him in “Independence Day,” is leaving, to be replaced by Russell Schwartz. Nimziki is the second high-level exec to depart the Time Warner division, following movie production president Michael De Luca.
Nimziki’s departure comes at the same time as another high-profile marketeer, Miramax Films’ Dennis Rice, has announced he will leave the New York-based outfit for personal reasons.
Schwartz, who joins New Line from USA Films, has a reputation for dealing well with art house material. He’ll have his hands full with the much-anticipated Christmas release “Lord of the Rings,” which drew a terrific buzz when footage was shown at last month’s Cannes film festival.
Contributing columnist Stephen Galloway can be reached at [email protected].
