on the slate
Owen plays a single dad, Bello inherits Mummy role and Hudson survives a shooting
By Ingrid Randoja
Roles roll in for Owen
Let’s get over the fact that stubble-faced Clive Owen signed on to shill Lancôme’s line of male cosmetics — just can’t picture Clive applying anti-aging cream before bedtime — and focus on his talent as an actor and the list of “can’t wait for” films he’s lined up.
In next month’s Shoot ’Em Up he plays a homeless guy protecting a newborn baby from assassin Paul Giamatti, and in October he portrays the dashing Sir Walter Raleigh opposite Cate Blanchett’s Queen Elizabeth in Elizabeth: The Golden Age. He’ll reprise his role as Dwight McCarthy in Sin City 2, due out in 2008, and in January he starts shooting the Aussie pic The Boys Are Back in Town with director Scott Hicks (Shine). The drama focuses on a newspaper columnist (Owen) forced to raise his two sons after his wife’s death. And to wind things up, he’s agreed to star in German director Tom Tykwer’s 2009 release, The International, which casts him as an Interpol agent investigating an arms-dealing ring.
Hudson ducks for cover
What’s Jennifer Hudson been up to since nabbing the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her turn in Dreamgirls?
The singer/actor recently finished shooting the ensemble drama Winged Creatures, about a group of strangers who are brought together after they survive a shooting inside a diner. The cast includes Kate Beckinsale, Guy Pearce, Forest Whitaker, Dakota Fanning, Josh Hutcherson and Jackie Earle Haley. The drama, directed by Aussie filmmaker Rowan Woods, hits theatres in 2008.
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Maria Bello in A History of Violence
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Mummy adopts Bello
When Rachel Weisz opted out of The Mummy 3, Maria Bello (A History of Violence) stepped in to play the role of librarian/adventurer Evelyn Carnahan O’Connell, who fights undead creatures with her hunky hubby Rick (Brendan Fraser).
It’s interesting that the first Mummy pic was a decidedly feminist adventure flick, with Evelyn getting the chance
to flex her muscles and throw her fair share of punches.
However, it seems like Evelyn’s best fighting days are behind her as the third feature focuses on Rick (Fraser) teaming with their son Alex (Luke Ford) to take on the mummy of an evil Chinese Emperor (Jet Li).
The Mummy 3, directed by Rob Cohen, is currently filming in Montreal and will unspool next summer.
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Briefly
• Brett Ratner is set to direct the Hugh Hefner bio-pic, Playboy.
• The comedy Man-Witch finds Jack Black attending magic school with a gaggle of girl witches.
• Kate Hudson joins the cast of the Dane Cook comedy Bachelor No. 2.
• Look for Amy Adams alongside Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman in the adaptation of the Broadway play Doubt, which focuses on a school principal (Streep) who accuses a priest (Hoffman) of pedophilia, leaving a young nun (Adams) to question his innocence.