Top Movie Blog

According to Vibe news, the movie director Spike Lee has announced that he will be developing a network series that deals with the lives of many characters of various social and economic backgrounds trying to rebuild their lives post-Katrina. The drama will be named Nola, which takes its name from a slang reference for New Orleans. Lee began thinking about a TV series set in post-Katrina New Orleans while he was filming his HBO documentary “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.”

Spike Lee is set to executive produce and direct the NBC project and will travel to New Orleans this week with screenwriter Sid Quashie to meet with some of the city’s residents. The show will be filmed on location in New Orleans using nonprofessional actors in the lead and/or supporting roles.

According to the news, movie producers have finally confirmed who will play the role of Janis Joplin in the biopic of the late rocker, naming that actress Zooey Dechanel in less than two months ( November ) before shooting is set to begin. The decision comes after for the role of Joplin in Penelope Spheeris’ planned biopic ‘The Gospel According to Janis’, has been linked also to Pop Celebrity Pink ( who dropped the role ) Lindsay Lohan, Scarlett Johansson even Pop Celebrity Britney Spears. According to Empire, the actress Zooey Deschanel has been working with a vocal coach for almost four months already in order to perfect Joplin’s unique vocal style for the film.

In other news, Lakeshore Entertainment are set to produce a rival film based on the same story but with Renee Zellweger in the lead role, aiming for similar release dates.

According to the news, ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ master Peter Jackson has revealed he desperately wants to helm MGM’s planned live-action adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s fantasy novel ‘The Hobbit’. The movie ‘The Hobbit’ is the prequel to Tolkien’s epic trilogy ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ and has been optioned by MGM for production in 2007. In other news, Jackson announced last week that he has personally optioned the ‘Temeraire’ saga for development.

I was reading that this morning on the net. It’s a rather strange thing to wake to. I’m up for it, but somebody should phone me because I’m getting a bit booked out at the moment! We’re very, very excited and committed about the films that we’re working on now, so I don’t know. I’d have to sit down and look at it all. Obviously, I’m interested in ‘The Hobbit’, but right now we have no emotional investment in it.
- Speaking on the chances of him taking the project, Jackson told AICN -