Moviefone Editorial

Tag: appian-way

  • Kevin Costner May Play Bill Clinton in New TV Series

    (Left) Kevin Costner arrives at the 15th Governors Awards in the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, November 17, 2024. Credit/Provider: Mark Von Holden / The Academy. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S. (Right) President Bill Clinton. Photo: Shutterstock.
    (Left) Kevin Costner arrives at the 15th Governors Awards in the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, November 17, 2024. Credit/Provider: Mark Von Holden / The Academy. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S. (Right) President Bill Clinton. Photo: Shutterstock.

    Preview:

    • Kevin Costner and Leonardo DiCaprio are developing at TV show about the United Nations
    • ‘United’ would focus on specific events in the organization’s history.
    • Costner would play Bill Clinton.

    While you might think Kevin Costner would have enough on his hands trying to get more of his ‘Horizon: An American Saga’ Western movies to screens, he’s found time for other projects.

    Deadline reports that Costner, along with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way company, is developing ‘United,’ a new TV series which will chronicle different real-life issues tackled by the United Nations.

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    The plan is that Costner will also play President Bill Clinton in the show, with Deadline reporting that ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s Chukwudi Iwuji will be UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

    Related Article: Jake Gyllenhaal and Kevin Costner on for Dramedy ‘Honeymoon with Harry’

    What’s the story of ‘United’?

    (L to R) Alec Baldwin and President Bill Clinton at 'Alec Baldwin: One Night Stand'. Photo: Comedy Central.
    (L to R) Alec Baldwin and President Bill Clinton at ‘Alec Baldwin: One Night Stand’. Photo: Comedy Central.

    The project is written and will be directed by David Raymond (‘Night Hunter’), who partnered with the UN’s Creative Community Outreach Initiative during the tenure of previous UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon and has been working with them ever since, unearthing true stories that highlight the power of shared humanity. It’s being approached as an ongoing series dramatizing true stories of the courage and sacrifice that humanitarian staff continuously make around the world.

    The presumed focus is the 1999 uprising in East Timor, which took place following a UN-organized independence referendum in the territory. East Timor was a Portuguese colony up until 1975, briefly asserting independence before being annexed by Indonesia, in an invasion supported by the administration of U.S. President Gerald Ford.

    In subsequent decades, those in the territory endured military repression, famine and widespread human-rights abuses. But by the late ’90s, Indonesia was politically weakened, and the people of East Timor were allowed to vote on whether to remain within Indonesia or become independent.

    President Clinton and his staff were instrumental in de-escalating the situation in East Timor after the initial referendum, liaising with leaders in Australia, Portugal and other countries affiliated with the UN to pull it off.

    The series is slated to shoot in Atlanta and Spain next year.

    When might ‘United’ be on screens?

    Fifth Season is handling distribution, and we have to assume the show will be looking for a streaming or network home before too long.

    But right now, there is no information on when it might arrive.

    Kevin Costner for 'Horizon: An American Saga' at CinemaCon 2024.
    Kevin Costner for ‘Horizon: An American Saga’ at CinemaCon 2024. Photo: Warner Bros.

    List of Kevin Costner Movies and TV Shows:

    Buy Kevin Costner Movies on Amazon

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  • Leonardo DiCaprio to Play Namesake Leonardo da Vinci in Biopic

    ABC's Coverage Of The 89th Annual Academy AwardsLeonardo DiCaprio is set to fulfill a longtime quest to play his namesake, artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci, on the big screen, with his production company nabbing the rights to an upcoming biography of the original Renaissance man.

    Genius,” respectively), and “da Vinci” seems to be similarly painstakingly detailed.

    Here’s the scoop on the book — and the upcoming movie — via Deadline:

    According to info from the publisher, Isaacson used Da Vinci’s notebooks to weave a narrative that connects his art to his science and voracious curiosity and imagination. Aside from his priceless paintings, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy (his iconic drawing of Vitruvian Man), fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology and weaponry. He peeled flesh off the faces of cadavers, drew the muscles that move the lips and then painted history’s most memorable smile. He explored the math of optics, showed how light rays strike the cornea and produced illusions of changing perspectives in The Last Supper. Isaacson also describes how Leonardo’s lifelong enthusiasm for staging theatrical productions informed his paintings and inventions. According to the book, he also was a bit of a misfit: illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted and at times heretical.

    According to Variety, it’s “no coincidence” that the Oscar-winning DiCaprio was interested in playing the celebrated painter.

    “The actor’s mother famously claims to have chosen the artist as her son’s namesake when she felt an in utero DiCaprio kick for the first time while examining a da Vinci piece at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy back in 1974,” the trade writes.

    The book “Leonardo da Vinci” is due out on October 17. No word yet on when production on the film is set to begin.

    [via: Deadline, Variety]

  • Leonardo DiCaprio Wants to Make a ‘Captain Planet’ Movie: Report

    captain planet, planeteers, movie, leonardo dicaprioLeonardo DiCaprio is known for his environmental advocacy, and that passion apparently extends to fictional properties, too: The Oscar winner is reportedly prepping to produce a big screen adaptation of ’90s cartoon “Captain Planet.”

    The Hollywood Reporter writes that DiCaprio is shepherding the project through his Appian Way production company, and will produce alongside partner Jennifer Davisson Killoran. The flick is being developed at Paramount Pictures, and the screenwriting duo of Jono Matt (a former assistant and production assistant on television series including “Sons of Anarchy” and “Glee,” who has two scripts in development) and Glen Powell (the current star of “Scream Queens” and a supporting star in Richard Linklater’s “Everybody Wants Some!!”) will pen the script.

    “Captain Planet and the Planeteers” aired from 1990 to 1992 and focused on the environmentally-friendly titular superhero and his band of Planeteers, a diverse group of teens from around the globe who harnessed the powers of Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and Heart to assist the Captain. The series was later revived as “The New Adventures of Captain Planet,” which ran from 1993 through 1996.

    As THR notes, however, this movie project will be a “subversive” take on the familiar material, with the action set “years after the adventures of the show, with the Captain now a washed-up has-been who needs the kids more than they need him.” Guess dystopian adaptations of beloved childhood properties are here to stay.

    No word yet on when the project expects to get off the ground, or if Powell will also plan on starring. Stay tuned.

    [via: The Hollywood Reporter]

  • Leonardo DiCaprio to Produce Movie About Volkswagen Diesel Scandal

    Leonardo DiCaprio Announces Major New Climate Commitment In NYCNews about Volkswagen’s deceptive diesel emissions broke only a few weeks ago, but Hollywood has already taken notice, and has fast-tracked a flick about the scandal. Now, one of the industry’s hottest stars is set to produce the film.

    According to Variety, Leonardo DiCaprio has just signed on to produce the as-yet-untitled project for Paramount Pictures, through his Appian Way company. It’s unclear at this time if DiCaprio also intends to star in the movie, which so far does not have any actors or a director attached.

    The flick will be based on a forthcoming book about the scandal written by New York Times journalist Jack Ewing. Variety reports that the book details how Volkswagen “placed illegal software in their clean diesel cars that could tell when a car was being tested for fuel emissions and would turn on the emissions control to cheat the test and meet EPA standards. During normal driving conditions, emission control software was shut off — resulting in as much as 40 times more pollution than allowed by law.”

    The scandal has already led to the resignation of Volkswagen’s CEO, Martin Winterkorn. The company is also facing fines of up to $18 billion from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

    This film is just the latest high-profile project for DiCaprio’s company, which also produced his Oscar-nominated flick “The Wolf of Wall Street.” There’s been no word yet on a projected release date or production timetable; stay tuned.

    [via: Variety]

    Photo credit: Getty Images

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  • Leonardo DiCaprio to Have Multiple Personalities in ‘The Crowded Room’

    US-UNGA-DICAPRIOA long-gestating flick about the first person to successfully use the insanity defense at a U.S. trial is finally getting off the ground, with a major star attached.

    The Hollywood Reporter writes that Leonardo DiCaprio is set to star in “The Crowded Room,” the story of Billy Milligan, who was charged with robbery and rape in the 1970s. Milligan was subsequently diagnosed with multiple personality disorder, and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming that two of his 24 personalities committed the crimes without his knowledge.

    Per THR, “Milligan’s various personalities included Adalana, a lesbian taking responsibility for the rapes; Ragen, a Yugoslavian communist who admitted to the robbery; and Arthur, an uptight Englishman.” He was the first person to use — and be acquitted for — this defense.

    Milligan’s story was told in a 1981 book by Daniel Keyes, on which the film will be based; screenwriters Jason Smilovic (“Lucky Number Slevin”) and Todd Katzberg (“Arms and the Dudes”) will co-script the screenplay. DiCaprio had reportedly been interested in bringing the story to the big screen from as far back as 1997, and his “Titantic” director James Cameron was also reportedly circling the project at one time, but nothing ever came of the adaptation.

    Now, according to THR, the film has new life, thanks to a partnership with New Regency, with whom DiCaprio is currently working on Oscar-winning director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s “Birdman” follow-up, “The Revenant.” New Regency will co-produce “The Crowded Room” alongside DiCaprio’s own company, Appian Way.

    [via: The Hollywood Reporter]

    Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images
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