Hollywood Hotline - Week of February 27, 2025
HOLLYWOOD HOTLINE Archives
Howdy Hotliners,
RIP Gene Hackman (1930-2025), and his wife of 30+ years, Betsy Arakawa, both of whom were found dead in their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico yesterday. No foul play suspected, but tragic nonetheless. Hackman was a living legend who retired for keeps in 2004, when he could’ve easily continued working for another 10 years.
TOP STORY:
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy Stepping Down As Lucasfilm President
Something tells me no A-List director would meet with her about directing a future film so to save face she’s leaving on her own terms. Can’t say I’ll miss her. She really ran the franchise into the ground, and has left it in a worse place than George Lucas did with the prequels. Gonna take a miracle for her successor to turn the ship around.
Without further ado, let’s check the Hotline:
FUTURE FILMS:
Charlie Kauffman Going Full Freddy Kruger On Audiences’ Ass
“Kaufman adapted the script from the short story Debby’s Dream House by acclaimed author Iddo Gefen from his short story collection titled Jerusalem Beach. The original short story follows a man who manufactures dreams for people but ultimately begins creating nightmares for them. Exact plot details of the feature adaptation are unknown.”
Sounds trippy. Hopefully more accessible and entertaining than I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS (2020)!
I Love You, You Love Me, In Development Hell, Is The Barney Movie!
THE BEAR star Ayo Edebiri is set to write the screenplay for the upcoming live-action BARNEY movie and is also in talks to star in the film. BARNEY will be co-developed and produced by A24 and Daniel Kaluuya’s 59% Productions. Daniel Kaluuya will produce. Though Kaluuya is a lead producer on the film, sources tell Variety he will not be starring in the movie alongside Edebiri. Plot details are being kept under wraps.
Feels like Danny DeVito already made this movie with DEATH TO SMOOCHY (2002)?
What If HIGH FIDELITY But With Two Actors And We Call It DEEP CUTS?
“Saoirse Ronan and Austin Butler are set to star in DEEP CUTS, a movie based on the debut novel of Holly Brickley. Sean Durkin (THE IRON CLAW 2023) is on board to direct and adapt. Ronan is also on board to produce. Set in the 2000s, DEEP CUTS is a love story about two music-obsessed twentysomethings navigating the messy realities of ambition, belonging, and adulthood over the course of an era-defining decade. The novel was published Tuesday by Crown.”
Sounds like the perfect rom-com for the BARNEY Generation (1992-2010).
IN OTHER NEWS:
Hollywood Officially Moves To Las Vegas
“Along with Howard Hughes Holdings, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Bros. Discovery have announced plans for a 31-acre world-class production facility in Las Vegas. Dependent on the passage and approval of Assembly Bill 238, a film studio tax credit legislation in Nevada, the venture is expected to create tens of thousands of new jobs and have an economic impact of more than $3 billion.”
Guess all those Hollywood crew members who lost their homes in the LA Fires of 2025 are gonna have to move to Vegas to start over? Thanks, Obama! /s
COMING SOON:
THE SURFER - Nicolas Cage’s JOHN WICK of a movie
EDEN - Ron Howard CD-Rom of a movie
HOLLAND - Nicole Kidman FARGO of a movie
THE ASSESSMENT - Alicia Vikander’s FOE of a movie
THE PENGUIN LESSONS - Steve Coogan’s DEAD POET’S SOCIETY of a movie
HAVOC - Might be Netflix’s shittiest looking CGI-Bloodfest of a movie???
SACRAMENTO - Michael Cera’s CHUCK & BUCK of a movie
Let’s spend the weekend watching old Gene Hackman movies from the 1970s (THE FRENCH CONNECTION 1971, THE CONVERSATION 1974), the 80s (EUREKA 1983, HOOSIERS 1986), the 90s (NARROW MARGIN 1990, UNFORGIVEN 1992), and 2000s (HEIST 2001, THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS 2001).
Until next week, Hotliners! Thanks for calling in.
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