It’s been six years since “Velvet Goldmine” and “Far From Heaven” helmer Todd Haynes last had a film in theaters — the uneven, but intermittently transcendent Bob Dylan picture “I’m Not There.” Haynes has been busy in the meantime, helming the awesome, Emmy-laden miniseries “Mildred Pierce,” as well as an episode of “Enlightened,” but we’ve missed him on the big screen, and so we’re excited by Screen Daily‘s news that Haynes will direct a new film called “Carol.”
The film will reunite Haynes with his “I’m Not There” star Cate Blanchett, who’ll star alongside her follow Australian Mia Wasikowska. Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith about the relationship between an unhappy wife (Blanchett) and a twenty-something department store employee in 1950s New York, the project was previously to be directed by “Boy A” helmer John Crowley, but he’s bowed out due to scheduling conflicts. There’s no word on when it’ll move forward, but we hope it’ll be as soon as goddamn possible.
We’re almost as excited by Screen‘s news that the busiest writer alive, Jack Thorne (one of our Screenwriters On The Rise picks this year), and director Tom Harper, who were behind the excellent, woefully under-seen “Scouting Book For Boys” a few years back, are getting back together, for a political thriller called “War Book.” The film seems to be a “Fail Safe“-style drama set in “the political backrooms of London” in the aftermath of a nuclear attack on the city, and will shoot on July 15th. Harper is squeezing this in before he goes on to direct horror sequel “The Woman In Black: Angel Of Death,” starring Jeremy Irvine and Phoebe Fox.
Meanwhile, cult filmmaker Monte Hellman is prepping a new film, again according to Screen. The “Two Lane Blacktop” helmer will direct “Love Or Die,” a low budget romantic thriller compared to “Heaven Can Wait,” about “a man and woman who fail to meet during their lifetime but are sent back to earth to fulfill their love.” Portuguese producer Paulo Branco, behind that film, is also backing Mathieu Amalric‘s new directorial effort, “The Blue Room.” And finally, the site also report that Juan Carlos Medina, who made some waves at TIFF last year with “Painless,” will direct an adaptation of Peter Ackroyd‘s “Dan Leno And The Limehouse Golem,” which has a script from “Kick-Ass” and “X-Men: First Class” writer Jane Goldman.