Jolie & Pitt To Star In Atlas Shrugged

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, "a longtime devotee of Rand," have teamed up with Lionsgate on an adaptation of Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged. More info here. --Kim

Adaptation Updates: Angus & Jane Eyre

Nip/Tuck writer Jennifer Salt will adapt Charles Seibert's Angus, which "examine(s) a year in the life of a young married couple seen through the eyes of their newly adopted young dog."

The BBC will air a new adaptation of Jane Eyre, mining "every ounce of passion, drama, colour, madness and horror available."

--Kim

It Takes A "Villa"

Dark Horizons notes that Alan Rickman and Kristin Scott Thomas are teaming up for an adaption of Piers Paul Read's "The Villa Golitsyn," a psychological drama set in the South of France....here's deets. -- Amy

Revealed! The Guardian's Top 50 Adaptations

"Organised by the Guardian, a panel of experts has drawn up the list, which will be voted on by the public. The chains Waterstones and Borders are also involved and will promote the books in shops."

I can't believe A Room with a View didn't make the cut!

(via Return of the Reluctant)

--Kim

In Memoriam: Muriel Spark

Novelist Muriel Spark died on Friday. I confess I haven't actually read any of her work, which makes me tres lame for writing this brief obit. Still, I can recommend the film adaptation of her novel, "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," which is sort of like a darker, racier, female version of "Dead Poets' Society." Maggie Smith is perfection in the title role of this 1969 classic Brit flick, and she won an Oscar for her efforts. Granted, the "girls" in the movie look about 27 -- still, it's much, much better than watching Julia Roberts in that stupid "Mona Lisa Smiles" garbage from a few years back.

Muriel was a woman after my own heart, spending the last years of her life living in a converted church in Tuscany. I've made a note to borrow her novel, The Girls of Slender Means, on my next trip to the library. Based on the title, at least, it sounds like a book I could relate to. Let me know if you'd recommend any other works from Spark. -- Amy

Gorey Vision: The Wicked World of Edward Gorey

The week before Edward Gorey died I happened to see an exhibit of his work at SF's cartoon museum. I've been fascinated with his drawings since I began watching PBS's Mystery! with my mom back in the early 80s. (I also have very fond memories of us practicing yoga together along with PBS when I was a toddler. Well, she practiced while I mostly did headstands.) I don't remember when I realized he wasn't actually British, but perhaps an anglophile like me. Anyway, the Morning News links to this interview with Gorey at PBS.org. Apparently he "devoured" Dracula at the tender age of five and, of course, it scared him to death. Funny how when we're feeling our most immortal we're so easily terrified by our own imagination. An excerpt from the interview:

Which MYSTERY! series seems to fit most neatly into the world of Edward Gorey?

Any of the period ones do to some extent. I suppose the Agatha Christie stuff they've done is vaguely like some of my period drawings. I very much like the Tommy and Tuppence ones, the Partners in Crime. I quite admire Joan Hickson, but she's just a little too dark for Miss Marple. I'm old enough to love Margaret Rutherford's Miss Marple, even though I know perfectly well she wasn't Christie's idea of Miss Marple.

--Kim

More Pride and Twice the Prejudice

Delurked reader Meghan (a girl after our own heart--she has a post on the Cutting Edge 2 movie) of The Busy Nothings Report has some great promo pics from Pride & Prejudice that I hadn't seen before and also a review of the P&P director's cut. --Kim

Another Reason...

Why we love Ewan.
FYI, you can see him later this year playing multiple roles in the "The Great Pretender," which has a "period film within a period film" sound to it. Here's a description. -- Amy

Let's Do The Time Warp Again

Going through "Brokeback Mountain" withdrawal? We can't guarantee any studs of Jake and Heath's caliber, but it looks like there may well be a few fake cowboy hotties (well, maybe not) to delight in when PBS airs "Texas Ranch House" from May 1-4. If you've never seen any of the previous PBS series of this ilk (ie, Colonial House, Manor House, Regency House, etc.) it's guilt-free reality television that's as thoroughly entertaining as it is educational. If you're the sort of person who loves visiting those corny living history museums ("Look mom -- she's churning butter!"), OR if you just like seeing modern-day whiners trying to rough it, this one will be up your alley. The episode guide on the PBS site promises stomach ailments and food shortages. Can't wait! -- Amy

Scarlett to Play Bonaparte's 14-Year Old Lover

Scarlett Johansson will portray an evidently very well-endowed 14-year old in the upcoming flick Napoleon and Betsy about Napoleon's 1815 exile. Also randomly noted in the article, her bf Josh Hotnett wants to be the next big Sting. --Kim

Revealed! Pics from the New Jane Austen Movie

Ant sends us a link to several pics from the set of Becoming Jane, where Anne Hathaway is busy portraying Jane Austen. James McAvoy (whom I adored as Mr. Tumnus the Faun in Chronicles) will play Jane's Irish suitor.

"Becoming Jane Synopsis :: Jane Austen has a romance when she was about the age of 20 with a young Irishman named Tom Lefroy. His family disapproved of the match because Austen had little money and Tom was the oldest in the family and had quite a few people to support, so he needed to marry into money. So his family sent him away when it looked like things were getting serious between the two of them. A few years later she wrote the first draft of what turned out to be Pride and Prejudice--it's believed she loosely based Elizabeth and Darcy on herself and Tom, but made Darcy rich enough that he could marry who he chose."