The Guardian Asks...

but doesn't really answer, "What puts a book firmly beyond cinema's scope?" --Kim

New Photos from Gaiman's STARDUST!

Cinema Blend has these three photos from the film adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Stardust. I'm intrigued by the one of Michelle Pfeiffer in a goat-drawn carriage. More on the adaptation in Gaiman's Journal. --Kim

Quoth the Raven: "Yo, Adrian!"

As we noted here a while back, Sly Stallone has plans for a biopic on the life of macabre poet and storyteller Edgar Allan Poe. (Contrary to the accompanying image, the film will not include a dancing, bewhiskered character called "Magical Mr. Mistoffelees.") While Robert Downy Jr. had been named in connection with the role, he's since denied he'll be playing the author, and I can't seem to find any news of who will be, although Johnny Depp has mentioned in the past that he'd love to play Poe, and how friggin' cool would that be? (Although I can't imagine Depp and Stallone in the same room together, let alone Stallone actually directing Depp.)

Sly has already written the script, and let's just say we can only hope it's more in the ilk of "Rocky," Part I, and less in the ilk of "Tango and Cash," "Demolition Man," "Judge Dredd" and the inimitable "Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot."

Here's what Stallone had to say about the movie according to the official Rocky Balboa blog:

SYLVESTER STALLONE: I'm gonna direct "Edgar Allen Poe" [without] being in it. "Yo, Poe!" doesn't work. I'd like to direct some nice young actor in it who can get the soul of Poe. It's a dark story, but the challenge is how to make it enjoyable, so it isn't that depressing. And then there's a book I've been looking at for a while called Homefront, which is pretty good and, you know, there's certain things that will crop up. The main thing is I'd, I'd much rather spend more time directing than actually acting.

A non-depressing view of Poe's life? Good luck with that one. (I'm thinking "Homefront" may be the book by Tony Christini about the Iraq war, f.y.i.) -- Amy

Happiness Sold Separately

Julia Roberts will produce and perhaps star in an adaptation of Happiness Sold Separately, a novel by Lolly Winston. Says director Scott Coffey, "I've been looking for something to do with Julia for a really long time, and I finally found the project that was worthy of her," he admitted. "I couldn't get Julia out of my head when I was reading Lolly's book. Elinor is such a strong, complicated woman, and bringing her to the screen required Julia's integrity, empathy, humor and legs." --Kim

A Royal Welcome

Here are the first two official stills from the sequel to Elizabeth, (a.k.a. "The Golden Age") starring Cate Blanchett and Clive "Mr. Darcy" Owen as Sir Walter Raleigh (I'm weak in the knees already). The movie was filmed last year in the UK and will be released next year. Samantha Morton plays Mary Queen of Scots and Geoffrey Rush is back as Sir Francis Walsingham. -- Amy

Incidentally, here's what Cate told The Guardian about her decision to do the sequel:
"...I don't think I wanted to play Elizabeth I in the first place. I remember reading the script and saying, 'Wow, this is going to be an ego trip for someone, but it's not going to be for me' - but there I was, having the ego trip. ...I've remained really good friends with Shekhar [Kapur, the director], and he and Geoffrey Rush had been talking about [the Elizabeth sequel] The Golden Age for a long time. I kept saying no because I couldn't see why. But suddenly there was this fantastic script that had the potential to talk about a woman approaching middle age; and I thought that, if the first film was about denial, this one, in a way, is about acceptance of that ageing process."

Who's Counting?

Dark Horizons reports that a modern retelling of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo is in the works. The Prince is a psychological thriller set at a prep school where one student is framed for perpetrating a Columbine-style attack. After being sent to prison, he remerges with a new identity -- and a serious bone to pick with his former classmates. -- Amy

Ioan Blasts Burberry! Stars Unite Against Clothing Manufacturer

"Last September, Burberry announced it was to close its Treorchy factory in the Rhondda valley. But it has met fierce opposition from celebrities including Ioan Gruffudd, the global face of Burberry known for his roles in Titanic and Horatio Hornblower, and Charlotte Church." (The Observer) --Kim

Book or Film? Jude the Obscure

The Daily Telegraph's Philip Horne weighs in on which is better: Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure, or Michael Winterbottom's 1996 "not so feel-good" film adaptation starring Christopher Eccleston in the title role and Kate Winslet as his unlucky charm, Sue Bridehead. Horne loved the movie, which is funny, seeing as how we at Romancing the Tome described it at The Happy Booker as one of the all-time most anguishing film adaptations we can recall. Of course, we're a little partial to period movies where the characters are still alive by the end. Leave it to Hardy to leave us clamoring for a Prozac prescription. -- Amy

The Write Stuff?

Johnny Depp did it. So have Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger and Anne Hathaway. And now....Lindsay Lohan? Find out what has the Guardian scratching its head today... -- Amy

"The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal and Trial by Combat in Medieval France"

I've never heard of this book by Eric Jager, but the title makes me giddy. And Scorcese directing? Huzzah!!!!-- Amy