Michael Douglas

Our brain is simply spinning with the news that Steven Soderbergh is planning on making a 3-D rock musical about Egyptian sexpot ruler Cleopatra. First, the casting: Variety reports today that Mr. Soderbergh is sniffing around Catherine Zeta-Jones to take on the role, previously held by both Claudette Colbert (in 1934) and Elizabeth Taylor (1963) with Hugh Jackman stepping into the gladiator sandals, once filled by Richard Burton, to play Marc Anthony. We can sort of see Ms. Zeta-Jones rocking the eyeliner, can't you? But then, there's the music, which will be provided by Guided by Voices. Guided by Voices! Could this be as exciting as when Shudder to Think wrote all those songs for  read more »

With the ups and downs of the Dow during the last month feeling like a ride on the Cyclone, it's no wonder that 20th Century Fox wants to get their long-gestating Wall Street sequel, generically titled Money Never Sleeps, back on the fast track. The follow-up to Oliver Stone's seminal 1987 film has been knocking around the Fox lot since May 2007 when the studio announced it was going ahead with the project without Mr. Stone but with Michael Douglas returning as the iconic Gordon Gekko. However after the historical upheavals in the financial world during the last month, and what reportedly amounted to a shoddy script from writer Stephen Schiff (The Deep End of the Ocean), a page one rewrite is now in order. Unfortunately, the studio just announced that they hired Allan Loeb, he of 21 infamy, to handle the new duties.

Of course there are bigger problems with this project than just the script or the fact that neither Mr. Stone nor original writer Stanley Weiser are involved. The original film came out over twenty years ago. That's a loooooong time fellas!  read more »

Fresh off the news that Steven Soderbergh's Che has been picked up by IFC Films, now there's word that the director's developing a film based on the last years of singer Liberace. Michael Douglas will star as the flamboyant singer, while Matt Damon is in talks for the role of Liberace's supposed companion of five years. Of course, being so prolific, Mr. Soderbergh still has a few films lined up before he can even get to this, so expect to see Liberace sparkling into theaters sometime in 2010.  read more »

Trumbo
Running time 96 minutes
Written by Christopher Trumbo
Directed by Peter Askin
Starring Joan Allen, Brian Dennehy, Michael Douglas and others

Peter Askin’s Trumbo is based on the play, Trumbo, by Christopher Trumbo, and is clearly a labor of love and ideological affinity for all the Hollywood celebrities who participated in the production. The Hollywood blacklist ensnared the playwright’s father, Dalton Trumbo, and many other talented people in the period of the cold war, the House Un-American Activities Committee, Senator Joseph McCarthy, J. Edgar Hoover and other cruel relics of a bygone era. Trumbo’s withering take on these instruments of his torture could be used as a club against the Bush-Cheney administration for its perceived assault on the Bill of Rights in the name of national security.  read more »

Being the ex-wife of Romancing the Stone’s romantic lead has its perks. Diandra Douglas (who used to be married to Michael Douglas, of course) and her new husband, guitar-maker (really) Michael Klein, have paid $15.25 million for an 1899 townhouse at 114 East 65th Street.  read more »