*/
Julianne Moore, Adele, Freddie Mercury, Chris Colfer
Julianne Moore

Julianne Moore is Wonderstruck with Todd Haynes

 

Julianne Moore and director Todd Haynes – his recent film Carol is generating lots of Oscar buzz – go way back. In 1994 she starred in Haynes’ critically acclaimed drama Safe, then again in 2002’s critically acclaimed drama Far From Heaven, and again in the critically acclaimed drama I’m Not There. The two of them and “critically acclaimed” are kind of a thing at this point, that flashpoint where like-minded artists meet and make fire. So it’s no surprise that the Academy Award-winning Moore and her preferred auteur are teaming up again. She’ll star in Wonderstruck, Haynes’ adaptation of Brian Selznick’s children’s novel. It’s about two hearing-impaired children – a boy in the 1970s and a girl in the 1920s – whose lives entwine when they both flee their homes and run away to New York City. Yes, in different decades. Look, we trust these people to make it work. Longtime Haynes collaborator Christine Vachon will produce, and the words “critically acclaimed” are fairly certain to make another appearance when all is said and done.

 

Adele’s ‘Hello’ director to keep working in English

 

Prolific and highly lauded, gay French-Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan is in his late 20s and has already directed several films that have made the arthouse world sit up and take a lot of notice: I Killed My Mother and Heartbeats, to name two. But it’s his most recent work, his first big project in English, that has earned him half a billion YouTube views: Adele’s “Hello” video. Now the director will tackle a feature film in that language, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan. It will star Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Jessica Chastain, Taylor Kitsch, and Kit Harington in the title role. The film concerns a young actor who corresponds with an American TV star who dies, the fallout of that relationship affecting everyone connected. As of this stage in the development process, there would appear to be no role written for the world’s most famous British singer. But you know it would only help raise the movie’s profile.

 

Support Our Advertisers

Hey, remember that Freddie Mercury movie they keep promising?

 

It’s still happening, for starters. Sacha Baron Cohen has dropped out, as we reported earlier, and frankly, after that, everything sort of seemed to be falling apart. But now it looks as though a new screenwriter is on board – Anthony McCarten, whose The Theory of Everything screenplay earned an Oscar nomination – and there might be a title: Bohemian Rhapsody. Smart move there, really. Instant name recognition and all that. As for a star? That’s trickier. So many names have been tossed around. Currently the producers are hot for Ben Whishaw, which would be another smart move, because he’s terrific, and also because he looks more like Mercury than Benedict Cumberbatch or Tom Hardy, England’s other go-to hotshot young actors. And if they can’t get him, then… well, we have no idea. This could go on for longer than that Janis Joplin movie that still hasn’t shown up on screens.

 

Chris Colfer is in the Absolutely Fabulous movie, sweetie

 

Post-Glee life continues to look absolutely fabulous for Chris Colfer. Not only will he star as the legendary Noel Coward in an upcoming biopic, but he’s also about to work with Kim Kardashian. OK, he might not share any scenes with the co-star of Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor, but he will share a credit crawl with the infamous reality star, because they’ve both taken roles in the Absolutely Fabulous movie. Colfer will play the (we assume gay) hairdresser/social media consultant to Edina (AbFab creator Jennifer Saunders) as she cavorts around Europe with Patsy (Joanna Lumley), desperately maintaining their connection to youth and glamour. The only thing more delightful than this news is the clip going around online where Colfer explains Absolutely Fabulous to a befuddled Larry King, who appears to have never heard of such a thing. Your day will be made, trust us.