THE ORANGES, di Julian Farino con Hugh Laurie, Adam Brody

La Black List di Hollywood spesso permette a sceneggiatori sconosciuti di vedere i propri lavori prodotti da registi e attori importanti. Per The Oranges, dark comedy che nel 2008 occupava la seconda posizione di pochissimo staccato dal primo classificato The Beaver, ci sono voluti due anni, ma il film è finalmente entrato in produzione grazie alla Olympus Pictures.

Gli sceneggiatori Jay Reiss e Ian Helfer si uniranno così al regista di Entourage Julian Farino per portare il film in produzione, con un cast interessante che vede protagonisti veterani come Hugh Laurie (Dottor House), Catherine Keener (Capote), Allison Janney (American Beauty), Oliver Platt (Frost/Nixon) insieme ad attori più giovani come Adam Brody (Jennifer's Body), Leighton Meester (24), Alia Shawkat (The Runaways) e Sam Rosen.

Il film è incentrato su due famiglie di migliori amici e vicini di casa sulla Orange Drive, gli Ostroff e i Walling. La figlia degli Ostroff Nina (Meester) torna a casa per il Ringraziamento dopo cinque anni di assenza dopo aver rotto con il fidanzato (Rosen), e invece di sviluppare un auspicato interesse per il figlio dei Walling Toby (Brody) la ragazza mette gli occhi su suo padre David Walling, migliore amico dei suoi genitori. Quando l'attrazione fra i due diventa troppo grande per essere ignorata, le vite delle due famiglie verranno messe in subbuglio.
Gli eventi prenderanno pieghe inaspettate, divertenti e anche positive, portando ciascuno a comprendere come si possa essere felici.

Le riprese di The Oranges dovrebbero iniziare a fine mese e l'uscita è prevista per il 2011. Ne risentiremo parlare ai festival?
fonte

But a buzzed-about new movie called "Oranges" may be trying exactly that. The project, a dark dramatic comedy about an older man who has an affair with the daughter of a family friend, has been on Hollywood's radar for several years now. Back in 2008, the Jay Reiss-Ian Helfer script landed on the Black List, the grouping of the entertainment industry's most desired screenplay. (It came in at No. 2, ahead of vaunted projects like "Inglourious Basterds" and just behind the "The Beaver," the Mel Gibson-Jodie Foster collaboration that could hit later this year.) And it's being produced by Anthony Bregman, an indie producer with serious bona fides -- like, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" bona fides. (Glen Basner's Film Nation and Leslie Urdang's Olympus Pictures, incidentally, are financing "Oranges.")

Now the project may have another claim to fame: It could mark the first lead feature role for Hugh Laurie, who plays Dr. Gregory House on the hit Fox medical series. Sources say that Laurie is in discussions to play the lead role of the creepy/sympathetic older man. The British actor has done voice work and a number of supporting parts in films such as "Sense & Sensibility" and "Stuart Little" but has never carried a movie before. Of course his work as a darkly comic presence on Fox for the past five-plus should make him familiar to audiences. And he has a versatile acting background, starring in a range of roles with former partner Stephen Fry.)

The "Oranges" TV credentials don't stop with Laurie, though. Sources say two candidates have jumped to the top of the list for either the lead female role or possibly another role: "Gossip Girl" Leighton Meester and former "That '70s Show" co-star Mila Kunis. The latter has been turning a few film tricks of late -- she starred as the romantic/action co-lead in "The Book of Eli," and is playing a nemesis figure opposite Natalie Portman in Darren Aronofsky's upcoming "Black Swan." Meester, known for the pincers-out Blaire Waldorf character on "Gossip Girl," would be wading into newer waters (a foray that would mark an interesting litmus test for CW stars on the big screen -- just as Chace Crawford attempts same in "Footloose").

Television roles can in some ways be more demanding than film, since they require a much higher arc over many hours of episodes, not just a three-act transformation. But, of course, everything is also more magnified on the theatrical screen, so when actors seem too small for a part, or try too hard, the results can be disastrous.

In a poetic twist, boith Meester and Kunis are set to star opposite each other in the upcoming comedy "Date Night." The film is headlined by Steve Carell and Tina Fey -- so Kunis and/or Meester could at least have a successful TV-film path in which to follow.

-- Steven Zeitchik

Dr House in una commedia nera

Hugh Laurie, noto come l'acerbo ma geniale Dott. House nella serie tv omonima, è pronto a tornare al grande schermo nelle vesti di protagonista principale. Pare che l'attore inglese abbia scelto una commedia nera, intitolato Oranges, come la pellicola che lo riproporrà a un audience cinematografico.

Il film narra la storia di un uomo di famiglia di una certa età (Laurie) che ha una storia con la figlia di un amico. Oltre a Laurie, anche Mila Kunis (Book of Eli) e Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) sarebbero interessate al progetto, che per ora non ha né un regista, né un produttore... la sceneggiatura però è pronta e ben conosciuta: il copione infatti, scritta da Jay Reiss e Ian Helfer, era incluso nella famosa Black List (la lista delle più belle sceneggiature non in progettazione) del 2008. Su quella lista c'era anche Bastardi senza gloria. xxx

[...] But after doing voice work for Valiant, Stuart Little 3, and Monster and Aliens, Laurie may just make that precarious jump from small screen glory to headlining in a feature film, with a much buzzed-about May-December-themed dramatic comedy, reports the Los Angeles Times.

And not only that. Oranges – a dark, dramatic comedy about an older man who has an affair with the daughter of a family friend – may mark the reunion of Laurie, 50, reportedly in talks to play the lead role of the creepy older guy, with Gossip Girl villainess Leighton Meester, who is being considered to play either the female lead or some other role.

Meester has appeared on two episodes of House as Ali, an underage girl who had an obsessive crush on House, so it’s not exactly unexplored territory for the two. She came to the clinic with her father who had a cold, and soon started calling the clinic obsessively to talk to him and show up in random places. She also sent him a Fresno calendar so he could count down the six months until she turns 18.

It was revealed later, however, that Ali had a spore in her brain from an earthquake while she was in California.

Mila Kunis, from That 70s Show and now doing voice for Family Guy, is also a top candidate for the other half of the May-December affair. The project, penned by Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer, is still in the works. It has, to its credit, bagged a spot on 2008’s Black List of best unproduced works, a list that includes, among others, Inglorious Basterds and the upcoming comedy The Beaver.

source: BuddyTV

Leighton Meester of “Gossip Girl” will star in indie dramatic comedy “The Oranges” opposite Hugh Laurie.
Production companies are Media Rights Capital, FilmNation and Olympus Pictures. Anthony Bregman, FilmNation’s Glen Basner and Leslie Urdang of Olympus are producing.

Script by Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer centers on a man’s romantic relationship with the daughter of a family friend, which turns their lives upside down. Julian Farino will direct, with shooting expected to begin in April in New York City. Catherine Keener’s also been cast.

Meester will be seen next in Warner’s “Date Night” and upcoming Screen Gems thriller “The Roommate.” She’s repped by WME and Leverage Entertainment