NEWS

NEW MOVIES
1408 (2007) (filming) .... Mike Enslin
Grace Is Gone (2007) (filming) .... Stanley Philipps
Summerhood (2006) (post-production) (uncredited) .... Narrator
The Martian Child (2007) (completed) 
The Contract (2006) (completed) 
Cosmic Banditos (2007) 

JANUARY 2997
Malibu Fire: Suzanne Somers Loses Home, John Cusack Helped Hose Down Flames
According to news reports, the Malibu home owned by Suzanne Somers and husband Alan Hamel were among the four Malibu Road beach mansions that burned to the ground last night in that wind-whipped fire. Victoria Principal's house was threatened so she spent the evening hosing it down. Bad luck for TV actresses who springboarded to fame late 1970s / early 1980s and then transitioned into home shopping and infomercial hawkers. But Somers' statement was a classic for the ages: "My nature is to look at the glass half full. I don't have a son or daughter in Iraq. I haven't lost a loved one. We will rebuild, and I truly believe we will learn something great from this experience." The celebrity hero of the evening was apparently John Cusack. According to Fox News' interviews with neighbors, Cusack was seen, hose in hand, fighting the flames alongside firefighters until about 11 p.m. last night. Huge flames burned for three hours last night along the beaches of Malibu tonight over 20 acres where Pacific Coast Highway meets Malibu Canyon Road and down to old Malibu Road. They started as a small and simple brush fire on a bluff around 5 p.m. less than a mile from the school, then grew and leaped across PCH, and went right for the $2 million plus beach mansions which got the worst of it. The flames were contained by 8 p.m. In all, 4 seaside homes and a guest house were reduced to embers, and 4 other homes were damaged. 
 

SEPTEMBER. 2006

Cusack's Grace is Gone

Filming is finished for the indie Grace is Gone, which stars John Cusack, and I'm hoping it will find distribution easier than its helmer's previous project. The drama is the directorial debut of writer James C. Strouse, who last penned Steve Buscemi's Lonesome Jim. That film took two years from its shoot to its release date, and then it was barely seen (I think its hilarious, but others seem to disagree). Obviously Cusack is a bigger draw than Casey Affleck, but the former has been in some little films that were also ignored at the box office, so we'll have to wait and see. One thing that is worrisome is that Cusack is described as playing 180 degrees from what audiences are used to. Also, the story sounds pretty dreary. Cusack plays a man whose wife dies in the Iraq War, prompting him to take his daughters on a road trip while delaying telling them about their mother's death. What I'm picturing, and it probably isn't fair to the film, is Cusack's character from Being John Malkovich and the second act of Lolita -- minus the whole incestuous, statutory-rape part, that is. 
Cusack took on the role because of his politics: He doesn't agree with the government ban on media coverage of the returning remains of killed soldiers, and he used his belief as motivation in the making of the film. Well, as much as I'm looking forward to this film, I hope that the actor's seriousness is soon over with and he can think about making a Grosse Pointe Blank sequel already.
 
 
 

John Cusack
The cool crowd on the roof at Century Club couldn't help but be a little impressed on Saturday night, John Cusack walked in with Sophie Okonedo and some friends. He was very casually dressed, navy t-shirt and combats smoking a big fat cigar, he's still got it, all the girls looked at each other with that 'you still would' look. He even gave me a look, good to know I've still got it too!

John Cusack  -- Signed t-shirt from upcoming film 1408
Fifth Annual Clothes Off Our Back Emmy(R) Is Live
Clothing and Accessories Worn By Winners, Nominees and Attendees at the Award Show Is Now Up for Bid to Benefit Children's Charities 
Additional Items From the Teen Choice Awards, Television Shows as Well as Special Auctions for Natalie Portman, Mariska Hargitay and the Television Academy and BAFTA/LA Are All Live 
Auction Runs Through the Evening of September 15, 2006 
 

FROM BEE...John Cusack's latest film grew from Iraq.

John Cusack Checking into Room 1408

This comes as a shock.  Other than "Identity", John Cusack has not been in such a suspenceful horror film so starring in Stephen King's "1408" is just crazy!  Mikael Hafstrom ("Derailed") will helm along with Scott Alexander ("The People vs Larry Flynt"), Larry Karaszewski ("Ed Wood"), and Matt Greenberg ("Halloween H20") penning the film.  Deminsion is the company involved to distribute.

"This is so much a one man show," notes Hafstrom.  "It's quite a contained drama.  It is a horror film if you want to put a label on it but the way I see it, it's much more an inner-journey of this character."  You can read the rest of the Variety artcle here.

Based of Stephen King's novel with the same title, Cusack will most likely play a paranormal debunker who checks into room 1408.  The room has past stories of terror in which plagues the Dolphin Hotel.

RELATED
Cusack finds a room in King's '1408'
Alexander, Karaszewski penning short story adaptation. 

John Cusack will star in the bigscreen adaptation of Stephen KingStephen King's short story "1408" for helmer Mikael Hafstrom, producer Lorenzo di BonaventuraLorenzo Di Bonaventura and Dimension Films.
Penned by "The People vs. Larry Flynt" scribes Scott AlexanderScott Alexander and Larry KaraszewskiLarry Karaszewski, pic centers on a debunker of paranormal occurrences who encounters real terror when he checks into notorious Room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel.

Pic will lenselense this summer. Location is yet to be determined.

"This film is so much a one-man show," Hafstrom told Daily Variety. "It's quite a contained drama. It is a horror film if you want to put a label on it, but the way I see it, it's much more an inner-journey of this character."

Hafstrom previously helmed the Weinstein Co.'s "Derailed."

"1408" originally appeared as a King audio book, called "Blood and Smoke," and was subsequently included in King's 2002 short story collection "Everything's Eventual."

Cusack's casting comes on the heels of Dimension buying rights to King's latest novel "Cell" for Eli RothEli Roth to direct.

Cusack recently also signed to star in and produce the indie drama "Grace Is Gone." He next stars in New Line's "Martian Child."

Pic is being overseen by Dimension's Richard SapersteinRichard Saperstein and Matthew Stein.
 

AUGUST 25, 2006

Lahore Kebab's Spicy Curries Are Low-Cost Feast: Richard Vines 
These days, there are plenty of polite waiters -- and even a waitress -- dressed in black and ready to hurry over when needed. The waiters say the actors John Cusack and Helen Mirren have eaten at the restaurant in the past month and claim the Indian stars Shakti Kapoor and Salman Khan among the customers. 
 

OTTAWA CITIZEN
SHOCK

The Big Read: A glossy magazine full of allegedly undoctored photos, mostly from the news, that are supposed to, well, shock you. Some, such as the shots from 9/11, are still powerful but nowhere near as shocking as when we first saw them five years ago. The paparazzi triptych of photos of actor Danny DeVito lying on the beach, reading a book and scratching his heel, meanwhile, will no doubt maintain its hold on absolutely nothing of interest for decades to come, while the same goes for the series showing a dozen celebrities (John Cusack, Jennifer Garner, Matthew Perry, Kirsten Dunst, blah, blah, blah) either picking, scratching or otherwise just touching their noses.

The Sunday Times 

As if London wasn’t sizzling hot enough already, John Cusack, the Hollywood star and gold-standard dreamy sex symbol, is taking up residence in the capital. Word has it the star of High Fidelity and Grosse Pointe Blank is happily ensconced in a loft-style apartment near Oxford Street, with three bedrooms, an exercise area and a state-of-the-art, industrial-style kitchen. While the place is certainly handy for record shops — Cusack, 40, likes his music — it sounds as if whoever’s signing the cheques for his rent is paying through the nose: although Cusack’s temporary home has been on the market for £4m, I hear it’s costing £9,500 a week for a two- or three-month stay. 
 
 
 

MARTIAN CHILD PICTURES