Director David O. Russell has stirred up plenty of controversy during his career relating to his behavior on set and relationships with his actors, but one collaborator with whom he really seems to click is Jennifer Lawrence. The actress had her big breakout in 2010 starring in Debra Granik's Winter's Bone, but some of her best work since has been in Russell's movies – resulting in three Oscar nominations and one win. The success is undeniable, and it apparently the relationship was kick started by a dead spider.

The New Yorker has published a Jennifer Lawrence profile in advance of her new film Die My Love arriving in theaters (her first project since the 2023 comedy No Hard Feelings), and one story included in the piece is about her audition for the film Silver Linings Playbook – the first movie that saw the actress and Russell working together. The filmmaker remembers that they met virtually instead of in person, and he recalls her both selling her own personality and her capacity to play the character simultaneously. Said the writer/director,

Recalling Jennifer Lawrence's performance in Silver Linings Playbook, one can understand why this arachnid mimicry successfully sold David O. Russell on her capacity to play the female lead. The character, Tiffany Maxwell, is a bit of a manic weirdo, and one can properly sell that energy while pretending to be a dying spider with curled up legs.

In the profile, Jennifer Lawrence says that she essentially let her self be "wet clay" in David O. Russell's hands, and it's hard to argue with the results. Silver Linings Playbook ended up being nominated for eight Oscars in 2013, and Lawrence ended up taking home the Academy Award for "Actress in a Leading Role." Since then, they have worked together two more times – in American Hustle and Joy – and both turns earned the star attention from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

It has now been a decade since Jennifer Lawrence and David O. Russell teamed up, but she has been working with plenty of other exciting collaborators. The aforementioned Die My Love is directed by Lynne Ramsay, and it has been earning acclaim following its festival premieres throughout the year (it will be heading to theaters on November 7). She is also now attached to star in the new thriller from the legendary Martin Scorsese, as What Happens At Night – co-starring Leonardo DiCaprio – is now in pre-production.

Christian Bale is one of the most dedicated actors in the industry. He is known for fluctuating in weight in order to suit a specific part and fully transforming himself to commit to his memorable characters. The Dark Knight actor performs alongside a star-studded cast in Amsterdam, the latest from David O. Russell. For this film, it seems like Bale used a different method to become his character in this film, and it (strangely) has to do with following around strangers.

In a recent interview, the actor talked about his process prepping for Amsterdam, and what went into him giving the best performance possible. The Fighter star gave a peculiar answer, citing an unlikely source of inspiration. He told EW he became a "weirdo stalker," explaining...

I am so curious if the man ever noticed Christian Bale, The Batman himself, following him around. Talk about a strange and bizarre experience. We all know Bale is a committed actor, but who knew he had the boldness to follow people on the street in order to use them as inspiration? I guess based on the incredible performances the Oscar winner has given in the past, we have to assume the actor knows what he’s doing. 

In the past, the actor has always gone the extra mile to prep for his films. He lost an exuberant amount of weight to play the lead character in The Machinist, which severely affected Bale's body. He also gained a significant amount to play a character in American Hustle, and to play Dick Chaney in Vice. This also isn’t the first time Bale has cited strange sources as inspiration for his performances. Bale famously once said Tom Cruise’s appearance on Oprah was a touchstone for his performance in American Psycho. I’m not sure how Tom Cruise feels about that one.  

Amsterdam isn’t the only film he has coming out this year. The actor is also starring alongside Gillian Anderson in The Pale Blue Eye. The film follows detective detective Augustus Landor (played by Bale) who enlists the help of a young Edgar Allen Poe to investigate some gruesome murders. The film will be available for Netflix subscribers in December. This sounds like an incredibly interesting film, and I can’t wait to find out what quirky process Bale went through to prepare for that role as well. Maybe he investigated an actual murder. I wouldn’t put it past him. 

Amsterdam is receiving mixed reviews, but I’m sure Christian Bale pulls out all the stops to elevate the film as much as possible. You can check out his performance when Amsterdam releases in theaters on October 7th. For more information on other films coming to theaters this fall, check out CinemaBlend's 2022 movie release schedule. 

With a big name like David O. Russell at its helm, and a ridiculously stacked cast featuring John David Washington, Christian Bale and Margot Robbie among many others, it’s impossible to not be intrigued by Amsterdam. Details about the mystery/comedy/thriller (Russell’s first film since 2015) were kept pretty well under wraps for a while. But with the film being one of this fall’s big releases, critics have had the opportunity to screen the movie and give us a better idea of what to expect.

What we do know about Amsterdam is the story revolves around the three main characters — a doctor, a nurse and a lawyer — becoming suspects in the murder of U.S. Sen. Bill Meekins. The supporting cast includes the likes of Chris Rock (who Christian Bale had to keep his distance from on set), Robert De Niro, Zoe Saldaña, Mike Myers, Timothy Olyphant, Taylor Swift, Rami Malek, and the list really does go on and on. So let’s see what the critics are saying, starting with CinemaBlend’s review of Amsterdam, in which our own Eric Eisenberg rates the film 3 stars out of 5. He says it’s a fun cinematic experience, even while walking a tightrope of being too much: 

Travis Hopson of Punch Drunk Critics also rates Amsterdam 3 out of 5 stars, calling it “convoluted but enjoyable.” This review says David O. Russell takes an already complicated plot and fills it with flashbacks and an onslaught of often pointless characters, but it eventually tells a hopeful tale worth watching. The critic says: 

Tessa Smith of Mama’s Geeky agrees that the story has potential, but argues that even the A+ cast can’t save it. This critic also calls the plot “convoluted” and says the movie can’t figure out what genre it wants to be, rating the film a 1 out of 5: 

Jeff Ewing of SlashFilm agrees with the above assessment, giving the movie a 4 out of 10. This review also argues that the cast, while excellent all around, can’t save Amsterdam from its “tonal chaos,” saying: 

Ian Freer of Empire rates Amsterdam 2 stars out of 5, saying the director wants to celebrate love, humanity and kindness, but the movie needed more finesse to come together successfully: 

It sounds like there’s definitely a lot going on in this movie, but the critics don’t seem to agree on how successful the final product is at overcoming its flaws. If you’d like to give this film a whirl, Amsterdam will be available in theaters beginning Friday, October 7. See what else is hitting theaters soon with our 2022 Movie Release Schedule, and get a peek into next year by taking a look at the movies coming in 2023. 

It will take individual members of the moviegoing audience only a few minutes to decide whether or not David O. Russell’s Amsterdam is a film that is “for them.” A manic tone is established from the outset as we are introduced to Christian Bale’s Burt Berendsen, a Hunter S. Thompson-esque doctor and World War I veteran with a glass eye who operates a shady medical practice helping out fellow veterans in 1933 New York City. Voiceover from Burt quickly ushers us through his life and work before catapulting the character to a meeting with his best friend, John David Washington’s Harold Woodman, a fellow veteran and attorney who proceeds to roll out a dead man in a box (Ed Begley Jr.) and introduce the corpse’s grieving daughter (Taylor Swift), who is certain that her father was murdered.

Quippy zaniness is the keystone of the madcap adventure, and that voice is relentless even as the film veers towards some of the most consequential subject matter in modern history. If it’s not your thing, you’ll check out immediately, but those who get onboard will find an entertaining, albeit overcooked mystery that is enhanced with what feels in the moment like a seemingly endless ensemble of talented actors who enter the picture with each new plot development.

The aforementioned dead man in a box is identified as General Bill Meekins, who not only has a close history with Burt and Harold (technically he was the one who introduced them), but was supposed to be the main speaker at a benefit that the two men are coordinating. They believe Meekins’ daughter’s claims, which then almost immediately results in more murder… and then, indicative of the movie’s weirdness, everything goes into flashback mode. We first see how Burt first met Harold during World War I in France 1918, but then we learn how the duo met Valerie Voze (Margot Robbie), an eccentric nurse who patches them up and saves their lives after they are nearly killed on the battlefield.

Amsterdam's manic style is matched well with an engaging mystery.

Amsterdam sports a lot of “stranger than fiction” energy (it opens with a non-committal based-on-a-true story title card reading “A lot of this really happened”), and it more than occasionally feels like it’s trying to do too much – such as with Valerie’s avant-garde artistic sensibilities making sculpture from shrapnel, and the trio coming up with a “nonsense song” comprised of random French phrases. It takes quirkiness into the red, but the film works because it’s all tied to an engaging and propulsive mystery.

Once the movie bounces back from the flashback – with Burt, Harold and Valerie’s lives becoming intertwined while they live together in the titular city after World War I – Amsterdam establishes proper stakes and keeps the narrative moving with Burt and Harold finding clues that get them closer to discovering the truth of what happened to General Meekins. It never gets particularly complex, but it also never gets stupid, and each progression in the plot keeps you wondering about what’s coming next.

Part of the fun of Amsterdam is wondering what famous face will show up next.

Said curiosity is both driven by the desire to know the answers to the movie’s biggest questions, as well as David O. Russell’s special brand of stunt casting. If I could make one particular recommendation going into Amsterdam, it would be that you should avoid looking at the film’s full cast list (and I’m actually going to stop naming names in this review beyond those I have already mentioned). Practically every line is delivered by actors who are headlining movies released throughout the year – and none of them are shortchanged. Each has a memorable part to play and a standout personality to go with it.

Of course, anchoring the whole thing is the trio headlining the adventure. Given that Christian Bale, John David Washington and Margot Robbie have proven themselves as three of the most consummate performers working today, their success should inspire little surprise, but that makes it no less wonderful. Chemistry in the triumvirate is essential to the story that David O. Russell is telling, and theirs is effortless and palpable. Between the three, Bale is given the most to work with and delivers one of his best comedic performances – rounding out his David O. Russell trilogy after making The Fighter and American Hustle – but they are all given memorable lines and moments from the writer/director’s script.

Their individual characters’ eccentricities and choices in their performances mesh impressively well together, and the movie clicks into high gear when they are all together – first in the World War I flashback, and then in 1933 when Burt and Harold are inadvertently reunited with Valerie while trying to solve the murder mystery.

Amsterdam walks a narrow tightrope line of being too much, and there are moments where knees bend and arms flail for balance, but it does stay upright and put on a show in the process. It has a distinct voice, an entertaining story to tell and a well-used phenomenal cast, which amounts to a fun cinematic experience.

When you’re a professional actor in Hollywood, you often get to do some pretty amazing things in some pretty amazing places. Christian Bale has been one of the class of actors who has been able to play Batman on the big screen, which likely impresses a lot of fans, but a whole new class of fan is going to be envious of his new film Amsterdam as it allows him to sing with Taylor Swift.

The new David O. Russell movie Amsterdam co-stars Christian Bale, John David Washington, and Margot Robbie as friends who get caught up in events following a suspicious death. Circumstances bring about a scene early in the movie where Bale and Washington sing alongside Swift, and Bale tells THR that his daughter literally could not believe that. He explains… 

The reason Christian Bale would be doing that is that in the next upcoming movie from Disney's 20th Century Studios, Amsterdam, he finds himself standing over the body of his former World War I commanding officer. Swift plays the dead man’s daughter. She feels moved to sing a hymn over her father’s body, and Bale and Washington feel compelled to try and sing along.

Of course, Christian Bale may have once been in Newsies, but he’s not exactly Taylor Swift when it comes to singing talent. In the scene, the two men realize they need to just shut up and let the pro do it, which Bale says is pretty much exactly what happened on the set. Bale continues…

Taylor Swift wasn't the only talent Bale was in awe of apparently, as he's said he had trouble hanging out with Chris Rock because he found the man simply too funny. While Christian Bale may not have been the perfect duet partner for Taylor Swift, he still gets to claim for the rest of time that he sang with the biggest musical star in the world, and that’s pretty amazing. You’ll be able to hear them perform together when Amsterdam hits theaters this Friday 

For what seems like an eternity, there has been a great deal of buzz surrounding David O. Russell’s Amsterdam, the one-time mystery project from the Oscar-nominated filmmaker that features a stacked ensemble. And although the movie, its story, and even production were all shrouded in mystery for the past couple of years, we finally know what is going on with Russell's first theatrical release since Joy in 2015 –  which concluded one of the greatest five-year stretches from any single filmmaker in modern Hollywood history.

With a release date, information on the cast, and details on what the highly anticipated movie will be about, there’s actually quite a bit we know about what will surely be one of the frontrunners at the 2023 Academy Awards. Let’s dive in and take a look at everything we know about Amsterdam so far.

Amsterdam Will Be Released Theatrically On November 4, 2022

For the longest time there was little to no information about David O. Russell’s latest movie, and while CinemaCon 2022 changed things in a major way when when 20th Century Studios revealed a great deal of information about Amsterdam, one thing we did know beforehand was the film's release date. It was announced in the fall of 2021 by the studio that a "Untitled David O. Russell Project" would be coming out on November 4, 2022. This will have the star-studded affair landing at the beginning of the awards season and just one week before the upcoming Marvel movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hits theaters.

Christian Bale, Margot Robbie And John David Washington Lead The All-Star Amsterdam Cast

David O. Russell has always been able to pull together incredibly talented Hollywood stars for his various film projects, with American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook being two of the best examples of this. That trend will continue with Amsterdam, which will be lead by Academy Award-winner Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington (the latter two don't have Oscars yet, but both have earned multiple award nominations in the past decade).

20th Century Studios has yet to reveal the exact names of the characters the three Hollywood heavyweights will play in Amsterdam, but at CinemaCon 2022 the studio did reveal the movie will center around three close friends played by the stars.

The Amsterdam Cast Also Includes Taylor Swift, Robert De Niro, Rami Malek, And More

The three top-billed stars at the top of the Amsterdam cast aren’t the only big names to be featured in David O. Russell’s first movie in seven years. Appearing alongside Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington in the upcoming crime epic will be Taylor Swift, Robert De Niro (who appeared in Russell’s previous three films), Rami Malek, Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Zoe Saldana, Timothy Olyphant, Mike Myers, Michael Shannon, Matthias Schoenaerts, Andrea Riseborough, and Alessandro Nivola. 

Just like the situation with the main stars, none of the identities of the characters the supporting actors will be playing have been revealed at this time. This will probably change, however, when the first official trailer arrives online.

Amsterdam Tells The Story Of Three Friends Caught In A Mysterious Crime Plot In Early 20th Century Europe

David O. Russell knows a thing or two about making high-stakes crime movies with a comedic tone, as seen with movies like American Hustle and Three Kings, and Amsterdam sounds like Russell will be returning to that well. During the CinemaCon 2022 presentation where much of the details about the upcoming movie were finally revealed, it was revealed that Amsterdam will follow three close friends — a doctor, a nurse, and an attorney — as they get caught up in some kind of mysterious crime plot in early 20th Century Europe (per Deadline).

The exact kind of criminal plot the core trio will find themselves in during the movie remains a mystery for now, but 20th Century Studios did promise in the big reveal that the characters will find themselves at the center of one of the most shocking secret plots in American history and that the movie is based on facts that meet fiction.

In Addition To Directing Amsterdam, David O. Russell Also Wrote The Screenplay

Not only did David O. Russell sit in the director’s chair for Amsterdam, the filmmaker also wrote the script for the upcoming crime epic, which has been the case for all but one of his past feature films (he only directed The Fighter, while Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, and Scott Silver penned the script). This was first confirmed back in January 2020 when Deadline revealed that Russell would both write and direct the movie that would see him work with Christian Bale for the first time since American Hustle back in 2013.

With Russell handing both writing and directing duties, there’s a chance the filmmaker could win his first Oscar in both categories at the 95th Academy Awards in early 2023 as well as other awards shows preceding the grand Hollywood affair.

Production On Amsterdam Was Shrouded In Mystery With The Name Not Being Officially Announced Until CinemaCon 2022

Up until the the big reveal at CinemaCon 2022, not a lot of details were released about Amsterdam. In fact, the film’s official title wasn’t even officially announced until the April 2022 event, though its name had been rumored for a couple of years now. And even though filming was underway in early 2021, per Deadline, there was a level of mystery surrounding the production – one that Anya Taylor-Joy described as being “very secretive” even to the members of the cast when speaking with Vanity Fair in March 2021.

That level of mystery has only continued to shroud the movie in the months since, and chances are it will until Amsterdam is finally released into the wild come November. And honestly, that makes the whole matter all the more interesting.

There is a lot we do know about Amsterdam at this point, but we expect to find out more as the months go on and we get closer to the release date. In the meantime, check out all the other exciting 2022 movie releases that are slated to open in theaters and on streaming services before year’s end.

Every now and again a movie comes along masquerading as a romantic comedy but is actually a Trojan horse to bring other issues that go much deeper than boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy and girl spend the rest of their lives together. In November 2012, Silver Linings Playbook, written and directed by David O. Russell and starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, became one of those movies with its mix of comedy and drama that tackled grief, mental illness, and complicated family relationships.

In partnership with Plex, where Silver Linings Playbook is streaming for free throughout the month of August, we have put together a collection of behind-the-scenes facts that go into how Matthew Quick’s novel became one of the most talked about movies of the past decade, what it was like during production, and how David O. Russell pulled from his own life to tell the film’s story. Here are some of those interesting stories from the making of Silver Linings Playbook.

The Weinstein Company Planned On Developing Silver Linings Playbook Before The Novel Was Even Published

Silver Linings Playbook was released ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday in 2012, a little more than four years after the release of Matthew Quick’s novel of the same, but work on the film began before the book even landed in bookstores around the world in September 2008. In a New York Times article released around the time of the movie’s release, it is revealed that the Weinstein Company purchased its film rights just before the book was published with Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella set to produce the feature.

When Anthony Minghella died in March 2008 and Sydney Pollack passed away two months later, the project was handed off to David O. Russell, who would eventually adapt Silver Linings Playbook, but not as soon as originally planned.

David O. Russell Originally Planned On Making Silver Linings Playbook Before The Fighter

Two years before Silver Linings Playbook was released and nominated for dozens of awards, including eight Oscars, David O. Russell released arguably one of his best movies with 2010’s The Fighter, which earned six Oscar nods. This wasn’t the original plan as Russell was initially slated to direct Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in a Philadelphia story before directing Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, and Amy Adams in Lowell, Massachusetts, as Russell told Deadline in 2012. But for one reason or another, the director shifted from Silver Linings Playbook to The Fighter after writing the former’s script and returned to the project following the completion of the sports drama.

David O. Russell Was Inspired By His Son, Who Has Bipolar Disorder, When Making Silver Linings Playbook

There are a lot of tough subjects tackled in Silver Linings Playbook from grief to mental illness, the latter of which is something that drew David O. Russell to the project early on as he explained in an interview with HuffPost. The director’s son has a history with bipolar disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder (both play major roles in the movie), which was one of the motivations he had going in, stating:

David O. Russell’s son actually has a brief cameo in Silver Linings Playbook as the kid that rings the doorbell and is chased away by Robert De Niro’s character.

Mark Wahlberg And Anne Hathaway Were Initially Set To Lead Silver Linings Playbook

Bradley Cooper would go on to receive all kinds of recognition for his portrayal of Pat Solitano Jr. and Jennifer Lawrence would win an Oscar for her turn as Tiffany Maxwell in Silver Linings Playbook but the leads in the film’s cast originally looked much different. During an appearance on the Howard Stern Show (via The Independent) in January 2014, Harvey Weinstein (a few years before sexual assault allegations against the mega-producer surfaced) revealed that Mark Wahlberg and Anne Hathaway were his first picks to play the couple at the center of film’s story.

No reason was given for Mark Wahlberg’s departure, but Harvey Weinstein claimed Anne Hathaway had “some creative differences” with David O. Russell and departed the project, allowing Jennifer Lawrence to come in and take the role. Other actresses, including Olivia Wilde and Rachel McAdams also tested for the role at various points.

Jennifer Lawrence Got The Role Of Tiffany Maxwell After Impressing David O. Russell In A Skype Interview

When David O. Russell was looking for the perfect actress to take on the role of Tiffany Maxwell, he initially saw Jennifer Lawrence as anything but, and so he had her audition via Skype instead of coming in for an in-person test. During a Q&A session at The Wrap’s screening of Silver Linings Playbook in 2012, Russell admitted that the Skype audition was just a formality because he thought she was too young for the role. But when Lawrence turned on the camera at her parents’ home in Kentucky, the director immediately knew she was the one.

That audition was also the start of a successful partnership between David O. Russell and Jennifer Lawrence who went on to team up again in 2013 for American Hustle and again two years later with Joy.

Jennifer Lawrence’s Character Was Supposed To Be A Goth

The character of Tiffany Maxwell went through several iterations by the time production began on Silver Linings Playbook and at one point the grieving widow was supposed to be portrayed as a goth. And while much of the goth aesthetic was toned down or removed entirely (included the plaid dress), David O. Russell told The New York Times that Tiffany’s dark hair, gothic cross around her neck, and the way in which she carried herself all became part of the character, creating this dark and mysterious yet highly confident person.

Bradley Cooper Said Production On Silver Linings Playbook Was ‘Fluid’ And A ‘Wonderful Way’ To Make A Movie

Production on Silver Linings Playbook only lasted a mere 33 days, and David O. Russell wanted to make the most of that time. During an interview with the Washington Post, Bradley Cooper revealed that pretty much all 12 hours of each work day were spent shooting the movie and trying new things with new dialogue that was changing all the time. Cooper described the experience as being “very fluid” before saying Russell’s experimental style on set was a “wonderful way” to make a movie.

Jennifer Lawrence Didn’t Understand Her Silver Linings Playbook Character And That Made Her Want To Get The Part

Throughout Silver Linings Playbook, Jennifer Lawrence’s Tiffany Maxwell is one of the strongest characters in the movie and one that is confident in pretty much every situation that is thrown her way. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lawrence revealed being thrown off by the character when she initially read for the part and her inability to fully understand the character was one of her biggest motivations:

It appears Jennifer Lawrence got a handle on the character and her motivations by the time filming began considering she received more than a few awards for her performance.

David O. Russell Had To Find The Right Balance With Bradley Cooper And Jennifer Lawrence’s Dance Training

Throughout Silver Linings Playbook, a lot of Tiffany and Pat’s on-screen time together is spent preparing for the climatic dance scene at the end of the movie. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, David O. Russell said he needed to find the right balance for the performance and the actors’ training in dance because they were playing amateurs and not professional dancers. Instead of coming off as experienced ballroom dancers, Russell felt they should feel like amateurs who are putting their hearts into the dance so that the audience can feel the emotion.

The Silver Linings Playbook Screenplay Brought Robert De Niro To Tears

There is a scene in Silver Linings Playbook where Pat Solitano Sr. (Robert De Niro) breaks down into tears as he tells his son he wishes he would have been there for him more as a kid. During an interview on Katie (via The Hollywood Reporter), David O. Russell told host Katie Couric that De Niro had a similar emotional moment when the two were discussing the screenplay:

Earlier in the interview, Robert De Niro explained that he knew exactly what David O. Russell was going through with his son’s bipolarity which made him all the more emotional.

After reading about all of these behind-the-scenes facts from the making of Silver Linings Playbook no one would hold anything against you if you wanted to go back and watch it again, which can be done for free on Plex throughout the month of August.

Stream Silver Linings Playbook on Plex.

This past year has been huge for Taylor Swift's music career, between the release of her two quarantine albums folklore and evermore, her Netflix documentary Miss Americana and the pending re-releases of her first six albums following rights being sold. The 31-year-old singer has now signed on to be in a movie for the first time since Cats, and we’re rooting for better results than the bombed musical this time around. Much, much better. And this time there's also a lot of A-list talent involved, including Margot Robbie.

Taylor Swift has reportedly joined the all-star cast of David O. Russell’s untitled next movie, alongside Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, Zoe Saldana, Timothy Olyphant, John David Washington, Rami Malek, Chris Rock, Michael Shannon and Robert De Niro. The Wrap report does not detail Swift’s role, but the movie is an original story by the Silver Linings Playbook filmmaker.

The 11-time Grammy winner is obviously not primarily an actress given her mega music career, but over the years, she has appeared in a handful of movies and TV shows. Aside from her experience starring in music videos, she was in 2010’s rom-com Valentine’s Day, had a voice role in The Lorax, appeared in The Giver, guest starred in CSI and New Girl, and even hosted SNL back in 2009. But her most infamous role recently was Cats, which suffered horrendous reviews and a disastrous release.

Cats on paper could have been a success. It was directed by Les Misérables's Tom Hopper from a popular Broadway musical, and starred a huge cast that included Dame Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson and Ian McKellen. But low and behold, the production reportedly went through a fuss behind-the-scenes including word of the “butthole cut.”

Tom Hopper’s musical adaptation garnered early criticism when the first Cats trailer depicted some haunting CGI human/cat hybrids. The director worked to mend the film up until the day before its premiere, and an updated cut of the film was sent to theaters after it had already hit theaters. Cats only made $73 million worldwide in theaters against a reported budget of $95 million, sending its earnings into the negative for Universal during the holiday season.

Despite its failure, Taylor Swift did earn a Golden Globe nomination for her original song “Beautiful Ghosts,” which she co-wrote with Andrew Lloyd Webber. Following the release, Swift has shared she has “no complaints” about having her name on the movie considering her own personal experience starring in it as Bombalurina. And to be fair, she was one of the stronger elements of the movie.

Thankfully, Taylor Swift’s latest movie sounds nothing like Cats. It’s reportedly about an unlikely relationship between a doctor and a lawyer. It has already begun filming and photos of the cast in costume indicate the story will be set in the Great Depression era. David O. Russell has continuously been an award favorite among Hollywood with his previous films Joy, American Hustle and The Fighter, so here's hoping this one is a win for Swift.

Over the course of her career, Zoe Saldana has appeared in some of the most financially successful and culturally significant film franchises which have brought in record-setting and record-shattering results at the box office. From her turn as Neytiri in James Cameron’s Avatar, to portraying Gamora in multiple movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Saldana has continued to ride the wave of success and all while bringing iconic characters to life to the delight of many.

But, aside from brief cameos, documentaries, and voice-acting gigs, we haven’t seen much of Zoe Saldana since “bad” Gamora entered the picture in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, leaving some to wonder what she’s been up to for the past two years. Well, I’m happy to say we will be seeing a lot of Saldana in the very near future with returns to two of her most successful franchises as well as other high-profile and exciting projects.

Avatar 2 - December 16, 2022 (Post-Production)

Zoe Saldana was already an up-and-coming star in Hollywood by the time Avatar was released in December 2009, but her performance as Neytiri, the Na’vi princess at the center of James Cameron’s epic sci-fi adventure, helped make her an international superstar. After more than a decade of planning, filming, and countless hours spent in post-production, the franchise will pick back up on December 16, 2022 with Avatar 2.

Set 13 years after the events of the first film, the second film in the franchise will follow Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri as they raise a family and keep their clan together. This proves to be no easy task, however, when the pair are forced to leave the safety and comfort of their home to take on a threat they thought they’d never see again.

Although we still have a considerable amount of time before Avatar 2 is released, Zoe Saldana has been finished with her work on the sci-fi sequel for nearly three years, having wrapped her motion-capture work for Avatar 2 back in June 2018. With a movie so reliant on CGI and other special effects, it should be noted that work on preparing the movie for its December 2022 release is far from finished, though Saldana has moved on to work for that film’s sequels, which will be released in the years following the release of Avatar 2.

Avatar 3-5 - December 20, 2024, December 18, 2026, December 22, 2028

We’re not getting just one Avatar sequel in the next few years, we’re getting a total of four movies. It should be noted that at this point in time not much is known about Avatar 3, with next to nothing being revealed about its two sequels, set to be released every other year until December 2028. And, since the events of the third installment of the Avatar franchise will be determined by what goes down in Avatar 2, it’s hard to say exactly what kind of role anyone will have, Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington included.

Despite the growing list of unknowns about Avatar 3, one piece of information that will surely make fans of the property excited is the fact that a great deal of the film, which is set to be released on December 20, 2024, has already been shot, because the production got started at the same time as its predecessor. With live-action photography having wrapped up in December 2020, all that is left to do is the post-production work, which admittedly, looks to be no easy task. If everything remains on schedule and there are no additional delays, we’ll see Avatar 4 on December 18, 2026 and Avatar 5 on December 22, 2028.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 - 2023 (Pre-Production)

It has to be officially revealed just how Zoe Saldana will fit into the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but if speculation from the past few years is to be believed, it sounds like the story will center around the ragtag group of heroes trying to locate their missing partner (and Star Lord’s love interest) after “bad” Gamora went missing following the events of Avengers: Endgame. Trying to imagine a Guardians movie without one of the major stars and key members of the squad seems unfathomable, so expect to see a lot of Gamora, but just not the Gamora that Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) wants to see.

It should also be noted that Gamora is one of key members of the Guardians crew not set to appear in Thor: Love and Thunder, so it very well could be a situation where she is located (possibly in a post-credits scene) and then have Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 see her getting back in the swing of things (or for the first time, depending on which Gamora we’re talking about here). That being said, the movie is currently in pre-production with a release window of some time in 2023.

The Adam Project - TBD (Filming)

When she’s not busy in Pandora or the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Zoe Saldana will spend some time working on several other exciting projects, the first being Shawn Levy’s equally star-studded sci-fi thriller by the name of The Adam Project. In the movie, Ryan Reynolds plays a time traveler who is tasked with going back to find his 13-year-old self so that they can locate his father, a brilliant but deceased physicist played by Mark Ruffalo, to save the future from an end-of-the-world event. Saldana joined the cast in November 2020, per Variety, but her role has yet to be revealed. Catherine Keener is set to play the film’s villain, with Alex Mallari Jr. on board to play her right hand man.

The Adam Project has been in the works for nearly a decade now, with a previous version of the film’s script being looked at by Paramount Pictures with Tom Cruise attached, per a 2012 Deadline report. The version that will eventually land on Netflix, however, has been quite active since summer 2020 with principal photography getting underway in November of that year, according to The Hollywood Reporter. There is currently no word on when The Adam Project will be released.

Untitled David O. Russell Film - TBD (Filming)

There is currently a project in the works that has a cast so impressive it actually seems like a big joke, but the yet-to-be-titled David O. Russell film is very much real. Nothing has been revealed about the movie outside of a brief description found in a 2020 Collider piece that pretty much says it will follow a doctor and a lawyer who form an unlikely partnership. Okay, let’s get into the cast. Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington (replacing Michael B. Jordan), Rami Malek, Zoe Saldana, Robert De Niro, Mike Myers, Timothy Olyphant, Michael Shannon, Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Andrea Riseborough, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Alessandro Nivola have all signed on for this mysterious and intriguing project. Too good to be true, right? Wrong!

The movie, which will serve as a followup to David O. Russell’s Joy, which was released in 2015, has already entered production, according to Deadline. No information on a release date, full plot, or even title has been officially announced at this time.

Keyhole Garden - TBD (Filming)

Zoe Saldana worked with her husband on the upcoming romantic drama Keyhole Garden, which centers on a couple struggling to make their relationship work despite ongoing struggles and tension caused by living on America’s southern border. According to Empire, the movie, which was co-written and directed by Marco Perego-Saldana (making his directorial debut), will tie three narratives together for one central exploration of love and humanity: one focuses on a young boy trying to save his friend from deportation, the second follows a border agent who unknowingly makes things difficult for a former lover, and the third being about a cartel member finishing one last job.

Production on Keyhole Garden got underway in August 2019 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as reported by the Albuquerque Journal. There have not been any updates since shortly before principal photography was set to begin.

Fencer - TBD (Pre-Production)

At some point in the near future, Zoe Saldana will lead the sports drama Fencer from writer/director Jasmine McGlade that is to be produced by Casey Affleck. According to a February 2020 Variety report, the story is inspired by McGlade’s past as a national champion fencer whose biggest achievement came in college when she led the Harvard fencing team to an NCAA Championship in the sport. Saldana will be leading things in a role that will see her play an athlete battling opponents in matches while also dealing with issues in her personal life. There have not been any updates on Fencer since the initial announcement early last year.

From Scratch (Netflix Limited Series) - TBD (Pre-Production

Zoe Saldana is also set to appear in the Netflix limited series From Scratch, a project she will co-produce with Reese Witherspoon, per a November 2019 Variety report. Based on Tembi Locke’s 2019 memoir of the same name, the series will follow an American woman (presumably played by Saldana) who falls in love with a Sicilian man. Years after first meeting, the pair create a life with one another in the United States, but when he suddenly dies, she is left to raise a daughter alone. Like several other projects listed here, there have not been any additional details regarding the production of From Scratch since its initial announcement, though there is a page for the show on the Netflix website.

By the looks of it, Zoe Saldana is going to be busy for quite some time, even when you don’t include her Avatar and MCU work. One successful franchise that is missing from this list is the Star Trek series of movies, which the actress has been a part of since the 2009 reboot of the sci-fi classic. Hopefully, we haven’t seen the last of her on the USS Enterprise.

Over the course of the past eight years or so, Margot Robbie has gone from a relatively unknown actress who appeared on the short-lived ABC series Pan Am to one of the most recognizable faces in all of Hollywood. With her career-making performance in The Wolf of Wall Street, her Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Tonya Harding in I, Tonya, and what will probably go down as her career-defining take on Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey, the Australian actress has become a force to reckon with at the cinema and going off some of her upcoming movies, the best is yet to come.

In the next couple of years, Margot Robbie will appear in everything from a David O. Russell movie, the female-led reboot of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and the return to the world of DC Comics with James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, just to name a few. Here's everything the Harley Quinn actress has coming up…

Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway - January 15, 2021

First up for Margot Robbie is Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, the followup to the 2018 live-action/computer-generated adaptation of Beatrix Potter's classic work Peter Rabbit. In this soon-to-be-released family comedy, Robbie will be reprising her role of Flopsy Rabbit as she and the rest of the rabbits set out to find Peter Rabbit (James Corden) after he discovers a new world with a greater appreciation for his iconic mischief than the home he has made with the rest of characters, animals and humans alike, at the home of Thomas (Domhnall Gleeson) and Bea McGregor (Rose Bryne).

Filmed throughout 2019, Peter Rabbit 2 was originally scheduled to be released April 3, 2020, in the United States (March 27 in the United Kingdom), but was delayed to August 7 because of the COVID-19 pandemic before again being pushed back to January 15, 2021 in the states (December 11, 2020 in the U.K.).

The Suicide Squad - August 6, 2021

Less of a sequel and more of a soft reboot best described as being a 1970s war movie, James Gunn's upcoming The Suicide Squad will feature several of the members of the anti-hero team from the David Ayer's 2016 Suicide Squad, but is set to mainly focus on the new members of the team, which includes Idris Elba as Bloodsport, John Cena as Peacemaker, Michael Rooker as Savant, Natan Fillion as T.D.K., and Alice Braga as Sol Soria. Returning members of the ragtag group will be Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn.

Production on The Suicide Squad mostly took place throughout the final months of 2019 with principal photography wrapping up in February 2020, shortly before film sets around the world were shut down. During the DC FanDome event in August 2020, director James Gunn revealed a behind-the-scenes video as well as a first trailer that showcased the new and returning cast. As it stands, The Suicide Squad is slated to hit theaters on August 6, 2021.

Untitled David O. Russell Project - TBD

After Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway and The Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie's other upcoming projects become a little less firm, but despite that, they sound pretty amazing. First is the upcoming David O. Russell project, which remains without a title, starring Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, and Michael Jordan. In addition to sitting behind the camera, the director of films like The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, and American Hustle is also writing the script, according to a February 2020 Variety report.

When the movie eventually enters production, it will be the first time that David O. Russell has worked with Margot Robbie, and the first time one of his movies hasn't featured Jennifer Lawrence since her Oscar-winning performance in 2012's Silver Linings Playbook. This will, however, be the third time Christian Bale and Russell have worked together. There is no release date at this point.

Untitled Pirates Of The Caribbean Reboot - TBD

In June 2020, Pirates of the Caribbean franchise would the latest property to receive the spinoff treatment when it was revealed that Margot Robbie would be appearing in a female-led pirate film from Disney. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the plot and other details about the movie are being kept secret at this point, but the film will feature an original story and new characters. It should be noted that this is a completely separate movie from the Craig Mazin and Ted Elliot-led Pirates of the Caribbean reboot that was first announced in late 2019.

Currently in the early stages of development, Margot Robbie's Pirates of the Caribbean movie will see the actress work with Birds of Prey screenwriter Christina Hodson, who is penning the script. In addition to the Harley Quinn spinoff, Hodson also wrote Bumblebee and is attached to the upcoming DC project The Flash.

Barbie - TBD

This next project could possibly be the weirdest movie Margot Robbie has made yet, but with the writing and directing team pushing the film adaptation of an iconic toy also makes it one of the actresses' most anticipated projects yet. The project? Well, Robbie is set to appear in the upcoming Barbie, which is being written by the team of Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach. Who would have thought that the creative minds behind Lady Bird and Marriage Story would be given the reins of Mattel's pop culture icon for Barbie's first even live-action adaptation?

There are no details about the plot, other cast members, or even the tone of the movie, Barbie will hopefully be less of a straight-up adaptation of the toy, her plastic boyfriend Ken, and her dream house and more of an off-color take on the property. And with Greta Gerwig slated to direct the picture, it's probably going to have a quirkiness that will please even the most jaded of toy snobs. There is currently no release date for the movie.

Marian - TBD

There have been more Robin Hood movies than anyone can count at this point, but there has yet to be a version of the story that focuses on Maid Marian, especially one that sounds as promising as the version first announced a few years back. According to a Variety report from March 2017, Margot Robbie is attached to a new film set in an alternate Robin Hood universe. In this version, titled Marian, the story follows Lady after the death of her husband, Robin Hood, and her pledge to pick up where he left off and leads her followers into war.

The script for Marian was written by Pete Barry and picked up by Sony back in early 2017, but there haven't been any additional details since the initial announcement. It remains to be seen if this one is dead in the water or if Sony is just waiting for the time and place to pick it back up.

Ruin - TBD

Margot Robbie is also slated to appear in the revenge thriller Ruin, which is to be directed by Assassin's Creed helmer Justin Kurzel, according to Variety. The movie, which is based on a script by Matthew and Ryan Firpo is set in post-World War II Germany and follows a Holocaust survivor played by Robbie as she teams up with a former SS captain portrayed by Matthias Schoenaerts as she seeks to get revenge on former Nazis for the crimes they committed during the war. The project was first announced in September 2018 but there haven't been any addition details since then.

Bad Monkeys - TBD

Another project involving Margot Robbie is the film adaptation of Matt Ruff's 2008 novel, Bad Monkey, which, according to The Hollywood Reporter, centers around a woman named Jane Charlotte after she is arrested for a murder she claims she did not commit. When Jane tells authorities that she is part of a secret organization that fights evil, she is thrown into a psychiatric ward where doctors try to figure out if she's telling the truth or just crazy. First announced in 2016, there haven't been any updates about Bad Monkey in the years following.

Gotham City Sirens - TBD

The Gotham City Sirens movie, the adaptation of the DC Comics series about the team of Harley Quinn, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy, remains one of the most anticipated DCEU projects, but nearly three years after it was first announced years ago, details about the superhero team-up movie remain few and far between. David Ayer, director of Suicide Squad told CinemaBlend in late 2017 that he was working on the project with Warner Bros, but that it was still in the early development stages, but didn't really have much else to add about the plot or other details.

After a couple of years of no updates on the project, David Ayer told SlashFilm in 2020 that the movie was on hold at the moment. The film could alway be revisited following the release of Matt Reeves' The Batman later in 2021, especially since Zoë Kravitz is taking on the Catwoman character in the movie. They just need to find someone for Poison Ivy and the show can hopefully get on the road. Fingers crossed.

Although some of these movies seem to be trapped in development hell as of late, there are several upcoming Margot Robbie projects that will surely one day be up there with her roles in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, I, Tonya, and Bombshell. Which of these upcoming films are you most excited for? Sound off in the comments below and don't forget to check out the CinemaBlend 2020 Movie Release Date Schedule as well as the 2021 New Movie Release guide.

Every feature film ever made, from the smallest independent productions to the biggest blockbusters, has gone through an at least modest period of turbulence, but there are few that have gone through the ridiculous ups and downs experienced by the developing Uncharted movie. The project – a live-action adaptation of the beloved video game series of the same name – first started coming together all the way back in November 2009, but in the last decade it’s accomplished little more than rotating through a series of filmmakers and scripts.

Even the franchises’ biggest fans probably struggle to keep track of all the back and forth regarding the film, so we’ve decided to… well, chart it. With a deep dive into the CinemaBlend news archives guiding us, here is the full and wild history of Uncharted’s challenges and delays.

The Original Version

As noted above, it was in November 2009 that Sony first started getting to work on a live-action Uncharted, hiring Conan The Barbarian screenwriting duo Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer to pen the screenplay, but it was actually just short of a year later that the film really started cooking with gas. This was when the studio managed to recruit David O. Russell to helm the project, the filmmaker having a lot of heat at the time because of the forthcoming release of The Fighter.

With Russell at the helm and penning a new version of the script, Uncharted began to employ some top tier talent. A decade before Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman came together it looked like the video game project was going to be the film that reunited stars Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro. While controversial, it was also confirmed that Mark Wahlberg was the writer/director’s choice to play the lead role of adventurer Nathan Drake.

That version of the project existed for a few months, but it was less than half a year later that everything started falling apart. In May 2011, it was reported that David O. Russell was no longer attached to make Uncharted, eventually explaining that his take on what to do with the source material didn’t line up with what the studio wanted to see from the blockbuster.

From Neil Burger To Seth Gordon

Losing a writer/director with as much clout as David O. Russell was surely seen as a disappointment by the studio executives, but little time was wasted trying to find a new vision from a different director. The search took about two months, as Neil Burger was given the helm of Uncharted in July 2011. The filmmaker was just a few months removed from the release of Limitless starring Bradley Cooper, and he started putting together his own take on the material, wiping the slate clean as far as story approach.

With few updates about its development emerging publically, that period of Uncharted’s history lasted for nearly a year-and-a-half, but Neil Burger decided to drop the film in November 2012, deciding to make Divergent instead.

Having lost its second director, the project once again had to start over, and Sony hired National Treasure screenwriters Marianne and Cormac Wibberley to take a crack at the blockbuster. That led to Uncharted spending some time sitting on a shelf… but then in February 2014 it found new life. With a filmography including comedies Horrible Bosses and Identity Thief, director Seth Gordon was matched with the video game adaptation.

By mid-2014 plans were made to have production startup in early 2015, and the film even got Hurt Locker Oscar winner Mark Boal to do a version of the script as it was coming together… but principal photography never began. Instead, by June 2015 it was reported that Uncharted had lost its third director, with Seth Gordon moving on to pursue other projects.

The Shawn Levy Era

After five years of development and attaching three directors, the Uncharted movie had made zero real forward motion, and it wasn’t until July 2016 that the feature found new life again. Sony felt positive about a pitch given to them by Joe Carnahan, and hired him to work on the screenplay. A proposed June 30, 2017 release date was floated on the release calendar, but by September 2016 it was clear that wasn’t going to happen.

Having been developing Joe Carnahan’s script for nearly a year-and-a-half, Sony struck a deal with Shawn Levy to become the fourth director of Uncharted in October 2016. It was only just shortly after this that Mark Wahlberg announced he was no longer involved with the production – having still been attached since the David O. Russell take – but his journey with the film wouldn’t really end there (we’ll get back to him).

By January 2017, the film once again looked like it was ready to become real. Uncharted had a finished script by Joe Carnahan, and plans were being made to have the project ready to shoot in the spring. In May 2017, Sony decided to double down on one of their biggest franchise’s stars, as it was decided that their Spider-Man: Homecoming lead, Tom Holland, would also play Nathan Drake in Uncharted. Unfortunately, the studio also once again found itself having some serious trouble actually nailing down a director to make the damn thing.

Tom Holland Is Nathan Drake, But Who Is Directing?

To date, Shawn Levy holds the record as the director with the longest attachment to Uncharted, as he was seated in the director’s chair for over two years… but that particular era ended in January 2019. With the future of the video game movie unclear, Levy decided to make Free Guy starring Ryan Reynolds (a totally different kind of video game movie), and left his position vacant for 10 Cloverfield Lane’s Dan Trachtenberg to take over.

Sony started to get ambitious again and announced a December 18, 2020 release date, but as you might have already guessed, that’s not happening. In August 2019 it was revealed that Dan Trachtenberg had become the fifth director to drop the project. The gap was filled quickly, with Bumblebee’s Travis Knight taking on the job just a few weeks later, but issues haven’t stopped plaguing the project in the months since.

Where We Are Now

First there was the news in December 2019 about the need to change plans for production due to Tom Holland’s commitments to the Spider-Man franchise (which has a new chapter out in 2021, and plans to start filming in the summer). This led Sony to lose Travis Knight as director (a.k.a. goodbye to Director #6) while pushing the film’s release date back to March 5, 2021.

In January 2020 Sony decided to reteam with Zombieland/Zombieland: Double Tap director Ruben Fleischer for Uncharted, and in the weeks since the film has put together an ensemble cast including Mark Wahlberg (now as Victor “Sully” Sullivan, Nathan’s mentor and father figure), Antonio Banderas, Sophia Ali, and Tati Gabrielle. Unfortunately, it’s not clear if the film is going to be able to make its current release date, as the latest reports about the project say that production has been pushed back at least six weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With still not a single frame of the movie captured yet, we can’t say for certain what the future holds for Uncharted. That being said, we have faith that it will eventually get made, and when it does it will hopefully be worth the wait.

One of the select filmmakers that has been a tried-and-true winner with the Academy is David O. Russell. The writer/director’s films have been nominated numerous times and pulled in actors such as Jennifer Lawrence into the winner’s circle in the process. It’s been four years since Russell’s last film and he’s teaming back up with Christian Bale for his next one.

David O. Russell and Christian Bale first collaborated on The Fighter back in 2010 and it became his first Oscar nomination and win following its critical success. The pair has since worked together in 2015’s American Hustle – his second Oscar nomination. The untitled film is reportedly being fast tracked by Regency and expected to begin shooting in April.

While no plot details were given, according to Collider, the film will be about an unlikely partnership between a doctor and a lawyer. It’s rumored to have the working title of Amsterdam and eyeing Jamie Foxx and Angelina Jolie. Margot Robbie may be sought out for the female lead, after Jennifer Lawrence’s name was initally in the mix for the role.

The movie is being produced by Matthew Budman who also worked on Zero Dark Thirty, Detroit along with working with David O. Russell on American Hustle and Joy. Russell has also been quietly developing an adaptation of The Skies Belong To Us, with Michael B. Jordan attached to star and produce. The story is about a young couple who hijacked a flight in 1972.

Christian Bale has also been making headlines for his potential return to the comic book genre in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder coming in 2021. The fourth Thor film will continue the story of Chris Hemsworth’s hero along with the return of Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie, Waititi’s Korg and Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster – this time grabbing the hammer to play “The Mighty Thor”.

Fans have been trying to guess what role Christian Bale will play, including guesses he’ll be either friend Beta Ray Bill or foe Dario Agger (aka Minotaur). Since Taika Waititi recently confirmed Thor: Love and Thunder will begin shooting in August, Bale should still have time to star in Russell’s film and join the MCU!

Christian Bale is coming off the success of James Mangold’s Ford v. Ferrari, which recently was nominated for four Oscars, for Best Picture, Film Editing, Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. Bale was nominated for a Golden Globe for portraying Ken Miles, but Joker actor Joaquin Phoenix took home the award.

Ford v. Ferrari was also a box office success, scoring an over $200 million worldwide gross. Stay tuned for more details on David O. Russell’s new film! In the meantime, check out the 2020 release calendar for your next trip to the movies!

Even the most beloved and highly anticipated Hollywood productions are often chock full of behind the scenes drama. It's an industry defined by big personalities, and as such they're bound to clash when things get tough. One of the most famous on-set clashes in recent memory was the one shared by George Clooney and David O. Russell on the set of Three Kings. Between Clooney's pay cut, scheduling conflicts with ER and on-set production delays, the friction between him and the director eventually reached a boiling point. Producer Charles Roven elaborated:

Charles Roven's comments to THR make the drama between George Clooney and David O. Russell on the set of Three Kings sound even more intense than we had previously imagined. Amid all of the stress of filming the movie, Clooney approached the director as he seemingly scolded extras on set. This apparently enraged Clooney and the two engaged in a verbal argument that eventually escalated into an actual brawl. The fight was simply a perfect storm (Clooney pun) of stressful factors coming together.

It's hard to fault either party in this particular situation, as both of them were dealing with their own form of stress at the time. George Clooney was obviously being stretched incredibly thin between his work on the film and ER, and David O. Russell had to contend with all of the minutiae that goes into making a major motion picture. Tempers flared, but ultimately Charles Roven was there to calm things down and get them back on track -- which is easily one of the most fundamental aspects of a film producer's job.

The stress of filming Three Kings definitely paid off in the end. The film currently holds a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, and is generally considered one of the best war movies of the 1990s. George Clooney and David O. Russell may have attacked each other while filming the movie's climax, but they should certainly look back proudly on their work.

However, it's worth noting that this appears to be a pattern for David O. Russell. Although the guy makes phenomenal movies, he also has a history of clashing with his actors on set. While working with Jennifer Lawrence on Joy last year, it was reported that the director exchanged some heated comments with the actress. Lawrence has downplayed the incident, but the rumors still seem to fit in with reports about Russell's intense directing style.

Now, if you will excuse me, I kind of want to pop in my DVD of Three Kings and watch that climactic scene.

When Robert De Niro Shows up on TV, it's always in a supremely limited fashion, and there are usually laughs involved. For good reason, as he's been great on Saturday Night Live and Extras, among other series. But he'll soon get his first leading role on the small screen soon alongside actress Julianne Moore, and the untitled project just landed a stellar home at Amazon. There's no need to worry about this being too limited, either, as the studio reportedly dropped a ton of money on not just one season of the new show, but two!

The new series, which will likely fall into the crime drama subgenre, will reteam Robert De Niro with his Silver Linings Playbook director David O. Russell, whom he worked with last on Joy. With the strength of Julianne Moore's involvement also there, it was clear when it was first announced that this would be a highly sought-after piece of entertainment, and Amazon has committed upwards of $160 million in this double-season deal, according to Deadline. It appears FX was also in the running to get this drama on their side, but Amazon won out. The company has proven in the past that it's comfortable spending money on projects it believes in, and getting a new De Niro crime drama should damned well be worth it.

Each season will consist of eight episodes, so that's right at $10 million an episode. All episodes will be written and directed by David O. Russell, making this a lot more than just a side project for him. While the filmmaker's movies aren't made on the cheap or anything, he's not a director well known for big action set pieces, so it would be awesome to see him return to his Three Kings days for this project. Loads of TV crime can be done for $10 million and episode. If only we knew anything else about the show to guess what all that crime will look like.

Julianne Moore also isn't one who appears on TV all that often, with her biggest role to date being a recurring one on 30 Rock, but she did appear on both Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer and the underseen Hulu comedy Difficult People this year. She'll soon be seen in Todd Haynes' time-spanning drama Wonderstruck. Meanwhile, Robert De Niro will soon be seen on the big screen again in the long-in-the-works comedy appropriately titled The Comedian, and he'll also appear on TV next year for HBO's Bernie Madoff movie The Wizard of Lies.

No word or not whether this top-notch series will hit Amazon's streaming lineup in 2017 or 2018, but it doesn't need to be said that fans will be waiting to watch. In the meantime, check out what you can catch in the first part of next year with our 2017 midseason schedule.

One of the biggest movie stars to ever grace the silver screen, Robert De Niro has very rarely brought his talents to TV series, save for a couple of comedic cameos. But that could all change soon if the world keeps spinning in the right direction, as De Niro is rumored to be part of a TV package deal that also includes Oscar-winning actress Julianne Moore and Oscar-nominated director David O. Russell. Calling all networks that want Emmy nominations, now is your time to shine.

At this point, we're dealing with unofficial Hollywood murmurings, so take it all with the grains of salt that you will, but when it comes to this trio, rumors are more exciting than shows that already exist. According to Deadline, the hard-to-find details have the show set in the 1990s, and it will reportedly be a crime thriller involving cops. Join me in chanting "Heat!" for the next ten minutes, will you?

The project doesn't have a home yet, but I bet assistants are already slipping in the pools of saliva forming below network execs' mouths. To be expected, broadcast networks are reportedly being left out of consideration, with cable channels and streaming services far more likely to net a deal. And that deal could actually be worked out ahead of time, as it's stated those involved are seeking out guaranteed commitments before there's even an attempt to shop it around. That's rare, and certainly speaks to the big names involved.

It is also supposedly being set up to last multiple seasons, although it's not clear whether those would be connected or part of an anthology format. Starz, Netflix, FX, AMC and HBO have all been known to drop multi-season orders on series in the past, and this is one that would likely garner the kind of attention that would make such dedication worth it.

While this wouldn't be Julianne Moore's first trip in front of the camera for TV, it would be her biggest yet. She's probably most known for her recurring gig on 30 Rock as Alec Baldwin's love interest Nancy, though she was also in the TV movie Game Change and her early career featured a stint on As the World Turns. On the feature side, she was seen by the most people in the second two installments of the Hunger Games franchise, and she's currently filming Kingsman: The Golden Circle.

Robert De Niro, who was in both of Russell's last films Joy and American Hustle, hasn't been keeping audiences all that happy in theaters. (Dirty Grandpa was just a dream, right?) But he's got promising projects in the pipeline, such as the Roberto Duran biopic Hands of Stone and Taylor Hackford's The Comedian. He will also star as Bernie Madoff in the upcoming HBO movie The Wizard of Lies. Perhaps that HBO connection, along with Moore's Game Change connection, will land this show there. (One of his two cameos was on HBO's Extras, while the other was 30 Rock, linking him and Moore together there as well.)

Fun fact: other David O. Russell leading lady Amy Adams also recently landed a big TV role for the adaptation of Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects. Not as fun fact: we have no idea when we'll get anymore information about Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore knocking our socks off on TV in the future. But stay tuned, because we will bring it to you if and when it comes out.

They always say that finding success in show business requires a thick skin. Some directors have developed reputations for babying their actors, while others push and provoke in order to achieve the best possible performance. As it turns out, David O. Russell has a tendency to be the latter. Actress Amy Adams recently opened up about her time on the set of the 2013 drama American Hustle, as well as Russell’s harsh treatment of her and the other actors during the film’s production. It was so harsh that she cried on set most days.

During a recent interview with GQ, Amy Adams admitted that American Hustle director David O. Russell actually made her cry during the production of the film. She said:

Although she didn't go into specific details about the director’s actions on set, it’s abundantly clear that he was not the easiest guy to be around during the production of American Hustle. Based on this quote, it sounds like David O. Russell’s harsh treatment extended beyond just Amy Adams. A frequent collaborator with the popular director, Jennifer Lawrence apparently also fell victim to his ire, but was able to shrug it off better than Adams. It seems that the director takes filmmaking incredibly seriously, and she does not necessarily agree with that level of intensity on set.

Of course it probably didn’t help that Amy Adams knew she and her female costars earned less for the movie than the male actors on the film. Poor treatment is one thing, but earning a fraction of your coworkers definitely adds insult to injury.

All things considered, we’re not too sure Amy Adams regrets her decision to take part in the movie. Although David O. Russell might have been a hard director to work with at times, he got an impeccable performance out of her – as well as everyone else. Her performance in American Hustle proved so powerful that it garnered her a fifth Oscar nomination; not too shabby, Ms. Adams.

If nothing else, the experience helped Amy Adams develop a thicker skin that she has carried on to the other films she has worked on since American Hustle. Not that she needs it, she’s one of Hollywood’s most talented actresses working today. Be sure to catch her as Lois Lane in Zack Snyder’s upcoming blockbuster Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which hits theaters later this month on March 25.

David O. Russell’s Joy is a fast-paced, quirky and dysfunctional – in the best way possible – biopic of celebrated inventor Joy Mangano, who came up with the design for the Miracle Mop, then fought tooth-and-nail to bring the resourceful tool into people’s homes. Together with familiar ensemble players Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper, Russell captures the familial energies and tensions that have populated his previous films, from The Fighter to Silver Linings Playbook. But something was off as he worked on his final cut, and in interviewing his cast recently, they tipped me off to a major change.

The women in Joy’s life are portrayed by a trio of Hollywood heavy hitters. Virginia Madsen, Isabella Rossellini and Diane Ladd all play important female figures in Mangano’s story, and I was privileged to sit down with them and discuss the film in detail. During said conversation, I learned that the narration track that accompanies the movie wasn’t always supposed to be that of Joy’s grandmother, Mimi, played by Ladd. In fact, she tells me that changed long after she was finished shooting:

It was a decision that Diane Ladd says cost her at least two scenes in the final movie. Apparently they had to be cut because they didn’t make sense now that she was providing a narration track to David O. Russell’s finished film. However, she understood why the director went in this direction, because it made sense for the overall theme of the movie. As her co-star, the legendary Isabella Rossellini, explained to me:

It is a fantastic point made by two extraordinary actresses. Listen to them elaborate on the craft of Joy in the full interview clip below.

Joy stars Jennifer Lawrence as Joy Mangano, the inventor of the Miracle Mop (among other products), and it encompasses the struggles she endured before making it big. The movie is in theaters as we speak.

Over his past three films, writer-director David O. Russell has found a stable of actors with which he likes to work. Jennifer Lawrence has been his go-to leading lady since Silver Linings Playbook. (And with good reason. When the Michael Jordan of acting wants to return, you hand her whatever role you’ve got.) Meanwhile, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro have been doing brilliant character work in supporting roles for ensembles that grow from picture to picture.

Joy, the latest from David O. Russell, returns a number of familiar faces to the unpredictable American Dream story of Joy Mangano (Lawrence), the blue-collar single mom best known as the inventor of The Miracle Mop. As you would expect from a Russell dra-medy, Joy is about a lot more than cleaning up messes. Or, maybe, cleaning up messes is actually what it’s really about… just not the kind of messes you initially pictured. When I had a chance to sit down with the cast of Joy in New York City, though, I wanted to know why actors like to work with David O. Russell, and why some like Jennifer Lawrence do it again and again. Here’s what they told me:

The wonderful Isabella Rossellini wins this junket interview for her exquisite joke about taking a role in Joy so she could get to know David O. Russell and eventually marry him. The silver screen icon previously wed Martin Scorsese, and was romantically involved with David Lynch (as well as Gary Oldman). Russell would be in good company.

What I really liked, though, was Edgar Ramirez’s stories about the family atmosphere that David O. Russell creates within his cast. He says that the mood never ends, as the cast often spent time together getting meals and sightseeing when not working on Joy. He said the time spent with his co-stars off-camera – at the encouragement of his director – fed in to the chemistry that they all shared on camera. And he credits Russell with that tactic.

Joy tells the story of an inventive single mother, played by Jennifer Lawrence, who transcends her wacky but supportive family to eventually build an empire in the house-cleaning industry. It co-stars Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Virginia Madsen, Edgar Ramirez, Diane Ladd, Isabella Rossellini, Elisabeth Rohm and Dascha Polanco. It will open in theaters on December 25. 

In what’s already been a giddyishly good week for trailers, the first full one for David O. Russell’s Joy has been released, and it may just top everything else that’s been released in the last few days. So much so in fact that you immediately need to scroll down below, click play, and breathe it in all of its majesty. It’s the best thing you’ll do all day.

There’s plenty of things to fawn over when it comes to the glorious first full trailer for Joy. First things first though, let’s talk about Jennifer Lawrence. It almost feels unfair that at 25 years old, the Kentucky native already displays a mature and riveting screen presence that most actresses strive for their entire careers. And even though she’s already been nominated for three Academy Awards for her performances in Winter’s Bone, American Hustle, and Silver Linings Playbook, the latter of which she won the Best Actress gong for, this trailer teases that Joy could be her most complete performances yet.

It’s impossible not to take your eyes off Jennifer Lawrence throughout the entire clip, as she powers through each frame with a mesmerising drive and intensity that you immediately know is going to get her into plenty of trouble. Which is basically confirmed when her character remarks that she has confronted "money, crime, and betrayal" in her plight.

Meanwhile, there’s also the fact that Robert De Niro appears to be back to his scintillating best with Joy. Sure, The Intern wasn’t as preposterously bad as people imagined it would be. But because we all know of the meteoric heights that Bobby D can reach as an actor, we want to see him returning to dramatic roles that can bring out his best.

This is something he most recently did in Silver Linings Playbook, which, like Joy, was directed by David O. Russell, and here he seems like he will be front and center, sparring on screen with Lawrence. And that can only be a good thing. I mean, just look at how he dominates the gas leak scene and gives arguably the worst ever pre-wedding pep talk in the history of mankind.

All of this is possible because of David O. Russell, a director who has rebuilt himself following the troubled productions of I Heart Huckabees and Nailed, and has since overseen The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, and now Joy in quick succession.

With Bradley Cooper, Virginia Madsen, Isabella Rossellini, and Diane Ladd in tow, Russell has got quite the acting repertory to work with now. And his charismatic direction looks to be flowing at full throttle with Joy, which will be released on Christmas Day.

As it turns out, working on Joy was not always joyful. Just ask Annie Mumolo. The Bridesmaids screenwriter was hired by Fox 2000 back in 2012 to write the script for the film about Miracle Mop creator Joy Mangano. But you may recall, though, that David O. Russell also worked on the script, and it was this overlap that caused a dispute that could potentially leak into awards season. 

The Hollywood Reporter has the full story on the matter, and according to the report, Mumolo spent a year writing the script for Joy, becoming close with the real life subject. When she turned it into the studio, however, executives thought it needed more character development. Shortly afterwards, Russell was offered the job of directing the project, and brought on his Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle darling Jennifer Lawrence to star. 

Part of the gig’s details allowed him to rework the script, which he did quite a bit. THR states that he dropped a few of the biographical elements in favor of fictionalized plot points, including making Joy an amalgamation of multiple female entrepreneurs. Fox 2000 loved his treatment of the script so much that they decided to award him story credit, but Mumolo — who, again, was heavily invested in the script — fought back. 

After an arbitration with the Writers Guild of America, Mumolo was given a shared story credit and her named will be listed first. Meanwhile, Russell was given sole screenplay credit. While the film has yet to screen for critics, Joy is already earning some early Oscar buzz, and this is where things get a little complicated. As we’ve seen before with Roger Avary (he had a story credit on the Tarantino film Pulp Fiction), Michel Gondry and Pierre Bismuth (they shared story credits with Charlie Kaufman on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), and Hugo Guinness (story credit on The Grand Budapest Hotel), Mumolo would share an Oscar victory for Best Original Screenplay should the film win. 

Steve McQueen was embroiled in a similar dispute with his writing partner John Ridley. McQueen hired Ridley to work on a project on a non-12 Years A Slave slavery film, but later asked him to work on the Oscar-winning film. According to reports, McQueen shaped the screenplay Ridley turned in, but he denied McQueen’s request to share credit. Hopefully Joy won’t yield similar results. 

Jennifer Lawrence is joined in Joy by her previous David O. Russell compatriots Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro, as well as Edgar Ramirez, Isabella Rossellini, Diane Ladd, and Virginia Madsen. The film takes place across four generations while centering on Joy, who experiences "betrayal, treachery," and "the loss of innocence."  

Joy will be released in theaters on Christmas. 

Quotes from critics are a standard part of movie marketing. They show up in TV spots, on movie posters, and on Blu-ray packaging. They’re so commonplace that most of us barely notice them anymore. However, one writer for the AV Club certain did when he was erroneously cited on the DVD box for Accidental Love, a movie he despised, and he penned an angry letter about it to the production company.

When a two or three word pull is blasted across the screen in a trailer, you have to wonder about the context. It would be easy for a studio marketing department to find a few random words in an otherwise scathing review that, on their own, sound positive. This is exactly the situation AV Club writer and critic AA Dowd came upon when he was quoted as calling Accidental Love "a comedic masterstroke" on the back of a Canadian DVD, and he called out distributor Mongrel Media in a harsh open letter.

Technically, he did use the words "a comedic masterstroke" in his review. Taken on its own, that phrase sounds complimentary. It was not intended to be. Here’s what he actually wrote:

As part of his response to the usage of his words, Dowd elaborates on his opinion, saying:

For those of you not familiar, Accidental Love, or Nailed as it is known north of the border, is the "lost" David O. Russell movie that he filmed between I Heart Huckabees and The Fighter. The political comedy stars Jessica Biel and Jake Gyllenhaal, was written Al Gore’s daughter, and is reportedly so god-awful terrible that the American Hustle director took his name off of the film. There were budget cuts, production problems, and a whole laundry list of issues, and when it was finally cobbled together years later and released, critics brutalized the film (it currently has a 7% rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences ignored the hell out of it.

Getting a quote on a piece of movie marketing is pretty cool (I’ve been quoted exactly once, and it was pretty cool), which Dowd freely admits. It means someone somewhere gives a shit what you thought of a movie. Congratulations, you matter. What he does, however, is decry the practice of studios and distributors seeking out any glimmering nugget, no matter the sea of feces around it, polishing it up, and using it to hawk their wares.

Such distortion is an unfortunately regular occurrence. It’s standard practice to ask permission from a writer to quote them, and while that does often happen, it’s not uncommon that you just find out with no prior knowledge. It also makes you think twice about any quote you see used for marketing purposes.

If you have a few minutes you should read Dowd’s open letter. He makes an eloquent, and funny, point about misrepresentation in marketing that is sure to come to mind next time you see a critics works used to sell a movie.

While biopics have been a successful genre in the move industry, they are also the hardest subset to engage in strategically. After all, a standard film about someone's life will usually cover all of the interesting parts in one sitting. David O. Russell's The Fighter knew to leave some events out of  the film's running time, in hopes of producing a sequel built on the continuing adventures of Micky Ward. It's been a couple of years since the first word of a possible sequel has broken out, but producer Todd Lieberman seems to walk the middle of the road when it comes to a possible sequel.

Collider caught up with Lieberman while he was doing the rounds on The Divergent Series: Insurgent, and the producer was asked about the potential sequel that's been in the works for around four years. The answer he gave, as seen in the quote shared below, is pretty even handed when it comes to the possibility of another Micky Ward biopic.

With an answer like that, Todd Lieberman isn't really giving a yes or a no to fans of the David O. Russell directed 2011 nominee for Best Picture. If anything, it seems like a stock answer to keep the fires barely stoked on The Fighter 2, in hopes of eventually making good. The last time the project was mentioned as a possibility, it was being set up as a film focusing solely on the trilogy of fights between Micky Ward and Arturo Gatti. The concept was mentioned as being specifically planned for during the making of The Fighter, as these fights are pivotal to Micky Ward's career history, but also rich enough in story for a separate movie.

The original film's performance suggests that audiences might be invested in another round with the Ward family. But there's reason to pause. Lieberman and Wahlberg aren't crazy to think that the story lends itself to another film, but the numbers behind The Fighter's 2010 release window don't exactly scream "instant hit." Factor in the expected absence of David O. Russell's steady eye behind the camera, and you've got an even shakier prospect for box office success than when you started.

Still, any possible sequel to The Fighter still stands a fighting chance when Mark Wahlberg is still interested in playing ball. If Todd Lieberman can keep interest alive in The Fighter 2 over in the Team Wahlberg camp, then there's a good chance that this project will never die. At least, until Wahlberg ages out of the role entirely. Looks like now's as good a time as any to get Christian Bale on the phone, in order to enlist his A-list muscle. We'll have to wait and see if The Fighter 2 ever happens, but we can always return back to The Fighter, which is available on Blu Ray and DVD.

Jennifer Lawrence has taken to her Facebook page to vehemently deny rumors that she had an on-set falling out with David O. Russell.

Lawrence, who is currently working on Joy with David O. Russell, wrote a brief passage on her social media page to explain that all of these allegations are completely wide of the mark. She also added that the pair are currently enjoying a fruitful on-set relationship. You can check out her response to this speculation below:

There you go then. Clearly all of the rumors that have been circulating were either completely fabricated then. Or it was actually true and this is simply part and parcel of how Russell gets a performance out of Lawrence. And since their previous collaborations together have resulted in Lawrence winning the Best Actress Academy Award for Silver Linings Playbook and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for American Hustle, you can imagine that she is more than happy to be pushed to these extremes by the filmmaker.

It was previously reported by TMZ that Jennifer Lawrence and David O Russell had exchanged angry comments during production on Joy. Eyewitnesses told the aforementioned website that Russell was trying to provoke a response from Lawrence, and that when Harvey Weinstein arrived on set he was told that there simply wasn’t any time to exchange niceties.

Unfortunately David O. Russell’s previous run-ins while filming meant that this story soon started to pick up momentum. While shooting Three Kings it was alleged that David O. Russell and George Clooney nearly came to blows after the director demeaned various members of the crew both physically and verbally. This led Clooney to confront Russell over his actions. But rather than having a calming effect this resulted in the pair have a brief tussle. However, even though he had previously insisted that he wouldn’t ever work with Russell again, Clooney has since revealed that they’ve repaired their relationship.

But this wasn’t the only violent incident that has involved David O. Russell on-set. While working on I Heart Huckabees, videos surfaced online of Russell and actress Lily Tomlin engaging in at least two furious rows. But once again Tomlin soon shot to the defence of the director as she admitted that she prefers to work in such an emotionally-charged atmosphere.

Since I Heart Huckabees, it’s been reported that David O. Russell’s temper has calmed immeasurably. And you can see that in his work. The likes of The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle have not only seen the director regularly work with a steady set of actors that has included Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro, but they are also less frenetic and more measured than his previous films.

And because of this his upcoming film, Joy, which will be released on Christmas Day, 2015, is one of the most anticipated of 2015. It’s even been tipped to be a mainstay of next year’s awards season too.

This story may have to be taken with a grain of salt, but reports have started to swirl that Jennifer Lawrence and David O Russell got into a huge argument while on the set of their latest film, Joy.

TMZ have reported that Russell, who directed Jennifer Lawrence to her Best Actress Oscar back at the 85th Academy Awards for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook, and the actress got into quite a verbal sparring. The eyewitnesses who informed TMZ of the dispute explained that David O. Russell started screaming at Jennifer Lawrence while the pair were on set, and that it was all over a scene that they were shooting. They even described it as "ear-piercing" and added that it included numerous "profanities."

A representative for Fox 2000 did confirm that there was screaming between the pair; however they insisted that it was part and parcel of the filmmaking experience. In fact, David O. Russell was actually trying to incite and provoke a response from Jennifer Lawrence, as she herself had to scream and shout at someone in the scene.

Which makes perfect sense. Not only is there plenty of evidence from throughout David O. Russell’s history as a filmmaker that proves just how much of a hands on role he takes when he is on-set (the Lily Tomlin on-set fight is legendary), but, having worked with Jennifer Lawrence on Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle (which also earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination), he clearly knows how to eke out her best performances on set.

But there is yet another twist to this tale, and it involves the appearance of larger-than-life producer, Harvey Weinstein. The former Miramax co-founder allegedly turned up on set on Wednesday so that he could say hello to Jennifer Lawrence and exchange niceties with the cast and crew. Unfortunately, it’s been alleged (by TMZ) that his pop-in couldn’t have been more poorly timed. And because production was moving at such a fast speed, David O. Russell insisted that Weinstein wouldn't be allowed on set. Meanwhile, other allegations about the director getting into a "heated" argument about a line producer he wants to fire have also been teased.

At the moment all of this is just pure rumor, reports from a movie set that's deep into production. However, because of David O. Russell's documented, volatile past during production, which has seen him have run-ins with the likes of George Clooney on the set of Three Kings and Lily Tomlin while filming I Heart Huckabees, there is a slight chance that it could be true.

However, it can probably all just be struck up to being a cinematic incident, and by the end of production everyone involved will almost certainly have either moved on, forgiven or completely forgotten what these alleged incidents were all about.

Joy, which tells the emotional and comedic journey of the woman who invented the Miracle Mop, will star Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. It has been co-written by Russell and Bridesmaids' Annie Mumolo, and is due out on Christmas Day.

David O. Russell’s lost film Nailed will finally see the light of day over five years after production was shut down. The film was 99% complete when time was called on its shoot, and it’s been alleged that all that was needed for the film to be finished was one pivotal scene.

According to Yahoo Movies, Arrow Films have now purchased a rough-cut of Nailed that was compiled by its new producer, Kia Jam. Arrow Films have confirmed that it has now been re-titled Politics Of Love, and that it will hit cinemas in the United Kingdom at some point in 2015. Unfortunately, a United States release date has yet to be confirmed, though. Nailed/Politics Of Love revolves around Jessica Biel’s Alice Eckle, who after accidentally getting shot in the head with a nail starts having wild sexual urges. She then goes on a crusade to Washington to fight for the rights of the injured. This is where she meets Jake Gyllenhaal’s congressman, who takes advantages of her sex drive and ambition. It’s believed that all that was needed to complete the film was the shot of the nail going in the head.

It’s assumed that David O. Russell won’t have anything to do with this release. In fact, it will be interesting to see how the famously volatile director reacts to the revelation that a film he never actually finished is going to be released. Will he embrace it as his own? Or will he insist that it isn’t part of his cinematic cannon? Only time will tell.

Some of you are probably wondering what the hell happened with Nailed. In fact, you’re probably under the assumption that the fact it wasn’t released means that it must have lacked the star presence or budget to make it to the big-screen. Star presence was something that it had in abundance, though, as Jessica Biel, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tracy Morgan, Catherine Keener and Josh Brolin all feature prominently. However, the film was rumored to be riddled with financial issues. Production was actually shut down four times in 2008 because the crew hadn’t been paid. Then, after two years of stops and starts, David O. Russell decided that enough was enough and he left the film. Most people assumed that it would remain in cinematic purgatory for good.

It actually might turn out to be a good thing that Nailed was delayed for so long, though. Let’s go back to when it was being filmed. David O. Russell is now widely regarded as one of the most interesting and enthralling filmmakers in modern movies. But it wasn’t always that way. After he burst onto the scene with the hauntingly beguiling Spanking The Monkey, which revolved around an incestuous mother-son relationship, he was labelled as the next big director. He then followed this up with the quirky romantic screwball Flirting With Disaster just two years later. But things really exploded for the director with Three Kings, the explosively entertaining Gulf War heist.

Unfortunately his fiery reputation was beginning to eclipse his talent. This came to a head with I Heart Huckabees, which was overshadowed upon release after videos of his conflicts with Lily Tomlin were shared. Nailed was supposed to be his follow-up film that set the director back on track after its convoluted predecessor. But it was once again plagued by infighting. James Caan allegedly walked off set after David O. Russell failed to be convinced by him choking on a cookie. At this point the director composed himself and set-off on a stirring running of movies that has included The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. For each of these films he was nominated for the Best Director Academy Award. Plus he also picked up Best Adapted Screenplay nominations for Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle too.

Will Nailed continue this streak? Who knows? But the fact that it wasn’t released at the time and gave David O. Russell the experience to turn himself into the director he is today is something that we can all be grateful for.

Jennifer Lawrence has lucked into a killer working relationship with David O. Russell. The two of them have collaborated on both Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, with Lawrence coming home with one Oscar, and one Academy Award nomination for the two team-ups. Given that these were both the two highest-grossing films of O. Russell's career, it stands to reason that he would want to re-enlist his leading lady for his latest project, Joy.

Variety reports that David O. Russell and Jennifer Lawrence are once again combining their powers to form an Oscar Voltron, this time for Joy. And Fox has enough confidence to give this film a Christmas 2015 release date, which means that in 2016, it's very likely O Russell and Lawrence will return to the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The movie tells the story of Joy Mangano, the entrepreneur who currently serves as president of Ingenious Designs and previously invented the Miracle Mop, an invention that changed the household items industry. If you live in absolute filth, you may not know what the Miracle Mop really is. Fortunately, these young kids have got it on lockdown.

The studio currently has a script from Annie Mumolo, the co-writer of Bridesmaids, and it's expected shooting would begin during the fourth quarter of this year. It's a rare free period for Lawrence, who typically has a crowded schedule. She'll be wrapping up her Hunger Games commitments this year by shooting The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. Lawrence, who will soon be seen in Serena, is also expected to spend a good chunk of 2015 shooting X-Men: Apocalypse. You'd have to cancel everything for David O. Russell, however. Each of his last three movies have made more than the last, and they've netted him five Academy Award nominations in the last four years for co-writing and directing The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle.

Typically, the holiday season is a crowded period, and this doesn't sound like the most thrilling material, making it sound as if Fox is showing some irrational exuberance in scheduling the film for such a competitive period. Joy opens on the same weekend as Mission: Impossible 5 and Kung Fu Panda 3, facing off against the second weekend for the (probably not gonna happen!) Dan Brown adaptation Inferno and Star Wars Episode VII: Money Hand Over Fist. Presumably Joy is a comedy, so maybe it reaches a similar demographic, but this period is only going to get more crowded in the coming months, and the little film about the inventor of the Miracle Mop could very easily get squeezed out and into the sink, where they clear out the dust and grime.

It’s nothing new for a director to have a go-to actor or actress to work with on numerous projects throughout their career. It isn’t intrinsically negative, but it leaves one wondering who else may have played a certain role better had that cinematic kinship not existed. David O. Russell, whose American Hustle could soon take over the Oscars, is in early talks to direct and rewrite a project for Fox 2000 based on the inspiring story of Joy Mangano, the New Yorker who went from struggling single mother to an inventive Home Shopping Network mainstay. And no surprises here, he wants Jennifer Lawrence to play Mangano, which would potentially set this as their third film together in three years. If the third time’s the charm, then what was happening these other two times?

The untitled film’s original script was written by Annie Mumolo, the Oscar-nominated co-writer of Bridesmaids alongside Kristen Wiig. Fox 2000 President Elizabeth Gabler and Rodney Ferrell have "shaped the script to get to this point," according to Deadline. Russell usually serves as his own screenwriter, so whatever the studio has will no doubt be dosed with the filmmaker’s specific tango between drama and comedy.

Mangano’s story really is one that most people dream about, already cinematic in nature. A single mother, she worked three jobs to make sure her three kids and home life stayed intact. In 1990, she created the prototype for the wrings-itself Miracle Mop, which she eventually took from local trade shows in Long Island to the studios of QVC, where she became an instant success. She created and is still the President of the company Ingenious Designs, which she sold to HSN in 1999, and is responsible for such ridiculously high-selling items like the Huggable Hangers, Forever Fragrant, and the Performance Platforms. She is a homemade success from the ground up, and she deserves everything she’s achieved, though the importance of a film about her is questionable. Especially from Russell, who just gave us his version of a story culled from real life.

Maybe I just need Mangano to get on TV and sell this project. She was in her 30s when she first started raking in sales on QVC, so shoehorning the 23-year-old Lawrence into that role would be awkward. (Though I guess she’d be 24 by the time this got made.) And if they make Mangano’s film age younger, then it does a disservice to how long her hard-working days lasted. But none of this is set in stone at all, so let’s wait and see what happens.

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Last year's Oscars was a big night for two of Hollywood's brightest starlets, Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lawrence. Aside from both being gorgeous, talented and able to rock a pixie cut, these actresses have little in common. One's a brunette who exudes class and elegance, yet has an ever-nagging faction of haters. The other is a blonde who is often crass or flat-out goofy, and it seems everyone loves her for it. But funny enough, in Hollywood both were once considered perfect for the same role.

US Magazine tipped us off to a Howard Stern interview with Harvey Weinstein that revealed a pretty shocking twist of fate: Hathaway was once set to play Tiffany in David O. Russell's The Silver Linings Playbook. That's right, the role that won Lawrence her Academy Award for Best Actress once belonged to the performer who took Best Supporting Actress for Les Miserables that same night.

Weinstein was talking about how casting can be complicated. Sure, sometimes the person who seems ideal for a role drops out, and you're forced to reconsider, but he says:

Silver Linings Playbook starring Anne Hathaway and Mark Wahlberg. That was almost a thing that happened. Hathaway would have played Tiffany, the widow with no boundaries and a love of dance. Wahlberg would have played Pat, the mentally unstable divorcé, desperate to reconnect with his ex. Pressed on why this never came to pass, Weinstein admitted that Russell, who has a spotted history working with actors, and Hathaway encountered creative differences that caused her to walk away from the adaptation of Matthew Quick's novel.

Stern commented that in retrospect she must be kicking herself over this decision, but Weinstein pointed out she won an Oscar all the same, as did Lawrence. So, no harm, no foul.

While Lawrence and Hathaway might seem to play to different casting types, it's actually easy to see why Weinstein would want the latter for Silver Linings Playbook. I mean, he must have seen her in Rachel Getting Married, where she beautifully portrayed one deeply flawed sister.

Christian Bale is a consummate chameleon. As handsome as he is -- and with a sexy accent to boot -- he easily could have gone the way of dreamy leading man, fronting cash-grab rom-coms and gonzo action movies where he throws out toothy grins and witty one-liners. Instead, the Welsh thespian sought out films that offered enticing challenges, compelling characters, and often a demand for a major physical transformation.

With The Dark Knight Rises little more than a year old, we can all still crisply recall his handsome clean-shaven Bruce Wayne look, complete with superhero suitable muscles. But in David O. Russell's ABSCAM-inspired American Hustle, Bale willfully cast aside vanity, packed on the pounds, and shaved his head to allow for cinema's most complicated comb over. This is the look of Irving Rosenfeld, a man with a gut and balding scalp, but tons of smarts and an endless supply of charisma that serves him well, whether he's placating his demanding wife (Jennifer Lawrence), consoling his furious business partner/mistress (Amy Adams) or bargaining with the FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) who has forced him into undercover work.

I recently had the chance to talk with Bale about his work in American Hustle, and just how his latest transformation shaped his character.

In our interview, Bale called Irving's comb over "this wonderful contradiction," explaining, "For someone's who is such a brilliant con artist, it's not much of a con! He's conning nobody with that." But he told me, the overall look "developed from the real guy. We took a lot of poetic license and it's only based on, but there was a real con man name of Mel Weinberg, who the FBI recruited to teach them. And he had this wonderful look to him that was the last thing I expected such a wonderful consummate con artist to look like. You know, you expect a more vain, smooth-operator kind of a bloke. And here he was with this comb over and his -- you know -- roundness and everything. I just saw that and I went, 'That's it! That is fantastic. That's what I have to aim for.'"

Bale actually did gain the weight for this role -- we should expect nothing else from the man who shed a frightening amount of weight for his previous Russell collaboration The Fighter -- so he had time to adjust to the radical change in his appearance.

"It's a slow process. It wasn't a shock," he explained, "I did it quick, but it's not that quick that I was stunned when I looked in the mirror. It's a slow process, and then we shaved the head and did the comb over. And by that time, you know it wasn't a big deal to me. It was something I had been expecting for months."

This comb over isn't just a cringe-inducing part of Bale's costume. It's actually the focal point of the film's first scene, which shows Irving carefully creating it in a strikingly poor attempt to cover his big bald spot.

Bale said, "It's showing a vulnerability, and he does have a great deal of vulnerability. You know, it's showing him essentially putting on the make-up, like an actor. Sort of getting ready for his performance, but you're seeing the real self underneath that. It was very meticulous, but that was something the hair lady Catherine had developed where she would put glue on my head and then do this false hair to make it look like it had more body to it. And we just loved it. Sometimes people would just sit in the makeup trailer watching that happen because it felt so entertaining, so David said, 'Well, let's stick that in the film!'"

American Hustle is now in theaters.

Sitting down with American Hustle's leading lady, there are plenty of questions I could have asked about ABSCAM, about what it was like reteaming with her The Fighter co-star Christian Bale, or if director David O. Russell's temperamental reputation is overblown.

But there are some moments in life you just have to embrace when given the chance, so after we talked about this '70s-set movie and its stunning and sexy costumes, I turned the topic to one of my personal favorites from Adams' filmography, Drop Dead Gorgeous. Much to my surprise (and delight), Adams indulged -- me and even came up with a pretty fascinating link that ties her Drop Dead Gorgeous character Leslie Miller to her American Hustle sultry schemer Sydney.

In case you somehow aren't one of the countless comedy fans who has seen Drop Dead Gorgeous, it's a mockumentary about a small-town teen beauty pageant, where the drive to win turns some to murder. Kirsten Dunst and Denise Richards starred as the pageant's frontrunners, while Allison Janney (who I had the pleasure to interview last summer) played a trailer park tramp who dolled out hilarious life lessons, and Adams played a dopey cheerleader who shows more skin than sense. Below you can see a compilation of Leslie's big moments:

"That was my first movie I ever made!" Adams shared. "Everything about that movie was just so surreal to me. That was the first time I realized like, 'I think I could go to Hollywood and at least get some commercials or something.'"

From there, I commented that Leslie would love the life of Sydney, and Adams was quick to jump on a connection between the two characters, who share a mysterious gap in their stories and a history in stripping. Without giving away too many details, Sydney (also called Edith in American Hustle) was once a stripper who decided to reinvent everything about herself. As you can see in the clip above, Leslie went into stripping and vanished. Adams ties it together:

I will not rest until I tie all movies to Drop Dead Gorgeous.

Speaking on the daring attire of American Hustle, Adams confessed that the costume designs have given her moments of concern. She trusted the vision of Russell and costume designer Michael Wilkinson, who not only dressed her here but also in Man of Steel. The pair showed her boards with the costume sketches, and she realized, "(Sydney) is going to be showing a lot, more than I've ever shown. But as I discovered it with Michael it was very much about where the character was and…it became a part of her con either on herself or on who she's working against. She began to use it as a sort of tool of manipulation."

She admitted there was one outfit that gave her some pause, but ultimately she decided, "We're in it! We're here now." So she buckled down, took her bra off and went for it!

"You know, once I was in Sydney's mindset," she explained, "I didn't ever really think about it. Which is a good thing and a bad thing. It's a good thing because you feel very free and you're just embracing it and I wasn't really thinking about what I was wearing or not wearing. But then you watch the film and you realized that you have relatives that are going to see this and that your daughter is going to see the poster on bus stops and stuff. And you're like, 'I'm still proud of the work' -- but you know what I mean? But I have to give a warning (to family)... The more insecure she feels, the less clothes she puts on. We know a lot of people like that in society, right?"

American Hustle opens nationwide Friday.

Whether watching Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees or The Fighter, it's obvious that writer-director David O. Russell considers music a major aspect of his filmmaking. In Silver Linings Playbook, he took his appreciation of music up a notch by giving the film a big finale complete with a definitively quirky dance number. With his ABSCAM-inspired dramedy American Hustle, Russell adds a bit of singing to the mix. Christian Bale and Jeremy Renner belt out a rousing rendition of Tom Jones' "Delilah." Amy Adams and Bale duet on a swooning love song, "I've Got Your Number." And Jennifer Lawrence proves a true scene-stealer as she hurls herself around a garish living room screeching out an emotion-filled version of "Live and Let Die."

Each moment seems both surreal and believable as the story of con artists in league with FBI agents unfurls, complete with sensationally bad hair and lots of bold fashion choices. When I sat down with Russell to discuss American Hustle, I had to ask him about what's next, and whether or not it might be a full-on musical. He confessed that the "Delilah" sing-along, where Bale as con man Irving Rosenfeld joins in with a bar full of men and his mark, Renner's Mayor Carmine Polito, was actually Renner's idea. Russell rolled with it, and seems to be getting swept up with the possibility of a movie musical. Asked directly if he is working his way to a musical, he told me with a broad smile:

Russell hasn't yet lined up his next project, so perhaps we should keep our fingers crossed that a musical will be where his inspiration leads next. You can see the full video below, which includes Russell's explanation of why he took three of Hollywood's hottest leading men (Renner, Bale, and former People's Sexiest Man Alive Bradley Cooper) and willfully played down their looks for this story of men of incredible charisma.

Russell tells us his actors embraced these transformations that included the garish style of the '70s extrapolated in low-cut shirts and vivid suits, a cringe-inducing comb-over, a pathetic self-perm, and a gluttonous beer-belly. You can read about the man major physical transformations Bale has undergone in Sean's detailed countdown, and see these '70s studs in action in the latest American Hustle trailer.

American Hustle opens in limited release on Dec. 13 before expanding on Dec. 20. Look for more interviews from the cast next week.

It says “December” on this glorious new posters for David O. Russell’s American Hustle. But it doesn’t specify which year. If we were to guess, we’d put the design of this one-sheets somewhere around 1977-78, when Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith were adorning similar poster that hung on walls in almost every bedroom in America. (Ask you parents. It really was a thing.) Sony has released five character posters for Russell’s upcoming con movie, a period drama that tackles the infamous ABSCAM scandal. Jennifer Lawrence kicks things off (above), while the rest of the cast follows.You can click on any of them to see them larger

So wait, Bradley Cooper is playing Todd Phillips in this movie? Who knew?

Hustle actually tells of an elaborate sting operation launched by the FBI. It used criminals and con artists in a scheme to trap corrupt politicians. And to everyone’s surprise, the line of dirty thieving politicians stretched all the way up to Congress. That statement was shocking in the 1970s and early ‘80s, when the ABSCAM scandal rocked the Philadelphia area. Today, we’d take that truth in stride.

The posters remind us that Russell will reunite with so many actors with which he’s already worked. Lawrence won an Oscar for her work in the director’s The Silver Linings Playbook (alongside Cooper). Adams and Bale are holdovers from The Fighter. Renner is the newcomer, and the wild card in this ensemble. And as much as I adore the period details in these delicious posters, it is the trailer for American Hustle that has us most excited. God, I love when Russell uses Led Zeppelin in his movies:

Hustle is one of the remaining Oscar contenders we’re waiting to lay our eyes on. It has the potential to drop into the middle of the ongoing race and just suck up all the oxygen. We’ll see if it connects soon enough, as it’s scheduled to reach theaters in weeks.

This fall will apparently be the time to see very famous people doing very bad, very corrupt things, and looking very attractive while they do it. We've still barely recovered from the crazy Wolf of Wall Street trailer, and now here comes the first trailer for American Hustle, the next film from The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook director David O. Russell. Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner and Amy Adams all get transformed, 1970s-style, to varying degrees in this first look at the trailer, which comes with all the annoying trappings of a Good Morning America segment for some mystifying reason.

Based on the real-life sting operation called Abscam, which resulted in the convictions of several high-ranking members of Congress, American Hustle features yet another Christian Bale transformation as Irving Rosenfeld, a Bronx-born con artist (with an awful combover) who teams up with a more straitlaced FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) to help put together the sting operation. Amy Adams plays Rosenfeld's assistant and mistress, while Jennifer Lawrence gets dolled up as his wife, who stays at home in the house in Long Island and threatens to undo the entire operation. Renner looks to be a bit less colorful, playing a New Jersey mayor whom USA Today says is "keeping his community afloat in the midst of a recession."

Of course, you're not going to get much of that from this trailer, which glides past most of the surely complicated plot and rests on dazzling you with its impressive cast and the ungodly expensive music choice of Led Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Times." Sure, that does a great job of setting up the 1970s setting, but what, are they just burning money over there? With Silver Linings Playbook standing as the biggest hit of Russell's career, having made $230 million worldwide, I suppose he can throw away his money however he pleases.

In the interview after the trailer Russell seems especially proud of how the film is challenging the actors to play characters that are unfamiliar to them, like Adams as a hard-charging sexpot or Lawrence as a pampered housewife. What might be the most interesting is to see how Cooper handles this kind of transformative role. The contrast between him and Bale in that opening bit of dialogue is striking-- Bale is once again rendering himself unrecognizable with insane costumes and a brand-new accent, while Cooper looks almost stunned be donning a Jheri curl wig, as if he's also surprised to be doing this kind of transformation. Sure, Cooper's made plans to play the Elephant Man on Broadway, but he's much better known for naturalistic, realistic performances. He looks like he's playing the straight man in this world of crazy con artists, so the part might be more familiar than it seems... but given that Russell directed Cooper to his Silver Linings Playbook Oscar nomination, something more surprising could definitely be in store.

American Hustle opens December 13, and you can click here to learn more about it, with no inane Good Morning America patter to get in the way.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is just like everybody else, and its jubilance for most things is guided by the last thing its collective brain can remember. As such, the end of the year is usually when studios stampede their Oscar bait out in limited releases. David O. Russell probably doesn’t need that kind of insurance, but nobody is taking anything for granted these days.

According to The Hollywood Reporter Sony will be releasing Russell’s next film, the still-untitled star-flooded feature depicting the Abscam sting, on December 13, 2013, for a limited theater run before expanding it nationwide on Christmas Day, which falls on a Wednesday this year. Nothing like a politically-tinged historical drama to really bring home that feeling of the holidays.

Abscam, short for Abdul scam, was an FBI sting operation run from the late 1970s to the early 1980s that used a made-up company to investigate the trafficking of stolen property, and soon found themselves deep into a web of widespread political corruption. If a film about a clever ruse can win for Best Picture this year, why can’t it do the same in 2014?

Russell’s last two films, 2010’s The Fighter and 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook both saw Oscar nominations for Best Picture and for Russell’s direction, and actors from both films took home the trophies, including Jennifer Lawrence, who reappears with the Oscar-nominated Bradley Cooper for this Abscam-inspired feature. Rounding out the cast are Christian Bale, Jeremy Renner, Amy Adams and even Louis C.K. When the only non-Academy Award nominated members of your cast and crew are Louis C.K., who is an Emmy winner, and screenwriter Eric Singer, you know there’s a good chance more statues are waiting in the wings.

If David O. Russell has proven anything with his last two films it's that he's become an expert at getting Oscar nominations for his actors. In 2010 Christian Bale and Melissa Leo both took home golden statues for their parts in The Fighter (while Amy Adams got a nomination too) and just yesterday it was announced that Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver are all Academy Award nominees for their roles in Silver Linings Playbook. So don't be too surprised if we may soon hear Louis C.K.'s name start popping up in award season conversation.

THR is reporting that the incredibly popular comedian - who wrapped the third season of his show Louie last year - is now in talks to join the cast of Russell's next directorial effort. Formerly known as American Bullshit (the title has been changed for obvious reasons), the project already has Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner and Amy Adams attached, meaning that C.K.'s potential involvement would be just one hell of a cherry on top.

Based on a true story and written by Eric Singer (The International), the movie is about a con man named Mel Weinberg who worked with the FBI in a corruption case that "stretched from Atlantic City to Washington, D.C." The trade doesn't mention what role C.K. would play in the drama, but it doesn't specify roles for anyone else either.

Sadly Louie won't be back on the air until spring 0f 2014, you won't have to wait too much longer to see more of Louis C.K., as he is part of the ensemble cast appearing in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, which will be in theaters later this year.

Over the weekend I caught up with Silver Linings Playbook, the new film from director David O. Russell that's been earning buckets of Oscar buzz ever since it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September and ran away with the Audience Award. It's hard to go into a movie with that much hype, but it really earns it, telling a human-sized, funny and dark but deeply affecting story, with such killer performances from Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper that you'll probably never underestimate them as "that girl from The Hunger Games" and "that guy from The Hangover" again.

Between this and The Fighter Russell is clearly on a hot streak, miles away from the days when he was making movies that never got finished or going viral with on-set screaming matches. And with Silver Linings headed to theaters Russell is putting together his next project, which might be the starriest he's made since I Heart Huckabees. A press release has confirmed that Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner and Amy Adams will all be joining the already-cast Christian Bale in Russell's next project, tentatively set for release late next year and once upon a time titled American Bullshit. Here's the synopsis included in the press release:

Everyone in the cast but Renner is reuniting with Russell for the film, and after this Oscar season it's likely all but Renner will have been Oscar-nominated for their work with Russell in the past. Obviously there's a ton of firepower in the cast, and while the story sounds a little bit bigger than both The Fighter and Silver Linings, the Camden, New Jersey setting suggests that it will carry some of the same blue-collar texture that's made Russell's recent films so satisfying. When you see Silver Linings Playbook, hopefully you'll be as excited to see what Russell does next as I am.

Hot off the Oscar-nominated success of The Fighter, David O. Russell is coming back strong this fall with The Silver Linings Playbook, which doesn't just team him up with another great cast, but returns him to the kind of dry, dark comedy he aced with Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees. Bradley Cooper stars as a man recently released from a mental institution who moves back in with his parents (Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver) only to complicate his life even more by getting involved with a young neighbor (Jennifer Lawrence). You can see just how complicated it gets in the brand-new trailer, which is embedded below:

The sarcastic tone at the beginning of the trailer feels perfectly Russell, but it takes an odd, inspirational turn toward the end, which makes me wonder if that's just trailer trickery or if Russell has developed a more sentimental streak. The Fighter, though not being your typical sports drama, did have a softer side, so maybe this really is just Russell growing up. But if we're going to get a sentimental comedy, I'd much rather see it in his hands-- Russell seems completely allergic to sap, and if the performances from Cooper and Lawrence are as strong as they seem to promise in this trailer, we could be seeing an unconventional romance and story of recovery that, for once, doesn't seem totally familiar.

The Silver Linings Playbook is set for release November 21 this year, just in time for Thanksgiving and awkward family viewing. Will you give it a look?

It’s hard to spend a lot of time in Rhode Island or the greater New England area without hearing the story of Buddy Cianci Jr. One of the most famous/infamous people in the area’s modern history, the former Providence mayor who spent a great deal of his career trying to root out corruption in his home town… but was twice forced to leave office due to felony charges (yes, twice. He was, at one point, reelected and then forced out again). The fact of the matter is that you can’t title your autobiography, “Politics and Pasta: How I Prosecuted Mobsters, Rebuilt a Dying City, Advised a President, Dined With Sinatra, Spent Five Years in a Federally Funded Gated Community and Lived to Tell the Tale” without having a few stories to tell. And now David O. Russell has been hired to tell those stories.

According to the LA Times, the Academy Award-nominated has been brought on to helm a biopic about Buddy Cianci that will be based on the mayor’s book. It should be noted that while Russell is on-board to direct, he will not write the script – though he will have a hand in it (the article doesn’t mention who will be handling screenwriting duties. The filmmaker is currently in post-production on The Silver Linings Playbook, starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro, which is due out on November 21st. De Niro, along with partner Jane Rosenthal, will also be producing the Cianci biopic.

As interesting as this project sounds, don’t get your hopes up too high on seeing it anytime soon. The director has established a streak of taking on projects and then dropping them months later (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Uncharted are recent examples). Hopefully he will commit himself to this one, however. Cianci is a great character and under Russell’s direction the movie could be a winner.

After his little boxing movie The Fighter blew up into an Oscar-winning phenomenon, David O. Russell spent a long time figuring out what his next movie would be before finally settling on The Silver Linings Playbook, with Bradley Cooper, Juennifer Lawrence and Julia Stiles among others in the starring roles. With that film wrapped up and Mark Wahlberg's sequel to The Fighter finally moving on without Russell, the director is now planning another move, and may circle back to another one of his Fighter stars. According to Deadline Russell is now attached to direct American Bullshit, set up at Sony and with Christian Bale potentially attached.

But hang on-- that's all depending on who you ask. In a statement to Deadline Russell admitted he is considering the project, and "I have great respect for Chuck Roven [the producer] and Christian Bale," but "I am also developing other projects and have not chosen my next film." What those other projects will be is unclear, since a lot of the projects Russell considered after The Fighter-- Uncharted, Angelina Jolie's Maleficent-- have moved on without him. In the meantime, we can speculate a little about American Bullshit, which Deadline describes as "a fact-based drama with global implications"-- so, really, that could mean just about anything.

With his stint as Batman complete, Bale pretty much has the world at his feet, and a reunion with the director who helped guide him to his first Oscar can't be anything but a good move. Even if we don't know anything about American Bullshit right now, or if Russell will ever make it, it seems worth looking forward to.

Mark Wahlberg is making the publicity rounds today on behalf of Contraband, which opens Friday, but he has spent a good amount of time answering questions about The Fighter. It is somewhat understandable - David O. Russell’s Oscar-winning picture was a big hit for the actor, but it also earned him some respect as a producer that money-making efforts like The Other Guys can’t muster.

So, to no one’s real surprise, Wahlberg continues to talk about the possibility of stepping into the ring a Micky Ward once again, though not in a traditional sequel, just an extension of the story. I happened to hear Wahlberg as a guest on The Ron and Fez Show, a Sirius-XM comedy interview program, where Wahlberg said he’d love to do a film that explored the three tragic fights between Ward and Arturo Gatti. The boxers fought in 2002, with Ward emerging victorious. The fight was so brutal that they declared an immediate rematch, which Gatti won in another wild brawl. A third fight was scheduled, and these titans slugged it out until … well, save it for the sequel (of look it up yourself, as I don’t really want to spoil it for you).

But Wahlberg also told The Playlist that he’ll be looking for another director to continue that story, as a rift that exists between himself and Russell seems to have expanded.

“We got to do that film before I get too old," Wahlberg told the site, "so maybe in the next year, year and a half. We have to wait for the script [from Scott Silver], and then we'll choose a director."

The Fighter was a solid movie, and Ward is a great character for Wahlberg to play. He was overshadowed by Christian Bale as drug-addled brother Dicky Ward, so I wonder if a Fighter sequel (or whatever Wahlberg calls it) would need Bale before it needed Russell? Either way, it sounds like Wahlberg wants to get back in the ring to tell that story, and it likely will happen sooner rather than later.

Does Chris Tucker have an immensely successful side business that I’m completely unaware of? Though he’s been starring in movies since the early 90s, Tucker only has 11 films on his resume (the last one being 2007’s Rush Hour 3) and only began doing stand-up comedy again this year. Whether he’s a financial genius who turned millions into billions or simply knows how to live with the money he’s made I don’t know, but what I do know is that it looks like he’s ready to make his way back to the big screen. Variety reports that Chris Tucker is now up for parts in both David O. Russell’s The Silver Lining’s Playbook and Akiva Schaffer’s Neighborhood Watch.

In the Russell film, Bradley Cooper stars as a teacher who has a mental breakdown and is sent to a mental hospital for four years. After getting out, he is sent to live with his mother and while trying to get his wife back meets a young neighbor (Jennifer Lawrence) who has some issues of her own. Should negotiations go through, Tucker will play a mental patient who grows to be friends with Cooper while on the inside. Once Cooper is released, Tucker’s character occasionally breaks out so that he can visit him.

As for Neighborhood Watch, the movie is about a group of dads who form a fake committee so that they can have some time away from their wives. Their plan backfires, however, when they uncover a plot that could spell the end of the world. Though the report only says that Tucker is “circling a key role,” meaning he may not yet be in talks, he would play a divorcee who signs up to hang out with the other men. The project already stars Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill.

Tucker actually hasn’t made a movie outside of the Rush Hour franchise since 1997’s Jackie Brown, so it will be interesting to see him as a character other than Detective James Carter. I wonder if he’ll once again be used as the annoying loud-mouth or if the projects will actually allow him to try something new.

A few weeks ago, fans rejoiced as David O. Russell and all his wildly off-base story ideas walked away from the big screen adaptation of Uncharted, the popular video game about to get its third installment. Soon after, The Illusionist director Neil Burger signed on to replace Russell, hot off the mild success of Limitless, starring DeNiro and Bradley Cooper.

In doing press for the Limitless DVD release, Burger made it known that he is starting from scratch with the script and won’t be using any of the “family of treasure hunters” crap that David O. Russell legitimately made up. To WeGotThisCovered:

If you connect the dots, it’s pretty easy to tell that the front runner for the Nathan Drake role will be Bradley Cooper, which I’m mostly OK with. He’s certainly sarcastic enough, he’s in shape, but what is Bradley Cooper without his flowing locks? With a Drake buzz he’ll just look like his character in Wedding Crashers. Of course, Burger doesn’t necessarily need to work with an actor he’s used before, but that relationship is always nice to have going in to a film. (Cue thousands of Nathan Fillion fans chanting his name.)

What is good to hear is that Burger realizes that the game works on its own story and doesn’t really need embellishing. It’s cinematic already, and according to him it’s just a matter of making things in the game work on film. More on this as casting gets going.

Every few months everyone in Hollywood gets excited about doing ripped from the headlines movies based on actual events. But whether it’s Valerie Plame or guys trapped under the World Trade Center, the truth is that it rarely translates into any level of interest among general audiences at the box office. Maybe it’ll help if guys with guns are involved.

The Fighter director David O. Russell is considering a hostage rescue mission movie at Warner Bros. Titled The Mission, the movie is based on a six-year joint operation between American and Columbian operatives to free 15 captives hidden away in the Columbian jungle. Called Operacion Jaque, a vast network of spies and operatives and numerous governments with high-tech surveillance were involved. Brad Pitt is being pursued to star, but neither he nor Russell are actually signed on yet.

Deadline tries to connect this project to the recent killing of Osama bin Laden. I guess the idea here is that because of this Hollywood thinks we’re all suddenly interested in secret, military operations. Given the popularity of the Bond and the Bourne franchises over the years, I’d say we’ve always been interested in them. But ok, whatever gets you going Hollywood.

Apparently David O. Russell really wants to make a movie with Robert De Niro. When the director was still attached to make an adaptation of the video game Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, he made a deal with the actor to co-star alongside Mark Wahlberg and Joe Pesci. Now that Russell has moved on from that project, however, he apparently wants to bring De Niro with him.

According to Variety, The Ghetto Film School honored Russell with an award earlier today at New York's The Standard Hotel, with Melissa Leo and Blake Lively presenting the prize, but Russell showed up a half-hour late to the ceremony. What was his reasoning? Said the filmmaker, "I was in a meeting with Mr. De Niro, possibly about The Silver Linings Playbook: A Novel." Just like Uncharted, the project is already set with Mark Wahlberg to star and apparently Angelina Jolie has also met with the director about a role. In the film, a former teacher who has been released from a mental asylum tries to win back his ex-wife.

I wonder if this means that Pesci will be signing on soon as well. More importantly, this seems to solidify the idea that Silver Linings Playbook will be Russell's next film, beating out about 2 Guns, Cocaine Cowboys, a Russ Meyer biopic, The Fighter 2,and Maleficent. Then again, after what happeend with both Uncharted and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies I'm not willing to put money on it.

A rumor hit last week that The Fighter director David O. Russell was meeting with Angelina Jolie to consider her for a role in The Silver Linings Playbook, the novel adaptation he's considering making his next project. While it's entirely possible the two really did meet about that project, it now seems like they might have been discussing something much bigger, and much more of a starring role for Jolie. THR reports that Russell is now on the shortlist of directors to tackle Maleficent, the Disney project that would star Jolie as the fearsome evil queen at the center of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale.

Tim Burton bailed on the project last month after being attached for years, and while it's hard to think of a director more naturally suited to the material-- and more beloved by Disney right now-- there are plenty of directors out there who could do something interesting with it. Russell is definitely one of them, a director who we all thought we understood after his wise-cracking and cynical movies like I Heart Huckabees and Three Kings; then he hit us all with The Fighter, a funny and exceptionally warm-hearted sports and family drama the proved just how many tricks he's got left up his sleeve. A Disney film about a wicked queen would be another major left turn for Russell, but no more so than the Uncharted movie he was planning for a while, don't you think?

Oh, and about that Uncharted movie. Russell talked to THR on a red carpet this week about the project, and suggested that he left not because he was no longer interested, but the studio wasn't keen on his take on the classic adventure video game. Here's the full quote:

You may remember some of the plans he suggested for Uncharted included roles for Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro as antiquities dealers, and a general attitude that forced him to clarify "I'm making Uncharted the movie, not Uncharted the game." You can't blame him for wanting to put his own stamp on the material, just as you can't blame Sony for parting ways with him when trying to put together the most crowd-pleasing possible adaptation of a hugely popular video game.

In the interview Russell also mentioned the huge variety of other projects he has in line, including Mark Wahlberg's oft-promoted The Fighter 2, the aforementioned The Silver Linings Playbook and a romantic Western called Two Guns. He wasn't certain which of those would actually be next for him, though if the Maleficent story turns out to be true, he may spend some time in the Disney fold before moving on with any of them.

Since October of last year, when David O. Russell signed on to direct the Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, the director's attention has been all over the map. In the seven months since, Russell's name has been mentioned in stories about 2 Guns, Cocaine Cowboys, a Russ Meyer biopic, The Fighter 2, and The Silver Linings Playbook. What I'm trying to say is that we should have seen this story coming.

Variety is reporting that David O. Russell is no longer attached to the adventure-genre video game adaptation. While the filmmaker was set to direct, write and produce the project, apparently creative differences with the studio got in the way and he will no longer be making the movie. Rumored to involve what was described as a "family plot," the cast includes Mark Wahlberg (who is attached to star as Nathan Drake), Robert De Niro, and Joe Pesci. This is the second time in recent years that Russell has bailed on a high profile project, the first being Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which will be directed by Craig Gillespie.

I really think that this is for the best. Russell's most certainly a talented director, but Uncharted isn't exactly material that fits into his wheelhouse. It's also worth mentioning that the history of movies based on video games is riddled with nothing but failures and I think everyone can agree that Russell is better suited spending his time doing something else. So with Russell out of the picture, let's ask the big question: who would you like to see take his place?

This past weekend I did myself a favor and went out to buy The Fighter on Blu-ray. Watching it for the first time since the world premiere all the way back in November, I realized that a sequel would be an absolutely horrendous idea. The Fighter 2, of course, would focus on Micky Ward's trilogy of fights against Arturo Gatti, but what made the first film great wasn't the boxing bouts but the family drama between his mother/manger and brother/trainer. With those relationships resolved by the end of The Fighter, it's hard to imagine where a sequel could go. Still, apparently David O. Russell has an idea where to take it and is prepared to write it himself.

Speaking with MTV, the director repeated how much he loved working on the first film and remarked how much he loved the characters and has faith that they "could do a lot of fun and interesting stuff." He even went as far as to say that should he be given the opportunity, he's "ready to write it." Unlike all of Russell's previous features, he actually didn't write the The Fighter, Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson taking credit for that.

Between Uncharted, 2 Guns, the Russ Meyer biopic, and Cocaine Cowboys, David O. Russell already has a overfilled upcoming slate. Let's hope that The Fighter 2 is something that ends up on the permanent backburner.

When they showed up at the Oscars only to lose the Best Director statue to Tom Hooper, both Darren Aronofsky and David O. Russell seemed to have very specific, very audience-friendly projects lined up next. Aronofsky was going to make The Wolverine, Russell was going to make Uncharted, and they'd both be rich and happy. Of course now Aronofsky has walked away from The Wolverine, and while Russell is still committed to Uncharted, he's signing on for so many other projects I'm starting to wonder.

The latest movie to potentially get between Russell and the video game adaptation looks to be a biopic about the famous sleaze director Russ Meyer. According to Deadline Russell's in negotiations with Fox Searchlight to direct the project, written by Merritt Johnson and also including the rights to the Meyer biography by Jimmy McDonough. The film would cover the life and career of the famously independent director, behind movies like Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Beyond the Valley Of The Dalls and known for both his fixation on gigantic breasts and the fact that he owned the rights to every single one of his films, retiring in the late 70s very, very wealthy. (He died in 2004)

With the relatively mainstream The Fighter behind him and Uncharted up ahead Russell seems to have been aiming to get away from his stranger, Flirting With Disaster and I Heart Huckabees roots. But really, the Meyer biopic sounds perfect for him, combining his penchant for human oddity with the skill he showed in The Fighter at telling a life story. There doesn't seem to be any indication he will, in fact, put this project ahead of Uncharted, though there's no production schedule set up for that one either. I don't think I'm alone, though, in looking forward to this one way more than any video game adaptation.

Mark Wahlberg was the only major actor in The FIghter not to score an acting Oscar nomination, but he may in fact be the one most committed to the ongoing saga of Micky Ward. On the red carpet before Sunday's Oscar ceremony, he dropped to Extra's Mario Lopez that he wanted to make a second film about the boxer's life. The video is below, but I've taken out the quote since I can barely hear anything he's saying:

The Gatti fights, which all happened after what we see in The Fighter, were a series of three bouts between Micky Ward and Arturo Gatti, beginning in 2002. Ward earned $3 million during the fights, and two were named "Fight of the Year" by Ring magazine. Clearly a movie about the three bouts would be of interest to boxing fans, but without the emotional thread of brother Dicky Eklund's recovery from crack, would the movie be nearly as good?

It's also unclear who Wahlberg means by "we"-- he's been involved in the project longer than director David O. Russell, and it's easy to imagine him going forward without the director, though given how close the two of them are Wahlberg might be able to talk him into it. Would you guys watch another movie about Micky Ward, or have you had your fill of boxing movies unless there's a story like Dicky's to balance it out?

Mark Wahlberg spent years and years trying to get the story of boxer Micky Ward turned into a movie. Finally, the actor turned to his friend and long time collaborator David O. Russell and they made The Fighter, one of the best films of last year and one of ten competing for the Best Picture award at this year's Academy Awards. Obviously the partnership turned out to be an unbelievable success and now it looks as though they might be ready to repeat the formula again.

The Playlist recently spoke with Russell at the ACE Eddie Awards and revealed that, in addition to taking on a number of other projects, he has begun thinking about a movie called Cocaine Cowboys, the story of the illegal drug trade in Miami during the 70s and 80s and the man behind it all: Jon Roberts. Wahlberg has been developing the project, which is based on the 2006 Billy Corben documentary, since at least 2008, when it was said the actor and Leonardo DiCaprio in the leads. When I spoke to Wahlberg back in July, Peter Berg was attached as the director and the script, written by Evan Wright, was undergoing re-writes. Other projects on the horizon for Russell include Uncharted, 2 Guns, and The Silver Linings Playbook.

I think it might be time to stop asking David O. Russell what he's doing next. Every time someone asks him that question he has a new project to talk about. Eventually he's going to have 30 movies on his schedule, his head will explode and he'll get to make none of them. That's just not fair.