Jake Gyllenhaal - Out of the Woods and Into the Mountains - and a WDW Roman Interlude

Today came the news that Jake Gyllenhaal will not be heading Into the Woods after all. Despite the undoubted appeal - at least to many of his fans - of frolicking in the woods with a Disney princess while singing with the birds, Jake has put an axe into this film's hopes and instead plans to don his crampons, grab his grappling hooks and ascend Everest instead. And why? Because it's there.

The news of Everest came from Deadline:Featuring Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Jake Gyllenhaal and Jason Clarke aim to start shooting Everest in November, directed by Baltasar Komakur.  The film is 'based on the 1996 disastrous expedition to scale Mount Everest. Three different expeditions were hit by a sudden blinding storm and by the time it was all over, eight climbers died. The tale was first made famous by Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, his first-person account of being among the lucky ones to make it back down the mountain. This film will be sourced from various books and interviews with survivors.' Whether this means that Jake has to eat someone is as yet unknown. 

More details come from the Guardian: Clarke is being sought to play New Zealand climber Rob Hall, leader of one of the teams, while Gyllenhaal is set to play Scott Fischer, his opposite number with the other expedition. Brolin is in line to play a doctor named Beck Weathers, who is forced to spend a night on Everest, while Hawkes (The Sessions) will be cast as a slow climber who causes his team to be late setting out on their journey up the peak. The project was previously in play with Christian Bale as Hall, but the British-born actor no longer seems to be involved. Kormákur hopes to shoot the film in Iceland in October.'

So back to Iceland! Clearly, Jake's efforts with Bear Grylls for Man vs Wild has given Jake a taste for extreme adventure and one can bet that Everest will not be all CGI.

Confirmation that Jake was leaving Into the Woods came from The Wrap which reported that the filming schedule of Nightcrawler in early October meant that Jake would have no time to romp in the woods. Instead, Jake will play a' small-time Los Angeles criminal who gets a little too swept up in the nocturnal world of the city's crime journalism community'. I think I prefer the singing in the woods... 

As for Everest, let's just hope we get a glimpse behind the goggles... Thanks to IHJ for the pics!

A WDW Roman Interlude

Last weekend I returned from Rome having had a fantastic time, leaving no Roman ruin unexplored and no wine unsampled. As well as photos, I also brought back with me the longest and hottest English heatwave in several years. So, here are a few images from my week among the ruins in the Eternal City and Ostia, Rome's ancient port.

Until the next time!

Into the Woods gets a release date, Maggie promotes White House Down and a WDW Jane Austen Interlude

All is quiet in the land of Jake Gyllendom following the excitement of the award shows a week ago. Jake is back in NYC where he has been enjoying the sunshine on bike and on foot. The paps have been just a step or two behind. The confirmations continue that Jake is indeed signed up to the Disney musical Into the Woods, alongside his End of Watch co-star, the extremely overloaded with talent Anna Kendrick. The film also has a release date for the US - 25 December 2014. What a Chrimbo present! Thanks very much to IHJ for the photos!

Maggie, meanwhile, has been busy promoting White House Down which opens in the US next week (and in the UK on the distant 6 September). The film is, of course, directed by a man with many Gyllenhaalinks - Roland Emmerich.
 


WDW Jane Austen Interlude

Last week, we took a trip into the beautiful countryside of Hampshire to take a look at the village of Chawton, the home of Jane Austen, the place in which she wrote Pride and Prejudice. It's a stunning house, a modest home for a rector's family, filled with memories. It's also full of evocative objects - lace crafted by Jane, her tiny table at which she wrote, her  treasured objects and those of her family, her handmade gifts to nieces. Dresses of the day are recreated and the rooms look as Jane would have known them. The village itself is gorgeous, with the picture postcard cottages almost on top of one another. You can almost imagine the talk going on behind windows, in gardens, on country walks and at balls that fills these wonderful novels.

In the village churchyard, you can pay your respects to Jane's sister and mother. Jane is buried in Winchester Cathedral.

Next to the church is the grand Chawton House that was owned by Jane's brother. No doubt Jane would have attended balls here just as Elizabeth Bennett did in her local grand house, very possibly based upon this one.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Chris Pine to go on a Disney Double Date Into the Woods? And Marvel rumours

The deal might not be done and dusted yet but, all going well, Jake Gyllenhaal will at last get that musical role that he's wanted for years. Hollywood Reporter informs us that Jake and Chris 'Spock! Spock!' Pine are in negotiations to appear as princely brothers in Disney's adaptation of Into the Woods, a Broadway musical. Both Jake and Chris have sung for the very lucky and fortunate director Rob Marshall and, not surprisingly, are expected to receive offers soon. 

Several things to note here. Jake would play the handsome prince who falls for Cinderella and manages to make her give up her life as scullery maid and slave to a wicked stepmother and persuades her to abandon her mouse friends in favour of a life of love and indulgence in a spaceship. Chris T Pine will seduce Rapunzel away from her alien hairy planet of heartache and knots and promise her a new life beside him on the bridge. Admittedly, I would set this in space, given the chance. Not in woods.

The title is a little worrying - Into the Woods. Does this mean that it's not Jake who will be hired but his hairy twin, Sasquatch? 

This role would also give Jake the opportunity to play against his Rendition-co-star-by-phone again, Meryl Streep, who gets the prize witch role. Johnny Depp will play a hungry, sexy wolf (there are several things up with that sentence). Jake and Chris will be 'brothers who are pompous and self-absorbed'.

Full details here. I knew that all those pop videos would pay off in the end...

All in all, this project sounds like a lot of fun for Jake and us alike, not least because Jake may have screen, even singing, time with Chris Pine who is Captain Kirk and that, for me, is swoonworthy. It doesn't sound like a big role for Jake so its filming date in the autumn would probably fit in well with Nightcrawlers which also has a start date around then and the completion, presumably, of Mississippi Grind. Jake was filmed boarding a private helicopter in NYC on 12 May (see photos) and while it can only be speculation it is possible that this was related to MG filming.

All of which sounds a lot more promising and exciting than the tweet that Jake met with Marvel this week with the associated rumours and murmurings that this may be something to do with Iron Man or Ant-Man (Edgar Wright's movie planned for 2015). My bets are hedged.

Thanks very much to IHJ for the new photos!