Cannes: Bradley Cooper Commits To ‘Chef’ As Cease And Desist Goes To Jon Favreau’s Rival Chef Pic

Bradley Cooper has now formally confirmed to star in the John Wells-directed Chef, making this one of the early projects stirring action from foreign buyers who can now visualize the Silver Linings Playbook star back in meltdown mode in this Shampoo-like drama. He plays a Paris chef named Adam Jones, who destroys his wunderkind status in a blaze of decadence and out of control behavior. He cleans up and returns to Paris sober, determined to redeem himself by spearheading a top restaurant that can gain three Michelin stars. This has been in the works a bit, and recently Cooper saw Wells’ upcoming TWC Oscar-bait movie August: Osage County and then TWC set Wells to direct Chef. They are now looking to round out that cast, and I’m hearing Michelle Williams and Marion Cotillard as potential female leads, and Omar Sy for co-starring role. The film’s produced by Stacey Sher, Erwin Stoff and Michael Shamberg.

- Deadline

This was unofficial before, then mentioned briefly at Toronto, but now it seems it is confirmed. Marion will be in the Dardenne brothers next film.

Following their excellent drama The Kid with the Bike brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne are developing their follow-up and we’ve got exclusive details on the project. We recently sat down with Luc Dardenne to discuss the evolution of filmmaking using digital technology, the art of character development, the Oscars and their upcoming, currently untitled film.

The Palm d’Or-winning Belgian filmmaker exclusively revealed that Academy Award-winning actress Marion Cotillard had just signed on to play the lead in project. While no details were given about her character, Dardenne expressed a great deal of enthusiasm for the finished script and for their first-time directing Cotillard. The native francophone went on to say, “We are looking forward to collaborating with Marion. We are all big fans of each others work.”

Luc penned the original script alongside his brother and we’re told that the origins of the script stems from a project which the brothers began many years ago, but only last summer came full circle. Other details of the storyline and characters are being kept tightly under wraps. However, given the history of the roles created by the Dardenne brothers, Cotillard is in good hands. While more of the ensemble will be announced soon, we’ve also got word that Belgian actor Fabrizio Rongione (Rosetta, The Kid With the Bike) will co-star with Cotillard in a supporting role.

The film is produced by Les Films du Fleuve and is set to begin shooting early this summer in the Wallonie region of Belgium. We’ll have more details about the untitled production in our conversation with the filmmaker later this week, but in the meantime one can see Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts in Rust & Bone, which was co-produced by the Dardenne brothers’ production company.

Credit: Film Stage

Marion is in talks to join the new adaptation of ‘Diary of a Chambermaid’. The following information is courtesy of Variety.

“Rust and Bone” star Marion Cotillard is in negotiations to topline Benoit Jacquot’s “Diary of a Chambermaid” (Le Journal d’une femme de chambre), based on Octave Mirbeau’s classic novel.

“Chambermaid” has been brought twice to the bigscreen: in 1946, Jean Renoir helmed Paulette Goddard in a Hollywood-set English-language makeover; and in 1964, Luis Bunuel directed Jeanne Moreau in a French-Italian adaptation.

Cotillard would star as Celestine, a young and ambitious woman who works as a chambermaid for wealthy families from 1890 to 1900. Through Celestine’s eyes, the film will shed light on the condition of house servants and perversions within France’s upper-class society at the turn of the 20th century.

Novel was published in 1900 amid the infamous Alfred Dreyfus’ political scandal. It was perceived as subversive because it gave a voice to a servant and denounced domestic service as a form of slavery.

As first reported in Variety (Daily Variety, Feb. 11), The Euros6.5 million ($8.7 million) project is penned by Helene Zimmer and Jacquot; and produced by Jean-Pierre Guerin’s new JPG Prods. and Kristina Larsen at Les Films du Lendemain. The pair last teamed on “Farewell My Queen,” which has been nommed for 10 Cesar awards.

Elle Driver is repping “Chambermaid” in international markets.

Guerin told Variety that Cotillard has met with Jacquot and is looking forward to reading the script and working with the French director.

As with “La Vie en Rose” and “Rust and Bone,” “Chambermaid” is likely to be an intense performance-driven film in which Cotillard will play a central part, appearing in virtually every shots. “Chambermaid” could also be another high-profile award-winning vehicle.

Project will bring back some of the “Farewell My Queen” crew including costumers Christian Gasc and Valerie Ranchoux, and set designer Katia Wyszkop.

Lensing is expected to kick off in March 2014.

Cotillard will next be seen in James Gray’s “Lowlife,” which is released by The Weinstein Co.; and Guillaume Canet’s English-language debut “Blood Ties.” CAA handles U.S. distribution rights.

Cotillard is repped by Adequat in Paris and CAA in Los Angeles.

Mexican media reported that Marion Cotillard will bring the story of Florence Cassez, who’s serving a 60 year sentence in Mexico for kidnapping but is claiming her innocence, to the big screen. Florence Cassez herself confirmed to AFP that Marion Cotillard has indeed visited her at the prison in Tepepan (Mexico) on April 7 for over 3 hours – flying in especially from New York for the day. However, the visit wasn’t about a movie project:

Between Marion and me there has never been any talk of a movie project.

We’ve been in touch over the phone for months. She joined my support committee in France. I then contacted her over the phone for the first time on January 25 to thank her. And then I called her regularly because this great friendship sprang up between us.

It was a very good meeting between friends and we did not want to publicize it. We’re just two women of the same age, we share the same values, the same desires, we have much in common.

[edit:] Florence’s mother, Charlotte Cassez, confirms all of the above in an interview with Le Figaro.

Marion Cotillard could be set for a medieval adventure in Arthur And Lancelot.

The Oscar-winning French starlet is said to have been offered the role of Morgana, the sorceress half-sister to Arthur, in David Dobkin’s upcoming adaptation, Vulture reports.

The Killing’s Joel Kinnaman has already been cast as Lancelot, while Luke Evans, Toby Kebbell, Game Of Thrones actor Kit Harington and his on-screen half-brother Richard Madden are rumoured to be in the running to portray King Arthur.

Filming is scheduled to begin next year.

Following her recent turns in Woody Allen’s Midnight In Paris and Contagion, Marion is reuniting with Christopher Nolan on The Dark Knight Rises alongside Christian Bale, Sir Michael Caine and Anne Hathaway.

Source: The Press Association

Screendaily has posted an article on this month’s American Film Market (AFM). One film which will be shopped around is Guillaume Canet’s US Remake of ‘Les Liens Du Sang’ now being called ‘Blood Ties’ (in which James Gray helped with the script).

The article states that Marion may be potentially starring in the project.

Sales company Wild Bunch are close to coming on to rep Canet’s project, and it’s said that Mark Wahlberg (who worked with Gray on both “The Yards” and “We Own The Night”) is circling the role of one of the brothers, with Cotillard and “Avatar” lead Zoe Saldana also linked to the film.

It also confirms that James Gray is planning to start filming ‘Low Life’ in January.

Source: The Playlist /Screendaily

Back in June we posted about how there was a rumour that Marion might be in Jacques Audiard’s next movie  ’Un goût de rouille et d’os‘ (English title: Rust and Bone). The rumour was again raised earlier in the week, this time via a mention on UniFrance’s Facebook page.

We’ll have to wait and see if it gets confirmed, but until then some more information has popped up about the movie.

tchitchou26 on Tumblr posted

Marion Cotillard is coming to town.

She is going to be in my area/town October 3rd and this for 10 weeks. She will be shooting the new Jacques Audiard’s movie called “Un goût de rouille et d’os”. (A taste of rust and bones).

Multiple casting sites are looking for a woman between 18-40 who is thin, bilateral femoral or tibial amputee to cover for the main actress (the role that Marion is rumoured to be playing in the movie).

Meanwhile, Alexandre Desplat will be composing the music for the movie.

According to the casting notices the movie will start filming as early as September.

This is still only just a rumour but it has been mentioned online (Enculture, Twitter) that Marion Cotillard will be starring in Jacques Audiard’s next movie. He’s best known for directing and co-writing the Oscar nominated ‘A Prophet‘. So, what is his next movie? It’s ‘Un goût de rouille et d’os‘ and is an adaptation of the book by Craig Davidson with the same title (English title: Rust and Bone) and tells the story of 8 people. Filming for the movie is currently scheduled to take place September to November 2011.

Parallel stories of marginal characters, experiencing their inner demons and their obsessions: a young boxer fighting in illegal fights, an authoritarian father making of his son a great basketball player, an advertising executive being an enthusiast of pit bull fights and a magician disappearing one day from the stage …

Can’t wait for a confirmation of Marion’s part in this!

Another brilliant interview was published in the UK today. This time in The Independent. While none of the topics mentioned are actually new the answers about her work in both French and American movies, her recent career developments as well as about dealing with the media do contain additional insight so be sure to read.

• Marion Cotillard: ‘I’m really normal! Well, not that normal. I’m an actress’, The Independent, April 3

I just wanna do movies. I don’t have a plan. I’m so lucky to have the opportunity to work with some directors and some actors I wouldn’t have dared to think I would work with one day. And now I know that everything is possible. So, it’s very exciting. But I don’t have in my mind whether I do an American movie or a French movie. It’s just [that] the stories come and… if I recognised myself in the story, I wanna be part of it. That’s how it happens.

Talking of stories coming her way, Baz Bamigboye reports in The Daily Mail that Marion Cotillard is on on a wish list of actresses to play Fantine in the movie adaptation of the musical ‘Les Misérables‘ which in turn in based on Victor Hugo’s book. Tom Hooper – fresh off Oscar-winning The King’s Speech‘ – is in negotiations to sign as director. Once the crucial part of lead character Valjean’s been cast filming could start next year, apparently.

There has been talk for almost a year now that Marion might be appearing in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (aka ‘Batman 3′). The rumour has again resurfaced this past weekend courtesy of Le Figaro.

Marion Cotillard in ‘Batman 3′?. The actress, who is expecting a child in the spring with Guillaume Canet, will be scarce this year. She’ll do a single film and her choice fell on ‘Batman 3′. This blockbuster produced by Warner Bros.. enables her to work with the director Christopher Nolan, with whom she had turned very successful sci-fi Inception. Marion Cotillard will join the filming this summer in Los Angeles. She will share the bill with Anne Hathaway.

Le Parisien has added fuel to the rumour in February 14 edition.

At the moment it still is an unconfirmed rumour and will remain one until official word comes from Warner Bros.

Le Figaro also excludes ‘Vivre, c’est mieux que mourir’ in its article, which is due to start filming in the fall. Pre-sales for ‘Vivre, c’est mieux que mourir’ have been launched at the European Film Market in Berlin this week.

Update: Her rep tells The Hollywood Reporter that Marion is in discussions to join the film (no additional information will be posted here until a confirmation is given).

Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Le Figaro, Slash Film, Le Parisien and Cineuropa