The Venice Film Festival announces its Jury!

The Hollywood Reporter has the announcement:

The Venice Film Festival on Friday announced members of its main competition jury, choosing an eclectic group of industry figures with deep Venice roots to work under previously announced jury head Darren Aronofsky.

The jury will include Todd Haynes, whose latest film to screen on the Venice Lido, I’m Not There took home the jury prize in 2007; French auteur Andre Techine, whose 1969 classic Pauline is Leaving premiered at the fest in 1969; and director Mario Martone and actress Alba Rohrwacher – both Italians – who appeared in Venice as recently as last year’s festival, with We Believed and The Solitude of Prime Numbers, respectively.

Other jury members include musician David Byrne and Finish visual artist Ejia-Liisa Ahtila. Byrne, the former frontman of the 1980s alternative music band Talking Heads, has worked on soundtracks for numerous films, including Bernardo Bertolucci’s nine-time Oscar winner The Last Emperor, while Ahtila has been a regular at the Venice visual arts Biennale, appearing most recently in 2005.

Darren Aronofsky is the next A-list director to go direct a pilot for HBO...

...continuing the trend of HBO slowly becoming the place for talent to flock to. Here's the story from The Hollywood Reporter:

Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky is making his first foray into television, boarding HBO’s high-profile Hobgoblin, a period drama written by Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay) and his wife, Ayelet Waldman.

The project, which is in development, revolves around a group of con men and magicians who, using their deception skills, help defeat Hitler and the Germans during World War II.

Le Grisbi Productions’ John Lesher and Adam Kassan will serve as executive producers, with authors Chabon (Wonder Boys, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union) and Waldman (Bad Mother, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits) set to co-write and executive produce.

Hobgoblin will be Aronofsky’s first filmed project since he left Fox’s Wolverine sequel. That project was to be his follow-up to Black Swan, which grossed $332 million worldwide, but he abruptly exited Wolverine in March.

Darren Aronofsky wants Christian Bale to star in his Noah epic?

So it seems, according to Vulture:

Just how do you float a $130 million movie about the end of the world with no movie stars? If you’re Noah director Darren Aronofsky, you try to attach one, ASAP.
Vulture hears that Aronofsky is in talks with Christian Bale about possibly starring in his take on Noah's Ark, to help secure studio backing for it. Presumably, Aronofsky wants Bale for the lead, even though Noah was 600 years old when the Great Flood hit, and Bale is only 37.

Darren Aronofsky's next film might actually be his Noah dream project!

Collider has the story:

One of the reasons Darren Aronofsky reportedly signed on to do The Wolverine is because he wanted a blockbuster hit that he could leverage to make personal projects that required a larger budget than his past work. Then he dropped off that film for personal reasons, but perhaps Black Swan grossing $315 million worldwide off a $13 million budget also had something to do with it. Now that he has that success (along with a Best Director Oscar nomination) to his credit, Aronofsky has more clout and it looks like he’s using it to try and get Noah off the ground.

In February, we reported that Aronofsky was going to tell the story of the Bible’s Noah by creating a graphic novel with artist Nico Henrichon. Now John Logan is re-writing the film’s script and various studios are getting interested in co-financing the ambitious project. Hit the jump for more details.

Could Darren Aronofsky be going the Disney route next?

Possibly, according to Collider:

Since dropping out of Fox’s The Wolverine, director Darren Aronofsky has been linked to a number of projects. Everyone wants to know what he’ll choose as his follow up to the smashing success that wasBlack Swan. Earlier this month, it was reported that he was eyeing the sci-fi flick Human Nature with George Clooney attached to star. Now, Badass Digest reports that the director is being courted for two other high-profile projects: Disney wants him to helm Maleficent and Warner Bros. is courting the director for Moses.

Maleficent just recently lost its director, as Tim Burton bowed out a few days ago, but David Yates has been mentioned as a possible replacement. The film is set to start Angelina Jolie as the notorious Sleeping Beauty villain. Moses is one of two dueling projects centered on the biblical figure. Warner Bros’ version focuses on the Exodus, while the Fox version is said to be more in the vein of 300(because violence and sex is exactly what the Old Testament is lacking). While neither of these sounds particularly up Aronofsky’s alley, neither did a sequel to Wolverine. Personally, I’d much rather see him take on that other biblical project: his long-talked-about Noah.

-Joey's Two Cents: Neither of these projects do much for me, but I really just want to see a new Aronofsky film...thoughts?

Darren Aronofsky's next project could be a Sci-Fi film with George Clooney!

Via Vulture:

Two months after Darren Aronofsky announced that he wouldn’t be making The Wolverine, Vulture has learned that the Black Swan director has set his sights on a new film: a fifteen-year-old original sci-fi spec script called Human Nature by a little-known screenwriter named Jeff Welch. We hear that George Clooney is attaching himself to star as a man who is cryogenically frozen and wakes up years later to a world in which humans have become pets of another species. Insiders tell us that Warner Bros.–based producer Akiva Goldsman (I Am Legend) is currently budgeting the movie, but if things go to plan, this would likely be Aronofsky’s next project.

-Joey's Two Cents: It sounds like an interesting concept, and both Aronofsky and Clooney are picky with their projects, so I'm definitely in...thoughts?

Darren Aronofsky will head the jury at the Venice Film Festival!

From The Guardian:

Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky is to head the jury for this year's Venice film festival, organisers have announced. The film-maker will follow in the controversial footsteps of fellow American Quentin Tarantino, who chaired last year's event.

Aronofsky is something of a favourite on the Lido, having received the Golden Lion top prize for The Wrestler in 2008. Black Swan, for which Natalie Portman won the best actress Oscar in March, was the festival opener last year and Aronofsky also entered The Fountain in the 2006 competition. Venice organisers praised the film-maker as "a key figure in contemporary film whose work constantly engages the evolution and mutations of the many languages of art".

Tarantino's tenure last year saw the Golden Lion for best film controversially delivered into the hands of Sofia Coppola for her film Somewhere, a slow-paced peek at Hollywood ennui. Some members of the Italian press accused the US film-maker of unfairly favouring the Lost in Translation director, who is an ex-girlfriend. Tarantino's friend Alex de la Iglesia also won two prizes for his film Balada Triste de Trompeta and one of the director's mentors, Monte Hellman, was handed a lifetime achievement prize created by the jury. The Italian culture minister labelled Tarantino's reign "the expression of an elitist, relativist and snobbish culture" and suggested he pick the jury this year to ensure the part state-funded festival improved its selections.

Aronofsky Dispels "Black Swan" Portman Dance Double Controversy

Via Adam Markovitz at EW:

Responding to claims that "Black Swan" star Natalie Portman didn’t do the majority of her on-screen dancing in her Oscar-winning role, director Darren Aronofsky released the following statement through studio Fox Searchlight:

“Here is the reality. I had my editor count shots. There are 139 dance shots in the film. 111 are Natalie Portman untouched. 28 are her dance double Sarah Lane. If you do the math that’s 80% Natalie Portman. What about duration? The shots that feature the double are wide shots and rarely play for longer than one second. There are two complicated longer dance sequences that we used face replacement. Even so, if we were judging by time over 90% would be Natalie Portman...

More from Aronofsky after the cut...

Darren Aronofsky Exits "Wolverine"

Via Variety:

Darren Aronofsky has dropped out of "The Wolverine," the 20th Century Fox superhero tentpole that was aiming to begin shooting in Japan as early as this spring.

Aronofsky, nominated for a directing Oscar with "Black Swan," said he didn't want to be out of the country for more than a year.

"I was not comfortable being away from my family for that length of time," he said in a statement released by Fox. "I am sad that I won't be able to see the project through, as it is a terrific script and I was very much looking forward to working with my friend, Hugh Jackman, again."

Though there was no firm shooting schedule in place, Aronofsky's departure leaves 20th Century Fox scrambling to find a helmer for the superhero pic that was reportedly set to lens in the earthquake- and tsunami-ravaged country in the coming months.

One possible scenario would be for the re-emergence of David Slade, who was a contender to take the helm on "Wolverine," but lost out to Aronofsky. Slade was just announced as the director of Fox's "Daredevil" reboot, but could easily shift over.

"While we are of course disappointed that Darren can't do 'The Wolverine', we also understand and respect his reasons," Fox said in the statement. "Having done both 'The Wrestler' and 'Black Swan' with Darren, we know he is an extraordinary talent and we look forward to working with him on other projects in the future. Hugh Jackman and Fox both remain fully committed to making 'The Wolverine.' We will regroup and move forward aggressively."

Darren Aronofsky will receive the Filmmaker on the Edge Award!

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky will be honored at the Provincetown International Film Festival, where he is slated to receive the fest's 2011 Filmmaker on the Edge Award.

Actress Vera Farmiga will also be feted with the fest's Excellence in Acting Award.

"We are thrilled with these two award recipients. They each represent the spirit and artistic voice of what filmmaking is today," the festival's executive director Gabby Hanna said.

The festival, which takes place in and around Provincetown, Ma., and focuses on indie film, will run from June 15-19.

-Joey's Two Cents: Congrats to both of them!