Malick, who waited decades between directing "Days of Heaven" and "The Thin Red Line," is reportedly in talks to write and direct "The Tree of Life," which would mark his second project already this century.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the exact nature of "Life" is under wraps, but Mumbai-based Percept Picture Co. would be take a co-producing stake. Shooting would hypothetically begin in January and Colin Farrell is said to be circling at least a supporting part.
Malick directed Farrell in "The New World," which is currently in post-production. Originally set for a November release, the pre-colonial epic is now headed for limited release at the end of December and a wider release in early January. The New Line film is a revisionist take on the story of Pocahontas and John Smith.
Even with two versions -- a special edition and a director's cut -- arriving in stores last week, the Warner Home Video release finished a distant second on the preliminary national sales chart for the week ending August 7, losing out to Sony's romantic comedy "Guess Who."
The Bernie Mac- Ashton Kutcher vehicle was also the No. 1 rental, though its victory wasn't as sweet. According to Home Media Retailing market research estimates, "Guess Who" grossed $9.54 million in rental stores, just slightly better than "Alexander," which earned $9.22 million.
The growing clout of special DVD editions of classic movies was underscored with surprisingly strong sales by Sony's "Ghostbusters Gift Set" which entered the chart at No. 5, and Paramount's "The High and the Mighty," at No. 8.
Several TV-DVD collections also came on strong out of the gate, including Ventura's "The Cosby Show: Season 1" (No. 16) and Warner's fourth season of "The Dukes of Hazzard" (No. 18).
That new inspiration came the hard way -- from the lashing "Alexander" took from legions of critics and from the $150 million film's humiliation at the U.S. box office.
Director Stone took the opportunity to re-edit key scenes, lengthening here and shortening there. A pair of scenes from Alexander the Great's youth now appear later in the film, shaking up the third act and making the narrative less linear.
A "beautiful and so tender scene" between the king and his male lover hits the floor. "I can't tell you how many 'real guys' are turned off to this s---," Stone explains in a commentary.
"Alexander" II loses only eight minutes from the original three-hour running time, though, and the elements that inspired all that hooting and cackling remain: Colin Farrell's goofy blond locks, Alexander's Irish brogue, the odd casting of Angelina Jolie as his mother, Jolie's Natasha the cartoon spy accent, and so on.
Those drawn to the DVD by the promise of an improved and intensified film won't have an experience differing all that much from the one in theaters. But, as Stone has pointed out, they won't be subject to the herd mentality of a giggling cinema audience.
"Alexander" is no "Spartacus," but it's not "Showgirls" either. Expecting little -- and equipped with pause buttons -- many first-time viewers will wonder about all the animosity directed at this offbeat and mostly entertaining biopic -- probably best approached as an overgrown sword-and-sandal movie, a guilty pleasure.
"We operated in that Cecil B. DeMille-William Wyler-David Lean tradition," Stone says. "It's wonderful to have that (to follow)."
Warner Home Video Tuesday releases "Alexander" in two double-disc sets: Stone's new cut and the original theatrical. Both retail for $29.95. The two versions are not available in one package, unfortunately, and fans springing for both sets will be disappointed to find nearly identical extras. Images are widescreen (about 2.40:1) with brilliant colors and steely sharpness when it's called for. The 5.1 audio deploys the battle scenes with efficiency (no DTS). (A single-disc full-screen version of the director's cut goes for $27.95.)
Stone works solo on the director's cut commentary. He points out changes and offers brief explanations for making them. The goal, basically, was "to keep it moving." Much of Stone's talk is repeated on the theatrical DVD's commentary, which edits in observations from historical adviser Robin Lane Fox. Stone does a good job, but the commentary with Fox is stronger.
Fox, an Oxford academic, spent 30 years tracking Alexander the Great and is the author of a major biography. He devoted three years to Stone's film. Surprisingly, Fox seems delighted with some of the director's rewrites of the historical record. Some scenes are "pure imagination" while others are "absolutely spot on," he says cheerfully.
Here's Fox putting into perspective the arrival of Alexander's "sheep herder" troops in Babylon: "It's as if people from Sudan had suddenly overrun New York."
Stone has done his homework, as usual, and digs into historical detail such as the weaknesses of the Persian army and Alexander's drinking life. Comparisons of the film's Alexander and George Bush were merely "revisionist," he says. Of the chaotic and sometimes hard-to-follow battle scenes, Stone allows, "Some people get it and some people don't."
The director has almost nothing to say about the film's box office defeat or its ratty reputation. He offers no mea culpas. Of the much-questioned casting of Jolie as Alexander's snake-charmer mother, he says, "I never felt that problem (that Jolie and Farrell are the same age). She is really older in spirit than Colin."
Disc 2 features an hour-and-a-half documentary directed in ragged but effective style by Stone's son Sean. His total access resulted in an unusually candid portrait of a production team working through myriad problems in lands such as Morocco, Thailand and India.
Stone often shoots his father emerging from shadows, Kurtz-like -- whispering, mumbling, talking in circles as he ponders his film and his fortunes.
"Who can tell us exactly how things were (in the ancient world)," he intones. "We read the stories, pottery, fragments, bones, pictures . . . but we don't know."
The director seems surprised his epic was ever financed. "(The press) thought my career was finished. . . . Colin Farrell was regarded by many as a joke -- let's be honest." Funding ultimately came from about 20 sources, mostly foreign buyers.
Sean Stone's documentary makes the rounds of the major actors, but the tone is far from promotional. "I love being in drag," tough-guy Farrell says. "I can be in drag and my sexuality isn't questioned." How does the actor pick his roles? "I go for the cash."
Vangelis pretends to be scoring the film in a brief extra. The movie's frenzied teaser and trailer are included, both fast paced and action packed.
A judge issued a temporary restraining order on Tuesday, July 19, preventing Nicole Narain from selling, distributing or displaying the videotape that features her and Farrell in flagrante delicto, report news sources.
The order follows a lawsuit Farrell filed against the former Playboy playmate after discovering she was attempting to distribute the 15-minute sex tape they had agreed to keep private. He says Narain and a marketer for porn websites have been actively seeking to "commercially exploit" the tape showing the couple "in various acts of copulation."
The lawsuit claims that Farrell's career and public image would be irreparably damaged. He is seeking unspecified damages and a permanent injunction against distribution of the tape, and that all copies be returned to him.
The next court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 10.
The 31-year-old Narain, aka Miss January 2002, has had her share of experience in explicit videos, including "Playboy: Playmates in Bed." She also recently appeared in an episode of HBO's Hollywood insider comedy "Entourage."
The "Alexander" actor will star in the upcoming Terrence Malick film "The New World" and the Depression-era "Ask the Dust." He's currently filming the big-screen version of "Miami Vice" opposite Jamie Foxx.
The lawsuit filed Monday seeks monetary damages as well as a temporary restraining order and injunction prohibiting the sale or other use of the videotape.
Farrell, 29, accuses Nicole Narain of trying to distribute the tape through an intermediary. The two had an intimate relationship 2 1/2 years ago and both agreed that the 15-minute tape that shows the couple having sex would be jointly owned by them and would remain private, according to the suit.
Narain could not be reached for comment. A call to a telephone number listed for her showed the number had been disconnected.
A message left for Farrell's lawyer was not immediately returned Monday.
The lawsuit also accused the 31-year-old woman of working with the owner of an Internet pornography business and contacting the news media about the tape.
The lawsuit said the release of the videotape would irreparably harm Farrell's reputation and career.
Farrell, who has starred in S.W.A.T and Alexander, and is slated to appear in The New World and Miami Vice, has been named one of the sexiest men alive by People magazine.
He has a son with model Kim Bordenave.
A man who identified himself only as J.J. called PAGE SIX a few days ago for advice on selling what he says is an authentic, 14-minute sex tape, but admitted he didn't have model releases from either "Alexander" star Farrell or the Playboy Playmate who briefly dated him two years ago.
J.J. described the steamy tape in graphic detail, starting with a naked Nicole in her living room turning on some music, and ending with Farrell pointing the camera at her white cat in the corner of the room and saying, "Baby, you have the most beautiful [kitty]."
In between, Narain, who was Miss January in 2002, displays her pierced tongue as she looks up at the camera and winks. And Farrell, who had a shaved head for his role in "Daredevil," reciprocates, saying, "I could do this breakfast, lunch and dinner."
Narain, who has a tattoo on her backside, also goes through a couple of sexual positions described in the Kama Sutra, starting with "the missionary."
"The sellers are supposedly looking for a seven-figure upfront fee to hand over the tape for release by a distributor," defamer.com reported Wednesday. "Even if someone was willing to pony up the money . . . they couldn't release it without Farrell's permission."
Detailed calls to Farrell's publicist at PMK/HBH, Danica Smith, were not returned. And Narain couldn't be reached, although a Playboy spokesman shrugged, "We know she dated him."
Meanwhile, a source on the set of "Miami Vice" says Farrell is partying hard and packing on so many pounds that it will be tough for him to pull off any shirtless scenes.
His co-star, Jamie Foxx, doesn't have the clout he had on his other Michael Mann-directed blockbuster, "Collateral." Even after winning the Best Actor Oscar for "Ray," Foxx has been unable to "change his lines and make them more natural" as he did in "Collateral," an insider said.
The shoot is taking its toll on the fun-loving actor. When the shooting day is done, Foxx shuts himself off and heads to his trailer and/or hotel room. His passion for acting has been turned into "just a job," says our snoop.
On August 2, Warner Home Video is scheduled to release two versions of Stone's epic box office disappointment. The original cut will be available, as will what is described as a "Special Edition Director's Cut," which is eight minutes shorter.
Stone originally released "Alexander" with a 175 minute running time and despite a rumored budget of over $150 million, the film made less than $35 million domestic. In recent interviews, Stone has discussed the edited version which downplays references to Alexander's (Colin Farrell) relationship with Hephaistion (Jared Leto) in an effort to reach out to more mainstream viewers.
"For someone known as a fearless, uncompromising filmmaker, Stone has really compromised his own artistic integrity," says GLAAD Entertainment Media Director Damon Romine. "This is not a special edition director's cut, it's an abridgment designed to pander to the lowest common denominator."
Although a number of critics complained that the film's gay subplot was already marginalized and nearly negligible in the theatrical cut, Stone has attributed much of the film's failure to an inability to play in Middle America. GLAAD, unsurprisingly, thinks that Stone's cut is heading in the wrong direction. The organization, is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, goes so far as to imply that what would really make DVD buyers excited is more gay romance.
"Calling this DVD a 'director's cut' and wrapping it up in an attractive new package does a disservice to consumers who believe they are getting something more for their money, not less," Romine continues. "What could really boost the DVD's profile would be to further explore Alexander and Hephaistion's relationship, not edit it out."
"Granddad would never curse, so it's fitting that I should now be standing in front of you today," quipped Farrell at the Roman Catholic funeral mass of Jimmy Monaghan, 89, who died Thursday.
Farrell, delivering an oration to more than 100 mourners inside the Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in the Drimnagh district of Dublin, described his grandfather as the "most beautiful of men."
He read a poem he'd written, "in case the whole acting thing doesn't work out," in tribute to a man he called "the truest father, the greatest man, the one and only Gentleman Jim.' "
Farrell, 29, achieved critical attention in the 2000 Vietnam training-camp film Tigerland and has starred in Alexander, American Outlaws, S.W.A.T. and The Recruit.
Robert Cruise has sued former employer Michael J. Henderson, owner of the Henderson Attorney Service And Courier Service, claiming that he never received his $3,000 bonus for serving the Farrell in February.
In an earlier interview, Henderson had told Zap2it.com that Farrell had initially given them "the slip," after he exited the West Los Angeles production office of his upcoming film "Miami Vice" on Feb. 25. After a 20-minute pursuit through the streets of Beverly Hills, Farrell was stopped at an intersection, where Cruise served him.
Although Henderson confirms that he hired Cruise, he claims that the bonus only applied if the paparazzi were able to snap a picture of Farrell being served.
Farrell's suit involves Desarrae Bradford, a woman who claims that the Irish actor harassed and stalked her, causing her mental anguish. The actor's reps claim that he's never met Bradford and that she has a history of targeting celebrities, most notably Alec Baldwin, with whom she claims a relationship involving sadomasochistic sex.
Bradford hired Henderson in February after she attended an initial hearing in which the judge pointed out that Farrell hadn't been officially served.
The case involving Cruise and Henderson will be settled on the syndicated court show "Judge Mathis" on Thursday, April 28.
Farrell, who last starred in the epic flop "Alexander," will next star in Terrence Malick's "The New World." He recently signed on with Jamie Foxx for the big-screen adaptation of "Miami Vice."
Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx star, respectively, as Detectives Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs in the film being adapted from the hit NBC series. Mann, who executive-produced the TV show, is writing, directing and producing the feature.
The actress will play Isabella, the Chinese-Cuban wife of the leader of a transnational crime syndicate and Crockett's love interest.
"Vice" is set for a July 28, 2006, release.
Li, whose credits include "Raise the Red Lantern" and "Farewell My Concubine," appears in the upcoming films "2046," "Eros" and "Memoirs of a Geisha."
The Hollywood bad boy had just left the West Los Angeles production office of his upcoming film "Miami Vice" and was pursued for 20 minutes through the streets of Beverly Hills where he was finally served at an intersection at 4:26 p.m., Michael J. Henderson, owner of the Henderson Attorney Service And Courier Service tells Zap2it.com by phone.
Henderson's process server exited his vehicle and approached Farrell's car, where the actor was a passenger in the back seat. When the server told him, "Colin James Farrell, you have been served," the actor good-naturedly replied, "Thank you. You got me."
Henderson says the incident was a near miss since the actor initially "gave us the slip." Farrell, who's an old hand at eluding his fans and the media, had first stepped out of the "Miami Vice" office off of Santa Monica Blvd. dressed in his usual casual jeans attire and then "walk[ed] backwards to his car." He had three other vehicles block off part of the parking area, allowing him to jump into his car with another driver at the wheel.
After a few aborted attempts at reaching the actor, Henderson finally instructed the process server to move the vehicle in front of Farrell's at a stop, get out and serve Farrell. Reporters with video cameras were on hand to capture the entire process.
Henderson, who is based out of Ventura, Calif., says that he's had numerous calls for his services after the high-profile incident, but would not divulge the names of any celebrities involved. He filed the suit at the Santa Monica courthouse on Monday, Feb. 28.
The suit involves Desarrae Bradford, a woman who claims that Farrell harassed and stalked her, causing her mental anguish. Bradford had appeared at the Santa Monica courthouse on Wednesday, Feb. 16, to present her claims, only to be informed that Farrell hadn't been officially served yet. The judge told her she had one month to serve the actor before the case was tossed out.
Farrell's reps claim that he's never met Bradford, who has also claimed that she and actor Alec Baldwin had a relationship involving sadomasochistic sex and even wrote a book about the alleged affair.
Farrell, who last starred in the epic flop "Alexander," will next star in Terrence Malick's "The New World." He recently signed on with Jamie Foxx for the big-screen adaptation of "Miami Vice."
When Glamour magazine hosted its "Power Women Under 40" party at the Chateau Marmont Thursday night, the actor, drawn in by a pretty staffer at the door, first asked if there were any cute girls inside, then asked why the mag was hosting the event.
When told it was to honor women in Hollywood, Farrell exclaimed, "Well, it's about f---ing time someone did!"
But instead of going in to join the likes of Mischa Barton and Robert Downey Jr. (with producer fiancee Susan Levin), he headed off to meet fellow Irishman, director Jim Sheridan, for what he said would be a dinner of "meat and taters."
At the Santa Monica courthouse on Wednesday, Feb. 16, Desarrae Bradford was brought up short when the judge informed her that the actor had to be served the lawsuit before the case could commence, according to Celebrity Justice.
"What do you mean proper service? Do you mean actually deliver him personally?" asked Bradford. "I was advised by the people that -- in the window in small claims -- that, being that he's a resident with another country ... he has an agency with Creative Artists, that it would be proper to serve his agent Josh Lieberman."
The judge told her that was inadequate, thwarting Bradford's desire to present her claims in court. She's been given one month to properly serve Farrell before her case is tossed out.
In the suit Bradford filed in September, she claims that Farrell harassed and stalked her, causing her mental anguish. His reps say he's never even met her.
In the past, Bradford has also claimed that she and actor Alec Baldwin had a relationship involving sadomasochistic sex and even wrote a book about the alleged affair. Baldwin's camp states that her claims are entirely fabricated.
Farrell, who last starred in the epic flop "Alexander," will next star in Terrence Malick's "The New World." He recently signed on with Jamie Foxx for the big-screen adaptation of "Miami Vice."
Shooting is scheduled to begin this spring, with the movie tentatively due in theaters July 28, 2006.
Other upcoming movie updates of TV shows include Cedric the Entertainer's "The Honeymooners," Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell's "Bewitched" and "The Dukes of Hazzard," with Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott, Jessica Simpson and Burt Reynolds.
Foxx, who co-starred with Tom Cruise in Mann's hitman thriller "Collateral" last summer, will play Detective Ricardo Tubbs, a role originated for TV by Philip Michael Thomas. Farrell is playing Detective Sonny Crockett, the part created by Don Johnson.
Universal Studios, which is releasing the movie, recently released a DVD set with the first season of "Miami Vice."
Coming off a breakout year, Foxx is the favorite to win the best-actor prize at the Academy Awards on Feb. 27 for his spot-on emulation of Ray Charles in "Ray." He also earned a supporting-actor Oscar nomination for "Collateral."
Foxx's next film is "Jarhead," a Persian Gulf War drama due out this fall from director Sam Mendes ("American Beauty").
Farrell is coming off the epic flop "Alexander." He next stars in another historical saga, "The New World," a tale of John Smith, Pocahontas and the conflict between Indians and 17th century settlers. Terrence Malick ("The Thin Red Line") is directing the film, due out in fall.
Nominations for the 25th annual Razzies, which honor the worst films of the year, were announced on Monday with "Catwoman," the Halle Berry box office bomb, besting "Alexander," Oliver Stone's much maligned tale of the bleached blond conqueror, by seven nominations to six.
In addition, the president made the list for worst actor for his film clip appearances in "Fahrenheit 9/11," a movie he might well consider the worst of the year. Also nominated for their appearances in the politically-charged film about the Iraq war were Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
The Razzies are a traditional spoof award made at Oscar time by the non-profit Golden Raspberry Award Foundation. The group's prizes are given out on Feb. 26, the day before the Oscars. Never has one of its films gone on to win an Oscar.
"Catwoman" and "Alexander" were nominated for Worst Picture, a category which also drew "SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2," Ben Affleck's career-eroding "Surviving Christmas," and "White Chicks," the Wayans brothers dress-up, gender-bending comedy that left critics cold.
Bush was nominated for worst actor along with Affleck for "Surviving Christmas" and "Jersey Girl," Vin Diesel for "Chronicles of Riddick," Colin Farrell for "Alexander." Ben Stiller was nominated for "Along Came Polly," "Anchorman," "Dodgeball," "Envy" and "Starsky & Hutch."
Halle Berry was nominated for worst actress for "Catwoman," Hilary Duff for "Cinderella Story" and "Raise Your Voice," Angelina Jolie for "Alexander" and "Taking Lives," Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen for "New York Minute" and Shawn and Marlon Wayans in their incarnation as the Wayans sisters in "White Chicks."
The nominations for worst screen couple include: Ben Affleck and either Jennifer Lopez or Liv Tyler in "Jersey Girl," Halle Berry and either Benjamin Bratt or Sharon Stone in "Catwoman, George W. Bush and either Rice or his pet goat in "Fahrenheit 9/11," the Olsen twins in "New York Minute," the Wayans Brothers, in or out of drag, in "White Chicks."
Worst supporting actress were Carmen Electra for "Starsky & Hutch," Jennifer Lopez for "Jersey Girl," Rice for "Fahrenheit 9/11," Britney Spears for her cameo role in that same movie and Sharon Stone for "Catwoman."
Val Kilmer was nominated for worst supporting actor for "Alexander." Also nominated were California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for "Around The World in 80 Days," Rumsfeld for "Fahrenheit 9/11," Jon Voight for SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2" and Lambert Wilson for "Catwoman."
"Catwoman" led with seven nominations to six for Alexander, five for "Fahrenheit 9/11," five "White Chicks," and four for "SuperBabies."
"Alexander" and "Home" join "Kinsey," starring Liam Neeson,the Charlize Theron Oscar-winner "Monster," and the high-school satire satire "Saved!" as the nominees in the category of wide-release films.
In the limited-release category, the nominees are the Spanish-language "Bad Education," "Bear Cub," "Brother to Brother," "Blue Gate Crossing" and "The Mudge Boy."
The GLAAD Media awards will be handed out March 28 in New York, April 30 in Los Angeles and June 11 in San Francisco. Highlights will air on MTV Networks' new gay-themed cable channel Logo.
On the TV side, best drama series nominees are: HBO's "Six Feet Under" and "The Wire," Showtime's "The L Word" and "Queer as Folk," and UPN's freshman series "Kevin Hill." NBC's "Will & Grace" was the lone nominee for outstanding comedy series.
For best reality program, nominees are the CBS apir of "Big Brother 5" and "Survivor: Vanuatu," Showtime's "American Candidate," Bravo's "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and MTV's "The Real World: Philadelphia."
The television movie division includes CBS' "Blackwater Lightship" and Showtime's "Jack."
GLAAD also will present a Special Recognition Award to Comedy Central's "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" for its "smart, incisive, devastatingly funny coverage of gay and lesbian civil rights issues, and its hilarious skewering of the religious right's anti-gay agenda."
At the same time, major studios are beginning to open "Oscar Alley" for Academy Award contenders. And as the year-end big entries start to peter out, bookings are being found for a batch of other new offerings awaiting offshore exposure.
"Closer," the surprise winner of two Golden Globes Sunday, grabbed the limelight in the United Kingdom with a bow of $3 million (including previews). It also opened at No. 1 in Germany, German-speaking Switzerland, Austria and Israel. But Mexico greeted the Mike Nichols-directed film at No. 5. The weekend gross came to $6.9 million from eight countries.
"Aviator," which nabbed Globes for best drama and actor Sunday as well as a leading 14 British Film Academy nominations Monday, landed at No. 2 in Spain, with $2.2 million. The Martin Scorsese-directed film held strong at No. 4 in the U.K. where it has earned $5.8 million to date.
"Sideways," a Golden Globe winner for best comedy film, kicked off in Greece with $137,000. Other new openings over the weekend saw the Japanese hit "Howl's Moving Castle" take the No. 1 spot in France with $2.1 million; the French hit "A Very Long Engagement" debuted successfully in Holland and Norway to raise the international total to an estimated $39 million; and "Elektra" teed off in Australia with $1.3 million.
"Alexander" continued to make up for its domestic disaster, hacking its way to the top with an estimated $14.5 million weekend from 51 territories. The international total rose to $88 million, compared with its pallid $34 million domestic take. The film ranked No. 1 in Italy ($3.9 million) and Brazil ($906,900).
"Ocean's Twelve's" tireless swim brought in an estimated $9.6 million from 55 countries, hoisting the total to $152.2 million, with the United Kingdom and Japan still to come.
"The Incredibles"' incredible overseas journey hauled in $9.2 million from 46 markets to lift its total to a grand $334.8 million.
"National Treasure" went up to $119 million as it dug up another $8.9 million from 36 countries after No. 1 openings in Greece and Turkey.
The story of Alexander the Great, which stars Irish actor Colin Farrell in the lead role, has stirred controversy for its matter-of-fact take on the youthful Macedonian warrior's lusty affairs with both men and women.
Greek lawyers even tried to have the film banned for depicting Alexander -- a national hero in Greece -- as a bisexual.
The controversy did little for its box office takings.
Stone's three-hour dream project cost about $150 million (79.4 million pounds) to make, but has recouped only a fraction of that since its North American release last year.
"The gays lambasted me for not making Alexander openly homosexual and in the Bible belt, pastors were up in the pulpit saying that to watch this film was to be tempted by Satan," Stone told the Telegraph newspaper in a recent interview.
Starring alongside Farrell are Jared Leto as Alexander's boyhood friend, Rosario Dawson as his sex-starved wife, Angelina Jolie as his nagging mother and Val Kilmer as his abusive father.
Stone and many of the leading cast members are expected to attend the Leicester Square premiere. "Alexander" opens on wide release across Britain on Thursday.
The 28-year-old Irish bad boy is reportedly keeping company with teen queen Lindsay Lohan, whom the "That '70s Show" actor recently dumped. Farrell and Lohan began spending time together last week in rehearsals for the episode of "Saturday Night Live" on Dec. 11 that Farrell hosted.
In the opening monologue, the "Alexander" star gives tips to the "SNL" cast regulars on how to pick up women. After their many failed attempts to woo Lohan, who is planted in the audience, Farrell merely utters her name and she replies, "I'll be in your dressing room."
Apparently, the pair took their flirting beyond the show and to Farrell's room at the Plaza Hotel on Saturday after clubbing till 7 a.m. The day before they were also spotted locking lips after partying at the Marquee club.
It's not the first time that attraction has flared between the two actors. The pair reportedly met in March, when Lohan gave Farrell her phone number. Upon learning that she was only 17 at the time, he declined, saying, "Thanks, maybe in a year or so."
Lohan turned 18 in July, when she and Valderrama made their dating relationship public.
Next up for the actress is "Herbie," which will be released in June and filming the "Untitled Lindsay Lohan Lucky Project" opposite "The Princess Diaries 2's" Chris Pine. She also recently released her debut album "Speak."
Farrell currently stars as the legendary ruler of Macedonia in "Alexander," which couldn't conquer the box office. The Oliver Stone film has only earned about $33.8 million, just little over a fifth of the estimated cost of production. His upcoming projects include Terrence Malick's "The New World" and the big-screen adaptation of "Miami Vice."
The Irish actor says he would agree to do another film with Stone, without even reading the script first.
Stone's historical epic about Alexander the Great had a so-so debut at No. 6, and raked in an estimated $13.4 million at the box office over the weekend.
As for his own success, Farrell says it's basically a fluke. He told AP Radio that he took an acting workshop on the urging of his brother and landed some parts.
Farrell has been rumored to be Pierce Brosnan's choice to replace him as James Bond. Farrell said doesn't have a "major master plan" and he doesn't consider himself to be ambitious.
"I looked in the mirror every morning saying, 'I'm too pretty, the golden boy!' " he coos. He's kidding.
In his role as one of world history's most famous world conquerors, Farrell plays "Alexander" as bisexual, having explicit and open feelings for his battle commander Hephaistion played by Jared Leto, and his wife, played by Rosario Dawson. It turns out that this part of the story by director Oliver Stone has become the most controversial part of the film, erupting in threats of lawsuits from Greece.
In interviews with Zap2it.com Stone, the cast and author and historian Robin Lane Fox discussed the bisexual nature of the world leader.
"There is ample evidence that Alexander was deeply disturbed when Hepahiston was killed in battle, and he followed him eight months after," says Fox. Alexander had many relationships with women, and his soldiers as well.
"The word homosexuality did not exist, it was not thought of like that," explains Stone. "I suppose that you could say that it was more of a polymorphous sexuality. I suppose the differentiations that modern society, you know, politically correct and feminism and gender, male and female. Alexander was an explorer in the deepest sense of the word. He went far out."
Stone adds, "In the Greek sense of the word, as male and female could be unified so was the possibility of man and god. Man could be a god. These things are not so foreign once you accept the conditions of the time. So Alexander explored the world and he wanted to push the borders of the world and sexuality is just a part of it."
Angelina Jolie, who plays Alexander's mother and who's openly bisexual herself, says, "Isn't it strange that we haven't evolved that much." It was easier to be bisexual in that era, and she says if her child was in fact bi, "I'd be excited about him being confident about what he was and who he was and what he wanted to be, that's great."
Leto, known for "Prefontaine" and "Requiem for a Dream," says he studied about the days that older men took young lads under their wings for protection, and sex, and on the battlefield they protected each other as well.
"Our characters had children, they were men," Leto says. "They had no pressures sexually, and there was a true love for my character with Colin's, it's a brotherhood and partnership. These guys lived together and died together and loved."
Dawson, known for her roles in "Kids" and "Men in Black 2," says kissing Farrell "was terrible." She's giggling, though, and explains, "Everyone there lived life like it was their last day, because it very well could be. Every drink could be poisoned."
Farrell, who's known for his more rakish street roles, says, "I'm more into conquering nightclubs than the world." He says he hasn't spent more time for a role than this, and "I was in the best physical shape I've ever been in when I started, and then that slowly degenerated through the making of the film, I couldn't keep it up, there weren't enough hours in the day."
Farrell says, "He was just a human being, but sometimes he was lorded as a son of a god, and I think he always realized that he was a mortal man. I think that was something that maybe pissed him off a little bit sometimes."
The toughest parts of his role was when Alexander breaks down in tears. "If you're brave and bold, sometimes honesty takes one being brave to be honest, it takes a certain boldness of spirit to be honest, to live in this world where honesty is at times undervalued commodity," the actor says.
And, Stone says he chose Farrell because simply, "He was the man. He's destined to play Alexander. It just felt right. He was Irish, beautiful, determined, a scrapper, a winner."
Has he read the reviews? Yes. "We're getting hammered," he said. "We're getting it ... left, right and centre."
Farrell has seen the finished film. "I love it. I'm very proud of it. I even take myself out of that, which is hard because obviously I'm playing Alexander but I'm very proud of it. And I understand it on a very deep level - the story that we were trying to tell. And I've been there from Day One."
But what about those scathing reviews?
"America was built on the idea of freedom of speech and that's a wonderful thing. (But) I think some of the critics are being very hard. I think a lot of people have a gripe with Oliver. I think he's a very easy target. And I think a lot of people go in with daggers in their pockets. And that's when it becomes a bit of a shame."
Farrell says the critics should take some of their own advice.
"I've read critics who are putting little moments of comedy into their writing and I've read some things already that are very smart and critical of it and, as I said, it's all left open to people's individual opinion, but I've read some critiques that are much more self indulgent than Oliver's film making style has ever been."
Farrell's trying something lighter now.
"I'm doing Miami Vice with Michael Mann," he said.
Mann was a writer on the '80s TV series. Jamie Foxx plays Det. Ricardo Tubbs. Farrell will play Sonny Crockett, the role Don Johnson made famous.
"Yeah man I'll have a laugh doin' it. It'll be something different, something new."
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With the big-budget movie debuting just weeks after the presidential election, Americans still fiercely divided about President Bush (news - web sites) and his policies, and U.S. forces locked in bloody conflict in Iraq (news - web sites) (one of Alexander's stomping grounds), Stone's "Alexander" almost can't help but seem like a political allegory.
Both Alexander and President Bush are the most powerful leaders of their day, raised in the shadow of dynamic fathers who also wielded worldwide influence, and defined by an ambitious and ongoing war in a foreign land that is historically difficult to occupy. Both men spent years pursuing a high-profile enemy leader who fled into the hills of the Middle East.
"The film was never made for the purposes of a correlation or to say anything about today's present state," said Colin Farrell, who stars in the title role. "People say history repeats itself, well it does in different ways, shapes and forms. This was kind of a freaky coincidence that our story takes place exactly where all the madness we're all talking about takes place now."
"Alexander" can be viewed either as a support for or an argument against the current administration � and the interpretation could vary from Blue State voter to Red State voter.
"I think it depends on what your political slant is and what you want to do.... (Stone) made a film that is very open-minded, laying things out there that are both good and bad," said Angelina Jolie, who co-stars as Alexander's mother, Olympias.
Jolie, an active follower of foreign affairs as a U.N. goodwill ambassador, said she's happy "if (the movie) raises questions and gets people talking and gets people looking at how we approach entering other cultures, what we do against them, what we do when we don't understand them."
Up for debate is this: Has Bush followed in the footsteps or missteps of Alexander?
Stone acknowledged the coincidences, but since he started developing the project in 1989 he said it's obvious he didn't have President Bush in mind as a point of reference.
According to Farrell, the filmmaker, who previously stirred political emotions with "Platoon," "JFK," "Nixon" and "Born on the Fourth of July," is "always intrigued by greatness, by people who make a difference, people who left their mark on the world, people who have something to say about how life is lived and how times are either a-changing or not a-changing."
Alexander has intrigued Stone since boyhood.
"He's a dashing-warrior king who had a vision of compassion, generosity of spirit and peace," Stone said. "He was not a needless killer, he was not a butcher. At times he did massacre, but these were hard times. He did so with a purpose, with a reason. He did not have the Genghis Khan or Attila the Hun mentality. He was a builder, and in his wake he left a Hellenic empire. There was a boom in the Mediterranean, and Iran, there was a sense of growth in the world, a spurt of learning, exemplified by the library at Alexandria," a cultural wonder of the ancient world.
Although he didn't intend "Alexander" as political commentary, even Stone agrees that people will see parallels.
"I started this thing before all this nightmare came down, this morass," Stone said of the Iraq war. "It's ironic, and I think there is a coincidence that's far beyond my understanding, but I would certainly not limit this to the current situation. This is an older situation, East vs. West. This is pre-Muslim, and there was always a conflict between Persian and Greek.
"Alexander was beautiful because he saw beyond that conflict into a synthesis," Stone added. "I'm not so sure our present administration does. It's great that they say, `Democracy, blah, blah, blah,' but you have to modify democracy to the local customs."
Even though the world has changed dozens of times over since Alexander's days � which predated Jesus Christ and Mohammed � lessons in ancient history remain for modern people.
"And what is the lesson?" Stone asked. "Alexander brought the Hellenic way which is, let's say, more freedom for the individual. He abided by the customs of, unlike our administration, of leaving the (opposing) armies intact and used the armies. He always needed more men."
After Saddam Hussein was toppled, the United States disbanded the Iraqi army instead of incorporating those not loyal to Saddam as a police force, a move criticized as making it more difficult to fight anti-U.S. guerrillas.
"(Alexander) was always inclusive, and we were exactly the opposite when we went into Iraq. We were totally exclusive. ... You could argue the policy was malformed from the beginning, misintended."
Stone said he considers that an error in strategy and has no interest in bashing the president.
"I would not put Bush down. We have to move on," Stone said. "The election happened, and there's no point in crying over it. It's a fresh slate for me, personally. I look at him fresh. People change. ...
"Often second-term presidents do become better presidents. They're a little bit wiser and they don't have to run so hard to get elected. So things might change. You hope for that."
If Bush manages to transform Iraq and Afghanistan (news - web sites) into secure, democratic states; if he can negotiate with Iran to disband its nuclear weapons program and calm Islamic radicalism; if he continues to work peacefully with Russia, which has its own historic interests in the region ... Stone says the U.S. president may earn the legacy of the ancient hero of "Alexander."
"It's a grand scheme," Stone said. "If he pulled it off ... in 20 years, maybe he would be considered `Bush the Great.'"
Oliver Stone views his larger-than-life protagonist as if he were a rock star grown addicted to glory as he pushes himself and his band on a road tour that threatens to never end. So too does Stone push his film toward cinematic glory -- ever onward to more battles, more melodrama and greater and greater visual dazzle for three wearying hours.
The film, which loses its compass very early, wallows in excess: Long, weighty speeches flow from actors, images get repeated frequently, and Vangelis' music hammers away seemingly without pause. But the film never bores. Alexander's resounding defeat of the Persian army in billowing yellow dust at the Battle of Gaugamela is exciting filmmaking. Babylon with its legendary Hanging Gardens lives up to its reputation as one of the wonders of the ancient world. The melodrama is often juicy -- and often for the wrong reasons.
Ultimately, the film may perform well internationally, but this "Alexander" isn't likely to conquer the North American market. The audience skews heavily male, both gay and straight, and production values are awesome. Yet the storytelling is so ham-fisted as to induce titters. A plethora of absurd accents from a cast spouting stiff dialogue further alienates the viewer.
At his death before age 33, Alexander (356-323 B.C.) had traveled 22,000 miles and put together through military victories -- he never lost a battle -- an empire well over 2 million square miles that stretched from today's Greece and Turkey to Egypt and parts of India. Clearly, any movie has to hopscotch through time even to scratch the surface of such a life. Stone chooses to dwell on scenes that emphasize the making of a conqueror, his intense relationship with his boyhood friend Hephaistion, the exoticism of the lands conquered and his unalterable belief that his road to glory parallels that of his idol, the legendary Greek warrior Achilles.
Stone, who wrote the script with Christopher Kyle and Laeta Kalogridis, tells the story through the aging eyes of Alexander confident Ptolemy (a grizzled Anthony Hopkins in flowing white tunic), who dictates his memoirs in the airy Mediterranean comforts of the Alexandria Library. Opening scenes establish our hero: In her bed, surrounded by her ubiquitous snakes, Alex's mom Olympias (Angelina Jolie) teaches her son to grasp a snake without hesitation. This tender scene gets interrupted by an attempted rape of Olympias by the boy's drunken and uncouth father, King Philip of Macedonia (a burly and unkempt Val Kilmer), the vulgarian who sired a well-mannered son.
Wrestling matches among young boys introduce Alexander's soulmate, Hephaistion. A lesson from Aristotle (Christopher Plummer) lets the learned man outline the route Alexander will take to conquer his empire and to teach him the virtues of manly love.
Dad offers tidbits of wisdom: "Women are more dangerous than men" and "A king must know he has to hurt those he loves." Mom fills him with malicious gossip about Dad. Alex and Hephaistion grasp one another in loving friendship. Then finally they are grown men in the persons of Farrell and Jared Leto. Stone outfits Farrell with Brad Pitt blond hair along with costumes and makeup that so feminize the warrior he becomes Alexander the Dandy. Meanwhile, Leto must lurk around every corner as if he were Alexander's shadow.
Now the film rushes forward in earnest, galloping from speeches or battle scene to more speeches. There is only one, very odd, lapse in chronology. Stone bypasses Philip's death and Alexander's seizure of the crown so that he may flash back to the sequence late in the film, where he evidently feels it will have greater impact. It doesn't.
In struggling to make sense of Alexander's years spent in Asia, when he should have been consolidating and governing his empire, Stone postulates that Alexander is running away from Mommy as much as he is searching for young boys. And Mommy, draped in snakes, dictates Dear Son letters from her palace bed chambers, offering advice he never heeds.
The love of Alexander's life is Hephaistion, but he does dally with male dancers who dress as women. His puzzling marriage of Roxane (the dazzling Rosario Dawson), a dance girl encountered on the frontier (present-day Afghanistan), is seen as a ploy to unify the empire as much as it is to beget a male heir.
This includes one of the strangest wedding nights in movie history, where foreplay consists of a rape attempt by Alexander, mutual pummeling and a knife to Alexander's throat. Scenes such as this constantly go over the top yet never shed any revelatory light. Similarly, battles are spectacular, but a viewer gets lost in the carnage.
Then there is the dialogue. One can shrug off anachronistic British-isms such as "stiff old sod." But howlers predominate, the worst coming from Olympias after she has poisoned her son's mind, manipulated his life and quite possibly murdered his father. "What have I done to make you hate me so?" she laments.
Technically, this production has exciting battles, eye-catching sets and brilliant colorful costumes. But the elements fight each other for attention rather than coming together in a unified whole. Since the movie lacks a vision of what Alexander was really about as a man and a figure in history, it falls back all too frequently on movie spectacle.
Warner Bros. and Intermedia Films present a Moritz Borman production.
Cast: Alexander: Colin Farrell; Hephaistion: Jared Leto; Olympias: Angelina Jolie; Philip: Val Kilmer; Ptolemy: Anthony Hopkins; Roxane: Rosario Dawson; Aristotle: Christopher Plummer; Cleitus: Gary Stretch.
Director: Oliver Stone; Screenwriters: Oliver Stone, Christopher Kyle, Laeta Kalogridis; Producers: Thomas Schuhly, Jon Kilik, Iain Smith, Moritz Borman; Executive producers: Paul Rassam, Matthias Deyle; Director of photography: Rodrigo Prieto; Production designer: Jan Roelfs; Music: Vangelis; Costumes: Jenny Beavan; Editors: Tom Nordberg, Yann Herve, Alex Marquez.
One woman yelled "You're hot!" into a megaphone, as another waved a sign that read, "Colin - kiss me. It's my 18th birthday." Farrell dashed across Hollywood Boulevard to greet the birthday girl but didn't quite grant her wish.
"I cheated," he admitted on the red carpet. "I just gave her a little squeeze." Asked what it takes to get him to pucker up, the Irish lad sighed, "Oh, I'm a pretty cheap drunk, just a couple of beers."
Along with an army of his closest Irish blokes, Farrell was joined on the carpet by his on-screen mother (Angelina Jolie), father (Val Kilmer), wife (Rosario Dawson) and lover (Jared Leto).
Jolie, 29, said playing mother to 28-year-old Farrell only strengthened her appreciation for her real-life son, Maddox. Comparing her "boys," Jolie praised Maddox as the more disciplined of the two.
"Mad listens to me," Jolie said, laughing. She said she's grateful she didn't have to raise a son in 356 B.C. like her ruthless character, Olympias. "If I lived during that time, I probably would be similar to her. Fortunately, I live in a time where I don't have to make my son hard to survive."
The actress, dressed in black Versace, refuted rumors that she and her father, Jon Voight, recently reconciled. Jolie's brother, James Haven, turned up with longtime girlfriend Rachael Anderson.
Over the past year, magazines have romantically linked both Kilmer and now Leto to 19-year-old beauty Scarlett Johansson. But Kilmer insists he and Johansson are merely close pals. "I'm just a fan of hers," said Kilmer. "I started seeing her around during award season and invited her to my house."
Johansson was Kilmer's special guest at the September opening of The Ten Commandments, a new stage musical starring Kilmer as a singing Moses, now playing at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. When the musical opened, Kilmer got heat from critics for his reliance on strategically placed teleprompters to help him remember lines. But movie premiere guest Luba Mason, who plays Kilmer's mom in the musical, reports, "There are no more teleprompters as of a month ago. ... He needed them for support because he hadn't done a theater piece in a really long time."
As for Leto's current relationship with Johansson, the actor was less forthcoming. Although he accompanied Johansson to a charity art opening she hosted Saturday, Leto would only admit that "someone recommended that I go and check it out."
It is Leto's character, Hephaistion, who is established as the true love of Alexander's life. But the only on-screen sex is supplied by Dawson, who stood out on the red carpet with her colorful gown designed by Michon Schur. Said Dawson: "I have all these really dark heavy veils in the movie, so tonight I thought I'd try to be feminine."
So it was fitting that the Chinese Theatre, host to more openings than anyone could possibly imagine, was the setting Tuesday night for the world premiere of "Alexander," with co-stars Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie and Val Kilmer turning out to support the film.
Farrell � he of the jeans, T-shirt and cigarette-butt arrivals-line chic � showed up in formal attire, prompting one observer to note that Farrell looked so good, he should consider sleeping in his perfectly tailored black tuxedo jacket with matching tie.
"Alexander" tells the story of Alexander the Great, who conquered much of the known world by the age of 25.
"It's just a very large story told on a very large canvas about many different things," said Farrell, who plays Alexander.
The 28-year-old actor wasn't much more forthcoming when discussing the essence of the title character.
"I don't know," Farrell explained. "He was everything. He was a contradiction in terms. You know, he was soft, he was strong, he was gentle, he was ferocious, he was a complete contradiction as a man."
Jolie, just a year older than Farrell, plays Alexander's mother, Olympias.
"I think that you meet her when Alexander's young, so you grow with her a bit," said Jolie, dressed in Versace for the premiere.
"But I think, also, we're both actors and we took it really seriously, and I focused on everything about me that's seen death and feels old and is a mom and feels drained and disappointed by life. And he focused on everything that's hopeful and young about him. And, somehow, we met in the middle."
The film marked a reunion of Stone and Val Kilmer, who starred in Stone's "The Doors," about the life of Jim Morrison.
"I just love him," gushed Kilmer. "We had a great time working together 10 years ago � it's 10 years already � in `The Doors.' And this was actually more fun to make for me because I didn't have the pressure of playing the lead and all those responsibilities, which are awesome."
Farrell said shooting the movie was difficult, both physically and emotionally.
"All the boys involved put themselves on the line, and it was a blast."
He added: "It doesn't really get much bigger � whether it's dramatically or budget-wise or the epic nature."
"Alexander" opens in theaters nationwide on Nov. 24.
Brosnan, 51, who has played Bond in the last four 007 films, says Farrell would be his ideal successor.
"I'll give it to Colin Farrell. He'll eat the head off them all," Brosnan said following a recent entertainment awards ceremony in Dublin, Ireland.
But Farrell, saying that everyone keeps asking him about Brosnan's endorsement, says, "I never heard a thing. He probably wants 10 percent!"
While he nixed Bond, the 28-year-old actor confirmed that he's considering stepping into the role of police Detective Sonny Crockett for a movie version of the '80s TV drama "Miami Vice."
Farrell would play the part originated by Don Johnson. Jamie Foxx is negotiating to co-star as his Crockett's partner, Ricardo Tubbs, played by Philip Michael Thomas in the TV series.
Michael Mann, the director of "Collateral," "Heat" and "The Insider" and the executive producer of the "Miami Vice" TV series, is developing the story, which Farrell said wouldn't go the comedy route, like the films inspired by "Dragnet" and "Starsky & Hutch."
It's not a comedy at all. It's cool," said Farrell in an interview. "Michael Mann wrote it and when he writes it's good and it goes pretty deep."
Farrell said he wasn't sure whether his Crockett would have the three-day growth of beard that Johnson turned into an '80s fashion statement, but he would definitely have an updated wardrobe.
"I don't think I'll be wearing a silver shiny suit," he said.
In an interview with Reuters on Sunday to discuss his soon to be released film "Alexander," Farrell, 28, was asked about a suggestion by the outgoing James Bond, Pierce Brosnan, last week that he get the job because "he'll eat the head off them all."
Farrell feigned outrage at the thought of becoming the sixth James Bond in the series, joking he was shocked by Brosnan's suggestion and if he got the job, he just might employ an Irish accent to confuse fans of the suave British agent.
"The idea of me playing James Bond got into the press, but it is not true. I would not like to do it ... they should find someone the audience has no history with,' Farrell said.
Farrell stars in the upcoming Oliver Stone film "Alexander," which is slated to opened in late November. It was a role that had plenty of action for him as he broke an ankle and a wrist while filming battle scenes on location in Thailand.
Finding a successor to Brosnan as agent 007, the character who has sold nearly $4 billion in tickets since "Dr. No" hit the screens 42 years ago, has been the subject of intense speculation for months.
Brosnan fulfilled his four-film contract with "Die Another Day" in 2002. The next film is not slated to come out until 2006. Others names mentioned as possibilities to put on Bond's trademark tuxedo have been Hugh Jackman and Jude Law.
The Irish-born actor and Jamie Foxx are in talks to star in the big-screen adaptation of the '80s cop drama "Miami Vice," report news sources.
The original series, which ran from 1984 to 1989, centers on two cops who took on Florida's drug world and looked good doing it. Farrell will play Det. James "Sonny" Crockett, a part made famous by Don Johnson, and Foxx will star as Det. Ricardo Tubbs, who was originally portrayed by Philip Michael Thomas.
The show's creator, Anthony Yarkovich, will executive produce. The show's executive producer Michael Mann, however, is in talks to pen, produce, and helm the feature film.
Farrell, 28, last appeared in "A Home at the End of the World," "Intermission" and "S.W.A.T." "Alexander," which also stars Angelina Jolie and Val Kilmer, will open nationwide on Wednesday, Nov. 24.
Foxx, 36, has recently enjoyed success playing opposite Tom Cruise in the thriller "Collateral." He next stars as the late musician Ray Charles in "Ray," which is scheduled for release on Friday, Oct. 29.
The 10th year was dazzling with Russell Crowe, Ren�e Zellweger, Charlize Theron, Jude Law, Hugh Jackman, Bette Midler, Tom Cruise, Barbra Streisand and others. (Babs brought the show its eighth consecutive Emmy nomination.) Now the 11th season is shaping up with hot, hot, hot names � beginning Sept. 27 � Natalie Portman, Mark Wahlberg, Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell, Salma Hayek, Cameron Diaz, Owen Wilson � and ta-da � Robert Redford.
The film, starring Colin Farrell as the conqueror Alexander the Great, had been set to debut on Nov. 5 against another major release, the computer-animated "The Incredibles." "Alexander" will now debut Nov. 24.
"We think that moving 'Alexander' to November 24th positions it better for Academy consideration," Warner Bros. president of domestic film distribution Dan Fellman said in a statement.
The date appears to be less competitive for box office dollars, too, as the debut of Pixar Animation Studios Inc.'s "The Incredibles" looks set to steal most of the marquee power on its opening weekend.
On Nov. 24 "Alexander," which Entertainment Weekly magazine reported cost as much as $150 million to make, faces comedies "Christmas with the Kranks" and "Beauty Shop," as well as adventure movie "Flight of the Phoenix."
"Alexander" will now debut the Wednesday before the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend in the United States, which should help boost its box office. Warner Bros. is owned by Time Warner Inc.
One source told Reuters recently that director Stone was working feverishly to finish the movie for Nov. 5, but that could not be confirmed.
Often movies are delayed for months while directors fine-tune films, and that can spell trouble in Hollywood. Such a scenario arose last year with The Walt Disney Co.'s "The Alamo," but that does not appear to be the case with "Alexander" because the delay is only a few weeks.
A Warner Bros. spokeswoman was not immediately available to comment.
Warner Bros. is expected to promote the film, its stars and director this year for Oscars, the U.S. film industry's top awards given out in February by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
"I have a beautiful son, and as long as I can be with him and as long as he always knows where his dad is, and I can go work as well, I'm fine," says the actor, who walks into an intimate press conference with a beer and lit cigarette in his hand, ignoring the no-smoking policy at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
"I don't know, man," he says, when asked about his child with model Kim Bordenave, "The first time you hold your baby in your arms, I mean, a sense of strength and love washed over me and I never thought that possible. I love him in a different way and in a stronger way than I love my mother. I mean, I adore my mother but this a very pure love, unconditional to the extreme."
Farrell says his mother still keeps scrapbooks of articles about her son, including the sensational ones when he's fooling around with Britney Spears or Demi Moore. Most likely, he says she's now clipping stories about the recent controversy of his nude scene cut from "A Home at the End of the World."
"That's boring, man, there's got to be more happening in the world, in cinema, internationally," says the actor, peppering his interview with plenty of four-letter words, which Zap2it.com has excised. The brief full frontal nude scene was cut because he and the director thought it was too distracting.
Farrell pursued the story by Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Cunningham, who wrote "The Hours," and stars as a guy in the 1970s named Bobby who has a relationship with both a childhood friend, Jonathan, (played by Dallas Roberts) and a woman, Clare (Robin Wright Penn) who has his baby and the three of them raise her together. Oscar winner Sissy Spacek plays Jonathan's mom, and "Amadeus" star Tom Hulce produced the project.
"I could see in his eyes that he was so passionate for the project, it's timely because their relationship couldn't happen as easily now, in a time when things are so priggish, prurient, repressive and self-conscious," says first-time film director Michael Mayer, a theater director who staged the national tour of "Angels in America." "This is a timely film."
Actor Dallas Roberts, who spends a few scenes kissing Farrell, says, "The country is hyper aware of these labels of sexuality and love, and part of the country is trying to say what is natural or not natural for everyone. I look forward to a time that it's not an issue anymore and when people can ask me not what it's like to play a gay man, but what it's like to play a great character."
Farrell admits he's a lot like Bobby. "He really just seems to think that there are no problems, that everything is beautiful and there is a grand scheme of things. He very much lives in the moment. I'm a pretty open fella, you might've guessed. I'm also not as gentle as him and I'm fairly gentle."
He wasn't too gentle, however, when diapering the baby in the film. "I was terrible at changing, every time I held that little girl she wailed," Farrell says. "It's different when it's yours though. Instinct kicks in or something."
He calls his character "a lover." "Bobby could move back to New York and if he met a girl who rocked his world, he'd be with her and if he met a boy who rocked his world, he'd be with him. Again, you can call that bisexual, of course, but Bobby wouldn't even know that. If you said to him, 'You're bisexual,' he'd think you were talking about purchasing sex. He just exists."
Although he's playing a bisexual again in the upcoming Oliver Stone epic "Alexander," Farrell says he likes the idea of switching between small films like "Intermission" and big blockbusters like last year's "S.W.A.T."
" 'S.W.A.T.' was four-and-a-half months, I definitely wanted to do something else that would just challenge myself a little bit more," Farrell says.
He's now working with director Terrence Malick on a period drama about explorer John Smith and the clash between Native Americans and the British slated for next year.
"A Home at the End of the World" opens in a limited release on Friday, July 23 and will expand to other markets through August.
So said writer Michael Cunningham at last week's premiere of the film version of his book, "A Home at the End of the World," in which Colin stars as a young man of ambiguous sexuality. I doubt this reality will deter Colin's gay fans. Cunningham has also gone the way of all men, it seems. At least for a season, he is newly platinum blond. "I'm a novelist; no one can tell me not to." Michael, these days you can be a truck driver, and no one will tell you not to.
In attendance was Sissy Spacek, who also stars in "Home." She recently finished filming "The Ring 2," a sequel to last year's horror hit. "I just put my 'Carrie' mentality back in," Sissy says, remembering her fragile and terrifying telekinetic character for whom prom night wasn't pretty. When reminded her that she once announced she would never do another scary movie, Spacek grinned impishly and said, "Did I say that? If I did, it was probably over 20 years ago, right? I've had to eat my words a lot."
The Oscar-winner has recorded a song for a CD by her bluegrass friends, Robin (not the comic actor) and Linda Williams, and also hopes to act with daughter Schuyler Fisk, who accompanied her to the premiere. (As to the singing, remember that Sissy did her own excellent warbling in "Coal Miner's Daughter," to the initial distress of Loretta Lynn.) At the moment, Sissy has no mature-actress-can't-find-work complaints. Her acclaimed performance in "In the Bedroom" a few years ago put the fire back in her career. "I have a lot of things going on . . . You can go for years without reading anything you like, and then you get everything all at once and have to figure out how to schedule it."
He said he does. At least, sometimes.
Farrell's "A Home at the End of the World," opening in major cities on Friday, could help reshape his bad boy image into that of a soulful actor, albeit one who still likes to party, make no mistake.
"Is there another side to me? Of course. I can be serious when I need to," he told Reuters in a recent interview. "I've read where they say, 'He's an animal.' but I'm a fairly gentle soul, and I get it from my mother."
The film's director Michael Mayer agreed and called the 28-year-old "incredibly lovely, warm-hearted, generous-spirited."
However, Mayer is quick to add that the wild guy Farrell is depicted to be in the media "is also a part of who he is, but not all of who he is."
In fact, throughout the interview with Reuters, Farrell is drinking a beer, smoking and cursing. He needs a shave, too.
He said he doesn't like to do interviews, doesn't like to go to movie premieres, and in the past five years has mostly lived in hotel rooms while working on one movie after another.
Farrell said he missed his home in Dublin, his family, friends, baby boy, fish and chips and the pub.
In fact, it was at home in the predawn hours that Farrell, alone on his couch, read the script for "Home at the End of the World" and was struck by the love that exudes from its emotionally wounded character, Bobby, whom he plays.
The role is far from other roles for which he is known, such as his rebellious soldier in "Tigerland," CIA agent in "The Recruit," and assassin in "Daredevil."
ALL HE NEEDS IS LOVE
"Home at the End of the World," Farrell said, "is about breaking down barriers but not with a hammer and sickle but with the feather of love, and I just adored that."
The movie is based on Michael Cunningham's 1990 novel of the same name about a boy, Bobby, growing up in the 1960s who loses his family in a series of deaths and moves in with his best friend, Jonathan.
As kids, Bobby and Jonathan experiment with drugs and sex, and eventually, Jonathan falls in love with Bobby.
But college calls Jonathan (Dalls Roberts) to New York and after his undergraduate years are finished, Bobby joins him. Once there, however, Bobby falls for Jonathan's roommate, Clare (Robin Wright Penn), and the pair have a baby.
Jonathan, who still loves Bobby, can't allow the triangle to last. Or, can he?
"Home at the End of the World" challenges conventions of relationships, family and the places people call home.
"It is unabashed in its belief in love and its hope for the future," Farrell said.
Unfortunately for the film's makers, however, advance media coverage and Internet buzz focused less on the movie's message and almost solely on Farrell's brief frontal nude scene.
Mayer said Farrell asked him to cut the scene.
"I wouldn't have shot the scene if I had a problem with it," Farrell said. "I really respected Michael Cunningham's writing too much for it to be jarring and for people to go in with whatever preconceptions of Colin Farrell and his social life and his womanizing ways. I didn't want (the movie) to be about that."
Spoken like a gentleman. Albeit, one with a beer in his hand.
Colin, Sissy Spacek and Robin Wright Penn are all true to the complex Cunningham characters, but Dallas really springs to life with vivid poignancy and lots of quiet sex appeal, in his first on-screen role. This intimate movie is also Michael Mayer's debut as a film director, after years of top work on Broadway. In fact, Mayer has an eagerly awaited revival of "After the Fall" opening here on the 29th. Peter Krause and Carla Gugino star in Arthur Miller's infamous confessional.
In his latest film "A Home at the End of the World," a scene in which the Irish actor exposes himself head on has been deleted after a audience members at a test screening reacted with gasps or cheers, reports the AP.
British tabloids are having a field day with the story, reporting that "the women were over-excited and the men looked really uncomfortable."
Producers pronounced the full-frontal nude scene too distracting and snipped accordingly.
"Home" is based on the novel by "The Hours" author Michael Cunningham and centers on how Bobby's (Farrell) life changes when he moves in with his childhood pal Jonathan (Dallas Roberts) and falls for the free-spirited roommate, Clare (Robin Wright Penn). The film also stars Sissy Spacek.
"Home" opens in limited release on Friday, July 23.
Farrell's previous films include "Minority Report," "Phone Booth," "Daredevil" and "S.W.A.T." He next stars as the titular Macedonian conqueror in Oliver Stone's "Alexander," which is scheduled for release in November.
Audiences sticking around for the credits of the actor's latest film "Intermission" can hear him belting out Sonny Curtis' "I Fought the Law" in his signature Irish brogue. The song also appears on the film's soundtrack, which dropped on Tuesday, March 16.
In "Intermission," Farrell plays Lehiff, a petty criminal who well, fights the law, in particular a maverick police detective played by Colm Meaney. Despite shooting several scenes with Farrell, Meaney didn't hear his co-star's vocal prowess until later.
"Joe Strummer is spinning in his grave," Meaney jokes, referring to the lead singer of The Clash, one of the many bands that covered the song. He adds, "Actually, the song is quite Colin."
Although he has a reputation as Hollywood's favorite bad boy, Farrell impressed "Intermission" director John Crowley, who credits the actor with setting a positive tone on the film's set.
"He's the opposite of a moaner," Crowley tells Zap2it.com. "Whatever you want him to do, he'll do it again. He'll do it louder, faster, funnier -- whatever -- he'll be there. He's also very open and knows everybody on set."
Farrell's co-star Kelly Macdonald agrees. "He's a very warm person ... funny and charismatic. He even got everybody down to the local pub and just sat [there] like he was holding court. It was just great," she says.
The actor has reason to be happy and generous. Besides boasting a hefty paycheck, worldwide fame and the luck of the Irish when it comes to ladies, Farrell has the luxury of choosing his versatile roles. Although he was offered the romantic lead in "Intermission," he opted to play the bad guy instead.
"My character is a complete knacker!" says Farrell. "He's ... just searching for his idea of a better quality of life. So you've got this tough guy looking at kitchen utensils and woks, [but he's] still only at the thinking stage [with] this kind of romantic idea of what it's like to be a man."
"Intermission," which also stars Cillian Murphy and Shirley Henderson, opens in limited release on Friday, March 19.
In one of the film supermarket stocker John (Cillian Murphy) and his pal Oscar (David Wilmot) steal a case of the condiment known as brown sauce. At a loss of what to do with the saucy surplus, they begin adding it to everything, including their coffee, and even convince fellow conspirators (Colin Farrell and Brian O'Byrne) to try it.
Cast mate Kelly MacDonald enlightens Zap2it.com about the European condiment.
"It's spicy, kind of like ketchup ... a bit like steak sauce," she says. "Colin and a few other people tried it [in their coffee] and said it was revolting."
"It's disgusting," confirms director John Crowley, who let curiosity get the better of him.
Taking pity on his actors, Crowley even tried to replace the sauce with a prop -- a chocolate-syrup mixture -- in one key scene, which had disastrous results.
"Around take 11 or 12, they were really beginning to gag and feel sick [because they had to] swallow it during the scene," says the director. "It was the first scene we shot that day at 8 o'clock in the morning, and a few of them had 'trouble' later on. I won't go into details on that one."
"Intermission," a seriocomic tale about love, sex, death and brown sauce, opens in limited release on Friday, March 19.
A source close to Dawson tells us that the 24-year-old East Village native fell prey to the lusty Leprechaun's charms while shooting Oliver Stone's historical epic in England, Morocco and Thailand. Farrell plays Alexander, the king of Macedonia, and Rosario plays his wife, Roxanne. Anthony Hopkins, Val Kilmer, Jared Leto and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers co-star.
"Rosario said the sex was great with Colin," Dawson's pal tattles. "But he blew her off once Angelina got on the set. Of course, Colin and Angelina ended up getting together.
"Rosario was devastated. She thought they were going to fall in love or something. But c'mon, it's Colin Farrell. What did she think was going to happen?"
Rosario's friend also blabbed that the bust-up with the frisky Farrell hurt her even more when Dawson learned that her ex-boyfriend, "Dawson's Creek" actor Joshua Jackson, was having a baby with his new girlfriend. "She was pretty upset about that," says our source.
Not surprisingly, Dawson's spokeswoman told us that the love triangle tale was "absolutely not true."
She added: "I'm staring at pictures of Rosario and Colin cuddling at the Bangkok Film Festival, which was two weeks ago. They're good friends. I just saw her in L.A. and she's happy, lovely and everything's fine."
Designed by Joie specifically for the campaign, the shirts will be worn in upcoming public service announcements in a national effort to help raise money for the Entertainment Industry Foundation's National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance (EIF's NCCRA) co-founded by Katie Couric, Lilly Tartikoff and EIF.
Both the mens and womens tees will sell exclusively at Bloomingdale's for $28.00 and the net proceeds from each Tee sale ($24.50) will be donated to EIF's NCCRA.
Katie Couric kicks off the fundraising on Wednesday, March 10 by hosting a special evening at Bloomingdale's 59th Street in New York. In addition, Bloomingdale's will make a donation to EIF's NCCRA for every purchase customers make on their Bloomingdale's charge card from March 10 through March 21.
The partnership between Bloomingdale's and EIF's NCCRA began in September 1999.
"Bloomingdale's has made it fashionable to talk about colon cancer. We are proud of this great achievement. This has brought the awareness to so many on how to prevent this disease, which is 91% curable if detected early. We are proud to be a founding sponsor of the NCCRA and will continue to support this worthwhile cause," says Michael Gould, Chairman and CEO of Bloomingdale's.
Moore's "Saved" debuted at this year's Sundance Film Festival, and Farrell will next be seen in Oliver Stone's epic "Alexander."
The 27-year-old actor was fitted with a cast and released from a hospital, publicist Susan Patricola said. He went back to the set Monday and filming for the movie was expected to wrap up in two days, she said.
"While it may be uncomfortable, he is fine and looking forward to a much needed rest from the shoot that has lasted six months," Patricola said.
Farrell stars as the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great in the film, along with Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins and Jared Leto.
Farrell recently appeared in "Veronica Guerin" and will be seen next in "Intermission" and "A Home at the End of the World."
His other film credits include "S.W.A.T.," "The Recruit," "Phone Booth," "Daredevil" and "Minority Report."
The 76th Annual Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, Feb. 29, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The gala will be televised live by ABC beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
"S.W.A.T." earned an estimated $15.79 million during its second week in release for a 12-day rental revenue haul of $32.7 million.
Besides being last week's No. 1-selling DVD, according to Nielsen VideoScan's First Alert DVD chart, "Underworld" earned an estimated $12.41 million during its first five days on rental shelves, according to Video Store magazine data.
The crime thriller "Out of Time," starring Denzel Washington, debuted at No. 2 on the sales chart during the same frame. It earned an estimated $10.47 million during its first five days on rental shelves.
"Uptown Girls" was the nation's fifth-best-selling DVD during its debut week ending Jan. 11 and No. 14 on the rental chart. The comedy earned an estimated $3.38 million in rental revenue during its first five days on rental shelves.
Meanwhile, "The Matrix Revolutions" is slated to hit retail shelves, priced for rental, on April 6.
So says an exhausted and angry - though still funny - Colin Farrell, from the London set of "Alexander." Colin, a buttery blond for his role as the famous Greek conquerer, is reacting to a scurrilous report out of London - picked up here by The Washington Post.
This story supposedly comes from Farrell's "personal guide" during the film's shoot in Morocco. It had the sexy Irishman drinking in unbelievable excess, partying to all hours, harassing his movie "mother" Angelina Jolie (she plays Olympias in the film) and generally behaving badly.
The "guide" suggested Colin "was clearly unhinged" and needed "pyschiatric help." One problem, Colin says: "I don't know who this person is. I never met him. Not one f - - - ing time! Look, I accept a lot of what is said and written about me; this is the job, this is the contract I signed, and certainly, I've helped the image along at times. But this latest is such an invasion, such a defamation of me as a human being - and so incorrect. I wasn't even staying in the hotel where they have me banging on Angelina's door.
"Anyway, this is not just about me anymore. I have a child, a son, and I have to take responsibility for what is true in my life and what is not true. And so I intend to take legal action against those who invented this stuff. Steps are being taken right now."
Colin was chatting between scenes, and director Oliver Stone was anxious to have his leading man in front of the cameras, but I did manage to ask him about the experience of playing Alexander, who died at 33, but not before he had changed the world. "As you know, Liz, this business ain't always brain surgery, but you recognize a worthwhile challenge when it comes. This has been the greatest and so far the most fulfilling challenge of my career. The Oliver Stone script is so beautiful and pure."
And what about Angelina Jolie? "She is an incredible, amazing actor, for whom I have the utmost respect. We worked together only two days, and it was naturally a very strange experience to have her play my mother, but she was a joy to work with." (Jared Leto, Anthony Hopkins, Val Kilmer and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers also share scenes with Colin.)
I think Colin Farrell will always be a bit of a wild guy - hey, we don't want him to start writing children's books or anything - but he has now seen the power of image and publicity, and how easily it can be manipulated out of one's own control. Fame can be a heavy burden.
On the set of his upcoming Oliver Stone film "Alexander," the Irish actor drew blood when he accidentally stabbed his co-star Gary Stretch harder than expected, according to British news sources.
Farrell pierced Stretch's protective plastic padding, slicing him in the stomach during a pivotal fight scene on Friday, Dec. 5.
Stretch, a former boxer, ignored the "minor wound" temporarily, deciding to finish the scene. The next day he had the wound checked over at the Wexham Park Hospital -- where rocker Ozzy Osbourne is being treated for his recent crash on an all-terrain vehicle.
Stretch, who returned to work on Thursday, Dec. 11, takes the injury in stride.
"It's one of those movies where these kind of things happen," he says. "We've all had few bangs and scratches."
"Alexander" recounts the life of the legendary Macedonian conqueror who led his army over most of the known world. Farrell plays the title role opposite Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins and Val Kilmer. The film will open in November 2004.
The network bestows the award in a special on Monday at 9 p.m. ET.
Justin Timberlake, Beyonce Knowles, Colin Farrell, Will Ferrell, Queen Latifah and Arnold Schwarzenegger are among the other celebrities that E! found particularly intriguing this year.
Depp, 40, based his character, Capt. Jack Sparrow, on Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.
"I want my kids and my grandkids someday to be able to go, `Yeah, Pops, he really held it together and he did the right thing," Depp told E! "He didn't stray from the path, and he didn't sell out and go for the big dough early on or anything. I would be very, very proud if they felt that."
Oscar-nominated Hayek will play a woman who dreams of marrying a wealthy American only to find herself in love with a poverty-stricken writer (Farrell).
Robert Towne ("Without Limits," "Tequila Sunrise") sits in the director's chair and also penned the screenplay based on the novel by John Fante.
Hayek is currently filming "After the Sunset" with Pierce Brosnan and Woody Harrelson while Farrell is working with Oliver Stone on "Alexander the Great."
Director James Foley ("The Chamber," "Glengarry Glen Ross") is reportedly planning to bring the story of the troubled star of such films as "A Place in the Sun," "Misfits," and "From Here to Eternity" to the silver screen.
Clift was one of Hollywood's biggest stars in the 1950s. A car crash left him disfigured and he later died at the age of 45.
Farrell is currently filming Oliver Stone's "Alexander."
The actress became impatient with the Irish actor after he repeatedly dropped trou during drinking binges.
The two are currently filming Oliver Stone's "Alexander the Great" in Morocco with Farrell in the lead role. The stunning actress checked out of the Le Meridien hotel in Marrakesh, taking her adopted son Maddox with her.
Hotel staff then also tired of the 27-year-old's antics and asked him to leave.
According to industry reports, this move will be the third hotel hop for Farrell; and apparently Stone's 4 a.m. set calls are putting a stop to the bad behavior.
Stone was in an expansive mood at a packed media conference on both his current film and his recent documentary about Cuban leader Fidel Castro, "Commandante."
Stone said he was happy with progress so far on the shoot of "Alexander," with Irishman Farrell in the title role as the Macedonian king.
"Knock on wood, it's going very well," he said. "We're on schedule and on budget. The weather's been a little tricky, with sandstorms and rain that surprised us. But we're pushing on."
The director said Morocco was the key location for "Alexander," which will later move to Thailand for scenes involving elephants and England for studio sequences. Stone paid tribute to the film's producer, Moritz Borman.
"He was the only producer who didn't pull out of Morocco after the bombings (in Casablanca) in May, when other Hollywood producers pulled out and bad-mouthed the country," Stone said, to applause from Moroccans present at the conference.
Stone received a tribute from the festival Monday evening, followed by a screening of "Commandante" in the sublime setting of a ruined palace within the city's medieval walls.
HBO co-produced the 90-minute film, but the cable channel pulled the documentary in May after Castro had three hijackers executed and imprisoned some 70 dissidents. Stone was asked to return to Cuba to reinterview the longstanding Cuban president.
"It was probably one of the lowest points of my life to be censored in America," Stone said. "That is a rare document, and I don't know why it can't be seen by the American people."
The new footage has, however, yielded a second film, the 50-minute "Looking for Fidel," which Stone said HBO "seemed to like."
"[Colin] calls every day to listen to Jimmy cry and gurgle," a family insider tells Star, "and asks [Kim] to e-mail him photos so he can show them off to everyone on the set."
Stuck in Morocco filming the Oliver Stone-helmed epic Alexander, Colin, 27, asked his older sister Claudine to be there with Kim when 7-pound, 9-ounce James was born. Said his Alexander co-star Rosario Dawson, "His son's gorgeous. He's got pictures posted all over the place.'"
Only in this week's Star Magazine's Exclusive (issue 41) can you see the first published photo's of Baby James!
The infant was born Friday at a Los Angeles hospital and weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces, Susan Patricola said Tuesday. Both mother and son are doing well, she said. Farrell wasn't there for his son's arrival because he was in Morocco shooting Alexander, the Oliver Stone film in which he stars as Alexander the Great.
"Although Colin couldn't attend the birth, he had family members standing in and is longing to see his new son and couldn't be happier," Patricola said in a news release. "The three will be together very soon."
Their son won't be named until then, Patricola said.
Farrell, 27, was briefly married to actress Amelia Warner. His other films include Minority Report, The Recruit and Phone Booth.
"Colin is extremely generous with fans and collectors, and goes out of his way to sign for everyone he can at his movie premieres. ... He just flat-out loves to sign autographs," said contributing editor Jeffrey Woolf, who helped compile the annual Best and Worst Signers list.
The 27-year-old actor has starred in "Minority Report," "The Recruit" and "Daredevil."
As for Diaz, the 31-year-old star of the "Charlie's Angels" films, Woolf said in a statement this week: "She might be an Angel for Charlie, but Cameron is nothing short of a witch ... when it comes to signing autographs."
The annual survey was released in conjunction with the first Autograph Collector Exposition and a celebrity memorabilia auction to be held this weekend at the Beverly Garland Hotel in North Hollywood, Calif.
The top 10 Best and Worst Signers, as listed in the October issue of Autograph Collector: The Best: Colin Farrell, Kate Bosworth, Asia Argento, Jennifer Love Hewitt, LeAnn Rimes, The Osbournes, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner, Kelly Hu and Jessica Simpson.
The Worst: Cameron Diaz, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Orlando Bloom, Shannon Elizabeth, Janet Jackson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Eric Bana, Hugh Jackman and Christina Aguilera.