Sandra Bullock's Fortis Films Optioned a Film

Sandra Bullock's Fortis Films optioned "Till Human Vocies Wake Us" is starting production in May 2000 in Australia. There is no mention in this article that Sandy will be in this movie.

http://www.tomorrowfilms.com/news/newstxt15.htm

Petroni 'Voices' calling Pearce, Bonham Carter

Mar. 22, 2000 - By Lawrie Zion

Guy Pearce and Helena Bonham Carter have signed on to star in the indie metaphysical love story "Till Human Voices Wake Us," which will mark the feature directorial debut of screenwriter Michael Petroni.

Production is slated to begin in May in Australia.

"Voices," which Petroni also wrote, is the story of a man (Pearce) who is haunted by the presence of a dead childhood sweetheart (Bonham Carter) when he returns to his rural hometown after a long absence.

Thomas Augsberger and Matthias Emcke's Los Angeles-based Key Entertainment and Sydney-based DND Prods. will produce the film. Film Victoria, the Australian Film Finance Corp., Globe Film Company and Key are financing the project.

Petroni's script has been in development for two years, and won the best new script award from the Writers Guild of America/Scenario Magazine before being optioned by Sandra Bullock's Fortis Films. The project underwent a series of false starts before Key came on board.

Beau Flynn, Yoram Pelman, Stefan Simchowitz and Petroni's manager Gold/Miller's Andrew Deane will executive produce "Voices." Globe holds Australian and New Zealand rights to the film while Key will handle the rest of the world through sales agency Tomorrow Films.

Petroni, an Australian native, wrote Warner Bros.' "Queen of the Damned," based on Anne Rice's novel of the same name that is slated to go into production later this spring with Wes Bentley starring. The scribe also co-wrote Egg Pictures' "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys," which Peter Care is prepping to direct in May, as well as Warner Bros.' Vatican-set thriller "Revelations" for Danny DeVito to direct with Mark Canton and Village Roadshow producing. Petroni is repped by UTA.

Pearce, who starred in "L. A. Confidential," is next up in the William Friedkin-directed "Rules of Engagement." He is repped by ICM's Chris Andrews.

Bonham Carter is due to shoot Artisan Entertainment's "Novocaine" next month and recently starred in "Fight Club" (HR 2/28). She is repped by UTA.

Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves' Environmentally friendly movie

KEANU REEVES and SANDRA BULLOCK's latest movie collaboration has thrilled environmentalists - because the romantic drama has prompted movie giant WARNER BROTHERS to restore a popular US lake and plant trees.
The SPEED co-stars are reteaming for movie IL MARE, which will be filmed near Maple Lake, south west of Chicago, Illinois.
And because filming will affect 300 feet (91 metres) of the manmade lake's shoreline, Warner Brothers have agreed to pay up to $40,000 (GBP21,000) to stabilise the shoreline and pay for trees, a move which the COOK COUNTY FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICT were saving up for.
DOUG CHIEN, spokesman for the SIERRA ENVIRONMENTALISTS CLUB, says, 'We had an informal meeting with environmental groups and Warner Brothers, and everybody at the table said this is a cool project.'

Sandra Bullock sightings

Chicago Tribune | Sandra Bullock sightings
"By Liz Crokin
RedEye
Published April 18, 2005


Sandra Bullock began filming her scenes for the movie 'Il Mare' last week, shooting on location Thursday at Columbia College and at a two-story house on Eddy Street in Wrigleyville.

On Friday, she headed to Palos Heights. Bullock wore a brown leather jacket, a skirt and boots in Friday's scene. What else happened during filming? Bullock told a fan outside the set she'd sign an autograph only with a black marker. When the fan didn't have one, Bullock went and got a marker to sign the autograph and then took off in a black Cadillac Escalade.

Keanu Reeves, who spent last week traveling to promote his film 'Constantine,' did not film any scenes with Bullock, but word is he will be back soon."

Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality 2: Out and Proud

It’s a shame that Miss Congeniality 2 isn't a better film, because its failings (all 947 of them) are far, far outweighed by its one extraordinary achievement.

For a time, it seemed like MC2 (as fans know it) was going to be a clumsy, run-of–the-mill, sub-sub-BHC (Beverley Hills Cop) comedy romp: cartoon baddies, an irascible partner, spiky backchat, and lots of hair-brained schemes involving daft disguises. Aside from a surprisingly touching and well-acted scene in which Bullock takes a phone call in which [WARNING: SPOILER] she supposedly gets dumped by her love-interest from MC1, the first quarter of the movie is a grindingly-edited* wasteland of confusion and pointlessness.

All you really need to know about the plot is this: Agent Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock) becomes as spokesperson for the FBI, and gets given a bodyguard, fellow FBI agent, Sam (as in Samantha) Fuller, played by Regina King. Sam Fuller has anger management issues and likes to punch things. Things like Agent Gracie Hart. So that’s the deal: lots of bickering a pushing between two female FBI agents, then William Shatner gets kidnapped and the plot clunks off towards Las Vegas, where there’s more backchat, more preposterous disguises, an irascible FBI chief… bla bla bla… the end.

Except not.

About 20 minutes into this movie, just what Sandra Bullock, star and executive producer, was trying to do with the film started to become clear.

No word of a lie, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous is a full-on lesbian love-story. With a 12A certificate. All of the spiky backchat and hair-pulling between Hart and Fuller starts off as a straightforward personality clash: but about 20 minutes in you realise – oh my God – they’re flirting. They’re actually flirting with each other. And once you see this, the flimsy sub-Ace Ventura plotline falls like scales from before your eyes: who gives a shit why the limo driver parked 200 yards away from the entrance of the old people’s home on the afternoon Shatner was kidnapped – when look, Sandra Bullock is curling up on the couch with her butch female bodyguard...

There are scenes in this movie that, in a heterosexual movie, would absolutely have ended with kissing. No question. In its own klutzy way it’s really quite an erotic movie. Except for the scenes with William Shatner in. The key erotic moment in the movie occurs just after Shatner and Miss America (don’t ask) are rescued from drowning in the lake in front of Treasure Island Casino. Bullock gets trapped and nearly drowns, but her muscular friend dives in and rescues her just she is losing consciousness (they might as well have had the word ORGASM flashing in orange lights during this underwater petite mort). Afterwards, Hart and Fuller are standing dripping wet in their skimpy outfits, and the pair have a post-coital glow about them: relaxed, happy, big grins.

And as they stand, wet and panting, Bullock whispers a little teasing sing-song phrase to her new love (packed into the last few minutes of the film is a lot of happy, girlfriend-to-girlfriend singing). Bullock sings something along the lines of “you like me…” but in the outtake sequence that runs through the credits the coyness is stipped away and (this is absolutely true) Sandra Bullock sings the phrase: “you love me, you want to kiss me…”

So yes. That’s it. They fall in love, become partners, and live happily every after. And that’s what’s incredible about this movie: there’s no big hoo-ha made about the love story, it just happens in an unfussy and oddly believable fashion.

And there you have it, a successful, mainstream 12A lesbian love flick. Hats off to everyone who made it happen. Except for the script writer who needs to be sat down, slapped in the face and told how to write a plot.

Sandra Bullock slams critics of her boyfriend !

Sandra Bullock has reportedly slammed fans who call her biker boyfriend Jesse James an unsuitable partner for a Hollywood actress like her.
The Miss Congeniality star, who has dated celebrities like Matthew McConaughey and Tate Donovan, says that she has discovered that a man's personality is not judged by his profession.

'Look, no one knows what anyone's really like based on outside opinions. I mean, there are people who look very innocent and kind who cheat on their spouses, don't take care of their children or animals and generally don't have great humanity.And there are people who are the complete opposite, yet they're judged differently. Every time a mass murderer gets caught, the first thing people say is, 'He was so nice and he took such good care of his pets and children.' So you really can't tell by appearances', Femalefirst quoted her as saying.(ANI)

Sandra Bullock sets sights on riskier roles

Hollywood star Sandra Bullock has said she is no longer interested in blockbuster starring roles, and wants to do riskier movies instead.

Bullock, 40, recently reprised her undercover cop role as hapless FBI agent Gracie Hart in Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous.

She said: "I don't do anything anymore that feels safe. If it doesn't scare the crap out of you, then you're not doing the right thing."

"Now I'm sort of looking at things overall and going 'What's the great story in here?' rather than it just being about my lines and my part.

"It's not going to help you having a great role if the rest of the support of the film isn't around it."

Bullock, who starred opposite Keanu Reeves in Speed, played hopeless romantic Lucy Moderatz in While You Were Sleeping and conjured up spells with Nicole Kidman in Practical Magic, is due to play US author Harper Lee in Every Word is True.

It is based on research by writer Truman Capote, who was a childhood friend of the To Kill a Mockingbird author, for his non-fiction novel In Cold Blood about the murder of a family in Kansas in 1959.

The actress will also reunite with Reeves for Il Mare, a remake of a Korean film which will be directed by Argentine film maker Alejandro Agresti.

She said she is fortunate to be able to choose both her acting and producing projects without having to worry about making big bucks.

"I'm not in a panic to make money. I love that I get to produce and do things that don't earn you a dime but in the end you finish it and you go 'God, this is exciting.'"

Sandra Bullock is back after 18-month hiatus

andra Bullock has been a movie star ever since she drove that bus in the 1994 thriller "Speed."

Later, in such films as "While You Were Sleeping," "Miss Congeniality" and "Two Weeks Notice," she graduated from mere Hollywood star to wearing the crown of "America's Sweetheart."

Then she disappeared from view.

The 40-year-old actress returned to view last week in "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous," the sequel to her 2000 hit comedy in which she played klutzy FBI agent Gracie Hart. Instead of infiltrating a beauty contest as she did in the original, Gracie gives Las Vegas a try.

Bullock produced this film, and she is the producer of the ABC sitcom "The George Lopez Show." She will act again in the upcoming film "Crash," directed by Paul Haggis.

In this interview, the actress explains why she dropped out of sight, what brought her back and what she thinks of that title "America's Sweetheart."

The last time we spoke, didn't you tell me that you were quitting the business?

Not quitting the business, but I did say I was taking time off. I definitely would have remembered if I had said that I was quitting the business.

So, did you take the time off?

I took about a year-and-a-half off.

Why did you take the time off?

There were other things I wanted to do, particularly behind the camera. Producing was more enjoyable to me at the time, and there wasn't anything incredibly dire that was out there that needed to have me attached. I needed to get off the treadmill for a while.

So, what did you do during your time off?

I produced, and lived life.

You lived life?

Yes, shocking, isn't it?

What kind of life did you lead?

I lived life that has nothing to do with this business.

Like what?

It's called the private side of the life; the side that doesn't end up in a magazine. It does exist, you know.

Did you ever think that you might not come back?

Yeah. It was only supposed to be a year. Then it got a little longer, and a little longer, and a little longer. The great thing was that I never felt the need to get back in front of a camera. I didn't care that I wasn't on the cover of a magazine. I learned that you can go away and have normalcy.

But you did come back.

Well, what happened was that I was having fun producing, and then Paul Haggis called and said he had this thing he wanted me to do. I told him I wasn't working, but then I read it and I wanted to be a part of it. I didn't care how big the part was; this was the kind of acting I always wanted to do.

Was there any disappointment in learning that you needed to work in front of the camera again?

It wasn't a need to work in front of the camera; it was a need to work differently. Yes, I was dreading the whole process - doing hair and makeup, having the camera on my face and all that - but the material was too good to pass up.

What about "Miss Congeniality 2?" That's just a big old-fashioned Hollywood sequel.

I saw that as an ensemble piece.

I don't know how to break this to you, but you are the star of this movie.

But it also stars Regina King and other actors. And it was so unexpected how it came about. We never expected to do a sequel. I don't even want to call it a sequel. I think it can stand on its own. And it has something to say about what happens to someone if they do something oddly heroic in front of the camera. The world wants to dissect them and make them celebrities, and their lives are never the same.

Gracie doesn't care what other people think. Are you like that?

I wish I were more like her.

I thought you were just like her.

I strive for it, and I do it to a certain degree. But I'm not as bold as she is. She leaps without thinking, and I analyze everything.

I always heard that you were fearless.

There is no such thing as a fearless actor.

Are you comfortable with your fame?

Nobody is ever comfortable with fame. It's fleeting, and you have no control over it. It has nothing to do with you.

Have you ever felt like it got out of control?

Not out of control, but once you figure out what it is, you have to learn to live your life in a certain way.

Did you consider it a compliment when they called you "America's Sweetheart?"

It's not real so I didn't think about it very much. There's a different "America's Sweetheart" every time they have to promote another romantic comedy.

You don't take compliments very well, do you?

No. I usually get insulting when someone pays me a compliment.

Then I'll keep my mouth shut.

Sandra Bullock Honored On Walk of Fame

'Miss Congeniality' star Sandra Bullock finally feels accepted by Hollywood - after receiving a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame last Thursday.

The 40-year-old is thrilled her name has been placed next to Keanu Reeves', who starred alongside her in 'Speed' - the 1994 movie that propelled Bullock to stardom.

Bullock says that since being honored on the legendary Walk of Fame, she is determined to "turn legitimate".

She adds, "I no longer feel compelled to carve my name into every wet cement board on a sidewalk."

Would The FBI Want A Public Face, Even Sandra Bullock's? Reel To Real

With a face as pretty as Sandra Bullock's, it's not surprising any business would want her to be its public persona. But if your business is busting up terror rings, combating organized crime, thwarting cyber attacks and other dangerous affairs, does



it make any sense to even have a public face?

The Reel Story: Agent Gracie Hart (Bullock) is back in "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous," but this time she's got a different mission. After dropping her tough-guy agent persona and blossoming into a beauty-pageant queen, Agent Hart gained nationwide fame. Her cover blown while trying to stop a bank heist — even the robbers know who she is — Gracie is unable to perform her duties as an agent anymore. Knowing that anonymity kind of helps when fighting crime, her bosses back at the bureau reassign Gracie to be the public face of the FBI.

Discouraged from actually fighting crime, Gracie is groomed and manicured to the point of looking like a drag queen, and is expected to give press conferences and personal safety demonstrations on "Live With Regis and Kelly." This had us wondering, would the FBI ever use one of its highly trained agents for public-relations stunts? Has there ever been a "face of the FBI?"

The Real Story: Not exactly.

When fighting crime, especially violent criminals like gangsters and terrorists, most agents like to keep their identity on the down low. Obviously, it's important to keep the element of surprise, as well as protect your loved ones.

However, while there has never been an official face of the FBI, history has given us a few well-known representatives of the bureau. In the 1930s, Eliot Ness became famous as the head of a group of incorruptible agents bent on nabbing gangster Al "Scarface" Capone. While he didn't end up actually bringing Capone down — the legendary gangster was eventually nabbed for tax violations — Ness did make Capone's life miserable and the streets of Chicago safer. He was further immortalized in the book "The Untouchables," which spawned a movie and hit TV series.

The top contender for the slot though, is probably the rather un-Gracie-like J. Edgar Hoover. Director of the FBI from 1924 until his death in 1972, Hoover held the post for nearly 50 years and is credited with shaping the agency into an incorruptible law office. Hoover is probably best known for fighting gangsters in the Prohibition era, and his vigorous anti-communism campaigning after the second World War. In order to publicize the work the agency was doing to fight crime, he participated personally in the arrests of several gangsters in the 1930s. Notorious for keeping secret files on everyone from John Lennon and Martin Luther King Jr. to prominent politicians, Hoover became a controversial figure in the end. He was accused of abusing his authority to blackmail public figures and engaging in political persecution — such as harassing Americans suspected of being "subversives."

The FBI had no comment on our story ... apparently, its PR people are trying to keep a low profile.

Check out everything we've got on "Miss Congeniality 2."

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— Tanya Edwards Mancini