Movie news: Michael B. Jordan is the third Thomas Crown; Ava DuVernay to direct ‘Wrinkle in Time’
Wearing the “Crown”
Do we need another remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair”? Well, maybe we do, now that “Creed” star Michael B. Jordan will play the lead, reports Variety. In the 1968 original, rich playboy Steve McQueen orchestrates a bank robbery, and insurance investigator Faye Dunaway goes after him. In the 1999 remake, perhaps one of the few that’s actually an improvement, art thief Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo go at it — most memorably on the stairs. Let’s see if Jordan can top that.
The weakest link
Speaking of “Creed,” co-star Sylvester Stallone told The New York Times how his string of career disappointments prepared him for the role: “You either self-immolate or you have a kind of interesting revival. So when ‘Creed’ came along, I said to myself, ‘I want you to realize you’re the weakest person in this movie. You’re not a threat to anyone. You are a ghost, in a sense, and you talk to ghosts. Your entire life is pretty much dissolved, disintegrated like smoke, and you’re just waiting for your turn to meet your friends again on the other side.’ ” It worked: Stallone is the front-runner to win the supporting actor Academy Award on Sunday.
A new “Wrinkle”
As beloved as “A Wrinkle in Time” is, it’s hard to believe that Madeleine L’Engle’s 1963 fantasy novel has never been adapted for the big screen, just a 2003 TV movie. But now the Disney project has a director, Ava DuVernay, who directed “Selma,” which was a best picture nominee last year. After telling the earthly drama of Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights struggles, DuVernay will head into outer space, where a teenage girl confronts friendly aliens in her quest to find her missing scientist father. Filming is expected to begin later this year with a script from “Frozen” writer and co-director Jennifer Lee.
Sharon Hoffmann: 816-234-4457, @Sharonakc
This story was originally published February 24, 2016 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Movie news: Michael B. Jordan is the third Thomas Crown; Ava DuVernay to direct ‘Wrinkle in Time’."