Highly anticipated road film also headed to theaters this fall
INTERSTATE 60, the eagerly awaited directorial debut by Bob Gale, will make its world premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival on April 13, 2002.
The road picture about an imaginary highway, which wrapped principle photography in November 2000, has been eagerly awaited by Back to the Future fans long before production even began. Starring James Marsden (X-Men) and Gary Oldman (Hannibal, The Fifth Element), the film was written, directed and produced by BTTF creator Bob Gale. Fellow BTTF producer Neil Canton also serves as producer on I-60, and BTTF duo Michael J. Fox & Christopher Lloyd make cameo appearances in the film (although not together, unfortunately). Amy Smart, Ann-Margret, Chris Cooper, and Amy Jo Johnson are just some of the other stars showing up in the film.
Interstate 60 will be screened at the upcoming Newport Beach Film Festival in Newport Beach, California on April 13, 2002 at 5:00 PM in the Lido Theater. Tickets for the film fest go on sale today and can be purchased from the festival's website at www.NewportBeachFilmFest.com.
Bob Gale, who will be in attendance at the film fest screening, tells me that the film has also been picked up for distribution by IDP for theatrical release sometime this fall. IDP Distribution is the joint venture created in April 2002 to market and distribute feature films in North America for Samuel Goldwyn Films, Fireworks Pictures and Stratosphere Releasing. Gale states that other screenings may be set up prior to a theatrical release, so stay tuned.
In other related news, please note that Zemeckis & Gale's 1980 comedy Used Cars is now available on DVD. This new special edition includes an all new transfer, audio commentary by Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale and Kurt Russell, outtakes, and a slew of radio spots. BTTF fans will also recognize cameos by Wendie Jo Sperber & Marc McClure in the film. Used Cars can be purchased right now at Amazon.com.
ABC will debut a Back to the Future-esque show soon called That Was Then, starring The Larry Sanders Show alumn Jeffrey Tambor. Tambor will play the father of a man who gets a chance to travel back in time in order to re-live one week from his high school days. Hmmmm... something about this seems awfully familiar...
Lea Thompson will be returning to network television in a series called For the People, granted that Lifetime picks up the pilot. Thompson headlines this courtroom drama where she portrays "Camille Paris", a liberal-minded chief deputy district attorney. Debbi Morgan is "Gail Gibson", a conservative district attorney who is elected and becomes Camille's boss. Lifetime will air the pilot episode sometime this summer.
Thompson is quite a busy gal these days, as she is also attached to two upcoming film projects as well. She will star as "Geri Meyers" in Electric, about a young woman who after being accidentally electrocuted, has the power to make everyone around her fall in love. Everyone it seems, except the man of her dreams. Lea will co-produce the film with her husband, Howard Deutch, who also directs the film. Principle photography is slated to begin on June 22 in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas.
She will also make her directorial debut with the film Wounded, starring Richard Grieco. We've received word that Thompson may also star in the film as "Shayla Brooks" in this drama about a woman driven to bring her parents' killer to justice after witnessing their murders at an earlier age. She follows the murderer's trail to Bitter Creek, a tiny backwoods town with a big secret... straight into the hands of a man they call the "Lord of the Wolves".
It appears that Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks will be teaming up for a third bout at box-office gold. Zemeckis has signed to produce Polar Express which stars Hanks in this story about a boy who still believes in Santa Claus despite the skepticism of his peers and is rewarded for his loyalty when a train called the Polar Express pulls up in front of his house on Christmas Eve to take him to the North Pole. Zemeckis is eyeing to also direct. As you will remember, Zemeckis directed Tom Hanks in 1994's Forrest Gump and 2000's Cast Away.
Mary Steenburgen will appear in the pilot episode of ABC's untitled Rod Lurie drama as the House majority whip. Peter Horton will play an ambitious investigative reporter just assigned to cover the Capitol Hill beat for The Washington Post.
Highly anticipated road film also headed to theaters this fall
