Hailed by Variety as a prequel to Jackie Brown, the upcoming adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s novel “The Switch” will star John Hawkes and Yassin Bey (once known as Mos Def) as younger versions of the same characters once played by Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson in Tarantino’s 1997 film.

The movie, called simply Switch, was written on spec without permission by Dan Schechter (Supporting Characters), who will also direct. He sent the finished script to Elmore Leonard’s producing partner, and they gave Schechter their blessing. The plot is as follows:

Set 15 years before the events in “Jackie Brown,” story follows career criminals Ordell and Louis as they team up to kidnap Mickey Dawson, the wife of a corrupt Detroit real estate developer. When the husband refuses to pay the ransom for his wife’s return, the ex-cons are forced to reconceive their plan, and the angry housewife uses the duo to get her revenge.

Sounds like perfect casting to me. I can’t wait to see how Hawkes and Bey work together, especially using the pulpy dialogue of an Elmore Leonard story.

Though the characters are the same, this may not be a straight-ahead prequel. Leonard’s works have an interesting history of crossing over characters in both film and television. Michael Keaton reprised his Jackie Brown role of ATF agent Ray Nicolette in Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight, another Leonard story. And Karen Sisco, the lead character played by Jennifer Lopez in Out of Sight, was played by Carla Gugino in a short-lived TV series back in 2003. Gugino is currently reprising that role as a guest star on the FX show “Justified,” though the character does have a different last name due to different studios owning different characters in the Leonard canon.

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So was this Steven Soderbergh’s final project for film school?  The question is posed for it seems that the stylish director (Ocean’s flicks, Traffic, Contagion, etc.) couldn’t afford a talented lead for Haywire. Plus, the sound edit, uh, sounds as if a micro-budgeted indie filmmaker made this on his Macbook. Actually, one could probably get better sound out of that computer.

Obviously, this isn’t Soderbergh’s senior project and there was some coin behind it ($25 million) as you can surmise from the talented cast that chimed in on this 93 minute flick.  And although the action, which is to say hand-to-hand combat sequences, had some intensity to them, the script suffers immensely from the storytelling execution via the femme fatale, Gina Carano.

Her dialogue delivery is bloody awful to the point that you feel sorry for her as you watch this.  Now even though the story wasn’t all that riveting to begin with, having the majority of it told through the more-or-less rookie actress was clearly too much to ask here.  She is surrounded by an accomplished supporting cast and she does have the ability to carry them in the above mention decently choreographed fight sequences.  But once those come and go, the mediocre level this flick attains drops faster than a man between Carano’s leg scissors.  And speaking of those legs, the one thing Carano did accomplish is the dethroning of Famke Janssen (Goldeneye 1995); as she can now proudly wear the title of having the sexiest choke-hold in cinematic history.

While Carano just isn’t ready to enhance this spy-betrayed-by-the-system saga outside of using her apt MMA skills – and perhaps Soderbergh realized this during filming, as there are prolonged shots of her just running around and scaling rooftops (one of the better shot sequences though), it all falls on Soderbergh and the story to keep us wired in.  Watching Soderbergh’s camera placement is always intriguing.  If he’s shooting on a rooftop, he’ll find a crevice between a fireplace and a pipe and guide the lens through as it follows the character.  When screenplay is active, he’s at his best.  And much like his Ocean’s flicks, the luring musical score has the ability to set the tone.

Most of everything stated above is realized within the first thirty minutes.  And while the direction of this piece doesn’t quite come fully together, one is hopeful the plot will eventually catch you.  Unfortunately, it just isn’t happening here.  The atmosphere is subdued despite it being a spy-thriller.  It’s not wordy or bland like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or The American, but it doesn’t have an adrenaline rush commonly found in a Bourne movie or even Salt for that matter.  As far as originality goes, there is none.  Well, except for the fact that Carano actually looks like she can kick some ass as opposed to a 95lbs. Angelina Jolie. So basically, this is just Soderbergh’s take on a spy-thriller…that isn’t all that thrilling and has a few mechanical issues.

Overall, Haywire can never really get going.  At certain turns, you wonder if this would even make the cut to be shown in a local film festival based on the production and acting levels of Gina Carano. The pacing is fairly good when considering the short running time, yet the product as a whole feels like a rush job that people just wanted to unload.  In other words: Why bother even making this?

RATING: 2 out of 5

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Thanks to The Playlist, we now know who Steven Soderbergh has in mind for his next film, The Side Effects – and the director didn’t have to look very far to find his cast. The film, written by Soderbergh mainstay Scott Z. Burns (The Informant!, Contagion), has attracted some talent the director has worked with before. Hit the jump to find out who, and to see what this project is all about.

Formerly known as The Bitter Pill, The Side Effects, according to writer Burns, centers around “people and their moods. It’s about how we as a society can’t tolerate sadness and what that makes us vulnerable to.” Sounds very atmospheric, and The Playlist says the script is akin to something along the lines of Fatal Attraction. Blake Lively (Green Lantern) has locked down the lead role of a woman taking prescription pills to deal with her husband’s upcoming release from prison, and Channing Tatum is playing her husband. Jude Law will play Lively’s psychiatrist.

Tatum worked with Soderbergh on both Haywire (out in theaters this month) and the upcoming stripper drama Magic Mike, and Law collaborated with the director on Contagion last year. Lively is the wild card, and after a solid performance in Ben Affleck’s The Town, it will be interesting to see how she handles such a high profile leading role.

Soderbergh decided to take on this project after The Man From U.N.C.L.E. fell through at Warner Bros., and financing and distribution for The Bitter Pill is still up in the air at this point. Summit was supposed to be involved, but now that they’re being sold to Lionsgate, they’ve dropped out. But it’s a Soderbergh film, so I don’t imagine it’ll languish for long. We’ll keep you updated on further developments.

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Contagion doesn’t feature insane killers, demons, or haunted houses, but it’s one of the most effective horror films of the year. Walking out of the theater, my audience warily eyed each other, making sure not to touch anyone or anything as we went our separate ways. Steven Soderbergh continues to prove himself as one of the finest directors of ensemble casts working behind the camera today, and his controlled direction coupled with a fascinating script by Scott Z. Burns makes for a hell of a movie. It’s unsettling, but it’s also exceptionally crafted and well-acted, so I have no qualms about recommending it for everyone.

Before the movie came out, many (myself included) wondered what the point of Contagion was: doesn’t it look too similar to every other outbreak movie of the past twenty years? But this film reminded me that the devil is in the details: it’s not only about the subject matter, but how the story is executed, and I’m glad I checked it out. Soderbergh adds all kinds of touches that make the movie stand out, from his shallow focus compositions to an excellent montage showing the spread of the deadly disease across the world. There’s a detached quality here, and the director does a good job of keeping the audience at arm’s length throughout the movie and not falling into the trap of making the movie about any one character over another; the main characters are the disease and the fear it inspires.

The acting is fantastic from everyone involved. Matt Damon sells his character’s emotional breakdowns, Kate Winslet makes a big impact with a smaller part, Laurence Fishburne does some of his best work in years, and Jude Law is fantastic as a renegade blogger searching for the truth. Even Gwyneth Paltrow (who dies in the trailer) does well with the small screen time she has. Tiny performances by Elliot Gould, Demetri Martin, Enrico Colantoni, Bryan Cranston, and John Hawkes didn’t disappoint, but the standout actress for me (as much as I love Kate Winslet) has to be Jennifer Ehle, who is not a big name yet but certainly should be after this movie. She evokes a young Meryl Streep not only in appearance but in quality in her role as a doctor on a quest to discover the cure for the disease.

Marion Cotillard’s character is the weak link here, but that’s no fault of hers. The script seems to forget about her since she disappears for a huge chunk of the movie – close to 40 minutes, I’d wager – and then when she returns, her motivations have completely changed with a pitiful implication of why we’re supposed to empathize with her climactic decision. This is a script flaw more than an acting complaint, so I just want to reiterate that I had no issues with Cotillard’s performance. Because there are so many characters introduced, and because Soderbergh keeps the audience from fully engaging with any of them (except for maybe Matt Damon and his daughter), this problem feels particularly egregious. But I’ll also reiterate: just because we don’t get to truly know any of these people, that doesn’t mean that Contagion is not a captivating thriller.

Cliff Martinez adds an eerie electronic-based score punctuated with grating feedback noises, subtly adding to the horrific atmosphere Soderbergh creates. Martinez has been doing some good work this year with this and the scores for Nicholas Winding Refn’s Drive (one of my favorite films of 2011) and the Matthew McConaughey flick The Lincoln Lawyer (which I still haven’t seen).

The escalating panic and hysteria that Contagion depicts are perhaps the scariest moments in the film; it’s easy to assume this movie’s cynical view of the world is pretty realistic if such a situation were to occur. The involvement of the internet in breaking news and Jude Law’s character becoming a prophet for people is not outside the realm of believability, nor are the looting, violence, and destruction presented. Burns’ script is captivating, frightening, and well-constructed, and Soderbergh’s take on the material is a perfect visual partnership with the script’s tone. Contagion is not anything that I plan on revisiting any time soon, but that’s not because I didn’t like it: it’s just because everything it suggests is too unnervingly realistic. And that unsettling feeling is the film’s greatest success. Until next time…

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Here’s some news that should interest fans of The Hunger Games. The Playlist recently caught some tweets (now removed) by production designer Eddie Mills and electrician Chrys Blackstone which revealed that Oscar winning director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Ocean’s Thirteen) would be working as second unit director on the film.

Second unit directors typically direct establishing shots, close-ups, and stunts while the director focuses on scenes involving the main actors. Second unit would seem a bit odd for an established director such as Soderbergh to be involved with, but he is a long-time friend of director Gary Ross, having worked together on Pleasantville (1998), and Ross has often read through Soderbergh’s scripts.

Soderbergh’s virus thriller Contagion starring Kate Winslet, Matt Damon and Jude Law will be released September 9, 2011, and his female-driven action film Haywire with Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender and Ewan McGregor hits January 20, 2012.

Opening on March 23, 2012, The Hunger Games chronicles a dystopic Capitol which requires its twelve subjugated districts to pay tribute in the form of a teenage boy and girl, forced to participate in the annual “Hunger Games,” a fight-to-the-death live televised event.

Katniss Everdeen’s little sister is chosen in the lottery to participate and Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take her place. Although persevering through hardship is commonplace for Katniss, she must start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love in order to win the games and return home.

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The first trailer for Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire has appeared online. The movie stars Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas and Bill Paxton, however they are all in supporting roles. The lead belongs to Gina Carano, a mixed martial arts fighter who, by the looks of things, can also act.

Watch below:

Beautiful freelance covert operative Mallory Kane is hired out by her handler to various global entities to perform jobs which governments can’t authorize and heads of state would rather not know about. After a mission to rescue a hostage in Barcelona, Mallory is quickly dispatched on another mission to Dublin. When the operation goes awry and Mallory finds she has been double crossed, she needs to use all of her skills, tricks and abilities to escape an international manhunt, make it back to the United States, protect her family, and exact revenge on those that have betrayed her

It’s quite refreshing to see a female-driven action film that doesn’t involve Angelina Jolie. Hiring a relative unknown was a risk (Soderbergh discovered Carano on a random Saturday when watching an MMA fight), so surrounding her with strong (and well known) supporting actors was a good move.

Haywire will be released by Relativity Media on January 20, 2012.

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Warner Bros. have released the first trailer for Steven Soderbergh’s virus thriller Contagion, which stars Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow and Laurence Fishburne.

In a bold movie the studio has decided to show the death a character played by one of the main players mentioned above, but as the trailer progresses you understand that the death is actually pretty important to the story and they couldn’t really skip around it.

Watch below:

The movie follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days. As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself. At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart.

Contagion will be released September 9, 2011 in the US and October 21 in the UK.

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In February it was announced that Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow and Laurence Fishburne had all signed up for Steven Soderbergh’s thriller Contagion, which follows an international team of doctors and scientists brought in by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) after an outbreak of a deadly virus.

No concrete release date had been set, however today Warner Bros. announced that the film will be released on October 21st 2011 in 3D.

The cast list alone is enough to get people to see the film so i’m not sure why it needs to be in 3D. But I suppose if everyone else is doing it they might as well, and Soderbergh was apparently impressed with Avatar so he may want to give it a go.

Scott Z. Burns (The Informant! and The Bourne Ultimatum) has written the script, which apparently is “terrifying”, and the film is scheduled to begin filming later this year.

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In February it was announced that Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow and Laurence Fishburne had all signed up for Steven Soderbergh’s thriller Contagion, which follows an international team of doctors and scientists brought in by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) after an outbreak of a deadly virus. We haven’t heard anything about it since the casting, although Jude Law recently said that he will be shooting for 10 days at the end of the year.

Well today The Playlist got more details on the film, including details on who will be playing who. (Spoilers below)

Gwyneth Paltrow plays a character called Beth Emhoff who is struck down by a mysterious ailment during a Hong Kong flight, and her husband, Matt Damon, is is forced to care for his wife, and soon his step-son, as her condition worsens.

Laurence Fishburne plays Dr. Ellis Cheever, the head of the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and Kate Winslet plays his colleague Dr. Erin Mears. Both are battling to find a cure for the disease, and Winslet’s character is sent to examine Gwyneth Paltrow at her home in Minnesota.

Marion Cotillard plays European doctor Leonora Orantes who works for the World Health Organization. She is also working on finding a cure and heads to Hong Kong to investigate what appears to be the genesis spot of the breakout.

And finally, Jude Law plays Alan Krumwiede, “a hungry, truthseeking blogger with an unfortunate interest in conspiracy theories”. His character is “responsible for spreading information about the disease, both true and false, around the world.”

My interest in Contagion first sparked after hearing the talent that had signed on, and I can now see why they did. As well as being an interesting thriller, there are many meaty roles to go around and it seems to be a true global affair (as deadly viruses usually are).

Scott Z. Burns (The Informant! and The Bourne Ultimatum) has written the script, which apparently is “terrifying”, and the film is scheduled to begin filming later this year for a 2011 release (no official release date has been set).

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According to Deadline Hollywood Warner Bros. has outbid it’s fellow studios for Steven Soderbergh’s next movie Contagion. The film follows an international team of doctors and scientists brought in by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) after an outbreak of a deadly virus. These aren’t your average doctors and scientists, however. They will be played by the likes of Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow and Laurence Fishburne.

Specific roles haven’t been outlined yet, however the events will stretch across four continents, so one can assume Winslet and Law will be tackling the outbreak in the UK, Damon, Paltrow and Fisburne in the US, and Cotillard will be fighting the bacteria from hell in France.

The budget is set at $60 million and according to The Playlist the script is “terrifying”. Writer Scott Z. Burns has previously contributed to the cinematic world with The Informant! and The Bourne Ultimatum so it’s bound to be good. So good in fact that Soderbergh has pushed everything aside in order to fast track shooting for later this year. Here’s one to keep an eye on.

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