How Tom Cruise and Sean Penn Got Their Large Breaks

"The Hollywood Reporter's" overview of "Taps" almost 30 years ago demonstrated prescient understatement if this stated the supporting cast shown a "possibility of future projects."That will range from the unknown set of Tom Cruise, then 19, and Sean Penn, 21.The film, which made $35.9 million locally and marks the 30th anniversary of their release 12 ,. 18, involved military academy students who initiate an armed occupation in order to save their school from property designers.Charge cadet role choose to go to Timothy Hutton, 21, who'd won a supporting actor Oscar for "Regular People" just several weeks earlier.Producer Stanley Jaffe states Cruise initially have been set to experience experience character but was moved to some key role when he impressed director Harold Becker throughout the 4 days of testing that was similar to a boot camping."He was out-marching another cadets around the parade area," stated Becker in 2004.Penn was selected after being spotted starring because the timid boy of the abusive father within the small Broadway play "Heartland."The trio created a remarkably potent cast. "It's that factor many people have," states Jaffe. "Should you understood how you can describe it, you'd bottle it."Cruise's next role is at Francis Ford Coppola's "The Outsiders," Hutton's is at Sidney Lumet's "Daniel," and Penn got a significant career boost when he performed Shaun Spicoli in "Fast Occasions at Ridgemont High."Even though Amy Heckerling comedy introduced Penn a lot more attention, he told biographer Richard T. Kelly he looks back fondly on dealing with Cruise and Hutton since it "was like I'd attended senior high school, and today 'Taps' was college for me personally. Also it was Fraternity Row." The Hollywood Reporter

'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' Trailer Features Plenty of Dwayne Johnson, Very Little Channing Tatum

Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss has signed with APA. Dreyfuss' film credits includeThe Goodbye Girl, Jaws, Mr. Holland's Opus, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and American Graffiti. He was previously represented by ICM. Dreyfusswon the Oscar and BAFTA for best actor in 1977 for his performance in the romantic comedy-drama Goodbye Girl. Dreyfuss was also nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Mr. Holland's Opus (1995). His recent film credits include Red(2010) and W.(2008); his recent television credits include Showtime'sWeeds and NBC'sParenthood. This week, Dreyfuss will begin shooting Coma, an A&E miniseries produced by Ridley and Tony Scott. Dreyfuss is managed by the Schiff Co. Email: Daniel.Miller@THR.com Twitter: @DanielNMiller Richard Dreyfuss ICM APA

Edgar Ramirez, 'Star Trek 2' Villain? 'Carlos' Star Latest Leader

That was fast. Under 48 several hours after it absolutely was states Benicio Del Toro was out since the primary villain in 'Star Trek 2,' Variety reviews that J.J. Abrams has switched his focus on Edgar Ramirez. The 'Carlos' star might play Khan inside the 'Trek' follow-up, due in May of 2013. Per Variety, Ramirez might be the brand new leader, with Jordi Molla ('Bad Boys 2,' 'Blow') inside the mix too. The 34-year-old actor will apparently test for your role over Skype (technology!) together with a choice may be created by Abrams as soon as the weekend. Despite the fact that Khan Noonien Singh wasn't Hispanic inside the 'Star Trek' world, the villain is forever mounted on Mexican-born actor Ricardo Montalban. Ramirez (who was simply born in Venezuela) and Molla (who was simply born in the united states) lead anyone to believe that the gossips and rumblings of Khan being the 'Star Trek' villain are true. Either in situation -- developing! Stay up-to-date to determine which continues with that certain. [via Variety] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

'Glee's' Lea Michele Reveals Secret Behind Her 'New Year's Eve' Chemistry with Ashton Kutcher (Video)

When Rick Nicita joined Morgan Creek Productions in August 2008 as co-chairman, CEO James Robinson said the former CAA managing partner would have "a big palette" as his creative head. But the picture hasn't been pretty for the company behind such early 1990s hits as Robin Hood and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.our editor recommendsCANNES: Morgan Creek Cancels Festival Party'Dream House' Loses Appeal for Rating ChangeDream House: Film Review During Nicita's tenure, Morgan Creek has released only one film -- the disappointing supernatural thriller Dream House, which opened Sept. 30 -- and has had other projects delayed while the company deals with the ongoing bankruptcy of its international distribution arm. Now Nicita could be leaving. His contract expires at the end of December, and the company tells The Hollywood Reporter in a statement that "Rick and Jim have not discussed Rick's contract." Typically, such a deal is inked well in advance of expiration. A source with knowledge of the situation said that Nicita is considering his options, including production opportunities and a return to the representation business. During his time at CAA, Nicita ran the careers of Tom Cruise, Al Pacino and Nicole Kidman, among others. Nicita and Robinson declined to comment. The future of the once high-flying film company is unclear. Morgan Creek still has a distribution deal with Universal, though the pact is set to expire at the end of 2012. And the company, co-founded in 1988 by Robinson and Joe Roth, had been slated to produce Major League 3, but Robinson said in February that he wouldn't risk working with star Charlie Sheen in the aftermath of Sheen's erratic behavior. A planned Tupac Shakur biopic remains without a director after talks with John Singleton ended. Singleton would have replaced departed director Antoine Fuqua on the long gestating biopic, titled Tupac. And in November, Morgan Creek pulled out of co-financing Warren Beatty's Howard Hughes biopic. Dream House, the thriller that starred Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts, was the first film released by Morgan Creek since Sydney White, which came out in 2007 and underperformed. Dream House grossed $21.3 million domestically, but cost $55 million and required reshoots. (Morgan Creek pre-sold the film internationally, which would have mitigated losses; Dream House made about $4 million overseas.) But its director, six-time Oscar nominee Jim Sheridan, unsuccessfully petitioned the Directors Guild of America to have his name removed from the project because he was displeased with the finished product, according to an OctoberLos Angeles Times story. Meanwhile, the company's international distribution arm, Bermuda-based Inverness Distribution Ltd., filed for bankruptcy protection in federal court in May, citing debts of up to $100 million. The company filed for bankruptcy after a sharp drop in royalty payments from the licensing of its films. Inverness holds the rights to such movies as The Last of the Mohicans and Young Guns. In court filings, Inverness said it was roughly $74 million in debt on a $150 million loan issued by Societe Generale, ING Bank NV and Bank of Ireland, among others. A company spokesman told THR in May that the bankruptcy could result in Morgan Creek losing certain distribution rights in some foreign territories on some of its older films. Kim Masters contributed to this report. Email: Daniel.Miller@THR.com Twitter: @DanielNMiller Related Topics Morgan Creek Productions

New scribe tunes up Disney's 'Bob'

"Bob the Musical" keeps singing at Disney. A Control Button House has hired Matthew Fogel to pen a completely new draft in the musical that "21 Jump Street" company company directors Phil Master and Chris Burns are attached to helm. The comedy involves Bob, a light-mannered guy who, after being struck round the mind, out of the blue learns the "inner song" in people hearts and finds his existence instantly converted to a musical, much to his dismay. Original tunes are increasingly being put together by Marc Shaiman ("Hairspray"). Fogel's credits have Fox and New Regency's "Large Mommas: Like Father, Like Boy" together with a remake in the European comedy "Rabbit Without Ears." Master and Burns co-written and directed Sony's toon "Cloudy getting possible of Meatballs." Their bigscreen version of "21 Jump Street" bows in March, starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. "Bob the Musical" has extended experienced development at Disney, with Mike Bender, and Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz penning scripts for your comedy that Adam Shankman and Mark Waters were formerly installed on direct. Benderspink's Chris Bender and J.C. Spink and Contrafilm's Love Flynn and Tripp Vinson are coming up with the pic. Contact Marc Graser at marc.graser@variety.com

'Nostalgia for the Light' tops IDA Awards

Chilean film ''Nostalgia for the Light'' has won the best feature award from the Intl. Documentary Assn.Award was presented Friday night to director Patricio Guzman at the Directors Guild of America theater.Film's focused on the driest place on earth, the Atacama Desert, where astronomers from all over the world gather as the sky is so translucent that it allows them to see to the boundaries of the universe.''A country without documentary filmmaking is like a family without a photo album,'' said Guzman in his acceptance speech.''Nostalgia'' topped ''Better This World,'' ''How to Die in Oregon,'' ''The Redemption of General Butt Naked,'' and ''The Tiniest Place.''No IDA finalist is on the 15 docus selected for the Oscar short list.Low-key ceremonies were hosted by IDA prexy Eddie Schmidt, a banjo-playing Josh Fox and Tiffany Shlain.IDA's best short award goes to ''Poster Girl,'' directed by Sara Nesson, who thanked film subject, former soldier Robin Murray.''Boomtown,'' focusing on a small North Dakota town, won the award for Best Limited Series for director/executive producer Rachel Libert.The ABC News Videosource award went to ''The Pruitt-Igoe Myth'' for Chad Freidrichs.The IDA Humanitas Award went to ''Position Among the Stars.'' Producers are awarding prize to the Indonesian family that served as the subject of the film.''Guanape Sur'' won IDA's David Wolper student documentary award for Janos Richter.The continuing series award went to PBS's ''POV'' for exec producer Simon Kilmurry.Les Blank received a lifetime achievement award from Werner Herzog, who said ''I do believe Les Blank should be named a national treasure.'' Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

El Field.

A Bodega/Espacio Creativo presentation. Produced by Alejandro Davila. Co-producer, Derrick Sparrow. Directed by Daniel Rosas. Written by Alejandro Davila, Rosas, Derrick Sparrow.(Spanish, English dialogue)The experience of working the mechanized farms of California's Imperial Valley is realized with quiet emotion and elegant aesthetics in "El Field." Filmmakers Daniel Rosas (director, co-writer, d.p., co-editor), Alejandro Rosas (producer, co-writer) and Derrick Sparrow (co-writer, co-editor, sound) rigorously bypass the loaded political material of California farm workers and labor exploitation for a more interesting perspective, embedding audiences with the workers themselves. Fest programmers and critics keen on creative documaking will boost the pic's profile, and art-oriented tube buyers should reap harvests. The refined, observational filmmaking of Nikolaus Geyrhalter ("Our Daily Bread") and James Benning ("Ruhr") clearly exerts a strong and effective influence here, as the camera offers a distanced view of the harvester machines, the endlessly flat fields and the various transit spots where workers must venture. Extended opening section, set unexpectedly at night, captures what it's like to work on a massive, slow-moving harvester gathering up handpicked crops. This same process is repeated during the day, but the sequence is framed and edited differently, from the ground up, rather than from the harvester's Olympian perspective. The final effect, however, is the same: Standardized agricultural production is fundamentally a factory, only one that's outdoors and in constant slow motion. The field sequences are punctuated with episodes -- similarly observed from a distance, with faint snippets of mostly Spanish-language dialogue and chat heard from unidentified workers -- set in the streets of Mexicali and Calexico, two Imperial Valley burgs that straddle the U.S.-Mexico border. As labor continually flows north and south between these two checkpoints, the fascinating effect of the steady transit (sometimes viewed from the street, sometimes inside buses) is to dislocate the viewer, cleverly blurring the border via cinematic means. Rosas' precisely composed camerawork is panoramic and vivid, providing a solid base for the rest of the film, with Sparrow's complex sound mix rounding out this calm depiction of hard, sweaty work. Long-held shots prove a wise choice by editors Rosas and Sparrow, permitting auds to take in the details and rhythmic routines of the harvest. Spanglish title (complete with period) is the commonly used term for the Imperial Valley locales.Camera (color, DV), Rosas; editors, Rosas, Sparrow; music, Adrian Pereda, Isabella Guajardo, Eduardo Manzanares; sound (stereo), Sparrow. Reviewed at Morelia Film Festival (competing), Oct. 29, 2011. Running time: 85 MIN. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Nickelodeon Greenlights Third Fred Movie, Builds up 20-Episode Fred Series

EXCLUSIVE: Nickelodeon keeps growing its Fred franchise, which started while using 2010 smash Fred: The Film, seen by 8.7 million audiences within the premiere. The kids cable network has greenlighted another film additionally to some 20-episode quantity of 11-minute self-contained episodes. The move happens the heels of lately’s debut of Fred 2: Evening in the Living Fred, which shipped 5.7 million total audiences. The series is slated to start production within the finish of year for just about any premiere noisy . 2012. It'll be then Fred 3‘s debut later around. Like the first 2 movies, the next one as well as the series star Lucas Cruikshank and be a consequence of the Fred character the teen comic created in many YouTube videos. The series marks Fred‘s return to the short-form it originated from in online. “It is really a mash-in the initial Fred and that which you did while using movies,” John Robbins mentioned. Robbins’ College Pictures as well as the Collective, which together funded the initial movie, have came back as producers in the new film and series. Cruikshank, College’s Robbins and Sharla Sumpter-Bridgett as well as the Collective’s Evan Weiss and Gary Binkow are executive creating. Cruikshank first introduced Fred Figglehorn, a imaginary 6-year-old which has a dysfunctional home existence and anger management issues, around the Fred YouTube funnel, which launched in April 2008. Yearly later, the funnel had greater than millions of clients but got the eye of Robbins and management-production company The Collective. “It’s amazing,” Robbins mentioned. “Two in the past, Lucas will be a kid making videos from his house in Nebraska. Now he’s got 3 movies together with a set.”