Having gone Sideways, why not Vertical?
Author of hit 2004 wine movie wonders why his sequel book hasn’t been filmed
Remember Sideways? The wine movie? Big hit in 2004?
Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church?
Well, it grossed over $70 million, not bad on a $12-million budget, so you’d think there’d be a sequel. But no.
Now Rex Pickett, the guy who wrote the novel, has taken the unusual step of going public to complain that director Alexander Payne won’t get off the pot and make that sequel. “Tens of millions are on the table and no sequel. Why? The book’s been written, the screenplay’s been written,” Pickett told thedrinksbusiness.com.
The script is from Pickett’s sequel novel, Vertical, published in 2010.
“No one in Hollywood understands why Payne is not in pre-production on Vertical. … Payne has the power to make whatever movie he wants.”
No comment from Payne, whose latest movie was The Descendants, with George Clooney.
Charlie Sheen says he’ll donate at least $1 million, maybe more, to the USO, a non-profit organization helping U.S. service personnel and veterans.
The USO is best known for entertainment shows for GIs, but Sheen’s money will go to medical centres for veterans and their families.
He’s 46. The sport TV doesn’t cover: U.S. Olympic women’s soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo told ESPN about life in the Olympic Village:
“There’s a lot of sex going on. With a once-in-a-lifetime experience, you want to build memories, whether it’s sexual, partying or on the field. I’ve seen people having sex right out in the open. On the grass, between buildings, people are getting down and dirty.” Spotlight couple: The N.Y. Post says “blade runner” Oscar Pistorius and model Anastassia Khozissova are dating.
She has walked – as they say – for Armani, Marc Ja- cobs, Chanel, Prada and other big names. He’s going to be in the Olympics.
He’s 25. She’s, err, model age.
You saw that last week curvy model Kate Upton got called “lazy, lardy” by some pro-anorexia website? (Yes, there are such things. I don’t think I’ll name it.) The piece said Kate “looks like a squishy brick.”
I can tell you that I have reviewed the evidence, and “lardy” is not the word I’d use.
And now Kate has spoken up, via a press release: “I’m not going to starve just to be thin. I want to enjoy life and I can’t if I’m not eating and miserable.” You go, girl!
Katy Perry, whose divorce from Russell Brand just came through, lives in L.A. And so, now, will her current main squeeze, Rob Ackroyd of Florence + the Machine. He’s moving from London, says the Mirror newspaper, “in a bid to make a go of things with the star.”
The paper’s Nameless Insider says Perry, who reckons too much time apart ruined her marriage, “doesn’t want to make the same mistakes” this time.
It’s a girl, born Sunday, no name yet, for Uma Thurman and her rich-guy partner, Arpad Busson.
This is their first child together; Uma has two – Maya, who just turned 14, and Levon, 10 – from her time with Ethan Hawke. She’s 42.
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