Screen Talk: Greengrass is on the riot track

Tinseltown Insider

Paul Greengrass is in final talks to direct The Trial of the Chicago 7 (PA)

Paul Greengrass (pictured) is in final talks to direct The Trial of the Chicago 7, based on an Aaron Sorkin script. The project chronicles the trial of seven people who were charged with conspiracy and inciting to riot during the Chicago protests that occurred at the time of 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Mogul in martial arts moves

Harvey Weinstein, currently working on a sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, is to remake two Shaw Brothers Studio martial arts classics. Hong Kong's Celestial Pictures is working with Weinstein to produce English-language versions of King Hu's Come Drink with Me and Sun Chung's The Avenging Eagle.

Tax row harms US film income

Jack Reacher, Les Miserables with Anne Hathaway and Man of Steel are among titles at the heart of a dispute between Hollywood and China. Since late 2012, the studios have had no money from Chinese box-office takings as they declined to pay a 2 per cent VAT hike by the China Film Group, say Hollywood insiders.

Foster's future looks bright

Upcoming sc-fi release Elysium starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster arrives from the TriStar Pictures distribution stable. All eyes are on the Sony Pictures Entertainment-owned division as it looks to ramp up its production ambitions, having hired former 20th Century Fox chief Tom Rothman for the job.

Nolan recruits more star turns

Wes Bentley is also in negotiations to join Christopher Nolan's starry cast for his sci-fi movie Interstellar. Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Casey Affleck and Topher Grace all have turns. The scriptsees a group of explorers travel through a wormhole.

Warm welcome for Cusack

Welcome to Me, the project billed as a dramatic comedy, has recruited Wes Bentley, Joan Cusack, James Marsden and Alan Tudyk to join its star Kristen Wiig on screen. Shira Piven directs the script exploring society's obsession with fame. Wigg plays a woman who has dissociative personality disorder.