Gawker: defamer, christopher walken

Will John Waters and 'Hairspray 2' Break Musicals' Sequel Curse?

STV — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:00:00 EDT

In the tradition of classic musical sequels like Goodbye, Dolly and Seven Divorces for Seven Brothers, the creative team behind Hairspray is set to return for a follow-up slated for 2010. New Line has reportedly brought aboard John Waters — whose original 1988 hit was adapted to a Broadway tuner that grossed $200 million when re-adapted for the screen last year — to scribble a new treatment "[picking] up the Baltimore saga of the Turnblad family after the resolution of the first film, which was set in 1962."

Director-choreographer Adam Shankman and songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman are slated to return. The original cast is a question mark, however, as Nikki Blonsky, Queen Latifah, Christopher Walken, Michelle Pfeiffer and a frocked, fat-suited John Travolta (among others) didn't have sequel options. But while hardly incidental, such details seem secondary to a far more important question: When has a film musical's sequel ever been a hit?

Shankman alludes to as much in an interview today with Variety, citing only the success of High School Musical as a musical franchise that worked. Of course it's a nonsensical analogy; despite the films' common Zac Efron denominator, tweens aren't going to break the sound barrier racing off to Hairspray 2. Pfeiffer has history here, too, as the female lead in another sequel that famously fizzled, Grease 2. Moreover, what would Hairspray 2 even be about? Velma Von Tussle's Aryan revenge? Tracy Turnblad goes off to Johns Hopkins, discovers acid and founds Beehives Against the Vietnam War? Or, better yet, drops out of school and stars in early John Waters films?

No, really. We're asking. The possibilities are endless, yet we know there's only one right idea — and with history as our guide, it might be to skip the idea altogether.

New Line asks for more 'Hairspray' [Variety]

Christopher Walken: Man In Bras

Seth — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:07:17 EST

Christopher Walken, beloved star of True Romance, and, more recently, testicular-imagery-laden competitive table tennis spoof Balls of Fury, showed up in person Friday night to collect his Hasty Pudding Man of the Year award from the famous Harvard dramatic club. The appearance took full advantage of the multi-talented icon, with Pudding members requesting that Walken perform a song from Hairspray, intone his "more cowbell" catchphrase from the classic SNL skit, and, in a scenario that perhaps skirted the boundaries of good taste, reenact the Russian Roulette scene from The Deer Hunter using a Super Soaker filled with strawberry jam.

As is their custom, Walken was also required to don women's apparel, instantly evoking the cross-dressing dabbling required of him in Hairspray, though he politely declined to answer any of the crowd's pressing questions about John Travolta's tonsel-hockey skills.

[Photo: WireImage]

Walken Gets Harvard Hasty Pudding Award [AP]

Christoper Walken To Spend Next Three Months Shuffling Around Kitchen And Yelling 'Sharon!' In Preparation For Ozzy Osbourne Cameo

Seth — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 20:34:42 EST

ABCNews.com is reporting that Christopher Walken has chosen yet another project which will accommodate his penchant for taking any role that requires him to don a shoulder-length wig, this time, according to Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil, playing Ozzy Osbourne in the upcoming film adaptation of the band's rock n' roll tell-all, The Dirt:

Christopher Walken has agreed to play the ultimate bad-boy rocker — Ozzy Osbourne.
Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil told ABC News Radio in an exclusive interview that the 63-year-old Oscar-winning actor will make a cameo appearance as Osbourne in "The Dirt," a movie based on the band's controversial 2001 autobiography. [...]

Osbourne toured with Motley Crue and was friends with the band, and his antics, as recounted in the book, include snorting a line of live ants (while looking for a fix of cocaine) and taking LSD every day for a year "just to see what would happen."

Neil says that other stars are going to appear in the film as rock stars, including Val Kilmer as David Lee Roth.

We look forward to witnessing what sorts of Method madness Kilmer cooks up to capture his high-kicking counterpart; surely, he will literally become Diamond Dave both on and off the set, much in the way he brought an unparalleled level of authenticity to his "channeling" of Jim Morrison while shooting The Doors. But something tells us that it's song-and-dance man Walken and his tireless commitment to detail that will ultimately steal this show, such as his insistence, against a nervous prop master's better judgment, on snorting a parade of actual fire ants, instead of allowing the ill-fated critters to just be later added digitally in post.

Exclusive: Christopher Walken to Play Ozzy Osbourne [ABCNews.com]

Once Christopher Walken's Dress Is On, He Makes Gold Records

Seth — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 20:00:48 EDT

Had you told us a photo would emerge from the set of Hairspray, currently shooting in Toronto, whose monstrous, bouffant-laden imagery could haunt our dreams more than this one, we likely would have thought you had been huffing on a paper bag full of Aqua Net. Of course, we hadn't yet laid eyes on this portrait of Christopher Walken, whom we can best surmise plays the movie's elderly, withered drag queen, pictured positively beaming as he takes in what will likely be one of his final few gay pride parades. We imagine it should be a week or so before flashbacks to drooping sock-garters on a pair of spindly, pallid calves fail to rouse us from our slumber in trembling nightsweats.

What A Drag [People]

Christopher Walken Knows True Romance

Seth — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 18:14:21 EST

The brilliant recurring SNL sketch known as "The Continental," in which the camera plays unwilling love interest to Christopher Walken 's lecherous faux-sophisticate, has somewhat tarnished the actor's image as a legitimate leading man. Let this montage, then, be the tonic that successfully returns Walken to his rightful place in our collective id as full-fledged pansexual lust object. Set to the purring moans of Serge Gainsbourg's classic "Je t'aime... moi non plus," the video strings together every passionate kiss, caress, and embrace in the Walken canon, making it not unlike an all-Walken version of the final scene of Cinema Paradiso. Dim the lights, open a bottle of Pinot, and watch it with someone you love. (video NSFW)

Christopher Walken's Reps Renounce Candidacy

Mark — Fri, 19 Aug 2005 13:04:31 EDT

We find it hard to believe that anyone thought that Christopher Walken was actually planning a presidential run in 2008 (it seemed so obvious that we merely tossed it into the end-of-day links last week), but here come the official denials:

Walken's representatives say they aren't sure who masterminded the website but speculate that it might have been prompted by Walken's latest film, "Wedding Crashers," a hit comedy starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. In it, Walken plays the U.S. secretary of the Treasury.

"The person who put this together was just trying it as a hoax, I presume," said Mara Buxbaum, Walken's publicist. "My take on it is it sounds like the person who put this on the Web took his role ... in 'Wedding Crashers' too seriously and now wants him to run for the presidency." [...]

Walken's agent, Toni Howard of International Creative Management, scoffed at the notion of Walken running for office.

"I don't know where they got it," Howard said. "That's like saying Tim Robbins is running on the Republican ticket. [Walken] is the least political guy I know."

The very notion was more than ridiculous from the start—perhaps even more absurd than lefty Robbins hooking up with the GOP. How could Walken possibly devote the time necessary to launch an effective presidential campaign while he's busy drafting the Iraqi constitution? Organizing the principles of freedom is a full-time job.

From Oscar to Oval Office? [LAT]
Christopher Walken 2008 [walken2008.com]

Short Ends: Drink With Tara

Mark — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 20:01:32 EDT

· Immediately stop what you're doing and get a good pre-happy hour buzz going with the incredible Tara Reid Drinking Game from the bored geniuses at Liquid Generation. We've already taken it for a test drive, and we must say, Reid is a formidble opponent.
· You've lost hours daydreaming about what it might be like to inherit Paul Rudd's cellphone number, but now you can read about what it's really like.
· The origin of the Ben Affleck Chair...revealed! Turns out it was an expensive gift from Kevin Smith.
· A Christopher Walken run for president in 2008 could almost—almost!—get us out to vote. [via Screenhead]
· At least Sony doesn't have any illusions about the quality of Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. "'Movies don't have to be "Gone With the Wind" if they are entertaining,' said Geoff Ammer, Sony's president of worldwide marketing."