Ron Howard Forgets About "The Alamo"
NEW YORK (Variety) – Director Ron Howard will not lead the charge on "The Alamo," because Disney is tak-ing too long to get the prestige project into production. Howard, off his Oscar win for "A Beautiful Mind," has begun concentrating on other film projects for his followup. However he and his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer may well continue as producers of the period Western. The studio has already begun seeking a new director in hopes of keeping a late-year start date in place, as well as a cast that was to include Russell Crowe and Ethan Hawke. Howard never formally signed a deal to direct the film, but such an accord was con-sidered a fait accompli when word got out that he was scouting locations in Texas. After winning all that Oscar hardware for "A Beautiful Mind," Howard and Grazer wanted to capitalize on the momentum and get a film started quickly; "The Alamo" just went back to the shop for a rewrite by "Traffic" scribe Stephen Gaghan. Ap-parently, the cast will remain in place to see who Disney hires to replace Howard.
NEW YORK (Variety) – Director Ron Howard will not lead the charge on "The Alamo," because Disney is tak-ing too long to get the prestige project into production. Howard, off his Oscar win for "A Beautiful Mind," has begun concentrating on other film projects for his followup. However he and his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer may well continue as producers of the period Western. The studio has already begun seeking a new director in hopes of keeping a late-year start date in place, as well as a cast that was to include Russell Crowe and Ethan Hawke. Howard never formally signed a deal to direct the film, but such an accord was con-sidered a fait accompli when word got out that he was scouting locations in Texas. After winning all that Oscar hardware for "A Beautiful Mind," Howard and Grazer wanted to capitalize on the momentum and get a film started quickly; "The Alamo" just went back to the shop for a rewrite by "Traffic" scribe Stephen Gaghan. Ap-parently, the cast will remain in place to see who Disney hires to replace Howard.