Salma Hayek, the fiery star of Warner Bros.’
upcoming "Wild Wild West", is in advanced
negotiations to star with Jeff Goldblum in "Shiny
New Enemies" for Bel Air Entertainment.
Tyro thesp Orlando Jones, meanwhile, is in final
negotiations to join the cast. Steve Zahn was the
first to come on board (Daily Variety, March
30).
Pontus Lowenheim and Patrick Von
Krusenstjerna of the Swedish commercials
collective Traktor will make their U.S. feature
helming debut on the $20 million offbeat comedy.
Bel Air will fully finance the pic, which Warner
Bros. will distribute domestically.
Purloined coins
Based on a screenplay by Bix Skahill, pic follows
the life of a barber (Zahn) born under a bad sign
who starts his day intending to commit suicide,
then watches as things get worse. Hayek will
play Sgt. Meredith Kolko, a centerfold turned
top-notch detective who is assigned to the heist
of the Shiny New Enemies, a batch of precious
ancient coins that end up in the barber’s
possession.
Goldblum, who serves on the competition jury of
this year’s Cannes Film Festival, will tackle the
role of Avnet, an unsavory sort hired to steal the
coins. And Jones, who next stars in Barry
Levinson’s "Liberty Heights" for Warner Bros.,
will play a drag queen, Miss Coco.
Tony Lord and Matt Weaver are producing.
Traktor’s Richard Ulfvengren is exec producing
along with Happy Walters and Chuck Block.
"Shiny New" begins production June 7 in
Vancouver.
