Oliver Stone and Michael Douglas will return for 'Wall Street 2'

By Sarah Sluis

Perhaps you recall that last October, Fox planned to fast-track a sequel to 1987's Wall Street. Well, six months later, they've resurfaced to announce that two of the originals are on board: Oliver Stone has agreed to direct, and Michael Douglas will reprise his Oscar-winning performance as Gordon Gekko.

Allan Loeb, who adapted the screenplay for 21 as well as upcoming film The Baster, has been writing the sequel, and apparently the strength of the story he turned in helped win over Stone to the project. THR mentions that this project has been in development for some time, and a quick check of IMDB reveals a project called Money Never Sleeps, which may be the script Allan Loeb rewrote, or chucked.

While details

of the movie, now titled Wall Street 2, have not been revealed, six months ago the plan was to pick

up Gekko's story after he is released from jail. Shia LaBoeuf is in talks

to play a newbie, Charlie Sheen-like character that Gekko mentors, much like in the original film.

No word on where the movie will position itself in the financial

crisis. Will it dial back a couple years and let the audience revisit

the collapse of all the major banks, or position the characters as

looking to profit from the recession? Production is on track to start this summer, which puts the film at a 2010 release, and Edward R. Pressman, who produced the first film, will also handle the second.

Still, one of the greatest liabilities of this project is what I'll call the Iraq War effect. Movies like The Lucky Ones were being put into production constantly when the war was a hot topic, only to open in empty theatres because the movies either seemed not relevant enough to someone totally separated from the war, or too close to home for those with friends and family involved in the war. Or, perhaps, maybe they just weren't good enough?

I saw the original Wall Street long after 80's excess had waved good-bye, but the film still worked for me because it made the 80's seem as epic and recognizable as the considerably more distant Roaring 20's. Plus, the film wasn't dependent on being a homage to the age: it had a great script, direction, and unforgettable performances. Will the sequel to Wall Street be able to position itself as timeless even as views on the financial crisis and recession continue to change? Stone's most recent film, W., managed to do well even when though it released October 17th, on the eve of the election, during a time when public opinion of the President could have swung in any direction. If anyone can handle a story that's giving a historical perspective on the modern day, it's Stone.

DreamWorks delays financing talks with Wall Street

By Sarah Sluis

While Hollywood likes to tout its immunity to recession via The Great Depression, during which the
industry not only made money, but also lifted the spirits of America with its leggy musicals, it looks as though the credit crunch has already affected Hollywood financing.

DreamWorks chose to delay its Wall Street pitch for additional financing, planning to wait a month for the crisis to settle down before proceeding.  Right now this makes sense--DreamWorks says it has enough money from its Reliance deal, and Wall Street has more important things on its hands right now than to lend more money.  More news stories like this might indicate trouble.  However, with the Dow dropping 40% from last year, the question is not if we will see more stories like these, but "when?" and "how many?" 

As I wrote yesterday, major studios have already secured financing for most of their projects going into production now, giving them some safety and lead time.  In fact, many of them had delayed their projects for another one of capitalism's favorite concerns--unions, and the expiration of the Screen Actors Guild contracts.  Hollywood has stated its confidence that people will still go to movies in an economic crisis, since they are a relatively cheap source of entertainment, but what if it lacks the money to make its films?

Reprising my "Money, Politics, Hollywood" post from last month, I thought I would throw in a Hollywood political update.  Today, THR's Risky Business blog ruminated about the timing of the release of Oliver Stone's W.  Releasing a film about our president before his term has finished surprises me as well, although from what I understand it's more of an "origin" film than an analysis of the Bush presidency.  Unlike other politically minded films like Farenheit 9/11, which looked for someone to blame, W's trailer surprised viewers, including myself, with its frat boy lampoon of Bush.  The trailer shows Bush's partying antics and his sheepish reception of a lecture from his father--no one nefarious, just criminally clueless.  With the popularity of Tina Fey's Sarah Palin imitation fresh on the minds of viewers, I think W's greatest angle for success will come from viewers trying to chase laughs similar to SNL's political caricatures.