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Future Projects
ENIGMA
The next Kate film to be released is "Enigma", a World War II historical drama/thriller by director Michael Apted, who did "The World Is Not Enough," the recent Bond film. It's based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Robert Harris (about a young man who races against time to solve a German U-Boat code), with a script by Tom Stoppard and Hannah Weg. Although the characters are fictional, the story of the British team of code-breakers at Bletchley Park (an estate in Buckinghamshire, which you can visit today) is a true one...The title comes from the Enigma machines the Germans used for encryption.
Dougray Scott ("Ever After", "Mission Impossible: 2", and Kate's co-star in "Faeries"...) plays the lead, Tom Jericho, and Saffron Burrows also co-stars. The film started shooting in April 2000 in London, and also filmed in the Netherlands. Her character is named Hester Wallace, the "mousy" brunette roommate of Claire (Jericho's icy blonde ex-lover, played by Saffron), and she teams up with him on his mission. Jeremy Northam is also in the cast as Wigram.
Here's what Kate has said about playing Hester: "It's an adventure story set in such a sexy time - with young people determined to live for the moment. In some ways I compare my character Hester to George in Enid Blyton's The Famous Five - she enjoys adventure and won't stop till she gets a result and, in the end, she helps save the day."
I read the book myself, it's pretty good, has the right amount of suspense and intrigue...Hester is actually a somewhat minor character, but I heard they expanded her role for the film, even adding a romance with Jericho and making her pregnant by the end of the movie (since Kate herself was pregnant when they filmed)! She's definitely the most interesting character in the book, a smart and serious but confidently feisty bookworm. They even hint at unresolved feelings on her part towards the beautiful, vivacious Claire, who disappears early on in the story (making her a suspect in the case).
Anyway, although I normally wouldn't read something like this (I'm not really into war & espionage stuff), it's fairly well-written and entertaining and I expect it will make a good pulse-pounding film with lots of drama. The film is set for UK release on September 28 (U.S. release date still unknown), and had its premiere and only screening so far at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival on January 22nd! Its European premiere will be at a big, glitzy affair at the Edinburgh Film Festival in Scotland this August. Kate will be there, as will rock star Mick Jagger (of The Rolling Stones) because he's one of the producers! The festival runs August 12-26, the exact date "Enigma" will premiere is still unknown.
The official "Enigma" site is up already!
Check out the first online "Enigma" trailer!!
Ain't It Cool News has a sneak peek at the "Enigma" script.
Marla's Enigma section at her Kate site has loads of good info. on and discussion about "Enigma", the book and the film!
Discover Kate also has an "Enigma" page for you to peruse.
Here's the info. page for "Enigma" at Upcomingmovies.com.
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CHRISTMAS CAROL: THE MOVIE
Kate's done yet another voiceover for an animated movie! (She certainly has the voice for it...) It even has an IMDB listing already! The film is set to be finished in July, and released at the end of November in the UK - don't know about the U.S. Check out this old blurb about it from 'Variety' magazine:
"British actress Kate Winslet and U.S. Oscar winner Nicolas Cage are providing voice-overs for a new film of 'A Christmas Carol' featuring a combination of live action and animation. Pregnant 'Titanic' actress Winslet, 24, and 'Leaving Las Vegas' star Cage are joining 'Notting Hill''s Rhys Ifans on the British project, according to a report in 'Variety' magazine. Scrooge will be played by UK stage veteran Simon Callow, whose films include 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' and 'A Room with a View'. The movie, which should be completed next summer, is being co-financed by the Film Consortium with National Lottery backing. Combining hand-drawn animation with live action sequences involving Callow, the finished film is provisionally set for release around Christmas 2001."
I've also since read that Kate voices a character named Belle (Scrooge's ex-fiancee), and the film is directed by Jimmy Murakami (who did 'When The Wind Blows'). Jane Horrocks, who did a voice for the animated "Faeries" with Kate previously, is also in this one as the ghost of Christmas Past. Rhys Ifans plays Cratchit, and Nicolas Cage is Marley's Ghost. As for the live-action stuff, the film is going to have Simon Callow playing a live-action Charles Dickens telling the whole story to an audience at the Boston Theatre.
Here's the official "Christmas Carol" website!
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IRIS
Kate has now finished her work on her first film after "Enigma" (and after the birth of Mia), "Iris". It's the story of acclaimed author Iris Murdoch (who was born in Dublin and schooled in England), who eventually developed Alzheimer's disease and died in 1999. The film is based on a book by her husband John Bayley about their life together and struggle with the disease, called Elegy for Iris.
Legendary British actress Judi Dench plays the older Iris and Kate is the younger version...Jim Broadbent also co-stars as the older Bayley, with Hugh Bonneville as the young one. The film is co-written and directed by Richard Eyre, who has mainly directed theatre (including "Amy's View" in London which Judi starred in) and films for TV. The other screenwriter, Charles Wood, has written films like "Help!" and "An Awfully Big Adventure". The producer is Scott Rudin, the U.S. distributor is Miramax, and the film is being funded by the BBC and Intermedia Films. I have no idea when it will be released - probably sometime in 2002.
Discover Kate has a good "Iris" Movie Page!
Here's the info. page for "Iris" at Upcomingmovies.com.
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THE MAGICIAN'S WIFE
The word is that Kate has decided to turn down "East of Harlem" (sigh) and instead will spend her summer filming "The Magician's Wife," a Francois Girard film which will re-team her with "Quills" co-star Geoffrey Rush! The film shoots in August in France and Morocco, with a $25 million budget. The film is based on a novel by Brian Moore (which is in turn based on a true story), about a famous French magician named Henri Lambert (Geoffrey) and his wife Emmeline (Kate), who are sent by the French government to Algeria, in order to distract the natives with magic to prevent an uprising, or something like that. It's set in 1856, so this means another "period film" for our Corset Kate. I haven't read the book yet, but I shall! :) Director Francois Girard's other films include "The Red Violin" and "Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould" (that one is actually good, despite the title, lol!). The screenwriter is Melissa Mathison (Harrison Ford's ex-wife), who wrote "E.T.".
Check out Discover Kate's "The Magician's Wife" Page!
Here's the info. page for "The Magician's Wife" at Upcomingmovies.com.
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THERESE RAQUIN
Update: TR will get made in 2001, yay! Kate says, "It's definitely going to happen at the end of the year."
Kate will not only star in this film version of the Emile Zola novel Therese Raquin as the title role, but also act as executive producer! The film will mark the film directing debut of theatre veteran David Leveaux, and will start production sometime this year in London and Paris. (It was originally to be filmed in 2000, but was delayed because of Kate's pregnancy.) According to the "Therese Raquin" page at IMDB, the screenwriter will be Michael Thomas, writer of such films as "The Hunger," "Ladyhawke" and "Backbeat". It will be a production of the London-based Intermedia film company, with a $15 million budget. Judi Dench has already been cast (yay!) and apparently Kate has also been attempting to get Ralph Fiennes to sign on. It won't get released until 2001 or later, obviously.
As far as the plot of the story goes, it's the tale of a young woman, Therese, who tires of her weak husband Camille (who is also her cousin, by the way), and falls in love and lust with his friend Laurent. She and Laurent plot to murder Camille, and they marry after his death, but are haunted by Camille's ghost and ultimately go insane and commit suicide. Obviously this one will be dark and challenging along the lines of "Jude" or "Quills," should be quite interesting. I can't wait to find out who shall be playing the two male leads (we're not sure whether Ralph is being sought for Laurent or Camille?)...Camille's mother Madame Raquin (to be played by Judi) is also a major character, as she lives with Camille and his bride in their haberdashery shop in Paris.
Here's what Kate has to say about the project: "I read the novel when I was 17 and became obsessed with it. When I heard that the director David Leveaux was planning a film of Therese Raquin I asked if he and the producers would mind me seeing them about it. I pursued it like a mad woman. I have always been passionate about this story. Therese is this young woman who marries an older man, a bit of a crusty old fuddy-duddy with no soul, for the sake of convenience. She was taken in by him and his mother when she was young but when they marry she dies inside because her spirit has been squashed."
The "Therese Raquin" official site is also up now, albeit still under construction.
Here's the info. page for "Therese Raquin" at Upcomingmovies.com.
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PLUNGE
Yet another film project of Kate's that has yet to be released is a very small, low-budget film called "Plunge", directed by Max Newsome (a Brit). Apparently Kate's role is quite minor, as Clare, a road-sweeper that the four leading men, all road-sweepers from Bristol, encounter on their way to the Cornish seaside. Kate's participation in the film was all very last-minute and spontaneous, and she hadn't even told her agent about it until later...The film was completed ages ago (not long after "Titanic"); no-one seems to have any idea if and when it will ever be released. It's probably just going to remain in some vault somewhere, unfortunately.
T.V. Transcripts
Like any other actress in the public spotlight, Kate has made appearances on various TV shows over the years, here in the States and abroad, to do interviews and promote her films. Being the devoted Kate fan that I am, I've seen almost all of these shows and have a pretty big video collection of them so far! On this page I will attempt to compile transcripts for most or all of her high-profile appearances, which have been mostly since 1997/1998 when "Titanic" put Kate on the media map. The shows marked with a * are the ones I have on tape, the others I am still looking for (so let me know if you have 'em!).
1996:
The Gaby Roslin Show - April
1998:
*The Rosie O'Donnell Show - January 13th
*The Oprah Winfrey Show - January 20th (with James Cameron and Billy Zane!)
*The Tonight Show - January 20th
*The Today Show - February 26th
*The Late Show with David Letterman - February 27th
*Celebrity Ready, Steady, Cook - March 4th
*The Clive James Show - March 8th
1999:
*The Today Show - April 13th
*The Rosie O'Donnell Show - April 13th
*The Late Show with David Letterman - April 14th
The Zoe Ball Show - November 8th
*The Tonight Show - November 29th
2000:
*The Late Show with David Letterman - January 10th
*The Rosie O'Donnell Show - January 11th
The Today Show - January 12th
*The View - January 14th
Parkinson - March 10th
The Big Breakfast - March 28th |
