Just think...appx 1 month ago today we were gathered in Joburg stadium
Allison
Tuesday
April 21, 1998
Joanou, Dorff will rattle and hum with U2
THOUGH STEPHEN DORFF was
expected to be suiting up to
play James Dean in a biopic
at Warner Bros., the next
character he'll be playing
is one close to Phil Joanou.
Army Archerd
Joanou, who directed the U2
rock docu 'Rattle and Hum,'
has cast Dorff in 'Entropy,'
in the role of a man who's
directing a docu about U2
while undergoing a personal
meltdown. Joanou wrote the
script and shot several
scenes recently during the
band's tour of Capetown,
South Africa.
'Trainspotting's Kelly
Macdonald also stars.
Reviews
Joanou denied Dorff is
playing a fictionalized
version of himself, but said
he used his personal
experiences as a starting
point for the story. He
definitely used his
friendship with the
supergroup to get Bono to
play a featured role and to
give the film more starpower
and a better soundtrack than
most films that are priced
at $3 million (which is what
sources say the film will
cost).
Variety by the
The band agreed to let
Joanou - who has directed
five U2 videos in addition
to the 1988 film - shoot its
'Pop Mart' world tour as
backdrop.
[Image]
Dorff, who'll next be seen
as a bloodsucker being
hunted by Wesley Snipes in
the summer New Line pic
'Blade,' said that mo-ments
after he committed, he found
Joanou filming him as he
pretended to film the U2
concert. He also shot acting
scenes with Bono and will do
more in New York.
start-up home page
'The movie's a love story
about timing,' Dorff said.
'It's what happens when
you're presented with an
amazing thing, the love of
your life, but at the
absolute worst time.'
Aside from the stage
footage, U2 figures into a
pivotal plot development.
While the love of his life
is in Paris, the director
drunkenly marries another
girl (Macdonald) in Vegas;
U2 gives him a reality check
by projecting the wedding
footage onto its 400-foot
video screen, knowing the
other woman is in the
audience.
The mock wedding was
projected in Capetown as the
band played its hit
'Mysterious Ways,' leaving
concertgoers scratching
their heads as to why they
were watching a wedding with
a groom who looked like
Dorff. 'No one said anything
to the audience, and I've
never seen 70,000 more
confused people in my life,'
Joanou said. 'But seeing it
up there was one of the
highlights of my career.'
After watching his film
'Heaven's Prisoner' held
prisoner while Savoy
Pictures went out of
business, the helmer
deliberately put this film
together independently and
at low cost to control its
fate. 'I've waited 10 years
to do something of my own
from the heart,' said
Joanou, whose other credits
include 'State of Grace.'
'Everyone's taking huge pay
cuts to join up with
something that hopefully
will come out of left field
and be a little original.'
Setting a drama within a
real rock concert is
something Ben Stiller
planned in 1994, with Brad
Pitt and he ready to play
Rolling Stones devotees
trying to get backstage
during a real Stones tour.
That pic stonewalled, but
Joanou pulled his film
together in time to meet up
with U2 in South Africa.
'Entropy' is being produced
by Joanou and Brad Epstein,
Jane Rosenthal and Robert De
Niro at Tribeca Prods. Elie
Samaha's Phoenician Films
put up the money. Joanou
said they'll sell domestic
rights when the film's
finished.
Dorff is repped by Endeavor.
Copyright 1998 Variety, Inc.