It's 'Cruelty' for Demme
Helmer looking to cast Grant, Leoni, Wright
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A deal for a March start date was crystallizing over the weekend, with Demme courting Hugh Grant, Tea Leoni and Geoffrey Wright to star.
The film concerns a revenge-seeking gold digger who marries a womanizing Beverly Hills lawyer with the intention of making a killing in a divorce.
Alphaville Prods. partners Jim Jacks and Sean Daniel and Imagine chairman Brian Grazer are producing the pic.
Demme's commitment ends a series of near starts for the film, originally scripted by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone. Alphaville and U once nearly had Andrew Bergman, followed by Ron Howard, to direct. Another time, the film nearly went forward with Joe Dante directing Jeremy Irons and Heather Locklear, who at the time was at the height of her "Melrose Place" popularity.
The Coen brothers were drafted by Alphaville to do a rewrite, and then Grazer joined Jacks and Daniel when Howard came aboard to direct. When Howard's dance card got booked with "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and the Russell Crowe starrer "A Beautiful Mind," Howard stepped aside after Grazer showed the script to Demme, who sparked to it.
It's unclear whether Grant will play the lawyer. Leoni looms likely as his wife, with Wright in the third lead. Demme had expected to next helm a remake of the 1963 Cary Grant/Audrey Hepburn thriller "Charade," but he wanted to do that film with Will Smith.However, the actor will be busy on "Ali" through early 2001, which prompted Demme to swap pictures. Demme is repped by CAA.
