Starts
Vacation 09/15/2014 Logline: Centers on a grown-up Rusty Griswold who, now a father himself, takes his family on a road-trip vacation. Studio: New Line Cinema Production Companies: Big Kid Pictures, S&K Pictures, Inc. Directors: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein Executive Producers: Nan Morales, Toby Emmerich Producers: David Dobkin, Chris Bender, Jeff Kleeman Cast: Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo Screenwriters: Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley Details: Sequel to "National Lampoon's Vacation" (USA/1983) written by John Hughes, directed by Harold Ramis and starring Chevy Chase. SSN Insight: Peter Segal had been mentioned to direct.
Demolition 09/15/2014 Logline: Investment banker Davis Mitchell, who worries that he isn't feeling the appropriate amount of grief following his wife's tragic death, strikes up a correspondence with the customer service rep at a vending machine company after losing money to one of their machines the night his wife died. Production Companies: Mr. Mudd Productions, Black Label Media, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment Director: Jean-Marc Vallée Executive Producers: John Malkovich, Thad Luckinbill, Jason Reitman, Helen Estabrook, Nathan Ross, Ellen H Schwartz, Carla Hacken Producers: Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill, Lianne Halfon, Russell Smith, Sidney Kimmel Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper Screenwriter: Bryan Sipe SSN Insight: Screenplay was included in the 2007 Black List.
Trumbo 09/15/2014 Logline: The true story ofDalton Trumbo, a prolific screenwriter in 1940s Hollywood, who was summoned by the House of Un-American Activities Committee to reveal his Communist sympathies and cronies yet remained silent and was imprisoned and blacklisted as a result. Production Company: Groundswell Productions Director: Jay Roach Producers: Michael London, Janice Williams, John McNamara, Jay Roach Cast: Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren Screenwriter: John McNamara
Details: Based on the book "Dalton Trumbo" by Bruce Cook; published by Scribner Book Company January 1, 1977. SSN Insight: Dalton Trumbo and John Dighton wrote the screenplay for “Roman Holiday” (USA/1953), however as Trumbo was blacklisted and living in Mexico at the time, his friend, screenwriter Ian McLellan Hunter, secretly accepted writing credit and studio payments on Trumbo’s behalf. In 2008, Hunter’s son, the director Tim Hunter, directed Bryan Cranston in the “Breaking Bad” Season One finale “A No-Rough-Stuff Type Deal.”
By Way of Helena 09/16/2014 Logline: When dead bodies wash up on the river shore in the idyllic town of Helena, Texas Ranger David Kingston and his Mexican bride are sent to investigate. Production Companies: Mandeville Films, Atomic Entertainment Director: Kieran Darcy-Smith Executive Producers: Nathalie Marciano, Matt Cook Producers: Todd Lieberman, David Hoberman, Adam Rosenfelt, Maureen Meulen Cast: Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Felicity Price, William Hurt Screenwriter: Matt Cook SSN Insight: Liam Hemsworth and Woody Harrelson co-starred together in "The Hunger Games" (USA/2012) and "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" (USA/2013), and are planning to complete production on “By Way of Helena” before they begin a promotional tour for this fall’s release of “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1” (USA/2014).
Wraps
Stanford Prison Experiment 09/18/2014 Logline: Based on the actual experiment conducted at Stanford University in the summer of 1971, when a professor named Phil Zimbardo turned the basement of a psychology building into a mock prison, and an unexpected level of cruelty and sadism overtook the participants, especially those playing guards. Production Company: Sandbar Pictures Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez Producers: Brent Emery, Elizabeth Zox Friedman, Gregory Little, Lauren Bratman, Brian Geraghty Cast: Billy Crudup, Ezra Miller, Michael Angarano, Tye Sheridan Screenwriters: Tim Talbott, Christopher McQuarrie SSN Insight: Jesse Eisenberg had previously been mentioned as a member of the cast.
Meadowland 09/18/2014 Logline: A married couple suffers through their son's disappearance, and while the husband, a New York City police officer, turns to more traditional forms of healing, the wife goes down an unexpected path and finds herself in danger. Production Companies: Untitled Entertainment, Bron Studios Director: Reed Morano Executive Producers: Jennifer Levine, Jason Cloth Producers: Olivia Wilde, Matt Tauber, Aaron Gilbert, Margot Hand Cast: Olivia Wilde, Elisabeth Moss, Natasha Lyonne, Luke Wilson, Ty Simpkins Screenwriter: Chris Rossi SSN Insight: First-time feature director Reed Morano previously worked with actor Luke Wilson on “The Skeleton Twins,” on which she was director of photography.