Article courtesy The Times Online: Two Hollywood productions face being shelved indefinitely because their stories so grimly echo last week’s massacre on a university campus. Distributors are refusing to touch the films Dark Matter, starring Meryl Streep, which is about an alienated Asian student who shoots fellow students and professors, or The Killer Within, about an American student who goes on a similar rampage. They are wary of taking on films which bear striking parallels to the case of Cho Seung Hui, the Asian student who this month killed 32 students and professors at the Virginia Tech campus before turning his gun on himself in the worst single gun massacre in modern American history. One British distributor, who declined to be named, said: “These films are too close to the knuckle.” Dark Matter, in which Streep plays a university patron who tries to befriend the troubled student, took its inspiration from a 1991 tragedy in which a Chinese physics student opened fire in two buildings on the University of Iowa campus. He killed 6 people including a student and professors. Read the full article here.

According to Variety, Oscar-winners Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman will star in “Doubt,” the screen adaptation of the John Patrick Shanley play for Miramax Films that begins production in New York on Dec. 1. Shanley wrote the script and will direct. Scott Rudin is producing. Deals are being negotiated with both thesps. “Doubt” takes place in a Bronx Catholic School in 1964, where the principal (Streep), a nun who’s a strict disciplinarian, makes pedophile accusations against a popular priest (Hoffman). Still to be cast is a young nun caught between them. “Doubt” won both the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award, and is on tour.

According to Variety, Meryl Streep and her new sidekick, Christine Baranski, are in London to pre-record their musical numbers for the coming movie of “Mamma Mia!” They’ll be singing along with Britain’s Julie Walters, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan. Streep and Baranski will then come back to the U.S. for a month off. “Actually,” Christine says, “I’ll be killing myself with dance classes.” Then back to London for 10 weeks of filming and on to another five weeks on some exotic Greek island.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Pierce Brosnan is in final negotiations to join Meryl Streep in the movie version of the popular ABBA musical “Mamma Mia!” The story revolves around a bride-to-be (Amanda Seyfried) and her formerly rebellious mom (Streep) who raised her on a Greek island and never disclosed the identity of her father. The bride locates three men who might be her father and invites them to her wedding. Brosnan will play the main father figure. Phyllida Lloyd is directing the Universal project; ABBA members and songwriters Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus will serve as executive producers, as will Tom Hanks.

According to the New York Post columnist Cindy Adams, Meryl Streep has been cast as the stern Sister Aloysius in the upcoming big screen adaptation of John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Doubt”. With a screenplay and direction by Shanley (who won an Oscar for his Moonstruck screenplay), the film will be produced by Scott Rudin for Miramax. Shooting will likely begin in fall of 2007. Streep will play the role originated by Cherry Jones, who currently stars in Doubt’s national tour. Full article can be read here. Many thanks to Frank and Katie for the heads-up.

At least this is a first official release date by the films’ distributor United Artists according to article: United Artists and MGM have announced that Robert Redford’s “Lions for Lambs” will be released in North America on Friday, November 9, 2007, with the remainder of the world to roll out in subsequent months. Principal photography on the first production from the new UA, began on January 29th with Robert Redford directing and starring alongside Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Derek Luke, Michael Pena, Andrew Garfield and Peter Berg. Matthew Michael Carnahan wrote the original screenplay. Also, according to the IMDb, Meryl’s character will be named Ursula Leachman.

Meryl Streep can add a few other awards to her shelf as she was awarded Actress of the Year by the London Film Critics – her award was picked up on her behalf by “Angels in America” co-star Emma Thompson – and as Best Actress by the North Texas Film Association, both for “The Devil Wears Prada”. The BAFTA Awards, for which Meryl is nominated as well, will be handed out this Sunday. Many thanks to Frank for the heads-up.

Congratulations to Meryl for receiving her 14th Oscar nomination as Best Actress for “The Devil Wears Prada”. Nominated in the same category are Penelope Cruz (Volver), Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal), Helen Mirren (The Queen) and Kate Winslet (Little Children). This year’s Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, 25 February 2007. A list with all nominees can be found here.

Meryl Streep has been awarded with the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy for “The Devil Wears Prada”. This has been her career’s 21th nomination for the Golden Globe and her 6th win. She has been honored previously for “Kramer vs. Kramer”, “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”, “Sophie’s Choice”, “Adaptation” and “Angels in America”.

(Entering the stage and talking to Miss Golden Globe, Jack Nicholson’s daughter) Thank you! (Applause) Thank you. Thank you very much. I told Lorraine she came to a birthday party at my house in Beverly Hills with snakes… we had snakes! (Laughter) But then we moved back east. (Laughter) Oh my God, thank you everybody, thank you so much, I’m really thrilled. I think I worked with everybody in the room. (Laugther) Yes I have… (Meryl pulls out an acceptance speech) I’m gonna forget everything, I know… (refering to the audience) Oh shut up it’s not that long. (Laughter). First of all, congratulations to the nominees in all the categories for Best Actress, it’s like a million categories for Best Actress – but Annette and Toni and Beyonce and Renée, Penelope, Judi, Maggie and Helen and Kate, I just want you to know, all of you, that this is been such a fun year to watch movies because of you gals. (Applause) And it makes you wanna cry with graditude – until next year! (Laughter) I just wanna thank David Frankel and Aline Brosh McKenna for this sparkling script, its really sharp, smart direction made it just a pleasure. And thanks to Wendy Finerman and Carla Hackman and Elizabeth Gabler and Karen Rosenfelt for sheparding us through. Thank you for Tommy Rothman who signs the cheques and Rupert who signs his cheques. (Laughter). And thank you to Pat Field and Molly and Nina and the people in warderobe because that was like special effects for us! And… oh gosh, everybody. Delicious Emily Blunt, (throws her a kiss), darling! Darling Annie Hathaway, dreadful Stanley Tucci (Laughter). For the difficult job they had making me seem monstrous, anyway (Laughter). I just, I wanna thank everbody, especially everybody at FOX that let us donate all those clothes to “Equality Now” and Breast Cancer Research and Dress for Success (Applause), that was really classy! Totally great! And finally I just wanna say, the reason you could see “The Devil Wears Prada” is because it was playing on every theatre screen across America – and that was because they were playing it. And, if you can’t see “Little Children” or “Pan’s Labyrinth” or “The Queen” or… eh, all these great movies that I’ve just seen, “Volver”, “Notes on a Scandal”, “Sherrybaby” then you have to go down to your theater manager and ask him “why” (Applause). ‘Cause its amazing how much you can get if you quietly, clearly and authoritatively demand it! (Laughter) That’s all.

Congratulations to Meryl for receiving a Best Actress nomination by the British Academy Award (BAFTA) for “The Devil Wears Prada”. Nominated in the same category are Penelope Cruz (Volver), Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal), Helen Mirren (The Queen) and Kate Winslet (Little Children). “The Devil Wears Prada” has received 3 more nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress (Emily Blunt) and Best Costume Design. This year’s Orange British Academy Film Awards will be held on Sunday 11 February 2007 at the Royal Opera House in London. A list with all nominees can be found here.