Charlize Central

“The Burning Plain,” a Guillermo Arriaga movie, is scheduled to begin filming in El Paso Monday (Dec. 10), according to the El Paso Film Commission.

The movie stars Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger, in a story about a mother (Basinger) and daughter (Theron) trying to form a bond and overcome a difficult relationship, reports The Internet Movie Database.

Theron’s recent movies that “Aeon Flux,” “North Country” and “The Italian Job.” Basinger recently starred in “The Informers” and “While She Was Out.”

Local filming is scheduled to begin 6 a.m. Monday and will last till 8 p.m. Wednesday at Southwestern General Hospital. The hospital, which currently has no patients, will be used to represent a Mexican hospital, according to the Film Commission. Oscar-nominated Arriaga, (of “Babel” and “21 Grams” fame) expects to shoot outside the hospital between 6 a.m. and noon each day.

Keeping with the authenticity of the scene, certain street signs will also be replaced to look like Mexican street signs, the Film Commission wrote in a memo to city officials.

According to the letter, “Residents and business’s needing to access the Murchison East area, to get to Tremont, Ohio, Pittsburgh, etc., will have local-thru traffic access, along with Sun Metro. Vehicles wanting to travel West on Murchison at Cotton, will be rerouted at Detroit by the El Paso PD.”

“This doesn’t happen so often, it’s a bit of an inconvenience but residents have fun with it too. People understand that it’s a good thing for the city, it’s good PR for the community,” said city Rep. Susie Byrd, whose district includes part of the area where the filming will take place.

EPPD officers and vehicles are expected to be stationed around the area and at key intersections as traffic may be blocked off in certain areas for upto three minutes at a time. Emergency vehicles will not be diverted.

The Film Commission memo also says that residents in the area have been notified via “Good Neighbor” letters.

The production, which in addition to the three days spent filming, will spend seven days setting up and a further two days wrapping up, is expected to net the city in the region of $250,000, according to the memo. The movie is expected to premiere in 2009.

The El Paso Film Commission website claims that the total benefit to the city from movies filmed in the area over the years is in the region of $10 billion.

Source: newspapertree.com

Oscar-winning actresses Kim Basinger and Charlize Theron are to play mother and daughter in a new film, according to an industry report.

The pair will star in The Burning Plain, Hollywood publication Variety has said.

Shooting on the directorial debut from Babel screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga will begin in Mexico early next month.

Theron won best actress for her role in Monster, while Basinger’s supporting actress Oscar was for LA Confidential.

Common ground

Basinger, 53, will play Gina, who is seen through the childhood eyes of Theron’s character, Sylvia.

As an adult, Gina tries to find common ground with her parents.

The film is scheduled to be released in 2009.

South African-born Theron, 32, was nominated for a best actress Academy Award in 2005 for her role in North Country.

Her most recent film, Battle In Seattle, was premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last month.

Basinger, who was recently embroiled in a high-profile custody fight with ex-husband Alec Baldwin over their daughter, was a Bond girl in 1983’s Never Say Never Again.

Source: bbc.co.uk

Charlize Theron will star in “The Burning Plain,” a drama that marks the feature directing debut of “Babel” screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, says Variety.

Financed by 2929 Productions, the drama will shoot in November. Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald will produce. Theron will exec produce the film, along with 2929’s Marc Butan, Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban. Beth Kono will be co-producer.

Arriaga told Daily Variety that after 11 years of scripting, it was time to write one for himself to direct. Much like his past scripts, “The Burning Plain” consists of thematically connected storylines.

“There are very intense love stories here that take place in different places and times, with characters trying to find the healing powers of love, forgiveness and redemption,” Arriaga said.Theron will play the role of Sylvia, who tries to find common ground with her parents after a turbulent childhood.

Arriaga is best known for a long collaboration with director Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu on “Amores perros,” “21 Grams” and “Babel,” and he also scripted the Tommy Lee Jones-directed “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.” Arriaga has directed TV and documentaries, and started his career directing stage plays when he was a teenager.

“The approach to storytelling is so specifically Guillermo,” Parkes said. “He helped create a new way of telling stories, and he’s taken that to a new level with this script.”

2929 prexy Butan said there is no timetable to set distribution for a film that will cost under $20 million.

“Our plan is to back talent we believe in and while Guillermo is a first time filmmaker, he’s such an accomplished writer with a unique voice that it was a natural move for him to direct,” said 2929 prexy Butan.

Theron next stars in the Paul Haggis-directed “In the Valley of Elah.”

Source: moviehole.net