8 Things Observed and Learned on the ‘Jennifer’s Body’ Set
And you thought other sites knew how to cover a movie set... Pshaw!
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The name snapping off everyone’s lips was newly Oscar-minted, Hollywood’s current hot-shit wordsmith Diablo Cody. Diablo this. Cody that. “I adore that woman and everything she writes is genius,” proclaimed producer (and Juno director) Jason Reitman. When your first screenplay garners an Oscar and you’re considered one of the few celeb scripters, all eyes zero in on your follow up. And let’s face it, the media loves nothing more than building up and tearing down so you can bet several hacks are dusting off the phrase “sophomore slump” for the possible extension of the Juno backlash. And from the dialogue heard on set and the portions of the script I’ve read, Jennifer’s Body rings with Cody’s wordy, hipster voice that some see as genius while others view as verbal masturbation.
No doubt an intelligent director such as Karyn Kusama will leave her mark on the film too. However, after Aeon Flux (in which Kusama has disowned the theatrical cut just short of Alan Smitheeing it) she has nowhere to go but up. However, the opposite can be said for Cody. If Jennifer’s Body disappoints-and a film about a possessed cheerleader who literally eats boys is a risky follow up for an Oscar winner-one can expect most pithy verbal fire aimed at Cody, whether it’s fairly deserved or not.
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When a group of nerds interview Adam Brody, the topic of Justice League, in which he was set to play The Flash, is inevitable. And apparently JLA was such a maelstrom of confusion that not even Brody knows why it collapsed. He pointed out the “tax credit thing” in Australia and the writer’s strike as the two causes he knew of. Otherwise according to Brody, “I truly don’t know anymore than you guys do.” Afterwards someone asked whether Brody would be interested in playing Ant-man in The Avengers, since he has a similar body frame and would have a clean palette for such a vacant, pop-culturally unknown character. Brody’s response: “Fuck Ant-man!”
Hard not to love Adam already.
Sure 10 minutes of Diablo Cody’s dialogue rolls out more self-conscious pop-culture references than an entire season of “Family Guy,” yet almost everyone involved said not to expect a self-reflexive film akin to the Scream trilogy. According to several, Jennifer’s Body is grasping for the “warmth” of ’80s teenage horror flicks. The movie most referenced by interviewees: Nightmare on Elm Street. Also no worries for a wussy PG-13 “horror” film, the type of which have choked up the multiplexes in recent years. “This is an R-film with no fear of being an NC-17,” according to Reitman. However, if the final version remains close to the scenes I heard described in the screenplay, expect plenty of cannibalism, viscera and red Kool-Aid.
“I have my Ghostbusters idea. One day I’ll direct it,” stated Reitman. No details were given on the film other than it’s a “big sci-fi comedy.” And apparently the idea excites Reitman’s producing partner Daniel Dubiecki who practically shouted, “It’s a fucking awesome movie!” Yet, don’t expect the film soon since both Reitman and Dubiecki insisted they’re more interested in smaller, stranger films for the time being.
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