2010 may go down in history as the year of the movie movie, and when the dust settles, perhaps the moviest movie of them all was The King’s Speech (movier even, than The Social Network). So far, it’s earned more than $100 million worldwide (not bad for a film shot on a gay porn set), so much that, according to “someone close” to director Tom Hooper, who was tragically born without lips, Marvel even asked him to direct Iron Man 3. They say if you can do a period drama about stuttering, you can do anything.
According to a person who has worked closely with Hooper but who asked not to be identified because the director did not authorize this person to speak on his behalf, the Brit was offered the director’s chair on “Iron Man 3.” He turned it down, and “Lethal Weapon” writer Shane Black wound up landing the job several weeks ago.
While Hooper won’t be steering Stark Industries, another person who has worked closely with him said he was weighing an offer to direct “Les Miserables,” a new version of the classic novel and Broadway musical set in 19th-century France. The movie, which is being developed by “Atonement” producer Working Title, is conceived as a big-budget musical. [LATimes]
Lay Miz (MORE LIKE LAME IS, AMIRITE!) sounds like a better project for Hooper anyway. Directing an Iron Man movie for Marvel (probably before the script was finished) would be an insane hassle, and for what? It wouldn’t buy Tom Hooper half the street cred at my mom’s dinner parties. Just look at him. You know he’s only in it for the post-menopause poon. He’d throw on a Don Henley tape and rock your world.