Look out Mel Gibson. Vin Diesel is following in your footsteps.
Gibson raised eyebrows when his “The Passion of the Christ” was done entirely in the archaic language of Aramaic. Now Diesel has revealed that he wants to make a three-part swords and sandals epic based on the life of Hannibal. And he wants to do the films all in Punic, the language that was spoken by the Alps-crossing conqueror, but not by anyone for 2,000 years.
The star of “The Pacifier” tells the April issue of Details that his production company has set up offices in Spain, where the actor has spent months retracing Hannibal’s steps, hiking into the Alps, and visiting the ruins in Cartagena and Saguntum.
Diesel didn’t want people to know out that the film will be a three-parter. “You can’t say anything — you’ll ruin me!” he told the mag. “If Hollywood finds out I’m planning a trilogy I’ll be buried! It’ll be like, ‘you mother[bleep]er!’ Whack! Whack! WHACK!”
Bynes on beautyAmanda Bynes is blasting reports that she had an eating disorder. Her dramatic weight loss was the result, she insists, of an illness.
“I came back from “Lovewrecked” and started feeling really tired and I couldn’t keep weight on,” Bynes tells April’s ElleGirl. “It turns out I had mononucleosis. It’s unrealistic to be that thin. The only girls who are have admitted to using drugs or having an eating disorder. I’m so against it. People should strive to be happy with who they are and not be obsessed with how they look. Beauty is nothing.”
She also reveals her inspiration for her male alter ego in the cross-dressing role she plays in the upcoming flick “She’s the Man.” Bynes told the mag: “My director Andy Fickman and Jack Black [were my inspirations]. I had the Tenacious D album in my head, because it’s the epitome of disgusting guy thoughts.”
Notes from all overTony Curtis, in London for the Sony Ericsson Empire Awards, took a pot shot at the Academy Awards. “Everyone takes the Oscars too seriously,” he was quoted as saying. “It’s ape[bleep] and so fake.” . . . Curtis was presented with an award by Roger Moore, who joked that he and Curtis “were going to star together in ‘Brokeback Mountain’ but we couldn’t decide which one was going to stand in front.” . . . Sharon Stone is elaborating on those “disturbing” nude scenes . Apparently, the director wanted to take some of them out. “I was coming from a really kinky place,” Stone told The London Mirror. “I wanted more nudity. When I saw the rough cut of the film, they had taken a lot of stuff out and I asked, ‘Where’s all the crazy stuff I did? What are we toning it down for?’ I said, ‘Let’s go crazy!’ So we took some things out of the film and a lot of the kinky stuff and sex went back in. You’ll see it.”
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