| 'Voltage' articles |
| Altman charges next project with 'Voltage' By Zorianna Kit LOS ANGELES (The Hollywood Reporter) --- Riding a wave of success with the very English "Gosford Park," filmmaker Robert Altman is looking homeward for his next project, "Voltage," a comedy about corporate America based on Robert Grossbach's novel "A Shortage of Engineers." The project, in the process of being financed, begins shooting in May.For "Gosford," Altman has been named director of the year by the American Film Institute (news - web sites), has won kudos from the National Society of Film Critics (news - web sites) and the New York Film Critics Circle (news - web sites) and has been nominated for a Golden Globe.Alan Rudolph has adapted the screenplay for the new project, which should see Altman directing another ensemble cast, which to date includes commitments from Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Liv Tyler, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Tony Shalhoub, Elliott Gould, Harry Belafonte and "Gosford" star Bob Balaban.Altman describes the project as "a comedy of manners with an American twist." Set in 1991 at an engineering firm in Long Island, N.Y., with a defense department subcontractor, "Voltage" focuses on a group of workers and their bosses and examines their outside lives and loves. Phoenix will play Zack, an engineering school grad who finds himself among such co-workers as the Eurasian Lilah, with whom he falls in love; Warren, who has never had a date in his life; engineer-for-hire Jim; Edouard, a Frenchman who wears his clothes backward as a sign of defiance; and the corner-cutting Wonderboy. The middle management includes Chinese dyspeptic Hsu, sick-leave king Bill, and Marv, who is only in business for himself.Altman optioned the book out of his own pocket and is producing the film in addition to his helming duties. Rudolph also will produce. The budget for the film is expected to be in the $20 million range. There is no distributor on board as of yet.Altman and Rudolph are repped by ICM. |