In a development sure to make movie-lovers do handsprings, Oscar-winning scribe Charlie Kaufman and producer-director Spike Jonze are reportedly about to reteam. The collaborators behind "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation" have pursued separate paths for the past nine years, creating some good work (Kaufman's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," directed by Michel Gondry; Jonze's screen version of Maurice Sendak's classic "Where the Wild Things Are") but nothing as substantial as their collaborations.
Kaufman (the best screenwriter ever to work in the Star Tribune's circulation department; yes, it was ages ago and no, we're not letting go of it) and Jonze are said to be huddled about a film on a shadowy cabal of powermongers who control every event of global significance, from the outbreak of wars to the price of petrolium.
No word yet on whether it's a documentary.
In any event, the financing should be no problem. The project is expected to be produced by Megan Ellison's Annapurna Pictures. Ellison's dad is mega-zillionaire Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, so you know she's sitting on a Himalaya-sized bankroll. Her taste's not bad, either. She was an executive producer of the Coen Brothers' "True Grit," and has films by Paul Thomas Anderson ("There Will Be Blood"), Wong Kar Wai ("In the Mood for Love") and John Hillcoat ("The Road") on her slate.
