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NEWS & Rumors

Focus Features comes aboard Damon, Krasinski film

If the deal goes through, Focus and Participant Media will produce the movie, which Van Sant will direct and Damon and Krasinski rewrote from Dave Eggers' first draft.

Krasinski came up with the idea for the movie, which is about a salesman whose life changes after he arrives in a small town.

Damon and Krasinski also will star in the film.

The movie had been in turnaround at Warner Bros.

"Promised Land" was to be Damon's directorial debut, but scheduling conflicts got in the way. His "Good Will Hunting" director, Gus Van Sant, stepped in to take the job.

Deadline first reported the news.

Matt Damon new voice of TD Ameritrade

Discount brokerage TD Ameritrade has replaced its longtime frontman and "Law & Order" star Sam Waterston with Matt Damon.

The star of the 'Bourne' movie franchise signed a multi-year deal to become the new voice of TD Ameritrade as the company seeks to refresh its brand.

"Our old advertising worked well, but it was getting a little bit tired," Fred Tomczyk, chief executive of TD Ameritrade, told Reuters.

The two stars couldn't be more different.

Waterston, 71, a Shakespearean actor who also spent 18 years as a small screen star playing district attorney Jack McCoy in the "Law & Order" TV series, exudes an old-school charm.

Damon, 41, made his mark on the big screen in movies such as "Good Will Hunting" -- the screenplay for which he won an Academy Award -- and more recently, the action-packed, assassin-turned-good-guy "Bourne" movie franchise. He was named People's Sexiest Man Alive in 2007.

Tomczyk said Waterston had been a "fantastic" spokesman, particularly through the financial crisis, with his steady, no-nonsense delivery, but the company decided to go in a different creative direction.

Waterston had been the face and voice of TD Ameritrade and predecessor firm TD Waterhouse USA since 2003.

Phillip Bowman, chief marketing officer at TD Ameritrade, said Damon was "probably one of the most talented and recognizable voices in the world right now, and we want every edge we can get for the campaign."

Damon plans to donate the money he makes from the ads to charity, as Waterston did before him, Bowman said.

The first of the new commercials, called "Common Sense," airs on Monday. The spot combines live action and animation with Damon's voice in the background promoting TD Ameritrade's investment consultants with a calm, straight-forward delivery.

Sighting

Matt Damon Backs Out of Directing Debut, Gus Van Sant to Take Over

At least not anytime soon.

The We Bought a Zoo actor had been slated to make his directorial debut on a movie starring both himself and John Krasinski, but has now decided to pull out of helming the project.

So what made him change his mind?

According to Vulture, it came down to "script issues."

Of course, such a reason seems a bit odd considering the as-yet-untitled film about a salesman who arrives in a small town only to have his whole life called into question, was cowritten by Krasinski and...Damon!

Meanwhile, Deadline is reporting today that director Gus Van Sant has agreed to step in for Damon and, as a result, the film is on track to start production in April. The site adds that the reason Damon backed out of directing himself actually came down to not having enough time to do so. He is, however, still planning on performing in front of the camera.

Of course, this wouldn't be the first time Van Sant and Damon have worked together, havng collaborated on 1997's Good Will Hunting.

'We Bought a Zoo' full of cuteness

Whether anyone without attendant smallfry would want to see this movie remains a mystery. It's a bit soft around the edges.

We Bought a Zoo stars Matt Damon as Benjamin Mee, a widower with two children. His adolescent son (Colin Ford) is struggling to adjust to his mother's absence and rebelling at school; his younger daughter (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) has other ways of dealing with her grief.

Dad decides to leave his job and change his life. His search for a house and a bit of land outside the city is finally over when he finds the perfect place -- but it comes with strings attached. It comes with animals attached, actually. It's a run-down private zoo, and if Benjamin wants the house, he'll have to take the animals and their keepers also.

There are lions and tigers and bears, oh my. Benjamin thinks it's the perfect place for a fresh start and a bit of healing. His teenage son feels otherwise. His daughter is thrilled. The objective is to save the animals, save the zoo and save themselves as a family. And find love. And do well at the box office. We'll stop there.

Anyway, We Bought a Zoo has a lot of things to juggle at once: Benjamin's heartbreak over his wife's death, his precarious financial position, his insane new job running a private zoo and his attraction to one of the animal handlers (Scarlett Johansson). Then there's his rebellious son and the son's attraction to one of the animal handlers (Elle Fanning). And then there's his little daughter and a whole herd of wild animals with their own personalities.

There's even a villain in the finicky zoo inspector.

There's a lot of cute, a bit of pathos and plenty of humour in We Bought a Zoo -- some of it courtesy of Benjamin's doubting brother (Thomas Haden Church). There's also a soundtrack from Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi on offer, and even a bit of danger and adventure in the way of wandering snakes and bears. It's a good yarn. It's also too long and too pat, but reasonable writing and a strong cast will likely win you over.

Benjamin Mee, by the way, is a real person, and We Bought a Zoo is based on his book (of the same name) about buying and running the Dartmoor Zoo.

Matt Damon Disses Obama, Says "A One-Term President With Some Balls Would Have Been Better"

We're not sure if someone is taking his Adjustment Bureau character to heart or what, but Matt Damon has been very vocal about his political views lately.

The We Bought a Zoo star began discussing his views on President Barack Obama's administration during an interview with Elle Magazine (which, by the way, was conducted in New York during the start of the Occupy Wall Street protests), saying, "I've talked to a lot of people who worked for Obama at the grassroots level. One of them said to me, ‘Never again. I will never be fooled again by a politician...'?

"You know, a one-term president with some balls who actually got stuff done would have been, in the long run of the country, much better."

And bam, there it is. But of course, there's more.

"If the Democrats think that they didn't have a mandate—people are literally without any focus or leadership, just wandering out into the streets to yell right now because they are so pissed off," he says. "Imagine if they had a leader."

In May, Obama used some of Damon's previous comments as material for his speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington, D.C. "I've even let down my key core constituency: movie stars. Just the other day, Matt Damon—I love Matt Damon, love the guy—Matt Damon said he was disappointed in my performance," and here comes the kicker, "Well, Matt, I just saw The Adjustment Bureau, so...right back atcha, buddy."

It seems like the actor's latest film is getting decent reviews, so we can't wait to see what the president's comeback to this is this time.

Review: Cameron Crowe's "We Bought a Zoo" tries too hard

Me, I'm an easy touch for the dead-mom movie, so when one of those fails to move me, it's clear that whoever's jerking the tears isn't doing his or her job. Which brings us to Cameron Crowe's latest, "We Bought a Zoo."

In telling the true story of writer Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon, saddled with a wretched haircut), who raised his kids amongst a menagerie of wild animals following the death of his wife, director and co-writer Cameron Crowe doesn't take things as disastrously off the rails as his previous feature, "Elizabethtown." Still, the results feel artificial and sappy, with only a few too-little-too-late moments where the tragedy of losing a mother or a wife is handled with anything resembling grace.

Part of the problem could stem from Fox's desire to turn this movie into another "Marley and Me," and the resemblances don't end with the posters featuring animals bearing festive gift ribbons. Like that earlier hit, this is a film about a writer and his family moving into an enormous house, dealing with personal loss, and fighting for camera time against a gaggle of photogenic and insanely cute animals.

Or maybe we can pin it on Crowe's collaborator, Aline Brosh McKenna, the first writing partner that the auteur has ever employed -- or had forced upon him, as the case may be. (The first credited one, anyway.) In just over a decade as a working screenwriter, McKenna has been credited with some of the most noxious comedies of the era, including "27 Dresses," "Laws of Attraction," "Three to Tango," and "I Don't Know How She Does It," so perhaps the forced emotional content and paper-thin characterizations are her fault.

In any event, the film follows Benjamin as he moves his cheery daughter Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) and sullen son Dylan (Colin Ford) into a somewhat ramshackle animal park that's in need of both cash and a little TLC if it's ever going to open its doors again. The place comes with a staff that includes overworked animal expert Kelly (Scarlett Johansson, frumping herself up as much as possible), boisterous animal-enclosure designer Peter (Angus MacFayden), and a handful of others.

The only ones in this crew who get anything resembling character development are Rosie and her niece Lily (Elle Fanning), and only because they're there as potential romantic interests for Benjamin and Dylan, respectively. As for Peter, and Patrick Fugit's Robin, they're basically one-quirk characters who just exist in the background.

The big plot dilemma revolves around an obnoxious USDA inspector played by John Michael Higgins, whose say-so dictates whether or not the animal park can be open to the public, and not even as gifted a comic actor as Hitchcock can make this character anything more than a two-dimensional bureaucrat.

"We Bought a Zoo" only rarely addresses the bizarre notion that an average family could, in fact, buy a zoo, and the few moments where the topic comes up allows Thomas Haden Church to mostly steal the movie in his handful of appearances as Benjamin's brother. But the ongoing mope-fest about Benjamin missing his wife and his kids longing for their dead mother are the stuff of basic-cable cheese-fests.

There's a lovely score by Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi, but we're allowed to hear it all too infrequently, because Crowe would rather indulge his penchant for aging-boomer rock favorites at the most thuddingly obvious opportunities. Playing Cat Stevens' "Don't Be Shy" over a scene where characters are meeting for the first time is one thing, but Tom Petty's "Don't Come Around Here No More" to score a school expulsion? "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" during a rainstorm? Come on!

If anything about "We Bought a Zoo" lingers after the lights come up, it's the performance from Church, and the one from Katie -- she plays the zoo's aging alpha tiger, who just wants to be put out of his misery. After 124 minutes of these shenanigans, you may empathize.

Review: 'We Bought a Zoo' not as hair as it looks

We know to expect this ahead of time because "We Bought a Zoo" comes from Cameron Crowe, the writer-director of "Say Anything ...," ''Jerry Maguire," ''Almost Famous" and, more recently, the 2005 flop "Elizabethtown." We know there will be some poignantly phrased life lessons in store for this family as they struggle to reconnect after the mother's death.

The whole exercise could have been agonizingly mawkish, and/or filled with cheap, lazy animal-poop jokes. And yet, it's not. It's actually surprisingly charming and more emotionally understated than the material would suggest, and a lot of that has to do with Matt Damon's performance. He is an actor incapable of faking it, one who cannot mail it in, and so he brings great authenticity and gravitas to the role of Benjamin Mee, a widower and father of two. ("We Bought a Zoo," which Crowe co-wrote with Aline Brosh McKenna, is based on a true story with some tweaks.)

Six months after his wife died of cancer, Benjamin is struggling to move on. He's having trouble dedicating himself to his career as a Los Angeles newspaper columnist and finds himself squabbling with his troublemaking teenage son, Dylan (Colin Ford); meanwhile, his younger daughter, Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones), is an impossibly adorable angel.

Benjamin thinks a change of scenery might help, so he quits his job and moves the family to a rustic, rambling house on 18 acres outside the city. Seems perfect — except for the fact that the land includes an animal park that has fallen into disrepair. Since Benjamin is a writer and not a zoologist, he has no idea what he's doing. He gets some help from the park's ragtag, hippie crew, led by Scarlett Johansson as the hottest zookeeper on the planet.

Moving to a zoo — spoiler alert! — eventually helps everyone reconcile. No big shocker there. And no, this does not occur through the mystical power of the animals radiating positive vibes to the universe. The lions and tigers and bears are mercifully free of cloying anthropomorphism. Basically, father and son are just stuck in the middle of nowhere and the necessity for teamwork thrusts them back together. Dylan also makes friends with the only other kid his age on the grounds, the ebullient Lily, played by Elle Fanning.

Yes, "We Bought a Zoo" is sentimental and overlong, and full of obligatory fish-out-of-water physical humor. But everyone is so good in it — especially Damon, who brings real emotional truth to his character's grieving process — that it's hard not to be won over. Johansson has a no-nonsense likability about her performance, and the suggested romance between her character and Damon's, while easy to predict, isn't milked for easy heart-tugging.

It's a beautiful film, too: Everything is bathed in this sort of magical sunlight, the work of cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto ("Brokeback Mountain," ''Lust, Caution"), which enhances the sensation that anything is possible. This is the first feature from Crowe since the heavy-handed, overly quirky "Elizabethtown," and while it's not a complete return to form, it's close enough.

"We Bought a Zoo," a 20th Century Fox release, is rated PG for language and some thematic elements. Running time: 123 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

Matt Damon: Fatherhood Keeps My Heart 'Full'

When the actor married wife Luciana in 2005, Damon also became stepfather to her then 4-year-old daughter Alexia and has never looked back.

“I jumped into the deep end with Lucy. I mean, Alexia was already 4. I was an extra dad,” Damon, 41, tells PARADE.

The couple have since welcomed daughters Isabella, 5½, Gia, 3, and Stella, 13 months.

“The only way I can describe it — it sounds stupid, but — at the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, you know how his heart grows like five times?” he explains. “Everything is full; It’s just full all the time.”

Despite his celebrity status, Damon has managed to keep his family out of the spotlight. His secret, he admits, is simple: there’s just not much to see.

“I’ve been left alone, even by the paparazzi, because what sells is sex and scandal,” he says. “Absent that, they really don’t have that much interest in you. I’m still married, still working, still happy.”

His lack of being in the limelight has caught the attention of fellow celebrities — including his former Ocean’s Thirteen costar!

“Brad [Pitt] and Angie, there’s much more pressure on them than there is on me. He asked me what my everyday is like,” Damon recalls.

“I said, ‘Well, I grab the kids from school and then we go over to the park.’ And he was just looking at me like, ‘How can you do that?’ Because he can’t.”

Damon regrets slamming scribe

The Hollywood star aired his grievances about the third spy installment during a recent chat with GQ magazine, during which he chastised Gilroy for allegedly failing to pen a script worthy of the Bourne franchise.

According to Damon, the Michael Clayton writer struck a deal with movie bosses at Universal that allowed him to land a hefty pay cheque for submitting one draft of the film script - but the actor didn't think much of the work he produced, insisting it's so bad, it could end Gilroy's career.

Damon told the upcoming issue of GQ, "It's really the studio's fault for putting themselves in that position. I don't blame Tony for taking a boatload of money and handing in what he handed in. It's just that it was unreadable. This is a career-ender.

"I could put this thing up on eBay and it would be game over for that dude. It's terrible. It's really embarrassing. He was having a go, basically, and he took his money and left."

But the Oscar winner soon regretted his rant and got in touch with the GQ reporter to clarify his fiery comments.

Clearing up the incident, he says, "My feelings were hurt. That's all. And that's exactly why I shouldn't have said anything. This is between me and him. So saying anything publicly is f**king stupid and unprofessional and just kind of douchey of me."

And Damon insists he is a fan of Gilroy's work, despite his outburst: "If I didn't respect him and appreciate his talent, then I really wouldn't have cared (to apologise)."

Damon quit the franchise after the release of The Bourne Ultimatum and Jeremy Renner has since taken over as the star of the upcoming installment.

Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson Bought a Zoo-and Liked It!

Well, Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson certainly didn't expect it, but in an exclusive with E! News, the duo called collaborating with Cameron Crowe on the acclaimed director's new comedy-drama, We Bought a Zoo, a "magical" experience that will stay with them for a long time.

And did we mention the part about the peeing lion?

The movie is adapted from the memoir by Benjamin Mee, who used his family's life savings to buy a struggling zoo in Southern California and then sets about trying to renovate it as he rebuilds his own life following the untimely death of his wife.

Aside from getting the chance to work with Crowe—the helmer behind such films as Say Anything, Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous—Damon and Johannson expressed deep affection for the intimate story they were telling.

"I've seen only a rough cut of it, so I'm really anxious to see how it plays," said Matt from the red carpet at Monday's premiere. "There are people of all ages here and, you know, it felt like—when we were making it—a really good, very uplifting, life-affirming family movie, so I have my whole family here tonight."

Earlier that day, Scarlett had this to say: "Cameron kind of led us in this amazing way that just allowed…all these kinds of magical moments to be captured and all of us to spread out and have all this room to explore these relationships with one another as characters. You know, we lived the story of this film on set."

Damon remarked that shooting went surprisingly well considering they were on set every day with lions, tigers and every other kind of critter you can imagine.

"It's rare to work in the same place every day, and we spent 10 of the 12 weeks shooting at the zoo set. So we're really using mostly natural light so we'd get there when the sun was coming up and when the sun set we're driving home. It's kinda like having an office job but much cooler," he said.

"And the story itself was really just affecting to me," continued Damon. "Thinking about trying to raise your kids without your partner and also to try to help your kids through that transition of losing their mother. That whole idea kind of gets to me now that I have a wife and kids."

As for their animal costars, they were on their best behavior.

"They were so well-trained, and Cameron was communicating so well with the trainers about what he needed, and they were so good about letting us know what the ground rules were about interacting with the animals that there weren't any mishaps. I expected us to go way over schedule, but it was really actually smooth," said the Bourne Identity star.

Perhaps they should have called it Zen and the Art of Animal-Keeping?

Damon did note the production had its moments, like the time a lion decided to let Crowe know who the real King of the Jungle was on set when it peed on him.

Recalled Damon, "It's kind of funny that the lion knew who the director was."

The filmmaker took it in stride, however.

"They said the lion's marking you, it means he's friendly. Yeah, right," quipped Crowe.

Matt Damon 'Cried Like a Baby' Around Snakes on Set

For the actress, the scariest moment on the film "was watching Matt Damon cry like a baby and rock back and forth when the snakes were spread all over the set."

Johansson grew up with reptiles, cats and horses, and had a degree of comfort around the working animals, but Damon wore his fear on his sleeve – and his face.

"He was pretty terrified," Johansson told PEOPLE at the movie's New York premiere Monday night.

"He was definitely sweating a bit, and maybe the sweat formed in the corner of his eye. I said, 'Matt, these kids are practically juggling the snakes. Hold it together.'"

"I'm afraid of snakes," Damon admitted. "And I got bullied into interacting with them by Scarlett and the kids."

There were other frightening moments for Damon, most memorably a scene where he had to sit inside a small car as a large bear pawed at the window.

"The size of the thing was so awesome and humbling," Damon said. "Something like that could just kill you by accident. They're just so huge and strong."

The Bourne Animosity: Matt Damon Slams Writer for "Career-Ender" Movie

Matt Damon, who ordinarily remains above the trash-talking fray, sunk himself right down into it this week while speaking out as the coverboy of the new issue of GQ.

Among other far less intriguing revelations, the A-list Oscar winner didn't hold back while criticizing the Bourne Ultimatum screenwriter Tony Gilroy for turning in a script that he dubbed not only "embarrassing" and "unreadable," but a veritable "career-ender" for the scribe.

And that's only the tip of this bitterly cold iceberg.

"It's really the studio's fault for putting themselves in that position," Damon said, after explaining that for the third film, The Bourne Ultimatum, Universal gave Gilroy something of a sweetheart deal, which allowed him to write up only one (apparently quite rough) draft of the script in exchange for a hefty writer's fee.

"I don't blame Tony for taking a boatload of money and handing in what he handed in. It's just that it was unreadable. This is a career-ender. I mean, I could put this thing up on eBay and it would be game over for that dude. It's terrible. It's really embarrassing. He was having a go, basically, and he took his money and left."

Well if that's Damon not blaming Tony, we'd hate to hear what it sounds like when he does.

Of course, it wasn't long before Damon—who, lest we forget did score an Oscar for screenwriting and knows of what he speaks—thought better of his slams and returned to being Mr. Nice Guy, contacting the writer of the GQ article to clarify his feud-sparking comments.

"If I didn't respect him and appreciate his talent, then I really wouldn't have cared," he said after calling the writer back up to apologize. "My feelings were hurt. That's all. And that's exactly why I shouldn't have said anything.

"This is between me and him. So saying anything publicly is f--king stupid and unprofessional and just kind of douchey of me."

Well, at least that saves Gilroy the trouble of having to draft a retort.

Which Oscar-Winning A-Lister Is Dressed Like a Homeless Guy?

By the looks of this suddenly scraggly A-lister, it seems like the economic downturn didn't discriminate—fortunately, this Hollywood golden man was only getting into character as a no doubt hilarity-inducing homeless man on the streets of New York City this week.

Can't wait to see the fruits of this funny labor. Luckily, we won't have to wait long. So, who's the incognito star?

It's Matt Damon!

While ordinarily groomed to perfection, the Oscar winner was spotted grunged-out on the streets of NYC this week, when he was filming a digital short set to air on Saturday Night Live this weekend.

Joining him, and appearing somewhat unrecognizable in their own way, was upcoming host Katy Perry and Andy Samberg.

Bring on the laughs, Matt! And then, please, take a shower.

Three's Company

Finally! Matt Damon and Ben Affleck Reteaming for Whitey Bulger Gangster Flick

Nearly 14 years after Ben Affleck and Matt Damon teamed up for Good Will Hunting and some Oscar glory, the two are finally teaming up again to tackle some of the biggest news to hit their hometown in years...

Famed crime boss and fugitive Whitey Bulger is getting the big-screen treatment once again. (He already served as the inspiration for Jack Nicholson's character in Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning pic The Departed.)

Damon's rep confirms to E! News that the star with play Bulger. Affleck will costar as well as direct the pic, pulling double duty as he did for that other critically acclaimed Boston crime drama, The Town. And it sounds like the two are excited to finally be teaming up once again:

"Matt and I have been looking for something to do together for some time," Affleck told Deadline. "We've heard about Whitey Bulger since we were kids, and we are excited by the prospect of putting it on screen."

Bulger was a notorious figure in the South Boston crime scene who fled in 1994 and was one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives for 16 years until he was finally apprehended in June in Santa Monica, Calif—after a former Miss Iceland recognized the pair as her cat-loving neighbors. Per the Deadline report, Damon and Affleck will focus on Bulger's youth, his incarceration at Alcatraz and his rise through the crime world while simultaneously serving as an informant for the Feds.

Who knows, maybe these two will make off with some Oscar gold one more time.

Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson's Zoo Targeted by PETA

Just this morning, DiCaprio took to his Twitter to express his dismay over the horrific slaughter of escaped wild animals in Ohio.

But what does this have to do with Damon and Johansson?

Well, their new movie, We Bought a Zoo, is now being targeted PETA for the very same reason.

Based on Benjamin Mee's memoir, the film stars Damon as a father who moves his family to the countryside to help save a struggling zoo. Johansson plays a keeper at the animal park, which is home to an assortment of lions, tigers, zebras and bears, among other creatures.

PETA says it has sent a letter to Zoo director Cameron Crowe urging him to include a warning at the end of the movie about the dangers of owning wild animals.

"We Bought a Zoo conveys the misleading and downright dangerous message that no special knowledge—just a lot of heart—is needed to run a zoo," PETA's Lisa Lange said in a statement.

"As the tragedy in Ohio gruesomely illustrates, wild animals aren't Disney characters. They have very special needs that all too often aren't met by people who buy them on a whim because they think it would be cool to own a tiger."

PETA has asked Crowe to also insist that 20th Century Fox, the studio behind the film, include warnings on all marketing materials, including movie posters.

There are up to 15,000 captive big cats in the U.S., mostly privately owned, according to the animal rights group.

A rep for Fox did not immediately comment.

What do you think? Should We Bought a Zoo include warnings about the dangers of owning wild animals?

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