From the Montreal Gazette Traffic screenwriter Gaghan switches lanes for Abandon BRENDAN KELLY The Gazette Ben Affleck and The Sum of All Fears are stealing the headlines, but there are a couple of other American projects shooting in town featuring some fairly intriguing talent on both sides of the camera. Within hours of winning the Oscar last month for his Traffic screenplay, Stephen Gaghan was on the plane flying to Montreal to continue preparing the psychological thriller Abandon, which began production here last Monday. In addition to the high-IQ, multilayered Traffic script, Gaghan also penned Rules of Engagement, which starred Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel Jackson. Abandon is Gaghan's debut as a director and he nabbed the gig with a little help from Ed Zwick, the producer of Traffic. Zwick was originally slated to direct Abandon, but then decided to produce the picture and give Gaghan his first shot behind the camera. The decision caused no small amount of tongue-wagging in Hollywood since Paramount Pictures, which is bank-rolling the $25-million (U.S.) Abandon, is not usually wild about working with first-time film-makers and, until now, Gaghan has never directed even a short flick. Abandon stars Katie Holmes, Benjamin Bratt and Charlie Hunnam in a tale of a student (Holmes) at an elite university whose boyfriend suddenly returns after an unexplained two-year absence. Bratt, who plays a police detective, has a lengthy resume that includes roles in Law & Order, The Next Best Thing, Red Planet, Miss Congeniality and Traffic. He also has the lead role in the upcoming Pinero, the story of the Latino poet Miguel Pinero and his time in the Sing Sing prison. Bratt, however, is still probably best known for his superstar girlfriend, Julia Roberts. Holmes rose to prominence via the hit teen series Dawson's Creek, but she also has appeared in a number of notable big-screen projects, including The Ice Storm, Disturbing Behavior, Wonder Boys and The Gift. Hunnam, who plays Holmes's boyfriend in Abandon, is not exactly a household name but he already has a major cult following thanks to Queer as Folk. In that edgy gay British TV series (broadcast here on Showcase), the 21-year-old British actor, who has drop-dead-gorgeous matinee-idol features, played a 15-year-old high-school student who falls big time for a much older guy. He also appeared in the short-lived series Young Americans. The Abandon cast also includes Zooey Deschanel, who played budding rock critic William Miller's older sister in Almost Famous. Filming on Abandon continues in Montreal and Westmount until mid-June. Link to article

<< Read More News | Talk About It >>