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Daily News
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Penn's Poker Pals
Ben Affleck, David Schwimmer and William H. Macy all ante up for Zak Penn's
next directing effort.
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
By FilmStew Staff Report
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Filmmaker Zak Penn is lining up some poker buddies for his next directing outing.
Penn, who recently made his helming debut on Incident at Loch Ness, will
be sitting around the table with Ben Affleck, David Schwimmer, William H. Macy,
Richard Kind and German helmer Werner Herzog for a comedy feature set during
an international poker tournament. The project will start filming early next
year at the Golden Nugget casino.
The untitled feature will be in the style of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm
and the Christopher Guest mockumentaries with each actor knowing their character
and then working with Penn and the other actors to create mostly improvised
scenes. Penn, who has long played cards including rounds with each of the actors
save Macy (who doesn't gamble), hopes to secure a few more poker-playing actors
to star in the film.
The ante, which will be kept under $10 million, is being provided by Insomnia
Entertainment, a young company created to promote casino gaming. Golden Nugget
owners Tim Poster and Tom Breitling and Station Casino's Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta
are partners in the company with Trent Othick, who runs the company and will
produce the film. Matt Bierman and Gary Marcus will also produce, with Lance
Stockton serving as co-producer.
Penn, repped by Endeavor, has more credits as a writer than anything else.
In addition to Loch Ness, some of his scripting credits include PCU,
Inspector Gadget, Behind Enemy Lines and the upcoming John
Doe, which he will also direct, and Spy Hunter, an adaptation of
the popular video game with The Rock attached to star.
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