Alan Rickman is the talented actor perhaps best known for his dark role as the Potions Professor in the Harry Potter films. Now his Defense Against The Dark Arts skills may come in handy. Decanter.com reports Rickman is part of the storm brewing between two rival film companies. The gloves-off fray is over who gets to produce the movie version of the famed 1976 Paris Tasting – where California wines beat the best of France (Whoops! Sorry, I just gave away the ending!!)
Rickman has been signed by the producers of the film "Bottle Shock", commissioned by the owners of Chateau Montelena, a participant in the famed tasting. Rickman will play the lead role of Steven Spurrier, the wine merchant who conceived and held the Paris Tasting. Of the two competing productions this one seems farther along, if the completeness of its profile on the IMDB database is anything to go by.
And in the other corner…
The "Official" movie of the Paris Tasting – "The Judgment of Paris" – is rumored to be suing the producers of "Bottle Shock" for infringement. They own the rights to the book "The Judgment of Paris" by George M. Taber (the only journalist to cover the event, and the writer responsible for recording the results before the all-French panel could alter their votes). (An interesting side note, I parked the URLs a year ago, and am hoping they won’t sue me too! DC)
Rumors about who will play Wine Merchant Steven Spurrier in their production include names such as Hugh Grant and Jude Law. But if their IMDB database is up to date, no actors are yet on board. Their screenplay is by Robert Kamen, who also did "A Walk In The Clouds" – one of the wine world’s most forgettable movies. Let’s hope Taber’s talented writing is enough to keep this story from becoming sappy.
So where does all this rancor leave wine lovers? Your tell me. Is the niche of "wine-loving-movie-goers" sufficiently large to support both movies? If not, which would be most fun to watch? The best for our wine industry? Cast your vote…
(Click HERE if you can’t see this poll and would like to vote)
Cheers!
Dave Chambers, Wine Merchant
Dave@SidewaysWineClub.com
. Help me continue this free blog by taking 5 seconds to vote here!
Good luck to both…
Don’t forget to check out “CRUSH”
a REAL wine movie
http://www.virb.com/donandsonsfilms/videos/20806
Thanks “B. Napa”, and if you’d like to send the embed code, I’ll post your movie again as part of this posting.
Dave
A quick update on the progress of the film “Bottle Shock”, which clearly has the lead in production, can be found here. Looks as if the community of Calistoga is gearing up for the film schedule. Have fun!
Dave
Errata:
I was sent the following email today. My thanks to Jeff, and my apologies for the misinformation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello Dave,
To set the record straight, the movie “Bottle Shock” was not commissioned by the owners of Chateau Montelena (we make wine, not movies).
All best,
Jeff Adams
Marketing Director
Chateau Montelena Winery
I’ve posted an updated correction to this posting here. Since Bottle Shock is in production, it looks as if they’ll be the first in theaters, though the film’s publicist feels there is plenty of room for the film “Judgment of Paris”, a film that depicts the events surrounding the same Paris tasting from 1976.
I read that he was to eager do a Home and Away appearence Lol. Sounds a bit dodgy to me. There’s a bit of me that sort of hopes this is true lol.