“Ten years have passed since Happiness, but I prefer not to be beholden to the literalness of time or circumstance. I like to tweak things, get at stuff from a fresh angle, and so, for example, some characters have aged five years, some twenty years, some histories have been altered, and I have allowed race not to be something set in stone. Of course, it’s a completely different cast. It’s more fun and interesting that way.”

So says Todd Solondz, in reference to his highly-anticipated sort-of sequel to Happiness. Formerly titled Life During Wartime, The Playlist passes along word that the film is now being called Forgiveness, and that Fortissimo Films has acquired worldwide sales rights. Fortissimo were initially on board to fund the film, back when it was first announced in 2006 at Cannes.

In November, we learned a few casting details, including that  The Wire’s Michael Kenneth Williams would be playing the part originally played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Paul Reubens would be taking over for Jon Lovitz. The film’s IMDb profile has been expanded a bit, and it looks like Ally Sheedy is taking Lara Flynn Boyle’s Happiness Part, and Allison Janney is taking over the role of “Trish” for Cynthia Stevenson.

The Playlist discovered a long synopsis for the film with character names matched up to actor names, and he presumes that Hilton’s role must be “small if they mention eleven actors and not even a peep of her.” But I had another thought: what if the producers are just carefully guarding the film’s biggest casting joke?

…Read more

It’s been almost a year since we heard word on Todd Solondz’s long awaited follow-up to Palindromes. The last we heard, the project was still called Life During Wartime, and it was pitched as a sort-of sequel to Solondz’s two most popular films. Paul “Pee Wee” Ruebens confirmed at the time that the script involved “characters from Welcome to the Dollhouse and Happiness whose paths converge. It’s all different people playing the same roles [from] those movies.” With little else to go on, we tried to guess which Solondzverse character would be assigned to Ruebens, and concluded: “Given Reubens’ personal history, the Dylan Baker character is probably the most obvious, but I think the Jon Lovitz character might be more interesting.”

There’s finally new news about the project today, and it looks like we guessed right! …Read more

Way back in June, I passed along the news that Paul “Pee Wee Herman” Reubens was set to star in Life During Wartime, Todd Solondz’ alleged semi-sequel to Happiness and Welcome to the Dollhouse. According to this post on MTV’s Movie Blog, Reubens is still attached to the project, but the project itself may not be any closer to getting made. The former Pee Wee says Wartime has “gotten pushed three times” due to “problems with the financing on it.” At the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, Solondz issued a statement about the “unbridled enthusiasm and support” the project enjoyed from then-financiers Fortissimo Films. Are we to assume that said enthusiasm has waned?

Regardless, that’s not even the most interesting nugget of the MTV story. Reubens confirms that as written, Wartime features “characters from Welcome to the Dollhouse and Happiness whose paths converge. It’s all different people playing the same roles…I’m playing a role someone else played in one of those movies.”

So who do you think it could be? Assuming Solondz is taking age and gender into account in his casting process (and post-Palindromes, there’s no reason to assume that at all), the safest bets would probably be one of three characters from Happiness. There’s Allen, the pervy caller played by Philip Seymour Hoffman (see the clip above, beginning around 5:40); Dylan Baker’s father/psychiatrist/pedophile; and the character played by Jon Lovitz, potential suitor who is jilted in the film’s first scene by Jane Adams. Given Reuben’s personal history, the Dylan Baker character is probably the most obvious, but I think the Jon Lovitz character might be more interesting. Tell us your own thoughts in the comments.

It looks like Paul “Pee-wee Herman” Rubens–who admits to feeling “like I’m on my third or fourth comeback at least”–is making one more stab at a return to relevancy. Fresh off a guest spot on my favorite show, 30 Rock, he’s apparently lining up new projects under both his given name, as the man-child persona that made him famous.

This fall, Rubens is set to work with Todd Solondz, on the Happiness auteur’s first film in three years. And he’s apparently hoping to get a new Pee Wee movie off the ground as well. “I didn’t do everything I wanted as Pee-wee Herman,” he tells the AP. Rubens has completed two Pee-wee screenplays: a light-hearted road trip reuniting the old Playhouse crew (so, probably this, which IMDb Pro lists as “in production” at Paramount), and a dark satire said to explore ” how Pee-wee deals with Hollywood and the trappings of fame.”

I’m not sure contemporary audiences are exactly clamoring for that one, but the Solondz project sounds interesting. indieWIRE reported last Spring that Solondz had secured financing for a film described as “a kind of sequel to — or riff on — Happiness,” and though 2004’s Palindromes is regular IMDB’s most recent listing for the director, IMDB Pro says the project described by indieWIRE is now called Life During Wartime, and is still in the script phase. So: Pee-Wee+Solondz+Talking Heads reference. It’s not much to report, but it’s a potentially exciting combo.