Having Toni Collette as your nanny sounds like it’d be quite fun, but in Mental she certainly shakes up a family where all the daughters think they’re mental. The film sees her reunite with director PJ Hogan for the first time since Muriel’s Wedding. Here’s the synopsis: ‘The Moochmore girls are certain they all suffer from some kind of undiagnosed mental illness – because if they’re not crazy then they’re just unpopular. Their mother Shirley (Rebecca Gibney) – unable to cope with her demanding daughters and unsupported by her philandering politician husband, Barry (Anthony LaPaglia) – suffers a nervous breakdown. After Barry commits his wife to a mental hospital (telling his constituents that “she’s on holiday”) he finds himself alone with 5 teenage girls he barely knows. Desperate, he impulsively picks up a hitchhiker named Shaz (Collette) and installs her in his home as nanny to his daughters.’ The movie is out on November 16th.
P.J. Hogan To Direct Comic Adaptation Bone
For quite a long time there’s been talk of adapting the popular graphic novel series Bone, by Jeff Smith into a film, but it seemed the idea had bitten the dust, as there’s been no movement for a long time. However now it seems things are getting back on track, as THR reports Muriel’s Wedding director PJ Hogan has signed on to helm, with Patrick Sean Smith set to write the script.
The comics follow three cousins from the Bone family, who are small, bald, human-like creatures with big noses. The trio are run out of their hometown and find themselves in a mysterious valley where they are separated and hunted by other creatures. The Bones are taken in by a girl named Thorn and her grandmother, and they find out that the valley is threatened by an evil force called the Lord of the Locusts.
The comics first appeared between 1991 to 2004 and were rediscovered when Scholastic began putting out graphic novels that compiled the comics together. It’s certainly an ambitious fantasy comic to take on, and the project will likely direct the movie in Australia, the home the director and the producers (and also where generous tax breaks are available).