The Matt Damon Column - April 2004 Archive

Updated 4/28/2004

Calendar

Ocean's Twelve

The Bourne Identity

The Bourne Supremacy

The Brothers Grimm

Ocean's Twelve

4/28/2004

Another Bourne Supremacy preview is at Newsweek.

All these sequels just seem so cynically made," says Matt Damon. "There's a formula. You spend 20 percent more on your budget and you have five big action set pieces. It's a whole 'one, two, three, hike!' kind of moviemaking. I can't do that." This is his first sequel, by the way, reprising the role of amnesiac spy Jason Bourne. Before "The Bourne Identity," Damon says, "I hadn't gotten any movies offered to me for 18 months. I went to London and did a play and thought, 'Well, I had a good run'." Then "The Bourne Identity" opened at $27 million, and by Monday "I had 30 movie offers," he says. And they wonder why actors are bitter. Damon wasn't obligated to do the sequel, but thought the new script and indie director Paul Greengrass ("Bloody Sunday") were worth a shot. He's even gotten over his sequel squeamishness. He's now shooting "Ocean's Twelve," the follow-up to, uh, "Ocean's Eleven." "Yeah, I'm a whore," he says. Hardly. But his price has gone up.
A photo of Matt on the set of Ocean's Twelve is at thezreview.
Two sightings of Matt from the Chicago Sun-Times are here and here.

Gibsons was hoppin':... Also, Matt ("Ocean's Twelve") Damon and producer Jerry Weintraub were in the house.

George Clooney, John Cusack, Matt Damon, Jason Patric and baseball players Johnny Franco and Tino Martinez were spotted enjoying chilled drinks and chowing down at Tavern on Rush Saturday night..
Susanne (thanks!) saw Matt filming in a Berlin hotel last week.

I've just returned from a vacation in Berlin where I stayed at the Westin Grand. My boyfriend saw there was something going on on the 4th floor (there is an atrium in the middle so you can see right down on every floor). There was a lot of equipment and a lot of people on the gallery, so naturally we stopped to see what was going on. There wasn't really much action, but we were pretty sure it was some kind of filming and waited for something to happen. And then Matt Damon came out of one door! Immediately an assistant was with him and took off his jacket, and then we watched Matt going around and talking to the crew. After a few minutes the assistant helped Matt into the jacket again, and Matt disappeared behind the door again - probably the room where they were shooting.

We left and returned at 11.45, there was a lot of equipment and people outside the hotel. Inside, most of the technical stuff on the 4the floor had disappeared, also most of the people. But Matt was still there, this time walking around and talking into his cellphone. We watched him for a couple of minutes, but it seemed kind of ridiculous watching another person on the phone, so we decided to go to our room. From our room window we saw two large spotlights lighting up the area in front of the hotel plus a bit of Friedrichstraße, and then we noticed that they were watering this whole area. So of course they were going to film outside, and we went out, too, to watch the scene. Matt was still on the phone when we passed by two floors above him. It was only him and another guy left there, all the equipment had gone. Outside the hotel, they shot one little scene with some extras and a car racing around the corner and stopping in front of the hotel (we assume it was Brian Cox who got out of the car). No more sight of Matt, though. :-((

4/25/2004

The summer movie preview in Entertainment Weekly includes the following summary for The Bourne Supremacy, also available at the EW website. Thanks to Natasha. Another photo from the film, which is included in the magazine, is at Ben and Matt Online.

The Bourne Supremacy
Pop Quiz, Matt Damon: What was the most rented movie of 2003, above even My Big Fat Greek Wedding? "I actually heard this," says the actor. "It's The Bourne Identity! It shocked me." The DVD explosion prompted Damon to be Jason Bourne again. This time the former spy must clear his name after a Russian assassin claiming to be him kills two people.

In the hands of Greengrass (Bloody Sunday), the film will come out "very unsequel-like," promises Damon, who wanted to ignore the typical Act 2 rules. "The standard approach is you spend 20 percent more on the budget and you have five action set pieces," he says. Instead, "there are some shocking things that happen early on. It's a dark story. Hopeful, but dark. It's pretty intense what the character goes through." (Bourne Identity bit player Stiles also returns in a bigger role--though most of her scenes are with Allen, who appears as a CIA honcho.)

By all accounts, the filming--which took place in Berlin, Moscow, and India and just wrapped in February--was more intense as well. "We're not cheating," says producer Frank Marshall. "We didn't [substitute] Montreal for Paris in the first one, and we didn't go to Prague for Moscow in this one. No one has ever done a chase on the scale that we did on the streets of Moscow."

It all added up to a new and different experience for Greengrass, who has never helmed a big-budget movie before. "He was so tickled that he was getting to play with the big toys," Marshall recalls. "One day he said, 'Do I get the guy who does that voice in our trailer?' I said, 'You want that guy, you got him.'"

One thing the filmmakers have yet to decide: whether or not we'll learn Bourne's real name in the film. "I think it's cooler if you don't know that stuff," says Damon, comparing Bourne to Chris Noth's Sex and the City character. "He's Big."

The Good News: An action sequel worth getting excited about.
The Bad News: This could look and feel as rushed as it actually was. (July 23)
Natasha also saw another Bourne-related report on Access Hollywood's weekend edition:

The weekend edition of Access has the top ten most anticipated summer flicks and Bourne started off at #10. They expanded the bit we saw on Wednesday's show. Saw some footage of Matt running on the beach in Goa (man, they've got him running a lot!) and there was more of the interview with Kate Geraway (sp?), the British AH host. She also interviewed Julia Stiles who claimed Matt was very, very funny, as well as very focused and dedicated to his work.
Another reader saw a report in In Touch which referenced a gossip item from last week:

There was a blurb about the Matt and Eva strip club sighting. Eva's rep confirms that the two were at the notorious strip club, BUT they were there with a whole group of people which included Matt's girlfriend and Eva's boyfriend. (Neither was cited by name.) They are not together, just friends.

4/23/2004

It's an all Bourne Supremacy day from around the world. Goan journalist Reuven Proença kindly provided me with a story he wrote about The Bourne Supremacy filming in Goa, and a summary of his experiences with Matt and the film. Photos of Matt in Goa, and with Reuven, are by Alister Miranda. Both reports contain spoilers about the film.

Close Encounters of the Damon Kind

Whoever thought that Matt Damon would actually come down to Goa? When I first heard that a movie was being shot in my little sunshine state I was told that Tom Cruise was coming down, then it was Pierce Brosnan.

Later I managed to get some RELIABLE information and found that Matt would be down with Franka Potente and Karl Urban. Cool!! I wasn't going to miss this one. The production team was very secretive about the whole thing and I literally stumbled onto the set on my way to the bank. Panjim is a very small town where everything is in walking distance.

The crew had blocked off the entire church square and told everybody that they were filming a German movie. Tired of being brushed off by the Indian crew I walked up to director Paul Greengrass who put me in touch with the publicist, Debbie, who was very co-operative but said that Matt, Franka and Karl were out of bounds because they were tired.

Now for those of you who haven't been to Goa ought to know that the Queen of England could walk down the street and the Goans couldn't care less.

We didn't have the Queen but when Matt walked down the street to his trailer he didn't have anybody following except for his bodyguard, my two photographers and me. I waited outside the trailer and when Matt came out I asked him for his autograph and he obliged. I asked him a few questions about Goa, he said that he loved the place (I hear he's coming back with Ben Affleck soon) and wished he could spend more time here. My photographers, Alister and Miguel, just kept shooting and Matt even posed for them. His bodyguard tried to shoot them away but Matt said that it was okay. And then he just walked back to the set.

I went out of town the next day but the crew moved to a location just outside my parents house. My sis, mum and dad also met up with Matt.

From what I've been told the movie begins in Goa. The producer, Frank Marshall (Seabiscuit, Back to the future, Indiana Jones, Signs, etc.) told me that 15 minutes of the movie are set in Goa where Matt and Franka are hiding out (they set up a couple of houses on Palolem beach in south Goa). Karl is on their trail and he walks into the telegraph office (that's the scene they were filming at the church square) with a picture of Franka claiming that he's her brother. Then there are a few car chases (one through the Fontainhas heritage precinct and the other at Candolim, where my folks live) before Matt and Franka (driving a Suzuki Gypsy) plunge off the Nerul bridge.

Matt stayed at the Taj Fort Aguada beach resort, Candolim, and at the Grand Intercontinental at Palolem.
And Reuven's story from the Gomantak Times on 9 March 2004.

PANAJI: A car chase through Fontainhas; the bad guy stepping out of his swank car near the Church square; cars being thrown off the Nerul bridge. Could these be elements of a Hollywood action flick in Goa?

Precisely. The 'Bourne Supremacy,' sequel to the blockbuster 'The Bourne Identity,' is being shot at a number of locations in the state over the next few days. The movie is loosely based on the Robert Ludlum classic by the same name.

Hollywood stars Matt Damon (The Bourne Identity, Stuck On You, The Talented Mr. Ripley), Franka Potente (Bourne Identity) and Karl Urban (Lord Of The Rings - Return Of The King) are the only three members of the cast who are in Goa. Other actors include Joan Allen, Julia Stiles and Brian Cox.

The movie tells the tale of former CIA 'black-ops' operative Jason Bourne (Damon) and his girlfriend Marie Kreutz (Potente) who are hiding out in Goa after the Identity caper. Urban plays Bourne's nemesis, who is in Goa to eliminate the couple.

High profile Hollywood director Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday) is directing the movie and the producers are Patrick Crowley (Bourne Identity, Sleepless In Seattle, Robocop, Charlie's Angels-Full Throttle) and Frank Marshall (Indiana Jones, Seabiscuit, Signs, Back To The Future, Poltergeist, The Sixth Sense, The Bourne Identity).

There were several hundred extras and vehicles involved in yesterday's shoot, at the Panaji church square, which had Urban entering the 'telegraph office' (the Communidade building) in search of Potente's character.

Shop owners in the area informed GT that they were paid Rs. 500 to open at 7 am yesterday - in time for the shoot. A large number of college students were also hired to man various positions. Sources said that the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) was paid about 100,000 Rupees for parking, the use of the Municipal garden and other amenities.

Speaking to GT Crowley said that at least USD 2 million was being spent on the Goa leg of the movie. This includes the cost of construction of a few cottages on Palolem beach, purchase of vehicles (most of which will be destroyed in spectacular explosions) and hiring local extras.

The movie has been shot over more than 70 days, with most of it filmed in Germany and Russia, and is slated for release in July 2004.
Ulrike, pictured with Matt a few days ago, provided another update from Berlin.

We haven't got a clue what kind of scenes Matt did apart from the ones at the Westin Grand Monday night. He was not at the set on Karl-Marx-Allee on Tuesday (it turned out much smaller than expected... just 20 metres along the road were decorated with snow and 3 businessmen were getting into Russian police cars). And I saw the "aftermath" of a set at Dreilinden - a service area near Berlin.

Nevertheless, my friends met Matt when he returned from wherever to the hotel Tuesday night at 1.15 am. They told me Matt was nice as always. Signed everything, had pictures taken (even posed without being asked to do so). He said 'See you tomorrow girls' but we didn't see him again. I don't know if he has left Berlin already.
Access Hollywood showed the making of one scene from the Bourne Supremacy, shot in Berlin, on a recent program. Here's a summary from Natasha and another reader.

It was just a few minutes, the spot led off a summer movie preview. We got to see Matt do some running (hence the title of the segment, "See Bourne run") through a tunnel, a quick shot of his scene w/ Julia Stiles, and a few questions from the British AH reporter on the set. She was a blond woman in a red jacket who was included in some of the set photos from Berlin on the site a few months ago.

She asked him if he would be doing some stunts for that day of shooting and Matt responded by reiterating how audiences seeing him in closeups of those stunts gave him more credibility in that role. Actually, his exact words were: "With the last movie... it was really a kind of uncharacteristic role for me, and the director and I were really worried that people wouldn't except me as that guy, so we decided that if I got in as good a shape as I could, did as many of the stunts as I could and you could see that it was me it would make the character more credible. So we are kind of applying that theory this time, too... so the more I could do the more believable the movie becomes."

The host then asked him what does he think of European women, "because we are kind of hot". Matt stammered and stumbled over words before breaking into a grin and inquiring "How the hell am I supposed to answer that?" To which he finally concluded that yes, European women were hot!

4/22/2004

A photo of Matt and Heath Ledger that appeared with the recent Brothers Grimm article in USA Today has been scanned by Natasha (thanks!)
Reuven Proença, a journalist from the Gomantak Times Weekender, Goa, very generously sent me an article he wrote about Matt and his friend Ross, who was Matt's driver during his time in Goa. My sincere thanks to Reuven for the wonderful article.

Matt Damon, my friend
An insight into the Hollywood star's humble nature and his love for children and stray dogs from the person who drove him around Goa.

PANAJI, Goa: Ross Vaze knew that his jeep was to be used to drive Oscar-winning Hollywood star Matt Damon around Goa while he shot scenes for the Bourne Supremacy. However, he was pleasantly surprised when the movie's transport coordinator asked him to personally drive the vehicle instead of a driver.

He was even more surprised when he picked up Matt and his three-man entourage from the airport, "He was amazingly down-to-earth. I have met Bollywood actors and they could learn more than just a thing or two about humility from him."

During the course of time Ross spent more time with Matt than anyone else during his visit to the state. Whether it was shopping at Calangute and Baga, partying at Café Mambo, visiting Calangute and Palolem beaches, Ross always went along.

"Matt loved meeting the poor kids and stray dogs he met wherever he went. He would play around with the kids and give them cash or gifts. I remember him petting the dogs at Calangute beach and then feeding them," he said, adding, "At times, I thought that he was too simple to be true. But then that was who he was."

Describing Matt as a "party animal" Ross recalled one occasion when they partied till 6 in the morning, "He had no hassles with mixing with crowds at the pubs and nightclubs he went to. A few people recognized him and he obliged by posing for photographs and signing autographs."

On the sets of the Bourne Supremacy, Matt had no problems mingling with the crew on the sets. "He was just like one of the crew. He fooled around and even played with Holi colours," Ross remembered.

"We became friends during that time and Matt even mentioned, when he was leaving, that he had never developed a friendship like ours," Ross says. Explaining he said, "Whenever we were traveling he always sat up front with me. It was never like a driver-passenger relationship."

The two still keep in touch via email.
Surprisingly, Universal is releasing another Special Edition DVD of The Bourne Identity on 13 July 2004. The film will have a new beginning and ending, and the DVD will have a range of new features that were not on the original DVD. More details about the film can be found at dvdanswers.com.
A report in the German paper bz.berlin1.de claims no whole scenes are being re-shot for Bourne Supremacy, only intermediate cuts and certain shots.

4/21/2004

TV Alert: Access Hollywood visits the set of The Bourne Supremacy on today's show. Thanks to Aurelia and Stephanie. A preview is available at their website, which provides this description:

Matt Damon is "bourne" to run as he revs up for his mega sequel! We're first on the set of "The Bourne Supremacy"...
German papers are reporting that Bourne Supremacy is re-shooting because "the crew screwed up some scenes that have already been shot."
The first test screening review of The Brothers Grimm is at AICN.
The Boston Herald's preview of an upcoming Us Weekly story is already a little out of date:

Damon cheers Cubs on

Question: So while Red Sox superfan Ben Affleck's been skulking around Fenway Park and poking fun at the players, where, you may ask, is his baseball-lovin' buddy, Matt Damon??? Answer: Wrigley Field!

Matt, who is in the Windy City filming "Ocean's Twelve,'' was recently spotted taking his new galpal, Luciana Barroso, out to the ballgame to catch the Chicago Cubs. As in Major League Baseball's Other Cursed Club!

"They were very cute together," a spy in the stands told Us Weekly. "When the crowd stood to sing, 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame, Matt kept his arms around her, holding her tight." Awwwww.

Damon and his date, along with his "Ocean's Twelve" co-star Andy Garcia, scored seats next to the Cubbie's dugout. Which was most convenient for the die-hard Sox fan to say hey to ex-Boston second baseman Todd Walker, who had three hits and drove in three runs to help the Cubs crush the Pirates 8-3 that fine day.

"He was really excited" the ballpark spy told the maggie. "And Luciana was so happy for him."

4/20/2004

Bourne Supremacy re-shoots are continuing in Berlin, and Matt was photographed signing autographs outside his hotel - pictures from splashnews.com.
Ulrike writes that Matt is still in Berlin and has not yet returned to Chicago.

Matt was filming at the Westin Grand last night. He left his hotel at 10 pm dressed as Bourne saying he was already late for shooting and returned at half past twelve already changed in casual clothes. On his way back into the hotel he was really lovely and had photos taken with us (we were just three girls...all the autograph chasers must have gone home or chased Drew Barrymore thus it was a very relaxed atmosphere!) I asked how long he was going to stay in Berlin and he said "just a few more days".

Apparently, filming will take place at Karl-Marx-Allee today and tomorrow (the no parking signs indicate April 19th until 22nd). It looks like a big car chase is going to be filmed as the street is blocked for several hundred metres and that's one of the locations that doubles for Moscow.
Earlier some friends of Ulrike's saw Matt at the hotel:

My friends saw Matt at a hotel when they were waiting for Drew Barrymore who's currently promoting that Adam Sandler movie in Berlin. They were quite surprised to see him and so were all the professional autograph chasers. Matt was having a laugh as people were handing him Drew pictures at first through the darkened car windows.
My thanks to Reuven Proença for sending me photos by Alister Miranda of Matt on the set of Bourne Supremacy in Goa, India. Reuven is pictured with Matt on the set.
TV Alert: ET is showing bloopers from the Stuck on you DVD on today's show. Thanks to Natasha. Pre-release copies of the DVD have already been sent by Amazon.
From the Chicago Tribune:

George Clooney, Andy Garcia, Nicolas Cage, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck were partying at the bar in the Peninsula Hotel Wednesday night.

4/19/2004

Donna from Chicago was an extra in Ocean's Twelve and provided her report below. She mentions that Matt was back in Berlin for a re-shoot on The Bourne Supremacy over the weekend, and this was confirmed by Ulrike, who says one of the locations was at the Westin Grand (yet again).

Well, I did my extra part in O12 and I have to say it was a pretty disapointing day. For the most part I sat on a train for 10 hours while George did one scene inside the train, talking on his cell phone and one scene outside the train running to catch it. Most of the extras were kept on the train, used as a holding area, until some were selected for different tasks. But I never got selected. I DID get up close to Clooney when, to my surprise he and Steven Soderbergh ate in the cafeteria with all the crew and extras. Seems like a pretty normal guy. I walked passed him, gave him a thumbs up and he winked back at me!

No sightings of Matt or any other celebs. However one of the costumers told me that Matt is an extremely nice guy. As of Saturday the 17th he was back in Berlin for a few days to reshoot a scene for the Bourne Supremecy, but should return to Chicago by Monday. They said the crew will probably leave Chicago by April 29th.
The second part of Phil's visit to the set of The Brothers Grimm is now up at Dreams.
Here's one of the new pictures from the Bourne Supremacy set linked yesterday.

4/18/2004

New pictures from The Bourne Supremacy, including the first stills to include Franka Potente and Julia Stiles, are at Latino Review.
More photos of Matt, Andy and Jerry Weintraub on the set of O12 are at ABACA.

4/17/2004

Larger wireimage pics of Matt and Lucy at the Chicago Cubs game were kindly provided by caseyaffleck.com.
More images of Matt and Andy Garcia on the set of Ocean's Twelve and talking to fans are at globephotos.

4/16/2004

Pictures of Matt and Lucy at the Chicago Cubs game are now at wireimage.
From Lloyd Grove's column at the NY Daily News:

No Bennifer

A Lowdown spy in Chicago witnessed a touching scene yesterday when Matt Damon said good-bye to his non-celebrity girlfriend, Luciana Barroso, at the Peninsula Hotel, where the two were holed up all week. Playing the smitten boyfriend, the 33-year-old star carried the 28-year-old interior decorator to a waiting car. "They were both obviously upset that she was leaving," the spy said. "They were hugging and kissing, and when she got into the car, he screamed out 'Bye baby! Have a good trip!' " The best part? Because Barroso isn't a publicity-mad actress, there won't be any "Gigli" to suffer through.
A late LA sighting from Ted Casablanca's column at eonline:

Matt Damon, flashing his infamous grin in front of the Joseph Papp Theater. Third Street, Hell-Ay. His numero-uno macho man, Ben Affleck, was unfortunately not on his arm. Instead, a petite brunette was stealing M.D.'s undivided and oh so de-lish attention. Looking equally eff-able was...
Lisa from dvdfanatic wrote to say they're running a competition to win a Stuck on you DVD at their site - details here.

4/15/2004

Filming for Ocean's Twelve has commenced in Chicago, and photos of Matt and Andy Garcia on set (with Matt as Linus being followed by Terry Benedict's goons) are at splashnews.
Later in the day Matt and Andy went to the Chicago Cubs v Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game at Wrigley Field, and were seen a few times during the television coverage. Reader Carrie saw it mentioned on the CNN Headline News, and another reader also sighted Matt:

I just got a fleeting glimpse of Matt at the game on the late news. Lucy was sitting next to him and Matt was clutching a big cup of beer.

And the AP report:

Actors Matt Damon and Andy Garcia were at the game, watching from the new seats next to the Cubs' dugout.
The picture of the day is from Getty Images, which has some new photos from the Bravo event in NY last week which promoted Project Greenlight to potential advertisers.

4/14/2004

A full-size version of a poster for The Bourne Supremacy, initially seen at ShoWest, is now online at Latino Review.

4/13/2004

Here's a sighting from the NY Daily News of Matt with old friend Eva Mendes. Eva's currently filming Last First Kiss with Will Smith in New York.

Matt's 'Gentleman'-ly date

Here we go again: Rumored couple Matt Damon and Eva Mendes stepped out together on Sunday night in New York, according to a spy.

Our tattler says the "Stuck on You" co-stars shared a bottle of champagne at FlashDancers Gentlemen's Club.

"They were tipping very generously and looked like they were having a good time," says our spywitness, who adds they were joined by male friends.

4/12/2004

The scans of the Us Weekly and People magazine articles have been kindly provided by Sandi. More photos from the series of Matt and Lucy in a Beverly Hills carpark were also in the Australian Fresh magazine and included below.
A new interview with Matt about The Brothers Grimm, but also discussing other projects, is at USA Today. There may be a new photo with the hard copy, but the caption to the familiar photo of Matt and Heath which ran online (and is included below) read: In addition to finding a new temporary home in Prague, Matt Damon found a new friend in Brothers Grimm co-star Heath Ledger.

Damon, Prague star in 'Grimm' fairy tale
By Carol Memmott, USA TODAY

PRAGUE- Matt Damon is hanging 15 feet above the floor of a movie studio in this central European city.

He will be lowered, then hoisted again and again as the mostly Czech film crew finishes the last of the blue-screen special effects for The Brothers Grimm, a movie Miramax plans to release Nov. 19. It's 11 a.m., and Damon has been on the set since 7, but his mood is upbeat and he jokes with the crew during the takes. The scene is simple and brief, but it takes time to get just right.

Hanging alongside him is co-star Lena Headey. With the wind machine cranked up and the take in full swing, Headey and Damon gasp and grunt as she appears to be helping Damon climb onto the fake tree branch where she's already hanging on for dear life.

"I was (expletive) brilliant in that scene," Damon jokes, "and the blue looks really good in this shot." When the crew calls for a break to reload a camera, Damon admits that the harness and wires that have been hoisting him up are uncomfortable, but he's still smiling.

"Days like today, it's just kind of goofy when you're flying around," he says. "It hurts a little bit. Lena's all bruised up. Her harness is less comfortable than mine."

Last fall, he was hanging around Prague for Brothers Grimm. Since then, he has been to India and Berlin to film The Bourne Supremacy, the sequel to his 2002 hit The Bourne Identity. Parts of The Bourne Identity were filmed in Prague in 2001.

Though Damon and the rest of the cast and crew have been working mostly six days a week, he has managed to fit in time for sightseeing and family.
"My family came over during the summer months, so I had a steady stream of visitors. The location shooting is actually more fun for my family than for me because they actually get to see all the places." Still, he admits to walking across the city's famous St. Charles Bridge 200 or 300 times and visiting the centuries-old Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. He recommends climbing to the top of the tower above the Old Town Square's Astronomical Clock.

Even though one of the artists selling celebrity portraits on the St. Charles Bridge has a pencil drawing of Damon prominently displayed, Damon says he has not been recognized.

"Not at all," he says. "All I pretty much do is work. We're out here every day, so I've been really normal for the past six months."

Making movies in Prague is nothing new, but Hollywood's growing interest in filming movies in the Czech Republic has some producers referring to Prague and its famous Barrandov Studios as the Hollywood of Europe.

"I think the studios come here because it's cheaper," says Damon. "This is an $80 million movie, which would probably cost $120 million to $140 million in America. Plus, so many movies are shooting here now and have been for the last few years that the crews never stop working. So the crews are as good as any crews anywhere in the world."

The Barrandov studios have an impressive history. Built in the early 1930s by Milos and Vaclav Havel (he's the father of the former Czech president), the studios were the embryonic hot spot for the then-booming Czech film industry. During the German occupation of Prague during World War II, the Nazis, prodded by propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, built a studio here to develop propaganda films. It's a detail that Damon finds fascinating.

In addition to picking up on the local history, Damon has picked up a few local habits as well. "I gave up smoking for four months, but I'm smoking again. Everybody smokes here." He lights up as soon as the camera stops running.

Damon also has made new friends here, including Heath Ledger, who plays the other half of the Brothers Grimm. "It's been great," he says of teaming with Ledger.

Ledger is Jake, and Damon is Will, two folk-tale-collecting German brothers who are forced to confront evil and their own capacity for courage.

"You never quite know how things are going to work out when you get paired with someone. But the last two movies, I've had this central relationship as brothers, and I lucked out with Greg (Kinnear, who played Damon's conjoined twin in last year's Stuck on You) and Heath. They'll be friends forever."

"He inspires a kind of passion in everyone who works for him," says Damon. "I think we have a good one here. It's going to have a really unique tone because it has Terry's twist on it. It's very funny, but there all these elements of adventure, fantasy and fairy tale in it. Terry's one of the founding members of Monty Python, so it's also got some humor."

Damon's work with Brothers Grimm ended in late November. Then it was on to Berlin and India for Universal's The Bourne Supremacy. He's very enthusiastic about this action-thriller even though back-to-back movie projects means he'll have no time off until next summer.

"Everyone's coming back for the sequel," he says. "I think even Chris Cooper, who was killed in The Bourne Identity, is coming back for some flashback scenes."

Supremacy opens July 23.

4/10/2004

A number of new US magazines have articles and photos about Matt this week. There is a one page spread in People's Star Tracks section about Ben and Matt, a two-page article in Us Weekly and another mention in In Touch. All descriptions below have been provided by a reader, but I do not have any scans at the moment (can anybody help?) The first summary is from the People article:

Matt & Ben's Playing Partners -- Beverly Hills and Las Vegas, March 31 & April 4
Good Time Hunting

While in Las Vegas at the Bellagio for an old pal's bachelor party on April 4, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck park themselves at a poker table, along with Affleck's coach Annie Duke, the world's top ranked female poker player. Duke has been working with Ben since November but won't say whether she's teaching him the finer points of No Limit Texas Hold' Em, her expertise.

Welcome, Matt!

Five days earlier in Beverly Hills, Damon gets a hand, a hug and a kiss from his new sweetie Luciana Barroso. Later that night the pair joined Affleck for dinner at Marino in Los Angeles.

There are five pictures that appear with the text. The top two are in Vegas. One is Ben at the poker table with Matt standing behind him in his flower shirt. Then there is a close up picture of Ben with Annie Duke next to him.

The bottom series is new. It's three pictures of Matt and Lucy on March 31 in LA. It looks like the pictures were take inside a parking garage at a shopping center. Lucy is carrying a purse and a few small handled shopping bags, wearing jeans and a white strappy camisole. She has the sunglasses pushed up on her head and her hair is in a ponytail. It's longer now than it was in Italy. Matt has on jeans and a green T-shirt with yellow trim around the sleeve and neck lines. He is standing there smoking a cigarette. It looks like she is just coming to meet him from finishing some shopping.

In the first pic her left hand is in his right back pocket. They are looking at each other. In the next one she is holding him really close as he holds the cigarette away. She rests her head on his shoulder. In the final one, she has her arms around him and is kissing him passionately. Matt, who refuses to be separated from his cigarette, has both arms in the air over his head, holding the cigarette in one hand.

In Us, there is a two page spread. The little corner title says Best Buds, then it says:

MATT & BEN'S BIG WEEK and then BACK TOGETHER!!

It was just like old times when the duo- who won matching Oscars in 1998 for Good Will Hunting-shared a two hour lobster dinner at Marino's Ristorante in West Hollywood on March 31. "There was no love lost between Matt and J.Lo," a Boston insider tells Us. "He thought she was too much of a diva for Ben. He still thinks of himself and Ben as two homeboys from Cambridge."

With Bennifer finally behind them, Hollywood's cutest couple, Damon and Affleck, reunite as Ben meets Matt's girl before a hard partying Vegas weekend.

The biggest picture is of Matt and Ben getting out of Ben's car in what looks like the driveway of someone's house. Ben has a duffel bag with him. It looks like it could be Matt's house and Ben is staying there. Then there is a little flashback picture from 1998 of Ben, Matt and Gwnyeth all having dinner in Italy while Ben was visiting the set of Ripley.

There are three pics of the two in Vegas. One close up of Ben at the poker table counting money. The one of the two of them sitting side by side at the table playing cards. And the third one is the two of them standing up in the casino. The captions read as follows:

The pair bonded at the Bellagio on April 2-4. They even took an afternoon walk in the rain--aww! (The pair would be Matt and Ben)

Then it says Affleck polished up his skills while sitting with poker star Annie Duke, while Matt - who paid a solo visit to the Crazy Horse Too topless club on Friday - left most of the playing to the pros. On Saturday night, the duo joined Michael Jordan and Juliette Lewis at a birthday bash for Bob Mancari, the director of of player development at the Bellagio, then moved to party to the hotel's nightclub, Light.

Then there are pics of Matt and Lucy from two different sightings. First one says Separated (Sigh!) That Week... (Matt and Ben they mean) They show a pic of Matt and Lucy and then one next to it of Ben at a Laker game in LA. The captions read:

Damon and Luciana Barroso, who have maintained a low key relationship since last fall, lunched at Brentwood's Gaucho Grill on March 30 in LA. They are walking away from the restaurant. Matt is in front of her and they don't seem to be holding hands. He has on a white T-shirt with blue trim around the sleeves and neck that says Real Madrid. He has sunglasses clipped to the neckline. She is behind him in a red scoop neck shirt. Hair in ponytail, and wearing sunglasses.

Then the next pic headline says Dinner with Matt's Girlfriend. It's a picture of them inside an SVU. Matt is wearing dark clothes and a baseball cap with a 40 on it. Lucy is sitting across the little aisle from him, but it doesn't look like her as she's very much out of her usual style. The magazine calls her a look a like for Julia Louis Dreyfus. The caption says:

Barosso, 28, a Miami based interior designer, joined the boys and five other friends at Marino Ristorante. She and Damon were all smiles when they left together at 11 pm. "They seemed to be in a good mood." an onlooker tells Us.
More reports from the Bravo function are from mediapost and tvbarn.

The highlight of the night, beyond a brief routine by the "Queer Eye" celebrities, took place when Gaspin introduced "Project Greenlight." The series, which had been on HBO, started when actors and screenwriters Ben Affleck and Matt Damon (and director Chris Moore) gave aspiring directors and writers a chance to create their own film. Gaspin introduced the three, who arrived on stage and gave a semi-scripted, often extemporaneous presentation of the idea. Affleck, who no doubt through his former romance with Jennifer Lopez gained lots of experience with the press, seemed most at ease with the crowd.

Affleck joked with the audience, saying that he wanted to take this opportunity to be with the press again. "A welcome sight, I assure you," he laughed. "I just can't get enough."

Bravo's Gaspin pointed out that for the first time, advertisers could get in on "Project Greenlight."

And the TV Barn story:

BEN AFFLECK, MATT DAMON AND CHRIS MOORE OF BRAVO AND MIRAMAX'S "PROJECT GREENLIGHT" UNVEILED SCRIPT WHICH WILL BE GIVEN TO FIRST-TIME DIRECTORS FOR THEIR FINAL ASSIGNMENT

New York, NY - April 8, 2004 - Ben Affleck ("Jersey Girl," "Paycheck," "Pearl Harbor"), Matt Damon ("Ocean's Eleven," "The Bourne Identity," "The Talented Mister Ripley,") and Chris Moore ("The Battle of Shaker Heights," "Good Will Hunting"), three executive producers of Bravo and Miramax's "Project Greenlight," last night unveiled the script "Greenlight" director contestants must use for their final assignment. Affleck, Damon and Moore read the script during Bravo's annual upfront sales presentation in New York. The contest is presently underway and winners will be selected and announced in July. The third installment of the critically acclaimed documentary series will premiere on Bravo in early 2005.
In advance of the Stuck on you DVD release on April 27, Film Stew revisited the film by interviewing actresses Wenn Yan Shih and Lin Shaye.

4/08/2004

Matt and Ben are in New York to attend a function for Bravo, the new network owners of Project Greenlight. Below are some photos of the pair at an unknown location in NY from wireimage, a Hollywood Reporter summary of the event and a NY Post report which contains some obvious errors (Bourne Supremacy wasn't filmed in Prague and Matt was presumably already in the US).

NEW YORK -- Bravo held a festive upfront presentation for advertisers Wednesday night in Manhattan, complete with supermodels, the Fab Five from "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," "Project Greenlight" stewards Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and a performance by Cirque du Soleil.

Pricy airlift for 'Greenlight'

April 8, 2004 -- BEN Affleck and Matt Damon flew into town yesterday to try and drum up some advertising for their fading show, "Project Greenlight," now carried on Bravo. "It is upfront week for the cable networks and Bravo's presentation [was] at Crobar," our spy said. "Bravo insisted that Matt and Ben be there together to glad-hand all the advertisers because they didn't think the show would garner interest by itself. But the funny thing is, the show is about making an independent low-budget movie, and yet Ben insisted that he be flown in on a private jet and stay at the Peninsula Hotel. Matt is also being flown in from Prague [where he's shooting 'The Bourne Supremacy.'] They are costing Bravo like $45,000 for one day." But Bravo president Jeff Gaspin says, "I didn't insist they come - I requested and they said yes. Ben got on a plane from Los Angeles with eight other executives [including NBC head Jeff Zucker]. It's his problem as to how he's getting back. We always ask which hotel people prefer."
Thanks to Sandi for sending in an article from the summer preview edition of Premiere magazine about The Bourne Supremacy.
From Cindy Adams' column in the NY Post yesterday:

"Lenny and Joey," a tailor-made screenplay about Boston brothers who go from nowheresville to the score of a lifetime got delivered to Matt Damon at his Santa Monica pad. Another to B. Affleck c/o pal Matt's East Village apartment. Writer Ron Murray's wife is from their old Massachusetts digs.
Another report of Matt and Lucy in LA last week appeared in a Mexican newspaper, Palabra. Here's the original text if you want to translate it yourselves.

Cupido le apuntó a Matt Damon y dio en el blanco...

El actor está tan enamorado que no tiene ningún problema porque los paparazzi lo capten con su novia, la italo-argentina, Luciana Bozan, de quien sólo se sabe que es la chica que conquistó el corazón del actor.

La pareja no esconde su amor, hace unos días se les vio salir de un restaurante argentino en Brentwood, California, demostrándose su cariño todo el tiempo.

Uno de los detalles que llamó la atención del galán de Hollywood, fue cuando levantó los brazos para dejarse apapachar por su amada con un beso.

4/06/2004

Footage of Matt and Ben at the card tables in Vegas over the weekend aired on Extra's program Monday. Here's a related report from the Boston Herald:

A new deal for Ben & Matt

Post Bennifer: Ben's back with Matt and J. Lo's back with Marc!

"Jersey Girl" guy Ben Affleck was back in Las Vegas over the weekend putting on a poker face with his old mate, Matt Damon. The Cambridge homeys were in Sin City to celebrate the birthday of the Bellagio VIP host Bob Mancari, who flew in a slew of his special clients for a bash in the ballroom.

Matt's new galpal was around for Bob-apalooza and the after-party bash at Light on Saturday night. But we hear Damon was mostly Stuck On his old bud, Ben, at the Bellagio's high-stakes tables.
Another view was provided (with thanks) from a reader:

I was working in Vegas over the weekend and saw Matt and Ben. Ben was more quiet than I expected and Matt is taller than I thought. Matt was with a lot of girls. Ben seems very nice and funny.
A UK paper last week ran a photo of Matt and Lucy in LA, but the picture isn't available online. Can anybody access a hard copy of the Daily Star from about 1 April, page 22? The text follows:

A real looker, Matt!

Hunky actor Matt Damon's eyes light up - and it's not because of his cigarette.

The star of Good Will Hunting - sporting a Real Madrid T-shirt - was spotted with a new girlfriend at a California restaurant.
In Touch magazine has a story this week on Matt and Ben's proposed holiday to India, taken entirely from previous press reports. Here's a summary from a gossip site:

Damon and Affleck plan India trip

Hollywood buddies Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are teaming up for a 15-day trip through India. Damon recently filmed scenes for his upcoming The Bourne Identity sequel in India and fell in love with the country.

And now he has suggested that he and Affleck - who is still recovering from his split with Jennifer Lopez - hike through the country, visiting tourist attractions in New Delhi, Bombay and Goa as they go. Damon says, "I didn't get to see much of India, because we were working all the time. But I loved what I saw."
The Los Angeles Times on Sunday ran a long story on Berlin as a filming destination, and included lots of references to The Bourne Supremacy. Some excerpts follow:

"We had heard, as any other person who travels, 'Oh, Berlin is pretty cool,' Bourne producer Patrick Crowley said. "But very few people relatively had been there. [Screenwriter] Tony Gilroy, Frank and I came here. We were knocked out. We were really convinced when we saw the studio facilities that were available."

They were impressed enough with the infrastructure that their whole camera crew -- with the exception of director of photography Oliver Wood -- is German, and Germans make up the shoot's entire electrical, grip and prop crews as well as most of wardrobe and set dressing.

"It creates an enormous sense of pride in people," Crowley said. "They want to do a good job because they know that they're sort of leading the way for increased feature productions in Berlin."

"Bourne," which brought $15 million to $20 million to the city, did huge night exteriors, lighting up entire blocks. Damon, who came to the "Bourne" set after "The Brothers Grimm" in Prague, says, "The infrastructure is great in both places. They have everything that Warner or Disney has or any lot that you end up on in America."

When the Bourne filmmakers were told of a huge tunnel that is not due to open for a couple of years, they asked not only if they could shoot inside it but asked if it would be all right to crash real cars into the walls at 60 mph. No problem.

"That's one of those little jewels that made that whole sequence possible and only in Berlin," Crowley said.

Berlin's biggest film fan may be its mayor, Klaus Wowereit, who took office in June 2001. He entertained Crowley and Marshall for an hour in his office and mugged for the cameras with Damon.

Wowereit rolls out the red carpet for production companies, and his unofficial edict to those signing filming permits is that if it's good for Berlin's image then let's do it -- and quickly.

"They're civil servants and when they're told to do something they do it," said location manager Markus Bensch, who worked on "Bourne" and "80 Days." Therefore it should be no surprise that it took a record 12 minutes for Bensch to receive a stamped permission to block a road for Bourne, although the application should have been filed 14 days in advance. The Bourne crew received permission to shoot on the Autobahn on 12 hours notice. When the film crew took over Alexander Platz, the main square in the city's east side, on Feb. 15, not only did it stop tram service but had its own tram going the opposite way. In all, "Bourne" filmed at about 50 locations and "80 Days" about 35.

"['Bourne'] really took the thing to the limit, so after this we know what's possible and what's not," Bensch said.

4/05/2004

Here are some photos of Matt and Ben at the Bellagio in Las Vegas over the weekend. These were part of a series of photos that were on the Splashnews.com site yesterday, but all photos in the series were removed some hours later. The caption originally read words to the effect: "Matt Damon and Ben Affleck played poker at the Bellagio and sat at the tables with female champ Annie Duke. After a few hours they left for a private party." Photos of a solo Ben at the casino and all other paparazzi photos on the website of various celebs do not appear to have been affected by this sudden editorial change.
A new behind the scenes photo from The Brothers Grimm with Matt, Heath Ledger and acting coach Stephen Bridgewater is at the IMDB. Originally linked by Phil at the Dreams site.

4/04/2004

The picture at right is a still from a paparazzi video titled "Matt Damon in a car with his Italian girlfriend Luciana Bozan." The video is by E.L. Woody and is available for a fee to clients at lulop.com. The footage was taken last week in Los Angeles, but Lucy can't be identified in the still image.
From a story in the News Tribune about what your favourite Sesame Street character says about you:

BERT: You are co-dependent, an enabler. You clean up all the messes your mate - Ernie, in Bert's case - makes. You also tend to lose your patience with said mate.
PERSONIFIED: Matt Damon

ERNIE: You are a free spirit, devil-may-care prankster who often does not think of the consequences of your actions. You also are extremely attached to rubberized bath toys - i.e., rubber ducky.
PERSONIFIED: Ben Affleck

4/02/2004

Here's the cover art for Bob McCabe's book on the making of The Brothers Grimm. The book is for pre-sale at Amazon UK, and the photo was linked by Phil at the Dreams website.
My thanks to Donna from Chicago and Lisa for their stories of the Ocean's Twelve casting call. The first report is from Donna:

After standing in the brutal, freezing cold for 3 1/2 hours I finally got in. The casting director, Rich King, was very nice and explained a lot about the movie and the technical aspects. He said that Terry Benedict, (Andy Garcia) wants revenge and goes after Danny Ocean by finding each guy one at a time. He said they will be shooting in a lot of bars around Chicago and one scene in Grant Park. Steven Soderbergh likes realism, so they wanted to know our vocations, so if we are a bartender or manicurist in real life, we might have a better chance at getting a part AS a bartender or manicurist. They are looking to hire 200 extras and will call us (if we are cast) between April 5 and 10. Costume fittings for extras will be 2 days before the day of shooting. Shooting will start on April 14 and run for one month, depending on weather.

The line for casting went around the block twice as far as I could see, but maybe even longer. I was about #500, and I got to the theater at 10:15 but people were still coming as late as 12 noon and expecting to get in. One guy offered the person behind me $50 to cut into the line, but was turned down. I assume that the people at the front of the line had to be there as early as 8 or 9 am.

And the report from Lisa:

It was the longest line I've ever seen. Something told me to get there early, but I didn't and when I got there, at exactly 11:00, the line was two blocks long. It was cold and windy with made it it tougher to stand out there. They let 50 people in about every half hour to 45 minutes and I still didn't get in until after 2:00.

The casting guy did say that they are filming in Rome right now and that all the actors will be filming in Chicago because Chicago is going to be dubbing for other places too. He said they start on the 14 and that if we get cast we should hear something by the 5th. It was more people there than they expected so expectations aren't high, but here's hoping.

4/01/2004

From the Las Vegas Sun:

Party: Bob Mancari, the director of player development at Bellagio, is having a birthday dinner at the hotel's Monet ballroom Saturday night, and then a celebration at Light. Celeb clients -- including Michael Jordan, Ben Affleck, Bruce Willis and Matt Damon -- are expected...
Natasha writes that the latest episode of Celebrities Uncensored on E! includes the photos from Matt and Ben's visit to the 90 Grad club in Berlin.