I don’t know if there’s a name for it, but it’s a common phenomenon in Hollywood that a studio head or development exec will buy a pitch or greenlight a project; then that exec will resign or get fired, and the guy that takes his place will either fail to promote his predecessor’s projects to make himself look better by comparison, or just sh*tcan them altogether depending on what stage of development they’re in.  It can be positive and negative.  But I’m starting to like new Disney chief Rich Ross, who at least in this case seems to be using his powers for good.

Less than a month after beaching “Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” new Walt Disney chief Rich Ross has put the kibosh on “Wedding Banned,” a romantic comedy to have starred Robin Williams, Anna Faris and Diane Keaton.
“Banned” revolves around a long-divorced couple (Williams and Keaton) who kidnap their daughter (Faris) on her wedding day to prevent her from making the same mistakes they did. The parents rekindle their relationship as they elude cops and the angry groom.
The movie was being groomed for a shoot next year, but Ross made the decision to untether the project. The decision took some by surprise since “Banned” seemed to be in the mold of such other studio hit comedies as “The Proposal” and “Wild Hogs.” One factor in the decision was the poor showing of another Disney comedy starring Williams, “Old Dogs,” which has grossed $35 million since its Nov. 25 opening. [THR]

I don’t want to give Ross too much credit, because anyone who thought this movie was a good idea deserves to be trampled to death by wildebeests.  Too bad for Robin Williams, he must be taking this news like a golf ball to the nuts. (*RECORD SCRATCH*)

Don’t get me wrong, Anna Faris is an attractive woman I would love to take for a van ride some time.  But it’s starting to seem like her agent might be functionally illiterate, or an actual porpoise.  Faris has two prospective projects in the trades today.  The first is TMI with Ryan Reynolds at Universal.  OMG, U. optioned TMI?  LOL!

Scripted by Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith and Marc Klein, the comic premise is that while honesty is the best policy for a relationship, [*RECORD SCRATCH*] “too much information” might not be the best thing. Andrew Panay (“Old Dogs”) will produce. [Woof.]

Believe it or not, that’s the better-sounding one.

Anna Faris is in negotiations to star as Robin Williams’ daughter in “Wedding Banned,” a romantic comedy for Touchstone. “Banned” revolves around a long-divorced couple who kidnap their daughter (Faris) on her wedding day to prevent her from making the same mistakes they did. The parents rekindle their relationship as they elude cops and the angry groom.

That one comes from the writers of Raising Helen and The Shaggy Dog, by the way.  HERE, ANNA, READ THIS.  IT’S BY THE GUY WHO WROTE THE MOVIE WHERE TIM ALLEN TURNS INTO A DOG.  How does that guy still have a job?  She must be insanely nice.  I’m driving to her house right now.

Any day now I’m going to watch World’s Greatest Dad, a critically-acclaimed indie comedy in which Robin Williams has been drawing rave reviews from critics hailing his more serious, toned-down persona.  And since Williams already has more money than he could ever need, he’s going to learn from this experience and start choosing roles more carefully.  Ha, just kidding, he’s signed up to star in “Wedding Banned”.  (*dog covering eyes with paws*)

“Banned” centers on a long-divorced couple who kidnap their daughter on her wedding day to prevent her from making the same mistakes they did. The divorced parents rekindle their relationship as they elude cops and the angry groom. [THR]

Hey, didn’t Robin Williams already make this movie when it was called License to Wed?  And how’d that one turn out again?

“This bewilderingly bone-headed movie convinces that Ben and Sadie, should be kept as far apart as possible, if only to prevent them from breeding the kind of morons who would see nothing wrong with a movie such as Licence To Wed – or worse still, make it.” -The Daily Mail

“This assaultively unappealing ‘romantic comedy’ could well mark the opening salvo in a whole new Hollywood campaign against movie piracy. Anybody who’d steal this dud would stink just from carrying it around.” -Toronto Star

“Josef Goebbels had a home movie made of the failed 1944 Hitler assassins being hanged from meathooks with piano wire. It probably had more laughs, more fun, more feelgood moments than this family comedy.” -The Guardian

So yeah, this should be pretty good.