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| Dustin Hoffman with Natalie Portman in Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium |
Director: Touted as “the new Charlie Kaufman”, Zach Helm is surely one of the top 10 film-writers to watch out for. This American screenplay writer, has proved himself with his debut Stranger Than Fiction, directed by Marc Forster, which was a slightly-surreal mixture of comedy and tragedy starring Dustin Hoffman and Will Ferrell.
He has had two plays — Last Chance For A Slow Dance and Good Canary — produced professionally. Now, Zach makes his debut as director with Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. Dustin Hoffman reunites with Zach Helm.
Background: ‘You have to believe it to see it’ goes the tagline. Currently in post-production, the filming had started late-March 2006. The movie is produced by Walden Media and Mandate Pictures and will be released by Twentieth Century Fox and Walden Media.
Trivia: The end credits in the trailer list state: ‘Supposedly a film by Zach Helm’. Danny Elfman’s Breakfast Machine score from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure appears in the trailer. On Inside the Actors Studio (Sony Pix), Dustin Hoffman hinted that the Death Cab for Cutie song would feature in its soundtrack.
Stars: Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium has Dustin Hoffman as Mr Edward Magorium and Natalie Portman as Molly Mahoney, the manager of the store. There is Jason Bateman as Henry Weston and Zach Mills as Eric Applebaum.
Plot: Molly Mahoney (Portman) is the awkward and insecure manager of Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, the strangest, most fantastic, most wonderful toy store in the world. When Molly Mahoney inherits the magical shop from her eccentric 243-year-old boss, Edward Magorium (Hoffman), she struggles with self-doubt.
But through the friendship of a charismatic little boy (Zach Mills) and a buttoned-up accountant (Jason Bateman), she learns to believe in herself and finds out that she does possess enough magic to run Mr Magorium’s shop. She finds herself in places she’s never imagined in her wildest dreams.
Release Date: Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium is scheduled to release mid-November.
