Katharine McPhee…yeah, I think she’s still around
Katharine McPhee, last seen as a knocked-up sorority sister in The House Bunny, appears to have gotten another film role.
This time, it’s a leading role. And I think she’s going to have to learn how to do an accent. Ooooh. And it gets even better.
Here is the plot for some film, working title Wedlock, which has been greenlit for $6 Million by Hawaii Film Partners. McPhee will be playing Masha, the “beautiful daughter of a Croatian mobster seeking U.S. citizenship.”
And yes. I’m actually taking an interest in this one. Why, you ask? In a minute…Here is more of that “plot” I mentioned above.
A young man’s goal in life is to be a National Geographic photographer but to support himself he’s a pet photographer. One day the wife of a Croatian mobster comes to the studio with her prize cat to be photographed. A bulldog he’s photographing escapes and pummels the cat. The next time the audience sees the animal it’s in a full body cast…It’s not long before the photog is visited by the mobster’s goons who first manhandle him then take him to a restaurant for a meeting with the crime boss. The career criminal says “I can just kill you now or we can come to an agreement. You marry my daughter and in one year we have the marriage annulled and she gets a green card. But you can’t touch her because she’s going to marry my right hand man, Yuri.” The photographer agrees. Meanwhile to hedge his bet, the mobster tries to bribe an INS agent to get his daughter the green card one-way or the other. On the “honeymoon”, Yuri double crosses his mobster boss and kidnaps the girl. Now the photographer has to rescue the girl while he eludes the angered mobster, the right hand man Yuri, and corrupt INS agents. In the process, the photographer and his faux bride fall in love…
Can we say “straight-to-DVD”? Seriously. Not only does this plot seem over-the-top and ridiculous, I’m curious about how much the writers and producers know about oh, Croatia? Like, that not every Croatian name is a Russian name and not every Russian name is a Croatian name?
Yuri = men’s name (Russian)
Masha = diminutive form of Mary/Maria (Russian)
In Croatia, the equivalent name to “Masha” would likely be Mare, Marica or Maja (short for Marija )
While Yuri is sometimes used in Croatia, it is mostly viewed by Americans as a distinctly Russian name. It seems as if this name is only being used to imply “big Eastern European mobster”. Groan. The writers should come up with something a bit more authentic, perhaps Zvonko…even Vlad. Vlad is a solid Eastern European name meant to instill fear and mobster-ish tendencies. Of course, there are some overlap in names because these are Slavic languages, but many in this language family tend use different alphabets and there are obvious cultural variations to take into account. But come on, don’t just name characters “Russian-sounding” names because they fit into a particular stereotype.
I’m assuming this film takes place in present-day Hawaii. So it’s rather unlikely this Masha character would be seeking U.S. citizenship (perhaps her reasons are fleshed out in the film…) now. It would have been quite easy for her to have done this 14 years ago, which is when many Bosnians and Croats fled elsewhere after the War. And not like there wouldn’t be other ways to go about obtaining a visa or green card. Plus, getting married to an American doesn’t just give you U.S. citizenship. It can sometimes take years to this to go through, not to mention the fact it is often denied because a marriage shows “intent to stay”.
I could go into more reasons why but I’m already devoting too much time to discuss the inherent flaws in a straight-to-DVD movie starring an American Idol runner up before production has even begun.
Another thing: Katharine McPhee is not Croatian. Why not use a Croatian actress? Will any actually Croats be used in the production of this film? Oh, and why not film in Croatia? If you want a lush, beautiful backdrop, you really can’t top Croatia.
This movie sounds like complete crap. If it does, in fact, get made (filming is slated for March), I guarantee it will go straight-to-DVD followed by a debut on the ABC Family Channel. Oh and if it does, I will so be watching. Not because I feel the need to keep up on all post-Idol careers of the former contestants since I FELL INTO doing this silly little blog, but because I love Croatia, I am somewhat curious about this film.
In any case…
Ovaj film je sranje.
Wedlock isn’t even on IMDB yet, but McPhee’s next release is: The Storyteller, where she appears alongside Wes Bentley (Remember him? From American Beauty!) and Jesse Spencer, better known as Dr. Chase on TV’s House.
And her fans are still burning up the threads over at Idol Forums! They’re even developing plots for a HOUSE BUNNY SEQUEL!!!
Whatever else they do, they have to include a flashback sequence where Shelley is reflecting on how she got to whatever point in life she’s at now, so they can stick in the best out-takes from HB I, like “You need a YOB!” I still love that one for some reason.
Okay, it’s an unspecified time in the future, the economy is bad, and the Zetas have fallen upon hard times again. so they call upon their alumnae, who descend upon Zeta House to help them spice up pledge week, each one of them doing whatever it is they do best. Harmony would have undergone complete metamorphosis into… well, she could either be a singer, or maybe she turned into a supermodel who discovered her true calling when somebody put her in a black gown, handed her a broomstick, and said “Hit it, kid!” Mona is a state senator, Natalie hosts a cable show of some kind where she gets to spotlight various weird projects like the stuff she’s always dreaming up (like Dirtiest Jobs, only a little different), and Carrie Mae works for some huge conglomerate like Archer Daniels Midland (?) where she has invented the Idaho Super Potato that is revolutionizing the world economy by providing the MDR of everything in one huge potato. That should get some subplots going. Nena and Larry can have cameos and Suri Cruise can play Harmony’s daughter.
Whoa. Huh?
Yeah. Also scored a killer Crazy Idol Fan Photoshop out of my trolling, too.
Top Idol 
Possible character progressions for HB2
1. Her kid ended up as a high functioning autistic or downs kid and the film revolves around her struggle to get him into a private school while juggling a relationship triangle with Dane Cook and Andy Goldberg.
2. She is pixie like cancer girl who is wooed by Richard Gere (shit that was “Autum in New York)
3. She eschews a Duke Law School scholarship to pursue a dream of being a singer, but becomes strung out on PCP and meth after a chance meeting with a “movie” producer at the Playboy Mansion. She makes the decent through soft-core and hard-core porn and her kid is taken away. Her struggle back from addiction is keyed by her introduction to Neil Diamond’s producers’ son in rehab. The movie ends with her singing Coming to America at the Hollywood Bowl while the kind rabbi that took care of her son weeps silently and gives her the thumbs up.
They’ve made a vow to NEVER read this blog again. Gee, there goes ALL my traffic. I may as well quit now, right?
you want yur site to get a ton of hits, just write an article about Kat. You’ll get hits.
By five masturbating tards.
I bet this is the most response this blog has ever had for an article.
far from it 😀
lol I bet this is the most response this blog has ever had for an article. Typical: the haters come on and lie and twist facts, the fans come on to defend. “J” said it best—–you want yur site to get a ton of hits, just write an article about Kat. You’ll get hits.
It’s called sarcasm.
Lighten up, they’re just reality show contestants.
Most of them know what they’re signing up for, and can even laugh at the mocking and tarding.
Believe it or not, most young people can do a google search and type a reply in two minutes. 🙂
Well said J!
Have to wonder about all the extensive research trolls do for their crusade….and like some journalists in this country,the haters manage to twist and slant the facts to match their warped agenda.
Only a shrink would know what satisfaction trolls get from their contrarian pastime.
I’m guessing most public figures have haters,,,,,even Tina Fey was chastising her non-fans while making gestures with her new Golden Globe award.
Well, if you want your site to get a lot of traffic, then post about Katharine, because even her haters are absolutely obsessed with her. It’s the craziest thing I have ever seen. She is the furthest thing from a failure, but people won’t let their hatred go, and to be honest, I don’t even know where it comes from, but I agree with you, you did get her name out there , it’s on blogs everywhere, and whether it’s hateful posts or not, people are still talking about her.
Oh and if you bother to look at skinid.com, go to why skinID and click on SkinID TV, that is Kat’s commercial, one of them anyway. 🙂
This is the first time I have ever posted on her. Again, what caught my eye was that I found it odd she would be playing a Croatian girl in some movie that may or may not get made.
I try to spread the love around to many contestants, which is difficult since I’ve only watched 3 seasons of this show and yes, I would not call myself a “fan” of the show but hey, it’s fun to blog about for some reason.
I guess spreading the love is the wrong word, but…hey, it’s one more person getting her name out there, right?
Go to http://www.skinid.com if you are really interested. It’s a 30 minute sales pitch for the product, they paid her 500K to do the infomercials.
I’m sure Katharine had a really hard time selling wedding photos when she was on the cover of People magazine AND Instyle weddings, that was a rumor, if you are on the cover of 2 huge magazines about you wedding, it’s highly doubtful that you were begging to sell anything.
I am not putting a spin on anything either, I just don’t get why you even care, if you aren’t a fan, why do you have to put her down, what do you get out of it???? It’s always confused me.
And someone please explain to me how she has 10 fans on IDF, there is hardly a day when there are less than 80 people viewing her forum, unless of course it’s you haters who seem to be obsessed with her. Interesting isn’t it???
Katharine has several fan sites and on each of them there are more than 5000 people, so honestly get over it already, the girl is doing just fine.
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
The kat supporters posting on here are her remaining 10 fans that post on idol forums. They got wind of this blog (“a troll is dissing kat…” zomg! wtf! lol! kat is da bestest 4 eva!) & posted about it so that the few fanatics left would come over here & stick up for kat.
^^The Kat Pee spin doctor cracks me up.
I heard she had a lot of trouble trying to hock her wedding photos. 🙂
Why is Neutrogena doing informercials? I recall McPhee on some Neutrogena ads in the year after Idol, but I’ve never heard of Neutrogena offering a mail order line of products. But I did wake up one time to the Cindy Crawford one and found myself inexplicably ordering it.
This is for idolblows…..
-Katharine was not dropped from Sexy Hair, her contract was up, a two year contract, which made her a lot of money, and a lot of money for the product, doubled their sales actually.
-Katharine was signed on to do SkinID infomercial, not the commercial, Hayden has always been the spokesperson for the commercials, Katharines commercials are 30 minutes long.
– Katharine had one song on the Barbie soundtrack, it wasn’t Kat’s, it wasn’t “hers” it was a Barbie movie, and look up the sales, they were fine.
– You also left off the fact that Katharine had a song on the Tinkerbell movie soundtrack, again look it up, it also did well
– Katharine was in almost every scene in The House Bunny, she had about 10 lines in her FIRST MOVIE, and she had ONE scene cut, ONE!!!
– Katharine also did show with David Foster in Vegas, in which, both of her songs ended up on the soundtrack, when other bigger artists got cut.
– Katharine is begging for indie films, people WANT HER, they ASK for her, she isn’t grasping for anything.
-Randy’s album sucked period.
– Her album sold 400k, yes it’s not good, but it also wasn’t her. So much crap about sales, it’s so stupid
She has done so many things that you don’t even know about, so my main point is GET YOUR FACT STRAIGHT!!!
You really know nothing!!
Some of these posts are starting to sound SO familiar. I have a nagging feeling they’re from the same little bunch of haters who track down any blog that even so much as mentions Katharine and then start in with their usual stuff. Heard it all before, guys. Girls. Whatever.
Skin Id is Neutragena’s answer to Proactiv zit cream. Hayden Panettiere is the celebrity spokesperson now.
Hope the new movie is better than it sounds.
Not a banner year for Katharine other than her marriage.
-dropped by RCA record contract
-dropped from Sexy Hair contract
-signed then dropped from SkinId commercials
-not many lines in House Bunny, many of her scenes ended up on cutting room floor
-her song for Barbie movie soundtrack barely sold
-Randy Jackson’s Music Club CD for which she was heavily promoted flopped
-she was surpassed in album sales by Bucky Covington, she is now 6th in sales for season 5 even though she placed 2nd
-fell to 17th place in sales amongst former AI contestants
-trouble finding new label, still no confirmation
-grasping for indie film roles
-no filming done for Story Teller, movie on backburner
-her song from movie House Bunny voted worst song of all 2008 by CNN
What the hell is SkinID? Never heard of it.
She is still around you hating idiots, that is the whole point, no matter how big, or how small of a star she is, she is STILL AROUND, still being talked about by you people. She is also very successful, she has done many things post-idol, and if you don’t know about them, then you just aren’t a fan, and if you aren’t a fan, then JUST GO AWAY!!! How hard is that, why stick around and spew your hate, doesn’t that just take time out of your precious day to talk about someone you don’t even like. Get over it already!! And if by “tards” you mean fans, she has more than a handful of them, she has thousands of them, and I for one, am still and always will be proud to be a McPhan.
Standalone….can see why you have that name..who’d want to stand with you??
You seem very heavily invested in presenting Kat-related negativity!
Why not ask yourself why you’ve posted 3 times here…..with your trite,insipid remarks?Does writing that crap that make you feel better about your failure(s) in life?
Get some help for your redundant preoccupation!
It’s funny that Kat McPhee still has a handful of tards, that are still saying the same things.
“Next year she can show her acting chops.”
“Next year Kat will be a big STAR.”
“2007… I mean 2008… I mean 2009 will be Kat’s year.”
Whatevia, I’m sure she’ll also play Wonderwoman and the lead for the next Spielberg film.
Oh… and sing at Tom Cruise’s wedding.
Katpee has tards? Ohhh right, she has tits.
A couple of quick points and I guess I’ll leave it at that. Yes the figures I quoted were worldwide numbers. But as they are known to do, Sony stopped reporting figures at 48 mil domestically even though it was still in release. Not big figures but I have a feeling it came a lot closer to 50 mil and that the worldwide #’s are higher than the 21 mil currently reported as worldwide #s are hard to come by accutrately.
Also the DVD was released on the 19th of December so to say it had 2 weeks of holiday sales is not really accurate. All that being said THB FAR exceeded expectations and yes was a BIG success in those terms. Enough of a success that Happy Madison has booked Anna and the writers to do another project for them. Probably not a sequel but something else. And yes the success of the movie is for the most part Anna’s and that is why it was the perfect vehicle for Katharine. She had a decent part, played it well, did not have to carry the movie on her own at this stage in her career. She was a part of a successful film and it is a nice thing on her resume.
As far as the karaoke scene, Kat asked the director how to play it, sing it well or not so much and it was the director’s call to play it that way. Hey there were definite flaws in that film but all in all it was a big plus for her, Anna and Sony.
Let’s just hope this new one gets made and that we finally get to see enough of her in a role that she can show her acting chops a bit more.
Bill you should have specified that the box office numbers you were quoting were worldwide box office figures not domestic. Domestically HB made 48 million and cost approx. 25 million. It costs more money to distribute a movie worldwide plus more money to advertise and distribute a movie to DVD for rentals and sales. So while it did fairly well it by no means was a “BIG” success. When the box office figures close on 2008 HB will end up ranking about # 58th on the 2008 box office list. So far DVD sales are 624,475 units sold (through Christmas), which would be considered subpar for a movie in its 2nd week of release during the holiday season. As far as sequels, since House Bunny was a Happy Madison Production I highly doubt there would be a sequel even direct to video. Happy Madison doesn’t generally mess with sequels and the only sequel they did was a second Deuce Bigalow which bombed. Also ‘The House Bunny’ was Anna Faris’ movie not Katharine McPhee’s, so it is a bit presumptuous to attribute the fair amount of success of the film to Katharine being in it. It is too early to tell whether this new movie ‘Wedlock’ will even be made. A lot of movies get scrapped in pre-production and difficult economic times only increases the strain on the smaller independent studios as we’ve seen with Katharine’s other movie The ‘Storyteller’.
First of all, THB has been a very successful film. A box office of over 70 million with DVD sales rentals etc probably putting the project over $100mil yes in fact that is a BIG success for Sony. And basing the success of the film on the Rotten Tomatoes rating? Now that’s funny! But it WAS a success at the Box Office.
As far as the 6 mil budget not comparing this certainly as we haven’t seen it yet but here are some films with small budgets that have done well.
Napolean Dynamite $400,000
Juno 7,000,000
Saw 1,2000,000
Basing a film’s success on budget can be wrought with failure.
I do apologize for my mispelling. and they are shooting just in Hawaii but the locations “represent” Chicago and Fiji. They will not be shooting there. Try this link, it explains more.
http://www.timryansreelhawaii.com/?p=253
All of this discussion is just speculation on all of our parts and there is nothing “certain” about anything. But what it does show is that there is still a lot of interest in Katharine McPhee and her career. this year should be a good one for her. So far she has 2 films scheduled to start in the next few months, a new CD coming our Sprin/summer and we are only in the first few weeks of 2009. She is making wise choices and building a solid career.
The House Bunny made a tidy little profit and did well when released at the end of summer. Studios typically save this sort of fare for this lull. Families are on vacation and people have already seen the big blockbusters (typically all released by mid-July). So its usually at this time when a sleeper hit emerges, typically a lighthearted comedy. A fluff movie, per se. Napoleon Dynamite was one of them. Because they’re enjoyable fluff, they build a solid audience by word-of-mouth. The House Bunny was indeed one of these films.
I actually saw this movie not too long ago when a friend brought over the DVD. Sure, it was mindless fluff but I’ve seen lots worse. I can see where people would really enjoy it. Anna Faris was fairly likable in it, although I have a tendency to get caught up on the plot points a lot, which I can then kind of not get over.
For instance, why was McPhee’s character pregnant when it was hit over our heads time and time again that no guy would touch a girl in that sorority? Maybe I missed the explanation for this, not sure. OH. And the girl does have a voice. Why didn’t they USE IT in the karaoke scene? I kept thinking oh, she’s going to belt this and end up bringing down the bar once she gets going with it…which would have been funnier as she would have surprised everyone with her voice and with the pregnancy, singing “Like A Virgin”, well…just seemed like the logical way to go with the story.
I love many low budget movies and tend to a large number of the big flashy expensive ones. My comments regarding the $6 Million budget were not looking down upon it. It was simply stating that it would be difficult to shoot in multiple locations, especially ones a considerable distance from one another, on such a tight budget.
The House Bunny was a success!?! bwahaha
It currently has 39% Rotten rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus stating “Anna Faris is game, but she can’t salvage this middling, formulaic comedy.”
Regardless Katharine is a really hot chick!!!
I like Katharine because she’s hot.
For a minute there I thought you thought I was serious about the sequel stuff, but then surely nobody would… or would they? Oh never mind…
I could see them doing a sequel to The House Bunny, probably a straight-to-DVD one with a different cast. Seriously. That movie was one of the surprise end-of-summer hits. People dug it as a fun, fluffy movie. Much like Step Up, Bring It On, et al. In fact, them doing a straight-to-DVD followup seems completely likely.
While I’m here, I want to blast commenter Bill, who added an extra “O” in Croatian. My point was that a lot of films employ too many Eastern European stereotypes, especially where “gangsters” are concerned. The countries of the former Yugoslavia all have an unique history and really cannot be lumped into the “Russian” category. My point was that these filmmakers obviously don’t seem concerned with making the characters’ background remotely believable. Maybe McPhee can do a spot-on Croatian accent, but my point was, even the characters’ names were cliche.
And what I posted is the only thing I’ve seen about this movie. I did a couple of searches to try and find more, too. Somehow, it seems highly unlikely that they could film in 3-4 different locations on a $6 million budget.
*yawn*—–all these trolls pronouce failure on everything Katharine does, but so far she’s proved herself to be one of the most versatile entertainers around, and a sure-fire interest grabber. It must really bother these idiots that they can’t do a thing to affect the course of her career now. They sound just like each other now, and none of them matter.
Without a doubt, the most beautiful contestant ever on Idol.
I.am.speechless.
plot = FAIL
McPee = FAIL
I must admit your pronouncements of certainty about this film are interesting considering your lack of knowledge of the facts about the film. First of all it is being shot in Hawaii but the stories locations are Chicago and Fiji. And yes that is done all the time. Shooting in Toronto as if its Boston. so your comments about “assuming” it takes place in Hawaii proves once again what happens when you “ass u me”. Secondly you “guarantee” it will go “straight to DVD”, A little presumptious don’t you think? Or were you one who also said that The House Bunny would flop? And instead it will gross over $100 Million when all is said and done. For a film with a $25 mil production budget that is a HUGE success.
Finally you are saying that to play the part of a Croation you should be Croation? Does that mean that Renee Zellweger should never have played Bridget Jones? Or that Emma Thompson should never have played any of the American characters she has played so brilliantly? Sounds to me it is more bias and agenda than any real factual analysis of the situation.
IMO this is a great choice for Kat. She gets to play a romantic lead heroine in a comedy and build her resume. As far as its potential at the box office we will need to see who the other leads are in the film to better judge based on “facts” and not agenda. With the right cast and a decent script this could turn out to be another film success like THB was for Katharine. This is about growing her self as an actress and at least so far she has made the right decisions so give her a chance please and wait till you see the film before passing the “judgement of certaintude”.