John Logan has worked on the scripts for an extremely diverse range of films – from historical epics, like Gladiator, to children’s animated comedies such as Rango. He has also worked within a variety of genres, taking on the world of science fiction with films like Star Trek: Nemesis and The Time Machine, while venturing into adventure films with The Last Samurai and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas. He’s even adapted stage musicals into screenplays, such as was the case with Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. In doing so, he’s worked alongside some of the world’s most renowned directors including Tim Burton, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, and Steven Spielberg.

Despite the fact that he is now a BAFTA and Oscar-nominated screenwriter, Logan actually started out as a playwright in Chicago. Writing plays was and still is, he tells us, his first passion. Whilst speaking at the BFI, one of his main pieces of advice to other writers was to understand the works of those who came before you – including those who were writing before the age of film-making, such as Shakespeare. In fact, Logan’s love of Shakespeare resulted in one of his upcoming feature films: Ralph Fiennes’ directorial debut, Coriolanus.

Logan claims that, when it comes to being a screenwriter, Oliver Stone told him how to do it. One of the most legendary screenwriters of all time, Stone worked with Logan on his first major screenplay, Any Given Sunday. He’s also received advice from director Ridley Scott who, perhaps ironically, told him to “write less words” – advice he passes on to other screenwriters who share his tendency to write overly long speeches for their characters.

His other top tip for writing a successful screenplay? “Don’t be afraid to reach for the big line”. Having written a number of ‘big lines’, such as Gladiator‘s “At my signal, unleash hell,” he’s a fan of dramatic moments and outlandish statements. However, he admits that there’s a big difference between writing such lines when you’re sat on your own putting a script together, and having the guts to present them to a director such as Ridley Scott. Most importantly, however, he stressed the importance of still being interested in the subject matter of your script and the plight of your protagonist – even after countless drafts – because if you’re not, then no one else will be.

Logan’s other upcoming projects include the highly anticipated Bond 23, directed by Sam Mendes – which, despite being sworn to secrecy, Logan hinted could see the return of the iconic villain, Blofeld. During the audience Q&A session, Logan was reminded that he once stated that “Bond should always fight Blofeld”. When asked whether he still believed this to be the case, Logan simply smiled and replied, “Bond should always fight Blofeld”.

Logan has also written the script for Hugo, a 3D family adventure film based on Brian Selznick’s novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The film – starring Chloë Moretz and Jude Law – marks the second collaboration between Logan and Scorsese, the first being the 2004 biographical drama The Aviator, and is due to be released 2nd December 2011.

Other screenwriters will speak at future lectures in the series include Guillermo Arriaga (21 Grams, Babel), Frank Cottrell Boyce (Hilary and Jackie, 24 Hour Party People), Paul Laverty (The Wind That Shake the Barley, Sweet Sixteen) and Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich) – purchase your tickets for the 2011 BAFTA and BFI Screenwriters’ Lecture Series on bafta.org.

We reported a while a go that the film, Greetings From Tim Buckley, was being made and that Robert Pattinson desperately wanted the role. It had even been reported that he had met with Jeff Buckley’s mother to discuss the role. There were also talks that James Franco was in line for the role. Now it appears that the fairly small time actor Badgeley has nabbed it.

Badgley is famous for his role in Gossip Girl and his one time relationship with co-star Blake Lively. He has also had parts here and there in films, such as Easy A and The Stepfather.

Speaking about the role he said:

“To play a man who was singularly gifted as an artist, greatly misunderstood & mythologized as a human being … It’s something very special and sacred. I’m going to give all I can to this project,”

The film will document the days up to Jeff’s breakthrough performance at a 1991 tribute concert to his father, Tim, who had abandoned him as a child and died of a drug overdose at the age of 28.

Jeff also died at an early age, 30, after drowning in the Wolf River when taking an impromptu swim fully clothed. His only recorded album Grace became hugely popular and his version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah is considered by many as one of the greatest and touching songs of all time.

Greetings From Tim Buckley, which is an independent project, will be directed by Dan Algrant. The project has been given permission from Tim Buckley’s estate. It will start shooting this August in New York.

We already know she’s in the hotly-anticipated Green Lantern, playing Carol Ferris after beating of competition from the likes of Eva Green, Diana Kruger and Jennifer Garner.

Now she is being lined up for roles in two other films- Savages and Oz: The Great and Powerful. Savages is the latest from Oliver Stone and is being dubbed as a ‘drug drama’.

She’d be playing Ophelia, the friend of two small time dealers, being played by Aaron Johnson and Taylor Kitsch. Benicio Del Toro is also in the film, playing the big scary dealer who doesn’t take kindly to the boys working on his patch. Briefly, in other Benicio Del Toro news it has just been announced he’s expecting a baby with Rod Stewart’s daughter Kimberly Stewart.

Anyway, the other film Oz: The Great and Powerful, is a Sam Raimi project which is a Wizard of Oz prequel. Lively would play Glinda the Good Witch of the East in the film, which already has two hotter than hot actors, James Franco and Mila Kunis, lined up to star.

Which role do you think she’ll pick? She’s come a long was from bratty Serena in Gossip Girl, hasn’t she?

If you are a Blake Lively fan, take a read of our exclusive interview with her talking about her role in The Town.

As the sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, premieres around the world, we take the time to fill you in on what’s changed over the last 23 years.

The Gekko (Gordon)

Michael Douglas is still ruthless charmer Gordon Gekko, but his stint in prison (for financial crimes) has left him something of a reformed man. With his infamous “greed is good” speech far behind him, this latest film sees Gekko attempt to warn the financial folks at Wall Street – most of whom are apparently just as merciless as they were back in 1987 – of the impending economic downturn and stock market crash. If the original Gekko was reportedly based on the likes of Ivan Boesky and Carl Icahn, then the 2010 version is, perhaps, Vince Cable. Or maybe someone more glamorous.

The youngsters

Failing that, he tries to reconcile with his estranged daughter, Winnie, played by Carey Mulligan (with an American accent, so we’re told…). Trouble is, Winnie works for some sort of liberal blogging website (typical), and so naturally wants nothing to do with her finance-focused father.

If the responsibility of sexing up this world of suits and scandal previously lay with Daryl Hannah, this time around it’s down to Shia LaBeouf, who plays Winnie’s fiancé, Jacob. He also works for Keller Zabel, a fictional company based on Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, and the 2010 equivalent of the first film’s Blue Star Airlines.

Jacob turns to Wall Street veteran Gekko for help investigating the death of his mentor, and in return he agrees to help bridge the relationship between Winnie and her father. The rest, quite literally, is history. Douglas is back in the role of an all-knowing, if somewhat less corrupt, advisor to the young naive newbies of Wall Street. Simples.

The oldsters

Throw in Susan Sarandon as Jacob’s mother, and Josh Brolin as a potential murderer, and you’ve got yourself a relatively star-studded cast, too. There are also a few cameos to look out for, including original cast member Michael Sheen, who reprises his role as Bud Fox for a brief encounter with Gekko. Art doesn’t so much imitate life, but merge with it, as further cameos include Vanity Fair editor, Graydon Carter, as well as Donald Trump – although his scenes were cut from the final film and are only available on DVD.

The verdict

The original film won Douglas an Academy Award for Best Actor, and did wonders for glamourising the reputation of stockbrokers and traders the world over. Whether this follow-up will have the same success seems unlikely, and the film is already gaining criticism for the unsubtlety of its message.

Yet for those who didn’t experience the economic high jinks the first time around, the accompanying film might be come as something of a novelty, and for those that did, perhaps something of a tradition. In these uncertain times, let’s all just go to the cinema.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleep is released in UK cinemas on 6th October.

Oliver Stone is set to start shooting this summer, so, by the time film comes out, hopefully we’ll all be rolling in cash once more….