stephen daldry

After recent Olympic spectacles in Vancouver and Beijing what does director Danny Boyle plan to show the world for opening ceremony of the London Summer Olympics in 2012? Boyle gave an interview to The Sunday Telegraph revealing a bit of his vision. Boyle, who directed the films "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Trainspotting," will be the artistic director of the opening ceremony as the leader of a team that also includes filmmaker Stephen Daldry. Boyle said that the ceremony will feature plenty of pop and rock music from Britain's greatest musical acts. He also plans to highlight British films. Winning acts from British reality television talent competitions could also have a role in the celebration. Acknowledging that it would be difficult to top the splendor of the Beijing spectacle, Boyle is opting for intimacy over extravagance. The ceremony will take place at the 80,000-capacity Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London, on July 27, 2012.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Tennis star Sebastien Grosjean has listed an eight-bedroom mansion he owns in Boca Raton, Florida, shown above, for $2.79 million. The listing is here.
--via the NY Observer, Nobel-prize-winning economist Paul Krugman has bought a three-bedroom apartment on Riverside Drive for $1.7 million.
--Actress Melissa McCarthy and her actor husband Ben Falcone sold their Los Feliz home for $2.495 million to director Jake Kasdan and his singer-songwriter wife, Inara George. This makes the second time in three years that McCarthy has sold a house to this couple.
--A Las Vegas home that once belong to hp-hop record producer Suge Knight has been listed at $1.495 million.
Singer John Ondrasik has sold his 4,078-square-foot house in Los Angeles' Encino area for $1.095 million.
--A five-bedroom, 4,822-square-foot house in Tarzana, California that actor Wilmer Valderrama had owned until selling it in early 2008 for $1,750,000 is back on the market for $1.895 million. The listing is here.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Alec Baldwin wants to sell his co-op in the Eldorado on Central Park West, it has been listed at $8.9 million (the listing, without photos, is here). He is looking at an apartment in the Dakota and has his eye on this four-bedroom beauty listed at $12.5 million.
--Real estate fanatic Michael Hirtenstein, who walked away from a $7 million deposit and spent about $6.5 million in construction and design costs on more than $25 million worth of combined apartments at One York is now getting a better deal to buy one of the condos back. He was to spend more than $25 million for six units that totaled nearly 11,000 square feet but will now pay about $16.5 million for five units that total about 9,000 square feet and his original $7 million deposit will be applied to this purchase.
-- Antonio Versace, nephew of the late Gianni Versace has bought a new bachelor pad at 44 Mercer St. in SoHo which was listed at $2.7 million.
--Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch is buying a three-bedroom condo right next door to a unit he already owns on the 46th floor of One Beacon Court. Welch's new 2,669-foot unit had an asking price of $8.995 million. Welch bought his current apartment for $6.25 million back in 2005.
--Michael Holtz, who owns Smart Flyer, is in negotiations to buy a six-story townhouse at 400 West St which is listed at $25 million. This is the one which is owned and was designed by Cortney and Bob Novogratz and includes a basketball court.
--Claire Danes and her actor fiance, Hugh Dancy, have been spotted house-hunting in Columbia County, a few hours outside New York City.

From Cityfile's Buyers and Sellers:
--Investor Enrique Foster Gittes is cutting another $2 million off the price of his 13,000-square-foot townhouse at 12 East 63rd Street. It was first priced at $28.75 million back in April and now the home is currently listed for $21.5 million.
--Donald Trump Jr. and wife Vanessa have closed on an apartment at The Sovereign on East 58th Street. They paid $1.125 million for the 1,800-square-foot apartment.
--via the NY Times, Brooklyn's most expensive apartment is a beautiful $25 million unit inside a clocktower.
--Kimberly Guilfoyle, the Fox News anchor was once married to San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, has split from her second husband Eric Villency and paid $1.3 million for a three-bedroom co-op at 229 East 79th Street.
--Bruce Lisman, the former co-head of global equities at Bear Stearns, has finally closed on the sale of his apartment at 923 Fifth Avenue. It sold for $12.8 million, which is $300,000 less than what Lisman paid for it in 2006.
--Michael Birkin, who recently stepped down as vice chairman of Omnicom Group, has picked up a full-floor loft in SoHo for $4.75 million.
--J.B. Perrette, president of digital distribution for NBC Universal, and his wife Amy paid $3.995 million for a penthouse at 140 West 22nd Street in Chelsea.
--via the NY Observer, Iris Cantor, the widow of Cantor Fitzgerald founder Bernie Cantor, has finally gone into contract to sell her penthouse at 110 Central Park South. She bought the four-bedroom home for $15 million in 2006 and it had been listed recently for $11.9 million.
--Pro golfer Cristie Kerr and her husband, Aviator Sports president Erik Stevens bought a condo at One Morton Square for $2.3 million.
--via the NY Observer, hedge funder Steve Eisman has sold his apartment at 1125 Park Avenue for $5.2 million, $1.795 million less than what he paid for it in March 2008.
--Fashion photographer Ruven Afanador has paid $2.15 million for a two-bedroom penthouse at 263 Ninth Avenue in Chelsea.
--via Curbed, the former Noho loft of jazz legend Charles Mingus at 5 Great Jones Street, which went on the market for $1.995 million in February, sold for $1.85 million last month.
----via the NY Post, more news on the Greenwich, Connecticut home that Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel are rumored to have bought. It could be a 25.5-acre estate on Conyers Farm Drive, which closed last month for $18.7 million.
--Director Stephen Daldry paid $3.8 million for a five-floor townhouse in Chelsea. . The 4,600-square-foot property is currently configured as a three-unit house and is in need of renovation.
--Actress Kristen Johnston has found a buyer for her duplex at 296 West 10th Street one month after she first put it on the market. It was listed for $1.795 million when it went into contract late last month.
--Dr. Gary Roubin, Lenox Hill's chief of interventional cardiology, has upped the price of his Upper East Side home. It was first listed for $22 million in May 2008 then lowered to $16.5 million now it's back up to $18 million.
--via the NY Post, the East 51st Street townhouse once occupied by fashion illustrator and art collector J. Hyde Crawford has been sold for $7 million to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, a group affiliated with the United Nations.



From the Real Estalker:
--George Hamilton has listed a two-bedroom condo in West Palm Beach, Florida for $1.2 million. The listing is here.