Film News Roundup – May 2009 – Week 3
TERMINATOR WATCH
Christian Bale on Terminator
“I just think there is actually — in the hands of the right people — a real revival for this, and I really hope it will be a great, fun, movie trilogy if this one takes off.”
“This isn’t a movie that you want to sit down and watch in a personal two o’clock in the morning viewing. It’s not something that’s sort of gazing into the human soul and speaking to you in that way. It’s a movie that’s meant to be watched with a lot of different people to get that common energy.” – Read more
Talking with Terminator Sam Worthington
“I don’t go to the gym and shit like that. When you’re in a minefield and they’re blowing up shit around you, it’s not that hard to run faster.”
McG & Writers Talk Terminator Salvation
“We had to reinvigorate and reinvent [The Terminator] and I’ve made an inferior sequel myself in that second ‘Charlie’s Angels’ picture. So it’s hard to get out there and reinvigorate something and get people excited.”
Other News
IESB Exclusive Casting News: THE A-TEAM Has Found its Face
IESB asked Bradley Cooper point blank if he was excited about playing Faceman in The A-Team. His reaction? A mixture of surprise and astonishment – “That’s out already!?”
‘Grayskull’ lands new writer
Rookie scribe Evan Daugherty comes aboard He-Man project
Evan Daugherty to pen the latest draft of “Grayskull,” the studio’s big-screen take on Mattel’s “Masters of the Universe.” John Stevenson (“Kung Fu Panda”) is attached to direct the adaptation of the show. Warners sees the big-screen version as a gritty fantasy and reimagines Adam as a soldier who sets off to find his destiny, happening upon the magical world of Eternia. There, Skeletor has raised a technological army and is bent on eradicating magic.
Conan Update: We Know Who The Top Choice For Director Is!
Lionsgate is really gung ho on Phil Joanou and feel that he can deliver the barbaric hard R that the studio wants and the fans expect. Lionsgate wants to lock down a director as soon as possible because Conan is a top priority for the studio and they want to start prepping the movie to shoot this year.
Gilliam gives ‘Quixote’ another try
Director revives passion project
Terry Gilliam is reviving his passion project “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.” Gilliam and screenwriter Tony Grisoni, who also wrote the first version, have rewritten and updated the script. The new film will revolve around a filmmaker who is charmed into joining Don Quixote’s eternal quest for his ladylove, becoming an unwitting Sancho Panza.
Monica Bellucci joins ‘Sorcerer’
Actress to play Nic Cage’s lost love
Monica Bellucci has joined the cast of Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer’s “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” Pic revolves around a sorcerer who recruits and trains a young protege to help him fight the forces of darkness in modern-day Manhattan. She will play Veronica, a sorceress and the long-lost love of Nicolas Cage’s character, Balthazar Blake.
Jason Statham embraces ‘Killer Elite’
‘Transporter’ actor to star in British thriller
Jason Statham will star in the $40 million action thriller “The Killer Elite.” Based on real events, story follows a group of former British special forces members who are being hunted by assassins. Statham will play a former Navy Seal who is forced out of retirement to save his closest friend.
New Line celebrates ‘Valentine’s Day’
Garry Marshall to direct all-star cast in romantic comedy
New Line is putting together an all-star cast for its latest romantic comedy, “Valentine’s Day,” to be directed by Garry Marshall. Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, Shirley MacLaine, Bradley Cooper and Ashton Kutcher are in final negotiations to star in the movie, which has five slightly interconnecting stories playing out during a Valentine’s Day in Los Angeles.
‘Gladiators’ leaps to bigscreen
Film to be based on ‘American’ TV show
Johnny Ferraro, creator of the “American Gladiators” TV franchise, is bringing a live-action adaptation of the property to the bigscreen. The goal is to create an action story that takes place inside the world Ferraro has created. Ferraro noted “American Gladiators” was originally conceived as a film, but the property “took a detour and became a TV phenomenon.”
StudioCanal remounts ‘Cliffhanger’
Studio teams with Original Film for reboot
StudioCanal has announced that it will be teaming with Neal Moritz’s L.A.-based Original Films to reboot “Cliffhanger.” A big-budget international action-adventure thriller set in a big mountain milieu, the makeover of Renny Harlin’s 1993 pic will center on a group of young climbers.
Scorsese to direct Sinatra biopic
Director to helm feature on iconic entertainer
Universal Pictures and Mandalay Pictures are teaming on “Sinatra” and have brought on Scorsese – who has long flirted with a biopic on singer-actor Frank Sinatra – to direct and produce.
Focus, Edko seal three film deal
Duo team on ‘Legend,’ ‘Warrior, ‘Murderer’
Focus Features Intl. has inked a three-picture production, co-financing and distribution deal with Bill Kong’s Hong Kong-based Edko Films. Under the pact, Focus and Kong will co-produce Yuen Woo Ping’s “True Legend,” Tian Zhuangzhuang’s “The Warrior and the Wolf” and Roy Chow’s “Murderer.”
Halcyon moves forward with ‘Tears’
Project will be first in Philip K. Dick deal
Halcyon has picked “Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said” as the debut project they will produce through their first-look deal with sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick’s estate. It is a story about a celebrity who wakes up after an assassination attempt to find no one has ever heard of him. The book was set in a futuristic dystopian America that had become a police state following a second civil war.
‘Weapon’ first film for Flagship
Pic stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, Vinnie Jones
“Weapon,” to be directed by “Highlander” helmer Russell Mulcahy, will star Van Damme and Jones as Derek Chase and Jack Conway, the world’s most talented assassins. Story follows the two as they join forces to take down the head of a DEA-backed drug cartel.
Mickey Rourke smiles on ‘Mona Lisa’
Actor to star in remake of ’80s gangster pic
Mickey Rourke has signed on to star in a remake of classic 1980s Brit gangster pic “Mona Lisa.” Rourke will play an ex-con who takes a job as a chauffeur for a high-class escort. Eva Green is in advanced negotiations to star opposite him. Bob Hoskins and Cathy Tyson starred in the original 1986 pic directed by Neil Jordan.
The Fine Print
This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.
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