Film News Roundup – October 2009 – Week 4
Ian McKellen Talks The Hobbit/Magneto
Sir Ian on his geek projects
“The scripts for the two films will be delivered very soon,” he revealed. “Then they’ll be budgeted, and then they’ll be cast. And they’ll be going when they’ve always said they would be, which is next spring – March or April. Guillermo even told me at one point, ‘We’re going to film for 383 days.’ He’s got that artistic autism! Jackson’s the same; they’re very, very, very alike. They also very different, but they’ve so much in common. They both can’t stand Hollywood and have wonderful imaginations, and they’re both obsessed with gore and fantasy. Both of them laugh a great deal. Guillermo’s one of the most brilliant men I’ve ever met. His English vocabulary is way superior to mine!”
Roland Emmerich still game for Stargate sequel film?
Last Friday, Emmerich said: “It was probably good that we never did these sequels, because it forced us always to do something new. … In general, I’m not a big fan of sequels. I’m just not a big fan of sequels. Because it’s very rare that a sequel really works for me. Like, for instance, Aliens was a great sequel. But most of the time they’re kind of a lesser version of the first one.”
Chris Pine in negotiations to play Jack Ryan for Paramount
Chris Pine is in negotiations to portray Jack Ryan in Paramount’s untitled Jack Ryan feature project. Mace Neufeld and Lorenzo di Bonaventura are producing the latest Ryan project for Paramount, which has a script by Hossein Amini. The project is still out to directors. Plot details are harder to get than keys to Langley, though it is understood to feature Ryan’s adventures at an earlier point in his career.
Scribes make suicide pact
Gus Van Sant, Bret Easton Ellis team on film
Gus Van Sant and author Bret Easton Ellis will team to write a feature from “The Golden Suicides,” a Vanity Fair article written by Nancy Jo Sales about the double suicide of artists Theresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake. Duncan and Blake formed a popular couple on the downtown New York and Venice, Calif., art scenes. She was one of the first videogame designers for girls, and his “digital paintings” — kaleidoscopic images shown on plasma screens — established him as a rising star on the circuit. The couple descended into a paranoid spiral when the artists developed a consuming belief that government and religious organizations were conspiring against them. She killed herself in 2007. Blake found her body on the floor of their bedroom, and walked into the Atlantic Ocean a week later, ending his life.
MGM Puts ‘Poltergeist’ Release Date on Hold
The studio pulled the film from its planned November 24, 2010 release and bumped it to an undetermined 2011. The film will go into production in early 2010, so the film just couldn’t have been done in time for the November release.
Foster and Sutherland set for the remake of ‘The Mechanic’
Ben Foster and Donald Sutherland are set to co-star opposite Jason Statham in the remake of “The Mechanic.” The film is being helmed by Simon West and is set to go into production in the coming weeks in New Orleans. In the pic, Foster (“3:10 to Yuma”) will play Steve McKenna, the young man who becomes an apprentice to a hitman played by Jason Statham. Sutherland will play the role of Foster’s father and Statham’s handler.
Saw VII 3-D Talk
The writers and producer take the series to a new dimension.
“Saw, just by the way it’s shot, lends itself to being a 3-D movie,” said producer Mark Berg. “We saw a test that somebody did, a minute of Saw transferred from 2-D to 3-D and it looked great. We’re not going to transfer VII, but we’ll actually shoot it in 3-D.”
John Woo talks RED CLIFF and His Next Movie FLYING TIGERS
Woo talks about the shortened running time for the American release, how the success of “Red Cliff” has given him creative freedom to make whatever project he wants, and he talks about his next movie, “Flying Tigers”, and reveals what it’s about and how it’s going to be very expensive.
BILL MURRAY DOESN’T BELIEVE IN GHOSTBUSTERS 3
“I don’t want to do it yet,” he said. “Until there’s a really good script I’ll stay home and play snooker. There has to be a serious script before I leave the house. I won’t make one just to make another one.”
Charlize steps out of ‘Tourist’ role, and Angelina could be making the trip instead
Charlize Theron has opted out of the Spyglass-produced thriller “The Tourist,” to which she has long been attached, and in talks to replace her is one Angelina Jolie, sources say. The project is now also seeking a director. A remake of the French thriller “Anthony Zimmer” from 2005, “Tourist” centers on an American tourist who, on behalf of Interpol, goes undercover to entrap a former lover who’s a suspected global criminal.
Ian Somerhalder starring in ‘Cradlewood’
Indie film described as a romantic gothic fairy tale
Ian Somerhalder, star of the CW’s “The Vampire Diaries,” has signed to topline the romantic gothic fairy tale “Cradlewood.” The movie centers on an Australian woman living in Boston with the heir (Somerhalder) to an incredible fortune whose family history is swirled in a legend that tells of a pact made with a demon which ensures that whenever a boy is born into the family, the father is killed.
The Box: A sci-fi classic gets the Darko treatment
An interview with filmmaker Richard Kelly
“This science fiction concept that he came up with [was] a crystal-clear statement that this button is going to absolutely cause the death of another human being, [and] it became, to me, something that really warranted further exploration,” Kelly said. He added: “I spent several years trying to figure out how to adapt this into a film.”
Mike Mitchell to helm ‘Monster Squad’
Warner Bros.’ action comedy centers on a neurotic father
Mike Mitchell will direct “Monster Squad,” formerly known as “Nightcrawlers,” Warner Bros.’ long-gestating supernatural action comedy. The project’s title was changed to “Monster Squad,” though it is not a remake of the 1987 Warners movie written by Shane Black. The studio is keeping mum on the new “Squad” log line, which has changed considerably in the last decade. It remains, however, a high-concept, big-budget, supernatural fantasy.
Derek Mears Officially Joins the Cast of Predators
Actor Derek Mears officially confirmed rumors this weekend at a horror con that he has been cast in Robert Rodriguez’s Predators. One can only presume that he’ll be playing one of the many Predator warriors the sequel, shooting in Texas, has to offer. We saw Mears earlier this year in Friday the 13th as Jason Voorhees. He’s also appeared in The Hills Have Eyes 2 and Masters of Horror.
Karl Urban talks STAR TREK Sequel and PRIEST on the Red Carpet
I also got to speak with Karl Urban and was able to get an update on the “Star Trek” sequel and “Priest”. According to Karl, the plan is still for a draft of the screenplay to be turned into the studio this December and he hopes to be filming mid to late next year. He said the hope is for the sequel to be released in 2011. And for fans of “Priest”, he talked about how that movie has been going. Watch what he had to say after the jump.
The Cutting Room Floor
- Oscar winner Tatum O’Neal to star in ‘Sweet Lorraine’
- Sean O’Keefe, Will Staples to adapt ‘Apaches’
- Jackie Chan talks role in ‘Flying Duck’
- Is A Millennium Film On The Way?
- Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz Pic Gets a Title
- J.J. Abrams to produce untitled project for Paramount
- Bold Films on Scott Stewart, Gus Krieger ‘Psy-Ops’ pitch
- Doors doco to get U.K. release
- Summit shows ‘Love’ for bromance pitch
- Justin Long joins ‘The Conspirator’
- Tommy Lee Jones in negotiations to direct and co-star ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’
- Chickflicks Prods. options ‘Japan Took the J.A.P. Out of Me’ memoir
- Writer Will Fetters set to adapt ‘Crazy for the Storm’
- Ryan Reynolds, Allan Loeb Tart Up Working Title Pitch
- Will Ferrell is a ‘Go’ for indie project
- An Exclusive Interview with Actor Doug Jones
- Laura Dern at head of ‘Fockers’ class
- Bill Murray: Do not disrespect the oddball
- Adam Shankman gets ready to ‘Rock’
- ‘Airman’ flies to Peacock
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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