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Film News Roundup – January 2010 – Week 3

Writers talk Star Trek 2 villain and express interest in Indiana Jones
And Kurtzman says the villain will be hugely significant in the follow-up: “I think our idea on this is that the first of any series is about them coming together or the formation… Whereas I think sequels are very much about the villain. Because while [in the first one] the villain serves to bring the crew together, the second one I think has to be a true challenging of what that family is about. That is why Wrath of Khan was so amazing. Khan tested each one of them and ultimately asked for the ultimately sacrifice, and that is why that movie held up so well.”

Sam Worthington To Topline Universal’s Dracula: Year Zero?
This is the day that Universal decides what it is going to make for summer 2011….So there are 14 possible films with 8 needed…Each of the possible 14 are ready to go with scripts and directors…But the craziest one is called DRACULA: YEAR ZERO…This is a period retelling of Dracula…you know who is supposed to play Dracula? Sam Worthington! That’s right, the newly minted “movie star” who everybody paid to see in Avatar…The movie is budgeted at over $100m.

GHOSTBUSTERS Going 3D!
Yes – I have word from one of my top sources that a friend of his at a certain well known effects house (I can’t say who it is, but their initials are ILM) said that GHOSTBUSTERS 3 is proceeding as planned – but – with the added benefit of stereoscopic 3D!

Fox Wins Studio War For Robert Rodriguez’ ‘Machete’; Now His New Filmmaking Home
It was considered the single best thing about [Grindhouses]. Rodriguez’ fake trailer hinted at a good story (Mexican day laborer is set up, double-crossed, and left for dead — then starts everyone’s worst nightmare) and carried an even better catchphrase (“They just fucked with the wrong Mexican.”) Machete’s YouTube video alone has 1.4 million views, which wasn’t lost on Hollywood. The result was 6 studios all very interested in domestic distribution rights to Rodriguez’ latest — Sony, Lionsgate, Warner Bros, Fox, Paramount, and The Weinstein Co.

Gotham Group options ‘Dark Life’
Falls’ underwater adventure generating buzz
The Gotham Group has optioned “Dark Life,” an underwater adventure tome by tyro scribe Kat Falls. Book will be published in May by Scholastic. “Dark Life” is set in a near-future world in which rising ocean levels and natural catastrophes have led some people to homestead on the ocean floor. Story centers on an underwater teenage boy and a surface girl who join forces to uncover a government conspiracy.

Scorsese Makes A Children’s Movie
Martin Scorsese is in talks with GK Films to direct an adaptation of Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The award winning children’s book is set in Paris in the 1930s and centers around the titular character. Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station…when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo’s undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo’s dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

Conan’s Father Could Be A Wrestler!!
In other Conan news, after an early draft the script leaked online last year, Andrew Lobel as recently as December did revisions on the script originally penned by Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer. From what I was told, Lobel knocked the rewrite out of the park. Formal announcements in the trades should be imminent. But that’s not all… The offer has gone out to Mickey Rourke to play Conan’s dad, CORIN!

‘Stargate Atlantis’ actor Jason Momoa tapped for ‘Conan the Barbarian’
The role was one of the hot parts chased by young male actors, and the choice came down to two: Momoa and Kellan Lutz of “Twilight” fame. After weeks of keeping the two actors on pins and needles, the offer went to Momoa on Thursday. The movie, which sees Conan seek to avenge his slaughtered father and tribe, will shoot in mid-March in Bulgaria.

Screenwriter Craig Titley on Percy Jackson & The Sam Raimi Produced 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
It’s just something that I’ve always loved. It’s mythology that sort of comes from the Joseph Campbell/Carl Jung arena. So it’s comparative religion. It’s mythology. It’s the hero’s journey. It’s narratology, like why do we tell stories the way that we tell them and why we’ve been telling them in the same way since the dawn of time. So it’s a mixed bag of all those things which I just love. I was reading this stuff just for fun before I found out that there was actually a school where I could get a PhD. I kind of did it just for my own edification because I just love learning and I knew that it could not but help make me a better writer. My writing sort of pre-PhD work and post is like two different guys. I was doing ‘Scooby-Doo’ and ‘Cheaper By The Dozen’ and stuff like that and now I’m doing stuff with a little more depth and like ‘20,000 Leagues Under The Sea’ which I did. I’m lucky in that I got to reinvent myself as sort of a big movie writer.

Samuel L. Jackson and Josh Duhamel Attached to New Hellish Pic
Samuel L. Jackson and Josh Duhamel have a new project in early pre-production — and it’s every bit as badass as you’d hope. The film, Sympathy for the Devil, has all the makings of an occult, pulpy hit with Duhamel and Jackson playing humans who have to navigate a battle between heaven and hell. Boaz Yakin of Remember the Titans, is set to direct and a script has already been nailed down. All that’s left to do is sell off the international theatrical and DVD rights in order to get funding and start this ball rolling.

David Tennant to be replaced by Andy Serkis in Lanidis’ BURKE & HARE
The news of the casting switch up came straight from Simon Pegg who tweeted: ”David Tennant had to drop out of [Burke & Hare] but by sheer glorious serendipity a legend of Middle Earth and Skull Island has come aboard. Welcome AS.” The AS refers to the above mentioned Serkis, who’s most famous performances were in donning the motion capture suit as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings films. There has been no official studio announcement and the tweet has since been deleted…So deals may not be final with Serkis, but it’s safe to assume that Tennant is definitely out.

‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ to shoot in Hawaii
Johnny Depp pic is slated to begin filming this summer
The fourth installment of Disney’s popular “Pirates of the Caribbean” series will be filmed in Hawaii. Johnny Depp will return to his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” which will begin shooting in the summer on Oahu and Kauai and be released in 2011. The film is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Rob Marshall.

‘Warm Bodies’ lands Jonathan Levine
Summit taps ‘Wackness’ writer-director for zombie project
Summit is snuggling up to “Warm Bodies,” hiring Jonathan Levine to write and direct the zombie love project. With a tone that sounds like “Twilight” meets “Shaun of the Dead,” the story follows an existentially tormented zombie named “R” that begins an unlikely friendship with the human girlfriend of one of his victims. The blossoming relationship starts a chain reaction that will transform him, his fellow zombies and maybe the whole lifeless world. “Bodies” is based on a book by Seattle-based Isaac Marion, who originally self-published the novel and sold it through his Web site before the publishing rights were picked up by Atria Books, a division of Simon and Schuster, early this year, with publication slated for summer 2010.

Indican picks up vampire comedy
‘Rosencrants and Guildenstern Are Undead’ set for April 16
Indican Films has picked up rights to indie vampire comedy “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead” and set an April 16 release date. “Rosencrantz,” an adaptation of the Tom Stoppard play by director Jordan Galland, debuted at last year’s Slamdance Film Festival and was an official selection at the AFI Dallas and Hollywood festivals. Mike Landry of C Plus Pictures produced. Cast includes Waris Ahluwalia, Devon Aoki, Jake Hoffman, Kris Lemche, Ralph Macchio, Jeremy Sisto and John Ventimiglia. Score’s by Sean Lennon. Story centers on a frustrated ladies’ man who scores his big break when he lands the job directing an Off Broadway version of “Hamlet,” a bizarre adaptation written by a master vampire.

Fox backs Na Hong-jin’s ‘Murderer’
Korean mini-major Showbox on board project
Fox Intl. Prods. will co-finance Korean helmer Na Hong-jin’s feature “The Murderer” with Korean mini-major Showbox. Project is the story of a man living on the border of China, North Korea and Russia who accepts an assignment to assassinate someone in South Korea to pay off his debts. He soon realizes, however, that he has been set up.

The Cutting Room Floor

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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About The Author

Scott From LA

Scott is an art director, writer and comics creator living in Los Angeles. He has been a pop culture maven from a very young age. His very first job was as a manager of a comic book store. He spent several years working in a video store, and yes, we are talking VHS tapes. A student of literature and Writing, he brings his obsessive love of comic book trivia, movie history and science fiction/fantasy writing to bear on the work he does for CoolShite.

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Article Information

  • Posted: Friday, January 29th, 2010
  • Author: Scott From LA
  • Filed Under: Movie News, News
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