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Film News Roundup – April 2010 – Week 1

Film News Roundup – April 2010 – Week 1

Director: Why Toy Story 3  won’t suck; plus, new Ken!
“In setting out to do three, of course, what good third films are there?” director Lee Unkrich said. “Now, I wasn’t counting series like the James Bond films, but the only one I could think of was the third Lord of the Rings film. It’s a solid, good film, but then I thought it wasn’t really fair, because it’s part of one big story and not a sequel per se. But when I thought about it, that’s when I personally had an epiphany and thought that I need to think of this film as part of a large story. I need to think of Toy Story 1, 2 and 3 as being one big journey emotionally for these toys, for Woody in particular, and that’s what we set out to do with this film.”

Details On Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Contagion’ Virus Film, Including Who Plays Who
If you took the breadth and scope of “Traffic” or “Syriana,” tidied up the writing, and found a subject matter that terrified you relentlessly for two hours, you’d have something close to “Contagion.” Burns, who wrote the script for the previous Soderbergh/Damon collaboration “The Informant,” as well as “The Bourne Ultimatum,” has clearly done an enormous amount of research, and it’s thoroughly, horrifyingly conceivable throughout, but it’s also as much about the way that information can spread virally in the Web 2.0 age, as it is about the spread of the virus. Burns ties these dual themes together in the final pages, the two dovetailing in a hugely satisfying way.

Producer Neal H. Moritz on FAST AND THE FURIOUS 5 and 6! Plus Info on the HIGHLANDER Reboot
We’re staying true to the mythologies as a whole of the Highlander  series. Now there are certain things between all the different Highlanders  that conflict with each other, but we’re trying to stay true to the core of what we believe Highlander is and it’s a movie that’s going to be made for the fans of Highlander but also for people who are new to the franchise.

CAN YOU STOMACH THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE?
IFC has picked up The Human Centipede for release . The film is of course about a mad German surgeon named Dr. Josef Heiter who happens upon a duo of pretty American girls whose car broke down nearby. Dr. Heiter realizes that they might be the key to his next experiment. See, the good doc’s an internationally-respected surgeon, known for his work splitting Siamese twins, but now he wants to do the exact opposite and create his own monstrosities. He’s performed his experiment and managed to link dogs before but now human test subjects have fallen into his lap…

David Fincher Not Directing ‘Pawn Sacrifice,’ Doing ‘Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ Next
The news reported earlier this month that David Fincher  was going to direct “Pawn Sacrifice,” the 1970s-set chess drama with Tobey Maguire attached in the lead, was not entirely accurate. According to our sources, while Fincher did take a meeting with the filmmakers to “help them out” in what we imagine was an advisory role, we’ve been told he was never in the director’s chair and is not going to be. “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” is definitely Fincher’s next film. Already adapted into an award-winning Swedish language trilogy, the English-language version is being produced by Scott Rudin at Sony with Steve Zaillian (“Schindler’s List,” “American Gangster,” the original draft of “Moneyball”) currently writing the script. Shooting is set to begin in September or October, presumably once Fincher finishes press rounds for “The Social Network.”

Doug Liman in negotiations to direct ‘Three Musketeers’
Doug Liman is in negotiations to direct Warner Bros.’ version of “The Three Musketeers.” Warners’ “Musketeers,” which will likely also be in 3D, is being produced by Lionel Wigram, who initiated the recent “Sherlock Holmes” movie. Peter Straughan, who wrote the recent George Clooney movie “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” penned the adaptation of the Dumas novel, which tells the story of a young man named D’Artagnan as he joins forces with three veteran and disgraced French musketeers to stop the villainous Cardinal Richelieu.

‘Harold & Kumar’ creators to direct ‘American Pie 4′
“Harold & Kumar” creators Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg are coming aboard to direct “American Pie 4,” Universal’s reboot of the “American Pie” franchise, setting the stage for newcomer Todd Strauss Schulson to direct “A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas,” the third installment of the trippily successful “Harold & Kumar” series. “Pie 4,” which Hurwitz and Schlossberg are already penning, seeks to reunite the cast of the original movies. No deals have been made, but the strong interest on the actors’ end is one reason the project is in high gear.

Bernard and Miro Writing National Treasure 3
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice co-writers Carlo Bernard and Doug Miro are reteaming with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” director Jon Turteltaub to pen the script for National Treasure 3. There’s no word yet on which way the story is going to go in the third film. Though it has not been confirmed, assume Nicolas Cage, Justin Bartha, Diane Kruger and Jon Voight will all be back.

Kick-Ass’ Hit Girl on playing Let Me In’s vampire
What was it like to play a diminutive vampire? “It was really cool,” Moretz said. “It was fun portraying a vampire. The face of a vampire that people don’t really see. You know? It’s the side of a vampire that’s usually hidden. They don’t show it. It’s always this cold figure that people always draw themselves to for no apparent reason. And this girl that I play is much darker. She’s dirty. She doesn’t really bathe that much. She’s not glamorous. She’s just a girl that no one could care less about.”

3D ‘XXX’ Moves From Sony To Paramount; Rob Cohen And Vin Diesel Back In Fold
A third installment of the extreme sports action film XXX is revving up again, with some real twists and turns. The project has left Columbia Pictures, with negotiations underway for Paramount to take over the franchise, finance production and distribute the film in late 2011 or early 2012. Rob Cohen has returned as director, and reunites with Vin Diesel, with whom he made the original. The new installment of XXX  will be shot with 3D cameras.

Brian Henson on His New ‘Adults Only’ Puppet Show, and Why Disney Is the Right Home for Muppets
We want to be able to follow the audience each night. That’s where our content comes from. Some are bluer than others. One night’s suggestions might be about picking your nose and littering, while the next night we might get the most raunchy, pornographic suggestions and we’ll take those, too — even though we want to do a classy show that’s not just going for shock with puppets. If someone brought older children, that’s fine, but we need to be very clear that it’s for adults because we don’t want someone to say, “My child is a fan of Fraggle Rock” and to come expecting that.

‘The Hobbit’ Team Is Getting In ‘The Right Headspace,’ Effects Guru Says
‘We’re enjoying this early phase as it’s ticking along,’ says ‘Lord of the Rings’ effects supervisor Richard Taylor.
“The lovely thing about ‘The Hobbit’ is that the race of the dwarves comes to the forefront in the story, and [we'll depict] the uniqueness of the collection of the dwarves,” Taylor said. “There’s a journey through the story with Bilbo, and that’s something that’s incredibly exciting — that we’re going to have a chance to feed and develop and watch them take on a much greater presence than the one dwarf named Gimli was able to in ‘Lord of the Rings.’

Resident Evil babes go girl-on-girl in Afterlife
“[Alice is] nicer, I think,” Milla Jovovich said. “She is a nice person, and she’s fun. I think now that she’s defeated the control that Umbrella has on her; she’s kind of more of a regular person in the sense that she’s not so scared to make ties with people and become friends with people because she knows that they’re going to be killed by Umbrella if they’re close to her. It gives her a new freedom as a human being to just be more open to people around her, which I think is great, because the last few films, she has been so closed off and trying to deal with the virus and deal with this satellite control that they have, so it’s made her much more of a loner. I think in this one she opens up more and is able to accept people into her life, which is wonderful.”

A SNEAK PEEK AT CHRISTOPHER NOLAN’S CHILLY, CEREBRAL INCEPTION
Leonardo DiCaprio plays an Extractor – someone who sneaks into the dreams of others and steals ideas from their subconsciousness. It’s the ultimate corporate spying. Leo’s not just any Extractor, though – he’s the best there is, and he’s so good that he teaches other people how to guard their subconsciousness from other Extractors.

Olivia Thirlby to star in alien invasion movie ‘Darkest Hour’
Olivia Thirlby, the young actress known for supporting roles in such indies as “Juno” and “The Wackness,” has booked one of the leading roles in “The Darkest Hour,” a sci-fi action movie from Summit and New Regency. Chris Gorak is directing the pic, which is being produced by Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov and Tom Jacobson. The script, which Gorak and Josh Zetumer are currently revising, is set in Moscow and follows a group of Americans traveling in the city when an alien invasion occurs.

Joel Edgerton on THE THING Prequel; Plus Nash Edgerton on HESHER and Future Projects
What Matthijs has done I think is great, because he’s a massive fan of the original and he loves “Alien” and “The Thing.” They’re his two favorite horror movies. He’s not trying to reinvent the film. He’s certainly not trying to eclipse the film. He’s certainly not trying to remake the film. But, what he’s trying to do is tell the story “pre” that film … What Universal and Matthijs are trying to do is make a partner piece to “The Thing” while also reinventing the aspect of — modern filmmaking has come a long way — so I guess they’re paying respect to the original while bringing a new time and different [approach] without throwing away what they did in the past.

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

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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.

Article Information

  • Posted: Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
  • Author: Scott From LA
  • Filed Under: Movie News,News
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