|
20 Oct
| Hollywood loves Akiva Goldsman. No surprise. He’s a geek at heart, and these days geeks make money. He’s able to marry that sensibility with an approach that brings in adult audiences (The Da Vinci Code) and even wins awards (A Beautiful Mind). And yet a lot of us have a real mistrust of the writer, not even thanks to his credit on the execrable Batman and Robin, but for being the driving force behind turds like I Am Legend and I, Robot. Now Goldsman is ready to move into his next venture, directing, and he’s got a project in mind, and a few big comic book properties already on his plate. Winter’s Tale, the novel by Mark Helprin, is the story Goldsman is eyeing to direct. The LA Times reports that the 1983 novel set in an alternate New York is the writer/producer’s favorite novel. Winter’s Tale has a strange similarity … |
|
18 Oct
| Apparently originating in a German GQ interview with Matthias Schweighöfer is some of the more surprising casting news in recent weeks. Not only did Schweighöfer allegedly reveal that he’s in the running for a role in Kenneth Branagh’s Thor, he also reportedly announced that Robert De Niro and Jude Law have roles in the movie. Of course, I’ve trawled every last square inch of the German GQ website and found nothing of this sort in any of its nooks and crannies… Though, to be fair, very little material from the print magazine seems to be on the site anyway. But you’d think somebody would scan the page at least, and post it to a forum someplace? If they have, I’ve failed to find that either. Maybe I just don’t know enough Matthias Schweighöfer fan forums. The rumour was sent to Aint it Cool, who ran with it, presumably without seeing the magazine. … |
|
17 Oct
| Probably the most disappointing thing about Green Lantern is that the protracted and delayed production is going to ensure, without any doubt, that director Martin Campbell can’t be in charge of the next Bond film and turn that franchise round again (for the third time). It’s not all bad news, though. On the plus side, a new rumour has pegged Jackie Earle Haley for the role of Sinestro in the picture. You may recall that he’s the mentor character that might just turn out to be a baddie (if they don’t save that for the sequel). The same unnamed gossipmonger has Superman down for a cameo role in the film, which sounds like a wild and unlikely idea but the character was in at least one draft of the script and since Marvel’s multi-picture mashup scheme, I wouldn’t be surprised to see DC try a similar tactic. On the other hand, this … |
|
16 Oct
| I thought the fact that Martin Campbell’s Green Lantern would not shoot in Australia was more or less understood at this point. All indications have pointed in that direction for a while. Regardless, now we know for certain that the film will shoot elsewhere, as the US dollar has weakened to the point where the location is no longer feasible. Sorry, OZ! At least you can ride the Where the Wild Things Are wave this weekend. See what a strong economy does for you? THR reports the pullout and says the production will likely move to Mexico (which seems likeliest right now) or Canada. Warner Bros. says that “the current global economic situation, including fluctuations in currency valuation and overall costs” is to blame for the move. Which is just a suit’s parsing of the fact that the Australian dollar hit an almost 30-year high against the US dollar today, and … |
|
14 Oct
| Speculation has swirled about whether or not Jon Favreau would direct The Avengers for Marvel after he finishes Iron Man 2. Now we know the answer: he will not. And furthermore, Ed Norton will not appear in Iron Man 2. So there. MTV talked to Favreau about The Avengers while he was promoting Couples Retreat, and his statement about directing the film was quite clear: |
|
13 Oct
| Update: It looks like the studio is hunting down this trailer online and removing it from various sites. We’ll see if we can get another version of it up soon. You will watch this trailer and believe you’ve been transported to another decade. This three minute promo for The Expendables—Sylvester Stallone’s latest project as writer/director/star—has pretty much everything you’d want from a cheesy as all hell ’80s action flick. A group of tough guys gathered to take out some military leader, check. A mysterious female contact who they can’t trust, check. Explosions and said tough guys leaping away from those explosions in slow motion, you bet your ass. And perhaps most telling that this film knows exactly what it wants to be, you have Dolph Lundgren referencing Showdown in Little Tokyo with “Bring it happy feet!”—this time with Jet Li in the place of the dearly departed Brandon Lee. I suppose at this … |
|
13 Oct
| Along with Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho is one of the many great cinematic talents that heralded a new wave of film-making from South Korea. He’s perhaps most famous for his brilliant family-centered monster film, The Host, and his previous effort Memories of Murder breathed new life into the police procedural. While doing rounds for his latest film, Mother, Joon-ho chatted with Frosty at Collider about his next project, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi film entitled Snow Piercer—an adaptation of the French graphic novel, Le Transperceneige. The project was formerly titled Transperceneige, and is being produced by Chan-wook. The story takes place in a world covered by ice and snow, and it centers on a train full of travelers struggling coexist while they continue to cling to familiar class structures. As is usually the case with these sorts of stories, it seems to be an exploration of human nature when pushed to the brink. … |
|
12 Oct
| Two stories are coming together here. Not too long ago we told you about Matt Helm, the project that Steven Spielberg wanted to direct before he signed on to Harvey. Then just a week ago we told you about Gary ‘Seabiscuit’ Ross taking on the Spider-Man spin-off Venom for Sony. Now it looks like things are being shuffled around once again, as some insider info pegs Ross as the director of Matt Helm, and that he’ll do that before Venom. The Playlist got the exclusive from a source they say is close to Ross. That source says Venom could still happen, but is “a ways off and will have to wait” while Ross does Matt Helm. The claim is that Helm is being scheduled for a summer 2010 shoot if things go according to plan. Granted, when we heard about Ross taking on Venom (he’s also doing a Spidey 4 rewrite, … |
|
12 Oct
| Bryan Singer says he wants to return to the X-Men franchise. Of course he does. While Singer has several projects lined up — a potential Excalibur remake/update, that Battlestar Galactica feature, and what should be his next, Jack the Giant Killer — the director now says he’s interested in going back to the superhero franchise with which he had such success in X-Men and X2. But what does that mean for the series? Speaking at the Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea, Singer said (as reported by THR): |
|
12 Oct
| What happens when a reckless vampire hunter starts terrorizing Gotham City? SilverLightsaber has edited together a great Dark Knight / Blade mash-up, which is much better than it deserves to be. Thanks to /Film reader movieboy for the tip. Watch the video embedded after the jump. |
