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DEJA VU FOR BRUCKHEIMER at 01:55 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Films have purchased Terry Rossio and Bill Marsilii's romantic thriller spec "Deja Vu" for several million dollars. The Mouse House closed the deal preemptively Friday for Bruckheimer; they most recently teamed with Rossio on "Pirates of the Caribbean".
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at 01:55 PM by Ken Miyamoto
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JAMES IN THE BARNYARD at 01:50 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies have tapped Kevin James ("The King of Queens") to voice the lead character, a party-animal cow named Otis, in CGI-animated feature "The Barnyard".
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at 01:50 PM by Ken Miyamoto
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KNIGHTLEY'S NEXT at 01:27 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Keira Knightley is set to star in "Pride and Prejudice," an adaptation of the Jane Austen classic for Working Title and Universal. Joe Wright, who helmed the BBC miniseries "Charles II," is directing a script originally penned by Deborah Moggach ("Tulip Fever") and rewritten by Lee Hall ("Billy Elliot").
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at 01:27 PM by Ken Miyamoto
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AEON FLUX CASTING at 01:26 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Frances McDormand will co-star with Charlize Theron in Paramount Pictures' big-screen live-action adaptation of the futuristic MTV toon series Aeon Flux, to be directed by Karyn Kusama. McDormand will portray the Handler in the film - the leader of the rebellion.
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at 01:26 PM by Ken Miyamoto
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McBRIDE ON UNDERWORLD 2 at 01:24 PM by Ken Miyamoto
"McBride confirmed that shooting will begin in the fall for a targeted 2005 release; and he also confirmed that Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman have already signed on to reprise their respective roles. McBride went on to say that he is currently preparing the outline for the second draft of the sequel and that the production team is in the middle of the development stages.
The new film will carry the story further as well as incorporate a few prequel sequences, which should be extremely cool. He added, Patrick Tatopoulos (the creature designer) has, par for course, created some fantastic new designs for the film. Len [Wiseman, director] has been busy storyboarding and is gearing up for location scouting" .
Does the new prequel figure into their plans at the moment? "At the moment, we are focused on the sequel. It's our main priority because the start date is looming in the not too distant future. With that said, we still are forced to spend a great deal of time discussing the prequel because the actions and motivations of our characters in medieval times affects things downstream".
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at 01:24 PM by Ken Miyamoto
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BERRY ON CATWOMAN at 01:17 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Berry recently commented on the upcoming film, "I play Catwoman, and the plot of the story is...I'm a young art director for a cosmetics company. Early on in the movie, I find out that there's a corrupt element to this company. She then takes it upon herself to try to foil the crime, but in the process of foiling that crime, she is in fact killed and is reborn with very cat-like qualities.
The most fun for me was everyday when I got to put on that suit and prance around and live in my alter ego state. To feel that level of sexuality...feel that level of power. I got to play a lot of jokes on people and do insane things that were naughty, and I really shouldn't say, but I took advantage of it! *laughs*
I did a lot of my own stunts, which was a surprise to me. I thought, 'This is too hard, I'll never be able to do this.', but actually I did a good bit of them.
This is a scene...I think it's one of the first fight sequences that Catwoman has. She is on the prowl in a nightclub, and she's about to get her little claws on what she thinks is the bad guy. She sort of pushed him out into this alley way and just does a number on the poor guy!"
I have a bad feeling about this movie... sure she'll look good in the latex, but...
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at 01:17 PM by Ken Miyamoto
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CARTER ON X-FILES 2 at 01:13 PM by Ken Miyamoto
X-Files creator comments on the possible project, "Frank (Spotnitz) and I have worked out a story, and there's a negotiation with (Fox) going on".
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at 01:13 PM by Ken Miyamoto
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HORNET ON HOLD at 01:09 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Looks like Kevin Smith's THE HORNET is on hold... according to Smith himself, "I may not direct it now."
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at 01:09 PM by Ken Miyamoto
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WITHERSPOON'S NEXT at 12:30 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Reese Witherspoon is in negotiations to star in and produce a feature film adaptation of the supernatural thriller "The Reckoning," which Paramount optioned several months ago. Tally will adapt the book, which hits bookstands next month. Written by Jeff Long, "The Reckoning" revolves around a female New York Times photojournalist who follows a part-military, part-civilian team to Cambodia to recover the bones of lost soldiers.
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at 12:30 PM by Ken Miyamoto
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DETOUR PICKED UP at 12:27 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Paramount Pictures has bought screen rights to the James Siegel novel "Detour" for Lorenzo Di Bonaventura to produce. Di Bonaventura had the inside track on the material because he is producing the screen version of Siegel's novel "Derailed" for Miramax Films. The thriller concerns a couple who find peril when they travel to Colombia to adopt a baby. Before they know what hit them, the child has been switched, the woman is kidnapped by drug dealers and the husband is pressed into duty as a drug mule.
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at 12:27 PM by Ken Miyamoto
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2176 UPDATE at 12:26 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Ron Shusett, co-creator of "Alien," and Daniel Alter, who has just launched the management/production company Alter Ego Entertainment, are teaming up to produce "2176," a sci-fi space opera offering a retelling of the Revolutionary War, written by Thunder Levin and George Saunders. The story revolves around 13 planetary colonies in the future that rebel against an oppressive "mother" Earth.
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at 12:26 PM by Ken Miyamoto
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MAMET'S NEXT at 12:25 PM by Ken Miyamoto
David Mamet will write and direct "Joan of Bark: the Dog that Saved France" for John Calley to produce and Will Ferrell to star in for Columbia Pictures. Like much Mamet fare, pic is a contemporary satire about pop culture. The writer's most recent credits include this year's political thriller "Spartan," which starred Val Kilmer and was released by Warner Bros.
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at 12:25 PM by Ken Miyamoto
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RAINBOW SIX SNATCHES WOO! at 12:22 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Paramount has tapped helmer John Woo to direct its adaptation of Tom Clancy's "Rainbow Six," centered on Clancy's shadowy John Clark CIA agent character. Story centers on Clark joining with several colleagues to leave the CIA and create an England-based multinational org designed to battle terrorism.
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at 12:22 PM by Ken Miyamoto
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NEW KNIGHT RIDER? at 11:58 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Looks like the studio is trying to court Paul Walker into the new KNIGHT RIDER film that is currently being developed. He has expressed interest in the project rather than returning to the Fast and Furious franchise.
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at 11:58 AM by Ken Miyamoto
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UNDER SIEGE 3? at 11:45 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Steven Seagal seemed to be talking about a potential sequel to his highest grossing hit while mingling at the Cannes Film Festival. Looks like it may happen in the near future!
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at 11:45 AM by Ken Miyamoto
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RAIMI ON SPIDEY VILLIANS at 11:42 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Raimi comments, "Well, there were a lot of different iterations of the story, and at times there was more than one villain, and at times there were more than two villains," Raimi said in an interview. "But it all came down to trying to focus on what I felt was the strongest aspect of the film and diminishing everything else so that it could live.
The strongest aspect of the film is Peter Parker [Maguire] and his journey to becoming a responsible young man. So after we had one villain to test his mettle against and to be in conflict with Spider-Man, I found that there were diminishing returns for the second and third villains, since our real story was an interior story, this journey to be a human hero, how Peter Parker battles the problems of being a hero, how he copes. The more villains that we added into the mix didn't seem to make the story richer and stronger. It seemed to diminish [it], in fact".
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at 11:42 AM by Ken Miyamoto
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DUCHOVNY ON X-FILES 2 PROGRESS at 11:37 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Duchovny states, "We're all on the same page. Gillian Anderson wants to do it, I want to do it, Chris Carter, who would write and produce the film, wants to do it and I believe Fox the studio wants to do it. When you have the four major players in the enterprise wanting to do it, it will happen. It's just a matter of when. I hope it happens within the next year".
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at 11:37 AM by Ken Miyamoto
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SPY HUNTER at 03:35 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Zak Penn is in negotiations to write "Spy Hunter" for Universal Pictures and director John Woo. The film will star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in the adaptation of Midway's long-running vidgame franchise. Pic follows the story of a former F-15 pilot recruited to become a member of Spy Hunters, an elite government agency that must defeat a cartel seeking world domination.
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FORD BACK IN SPACE?? at 03:35 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Harrison Ford is set to star in "Godspeed," an outer space-set thriller that is being put together by James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment. Cameron, who has not directed a regular feature since 1997's "Titanic," will not be at the helm but will produce the film. Scripted by Ryne Douglas Pearson, "Godspeed" takes place on an international space station, where a life-threatening situation develops that could kill all the inhabitants on the station. Pic will begin production in the fall.
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ALTERED STATES REMAKE? at 03:34 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Warner Bros. has set screenwriter Fernley Phillips to write a remake of "Altered States," the 1980 Ken Russell-directed psychedelic sci-fi thriller. Greg Shapiro will produce. The original film starred William Hurt as a psychophysiologist who uses a sensory deprivation tank to put his mind back into more primitive states of human evolution, with catastrophic results.
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POTTER CAST GETTING TOO OLD? at 03:27 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Producer David Heyman says "There will come a point when one, two, or all three of them will move on. I don't know when that will be - with the fifth, sixth or seventh movies - but it's inevitable". 'Azkaban' Director Alfonso Cuaron however would be keen on keeping all the kids around - "It would be amazing to have the whole series with the same kids. Right now they're doing No. 4. There's only three more to go. I just hope they keep the same cast for the whole thing. So far, they're holding up very good, the way that they are aging. I don't think Dan is going to get way much taller or suddenly grow another eye. Same with Emma, and Rupert is OK. Let's hope. In the last one they're supposed to be 17. Say they're 19, I think they're going to be very good".
Cuaron confirmed he'd also love to come back for another go in the director's chair of a Harry Potter movie - "I would love to come back. My dream is that the cast would remain intact".
Simple solution... film 5, 6, and 7 back to back ala Lord of the Rings.
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KEATON'S NEXT at 01:18 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Diane Keaton is set to star in "Da Vinci's Mother," a drama that Michael Besman and casting guru Bonnie Timmermann have set up at Fox Searchlight. The Oscar-winning actress will play a woman who sets out on a journey to get to know her son after he commits suicide. She takes a job where he waitered, spends time with his friends and girlfriend and in the process makes some major discoveries about herself.
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BRANDO ON BRANDO? at 01:17 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Reclusive veteran actor Marlon Brando is in final negotiations to star as himself in Ridha Behi's "Brando and Brando," to be produced by British Oscar-winning producer Norma Heyman ("Dangerous Liaisons"). The $5.5 million-budgeted movie details the story of a young innocent with a fascination for the American dream -- embodied by the iconic Brando -- on a journey of hope to the United States. Brando's portrayal of himself is central to Behi's story of disenfranchisement and broken spirits.
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QUEER EYE GUY CAST IN FEATURE at 01:01 PM by Ken Miyamoto
""Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" star Carson Kressley has landed his first studio feature role. Kressley will join the cast of comedy "The Perfect Man," directed by Mark Rosman and starring Hilary Duff and Heather Locklear. Kressley, the fashion expert on the Bravo show that makes over schlubs, is the first member of the Fab Five to land a film role.
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WILLIAMS' NEXT at 01:00 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Robin Williams is returning to family comedy turf. Thesp is in negotiations to topline "RV," a laffer being produced by Red Wagon for Columbia Pictures. Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel are in discussions to do a rewrite on the project's original script. "RV" concerns an average, dysfunctional American family about to set out on the most dangerous, high-stakes, life-threatening and traumatizing adventure of their lives: two weeks together in an RV.
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CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY CASTING at 12:59 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Freddie Highmore is confirmed to star as Charlie in Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" for Warner Bros. Kid thesp Highmore is featured in "J.M. Barrie's Neverland" and the upcoming Brit pic "Five Children and It".
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HELLBOY SEQUELS? at 12:45 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Producer Lloyd Levin said to The Winnipeg Sun that "There's a huge Hellboy mythology to draw from, so we wouldn't run out of material if there was a demand for several sequels...It's essential not to let the budget of the sequels balloon. We brought Hellboy in on a modest budget ($65 million) and we intend sequels to be in the same ballpark".
Sorry, but the movie was terrible. The Hellboy character was great, and the effects were okay, but with out a great script its not owrth it.
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BRAVO MICHAEL MOORE! at 12:42 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Michael Moore's controversial documentary about the Bush family and the war in Iraq, "Fahrenheit 9/11" was awarded the Palme d'Or Saturday at the 57th Festival de Cannes. Jury president Quentin Tarantino said the jury "was proud to announce" Moore's victory, which prompted a standing ovation from the closing night gala audience.
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DEL TORO, WASHINGTON, AND FUQUA at 12:35 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Benicio Del Toro is set to star alongside Denzel Washington in the Antoine Fuqua-directed "Tru Blu," produced by Brian Grazer for Imagine Entertainment and Universal. Steve Zaillian's script is a fact-based drama about how a lawman brought down the biggest drug kingpin in Harlem in the 1970s. Production will begin in early fall, and U has set a release date of June 3, 2005.
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SUPERMAN STILL ON THE GO? at 12:28 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Warner Bros. has yet to cast its Man of Steel, but the studio has already begun hiring the technical team that will help Superman fly again. Studio has tapped ESC Entertainment to serve as the lead visual effects house for the film, being targeted for a summer 2006 release. "Superman" is expected to be an effects-heavy tentpole, but because the pic has yet to be greenlit, it is unclear just how many shots ESC will be creating.
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CONRAIL PICKED UP BY NEW LINE at 12:26 PM by Ken Miyamoto
New Line Cinema has pacted with Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson's Contrafilm on "Conrail," the story of a real-life teenage Robin Hood. The high-speed thriller and coming-of-age pitch is based on the true story of Eddie Mongon, who spent a decade as the ringleader of a gang that robbed trains and shared the proceeds with the working-class poor of his hometown of Hoboken, N.J.
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YOUNG INDY MOVIE? at 12:20 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Looks like the powers that be are circling the idea of making a Young Indiana Jones film ala the Young Indy chronicles that were made for TV in the early 90s.
With INDY IV currently on hiatus, this may be an option to extend the franchise.
My view... no Spielberg, no Indy... young OR old.
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"24" SEASON FOUR CAST CHANGES at 12:16 PM by Ken Miyamoto
The Hollywood Reporter indicates that the actors who play Jack Bauer's (Kiefer Sutherland) colleagues at the Counter Terrorism Unit on the Fox drama have been informed that their options as series regulars will not be picked up for next season. Reiko Aylesworth (Michelle Dessler), James Badge Dale (Chase Edmunds) and Carlos Bernard (Tony Almeida), could return next season for guest appearances.
Also up in the air is the "24" future of Mary Lynn Rajskub, Zachary Quinto, Daniel Dae Kim, who played CTU members on a recurring basis this year. Elisha Cuthbert, who plays Jack's daughter and CTU analyst Kimberly Bauer, is fielding film offers and is expected to recur next season subject to her availability.
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GOONIES 2 IS DEAD! at 12:55 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Richard Donner recently said, "Afraid not..." in regards to a possible sequel to the classis adventure film. He stated that they tried to develop a script, but it didn't live up to the original... however, another director may jump into his seat. He hinted at Sean Astin but it turns out that the project itself is completely dead.
Bummer.
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MICHAEL MOORE'S FARENHEIT 911 at 12:41 PM by Ken Miyamoto
At its 4 p.m. screening In Competition at the Palais, the movie occasioned an enthusiastic standing ovation -- onlookers placed it at 15-20 minutes -- punctuated by cries of "bravo!". "It was the longest standing ovation I've seen in over 25 years," said Harvey Weinstein, whose Miramax Films funded the project over the objections of parent company Walt Disney Co.
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DEMI MOORE'S NEXT at 12:40 PM by Ken Miyamoto
After her recent comeback in "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle," Demi Moore will take her first lead role in four years in Craig Rosenberg's romantic thriller "Half Light," produced by Joel B. Michaels. Lakeshore is handling international sales for the pic, which starts shooting Aug. 23 in England, Ireland and Wales. Moore will play Rachel Carlson, a successful mystery novelist whose life falls apart when her 5-year-old son drowns at her country home.
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THE GRADUATE 2?? at 12:38 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Apparently.
Kevin Costner is in talks to play the male equivalent of Mrs. Robinson in the Warner Bros. comedy that advances the storyline of '60s pic "The Graduate." Jennifer Aniston is already set to play the young woman seduced by Costner's character. Shirley MacLaine will play her grandmother, the woman who inspired the character immortalized by Anne Bancroft.
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EASTWOOD'S NEXT at 11:27 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Jay Baruchel has been cast in "Rope Burns" (aka "Million Dollar Baby"), Clint Eastwood's follow-up to "Mystic River." Eastwood is directing, producing and will star in the feature alongside Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank. The film centers on Maggie Fitzgerald (Swank), a woman determined to succeed as a boxer. A farm boy, Danger Barch (Baruchel), shares the same dream of becoming a prizefighter.
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CRAVEN'S NEXT A ROMANTIC COMEDY? at 11:24 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Horror specialist Wes Craven and producing partner Marianne Maddalena have taken a turn toward romantic comedy, buying Jeremy Drysdale's original pitch "Whole New You" for low six figures. Story centers on the world's most famous actress, who wants to escape the fishbowl of her own life. When she runs away to a small Midwestern town, where she is unrecognized for the first time in her life, she enters her own look-alike contest.
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KATZENBERG ON SHREK FRANCHISE at 11:11 AM by Ken Miyamoto
"Before the first one was finished we talked about what the whole story of Shrek is, and each of the chapters answers questions about the first movie and gives us an insight. Shrek 3 and 4 are going to reveal other unanswered questions and, finally, in the last chapter, we will understand how Shrek came to be in that swamp, when we meet him in the first movie. There is a reason he came to be there, but there is another chapter to the story before that".
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HOPKINS' NEXT at 11:05 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Anthony Hopkins has committed to star in "The World's Fastest Indian" for director Roger Donaldson. The fact-based film, written and to be directed by Donaldson, centers on the life of Burt Monro, a New Zealander who invested several decades building a 1920 Indian motorcycle. He then traveled to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, where he set the land-speed world record in the 1970s.
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TARANTINO'S HELL RIDE at 11:03 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Quentin Tarantino is set to team again with Larry Bishop, the actor who played the foul-mouthed owner of a strip club in "Kill Bill V2". Tarantino and Bishop will produce "Hell Ride," a motorcycle movie that Bishop is writing and will direct and star in. Sources say Tarantino might star in the movie as well. Michael Madsen, who also starred in "Bill," is attached to star in what is being described as a spaghetti biker film.
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TOMMYSAURAS REX? at 11:02 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Universal Pictures has paid $1 million to preemptively option Doug TenNapel's graphic novel. "Rex" is due out this summer from Image Comics. "Rex" follows a young, nearly friendless boy who loses his golden retriever in a car accident. Devastated, he is sent by his father to recover on his grandfather's dairy farm, where he befriends a Tyrannosaurus rex.
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PARAMOUNT'S CRAZIES at 11:01 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Paramount Pictures is going with "The Crazies," setting up a remake of George Romero's horror-thriller with Michael Aguilar and Dean Georgaris to produce. Project will update the storyline of the original, in which inhabitants of a small Pennsylvania town are beset by death and insanity after a plane crash lets loose a secret biological weapon into the water supply.
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GHOST OF 21 at 11:00 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Twentieth Century Fox has given life to "Ghost of 21," buying the comedy spec script from tyro writer Blake McCormick for low against mid-six figures for Davis Entertainment to produce. Project, in the vein of "Old School," concerns a 30-year-old pillar of the community who's on the verge of being married. His world is turned upside down when his old college buddies reappear to hold him to a promise he made not to get hitched.
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VERHOEVEN'S NEXT at 10:58 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Paul Verhoeven has committed to next direct "Black Book" (Zwartboek) for San Fu Maltha of Fu Works. Pic is expected to start shooting in October or November in Europe. Pic, which Verhoeven penned with Gerard Soeteman, is a World War II thriller about Jewish young woman Rachel Steinn who joins the Dutch resistance while collaborating with the Nazis. Project is expected to star Carice van Houten and Halina Reijn.
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DIESEL TALKS ABOUT RIDDICK at 10:49 AM by Ken Miyamoto
" I always knew that I wanted to explore the Riddick character and realized that the most exciting thing to do would be to explore the universe around Riddick, Diesel enthuses. We know who Riddick is he doesnt promise to save anybody, he has a lack of identity due to the fact he was never raised in a conventional way. He has abandonment issues and he just wants to be left alone. I love the idea of a guy who potentially could be so heroic, but because of his experiences and his outlook on life, isnt A: aware of what heroism is and B: probably isnt aware of anything outside of basic survival. Its often said on set, what makes this all the more challenging is that were not just making a movie were making a universe. Post-World War II, we had Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings as our mythology to buy into and then, in the Seventies, we had Star Wars. Our concept was to create a mythology that would take three films to explain, three films to adventure in, and a story that would take three films to tell".
I can't wait to see this film!
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HELLBOY 2? at 10:44 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Despite a non-stellar performace at the box office, Writer-Director Guillermo del Toro is developing the sequel with comic creator Mike Mignola again.
The first which opened early April has grossed equal to its $60 million production budget domestically and is expected to go well intro profit internationally in a few months, as well as racking up some large DVD sales.
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BRUCE ALMIGHTY 2 at 10:38 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures and Spyglass are in talks to mount a "Bruce Almighty" sequel based on the Bobby Florsheim/Josh Stolberg script "The Passion of the Ark". Scribe Steve Oedekerk will be enlisted to refit "Ark" into a sequel, sources said. The "Ark" script could work with another actor, who'd play a widowed writer who's chosen by God to prepare for the second great flood.
The studios will try to attach Jim Carrey to reprise his role and to have Tom Shadyac return as director. Early plan calls for Universal to run production and likely distribute domestically.
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FARSCAPE MINI-SERIES UPDATE at 10:21 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Exec Producer Brian Henson spoke about the upcoming "Farscape" mini-series and revealed "It's great, it's big, it's epic. I think it's going to be the biggest thing there has ever been. It was tough to figure out how to make a big event mini-series of Farscape when on every episode we were trying to make a movie a week. It's basically the continuing love story of Crichton and Aeryn... set against a backdrop of a full, all-out, intergalactic was between the Scarrans and the Peacekeepers". He also indicated it opens up all sorts of other possibilities for the franchise.
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LORD OF WAR CASTING at 11:55 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto, Bridget Moynahan, Jeffrey Wright and Donald Sutherland have inked to appear opposite Nicolas Cage in writer-director Andrew Niccol's $42 million "Lord of War." Pic starts shooting July 19 in New York, Romania and South Africa. Niccol, who scripted "Terminal" and "The Truman Show" and wrote and directed "Gattaca" and "Simone," has penned a drama that casts Cage as a ruthless global arms dealer trying to stay a step ahead of a relentless Interpol agent (Hawke).
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LEO READY TO SURF? at 11:54 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way banner has optioned feature rights to "All for a Few Perfect Waves," David Rensin's upcoming bio of surfer Miki Dora, with DiCaprio eyeing the central role. "High Fidelity" scribe D.V. DeVincentis will adapt the oral biography. Dora, who was credited with sparking Malibu's surfing subculture during the 1950s and '60s, was also a seductive prankster who had a fickle relationship with his public persona.
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PACINO'S NEXT at 11:54 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Emmett/Furla Films will finance and produce thriller "88 Minutes," with Al Pacino set to star. James Foley will direct pic from Gary Scott Thompson's screenplay. Budgeted at under $30 million, pic will start shooting in August in Vancouver. In "Minutes," a college professor who moonlights as a forensic psychiatrist for the FBI receives a death threat that says he has only 88 minutes to live. To save his life, he must use all his skills and training to narrow down the possible suspects, which include a disgruntled student, a jilted former lover and a serial killer on death row.
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RAMBO IV ON THE GO? at 12:33 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Looks like the project is getting closer and closer to becoming a real thing. Producers are looking to sign John Woo onto the project. Rumor has it that the story may revolve around missing Nuclear Weapons... and the president picks John Rambo to hunt them down, and the men who took them.
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RHAMES' NIGHT TRAIN at 11:32 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Ving Rhames will topline and exec produce "Night Train," a long-in-development Sonny Liston biopic with James Woods, Alfre Woodard and Kristanna Loken also expected to star. Project, picked up by Filmcrest Corp. out of turnaround from Paramount, will start shooting in Puerto Rico in mid-June under the direction of Andrzej Sekula.
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DARKWATCH GREENLIT at 11:32 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Glen Morgan and James Wong are already attached to adapt Sammy Corp.'s sci-fi Western "Darkwatch: Curse of the West" into a film. The writing-directing-producing duo behind "Final Destination," have developed a pitch, based on the vidgame's plot and action sequences, and are now in the midst of penning a script. "Darkwatch" revolves around a secret organization dedicated to fighting the forces of evil. Game will take place in the Wild West, focusing on a cowboy/train robber named Jericho Cross who is recruited by the org to battle a horde of vampires and other supernatural creatures.
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ZWICK'S NEXT at 11:27 AM by Ken Miyamoto
The Last Samurai" helmer Ed Zwick is in negotiations to direct "The Talisman," the pet project from Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy that has been in development for more than 20 years. The move follows the departure of "House of Sand and Fog" director Vadim Perelman this month from the DreamWorks/Universal Pictures co-production
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COWBOYS AND INDIANS at 11:26 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Escape Artists and comic book powerhouse Platinum Studios are teaming up for some sci-fi escapism with the high-concept tentpole "Cowboys and Aliens" for Columbia Pictures. "Sahara" writers Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Donnelly have come on board to adapt the project, which is set within the Old West, where cowboys and Indians must put aside their differences to battle an alien invasion.
Don't know why, but I love the idea.
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GILLIAN'S NEXT at 11:25 AM by Ken Miyamoto
HanWay Films has finally pulled together the long-mooted Gilliam project "Tideland". It will start shooting Sept. 7 in Saskatchewan, Canada, once the director has finished his current pic, "Brothers Grimm". Co-scripted by Gilliam and Tony Grisoni, "Tideland" is adapted from Mitch Cullin's novel about a girl in rural Texas who escapes from the grim reality of her life into a world of fantasy. She is accompanied on her adventures of the imagination by four disembodied dolls' heads, which Thomas says will be voiced by well-known actors.
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BANDITS AQUIRED at 11:24 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Twentieth Century Fox will handle the domestic release of "Banditas," from producer Luc Besson. Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz are in negotiations to star in the pic, budgeted at $30 million. It's being sold at Cannes by Besson's EuropaCorp. Pic, expected to start shooting in September in France and Mexico, is a comedy-Western that centers on two feisty bank robbers.
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SCHNEIDER'S NEXT at 11:40 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Rob Schneider will star in and produce "Fearless," a comedy based on an original pitch by Travis Mann and Bob Kosberg, for Revolution Studios. "Fearless" is the story of a meek soldier who is transformed into a fearless fighting machine when he becomes the subject of a top-secret experiment.
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LINKLATER'S NEXT at 11:40 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson and Rory Cochran will join Keanu Reeves in "A Scanner Darkly," the Warner Independent Pictures drama that Richard Linklater will direct from his scripted adaptation of the Philip K. Dick novel. Thesps will film the scenes as if this were a traditional live action undertaking, but then Linklater will turn the footage into animation, much as he did with "Waking Life".
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AVI ARAD'S MARVEL UPDATES at 11:37 AM by Ken Miyamoto
- Arad said that "The Punisher" will be released internationally starting in September. They are hoping to have "The Punisher 2" ready by next fall. Thomas Jane is signed for three films and Jonathan Hensleigh will be back to write and direct as well.
- They've got a writer, director (David Hayter) and actress for "Black Widow", though they can't announce the actress just yet.
- "Blade: Trinity" was just screen-tested (as you read here) and that went "incredibly well". New Line is very confident and will promote the film aggresivelly.
- "Man-Thing" is complete, they just received the finished print. They'll be testing it and then determine an exact release date.
- "Elektra" starts production today and will be PG-13.
- "Fantastic Four" starts filming in August. It will have 5 build-in toy lines for the different characters in the film. The "funny family action film" will be rated PG-13. Activision is making a game based on the film too.
- "Iron Man" will be PG-13 and will have a major toy line. Activision is creating a game based on the movie.
- "Luke Cage" has a script (Ben Ramsey), director (John Singleton) and actors who they can't announce yet.
- They've started pre-production on the PG-13 Ghost Rider adaptation.
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JACKMAN ON WOLVERINE at 11:34 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Hugh Jackman comments on his X-Men future, "I don't want to sound ungrateful, but first of all, I don't know what the script's going to be like. I don't know what it will be like. But I would find it very, very hard to watch someone else play the role of Wolverine, you know. But, you know, I've had a really great go of it for two movies, so you never know. They may want to move it in different directions, so we'll see what happens in it".
He's all keen on the idea of a third film in any case: "I can see there being complete validity in doing X-Men 3, if not more. I mean, I think it (X2) cemented what was a really interesting world".
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JAMES CAMERON PRODUCING "FANTASTIC VOYAGE" REMAKE at 11:33 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Cameron says "We have a pretty good script, [but it] still needs to go another iteration. How do you sell that concept to people?. For me, the thing in cracking the script, which we've done, was figuring out the social context. Because ... the first film was made in the mid '60s, I think it was '66, and it was a Cold-War-era thriller. And it was about a battle between two superpowers.
We're projecting into an age where we're looking at information totalitarianism, where in the pursuit of security in a world of terrorism, people have given up their freedom to an information state. And so, in ours, there are no good guys and bad guys. There are, you know, these two vast blocs: The Coalition and The Alliance. But really, the government is the enemy. So it's a whole different kind of spy thriller than the one in '66".
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CAMERON'S NEXT... CONFIRMED? at 11:31 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Director James Cameron told SCI FI Wire that he will begin shooting his ambitious, as-yet-untitled SF movie as soon as this November with the 3-D high-definition video cameras he developed for "Ghosts of the Abyss".
Cameron says: "I'm writing it. It's very futuristic; [it] takes place in a distant future, and [there's] lots of wild action and amazing characters and, hopefully, a very emotional journey as well. We're setting that up for release ... about this time of the year in 2006, Memorial Day or somewhere around that".
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THE POLAR EXPRESS NEWS at 10:45 AM by Ken Miyamoto
"The Polar Express" will be released to conventional theaters and in the Imax 3D format Nov. 19 in the United States and many international territories. It marks the first Hollywood feature to be converted into the Imax 3D format. Says Zemeckis "The 3D adds incredible depth and allows the viewers to experience the visual splendor and amazing adventure of this classic story in a way which should create a really memorable experience, not only this holiday season but for many years to come."
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RENT COMING TO BIG SCREEN? at 10:39 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Warner Bros. Pictures has acquired feature rights to the Jonathan Larson musical "Rent" from Miramax Films, with Chris Columbus to write and direct. With Tribeca Films, Columbus and his 1492 Films will also produce. Miramax retains rights of first refusal for co-financing and distribution on the film. If Miramax were to come aboard for distribution, it would handle the film's foreign rights, with domestic going through Warners.
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DUEL FINALLY COMING TO DVD! at 10:36 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Spielberg's highly underrated film DUEL will be coming to DVD!
Universal Home Video will release the long-delayed Duel: Collector's Edition on August 17th.
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OC SPINOFF at 10:34 AM by Ken Miyamoto
The OC" creator Josh Schwartz is closing in on a deal to develop a companion series to the hit Fox drama. Scribe will reteam with "OC" production partners McG, Stephanie Savage and Bob De Laurentiis for the Warner Bros. TV project. Schwartz will write the pilot episode and exec produce the new series, but a showrunner-exec producer will be brought in to handle the new show on a day-to-day basis.
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"CHE" PRODUCERS UPDATE at 10:33 AM by Ken Miyamoto
After developing "Che" into a feature that will reteam "Traffic" star Benicio Del Toro and director Steven Soderbergh, producers Laura Bickford and Bill Pohlad have sealed a deal to become producing partners on films to be co-financed by Pohlad's River Road. Focus Features is also negotiating in earnest to become the domestic distributor on the River Road-financed "Che".
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X-MEN 3 UPDATES at 10:31 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Producer Lauren Schuler-Donner updated SCI FI Wire today and confirmed that they are targeting a June 2005 start for filming on "X-Men 3" in Vancouver for a May 2006 release date.
"I just had a conversation with [director] Bryan [Singer] today. We just started to talk about what the possibilities are. We're pretty sure Wolverine's going to come back...I'm dying to put Beast in. I tried to get Beast in the first one and the second one, but it was always too expensive. So, yeah, I'm really dying to get Beast in, and I'd love to get Gambit in, because he's such a cool guy. And there's some really good casting ideas for Gambit".
She's not sure if Halle Berry will be back but hopes so and does plan to write a big role for her which is one of the conditions Berry mentioned as a requirement for her to return. Will we see more of the Dark Phoenix storyline? "We will follow it through in some respect, absolutely, yes, and we love Famke [Janssen] anyway, so, yeah. Well, she's Dark Phoenix. She's Jean Grey".
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TERMINATOR 4 AND RAMBO 4 ON THE MOVE? at 10:22 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Producers Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna recently dropped some updates on the upcoming projects, "We are gearing up for some very huge projects! We are focusing all of our energies on Terminator 4! We have an amazing idea that will make sci-fi movie goers cheer. It stays true to the Terminator universe says Vajna. Arnold will be back for this one, but for how long he will be in the film is the question right now.
We also want to make another Rambo movie with our good buddy Sly Stallone. Things are being sorted out as we speak and we will get to produce another Rambo film. Stallone is waiting to see the script and then do his own polish from there as he did with the previous Rambo movies. People will be in for a big surprise with this new Rambo film, but don't worry says Kassar, Rambo still uses a machine gun and blows lots of things up. We also have a BIG fantasy movie in the works. This will be our HARRY POTTER and hopefully it will make our company C2 a billion dollars like Potter did for Warner Brothers".
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BANDERAS ON ZORRO 2 at 10:09 AM by Ken Miyamoto
The swordsman himslef commented on the upcoming project, "Last night I had dinner with Martin [Campbell, Director] and they're putting together the whole thing now. But it's green lit, we are going, and on the 26th of July, principal photography starts". Comparing the sequel to its predecessor Banderas says the new film “is a little bit more mature. It still keeps the adventure feeling and it keeps us with a hero, which I think is fundamental for Zorro. But this one is more based on jealousy and concepts that are more for us than for kids.”
Banderas is keeping busy with other work as well - "Since October, I rejected a bunch of movies and I've been basically writing and preparing things that I would like to do in the future...I bought the rights of a novel in Spain and am right now in the process of putting it together”. Banderas also plans to return to his roots in Spain - “Its just enough time for me to be out of the country and there are the possibilities of going back as a director and also Pedro Almodóvar and I have been in discussions for a year and a half now, of doing a movie that’s an adaptation of a French novel"
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BAD NEWS BEARS REMAKE? at 04:29 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Paramount Pictures is mounting a redo of the 1976 Walter Matthau starrer, this time with Billy Bob Thornton in the leading role. The original feature starred Matthau as the coach of a Little League team of misfits that he turns into a winner. Joining Thornton on "Bears" are writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa ("Bad Santa").
I acutally think Thornton is perfect for the role... though he'll never hold a candle to Walter.
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REDFORD'S NEXT at 04:27 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Robert Redford will play Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey in a feature that chronicles the breaking of baseball's color barrier. The pic is an untitled drama about Jackie Robinson, Rickey and manager Leo Durocher. Deep River Prods. and Redford's Wildwood will produce.
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SPLASH REMAKE at 04:18 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Wannabe is more like it...
Elizabeth Allen will direct "Aquamarine," a comedy for Fox 2000. John Quaintance is adapting the screenplay from the Alice Hoffman novel about two teenage girls who discover a 17-year-old mermaid in their beach club's swimming pool.
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TALISMAN CHANGES at 03:40 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Vadim Perelman ("House of Sand and Fog") has fallen out of "The Talisman". According to a DreamWorks spokesperson, the "decision was mutual" to part ways on the film. "The studio remains committed to finding the best team for a film of this scope," she said. The project is based on the 1984 fantasy novel by Stephen King and Peter Straub, a project Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy have been developing for nearly 20 years.
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ROMANO AND JAMES TOGETHER at 03:40 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Jason Ensler will direct "Grilled," a comedy to star Ray Romano and Kevin James, for New Line Cinema. With writer Matt Nix on board for a rewrite, the project has received the greenlight and is scheduled to shoot next month. "Grilled" follows a day in the life of two meat salesmen who will stop at nothing to make a sale.
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FOSTER'S NEXT at 03:38 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Jodie Foster is set to star in "Flight Plan" for the Walt Disney Studios' Touchstone Pictures label. Robert Schwentke is directing, while Brian Grazer is producing through Imagine Entertainment. The project is described as a Hitchcockian thriller in which a woman's daughter mysteriously disappears while on board a passenger jet.
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HUDSON'S NEXT at 03:34 PM by Ken Miyamoto
""Secretary" scribe Erin Cressida Wilson has come on board to adapt the Kate Hudson starrer for Paramount. Based on the best-selling novel of the same name from British author Sophie Kinsella, "Secret" revolves around a hapless young marketing executive who confesses all during a bout of in-flight turbulence to the good-looking man beside her, not realizing that he is the president of her company. The comedy is heading for a September shoot on the East Coast.
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ASK THE DUST at 03:32 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Paramount has agreed to handle domestic distribution and partly finance Robert Towne's "Ask the Dust," set to begin lensing this week with Colin Farrell and Salma Hayak starring. Towne has been attempting since the 1970s to direct a film version of "Ask the Dust," John Fante's Depression-era novel. Story centers on a young man who comes to Los Angeles to become a novelist and falls in love with a Mexican waitress.
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ALFIE REMAKE at 03:31 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart have composed theme music and written three original songs for "Alfie," Paramount's remake of the 1966 comedy-drama starring Michael Caine. The songs -- "Old Habits Die Hard," "Blind Leading the Blind" and "Let's Make It Up" -- were written especially for the film and recorded last week at Abbey Road Studio 2 in London.
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THERON'S NEXT at 04:32 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Charlize Theron is in negotiations to star in and produce through her Delilah Films company, an adaptation of a Brian Michael Bendis comic book for Universal Pictures. "Jinx" is about a bounty hunter who has to learn to trust a wanted criminal so they can team up to find millions of dollars of abandoned mob money in order to start a new life together.
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WARRIOR at 04:32 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Icon partners Mel Gibson and Bruce Davey will team with Gavin and Greg O'Connor on "Warrior," an epic about Boudica, a female warrior who led Britain against Roman conquerors and was posthumously named Britain's first queen.
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OLIVER TWIST CASTING at 04:31 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Ben Kingsley will play Fagin and 10-year-old English actor Barney Clark will essay the title role in Roman Polanski's "Oliver Twist." Clark attended a press conference Monday with the helmer in Paris. Polanski also announced other key cast members for his adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel, including Jamie Foreman as Bill Sykes and Frank Finlay as Mr. Brownlow.
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MORE MI:3 CASTING! at 04:26 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Paramount Pictures has tapped Scarlett Johansson for its Tom Cruise franchise sequel "Mission: Impossible 3". The "Lost in Translation" star is set to portray an ally of Cruise's Ethan Hunt character. Casting for the part had generated extensive submissions of ingenue types from Hollywood tenpercenteries.
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MI:3 CASTING NEWS at 04:22 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Kenneth Branagh is joining Tom Cruise and Carrie-Anne Moss in MI3. Although there is an expectation that he will be unmasked as one of the villains, few details were available on the character Branagh will play. Further casting is under way on the sequel, which is due to go into production in late summer. Branagh takes over the role that Philip Seymour Hoffman was up for... apparently he was asking for too much money.
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KING KONG NEWS at 04:15 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Entertainment Weekly spoke with LOTR trilogy director Peter Jackson who says his upcoming "King Kong" is remake -"We are not reinventing it. Our story follows the same structure. It satrts in New York, goes to Skull Island, and there's dinosaurs on the island. Then it comes back to New York and there's the Empire State Building and the biplanes and the whole thing".
They're also trying to make this version "emotionally truthful. I put that ahead of anything else, including technology and the realism of the effects. Everybody's image of 'King Kong' is that it's this amazing beauty-and-the-beast love story. And when you look at the original film, there is as sense that Kong is feeling an attraction toward Ann-probably the first empathy he's felt in his life toward another living creature. But Ann is not giving him a thing. She just looks at him as an object of horror the entire time. She screams at him, she's terrified. Her relationship with Kong doesn't go beyond that. We're having a lot of fun making it more psychologically real"
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DIE HARD 4 NEWS! at 04:12 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Bonnie Bedelia recently commented on the developing Die Hard 4 project!
Question: There have been rumors of a Die Hard 4. Do you think it'll happen?
Answer: "It's being written right now. I'm definitely doing this one. It's going to feature John and Holly's kids too, I believe. It's taken a while to do another one because Bruce wasn't sure whether he really needed to do one and the studio wasn't so sure that it was the best time to do a Die hard film with all that's going on in the world right now. So they've waited a few years, worked on a story that doesn't necessarily concentrate on the whole terrorist theme, and everyone feels it's time to make it happen."
Question: And there's talk of Britney Spears playing your daughter?
Answer: "No, all I know is that John McTiernan, who is just wonderful, he did the first film, wants to do it. Hopefully it'll be underway soon. I look forward to it".
I can't wait... it's time for another Die Hard.
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COLIN HANK'S NEXT at 04:07 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Colin Hanks, Eric Balfour and Alan Tudyk will star in RX. Set to film in Mexico and southern Texas this May, the film centers on a young man (Hanks) who gets more than he bargains for when he heads to Mexico to buy prescription drugs.
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SYKES... YIKES at 04:02 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Comedienne Wanda Sykes has nabbed a role opposite Jennifer Lopez & Jane Fonda in "Monster-in-Law" for New Line. Sykes will appear as Ruby, the mother-in-law's straight-talking assistant.
Is she not the most annoying actress in years?
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ER DOC TAKES ON MARVEL at 04:00 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Goran Visnjic, who starred as the title character in last week's USA Network movie "Spartacus," is in negotiations to star as the male lead opposite Jennifer Garner in "Elektra" for helmer Rob Bowman. Elektra is assigned to kill Visnjic's character by ninja clan 'The Hand' over something his grandfather did; however, she ends up falling for him. After the film is finished, he will return to Los Angeles to tape his final season on the NBC medical drama "ER".
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LOOK OUT ROUNDERS? at 03:59 PM by Ken Miyamoto
MGM has placed a bet of $1 million to purchase an untitled poker pitch from Don Rhymer ("Big Momma's House") for Dylan Sellers to produce. Comedy revolves around the exploits of three men who scheme a way to play in the world series of poker tournament in Las Vegas without their wives finding out. Rhymer will pen the script.
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MENDES' NEXT at 03:57 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Sam Mendes' next movie will be "Jarhead," a Universal drama based on Anthony Swofford's Persian Gulf-set Marine Corps. memoir. "Cast Away" scribe William Broyles wrote the script, and Red Wagon partners Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher will produce. Shooting begins in the fall.
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JACKMAN ON "FOUNTAIN" at 03:55 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Jackman recently gave an update on his character in the upcoming film THE FOUNTAIN. You may remember this as a Brad Pitt film... until he dropped out at the last minute. Jackman says, "I play three characters, and it's basically about the search for the Fountain of Youth. It is really an extraordinary [film], I think Darren could become, in the final analysis, another Kubrick. I think he's an amazing director, and he's written a script that is just phenomenal. I'm honored to be a part of it, I really am; I'm very excited about it".
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MTV MOVIE AWARDS NOMINATIONS at 04:16 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Yes, it's time for the most meaningless, but fun award shows around. The MTV Movie Awards...
BEST MOVIE
50 First Dates (Sony Pictures)
Finding Nemo (Walt Disney Pictures)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (New Line Cinema)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (Disney Pictures)
X2: X-Men United (20th Century Fox)
BEST MALE PERFORMANCE
Adam Sandler - 50 First Dates (Sony Pictures)
Bill Murray - Lost in Translation (Focus Features)
Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean (Walt Disney Pictures)
Tom Cruise - The Last Samurai (Warner Bros.)
Jim Caviezel - The Passion of The Christ (Newmarket Film Group)
BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE
Drew Barrymore - 50 First Dates (Sony Pictures)
Queen Latifah - Bringing Down the House (Touchstone Pictures)
Halle Berry - Gothika (Warner Bros.)
Uma Thurman - Kill Bill Vol. 1 (Miramax Films)
Charlize Theron - Monster (Newmarket Film Group)
BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE
Jim Carrey - Bruce Almighty (Universal Pictures)
Will Ferrell - Elf (New Line Cinema)
Ellen DeGeneres - Finding Nemo (Walt Disney Pictures)
Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean (Walt Disney Pictures)
Jack Black - School of Rock (Paramount Pictures)
BEST ON-SCREEN TEAM
Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore - 50 First Dates (Sony Pictures)
Will Smith/Martin Lawrence - Bad Boys II (Sony Pictures)
Johnny Depp/Orlando Bloom - Pirates of the Caribbean ( Disney Pictures)
Jack Black and the "Band" - School of Rock (Paramount Pictures)
Ben Stiller/Owen Wilson - Starsky & Hutch (Warner Bros.)
BEST VILLAIN
Demi Moore - Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (Sony Pictures)
Lucy Liu - Kill Bill Vol. 1 (Miramax Films)
Kiefer Sutherland - Phone Booth (20th Century Fox)
Geoffrey Rush - Pirates of the Caribbean (Walt Disney Pictures)
Leatherface - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (New Line Cinema)
BREAKTHROUGH MALE
Ludacris - 2 Fast 2 Furious (Universal Pictures)
Cillian Murphy - 28 Days Later (Fox Searchlight)
Shia LaBeouf - Holes (Walt Disney Pictures)
Shawn Ashmore - X2: X-Men United (20th Century Fox)
Omarion - You Got Served (Screen Gems)
BREAKTHROUGH FEMALE
Lindsay Lohan - Freaky Friday (Walt Disney Pictures)
Scarlett Johansson - Lost in Translation (Focus Features)
Keira Knightley - Pirates of the Caribbean (Walt Disney Pictures)
Jessica Biel - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (New Line Cinema)
Evan Rachel Wood - Thirteen (Fox Searchlight)
BEST KISS
Jim Carrey & Jennifer Aniston - Bruce Almighty (Universal Pictures)
Keanu Reeves & Monica Bellucci - The Matrix: Reloaded (Warner Bros.)
Charlize Theron & Christina Ricci - Monster (Newmarket Film Group)
Owen Wilson & Carmen Electra & Amy Smart - Starsky & Hutch (Warner Bros.)
Shawn Ashmore & Anna Paquin - X2: X-Men United (20th Century Fox)
BEST ACTION SEQUENCE
Intercoastal Freeway Pursuit - Bad Boys II (Sony Pictures)
Escape from Mongolia - Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (Sony Pictures)
Battle at Gondor - Lord of The Rings: Return of the King (New Line Cinema)
Champion Crane Chase - Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Warner Bros.)
BEST FIGHT
Queen Latifah vs. Missi Pyle - Bringing Down the House (Touchstone Pictures)
Uma Thurman vs. Chiaki Kuriyama - Kill Bill Vol. 1 (Miramax Films)
Keanu Reeves vs. Hugo Weaving - The Matrix: Reloaded (Warner Bros.)
The Rock vs. Kontiki Rebels - The Rundown (Universal Pictures)
Hugh Jackman vs. Kelly Hu - X2: X-Men United (20th Century Fox)
BEST DANCE SEQUENCE
Ben Stiller & Jennifer Aniston - Along Came Polly - "Hot Salsa Dance"
Seann William Scott - American Wedding (Universal Pictures) - "Disco Dance Off"
Steve Martin - Bringing Down the House (Touchstone Pictures) - "In da Club"
Drew B./Cameron D./Lucy L. - Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle "Burlesque Revue"
Omarion, Marques Houston and the Lil Saints' Dance Crew - You Got Served(Screen Gems) - "The Big Bounce"
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FLASH GORDON COMING BACK! at 04:09 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Stephen Sommers, of Mummy and hopefully Van Helsing fame, is set to direct the big budget FLASH GORDON. Ron Shushett will be penning the new Stephen Sommers-helmed take on the classic character.
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FAT ALBERT CASTING at 04:06 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Aaron Carter, Dania Ramirez, Nick Zano, Derek Watkins and Alice Greczyn have joined the cast of Fox's live-action "Fat Albert" for helmer Joel Zwick. Shooting in Los Angeles on the Paramount Pictures back lot, the project is based on the stand-up comedy monologues of Bill Cosby about his childhood in Philadelphia and the cartoon "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids".
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DARKO GETTING SECOND CHANCE at 04:06 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Donnie Darko" is getting a new theatrical release. Newmarket Films, which originally released the film, is unveiling a director's cut at the Seattle Film Festival on May 29. The new version will have 20 minutes of never-before-seen footage, new visual effects, and new music. After the festival, Newmarket plans to release the film theatrically in Seattle before moving into other markets later in the summer.
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21 JUMP STREET: THE MOVIE at 04:05 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Original Film is boarding Paramount Pictures' big-screen adaptation of the TV series "21 Jump Street." Original's Neal Moritz will produce "21 Jump Street" with Stephen J. Cannell and Douglas Rosen, while Original's Tania Landau will executive produce.
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SONNENFELD'S NEXT at 04:05 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Barry Sonnenfeld has fallen for DreamWorks' "The Heartbreak Kid" and is closing a deal to direct the film. The romantic comedy is a loosely inspired remake of the 1972 pic, written by Neil Simon and directed by Elaine May. Story is about a man who hastily weds a local girl whom he thinks is perfect -- until he falls in love with another girl during the honeymoon.
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SODERBERGH SCRIBE NOW DIRECTING at 04:04 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Scott Burns, who wrote "The Informant" for Steven Soderbergh, will make his feature-directing bow with "PU239" at United Artists. Soderbergh's Section 8 Prods. will produce the pic. Production is expected to begin this fall on locations in Eastern Europe. Written by Burns, "PU239" is set in post-Glasnost Russia. After a nuclear facility technician has an accident, he travels to Moscow in search of work and finds himself involved with the city's low-level mobsters.
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MIRAMAX PICKS UP FANTASY NOVELS at 04:03 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Miramax has acquired U.S. publishing and film rights to "Mistmantle Chronicles," a forthcoming trilogy of children's books by Brit author Margi McAllister. First book in the series, "Urchin of the Riding Stars," is due for publication in spring 2005 by Miramax Books in the U.S. and by Bloomsbury in the U.K., with the second and third books due in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Series is about a group of animals, including squirrels, otters, hedgehogs and moles, living on an island hidden in mist.
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NEW LINE PICKS UP GREENBERG at 03:57 PM by Ken Miyamoto
New Line Cinema has hired "The West Wing" writer-producers Lawrence O'Donnell and Paul Redford to pen a script based on the story of Jack Greenberg, the attorney who argued in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation of public schools was unconstitutional.
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STAR WARS DVD DETAILS at 11:31 AM by Ken Miyamoto
I can't wait for this release! Looks like it'll be better than the Indiana Jones Box Set with MANY more extras. If only Lucas would come to his senses and offer the Original Versions of the films as well. Anyway, here's what to expect so far from the DVDs.
All three films are presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, along with English Dolby Digital 5.1 EX, English Dolby Surround, Spanish Dolby Surround and French Dolby Surround tracks. Each will be THX Certified, with the transfers remastered by the folks at Lowry Digital Images.
Further details on the fourth disc below:
Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy...
This two-and-a-half hour documentary traces the evolution of the saga, from a low-budget labor-of-love space saga to the movie phenomenon that defied the odds and reinvented the rules. This comprehensive documentary features all new interviews with George Lucas and more than 40 members of the cast and crew from the original trilogy, as well as a host of filmmakers and media personalities. Empire of Dreams also includes some never-before-seen behind-the-scenes footage from the making of all three of the now legendary Star Wars films.
Episode III Behind the Scenes Preview: The Return of Darth Vader...
Finally, Star Wars: Episode III will reveal just how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, the most iconic villain in film history. In this exclusive preview, George Lucas discusses Anakin's descent, with a first look at the new Vader costume forged for Episode III. Also, experience how Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor have prepared for the epic lightsaber battle that has been anticipated for more than two decades: the climactic showdown between Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The Birth of the Lightsaber Featurette...
Its unforgettable hum and scintillating glow are instantly recognizable around the world. Now, viewers will discover the origins of this elegant weapon from a more civilized age in this lightsaber documentary.
The Characters of Star Wars Featurette...
An in-depth look at how favorite characters came to be, featuring rare concept art, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with George Lucas and the cast and crew who shaped the screen's favorite heroes.
The Force Is With Them: The Legacy of Star Wars...
The Star Wars films opened up a galaxy of possibilities to a generation of filmmakers and creative talents. This feature allows you to hear from some of the most notable filmmakers of our time about how influential the Star Wars movies have been to their lives and work.
Star Wars Battlefront Trailer and Playable Demo...
The fourth disc will offer a trailer featuring an exciting look at the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront video game from LucasArts, along with a special demo for Xbox users that lets players fight the Battle of Endor as a Rebel or Imperial soldier and drive AT-STs, ride speeder bikes and use different weapons to lead their side to victory. The full version of Star Wars Battlefront be released Sept. 21 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC.
Star Wars: Episode III Making the Game Preview...
Video-game players will be able to experience the stunning Jedi action of Episode III themselves in the new Star Wars: Episode III game, due out in Spring 2005 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. This special feature shows how game developers at LucasArts worked behind-the-scenes and on the set to create the most authentic Jedi experience ever.
Original Trailers and TV Spots...
You can expect the original theatrical teaser, launch and re-release trailers for each of the films, plus TV spots, to be featured on the DVD.
Never-Before-Seen Production Gallery...
Delve into an unseen corners of the Lucasfilm Archives with exclusive photos from the making of the trilogy, with hundreds of rare images.
Posters and Print Campaigns...
The original Star Wars films came at a time when international campaigns produced a wealth of intriguing, alternative poster art. Explore a collection of theatrical posters from around the world.
Exclusive DVD-ROM Content...
The Star Wars Trilogy DVDs are keys that unlock exclusive content available only through a special DVD-ROM website.
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METROID? at 04:32 PM by Ken Miyamoto
John Woo has optioned Nintendo's video game franchise METROID. He will produce the sci-fi movie and has the option to direct. The movie will center on the origins of the game's female protagonist, sexy bounty hunter Samus Aran, and relate her adventures battling the insidious life-sucking Metroids and their controlling force, Mother Brain.
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D & D 2... NO, SERIOUSLY at 04:31 PM by Ken Miyamoto
WorldWide Pictures is partnering with Silver Pictures on the sequel to DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS. Gerry Lively is directing the pic, which is to be shot in Europe this year.
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ALL THE KING'S MEN at 04:31 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Steven Zaillian will direct ALL THE KING'S MEN, based on Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a populist Southern politician, for Phoenix Pictures and Columbia Pictures. Sean Penn is being sought to play Willie Stark. The production is aiming for a September shoot in New Orleans.
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BON JOVI LAMPOONING? at 04:30 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Jon Bon Jovi will star in NATIONAL LAMPOON'S THE TROUBLE WITH FRANK for director Arthur Hiller. Production will begin this spring in North Carolina. Bon Jovi will play a former lawyer and current ne'er-do-well who decides to fund his latest get-rich-quick scheme with credit cards and winds up in court. Matty Simmons wrote the script.
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VARTAN'S NEXT at 04:28 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Michael Vartan ("Alias") is in talks to star opposite Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda in MONSTER-IN-LAW for New Line Cinema and director Robert Luketic.
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WOODY'S BACK at 04:25 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Woody Harrelson has stepped aboard Ascendant Pictures/VIP Medienfonds' dark comedy. Harrelson is replacing James Woods, who had to drop out because of a scheduling conflict. In the film, a destitute Alaskan travel agent (Robin Williams) thinks he has found the answer to his financial problems in the form of a frozen body, which he tries to pass off as his long-lost brother (Harrelson) for the insurance money.
And the people say, "Huh?"
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SMITH'S NEXT at 04:24 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Will Smith and Columbia Pictures are teaming to bring to the screen the story of Dr. S. Allen Counter, a Harvard professor and professional explorer - designed as a starring vehicle for Smith. The project is described as an adventure romance based on Counter's explorations.
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SCRIBES SELL ARK at 04:23 PM by Ken Miyamoto
In one of the more expensive spec sales in years, two unproduced scribes have sold their fantastical spec "The Passion of the Ark" to Sony's Columbia Pictures for $1.5 million against $2.5 million. Scribes Bobby Florsheim and Josh Stolberg's modern-day tale of an unmarried man approached by God to build an ark to save the world from a second flood whetted the interest of all major studios.
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FERRELL'S NEXT at 04:21 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Will Ferrell is turning his attention to insects. Bob Cooper's Landscape Entertainment has set up at Universal the pitch "Fly on the Wall" (working title), penned by "Emperor's Club" scribe Neil Tolkin. Comedy, which sold for high-six figures, is being developed as a potential starring vehicle for Ferrell. Pic centers on a down-on-his-luck lawyer whose life starts to take a turn for the better after he innocently saves the life of a fly.
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MALKOVICH'S NEXT at 04:20 PM by Ken Miyamoto
John Malkovich has signed onto "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", the adaptation of the Douglas Adams sci-fi comedy novel series classic, for Spyglass Entertainment/Walt Disney Pictures. Malkovich will play a religious cult leader called Humma Kavula, created by Adams especially for the film.
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EXORCIST 3: LEGION RE-RELEASE??!! at 04:17 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Greg Mielcarz, Head of Publicty over at Morgan Creek Productions recently contacted William Peter Blatty about putting together a re-release of his 1990 sequel to The Exorcist, "Legion".
This is the film that starred George C. Scott, and directed by author William Peter Blatty based off of his book Legion.
If you get the chance... rent this film. It is a wonderfully shot continuation of the original Exorcist following Detective Kinderman and a somewhat ressurected Father Karris. The book is an excellent mystery with some freaky moments, as is the film.
It may be better with a director's cut as well.
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CARRIE COMING TO THE RING at 04:09 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Sissy Spacek is returning to the horror genre -- where she enjoyed one of her earliest successes as the telekinetic heroine of 1976's "Carrie" -- as she steps into "The Ring 2" for DreamWorks and director Hideo Nakata. The Oscar-winning actress joins Naomi Watts and Simon Baker in the film, due to start shooting in mid-May.
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WITHERSPOON'S NEXT at 04:08 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Reese Witherspoon is attached to star in "The Proposal," which she will produce through her Type A Films for Revolution Studios. Type A president Jennifer Simpson also is producing. The romantic comedy centers on a couple and their up-and-down journey as they plan their wedding.
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KURT COBAIN BIOPIC at 04:08 PM by Ken Miyamoto
The WB Network is developing an original movie about late NIRVANA frontman Kurt Cobain. The network has obtained the rights to Charles Cross' 2001 book, Robert Munic ("They Call Me Sir") has been commissioned to write the script for the untitled film, which could get a primetime berth as early as next season.
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LUCY CASTING at 04:07 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Natasha Richardson, Bonnie Hunt, Justin Theroux, Kip Pardue and Zoe Saldana have signed to star in Maggie Greenwald's drama "Lucy" for Gotham-based banner Plum Pictures. Based on the 1990 novel by Jamaica Kincaid, the story follows a 21-year-old girl from the West Indies as she spends the summer in a sheltered New York WASP community. She takes a job as a nanny for a wealthy couple but soon notices the cracks in their seemingly perfect facade.
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JENNA BOYD SIGNS WITH SISTERS at 01:35 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Eleven year old actress Jenna Boyd has been cast as the role of "Bailey," opposite Amber Tamblyn in the upcoming Warner Brothers film "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" directed by Ken Kwapis.
Boyd, who most recently starred in Ron Howard's film "The Missing" with Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones, is managed by Ellen Drantch-Billet of James, Levy, Jacobson and represented by the Endeavor Agency and attorney Jason Sloane.
Boyd is currently nominated for a Saturn Award (Best Performance by a Younger Actor) and is a double nominee for the Young Artist Awards.The "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" is based on the best-selling teen book by Anne Brashares. As four best friends spend their first summer apart from one another, they share a magical pair of jeans. Despite being of various shapes and sizes, each one of them fits perfectly into the pants. The girls undergo a summer full of life lessons, but they keep in touch by passing the pants to each other as well as the adventures they are going through while apart.
Production is scheduled to begin May 14th in Vancouver, British Columbia.
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DREAMWORKS SHIPWRECKED? at 01:57 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Intermedia and DreamWorks are teaming up on "Skeletons of the Sahara," a film based on the nonfiction book by Dean H. King about the trials of several American sailors who were shipwrecked off the coast of North Africa in 1815, captured by the Bedouins and sold into slavery. Shooting is expected to begin by the end of the year.
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BEAUTY SHOP CAST ADDITIONS at 01:51 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Andie MacDowell, Alfre Woodard and Bryce Wilson are joining the cast of MGM's Queen Latifah comedy "Beauty Shop." MacDowell will play a conservative Southern socialite who goes through a rebirth when she follows Queen Latifah's character from her fancy hairdressers, run by Jorge (Kevin Bacon), to her new salon. Woodard is set to play Miss Josephine, the shop's Afrocentric stylist, who spouts Maya Angelou poetry. Wilson, meanwhile, will play James, a con/truck driver turned hairstylist. Nobody can figure out whether he is the ultimate metrosexual or actually gay.
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AFFLECK'S NEXT at 01:50 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Ben Affleck's next picture will be Disney's Jerry Bruckheimer production "Glory Road." The Mouse House aims to start production this summer. Commercials helmer James Gartner has been hired to make his feature directing bow. Affleck will star as a college basketball coach who led the first all-black lineup of players to the NCAA championship.
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TWO EXORCIST PREQUELS? at 01:49 PM by Ken Miyamoto
So, in case you didn't know, Paul Schraeder directed the film with a different cast and script. The film, more of a character driven flick, was shelved by the studio... wanting a scare fest rather than a psychological drama.
So they hired Renny Harlin to direct reshoots and it ended up that not one frame of Schraeder's work will be seen.
So producers are now bent on releasing BOTH versions on DVD. Yes, both Schraeder's and Renny's. Renny's will debut onscreen, but when DVD time comes... we may see both prequels!
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TRAVOLTA ANSWERS QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS NEXT FILMS at 01:40 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Taken from Dark Horizons...
Question: You are doing "Be Cool" right now. What is generally your take on sequels?
Answer: I don't particularly care for sequels however, Elmore Leonard wrote the book "Be Cool" and then when you start to make a whole new unit and that much time and effort to make something that good, I think it takes on a whole other life. It's a wonderful script and a great cast. And, you don't get these people to do sequels. You don't get Uma and Harvey Keitel and Vince Vaughn to do these kinds of things so you know that it has to be high end script. And it's based on Elmore's very good sequel book. The opening line of the movie is 'Sequels'. Chili Palmer is fed up with them. The sequel that he did in the movie "Get Shorty" didn't work so he'd fed up with sequels. So it's very hip.
Question: What's happened to Renee and Gene's characters?
Answer: They aren't referred to because he's moving out of the movie industry and he's looking for a new horizon. He stumbles upon the music industry which is far funnier than the movie industry.
Question: Problems with Ladder 49 with fires?
Answer: Oh no. It's a brilliant movie. It's a really breathtaking film. It's the best firefighter film that's ever been made and I'm not even exaggerating. It's a beautiful movie. It's more along the lines of Apollo 13, that level of quality in the approach. It's by far the best homage to the firefighters. It's set in Baltimore and Joaquin Phoenix plays the young guy in it and I'm really his mentor in it. The main story is about him.
Question: Can you compare it to Backdraft at all?
Answer: It's so much more based in reality. You feel it in this. It's a beautiful story too. More importantly it doesn't play on anything but a genuine reality of what these guys are about. I love it. It's just beautiful.
Question: Do you still want to do a film musical?
Answer: I've always wanted to do a musical.
Question: Do you still have hopes to do the second half of Battlefield Earth?
Answer: I don't know. It did well but it would really depend on they wanted to do it. They have the rights to it. It would be up to them really to do it. Warner Bros. Doesn't have the rights, it's Elie Samaha. It would be up to him.
Question: Did Quentin tell you his new idea for Vega Brothers?
Answer: No. I heard it though a journalist that said Michael Madsen had mentioned something about it. But that's up to Quentin. I don't question him. I wouldn't even ask him. He'll tell me. He did it the first time. Someone said I had to vie to be in one of his films and I said 'I didn't the first time. Why would I have to that this time? He'll let me know'.
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ANISTON'S NEXT at 04:18 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Jennifer Aniston has committed to star in GAMBIT, the remake of the 1966 British caper film that starred Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine, for Universal Pictures and director Bo Welch. Story revolves around a British thief who comes up with a fool-proof plan to steal an expensive statue from one of the richest men in the world.
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THE APOCALYPSE HAS ARRIVED... McG WILL BE DIRECTING SUPERMAN at 02:04 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Warner Bros. has lost their minds.
Looks like McG had one final chance to present his "vision" to WB execs, and they bought into it. It also looks like McG's choice for the lead role, Henry Cavill, may be the frontrunner close to signing a deal.
I sense doom. A guy who has two subpar movies to his credit is getting possibly one of the biggest possible franchises in Hollywood.
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TARANTINO ANIME at 01:29 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Director Quentin Tarantino is planning an animated prequel to both the "Kill Bill" movies which will show the early times of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. The film will be drawn in Japanese anime style that was already seen in "Kill Bill Volume 1" and the story will focus on the three men (Esteban Vihaio, Hattori Hanzo and Pei Mei) who turned Bill into a ruthless killer.
Tarantino told Zap2It that "In the writing of the film, since I'm creating my own mythology from the ground up, I had to figure out that mythology, I had to really figure out what's going on. In the course of doing that I came up with all these cool stories and all these cool tales and these interesting things that would just bog everything down if I tried to get them across. So now that the mythology is set up, I'd like to explore it in a few different ways".
Yawn.
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RODRIGUEZ OFF OF "MARS" PIC at 01:15 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Robert Rodriguez's resignation from the Director's Guild of America has jeopardized Paramount's development of its Summer 2006 tentpole pic "A Princess of Mars".
Rodriguez recently left the DGA before he announced he would co-direct the comic adaptation "Sin City" for Dimension Films with Frank Miller, who created, wrote and illustrated the three-book graphic novel series. DGA rules specify that there be only one director assigned to direct a motion picture at any given time, although that rule is occasionally waivered (eg. the Coen brothers).
The catch is that Paramount is a DGA signatory and thus can only employ guild directors. Rodriguez left the DGA a decade ago to helm a portion of the failed "Four Rooms" project but rejoined for his horror flick "The Faculty". He's now currently Guild-free and shooting 'Sin' in Austin, Texas. Sin's cast now includes Johnny Depp, Bruce Willis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Josh Hartnett, Marley Shelton, Carla Gugino, Maria Bello, Benecio Del Toro, Kate Bosworth, Michael Douglas, Steve Buscemi, Jaime King, Brittany Murphy, Mickey Rourke, Christopher Walken and Elijah Wood.
Insiders close to Rodriguez insist he is unwilling to rejoin the DGA just to direct the $100+ million CG-extensive "Princess of Mars".
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REVOLUTION/DREAMWORKS NAME BATTLE at 01:12 PM by Ken Miyamoto
The studio last week lost the rights to use the title "Skipping Christmas" for its holiday comedy, which bows Nov. 24, after the Motion Picture Assn. of America ruled that the name was too similar to DreamWorks' "Surviving Christmas," which hits theaters earlier that month on Nov. 12. The MPAA also denied Revolution the option of using "John Grisham's Skipping Christmas" as an alternative. Revolution has yet to pick a new name, although "Skipping the Holidays" is being considered.
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KEATON'S NEXT at 09:23 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Diane Keaton has found her next project in "Mad Money," which Cosmic Entertainment is producing for MGM. "Mad" is a remake of the British comedy "Hot Money" and is described as a low-tech, female version of "Ocean's Eleven." It is narrated through the eyes of Keaton's character, one of three female janitors who rob the Federal Reserve. Callie Khouri is directing.
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ANOTHER BOXING MOVIE? at 09:22 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Justin Lin has come on board to develop and direct boxing drama "Annapolis" for the Walt Disney Co. Pic was set up at the studio as an untitled pitch from scribe David Collard ("Out of Time") two years ago under then-Disney exec Mark Vahradian.
Yawn.
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CLARKE'S 911 BOOK OPTIONED at 09:21 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Sony Pictures has optioned film rights to Richard Clarke's nonfiction best seller which has been at the center of the current national debate about America's readiness to respond to terrorist threats before Sept. 11. Clarke testified that the Bush White House didn't consider terrorism "an urgent issue" in the months before the al-Qaida attacks on New York and Washington.
Producer John Calley states that "they've just optioned it" and there is no movement on a film just yet.
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KNIGHTRIDER UPDATE at 09:15 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Taken from People magazine...
"This year, Hasselhoff will produce and co-star in a big screen version of his hit series KnightRider. In the new version, he'll reprise his role as Michael Knight, only this time, Knight's inherited the throne of the late Devon Miles, his original employer, while an on-screen son steers the talking car. While Daredevil Ben Affleck is reportedly the studio's first choice to play Knight Jr, Hasselhoff is adamant he'll get some of the original faces, or voices in this case, back for the film too. "I'd like it to be the old voice, William Daniels [as K.I.T.T]", Hasselhoff said in a recent interview".
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CONTRARY TO PAST STATEMENTS... TARANTINO WILL CUT BOTH KBs TOGETHER at 09:12 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Tarantino revealed that he plans to recut both Kill Bill films together for a special theatrical release later in the year.
"We did a special version [of Volume 1] for Japan that's only been shown in Japan and Hong Kong, and I kept the rights to that," Tarantino said. "I'll put the Japanese version together [with Volume 2] like I would if it was one complete movie, and then I'll release that throughout America and Europe in arthouse engagements."
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TARANTINO WANTS 007 at 05:25 PM by Ken Miyamoto
According to Quentin, he'd like to write and direct a 007 story based on the first novel CASINO ROYALE... with Brosnan starring in his fifth and final Bond flick. "Wouldn't it be great to have a James Bond movie that didn't cost $115 million and only cost $40 million or something like that? You know it's going to make its money back, and we [would] all do good. Maybe we win the critics this time, then you're back in business the way you were before".
I'm guessing this won't happen, but what a thought!
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FANTASTIC FOUR DIRECTOR at 05:15 PM by Ken Miyamoto
20th Century Fox and Marvel are going with "Barbershop" & "Taxi" director Tim Story to helm the superhero movie based on the comic "The Fantastic Four".
Filming begins in August, whilst TV's The Shield star Michael Chiklis is apparently up for the role of Benjamin Grimm (The Thing) and Tim Robbins is up for the Richards' role.
I sense DOOM for this project.
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3000 DEGREES CANCELLED! at 04:36 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Ed Harris, Woody Harrelson and Bill Crudup were set to star in the fact-based drama that would've been directed by Danny Boyle ("28 Days Later")... based on the story of an inferno at a century-old storage building in Worcester, Massachusettes in December 1999.
The studio decided to pass on it due for undisclosed reasons.
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CLANCY CHARACTER FINALLY GETTING THE SPOTLIGHT at 05:25 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Variety reports that Paramount has tapped scribes Stuart Beattie ("Collateral", "Pirates of the Caribbean") and John Enbom ("Six Shooters") in separate deals to adapt the Tom Clancy novels "Without Remorse" and "Rainbow Six," respectively. Both novels are based around the CIA agent John Clark character, the darker more shadowy character Clancy invented as something of an antithesis to his high and noble hero Jack Ryan.
'Remorse' centers on an ex-Navy SEAL who infiltrates a gang responsible for killing a woman he loved and then taking on a new name and life as John Clark. "Rainbow' has Clark joining with several colleagues to leave the CIA and create an England-based multinational org designed to battle terrorism.
The Clark character has appeared twice on-screen before, portrayed by Willem Dafoe in "Clear and Present Danger" and Liev Schreiber in "The Sum of All Fears". A year ago Paramount acquired rights to Clancy's "Red Rabbit" to be developed as a fifth Jack Ryan movie and signed "Saving Private Ryan" scribe Robert Rodat to adapt. No further information is available on how it's going.
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KAUFMAN VENTS ABOUT CLOONEY at 05:22 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Looks like Charlie Kaufman wasn't too happy with George Clooney's directorial debut for his script of CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND.
Kaufman says "I was upset by the fact that he took the movie from me and then cut me out after that. Im unhappy with the end result. And Im unhappy with George Clooney. I had a movie that I wrote and that isnt it...I've always been involved in the process with Spike (Jonze) and Michel (Gondry). If there's any rewriting to do, I do it. But with Clooney it was differenteven the end of the movie is different. I mean, Clooney went on forever about how my Confessionsscreenplay was one of the greatest scripts hed read. But if someone truthfully felt that way they'd want the person who wrote it to be onboard offering their thoughts and criticisms. But Clooney didn't, and I think its a silly way to be a director".
Kaufman in the meantime is continuing work on other projects - "Spike and I recently pitched this idea for a scary movie to Sony pictures. I don't have a title for it yet and Im not even sure what the plots going to be. But that's the way I write: without knowing where something is going".
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BRUCKHEIMER OUT OF BEVERLY HILLS COP 4 at 05:13 PM by Ken Miyamoto
The original producer of the first two films recently stated, "Though I was not involved in the third film, we were exploring the possibility of a fourth installment of the BEVERLY HILLS COP franchise, but have decided not to pursue it at this time".
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JOHNNY CASH BIOPIC? at 05:26 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are tipped to star as Johnny and June Carter Cash in a new biopicbased on Johny Cash's life.
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POLANSKI'S NEXT at 05:25 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski says his next film will be based on Charles Dickens' classic novel "Oliver Twist." Shooting is scheduled to begin in the Czech Republic by midyear. The book has been adapted for the screen by Ronald Harwood.
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DARABONT WRITING MI3!! at 05:24 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Frank Darabont has been tapped to write "Mission: Impossible 3" for Cruise/Wagner Prods. and Paramount Pictures, replacing original scribe Robert Towne. Towne had begun writing the third installment of the action franchise but is now focusing on his long-gestating project "Ask the Dust" due to go into production next month in South Africa.
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3000 DEGREES CASTING at 05:24 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Ed Harris and Woody Harrelson are set to star in the firefighting ensemble movie that Danny Boyle is directing for Warner Bros. Billy Crudup also is in negotiations to join the project. The film is based on an Esquire article detailing a tragic fire that turned a century-old storage building in Worcester, Mass., into a cinderbox that claimed the lives of six firefighters.
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SPONGE BOB VOICES at 05:23 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Nickelodeon Movies has signed up Scarlett Johansson, Alec Baldwin and Jeffrey Tambor for voice work in its animated feature which centers on the irrepressible SpongeBob's efforts to retrieve King Neptune's stolen crown.
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SMITH'S NEXT at 05:23 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Nickelodeon Movies and Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment are moving forward on sci-fi actioner "The Mark," a long-in-development project, with Smith toplining. Smith will star as an everyman who discovers a strange mark has transferred to his body from the corpse of a Confederate soldier. Although the mark grants him special powers, he also struggles with the impulse to use it for evil purposes.
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FAT ALBERT CASTING at 05:20 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Teen star Kyla Pratt has been cast in the big-screen adaptation of the children's cartoon series as the teenage girl whose favorite 'toon characters fall out of her TV set and into her life. Joel Zwick is directing....
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BODY SNATCHERS SCRIBE at 05:05 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Dave Kajganich ("Town Creek") has been hired to write the remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" for Warner Bros. Kajganich is also penning an update of the 1979 ghost tale "The Changeling" for Focus Features.
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DAMN YANKEES ARE BACK at 05:05 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein has sent Peter Tolan and Mike Martineau to the plate to script a new screen version of "Damn Yankees," the 1955 musical that will be produced by the "Chicago" team of Craig Zadan and Neil Meron.
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ANISTON'S NEXT at 05:02 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Jennifer Aniston has committed to star in "Gambit," the remake of the 1966 British caper film that starred Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine, her rep confirmed. The project had been set up at Universal Pictures, with Burr Steers signed on to write and direct.
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SHADOWMANCER at 05:01 PM by Ken Miyamoto
A producer and financier who've made no films have paid a fortune to secure screen rights to "Shadowmancer," a fantasy novel that has drawn comparisons to the "Harry Potter" series. The 18th-century ghost story follows three children's battle against an evil vicar out to control the world who has the ability to enlist the dead as his forces.
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THERE'S MEET THE FOCKERS, AND THEN THERE'S MEET THE MO'FOCKERS... NO JOKE at 04:30 PM by Ken Miyamoto
""Soul Plane" scribe Chuck Wilson will write "Meet the Mo'Fockers" for Maverick Entertainment, based on a story he created with actor-comedian DeRay Davis. Comedy will also be Wilson's feature-directing bow. In the script, a high-society African-American man falls in love with a beautiful woman whom he believes possesses a social pedigree similar to his own. As he prepares to ask for her hand in marriage, he discovers his would-be in-laws are straight from the 'hood -- and that he had a one-night stand with the woman's mother.
The apocolypse is near...
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BLACK ON KONG at 04:06 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Jack Black has been in cast in Peter Jackson's remake of "King Kong" for Universal Pictures. Jackson and Fran Walsh will produce the film under their WingNut Films banner. Black will play Carl Denham, an adventurous filmmaker and showman trying to make a name for himself in 1930s New York. Robert Armstrong played the role in the 1933 original.
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KING KONG CASTING at 04:06 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Adrien Brody is in negotiations with Universal Pictures to join the cast of Peter Jackson's "King Kong." U has offered Brody the role of Jack Driscoll, a former World War I fighter pilot who is the love interest for archaeologist Ann Darrow, to be played by Naomi Watts.
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CASTING FOR ELIZABETHTOWN at 04:01 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Paramount has tapped Susan Sarandon for Cameron Crowe's romantic comedy "Elizabethtown," starring along with Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom. Sarandon is in talks to portray the role of the mother of Bloom's character for the project, produced by Crowe and Paramount-based Cruise/Wagner with lensing expected to start this summer.
Will this EVER start shooting?
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NO MORE STAR TREK at 03:58 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Marina Sirtis appeared at this past weekend's United Fan Con outside Boston where according to IGN Filmforce, she advised fans on Saturday not to anticipate any further "Star Trek" films: "It's over. There's not going to be another one". The cause was due to the box office failure "Star Trek: Nemesis" and suggested it's time perhaps for "Star Trek" to retire for at least a decade before it's brought back.
How could they screw up this franchise?
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KEN'S VIEWS ON A NEW, UP AND COMING TREND IN HOLLYWOOD at 11:54 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Okay, I'll make this short and quick.
The movie trailer has always been a corner stone in Hollywood history, giving audiences a quick sneak peak into upcoming features. The movie trailer catapulted opening ticket sales beginning around 1975, when marketing campaigns took hold of films like JAWS and reinvente the way movie trailers are made.
Starting sometime in the late 90s, the trailers began to show us too much. Some even giving away the ending of a movie.
Now, Hollywood studios have gone too far. The new trend: Showing the first ten minutes of a movie on a TV broadcast, or on the internet. DAWN OF THE DEAD and TAKING LIVES have been the forerunners of this new practice, and I must say, it scares me to think that this will become the norm.
What's next? Do we have to sit in a theater for 30 minutes while we watch the first 10 minutes of three different upcoming films? You know it could happen.
I prefer a minute and a half to two minutes of quick glimses of what to expect. Show me who's in it, set up the story, show me some intrigue, and then shut the @#$@ up about it.
Some say that it will draw in viewers who are left hanging after watching the opening 10 minutes... I say, it's just stupid. Some movies take time for the story to unveil... what happens to movies like that? Are we going to see a bunch of films where the first ten minutes are produced very well, while the rest just doesn't pack the punch, just so the studio can bring in a huge opening?
Stick to tradition. You want to use the internet to market? Fine. But stick to the trailers. Don't start something that we're all going to regret.
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RUSH HOUR 3 AND MONEY TALKS 2 at 11:39 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Chris Tucker, the high paid actor who never works, is poised for back-to-back sequels. New Line has begun to develop "Money Talks 2," the sequel to the action comedy that helped make Tucker a star. He's also close to signing on for Rush Hour 3.
Does anybody really care about this "actor", or any of his movies? I will if he tries something original.
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SW3 UPDATE at 11:35 PM by Ken Miyamoto
105 FX shots are complete, leaving 1900 or so to go - they'll have to deliver about 35 shots a week to get to the end of the film. Additional photography has been delayed til August.
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FUQUA AND WASHINGTON WORKING TOGETHER AGAIN! at 11:34 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Denzel Washington and helmer Antoine Fuqua are in negotiations to reunite on a biopic of Harlem heroin kingpin Frank Lucas. Under the working title "The Return of Superfly," pic is being produced by Brian Grazer and Imagine Entertainment for Universal Pictures.
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at 11:33 PM by Ken Miyamoto
ABCs developing a telepic that would likely be the first major production to emerge from Disney's deal to take control of Muppets brand and characters. Debra Frank and Steven Hayes are writing a script for the pic, which will feature familiar Muppet characters retelling the classic "Wizard of Oz" story.
If Disney was smart, they would EITHER put some money into making this a feature film OR take the Wizard of Oz story and make it into a brilliant animated feature ala the Lion King, Aladdin, etc. But ofcourse... they won't. They fired all of their animators, and don't seem to know how to take a goldmine like the Muppets and bring them back to film.
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CHEAPER 2 COMING OUR WAY at 11:31 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Twentieth Century Fox has hired Sam Harper to pen a second installment of last year's hit "Cheaper by the Dozen." And Disney-based producer-director Adam Shankman has snapped up Harper's latest pitch "Overparenting," even as he's awaiting Harper's rewrite on animated chestnut "The Jetsons," which is set up at Warner Bros. as a possible Shankman helming vehicle. While no cast deals have been made yet, Harper is planning on delivering a second "Cheaper" by mid-summer to Fox brass.
The studio obviously hasn't learned from last summer's sequel blunders.
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BROSNAN VAGUE ON 007 RETURN at 11:29 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Pierce Brosnan recently commented when asked about whether he thinks he will return as James Bond, "I don’t know. We’re in a very opaque land at the moment. I’m certainly willing to come back for a fifth and final one. But I think the producers are certain a kind of paralysis has set in. And they don’t know where to go, how to go with this film. So if it happens, great. If it doesn’t, I’ve done my four - the contract was for four...We set a fine bar there with the last picture. And from what I can gather from Barbara and Michael, they don’t know what to do".
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WOO AND HUGH JACKMAN TOGETHER at 11:26 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Director John Woo is hoping to catch Hugh Jackman to star in his action/musical feature. Jackman is an action star ofcourse, but is a celebrated Broadway performer as well.
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ANOTHER EXORCISM MOVIE? at 11:24 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Screen Gems and Lakeshore Entertainment have scared up this horror thriller with Scott Derrickson attached to direct. A true story from 1976, the Catholic Church officially recognized the demonic possession of an 18-year-old German college freshman. During her exorcism, the young woman died, and a priest stood trial for causing her death.
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STELLAR CAST FOR SIN CITY at 11:24 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruce Willis, Elijah Wood, Mickey Rourke, Brittany Murphy, Kate Bosworth and Jaime King have been targeted for the film, an adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel series. Some of the actors have already signed on for parts in the pic, while others are only in discussions or have just received offers to join the cast. Other names being bandied about include Benicio Del Toro and Maria Bello.
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MARTIN AND KLINE REUNITE? at 11:23 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Kevin Kline is in negotiations to team up with Steve Martin in "The Pink Panther" for MGM and helmer Shawn Levy. Shooting starts in May in New York, followed by Paris. Kline plays chief Inspector Dreyfus, who needs an idiot to take over the investigation of the missing legendary "Pink Panther" diamond ring. The person he needs is a fool who will divert public attention that in turn will make him look better when he solves the case himself. He then turns to Inspector Clouseau (Martin).
The two actors previously paired up in the underrated GRAND CANYON.
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WOOD'S NEXT at 11:22 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Elijah Wood is set to star in Warner Independent Pictures' "Everything Is Illuminated." Liev Schreiber is making his directorial debut on the feature. "Illuminated" tells the story of a young American Jewish man (Wood) and his quest to find the woman who saved his grandfather in a small Ukrainian town that was wiped off the map by the Nazis. A drama with many comedic elements, the movie starts shooting June 14 in Prague
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TWO OSCAR NOMINEES IN A BARBERSHOP SPINOFF?? at 11:21 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Oscar-nominated actor Djimon Hounsou and Alicia Silverstone are checking into "Beauty Shop" alongside Queen Latifah for MGM and "Honey" helmer Bille Woodruff. Shooting starts next month on the "Barbershop" spinoff, which is being produced by Queen Latifah.
Yawn.
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PITT AS JESSE JAMES? at 11:20 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Brad Pitt has been approached to take on the lead role of gunslinging Jesse James. Warner Bros. has formed a partnership with Plan B, Scott Free and director Andrew Dominik to make a Western out of Robert Hansen novel.
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USUAL SUSPECTS WRITER'S NEXT at 11:18 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Paramount has signed Oscar-winning scribe Christopher McQuarrie ("The Usual Suspects") to pen an untitled military action-adventure for Par-based Alphaville. Project, expected to be fast-tracked, will center on the fate of a special forces team assigned to test the security of the most sensitive government and military installations. A year after they disband, they are asked to reassemble to stop the terrorist activities of a group that has adopted their tactics and techniques.
My kind of movie!
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MGMs PRODUCTION SLATE at 11:16 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Here are a few films that the struggling studio has in development.
"Beat The House"
A draft of the adaptation of the non-fiction book is in, and is now out to a very short list of directors that are 'Kevin Spacey approved'. No casting as yet.
"Camp David"
Cary Williamson has been hired, he's a young Irish writer from Mosaic Media.
"Mad Money"
Casting right now with Diane Keaton practically set. Khali Couri directing.
"Other End of the Line"
A rom-com about a guy who calls in about an identity theft and begins to make friends with the woman on the other end of the line. She likes him (over the phone), now knowing a lot about him, enters his life not letting him know who she is. She is actually a woman who was pre-arranged to get married and ran out.
"Pink Panther"
Beyonce now a lock.
"Raised by Ghosts"
Currently being reconceived to be more like "Elf" with ghosts. Baby gets left on the doorstop of what mother thinks is a nice home, but actually it's a haunted house. He's then raised by ghosts and thinks that scaring people and haunting is a nice thing to do. House is then going to be torn down and he has to save it. "Supercar Wheels of Fury" - Hired Marc Hyman to rewrite, but its taking a while.
"Toy Men"
Follows an on-the-road toy salesman. Won't be period, but Vince Vaughn wants it pre-cellphone era.
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EXORCIST PREQUEL FINALLY DONE SHOOTING at 09:41 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Renny Harlin's reshoot of EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING wrapped after 13 weeks on Rome's Cinecitta Studios backlot. Reportedly, there is not a single frame of the footage shot by Paul Schrader to be included in the pic.
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FIREFLY: THE MOVIE GETS GREENLIGHT!! at 09:37 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Universal has greenlit Joss Whedon's SERENITY, the feature film based on his Fox TV series "Firefly." Whedon will direct and the original cast is set to reprise their roles for a June start and 2005 release.
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RODRIGUEZ'S NEXT at 09:36 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Robert Rodriguez is set to direct Edgar Rice Burroughs' science fiction classic PRINCESS OF MARS for Paramount. The film is based on the first book in Burroughs' 11-book series, JOHN CARTER OF MARS, which centers on John Carter, a Civil War officer from Virginia who is transported to Mars and finds himself a captive of the savage green men from Thark. Mark Protosevich (THE CELL) penned the latest draft. Rodriguez will shoot MARS following SIN CITY for Dimension Films.
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OLDMAN CONFIRMED FOR BATMAN BEGINS... at 09:35 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Gary Oldman is set to play Lt. James Gordon opposite Christian Bale in Warner Bros. Pictures' BATMAN BEGINS
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LEO RETEAMING WITH SCORSESE? at 09:31 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Leonardo DiCaprio might reteam with Martin Scorsese, his director on "Gangs of New York" and the upcoming release "The Aviator." Sources said DiCaprio is in talks to star in "Infernal Affairs" for Warner Bros. Pictures. Based on a trilogy of Chinese-language gangster movies, "Infernal" is being produced by Scorsese as well as Brad Grey, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt's Plan B shingle. Sources said Pitt most likely will star in the picture as well.
Yawn.
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JACKSON CONFIRMS "HOBBIT" AGAIN! at 09:30 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Jackson states that he hopes to take on THE HOBBIT soon after KING KONG. The soonest it would happen would be 2007.
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X-MEN DIRECTOR UP FOR LOGUN'S RUN? at 09:28 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Bryan Singer is in negotiations to develop and direct "Logan's Run" for Warner Bros. Singer is producing the project with Joel Silver. Originally a book by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, the novel takes place in a youth-obsessed future society where residents are euthanized as soon as they turn 21. The story centers on Logan, a police officer whose job it is to track down those who run from their fate until he decides to run as well and search for Sanctuary, a fabled place where older folks live. MGM adapted the book into a 1976 movie starring Michael York.
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SEQUEL NEWS! at 09:25 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Thanks to Dark Horizons...
X3
Hugh Jackman recently spoke about the possibility of returning as Wolverine to Horror.Com and it all sounds good: "I'm contracted for another Van Helsing, but I'm not contracted for any more X-Men. But, would I like to do it? I'd find it hard to see someone else play the role, yeah. I love both of them. If I hated the movies and had to come again, it would be a terrible situation".
James Bond 21
Pierce Brosnan is still playing coy about coming back as 007 according to CBN. Gossip queen extraordinaire Cindy Adams talked with Pierce Brosnan last week at an Oscar party and asked him flat out whether he'll do the next Bond film. His response: "Well, I really can't say. Actually, it's not for me to say. I mean, I don't know. I'm certainly willing. I would think, I guess, that the people you should probably be asking are the producers, not me".
Spider-Man 3
With all the talk that Maguire and Raimi are already speaking about the next film but aren't signed yet, Kirsten Dunst revealed to About.Com that everyone is signed on for three films. What about renegotiations? "For more money? No, that hasn’t even started yet. We have to get through the publicity tour of the second one first"
Superman
Mediasharx reports that according to "Smallville" star Allison Mack at the MegaCon over the weekend, Beyonce Knowles and Jessica Biel are still the leading candidates for the Lois Lane role in the Superman movie. Expect the Lois character to potentially appear soon on the show.
The Fast & The Furious 3
Vin Diesel's return has been rumoured for a while, last week Paul Walker indicated he's out of the project (it may have to do with Vin's participation). Now British film mag HotDog indicates that one of Vin's requirements for coming back to play Dom is that the first film's director Rob Cohen helm it again.
Daredevil 2
Guillermo Del Toro is rumoured to be circling a sequel to the recent "Daredevil" movie, this time the project to be based on Frank Miller's acclaimed "Born Again" story and would only have DD in his costume for a very short time in the film.
The Punisher 2
IGN FilmForce just published an interview with Jonathan Hensleigh, writer/director of "The Punisher", and sequel talk is already underway it seems: "I definitely want to do that. Thomas Jane and I have a pledge to work together. I love him. I think that he is a new kind of American cinema actor that hasn't been around for 20-30 years. He's a sort of a throwback...Thomas and I are taking meetings together on a number of projects, but there's one in specific that we're trying to get going".
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MI:3 VILLIAN? at 09:23 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Phillip Seymour Hoffman has been offered the villian role is the delayed sequel. No word yet on if he has signed or not.
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DIESEL RETURNING TO FURIOUS at 09:21 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Looks to be so. Vin is circling the third film, while Paul Walker seems to be out. Yawn.
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LETHAL WEAPON 5 IS UP TO GIBSON at 09:19 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Director Richard Donner comments, "It's up to Mel. If he says yes then there's another Lethal Weapon. I have a great story, I'd love to do it and put Lethal Weapon to bed."
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PET SEMATARY BEING REMADE? at 09:17 PM by Ken Miyamoto
""Face/Off" scribes Mike Werb and Michael Colleary have been tapped to disinter "Pet Sematary". Paramount has signed the screenwriting team to script a remake of the horror thriller, based on Stephen King's story of a family moving to a small Maine town with a pet cemetery and an Indian burial ground, for Par-based Alphaville to produce.
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ANISTON'S NEXT at 09:16 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Jennifer Aniston is filling up her film slate. Thesp is set to star in "Diary" for Escape Artists at Columbia Pictures. Story concerns a married woman whose diary is stolen and then used against her. Original script was written by Eric Nicholas, with current revisions by George Hickenlooper.
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KIDMAN AND LOPEZ TEAMING UP? at 09:16 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Lopez are tuning up to star in "American Darlings," a period drama that was bought preemptively by New Regency from a four-page pitch. Kidman has been the driving force behind the construct of the film, a drama about a white female swing band that joins forces with a group of black and Hispanic musicians at a time when women were ostracized from playing male-dominated clubs.
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DIRECTOR TALKS PITCH BLACK SEQUELS at 09:15 PM by Ken Miyamoto
David Twohy talks to a French magazine about the upcoming Riddick films.
Where do the origins of "The Chronicles of Riddick" come from?
"I did not like the sequel idea the studio offered to me. I said to them: "If you want to develop his story, you have to make it more ambitious." So I offered them the idea to develop a trilogy around Riddick, Vin Diesel's character, so this way TCOR would be the first part. In case of success, we will do C-2 and C-3 (the code name for the two sequels after TCOR), just like Peter Jackson did LOTR, doing the two movies during one shooting. The idea was if I spent a certain part of my life on a project, it had to be the richest and most ambitious as possible. When Universal saw the success of LOTR, they happily accepted my idea."
Riddick is a bad man, a murderer. How can you build a gigantic movie around such a troublemaker character?
"Exactly that's what I love in this movie. Riddick is an anti-hero. He is not the glorious type who confronts the difficulties with positivity. He carries a very negative vision on the world and the people with himself. I don't want to glorify him, and exactly that's what was hard to make the studio understand. In reality, we see the other Star Wars, TCOR won't be manichean with the Good against the Bad. This movie is less schematic. The hero is a murderer, but within the negative dimension, you will realise, there's good within him. Also, this movie follows the path of Pitch Black, where all the characters had a double edge. This movie is too controversial, too cool for an expensive film."
It seems like Riddick has "primitive powers", so they say?
"This movie will uncover the origins of Riddick, and the viewers will realise that he is not a normal man. You will better understand how is he changing. Riddick is much more than you can believe. You will explore the new powers and forces within him. The movie will follow him towards countless universes, battling with the enemies. But TCOR is also about spiritualism. There will many theological references, even if I am agonistic. But religion and the way they practice it, interest me a lot."
In sci-films, it's obligatory to shoot a space ship battle scene?
"So we have one. But ours is set in the sky, in the night. If you want a reference what you can see, imagine the aero battles during the war in Iraq,but in the future."
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PRODUCER TALKS G.I. JOE at 09:11 PM by Ken Miyamoto
G.I. Joe producer Lorenzo DiBonaventura gives an update on the project...
"There are a lot of different ways that the audience has connected with G.I. Joe [over the years]," DiBonaventura advised ToyFare, "so, we're going to do our best to honor as many as we can."
He confirmed that G.I. Joe will feature an updated take on Cobra Command, as well as origins for a few key characters. The producer also promised that fans are "definitely going to see ninja and martial arts aspects in the story."
"It's been an education for me in reading the comic books and seeing the shows and getting to know the characters that I wasn't familiar with growing up," said DiBonaventura. "We've been trying to get inside Duke, who will be our lead character, and fleshing out what Duke stands for, what his internal fears are and trying to craft a story that highlights that and plays off that."
Michael Gordon's script focuses "on Duke and [newcomer] Rex, and, essentially, the conflict that Rex represents for all of the Joes and specifically to Duke."
Excited about the movie, I'm THE G.I. JOE fan... but why the hell do they have to bring in a NEW character never mentioned in the cartoon or comics??? What's the point? The two main characters should be Duke and Snake Eyes. Plain and simple. Snake Eyes has that mystique about him that Wolverine has in X-Men. We'll just have to wait and see.
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BABS WITH STILLER??? at 09:05 PM by Ken Miyamoto
MY WORST NIGHTMARE COMES TRUE! Barbara Streisand is returning to acting!! NOOOO! Ben Stiller himself requested that she take on the role of his mother in MEET THE FOCKERS. Dustin Hoffman will play his father, while De Niro returns as his in-law to be.
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LORDS OF DOGTOWN! at 09:03 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Jeremy Renner, who starred in last summer's "S.W.A.T." for helmer Clark Johnson and Columbia Pictures, is set to reteam with the studio on Catherine Hardwicke's "Lords of Dogtown." The project explores 1970s skateboarding culture. Heath Ledger, Emile Hirsch, John Robinson, Victor Rasuk and Nikki Reed also star.
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CHARLIZE'S NEXT at 09:02 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Charlize Theron is poised to star for "Whale Rider" director Niki Caro in "Class Action," a drama Warner Bros. and Industry Entertainment are mounting for a winter start. Theron's "Class Action" character is a woman who has been abused by men all her life until she becomes fed up and does something radical about it. Her remedy is to become the key plaintiff in the first successful sexual harassment prosecution in the US.
She also just signed for AEON FLUX!
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CINDERELLA MOVING at 09:01 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Universal has moved the release date of boxing drama "Cinderella Man," helmed by Ron Howard and starring Russell Crowe, from Dec. 17 to March 18, 2005. The "Cinderella" move comes after production on the pic was delayed to April 19 because Crowe dislocated his shoulder in January while training for the film.
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AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... at 11:43 PM by Ken Miyamoto
What a night for the people below! The first fantasy film to win Best Picture also manages to attain a three way tie for most Oscars won: Ben-Hur, Titanic, and now Lords of the Rings: The Return of the King have all won 11 Academy Awards. Return of the King swept EVERY category that is was nominated for! A true testament to Peter Jackson's nine year journey to make these films.
Most categories had no upset winners, the closest "upset" being Sean Penn's win over Bill Murray... but both were equally deserving.
I'm thrilled for Charlize Theron's win! She is a fine actress and is now in a very welcome position on the Hollywood A-List. Step aside Cameron Diaz, you're time is up. Scripts will go to Charlize now:)
BEST PICTURE
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
Barrie M. Osborne, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Sean Penn
MYSTIC RIVER
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Tim Robbins
MYSTIC RIVER
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Charlize Theron
MONSTER
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Renée Zellweger
COLD MOUNTAIN
DIRECTING
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
Peter Jackson
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
FINDING NEMO
Andrew Stanton
ART DIRECTION
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
Grant Major (Art Direction); Dan Hennah and Alan Lee (Set Decoration)
CINEMATOGRAPHY
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
Russell Boyd
COSTUME DESIGN
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
THE FOG OF WAR
Errol Morris and Michael Williams
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
CHERNOBYL HEART
Maryann DeLeo
FILM EDITING
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
Jamie Selkirk
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS
Canada
Directed by Denys Arcand
HONORARY AWARD
HONORARY AWARD
Blake Edwards
MAKEUP
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
Richard Taylor
Peter King
MUSIC (SCORE)
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
Howard Shore
MUSIC (SONG)
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
"Into the West"
Music and Lyric by Fran Walsh and Howard Shore and Annie Lennox
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
HARVIE KRUMPET
Adam Elliot
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
TWO SOLDIERS
Aaron Schneider and Andrew J. Sacks
SOUND EDITING
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
Richard King
SOUND MIXING
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
VISUAL EFFECTS
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
Screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
LOST IN TRANSLATION
Written by Sofia Coppola
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KEN'S VIEWS OF "THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST" at 11:32 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Every so often, a film comes around that puts a true stamp on the legend and lore of film history.
But not so often, does a film emerge that goes beyond that realm and touch not only a nation, but the world.
Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ has stirred controversy, ridicule, and overall criticism... even long before the film was released. His interpretation of the ancient Passion scribes, and the biblical Gospels, has become one of the highest debated movies of our time. Sparking arguments between historians, Christians, and Jews, the film has managed to peak worldy interest despite the controversy. That spark has lifted Gibson's small, self-financed film into one of Hollywood's most profitable movies. The film has made an outstanding $117.5 million since it's opening on Tuesday night, and looks to be headed towards a long and healthy run at the Box Office for weeks to come.
But despite the financial success, Gibson's film has possibly become the greatest portrayal of Jesus Christ and his crucifixion. Many seem to scoff and say that the film only brings back the anti-Semite issues of Christ's story, but after finally seeing the film, I believe that no such thing occurs.
The story ofcourse follows Christ's last hours from when he is captured in the woods, to the beginning moments of his resurrection. While Gibson does capture the Gospel as literally as he can, he also manages to keep the argument of who was "responsible" for His death open to interpretation. There is no finger pointing or accusation thrown towards or away from the Jewish community. While it is a known fact that Christ was a Jew, and that Jewish people were a factor in his eventual trial, Gibson never answers any questions for us.
This controversy was a well crafted media machine. Someone saw a story, and rolled with it. Others quickly jumped on the bandwagon. The death of Christ is, and always will be, a highly debated subject between the Christian and Jewish communities... but perhaps a film like this can open the eyes of many on BOTH sides.
How you interpret this film will depend on your own beliefs, your own upbringing, and whether or not you choose to take this film as a piece of artwork, as it was intended to be, or as a piece of attempted testament to what really happened. It is, my friends, only one point of view... only one man's interpretation of one of the greatest stories known to man.
The brutality of the film has opened yet a new controversy, with critics screaming that the film is too violent and deserves an NC-17 rating. With some insisting that Gibson uses violence to shock us all. Most of these critics were ones that proclaimed such films as The Matrix, Fight Club, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, etc. as being high quality films... thumbs ups, four stars, and so on. Funny isn't it. They can't register that the true fact is... Christ's death WAS brutal. If you believe He was the Messiah or not, his eventual death was horrible in every fashion of the word. He was tortured, and tortured again. He was crucified... with nails piercing his skin and bones. Gibson didn't use the violence for shock value, or for entertainment purposes like the aforementioned films and more beyond them. He told the story.
The Passion of the Christ IS a brutal film, but it is a piece of art and expression that shall and will be remembered for years to come. It is a reminder of humanity's shortcomings and weaknesses. It is not a proclamation stating that Jews killed Christ, but instead a rememberance that He died for ALL of man, be they Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Budhists.
If naysayers, be they Christian or Jewish, would look at the film without the echo of the media... they might see a truth or realisation of their own. In the film, when Christ is barely able to lift His wooden cross, a Jewish man is picked from the crowd to help him. He looks over to see this tortured soul, and while he journeys with Christ up the long climb, wooden cross on their backs, their arms embrace. A testament by Gibson perhaps, stating that Jews and Christians alike should feel no seperation between them. They are both in fact... man.
I celebrate Gibson's risk, and his vision. It is a film that is finely crafted, without the use of any Hollywood tricks to manipulate the audience. Go and see the film, and interpret it as you wish. With an open mind, and an open heart.
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ROMANO AND JAMES TEAMING UP? at 10:39 PM by Ken Miyamoto
New Line Cinema picked up the William Tepper script MEN DON'T QUIT for a possible vehicle to star Ray Romano and Kevin James. Romano and James will play friends who team as door-to-door salesman of bulk quantities of frozen meat. The boys are in a slump, and if they don't move some beef on this particular day, they're dead meat.
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SWINGERS STAR TAKING ON JUMANJI at 10:39 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Jon Favreau is in talks to direct ZATHURA, the follow-up to JUMANJI, at Columbia Pictures. The sequel, based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg, will be set within the confines of an intergalactic board game. David Koepp penned the script.
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ELEKTRA STILL ON THE GO? at 10:38 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Rob Bowman (X-FILES) is in negotations with Fox/Regency to direct ELEKTRA, a DAREDEVIL spinoff that will star Jennifer Garner, to shoot in May. Horseshoe Bay is producing with Marvel's Avi Arad. Zak Penn wrote the script. The plot will draw heavily from the graphic novels THE ELEKTRA ASSASSIN and THE ELEKTRA SAGA, as she battles the Hand, an organization of killers that trained her and then betrayed her. One major character will be Stick, a martial arts trainer who is a venerable Marvel Comics figure.
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SANDLER TAKES ON "THE LONGEST YARD" at 10:37 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Peter Segal (ANGER MANAGEMENT, 50 FIRST DATES) has agreed to direct Adam Sandler, Chris Rock and Snoop Dogg in the remake of THE LONGEST YARD, for Paramount and Sony. Production is set to begin in June from a script by Sheldon Turner.
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OPEN SEASON COMING at 10:36 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher and Debra Messing will lend their voices to OPEN SEASON, Sony Pictures Animation's first feature-length CGI motion picture. The pic centers on a domesticated grizzly bear, who teams up with a mule deer as the two are stranded in the woods during hunting season. Jill Culton directs, with Anthony Stacchi serving as co-director. The project is inspired by the work of syndicated cartoonist Steve Moore ("In the Bleachers"), who will serve as executive producer along with John Carls.
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HOUSE OF WAX REMAKE at 10:36 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Chad Michael Murray ("One Tree Hill," FREAKY FRIDAY) will star in Dark Castle Entertainment's HOUSE OF WAX remake for Warner Bros. Pictures/Village Roadshow Pictures. The film, written by Chad and Carey Hayes, will shoot in Australia.
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INFERNO COMING at 10:32 PM by Ken Miyamoto
New Line Cinema has bought David Jung and Steve Dandois' action thriller "Inferno" for Karz Entertainment to produce. Story follows a betrayed narcotics officer who resurrects himself as a gang lord to exact revenge.
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NEW LINE PICKS UP BONE CANYON at 10:29 PM by Ken Miyamoto
New Line Cinema has bought screenwriter Harris Wilkinson's pitch for his horror story BONE CANYON. Wilkinson's tale involves a group of college pals whose plane crashlands near a remote mountain town. Instead of finding safety in civilization, the friends begin to be hunted down by malevolent supernatural forces.
Wilkinson has been busy writing scripts for a proposed live-action WENDY THE WITCH movie and a sequel to STIR OF ECHOES.
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JACKMAN IN ON THE FOUNTAIN? at 10:28 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Hugh Jackmen is close to signing onto Darren Aronofsky's long delayed epic THE FOUNTAIN. Brad Pitt was previously attached to the role, until he exited weeks before shooting due to creative differences.
THE FOUNTAIN is set in three different time periods: the past (during the time the Spanish conquered South America), the present (in a modern day city) and the future (onboard a starship 500 years into the future.) Pitt and then co-star Cate Blanchett were to play different characters in these three time periods that are linked together by similar events.
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THERON AS AEON FLUX? at 10:25 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Charlize Theron has finally been welcomed onto the A-List after winning her first Academy Award... and now all options are open for her. Her first big payoff will be the upcoming and long-in-development AEON FLUX, based on the wildy popular MTV Animated series from the 90s.
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PASSION REIGNS! at 10:26 PM by Ken Miyamoto
While Mel Gibson continues to struggle with critics, both in the film industry and in the world of religion, SOME of his blood, sweat, and tears have finally paid off! The Passion of the Christ has already earned $26 million in just over one day at the Box Office (Tuesday night prescreenings and Wed. ticket sales)! Gibson spent a reported $30 million of his own money on the project, and looks forward to a huge profit margin.
I predict a LONG run for the film, which ofcourse means large numbers for its Box Office.
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BATMAN HAS A TITLE! at 10:17 PM by Ken Miyamoto
While the preproduction name was Batman: Intimidation Game... Warner Brothers finally announced the true title to the reinvention of the franchise, whis is, BATMAN BEGINS. Better than the first title, but still a bit boring.
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MUIPPETS HAVE A NEW HOME! at 11:57 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Disney loses Pixar... but gains Jim Hensen's Muppet franchise. Well, it's not so much of a franchice now, but with a few good moves Disney could bring back our furry friends to the limelight that they deserve.
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THX-1138 COMING TO DVD? at 11:54 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Warner Home Video will release a special edition disc of George Lucas's futuristic classic later this year that's rated R and entitled "THX - 1138: The George Lucas Director's Cut".
Finally!
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RETURN OF THE KING BOX OFFICE at 11:53 PM by Ken Miyamoto
The third 'Rings is poised to become the second-biggest worldwide grosser after "Titanic" following a solid weekend bow in Japan. Trilogy-capping fantasy also aims to follow the James Cameron phenom into the record books as only the second film ever to ring up more than $1 billion.
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TOMB RAIDER 3? at 11:51 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Yep. Angelina Jolie is interested in a third outing as Lara Croft, and despite what many believe, the seond film has actually made a big profit. Not in the U.S... but with the World Wide gross. No script or even a story just yet.
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HUGE LIST OF TV PILOTS at 11:49 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Thanks to Dark Horizons...
- Gary Sinese is in apparent talks to topline the new "CSI: New York" spin-off
- Teri Hatcher has joined ABC's "Desperate Housewives" which revolves around the secretive lives of the residents of a neighborhood cul-de-sac. Hatcher plays a lonely divorcee.
- Selma Blair will also return to television with the ABC pilot "Demarco Affairs". Blair will play one of three sisters who inherit their family's wedding planning business.
- Jennifer Love Hewitt will star in a new ABC pilot as sports producer and single mother that unwillingly becomes an on-camera reporter. No name yet.
- Taye Diggs will star in "Kevin Hill", a new UPN pilot from Mel Gibson. Diggs will star as Kevin Hill a lawyer/playboy that that has to dial back his wild life after he is forced to take custody of his niece after her parents are killed in a car crash
- "House of Sand & Fog" actress Shohreh Aghdashlo has joined ABC pilot "The Secret Service". She plays the boss of the Washington divison and the female lead who struggles to balance her home and work lives.
- Tim Daly is in final negotiations to star in ABC's pilot "Eyes" as the president of a high-powered risk management company.
- Aisha Tyler has joined an untitled CBS sitcom pilot as a sophisticated single New Yorker who makes a career jump from a small fashion house to a large corporation.
- Jeff Goldblum will star in the NBC pilot about the relationship between a millionaire/playboy and his therapist.
- Christopher Lloyd & Kirsten Storms have signed on for the CBS pilot "Clubhouse", a coming-of-age drama about a New York Yankees batboy who has no idea his family connections got him the job. Mel Gibson is producing.
- Chris O'Donnell & Jay Harrington have joined "The Amazing Westerburgs" about two Manhattanite brothers that were raised to believe they could do anything - but have hard time finding success.
- Rachel Shelley and Kristoffer Polaha will star in Fox's "Oahu" which follows the relationships between the wealthy guests of a luxurious Hawaiian hotel and the employees that work there.
- Bridget Moynahan is in talks for a role in "Sex Talk"
- Mike Erwin ("Everwood") will play Major Don West in The WB's "The Robinsons: Lost in Space" remake.
- Matthew Long & Christine Lahti have joined The WB's "Jack & Bobby" about a single mother raising two boys, one of which will grow up to be President.
- Judy Greer is up for the lead in "Kat Plus One".
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PASSION GAINS MORE SCREENS! at 11:46 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Icon and Newmarket said Wednesday that they now planned to distribute more than 4,000 prints of "Passion," up from the approximate 2,500 previously announced. They plan to be in 2,800 theaters, up from an original 2,000.
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FROM CHAINSAW TO AMITYVILLE at 11:46 PM by Ken Miyamoto
MGM has drafted "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" scribe Scott Kosar to write the remake of "The Amityville Horror," a co-production of the Lion and Dimension Films.
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SONY'S "OPEN SEAON" at 11:45 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher and Debra Messing will lend their voices to the Sony Pictures Animation computer-generated comedy, planned for a 2006 release. "Open Season" tells the story of a 900-pound domesticated grizzly bear named Boog (Lawrence) and a scrawny, one-horned mule deer named Elliot (Kutcher) who are stranded together in the woods during hunting season.
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X-FILES DIRECTOR ON ELEKTRA? at 11:42 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Director Rob Bowman (REIGN OF FIRE, THE X-FILES: FIGHT THE FUTURE) is in discussions to helm the ELEKTRA movie for 20th Century Fox. Producers Mark Steven Johnson and Gary Foster want to secure Bowman so he can be ready for star Jennifer Garner's hiatus before filming season four of ALIAS.
The ELEKTRA script was written by Zak Penn (SUSPECT ZERO, BEHIND ENEMY LINES) and will show how the character returned to life after seemingly being killed by the assassin Bullseye in the DAREDEVIL movie.
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KEVIN SMITH AND THE GREEN HORNET? at 11:41 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Yep, New Jersey man Kevin Smith has signed on to write and direct a feature version of the Green Hornet. Bruce Lee first played the Hornet's sidekick Kato in the old television series while George Clooney and Jet Li are frontrunners for the feature.
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NEESON AND FREEMAN CONFIRMED FOR BATMAN! at 11:36 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Variety reports today that Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman are confirmed to be in the cast for Christopher Nolan's BATMAN film. Liam Neeson will play villian R'as al Ghul. Freeman will play Lucius Fox who is the CEO of Wayne Enterprises.
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THE ORIGINAL STAR WARS TRILOGY FINALLY COMING TO DVD! at 11:07 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Taken from The Homing Beacon...
The most requested films for the DVD format will finally become a reality this September as Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox present the eagerly-awaited Star Wars Trilogy for the ultimate home entertainment format. The four-disc collection will be released on September 21 in the U.S. and Canada, with international release dates following closely.
"We know how long fans have waited for this release and how much they have been looking forward to it, so everyone has been working overtime to make sure that the Star Wars Trilogy on DVD is an awesome experience," said Jim Ward, Vice President of Marketing and Distribution for Lucasfilm Ltd. and the DVD collection's Executive Producer.
Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi will be available in a four-disc set that includes a bonus disc filled with all-new special features -- including the most comprehensive feature-length documentary ever produced about the Star Wars saga and never-before-seen footage from the making of all three films. Each of the three films in the Star Wars Trilogy has been digitally restored and re-mastered by THX for superior sound and picture quality.
"First and foremost, the DVDs will deliver the very best possible sound and picture and take advantage of everything the medium can offer. On top of that, we are creating added-value material that gets inside the creation of the Star Wars films in a fresh and fun way," Ward said. "We want watching this DVD collection to be as memorable as seeing the movies for the first time."
The films of the Star Wars Trilogy will be available exclusively as a collection and will feature Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX. All three films are closed-captioned and subtitled in English, French and Spanish in the U.S. Internationally, sound and subtitling specifications will vary by territory.
Keep checking starwars.com over the coming months for more specific details about the content of this must-own DVD set.
No original cuts of the films though people, just the Special Editions. Hey, at least the damn movies are finally coming out on THE format.
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INDY 4 DELAYED AGAIN!! at 11:05 PM by Ken Miyamoto
The fourth INDIANA JONES movies has been put on hold as a new script draft is commissioned. Frank Darabont had been brought in to script a concept the trio liked, but sources close to the production said Lucas was unhappy with the draft. Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford will now bring aboard another screenwriter to hone Darabont's script.
Man oh man, Lucas is pissing his fans off. First, he offers up a so far subpar Star Wars prequel trilogy, then he announces the release of the original SW films on DVD but WITHOUT the original cuts... just the Special Editions, and THEN he goes and halts production due to his dislike of the Indy 4 script, which Spielberg was apparently thrilled with.
George, you're walking on thin ice. After Star Wars ends in 2005, you're not going to have much to do but bask in the glory of all the money you've made. But hey, you're the guy who gave us Star Wars in the first place, and Indiana Jones, so who the hell am I to say anything?
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SHAZAM!??? at 11:00 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow (CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN) will write New Line Cinema's adaptation of DC Comics' SHAZAM! It's the story of mild-mannered Billy Batson, a boy who becomes Captain Marvel, the world's mightiest mortal, when he says the magic word "Shazam!" The name is an acronym for six gods and heroes of the ancient world as well as their attributes. William Goldman was previously working on the script.
One word: Why?
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BAY'S NEXT at 10:59 PM by Ken Miyamoto
DreamWorks picked up THE ISLAND from writer Caspian Treadwell-Owen with Michael Bay attached to direct. The sci-fi thriller is being described as a cross between THE FUGITIVE and THE MATRIX. Plot details are being kept under wraps.
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AFFLECK'S NEXT at 10:59 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Ben Affleck is set to star in an adaptation of Josephine Tey's novel BRAT FARRAR for Universal Pictures and Live Planet. Jim Uhls (FIGHT CLUB) is on board to pen the script. The book was adapted into the 1963 release PARANOIAC about siblings of an old-money family fighting for the inheritance from their recently deceased father. Affleck will play the eldest brother -- thought to have died as a boy years earlier -- who surprises his family when he shows up to collect the fortune. With his position as heir threatened, his younger brother has reasons, which he can't reveal, to doubt the veracity of the claim. The Uhls script will hew closer to the novel than PARANOIAC.
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KIDMAN ATTACHED TO BEWITCHED at 10:58 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Nicole Kidman has made a pay-or-play deal to star with Will Ferrell in BEWITCHED, based on the TV series, for Columbia Pictures, Red Wagon and writer/director Nora Ephron. Shooting will start this summer.
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HANKS' NEXT at 10:57 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Tom Hanks is attached to star in and produce THE LADIES' MAN, based on the Elinor Lipman novel, for director Robert Benton who will also adapt. in the title role. It's about Nash Harvey, a serial womanizer and commercial jingle writer who returns to Boston to make amends with a woman he stood up at the altar.
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BE COOL CAST ADDITIONS at 10:56 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Outkast's Andre 3000 and Harvey Keitel will join John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Danny DeVito, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Vince Vaughn, James Gandolfini, Cedric the Entertainer and Christina Milian in MGM's GET SHORTY sequel, BE COOL, based on the novel by Elmore Leonard, for director F. Gary Gray.
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HOWARD AND CROWE'S NEXT at 10:56 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Paddy Considine (IN AMERICA) and Paul Giamatti are in final talks to star opposite Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger and Craig Bierko in Universal Pictures/Miramax Films' CINDERELLA MAN for director Ron Howard, who is also producing along with Brian Grazer and Penny Marshall. The project tells the story of real-life heavyweight boxing champ Jim Braddock. During the 1930s, Braddock was an aging boxer who made a comeback while trying to provide for his family during the Depression.
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OCEAN'S 12 CASTING NEWS at 10:41 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Catherine Zeta-Jones is joining the ensemble cast of "Ocean's Twelve" after being personally courted by director Steven Soderbergh. Zeta-Jones will play the love interest for Brad Pitt, who is among the thesp thieves returning from "Ocean's Eleven." The Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures co-production starts lensing in Rome shortly.
Yawn... I'm already tired of Jones.
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BATMAN BACK ON TV? at 10:37 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Warner Bros. Animation has announced plans for an all-new animated series featuring THE BATMAN, to be broadcast on Cartoon Network. The show will follow the adventures of Batman in his third year of fighting crime in Gotham City as he is "just finding his way as protector, defender and Caped Crusader, while balancing his public persona as billionaire Bruce Wayne." We will also experience Batman's first encounters with members of his legendary Rogue's Gallery including such foes as Mr. Freeze, The Penquin, Man-Bat, The Riddler, Catwoman and The Joker.
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HAWKE CONFIRMED FOR REMAKE at 10:36 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Hollywood Reporter confirms that actor Ethan Hawke will be starring in the remake of ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, originally directed by famed horror filmmaker John Carpenter. Hawke will play a police captain in command of a soon-to-be-closed precinct who has to endure a long night of mayhem by gang members that want to free their leader locked inside the building. Laurence Fishburne (THE MATRIX) has been cast as the gang's incarcerated boss.
French director Jean-Francois Richet will helm the new PRECINCT film. Richet has directed three French films including 2001's DE L'AMOUR (ALL ABOUT LOVE). The script for ASSAULT is by James DeMonaco (THE NEGOTIATOR).
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X-MEN 2 SCRIBES WRITING ENDER'S GAME! at 10:34 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Finally, we'll get some forward motion going for this project... one of my favorite books ENDER'S GAME. Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty, the writing duo behind X2, have been hired to take on the adaptation of the book and Wolfgang Peterson is set to direct!
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SIMPSONS MOVIE COMING FINALLY! at 10:32 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Look for the Simpsons family to make a run at the big screen after YEARS of speculation. The creators of the series have finally decided to jump into development with over six writers from the series to help with the script. They're looking to take the Simpsons to a whole new level!
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ANOTHER STEALTH CAST ADDITION at 10:27 PM by Ken Miyamoto
According to today's issue of Variety, Richard Roxburgh has been cast in the new thriller STEALTH. He joins Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel and Jamie Foxx who are playing ace fighter pilots assigned to field test and then destroy an advanced prototype jet fighter that has an artificial intelligence. Rob Cohen (XXX) directs the picture, now filming in Australia and southeast Asia.
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LIAM NEESON IN NEW BATMAN!? at 10:26 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Now confirmed, Liam Neeson has signed onto Christopher Nolan's upcoming film BATMAN: INTIMIDATION GAME. Who will he play? One of three possible villians. That's all we know.
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G.I. JOE IS A FULL GO...! at 01:43 PM by Ken Miyamoto
The story? Set before the rise of the COBRA organization, the film will show how the man the world will one day call Cobra Commander created his terrorist organization and honed it into a worldwide threat. Other COBRA characters, such as Destro and Stormshadow, are being planned to be included in the film. While Cobra Commander doesn't wear the costume he is best-known for during the bulk of the film (the blue COBRA garb complete with hood), by the conclusion of the film he will be decked out in it.
Who's on the Joe team?, Duke, Hawk and Snake Eyes are a shoo in!. One of the ideas being kicked around at this stage of story development is touching upon the origin of Snake Eyes and Stormshadow... looks like Snake Eyes' cahracter arch will be similar to Wolverine's in X-Men. As fans of the cartoon series know, both ninja characters have their origins tied together.
Man, if they screw this up! G.I. JOE is my all time favorite cartoon in the history of cartoons. I still have all of my action figures. Yo Joe baby!
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INDY 4 NEWS! at 01:38 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Frank Darabont is FINISHED with his Indiana Jones 4 script and it has been delivered to Spielberg, Lucas, and Ford. So we wait... and see when it will begin. Ford in not getting any younger.
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HUGE BATMAN SCOOP! at 01:33 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Thanks to Superhero Hype...
"The filming begins at the end of next month in Iceland and will continue until mid March before moving to the U.K. Iceland shooting-don't worry, it's not Batman on ice skates-more like all terrain vehicles, with Christian Bale not arriving till around March 1st. One of the cardington hangers being used for the film has large sets of a old train station of some sort, as well as housing the MASSIVE batcave.
Casting. First of all, Morgan Freeman is no longer up for Lucious Fox, but is up for Gordon. Initially he was, but when Chris Cooper refused, Nolan turned to Freeman. Cillian Murphy will play Jonathan Crane, and Katie Homes as Harvey Dents assisstant Rachel. Harvey Dent has yet to be casted, having Guy Pearce be the only one test for that. The role of Earle has been brought up to several people, none of them rather big name stars, but lesser known character actors. Same goes for Boss Carime Falcone. Lucius Fox is also still undecided.
The Batmobile is still being made but is not like "monster truck". Rather it is dark black. If you have the lights shut off, you ain't seeing it. It has twin jet engines in the back, with two small fins over them. It is a two seater and has two tires on the front, that, if looking from the direct front of it, are about 8-10 inches inward compared to the back two, which are slightly larger, but not that noticable. The cars are all going to be equipped with a large variety of gizmos. The jets can burn so hot it creates thick black smoke, and oil slick, all wheel drive, bat hooks, bulletproof windshield, ejection seats, and a t.v.
The costume - jet black as well. It is not spandex, under armor, or even rubber. It is a new material, that can stretch and bend easy, but won't be overly skin tight. Padding in the ribs and chest area as well as the arms and upper legs will be added, with large black boots for the feet. There will be about 4-5 of them. Batman MAY use other vehicles in the film...but I won't spoil that for you now".
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PIXAR SPLITS FROM DISNEY! at 01:29 PM by Ken Miyamoto
After spending much of the past year locked in talks with Mouse House execs over an extension of the current Disney-Pixar co-production pact, the Pixar chief said Thursday he's looking elsewhere for a distribution partner for the animation studio. Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros., Universal and Sony are considered possible new Pixar partners.
Wow! This is a historical event people. Pixar was THE money maker for Disney. However, without Disney's name... how far will Pixar's DVD sales drop?
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FRANK DARABONT'S NEXT at 01:27 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Frank Darabont's Darkwoods Prods. has signed a three-year first-look production deal at Paramount Pictures, ending the shingle's association with Castle Rock. Darabont said his goal is to seek new projects of all genres along with continuing to develop the Darkwoods slate, noting Paramount will review those projects with an eye to possibly joining in as a financier -- except for "Fahrenheit 451," which he expects to remain at Warner Bros.
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HIGHLANDER MINI-SEREIS at 01:25 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Call this "franchise" the biggest missed oppurtunity since the first film debuted in 1986. Three sequels and two series later... here comes another nail in the coffin.
The new mini-series will NOT follow a Macleod this time around, and will not see familiar faces from the movies or the TV series. Instead, it will follow a Mackenzie...?
What a waste. The only redeeming partner to the first film was the original TV series with Duncan Macleod... even that was a bit too tame at times. Each and every sequel to the film was terrible, as was the Highlander spin-off series Raven. This one is to be called "Archangel".
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MY DEEPEST SYMPATHIES GO OUT TO ADAM SANDLER AND HIS CREW IN THE LOSS OF THEIR FRIEND AND MASCOT, MEATBALL... at 11:08 PM by Ken Miyamoto
I've been working at Sony Studios for going on two years now. I've met a lot of fascinating, and not so fascinating, people in my time there. In my struggle to break into producing and screenwriting, I try the best I can to learn from those that I meet and encounter... and I have never met a group of people like Adam Sandler and his Happy Madison productions team. And that group of people loved Meatball. He was a prominent fixture on Happy Madison's side of the studio. All who encountered him were quickly won over by his charm... and not to mention his sense of humor.
Wait, are we talking about a dog? Hey, this was more than a dog. Meatball was a walking event. You never knew what he was going to do. In a way, he was the canine version of his dad... Adam Sandler.
Meatball was in my office just last week and we managed to get him his very own Sony Studios I.D. badge... picture and all. It was hilarious.
Visit www.adamsandler.com and you'll see how much he was loved. My heart goes out to Adam, his wife, and the rest of the Happy Madison family. Meatball is survived by his little sister Matza... a special wedding surprise given to Adam by his wife.
Meatball my friend... you were, and remain to be, a true original in the best of terms.
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2004 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS!! at 11:37 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Well, it was a treat because I actually forgot that the awards would be announced this morning. Needless to say, this year is thankfully full of surprise nominations and snubs. COLD MOUNTAIN was a sure thing as of last night for a Best Picture nomination, but somehow either MASTER AND COMMANDER or LOST IN TRANSLATION stole its spot. Once again, the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy is back on top with nominations… and will hopefully take the gold boy home for at least Best Picture and Best Director.
Thankfully, the academy seems to have nominated well deserving films and performances. Probably the biggest surprise was the nomination of Johnny Depp! The academy is usually pretty stiff on nominating comic performances, but Depp’s portrayal of Jack Sparrow was brilliant in every way. Jude Law has his second nomination for the snubbed COLD MOUNTAIN and Bill Murray is finally nominated. As far as who will win? It’ll be a tight race between Murray and Sean Penn… with Johnny as the only possible upset.
I am very disappointed with the Academy in reference to THE LAST SAMURAI. It’s sad to see that an actor has reached a certain career point that his past successes overshadow any present accomplishments. Cruise offered a terrific performance and outstanding dedication to this project. The director, Ed Zwick, performed a masterful job in portraying the Japanese culture… not to mention the art of the Samurai. The one thing that bothered me most was the Best Cinematography snub! How can you NOT nominate this film for that category?
KEN’S PICKS FOR THE MAIN CATEGORIES:
Best Picture: Return of the King
Best Director: Peter Jackson… Upset Pick: Sofia Coppola
Best Actor: Bill Murray… Upset Pick: Johnny Depp
Best Actress: Charlize Theron… brilliant performance
Best Supporting Actor: Tim Robbins
Best Supporting Actress: Renee Zellwegger
Best Animated Film: Finding Nemo
Best Adapted Screenplay: Mystic River
Best Original Screenplay: Lost in Translation
Best Art Direction: Return of the King
Best Cinematography: Cold Mountain
Best Costume Design: The Last Samurai
Best Editing: Return of the King
Best Makeup: Return of the King
Best Visual FX: Return of the King
Best Sound: Return of the King
Bet Sound Editing: Master and Commander
Best Original Score: Howard Shore
Best Song: “You Will Be My One True Love” from Cold Mountain
2004 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS
BEST PICTURE
"Lost in Translation" (Focus)
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (New Line)
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" (Fox)
"Mystic River" (WB/Roadshow)
"Seabiscuit" (Universal/DreamWorks)
BEST ACTOR
Ben Kingsley, "House of Sand and Fog"
Bill Murray, "Lost in Translation"
Johnny Depp, "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"
Jude Law, "Cold Mountain"
Sean Penn, "Mystic River"
BEST ACTRESS
Keisha Castle-Hughes, "Whale Rider"
Diane Keaton, "Something's Gotta Give"
Samantha Morton, "In America"
Charlize Theron, "Monster"
Naomi Watts, "21 Grams"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alec Baldwin, "The Cooler"
Benicio Del Toro, "21 Grams "
Djimon Hounsou, "In America"
Tim Robbins, "Mystic River"
Ken Watanabe, "The Last Samurai"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Shohreh Aghdashloo, "House of Sand & Fog"
Patricia Clarkson, "Pieces of April"
Marcia Gay Hayden, "Mystic River"
Holly Hunter, "Thirteen"
Renee Zellweger, "Cold Mountain"
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"The Barbarian Invasions" (Canada)
"Evil" (Sweden)
"The Twilight Samurai" (Japan)
"Twin Sisters" (Netherands)
"Zelary (Czech Republic)
BEST ANIMATED FILM
"Brother Bear" (Disney)
"Finding Nemo" (Disney)
"The Triplets of Belleville" (Sony Classics)
BEST DIRECTOR
Fernando Meirelles, "City of God"
Sofia Coppola, "Lost in Translation"
Peter Jackson, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
Peter Weir, "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
Clint Eastwood, "Mystic River"
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
"American Splendor"
"City of God"
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
"Mystic River"
"Seabiscuit"
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
"The Barbarian Invasions"
"Dirty Pretty Things"
"Finding Nemo"
"In America"
"Lost in Translation"
BEST ART DIRECTION
"Girl with a Pearl Earring"
"The Last Samurai"
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
"Master & Commander"
"Seabiscuit"
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
"City of God"
"Cold Mountain"
"Girl with a Pearl Earring"
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
"Seabiscuit"
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
"Girl with a Pearl Earring"
"The Last Samurai"
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
"Seabiscuit"
BEST EDITING
"City of God"
"Cold Mountain"
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
"Seabiscuit"
BEST MAKE-UP
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"
BEST SOUND
"The Last Samurai"
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"
"Seabiscuit"
BEST SOUND EDITING
"Finding Nemo"
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"Balseros"
"Capturing the Friedmans"
"The Fog of War"
"My Architect"
"The Weather Underground"
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
"Asylum"
"Chernobyl Heart"
"Ferry Tales"
BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
"Boundin'"
"Destino"
"Gone Nutty"
"Harvie Krumpet"
"Nibbles"
BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
"Die Rote Jacke"
"Most"
"Squash"
"(A) Torzija "
"Two Soldiers"
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Danny Elfman, "Big Fish"
Gabriel Yared, "Cold Mountain"
Thomas Newman, "Finding Nemo"
James Horner, "House of Sand & Fog"
Howard Shore, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Into the West", "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" - Music & Lyrics by Howard Shore, Fran Walsh, Annie Lennox
"A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow", "A Mighty Wind" - Music & Lyrics by Michael McKean & Annette O'Toole
"The Triplets of Belleville", "The Triplets of Belleville" - Music by Benoit Charset, Lyrics by Sylvain Chomet
"Scarlet Tide", "Cold Mountain" - Music & Lyrics by Tbone Burnett & Elvis Costello
"You Will Be My One True Love", "Cold Mountain" - Music & Lyrics by Sting
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GOLDEN GLOBE WINNERS! at 11:40 PM by Ken Miyamoto
There was once a time when we had two versions of the Hollywood Award Ceremony. The old and prestigious Academy Awards offered viewers the serious side of the film industry. We watched as careers were made or broken based upon the winners of a naked soldier plunging his sword into a reel of film. The Oscars were, and continue to be, the most serious of events. And while I still respect, admire, and one day hope to win an Academy Award... the Oscars, for the most part, are always predictable.
On the other side of the tracks, we had the Golden Globes. THE party of the year for Hollywood who's who. People were caught in the bathroom when they're names were announced. Jack Nicholson talked from his butt during his acceptance speech. Ving Rhames tearfully gave away his Golden Statue to legend Jack Lemmon. The Golden Globes were unpredictable.
But after watching the show this weekend, it has occured to me that those days are over. They are still more fun than the Oscars, but the spark seems to have disappeared. I don't know if it was just the people there that night, or if there wasn't enough alcohol, the Globes just seemed like the prequel of the Academy Awards... in more ways than one.
My advice to Dick Clark... stop TRYING to market the Globes' past reputation and just let the chips fall where they may.
But alas, the show still held it's own. It may not be as fun, but what a blast it was watching our favorites receive what they deserve... at least most of them. Sure, I just blasted the Globes a bit. But I'm a "big fan" (worst and most ear wrenching term used in Hollywood... to those that don't work in the industry) of seeing the final product, be it a film or a performance, getting the commendation it deserves.
Thank the Hollyhood legends for giving a Globe to Charlize Theron! What a brilliant performance and transformation... easily the best female performance I've seen in the last few years and one of the best of all time in my book.
I'd also like to show my gratitude to Bill Murray... the one ray of hope that the Golden Globe's can still be fun. It is such a treat to see him win, and I'm betting that he'll take home the Oscar as well. Between him and Sean Penn... it's going to be a close call.
While I love Clint, it was nice to see Peter Jackson and his film take home the Globe... hopefully this is a precursor to the Oscars. If not, you'll see one angry white boy on the site!
Best line of the night? From Globe Winner Ricky Gervais ("The Office"), "I'm from England... We ruled the world before you guys did."
So here we are, on the eve of the Oscars. Where eventually dreams come true, hearts are crushed, and audiences around the world watch the clock tick past the FOUR HOUR mark of the year's most celebrated awards show.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Golden Globe winners are...
FILM
Best Film - Drama: "LOTR: The Return of the King"
Best Film - Comedy: "Lost in Translation"
Best Film - Foreign Language: "Osama" from Afghanistan
Best Actor - Drama: Sean Penn ("Mystic River")
Best Actress - Drama: Charlize Theron ("Monster")
Best Actor - Comedy: Bill Murray ("Lost in Translation")
Best Actress - Comedy: Diane Keaton ("Something's Gotta Give")
Best Director: Peter Jackson ("LOTR: The Return of the King")
Best Screenplay: "Lost in Translation" by Sofia Coppola
Best Supp. Actor: Tim Robbins ("Mystic River")
Best Supp. Actress: Renee Zellweger ("Cold Mountain")
Best Score: Howard Shore ("LOTR: The Return of the King")
Best Song: "Into the West" by Annie Lennox ("LOTR: The Return of the King")
TV
Best Series - Drama: "24"
Best Series - Comedy: "The Office"
Best Mini-Series: "Angels in America"
Best Actor - Drama Series: Anthony LaPaglia ("Without a Trace")
Best Actress - Drama Series: Frances Conroy ("Six Feet Under")
Best Actor - Comedy Series: Ricky Gervais ("The Office")
Best Actress - Comedy Series: Sarah Jessica Parker ("Sex & The City")
Best Actor - Mini-Series/TV Movie: Al Pacino ("Angels in America")
Best Actress - Mini-Series/TV Movie: Meryl Streep ("Angels in America")
Best Supporting Actor - Jeffrey Wright ("Angels in America")
Best Supporting Actress - Mary-Louise Parker ("Angels in America")
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A "UNIQUE" PROJECT at 11:55 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Touchstone Pictures has picked up the upcoming graphic novel from Platinum Studios, to serve as a directing vehicle for David Goyer. The story follows a man who discovers the Earth has a twin parallel world in another dimension with people having counterparts on both Earths. However, a few are born "unique," with no doppelgangers, and can travel between worlds.
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JOHN WOO HAS WOOed (Get it?) HIMSLEF A MUSICAL at 11:53 PM by Ken Miyamoto
John Woo will be directing an American gangster (not "gangsta", for you 50 Cent fans) musical. Woo said about the project, "We have almost got a finished script right now. It is an ambitious project. I have been dreaming of making this for seven years.
It is an American gangster story, based on a true story. In the 1920s there was a gang boss who was also a great dancer. It’s also a love story – this guy was in love with two women. So it’s a new kind of challenge, a new kind of experiment".
Woo's ready to play with our minds - "There’s going to be a lot of dance and a lot of action. Sometimes the action will look pretty much like dance and the dance will look pretty much like action" and is keen to show another side of himself too once its all done - "I really love comedy. I made seven or eight. Of course I’d like to make a really good comedy in Hollywood. Comedies like It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World or The Pink Panther – I’d like to make one of those. But no matter what I make I’m not going to change my own style".
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CHEWBACCA SINGED ON FOR STAR WARS SEQUELS?? at 11:50 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Chewbacca himself, Peter Mayhew, recently stated that while signing his contract for Episode III (he'll be reprising his Chewbacca role in the last prequel... good grief George) The British magazine that interviewed him stated that, "Not only has he been rescued from obscurity and given the chance to reprise his role as our Wookiee comrade for Episode III, but his contract also stipulates that he'd be required to appear in Episodes 7, 8, and 9".
There may be some legal mumbo jumbo that requires Mayhew to sign for the sequels so Lucasfilm will only have to pay him one lump sum in case the sequels happen... er, I don't know. Don't bet the farm on it. If anything, I would hope that Lucas would do a full CGI trilogy ala Final Fantasy (which has amazing effects)that brings us back to the characters we WANT to watch... Luke, Leia, Han, etc. That would be the way to go.
As far as Episode III thus far? Around two dozen FX shots of the 2,000+ amount required are complete. The opening sequence is revealed to revolve heavily around a missile carrying an important payload and a big scale space battle.
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SPIELBERG'S NEXT DVD! at 11:42 PM by Ken Miyamoto
""Schindler's List" will be released to DVD for the first time March 9 as part of a 10th anniversary celebration of the formation of the Shoah Foundation. Among the bonus features on the DVD is "The Shoah Foundation Story With Steven Spielberg," a look at the work and accomplishments of Shoah, and a 77-minute doc, "Voices From the List," offering never-before-seen testimonies from the foundation archive of Schindler survivors.
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FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS at 11:40 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Derek Luke ("Pieces of April") and Lee Thompson Young ("The Famous Jett Jackson") are in final negotiations to join the football squad in Universal Pictures' pigskin drama. Luke would play the senior running back and captain of the football team in a gridiron-obsessed West Texas town who wrestles with his pride when he sustains an injury.
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SEAN ASTIN DIRECTING FANTASTIC FOUR? at 11:37 PM by Ken Miyamoto
The hobbit himself was recently quoted as saying, "I always wanted to act and direct with the same intensity but only now I've found the way to get to directing. Right now I'm running to be the director of this US$ 100, US$130 million movie which the studio wants to release in the end of 2004 and it has a huge effect in pop culture. I got a meeting scheduled but I can't talk about it yet."
Turns out the interviewer pulled the truth of the mystery project out of Astin's mouth. Fantasic Four. I love ya Sean... Goonies and LOTR are the @#$@... but taking on the Four? Who knows.
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X FILES 2 A NO-GO? at 11:32 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Chris Carter, the creator of the now legendary show, has recently left Fox studios with no contract renewel in sight. This spells doom for any possible X-Files sequel... although Fox may try to make one without Carter.
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SUPERMAN GOING TO BE SHOT AUSSIE STYLE? at 11:30 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Taking a cue from WB's Matrix productions, the "upcoming" Superman movie WILL be shot in Sydney, Australia. And yet again, another Hollywood studio takes business out of America. McG is the director, although the paperwork is not in yet. Why? Why? Why? Why is a studio like Warner Bros. so frickin' stupid enough to trust a film of this magnatude to a two film hack like McG? They went from the overrated Brett Ratner, to the not-even-rated McG. Why?
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WARNER BROTHERS 2004 SLATE at 06:47 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Thanks to Garth Franklin...
"A Cinderella Story" - "Dorky" girl Sam (Hilary Duff) finds herself changing overnight when her phone is found by a mysterious guy (Chad Michael Murray), with whom she SMS/e-mail corresponds with and will finally meet at the Halloween school dance.
"A Sound of Thunder" - Based on the Ray Bradbury short story. A game hunter goes on a time-traveling safari to hunt dinosaurs in the prehistoric era. When confronted by a Tyrannosaurus, he loses his nerve, stumbles off the appointed path and inadvertently changes history.
"Alexander" - Directed by Oliver Stone. Biopic based on the life of Alexander the Great (Colin Farrell), the young Macedonian general who conquered 90% of the world. This follows his eight year campaigns into Persia, Egypt, and India along with his close male and female relationships.
"Aviator, The" - Directed by Martin Scorsese. Based upon the early years (1930-1946) in the life of mogul Howard Hughes who started out as a Hollywood film producer before spreading out into other areas including aviation which lead to the massive flying boat 'The Spruce Goose'.
"Big Bounce, The" - A charming drifter (Owen Wilson) takes a job taking care of an ailing Hawaii judge (Morgan Freeman), which leads him to getting involved with a beautiful woman planning to help swindle a real estate tycoon with whom she was involved.
"Catwoman" - Patience Price (Halle Berry) is a veternary scientist/cat-loving gymnast who was recently killed by an industrialist. Revived by a flock of felines, she now seeks revenge on her killer in the guise of 'Catwoman' - a suit-clad vixen with a skill for martial arts.
"Chasing Liberty" - Frustrated that her dad (the US president) won't let her out of the Secret Service's sight, young teen first daughter Anna (Mandy Moore) escapes observation at a concert in Prague and runs off with a charming English stranger, unaware he really works for her dad.
"Constantine" - Based on the comic "Hellblazer". John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) is a globe-trotting and somewhat unstable mystic who investigates supernatural mysteries who must team up with a female cop to investigate a mysterious group known as 'The First of the Fallen'.
"Exorcist: The Beginning" - Prequel to the original horror film classic. This follows the journey of Father Merrin (Stellan Skarsgard) as a young priest traveling through Africa which leads him to his first encounter with demonic forces in a hidden underground temple.
"Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban " - Based on the third book by JK Rowling. Hogwarts is in a panic after escaped murderer Sirius Black comes after Harry, who in his third year is not only seeing death omens but has trouble facing the ghostly Dementor guards around the school.
"New York Minute" - One day in the life of Long Island twins Jane & Roxy (Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen) who sneak off to NYC together. Things go wrong when Jane's dayplanner somehow becomes implicated in the kidnapping of the pet dog of a powerful senator.
"Ocean's Twelve" - Sequel to 2001's hit Steven Soderbergh flick "Ocean's 11". Danny Ocean is back and teams up with the old gang plus a new member to pull off not one but three simultaneous heists across Europe, unaware an old enemy is hot on their trail.
"Phantom of the Opera" - Based on the famous A.L. Weber musical. 'Phantom' tells the story of a masked figure who lurks beneath the catacombs of the Paris Opera House, exercising a reign of terror over all who inhabit it. He falls madly in love with an innocent young soprano.
"Polar Express, The" - CG animated film directed by Robert Zemeckis. A young boy's unyielding faith in Santa Claus is rewarded one Christmas Eve when he's awakened by a steam train that pulls up in front of his house and takes him and other children to the North Pole.
"Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" - The gang confront an anonymous masked villain who is plotting to take over the city of Coolsville by wreaking mayhem with a monster machine that creates Mystery Inc.'s classic foes like The Creeper and Captain Cutler.
"Starsky & Hutch" - Feature film adaptation of the 1970's TV series. Two young plain clothes detectives, Ken "Hutch" Hutchinso (Owen Wilson) and Dave Starsky (Ben Stiller) always seem to get the toughest cases from their boss, Captain Dobey, and relying on omniscient street informer Huggy Bear.
"Spartan" - Directed by David Mamet. A "lone wolf" U.S. government secret agent, Scott (Val Kilmer), is assigned the task of rescuing the kidnapped daughter of the president, only to discover along the way a larger, more sinister plot with origins within the White House itself.
"Taking Lives" - From Director Dj Caruso ("The Salton Sea"). An FBI profiler (Angelina Jolie) is on the trail of a young Dutch serial killer who assumes the lives and identities (hence the title) of the people he kills as he travels across America and has already selected another victim.
"Torque" - In the fast-paced world of motorcycle racing, a biker (Martin Henderson) is framed by a long-time rival for the death of the brother of the most notorious and feared biker gang's leader. Soon he must escape both the 'Machines' and the FBI's tail.
"Troy" - Based on Homer's "The Illiad". In 1193 B.C., Prince Paris of Troy stole the beautiful Greek woman Helen from her husband King Menelaus of Sparta, setting the two nations at war. Soon, the Greeks begin a bloody siege of Troy using their entire armada, led by Achilles.
"Untitled Ballard Project" (aka. Cheetah) - Follows the unbreakable bond of friendship between a cheetah named Duma and Xan, an intrepid young boy who faces the true test of love when he crosses the whole of Southern Africa to return his best friend to the wilds.
"Whole Ten Yards, The" - Sequel to "The Whole Nine Yards". Retired hitman Jimmy Tudeski (Bruce Willis) now spends his days cleaning his house. Suddenly, a connection to his past appears: its Oz (Matthew Perry), who asks for help rescuing his wife from a Hungarian mob.
"Yu-Gi-Oh!" - The first feature length movie based upon the popular Japanese anime series. A teenager has unlocked the secrets to the five millenia old mystical 'Shadow Game' whose players nearly destroyed the world and have yet to finish their turn.
Coming in 2005:
"Batman: Intimidation Game", "Charlie & The Chocolate Factory", "Farenheit 451", "Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire", "The Corpse Bride", "The Three Stooges"
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THE PRODUCERS at 06:40 PM by Ken Miyamoto
The musical is back, so Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane will be reprising their broadway roles in a feature film adaptation.
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THINGS BEING SET FOR THE HOBBIT at 06:36 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Looks like the rights issue of the Lord of the Ringss prequel THE HOBBIT are about to be handled finally. Tolkien's heir has given Peter Jackson the blessing to direct the prequel, and Sir Ian McKellen is ready and willing to done his grey hate again. Jackson will first shoot KING KONG, and then may move into the prequel's production soon after.
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THE BLACK DAHLIA FINALLY GREENLIT at 06:32 PM by Ken Miyamoto
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE director Brian De Palma has signed on to direct actors Mark Wahlberg and Josh Hartnett.
The movie is based on the crime novel by Ellroy (the writer of L.A. CONFIDENTIAL among others) and concerns the famous 1947 murder of a Hollywood starlet named Elizabeth Short. Short's crumpled body was discovered in a remote lot by Hollywood police and showed signs of being tortured to death. Her murder has never been solved.
Josh Friedman's screenplay for the film will weave a fictional story between two detectives investigating the case and the underworld of Hollywood corruption they uncover. A subplot introducing a dead ringer for Elizabeth Short will generate romantic sparks with both men.
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WILLIS' NEXT at 06:30 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Bruce Willis will star in HOSTAGE, a tense action film scheduled to start filming later this month. In the movie Willis plays Jeff Talley, a former LAPD hostage negotiator who left his job after a child was killed by a madman in a situation he was called in on. Talley takes up the job of chief of police for a small town but has to face his demons when a group of criminals take his wife and daughter hostage.
The movie is being directed by French helmer Florent Siri. Serena Scott-Thomas, Johnny Messner, Michelle Horn and Ben Foster also star in the film. The movie is being produced by Stratus Film and Cheyenne Enterprises, Willis' production company.
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WILLIS STILL KEEN ON DIE HARD 4 at 06:28 PM by Ken Miyamoto
"We're working on it," said the 48-year-old star. "Fox wants to do it. I want to do it. It depends on the script. It's hard today to do. The whole DIE HARD trilogy so far has been based on some element of terrorism, and it's difficult in today's world to do stories that fictionally portray terrorism."
Just please make it better than the crap that was Die Hard 3.
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at 06:26 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Variety is reporting that director Cameron Crowe (ALMOST FAMOUS) is close to hiring Orlando Bloom to replace Ashton Kutcher in ELIZABETHTOWN, the director's next film. The drama is about a suicidal man (who would be Bloom's character) that, upon hearing the news of his father's passing, returns to his small hometown. If Crowe does hire Bloom he'll have to wait until the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN star completes his work for Ridley Scott in KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
Kirsten Dunst (SPIDER-MAN 2) has already been signed. Alright Kirsten, now please... gain a few pounds. Don't let Hollywood force you into the Anorexic hole.
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KILL BILL 2 CHANGE at 06:24 PM by Ken Miyamoto
KILL BILL: VOL. 2 will hit theaters on April 16 now and no longer in February as originally planned. The DVD release of VOLUME 1 of KILL BILL will arrive on store shelves April 13th.
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HAUSER SET FOR SCI FI HORROR at 06:22 PM by Ken Miyamoto
CAVE is the title of the new science fiction/horror film that's in development at Screen Gems, to star Cole Hauser (2 FAST 2 FURIOUS, PITCH BLACK). Hauser will play the leader of a team of undersea cave explorers that venture into a mysterious cave and get trapped by a sudden cave-in. When help finally reaches them the rescuers discover the divers have inexplicable transformed into primeval beings.
CAVE was written by Michael Steinberg and will be directed by Bruce Hunt. Hunt is making his directorial debut on the film after serving as second unit director on the two MATRIX sequels and DARK CITY.
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KEN'S HOLIDAY SEASON "DID YOU KNOW THAT..." at 11:58 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Hey, Did You Know...
...THAT Stuart Townsend was originally cast as Aragorn, but was replaced by Viggo Mortensen after four days of shooting due to creative differences?
... THAT David Bowie wanted to play Elrond in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy?
... THAT DAniel DAy Lewis turned down the role of Aragorn?
... THAT as well as being the only member of the cast and crew to have met Tolkien face to face, Christopher Lee was also the first person to be cast in the trilogy because of his extensive knowledge of the books. He frequently visited the makeup department and often gave tips about the facial design of the monsters?
... THAT the original plan was to film "The Hobbit" starring Warwick Davis. But when Miramax balked at the $75 million dollar price tag Peter Jackson took it to New Line which gave him nearly $300 million to make the trilogy... another factor would have been the problem with the rights to the Hobbit book.
... THAT John Rhys-Davies, who plays Gimli the dwarf, is the tallest of the actors who play members of the Fellowship. He is 6' 1"?
... THAT in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation the house right next door to the Griswold's house where the disgruntled Margo Chester, lives, is the same house Murtaugh and his family lived in all the Lethal Weapon movies? This street is owned by Warner Brothers strictly for movies.
... THAT Christmas Vacation is teh only film in the series not to feature the signature theme song, "Holiday Road", by Lindsey Buckingham?
... THAT in DIE HARD, the scene in which Gruber and McClane meet was inserted in to the script after Alan Rickman (Hans Gruber) was found to be proficient at mimicking American accents? The filmmakers had been looking for a way to have the two characters meet prior to the climax and capitalized on Rickman's talent.
... THAT in DIE HARD, The only two terrorists to survive the course of the film are not only both knocked cold, but they are also never shown brandishing any weapons or threatening any hostages?
... THAT the DIE HARD script, by Steven E. de Souza, was originally his script for the sequel to Commando (1985), but he altered the story once Arnold Schwarzenegger dropped out?
... THAT Richard Gere was considered for the role of John McClane?
... THAT DIE HARD 3 was originally titled "Simon Says" (where Zeus was scripted as a woman) and was considered as the third sequel to Lethal Weapon (1987).
... THAT while he doesn't physically appear in DIE HARD 3, Alan Rickman is still credited as playing Hans Gruber (in McClane's flashback)?
... THAT for the first Harry Potter film, Steven Spielberg was offered the position as director, but was later refused when he couldn't agree with JK Rowling's insistence on an all-British cast. He wanted to use Haley Joel Osment for the part of Harry?
... THAT In addition to Steven Spielberg, other candidates for the director's job were Jonathan Demme, Brad Silberling and Terry Gilliam. Gilliam was Rowling's initial favorite but the studio finally picked Chris Columbus to direct because he had experience directing child actors. Columbus was also asked many times by his daughter to direct and he agreed after he read her book?
... THAT Nicholas Flamel, mentioned as the creator of the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone, was actually a real alchemist who was believed by some people to have produced the Philosopher's Stone and who has mysterious circumstances surrounding his "death". It is rumored that he might still be alive and, if so, he would be about the age given in the book and movie?
... THAT Tim Roth was a leading contender for the role of Professor Severus Snape. Roth dropped out of contention, however, to pursue his role as General Thade in Tim Burton's adaptation of Planet of the Apes (2001)?
... THAT in ALIENS, Hicks was originally played by James Remar, but Michael Biehn replaced him a few days after principal photography began, due to "artistic differences" between Remar and James Cameron?
... THAT in ALIENS, only six alien suits were used? The appearance of hundreds of aliens is simply clever editing and planning.
... THAT in ALIENS, composer James Horner cannibalized some of his scores from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)?
... THAT in ALIENS, like most films, the movie wasn't shot in sequence... but for added realism, Cameron filmed the scene where we first meet the Colonial Marines (one of the earliest scenes) last? This was so that the camaraderie of the marines was realistic because the actors had spent months filming together.
... THAT in ALIEN, much of the dialogue was developed through improvisation?
... THAT in ALIEN, the Nostromo was built to the, then, current NASA specifications for spacecraft? Some of the displays from the Nostromo are reused in BladeRunner (1982).
... THAT in ALIEN, Ridley Scott was the 4th or 5th choice for director?
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X-MEN PRODUCER ON X3 at 10:36 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Taken from Dark Horizons...
Are you getting many X3 questions?
Sure, mostly which character would you want to see in X3? [From others] I'm getting Beast, I'm getting Gambit - I have a great idea for Gambit but I can't say what it is.
When do you think it'll start shooting?
Ideally I would love to come out Summer of 2005 which means we'd better get going, but it's going to take a while to make the deals and all that.
What about writers?
Writers we're going to use Dan Harris & Mike Dougherty (the writers for "X2"), and then we're also going to develop a "Wolverine" movie at the same time but it won't come out until after "X3"
Are any of the actors signed on like Anna?
Some of our younger cast are. Shawn [Ashmore, aka. Iceman]...Anna [Paquin] is not. What we did was made everybody two-picture deals, so anybody who was in the first two are not but Shawn is and Colossus and Kitty Pride...
Will Colossus have a bigger role?
We'll see, probably.
Will the Dark Phoenix storyline be used?
We have to, we kind of left that out there so we have to follow that thread along with some other stories.
Ian McKellan told us he's keen on doing X3?
I can't imagine doing it without him or Patrick [Stewart] or any of the main cast...and Halle [Berry]. We have to make sure that she's used well and we have a great great storyline for her, or maybe we do a Storm movie...who knows.
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MICHAEL J. FOX IN "KING KONG"? at 10:34 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Peter Jackson recently lead interviewers to believe that he wants Michael J. Fox for a major role in his upcoming Big Budget Kong pic. It would ofcourse depend on the actors health.
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ANOTHER OSCAR NOMINATED ACTOR ATTACHED TO MANN PIC at 10:32 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Oscar-nominated thesp Javier Bardem ("When Night Falls") has been cast in the Tom Cruise starrer "Collateral," which Michael Mann is directing for DreamWorks. Bardem will travel to Los Angeles to shoot what is described by Spanish newspaper El Pais as "a small role."
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SUPERMAN TAKES ON ANIMATION at 10:18 PM by Ken Miyamoto
SUPERMAN's Christopher Reeve has agreed to helm a new computer generated animated feature film for IDT Entertainment. The untitled movie will be set in the 1930s and is about two rival baseball teams and a father and son. The production will be handled by Digital Production Solutions, a subsidiary of IDT Entertainment.
"Many projects cross my desk but only a few are truly captivating," Christopher Reeve said in a company press release. "With the perfect blend of warmth and wit, this is a story with universal appeal that both children and their parents will love."
The movie is being aimed for a 2005 release date. Reeve was nominated for an Emmy for his direction on IN THE GLOAMING, a 1997 HBO film.
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PIGS FROM DISNEY at 10:16 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Writers Greg Lee and Grant Calof have been hired to adapt the childrens' book THE THREE PIGS into a feature-length screenplay. Written by David Wiesner, the book takes the classic characters but removes them from their traditional environment. When the Big Bad Wolf comes calling on each of the three pigs, his actions allow the porked ones to escape from the panels of the story and venture off on their own and interacting with other fairy tale characters. The Disney movie is likely to use both traditional and computer generated animation.
What??
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THE RETURN OF THE KING BREAKS RECORDS! at 10:14 PM by Ken Miyamoto
With a weekend take on $73.1 Million, a five day weekend take of $125.1 million, none could complain. Estimates have just come in that the film has broken the world wide record by earning an outstanding $246.1 million worldwide in five days! That's almost teh budget of all three movies together!
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GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS at 04:33 PM by Ken Miyamoto
BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA
COLD MOUNTAIN
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
MYSTIC RIVER
SEABISCUIT
KEN SAYS: Since LOTR WILL win the Oscar, the Foreign Press will figure that COLD MOUNTAIN should get something.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA
CATE BLANCHETT - VERONICA GUERIN
NICOLE KIDMAN - COLD MOUNTAIN
SCARLETT JOHANSSON - GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING
CHARLIZE THERON - MONSTER
UMA THURMAN - KILL BILL - VOL. 1
EVAN RACHEL WOOD - THIRTEEN
KEN SAYS: While Evan Rachel Wood will be the silent favorite, Charlize Theron will take this home, and the Oscar.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA
RUSSELL CROWE - MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
TOM CRUISE - THE LAST SAMURAI
BEN KINGSLEY - HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
JUDE LAW - COLD MOUNTAIN
SEAN PENN - MYSTIC RIVER
KEN SAYS: Look for Penn to take home the award.
BEST MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM
BIG FISH
FINDING NEMO
LOST IN TRANSLATION
LOVE ACTUALLY
KEN SAYS: Finding Nemo is the favorite, but I'm banking on Lost in Translation.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
JAMIE LEE CURTIS - FREAKY FRIDAY
SCARLETT JOHANSSON - LOST IN TRANSLATION
DIANE KEATON - SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE
DIANE LANE - UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN
HELEN MIRREN - CALENDAR GIRLS
KEN SAYS: Keaton all the way... what a wonderful performance.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE -MUSICAL OR COMEDY
JACK BLACK - SCHOOL OF ROCK
JOHNNY DEPP - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
BILL MURRAY - LOST IN TRANSLATION
JACK NICHOLSON - SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE
BILLY BOB THORNTON - BAD SANTA
KEN SAYS: I would LOVE to see Depp take it home, but Murray is a sure bet.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS (FRENCH CANADA)
GOOD BYE, LENIN (GERMANY)
MONSIEUR IBRAHIM (FRANCE)
OSAMA (AFGHANISTAN)
THE RETURN (RUSSIA)
KEN SAYS: I need to see more foreign films.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
MARIA BELLO - THE COOLER
PATRICIA CLARKSON - PIECES OF APRIL
HOPE DAVIS - AMERICAN SPLENDOR
HOLLY HUNTER - THIRTEEN
RENÉE ZELLWEGER - COLD MOUNTAIN
KEN SAYS: Renee... you should win, but people may be looking for a new Golden Globe face to win.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
ALEC BALDWIN - THE COOLER
ALBERT FINNEY - BIG FISH
WILLIAM H. MACY - SEABISCUIT
TIM ROBBINS - MYSTIC RIVER
PETER SARSGAARD - SHATTERED GLASS
KEN WATANABE - THE LAST SAMURAI
KEN SAYS: It's between Ken and Tim all the way.
BEST DIRECTOR - MOTION PICTURE
SOFIA COPPOLA - LOST IN TRANSLATION
CLINT EASTWOOD - MYSTIC RIVER
PETER JACKSON - THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
ANTHONY MINGHELLA - COLD MOUNTAIN
PETER WEIR - MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
KEN SAYS: Jackson should take it for the WHOLE trilogy... what a fine job he's done.
BEST SCREENPLAY - MOTION PICTURE
SOFIA COPPOLA - LOST IN TRANSLATION
RICHARD CURTIS - LOVE ACTUALLY
BRIAN HELGELAND - MYSTIC RIVER
ANTHONY MINGHELLA - COLD MOUNTAIN
JIM SHERIDAN & NAOMI SHERIDAN & KIRSTEN SHERIDAN - IN AMERICA
KEN SAYS: Mystic River all the way.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - MOTION PICTURE
ALEXANDRE DESPLAT - GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING
DANNY ELFMAN - BIG FISH
HOWARD SHORE - THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
GABRIEL YARED - COLD MOUNTAIN
HANS ZIMMER - THE LAST SAMURAI
KEN SAYS: Everyone is neck to neck on this one. Look for Zimmer or Shore.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG - MOTION PICTURE
"THE HEART OF EVERY GIRL" - MONA LISA SMILE
Music by: Elton John
Lyrics by: Bernie Taupin
"INTO THE WEST" - THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
Music & Lyrics by: Howard Shore, Fran Walsh, Annie Lennox
"MAN OF THE HOUR" - BIG FISH
Music & Lyrics by: Eddie Vedder
"TIME ENOUGH FOR TEARS" - IN AMERICA
Music & Lyrics by: Bono, Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer
"YOU WILL BE MY AIN TRUE LOVE" - COLD MOUNTAIN
Music & Lyrics by: Sting
BEST TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA
24 (FOX)
CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (CBS)
NIP/TUCK (FX)
SIX FEET UNDER (HBO)
THE WEST WING (NBC)
KEN SAYS: Oncve again, 24 should win, but look for Six Feet to take it.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA
FRANCES CONROY - SIX FEET UNDER
JENNIFER GARNER - ALIAS
ALLISON JANNEY - THE WEST WING
JOELY RICHARDSON - NIP/TUCK
AMBER TAMBLYN - JOAN OF ARCADIA
KEN SAYS: Garner again.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA
MICHAEL CHIKLIS - THE SHIELD
ANTHONY LAPAGLIA - WITHOUT A TRACE
WILLIAM PETERSEN - CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION
MARTIN SHEEN - THE WEST WING
KIEFER SUTHERLAND - 24
KEN SAYS: Kiekfer should win, but Chiklis may take it away.
BEST TELEVISION SERIES - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT (FOX)
MONK (USA)
THE OFFICE (BBC AMERICA)
SEX AND THE CITY (HBO)
WILL & GRACE (NBC)
KEN SAYS: Where the heck is SCRUBS?? Monk all the way.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
BONNIE HUNT - LIFE WITH BONNIE
REBA MCENTIRE - REBA
DEBRA MESSING - WILL & GRACE
SARAH JESSICA PARKER - SEX AND THE CITY
BITTY SCHRAM - MONK
ALICIA SILVERSTONE - MISS MATCH
KEN SAYS: Parker may take it for a last hurrah.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
RICKY GERVAIS - THE OFFICE
MATT LEBLANC - FRIENDS
BERNIE MAC - THE BERNIE MAC SHOW
ERIC MCCORMACK - WILL & GRACE
TONY SHALHOUB - MONK
KEN SAYS: Tony WILL win.
BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
ANGELS IN AMERICA (HBO)
MY HOUSE IN UMBRIA (HBO)
NORMAL (HBO)
SOLDIER'S GIRL (SHOWTIME)
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS' THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE (SHOWTIME)
KEN SAYS: Angels... the epic drama.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
JUDY DAVIS - THE REAGANS
JESSICA LANGE - NORMAL
HELEN MIRREN - TENNESSEE WILLIAMS' THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE
MAGGIE SMITH - MY HOUSE IN UMBRIA
MERYL STREEP - ANGELS IN AMERICA
KEN SAYS: How can Streep not win?
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
ANTONIO BANDERAS - AND STARRING PANCHO VILLA AS HIMSELF
JAMES BROLIN - THE REAGANS
TROY GARITY - SOLDIER'S GIRL
AL PACINO - ANGELS IN AMERICA
TOM WILKINSON - NORMAL
KEN SAYS: How can Pacino not win?
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
KIM CATTRALL - SEX AND THE CITY
KRISTIN DAVIS - SEX AND THE CITY
MEGAN MULLALLY - WILL & GRACE
CYNTHIA NIXON - SEX AND THE CITY
MARY LOUISE PARKER - ANGELS IN AMERICA
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
SEAN HAYES - WILL & GRACE
LEE PACE - SOLDIER'S GIRL
BEN SHENKMAN - ANGELS IN AMERICA
PATRICK WILSON - ANGELS IN AMERICA
JEFFREY WRIGHT - ANGELS IN AMERICA
KEN SAYS: I don't watch THAT much TV.
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ENTERPRISE DONE? at 11:10 PM by Ken Miyamoto
This quoted at Dark Horizins... "On the Paramount lot this week, a memo was circulated to the production staff advising them that the current season would be reduced to 24 shows from 26. This marks the first time in nearly 20 years that this has occurred for a Trek show; all non-first seasons of all the existing and previous series have always consisted of 26 shows (except TNG: Season 2 due to a writers strike).
Lot talk behind the memo is that next year will be the last season of "Enterprise". A fourth and final season of 24 shows, which with the first two seasons total episode count of 52, would fulfill the magic syndication requirement of 100 total episodes. No word on the future of the Franchise".
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SCRUBS STAR READY FOR ANIMATION at 11:08 PM by Ken Miyamoto
""Scrubs" star Zach Braff -- whose directorial debut, "Garden State," recently got picked for the main competition at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival -- has inked to voice the title character in the Walt Disney Co.'s animated "Chicken Little" for director Mark Dindal ("The Emperor's New Groove"). Expected to join him as part of the voice talent are Joan Cusack, Steve Zahn, Amy Sedaris, Don Knotts, Katie Finneran and Garry Marshall.
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THURMAN AND TRAVOLTA BACK TOGETHER at 11:04 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Uma Thurman will join John Travolta in BE COOL, the sequel to GET SHORTY scheduled to start filming next February. Thurman plays Edie, the inheritor of her late husband's record company and now business partner of wiseguy-turned-movie producer-turned-record producer Chili Palmer. Reprising his role as actor Martin Weir is Danny DeVito.
If only Sonnenfeld was directing again!
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ADAM SANDLER'S NEXT at 11:03 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Written by Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe (BRUCE ALMIGHTY), CLICK is about a workaholic architect who comes across a universal remote control unit that works in the real world. Using the remote Sandler's character can rewind, fast-forward and pause his life, which produces bizarre second choices.
Filming on CLICK is now scheduled to commence next April. Columbia Pictures will release the film.
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SEINFELD DOING A MOVIE WITH DREAMWORKS?! at 11:01 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Jerry Seinfeld has agreed to star in his first major project since bringing an end to his legendary NBC sitcom SEINFELD. The stand-up comedian has partnered with DreamWorks to write, produce and star in BEE MOVIE, a new CG animated feature film that will draw upon Seinfeld's experiences living in the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple.
The animated film will see Seinfeld provide the voice of the film's main character, a worker bee living in a New York-like city. Seinfeld has started writing the film's screenplay. The likeliest early date of release for BEE MOVIE is three years away. A director hasn't been found for the project just yet.
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TITLE FOR THE PIRATES SEQUEL? at 10:59 PM by Ken Miyamoto
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: TREASURES OF THE LOST ABYSS... that's the word on the street thus far from people who have seen composite artwork for the sequel to the hit film.
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VIGGO UP FOR BATMAN AS WELL? at 10:57 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Michael Caine dropped a hint that Viggo Mortenson may be up for one of the coveted villian roles in Batman! He'll either play Scarecrow (probably not, because it's touted as a small role) or R'as al Ghul... the lead role.
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HOLMES UP FOR BATMAN TOO? at 10:54 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Katie Holmes is close to clinching a major role in the new Batman film!
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CLOONEY AND TRAFFIC WRITER ON BOARD TOGETHER at 10:51 PM by Ken Miyamoto
George Clooney will produce and star in SYRIANA, a thriller set in the Middle East which follows the personal journey of a CIA agent as he experiences the effects of U.S. foreign policy upon that region of the world.
Steven Soderbergh will also produce SYRIANA.
The script was written by TRAFFIC screenwriter Stephen Gaghan and will also be directed by him. The script is based on a book by former CIA operative Robert Baer titled SEE NO EVIL: THE TRUE STORY OF A FOOT SOLDIER IN THE CIA'S WAR ON TERRORISM.
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NEW BATMAN VILLIAN CAST? at 10:48 PM by Ken Miyamoto
28 DAYS LATER star Cillian Murphy has been cast in Christopher Nolan's BATMAN film as an unspecified villain.
Nolan is directing the newly envisioned Batman film, with Christian Bale as the bat, and Michael Caine as good ole Alfred.
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HUGE PRODUCTION LIST OF MARVEL PROJECTS FROM AVI ARAD... at 10:39 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Word is out from Avi Arad, the head of Marvel, in regards to any and all comic book adaptions from the comic giant...
A Director's Cut version of Daredevil will be out on DVD in April.
Nick Fury and Tales of The Zombie are on the slate for big screen treatment as action/adventure and horror films, respectively.
The Punisher will be rated R, and will be distributed internationally by Sony. A full trailer for the film will be released at the end of this year.
Werewolf By Night, to be directed by John Fasano, was described as "sufferance" with "less Verdi... done in a very unique way." Classified as a fantasy/romance, the film will be somewhere inbetween a family movie and an R-rated film.
Mort The Dead Teenager will be Marvel's first comedy film.
Man-Thing director Brett Leonard will be helming other Marvel movie adaptations.
20th Century Fox's Fantastic Four has been pushed back until summer 2005. Marvel and Fox had previously targetted a December 24, 2004 release, but it was ultimately decided that was too late in the year. The movie will be billed as a major tentpole release, and will be supported with many licenses including video games, toys, apparel, and more.
2005 will also see the release of Iron Man and Ghost Rider. Arad said that Elektra would "probably" be ready for the 2005 slate, but that "time will tell".
Iron Man was described as being "Howard Hughes meets superheroes", and is being penned by Smallville and Spider-Man 2 writers Miles Millar and Alfred Gough. The script for the "expensive" movie will be ready by the end of this year, and Arad said the writers would also be working on more Marvel movies and television series' "because they're very, very good". Activision are actively developing both Fantastic Four and Iron Man video games.
Ghost Rider, starring Nicolas Cage as John Blaze with Mark Steven Johnson directing, will be a PG-13 movie. Arad hopes production will begin after January 1st.
Elektra will delve more into the character's back story based on feedback received from the first Daredevil film. The two characters will then be reunited in Daredevil 2.
Both X-Men 3 and Hulk 2 are set for release in 2006, alongside new properties Namor, Captain America, Nick Fury, and Iron Fist.
Screenwriter David Self has almost completed his script for Namor, which Arad described as "fresh", "unique", and joked that it boasts "a lot more fish" than Finding Nemo.
Captain America is in development with "a race between some of the world's greatest writers" to see who will pen the script.
Nick Fury, which is in fast development, was described as "James Bond made in the U.S." A "terrific star who always wanted to be Nick Fury" has committed to the project.
A writer for Hulk 2 has just been hired.
Two new animated series', Blade on MTV and Hulk, will premiere alongside the continuing Spider-Man, which is being moved from MTV to "where kids expect to see it", and X-Men: Evolution on Kids' WB!
All of Marvel's upcoming tentpole movies, such as Fantastic Four and Iron Man, are being considered for television development as animated series'.
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DO NOT BELIEVE THE STAR WARS RUMORS PLEASE! at 10:27 PM by Ken Miyamoto
There are many rumors flying around about Lucas' apparent Archival Special Editions of the Original Trilogy. No, the upcoming 2004 DVD releases will NOT be full of updated shots, a CG Yoda, Altered Vader and Kenobi Death Star fight, etc.
They will be the Special Editions that we've already seen. MAYBE a tweek here and there, but that's it. HOPEFULLY Lucas will come to his senses and include the original trilogy.
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BLOOM AND CO. IN HAVEN at 11:28 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Orlando Bloom, Bill Paxton and Gabriel Byrne will star in HAVEN for El Camino Pictures for writer/director Frank E. Flowers. It's about two shady businessmen who flee to the Cayman Islands to avoid federal prosecution. Their escape ignites a chain reaction that leads a British native to commit a crime that changes the country. Victor Rasuk, Joy Bryant and Anthony Mackie also star.
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JACKSON AND CUBE IN XXX 2 at 11:27 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Samuel L. Jackson will reprise his role in XXX2, joining Ice Cube to star in the Revolution Studios sequel for director Lee Tamahori.
YAWN!
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DIAZ'S NEXT at 11:23 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Cameron Diaz is in talks to star in 20th Century Fox's X-GIRLS, playing one of three Playboy centerfolds who completed the most grueling adventure race reality show on television. Mark Steilen will write the script for Frontier Pictures and Firm Films. The Eco-Challenge is usually populated by ex-Navy SEALs and Army Rangers, tough guys adept at the challenge of being dropped off in in jungles. They use their survival abilities and teamwork to cover 300 miles in six to 12 days over rugged terrain. The centerfolds, teamed with one male contestant, became the first female-dominated team to complete the race.
Anybody else getting sick of Cameron Diaz?
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BRODY AND PORTMAN TOGETHER? at 11:22 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Adrien Brody and Natalie Portman have been offered roles in a biopic of war photographer Robert Capa for writer/director Menno Meyjes (MAX) and Pandora Films. Shooting is set to begin in April. The movie will focus on the relationship between Capa and the woman he loved, fellow photog Gerda Taro, during the Spanish Civil War.
Natalie, you deserve SOOOO much better than the OVERRATED Brody.
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BRITTANY MURPHYS NEXT at 11:20 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Brittany Murphy is attached to star in BOYFRIEND IN A BOX, based on the novelty item of the same name, for Warner Bros. Gren Wells will write the romantic comedy about a girl who is not looking for love and so acquires the novelty toy "Boyfriend in a Box" in order to keep friends and family from bugging her about her love life. Soon she finds she must produce the man, only to learn that the real life guy is nothing like the boxed boyfriend.
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WILL SMITH IN ROMANTIC COMEDY? at 11:20 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Will Smith and Eva Mendes will star in Columbia Pictures' romantic comedy LAST FIRST KISS for director Andy Tennant (SWEET HOME ALABAMA) and Overbrook Entertainment. Shooting will begin in March. Smith will play a date doctor who claims his service can match lifemates in just three dates. A beautiful female journalist enlists in the program, intent on exposing the doc as a scam artist.
THANK YOU FOR NOT CASTING HIS WIFE! The worst thing to happen to the Matrix franchise. Sorry Jada.
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HIGHLANDER 5? at 11:18 PM by Ken Miyamoto
I LOVE and CHERISH the first film! With each sequel, I wait and hope for the greatness and originality of the first, but ofcourse am ALWAYS let down.
In this story, four new charismatic Immortals are on a quest to locate the Holy Grail of their world.
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DONNER AND GIBSON BACK FOR LETHAL WEAPON 5???? at 11:14 PM by Ken Miyamoto
While doing press interviews for his upcoming flick TIMELINE, Richard Donner broke some interesting news that he had a story for Gibson's and Glover's characters that would bring an excellent closier to the franchise. The story would follow the two detectives during a tense 24 hours. Donner also noted that Gibson is very interested in the sequel, despite saying that he would never return.
If the story is good, and Donner, Gibson, Pesci, Glover, and company return... I'm all for it. Nothing wrong with a guilty pleasure.
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MGM SET FOR POTTER AND RINGS SPOOF at 11:09 PM by Ken Miyamoto
MGM bought a script from writers David Morgasen, James R. Stein and Timothy Stack that spoofs the epic franchises of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.
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THE FIRST OLYMPICS MOVIE? at 11:07 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Screenwriter Robert Rodat (THE PATRIOT, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN) will write the screenplay for THE FIRST OLYMPICS. Rodat's story will concern an Athenian soldier who is selected to represent his division, travel to Greece and compete in the world's first Olympic games. The Athenian soldier will have a primary adversary in the pentathlon, a Spartan warrior. By winning the race our hero hopes to win the respect of his military commander, the man whose daughter he is also romantically attached to.
Sounds good to me!
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MOORE WANTS THE CHARLIE'S ANGELS "FRANCHISE"? at 11:05 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Looks like the catfight between Demi Moore and the Charlie's Angels girls has been heated up. Demi Moore has approached Sony/Columbia Pictures pitching herself to star in some Charlie's Angels prequel with her in the role that she portrayed in the latest Angels sequel... only not as the villianous vixen, but as her earlier innocent Angel.
Moore wants to produce the new series of films as well.
Chances are this isn't going to happen folks. The Angels franchise seems dead in the water now, and I doubt that the studio would risk this new idea, even if they do plan on doing a third film.
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MARTIN IS THE NEW INSPECTOR? at 10:59 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Titled BIRTH OF THE PINK PANTHER, the movie will be directed by Shawn Levy, director of CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, Martin's new comedy out in theaters next month. Filming is now scheduled to get underway in the spring of 2004 from a screenplay by Len Blum.
"Steve is an inspired comedian and a great actor; he's a perfect choice to play Inspector Clouseau," said Levy in a press release issued by the studio. "Our working relationship is so fluid at this point that I look forward to taking it to the next level with the PINK PANTHER franchise."
This will be the ninth PINK PANTHER movie for MGM, the first since Roberto Begnini starred as Clouseau's son in 1993's SON OF THE PINK PANTHER.
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CHAN'S AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS PICKED UP at 10:58 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution has picked up the domestic film rights to AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, the adventure film starring Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan and a host of stars in cameo roles. The studio is now targeting the film for an unspecified summer 2004 release date.
In a statement released by the studio, Walt Disney Chariman Dick Cook said "AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS is quality family entertainment and another great motion picture from the folks at Walden Media. After seeing the film this weekend, we were convinced that this was a perfect release for summer 2004 and we wanted to be involved in bringing it to the moviegoing public. This is a terrific ensemble cast of actors in this updated version of the Jules Verne classic and brings new excitement that today's audience are going to love."
Chan, Coogan and French actress Cecile De France play three intrepid 19th century hot-air balloon explorers who agree to a wager that they can circumnavigate the globe in under three months. As the trio traverse their way around the world they land in many countries and meet a variety of exotic characters such as the Wright Brothers (Owen and Luke Wilson), Queen Victoria (Kathy Bates), a Turkish Prince (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a Scotland Yard Sergeant (John Cleese), a fellow hot-air balloon engineer (Richard Branson) and a an eccentric inventor (Rob Schneider).
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BELIEVE IT OR NOT, "RADIO" IS A FINE FILM! at 12:18 AM by Ken Miyamoto
I envisioned a movie waiting for each and every chance to pull at our emotional chords... to fully manipulate us using age old film techniques.
I expected the big football game at the end to keep us on the edge of our seats... until the final winning catch.
I expected the heroic coach to make a heart warming speech in the town hall... thus saving Radio from a trip to the mental institue.
I expected the angry jock, jealous of the attention and admiration that Radio receives, to be defeated and embarrassed at the end of the film... by Radio's doing.
I expected these things and many more... and most of all, I expected an over-the-top performance by Cuba Gooding Jr.
Thankfully, my expectations were NOT met. RADIO proved to be this year's biggest surprise thus far. A film that could have used manipulation to the extreme, instead deciding to do what most films try but fail... to tell a story.
Cuba Gooding Jr. plays Radio, a local small town figure known to walk the streets in his own little world... with a radio to his ear at all times. One day, while Ed Harris, as a local high school footbal coach, coaches his team... he sees this strange young man watching from behind the fence. After catching some of his players tormenting him later on, the coach decides to take in Radio as the new team assistant.
At first, Radio struggles to even utter a single comprehendable word... but as he sees that the coach is trustworthy, he begins to open up to the town like never before.
Ofcourse, some of the townfolk question the legendary coach's charity at first... but Harris sticks to his guns.
RADIO is a story with true heart. A story about a young man who never had a chance... until a total stranger took him under his wing.
Yes, the story does pull some emotional chords... in fact, it is one of the most heart wrenching but inspiring stories I've seen in a long time. But, it NEVER falls to type. It never takes each and every expected turn. It slowly leads into those expected moments, but thankfully remains true to the actual story.
Some will find it as manipulation... people that have forgotten that just because something moves you in any way doesn't mean that it's artificial. But you will be surprised to find that RADIO is not the movie that you would have expected.
Ed Harris offers an equally powerful performance as the true life coach who risked his reputation to help this poor, misunderstood boy. Cuba doesn't overplay the character at all, disappearing into this strange young man and finding the true meaning of his character.
You'll watch the trailers and you'll sigh to yourself, "There goes Cuba trying to make up for Snow Dogs and Boat Trip..."
If that's true, so what? What's wrong with taking a challenge. What's wrong with trying to bounce back (John Travolta did it in '94).
The trailers don't do this film justice. If you do judge this book by its cover, you're going to be missing one of this year's best character pieces. One of its most inspiring stories.
And yes, this story is true. The best decision the filmmakers made was to include a few minutes of actual footage of the REAL Radio... and his long time friend Coach Jones. These men have had a friendship that has lasted 40 years... and Radio still inspires his town as a local hero... to this day. See this movie folks. Guys, if you want your girl to cry sweet tears on your shoulders, take her to see this film. If you want to be inspired, without being spoon fed, see this film. There's nothing wrong with inspiration. There's nothing wrong with being moved by a film.
Any filmaker with a message tries to invoke themselves to their audience. Any naysayers are going to have admit that even films like SCHINDLER'S LIST, SOPHIE'S CHOICE, PHILADELPHIA, etc. use images and emotion to tug at our hearts. While I'm in no way saying that RADIO is up to par with SCHINDLER'S LIST, it does however tell a fantastic true story that we can all learn from.
Bravo to Cuba Gooding Jr.'s performance. He did indeed make up for Boat Trip and Snow Dogs!
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MGM FINALLY MAKES A SMART MOVE! at 11:36 PM by Ken Miyamoto
MGM has nixed the planned JINX spin-off movie featuring Halle Berry's character from DIE ANOTHER DAY.
Thank God!
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ZORRO 2 ON THE GO!? at 11:34 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones are planning to reprise their roles in a sequel to THE MASK OF ZORRO for director Martin Campbell. Anthony Hopkins also is considered likely for an encore.
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AFFLECK'S NEXT at 11:33 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Ben Affleck has committed to star in GLORY ROAD for producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney about college hoops coach, Don Haskins, who shattered the color barrier by leading the first all-black lineup of players to the NCAA championship. Chris Cleveland wrote the script.
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BLOOM AND SCOTT TEAM FOR THE CRUSADES! at 11:32 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Orlando Bloom will star in Ridley Scott's period epic KINGDOM OF HEAVEN for 20th Century Fox. In the story set in 12th century Europe and the exotic Far East, Bloom will star as a young peasant who becomes a knight, saves a kingdom and falls in love with a princess. William Monahan wrote the script which is being produced by Scott Free Prods.
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TOPHER GRACE AND DENNIS QUAID TOGETHER? at 11:32 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Topher Grace is in negotiations to play Dennis Quaid's boss in SYNERGY for writer/director Paul Weitz and producer Chris Weitz. The pic is about a veteran magazine ad man who, after a corporate merger, finds himself with a twentysomething business school grad boss. After a rocky start, the two form a friendship that is upset after the young boss has an affair with his new employee's daughter.
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SANDLER'S NEXT at 11:31 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Anne Bancroft and Paz Vega (SEX AND LUCIA) have been cast in SPANGLISH, starring Adam Sandler and Tea Leoni, for Columbia Pictures and writer/director/producer James L. Brooks.
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HOBBIT GOING SCI-FI? at 11:31 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Ivana Milicevic has been cast alongside Sean Astin and Vinnie Jones in the sci-fi indie SLIPSTREAM for MPCA and director David van Eyssen. It's about a young scientist who invents a time-travel device that allows those who touch it to travel 10 minutes into the past. His plan to use the machine for a bank heist goes awry when a group of robbers tries to hold up the same place.
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LEMONY SNICKET CAST ADDITION at 11:30 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Jennifer Coolidge (LEGALLY BLONDE, BEST-IN-SHOW) will join Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep and Jude Law in LEMONY SNICKET for director Brad Silberling and Paramount/DreamWorks. Liam Aiken and Emily Browning round out the cast as two of the three orphans.
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NEW STAR WARS INFO! at 11:29 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Looks like someone at Aint It Cool News stumbled upon a Star Wars summit that stated the following SW timeline:
This week, The Clone Wars on the Cartoon Network...
Then the original Star Wars trilogy is being released on DVD September 2004...
Then Episode 3 teaser advertising begins in January of 2005...
Episode 3 debuts May 2005...
Episode 3 on DVD/VHS November 2005...
I have to admit, even though I have some reservations about Lucas' SW decisions right now, I'm getting pumped once again for all things Star Wars. I just hope that we get BOTH versions of the Original films. I hope... but hope may not be enough.
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ENTERPRISE FX CREW TAKES ON HELLBOY at 11:18 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Eden FX, the special effects company that creates the digital effects for ENTERPRISE, has been hired to create 125 visual effects shots for HELLBOY. The kinds of shots that Eden will provide range from enhancing backgrounds to touching up characters and making the impossible look believable.
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RESIDENT EVIL DONE SHOOTING? at 11:15 PM by Ken Miyamoto
RESIDENT EVIL APOCALYPSE, finished principal photography last Friday in Toronto. The movie brings back Milla Jovovich's character Alice, who survived the events of the first film, and resumes her battle with virus-created zombies right right where the earlier movie left off.
"All the action is above ground in an evacuated Raccoon City," producer Jeremy Bolt told The Hollywood Reporter. "The deadly T-virus is out, and the Umbrella Corp. has sealed the city."
Sienna Guillory and Odeh Fehr also star in the film. Guillory plays the RESIDENT EVIL video game character Jill Valentine. APOCALYPSE is schedule for release sometime in 2004.
Hopefully the film will be a vast improvement over the first.
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HOWARD'S NEXT at 11:12 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Ron Howard will direct Cinderella Man, reuniting him with Russell Crowe... but after that, what's next?
THE DA VINCI CODE!
Based on the bestselling novel by Dan Brown, THE DA VINCI CODE is about a professor who discovers a conspiracy to cover up secret messages embedded in the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci. Akiva Goldsman (Oscar-winner for his work on A BEAUTIFUL MIND) is writing the screenplay.
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BIGELOW DIRECTOR'S NEXT at 11:10 PM by Ken Miyamoto
DEUCE BIGELOW: MALE GIGOLO helmer Mike Mitchell will direct the fantasy/comedy THE FRAUD PRINCE for Warner Bros. Written by Dan Forman and Paul Foley, PRINCE is a story about a magical kingdom's private eye who is hired by a lady-in-waiting to sniff out the background of her princess' would-be prince charming.
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JIM CAREY AS THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN?? at 06:33 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Yep. Jim Carey is now attached while Todd Phillips (ROAD TRIP, STARSKY & HUTCH) will write a new script and direct the film, which should go into production next year. HELLBOY's Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin will produce the film along with Scott Faye.
While the original ABC TV series was an action-drama, Carrey's SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN will be envisioned as a comedy. "The teaming of Jim and Todd is the perfect creative combination to launch the SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN franchise," Dimension Co-Chairman Bob Weinstein said in a press release. "Todd is a director with proven instincts and Jim is a superstar."
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BULLOCK'S NEXT? at 06:30 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Looks like she is back for the sequel to MISS CONGENIALITY. I'm not joking.
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PROM NIGHT: THE REMAKE? at 06:29 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Looks like it may happen for some odd reason. Screenwriters Brad Keene and Chris Skinner are penning the new PROM script and that it is much different in its premise than the original film.
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RIDLEY SCOTT TAKING ON FANTASY NOVEL? at 06:28 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Possibly. Ridley Scott may be directing a film version of Philip Pullman's HIS DARK MATERIALS book trilogy. New Line Cinema has the rights to Pullman's novels, with the first book, THE GOLDEN COMPASS, having been adapted into screenplay format by Tom Stoppard (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE).
HIS DARK MATERIALS is an epic fantasy with equal elements for young readers and adults, with the story's main characters being two different children living in parallel worlds. There are loads of interesting places and creatures scattered throughout the novels, with a monumental task facing the children that reveals the very nature of their two universes.
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DAREDEVIL DIRECTOR'S NEXT at 06:26 PM by Ken Miyamoto
DAREDEVIL director Mark Steven Johnson, prepping to film GHOST RIDER next year, has sold a horror pitch to MGM called SUCCUBUS. The premise is about two buddies, one a drop-dead good-looking player, the other a nerd type who never scores with the ladies. One day a beautiful woman hooks up with the nerd guy and suddenly they're spending all their time together. His pal is suspicious and confronts the woman, who indentifies herself as a succubus, a demon that seduces men to their deaths. And that means the good-looking guy must stop the succubus from completing her task and killing his friend.
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EXORCIST PREQUEL CHANGES DIRECTORS AGAIN! at 06:25 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Original director Paul Schrader was canned due to creative differences with the production company... Morgan Creek. Now, Renny Harlin is being paid $8 million to reshoot some of the film (and help re-edit) in order to be more in tune woth Morgan Creek's vision of the film.
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REDFORD'S NEXT at 06:20 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Robert Redford will direct romantic thriller THE COMPANY YOU KEEP for Fox Searchlight, based on Neil Gordon's third novel of the same name. Lem Dobbs (THE SCORE, THE LIMEY) will adapt the book. It's the story of a single dad whose upper-middle class existence as an attorney in upstate New York is disrupted when his old life as a militant in the Weather Underground returns to haunt him. Accused of being the triggerman at a deadly bank robbery, he is forced to go on the lam to find an old flame -- a woman who can prove his innocence.
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CHAINSAW DIRECTOR'S NEXT at 06:19 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Marcus Nispel (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE) is in talks to direct THE EXPENDABLES for Warner Bros. Pictures. It's inspired by a real-life program at California's Chino prison in which convicts are taught diving skills that can provide them with lucrative salvage and ship-repair careers following their parole.
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THE SEVEN DAY ITCH at 06:18 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Scot Armstrong (OLD SCHOOL) is writing THE SEVEN DAY ITCH, a romantic comedy inspired by THE HEARTBREAK KID, for Radar Pictures. It's about a man who hastily weds a local girl who he thinks is perfect until he falls in love with another girl during the honeymoon.
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DIRECTOR RETURNING TO PIRATES! at 06:17 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Gore Verbinski is set to direct PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2 for Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott are penning the sequel with Johnny Depp also reprising his starring role.
New news states that there may be two sequels made at the same time ala Lord of the Rings and The Matrix. No deal on that is set just yet.
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STEPHEN KING'S TALISMAN COMING TO THE BIG SCREEN at 06:16 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Vadim Perelman (THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG) is in final talks to direct THE TALISMAN, based on the 1984 fantasy novel by Stephen King and Peter Straub, for Universal/DreamWorks. It centers on 12-year-old Jack Sawyer, who goes on a quest in the living world and a parallel world known as the Territories to acquire a talisman that will save the life of his dying mother and the queen of the Territories. Ehren Kruger (THE RING) adapted the screenplay.
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KEVIN JAMES TO STAR IN CUBS FAN COMEDY ALREADY? at 06:13 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Talk about fast development. King of Queens star Kevin James is attached to star in the Revolution Studios project FAN INTERFERENCE, a comic pitch inspired by a Chicago Cubs fan attempted to catch a foul ball, costing the Cubs a key out and triggering a Florida Marlins rally that led to a Cubs loss in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series.
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HOFFMAN, HACKMAN, AND DUVALL TOGETHER?! at 06:12 PM by Ken Miyamoto
What a perfect cast! Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Duvall are set to star in BIT PLAYERS for Universal Pictures with Scott Rosenberg and Michael Lewis writing the script. Story is about a trio of men whose small town in the West is destroyed by a Wall Street crook who has swindled townsfolk out of their pensions. Hoffman is the duped owner of the bank that leaves the town high and dry. Hackman and Duvall will play two of those men who band with Hoffman and head to New York, where they hatch a scheme to get even.
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THR ROCK SIGNS ONTO "BE COOL"? at 06:11 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is in talks to play a gay bodyguard-singer who develops an uneasy alliance with John Travolta's Chili Palmer in BE COOL for director F. Gary Gray and MGM.
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THE ROCK TAKES A STEP DOWN at 06:08 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Dwayne Johnson (aka the Rock) will play a safecracker who dies and is reincarnated as a series of different animals, moving his way up the food chain in INSTANT KARMA, written by Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott, for New Line and Digital Domain. Pierce Brosnan, Mira Sorvino, David Alan Grier and Eartha Kitt also star in the live-action elements, while Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Gene Wilder and the comedy troupe Broken Lizard provide voices of the animals. Paul Hernandez will make his feature writing and directing bow on the pic.
Why?
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STEVE MARTIN TAKES ON THE PINK PANTHER??? at 06:07 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Maybe. Steve Martin is in talks to play Inspector Jacques Clouseau in MGM's BIRTH OF THE PINK PANTHER. Len Blum wrote the script.
Why?
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KILMER OUT, RUFFALO IN at 06:06 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Mark Ruffalo is in talks to replace Val Kilmer in Michael Mann's COLLATERAL opposite Tom Cruise for DreamWorks Pictures. Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Dennis Farina and Irma Hall round out the cast.
I still wish Kilmer would have been able to do this role!
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DON CHEADLE JOINS AFTER THE SUNSET at 06:05 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Don Cheadle and Naomie Harris (28 DAYS LATER) will join Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek and Woody Harrelson in AFTER THE SUNSET for director Brett Ratner and New Line Cinema.
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TOP SECRET STAR WARS PROJECT???? at 09:48 PM by Ken Miyamoto
An "important" event of is being held on November 5 at The Precidio, the complex in San Francisco owned by Lucasfilm. An invititation in the form of a Darth Vader figure on top black acrylic block has been sent to businesses that have worked with Lucasfilm.
The invite reads: "LORD VADER IS PLANNING A MAJOR ASSAULT. HE SUMMONS YOU TO SHARE HIS TOP SECRET BATTLE PLANS. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2003, THE OFFICERS' CLUB, AT THE PRESIDIO, SAN FRANCISCO, CA. LIGHTSABERS AND BLASTERS MUST BE CHECKED AT THE DOOR. MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU."
Could it be an announcement for the rumored DVD release of the original trilogy near the fourth quarter of 2004? Special Editions WITH original cuts? Special Editions only? Come on Lucas, this is your chance to clean up the mess you've made of your fan reputation! We'll always cherish you for what you've created, but we don't have to ALWAYS loath you for what you've done with it... you can make up for past wrongs by just releases those damn original cuts with your special editions!!
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KEN'S BACK FROM HAWAII at 11:08 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Not that any of you noticed, but I finally have returned home to California from the beautiful paradise of Oahu, Hawaii.
My wife and I came home to a state with Arnold Schwarzenegger as our Governor elect! So much for T4! Damnit! Now they're talking about the Rock as a new Terminator... which might work if he plays a Terminator sent to track down John Connor during the future wars. Who knows?
I have a lot of updates and scoops for you all below. Some of which I am not happy about as you will see in my comments. My thoughts about the film industry lately? Yawn. There's nothing new going on. Some exciting things are happening, but overall I'm waiting for the next big thing. INDY 4? Cool enough. Can't complain. SW3? Can't wait... but am a little pissed at Lucas as far as how he is handling Star Wars. He recently rejected a film festival's request of an original print of Star Wars (a.k.a. no Special Edition) for a retrospective of American Cinema! Lucasfilm stated that the only print that would EVER be available would be the Special Edition. This scares me because I would LOVE to have a DVD set with both versions (ala what his friend Spielberg did with E.T.). Err!
Anyway, there's just no true "umph" in Hollywood right now besides Lord of the Rings. Guess I have to get my ass in gear and get my $#@# out there huh guys! I'm close... so close I can taste it!
So here are some massive scoops for you all, and some little ones too.
And to taunt you a bit, I'm holding an advanced copy of the Indiana Jones Trilogy DVD set in my hands! I'm hugging it. Loving it. Wait for my early review in the DVD section of the site.
Aloha!
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TARANTINO ON VEGA BROTHERS FILM at 10:49 PM by Ken Miyamoto
"That's something I always planned on doing, but other projects took precedence. Ten years on , John Travolta's getting older, Michael's getting older. I don't think they'd even want to do it. Not that that's the last hope audiences have of seeing more of Vic or Vincent Vega. There's an idea I have a Pulp Fiction follow-up. Sequels generally suck, so it's nothing I want to rush into. But Bottom line the studio wants it, the fans want it. I'm sure I can compromise somewhere. It'd be my way of apologizing for never getting Vega Brothers off the ground I guess. That way, we could get John, we could get Michael, and we could get Sam and Tim...everyone back. It would be interesting to see whatever happened to Jules and his plans to 'walk the earth'. Hey, just having Michael and John in the same frame would be great. They're great. But that said, I got to write such a thing".
Look, Travolta looks better than he did ten years ago, and all Madsen needs to do is drop 30 or 40 pounds and they're fine!
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DIE HARD 4 IN MOVEMENT at 10:43 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Hey, I'm a sucker for sequels. But only for sequels that remain true to the original themes while offering some evolution. This summer was TERRIBLE for sequels besides X2 and RELOADED.
Give me an Empire Strikes Back, Lethal Weapon 2, X2, Rocky II (and III and IV), Superman II, etc. etc. etc. Great.
Offer up a Die Hard 3, Batman and Robin, Superman III, etc. and I'm out.
ANYWAY, Die Hard 4 is moving forward with Willis' production company producing, and with writer Mark Bomback currently working on the script. Willis will star now (yeah I know, he said he never would)... hey, people change their minds every day.
If they do it right, it could be great. The first two films were excellent. The third dropped the whole concept, not to mention all the characters from the first two films (except Willis). We'll have to wait and see.
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KILMER OUT OF COLLATERAL! at 10:35 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Damnit... just when we had perfect casting choices (with the exception of Jamie Fox... who's good, but not right for this part). Mann reteaming with Kilmer. Kilmer reteaming with Cruise. But due to Oliver Stone's ALEXANDER shoot, Kilmer had to opt out. Mark Ruffalo may be stepping into the role of the agent set out to find Cruise.
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THE ROCK'S NEXT? at 10:31 PM by Ken Miyamoto
INSTANT KARMA, a new live-action/CGI film set up at New Line Cinema. Johnson will play a safecracker who dies and is reincarnated as different animals, each progressively higher up on the food chain.
The film will feature a host of celebrities appearing in the film humans and providing voices of the various critters The Rock's character interacts with. Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Gene Wilder and the guys from Broken Lizard will supply some of the voices for the CGI animals while Pierce Brosnan, Mira Sorvino, David Alan Grier and Eartha Kitt will play homo sapiens characters.
The $70 million dollar project is the directing debut of Paul Hernandez and he'll be shooting the film from his script, with PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN writers Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott serving as producers. Digital Domain is onboard to create the CGI visual effects.
Just when I had hope for The Rock...
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CHEADLE JOINING BROSNAN'S NEXT? at 10:29 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Don Cheadle has signed on to take the part of a Caribbean crime lord who tries to entice Pierce Brosnan's retired master thief to do one last job in AFTER THE SUNSET... directed by Brett Ratner. Naomie Harris just joined the cast which also includes Salma Hayek and Woody Harrelson.
Didn't Brosnan already play this part a couple fo times?
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JONZE AND KAUFMAN TOGETHER AGAIN? at 10:26 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Director Spike Jonze and writer Charlie Kaufman are collaborating on an untitled horror film, which they will also produce, for Columbia Pictures.
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SCOTT READY FOR WAR AGAIN? at 10:25 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Ridley Scott will direct the Crusades-era epic KINGDOM OF HEAVEN for 20th Century Fox and Scott Free Prods. Shooting is expected to begin in January in Morocco. William Monahan wrote the script. Set in the 12th century, the drama focuses on a young blacksmith who becomes a knight and helps defend Jerusalem against the Crusaders. There is also a love story, as the young knight falls in love with a princess. Orlando Bloom is being considered for the lead.
I think he's stretching himself a bit thin in this one... seems like GLADIATOR 2. Oh, did I mention that he is going to direct that too? True story.
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SANDLER PRODUCES FAT MAN at 10:23 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Columbia Pictures picked up FAT MAN, written by Mike Reiss ("The Simpsons") about an 800-pound man who drops 600 pounds with the help of a nurse he becomes infatuated with. Adam Sandler's Happy Madison will produce.
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THREE STOOGES REBORN? at 10:23 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Peter and Bobby Farrelly will direct THE THREE STOOGES at Warner Bros. early next year for a summer 2005 release. The movie will be an adventure that revolves around the Stooges characters originated by Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Jerome "Curly" Howard. Script was written by the Farrellys and Mike Cerrone.
The brothers need a hit, but I don't think this will be it. Wait for their STUCK ON YOU with Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear.
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FAVREAU TEAMING WITH BARRYMORE? at 10:21 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Jon Favreau is in negotiations to direct Drew Barrymore in the comedy DATE SCHOOL for DreamWorks Pictures. It's about a woman who is determined to find love but is lousy at dating. She then turns to a dating instructor for help.
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HONEYMOONER'S IN THE HOOD? at 10:20 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Don Rhymer is set to rewrite Paramount Pictures/Deep River Prods.' THE HONEYMOONERS, an urban version of the classic TV series with Cedric the Entertainer and Mike Epps playing the Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton roles, respectively.
My lips remained sealed on this one.
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LANCE HENRIKSEN IN ALIEN VS. PREDATOR?? at 10:18 PM by Ken Miyamoto
No, he's not playing Bishop the android.
He'll play a billionaire industrialist who finances an expedition to the Antarctic to uncover an ancient pyramid and insists on joining the scientists on the journey. When they arrive, they discover two alien races engaged in the ultimate battle. The script was written by Anderson and Shane Salerno and the project begins shooting in late October in Prague.
I will be FLOORED if this movie is anything worth watching. The studio turned down a James Cameron/Ridley Scott teaming in order to get this movie made. Why????
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DEAN CAIN WITH A NOTHER DAZZLING CHOICE at 10:15 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Dean Cain, Tim Curry, Jennifer Tilly, Laurie Holden and Jon Lovitz star in RILEY for producer David Devine. It's about a chatty golden retriever who, along with his animal behaviorist friend (Dean Cain), works to keep their inherited billions out of the hands of a scheming lawyer (Tim Curry) and his wife (Jennifer Tilly). Pic co-stars Laurie Holden and features Jon Lovitz as the voice of Bailey.
Here's Dean Cain, who could have been a major Hollywood player (or at least a viable action or romantic comedy star), but instead decides to continue with the poorest of choices.
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CONNELY TRYING TO BE KIDMAN? at 10:13 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Jennifer Connelly in talks to star in the remaked of the Japanese thriller DARK WATER for director Walter Salles, Disney and Pandemonium Films. It's about a mother and her daughter moving into a new apartment where they are haunted by the ghost of a young girl whose family used to live in the building. Production begins in January.
One word, Yawn.
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WHITE CHICKS? at 10:12 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Busy Philipps and Maitland Ward will star opposite Marlon and Shawn Wayans in Revolution Studios' comedy WHITE CHICKS for director Keenen Ivory Wayans. Shooting begins Oct. 19 on the story of two black police officers who must go undercover in the Hamptons as two Caucasian socialites.
And all the people say, "WHAT??!"
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DIESEL AND COHEN OUT OF XXX? at 10:11 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Ice Cube and Lee Tamahori will replace Vin Diesel and Rob Cohen as lead actor and director, respectively in the upcoming sequel to XXX. Diesel and Cohen have opted out of the pic which will begin production in the summer and hit theaters in 2005. Simon Kinberg penned the script.
Not that the film was any good to begin with, but this is the SECOND time that the two have left a project together. It makes me laugh...
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KEN'S SECOND DID YOU KNOW... at 11:59 PM by Ken Miyamoto
... that Val Kilmer thought the story for Top Gun was "silly" and was forced to be in the film due to a contract he signed... even when he wanted to back out?
... that Mathew Modine turned the part of Maverick down?? Thank God!
... that John Travolta was considered for the role of Jim Morrison in The Doors in 1986, year before the film was actually made.
... that as the German soldier stabs a US soldier to death, he says: "Gib' auf, du hast keine Chance! Lass' uns ein Ende machen es ist so viel leichter für dich!" This translates: "Give up, you don't stand a chance! Let's end this here, it will be easier for you like this!" The words are spoken in Austrian-accented German.
... that Tim Curry was originally considered to play The Joker in Tim Burton's Batman.
... that Composer John Williams was approached to do the Batman score, but had to decline due to his Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade work.
... that Steven Spielberg was offered the chance to direct the original Superman, but the studio declined his salary request. After JAWS came out, they approached him again, but he moved on...
... that a lot of Superman 2 was shot and directed by Richard Donner during the shooting of the original film. Donner later left the project and Richard Lester took over.
... that Christopher Reeve dubbed the voice of his younger self in the original film because there was a huge difference in actor Jeff East's voice compared to Reeve's. East's real voice is never heard in the film.
TO BE CONTINUED
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JURASSIC PARK 4 GAINING HUGE MOMENTUM at 11:25 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Not only will Sam Neill be returning... looks like good ole Jeff Goldblum is along for the ride!!! The script is nearly done, Spielberg will produce, and look for the dinosaurs to move out of the jungle into new terrain. That's the secret though. Where? Easy guess would be a city (yawn)... my pick is the desert. Strange pick yes, but the imagery would be cool, at least for a small part of the film. Maybe the Rockies?
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SCOUTING FOR GOONIES 2???? at 11:17 PM by Ken Miyamoto
There have been location scouts scampering around Astoria, Oregan, where the first film was shot.
The first film is very dear to my childhood! The ultimate kid adventure. I used to create sequels with my friends in the various roles... we got up to Goonies 5.
I really think they could pull this off if:
1) Richard Donner and Spielberg return (which looks to be the case)
2) They use the original cast involved in the action and adventure... even if it means that they're children are the Goonies, and they are going after them to keep them safe. They MUST have the original cast though. Most of them at least.
3) Don't hire cute kids, hire good child actors... THAT CAN ACT.
4) Write a great script, not a cookie cut of the original.
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KING KONG UP AND RUNNING at 11:11 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Naomi Watts may play Ann Darrow, an American actress who makes a living performing in Broadway song and dance shows in Depression-era New York. Like the original film its expected that much of the action will be set on Skull Island and we will see the giant ape take on a number of prehistoric foes. Shooting begins next year in New Zealand based on a script by Jackson and his "Lord of the Rings" co-scribes Philippa Boyens & Fran Walsh which they begin penning in November once work on "Return of the King" wraps. A Christmas 2005 release is set.
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GIBSON DONNING SOME CHAPS AND A HARLEY? at 11:03 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Mel Gibson may star as a real-life undercover cop in UNDER AND ALONE, based on an upcoming tell-all book by former ATF officer William Queen. After infiltrating the Mongols motorcycle gang, Queen remained undercover for three years, sending back information to his bosses which led to the arrest of over 80 individuals. After his run with the bikers was over, Queen eventually had to enter the Witness Relocation Program. The book chronicling his story will be published next June.
Gibson's Icon Productions is in negotiations with Warner Bros. to produce the film to be based on Queen's book, with the actor as a possible candidate to play the role. Daniel Barnz and Ned Zeman will write the script.
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FIRDAY THE 13TH DVD BOX SET... at 10:59 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Paramount is finally treating the classic horror series with the respect it deserves... okay, maybe it doesn't deserve any respect, but horror fans will happy to here that the studio is releases special editions of the first eight films. Parts 1, 2, and even 3 were a treat... maybe even some moments from 4 and 5, but after that... who cares? Jason fans I guess.
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CRYSTAL BACK TO THE OSCARS at 10:57 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Now an eight timer as host of the Academy Awards... thanks to his producer friend Joe Roth who is taking charge of the show. Roth directed him in American Sweethearts. I was hoping to see Steve Martin back...
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DIRECTING/WRITING NEWS, SEPT. 24TH at 10:54 PM by Ken Miyamoto
THANKS TO HOLLYWOOD REPORTER AND VARIETY...
--Davis Films has optioned Konami's video game franchise SILENT HILL, with Samuel Hadida set to produce and Christophe Gans (BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF) set to direct.
--Gina Wendkos will write the live-action feature adaptation of the graphic novel JINGLE BELLE for Revolution Studios. The graphic novel, written by Paul Dini, centers on the precocious teenage daughter of Santa Claus, who has had enough of the North Pole and goes off on her own, inadvertently triggering a sequence of events that puts Christmas in jeopardy.
--Victor Salva is set to write and direct New Line's World War II thriller THE WATCH, based on an original script by John Claflin and Daniel Zelman. It revolves around a team of inexperienced soldiers who are sent to blow up a critical Nazi bridge only to discover that they are being hunted by Abaddon, a spirit of the devil.
--Thomas Vinterberg (THE CELEBRATION) will direct DEAR WENDY, starring Jamie Bell (BILLY ELLIOT), with production beginning Sept. 26 in Copenhagen. Lars Von Trier wrote the original script for the film, which will tell the story of Dick, an 18-year-old outsider, who -- although a pacifist -- is fascinated by guns. He and his gang of misfits, the Dandies, have all given named to their weapons -- Wendy is his own -- but they have also sworn never to draw. Still, rules are to be broken.
--Author Jackie Collins will develop the romantic comedy FISH OUT OF WATER for Anonymous Content and Focus Features. Script is being written by Ardwight Chamberlain, based on a story by Collins. It's about a young woman from the Midwest who comes to Hollywood to marry a studio mogul and finds herself in rich-and-famous central but unexpectedly falls in love with the caterer.
--Jeremy Pikser (BULWORTH) is adapting the Tony Johnson chrildren's book THE IGUANA BROTHERS: A TALE OF TWO LIZARDS for Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios. John Leguizamo will produce and lend his vocal talents. It's about Dom and Tom, two laid-back iguana brothers living in Mexico. They embark on several adventures thanks to Tom, such as trying to go vegetarian by eating flowers instead of bugs, trying their hand at being dinosaurs and stargazing at their favorite constellation, the Big Iguana.
--Regardt van den Bergh will direct the biblical epic THE LAMB about a journey of faith by Mattias and his son Joel, intertwined with encounters with Jesus. Shooting begins in South Africa in December.
--Michael France (THE HULK) will write TITANS for New Line and Horseshoe Bay Prods. about a group of teens who just happen to be the future gods of Mt. Olympus. The story begins when they are teenage mortals in Greece who've learned of their futures and must come to grips with their destiny.
--Tim Daly and cinematographer Clark Mathis will co-direct the indie feature BEREFT, with Vinessa Shaw (EYES WIDE SHUT) in the lead role. Daly, Tim Blake Nelson, Michael C. Hall, Marsha Mason and Edward Herrmann will also star. Shooting is under way in Vermont. Based on a screenplay by Peter Ferland, it's about a young Vermont widow haunted by the memory of her husband, who died at a young age.
--Danny Boyle is in negotiations to direct Warner Bros./Imagine Entertainment's WORCESTER COLD STORAGE, an adaptation of Sean Flynn's book 3000 DEGREES: THE TRUE STORY OF A DEADLY FIRE AND THE MEN WHO FOUGHT IT. Scott Silver (8 MILE) adapted the screenplay.
--Channing Gibson (LETHAL WEAPON 4) will script the untitled cop-buddy project starring Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith for Paramount.
--Darryl Quarles (BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE, BLACK KNIGHT) will pen a remake of 1969 Don Knotts comedy THE LOVE GOD? for Universal/Imagine.
--Paul McGuigan (THE ACID HOUSE) is set to direct Jason Smilovic's script LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN for indie shingle FilmEngine. Company is eyeing a first quarter 2004 start to production on in New York City. The project is a neo-noir thriller that spans four decades and involves a Rabbi, a hit man, a horse and a case of mistaken identity and is set in the world of black and Jewish gangsters.
--Annabel Jankel is attached to direct and produce SKELLIG, based on the young adult novel by David Almond, for Phoenix Pictures. Irena Brignull (COME TOGETHER) is attached to adapt the screenplay. In the novella, Skellig is the mysterious creature who transforms the lives of a young boy, his new friend Mina and his ailing baby sister.
--Alex Turner is set to direct the indie thriller DEAD BIRDS, written by Simon Barrett, for Silver Nitrate. Story centers on aConfederate soldiers who rob a bank, then hide out in a deserted plantation house where an occult event has unleashed all sorts of terrifying mayhem. Henry Thomas, Nicki Aycox, Isaiah Washington, Patrick Fugit, Michael Shannon and Mark Boone star.
--Jim Uhls (FIGHT CLUB) and Yalda Tehranian-Uhls have launched Peculiar Films and teamed with Hyde Park Entertainment for its first production, HARD HEARTS. Uhls scripted the darkly comic crime actioner which concerns a bounty-hunting couple who must chase down their most dangerous prey while planning their wedding. The company is also developing THORNELY AND OSWALD by Stephen Barnes and FOOL THAT I AM by Uhls and Knarik Koop.
--Raw Progressive Films has optioned three scripts: Angus Fraser's cop thriller THE PUGILIST, set in the 1970s, concerns a rebellious boxer-turned-policeman who discovers that a string of brutal NYPD cop killings are part of a larger conspiracy; Stephen Feder's CAT THIEF, a heist film in which a femme gumshoe becomes romantically involved with the globetrotting master thief she's supposed to capture; and Mark Mallouk's crime drama SOMERSET SQUARE.
--Rob Bowman has sealed a deal to direct THE LAST BUFFALO HUNT for Intermedia Films and Mad Chance Prods. about a band of voyagers who encounter mercenaries, angry local tribes and government assassins as they track lost treasure from WWII in the South Pacific. Peter Buchman wrote the script.
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CASTING NEWS, SEPT. 24TH at 10:50 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Thanks to the Hollywood Reporter and Variety...
--Giovanni Ribisi is near a deal to join Dennis Quaid and Jacob Vargas in the action remake of THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX for director John Moore, 20th Century Fox and producer John Davis. Filming begins in Africa on Oct. 20.
--Benjamin Bratt and Lambert Wilson will star opposite Halle Berry in Warner Bros. Pictures/Village Roadshow Pictures' CATWOMAN for French director Pitof and Di Novi Pictures. Shooting begins Sept. 29.
-- Tom Wilkinson has joined Helen Hunt and Scarlett Johansson in the indie pic A GOOD WOMAN for director Michael Barker. Production begins next month in Italy. Written by Howard Himelstein, the project is inspired by the Oscar Wilde play LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN about a seductress who steals the husband of a younger woman.
--Cameron Diaz is attached to star in Fox 2000's W.A.S.P.S., a WWII-set drama about the first female pilots recruited by the military in 1942. Jan Eliasberg is set to rewrite the script for Gitlin Prods. and Millbrook Farm Prods.
--Arnold Vosloo (THE MUMMY) will star as an apartheid-era cop tormented by past atrocities he committed in FORGIVENESS for director Ian Gabriel and Dv8.
--Jason Schwartzman will star opposite Steve Martin and Claire Danes in an adaptation of Martin's novella SHOPGIRL for helmer Anand Tucker. Shooting starts Oct. 13 from a script also written by Martin.
--Denise Richards, Sean Astin and Annie Potts has joined John Corbett and Kim Basinger in Capitol Films' ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING for director Joel Zwick (MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING). The script is by Adam-Michael Barber and Mitchell Ganem.
--Evan Rachel Wood (THIRTEEN) will join the cast of PRETTY PERSUASION for director Marcos Siega. James Woods, Ron Livingston and Christina Applegate will star in the project, which begins shooting in summer 2004. It's a black comedy centering on a sexual harassment scandal that engulfs an exclusive Beverly Hills private school. Skander Halim wrote the script.
--Sara Paxton, Brie Larson, Sean Faris and Steve Carell join Alexa Vega. Mika Boorem and Kallie Flynn Childress in SLEEPOVER for director Joe Nussbaum and MGM. Production begins Sept. 30 in Los Angeles.
--Cliff Curtis (WHALE RIDER) will star in the thriller SPOOKED for director Geoff Murphy and the newly formed Capital Pictures and Silverscreen Films. The feature is based on the true story of a man who lands in trouble when he buys second-hand computers with sensitive banking records on their hard disks.
--Thora Birch joins the cast of John Sayles' SILVER CITY, a political drama/murder mystery which is due to start production this week in Denver. Danny Huston, Chris Cooper, Kris Kristofferson, Cheech Marin, Maria Bello and Daryl Hannah star.
--Nick Stahl (TERMINATOR 3) has joined the ensemble cast of the indie drama WEST MEMPHIS THREE for director Alex Steyermark and writer/producer Curt Johnson. Based on the true story of a 1993 Arkansas murder case in which three teenagers were controversially arrested and charged with killing three other young boys, the project also stars Michael Pitt, Jacob Reynolds, Doug Hutchison, Drea de Matteo, Gina Gershon, Michael Madsen and Ricki Lake. Production begins in November in Dallas.
--Jon Favreau has signed to join the cast of Universal's WIMBLEDON, opposite Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany.
--Matt Davis has been cast in HEIGHTS for director Chris Terrio and Merchant Ivory. Elizabeth Banks, Glenn Close, James Marsden and Jesse Bradford also star.
--Michael Pitt, Cherry Jones, Jayne Atkinson, Celia Weston and Brendan Gleeson round out the ensemble cast of director M. Night Shyamalan's THE WOODS for Disney. The new cast members will join stars Adrien Brody, Joaquin Phoenix, Bryce Dallas Howard, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver.
--Tim Meadows, Amy Poehler, Lacey Chabert ("Party of Five") and Jonathan Bennett join Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams in MEAN GIRLS for Paramount/Broadway Video and director Mark Waters. Production will start this month in Toronto.
--Diane Lane will star in Escape Artists' NEED about a successful New York therapist who discovers that one of her patients -- a suicidal woman named Beth -- is having an affair with her husband. Chloe King penned the screenplay, which is based loosely on Lawrence David's novel of the same name. Jon Bokenkamp rewrote the material.
--Justin Long ("Ed") will star opposite Vince Vaughan and Ben Stiller in 20th Century Fox's comedy UNDERDOGS. He is also shooting the DreamWorks comedy ANCHORMAN, starring Will Ferrell.
--David O'Hara has been added to the cast of Kevin Reynolds' TRISTAN AND ISOLDE, starring James Franco and now shooting in Ireland and Prague.
--Alec Baldwin is being eyed to star in SIMPLY HALSTON, based on the book by Steven Gaines, with Jane Krakowski playing Liza Minnelli for Killer Films.
--Lucas Black, Peter Coyote, Lesley Ann Warren, Mia Maestro and Xander Berkeley will star in the indie DEEPWATER, based on the novel by Matthew F. Jones. Adapted/directed by David S. Marfield for Halcyon Entertainment, the dark psychological thriller concerns a drifter who happens upon the town of Deepwater. His arrival in town has sinister consequences, and it is not long before he is seduced into a twisted game of deceit and murder.
--Amy Madigan joins Ed Harris, Will Ferrell, Zooey Deschanel and Amelia Warner in WINTER PASSING for Stratus and writer/director Adam Rapp. Madigan plays a theater actress who has become a surrogate mother for a young woman who returns home to her estranged father and the unusual group of people who have been living with him. Harris plays the father.
--Ray Liotta, Heather Graham and John Goodman are attached to star in the comedy FRIENDS AGAIN, written by Neal Gumpel, for director George Gallo and producers David Permut, Michelle Grace and Julie Gallo. Comedy centers on a New York fishmonger and a director who were childhood friends but now find themselves back together for less-than-friendly reasons when the director steals his buddy's idea for his next movie.
--Joan Allen is in talks to star opposite Matt Damon in THE BOURNE SUPREMACY for Universal Pictures and director Paul Greengrass. Tony Gilroy adapted the sequel, which is inspired by Robert Ludlum's second novel in the BOURNE series.
--Kimberly Elise and Jon Voight will co-star Denzel Washington and director Jonathan Demme in the upcoming Paramount remake of THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. She will play the girlfriend of Washington's character, a Desert Storm war leader who is disgraced for having discounted terrorist theories. Jon Voight has taken the remaining key role of Senator Thomas Jordan. Meryl Streep and Live Schreiber also star.
--Gisele Bundchen, Jennifer Esposito, Christian Kane, Henry Simmons and Ana Cristina De Oliceira are joining Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon in 20th Century Fox's TAXI for director Tim Story.
--WWE star Triple H will star JORNADA DEL MUERTE, a modern-day Western from writer John Milius, and will battle Wesley Snipes in New Line's BLADE: TRINITY.
--Meryl Streep and Jude Law are joining Jim Carrey in LEMONY SNICKET for director Brad Silberling and Paramount/DreamWorks. The project is an adaptation of the Daniel Handler children's book series. Liam Aiken and Emily Browning have also been set to play Klaus and Violet Baudelaire, two of the three orphans who are the central protagonists of the series. Shooting begins in November, for a holiday 2004 release.
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LYNN THIGPEN at 06:22 PM by Ken Miyamoto
They finally released the reasons why the late actress died...
Lynne Thigpen died of a cerebral hemorrhage and enlarged heart. She also had bleeding in her heart. No drugs or foul play.
She will be sorely missed.
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KEN'S THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS GO OUT TO THE VICTIMS, AND THEIR FAMLY AND FRIENDS, OF THE TERRIBLE TRAGEDY THAT OCCURED TWO YEARS AGO ON SEPTEMBER 11TH. at 11:29 PM by Ken Miyamoto
America will prevail, but not in the guise of revenge and dominance, but of peace and understanding. With war raging in the Middle East, and as our sons and daughters perish, it is my hope that we, not as a country but as a WORLD, learn from each other's mistakes... learn that hatred, no matter what kind of justification is found on both sides, leads only to violence and death. Let the evil men be forced to pay for their injustices... but let not the PEOPLE suffer.
--Ken
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IT'S OFFICAL, CHRISTIAN BALE IS THE NEW BATMAN! at 11:21 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Warner Brothers has finally signed Christian Bale to don the bat suit under the direction of Christopher Nolan (Memento) with a script written by David Goyer! They made a great decision and I commend them for not settling for some pretty boy actor. You may know Bale from such films as REIGN OF FIRE, EQUILIBRIUM, AMERICAN PSYCHO, etc. He's the right choice! The new film will explore the earlier days of Batman's career, and while I hate the idea of a prequel of sorts, I'm confident that Nolan and Goyer won't let us down. No more neo lights or nippled suits, these guys will take us down a dark path!
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TOM CRUISE BACK IN THE SKIES? at 11:16 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Yep. Mr. Cruise is signed to star in Paramount's upcoming WWII fighter plane epic based on the true story of Billy Fiske, an American pilot who enlisted in the Royal Air Force at a time before America was involved with WWII. England had just suffered devastating losses to its air force from German fighter pilots and had planes sitting inside hangers but no pilots to fly them. British Prime Minster Winston Churchill launched a recruiting campaign aimed at American civilian pilots to enlist with the RAF to provide the skilled personnel the country so desperately needed. Even though it meant facing a possible prison sentence when they returned from battle (if they did), a handful of Americans signed up and fought on behalf of the RAF. Fiske was one of these men and became the first American pilot killed in action by the Germans.
Screenwriter John Logan, who wrote THE LAST SAMURAI, will write the script for THE FEW. Director Michael Mann, who is about to work with Cruise in the upcoming thriller COLLATERAL, will also direct the actor in the new Paramount picture.
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KEN'S SUMMER 2003 BREAKDOWN! at 11:43 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Wow... what an extremely strange summer season we've had! In a season of sequels, where the studios were putting all faith into the "franchise", the industry was baffled and surprised to learn that audiences have grown up! Gone are the days when any movie with a familiar name succeeds (Harrison Ford). Gone are the days when the latest franchise feature seems to gross nearly $200 million in the blink of an eye... with or without a good story (Men in Black II of late).
We've learned a lot this summer. We've learned that sex appeal can backfire (Charlie's Angel's 2), that audiences can be bored despite the presence of explosions and mayhem, and that the ones we dare to love the most (Ford, Connery, etc.) have become mortal in the eyes of the box office.
Here's a rundown on this summer's hits and misses! Goodbye Summer 2003... we're waiting for you 2004! The following numbers are based upon results as of the beginning of September, and may have changed within the past week. Also, the SUMMER RATINGS are based off of comparison of budget and box office take.
X2: X-MEN UNITED(May 2nd)- THE best sequel this summer, and one of the best follow-ups in genre history. The studio offered more money up, and Director Bryan Singer delivered more than we could have expected... and better yet, he left us STILL craving for more.
U.S. GROSS: $215 MILLION
World Wide Gross: Over $400 MILLION
Summer Grade? HUGE HIT
THE MATRIX RELOADED(May 15th)- An outstanding film itself, despite being a sequel. Many fans were a bit underwhelmed strangely enough, expecting the second coming (didn't we all learn from that Phantom Menace fiasco?). A visually AND mentally stimulating film that may just get better once the third and final film debuts this holiday season.
U.S. GROSS: $279 MILLION
World Wide Gross: $729 MILLION!!
Summer Grade: HUGE HIT
DOWN WITH LOVE(May 16th)- I predicted that this movie would fail. I applaud the makers for the effort, but you can't bring back Golden Age romantic comedies because we live in a different world. Nora Ephron has taken over, as well her imitators. It just doesn't work anymore.
U.S. GROSS: $20.3 MILLION
Summer Grade: BOMB
BRUCE ALMIGHTY(May 23rd)- Jim Carrey came back to the blockbuster comedy along with his LIAR LIAR director, and delivered two fold! What a funny and even heartwarming film. Not just lame comedy here, there's also a deep message about faith and religion. One of the best comedies in the last few years... the credit bloopers weren't as good as LIAR LIAR, but they still offered something extra.
U.S. GROSS: $240 MILLION
World Wide Gross: $434 MILLION
Summer Grade: HUGE HIT
FINDING NEMO(May 30th)- Pixar just keeps on going and going and going... STRONG. They haven't had a bomb yet! FINDING NEMO was in the middle of my must see list, but it turned out to perform WELL over my expectations. A true heartwarming story, hilarious comedy antics, and character. Funny that one of the most deeply characterized films of this year was ANIMATED! I'm still surprised that it is now the highest grossing animated movie of all time... beating out THE LION KING! Didn't think that could happen. Does this mean someone might soon beat out TITANIC in the live action category? Doubt it. Anyway, I loved this film... ranks right up there with the TOY STORIES.
U.S. GROSS: $330 MILLION AND CLIMBING!
World Wide Gross: $403 MILLION
Summer Grade: HUGE HIT
THE ITALIAN JOB(May 30th)- A surprise hit that seems to keep on making money little by little. One of the better caper movies to hit the screen, with come great performances.
U.S. GROSS: $100 MILLION
World Wide Gross: $115 MILLION
Summer Grade: SURPRISE HIT
2 FAST 2 FURIOUS(June 6th)- The hype, and the cars, made this movie some money. Paul Walker seems poised to be the next Keanu Reeves, but this sequel was missing THREE important ingredients: Director Rob Cohen, Vin Diesel, and Michelle Rodriguez.
U.S. GROSS: $122 MILLION
World Wide Gross: $222 MILLION (HUGE PROFIT WORLD WIDE!)
Summer Grade: HIT
DUMB AND DUMBERER: WHEN HARRY MET LLOYD(June 13th)- Well, what can I say? Why the hell they decided to do this movie is beyond me. I was all for a sequel with Carrey and Daniels... but a prequel with two unknowns. What a waste of money!
U.S. GROSS: $26 MILLION
World Wide Gross: No info
Summer Grade: USELESS BOMB
HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE(June 13th)- I was truly dissappointed with this film! I blame the direction. The director just didn't know what he wanted here. Was it slapstick? Was it off the wall comedy? Was it action comedy in the vein of Bad Boys? We'll never know because the final product was a true mix of wasted moments. Ford had a good performance going, but the writing and direction couldn't utilize that in this MESS. I found some of his scenes to be hilarious... but then the next minute, the movie goes in the wrong direction... followed by numerous amounts of additional wrong turns. Harrison, where are you?
U.S. GROSS: $30 MILLION
World Wide Gross: No info
Summer Grade: BOMB
THE HULK(June 20th)- I'm actually pretty fond of this movie in many ways. Ang Lee didn't feel constricted by Hollywood form, hence he made a FILM and not a BLOCKBUSTER. Ofcourse, the whole thing goes back to THE HULK effects. Some shots were breathtaking... some were missed oppurtunites. If the CG house had another three months, we would have had a 100% success ratio effects wise, rather than 50/50. Eric Bana proved to be worth the hype, and I see him going the distance and becoming a Hollywood player. Sequel? Wouldn't doubt it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. All in all, great story, great acting, and some magic in between.
U.S. GROSS: $131 MILLION
World Wide Gross: $231 MILLION
Summer Grade: MODERATE HIT
CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE (June 27th)- Too much hype, too little delivery? A maybe too much delivery? Who knows. I never caught this one, simply because I couldn't bring myself to pay the eight bucks for the ticket. Funny thing is, I get Sony movies for free, and I STILL passed. The DVD will come my way. If it is as nearly pointless as the first one, I don't blame audiences for staying away.
U.S. GROSS: $101 MILLION
World Wide Gross: $247 MILLION
Summer Grade: MODERATE HIT
LEGALLY BLONDE 2(July 2nd)- It came, made some good money, and went before we could all bat an eye. Reese is a sweetheart, but I can't really grasp this character she has created. To me, it's a one joke character taken one movie too far. While I can't see that it was bad, I can't really say that it was good... it just served its purpose and I hope they don't make another one.
U.S. GROSS: $89 MILLION
World Wide Gross: $108 MILLION
Summer Grade: MODERATE HIT
SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS(July 2nd)- Even last year's LILO AND STITCH was only a minor success in the eyes of PIXAR as well as FOx and Dreamworks CGI feasts. Dreamworks' sole summer release left us scratching our heads. Is the traditionally animated film dead?
U.S. GROSS: $26 MILLION
World Wide Gross: $66 MILLION
Summer Grade: BOMB
TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES(July 2nd)- One of my favorite summer films. While it didn't conquer at the box office like T2, it still stands as a success story-wise, money-wise, and franchise-wise. I'm still sure the film would have profited better if Cameron were at the helm, but Jonathan Mostow is the next best thing for this franchise. The CGI effects were OUTSTANDING and more flawless than nearly EVERY blockbuster this summer. The effects were nearly seemless. And Arnold... well, as the Terminator he IS back. I'm drawn between considering him as a governor, and WANTING him to lose the race so he can work on T4, CONAN 3, and WESTWORLD. As far as the other actors? Thank the maker that they replaced Furlong! This "new" kid is great! Claire Danes did her duty well. The only things I didn't like about this film were the constant John Connor exposition scenes with phrases like "It all makes sense now..."
What a GREAT film though!
U.S. GROSS: $150 MILLION
World Wide Gross: $400 MILLION
Summer Grade: HIT (HUGE HIT with World Wide Gross)
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL(July 9th)- One of the biggest surprises for me! I LOVED this movie! Johnny Depp finally is catapulted into the mainstream with his over the top performance that remains to be one fo teh best of the summer. I was revolted when The Mouse decided to make my favorite theme ride into a movie, but with some great directing, excellent special effects, and a worthwhile villian, Pirates proved itself to be a franchise worthy treat. It could have turned out to be The Mummy (Hated that movie!!) with pirates, but ended up as a true action adventure, fun filled ride. Not a GUILTY pleasure... just a true PLEASURE.
U.S. GROSS: $275 million and counting
World Wide Gross: $424 million
Summer Grade: HUGE HIT
THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN(July 11th)- Didn't get to see this film, but from what I've heard, the rift between star and director could have derailed this movie. Connery, still going strong at 72, seemed to have a surefire hit, but obviously something was missing.
U.S. GROSS: $65 million
World Wide Gross: $75 million
Summer Grade: BOMB
BAD BOYS 2(July 18th)- An enjoyable movie, but there was something missing. No, there was jsut too much. I wouldn't give it a bad grade at all, but they had two movies in one. Michael Bay seemed to think that we needed a gore fest as well, with heads falling off, cadavers being run over, etc. My question: Why was that all necessary? The two leads have the best of chemistry together, but the film itself was a slight misjudgement. It was a hit, but not the hit that Sony expected it to be. I'd watch a Bad Boys 3, just as long as the get back to the formula and not waste time trying to be over the top.
U.S. GROSS: $135 million
World Wide Gross: $150 million
Summer Grade: HIT
JOHNNY ENGLISH(July 18th)- A British hit, and an okay performer here in the states. Didn't catch it, but I expect the obvious slapstick Mr. Bean higjinx.
U.S. GROSS: $27 MILLION
World Wide Gross: $146 MILLION
Summer Grade: HIT
SEABISCUIT(July 25th)- Easily the best film of the summer. What a truly uplifting, thought provoking, heartwarming film! I usually can't stand TObey Maguire's acting, but here he proves that he's not just hype. He deserves a nomination, along with the ever-deserving Bridges, and the much appreciated Cooper. I loved how the film's main story coincided with the Great Depression... and how America overcame the worst, just as the FOUR (including ole Seabiscuit) main characters did as well. A brilliant film that is to be the sure contendor for Best Picture (if it can beat out Return of the King).
U.S. GROSS: $104 MILLION and counting
World Wide Gross: not yet released world wide
Summer Grade: HIT
LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER 2(July 25th)- I was a bit frazzled at how this film couldn't overtake the original's box office take. By the end of the summer, I guess the American audience didn't even want to give a sequel a chance. This is really the only character of Angelina Jolie's that I somewhat enjoy. But alas, I'm still glad that America is teaching Hollywood a lesson or two about what they think we really want to watch.
U.S. GROSS: $62 MILLION
World Wide Gross: $114 MILLION
Summer Grade: BOMB
GIGLI(July 30th)- Where to start, where to end? Nuff said.
U.S. GROSS: $5 MILLION
World Wide Gross: $5 MILLION
Summer Grade: DEAD-ON-ARRIVAL HUGE ASS BOMB
AMERICAN WEDDING(August 1st)- The third and hopefully last chapter in this generation's Porky's. The first one was a rather charming and sickly funny movie. The second was a bit over the top, but still worth the ticket price. The third, with half the cast missing, still manages to keep us laughing. But please people... no more.
U.S. GROSS: $97 MILLION
World Wide Gross: $144 MILLION
Summer Grade: MODERATE HIT
FREAKY FRIDAY(August 8th)- A surprising hit for Disney. I'm very surprised that this formula, long overdone in the 80s, succeeded. I'm equally surprised that Jamie Lee Curtis still looks sexy somehow... after all these years. Except for the man voice. Sorry Jamie.
U.S. GROSS: $90 MILLION
World Wide Gross: $91 MILLION
Summer Grade: HIT
S.W.A.T. (August 8th)- I couldn't WAIT to see this film! Colin Farrel is a favorite of mine, despite his Hollywood bravado... and FINALLY a film that I liked Sam Jackson in since 1996 (besides maybe Changing Lanes). "This party's over" my ass! Anyway, the film delivers in many way, especially during the first hour or so. The S.W.A.T scenes were excellent, as well as the training sequences. My main bones to pick with the film were the supporting characters. The actual team was great, even L.L. Cool whatever... but the captain of the police force was TERRIBLE! Along with many of the other actors playing supporting roles. Even the villian exSWAT member wasn't that great. He just wasn't believable... too young to be a SWAT pro gone bad. The last 25 minutes or so of the film weren't that great either. My main question: Why does the villian drug dealer seem to disappear from the story towards the end... with no closier? Anyway, it was a fun film with great effects, action, and stunts. I truly hope they make a sequel, AFTER learning from the mistakes they made.
U.S. GROSS: $102 MILLION
World Wide Gross: $103 MILLION
Summer Grade: MODERATE HIT
FREDDY VS. JASON(August 15th)- I was SOOOO disappointed by this movie! Hey, I knew it was gonna be bad... but it could have been a guilty pleasure's worth. Instead, we got a terribly directed, written, and acted pile of $#$@#. The "cool factor" of Jason and Freddy in the same movie wore out within minutes. If directed well enough, the movie could have been SOMEWHAT scary, and campy fun at the same time. As a long time fan of both series (especially Freddy) while growing up, I was sourily let down by this film. I had SOME hope that it would have its own magic... but they dropped the ball. Why did it make so much money? Nostalgia.
U.S. GROSS: $73 MILLION
World Wide Gross: $78 MILLION
Summer Grade: HIT
OPEN RANGE (August 15th)- The second best picture of the year thus far (After Seabiscuit)! What a great film this was. Costner proves that he is a true talent, and not the hack that most people make him out to be (And hey, Waterworld was pretty good besides the end... and it DID make a lot of money, despite what uneducated minds say). The cinematography was amazing, the finale was much more realistic than Unforgiven, and both Costner and Duvall SHINE. The best western I've seen in a LONG while.
U.S. GROSS: $43 MILLION
World Wide Gross: not yet released world wide
Summer Grade: MODERATE HIT
KEN'S FINAL WORDS: So what did we learn by the above? Domestic take doesn't reflect full success. T3 would have been a miss against its budget, but look at the world wide gross! It made a HUGE amount of profit.
These days, World Wide grosses are often overlooked by the general American public. We also learned that sequels aren't bullet proof anymore. The industry was surprised by the mid-level success of such sure fire hits as Charlie's Angels 2 and Bad Boys 2.
In my eyes, it was a good summer. The summer that Hollywood executives will remember... a summer where they were taught a lesson: Their audience is smarter than previously thought. Look for better quality films in Summer 2004 and 2005.
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SOME SW3 NEWS! at 11:19 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Taken from Dark Horizons...
The shooting schedule for March next year does not require any of the principle actors to come in for pickups. However, as the film is edited some new ideas and angles may rise up, so they may have yet to appear. The shoot is entirely studio based, no outdoor scenes for now but about 1/3 of the movie takes place on new planets. Christian Bale is not playing governor Tarkin and has no connection to this film. The Death Star has no real importance in this film, the reason for Obi-Wan's name change to Ben is in the movie, and Obi-Wan's actions are pivotal to events that end the Clone War. Force Ghosts and the fate of the younglings is explained (the kids with Yoda), Darth Sidious has much more screen time (and he will remove his hood). We will see proto-type Tie-Fighters, we will see rebel craft - the Jedi Starfighters are of a different design though. Finally, its been revealed that the big duelling sequence scheduled for last week will instead be done in the next few days - the delay due to a leg injury sustained by Hayden Christensen, however it shouldn't affect the schedule of principal photography which wraps very soon.
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PRODUCER FRANK MARSHALL COMMENTS ON INDY IV!!!! I'M SO GLAD TO HEAR HIM SAY THE FOLLOWING... at 11:16 PM by Ken Miyamoto
"One of the things I enjoy about these movies is that they do recall the old cliffhanger serials of the thirties and forties. We didn't have computer effects in those days, we couldn’t easily erase things and I think one of the unfortunate by-products of the computer age is that it makes filmmakers lazy...In Raiders, that's a real ball rolling behind him so Harrison really is in some danger running in front of that; these are real situations and that adds to the excitement and the creative energy on the set. We're not done with the script on Indy 4 but I think we're going to try and rely, like the first two movies, on realism and not try to do too many things with the computer...When you start getting into computers you get fantastical situations like in the Matrix or movies like that. We don't want that, we want exciting heroism, we want seat-of-your-pants, skin-of-your-teeth action. We didn't have all the money in the world on the first films and we want to keep that B-Movie feel. We want to make Indy 4 like we made the first three".
Thank the maker! Fianlly, someone gets it. CGI is KILLING the director's vision in Hollywood these days! With the exception of say... Peter Jackson. Who knows when and when NOT to use it.
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THE FLY: REMAKE???? at 11:12 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Yep... thanks to Danny Boyle's successful 28 DAYS, Fox Searchlight will be remaking the classic tale of horror. Oh... the horror.
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SONY AND UNDERWORLD FILMMAKERS BEING SUED! at 11:10 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Taken from Cinescape Magazine...
White Wolf Publishing Inc., the roleplaying game company behind VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE and WEREWOLF: THE APOCALYPSE, and horror novelist Nancy A. Collins have filed a lawsuit against Sony Pictures, Screen Gems and Lakeshore Entertainment alleging that the upcoming movie UNDERWORLD infringes on White Wolf and Collins' copyrights. The suit was filed September 5 in the District Court of Atlanta, Georgia.
The game company claims there are over 60 similarities shared between their two roleplaying games and the film's storyline. Furthermore, the lawsuit charges that the premise of UNDERWORLD borrows heavily from Collins' short story "Love of Monsters". "Apparently they are marketing this as a remake of ROMEO AND JULIET," says Collins in a statement released by White Wolf. "What I think they really mean is that it's an on-screen adaptation of my story."
White Wolf has been publishing role-playing games (RPGs) since 1991 and is probably best known for its VAMPIRE line of adventures, allowing players to act out fictional supernatural characters. One important ingredient in the VAMPIRE and WEREWOLF universes is that both races are at war with each other, a trait that is promoted in the trailers of UNDERWORLD.
"Ours is a huge fictional world, supported by over 200 volumes of fictional material," states Mike Tinney, President of White Wolf. "It's infuriating to see UNDERWORLD's script riddled with our property.
Tinney adds, "Our fans think they're going to be seeing our film. Of course, if the movie gets released, in a way they will be."
So far Sony Pictures, Screen Gems and Lakeshore Entertainment have not responded to White Wolf or Collins' lawsuit. UNDERWORLD is scheduled to open on September 19.
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THE AMITYVILLE HORROR at 11:09 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Word has it that a remake is on the way. Why? They haven't gotten a haunted house story right since POLTERGEIST!
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S.W.A.T. BACK ON TV? at 11:06 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Yep... but based mostly off of the new hit film. NBC and Sony have joined hands in creating this new series. The pilot MAY be directed by the feature film's helmer Clark Johnson. Word has it that the series will not interfere or derail any planned sequels to the film.
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KILMER IS BACK! at 11:04 PM by Ken Miyamoto
So, he's signed on to the next Tom Cruise flick COLLATERAL, and now he's reuniting with Oliver Stone as King Philip, Colin Farrell's father in ALEXANDER THE GREAT!
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DIRECTING/WRITING NEWS, September 10th at 11:01 PM by Ken Miyamoto
THANKS TO HOLLYWOOD REPORTER AND VARIETY...
--Claude Lelouch (A MAN AND A WOMAN) will make a trilogy of comedies known as LE GENRE HUMAIN (HUMANKIND), the first of which ,entitled LES PARISIENS, goes into production at the end of the year, and the second, THEATRE DE BOULEVARD, in early summer. Lelouch has been working on this series of interrelated films for 35 years. The three movies will be resolutely comic, and explore the foibles of human nature, particularly that which concerns the battle of the sexes. The first episode is set in Paris at the recent turn of the millennium. The second takes place in 2004. The third covers the span from pre-history to the present day. Lelouch calls the entire project "a gift to myself for 40 years' loyal service."
--Gold Circle Films has picked up the script MAD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN by Martin Wheeler. Set against the backdrop of the Indianapolis 500, the screenplay follows a U.K. intelligence agent protecting a witness who must evade his enemies while trying to get back to England.
--Kirk Wise (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST) will direct the CGI/live-action comedy GET FUZZY, based on the comicstrip by Darby Conley, for Rob Minkoff's Sprocketdyne Entertainment.
--Gil Kenan will direct MONSTER HOUSE to DreamWorks for Robert Zemeckis' ImageMovers to produce. Project centers on the adventures of three kids who discover that a neighbor's house is a living, breathing monster. They try to stop the house's evil plans despite the fact that adults don't believe their claims.
--Sydney Pollack is in talks to direct SHOCKPROOF SYDNEY SKATE, based on the novel by Marijane Meaker, at Fox 2000 Pictures. Steve Kloves (HARRY POTTER, WONDER BOYS) penned the adaptation. It's a coming-of-age story about a young man who just before college falls in love with the same gorgeous model as his lesbian mother.
--Revolution Studios is moving forward on XXX2 with Lee Tamahori possibly directing if Rob Cohen opts out.
--Eric Eason (MANITO) will rewrite and direct Intermedia Films' WANNABE with Outlaw Prods. producing and Jake Gyllenhaal eyeing the project as a possible starring vehicle. The movie is described as a modern-day mob story based on the offspring of mobsters who defy the traditions and protocols of their elders and embark on their own bloody paths.
--Producer Aurelio De Laurentiis has given writer/director Kerry Conran the greenlight to start penning the sequel to the upcoming THE WORLD OF TOMORROW, starring Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie.
--David Hare (THE HOURS) has been tapped by Baz Luhrmann to pen the script for ALEXANDER THE GREAT.
--Christopher Hampton will next direct Jessica Lange in his adaptation of Colette's classic Gallic novel CHERI for Brit producer and theatrical impresario Bill Kenwright. It's about a magnificent and talented woman in pre-WWI Paris, who has a lengthy love affair with the young son of a wealthy courtesan. She breaks it off when an advantageous marriage is arranged for him, but he cannot adjust to life without her.
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CASTING NEWS, September 10th at 07:33 AM by Ken Miyamoto
THANKS TO HOLLYWOOD REPORTER AND VARIETY...
--Claire Forlani, Malcolm McDowell and Connie Ray will join Jim Caviezel in the Bobby Jones biopic STROKE OF GENIUS. Rowdy Herrington directs the film about the golf legend, who retired from competitive golf at age 28. Shooting is expected to begin Sept. 8 in Atlanta.
--Judah Friedlander (AMERICAN SPLENDOR) and Julie Hagerty have joined Ethan Embry and Kylie Sparks in InDigEnt and writer-helmer Mark Christopher's indie feature PIZZA. It's an offbeat comedy about the unexpected relationship that develops between a thirtysomething pizza deliveryman and a teenage high school girl.
--Anne Bancroft joins a star-studded voice cast that includes Jennifer Love Hewitt, Val Kilmer, Michael Clarke Duncan and Chris Kattan in the CG-animated Fathom Studios feature DELGO.
--Anthony Hopkins and Hope Davis are in talks to star opposite Gwyneth Paltrow and Jake Gyllenhaal in the feature adaptation of PROOF for Miramax Films. David Auburn's play won the Tony for best play and the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2001. He adapted the script, with a rewrite by Rebecca Miller. John Madden directs.
--Jonny Lee Miller joins Radha Mitchell, Chloe Sevigny and Chiwetel Ejiofor in Woody Allen's next film at Fox Searchlight. Jason Biggs replaces Robert Downey Jr. in the pic, which is due to shoot this fall in New York.
--Jessica Biel (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE) will join Wesley Snipes and Ryan Reynolds in BLADE: TRINITY for writer/director David Goyer. She'll play the daughter of Kris Kristofferson's character Whistler, who inherits the vampire-slaying duties that once belonged to Blade.
--Juliette Binoche, Laurence Fishburne, Gary Sinise and Samuel Ball will star in SCHEHERAZADE to be directed by Michael Apted. Written by Jeff Vlaming, the story is loosely based on the structure of 1001 ARABIAN NIGHTS about the unfaithful wife of a mobster who is kidnapped by his henchmen and must talk her way to freedom. Shooting is is scheduled to begin production next month in London.
--Ray Liotta will star in CONTROL, replacing Matt Dillon, for director Tim Hunter. The project is in production in Bulgaria. Film also stars Willem Dafoe, Michelle Rodriguez, Stephen Rea and Polly Walker. It's about a sociopath who is taken into an experimental medical program. The doctor in charge must take drastic measures when his patient's violent past comes back to haunt them both. Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer wrote the script.
--Ving Rhames and rapper-actor Ja Rule will star in the indie feature BACK IN THE DAY for writer/director James Hunter. The film is slated to start production next month in Puerto Rico. It's about a man (from the right side of the tracks who does a favor for an old friend who is in the gang life. After doing so, he gets caught up in a situation beyond his control. Joe Morton also stars as a minister whose death sets the rest of the events into motion.
--Jayne Atkinson (Broadway's "Enchanted April") is joining the cast of M. Night Shyamalan's THE WOODS for Disney and Scott Rudin Prods. William Hurt, Joaquin Phoenix, Sigourney Weaver, Bryce Howard and Adrien Brody star.
--Amitabh Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan will star in LAKSHYA, a poignant love story told against the backdrop of the 1999 Kargil conflict between troops at the de facto border between India and Pakistan in Kashmir when 1,000 died, for UTV Group..
--Emily Watson, Tom Wilkinson and Rupert Everett will star in Julian Fellowes' A WAY THROUGH THE WOODS for Celador Films about a couple's seemingly idyllic marriage that is complicated by the introduction of a disruptive third party.
--Musician Dave Matthews, Eva Marie Saint and Jeff Daniels are in talks to star in BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE for director Wayne Wang and 20th Century Fox. It's about a 10-year-old girl who moves to the small Florida town of Naomi with her preacher father. Lonely and friendless, the girl grows close to a big, ugly, suffering dog, Winn-Dixie, whom she names after the supermarket where she finds him. Because of the dog, she winds up meeting and befriending a colorful cast of characters that becomes her extended family. Joan Singleton adapted the screenplay based on the novel by Kate Dicamillo.
--Samuel L. Jackson is in early talks to star as controversial Richmond (Calif.) High School basketball coach Ken Carter in BACK IN THE DAY for director Thomas Carter, Paramount, MTV Films and Tollin/Robbins Prods.
--Tilda Swinton is in talks to join Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz in Warner Bros.' CONSTANTINE, based on the comic book HELLBLAZER, for director Francis Lawrence.
--Tom Sizemore, Gabriel Mann and newcomer Jake Muxworthy will star in the indie pic PIGGY BANKS for director Morgan J. Freeman. The dark drama centers on two brothers who are raised to be criminals like their father and to think of people as piggy banks, ready to be broken whenever they need anything. They roam the country living a life devoid of intimacy, responsibility and direction. Problems arise when one of the brothers grows tired of the lifestyle only to find unexpected purpose with the discovery of a half sister. Matthew Modine and Tom Arnold are also in talks to join the project.
--Jason Scott Lee and Jay Hernandez will star in the the indie historical epic THE NOMAD for director Ivan Passer from a script by Rustam Ibragimbekov. It's set in 18th-century Kazakhstan and tells the story of a boy who is destined to one day unite the three warring tribes of the country.
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DIRECTING/WRITING NEWS, August 26th at 07:07 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Thanks to Hollywood Reporter and Variety...
--United Artists and Hart Sharp Entertainment are teaming to develop a film from Anna Thomas Soffee's comic memoir SNAKE HIPS about how the Middle Eastern shimmy helped heal the wounds of a bad bust-up. Sylvia Sichel (ALL OVER ME) will adapt the book about the author's returning to live with her parents in Richmond, Va., after being dumped by her tattoo artist boyfriend. Stumbling upon belly-dancing classes, the author -- a nerdy, rock 'n' roll-loving schoolteacher -- finds distraction from self-pity, a way to reconnect with her Lebanese roots, a rediscovered sense of passion and, ultimately, love.
--Amy Heckerling is in talks to direct New Line's NO PLACE LIKE HOME, which will star Vince Vaughn as a cocky, upwardly mobile New Yorker who has the world at his fingertips and a deep aversion to his parents. But when he breaks up with his girlfriend and his life falls apart, he ends up moving into his parents' Long Island house. Margaret Heidenry wrote the script.
--F. Gary Gray is in talks to direct BE COOL for MGM and Jersey Films. The studio is hoping for a November start on the Peter Steinfeld-scripted adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel.
--Peter Care will direct BRIDGE AND TUNNEL, written by Jonathan Greenberg, Jonathan Lisco and C. Jay Cox, for New Line Cinema and Tribeca Films. It's the story of a suburban 16-year-old who uses his parents' computer to become a whiz-bang day trader and multimillionaire.
--Hillary Seitz (INSOMNIA) will script the remake of THE REINCARNATION OF PETER PROUD for Paramount.
--Disney picked up the comedy pitch THE OTHER GUY from writers Brent Goldberg and David Wagner (NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VAN WILDER) for Offspring Entertainment to produce with Tapestry Films as a potential vehicle for Adam Shankman to direct. It's about a couple who find their relationship falling apart after 25 years of marriage. As a result, the wife decides to move into the big city in search of adventure and a new life, where she meets the hottest man alive. When he hits on her and the two start dating, her husband is forced to compete with the younger man to win her back.
--Guy Ritchie has temporarily halted REVOLVER and will instead turn his attention to SIX SHOOTERS, a Civil War-era heist pic at Columbia. Shooting is expected to begin in March. John Enbom wrote the script that takes place in the last days of the Civil War. Confederate President Jefferson Davis loaded the entire gold reserves aboard trains during the siege of Richmond. Two Union officers along with two infantrymen, one a former slave and the other a brothel owner, plot to steal the loot.
--Jeff Wadlow will direct LIVING THE LIE, a teen thriller focuses on a group of precocious boarding school seniors at a fictional school called Westover Preparatory Academy. Too rich, pretty and bored, the students begin playing a mysterious game of lies only to see the lies become personal, raising the stakes with disastrous ramifications. Produced by Hypnotic and supported by Universal Pictures, the pic starts shooting in October.
--John Rando(Broadway's "Urinetown") will helm TRUTH & ART for Intermedia Films and Outlaw Pictures. It's based on a true story of two brothers from the Midwest who combined a theater program and a string of strip clubs.
--Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield (COMING TO AMERICA) will write the new version of THE HONEYMOONERS for Paramount and Deep River Prods. Cedric the Entertainer and Mike Epps have been cast in the Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton roles, respectively, with John Schultz (LIKE MIKE) directing.
--Len Wiseman (UNDERWORLD director) is writing BLACK CHAPTER for Disney about the CIA enlisting ghosts as undercover agents.
--Russell Mulcahy will direct ESCAPE, the sequel to MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, for Quinta Communications, Miramax Films and IAC Films. The project is based on the book THE RETURN by Billy Hayes.
--Chris Robinson will direct Warner Bros.' JELLY BEANS for Overbrook Entertainment. It's described as a music-oriented feature in the vein of SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER set in an Atlanta roller-skating rink.
--Patrick Stettner (THE BUSINESS OF STRANGERS) is attached to direct THE NIGHT LISTENER, based on the novel by Armistead Maupin, for Hart Sharp Entertainment. Maupin and writing partner Terry Anderson are working on the script. The book was inspired by a real-life mystery that consumed the author and Anderson for more than six years and resulted in a widely read New Yorker magazine investigation. It centers on a San Francisco writer attempting to bounce back from a broken relationship, who strikes up a long-distance telephone friendship with a dying boy only to be confronted by troubling doubts about the boy's identity.
--Pete Jones (STOLEN SUMMER) will direct DOUBTING RILEY, which he wrote and will star in and produce. The project goes into production this week in Chicago, with Nathan Fillion ("Angel") and Michael McDonald ("Mad TV") starring alongside Jones. It's about an Irish Catholic family who learns that one of their siblings is gay.
--Juan Taratuto is directing NO SOS VOS, SOY YO (I'M NOT YOU, I'M ME) about a surgeon-disc jockey whose girlfriend travels to the U.S. to find an American husband -- and a green card.
--David Sporn will direct the supernatural thriller TAMARA, written by Jeffrey Reddick, about an awkward and unpopular teen whose life is taken after she is the victim of a vicious prank. When Tamara comes back from the dead, she is reborn as a seductive, mind-controlling vixen hellbent on revenge. City Lights Pictures will co-produce with Short End Productions.
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CASTING NEWS, August 26th at 07:02 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Thanks to Hollywood Reporter and Variety...
--Tracey Ullman and Chris Isaak will star in John Waters' upcoming A DIRTY SHAME, with Johnny Knoxville, Selma Blair and Paul Giamatti are already attached to the project, about a working-class convenience store owner who suffers a concussion only to become a sex addict with wild urges. Shooting is set begin later this year in Baltimore.
--Jane Krakowski will play Liza Minnelli in Dan Minahan's Roy Halston biopic, SIMPLY HALSTON, opposite Alec Baldwin. She will also join the cast of the ALFIE remake.
--C. Thomas Howell and Nicholas Turturro will play cousins/mass murderers Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, respectively, for helmer Chuck Parello in an indie film about the Hillside Strangler case from the 1970s.
--Malcolm McDowell will star opposite Jim Caviezel in STROKE OF GENIUS, the indie biopic of legendary golfer Bobby Jones, for writer/director Rowdy Herrington, BJ Films and Dean River Prods. Production begins this month in Scotland and Atlanta.
--Judy Greer has joined the ensemble cast of M. Night Shyamalan's THE WOODS, starring Adrien Brody, Joaquin Phoenix, Bryce Dallas Howard, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver. Production begins in Philadelphia in October.
--Dougray Scott will play the lead, while Saffron Burrows and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers are in talks to co-star in PERFECT CREATURE, a vampire pic to be directed by Glenn Standring, who also wrote the script.
--Stanley DeSantis will play Louis B. Mayer in THE AVIATOR for director Martin Scorsese.
--Diane Kruger will star opposite Nicolas Cage in NATIONAL TREASURE for Disney and director by Jon Turteltaub. It's a caper story about a secret code in the U.S. Constitution that bears the whereabouts of a treasure buried during the 1700s.
--Raven ("That's So Raven," "The Cosby Show") will star in SPARKLE, the remake of the 1976 drama about a Supremes-like group of singing sisters, for Warner Bros. Michael Elliot (LIKE MIKE) will rewrite the script by E. Lynn Harris. Whitney Houston and Debra Martin Chase are producing.
--Chris Rock will star in Universal's comedy SICK DAY, written by Nick Marine, for Imagine Entertainment. It's about a man who phones in sick to skip work only to see his plans for the day go awry as he proceeds to get involved in numerous destructive misunderstandings with his neighbors, nearly scotching his affectionate wife's chances at a job promotion in the process.
--Val Kilmer is in talks to join Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx in the Michael Mann-directed COLLATERAL for DreamWorks/Paramount. Production begins in October.
--Helen Hunt and Scarlett Johansson will star in A GOOD WOMAN for director Michael Barker (BEST LAID PLANS) Shooting will take place in October in Italy. Howard Himelstein wrote the script inspired by the Oscar Wilde play LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN. Hunt will play a seductress who steals the husband of a younger woman played by Scarlett Johansson.
--Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Brady Corbet, Elisabeth Shue, Michelle Trachtenberg, Bill Sage, Jeff Licon, Chris Mulkey, Billy Drago, Richard Riehle and Mary Lynn Rajskub will star in Gregg Araki's MYSTERIOUS SKIN. Based on the novel by Scott Heim, the story centers on two boys who meet when they are 18 and discover a common past that has shaped both of them in different ways.
--Shawn Ashmore (X2) will star opposite Nick Cannon in Miramax Films' THE UNDERCLASSMAN for director Marcos Siega and Tapestry Films. The project begins shooting in October. It's about a detective who goes undercover at an elite private school and stumbles upon an international stolen-car ring led by one of his rivals at the school. The investigation gets even more surprising when the detective uncovers the person who has been using the students to steal. David Wagner and Brent Goldberg wrote the script.
--Johnny Depp is in negotiations to play Willy Wonka in CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY for Warner Bros. and director Tim Burton.
--Sharon Stone is in talks to play the female villain opposte Halle Berry in Warner Bros.' CATWOMAN for director Pitof, with Village Roadshow Pictures and Di Novi Pictures producing. Josh Lucas is also in negotiations for a role.
--Rachel Weisz is in negotiations to star opposite Keanu Reeves in Warner Bros. Pictures' CONSTANTINE, based on an adaptation of the DC-Vertigo comic book, for director Francis Lawrence.
--Angelina Jolie will star (replacing Nicole Kidman) with Brad Pitt in MR. AND MRS. SMITH for director Doug Liman and New Regency. Production begins in November. Pitt and Jolie will play a couple in a dead marriage. They happen to be assassins, and when they are sent on the same job, they realize that each is supposed to terminate his or her marital mate. Simon Kinberg and Jezz Butterworth wrote the script.
--Adrien Brody is set to star in THE JACKET, a Mandalay Pictures/Section Eight drama to be directed by John Maybury (LOVE IS THE DEVIL). It's about a soldier who has been convicted of a murder. He's put into a psychiatric hospital under the care of a shady physician, and the soldier begins to believe he is travelling through time. Marc Rocco and Massy Tadjedin wrote the script.
--Ryan Reynolds is in talks play a vampire hunter opposite Wesley Snipes in BLADE: TRINITY for writer/director David Goyer and New Line.
--Bruce Greenwood (THIRTEEN DAYS) will play the other lead human role opposite Hayden Panettiere in Alcon Entertainment's live-action/CG pic RACING STRIPES. The pic, which also features the voices of Dustin Hoffman, Whoopi Goldberg, Frankie Muniz, Joe Pantoliano, Mandy Moore, Patrick Stewart, Joshua Jackson, Michael Rosenbaum, Steve Harvey, David Spade, Michael Clarke Duncan and Jeff Foxworthy, starts shooting Sept. 15 in South Africa. It's about an abandoned baby zebra who grows up believing he's a racehorse. With the help of barnyard friends and a teenage girl who dreams of being a jockey, he overcomes prejudice and self-doubt to pursue his dream of running with thoroughbreds. Frederik Du Chau (QUEST FOR CAMELOT) will direct.
KEN SAYS: Anyone else ALREADY sick of Adrien Brody? Sure, he was good in THE PIANIST... but was he really better than DANIEL DAY LEWIS in GANGS OF NEW YORK????????? Sure, Gangs was a somewhat flawed (yet equally brilliant) film, but Lewis offered one of the greatest performances I have ever seen. Go back and watch THE PIANIST and GANGS OF NEW YORK and ask yourself: Who offered the most commitment to developing a character? Brody may have been directed very well, but Lewis offered depth that no director can take credit for.
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JOHNNY DEPP IS WILLY WONKA!? at 07:41 AM by Ken Miyamoto
He is VERY close to signing onto Tim Burton's upcoming Willy Wonka remake! And he'll get a big paycheck for it as well.
Burton directed Depp in two previous films.
Can't wait for this project... especially with Depp attached!
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KILMER AND CRUISE REUNITED? at 07:39 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Possibly! Val Kilmer is the frontrunner for the role of a NYC detective who is in hot pursuit of a hitman (played by Tom Cruise) using a cabbie (Jamie Foxx) as a driver.
Michael Mann is directING the project... entitled COLLATERAL. As you may remember, Mann directed Kilmer in HEAT.
As a Kilmer fan, this is GREAT news! Finally a project that may give him the credit and attention he deserves!
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STONE VS. CATWOMAN? at 07:26 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Sharon Stone may play a character named Laurel, the head of a cosmetics company by day, evil criminal mastermind by night.
Josh Lucas (THE HULK) is now the top pick to play Detective Lone, an ally of the Catwoman. Halle Berry remains attached to the project, with French special effects artist Pitof still slated to direct.
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VAN WILDER IN BLADE 3? at 07:25 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Yep. Ryan Reynolds may play vampire hunter Hannibal King in BLADE: TRINITY for director David Goyer. Hannibal would be a close ally to another vampire hunter, Whistler's daughter, who may be played by BIRDS OF PREY actress Ashley Scott.
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KEN'S QUICK THOUGHTS ON "OPEN RANGE" at 11:27 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Just went to my old hometown theater in Wisconsin (on a little trip away from the traffic in L.A.) and saw Costner's new film OPEN RANGE.
I myself AM a Costner fan... although he has made a few misteps (honestly people, who hasn't?). I even took a liking to THE BODYGUARD and TIN CUP.
This is his third directorial effort... with his first winning him an Oscar, and his second bombing. Dances with Wolves is an excellent film that is often overlooked in the eyes of fanboys across the world. I LOVE that film, especially in its director's cut version just released on DVD.
I've been waiting for Costner to get back on his feet. Truth is, he took a huge punch after WATERWORLD... a film that I enjoyed very much (except for the final 20 minutes or so), even saw it three times in the theater. And despite what people think, it DID make a big profit! Counting world wide grosses, the film made above $300 million. That's probably about $100 million in profit.
OPEN RANGE is an EXCELLENT film! Costner IS back in my eyes. Hisdirection was excellent, and his performance was just as good. I was so impressed to see that his new film didn't put the entire focus on his character. Duvall and Costner had equal importance... with the latter not hogging any screen time. It is a wonderful western that ranks high among the greats. The gunfights are real... to the core. Even though Costner is an ex-gunslinger, he still manages to miss most of his shots. Which is how gunfights were back then. Duvall is outstanding! He WILL be nominated.
All in all, in this mini-review, I'm quite taken by this film. It wasn't overbearing... like Costner's POSTMAN was. It was a true western that focused on story and character relations, with depth. It may not have the ultimate impact of his DANCES WITH WOLVES, but this IS one of the best westerns I've seen. Quite even with UNFORGIVEN. And compared to that film, more realistic.
Now, I know that OPEN RANGE won't open big. Freddy vs. Jason WILL dominate. S.W.A.T. will be second. OPEN RANGE will conjure about $12 million... but keep in mind that it only opened in 2000 theaters... something that is pretty small nowadays.
Here's a little trivia: Costner's DANCES WITH WOLVES garnered around $180 million at the box office, but it was NEVER number one! Never. It NEVER had more than $11 million during the weekend count. But it kept playing and playing from Novemeber to Feb.
I think OPEN RANGE could have that kind of impact. The older generations will have something to watch in a summer full of duds. Look at OPEN RANGE and SEABISCUIT as the year's Oscar frontrunner's thus far.
GO SEE THIS FILM!
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PETER JACKSON GOES APE at 11:01 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Yep... Good ole Universal is shelling forth a $20 million paycheck for the Lord of the Rings genius director to helm his dream project KING KONG. The remake will be set in the 30s, as was the original and will be shot entirely in New Zealand. Hey, he proved himself with LOTR... I have all teh faith in the world.
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MURPHY IN TALKS FOR ADDITOINAL DAY CARE at 10:59 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Sigh. Eddie Eddie Eddie. Where have you gone? Looks like he is in talks to star in a sequel to the "hit" movie DADDY DAY CARE.
Talk about a "playing it safe" career nowadays.
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SHATNER TRYING TO RESURRECT STAR TREK at 10:56 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Good ole Captain James Tiberipus Kirk to the rescue? He is currently pitching his very own new Star Trek series to Paramount execs. What's the concept? Top secret for now!
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CASTING NEWS, August 17th at 10:52 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Thanks to Hollywood Reporter and Variety...
--Noah Wyle, Illeana Douglas, and Kate Mara ("Nip/Tuck") will star in the romantic comedy THE CALIFORNIANS, based on Henry James' classic THE BOSTONIANS. Jonathan Parker and Catherine Di Napoli wrote the script. Joanne Whalley, Cloris Leachman, Keith Carradine, Valerie Perrine, Jane Lynch and Michael Panes also star.
--Kim Basinger will star in Joel Zwick's (MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING) romantic comedy ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING. Production begins Sept. 15. Basinger will play the hapless Harmony, born during an Elvis Presley concert and ever after linked in some way to the King. While on the road selling lipstick, she accidentally kills a couple of Elvis impersonators and ends up on the run from the FBI. So, in an unlikely coincidence, does a depressed advertising exec whose path intersects romantically with hers as the two head toward the pic's climax at an Elvis convention in Las Vegas. Adam-Michael Barber and Mitchell Ganem penned the screenplay.
--Lindsay Lohan is in talks to reteam with FREAKY FRIDAY director Mark S. Waters in Paramount's upcoming comedy MEAN GIRLS for producer Lorne Michaels. Tina Fey wrote the script about an adolescent girl who has been on safari with her zoologist parents but must navigate new terrain when she moves to an Illinois public school and falls in love with the ex-boyfriend of one of the most popular girls. Things turn ugly when she's reduced to using the same mean-spirited methods as the other girls. Shooting begins in September.
--Robert De Niro is in talks to star in the thriller HIDE & SEEK for 20th Century Fox and director Albert Hughes. The film centers on a girl who loses her mother at a young age. Her father, who would be played by De Niro, comes to discover that his daughter is dealing with the death of her mother in an unusual and terrifying way. Barry Josephson is producing from a script by Ari Schlossberg.
--Eugene Levy will star opposite Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in Warner Bros. Pictures' action-adventure comedy NEW YORK MINUTE. Dennie Gordon directs the pic which is described as CHARLIE'S ANGELS meets AFTER HOURS. Jared Padalecki, Riley Smith will play the girls' love interests, while Andy Richter will star as a limo driver/hit man.
--Craig Ferguson and Kathy Kinney (both of "The Drew Carey Show") join the cast of the indie family flick A DOG AND HIS BOY for writers/directors Oren Goldman and Yariv Ozdoba. It centers on a canine who -- after being implanted with a microchip that gives him special powers -- engages a young boy in conversation and adventure. Ultimately, the duo must save the world from an evil scientist who wants to turn all kids into mindless robots. Sammy Kahn, Michael Winslow, Andrew Shaifer, Evan Adams, Stephanie Sherrin and Joe Morton also star.
--Corey Large, Luke Flynn, Jennifer O'Dell, Tom Lenk, Luke Kirby, Melissa Schuman, Paul Johansson, Don Gibb, Alexandra Holden and Carly Pope are teaming to star in director Andrew Putschoegl's indie pic WINDOW THEORY, written by Large and Kyle Kramer. Shooting is under way in Victoria, British Columbia. The film follows mid-20s floater Ethan Humphries from his meaningless playboy lifestyle in Los Angeles back home for the wedding of his best friend, Jeff , only to find that the bride is Ethan's high school sweetheart.
--Nicole Kidman is in talks to star in THE INTERPRETER, the Working Title/Universal co-production with Sidney Pollack set to direct. In the thriller, which is expected to shoot next year, Kidman would play a U.N. interpreter who overhears an assassination plot. When she becomes a target she's paired with a federal agent and together they work to stop the murder of an African leader addressing the General Assembly. Charles Randolph wrote the script.
--Adrien Brody has been offered the lead role in Warner Bros. Pictures' THE JACKET for director John Maybury and Section Eight about a soldier who has been convicted of a murder and believes he's traveling through time.
--Shia LaBeouf (HOLES, THE BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS) will star opposite Will Smith in I, ROBOT for New Line. The New Line deal will also place LaBeouf in a starring role in a release to shoot this fall, though exactly what film it will be has yet to be determined.
--Kathleen Robertson has landed roles in the indie drama UNTIL THE NIGHT, opposite Norman Reedus, and the indie thriller CONTROL, starring Willem Dafoe.
--Jeff Daniels and Kip Pardue have joined Sigourney Weaver and Emile Hirsch in the indie pic IMAGINARY HEROES, the dark comedy about the secrets and lies of American families, for writer/director Dan Harris. Shooting begins Aug. 14 in New Jersey.
--Jason Statham will play the villain opposite Kim Basinger, Chris Evans and William H. Macy in CELLULAR for New Line and director David Ellis. Larry Cohen (PHONE BOOTH) wrote the script.
--Kevin Costner is eyeing to star in the romantic comedy TAMING BEN TAYLOR, with Michelle Pfeiffer in talks as his co-star. Scott Sturgeon and Amy Lasser scripted the remake of a 1980s Italian comedy about a vineyard owner in Long Island who longs for love. He becomes interested in an attractive and steely real estate agent who is trying to persuade the man to sell his property to make way for a golf course.
--Sam Neill, Jon Favreau, Bernard Hill, James McAvoy, Eleanor Bron, Nikolaj Coster Waldau, Austin Nichols and James McAvoy have joined Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany in the romantic tennis comedy WIMBLEDON for director Richard Loncraine.
--Jim Broadbent is in talks to join Jude Law and Keira Knightley in DreamWorks Pictures/Miramax Films' TULIP FEVER for director John Madden. Shooting begins in April.
--Patricia Velazquez will play the wife of Emilio Zapata in Alfonso Arau's long-in-development biopic ZAPATA. The project is in production in Morelos, Mexico.
--Kaitlin Doubleday, Heather Matarazzo, Bryce Johnson, Jud Tylor and Rachel Dratch have been cast in HOME OF PHOBIA, Sam Huntington, Marla Sokoloff, Mike Erwin and John Goodman in the project directed by Ryan Shiraki.
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GUESS WHO'S RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR? at 07:31 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Arnold Schwarzenegger announced last night that he has made his final decision: He IS going to run on the recall ballot for Governor of California... the country's sixth highest rated economy.
Many have scoffed at the thought of The Terminator running for office. Most people thought it was merely a bid to promote his new film T3. Most people believe that he is taking a huge chance. Most people think that if he were elected, he would be in over his head.
Myself? I think the guy could win... and beyond that, I think he could truly make a positive difference.
He has long been a political activist, supporting moderate conservative issues, including California's Proposition 49, the After School Education and Safety Act, that would make after-school programs available to every public elementary and junior high school in California that chooses to apply. Schwarzenegger was the initiative's proponent and chairman of the campaign.
Arnold is a Republican... and that party has a bad rap in the country right now. However, he's not the usual type of Republican.
During his brief press conference, Arnold mentioned that while he is a Republican... he will focus on issues of the people. He will speak to the people, act for the people, despite his parties' views. He also mentioned that it doesn't matter if he is Republican, Democrat, or Independant... he will do what is right for the people of California. He even acknowledged the negative views of the Republicans and Democrats that use California as a mere special interest, stating that he would NOT be a part of that.
"The politicians are fiddling, fumbling and failing," Schwarzenegger said with a serious tone. "The man that is failing the people more than anyone is Gray Davis. He is failing them terribly, and this is why he needs to be recalled, and this is why I'm going to run for governor."
He later stated that, "California is being run as a special interest. The politicians are no longer working for the people but for the special interests." He added, "I will go to Sacramento and clean house. I have plenty of money myself. I will make the decisions myself." Meaning that he will be funding his own campaign and will not have to answer the requests of fellow Republicans due to donations. He'll make the calls.
He then acknowledged that business' were leaving California each day, and so are the people. He said that he plans on changing that.
I won't fully support him until I hear his views and vision for this state. What I have heard so far gives me hope that we may have someone worth voting for.
In my eyes we may have a politician that thinks of the people first... regardless of being a Republican or Democrat.
Only time will tell though.
The only thing that sucks is that if he wins, we'll have no Conan 3, no T4, no Westworld, no Crusade, etc. T3 gave me hope that our hero is back... but we'll just have to wait and see.
To any and all naysayers... my advice is: Give him a chance. Don't prejudge. Wait until you see his campaign and hear the issues that he wishes to tackle. Wait until you hear his plans.
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BAY GOES BACK TO SPACE at 09:36 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Director Michael Bay (BAD BOYS II, PEARL HARBOR) has attached himself to DO NOT GO GENTLY, a sci-fi/drama set up at Revolution Studios.
Described by Variety's Michael Fleming as "an adventure film with a gentler tone", the script is about a Smithsonian scholar who gets his heart's desire to travel into space. Neil Tolkin is performing a rewrite of the script at the present time.
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HAUER TO PLAY CLARK KENT VILLIAN at 09:34 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Good ole Rutger Hauer will play Morgan Edge, Metropolis underworld boss (from the comics), is the next season of SMALLVILLE.
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INTRUDERS at 09:31 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Focus Features has optioned the movie rights to Pat Montandon's fear book THE INTRUDERS, a real-life account of a San Francisco socialite's ordeal living with a "curse".
Montandon's took a turn for the worse when, after attending a party, a tarot reader placed a curse on her believing that Montandon had insulted the psychic. Shortly thereafter her life at her new apartment began to go to hell. The San Fran socialite was stalked by drug users living in her building; her apartment was constantly cold; she found strange patches of blood outside on her fire escape and on her ceiling; and her dog began whining constantly. The series of irregularities cumulated when a close friend of Montadon's died in a suspicious fire when she was left to house-sit.
When Montandon investigated the history of the apartment building she discovered the land had been used for a makeshift cemetary and as a place where people were hanged to death. Was the patch of ground where she lived haunted, was there something to the tarot reader's curse or was it merely a string of bad luck?
Scribe Gary Lennon will adapt Montandon's book and tell it in a similar fashion to other alleged real-life supernatural tales.
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HELLBOY MOVED at 09:28 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Del Toro's Hellboy has been moved from a Memorial Day 2004 release to April 2nd in order to avoid the onslaught on early summer pics.
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SONNENFELD OUT OF CARREY PROJECT? at 09:25 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Barry Sonnenfeld has pulled out of Columbia's FUN WITH DICK AND JANE comedy remake starring Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz. Columbia and producer Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment are now planning to mount production with the cast intact next March after Carrey has wrapped on LEMONY SNICKET for Paramount and DreamWorks.
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REED DROPSOUT OF FANTASTIC FOUR at 09:24 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Director Peyton Reed has dropped out of 20th Century Fox's feature comic book adaptation of FANTASTIC FOUR due to "creative differences."
This Fantastic Four project is cursed with problems.
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DIRECTING/WRITING NEWS, August 6th at 09:20 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Thanks to Hollywood Reporter and Variety...
--Director Chris Weitz and writers David Rosenthal and Joseph Matthew Smith have secured the cooperation of the Montreal Film Festival for an unusual stunt of creating an as yet untitled comedy about a fictitious director, named Jake Barrymore, who is scheduled to screen a film called SEE THIS MOVIE in the Canadian city. The title will actually appear in the Montreal Film Festival program, and is scheduled to screen during the fest. However, the film doesn't yet exist. The Weitz/Rosenthal/Smith comedy will chronicle Barrymore's scramble to produce the film in time for the screening. The two films -- the Weitz/Rosenthal/Smith untitled comedy and the film-within-the-film -- will be produced simultaneously over a 10-day period. Weitz will exec produce, Rosenthal will direct and Smith will produce the comedy. Rosenthal and Smith scripted.
--Todd Field (IN THE BEDROOM) will direct an adaptation of Gene Smith's novel AMERICAN GOTHIC for DreamWorks, Wonderland Films, Standard Film Co. and Mirage Enterprises. Scott Smith (A SIMPLE PLAN) adapted the a novel about brothers Edwin and John Wilkes Booth.
--Spitfire Pictures has teamed with Grand Via on Scott Johnson's script STRANGER ON THE SHORE, a dark thriller in which a judge travels to his hometown to confront the ghosts of his past and revisits a murder committed there 25 years ago.
--Warner Bros. purchased the family comedy spec script SAY UNCLE written by Scott Bindley and to be directed by his brother, William. Karz Entertainment will produce. It's about a Maxim magazine-bred bachelor who, while visiting his brother and sister-in-law, unexpectedly finds himself having to take care of their young children for several nights when the brother's wife goes into labor and the duo desert him for the hospital.
--Amy Rardin and Jessica O'Toole have sold the family comedy pitch IMAGINARY LARRY to Odd Lot Entertainment about a young boy's imaginary friend named Larry. When the boy grows up and Larry is no longer needed, Larry finds himself banished to the secret world of unwanted imaginary friends. Banding together with other discarded "IFs," Larry sets out to regain the attention of his creator and along the way saves the world from losing its imagination.
--Scott Rosenberg (CON AIR) will script an update of 1977 thriller THE SENTINEL for Universal and producer Kevin Misher. That pic followed a fashion model who moves into a Brooklyn brownstone only to discover it's the site of a gate to hell.
* Gurinder Chadha (BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM) will direct TUCKER AMES for Fox 2000. It's a comedy centering on a multibillionaire computer mogul who decides to go AWOL right in the middle of testimony for a civil suit. He finds refuge by getting hired at a small theater company where he falls in love with the play's director and learns some self truths while playing a less-than-flattering caricature of himself.
--Nigel Cole will direct A LOT LIKE LOVE for Disney/Beacon Pictures about a twentysomething couple who find each other at the wrong time. Colin Patrick Lynch wrote the script. hstone Pictures Dec. 19.
* Phillip Noyce has come aboard to direct Lakeshore Entertainment's feature adaptation of Philip Roth's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel AMERICAN PASTORAL. The story focuses on Seymour "Swede" Levov, a legendary high school athlete and devoted family man who is living the American dream in thriving, triumphant postwar America. His picture-perfect life unravels when he faces the harsh reality that his daughter Merry has become a revolutionary terrorist bent on destroying everything he has valued in the life he has built for his family. John Romano adapted the screenplay, which is being produced by Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi.
--Gore Verbinski is in talks to direct Nicolas Cage, who is in negotiations to star, in Escape Artists' THE WEATHER MAN, written by Steve Conrad (WRESTLING ERNEST HEMINGWAY). It's about a divorced Chicago weatherman up for a new job on a network morning show in New York. As he is preparing to leave for the Big Apple, he must make peace with his ex-wife and kids. Production is scheduled to begin in February.
--Gary Fleder is in talks to direct Paramount's JAILHOUSE LAWYER for producers Mark Gordon and Dylan Sellers. Doug Richardson wrote the script with a rewrite by Will Rokos. It's about a prison convict serving a life sentence who is given the opportunity to defend a fellow inmate in court.
--Steven Shainberg (SECRETARY) will direct a biopic centering on photographer Diane Arbus with Erin Cressida Wilson set to adapt from the biography by Patricia Bosworth.
--Nicole Conn (CLAIRE OF THE MOON writer/director) has launched Little Man Prods., whose first project will be a documentary about the premature birth of her son Nicholas James Baba-Conn. After his birth, Conn and her cameras gained access to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, filming 150 hours of footage during his 158 days in critical care. Caught on camera were many emotional moments, including four surgeries on the infant.
--Valerie Horwitz will adapt Jane Stanton Hitchcock's novel SOCIAL CRIMES for Phoenix Pictures, with Joel Schumacher eyeing to direct. The story revolves around a New York socialite who plots revenge against a social climber who killed her husband and dethroned her from her high society life.
--Amy Heckerling is set to direct SWEAT at Fox 2000 Pictures, from a script by Eric Wald (A VIEW FROM THE TOP). The project is described as SHAMPOO set in the world of athletic personal training.
--Silver Films has acquired feature rights to Stuart David's debut novel NALDA SAID. Yousaf Ali Khan will direct for producer Janey de Nordwall from a script by Kathryn Akuhata-Brown.
--MGM picked up the script DEVIL'S CREW by Ravi Bains and Alex Harakis for Zide/Perry Entertainment to produce. The script centers on the story of Lt. Robert Maynard, a Royal Navy officer who volunteered for a suicide mission to track and kill the notorious pirate Edward Teach (aka "Blackbeard") in the waters off the Carolinas in 1718.
--Emily Baer is attached to write HERE COMES THE BRIDE for Disney and Cosmic Entertainment about a newly engaged couple from different backgrounds trying to plan and execute a New Year's Eve wedding. As their plans become increasingly difficult to realize, they begin to doubt whether they belong together.
--Peter Care (THE DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTAR BOYS) will direct the remake of BILLY JACK for Intermedia Films for producer Frank Laughlin, with Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor, Moritz Borman and Basil Iwanyk as exec producers. John Fusco (HILDAGO) is writing the script.
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CASTING NEWS, August 6th at 09:15 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Thanks to Hollywood Reporter and Variety...
--Ashton Kutcher and Paul Walker have expressed interest in starring in THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, based on the television show, for Warner Bros, with Anthony Anderson as Boss Hog and Britney Spears as a potential Daisy Duke.
--Sigourney Weaver and Emile Hirsch will star in the indie drama IMAGINARY HEROES for director Dan Harris (X2 co-writer) abpit a four-member family and how they deal with the suicide of the eldest son, an accomplished swimmer idolized by the community and his parents as being the "perfect boy."
--William H. Macy is in negotiations to star opposite Kim Basinger in the upcoming New Line thriller CELLULAR for director David Ellis, Electric Entertainment Co. and Lloyd & Kass Entertainment.
--Susan Sarandon and Marisa Tomei are in talks to join the cast of Paramount's untitled remake of the 1966 romantic comedy ALFIE for director Charles Shyer. The project begins shooting in September with Jude Law, Sienna Miller and Nia Long also starring.
--Will Ferrell is attached to star in GET SMART, based on the 1960s' TV series, for Warner Bros. Pictures.
--Rachel Weisz will star opposite Emma Roberts in the indie pic DAISY WINTERS for writer/director Beth LaMure about a 12-year-old girl and her emotional struggle with her mother's losing battle with cancer. After her death, the girl fears she will have to live with her terrible aunt, placing her in a race against time to find an alternative plan. Along the way she uncovers the father she never knew. John Wells and Peyton Reed are producing.
--Benjamin Bratt joins the cast of THUMBSUCKER, starring Keanu Reeves, Tilda Swinton, Vincent D'Onofrio, Vince Vaughn, Lou Taylor Pucci and Kelli Garner. The project is adapted from a novel by Walter Kirn.
--James Carpinello will play John Travolta's son in Artisan Entertainment/Marvel Studios' THE PUNISHER for director Jonathan Hensleigh.
--Dennis Quaid is in final talks to star in the remake of THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX for director John Moore, 20th Century Fox and producer John Davis. Production is slated to begin in October.
--Woody Harrelson is in talks to join Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek in New Line's AFTER THE SUNSET.
--Rosario Dawson is in negotiations to join the cast of Oliver Stone's ALEXANDER, playing the role of Roxanne. Jared Leto has also been set to co-star in the pic playing Hephaistion, Alexander's top general and his lifelong companion.
--Kelly Ripa will lend her vocal talents to the indie feature toon DELGO from Fathom Studios. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Louis Gossett Jr., Val Kilmer, Michael Clarke Duncan, Chris Kattan, Eric Idle, Sally Kellerman and Burt Reynolds also star. The 3-D CGI film follows the fantasy adventures of Kyla and Bogardus, youths from different races on a planet facing extinction.
--Stephen Adly Guirgis joins Todd Solondz's PALINDROMES opposite Ellen Barkin. It's an ensemble movie centering on the family of a 13-year-old girl.
--Hayden Panettiere will star in the live-action/CG pic RACING STRIPES opposite the voices of Frankie Muniz, Dustin Hoffman, Whoopi Goldberg, Joe Pantoliano, Mandy Moore and Patrick Stewart for director Frederik Du Chau (QUEST FOR CAMELOT) and Alcon Entertainment. Also joining the cast of voices is Joshua Jackson, Michael Rosenbaum, Steve Harvey, David Spade, Michael Clarke Duncan and Jeff Foxworthy. Shooting begins Sept. 15 in South Africa. It's the story of an abandoned baby zebra that grows up believing he's a racehorse. With the help of barnyard friends and teenage girl who dreams of being a jockey, he overcomes prejudice and self-doubt to pursue his dream of running with thoroughbreds.
--Anne Heche, Elizabeth Banks, Dule Hill and Kerry Washington will star in SEXUAL LIFE, an indie pic to be directed by Ken Kwapis. They join Tom Everett Scott, Azura Skye, James LeGros and Kevin Corrigan in the project that follows the various intertwined relationships of a group of adults.
--Kevin Corrigan ("Grounded for Life") joins the DreamWorks comedy ANCHOR MAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY, starring Will Ferrell.
--Natalie Cole, Mick Hucknall, Lara Fabian and Mario Frangoulis have joined the Cole Porter biopic DE-LOVELY, singing Porter hits in production numbers during the film.
--Jennifer Coolidge and Regina King (both of LEGALLY BLONDE 2) have joined the cast of Warner Bros. Pictures' A CINDERELLA STORY, starring Hillary Duff, for director Mark Rossman.
--David Alan Basche and Patrick Warburton will star in the indie pic FIRST TIME CALLER for co-writer/director Paul Sullivan. It's about a late-night radio talk show host who one evening receives a mysterious phone call that he and his listeners believe came from an extraterrestrial. This phenomenon riles the eccentric townspeople into an all-out hunt to find out the identity of the mystery caller.
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LYNN THIGPEN at 10:18 AM by Ken Miyamoto
I seriously think there is a conspiracy going against me. Months upon months ago actress Lynn Thigpen died suddenly. No info was released as far as how she died, nor am I looking for that info any longer. They are not releasing a statement. They probably won't... because it is a private matter. Word has it that it was heart related. That's all I know.
I respect the many inquiries that I have received regarding this subject, but I constantly receive emails asking the same question. Sometimes from people that have asked the question many times. So, the info that I KNOW is above. Any other questions regarding her can be directed to any possible fan site she may have (check the internet using her name) or to www.imdb.com. Thanks my friends. If a group of you are trying to drive me crazy by asking these questions over and over, you have succeeded:) Joke's on me...
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DANTE TOMASELLI TO DIRECT "ALICE, SWEET ALICE" SEQUEL... at 05:30 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Dante Tomaselli, director of "Horror" and "Desecration" has announced that he will be directing the long-overdue sequel to the 1976 cult classic horror film "Alice, Sweet Alice." Fans of the rising director know that the original film was directed by Tomaselli's cousin Alfred Sole. The original film marked the screen debut of Brooke Sheilds. Tomaselli is also in development with his third feature film "Satan's Playground" which will star Ellen Sandweiss (The Evil Dead), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp, Horror), Victoria Gotti in a cameo (daughter of the late John Gotti) and Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes). Einsiders's Rusty White asked Mr. Tomaselli if there was a chance of Brooke Sheilds making a cameo in the upcoming "Alice, Sweet, Alice 2"?
Dante Tomaselli: That's a great idea. Yeah...People have been telling me I should try and get Brooke Shields to have a little cameo in it. I'll try. We'll see what happens. "Alice, Sweet Alice" was Brooke's first film. She did it before "Pretty Baby." When Alfred gave me this news about "Alice, Sweet Alice 2" I thought I was dreaming. The original is so ingrained in my psyche I can't even begin to tell you. I was seven years old when it made its big premiere in Paterson, New Jersey. All of my relatives were there and many of them were extras in the film. I wasn't allowed to go. Guess I was too young. But I'll never forget staring at the poster-art...the spectral white-veiled Catholic girl holding a crucifix/dagger. I was petrified. Being the horror movie lover that I was, even at the age of seven, I was dying to see this movie made by my cousin. Finally, when I was 10, in 1980 and VCRs were considered brand new, I got a VHS tape and screened it. Wow. I grew up on "Alice, Sweet Alice" and watched it practically every day. What I loved about it most was that it was so elusive. You could really never get a hold on it. It's a pure horror-mystery puzzle. Even now, each time I see the film, I find new details, new clues...Growing up, I used to stalk around my house wearing the translucent doll-like mask and yellow raincoat. I was a bona-fide "Alice, Sweet Alice" fanatic and now, in my adult life, I'll get to direct the sequel."
To check out the vision of Dante Tomaselli online, log onto his website at http://www.horrorthemovie.com." target="_blank">http://www.horrorthemovie.com. Better yet, check out the Elite Entertainment DVD version of Dante Tomaselli's modern masterpiece "Horror."
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KEN'S NEW "DID YOU KNOW..." at 05:28 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Hey guys and gals. I'm trying to come up with some new things to talk about so I thought of this little idea. "Did you know..." will basically offer up some inside movie trivia that you may have not known. Just some fun little tidbits to think about.
DID YOU KNOW...
... THAT Kirk Douglas was originally supposed to play Col. Trautman in FIRST BLOOD? He was signed on as Rambo's mentor, and was ready to film until he disagreed with the ending of the film. He wanted Rambo to die. He thought it would be more artistic... but the Stallone and the filmmakers decided that they wanted him to live. When Douglas didn't agree, they instead went with the late Richard Crenna!
... THAT they actually filmed a scene with Rambo dying at the end of FIRST BLOOD? He gave a gun to Trautman and stated that since he was the man that trained and created him, he wanted Trautman to be the one to end his life. When Trautman couldn't do it, Rambo clenched the gun and pulled the trigger for him. Test audiences hated it, and thus a franchise was born!
... THAT Sean Astin auditioned for River Phoenix's part in STAND BY ME? Alas, the part went to River who did an outstanding job.
... THAT Chris O'Donnell ALMOST was cast in two of Keanu Reeves' best roles? He was up for the part in THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE and then was considered for THE MATRIX as well. Whew!
... THAT Steven Spielberg was originally set to direct RAIN MAN? He eventually had a scheduling problem after working months on pre-production for the Tom Cruise/ Dustin Hoffman film.
... THAT John Belushi was envisioned as one of the Ghostbusters in the first film? His death occurred and the production was forced to go in another direction.
... THAT the actors who played the Marines in ALIENS had to read the novel "Starship Troopers" in order to research their roles as Secial Forces soldiers in the space age? Yep, the very same novel that was eventually made into the film, STARSHIP TROOPERS.
... THAT Michael Biehn has been bitten on the hand in each movie that James Cameron has directed him in? Terminator, Aliens, and The Abyss.
... THAT Nick Nolte and Robert Redford were strongly considered for the part of ROCKY in the first film? The studio tried to convince Stallone to sell his script, but he insisted on being casted. Thus, a franchise was born.
... THAT Anthony Michael Hall turned down the role of Cameron in FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF to avoid being typecast?
... THAT Tom Cruise and Daniel Day Lewis were both considered for the role of Vincent Vega in PULP FICTION? Lewis came the closest to being cast, but Tarantino changed his mind once John Travolta came to mind.
... THAT Kiefer Sutherland's vampire in THE LOST BOYS did NOT die? Well, he is the only one not to disappear or explode when killed. Joel Schumacher did this in order to set up a sequel that WAS written after the film came out. But no sequel came about so...
... THAT Sean Young was originally cast as Vicki Vale in the first BATMAN. When she broke her collarbone horse riding with Batman-to-be Michael Keaton, she lost the role to Kim Basinger.
... THAT Sean Young also came close to BATMAN RETURNS as Catwoman, but the producers later scoffed at the idea. When they rejected her, she showed up at the Warners lot, breaching security, and dressed in a her custom made Catwoman outfit. Needless to say, she went a little crazy.
... THAT Alec Baldwin was strongly considered for the role of BATMAN before Michael Keaton snagged the role?
More to come... this is just a warm up.
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TARANTINO'S "KILL BILL" WILL NOW BE SEPERATED INTO TWO FILMS!!?? at 07:34 AM by Ken Miyamoto
This is confirmed by Variety people. Tarantino's upcoming film's first cut clocked in at around 4 hours! Panicked obviuosly, the studio AND Quentin have decided to seperate the film into Chapter One and Chapter Two... meaning we'll have two KILL BILLS instead of one. No BS.
The first will debut in October... no word on how long they will wait to release the second part.
My prediction... these films will bomb. It'll have an okay opening, and then slowly disappear from the public's interest. The trailer looks terrible as well. Just too much. Reminds me a lot of Charlie's Angels 2.
Whatever happened to the Quentin of the early 90s? Where is he? He tried too hard to be too cool in Jackie Brown, which was a bore with just a few good moments. Oh well.
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SW3 GOING 70s????? at 07:27 AM by Ken Miyamoto
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a team of hairdressers specializing in older style haircuts has apparently been called to the set of the new Star Wars film to ensure continuity with 1977's Star Wars Episode IV. One insider says “George [Lucas] realized there were going to be real continuity problems with hair, He’s got the best hairdressers he can find to work with the actors and make sure they at least reflect the way Han Solo and Luke Skywalker looked back then, without making them look too ridiculous”.
Lucas... WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU????
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JURASSIC PARK IV SYNOPSIS? at 07:26 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Word has it that the following will be the plotline for the upcoming sequel. And yes, Sam Neil WILL be back.
"65 million years ago, a terrible disease plauged the Earth which brought about the extinction of the dinosaurs. In the early eighties, when InGen cloned the dinosaurs, they also brought this disease back with them and it has been present ever since before Jurassic Park (thus explaining the sick Triceratops and Brachiosaur). Now this disease has become fully active in the dinosaurs and they're all getting very ill. When dinosaur carcasses start washing up on the shore of Costa Rica, a team (including Alan Grant) is called out to find out what's going on. They head to the islands to study the dinosaurs and find out about the disease, known as DX. They also discover the disease is transferable to humans and could possibly bring on our own extinction".
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SWAYZE TO TAKE ON QUARTERMAIN at 07:24 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Good ole Patrick Swayze will star in the mini-series remake of KING SOLOMON'S MINES. He will be cast as THE Alllan Quartermain... the famous adventurer who has been most recently portrayed by Sean Connery in THE LEAGUE. Let's hope Swayze has better luck with the role.
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ARNOLD'S NEXT at 07:20 AM by Ken Miyamoto
After filming the remake of WESTWORLD (no, he's not playing the robot), Arnold will be taking on comedy again with BIG SIR. He will play a guy who runs cross-country with his future stepkids in tow, followed by unscrupulous types from his past.
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SANDLER OUT, FOXX IN... at 07:17 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Adam Sandler is no longer in the running for Tom Cruise's and Michael Mann's upcoming film COLLATERAL. Jamie Foxx will be taking on the role of the cab driver that is forced to take a hitman to his targets... the hitman being played by Tom Cruise.
Man, Jamie's funny and all, but what a boring casting decision in my eyes.
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PIRATES SEQUEL ALREADY IN DEVELOPMENT at 07:15 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Due to the excellent success thus far of Pirates of the Caribbean, all of the principal players are set to return in a sequel that has already been greenlit, and has also already begun development... with the original screenwriters returning.
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BRODY TAKES ON "WOODS" at 07:12 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Oscar Winner Adrien Brody has joined the cast of M. Night Shyamalan's WOODS. Sigourney Weaver has also recently signed on as well.
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HURT JOINS "THE WOODS" FROM SHYAMALAN at 12:18 PM by Ken Miyamoto
William Hurt has joined the cast of M. Night Shyamalan's upcoming film THE WOODS, about a small community that lives with the knowledge that a mythical band of creatures lives in their woods. Joaquin Phoenix is also starring... although there is now no mention of Ahton Kutcher, who was thought to be starring in the film as well.
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MESSING GOING GARFIELD at 12:13 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Debra Messing will provide the feline voice for GARFIELD's girlfriend, Arlene, in the movie version of the comic strip. Bill Murrary voices the orange fat cat while Breckin Meyer plays Jon, Garfield's owner.
In Jon Davis' comic strip, Arlene was a pink kitty who had a sarcastic relationship with Garfield. The movie is due out in theaters next summer.
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JAMES CAMERON STILL ON ALIEN 5? DID HE LIKE TERMINATOR 3? ARNOLD IN ALIEN 5? at 07:28 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Cameron comments on T3, "In one word : Great. There was a small part of me that hoped it wasn't good - but another part of me hope'd it succeeded. And it did. And I'm so glad it did. Jonathon's made a great movie. Arnold's in great form. I really like what he's done with it". If he had done it, would he have handled it differently? "Yes. That's only natural. I mightn't have structrued it the same, nor may I have ended it the same way - but coming in where he has, such a hard thing to do, and I give Jonathan points for it".
What about Alien 3? "Hated it. Simple as that. I hated what they did.... I couldn't stand Alien 3 - how they could just go in there and kill off all these great characters we introduced in aliens, and the correlation between mother and daughter. It stunk, but hopefully I'll get a chance to rectify all that".
Are you developing Alien 5? "To an extent. yes. We're looking at doing another one. Something similiar to what we did with Aliens. A bunch of great characters, and of course Sigourney. I've even discussed the possibility of putting him [Arnold Schwarzenegger] into the Alien movie".
Personally, Arnold and Weaver together would be great. A gimmick of sorts yes, but if a Cameron can write a great script, and a great director can be attached (Ridley Scott?), then I'm all for it. Reinvent the series.
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OCEAN'S TWELVE IS ON at 07:21 AM by Ken Miyamoto
George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia and Bernie Mac have all signed on to return for the Steven Soderbergh-directed sequel.
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KEATON AS WILLIE WONKA at 07:21 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Michael Keaton may be up for the role of Willie Wonka in Tim Burton's remake! This could be the comeback role for Keaton, one of Hollywood's most underrated talents.
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AKIRA WRITER ATTACHED at 07:18 AM by Ken Miyamoto
LXG scribe James Dale Robinson will pen the US live-action film adaptation of the anime classic.
I'm scared to death of this project... I can't see America doing a great job with this flick. Oh well.
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DIRECTING AND WRITINGNEWS, July 8th at 07:12 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Thanks to Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and Elston Gunn...
--David Frankel will rewrite and direct the sci-fi project IQ 83, based on the book by Arthur Herzog, for DreamWorks. The story centers on a society whose entire population heads into imbecility as the result of an airborne virus that causes everyone's IQ to drop. The creator of the virus must find a cure as his own mind begins to decay.
--DreamWorks Pictures picked up the remake rights to the Korean horror feature A TALE OF TWO SISTERS for Craig Rosenberg to adapt.
--Lions Gate is in talks to pick up the psychological horror script DAWN, written by Rand Ravich (THE ASTRONAUT'S WIFE) with Eli Roth (CABIN FEVER) attached to direct for Industry Entertainment and Di Bonaventura Pictures. The story centers on a man whose obsession with artistic success leads him to make choices that may trigger the emergence of ultimate evil.
--Ryne Pearson (MERCURY RISING) will adapt a remake of the Pang brothers thriller THE EYE for Cruise/Wagner Prods. and Vertigo Entertainment. It's about a blind girl who, after receiving a cornea transplant, begins to see ghosts among the living. She sets out to uncover the origins of her cornea and the nefarious history of its donor.
--John August (GO, CHARLIE'S ANGELS) will write an updated live-action big-budget feature version of TARZAN for Jerry Weintraub Prods.
--Brad Follmer and Lauren Iungerich sold their comedy script GREATNESS to Icon Entertainment. It's about a man's quest for fame and success, which is endangered when he discovers someone is trying to steal his glory.
--John Herzfeld will direct EVERMERE for producers Mario Kassar and Andy Vajna (T3) and Sony Pictures. It's a fantasy project about a 17-year-old orphan who discovers he is the heir to the throne in an alternate universe. He's called back there to battle his evil uncle, who has declared himself king. Kevin Paturka and Greg Chabot are polishing the script originally penned by David Goyer and James Robinson.
--Louis Mellis and David Scinto (SEXY BEAST) are adapting Buddy Giovinazzo's novel POTSDAMER PLATZ for Fox Searchlight Pictures. The story follows an American hitman, world-weary from a life of killing for the mob, who repairs to Berlin. There, he again puts his skills to good use protecting a Turkish real estate developer who is besieged by criminal elements from Russian and Eastern European crime families during an enormous construction project.
--Jayme Monjardim is directing Camila Morgado in OLGA, a biopic about political activist Olga Benario Prestes, based on Fernando Morais' 1985 bestseller.
--Simon West will direct DALI from a script by Jeremy Walters for the director's own Simon West Prods. The project will draw a portrait of the artist and his mentally unstable wife Gala, who conquered America with sex, sin and surrealism only to succumb later to worldwide scandal and misfortune.
--Nelson McCormick will direct the action/thriller END OF THE ROAD for 20th Century Fox and producer Mark Gordon. It's about a former stuntman must make a frenetic cross country trek in his vintage muscle car to save a friend from meeting his end at the hands of the Mob. Ric Roman Waugh and Tag Mendillo co-scripted.
--Out of the Blue Entertainment and Gruber Films are teaming on the feature MURDER CREEK, a comic mystery written by G.E. Mimms set in the Deep South. It centers on a small-town sheriff's struggles to keep his community together in the face of strange events and incursions from outsiders.
--Rustam Ibragimbekov (BURNT BY THE SUN) will write and produce the indie historical epic THE NOMAD, which will be directed by Ivan Passer (HBO's STALIN) and executive produced by Milos Forman and Ram Bergman. The story is set in 18th-century Kazakhstan and centers on a boy who is destined to one day unite the three warring tribes of Kazakhstan.
--Paul Greengrass (BLOODY SUNDAY) is in talks to direct Matt Damon in Universal's THE BOURNE SUPREMACY, adapted by Tony Gilroy. Production is expected to begin at year's end. In this installment, the story centers on a Chinese vice premier supposedly slain by Jason Bourne.
--Sean Hood will adapt the Charles Maclean suspense novel THE WATCHER for Summit Entertainment. The story centers on a man who commits a terrible crime and goes to a psychiatrist to find out why he suddenly went berserk.
--Columbia has purchased the script GROWN UPS to be produced by Ricochet. It's about the overly protective parents of a 13-year-old who awake to find themselves turned into 13-year-olds as well. They enroll at their son's school in attempt to become his constant companions, but the pressure to conform in junior high school causes their plan to backfire, leading to changes in the couple as parents and spouses.
--Trey Parker will direct the marionette action comedy TEAM AMERICAN, written by Parker, Matt Stone and Pam Brady, for Paramount Pictures and producer Scott Rudin. It's a parody of Jerry Bruckheimer-esque action movies, involving the prototypical action hero, who's drafted to help Team America thwart the world's evil terrorists. The film will also address certain celebrities who have outworn their welcome in the public eye.
--Disney has purchased Peter Dowling's Hitchcockian thriller pitch THE OFFER for Kopelson Entertainment and Robert DiNozzi to produce.
--Argentine actor Victor Laplace's is directing his second pic, the social drama LA MINA (THE MINE), for producer Nestor Romero. It's about an aging miner who refuses to accept the economic and social decline of his fellow villagers.
--Winchester Films and Stratus Film Co. are co-financing the romantic comedy script FOREVER AND A DAY, written by Robert Zappia, about a couple who learn to appreciate their lives together when they have a chance to live out their greatest fantasy.
--Shekhar Kapur (THE FOUR FEATHES) is in talks to direct THE LAST FULL MEASURE for New Line Cinema. Based on a true story, the project focuses on a young Pentagon staffer who learns the true meaning of heroism when he fights to get a Medal of Honor for a brave Air Force officer who was killed in Vietnam.
--John Wells Prods. has optioned the John Cox-penned script THE COLD, with Mimi Leder attached to direct. It's a suspense thriller about a young woman who rents a cabin by herself in the Sierra Nevada mountains and something supernatural interrupts her secluded winter vacation.
--Director Stephen Daldry and scribe Michael Cristofer are developing EVEREST for Universal and Working Title Pictures. The script is based on the disastrous climb of Mount Everest which took place May 10, 1996, when three expeditions were hit by a ferocious blizzard at nightfall. Eight people were left dead by the storm.
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CASTING NEWS, July 8th at 07:06 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Thanks to Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and Elston Gunn...
--Rory Culkin will star in the indie feature MEAN CREEK, written by Jacob Estes, for Rick Rosenthal's Whitewater Films. Ryan Kelley, Scott Mechlowicz, Trevor Morgan, Josh Peck, Carly Schroeder and William Mapother also star. Shooting starts at the beginning of July in Oregon. It's about a group of kids who conspire to get even with the school bully, but when the plan goes awry, they are forced to face up to the moral consequences of their action.
--Seann William Scott is attached to star and produce, alongside the Donners Co. and Winchester Films, a remake of the 2001 French feature GREGOIRE MOULIN AGAINST HUMANITY for Universal Pictures.
--Laura Harring and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos are in talks to join the cast of is in Artisan Entertainment/Marvel Studios' THE PUNISHER for director Jonathan Hensleigh. Thomas Jane and John Travolta star. A July start date is planned in Florida.
--Jake Weber will star in the indie drama SUMMERHILL for director William Tyler Smith, who co-wrote the script with Julian David Hoxter. It's about Summerhill, a British alternative school that students and faculty run together as a community of equals. In 1999, the British government threatened to shut the school down, and the students and faculty banded together to fight its closing. They ultimately won their battle against the authorities in a dramatic court case.
--Kathy Bates and Julianne Nicholson have joined Brittany Murphy in Revolution Studios' romantic comedy LITTLE BLACK BOOK for director Nick Hurran. Production is slated to begin in August.
--Dwight Yoakam joins Hyperion Pictures' independent feature THREE WAY SPLIT for director Scott Ziehl. Dominic Purcell, Gina Gershon, Joy Bryant, Ali Larter and Desmond Harrington also star. The pic is based on Gil Brewer's 1963 pulp novel WILD TO POSSESS and described as a darkly comic story of murder, kidnapping, blackmail and sexual deception. Russell P. Marleau wrote the screenplay.
--Rupert Everett, Tom Wilkinson, Ben Chaplin and Richard Griffiths join the cast of Artisan Entertainment's COMPLEAT FEMALE STAGE BEAUTY which also stars Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Hugh Bonneville, Edward Fox, Tom Hollander, Clare Higgins, Fenella Woolgar, Alice Eve and Zoe Tapper for director Richard Eyre. Jeffrey Hatcher adapted from his stage play.
--Nick Cannon (DRUMLINE) will provide a mouse's voice in 20th Century Fox's big-screen live-action/CGI adaptation of GARFIELD.
--Liev Schreiber will join Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep in Paramount's Jonathan Demme-directed remake of THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE.
--Colin Farrell and Eva Mendes will star in Robert Towne's adaptation of John Fante's 1939 novel ASK THE DUST about a pair of immigrants whose chase of the American dream in 1930s L.A. leads them to each other. Towne has been wanting to make this film for 30 years. CW will produce with Jonas McCord.
--Giovanna Antonelli, Luige Bariccelli and Jose Wilker will star in MARIA, A MAE DO FILHO DE DEUS (MARY, THE MOTHER OF GOD'S SON) for Columbia TriStar about the life of the Virgin Mary.
--Ryan Reynolds will star in the indie romantic comedy JUST THE TWO OF US for director Chand Ahrendt. It's about a young couple who decide to elope in Vegas instead of having a large wedding. They are followed by their friends and family, who all hope to become part of the impending nuptials.
--Fernanda Montenegro (CENTRAL STATION) and her daughter Fernanda Torres will star in An-drucha Waddington's A CASA DE AREIA (THE HOUSE OF SAND), written by Elena Soarez (ME YOU THEM). The project centers around the relationship of a mother and daughter who live in an isolated house built on beach dunes.
--Chris Kattan and Parker Posey join Craig Chester -- who is directing from his own script -- and Malcom Gets in the indie pic ADAM & STEVE for Stage 3 Studios. It's a romantic comedy following two New York couples, one straight and one gay.
--Dominic West ("The Wire") is in talks to star opposite Julianne Moore in Revolution Studios' THE FORGOTTEN for director Joseph Ruben. Gerald DiPego wrote the script about a grieving mother struggling to cope with the loss of her 8-year-old son. She is stunned when her psychiatrist tells her she has created eight years of memories of a son she never had. But when she meets a fellow patient who has a similar experience, she embarks on a mission to prove her son's existence as well as her sanity.
--Jodie Foster is in talks to appear in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's French-language romantic drama UN LONG DIMANCHE DE FIANCAILLES (A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT). Set against the backdrop of World War I, the movie is due to start shooting in early August. Audrey Tautou (AMELIE) will play the lead role in the film, which recounts a young woman's efforts to establish the truth about her fiance, who was pushed into no man's land as a punishment for trying to escape the trenches. Gaspard Ulliel (LES EGARES) is in negotiations to play the male lead.
--Jude Law will star in the historical romance pic TULIP FEVER for director John Madden (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE), DreamWorks Pictures and Miramax Films. Set in 17th century Amsterdam, the story revolves around a young woman who marries a wealthy merchant to escape poverty. When she falls madly in love with a poor artist who is hired to paint their portrait, the lovers try to raise money to escape together by investing what little they have in the high-stakes tulip market. Tom Stoppard penned the adaptation of Deborah Moggach's novel.
--Penelope Cruz is in advanced talks to star in NON TI MUOVERE (DON'T MOVE) for actor/director Sergio Castellito (MOSTLY MARTHA). Based on a novel by Margarita Mazzantini, it's about a vulgar, introverted, working-class girl whom life has treated hard. Shooting begins late July in Rome.
--Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac will star in the Columbia Pictures comedy THE DINNER PARTY for Tall Trees Prods., 3 Arts Entertainment and Katalyst Films. Jay Scherick and David Ronn are writing the script about a man marrying a black woman whose father is having difficulty coming to terms with the marriage.
--Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney will star in Gold Circle Films' romantic comedy SOMETHING BORROWED for director Clare Kilner. Production begins next month. Dana Fox wrote the script about a young woman who returns to her parents' London home for her sister's wedding and has to confront her ex-fiance, who dumped her two years before. Desperately wanting to face the ordeal with dignity, she hires a top-drawer male escort to pose as her new boyfriend.
--Keri Russell and Nathan Lane will topline the British comedy pic CABBAGES AND QUEENS for director John Henderson. Shooting begins next month on the story of an American documentary filmmaker in London who is assigned a story on a quirky British theater group. While masquerading as a stage manager, she unwittingly becomes involved in a jewel heist. She attempts to thwart it along with some help from a suicidal actor. Simon Callow, Darren Boyd, Brian Blessed, Greg Wise and Emilia Fox also star. Adrian Rigelsford and Kim Lamont scripted.
--Chris Tucker is in talks to return for RUSH HOUR 3 for New Line and director Brett Ratner. Jeff Eastin, Ross LaManna and Jason Richman have written the script.
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T3 MAKES AN ESTIMATED $72.5 MILLION SINCE TUESDAY NIGHT PREVIEWS at 05:29 PM by Ken Miyamoto
Okay, so my estimate of $101 million since Wednesday was a bit off. I didn't take into account that this was an R-rated film.
But needless to say, "T3" has made its mark. $72.5 million ain't too shabby. It is the fourth largest debut for the 4th of July extended weekend, and THE largest debut for an R-rated film during that time frame... beating out "T2"!
Exit polls are great, meaning that the majority of the audience loved it, and we can expect it to be a great money maker both domestic and in the international market.
Staying power shoudn't be too rough, with word of mouth. It's beating T2's take thus far.
With next weekend's The League and Pirates of the Caribbean, it DOES have some competition... but there's still a chance for another #1 weekend. If not, it will be pretty close to those two films. I can see the film making upwards of $200 million domestic. Remember, while all eyes are on the weekend, there's still Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to look at. Meaning that just because it doesn't continue to be #1, it can still rake in the bucks. Look at Finding Nemo.
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T3 and THE HULK: KEN'S THOUGHTS ON BOTH at 09:51 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Well, I'm a bit more pumped about a certain movie I saw last night with a certain Austrian cyborg, but to be fair, let me start with yet another comic book adaptation that hit the screens this summer... THE HULK.
Now, you all know my disdain for a small little movie called Spiderman. Now be fair, I DID manage to point out many GOOD things about the webslinger's big screen debut... but overall, Spiderman ended up feeling like a movie with no style. Strange, because with a director like Sam Raimi I expected there to be nothing but style. Alas, it seemed that we were offered a cooky cutter film with only a few bright moments (the first 40 minutes or so) that anyone could have directed.
Not so with THE HULK. Ang Lee surprised many with his announcement that he would take on the big green guy... a project that Universal had always been too reluctant to greenlight. But thankfully, as I sat and watched the movie unfold before my eyes, I saw a distinct style of filmmaking that will forever stand out.
THE HULK is a wonderful little film, despite the massive budget, that delivers not just a bunch of CG and mayhem, but true story and character depth. It is a blockbuster film that doesn't feel like a blockbuster until the finale. Eric Brana portrayed the cursed Bruce Banner wonderfully, in a subtle yet impactful performance. Nick Nolte shined as his long lost father who has a few too many screws loose. And the others, well, they served their purpose just fine. One performance that I didn't care too much for was Josh Lucas. I just didn't feel that there was any depth to his motives and actions, especially when he visits Bruce and starts to beat the crap out of him... until Hulk appears.
Sure, you're all waiting for me to comment on the CGI Hulk that everyone seems to be balking at. The truth is, the story itself is so involving that the CGI really doesn't effect the outcome of the quality of THE HULK. The CGI Hulk looks sometimes great, and sometimes a bit too animated. It's 50/50 the whole way through the movie. Somtimes I said "Wow", and other times I just sat back and focused on what was going on around the Hulk.
The Action sequences are so good that you tend to shift your focus to the big picture... not finding yourself staring at the Hulk when he's running from choppers, or throwing tanks across the sky.
If anything, THE HULK offers the potential of a great franchise as long as it centers on Banner's cursed life, and not merely having us watch the Hulk throw things every five minutes.
Overall, THE HULK is an excellent comic book adaptation that captured the true feel of the comics, but also integrated those aspects into somewhat realistic story, actions, characters, motives, fight scenes, etc. Unlike Spiderman, which I felt had unfocused action, fight scenes, and confrontation.
To put it plainly (sorry my dear brother), Hulk bested Spiderman... but isn't up to the challenge just yet when compared to X-Men 2. Hopefully we'll see more of the big lug in years to come.
AND NOW... THE MOMENT WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR... TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES!!!!!
When I first saw the trailers months ago, I was worried. It seemed like there was too much CG, and not enough of the good ole Stan Winston magic. The trailer made the film seem unfocused, and not up to par with the first two masterpieces.
So here are some problems that T3 had to overcome:
1. No Cameron. That was a BIG problemn is my eyes. That's like no Lucas with Star Wars (hmmm, let me rethink that one... just kidding... Lucas the director: not so good... Lucas the Executive Producer would have been much better), or no Spielberg in Indiana Jones (Don't believe the rumors, he IS still directing the film).
2. Aging Arnold. Could he have gotten into shape and can he convince us that he hasn't aged?
3. No Furlong (okay with me) or Linda Hamilton.
4. Probably the biggest problem to overcome... matching the success and legend of the first two films.
So, what did I think? Well, with my low expectations based on the above hurdles they had to pass, I must say that Arnold has done it again! Wow! What a frickin' surprise this movie was!
The film is focused, it isn't a retread of the first or second film, it adds something new to the franchise, and yes... Arnold looks exactly the same as he did in T2.
As usual, I'm not going to retread the storyline to you... go see the movie. But I can tell you all that T3 really blew away my expectations. The story itself fits in perfectly with the other two films, the addition of Claire Danes and Nick Stahl is wonderful in every sense, and we are even given a great villian that matches the success of Robert Patrick's T-1000. The T-X, played by newcomer Kristana Loken, is seductive and equally menace.
The effects? Well, look out Matrix, the Terminator is in your territory. Yes, I really feel that the big chase sequence in T3 is ALMOST better than the Matrix: Reloaded's famous highway sequence. Why? Because nearly everything in T3's looks perfectly real. You can hardly tell which moments are real, and which are CGI.
Each action sequence in T3 is just like that.
T3 delivers my friends. If you are just expecting a normal, run-of-the-mill summer action movie, you'll be pleasantly surprised with something even more... depth. The film tackles the time travel aspect very well and also makes us really care for each of the characters. There is always a sense of anticipation for what is going to happen next. You truly care if the lead characters are in danger.
Arnold, well, he IS indeed BACK in my eyes. I hope he DOESN'T run for governor... not because I wouldn't vote for him, but because I want to see Terminator 4 and 5! Yes, by the way, the film is perfectly set up for sequels and Arnold has mentioned that if this film is a success, he'll take two more films on!
Are there things that DON'T work in this film? Sure. There two poorly written scenes that try to offer the easiest of exposition... with lines starting with "Sure, it all makes sense now."
There are a few one-liners that were a bit too cheesy.
There are a couple of story holes in the film as well (where did those helicopters come from, and how did the T-101 find Connor)... but these might be answered with a second viewing.
But my friends, these are VERY small things that really can't overtake my impression with the film's highlights.
Sure, I miss Cameron's innovative style. But director Jonathan Mostow has really done his duty to the fullest extreme! Does T3 surpass the first two films? No. But it's the next best thing. T3 is a perfect addition to the franchise, and I would be overjoyed to see Mostow and company take on two more films.
Overall, GO SEE THIS FILM! I hope I get to talk with Arnold again (I met him about two months or so ago at Sony), so I can congratulate him on his comeback! He is truly an American icon.
The big picture: T3 delivers in more ways than one. It is the best summer blockbuster thus far, and it has truly fed my hunger for a continuation of the Terminator franchise. Any doubt I had about Mostow taking on the series has been erased. T3 does have a different style to it, but it also has much of the same magic that Cameron created, without being a retread of T1 and T2. Go see it. Enjoy it. Let the film stand on its own.
My prediction for opening box office? As far as Friday through Sunday... $85 million. The film has already garnered a whopping $16.5 million with Tuesdays preview, and Wednesday's full opening day take! Just imagine what it will do when people aren't at work over this holiday weekend. I'd say we can look at about $101 million from Wednesday to Sunday. Cross your fingers!
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STAR WARS: EPISODE III NOW SHOOTING! at 06:57 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Shooting has finally begun on the third and final Star Wars prequel. Word has it that Anakin now has long hair, and a black glove. Hopefully we'll be treated with a wonderful finale come 2005. Hopefully.
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STAR WARS EPISODE III TITLE?? at 07:40 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Rumblings from Australia are saying that the working title for the third and last prequel will will Star Wars: Episode III: An Empire Divided.
Personally, I liked Revenge of the Sith. But this has yet to be confirmed by Lucasfilm.
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THOMAS JANE ON PUNISHER at 07:38 AM by Ken Miyamoto
About.Com recently talked with Thomas Jane about his work on the comic book superhero film and asked if he was a fan of the comic: "I wasn't a fan prior to because I didn't like superhero comics, but this guy is such an anti-hero that I've fallen in love with him. He's so dark and it's Marvel's darkest property, so I've fallen in love with the whole thing...He doesn't have super powers. He can't leap over tall buildings, he can't crawl up a wall, he's just really, really angry. I'm expecting it to really kick my butt". Jane revealed that villain John Travolta and he haven't begun their scenes together yet - "He's in Baltimore, which is where I was born, working on "Ladder 49," a fireman movie. We haven't hooked up yet but I look forward to it...I can't wait. He's one of my heroes".
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THE BOURNE SUPREMACY at 07:36 AM by Ken Miyamoto
The Hollywood Reporter indicates Paul Greengrass ("Bloody Sunday") looks set to direct the adaptation of the second Robert Ludlum novel in "The Bourne Identity" saga. Matt Damon reprises his leading role, and filming is slated to begin at the end of the year.
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ALIENS VS. PREDATOR PLOT DETAILS at 07:34 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Taken from IGN Filmforce...
"It seems that structures which pre-date the pyramid civilizations of Egypt and the Americas have been discovered far beneath the Antarctic icecap by satellites. So to explore this finding billionaire Weyland assembles a drill team, specialists in Aztec and Egyptian archaeology, and an environmental scientist. Once inside the pyramids, the group discover disturbing remains including piles of human skeletons with holes in the chest (from Alien "chest-bursters"), and fossilized Alien "face huggers", seems that the temple was either built or infested by Aliens in Earth's distant past. The script pages make no mention of the Predator. It seems that he may show up farther along in the movie. Considering the depth that must be drilled to reach the Aliens, the Predator may be a late arrival who uses the humans' own passage to the temple".
They choose this over a Cameron and Scott collaboration??????????????????????
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SHAZAM! at 07:29 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Yep, the ole Superman ripoff is coming to the big screen... and it looks like The Rock has been rumored to star. The Rock...
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HALLOWEEN 9? at 07:27 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Yep. Used to love these movies, now I hate 'em. Up until the fourth they were great fun... now, just a bore.
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HULK MOVIE PIRATE BUSTED? at 07:25 AM by Ken Miyamoto
A charge of felony copyright infringement has been laid against Kerry Gonzalez, the man who uploaded the copy of HULK to the net. Gonzalez has plead guilty and now faces sentencing. The maximum charge Gonzalez faces is three years in federal prison.
"We are deeply grateful to the FBI and the Department of Justice for their prompt action in finding and punishing the individual responsible for posting a version of THE HULK on the Internet," said Karen Randall, Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Vivendi Universal Entertainment.
"This investigation proves decisively that the Internet is not an anonymous place, and illegal conduct is transparent and traceable. Universal Studios will pursue aggressively and hold accountable to the fullest extent of the law those who steal or abuse its intellectual property by illegally uploading or downloading it on the Internet."
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TUCKER FOR A THIRD RUSH HOUR at 07:23 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Honestly, who cares? He's in negotiations... and is anyone going to be surprised when he signs on? Has he had a hit other than a Rush Hour movie?
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50 CENT RAPPER'S NEW FILM? at 07:19 AM by Ken Miyamoto
SOPRANOS staff writer Terry Winter has been hired to write a screenplay inspired by the life of rapper 50 Cent.
According to MTV the 26-year-old singer was dealing crack at the tender age of 12. 50 Cent has also been shot nine times.
Hmmmm, haven't they done something like this before? Say, 8 Mile. Give me a break.
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SOTH PARK CREATORS TAKE ON PUPPETS at 07:16 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and writing partner Pam Brady are making TEAM AMERICA, a feature-length send-up of today's action and superhero movies, with something borrowed from the old THUNDERBIRDS TV series, namely, the use of marionettes to play the film's characters. SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER AND UNCUT producer Scott Rudin will also be along for the ride. Parker will direct the R-rated TEAM AMERICA for Paramount Pictures while Stone also produces the picture with Rudin.
"Our cast will be deliberately made of wood, but that will only be taking to the extreme what is evident in many Hollywood movies right now," Variety quoted Matt Stone as saying about the movie. "What we wanted was to do a send-up of these super important huge action movies that Jerry Bruckheimer makes."
"The subtle joke here is that all actorss are puppets," adds Trey Parker in Variety report. "This will probably piss off everyone in town, and might well be our swan song."
The $20 million dollar movie will be made during the next break between SOUTH PARK seasons. The show's core concept is to follow an action hero who joins the Team America superteam to defeat an worldwide menace. With these guys creating the show, expect lots of humor at the expense of the Hollywood machine.
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EVEREST: THE PERFECT STORM 2? at 07:13 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Confused. Well, a new script by Universal is ocming our way and it seems like they will be following the same mode of Perfect Storm.
EVEREST's screenplay is based on the tragedy that befell mountaineers attempting to summit the world's tallest peak back in May 1996. A severe storm hit the mountain, trapping different teams and preventing them from an emergency descent. In all eight people died.
Like Storm, the film will focus on both the climbers and the family awaiting news of their survival.
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DIRECTING/WRITING NEWS, June 26th at 07:03 AM by Ken Miyamoto
Thanks to Hollywood Reporter and Variety...
--Hype Williams will direct the psychological thriller CAPTIVITY, written by Larry Cohen (PHONE BOOTH), for Fox Searchlight and Urban Entertainment. It's about two strangers who are kidnapped and manipulated by an unseen sociopath.
--Disney picked up an untitled comedy pitch by writer Dan Mazer ("Da Ali G Show") that Jack Black will star in and produce. It's a broad contemporary comedy about an ordinary man who hits hard times and is forced to sell something dear to him.
--Ronald Harwood (THE PIANIST) will adapt the Thomas Hauser novel MARK TWAIN REMEMBERS for DreamWorks. James Franco is attached to play the young author Samuel Clemens as he sets off from Missouri and meets up with a slave boxer and his master/promoter. Clemens becomes determined to free the slave, but when his scheme is successful, the slave's ex-master tries to win him back by rigging a bare-knuckle brawl against a larger, more experienced opponent. Harwood will also adapt Jean-Dominique Bauby's memoir DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY, which Kennedy/Marshall will produce for Universal Pictures. The book recounts the life of the one-time editor-in-chief of French magazine Elle, who, after a 1995 stroke left him completely paralyzed, wrote his memoirs by blinking his left eye in an alphabet code.
--Bull's Eye Entertainment snapped up Brian Horiuchi's screenplay THE GLASS GUN about a man plunged into a mystery in which he must discover who is responsible for killing the friends he cares most about.
--James Mangold will direct Columbia Pictures' remake of its 1957 Western 3:10 TO YUMA with Cathy Konrad producing. Michael Brandt and Derek Haas (2 FAST 2 FURIOUS) will write the script.
--Mark Romanek (ONE HOUR PHOTO) will direct and Eric Roth will adapt A COLD CASE, starring Tom Hanks, for Universal Pictures. The fact-based drama concerns Gotham District Attorney's chief investigator Andy Rosenzweig. Before he retires, he vows to solve the 27-year-old murder of a friend, even though the case couldn't be colder. It is a crime that has haunted him his entire career.
--Beeban Kidron (TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, JULIE NEWMAR) will direct BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON for Working Title Films. The follow-up will star Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. Shooting is expected to begin in November. Andrew Davies and Helen Fielding adapted from Fielding's own follow-up to her first Bridget Jones book. In it, Bridget discovers that life with Mark Darcy isn't quite as perfect as she dreamed.
--Fox 2000 purchased the Sean McGinly comedy script MULLIGAN about a portly football lover who tries to become a field goal kicker for the Washington Redskins. FilmColony will produce.
--Freestyle Pictures has optioned Valerie Frankel's comic novel THE ACCIDENTAL VIRGIN for Heather Graham to topline and produce. Nicole Eastman is penning the adaptation of the story of a young woman who hasn't had a lover in almost a year and becomes terrified that she's at risk of being "revirginized." She goes on a quest to get a man in her bed but discovers she's not as easy as she thinks.
--David Duchovny will direct HOUSE OF D from his own script for Ovation Entertainment and Bob Yari Prods. The indie pic is a drama about a man coming to terms with his past and present friendships. Duchovny will also star with his wife Tea Leoni, Robin Williams and Tyler Hoechlin.
--Christian Papierniak and Deena Berezin have set up their script THE INTERN at Mosaic Media Group, based on an idea by Nina Sadowsky. It's described as a comedy in the vein of WORKING GIRL.
--Ian Corson is writing the supernatural thriller SECOND COMING, loosely based on an original story idea by James Woods about a recently paroled thief who finds himself entrusted with guarding a boy believed to be a clone of Jesus Christ, for Castle Rock Pictures..
--Project Greenlight finalist Joe Otting will direct fellow finalist Robert Lynn's script PRISONER for Splendid Pictures. The story centers on a Hollywood director who, while scouting locations for his next film, is taken hostage in an abandoned prison.
--New Line has picked up an untitled Charles Dickens project from writer Samantha Silva with her husband, Michael Hoffman, attached to direct. The project puts a romantic dramedy about the events and inspiration surrounding Dickens as he writes A CHRISTMAS CAROL. As he struggles to write the book, he falls in love with a woman who turns out to be a ghost.
--Swedish helm |
