|
We now live in a life of new technology. In the 80's, the world revolved around money. The 90's brought us the Personal Computer in almost EVERY American home. Now, as we drift into the 21st century, those PCs are the guides to a new world… the Internet.
Ask almost any person over the age of 65 about the Internet, and you will receive a strange, content look followed by, "Never used it." However, if you were to hear those words from any person UNDER the age of say, 50, you would obviously be in shock. The Internet was first utilized by the Pentagon, now years later, it is used by anyone and everyone! So what the hell does this have to do with here at EI? Well, this new information highway is changing the way we look at film today.
Thousands of websites are dedicated to the entertainment industry. These websites have almost completely taken over the reign of magazine stands. I can remember a few years back in '95 when yours truly fully depended on film magazines like Variety, Movieline, Entertainment Weekly, Cinescape, Sci-Fi, etc. They gave me the information that I craved for each week! But alas, we have arrived at a time when magazines such as those are a dying NEED. Internet capabilities are at the extreme and will only get better. There is almost too much information out there! One can sit in front of the computer for days and still not be close to learning everything that's out there.
Another aspect of this Internet rush is the studio's ability to mass market their films at a very low cost, not to mention the fact that they have many tools at the tips of their fingers like streaming video, music, etc. Take the BLAIR WITCH PROJECT campaign: Without its website, BWP would have lost the Internet buzz, the mythic back story, and the general coverage that the youth of America was enthralled with! The film was a hit before it even came out! After the surprise success of this film, Hollywood was changed forever! Studios and production companies alike were now creating interesting websites to back their films.
So the craze is on right? Millions of people log onto the Internet each hour… each minute… searching for the answers to their questions. If someone wants to promote something best, where do they go? Yes, the Internet. Now we have film sites like Force.net and Ain't It Cool News that utilize industry spies… everyone from directors, producers, writers and down to grips, cameramen, assistants, stand-ins, etc. These people offer information on high profile films like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones 4, Matrix, and a hundred more! Before the release of the first Star Wars prequel, the most anticipated film of all time, information was "leaked" about the plot, characters, story, etc. Information is great people. I love to hear about who is being cast in what, who's directing what, and even what films are being made… but the fact is, this "Internet", this "information highway" is depleting the film experience for us, and the next generation.
I know what you're saying, "Um, Ken, don't you write for an online film magazine?" Yes I do… and when I first started the Inside Scoop, I was very guilty of "spoilers". But the fact remains, I am against the idea of people seeking every little detail about every film out there. What was so magical about the first Star Wars was that it was something we hadn't seen before. However, before the first prequel most people who surfed the Internet knew almost every detail about the film. Freedom of choice right? Fine, let people choose to ruin the magic of film, to ruin the suspense of not knowing what's going to be around that dark corner, etc. I am convinced that the lukewarm Internet response to SW1 has the Internet to blame because it offered so many minute details that the experience of seeing the film was the equivalent of, "Oh, that one part is coming up… here's that scene we read…" The fact is, there is too much information out there. Generation Y (is that what they are calling it) is being bred into "fanboys" that seek those details to the extreme, and even judge a film by these small tidbits of information.
The main question to me is: Who is to blame? The fool, or the fool who follows him (SW quote of course)? Is it people like Ain't It Cool News' Harry Knowles… or the fanboys that follow his every word? I just don't know. I think people like Harry and I need to accept some responsibility in regards to the information that we offer. Many may have noticed that there have not been many SW2 scoops. Why? Too many rumors. I can go to a website right now and say that Tom Cruise will be making TOP GUN 2, and people would eat it up. The word would be spread and spread until rumor becomes fact. While there is a lot of information out there, there are too many unconfirmed stories that creep onto our screens.
Do I hate the Internet? Obviously I don't. So what's my whole point here? Basically I am trying to dissuade people to fall under the spell of the Internet mentality. I simply hope that you, my readers (all five of you I'm sure… j/k), don't seek out those little details of the films you anticipate. I hope that when you see a spoiler warning, you will turn the other cheek. If you find a script for a film that has yet to be released… ignore it. Don't let this information tempt you into ruining what could be an unspoiled EXPERIENCE. I'll continue to post great Hollywood scoops! I'll offer general plot points, casting info, and everything I can to let you know what's happening here in Hollywood, but I will never spoil a film for you. Websites like AICN, FORCE.NET, etc. are great communities for film buffs to get information and to chat about film itself… but at times the Internet takes us a step too far.
Okay, I'm done ranting…
(Thanks to Harry Knowles, Cinescape, Darth Roncho, Darth Viggo, etc.)…
Word has it that producer Joel Silver has hired on a writer for the Westworld remake as well as begun conversations with creator Michael Crichton regarding the possible film to come.
According to Variety, Silver has tapped scribe Richard D'Ovidio (Exit Wounds) to write the script for the remake. In addition, the trade reports that Silver has been calling on Michael Crichton, who wrote and directed the original 1973 film, for the writer's input into how to approach the concept now.
The original film told the story of a fantastic futuristic amusement park for adults that allows the tourist to actively participate in a number of simulated scenarios, one of which is the old west, a.k.a. Westworld. The simulations are primarily created with the use of robots in roles, such as Yul Brenner playing a gunslinger in the original film. Unfortunately, a glitch in the system causes the whole park to become deadly, with the robots breaking their primary programming and killing the guests. Sources close to the production tell the trade that Silver is hoping to take a modern twist on the story that would also make use of digital technology to make the robots more than just creations of the make-up men.
Well, it's going to happen. Word has it that an actor affiliated with Spielberg (Not Ford), will have a high profile cameo in the film. Richard Dreyfuss?
Author Walter Jon Williams is sounding pretty positive about the upcoming Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda TV series. While talking to SCIFI.COM, Williams, who wrote a script for the program, revealed, "If the production and acting equal the quality of the writing, I'd say it's going to make a big splash."
Williams' script is currently titled "All Great Neptune's Oceans." The writer describes the story as a murder mystery wherein "one of the series regulars did it. (Really!) But I can't tell you which one."
The writer also revealed how he got involved in Andromeda, saying, "Robert Hewitt Wolfe had read some of my fiction, and liked it enough to contact my agent and ask if I'd like to contribute a few ideas to the show. He was unaware that I'd had some screenwriting experience, and was receptive to my idea of writing the teleplay as well as pitching ideas."
Joe Berlinger is talking about his upcoming Book of Shadows Blair Witch 2. While talking to USA Today, Berlinger described his sequel to last year's super surprise summer hit as more "disturbing psychological thriller" than an actual horror film. He adds, "This is an anti-sequel. No characters from the first movie appear in the sequel. It acknowledges that the first movie was just a movie. And by the end, it forces the viewer to ask the question: Is this myth real, or is it just a myth?"
Director Guillermo Del Toro admits he was nervous about taking on Blade 2. While talking to the El Pais Spanish newspaper (via SFX Online), the filmmaker who made Cronos revealed, "I´m scared about doing another vampire film. I´m doing lots of changes in the script."
Del Toro adds, "In terms of story, Blade 2 will be 60% similar to the first part but we are changing the visual aspects…We are going down to dark catacombs, we are entering my territory to explore vampire´s biology. We are still working on a final version of the script."
Del Toro is currently at work on The Devil's Backbone.
Doug Chiang is providing even more insight into the design process for the second film.
In the latest Star Wars Homing Beacon e-newsletter, Chiang reveals when he and his staff started working on the second film, saying, "The first day I worked on Episode II was about a week and a half before the release of Episode I. Right when we finished Episode I, I thought we were all done and we were all going to take a break. But George [Lucas] came in during one of our last meetings and said, 'Okay, let's start Episode II now. Here's some information. I want you to just start going with it.' It was really interesting because I hadn't realized he wanted to keep the ball going at that point."
Though much of the Phantom Menace Art Department had already gone onto other jobs, Chiang brought back Ian McCaig. Chiang says, "We just jumped right into it. There were some specific costumes that we needed, so Iain started to work on them. George already had in mind new planets, environments, vehicles and characters to develop, so my plate was full as well."
The newsletter reports that by September 1999, the Art Department had grown back to a staff of 15, and that's when they started having regular Friday meetings with Lucas. Chiang says, "That continued all the way through until around January of this year. At that point the focus slowly shifted because George was finalizing the script, and we needed to start focusing our designs toward the sets that Gavin [Bocquet] needed to build."
He continues, "In June we started to shift back to some of the other design needs for all the miniature and digital sets that were coming up. We had already defined the 'global' look, and with the practical sets well under way, our next task was to integrate the two and create a coherent universe. This design integration occasionally changed, however, during principal photography as George updated certain sets and designs. In many cases, we needed to redesign the 'global' look to incorporate these modifications."
As the Art Department continues their work, the next focus shift will be "miniature and digital designs required by Industrial Light & Magic."
Jeff Bridges is in talks to join Kevin Spacey in Universal's K-PAX. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Bridges is in talks to take on the role of a psychiatrist attending to a mysterious new mental patient (played by Spacey). The patient claims that he comes from another planet called K-PAX. Even as the psychiatrist attempts to help the man, the patient's ability to help other patients serves only to create doubts in the doctor's mind, who begins to believe that this outer space thing may be the real deal.
Glen Morgan and James Wong have signed a deal with Columbia Pictures to write and produce a science fiction film project called After the Visitation. According to Variety, the film will be based on a Russian novella called Roadside Picnic which tells the story of a 20 square mile patch of land protected and controlled by the U.N. where an alien visitation took place 20 years before. A man who lives nearby learns that is daughter's health has been affected by the landing and attempts to journey into the closed are in hopes of finding an answer that will help his daughter.
Wong will direct the film with Morgan, Neal Moritz and Tom Sternberg producing. Columbia is hoping to start production in fall 2001.
How much is ILM going to make for their effects work on The Mummy Returns? According to EW Online, the production will pay $20M for the company's effects. While talking to the site, director Stephen Sommers revealed that for the sequel to work, "the special effects have to be bigger, better, and different. The pygmy skeletons will be worth the price of admission."
Ridley Scott is in talks to helm Black Hawk Down for Jerry Bruckheimer Films. According to a number of sources, the film will be based on Mark Bowden's book Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War, which gives a detailed account of the true-life story of the 1993 Special Forces military operation into Mogadishu that went wrong and left 18 American soldiers dead.
Bowden also wrote the first draft of the film's script followed by Ken Nolan on further drafts. Bruckheimer is hoping to get the production up and rolling before the threatened actors strike next summer.
Word has it that principal photography on the Hannibal feature film has wrapped. While talking to Popcorn, producer Martha Di Laurentiis told the site , "We finished shooting last Friday."
Meanwhile, Dino di Laurentiis has nothing but kudos for Julianne Moore's work on the coming film, calling her "sensational." Dino gives his opinion on the actress taking over the Clarice Starling role saying that Moore is "more physically right for the character in the book ten years later."
He adds that the film will be "full of emotion, intriguing, unusual and original," with his daughter chiming in to say, "There's mystery, it's gruesome, it's incredible, it's chilling - just Anthony with the voice - you'll see."
David Duchovny may well appear in eleven episodes in the coming new season of The X-Files, but one should not expect him to be a major presence in all those he will be in. While talking to TV Guide, Chris Carter revealed that of the previously reported eleven episodes, only half of them will actually feature Fox Mulder as a major part of the episode. Carter adds, "The theme of the season is for Mulder...I hope to turn [his absence] into a virtue."
Castle Rock Entertainment has bought the screen rights to Stephen King's upcoming novel The Dreamcatcher. According to Variety columnist Michael Fleming, scribe William Goldman (Misery, Hearts of Atlantis) will write the film's script. The coming book will tell the story of a group of boys who perform a heroic act. For their bravery, they are given a strange gift as a reward. Years later, as adults, the group comes back together to use the gift to stop a mysterious mystical enemy.
The book will hit stores and libraries in summer 2001.
While talking to Business Week, Marvel spokesman David Collins revealed the company's approach to bringing their characters to the big screen in comparison with the past, saying, "Today, we're going for meaningful profit participation in movies. In the past, this company would sign away rights to characters for cash and give up any long-term licensing revenues. We'd get $1 million or $2 million, and then we'd get to make toys."
Now, Marvel has a personal stake in virtually every property featuring one of their characters in development as a film, including the Spider-Man, Hulk, Daredevil and Ghost Rider projects. An unnamed "Marvel official" is quoted as saying, "If you want to do a major movie with our characters, there are other things we will now want besides up-front license fees. We'll be doing joint ventures with studios, and we'll be participating in the profits from dollar one."
Director John Carpenter has been talking about his currently in production Ghosts of Mars project, addressing rumors as well as revealing more. While talking to John Thonen at Fandom.com, Carpenter spoke extensively about the film to come. First, though, it's "ghosts" not just a single "ghost", or as the director says, "Many, many ghosts. They're pretty much all over the place."
Regarding early casting rumors about the film, Carpenter addressed word that at one time Whoopi Goldberg was going to be in the film, saying, "Whoopi was approached, and she was interested. But it just didn't come together." He also declined to say what part she was up for, adding, "I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings by letting them know they were the second choice for the part."
Ghosts of Mars tells the story of a cop named Melanie Ballard (played by Natasha Henstridge) who comes to Mars in hopes of capturing a possible mass murderer, Desolation Williams (Ice Cube). She and her crew, which includes Jason Statham (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Joanna Cassidy (Blade Runner, Who Framed Roger Rabbit) and Pam Grier, soon learn that the deaths are the work of the long dead but still murderously active spirits of the red planet's original occupants. Carpenter adds that the film "takes place in this little outpost, a frontier type town on Mars that's near a mine. There's no trace on the surface that there was any past civilization on the planet, but the mines have uncovered this… well, basically a trap."
"It's a Land of the Pharaohs [a 1956 film about the building of Egypt's Great Pyramid) kind of situation where these doors open and out comes this almost unkillable evil that sweeps across the planet. That's our dilemma. It takes us over. You're not human anymore. You become an ancient Martian warrior and you gather together and start attacking. Wiping out anything on the planet that you perceive as an invader."
Regarding the long dead Martians, the director says, "They're a barbaric tribal society. Their race developed no high technology. What they developed was of the supernatural, and this trap is their sentinel. Something left behind to make sure their world is never claimed by others."
So, what else can we expect from the coming film? Carpenter touches on a number of points as follows:
Action
"There's a lot of action in this film. A lot of action. There's a siege on a jail, fights on a train, battle sequences. Lots of physical training for everyone. [Stunt coordinator Jeff Imada] has them all out there right now, learning how to kick ass."
Special Effects
"There'll be effects, but the effects have to serve the story. Not the other way around."
How will they be achieved? Carpenter says, "If I told you what we're using you'd be amazed. So I'm not going to tell you. But I was stunned when I saw the test footage. My jaw dropped. I could believe how great it looked and how it had been done."
Soundtrack
When asked if Ice Cube will be contributing to the film's soundtrack, Carpenter answers, "Who knows? At this point, things like that aren't decided. I'll be scoring it, but I certainly wouldn't be negative to [him] contributing. I'm negative to nothing really. I'm a very positive kind of guy."
Sam Neill is shedding some light regarding the top secret story for Jurassic Park 3. While talking to Australia's Morning Herald newspaper (via SCIFI.COM), Neill revealed, "The movie is actually based before The Lost World but after Jurassic Park. What they seem to call a prequel, I believe."
When asked why he jumped on board this JP sequel, Neill answered, "I like movies with soul, which is actually the reason I accepted the role of Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. I declined to star in Jurassic Park 3 [at first] because the script was bad. After they went back to work on it some more, I got a new and improved script, and I signed on. I loved working on the first film, and look forward to doing it all again."
Barry Sonnenfeld is talking about the Men In Black 2 project, which is continuing to move forward. While talking to Entertainment Tonight (via the Comics Continuum), Sonnenfeld is said to have revealed the current status of the project, saying, "Sony actually has pretty much made a deal for myself and Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones to come back and do a sequel."
E.T.: The Extraterrestrial is returning to movie theaters. The original film will hit theater screens in March 2002 coinciding with the film's 20th anniversary, according to a Variety. For those of you who have seen the original about a zillion times, this coming new print will also feature never-before-seen footage (perhaps even that long cut Harrison Ford scene?) as well as computer generated enhancements. In addition, the film's soundtrack will be digitally remixed.
Carrie Anne Moss has been reading the Matrix sequel scripts. While talking to Cindy Pearlman for the Chicago Sun-Times, Moss spoke of reading the news scripts, saying, "I read the first sequel script a month ago and I was blown away…I picked my time. I didn't want to read it flying. I wanted to give the new movies my complete energy. So I waited until I was done with shooting. I curled up in my bed and read it."
Moss also admits that she didn't fully understand the first film's script. As far as the new one goes, though, she says, "This one I got right away. Of course, I have to go back and get all the little things. But I'm in no hurry to read it again. I want to let it simmer for a little while, which is my process. I know how to save it a little bit. To let it happen."
Lucasfilm has chosen to quickly quell all that talk about Kenny Baker not being in the man in the R2D2 suit in Star Wars: Episode Two. On the official Star Wars website, it is noted that Baker and Anthony Daniels will be the only actors who will have been in the original saga as well as both prequels.
George Lucas is quoted on the matter, saying, "The character of R2-D2 continues to play an important role and requires much more movement in Episode II. The robotics technology inside the Artoo models have advanced to the point where they can achieve most of the performance I need right along side the other actors. Still, there's an element of humanity to Artoo that comes from having Kenny Baker inside. We've always had Kenny scheduled for a number of shots during the final week of shooting at Elstree Studios."
The makers of the upcoming St. Francisville Experiment claims that the film is a true story that takes four young people for a night in the haunted St. Francisville plantation once owned by murderer/sadist Delphine LaLaurie. While talking to Fandom.com, one of the participants...billed as a history student though she's an actress as well... Ryan Larsen, spoke of what the group actually encountered in the house. She says, "We heard a lot of weird noises. Madison [Charap, an alleged psychic] told us of one specific, creepy noise. She said someone whispered in her ear, yet none of us were by her ear. She could even describe the voice. Then we started hearing all these other weird noises throughout the house; it was icky."
Regarding the "Experiment" aspect, Larsen says, "Well, although we went into this house to conduct this experiment, it was more of an emotional experiment in my opinion. They told us things like, 'If you take this meter, and the temperature is this amount, and in the corner over here it is colder, this may mean signs of paranormal activity in that corner.' But it was really also an emotional and psychological experiment, to see how we would react and deal with the situations when there paranormal activity occurred. So in theory, it was not to show that paranormal activity did or did not exist, because they believe that it does exist-but does it exist in this home, and who were the entities that we were encountering? We think we proved that they do exist in the house. We caught a chair moving on camera, sort of flying across the room, and felt we made contact during a séance with a ghost in the house. The conclusion is that there are entities that exist in the house. It`s not a question that they are living there in the sense of being there as a body, but I think they are in a place and never got to the next level. In other words, somehow they are trapped, so one of our goals was to also try to release them.
As far as how successful the group was, she adds, "What I need to point out about the film is that I wasn`t acting or trying to show any persona. They`ve got all these hours of footage and they really can edit you however they want. I`ve seen the film, and I personally look like I`m scared to death, throughout the entire night. However, there were instances where you can see my personality come through, but that wasn`t necessarily done to put into the film. I mean, this house is massive, an old plantation home from the 1800s, with four floors and a huge staircase in the middle and tons of rooms that we would investigate and go into together as a group, where we did all those readings and calculations. So, for instance, there were sheets over all of the furniture, and being the silly crazy person that I am, I put the sheets over my head and went around going 'Ooooooooo' through the house. But things like that didn`t make it into the film. So basically, I`m edited to be the scaredy cat."
Anthony Hopkins will be providing the narration for the upcoming How the Grinch Stole Christmas, according to a number of sources. Providing what Boris Karloff did in the original animated TV special, Hopkins dialogue will be a combination of material from the book as well as original narration.
Jon Favreau (Swingers) is talking about the X-Men movie, and suggests that he was the person who was going to play the Beast in that film prior to the character getting cut out of the script.
While talking to Eon Magazine, Favreau spoke of the Beast, saying, "I read on the internet and a lot of people ask me about if I was going to be the Beast [in X-Men], which is cool because I love X-Men and I was actually the one. When [Famke Janssen] was reading the script in her trailer while we were doing [Love and Sex] I said you gotta go on this movie. In high school, I was a full on comic book geek and I was, like, you gotta do this. It was funny 'cause when I found out she was doing X-Men I asked if they have a Beast. She said there's no Beast in this one. I think that would be fun to do because he is a funny guy from what I remember. He's a smart guy. Plus, also, physically it could be good for me. But who knows what the Hell they are going to do for that. I've read about it enough and she's said it in a lot of interviews that I [was considered]. I'm sure a conversation about it will be had at some point. But nobody's talked to me about it at all. There's no truth to any of those rumors."
|
American Red Cross volunteers have been deployed to the hardest hit areas of Katrina’s destruction, supplying hundreds of
thousands victims left homeless with critical necessities. By making a financial gift to Hurricane 2005 Relief, the Red
Cross can provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need.
