For Hi Def head over to Yahoo!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Samuel L Jackson and Maggie Cheung Join Inglourious Basterds
The Playlist has got word that Samuel L Jackson and Maggie Cheung have joined the cast in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. Jackson will provide his voice for the narration which is sporadicly used throughout the film.
Maggie Cheung has been cast as Madame Mimieux, the French matron of the Cinematheque that takes in the protagonist Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent) when she is homeless and being sought by the Nazis.
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright Penning Spider-man 4
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire (upcoming Inkheart), who won a Pulitzer in 2007 for his drama "Rabbit Hole," is in final negotiations to write "Spider-Man 4" for Columbia, THR reports. It does not say if James Vanderbilt draft of "Spider-Man 4" is still been used or if it is scrapped?Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire are back as director and star, respectively, as are series producers Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad. Kirsten Dunst also is expected to return for the latest movie featuring the Marvel Comics character.
Brandon Routh Thoughts On A Dark Superman
IESB.net caught up with Superman Returns star Brandon Routh for a chat about "Dylan Dog" comic book adaptation Dead of Night and possibly making the next "Superman" film darker, here what Superman had to say:
IESB: A lot of people don't think Superman can be that dark, or that you could make such a dark Superman film.
BR: I don't know, I don't think the character necessarily has to be darker, I think he is kind of dark in a sense, emotional dark, in Superman Returns, and the movie as a whole was slightly dark, they could have had more prowess in it I suppose, and I think that's one thing that can be done in the sequel, so I don't know how much darker you want to make it necessarily. You make the stakes higher, you make the villain darker, I think that's a way to do it. But I don't think Superman himself needs to be darker. He definitely has to struggle, how does Superman be a part of the world? And does he have to make sacrifices to be a part of that world? To fit in and what purpose does he really play in the world? Those are all kind of dark places to explore. But, I don't think Superman should ever be dark and brooding, that's not is nature. And that's now what people what to see. Like Brainiac or something like that, a situation when the villain is...
IESB: Would that be a good, if you had a choice is that the villain you'd like to see in the next Superman?
BR: I think it would certainly be interesting, I think there are a lot of things you could do with Brainiac. He's been given a lot of power and a lot of different abilities over the years in the comics, as far as I understand. I know that DC is working on a Brainiac storyline that they are excited about and I think combining the two and have that flow between the comics and the movie would be a nice thing. I honestly think there are a lot of interesting things you can do with Brainiac. Controlling people, controlling technology, a lot of cool things.
IESB: Talking about one Kevin, Kevin Smith, let's talk about another Kevin, Kevin Munroe. I love him, we've been talking about Dylan Dog for a while, what's going on?
BR: Well, I think we are actually going to make it now (laughing). I've never said that before, but I will now, all the paperwork is being finalized finally and we are looking really strong for a January, mid-January start I believe, in New Orleans. And, Kevin and I are looking at the script again and he's got his draft and I am excited about it.
IESB: Good, so is it still called Dead of Night or is it Dylan Dog?
BR: Dead of Night is the title, as far as I know, there hasn't been a change in that.
Until they decide to change it next week or something (laughs).
J. Michael Straczynski To Pen The Forbidden Planet Remake
THR has the news that J. Michael Straczynski, the writer of the Clint Eastwood-directed "Changeling," is penning a long-in-the-works update of sci-fi classic "Forbidden Planet" for Warner Bros. Joel Silver is producing via Silver Pictures.
Warners picked up the project on the down-low earlier this year. As late as last year, it was set up at DreamWorks with David Twohy attached to direct. Prior to that, New Line had it. James Cameron, Nelson Gidding and Stirling Silliphant have been associated with the remake over the years.
Forbidden Planet Original Trailer
Angels & Demons Teaser Trailer
You can watch the teaser at the official website and at MSN, where you can sign up for the new "Path of Illumination Contest." Also head to AltarsofScience.com.
Halloween Check This...'Awoken'
'Awoken'
Do They Know It's Halloween?
Check This... is a weekly feature showcasing what we at Flicks News consider essential short films to watch!
To view past shorts we showcased click here.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Rhys Ifans To Play Howard Marks
Rhys Ifans, Chloe Sevigny and David Thewlis are in final negotiations to star in a film adaption of Howard Marks brilliant autobiography Mr. Nice.
Bernard Rose (Candyman, Ivansxtc) will write and direct.
Howard Marks is Britain's most notorious drug smuggler, a man who managed to send tonnes of marijuana around the world while maintaining a strict anti-gun, anti-violence ethos.
He spent seven years at Terre Haute jail in Indiana after eventually being brought down by the US Drug Enforcement Administration. During his 20-year career as a drug dealer, the Oxford graduate cultivated ties with members of the IRA and was apparently recruited as a spy by the British secret services.
Millar Talks Superman Movie Or Is It Red Son?
Empire has posted an article in which writer Mark Millar gives further details on his pitch for a 8 hour, 3 film, Superman epic which sounds very similiar to his Superman graphic novel Red Son, only with the film pitch removing the communist raised Superman in favour of the actual Superman."It's gonna be like Michael Corleone in the Godfather films, the entire story from beginning to end, you see where he starts, how he becomes who he becomes, and where that takes him. The Dark Knight showed you can take a comic book property and make a serious film, and I think the studios are ready to listen to bigger ideas now."
"The problem with Superman Returns was like releasing Star Wars in '77, The Empire Strikes Back in '80 and then waiting 28 years to release Return of the Jedi, it wasn't relevant. I understand what Bryan Singer was trying to do, to pay homage to Richard Donner's original vision, but I think you should pay homage by doing something completely different."
"I want to start on Krypton, a thousand years ago, and end with Superman alone on Planet Earth, the last being left on the planet, as the yellow sun turns red and starts to supernova, and he loses his powers."
Sam Mendes To Direct Preacher
THR is reporting that Columbia Pictures has picked up the rights to "Preacher," for an adaptation to be directed by Sam Mendes.
Created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, "Preacher," which ran from 1995-2000, told the story of a down-and-out Texas preacher possessed by Genesis, a supernatural entity conceived by the unnatural coupling of an angel and a demon.
Given immense powers, the preacher teamed with an old girlfriend and a hard-drinking Irish vampire and set out on a journey across America to find God -- who apparently had abandoned his duties in heaven -- and hold him accountable for his negligence.
"Preacher" has of yet no writers on board, though Mendes will lead the search while putting the finishing touches on his drama "Revolutionary Road.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
David Tennant quits 'Doctor Who'
Sad news, David Tennant has announced his decision to quit Doctor Who at the end of 2009.The actor confirmed the news while collecting the award for 'Outstanding Drama Performance' at the National Television Awards.
"In January I go back to make four new specials which take Doctor Who through to the end of 2009," he said. "But when Doctor Who returns in 2010, it won't be with me. The 2009 shows will be my last playing the Doctor."
Tennant added: "If I don't take a deep breath now and move on, I never will. I think it's best I don't outstay my welcome."
David Tennant Acceptance Speech NTAs 2008
Tennant also spoke to BBC about his decision to leave:
Why have you decided to say goodbye to Doctor Who?
When I first started back in 2005, I always thought that if it worked out, three years would be about the right time.
Three years, three series. Which I did and I loved and I had a great time. And with Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner [executive producers] leaving, that became a very natural stepping off point for me.
What became very difficult was when it was announced that Steven Moffatt was taking over because I'm such a fan of his, he's such a great writer, he's written such amazing stories for me in Doctor Who already.
The prospect of hanging around for a while and enjoying working with him was sorely tempting and very nearly changed my mind.
But I think it's better to go when there's a chance that people might miss you, rather than to hang around and outstay your welcome.
Do you think you'll ever do anything as special as Doctor Who again?
It's difficult to know… I think the cross-generational, cross-cultural appeal of Doctor Who is pretty unique. I can't think of anything else that has fans who are seven and 70 in almost equal measure.
It's difficult to think of what else one might do that could rival that. I hope I'll do things that will be as exciting and as thrilling artistically and professionally, obviously, but I think Doctor Who is pretty unique.
Christian Bale In A Strange Rumor?
Rather strange casting choice but it seems Batman himself Christian Bale is Marvels first choice to take on the role of Dr. Strange in the movie adaptation. Livenews.com has the news from a source that says:“Christian is hot property right now, courtesy of Batman.Not too sure what to make of this one but he is John Conner and Batman so could he squeeze one more franchise into the mix and for Marvel too? Who know's but with a supposed script by Neil Gaiman and Guillermo del Toro at the helm maybe its not too hard to imagine it happen.
“Doctor Strange is a very different kind of hero to Batman and it’s felt Christian is the sort of actor who can make the part work on screen.
“It is understood a deal could be struck in the coming weeks.”
Aaron Eckhart Could Be Jack Ryan
After his superb performance in The Dark Knight as Havery 'Two Face' Dent, Aaron Eckhart is rumored to be Paramount's first choice to play Jack Ryan in the reboot of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan franchise.Moviehole.net is reporting that he hasn’t been offered the role – it’s merely a thought at this stage, but he’s a name that keeps popping up in relation to the part of Ryan, so someone over there obviously likes him.
Iron Man News Blow Out
First Variety has finally got the news that Robert Downey Jr. has signed on to do Iron Man 2, 3 and is set to star in the Avengers Movie, also Marvel confirmed that Don Cheadle will replace Terrence Howard as Col. James Rhodes in the "Iron Man" sequels. Cheadle will also appear in "The Avengers."
While over at AICN they got to sit down and have a good old chin wag with Jon Favreau about Iron Man 2 among others things, here's some interesting stuff from part one of the interview:
Quint: You were talking about IMAX earlier and I guess we should probably talk a little about that since the word buzzing around the internet is that you’re looking at doing something similar to what Christopher Nolan did for THE DARK KNIGHT on IRON MAN 2…
Jon Favreau: Yeah, I loved watching DARK KNIGHT in the IMAX format. It’s the first time I saw a movie in that format that wasn’t made just for IMAX. And a lot of it I think was very, I think it was very effective. The difficulty with our film is that our main character is CG a lot of the time. And when you start shooting in IMAX format… it’s a bit unwieldy on the set first of all and second of all, I’m not convinced yet that CGI is going to look…I’m more of a believer now after the experience on IRON MAN, but it was very painstaking to integrate him effectively and not have it be distracting.
And I think that IMAX, I’m warned, costs a lot more, it’s a lot harder to render because of the resolution and I’m not sure at that resolution CGI is convincing yet. So, there are a lot of drawbacks, but in meeting with them the blowups to IMAX format are as effective in many ways, so we’ll see where we land on it, but I doubt that we’re actually going to have IMAX cameras on the set. It becomes very difficult for processing and all of that.
I think it works well for DARK KNIGHT because a lot of that was just practical shots and helicopter shots or shots where there’s CGI in the background, set extensions things like that. But you didn’t have a CGI Batman running through the frame all the time.
Quint: But you saw AVATAR, or you saw some pieces, so will that be the game-changer you think?
Jon Favreau: Look, I went and saw a digital 3-D projection of BEOWULF when that first came out. And that’s one of those films where in 3-D…I don’t know if I would recommend the film on its own merits, but in the a CG environment I was recommending it to people because the experience was so different it was so dream-like in the way that you perceive it and I think it hits you it hits your brain in a different way. It makes the experience a different experience, it feels more like a dream than a movie, and I thought it was extremely effective in that.
And in watching the way that James Cameron is approaching AVATAR… he’s really pushing the boundaries on motion capture, he’s integrating live action with motion capture and CGI. It takes a painstaking and technical approach to that. And he really wants to make it a very visceral, emotional experience and he’s… he’s a bit of a P.T. Barnum in the sense that he likes to put on a big show.
He’s sort of tireless in how much he invests into it as far as his time and effort. You know, he doesn’t make a lot of movies, so a lot of thought and effort goes into each one. And I think that he’s trying to present this format in a way where it is a game-changer and in seeing it I think it’s the future. I don’t think it’s a flash in the pan. I think it’s going to open up a whole new door and I think more so than the glasses it becomes about how many screens could actually present it in its pristine form.
The amount of screens is just growing at a very, very fast rate in the states and I think in Europe as well and I think AVATAR is going to be the kind of movie that’s an event that you have to go see and you want to see again just to understand what you’re looking at. And then you still have his very effective storytelling. He really creates an adventure and draws you into it in the hero’s journey sense of storytelling, the Joseph Campbell sense of storytelling. I really liked the bits that I saw and I saw all the various stages of finished, but he’s a purist in the way he approaches things, and he’s very meticulous.
And a lot of what he’s using we’re exploring using similar techniques in IRON MAN 2 because it is a game-changer from a production standpoint certainly in the way he’s using motion capture and operating a camera within a volume and the way that the pipeline works now is… the line between animation and live action is blurring in many ways and I think that we could borrow a lot from what people have learned through animation as far as making a movie and not just storyboard, animatic, pre-viz, shoot plates, cut it together with post-viz, deliver it to the vendor and then hope you get the shot there in time for the movie’s release.
And you’re crossing your fingers all the way till the sound mix. The way that Jim’s doing it, it’s a much more organic process where post-production, production, and pre-production all sort of roll into one another and you’re moving back and forth between those media.
Quint: Interesting.
Jon Favreau: You’re moving back and forth as far as what media you’re creating. You really value mentors and people you can learn from when you’re in my line of work. Because everybody’s breaking new ground and there aren’t that many people who are at the top of their field. Fortunately people like Jim are very generous with their time and with wanting to share what they’ve discovered with other filmmakers, so I learned a great deal about motion capture, a great deal about cgi, a great deal about 3-d and digital photography, from spending some time with him. And I also have learned a lot just from watching his movies. So I’m glad he does what he does and I’m glad that he’s been so generous with his time and knowledge.
Quint: (laughs) That’s crazy. Well, where are you right now with IRON MAN 2?
Jon Favreau: Justin (Theroux)’s almost done with the first draft of the script. And we’re boarding and been creating animatics for the action sequences. We’re starting to do some location scouting and designing some sets and figuring out how much of it we want to… you know, what techniques we’re going to use. And the best is to mix and match the best of everything. I’m less of a purist to one style or another. I find that you got to make, you have to use the technique that best tells the story for any given moment and also that makes… that isn’t irresponsible with resources because even with a big movie like IRON MAN 2 you have to pay attention to every dollar you spend.
Quint: Yeah and well you got to make sure it’s up on the screen too. You don’t have the luxury coming off of a popular first movie of under-delivering on the sequel.
Jon Favreau: I think that I could borrow a lot from…I think a lot too many decisions were made at the end of the process, we work on this thing for two years but we don’t really lock in on the performances, at least as far as the CGI goes, till the very, very end of the process and you’re bottle necked with your sound mix, your scoring, youre final editing, and youre color timing. And so I found myself up at Skywalker Ranch making millions of decisions and not always feeling confident that I was having the clarity on any given one.
And what I’m learning, what I’m trying to incorporate is more of a, certainly for the action sequences, create a pipeline that’s more similar to a CGI film like a Pixar film or even like AVATAR. Where you can work on and refine the action stuff before you even begin shooting, and let the action and the performances be serviced by the plates and not back into a performance by the plates that you’ve shot. And so I was very, very lucky to have gotten somebody to collaborate with me on that stuff and teach me a little bit more of the animation approach to action.
I had Genndy Tartakovsky. I’ve always liked SAMURAI JACK and I loved his CLONE WARS vignettes that he did. I’ve always liked his work, a lot. And I had met with him, we had lunch together just because I enjoy his stuff and I wanted to meet him. I really dig his sense of humor and his sense of rhythm, and the way that he acknowledges the same cinematic masters that I really love the work of, like (Akira) Kurosawa and (Sergio) Leone. And he finds a way to pastiche it without ever undermining the stakes or the reality of the tension that’s created in his action sequences.
Now clearly his stuff is a bit broad for a live action film but I love his rhythm and his attention to detail. It has a real comic booky feel but yet it feels cinematic and not gimmicky and even his cartoons feel… there’s an elegance to them.
So in this process as we’re storyboarding and designing sequences he and his team have come in and I’m working with them and they’re working on collaborating with us on the project and that’s a new wrinkle and it allows me… I feel like I’m really learning a lot from collaborating with this guy.
And then he has the original IRON MAN film to draw from and he also has a pretty deep knowledge of Marvel. So, he is transitioning into live-action features, which I have no doubt in collaborating with him that he will. There’s a transition that he’s making that hopefully I could be helpful with and at the same time as I move from dialogue and character and story-driven filmmaking I’m able to understand the way to approach action in an interesting and elegant way. So, it’s been a very, very fun collaboration so far.
Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book Is Comming To The Big Screen
Neil Gaiman has sold the rights to produce a film based on his latest novel, The Graveyard Book. Speaking with MTV, he revealed that Britain’s special effects company Framestore who recently done cgi work in The Dark Knight will be the behind bringing the book to screen.
“They read it, they loved it”To check out The Graveyard Book for yourself go to here, to watch Neil Gaiman read The Graveyard Book chapter by chapter.
“They want to start making films, and start producing their own films,” Gaiman told MTV. “And they read it, and they loved it, and I spoke to them, and they said all the right things, and they seem to listen.
“So I don’t think it’s going to be transported to a graveyard in Los Angeles where they’ve been burying bathing beauties or anything. I think we’re actual going to stick with where the book is written and film that.”
New Images From Drag Me To Hell, Star Trek And The International
Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell:
Check out the MTV interview with Sam the Man where he talks about dressing up as Barney The Dinosaur.
Star Trek Empire Photo's
The International
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
What The Flip Farrelly Brothers To Make A Jonas Brothers Film?
WHAT THE FLIP, this news is horrible the Farrelly Brothers comedy legends who made, Kingpin, Theres Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber are making a film for the Jonas Brothers what kind of sick world do we live in.Variety has the news that Fox has locked the Jonas Brothers to make their feature starring debut in "Walter the Farting Dog." Based on a bestselling series of books by William Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray, the film is being adapted by Alec Sokolow and Joel Cohen into a family film that will revolve around Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas, as well as their younger brother Frankie.
Pic shoots next spring and is a potential directing project for Peter and Bobby Farrelly, who’ll produce with Bradley Thomas through the trio’s Conundrum banner.
Yes there is no God.
Remember The Good Times
Monday, October 27, 2008
Christopher Nolan On Batman 3
The Los Angeles Times has posted the first part of its three-part interview with Christopher Nolan, one of the questions was on the future of Batman, heres what Chris had to say:Well ... let me think how to put this. There are two things to be said. One is the emphasis on story. What’s the story? Is there a story that’s going to keep me emotionally invested for the couple of years that it will take to make another one? That’s the overriding question. On a more superficial level, I have to ask the question: How many good third movies in a franchise can people name? [Laughs.] At the same time, in taking on the second one, we had the challenge of trying to make a great second movie, and there haven't been too many of those either. It’s all about the story really. If the story is there, everything is possible. I hope that was a suitably slippery answer.
Neil Gaiman On Dr. Strange & Death: The High Cost of Living
In a recent interview with premiere.com about the upcoming adaptation of his book 'Coraline', the brilliant Neil Gaiman got to chat about the status of 'Death: The High Cost Of Living' which Gaiman is also set to direct and a possible gig writing Marvels Sorcerer Supreme Dr Strange film script.
Can you talk more about the news about Dr. Strange and Guillermo del Toro?
Well, I don't know that it's really news! The wonderful thing about the Internet is that things get mentioned in interviews or whatever and then they come out and suddenly something is news. I mean, this morning my inbox filled up with people letting me know that it's news that Roger Avary and I are no longer writing Black Hole, and I'm going, "But that was news in December of last year!" [laughs] We pretty much knew that going into the writer's strike, and we definitely knew once David Fincher came onboard after the writer's strike. It's astonishingly old news, it's just hit the thing today.
I would love to write Dr. Strange. It would be absolutely one of my dream jobs [to write] a Dr. Strange movie. Last year I was out in Budapest for three weeks on the set of Hellboy II with Guillermo, and I mentioned to him that I've been, in very very early sort of "I would to do this" talks with Marvel about doing a Dr. Strange movie, and Guillermo's reaction was, "Neil, I want to direct it!" [doing Guillermo del Toro imitation] being wonderfully Guillermo and getting all excited and having all sorts of magical and wonderful ideas about this, and Marvel, I think, were very excited too. But the fact of the matter is, you know, Guillermo has two Hobbit movies now, and then he's probably gonna do another personal movie, I would imagine, after that. Probably Hellboy 3 'cause he'd wanna do it before everybody gets too old to look like the Hellboy characters [laughs]. Although, actually I think he may have thought that one through in different ways. Anyway, the point is we're probably, we may be four years away from Guillermo being free to do it, and I'm not entirely sure I'd want to do it without him. So we'll see.
What's the latest on Death: The High Cost of Living?
Well, I think the latest is that we're all waiting to see what happens to New Line. Death is a very odd thing because, unlike Coraline or Anansi Boys, which I'm doing for Warners, or The Graveyard Book or any of those kinds of things, I don't own and control the rights to Death. I'm attached to it, I've written a script for it, I'm meant to be directing it... but I don't control it, and for reasons having to do with corporate relationships between DC Comics and Warner Brothers, it has to be done by a Warner Brothers company, and then you have to find a Warner Brothers studio within Warner Brothers that will be a good fit for that film, and of course New Line was a really good fit for that film, and it remains to be seen right now what New Line is when the dust is settled and whether there is a New Line or not.
Alice In Wonderland Adds A Few More Names
The good folks over at /film have news that Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland has added two new cast members and a composer. Burton regulars Christopher Lee, is set to star in the film in a role not yet announced and Danny Elfman will be involved with the music.Also Eleanor Tomlinson has been cast in a new role in Burton's Wonderland as Alice’s peer, the spiteful Fiona Chataway, who appears at the beginning of the film before Alice falls down the rabbit hole.
Ninja Scroll To Be Made Into A Live Action Movie
Warner Bros. has acquired rights to turn the anime classic "Ninja Scroll" into a live action feature. Alex Tse has been set to write the script, variety reports.Pic will be produced by Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way, with Jennifer Davisson Killoran and Mike Ireland producing. Appian is mounting the film as a co-production with Mad House.
"Ninja Scroll," set in feudal Japan, revolves around ninja for hire is forced to fight an old enemy who will stop at nothing to overthrow the government.
Be sure to check out the original anime film and series because they are pretty badass, to be honest I would rather news of Ninja Scroll 2 which is still classed as in production with no specific release date.
Original Film trailer (Gotta Love That V/O)
Murphy, Broadbent & Gleeson For 'Perrier’s Bounty'
Cillian Murphy and Brendan Gleeson will reunite together onscreen and star alongside the brilliant Jim Broadbent in the upcoming film ‘Perrier’s Bounty’ helmed by director Ian Fitzgibbon (A Film With Me In It) and penned by Mark O’Rowe (Boy A).Shooting begins on November 10 on location in Dublin, London and Louth. The film is a comedy-thriller about three fugitives on the run from a big-time gangster out for revenge following the accidental death of one of his gang members.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
What Will Happen To The Hulk?
The future of the Hulk has been up in the air for quite some time now, MTV caught up with 'The Incredible Hulk' producer Gale Anne Hurd, who said she has every intention on making a follow-up and that Edward Norton is signed on:
"It's all going to depend on the screenplay and where his character goes in any sequel, because he does have a multiple-picture deal," she said of Norton, who told us recently that he's waiting to hear from Marvel regarding Hulk's future. "[Norton's situation] is the same with every franchise like this, when you have one of the top actors of his generation."But first, will he be in The Avengers? :
"Next, he's likely to appear in an 'Avengers' movie, but that's completely up to Marvel," she explained. "It's wonderful that Marvel now controls so many of their own characters, and they can create a Marvel universe in film and populate it with so many of their characters who naturally exist together. I think an 'Avengers' film is a very exciting prospect."The Incredible Hulk Alternate Opening!
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