Hello.
It's time for another look at some of the more
interesting tidbits from the past seven days.
With the writer's strike still going on I keep
expecting there to be a week when pretty much
nothing happens, but things are still being steadily
put into production. Luckily, I don't mind.
Read on.
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The Rundown -
In what is
easily the biggest news of the year for Tolkien fans
like myself, Guillermo Del Toro is in talks to direct
back-to-back Hobbit films. The current plan is to
shoot them both in 2009, and then release one in 2010
and the other in 2011.
Vin Diesel recently commented that he and Paul Walker
have signed up for another entry into the Fast And
Furious franchise.
It would appear that Johnny Depp will not be taking over
for Heath Ledger in The Imaginarium
Of Dr. Parnassus. Apparently, Terry Gilliam is
now kicking around the idea of using CGI to digitally
place Ledger's face on another actor.
Matt Reeves is currently trying to get a sequel to
Cloverfield greenlit. Supposedly, it would
happen before he directs The Invisible Woman,
which he also wrote.
Mark Romanek has left Wolf Man due to what is
being called creative differences between him and
Universal. The current rumored list of
replacements includes Brett Ratner, John Landis, Frank
Darabont, James Mangold, Joe Johnston, Martin Campbell
and Bill Condon.
Josh Hartnett is all set to star in Bunraku,
which is about a guy who arrives in a town looking for
revenge and finds a whole lot more. The producers also
say it will be set in a stylized world like Sin City.
New Line is trying to get a deal hammered out for
Platinum Dunes to remake Nightmare On Elm Street.
The group has already remade The Hitcher and Texas
Chainsaw Massacre, and they are currently working on
Friday The 13th.
Kevin McDonald (Last King Of Scotland) has signed on to
direct a film about Bobby Fisher titled Bobby Fisher
Goes To War. The plot will revolve around
Fisher's 1972 chess match against Boris Spassky.
Rumors are swirling that Disney is prepared to shoot two
more National Treasure sequels.
Richard Linklater has added Claire Danes, Eddie Marsan,
Leo Bill and Imogen Poots to his coming of age story,
Me And Orson Welles.
Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre)
has a new film titled Gentelmen Broncos that will
star Sam Rockwell and Jermaine Clement. The plot
follows a kid who attends a camp for writers and then
gets his story stolen by a famous author.
Peter Segal will reportedly follow up Get Smart
with an adaptation of Shazam!, which is about a
13-year old kid who becomes a super hero.
BTW, if it is
playing anywhere even close to you I beg you to please go
see the Academy Award nominated Persepolis. The
story follows a girl named Marjane and her time growing up
in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, the period in which
she was at school in Austria, and then her return home.
I caught a showing of it this past Friday, and I thought it
was one of the most clever, well made animated features I've
ever seen. Go Now!
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John Laird -
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