Many of
have probably already done so, but you all need to
go catch a showing of Wall-E. I saw it
on Friday and I thought it was easily Pixar's best
film to date, and that's saying a lot.
Seriously, go now.
Here's the smaller than normal weekly update. Read on!
-
The Rundown -
Rumor has
it that Dreamworks has started work on a sequel to
Kung Fu Panda.
For some unknown reason, Mike White has penned a script
for a School Of Rock sequel.
Warner Bros. seems intent on going forward with a
Clash Of The Titans remake. Louis Leterrier (The
Incredible Hulk) has signed on to direct.
Brandon Routh recently let it slip that another Superman
flick is currently being written. It's possible it
will be a reboot that will simply be titled Man Of
Steel.
Supposedly, Marvel would like to have Thor, Captain
America, Hulk, Iron Man and Ant-Man in their inevitable
Avengers movie.
Instead of Barbarella it looks like Robert
Rodriguez and Rose McGowan are going to go forward with
a remake of Red Sonja. The original starred
Bridgette Nelson.
The producers of 300 are currently trying to do
either a sequel or a prequel.
Producer
Frank Marshall has said that a fourth Bourne
movie will be shot next summer.
Nicolas Cage and Pierce Brosnan have signed on to star
in Roman Polanski's The Ghost. The plot
will center around a ghostwriter (Cage) who begins to
uncover some dark things about an ex-Prime Minister (Brosnan).
The G.I. Joe movie will apparently carry the
subtitle of Rise Of Cobra.
"Curve the bullet." I realize that more ludicrous
things have been said in the history of film, but that line,
which has been featured heavily in all of the Wanted
trailers, is by far the silliest one that I've heard in a
long while. In fact, it's so out-there that it had me
convinced that I was going to get one of those classic
summer action flicks that had turned the dial too high and
entered the realm of laugh out loud one-liners and set
pieces.
And? Well, that's exactly what happened. Sort
of.
Wanted clearly takes pride in making you revisit what
over the top really means to you, but instead of causing you
to chuckle and roll your eyes constantly it keeps you
wide-eyed and willing to buy into what it's selling, which
is that if you're going to go big and loud then you should
at least do it with a lot of style and confidence.
Apart from the most slow motion-filled gunfight sequence
since the Matrix, the film starts with an almost too
long introduction to Wesley Gibson (played very well by
James McAvoy). He immediately comes off as a loser,
but before you can assume otherwise the filmmakers will have
convinced you ten times over that his life really does suck.
He suffers from panic attacks. His boss is always
berating him at his terrible job. His girlfriend is
cheating on him with his best friend/co-worker. No
one, not even Google, knows who he is. Again, his life
sucks. He knows it. You know it. Everyone
knows it.
The over-saturation of that plot point though actually works
in the flick's favor when Sloan (Morgan Freeman) and Fox
(Angelina Jolie) show up to let Wesley know that he is from
a long line of assassins who call themselves the Fraternity,
and that it's time for his miserable existence to come to an
end so that he can avenge his father and discover who he is
really meant to be. It's beyond ridiculous (especially
the different ways they play it up), but by that point
you're so sick of Wesley's normal life that you really want
him to become the craziest badass of all-time.
Then they have you.
Fortunately, from there director
Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch, Day Watch)
uses a solid script to his advantage and never allows the
film to let up at any moment, so even after they sink their
crazy claws into your attention you still get a lot of
action, a couple of plot twists and enough story to keep
your eyes glued to the screen.
Go see this when you're ready to have your senses
overwhelmed.
Guess
what? I saw Wanted last week.
I'll soon spill all my thoughts about it in a full
review, but for now just know that I thought it was
pretty good.
Here's what you came for. Read on!
-
The Rundown -
Despite
what you've heard, Christian Bale is not going to be
Robin Hood in Ridley Scott's Nottingham. On
the other hand, there may be some truth to the rumor
that Russell Crowe thinks that Sam Riley (Control)
would be a good fit in the role.
In other Nottingham news, Sienna Miller has been
cast as Maid Marian.
Tarantino has stated that Inglorious Bastards
will be two films. For those that don't know, the
story centers around hardened criminals during World War
II trying to make it to neutral-Switzerland after their
military transport gets ambushed by Nazis.
It would appear that Kevin Smith is having a hard time
getting the MPAA to bump Zack And Miri Make A Porno
down from an NC-17 rating to an R.
Josh Brolin has replaced Gerald Butler as the rumored
actor to be Snake Plissken in the proposed Escape
From New York remake.
A producer of the Spider-Man series recently
stated that she hopes that another entry will hit
theaters in 2011.
Rumor has it that there is already a sequel to Wanted
currently in the planning stages.
Robert
Downing Jr. is currently in negotiations to star in
Cowboys And Aliens, which is about an Old West
battle that gets interrupted by an alien spaceship
crash.
Len Wiseman (Underworld) has signed on to direct
the big screen adaptation of Gears Of War.
The popular video game is about a team of soldiers
trying to defeat an alien species know as the Locus.
Early numbers have shown that the Incredible Hulk
reboot is actually on pace to make the same amount of
cash as Ang Lee's version. So much for calling
that one a failure, right?
J. Michael Straczynski recently stated that he doubts
the Silver Surfer script he wrote will ever be
used.
Danny McBride has said that his follow-up to the Foot
Fist Way will be Mr. Machine, which is about
a bunch of geeks who create a robot that gets a life of
its own.
A sequel to the parkour-featured District B13 is
currently in development.
Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger have signed
on to appear in Incredible Love, which is said to
be about an Indian stuntman who takes Hollywood by
storm. No word yet on what they'll be doing in the
film, but my guess is that it probably won't be a lot.
Spike Lee is set to adapt the story of Ronald Mallett,
who was the first African-American to earn a Ph.D in
theoretical physics. The film will be called
Time Traveler.
This
week sees the return of the film updates. I
didn't necessarily go all the way back into what was
missed over the little break that I took, but if it
was something important I made sure to include it.
Read on.
-
The Rundown -
It makes no
sense at all, but recent reports have indicated that
Marvel is refusing to give Jon Favreau a raise for
Iron Man 2.
As for another Marvel related tidbit, rumor has it that
the higher-ups are very interested in having either
Leonardo DiCaprio or Brad Pitt as Captain America.
Anyone else think that DiCaprio would be unlikely with a
schedule that includes a lot of projects lined up at his
own Appian Way?
In a recent interview for Latino Review Mike Meyers made
it clear that he won't be appearing in another live
action film for another three to five years.
Apparently, that's how long he thinks it will take him
to write and develop another script.
Millennium Films have stated that they intend to do a
new Three Musketeers film.
Jenna Jameson will be portraying herself in How To
Make Love To A Woman. The indie romantic
comedy is said to center around a guy trying to figure
out ways to satisfy his lady before her handsome
childhood friend steals her away. Josh Meyers,
Krysten Ritter and Ian Somerhalder are also set to
appear in the film.
Tony Emmerich's apocalyptic film 2012 has added
Amanda Peet to a cast that already includes John Cusack,
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover and
Oliver Platt.
No one
knows why, but Sony Pictures Animation is all set to
make a Smurfs movie.
Ryan Gosling is currently under negotiations to star in
The Dallas Buyer's Club, which is the true story
about Ron Woodroof and the smuggling business that he
created in order to get alternative drugs to himself and
other people with AIDS.
Judd Apatow's next directorial effort will be called
Funny People, which is said to center around the
world of stand-up comedy and a comedian who has a
near-death experience. As of now, Eric Bana, Jason
Schwartzman and Jonah Hill are set to star.
Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) recently
stated that he and Nick Stoller intend on making the
return of the Muppets to the screen one that's as
traditional as possible.
Harrison Ford will next appear in Crowley.
The drama is said to center around a scientist trying to
find a cure for a genetic disorder that's affecting two
younger siblings.
Cameron Crowe is set to make a new romantic comedy with
Ben Stiller and Reese Witherspoon. No word yet on
the plot or a title.
Rumor has it that Bruce Willis and Nicholas Cage will be
Kane & Lynch in the upcoming adaptation of the
video game with the same name.
Tobey Maguire's Robotech seems as if it might be
gaining some ground towards actually being made;
Lawrence Kasden (Empire Strikes Back, Return
Of The Jedi, Raiders Of The Lost Ark) has
been hired to pen a script.
Just so
you know, I'm now doing a couple of film-related
columns over at the
BOBFM
website every week. One recommends a DVD
release and the other is for theatrical experiences.
It's good times, so check it out if you're unsure
about what to spend your sweet cash on and/or are
really bored at work.
Here's the weekly update. Read on.
-
The Rundown -
Guillermo
Del Toro has vowed to not cast anyone until he and Peter
Jackson receive both scripts for the Hobbit
flicks, but word has it that James McAvoy (Atonement,
Wanted) is at the top of the list for the role of
Bilbo.
As if it hasn't already been delayed more than enough,
the Weinstein's have brought back Kyle Newman to make
another, supposedly final cut of Fanboys.
Things really seem to be going full steam ahead for the
rumored Spider-Man 4 and 5 entries to the series,
as now Patrick Fugit's (Almost Famous) name has
popped up as the studio's preferred choice for Peter
Parker if Tobey Maguire doesn't want to return.
For whatever reasons Paramount is ready to do a
Beverly Hills Cop 4 with Brett Ratner as the
director. Eddie Murphy is set to reprise his role
as Axel Foley.
Speaking of Brett Ratner, word has it that he might be
working on an adaptation of the videogame known as
God Or War.
Amidst all the casting rumors, it has been confirmed
that Shia LaBeouf will be joined again by Megan Fox,
Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Torturo in
Transformers 2. Also, Rainn Wilson will appear
as a professor.
Quentin
Tarantino recently noted that it seems likely that he
will have Inglorious Bastards ready to be shown
at Cannes next year.
Ewan McGregor has joined the cast of the Amelia Earhart
bio-pic. Hilary Swank, Richard Gere and Virginia
Madsen are already set to star.
Citing a nice amount of overseas success, the producers
of the Boleyn Girl are moving ahead with a
sequel. It will be titled the Boleyn
Inheritance and it will deal with the fourth and
fifth marriages of King Henry VIII.
Harrison Ford has stated that he wouldn't mind
revisiting the role of Jack Ryan.
David Gordon Green is set to follow-up Pineapple
Express with Your Highness. The plot
will follow a lazy prince who must go on a quest to save
his father's kingdom.
Robert Rodriguez is ready to start shooting Shorts,
which is about a weird suburb, where everything looks
the same and everyone works for the same company, that's
shaken up when a boy finds a rock that grants wishes.
-
John Laird -
-
Unless
otherwise expressly stated, all text in this blog and any
related pages, including the blog's archives, is licensed by
John Laird under a
Creative Commons License.
