Saturday, March 05, 2011

Around The Edges

Lots of industry news and rumor happened this week that I just didn't have time to get to through normal posting...

-DreamWorks Pictures has entered the fray of the WikiLeaks race by acquiring two books about the controversial website and its founder Julian Assange reports Deadline.

-Talking with Deadline at the Weinstein Company Oscar after party, Quentin Tarantino confirmed that this new Western project--he talked about last month to  Movie Player (via The Playlist) is moving along nicely with a draft already complete. At present he's aiming to deliver the script within two months and get the film in front of cameras later this year. Unlike his "Inglourious Basterds" and "Kill Bill" screenplays, this one "came together much quicker and just flowed out of him". According to /Film, Tarantino previously hinted that the film's setting wouldn't be the American West but rather the American South which would allow the inclusion of slavery as a topic.

-Liam Neeson says there aren't any plans for a sequel to "The A-Team" right now. Neeson told Digital Spy that "There's nothing planned at the minute, but the studios certainly aren't saying no. I personally would love to get on the horse again with Bradley and Sharlto and Rampage - we all would. But it's a question of dollars and cents."

-Stellan Skarsgard says that he'll be reprising his "Thor" character Dr. Selvig, a scientist in New Mexico, in "The Avengers"



-Rachel Nichols says via  Twitter that Snake Eyes (Ray Park), Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) and Duke (Channing Tatum) are apparently the only returning characters in the upcoming "G.I. Joe" sequel...Say what now...?

-Julianne Hough is in final negotiations to star alongside Tom Cruise in the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical "Rock of Ages" says THR


-A trusted source for Batman-On-Film says DKR we'll finally get to see some flying with the Batwing jet. Said jet has been a part of the comics, all the previous films and the animated series. Also, in the wake of the Tumbler’s destruction, they’re going to redesign the Batmobile. This new version is expected to be either "a variation on the Tumbler or something even studier, a full-on Bat-tank". Meantime Bad Ass Digest has interesting rumors about Anne Hathaway and her role as Catwoman in TDKR

-TheOneRing received word today that New Line has registered two film titles that are likely the titles for the upcoming "The Hobbit" prequels.The first film will be called "The Hobbit: There and Back Again", the sequel is to be called "The Hobbit: An/The Unexpected Journey."Back-to-back filming on both films kicks off in three weeks ahead of scheduled releases in December 2012 and December 2013.

-Barry Levinson will direct the indie drama "O.K.C." about the real circumstances behind the bombing in Oklahoma City says Deadline. Clay Wold is writing the script based on a true story about his own brother, a young legal clerk on the defense team of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.


-Roger S.H. Schulman ("Shrek," "Jungle Book 2") has been hired to pen a script for a film adaptation of the Magic Kingdom theme park ride "Jungle Cruise" for Disney Pictures reports Deadline.The aim is to re-team "Toy Story" duo Tom Hanks and Tim Allen in this live action family film inspired by said ride.

-Actress Salma Hayek's Ventanarosa Productions will team with Clark Peterson and Ron Senkowski to produce an animated feature based on the Kahlil Gibran book "The Prophet" reports Deadline.The story follows a prophet, Al-Mustafa, who awaits passage home on a ship after being away 12 years. He shares his theories on the important things in life.Different directors are expected to helm each chapter, with each having an interconnecting theme and a musical through-line. The likes of Sylvain Chomet, John Stevenson, Marjane Satrapi, Tomm Moore and several other acclaimed short film makers are all expected to sign on  With over 100 million copies sold since its original publication in 1923, Gibran is the third-most-read poet in history after Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu.

-Danish helmer Susanne Bier ("After the Wedding") is set to shoot "All You Need Is Love," set along Italy's Amalfi coast, as her next picture reports Variety.

-Tobe Hooper is set to direct the Arabian horror movie "Djinn" says The Hollywood Reporter. David Tully penned the haunted house thriller about a young Emirati couple who return home from the U.S. and discover that their new apartment in a luxury high-rise built on the site of an abandoned fishing village is also home to malevolent beings known as Djinn. Nayla Al Khaja will work as a cultural consultant and will train with him as she prepares to helm her first feature length horror film. Shooting is scheduled to begin in the United Arab Emirates in March.


-Johnny Knoxville is being lined up for two projects at Paramount Pictures reports Deadline. First it's s the comedy pitch "First Man" which Matt Spicer & Max Winkler ("Ceremony") will write. Knoxville, who will also produce, will play a man whose wife is elected president. A natural hellraiser who has totally behaved himself during his wife's presidential campaign, he finds the dynamic of their relationship changes now that they're in the White House. Soon, he is prompted to return to rowdy form. And then comes the comedy script "Mustache Riders" The story follows three small-time crooks who set off on an adventure to find a buried treasure with a grizzled old outlaw. Knoxville, his Jackass co-stars Bam Margera and Ryan Dunn, and singer Willie Nelson are all attached to star. Knoxville, Bam, and Dunn are expected to do all their own stunts

-Filmmaker Tim Burton and actor Josh Brolin are teaming for a new film adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic 1831 novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" reports Reuters. Brolin also told MTV News that the script for Men In Black 3 is "fantastic. We’re very, very happy. I wish I could read you this email that Barry sent me. He’s very happy, which makes me happy." If that's true then why has David Koepp ("Spider-Man," "Angels and Demons") been brought in for several weeks of script rewrites? The production is currently on hiatus before it's scheduled to kick off again March 28th reports Deadline

-Annapurna Pictures is in negotiations to acquire an untitled satire that will serve as the third teaming of "Adaptation" and "Being John Malkovich" scribe Charlie Kaufman and director Spike Jonze reports Deadline. The dark comedy has world leaders gather every year to figure out all the major events that will take place from determining oil prices to wars that will be waged. Megan Ellison will produce

-Screen Gems has purchased feature film rights to Capcom's hit video game series "Devil May Cry" reports Variety.The game series storyline revolves around the character of Dante, who avenges his mother's murder by killing off demons. Kyle Ward  will pen the script. The first game in the series was originally being developed as a third entry in the "Resident Evil" series, but when designs veered too far away from that style, Capcom launched the title as an original property. Speaking of Resident Evil Sony Pictures is planning a fifth entry in the film series currently being targeted for a September 14th 2012 release. Despite all of them getting a critical slaughter, the franchise has only modest expenses (budgets of $35-60 million) and it has done increasing business with each entry.

-Pierce Brosnan has signed on for the lead role in Susanne Bier's first post-Oscar project "All You Need Is Love" reports The Los Angeles Times.The story centers on a Danish family and is described as a romance with a more buoyant feel than her last film "In a Better World". Brosnan says the film is a "delightful love story" that mixes the serious and humorous. "It's a comedy -- a love story which has punch and deals with loss and a great love." Shooting kicks off along the Amalfi coast in Italy this spring.

-Aussie filmmaker George Miller tells The Daily Telegraph that the next "Mad Max" has targeted a January 2012 date to kick off filming. Miller says "We've built the vehicles. We've designed the movie. The principal cast is locked in. The film is funded. It's all ready to go. We just wait." Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron are set to star in the film which will kick off pre-production later this year

-Will Smith is attached to "Joe", a modern version of the Biblical story of Job."The Fighter" scribes Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson have sold the screenplay to Sony Pictures and Smith's Overbrook Entertainment says Movie B.S

-"The Fighter" 2 and the continuing story of boxer Mickey Ward. may be on the way...Talking with actor/producer Mark Wahlberg on the red carpet at the Oscars this past weekend, he told Extra -"Now we’re gonna talk about doing No. 2. We’re gonna do the Ward /Gatti trilogy and make it real." He's referring to the three fights between Mickey Ward and Arturo Gatti that took place and are considered major moments in the sport. Taking place over 2002 & 2003, with Gatti breaking his hand during the third fight. Gatti ultimately died in 2009 under circumstances that could be either a suicide or a homicide. If it happens Will director David O. Russell and now Oscar-winning actors Christian Bale and Melissa Leo be involved? Russell's  working on adapting Uncharted and is considering the long  gestating  pic "Cocaine Cowboys" as well

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