Tag: movie news

Summit Entertainment gets financial boost for Highlander remake

Trisha Lynn3 Comments

When we first announced last year that the Highlander movie series would be receiving a remake/reboot courtesy of Summit Entertainment, Gordon McAlpin’s source told him that the budget would be from $80 to $100 million USD. Now, it looks like part of that financing has been completely secured.

In his article at the Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog, Jay Fernandez wrote that RCR Media Group will be co-financing the project with Rui Costa Reis and Eliad Josephson as executive producers.

If you’ve never heard of RCR Media Group, then you must not watch a lot of of direct-to-DVD movies, of which RCR has produced plenty. Completed films on their slate include sequels or sound-a-likes to S.W.A.T., Stomp the Yard, and Wild Things, featuring veteran actors like Robert Patrick and Jasmine Guy, and pretty unknowns like Jillian Murray.

The script’s first pass was done by Iron Man co-writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, and Twilight screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg has also worked on it as well. With the remake’s director Justin Lin’s Fast Five still in the top three on the weekend box office charts, the additional bump to the budget could mean that the new Highlander could afford to hire some additional top quality talent.

Just as long as Christopher Lambert, Adrian Paul, or Peter Wingfield get cameos, right?

Former wrestler, director’s son get their hands on Manos sequel

Trisha Lynn1 Comment

Back in June, it was reported by MST3Kinfo.com that one Rupert Talbot Munch, Sr. was going to be arriving at this year’s San Diego Comic Con in his usual cosplay attire as Torgo from Manos: The Hands of Fate with a special announcement in tow: Munch is producing a sequel to that infamously bad movie. Featuring original cast members Jackey Raye Neyman Jones (Debbie, the young daughter) and Bernie Rosenblum (the guy in the make-out car), the film has also recently added three more cast members.

According to Stephen J. Pytak of the Pottsville Republican Herald, former WWE wrestler Gene Snitsky, the grand marshal in that town’s Independence Day parade, will have a starring role in the film, which is slated to begin filming in El Paso, Texas in early 2011. This report confirms the news announced by Munch, Sr. via Twitter where he also mentioned that original director Hal Warren’s son Joe would also be joining the cast as well as Benton Jennings, a character actor and the son of a man who played one of the cops in the movie.

I remember the first time I saw Manos; I also recall that one of the favorite things my geeky circle of friends loved to do back in the day was to inflict it upon the unwary. I think that part of its appeal is just how horribly bad it is, but it never actually becomes a So Bad It’s Good movie, no matter what the editors at TV Tropes say. It’s just bad.

Looking at Munch’s video announcement, however? I think I may have to re-think my analysis of what exactly “bad” is.

Keep up with all the sequel news at TorgoLives.com.

LEGO movie builds up steam with announcement of directors

Trisha Lynn
Will these guys be the next to make it big in Hollywood? (Source: Dunechaser)

After two years of blogging about upcoming movies, I thought that I’d seen all of the most ludicrous things you could adapt into a movie actually get the green light and funding to become a movie. Yes, even the upcoming Candyland and Battleship films.

Until this exclusive from Borys Kit over at The Hollywood Reporter‘s Heat Vision blog which announces that there will be a movie based on the LEGO franchise, that is.

According to Kit, Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs) are in final negotiations to direct a blended live-action/animation movie featuring the ubiquitous building bricks for Warner Bros., under the supervision of producers Dan Lin and Roy Lee with Jill Wilfert handling the money and creative contributions on the LEGO side. And there is bound to be lots of creative influence from the LEGO folks, who are shrewdly and wisely protective of their brand, trademark, and copyright.

There is no word yet what the plot will be, but Kit reveals that Lord and Miller will be working on this film the second they’re done with the upcoming remake of 21 Jump Street .

Quick Cuts: Paul Rudd is an Idiot Brother, and other stories

Trisha Lynn
  • Paul Rudd has just signed a deal to be the star of the Jesse Peretz-directed comedy called My Idiot Brother, about a sunshine-spewing optimist who brightens up the lives of his three sisters and overbearing mother. Written by Peretz’ real-life sister Evgenia and her writing partner David Schisgall, the film will start production in New York in July, even if the sisters haven’t been cast yet. (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)
  • Dustin Lance Black (Milk) is turning his writer’s and director’s eye towards comics; he will be doing both for the live-action adaptation of 3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man. Originally a graphic novel from Dark Horse by Matt Kindt, the plot will concern the relationship between a daughter and her father–who just happens to be suffering from a strange medical condition where he can’t stop growing. Warner Bros. will be producing/financing. (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)
  • James McAvoy (Wanted) has been signed to star in X-Men: First Class as Professor Xavier; still no word who will be his star-crossed Magneto. (Source: Entertainment Weekly)
  • “Community” star Donald Glover has started a grass-roots campaign to get himself an audition to be in the Spider-Man 4 movie and all I can think of is that scene from the very first episode of “Boston Legal” where the Reverend Al Sharpton gave Alan Shore his rabbit by giving a speech in the courtroom which featured this line: “Give us an African-American Spider Man!” Glover, if you’re reading this, your people totally need to talk to Sharpton’s people (and the “Boston Legal” writing team). (Source: Donald Glover’s personal blog)

Aidan Quinn leads actors into Exodus

Trisha Lynn

If there’s anything I really like about covering indie films, it is that indie films are where you need to look if you want to keep pace with trends in original storytelling.

Picking up on where “Damages” left off in dealing with Ponzi scheme artists is screenwriter/producer R. Ellis Frazier who has assembled quite a cast for his feature directorial debut, The Exodus of Charlie Wright. Aidan Quinn will star, with Andy Garcia, Luke Goss, and Mario Van Peebles in supporting roles.

According to Jay A. Fernandez at The Hollywood Reporter, here’s the plot:

The story centers on Charlie (Quinn), a Los Angeles billionaire financial whiz who goes into self-imposed exile in Tijuana after his empire is revealed to have been a Ponzi scheme. While looking for the woman he abandoned there 25 years before, Charlie is pursued by a Mexican gangster (Garcia), a federal agent (Van Peebles) and thugs sent by a former client (Goss) looking to retrieve his money.

Whereas “Damages”—which I am still slogging through on DVR, so if you spoil it for me, I will gladly kill you—is very firmly empathetic towards Ponzi scheme victims, by having his protagonist be the schemer I’m wondering exactly just how Frazier will be able to make his story palatable enough for studio heads who may have lost money in Bernie Madoff’s scheme which was revealed in March 2009 and which victims included such Hollywood luminaries as Stephen Spielberg and his Wunderkinder Foundation, Dreamworks CEO Jeffery Katzenberg and Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick.

Perhaps the words “self-imposed exile” is key?

Paul W.S. Anderson’s Three Musketeers to take the world by storm (updated!)

Trisha Lynn3 Comments

Just a week after the 2010 Festival de Cannes started, a clear heavy-weight has emerged between the two new versions of The Three Musketeers in pre-production. The winner is Summit Entertainment and director Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil, Death Race), whose version with the following stars attached will also be filmed in 3D:

  • Logan Lerman (D’artagnan, the young newbie): The star of Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Lerman was also one of the leads in ill-fated WB series “Jack & Bobby.”
  • Matthew Macfadyen (Athos, the moody leader): The Robin Hood star had to correct the initial reports that he was going to be playing Aramis.
  • Luke Evans (Aramis, the man of God): After playing the role of the god Apollo in The Clash of the Titans, he’ll be returning to Greek mythology land for Immortals.
  • Ray Stevenson (Porthos, the jovial gourmand): Having appeared in The Book of Eli, his next summer movie appearance will be in the comedy The Other Guys.

On the antagonist’s side, we’ll have Christoph Waltz (Cardinal Richelieu, the main schemer), Mads Mikkelsen (Rochefort, D’Artagnan’s main rival at arms), Milla Jovovich (Milady de Winter, the Cardinal’s spy), and a rumored Orlando Bloom (the Duke of Buckingham, who actually comes off as much more sympathetic in the original French novel than an Englishman should be). Also in negotiations to join the cast is Juno Temple, (Greenberg, Dirty Girl who will play the queen of France.

Having been hailed as “the jewel in the Cannes crown this year” with “all the elements we needed” by Summit International’s president David Garrett, The Hollywood Reporter noted that Garrett and his team were able to broker deals to have the $80 million picture shown in the U.K., Canada, Spain, and Latin America. Summit will distribute in the U.S., and co-producer Constantin will distribute for Germany.

The loser is Warner Bros. who by confirming Fair Game director Doug Liman’s involvement in their own version in the beginning of the month started this arms race, but no cast has yet to be announced. Perhaps the only things that the WB version has going for it right now is that it aims to be a Sherlock Holmes-esque re-imagining of the tale and that it’s got Doug Freaking Liman as its director.

And yes, I’ll admit that one of the first versions of this story that I saw on screen was the 1993 Disney version which featured a smirking Charlie Sheen as Aramis, but I think I’ll veer away from the rest of the movie blogosphere community by also stating that my personal favorite version of the Musketeers is actually the 1998 ones played by Gabriel Byrne, John Malkovich, Jeremy Irons, and Gerard Depardieu because of their gravitas.

Filming on both of these productions will begin in the fall.

Updated on 5/23: Orlando Bloom’s involvement has been officially confirmed, according to The Hollywood Reporter‘s Heat Vision blog. Most interesting quote from the article about the Duke of Buckingham: “[He is] so cool that you can chop him into cubes and serve with vodka.” Also confirmed is the involvement is British actor James Cordon (The History Boys), who will play D’Artangnan’s faithful servant Planchet.

Running down the Cannes news

Trisha Lynn

We here at GeekingOutAbout.com are not at the 2010 Festival de Cannes but that’s not going to stop us from bringing you the news about which films are being picked up for international distribution and which films to keep your eye on:

  • Hanna: Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) stars as a teenage assassin in a film that is currently in its last month of filming and will also star Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett. Producers Focus Features are retaining the distribution rights in North America, the U.K., and others while Sony Pictures Worldwide will be able to release it in other countries in continental Europe and Asia. (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)
  • Passengers: Keanu Reeves will star in this Morgan Creek and Universal picture as the mechanic on a colony ship who awakens 100 years too soon and has to endure the slower-than-light speed trip all alone… except for some robots with personalities and a woman he eventually awakens because he starts to go stir-crazy who have yet to be cast. Being flogged around the festival as “Adam in Eve in space,” the film picked up deals to be shown in Italy—where director Gabriele Muccino (Seven Pounds) is from— and Germany via Medusa and TeleMunchen, respectively. (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)
  • Hanyo: South Korean Jeon Do-Youn stars in this remake of a classic 1960 film—which you can stream online here—about a maid who has a relationship with her employer, an Alan Sugar/Donald Trump/Mr. Big-type. In contention for the Palme d’Or, the remake turns the relationship on its end from the original by having the maid be less of a harpy and more of a sympathetic justice-seeker.

The festival ends on May 23.

Ghost to get remake… in Japan?

Trisha Lynn1 Comment

Though I am quick to enjoy a good “nerd rage” on the idea of yet another remake or readaptation being announced, I do have to say that the news that there will be a remake of the Patrick Swayze/Demi Moore 1990s hit Ghost is making me just a little bit giddy–because it’s going to be in Japanese.

From Cinema Today.jp and Nippon Cinema.com—and our friends at Japanator.com—comes the news that Paramount Pictures Japan and Shochiku have handed over the reins of the Japanese remake to live-action drama director Taro Otani (“Gokusen”), and it sounds like they’re fast-tracking it, too with shooting to begin this June with a release in the fall. Taking on the Swayze role will be Korean actor Song Seung Hun while Japanese actress Nanako Matsushima will be stepping into Moore’s shoes.

No word on whether or not producer Takashige Ichise (The Grudge) will be getting an Okinawan-style comedian to play the Whoopi Goldberg role.

Anna Faris gives new leading man her Number

Trisha Lynn1 Comment

Once off-track due to a problem in lead actor scheduling, the Anna Faris comedic vehicle What’s Your Number? may be back in the pipeline, thanks to Dave Annable. In a Hollywood Reporter exclusive, Borys Kit noted that the “Brothers and Sisters” star was in negotiations to start opposite Faris as her dream guy.

The synopsis of the film goes like this: “Number centers on a woman (Faris) who treks through her sexual past to find Mr. Right, exploring the idea of sexual quotas and whether such numbers matter.”

Number is adapted from Karyn Bosnak’s 20 Times a Lady by screenwriters Gabrielle Allan and Jennifer Crittenden; Mark Mylod is the director. Also in the cast and previously announced are Joel McHale (“The Soup,” “Community”) who will be playing Faris’ boss, whom she sleeps with and which encounter kicks off the entire search.

As a woman, I find it very difficult to “bring teh funny” as it were, and any time someone laughs at anything I say or write, it always gives me a little thrill. That’s why I really appreciate female comic actresses like Anna Faris because she’s able to be funny and pretty at the same time in movies that while aren’t my typical cup of tea, I’m not going to outright dismiss because one should always be open to the possibility of enjoying something outside one’s comfort zone.

Also, in doing research for this article, I think I’ve fallen in love a little with novelist Karyn Bosnak, whose blog entry about Joel McHale’s addition to the cast you can find here and contains this enthusiastic endorsement of the leading lady:

As for Anna Faris… Now, I’m not just saying this to kiss ass, and if she was only so-so during the reading I would gush about how cute she is (which she is—she’s petite and gorgeous), but my God… she is so freaking talented. With all due respect to the amazing supporting cast, Anna Faris could be in this movie alone talking to plants and it would still be freaking awesome. I mean, she owns this character and drives this script. Like, anyone could read it aloud and it would be funny. But when Anna reads it, she brings an element to it that you just can’t write. It’s like magic. She’s like magic.

For Bosnak’s sake, I really hope that this movie does well, and not just because she’s a fellow New Yorker transplant.

Sir Anthony Hopkins to play a baddie in Arabian Nights

Trisha Lynn

In an exclusive from Borys Kit at The Hollywood Reporter‘s Heat Vision blog, Anthony Hopkins is in final negotiations to play the villain in The Arabian Nights.

Hopkins’ role will be that of “Pharotu, an evil sorcerer who killed Sinbad’s love, a mermaid, and is looking to amass more magic for himself.” And since previously announced star Liam Hemsworth will not be playing Sinbad, this makes me wonder if the plot of this movie will feature numerous villains, one for each member of the Hitchhiker Heroes.

At our monthly midnight screening series at the Landmark Sunshine in New York City, two of the other GeekingOutAbout.com writers and I were talking about what happens when novels are adapted into movies and the old chestnut about how short stories make the best movie adaptations (Minority Report, Stand By Me).

I firmly believe that it’s just as tough to adapt mythology into a movie, and its $432 million worldwide gross aside, Clash of the Titans—and its original—is only enjoyable as a movie if you completely turn off your brain when it comes to everything you know about the original source material.

Which makes it hard for us geeks to enjoy a movie sometimes, but hey… there are some prices that are okay to pay.

Related Posts: Liam Hemsworth to join Arabian Nights