After a couple of very quiet weeks we've been inundated with news (albeit mainly casting decisions this week) some of which have really made me shift my opinions about some upcoming films. There's even some children's franchises that I'm vaguely interested in following this week. I think the heat must be getting to me.
Banking on Mr. Toad
The Wind in the Willows was my favourite book growing up, I think I must have read it about a hundred times during my Primary school years. There have been a number of adaptations of the novel, but this weeks sees the news of a biopic about the author Kenneth Grahame going into production. Ioan Grufford will play the writer, with Samantha Morton rumoured to be in talks for his supportive wife. The film will focus in part on the writing but also the relationship between Grahame and his autistic son in an age where autism wasn't understood.
It's going to be filmed with a mixture of live action and animation, like Miss Potter. Yes, there are alarm bells going off for me too, fingers crossed that they don't mess this up.
Happy Feet 2
This comes as a surprise to exactly no-one but Warner Bros. are currently preparing a sequel to the 2006 smash-hit animation Happy Feet. The original, which started as a cute story about a penguin learning to dance, was in reality a deeply scary film with warnings about the cruelty of humans and the effects of pollution. Can't wait to see what the follow-up has to offer.
Indian Summer
Back in April Joe Wright announced his next project would be Indian Summer, about the love affair between Lady Mountbatten and Nehru. At the time there were whispered rumours he was courting Cate Blanchett, and this week she finally signed the contract. It's the sort of brittle aristo she can do in her sleep. The other two sides of the triangle are yet to be cast - I'll keep you updated.
Septimus Heap: Magyk
Bad news for Harry Potter fans, firstly there are now only 2 films (from one book) remaining and secondly, and perhaps more shocking, a new boy wizard is priming to take your place. Septimus Heap: Magyk (based on the first novel by Angie Sage, from a series of five so far) is the seventh son of a seventh son, sadly mixed up with a girl at birth. Not sure how that happens. The books have sold in their millions so this could be a major franchise in the making.
Thor
So far Kenneth Branagh has astounded us all by casting virtual unknowns (Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston) and his best mates (Brian Blessed) in his first stab at a comic book adaptation. However this week Natalie Portman has been announced as the love interest. That's right, a real star, who has experience in big film releases. I'm still not to sure what to think about Thor, but I'm glad there's at least one star in it (apart from Brian "Gordon's alive" Blessed, of course).
World War Z
Matthew Michael Carnahan, hot from the State of Play screenplay, has been drafted in to polish up World War Z, based on the hilarious novel by Max Brooks. The book uses interviews with survivors and first hand testimony to relate the rise of the zombies and the international resistance to the threat. Apparently the first draft of the script largely dispensed with the style and just focused on the events. Hopefully Carnahan will redress that. I'm sure a documentary style movie about a Zombie apocalypse will be far more interesting and innovative.
Saturday, 18 July 2009
Film News (18/07/09)
Saturday, 14 March 2009
Film News (14/03/09)
Quite a quiet week, with few major press releases. There was a flurry of box office news, but so far only really for the US and I'll be putting that in a single round-up at the end of the month if it translates into UK release dates.
Indian Summer
Alex von Tunzelmann biographical story about the end of the British rule in India, the politics and players at the time, and the rumoured love affair between Lady Mountbatten and Nehru has been picked up by Working Title and Paramount with Joe Wright (Atonement) set to direct. It's a pretty complicated tale, and a fascinating piece of history. So if anyone can carefully combine the elements of romance against the playing out of history I'm sure Wright can.
Crazy Eddie
Last year there was a rumour that Danny DeVito was about to pick up the megaphone with The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. With that project disappearing into a pre-production drawer somewhere he has instead attached himself to the story of Eddie Antar, who built an empire of electrical goods retailers, only to see it crashing down around him when he was caught fiddling the books. He has since found himself in jail with a $150m bill.
Warrior
The ultimate fighting film has found an interesting international cast with Nick Nolte signing on with Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy as his sons trained in the ring. Hardy has just made a big splash with Bronson and I'm sure this sort of thing will be a breeze for him. Once agin I'm not really interested in the plot of this one - just the sight of buff guys punching each other. What can I do?
