For the third week in a row we're struggling to fill the news post (in spite of comic con rumbling on), and it is almost unbearably disappointing. I suppose I should be grateful for the weeks overburdened with stories, however that feels so natural that these slower weeks really come as a shock, especially given this long semi-drought. At least the projects we're mentioning here have a good chance of getting made, and sound like they could be fascinating.
Under the Banner of Heaven
When Dustin Lance Black won his Oscar for writing Milk a couple of years ago there was much talk of a bright new talent and expectation was rife about what direction his work would take him, luckily he's been tapping away furiously at the typewriter with J. Edgar on it's way, and now the big screen adaptation of Jon Krakauer's non-fiction novel (Pictured below) about two brothers who murdered the wife and infant child of their younger brother claiming they were acting on the will of God. More synopsis can be found on the book cover...
This sounds like a fascinating project that may probe into issues of mental health diagnoses and how religious fundamentalism has the capacity to commit heinous crimes in the name of it's message.
On the other hand it could become a mishmash of whiny liberal prejudice (the brothers followed a splinter group of Mormonism and I worry about balanced views on religious beliefs in films - now I can't wait for the comments to come in) and shuffling horror tropes, furthermore this is probably coming after Christian fundamentalism has been a hot topic with Red State and Martha Marcy May Marlene both impressing at Sundance this year.
Of course I will be supporting Black either way as he seems like a personable and responsible fellow, and the script for Milk does make me think the boy can write. Keep an eye on this one.
Read on for journalistic integrity and... well that's about it really as well as some casting news.
The Company you Keep
Here in the UK the headlines have been dominated over the last three weeks by the implosion of News International, Rupert Murdoch's print conglomerate that publishes "The Sun" and "The Times". As more and more revelations of phone hacking, including those of the families of murder victims and dead soldiers, and the extent of cosying up done by the political classes and police with NI executives has been made public we've seen resignations from the highest seats in NI as well as senior Police officer, frankly it's unlikely to be long before a minister or high-profile civil servant also falls as a result of the story. With that in mind it's good to see Robert Redford's next movie will star Shia LaBeouf as an unscrupulous investigative reporter anxious to get the scoop on a former Weather Underground member (for those of you not in the know the Weathermen were a clandestine revolutionary party advocating terrorism as a means to violently overthrow the US Government).
Of course whether you'll buy LaBeouf as a journalist facing the choice between getting a great story or letting an old man live his final days in peace is yet to be decided.
Casting News
Quentin Tarantino is as known as much for his knack of reinvigorating careers as for the plots and techniques of his movies, and so when a fading star picks up a role in his films it always raises eyebrows. So three cheers to Kevin Costner who's taken the role of the sadistic slave trainer in Django Unchained with that and the Superman remake he's certainly on the way back to the A list. This week we've also seen a whole slew of names added to The Lone Ranger including Helena Bonham Carter and Dwight Yoakam making it altogether more interesting. You can also take the latest rumour about casting Les Miserables with a huge chunk of salt, but apparently Russell Crowe is lobbying for the role of Javert the obsessed policeman after Hugh Jackman's Jean Valjean. 
Crowe has experience of singing, fronting the bands 30 Odd foot of Grunts and The Ordinary Fear of God but I somehow doubt that puts him up there with Jackman's Tony award winning experiences.
Saturday, 23 July 2011
What price Faith (Film News - 23/07/11)
Saturday, 25 June 2011
The drip drip drip of a slow news week (News - 25/06/11)
To be perfectly honest it's not been a great week for news, only a handful of stories none of which guarantee my support when the film is finally made - in fact none of them are even close to making it into pre-production let alone a movie getting into cinemas. I guess only time will tell.
Untitled Howard Hughes biopic
Over several days this week we heard a slow feed of stories about Warren Beatty's next project - on Monday we learnt he was due to star and helm a movie, on Tuesday it became a comedy and so on. It seems the Dick Tracy 2 comments he made a couple of weeks ago were a cover for a biopic of the barking billionaire whose well-documented germ-phobia kept him isolated and paranoid for most of his later years.
This film will oddly take on that part of his life, especially an unlikely romantic relationship with a younger woman, and certainly won't be a thematic sequel to Martin Scorsese's The Aviator. 
Howard Hughes in saner times.
Talks have already begun with a broad collection of Beatty's Hollywood mates including Annette Bening, Rooney Mara, Alec Baldwin, Jack Nicholson and Andrew Garfield which certainly sounds like a cracking cast. Although you can assume there haven't been talks with Christopher Nolan who publicly expressed a desire to make another Hughes movie last year.
Read on for Israeli spies, Formula 1 heroes, competing agents and big "C" conservatism, as well as the latest casting calls and an update on forthcoming UK releases.
Gabriel Allon
If Bond and Bourne have too much inconvenient imperialist baggage then maybe this latest spy franchise will have the ambiguity you need to keep an interest. Allom is the brainchild of Daniel Silva and has so far appeared in 10 books so the possibilities for sequels are pretty extensive. He's in his 40's, therefore older than you'd expect from the genre, and splits his time between fine art restoration and catching terrorists. The stories, including the first book The Kill Artist (right), are commended for their balanced view of the Isreal-Palestine situation as well as kick-ass action scenarios.
Rush
I've made no secret of my Formula 1 fandom so it's always a pleasure to see a motor racing themed movie in the works, even if the results really succeed in encapsulating the excitement of the real thing. This Peter Morgan scripted effort will chart the 1976 championship battle between Niki Lauda and James Hunt, a titanic battle which saw the lead seesaw between the two of them as well as some shocking crashes that led to Lauda losing an ear! Literally on the edge of my seat about this.
Spy vs. Spy
I'm guessing the spy vs. spy comic strip (above) is much more popular in the States than it is over here - I personally had never heard about it - but the tit for tat competition between the two central agents as they try to prove who's the premier in their field could well make a fun children's comedy in the vein of Johnny English. What do you think?
Untitled Todd Haynes project
After the brief sojourn in television with the Kate Winslet starring "Mildred Peirce" Tadd Haynes is looking to return to mainstream cinema (or as mainstream as he ever gets) working from a script by Meek's Cutoff script writer Jon Raymond. The details available are extremely sketchy at the moment, all we know - from an interview with Time Out - is that it will look at the contemporary conservative politics in America, whether that means an expose on the Tea party remains to be seen.
Casting News
The forthcoming cinematic outing for The Lone Ranger has picked up a villain in the guise of Railroad baron Tom Wilkinson. There's also been some movement on Silver Lining's Playbook, with Robert De Niro proving he's still interested in working with director David O. Russell, the same cannot be said for Anjelina Jolie who appears to disappeared from the project with a long-list of stars queuing up to play Mark Wahlberg unforgiving ex, including Jennifer Lawrence - although I suspect that's for completely different role.
Release Schedules
I've changed the website I get my release schedules from, finally getting tired of the patchy work at Pearl and Dean and have moved onto www.filmdates.co.uk, it's slightly less user friendly but it's exhaustive in terms of content. As a result there are loads of new release dates to announce, although surprisingly no dates have changed over the last month.
Restless - Gus van Sant's latest comes across as a return to the elegiac masterpieces that pepper his career although reviews from Cannes suggest it's nowhere near the quality of his best hits. Fall for a suicidal teen on 21 October 2011.
Ides of March - We heard this week that George Clooney's political potboiler will be opening the Venice festival, just in time to make it's UK debut. Secure support at the primaries on 28 October 2011.
Happy Feet 2 - It's perfectly possible that I'll be seeing two animated releases this year, given how surprised I was at the quality of Rango and being a supporter of the original penguin cartoon this could be my second. Tap dance across the Antarctic on 02 December 2011.
Dangerous Method - The first trailer for David Cronenberg's psychoanalysis biopic promises plenty of inappropriate desire if little historical accuracy. Succumb to your desires on 20 February 2012.
Jack the Giant Killer - Next summer is beginning to fill up with some very interesting projects, including this fairytale adventure from the director of X-Men. Although the final tone of the project will be very tricky to balance. Find a goose with golden eggs on 15 June 2012.
Bond 23 - Some of the forthcoming movies on filmdates are still in pre-production (or even earlier in the process) which does make the release date seem less likely to be achieved. This is notable for Daniel Craig's next outing as James Bond which has already seen plenty of delays due to financing issues within MGM. Take your martini shaken, not stirred, on 26 October 2012.
Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II - the final installment in the massively popular teenage vampire series is set to come out late next year, don't expect any studio to be brave enough to open anything big against it. Find your true love on 16 November 2012.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Photos of Martin Freeman and Ian McKellen as Bilbo and Gandalf has found themselves onto the web this week and we can probably look forward to seeing a steady drip drip of publicity for the Lord of the Rings prequel for the next 18 months. Go there, but not yet back again, on 14 December 2012.
The Life of Pi - Competing against Jackson's epic will the altogether smaller option of a small boy in a boat with a tiger, a hyena, an orang-utan and a zebra, balancing survivalist and existential themes Yann Martel's novel has received exceptional praise which will hopefully translate to the movie. Find yourself lost at sea on 14 December 2012.
Oz: The Great and Powerful - A prequel (not that we can really invoke the comparison) to the magical Judy Garland starer which aims to be the biggest of the latest round of L. Frank Baum releases in which we'll see James Franco's Wizard and his arrival in Oz. Take charge in an alternate universe on 08 March 2013.
The Dark Tower - We've heard a lot this week about whether Ron Howard's adaptation of Stephen King's magnum opus will ever get made, he's positive it will but budget reductions are meaning massive script revisions. Even so I remain skeptical that this release date (690 days away) will be achieved. Discover the beam on 17 May 2013.
Sunday, 17 April 2011
All that glisten's is not... (Film News - 17/04/11)
I'm still in London, so just a little bit out on a limb, therefore it's difficult to keep up with the news, however I have endeavored to keep looking at the latest headlines on a daily basis so I can, at least, give a rough breakdown. Actually the biggest news stories have all been casting related but a few new rumours have surfaced. Such as:
Gold
Which sees the unlikely marriage of Michael Mann director with Paul Haggis on production duty for this modern tale of obsessions and greed with cues taken from John Huston's masterful The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. We don't know anything else at this point, but investigations into the seamier side of man's relationship with rare stuff from the ground is usually good for a watch - whether we're talking about Bogart in the 1949 film or Daniel Day-Lewis drinking our milkshake. 
The script by Chicago Code/Friday Night Lights alumni Patrick Massett and John Zinman was originally passed to Haggis, who felt he could not direct due to other commitments so in turn offered it to Mann. I suspect this will be right up Micheal's street, the potential mix of dangerous men in dangerous situations will undoubtedly be irresistible to him.
Expect some great names to join the cast over the coming months.
Read on for more revenge, more money, and some casting news.
Low Dweller
I think revenge must be back in fashion. Everywhere you look these days there are violent fantasies where wronged men, and it almost always is men, seek brutal justice for the murder of their wife/child/partner, so it's no surprise to hear of another one. However this is different as it's the blacklisted script by Brad Inglesby which Scott Cooper has been commissioned to re-draft and direct. Which beg's the question why does it need Mr. Cooper to take another look at the script if it was so bleeding good in the first place. In Low Dweller the hero is released from prison wanting some sweet love with his reluctant girlfriend only to find his brother is dead so he seeks revenge - I'm sure there's something interesting about it.
$7Bn Dollar Men
Based on the Wall Street bailout, and more specifically about the Federal Bailout Chief, Neal Kashkari, who lasted in the job for just 6 months, spent unprecedented amounts of money helping the financial services industry, then retired to his Maryland hometown to build a shed. Frankly I'm not sure what this will aim to "say" as a final film but George Clooney and Grant Heslov, who have teamed up on The Men who Stare at Goats, another satirical look at the modern American State, are interested in adapting it so there must be an unusual take to be had.
Casting News
There have been plenty of meetings with casting directors this week, indeed it's largely these assigned parts which has got me going for most of the time. During the last seven days Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg and Ellen Page have all signed up for the next Woody Allen picture. Joaquim Pheonix has less his semi-exile to work on Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master. Sally Field has confirmed as Mary Todd Lincoln in the upcoming Lincoln movie. That's the real one - not Vampire Hunter. Helena Bonham Carter may end up as Miss Haversham and Ryan Gosling is interested in putting on a mask so as to play the Lone Ranger to Johnny Depp's Tonto.
Sidney Lumet
Of course this week we also heard to the tragic passing of celebrated film director Sidney Lumet. In a career that lasted over 50 years Lumet brought to the screen several groundbreaking and consistently high performing movies from 12 Angry Men to Before the Devil Knows you're Dead by way of Network and Dog Day Afternoon. Each one providing iconic moments in the history of modern cinema. His talent will be sorely missed.
Here is a little bit of Network to remind why Lumet was such a star.
Sunday, 3 October 2010
Recovery time (Film News - 02/10/10)
It has been an extraordinarily busy week for news. If I were to be perfectly honest with you I thought that missing the release schedules last week and postponing to today would be easy as a single week of headlines in the back end of September wouldn't cause too much to wade through. How wrong can I be. We've got additional casting news, some long dead projects getting resurrected, some very interesting rumours circulating and the odd new story bubbling up. Let's not delay:
My Stroke of Insight
Gone are the days when rehabilitation from life threatening illnesses was the domain of made for television movies. Aleandro Amenabar and Julian Schabel have added an arthouse sensibility to the subject which allowed The Sea Inside and The Divingbell and the Butterfly to break out from the traditional format of these subjects. As both of these movies flirted with awards but didn't quite breakout it was only a matter of time before an American protagonist would be inserted into a US version.
So when a film adaptation of Jo Bolte Taylor's memoir about recovering from a stroke, and the additional understanding she could use (being a bona fide neuro-anatomist), was in the works with Jodie Foster potentially up for the lead role I was super excited.
Unfortunately the man behind the camera will be saccharine magnet Ron Howard. Now don't get me wrong there are some films Howard's made which have reasonably enjoyable (see Parenthood or Apollo 13) but generally he's a bit of a hack with a penchant for making people cry. Obviously if the films made I will still go see it, and in spite of my concerns I expect Foster to run off with her third Oscar, but I am deeply fearful of the overall quality of the piece.
Read on for comic books, aliens, cops, cowboys, time travel and maybe a classic novel. Plus the latest production and release date news.
Darren Aronofsky's choice - Superman or Preacher
The Black Swan director has never had it so good. Just over a month ago it was announced that he was in the running for the directorial gig for Wolverine 2 this week there have been further rumours about the Superman reboot and the off-kilter graphic novel about God giving up on His job. Naturally he won't be making all of these movies, possibly he won't hem any of them but it's certainly upping his personal cachet given how many major blockbusters are considering his talent.
Of the three I would hope Darren would go for Preacher (left), as the less well known property and the most morally ambiguous there will be plenty more scope for playing with the genre and freedom to make the film he wants.
EDF
Sam Raimi is still amazingly quiet, over a year has passed since Drag me to Hell and several months since the Spiderman rug was yanked from under his feet. But it looks like he may have been working on an Alien invasion pic writ en by Andrew Marlowe (Air Force One). The plot sounds awfully derivative of all movies of this type as well as general war films, with the invasion sparking off with a small advance attack then a bigger onslaught identified, nevertheless this is the sort of diverting fun that could do extremely well at the multiplex.
The Great Gatsby
At the premier for Social Network Baz Luhrmann happened to be chatting to the assembled press when he let it slip the big screen version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's generation defining novel (left) may still be on track, with Leonardo DiCaprio among the rumoured cast. I confess I only know the novel by reputation, but it's hard to argue with that combination of star and director.
Not that it's written in stone just yet though, Baz also confided he's torn between Gatsby and an unnamed musical set in New York. Interesting. We should have a final decision in the next couple of weeks.
The Lone Ranger
No, the big screen adaptation of televisions most famous cowboy, his horse Silver and native American companion Tonto (see left) hasn't disappeared forever. Michael Bay has resurrected the project (shivers going down everyone spine) and it still might make a 2012 release with Johnny Depp in one of the key roles.
Tales from the Gangster Squad
Ben Affleck is suddenly a wanted man. Whilst I may consider his latest film, The Town, as a minor step back from the masterful Gone Baby Gone the combination of critical and box office success has meant his reputation as a director has never been higher. Step forward the opportunity to make a 1940's LA based movie about the cops chasing after public enemy number one Mickey Cohen. It's familiar territory even if journo Paul Lieberman's source material is uniquely positioned to separate the legend from the truth. This could end up being a perfect LA counterpoint to The Untouchables, which would make me very happy indeed.
Timeless
Robert Zemeckis may be hard a work on The Yellow Submarine but that hasn't stopped him considering what his next move will be, and surprisingly it's a return to live action. As well as being a movie about time travel, a subject he captured wonderfully in the Back to the Future trilogy. We don't have any other details at the moment, but as soon as I hear more you'll be the first to know.
Obituaries
It's been a sad week for Hollywood, as we saw the passing of actors Tony Curtis and Gloria Stuart and editor Sally Menke all of whom will be sorely missed. However I would like to say a couple of words about director Arthur Penn who also left us on Tuesday. 
I can't say that I was a big fan of Penn's work, many of his films struck me as histrionic and confused, that said it is difficult to argue with his legacy. Bonnie and Clyde revolutionised cinema, introducing audiences to the coolness of criminal behaviour and the unremitting violence that results. This week I saw Ben Affleck's The Town and I think it's fair to say that without Penn's earlier work films like that simply would not exist. Let us raise a glass to Arthur Penn and remember his legacy.
Casting News - Last week I added a casting news section purely because I was catching up on film stories this week I'm doing it because I've already had loads of articles and I just can't type anymore... So here are the latest casting rumours on films we've mentioned here at the blog before: Fernando Meirelles' 360 is coming on strong gaining Anthony Hopkins, Frances McDormand and Eminem to it's intersecting love stories. Lawrence Kasdan's Darling Companion has drafted in Diane Wiest and Sam Shepard to help search for the titular pooch, George Clooney is talking to Ryan Gosling for a role in his forthcoming Farragut North and Christopher Plummer may play the aging patriarch who sets off the plot in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Production News
Every month I trawl though old news stories to identify which rumours have become reality and whether anything I missed is suddenly underway, and every month I am pleasantly surprised by some of the revelations. This month we have a number of projects that looked - on imdb anyway - like they'd been abandoned or at least delayed indefinitely including Istvan Svabo's The Door (which is now filming), Singularity - a coma induced time travelling story, the zombie fantasy World War Z, Mad Max: Fury Road, Ang Lee's Life of Pi and the long gestating Pablo Escobar biopic. As well as that there are a number of films we've covered in the news sections which are in pre-production stages including LA cop drama Rampant, Lawrence Kasdan's Darling Companion, political expose Farragut North, creature feature Isopod, Matthew McConaughay as Killer Joe, 9/11 drama Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Roman Polanski's God of Carnage, sex comedy The Abstinence Teacher and Nicolas Sparks weepfest The Lucky One.
The following film has also appeared unannounced on David Finchers to do list:
Killer
Adapted from the graphic novel by Metz and with a 2013 production date I know very little about this latest addition to Fincher's schedule, although it would certainly indicate he may not be ready to sign on for the full Millennium trilogy.
Release Dates
Flipped - It may be a very simple looking coming of age fable, but director Rob Reiner has shown he understands this age group on many occasions. Fall in love for the first time on 12 November 2010.
Somewhere - Following the surprise win at Venice Sofia Coppola's LA set story of disaffected TV stars has been bumped up into this year. Wreck your hotel room on 10 December 2010.
Way Back - Drifting back a week is Peter Weir's refugee drama, frankly I'm surprised it's coming out at all the reception at Telluride was very good but there didn't seem to be much interest in distribution - keep your fingers crossed. Trek across the Himalayas on 31 December 2010.
My Soul to Take - We may all be concentrating on the fourth episode of the Scream franchise, but let's not forget that Wes Craven has squeezed out this horror in the meantime. Try to guess who will survive on 14 January 2011.
Morning Glory - The January schedules keep on drifting whilst the major prestige releases ensure they won't be fighting each other at the box office, although frankly I'm not sure whether this TV news comedy qualifies as prestige. Flick over to the BBC on 21 January 2011.
It's a kind of Funny Story - Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have certainly raised eyebrows with their unpredicatable follow-up to Sugar, festival reviews weren't brilliant. Check yourself in for a "rest" on 11 March 2011.
The Eagle - The adaptation of Rosemary Sutcliffe's classic novel suffered due to it's close plot ties with Neil Marshall's ultra Roman thriller Centurion and saw it's release fall back, it's now shifted once more to a more profitable looking slot. Find a missing army on 18 March 2011.
Thor - Clearly in blockbuster territory now with Kenneth Branagh's Marvel adaptation shifting into the same release date as Iron Man 2, and effectively kicking off the summer. Return to Valhalla on 29 April 2011.
War Horse - Spielberg now has two release dates for 2011, catching up I suppose on the three year gap since the last one, this is his serious film for the year. Become a hero in the trenches on 09 September 2011.
Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn - And this is the second one, likely to bring in much more money we just have to hope the 'berg gets the tone of Herge's original omic strips. Blister billions of blue barnacles on 28 October 2011.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - I'm not sure why the release dates for David Finchers english language remake of the Steig Larsson bestseller keep changing, but there seems to be some difficulty in deciding exactly when to release it. Be sexually ambiguous on 23 Decmber 2011.
Frankenweenie - I'm more intrigued than interested in Tim Burton's latest stop motion experiment, having not seen the original short, that said I'll definitely be there on opening night. Reanimate your puppy on 09 March 2012.
Some films though don't have such good news on release dates. Craig Brewer's Footloose remake and (most distrssingly) the short collection New York, I Love You have both had their releases pulled out from under them with no sign of a new date. Worse is Niki Caro's Angels and Wine adpatation The Vintner's Luck which went direct to DVD during September.
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Johnny Depp
Happy Birthday to
Johnny Depp
46 today
I've been dreading this morning for the last month or so, not because I'm a Deppophile - I quite like the guy - but because his slate is so full of films I want to see this might be the longest birthday celebration/advert for forthcoming pics I've done.
First up is Public Enemies, which I showed you the trailer for last Tuesday. Then later this year we'll see Depp channelling Heath Ledger in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. In 2010 he'll grace the screens only once, for old pal Tim Burton, as the Mad Hatter in the Alice in Wonderland live action pic. In 2011 we'll him voice a dog in the animated Rango, so there's another box office topper (animated dogs virtually guarantees it). He's also potentially back in The Man Who Killed Don Quixote when Terry Gilliam resurrects that project. Finally (and we're really talking the long game here) Depp will be Tonto to the yet to be cast Lone Ranger.
All in all that's a really impressive slate of films, I'm sure you'll agree.
Saturday, 2 May 2009
Film News (02/05/09 - and previous week)
Bumper news report this week, as I wasn't able to catch up last week. There's also box office news and the Cannes line-up. So lets not mess around any more and just dive straight in:
Wall Street 2
The most shocking story of the last couple of weeks must be the resurrection of long-mooted sequel to Wall Street, Oliver Stone's film about the brutal power players of the eponymous financial district. Back in the Reagan Boom years Michael Douglas's Gordon Gekko was cock-of-the-wall, tossing aside the rule books and the needs of the common workers in order to make money. Of course in the end protege Charlie Sheen squeals on his nefarious activities and we can only assume Gekko gets his just deserts. Nearly 25 years later, with the money markets in freefall it will be interesting to see how Gekko moved on. Of course the issue with the original is even though Gekko is clearly a villian he was such a strongly written character the public, especially the traders and wheeler dealers he was parodying, felt inspired by his example.
Just read through the Greed is good speech, and tell me you don't want to clap at the sheer balls of it:
"The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."
The End of Eternity
Kevin MacDonald is obviously an ambitious man. State of Play is just out, Eagle of the Ninth is in development and he's also signed on to direct an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's sci-fi classic. The plot concerns a race of beings (Eternity) who exist outside normal rules of time and space. Only one of them falls in love with a human causing their destruction. Sounds cheery, or like an extended episode of Star Trek. We'll see.
Inception
Unsurprisingly Michael Caine has joined Nolan's sci-fi for next year. This marks the 4th film in a row they've worked on together. Also joining the cast is Joseph Gordon-Levitt who continues to build an impressive CV.
The Lone Ranger
More details of the Lone Ranger movie are coming out, based on the wildly popular TV series from the 40s, which was in turn based on the pre-war radio serial. The film, will be an origins story, of sorts. As our hero (rumoured to be George Clooney) is ambushed with his troop of Texas Rangers, rescued and nursed by Native American Tonto (Johnny Depp) they then seek vengence. I'm either way of this adaptation - I'm not sure we need an origin story and whilst I love Depp as much as the next man I'd like to think there are some actors with Native American roots who could do the part just as well. I'll be keeping a close eye on details though.
Passing Strange
PBS have picked up Spike Lee's filmed version of the hit stage musical "Passing Strange". Early indications are that they'll aim to release it in cinemas. Filming stage productions is always a risky business, you act in a different way and static cameras can feel awfully dull. Nevertheless the story of a middle class blak man from the US who goes all "street" when he goes to Europe may be enough to keep the interest.
Red/Scarpa
Bruce Willis is having a hard time selecting his next project. Among the options are the biopic of Mafia mole Gregory Scarpa Sr. (left, looking much like Bruce...) and Red, a graphic novel adapatation about a former black ops (what is that?) soldier who is targetted by an assassin. We all know that in either film Bruce will play Bruce Willis the action star, but that's always good fun.
Straw Dogs
For years it was just a rumour, and then it was a release date, but now it seems the Straw Dogs remake is picking up steam with James Marsden picked up for the lead and a relocation of the action back to the US. This is a good move; over reverentially sticking to the original will have caused unnecessary comparisons, and no-one could honestly compare Marsden to Dustin Hoffman.
Untitled Mike Leigh Film
Focus features have signed a deal funding Mike Leigh's next project with Film4 and the UK Film Council. No plot or title yet, although I very much doubt it has a plot at this early stage knowing how Leigh works. We do know that Jim Broadbent and Imelda Staunton are filling up the cast list.
Jack Cardiff
Our thoughts are with the family of Jack Cardiff, the incredibly talented cinematographer who passed away on 22 April aged 94. His greatest work was with Powell and Pressburger so please spend some time this month to reaquaint yourself with one of his highlights. I'm off to see Black Narcissus right now.
Cannes Film Festival
The main lineup for Cannes has been annouced and includes such films as Antichrist, Bright Star, Broken Embraces, Inglorious Basterds and Taking Woodstock in competition. That's 5 established arthouse favourites (von Trier, Campion, Almodovar, Tarantino and Lee). Now I want to see all these films too, but surely a film festival with as much influence as Cannes should be mixing it up a little. The vast majority of the films in competition are from recognisable auteurs, often with previous invitations to the Croisette. I'll do a more thorough Cannes preview just before it opens on 13 May.
Box Office News
Release Date News
Everlasting Moments - I've already let this particular cat out of the bag with the trailers but Jan Troell's film about a photographer atthe turn of the 20th century has a new release date of 22 May 2009.
Where the Wild Things Are - Over the last month or so the Where the Wild Things are trailer and posters have been whetting my appetite for the film, and now they've moved the release date forward a month, so we only have to wait until 23 October 2009.
Salt - Also moving the release date, this time by only a week, is Anjelina Jolie's spy thriller Salt. I say spy thirller, the set pictures released so far sem mor like a wig catalogue. See it on 20 August 2010.
Morning Glory - Now the cast for Roger Michell's anchors at war comedy is completed it's been given a release of 10 September 2010. (It's OK the US release is in July so it's not looking like their throwing it in the September graveyard already.)
Box Office Report
The top five from March really has no surprises at all. Of course we should never underestimate the British public's love for dogs, hence Marley & Me annihilating the competition at the top. It's followed by two action hits (snark snark) a breakout comedy and a period drama. Perhaps the Young Victoria may appear to be the odd one out, but period always has a following over here and the advertising we pretty thorough. Once again I have only seen one of these, although embarassingly it's the one at the top.
1. Marley & Me
2. Watchmen
3. Knowing
4. Paul Blart: Mall Cop
5. The Young Victoria
A puppy - could be Marley, but honestly who care's it's so cute...
