Not exactly an exciting week for cinema stories, I guess the proximity to Easter/Passover and other spring based breaks has meant progress in the studios has been slow. That said I did here about a couple of new projects they may just make fascinating films in the years to come, or might just be my chace to ogle at muscly men.
Parker
Like Jason Statham for instance. Who is set to star for Taylor Hackford (??!!) in this big screen spin-off of Donald E. Westlake's series of novels. I say spin-off as the film will only use the central character (the eponymous burglar) as a starting point and will create it's own plot.
Parker himself seems like the type of rugged hero Statham was born to play, he is described as never stealing from those who need it - although quite how this will be shown in the movie remains to be seen - and he never kills. Unless he has to. So expect a high body count, and maybe he'll give some chage to a charity collector.
The main question of course is whether he'll find an excuse to rip off his shirt Transporter style. I'm guessing there's at least one scene where he shows off his stunning body (cue body)
and tries to prove he isn't gay by sleeping with an underwritten female character.
Read on for industrialists, mid-air heroics and the usual update of casting stories.
Aristotle O
The recent "Kennedys" series may have underwhelmed critically and commercially but it has renewed interest somewhat in that particular political dynasty and it's various connections, which ma go somewhere to explaining why an Aristotle Onassis (left) biopic is being planned by Branlio Mantovani and Fernando Meirelles (the writer and director combination of City of God). The Greek shipping tycoon famously wooed Jackie Kennedy following the assasination of JFK. Robert Lindsay has played Aristotle to great acclaim on the London stage over the last year, however I suspect any big screen adaptation will go for bigger names in the main roles.
Flight
Licking his wounds after the disasterous box-office performance of the 3D motion capture Mars Needs Moms and the consequent cancellation of Yellow Submarine producer Robert Zemeckis is preparing to return to live-action with this dramedy about the aftermath of a plane crash. Denzel Washington (who is currently in negotiations) will play the pilot of a passenger jet forced to make an emergency landing in part due to him being incapacitated on drink and/or drugs. Hailed as a hero in the headlines the film will focus on whether he admits to what happened or goes along with that. Sounds like a slight spin on Accidental Hero but with Zemeckis there to make the opening scenes exciting and a potential powerful performance of guilt and remorse from Washington (baring in mind he's been coasting in action movies for at least 5 years) this could be one to watch.
Casting News
It's been all go on the casting front. Ian Holm has been confirmed as Old Bilbo in The Hobbit, therefore proving there will be a section where Bilbo is old... And to my surprise (and believe me I'm feeling a little contrite about what I said in the past) Jeremy Renner will definitely be the Bourne substitute in The Bourne Legacy. Oliver Stone's Savages has picked up a impresive array of supporting players with John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Emile Hirsch entering the fray. Ralph Fiennes may be the Magwich we'll looking for in Great Expectations and finally Sam Raimi and the "studios" are squaring off about casting a minor role in Oz, the Great and Powerful - he wants Hilary Swank, they want Michelle Williams - given the role is for an elder witch I would pass over both of them and use an actress in her fifties, after all there are loads of them.
Sunday, 24 April 2011
Will he or won't he (Film News - 23/04/11)
Monday, 13 December 2010
Changing the landscape (Film News - 11/12/10)
So we're back with film news as well. A few small stories this week, none of the list looks likely to turn into box office gold but they all should be worth a look if they ever get made.
Mike Leigh's JMW Turner biopic
Mike Leigh might be taking a break from modern slices of life and will instead focus on a 19th century artist JMW Turner, whose romatic evocations of steamtrains and oil landscapes was a major precurser to the Impressionistic movement (see below in the 1844 work Rain, Steam and Speed).
Luckily for Leigh there's plenty in Turner's personal life for him to get his teeth into. Turner's mother was committed when he was still an adolescent and later in life he suffered from bouts of depression and was known for being eccentric. With this in mind it could be thematically close to most of Leigh's other work whilst skirting close to the lightness of tone in his other biopic Topsy Turvy.
Indeed the relationship between sanity and art may end up forming the backbone of this film, and it's certainly a subject that would go down well with audiences, critics and (lets face it) the Academy as well.
Read on for clues about the financial meltdown, a schedule filler and an unlikely remake.
Enron
George Clooney has picked up the rights to a film adaptation of Lucy Prebble's West End hit Enron. Showing the end of the financial giant, or as an interesting precurser to the 2008 slump, the play ultimately looks at the decisions made by the key players and the effects of these. It's highly likely that the praised British cast will be excised though which is rather unfortunate.
Nights of Calabria
Another week, another Lee Daniels project. He's changed agency (to CAA no less) which has led to a flurry of publicity for the Precious director. The press release indicates he's on the way to remaking the 1957 Fellini movie Nights of Calabiria about a prostitute looking for love. Might be right up Daniels street, but I doubt it could be as good as the original.
Untitled Kathryn Bigelow Film
Very curious rumour, which seems to defy general film making logic. Kathryn Bigelow (left) has been prepping for Triple Frontier for some time, but now she's cast Tom Hanks she's having to put the film on ice whilst waiting for a gap in Tom's schedule. Oddly she may use that time to rush out a quick movie - very Soderbergh like. Kathryn and her Hurt Locker scribe Mark Boal look set to write, cas and film an entire movie in the next 6 months or so. I hope they have an idea already because I'd hate for them to get bogged down in the planning stage or rush into something.
Casting News
Some interesting little casting titbits with confirmation that Cate Blancett will return as Galadriel in The Hobbit, Charlize Theron is looking at a role in Clint Eastwood's Hoover biopic - now called J. Edgar - alongside Armie Hammer and Gerard Depardieu and Irfan Khan will star in The Life of Pi.
Sunday, 5 December 2010
A trip to the 60's - (Film News - 04/12/10)
Still surrounded by snow miles from home, but at least I'm back on a computer that works - ish. With that in mind I'm going back to the on the fly version of rounding up the big news on the cinematic front. To be honest I quite like the energy and pressure involved in this - it keeps me focussed on the task in hand and I'm able to condense the stories into one hour of writing! On the other hand I can't get a cup of tea half way through and I'm sure my spelling gets worse. But, what can you do?
Inherent Vice
With The Master's funding having dried up (no connection to the apparent anti-scientology message of the script) Paul Thomas Anderson has found himself looking for a new project. Until this week when he's started to be linked with Thomas Pynchon's private eye yarn Inherent Vice. Taking the tropes of Chandler and Hammett, Pynchon looks at the tail end of the summer of love and a plot to kidnap a multi-billionaire. Robert Downey Jnr is rumoured for the marijuana addicted dectective Doc Sportello.
I love detective stories and the chance to see Anderson take on this sort of convoluted plot is delicious, so this is definitely one to look forward to.
Read on for African war stories, labyrinths and two (yes, two) musical adapatations.
Ben Affleck's East Congo Concept
Less an actual film than a vague desire, but Ben Affleck has been bringing up the issue of the Eastern Congo Initiative in order to bring the long standing conflict into the public eye. It's nice to see that Affleck is genuinely concerned about what has been referred to as the African World War and which involves over 9 countries in a long history of guerilla warfare. Tragicaly his perception that the studios just won't support such a project is almost certainly true.
The Maze Runner
It's another young adult series that may just lead to a replacement Potter franchise. This one is about a boy who wakes up in the centre of a maze, which is constantly shifting. Sounds a little like Labyrinth to me, and I'm not completely sure how that could sustain more than one movie successfully.
The Scottsboro Boys/Next to Normal
You wait for ages for a big screen musical then two turn up at once. Lee Daniels has stated an interest in bringing the former, a musical based on the true story of nine African American men falsely accused of rape and trying to find justice in a corrupt and racist system. The second is about a surburban mother with bipolar disorder and has recently been showered with a bucketful of Tonys and a Pulitzer Prize.
I have to say neither feel like the subject matter that normally fits with musical theatre, which may just be why I'm a little excited about seeing the final results.
Robocop
Finally
Casting News
I've not done this for a couple of weeks, so excuse me for being a little jumpy. Sir Ian McKellan has confirmed on his own website that's he's set to return as Gandalf in The Hobbit (quell surprise!). Paul Giamatti is up for David Cronenburg's limo set thrill ride Cosmopolis. Tom Hanks has confirmed he will star in Triple Frontier, although I'm sure I've read that before.
Saturday, 5 June 2010
Film News (05/06/10)
There's been a (middle) earth shattering piece of news this week which has certainly dominated the headlines of the websites I usually catch up my gossip from, so I'll be starting with that and what it may mean, but after the jump you'll see it wasn't the only thing that happened. Although I'll confess none of the other film stories have been quite as interesting.
The Hobbit
Guillermo Del Toro, the visionary director of Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy, has stood down from the Lord of the Rings prequel. In a statement posted on the fansite The One Ring Guillermo starts with "In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming “The Hobbit,” I am faced with the hardest decision of my life. After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures."
Naturally I feel for the choice that Guillermo has had to make, but I fully respect his decision and his artistic and personal integrity remains intact. Obviously it seems that the continued delays and financial problems within MGM will have long reaching consequences. First Bond falls and now the planned 2012 film will almost certainly see protracted delays. The question now is who will step up to direct, with so much work already have been done which director will be able to handle such a massive enterprise yet still be able to put their own stamp on the property. The obvious choice, writer and producer Peter Jackson, has stated he would direct the film if no-one else will but he also has a contracted Tintin movie in his schedule and I'm not sure that "alright, I'll do it" attitude is what's needed for the project.
This is a hobbit hole, an already envisioned by Peter Jackson and WETA, note whoever takes on the project most of the designs will already be done.
It's not, by the way, a story that I necessarily believe needs telling (and it certainly doesn't need to be split over 2 movies) but I won't deny I will be queueing up for tickets if it ever makes it to cinemas whoever has been behind the camera.
Read on for Brits on holiday, buddy comedy re runs, a virginal couple learning what it all means, a hip hop biopic, the latest productions to get underway according to IMDb and we say goodbye to a very special counter-culture icon.
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Can you imagine a film that brings together British acting icons like Peter O'Toole, Judi Dench, Julie Christie and Tom Wilkinson then throws them all together in a Nursing home on the other side of the World? That's the premise of Fox Searchlight latest development, based on the novel These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach. When an entrepreneurial Bangalore resident, set to be played by Dev Patel, opens a hotel for elderly Brits to spend their last years in - sounds a touch like Empire nostalgia but I'll let that pass - he gets more than he bargained for. Expect the residents and staff alike to make friends, overcome prejudices and learn valuable lessons about life and death.
Midnight Run 2
In the loose genre of mismatched buddy comedies one of the highlights is 1988's comic gem Midnight Run. A sequel has been on the cards for some time, but this week we came the closest we have done so far to hearing Charles Grodin, the originals mob accountant on the run, will be joining Robert De Niro in it. I hope so. I'm not sure the concept would work without both of the main parties, and it needs to work to get the foul taste of the last Bounty Hunter comedy out of our mouths..
On Chesil Beach
With the critical and commercial film success of Ian McEwen's novels Enduring Love and Atonement it's a wonder Hollywood hasn't jumped all over his back catalogue. Maybe it starts here with Sam Mendes announcing his intention to film On Chesil Beach, McEwen's novel (left) about a pair of repressed virgins trying and failing to make love for the first time in 1960's Britain. I'm not sure where the novel goes with that, Amazon warns of doubts and recriminations, but it will certainly be an interesting counterpoint to Mendes' Revolutionary Road.
Tupac
Did you think that 2009's Notorious, the biopic of East Coast rapper Notorious B.I.G, came short on the feud between rival labels that left him and Tupac Shakur both dead? Well prepare to be disappointed again as Tupac's side of the relationship in under covered in his biopic. I could be wrong but I imagine that whilst this may be the most intriguing part of their careers the writes and producers will feel it's mud that's best not scrapped.
Dennis Hopper
This week we learnt of the unsurprising but still shocking passing of one of cinema's most prolific and out-spoken talents. As an actor he was forthright and showy stealing scenes from much bigger stars and he was an amazingly accomplished photographer and painter, but it's as a director that I will remember him most. In 1969, with the release of the seminal Easy Rider, he brought the counter culture into the mainstream acknowledging it's upcoming failures and single-handedly changed the American Indie Movie making scene forever. Without Hopper paving the way we would not have the variety and accessibility of cinema we have today and for that we truly salute his achievements.
Dennis Hopper, 1936-2010
Production News
I've been peeking on IMDb again, trying to see what new pictures have stepped up a gear in production. I have to say it is a bit of a losing battle as for every new film I want to see we do lose a couple, maybe they're cancelled or postponed or drift straight to DVD, but I dare say some of these movies listed below will make it to a cinema near you.
This month has seen production start on a large number of projects I've already highlighted in the news section. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, with it's continuous stream of casting rumours (Daniel Craig being the latest); Jane Fonda's latest comeback movie Peace, Love and Understanding; Lone Schefig's One Day; fish out of water satire Salmon Fishing in the Yemen; biopics of Marilyn Monroe (Blonde) and Sam Childers (Machine Gun Preacher); portmanteau movie Shanghai, I Love You; two polar opposite sci-fi properties Paani, about a future with no water, and Keanu Reeves getting lonely in space for Passengers; and Pedro Almodovar's horror film The Skin I Live In.
As usual though there are a few films that have sneaked into production with me knowing absolutely nothing about them. It's rare that I would consider these ones to be good - after all there's probably a reason the studios aren't advertising - but there's certainly a lot of fun trying to work out how bad they're going to be.
Toad Trip - live action fairytales are suddenly popular with Catherine Hardwicke's Red Riding Hood and Bryan Singer's Jack the Giant Killer leading the way so it seems plausible that a Frog Prince would be greenlit. Although you'd have thought this would be too close to the same ground that was covered in Disney's The Princess and the Frog, and that punny title really has to go.
El Lector - indie director Victor Nunez cranks out a film every few years that's warmly received, his most famous being 1997's Ulee's Gold which earned Peter Fonda a Best Actor Academy Award nomination. His last was Spoken Word, starring Kuno Becker as a street poet, which disappeared without trace following it's debut at the Toronto film Festival. Nevertheless I'm still keen to see his latest work, the title of which translates to The Reader, and may relate to monastic orders.
No Man's Land - it's probably a bit harsh putting Sam Raimi's most recent picture in this section, but I really can't remember seeing any details about it before. It looks like it might be a remake of countless movies about people in a waiting room between death and the next life. As a concept it could be as intellectually challenging as Sartre's No Exit or as pulpy as a Hammer horror - with Raimi I'm hoping for the former and expecting the latter. 
I doubt this picture, which comes up when you search for God's waiting room on Google, is relevant, but I do like it with thanks to the source.
