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And the Director of 'Clash of the Titans 2' Is...
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Deals, Warner Brothers, Remakes and Sequels
If you've been eagerly anticipating the name of the director who'll take the directing reins on the Clash of the Titans sequel, then here's your answer (via THR): Jonathan Liebesman. Liebesman is best known for directing The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and Darkness Falls, both middling (if that) horror efforts, but it's Liebesman's latest directorial effort, Battle: Los Angeles, Leibesman's Black Hawk Down-style alien-invasion flick, set to hit theaters next March, that has impressed studio heads at Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures sufficiently to give Liebesman a shot at an action- and visual-effects heavy blockbuster/tentpole. Money was apparently a sticking point in negotiations (it usually is), but now that Liebesman and Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures have agreed on a salary, pre-production on the sequel can begin. Given Clash of the Titans $500 million international box-office take, Warner Bros. was (and is) eager to move forward with the sequel. They've already commissioned a treatment for Clash of the Titans 2. Writers Greg Berlanti (Green Lantern), Dan Mazeau, and David Leslie Johnson (Red Riding Hood) contributed to the treatment. Mazeau and Johnson will write the screenplay for Liebesman to direct.
Tupac Shakur Movie Adds Oscar-Nominated Writers
Filed under: Drama, Deals, Scripts, Distribution, Newsstand
After the 2009 kerfuffle between Afeni Shakur's Amaru Entertainment and Morgan Creek was settled, production was set to begin this September on the Tupac Shakur biopic directed by Antoine Fuqua (Brooklyn's Finest, Shooter, Training Day). According to Vulture, shooting has been put off until mid-November, probably because Stephen J. Rivele and Chris Wilkinson have been brought on for rewrites. The two screenwriters earned themselves an Oscar nomination for their screenplay Nixon in 1995, and also wrote Ali together.Rivele and Wilkinson are taking the biopic in a different direction; while it was previously a more traditional and linear tale of Shakur's life, it will now "center on the last day of Tupac's life, flashing back to show the final four years leading up to it."
The 1996 unsolved murder Shakur, the rapper, actor, and poet, has been the subject of much speculation and conspiracy theories over the years. (Some people have even "seen" the slain rapper, much like others have has Elvis sightings. Those are my favorite conspiracy theorists.)
Neil Marshall Makes Underground Supper Clubs Horrific
Filed under: Horror, Thrillers, Deals, Scripts
If there's one thing I want to pluck off my to-do list and move to my have-done list in the very near future, it's underground supper clubs. Rather than going out to a fancy restaurant to gorge on any old meal, many are falling victim to the lure of secret, one-of-a-kind foodie adventures. Not advertised or set in one locale day after day, these clubs exist outside the law (no food inspections and stringent guidelines apply), moving from place to place and often offering up unique fare you'd rarely see on a regular old menu. Sign up, wait, and soon you're dining with a handful of strangers in an intimate locale. Sometimes it's just straight-forward chef creations, and sometimes it's something you might not be used to, like horse, or maybe crunchy l'il insects.Naturally, Hollywood wants in, and they see it as the perfect venue for horror.
Indie Roundup: 'Street Games, 'Want Money,' 'Red Hill'
Filed under: Deals, New Releases, Distribution, Cinematical Indie
Indie Roundup is your weekly guide to what's new and upcoming in the world of independent film. Pictured above: Ryan Kwanten in Red Hill (see Deals after the jump).
Opening / Expanding. Why not try something different and head to the art house for the last weekend of the month? Among the limited releases that are opening or expanding:
- Centurion. The latest from Neil Marshall (The Descent) is a bracingly violent adventure. See Scott Weinberg's review.
- Mesrine: Killer Instinct. The first part of an epic that explores the brutal life of a French gangster in the 60s and 70s.
- Daniel y Ana. The close relationship between a young woman, about to be married, and her teenage brother is put to the test when both are kidnapped.
- Change of Plans. A summer dinner party reveals secret affairs of the heart in a comedy by Daniele Thompson.
- Get Low. Robert Duvall gives an extraordinary performance as a recluse come to settle affairs with his very unusual funeral plans; Bill Murray is an accommodating funeral home owner; with Lucas Black and Sissy Spacek. Expands onto 570 screens. Check Scott Weinberg's review.
'Transformers' Kurtzman to Direct Dysfunctional Family Drama
Filed under: Drama, Deals, Scripts, Newsstand, Dreamworks, Steven Spielberg
It seems like just yesterday when Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci, the screenwriters for summer smashes like Star Trek, Transformers (2007) and its 2009 sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, were in the trades every other day with new projects. A Star Trek sequel! Cowboys and Aliens! A view-master movie! Instead, Kurtzman's been given the go-ahead by DreamWorks and Steven Spielberg to direct his first full-length feature, Welcome to People, which is based on a script he wrote with Orci and director Jody Lambert. According to Vulture, Kurtzman decided to pitch his old script once he and Orci got hot in Hollywood, lest he be relegated to genre flicks.
Welcome to People is definitely not action or alien-friendly, according to what Vulture and other outlets like Heat Vision are describing.
Vulture reports:
Will an old script that they're getting made by virtue of their success on other projects really fly? Although Kurtzman and Orci have proved their value on action/sci-fi fare, Welcome to People sounds melodramatic and what younger screenwriters come up with a la Zach Braff's Garden State where everyone takes themselves very seriously and there's a type of everything-and-the-kitchen-sink dysfunction junction. Then again, Steven Spielberg's blessing carries a weight in Hollywood like few others, so perhaps the script itself has more dimension than what these tidbits suggest.Welcome to People tells the story of a struggling twentysomething man who, after flying home to L.A. for the funeral of his estranged record-producer father, discovers that the will stipulates that he must deliver $150,000 in cash to a 30-year-old alcoholic sister he never knew existed, and her troubled 12-year-old son. Determined to keep the money to solve his own problems, he's nonetheless fascinated by his unknown kin and makes contact with the two without revealing who he really is.
And in the distance, I hear the wails, "What about the view-master movie, dammit?!"
Michael Cera Finds a New Teen Slacker for FX Series
The bafflingly poor box-office showing for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World has led some to wonder if the problem is "Michael Cera burnout" -- that audiences are a tad weary of seeing Cera play the same laid-back, wry, doe-eyed teen in role after role. Well, get ready for Michael Cera to change gears and show a side you've never seen before! Okay, not really. The Wrap reports that Cera's developing a TV show for FX entitled "13th Grade" about ... wait for it ... a high-school graduate who seeks to improve his life after being dumped by his girlfriend.Executive-producer Cera will not, surprisingly, be taking on the main role himself, but will appear in a cameo in the pilot. One of his producing partners, Emily Kapnek, was consulting producer on NBC's "Parks And Recreation" and a co-executive producer for seven episodes of the first season of HBO's "Hung." Kapnek and Cera are writing the pilot with Derek Waters and Paige Gullivan.
Check out this short version of "13th Grade" created by Water and Gullivan for an idea of what to expect -- it looks a bit like what you'd get if you jammed "Community" into a wood chipper with Scott Pilgrim:
Wait ... Angelina Jolie is Writing and Directing that Bosnian War Romance?
Filed under: Drama, Deals, War
Yesterday, word hit that Angelina Jolie had found her next project -- a romance set during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War. The announcement came from Reuters, who said very little about the project, referring only to a press release and including a few quotes. But it looks like there were some secrets hidden between the lines. If a new report is right, when they wrote "Angelina Jolie to film" and "Jolie is starting work on," they weren't referring to Jolie jumping in front of the camera. They were referring to Jolie stepping behind it for her first feature film, from her own script, no less. Yep, on the heels of headlining Salt, it seems that Ms. Jolie has decided to take her career down a new path.
Could Weta Make 'Panzer 88' the Next Big Thing?
Filed under: Horror, Deals, New Releases, Distribution, Newsstand, Peter Jackson, War
Peter Briggs' independent WWII horror film, Panzer 88 -- which revolves around a five-man German tank crew that encounters a supernatural beastie as they drive across Russia -- has been generating buzz since it first came to light earlier this year. Gary Kurtz, a producer on the first two beloved Star Wars movies is overseeing, which is a pretty big deal. It's being directed by Briggs, who's best known for co-writing the screenplay for Hellboy. Now comes the biggest news of all -- Richard Taylor and Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop have signed on to handle the film's physical production.
Although this story broke within a Geoff Boucher L.A. Times article covering Kurtz' attendance at the major Star Wars convention in Orlando two weeks ago, I'd received a heads-up email from the director with details of Weta Workshop's involvement ahead of time, and kept it quiet until everything was officially in place. That's now happened, so we can spread the news about this exciting project.
Get the scoop and dig into Briggs' personal story board art after the jump.
'Monster Dogs' Movie is Like Frankenstein Meets Doug from 'Up'
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, New Releases, Distribution
Straight from the Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot file comes this exclusive from Heat Vision -- Chris Wedge and his WedgeWorks company have secured the rights to make a film adaptation of Kirsten Bakis' Lives of the Monster Dogs.If you don't know what Lives of the Monster Dogs is about, you're probably wondering what's so strange about this story. Allow me to clarify. Monster Dogs is a Frankenstein-esque tale about a group of dog soldiers created by mad Prussian scientists -- who happen to be hiding out in Canada. The dogs revolt against their creators, start walking around on their hind legs and talking through voice-box devices, and then turn up in modern day NYC ... in 19th century garb. Yeah, how weird is this?
The film is told through the eyes of a college student who chronicles the dog's tragic lives as they slowly revert back to their animal form. Sounds uplifting ...
Wedge, director of Ice Age, is hoping the film will be his live-action feature debut. Adam Kline will adapt the novel, which Wedge read back in 1998 and always wanted to make into a feature. Naturally, this will be an effects-laden project (it's hard to find walking, talking dogs apparently), but I'll admit I'm intrigued by the idea of seeing this on a big screen. It's so weird it could either be brilliant or a total disaster.
No word as of yet when filming might commence. Kline just finished a rewrite on Artemis Fowl and Wedge is hard at work on The Legend of the Leaf Men, a film based on the kid's novel The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs.
Any interest in checking out a film version of Monster Dogs or does this one sound too weird for you? Share your opinion below.
'Imaginary Enemies' Have Friends at DreamWorks
Filed under: Animation, Deals, Dreamworks
When you're a little kid and you get caught doing something bad, what do you do? You certainly don't apologize; you blame it on your imaginary friend. Seemed like a harmless solution at the time, but now those imaginary friends are pissed and are looking for revenge. According to THR, that's the premise of DreamWorks Animation's new film with the working title Imaginary Enemies.The concept came about during a DWA retreat a few years ago and will now be written by the husband and wife duo, Joe Syracuse and Lisa Addario. Shrek Forever After director, Mike Mitchell, is lending a hand as well although he's not confirmed to direct. It just so happens that Steven Spielberg, a DreamWorks co-founder, was toying around with a story of his own on the topic and was even set to direct Fox's Harvey, a remake of the 1950 Jimmy Stewart movie about a man and an imaginary rabbit. Things didn't pan out and now Spielberg is back with DreamWorks working on WarHorse.
Regardless of what Spielberg's up to, DWA is still thrilled with the potential of this concept. In fact, the studio is considering dabbling in new territory and possibly developing the film as a live-action/animation hybrid. Although I'm usually wary when live-action and animated characters collide, this sounds like a film that could really benefit from the technique.
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And the Director of 'Clash of the Titans 2' Is...
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