Both of the upcoming animated releases that aren't Wall-E or Space Chimps got new trailers yesterday. Here's one for Igor (and here's a link to the poster we premiered a few weeks ago), and here's one for Kung Fu Panda.
Kung Fu Panda looks like it'll be just a step or two above -- *shudder* -- Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Igor, on the other hand, looks like a charmer: the premise is inherently nerdy, requiring viewers to think back to the original Frankenstein films (or at least Young Frankenstein, or Van Helsing in a pinch) to get the joke, and the trailer has a few big laughs.
The biggest upside of Kung Fu Panda coming out on June 6th: those of us who frequent AMC Theaters will no longer have to endure the Kung Fu Panda-themed pre-movie interlude exhorting viewers to shut up. I'm not sure how many more times I can listen to Jack Black tell me that he can hear me texting before I have an aneurysm. But I guess I should be grateful AMC is no longer airing that horrid Three Doors Down "Citizen Soldier" video pimping the National Guard (because no one screams "role model" to teenagers like the lead singer of Three Doors Down). That thing gave me nightmares.
I can't be the only one who's just a little relieved that Jonah Hill has dropped out of negotiations to star in Transformers 2. Hill is riding high on the comedy wave, and while a big-budget summer flick is always a career booster, it's not like Michael Bay is known for his comedy. According to Entertainment Weekly, "negotiations between Jonah Hill and Dreamworks have broken down, and the Superbad star is no longer expected play a sidekick to Shia LaBeouf in the upcoming sequel from director Michael Bay."
Bay and company are expected to start production on Transformers 2 this summer at the University of Pennsylvania, which fit with early reports that Hill would be playing Sam Witwicky's (LaBeouf) college roommate. Now that Hill is out of the picture, maybe a little co-ed co-habitation could be in his future since Teresa Palmer signed for an unnamed role last week.
There were no details about why Hill chose not to sign on the dotted line, but I'm sure a lot of fans are glad that he did. Unfortunately it's not all good news coming from Hill's people; instead of starring in Transformers 2, he has agreed to appear in the follow-up to A Night at the Museum -- so now I don't know what to think. As crappy as Transformers 2 might turn out to be (and there is a good chance it could be pretty darn crappy), it would definitely be a step up from A Night at the Museum 2. Or maybe not.
What do you think? Should Jonah stick to the simple comedies without all the big-budgeted effects?
Either Erik has missed his calling as a casting agent, or maybe he just knew something we didn't. A few weeks ago, Erik oh-so casually mentioned that Jonah Hill would be perfect for the new comedic sidekick role in Transformers 2. Entertainment Weekly now reports that Hill is in early talks to play sidekick to Shia LaBeouf (early speculation is that he will play LaBeouf's college roommate) in the follow up to the summer blockbuster. I might not have been a big fan of the so-called comedy in the first Transformers flick, but at least if Hill does sign on, he'll be able to pull off some snappy rapport with LaBeouf.
Remember, Transformers 2 is still a Michael Bay film; and as to be expected, the man has not been able to shut up about it. Proving that sometimes too much self-promotion really can be a bad thing. Originally, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Ehren Kruger had been hired to write the script, and the tone was going to be "darker, and moodier." Unfortunately, Bay couldn't keep his hands to himself, and he has since proclaimed that he has written the script, and that it is awesome. Something tells me if Bay is in charge, we are going to have a lot more jokes about robots peeing on each other. If nothing else, it will dovetail nicely with Hill's love of body-fluid humor.
I have to concur with the reader on Superhero Hype when he/she said "Yet more comics I've never heard of." Indeed. According to The Hollywood Reporter, DreamWorks has just optioned Platinum Comics' Atlantis Rising five-part series to develop into a live action movie.
The series takes a different approach than the usual "lost city of vast mythological wealth." Instead, seismic disturbances at sea force the military to investigate the deepest realm of the ocean, and an underground civilization emerges to wage war with Earth. "The comic brings a fresh, techno-thriller approach to a story that holds all the tenets of a classic us-vs.-them alien invasion movie," says DreamWorks Alex Kurtzman, who is producing the project.
Platinum Comics' CEO, Mitchell Rosenberg, says the project echoes "the global debate on our impact to the environment." That's becoming the new buzz phrase -- I think I first heard it with the Dune remake, and it just keeps coming back.
If you're interested in checking out the series, Drunk Duck has three issues up to read free of charge. I have to confess, I only got about halfway through the first one and it didn't grab my interest. But maybe I am just not in the mood. Let me know if I need to go back for a second look and read up to issue three. I don't think I have ever seen a good story centered around Atlantis, though.
There's been a flurry of buzz around theatrical 3-D lately, perhaps because James Cameron has come out of hiding to talk a bit about Avatar. (If you haven't yet read this interview with the King of the World, do so immediately.) The last thing we heard was that exhibitors have ganged up on Steven Spielberg for apparently standing in the way of the digital revolution. But Spielberg seems to have seen the light: he's acquired the rights to the Japanese manga Ghost in the Shell for Dreamworks, which plans to film it in -- you guessed it -- digital 3-D. A Dreamworks suit boasts that the story "epitomizes 3-D live-action motion picture possibilities."
If that title sounds familiar, it's because the manga has already been adapted into one of the most celebrated anime films of all time. The story involves an attempt to fight cyber-crime by creating a breed of ultra-powerful cyborgs, which strikes me as a terrible idea. I found Mamoru Oshii's movie visually spectacular but impenetrable -- I'm not an anime buff, and it confused the hell out of me. I'm sure that if nothing else, Dreamworks will find a way to solve that problem. Jamie Moss (Street Kings) is taking a crack at writing the adaptation.
If he wasn't already damned by writing a Paul Walker dog movie, filmmaker David DiGilio sure is now. According to Variety, the writer of Eight Below has just signed a deal with DreamWorks to bring the graphic novel The Damned to the big screen. Mr. DiGilio will be making his directorial debut on the flick, which is about "a Los Angeles detective who discovers that a new gang with ties to the supernatural has infiltrated the city." Yep, it's a horror noir.
A little more digging (over at Oni Press) reveals a bit more of a plot synopsis: "Caught in the middle of a sinister web of murder, kidnapping, betrayal, and damnation, Eddie -- cursed and unable to rest -- can't escape the city's most ruthless warring demon gangs. This action-packed prohibition-era thriller combines the supernatural sensibilities of Joss Whedon with the stark reality of Miller's Crossing and The Godfather." Sounds all fine and good, but I'd have argue about the "reality" found in Miller's Crossing. It's my all-time favorite gangster movie, but realism ain't exactly what it was going for.
So congrats to Damned creators Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt on the big Hollywood sale. We'll all keep our fingers crossed on the movie version.
There's currently a crisis in the theater industry and apparently it's all Steven Spielberg's fault. According to Variety coverage of Sunday's National Association of Broadcasters Show's Digitial Cinema Summit, the filmmaker was named as a constant obstacle in the transition to digital cinema.
Spielberg's insistence against releasing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulldigitally was overruled last month when Paramount announced that it would indeed open the summer blockbuster on some digital screens, but the fact that it won't be a full digital release, coupled with the fact that Spielberg still doesn't "get" the fact that digital is superior to film, is a problematic issue for an industry having difficulties installing a necessary amount of digital projectors by 2009.
Granted, it's not like Eagle Eye is the Shia LaBeouf flick that has the world on the edge of their seats (cough, Crystal Skull, cough) -- but, the luckiest guy in Hollywood has been busy bouncing between sets for a while now. Paramount and Dreamworks have released the first photo from LaBeouf's political thriller, Eagle Eye (you can see the hi-res version by clicking the image above).
Eagle Eye stars LaBeouf as a slacker type struggling with the mysterious death of his over-achieving brother. When he returns home, he discovers that he and a single mother (as played by Michelle Monaghan) have been framed as terrorists. When the two are forced to join a real terror cell bent on political assassination, they have to figure out a way to bring down the bad guys and get out alive. On a side note: does it make me a jaded moviegoer if I say that I can smell a twist coming involving the dead brother a mile off?
I really think that if Tropic Thunder lives up to our expectations, this may very well be the "Summer of Downey." For starters, I'm already sold on Iron Man, and believe me, it has nothing to do with a love of men in big metal suits. Paramount Pictures has released three new character posters for the action comedy and there is just something about Downey's whacked out expression that brings a smile to my face. Although to be fair, I'm steering clear of the whole 'black face' debate until I actually see the movie. Especially since it seems a little early in the game to start crying "racist" when no one has even seen Downey's performance yet.
Thunder was written and directed by Ben Stiller, who also stars as a spoiled action star cast in a big budget war flick that is spiraling out of control. Tired of dealing with spoiled stars and unruly locations, the director (played by Steve Coogan) decides to drop his actors in the middle of a real armed conflict in hopes of adding some 'verité' to the film. Of course, the actors are all clueless of the fact they are no longer in the cozy confines of a movie set and wackiness ensues.
So place your bets: Do you think Tropic Thunder is going to be this summer's big comedy? We'll find out if Stiller can live up to the hype when the film opens in theaters on August 15th. Check out larger versions of all three posters, plus additional photos from the film in the gallery below.
The Ruins opened on Friday like most horror films, with a single, late Thursday night "promo" screening, to which the press was gamely invited in full knowledge that it would be too late for review, even for any reasonable web deadline. What's different about The Ruins is that it's not a remake or even a copy of any horror film of recent years. We're talking first-class material, adapted from a novel by Scott B. Smith, who wrote both the mesmerizing 1993 book A Simple Plan as well as Sam Raimi's masterful 1998 film of the same name. It's a terrific airplane novel, surprising and gripping, and Dreamworks could have made an outstanding film of it. But they threw it away, perhaps deliberately, hoping for some of that fast opening weekend green, and little caring about making something worthwhile or lasting (like A Simple Plan).
Ben Stiller is set to produce and possibly star in DreamWorks' The Return of King Doug, a fantasy film based on the graphic novel by Greg Erb and Jason Oremland.
The graphic novel, which is being published by Oni Press, hasn't even hit the shelves yet before being snapped up by DreamWorks. The Hollywood Reporterwrites that Erb and Oremland, screenwriting veterans fresh off two Disney projects, will also pen the script.
Doug is the story of a man who returns to the fantasy world he left 30 years ago. It sounds like it could be a more mature Narnia, or a rehash of Hook. Unfortunately, as the book is not due to be published until 2009, Oni's website has absolutely nothing on it. It's difficult to say what this might be like. Will it be a serious fantasy adventure? Call me unimaginative, but I cannot see Stiller as an Aragorn, proudly reclaiming his throne -- because you know he'll have to after 30 years away.
Peter Morgan, screenwriter of The Queen, The Last King of Scotland and The Other Boleyn Girl, is fast becoming one of Hollywood's hottest commodities. Variety tells us that his latest, a supernatural thriller called Hereafter, has been sold to Dreamworks for seven figures. Morgan's prestige no doubt helped the sale, though Dreamworks may also have had a Pavlovian response to the fact that the screenplay is pitched as being "in the vein of The Sixth Sense."
Morgan has a unique and very valuable talent for telling stories that are hugely entertaining and "respectable" at the same time. The Other Boleyn Girl was a steamy, melodramatic soap opera that managed to worm its way into the arthouses, presumably because of its historical grounding. His play Frost/Nixon was a political gabfest that became a Broadway sensation and is now being adapted for the screen by Ron Howard. The Queen took a dry subject and transcended demographics on its way to several Oscar nominations. Studios understandably flock to him. I'm very interested to see if he can bring the same sort of aura of dignity to a ghost story. Maybe Hereafter's biggest similarity to The Sixth Sense will be that Morgan, like M. Night Shyamalan, will get the supernatural thriller genre some rare Oscar attention.
No more details about Hereafter are currently available -- it has nothing to do with this David Strathairn film -- but I'm keeping my eye on it.
Like our own Scott Weinberg, I'm a fan of the Scott B. Smith novel that is the basis for the upcoming horror flick The Ruins, though I'm hoping the filmmakers cut out certain risible elements -- not the scenes that made me wince, but ones that were so stupid they made me want to throw the book across the room. As a whole, though, the book is very good in setting up a scenario that slowly morphs from perfectly ordinary to horrifying beyond belief.
Scott pointed to posters and a "red-band" trailer last month and now two new clips have been released. They're both available on the restricted portion of the official site, where you'll need to provide your name and date of birth to gain entry. If the trailer left horror fans wondering how far they would push things in the gore department, the clips -- especially the one titled "Get It Out" -- make it clear. They're blood-soaked, but more in the vein of excruciating rather than exploitative.
For a story like The Ruins, featuring a small group of characters dealing with a terrifying situation, it needs to be grounded in reality, and I'm hoping for the best. Carter Smith makes his directorial debut; the film stars Jonathan Tucker, Laura Ramsey, Shawn Ashmore and Jena Malone, all of whom look up to the task of screaming and grimacing, at least in the trailer and clips. The Ruins creeps into theaters on April 4.
Baruchel will voice the boy, named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, who is saddled with an undersized and uncooperative dragon. Butler is the father and chief of the tribe, Stoick the Vast (how appropriate for a former Beowulf), while Ferrera voices Astrid, who partners with Hiccup for the initiation. Hill will play Snotlout, a bully who thinks he should be the next chief, and Mintz-Plasse portrays Fishlegs, a Viking big in size but small in brains.
It's here! Surely this must be one of the quickest follow-ups to a teaser in trailer history. You can watch an official, high quality version over on the film's official website if you prefer. I am trying to tell myself that this won't be as funny as the trailer -- that all the good stuff will be ruined -- but I can't make myself believe it. And it is all because of Robert Downey Jr. wearing a monk's robe and freaky Dune-blue contacts. Plus I want to know what the heck Ben Stiller is doing with two baby pandas.
Tropic Thunderopens on August 15th, 2008. And I still want an official patch.
Both of the upcoming animated releases that aren't Wall-E or Space Chimps got new trailers yesterday. Here's one for Igor (and here's a link to the poster we premiered a few weeks ago), and here's one for Kung Fu Panda.
I can't be the only one who's just a little relieved that 
Either Erik has missed his calling as a casting agent, or maybe he just knew something we didn't. A few weeks ago, Erik oh-so casually 
I have to concur with the reader on Superhero Hype when he/she said "Yet more comics I've never heard of." Indeed. According to 
There's been a flurry of buzz around theatrical 3-D lately, perhaps because 
If he wasn't already damned by writing a Paul Walker dog movie, filmmaker 
There's currently a crisis in the theater industry and apparently it's all .jpg)
I really think that if 
Ben Stiller is set to produce and possibly star in DreamWorks' The Return of King Doug, a fantasy film based on the graphic novel by 
Peter Morgan
Like our own Scott Weinberg, I'm a fan of the Scott B. Smith novel that is the basis for the upcoming horror flick 
I tried not to make that joke -- but hey, everyone else is using McLovin' ones!
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Full 'G.I. Joe' Cast Photos!
