Back in January, I alerted you to writer/director Rupert Wyatt's latest film called The Trail, which was set to start shooting this spring in New Mexico. Written by Wyatt, Trail is about a few soldiers on a base in New Mexico who get led on a trail by a Native American woman to help her brother, "who has been badly hurt in mysterious circumstances." Now the film is heading into production this September, and Variety reports that two other films are getting added to the mix.
Through Paramount Vantage, he will adapt Samuel Logan's book, This Is for the Mara Salvatrucha. The book is about a girl named Brenda Paz, who was a teen member of the MS-13 gang. When she became an informant for the FBI, she was killed by fellow gang members. This should be a pretty personal account, as it's getting made with the cooperation of her court-appointed guardian, Greg Hunter, who was not only her defense attorney, but her friend.
Also up for filming is a flick at Warner Bros. called Slipping Into Darkness, which Blake Masters is adapting from Peter Blauner's novel. This one is a "cat-and-mouse thriller about a cop who, 20 years after sending a teenage to jail for life, watches him freed on a technicality."
Between informants and friendships, freed-killer thrillers, and soldiers heading into mystery, Wyatt has his hands full. In the meantime, we can wait for Think Film to release his film The Escapist, which debuted at Sundance this year.
With tales of Grand Theft Auto IV breaking sales records, and cartoon Russian Mob bosses plastered on billboards everywhere you look, it is the perfect time to give the Bratva more screen time (and it's probably about time we gave the Italians a break). The Hollywood Reporterannounced that Morgan Creek, in partnership with Universal, have purchased Rand Ravich's Russian mob script, Gregory Burns. Ravich's script centers on an undercover cop from Arizona who re-locates to L.A. to take down a Russian crime family.
Ravich has a mixed bag of credits to his name, including video games (Crime Lords), TV (Life), and feature films. His last feature was the sci-fi ode to Rosemary's Baby, The Astronaut's Wife. Sure, Wife might have been bad, but it was definitely a step up from his other foray into screenwriting.
According to THR, Burns has been floating around the studio for a long time and has been at the top of many a studio exec's wish list. After a series of false starts, the profitable indie studio has finally put the film into production. There is no word on casting yet, but if Morgan Creek is half as eager as they appear to get this film into the can, it shouldn't take long.
Kidding? Yes, that's right, as in kids, young 'uns, rug rats. This week on Trailer Park, we're scoping out previews of movies that are for or about the kiddies. The Rocker Kid is a relative term, but the teens populating this comedy are kids from where I'm sitting. Probably best known for playing Dwight on NBC's The Office, Rainn Wilson stars as a washed up 80s rocker who was booted out of a succesful band right before they hit it big. Kind of like Pete Best but with spandex and big hair. His teenage nephew's band is playing at the prom and they need him to fill in. The gig goes well and Wilson's character ends up touring with the band. There's a definite hint of School of Rock, but Wilson is so appealing in the role that I've chosen to overlook that and the groin injury joke (a hokey device that is often a deal breaker for me). Here's what Erik thought of the trailer.
Remember how for the longest time whenever anyone talked about Samuel L. Jackson it was usually followed by the description of Jackson as one of the hardest working actors in the business? Well, it is not like he didn't earn that reputation -- Jackson currently has one film already headed to theaters and three other films in production. Variety reports that Jackson will add the spy thriller Unthinkable to the pile.
Gregor Jordan (The Informers) has already signed to direct the story of a "major threat to the United States when the locations of three nuclear devices are shrouded in secrecy by a single terrorist. With only two days before they are deployed, a black-ops interrogator and a female FBI agent have to decide how far they will go to find them" -- knowing Jackson's flair for interrogation I can only assume he will play the interrogator in the film.
Jackson is still filming the musical comedy Soul Men with Bernie Mac, so production on Unthinkable won't start until this fall in Minneapolis. But remember, Jackson likes to keep busy, so stay tuned for those Nick Fury updates -- because let's face it, Unthinkable will likely not be the Jackson film everyone is talking about in 2009.
Remember the days when FBI profilers hunted serial killers the old fashioned way, assisted by their fellow law enforcement officers? But ever since Clarice Starling had to go and enlist the help of Hannibal Lecter, now it is just standard protocol to pair up with a serial killer.
Deal with the Devil is the latest version of that tale -- except this one is a comic book by Mike S. Miller. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it's just been picked up by Lionsgate. The story follows FBI Agent Anthony Goodwin, a legendary manhunter until his final case. The killer he was after, Kevin Runyan, turned the tables and became his hunter. He loses his career and his suspect -- who turns up four years later, asking for his help. Goodwin must decide whether to help the man stop a dangerous copycat killer.
I'm about to take off for a week-long vacation, but I'll leave you with this: James McTeigue, whose V for Vendetta was wonderful, angry and brave, has signed on to direct a sci-fi thriller that sounds a bit like a second X-Files sequel -- which may be why I think it sounds so cool. Revelations, from a script by John Salvati (the forthcoming Andrew Niccol/Al Pacino Dali biopic), will involve a female journalist who investigates a series of bizarre murders and discovers that the dead were all being treated by the head of an organization that studies alien abductions.
V for Vendetta, as well as McTeigue's follow-up Ninja Assassin, due next year, were produced by the Wachowski Brothers. In fact, V was known more as a Wachowski Brothers film than a McTeigue film -- sort of the way Judd Apatow stole all the credit for Superbad from Greg Mottola. It doesn't sound like the Wachowskis will have a hand in this one, which might let the talented McTeigue spread his wings a bit. V showed fantastic promise; smart filmmakers who strive to make great genre films are hard to come by.
What we need is another good alien invasion TV show. Shame that no one wanted to watch the last one...
It sounds like a prank. We would all like it to be one. But it seems to be legit.
The story comes from Screen Daily, who reports that S. Darko is being shopped around, with Fox already picking up the North American distribution rights. Touted as the sequel to the 2001 cult hit, the story picks up seven years after Donnie Darko left off. The youngest Darko, Samantha, is now 18 and abandoning her commitment to Sparkle Motion. She heads to Las Vegas with her best friend Corey, but the two are plagued with bizarre visions. I imagine they will involve a rabbit.
Richard Kelly, the original director, is in no way involved. Chris Fincher Fisher* will direct instead. Daveigh Chase, who played Samantha in the original, will reprise her role. It looks like she is the only one. The movie also stars Ed Westwick, Briana Evigan, and Justin Chatwin.
As to the big looming question of why, oh God, why, Simon Crowe of UK sales company Velvet Octopus says they're thinking of the children. "I think there is a new generation of cinema-goers who will be very excited to see this film." Which generation came of age between 2001 and 2008? Why haven't they rented Donnie Darko? I am afraid these are questions to which Crowe has no answers. But he did quip, "Donnie's not in [the new film] but there are meteorites and rabbits."
Nothing is safe from the all mighty dollar, my friends. Nothing. Even when there is a pretty conclusive ending, there can always be a sequel. I'll leave you to think about that as I go pen my script for No Country for Old Men 2.
*Very kind thanks to astute reader toad_stone for pointing out our egregious misspelling of director Chris Fisher's last name. Correction made, with our apologies. - Ed.
I have to hand it to the wardrobe people for Steven Soderbergh's The Informant since it's not easy making a guy who normally looks like this look like such a schlump. The Bad and Ugly have posted some behind-the-scenes photos for the comedic thriller, and even though there is nothing earth shattering going on, they are definitely a step up from the other pics floating around out there.
The Informant is based on the true-life novel by Kurt Eichenwald. The story revolves around Mark Whitacre (Damon), a rising star at the agriculture conglomerate, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). At the urging of his wife (who had threatened to go to the FBI), Whitacre spilled the beans to an agent that he had been involved in a price-fixing scam with other major corporations over the food additive, lysine. As if that wasn't enough of a story, it was later revealed that Whitacre (one of the most high profile, whistle-blowers in history) was suffering from Bipolar disorder and had defrauded millions from ADM.
For such serious subject matter, it came as a bit of a surprise when casting announcements first went out for the film and the list was chock-full of comedic actors (including Scott Bakula and Tony Hale). Soderbergh later confirmed that the film was going to be a "dark comedy", which makes sense because Damon is a pretty funny guy, and a great straight man. Soderbergh has just begun filming on location in Decatur, Illinois and there is no official release date, but The Informant is expected to arrive in theaters in 2009.
I've been hankering for a good crime flick with a women in the lead for a long time (I can't be the only one who thinks that Catherine Zeta Jones' pregnant drug runner deserved way more screen time in Traffic). But, in the grand tradition of most crime movies, women are relegated to the sidelines as either 'the downfall of the anti-hero', or, 'sexy punching bag' -- neither of which is very flattering, but hopefully that will change with Queen of the South. Variety reports that Eva Mendes has signed to star in the big screen adaptation of Arturo Perez Reverte's crime novel, La reina del sur (Queen of the South).
The story is being touted as a "female Scarface," and centers on a woman who flees to Spain when her drug-dealing boyfriend is murdered. Once she arrives, she starts her own narcotics operation to finance revenge against her lover's murderers -- and quickly becomes top dog. Joining Mendes in the cast are Josh Hartnett and Ben Kingsley in as-yet unnamed roles.
News of the flick first surfaced last year, with Mendes, Jennifer Lopez, and Penelope Cruz on the short list for the role, but in the end Mendes won out. Personally I would have liked to see Lopez take on the role (it's been too long since we had the chance to see her be a bad ass), but I guess in a pinch Mendes will do.
Do you think Warners made the right choice with Mendes? Or is there anyone else out there who would have liked to watch Lopez 'tussle' just one more time?
You may never have heard of Henry Bean, but he made a movie called The Believerback in 2001 that single-handedly catapulted Ryan Gosling to prominence (if not stardom) before The Notebook was a twinkle in anyone's eye. (He also wrote Internal Affairs and some other, schlockier early-90's thrillers, but you probably don't remember those either.) Gosling played a Jewish young man who became an increasingly fierce Neo-Nazi, at one point donning a tallis while executing Nazi salutes. It wasn't just difficult material, it was impossible material, and the fact that Bean managed to make something coherent out of it is, I think, one of the more impressive accomplishments in indie cinema this decade.
Bean waited seven years before delivering his directorial follow-up, a dark comedy called Noise, and there's a new trailer for it up top for you to watch. (We also ran a piece on the movie last October.) It looks like a new take on Falling Down, except funnier, and with a faux-superhero twist: Tim Robbins plays an urban professional who is so incensed by the incessant noise of car alarms that he names himself the Rectifier and starts smashing up offending cars to shut them up. This causes a political brouhaha, getting the attention of the mayor (William Hurt). Oh, and it's autobiographical: apparently Bean got himself arrested breaking into cars to turn off the alarms. They are annoying, aren't they?
The movie logically gets a New York-only release on May 9th. Early reviews have been mixed, but the trailer is nifty, and the pedigree piques my interest. I hope it manages to expand.
A new month, a new video from the set of Watchmen! Zack Snyder gave this one to JoBlo for posting, and they have kindly provided an embed code so you could watch it without leaving the comfy confines of Cinematical.
This video has me seriously geeking out. It is a guided tour from costume designer Michael Wilkinson, who happily explains everything from police uniforms to the iconic outfits our heroes will be sporting. The hero costumes should help quell some of the "Oxymandias isn't gold enough!" cries that were going around, because the sketches look perfect. Nothing like the first character still.
As you may remember, I'm a costume nerd, and I can spend hours studying their construction. I would give anything to be a research gopher for someone like Wilkinson; I would live out my days happily compiling books of photos and fabric scraps. (And speaking of the designer, one of my biggest disappointments was not getting to meet him last year at ComicCon. I was under strict orders to show him the Queen Gorgo dress, and I missed him by ten minutes. Regrets!)
I am loving that first shot of what has to be Sally Jupiter -- her dress! Her hair! She's perfect. May this movie be half as good as it looks.
We found out from Erik back in February that Ellen Page is becoming a mom for the upcoming weird psychological thriller Peacock, which will co-star Cillian Murphy. Now Variety reports that three more have joined the cast -- Susan Sarandon, Bill Pullman, and Josh Lucas. (Who they will play has not been revealed.) This film is sounding better by the minute!
If you remember back, this story focuses on Peacock, Nebraska, where Murphy's character has a split personality -- a man and wife. That's not quite as weird as the fact that he fools the whole town into believing that there are two people. (I guess this is some sort of Clark Kent/Superman thing where no one notices that they're never at the same place at once.) Anyway, Page plays a young mom "who holds the key to his past and sparks a battle between the personalities."
Oh, but it gets better. The description with this story says: "a quiet bank clerk's (Murphy) life is shattered by a train crashing into his back yard revealing a woman living there." (Page, perhaps?) A train crashes onto his lawn? Revealing a woman living there? Umm... Is there some bomb shelter? Is his back yard just really, really cluttered? I don't get it. Whatever the case, it sounds like an insanely interesting story.
Despite having one of the worst reputations in Hollywood, it would appear that things are starting to look up for M. Night Shyamalan. You can check out the latest trailer Shyamalan's The Happening above, and it already has me sold on the apocalyptic thriller. Even though I was relatively impressed with the first trailer, this one has definitely amped up the creep factor (caused some serious heebie-jeebies when I saw it in front of Iron Man last weekend).
Mark Wahlberg stars as a meek and mild high school science teacher who lands smack dab in the middle of an end of days scenario. And might I add that it will be nice to see Wahlberg play something other than his usual tough guy role -- I mean, it's been too long since he's really had to act. Zooey Deschanel co-stars as his estranged wife and the criminally underused John Leguizamo, Spencer Breslin (brother to Abigail) and Ashlyn Sanchez play fellow survivors.
The Happening is scheduled for release on Friday June 13th, which will put the thriller in direct competition with The Incredible Hulk for opening weekend supremacy. Between the critics who call Shyamalan a one-trick pony, and the bad buzz for the big green guy, it's going to be a tough call for audiences. I know which film I'm going to see first -- how about you?
Iron Man is hitting screens this weekend, leaving a trail of positive reviews in its wake. Check out James' and Scott's reviews, and if you need even more iron in your diet, head on over here. With that in mind, this week's Trailer Park is all about the heroes.
Batman: Gotham Knight Returning as the voice of the caped crusader is Kevin Conroy, who lent his voice to The Bat in Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, and Justice League. This new version, however, doesn't look like any previous animated version of the character. Going straight to DVD shortly before The Dark Knight hits theaters, this feature offers six different visual interpretations of Batman from six celebrated anime artists. The approach is similar to The Animatrix, which gave an anime take on the universe of The Matrix films. The trailer looks amazing with striking interpretations of not just Batman, but also of the urban sprawl of Gotham City. Hancock I mentioned the teaser for this one in a previous Trailer Park, but now we've got a full length preview to ogle. Will Smith plays Hancock, a hero with super strength, the ability to fly and the power to piss off just about everybody (you don't get that from your average Kryptonian). His hard drinking ways have damaged his public persona seemingly beyond repair, but a PR agent played by Jason Bateman sets out to heal Hancock's relationship with the people. The humor is still there, but the new preview plays up the action, and I've got to say I'm dying to see this. While I'm not as down on Rob Zombie's Halloween remake as some, that film's detractors will probably get a kick out of the scene where Hancock tosses Daeg Faerch, the actor who played the young Michael Meyers, almost into orbit.
Now that we know the storyline for Crank 2: High Voltage is going to be a little wacky, it might give these latest behind-the-scenes photos some context. The Bad and the Ugly scored some pictures of the returning Amy Smart in all her topless glory (the pics are a little NSFW, so consider yourself warned), along with Jason Statham, and Corey Haim (rocking one heck of a mullet) hard at work on the action thriller.
Picking up where the last film left off, Statham returns as Chev Chelios, the hitman with a need for adrenaline. This time, though, he's got a busted artificial heart that requires jolts of electricity to keep it pumping. There is also something about a 100-year-old gangster named Hu Dong, but it all gets a little confusing after that.
Earlier in the week JFX Online paparazzi had taken some photos on set (mainly of Smart), but had been asked to remove them (the photos are still all over the web, so JFX has since put them back online). Their reporter even took a few cheap shots at the production, but has since retracted those comments. Writer-directors Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine have already taken their fare share of criticism for the first film, but I know for a fact there are plenty of people who couldn't care less about the critics, and they can't wait until Crank 2 hits theaters in 2009.
Back in January, I alerted you to writer/director Rupert Wyatt's latest film called The Trail, which was set to start shooting this spring in New Mexico. Written by Wyatt, Trail is about a few soldiers on a base in New Mexico who get led on a trail by a Native American woman to help her brother, "who has been badly hurt in mysterious circumstances." Now the film is heading into production this September, and Variety reports that two other films are getting added to the mix.
With tales of Grand Theft Auto IV breaking 
Remember how for the longest time whenever anyone talked about 
Remember the days when FBI profilers hunted serial killers the old fashioned way, assisted by their fellow law enforcement officers? But ever since Clarice Starling had to go and enlist the help of Hannibal Lecter, now it is just standard protocol to pair up with a serial killer.
I'm about to take off for a week-long vacation, but I'll leave you with this: 
It sounds like a prank. We would all like it to be one. But it seems to be legit. 
I have to hand it to the wardrobe people for 
I've been hankering for a good crime flick with a women in the lead for a long time (I can't be the only one who thinks that 
We found out from Erik 
Now that we know the storyline for 
Cinematical's 2008 Cannes Preview
EXCLUSIVE: 'City of Ember' Poster Premiere!
Tons of New 'Quantum of Solace' Images!
