CBS Films Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Whenever I get into a debate about the future of action movies, not five minutes goes by before someone brings up how Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has stomped on their soul. His propensity for Disney films and tutus has dismayed those who saw him as this generation's Schwarzenegger. While he's not one of my favorite actors, there's no denying he's got charisma, and I was hoping that 20,000 Leagues rumor would come true and save him from foppish comedy. Happily, he may have looked at his resume and decided it had a little too much camp and not enough muscle, because Variety reports that he's set to star in CBS Films' Faster with George Tillman Jr. directing.

Faster boasts a comforting, meat-and-potatoes action plot: Johnson will play an ex-con who is hell bent on avenging his brother's murder. Lest you think he's a wrongfully imprisoned ex-con, this looks to be a tale of honor among thieves, as Johnson and his brother were double crossed during a heist. One went to jail, the other went to the morgue, and Johnson's coming for those responsible. Good times with guns will be had by all.

Production is set to begin in January 2010. As you pass posters for The Tooth Fairy (which arrives in theaters at the very same time), you can take comfort that he's violently making up for it. Even if it's not as bloody as you might hope, at least there's no possible way he can wear a tutu in it.

A few months ago, I argued that Westerns were making a post-Unforgiven comeback and few really sparked to the idea. But there is clearly something in the air, because now studios are rushing to remake television Westerns. A few weeks ago, it was The Big Valley and today it happens to be the legendary Gunsmoke.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, CBS Films is heading up the big screen reimagining, and has put Gregory Poirier to work on the screenplay. The idea is to keep the premise, but update it with more action, adventure, and probably more Swearengen style. It's not a bad idea, and it does seem the public is hankering to see how the West was won all over again. But something tells me the public would rather see some original tales of the frontier (I know I'd trade my saddle for another Lonesome Dove) instead of just revisiting the 1950s version of it.

Harrison Ford is coming back to the big screen in a big way. According to Variety, he will be taking the title role in CBS Films' Crowley. Before your heart stops at the idea that he will be in a television movie about Aleister Crowley -- it isn't that Crowley, and CBS intends this to be a theatrical release.

The movie is the real-life story of John and Aileen Crowley, whose two children suffered from a rare genetic disorder. Rather than give up hope that nothing could be done for them, they sought out a researcher for a cure. Surprisingly, Ford will not be playing the father, but the researcher. And he'll also be the executive producer.

Tom Vaughan is in talks to direct, and Robert Nelson Jacobs penned the script, which is based on Geeta Anand's book Cure. (Let's hope they switch the title back to that of Anand's book, which is far more suitable than Crowley.)

I am hoping films like Crowley and the upcoming Crossing Over mark a new phase in Ford's career. I have missed the man who did low-key movies like Witness (one of my all time favorites) where he really played down his heroic persona. I have long thought he should have taken a page out of Clint Eastwood's book, and accepted smaller and quieter roles more suitable to his age. I honestly could have seen Ford as Hilary Swank's boxing coach in Million Dollar Baby. I hope his researcher in Crowley is along those lines, and if it isn't, that he finds a part like that really soon.