DinoDeLaurentiis Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Who knew that the laughable disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow would be one of the most influential blockbusters of the decade? Sure, this might not have been the case were it not for the success of An Inconvenient Truth, but nonetheless, we are about to see a bunch more eco-disaster pics. I already alerted you about Otherworld, which features demons that are unleashed against humanity because of global warming. Now, producers Dino and Martha De Laurentiis have announced their adaptation of Frank Schätzing's German novel The Swarm, which features aliens that are unleashed against humanity because of global warming. The De Laurentiises will partner with German producers Ica and Michael Souvignier and Till Grönemeyer, who have been linked to the project for awhile now.

Unlike most alien invasion movies, the aliens of The Swarm come from the bottom of the ocean. And unlike the underwater dwellers of The Abyss, these aliens are ticked off by pollution rather than nuclear weapons. Besides having to compete with the similar-sounding Otherworld, The Swarm will also have to follow in the footsteps of the badly titled eco-disaster movie from M. Night Shyamalan, The Happening, which features nature unleashed against humanity because of global warming. One thing The Swarm has going for it is Oscar-winning screenwriter Ted Tally (The Silence of the Lambs), who will hopefully keep the movie from being as silly as the rest. The latest report on the adaptation doesn't mention anything about Uma Thurman, who last year was said to have bought the rights to Schätzing's book with the Souvigniers.

When I first posted that ol' Dino De Laurentiis was planning to remake his Jane Fonda classic, Barbarella, a number of readers offered their picks. Lots of names were thrown into the mix -- Pamela Anderson, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston, Uma Thurman. One name I don't recall seeing -- Kate Beckinsale. Although she has completely escaped our musing radar, the Daily Express says that industry insiders have told them that she is one of the frontrunners for the role. Just how many frontrunners are there, and who else is on the list? Give us details, people! We know that the hot Bond screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are writing it, but it's the actress who we're really curious about.

According to their source: "Jane Fonda made the Barbarella role very much her own all those years ago, and she's bound to be a tough act to follow. But the feeling is that Kate has just the right combination of beauty, humor and acting talent for the part." Let's see. She's got the beauty, whether she's holding a can of Diet Coke and heading out for some sun, or wearing shiny, skin-tight blackness. The comedy she's not as familiar with, unless she's laughing on the inside, although she did have her stints in Serendipity and Click. As for acting talent, I'd agree that she can act, but is that really necessary? I could only see her acting skills being relevant if she was Rose McGowan, who is an old pro at sexy camp. So, with everything considered, could she pull of Barbarella? I'd say there's a decent chance. I can visually picture her in the role, I just don't know if she can raise it to the heights of cult classic. Then again, this isn't your '60's Barbarella.

I know that Eva Green should play Barbarella. You know that Eva Green should play Barbarella. Now our dream might be one small step closer to reality. Screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who vaulted to the A-list with the runaway success of Casino Royale, have dropped two new pieces of news -- they've finished the script for their next film, 'Bond 22,' and they've been hired to write ... Barbarella! The hiring of Purvis and Wade for Barbarella is mentioned in an announcement to the trades that Dino De Laurentiis has finished sewing up the rights to the remake and is ready to move forward with the project. Another component to the deal is that the French comic series that inspired the original Barbarella will be reissued in conjunction with this new film.

Now here comes the less-than-exciting part. In making the announcement, the producers saw fit to point out that the new Barbarella will be totally different from the original -- instead of being a "kittenish sexpot," the new Barb will be a "free, modern gal who survives in a futuristic world through her intelligence, survival skills and sexuality." Um, can we take a vote on that? I can't be the only person who is bone-tired of the 'ass-kicking female' era and wants desperately to return to the 'kittenish sexpot' era. Still, I'm holding out hope. I have faith in Dino, so to sum up, here is what he wants you to know about the movie -- try to imagine it being said in that Dino accent: "Barbarella is the ultimate science-fiction adventure heroine: smart, strong, funny and sexy. I'm excited to reintroduce Barbarella to a new generation of moviegoers."

If your favorite restaurant were run like Hollywood, your dining experiences would go like this: One night, you would have a meal where everything worked: Crisp salad, well-made main course, excellent side dishes, ace dessert, the perfect wine. Heck, you even though the parsley sprig was a jaunty touch. You'd be saying this as you left, and the maitre'd would hear you and write a note down. The next time you go there, you're offered ... a huge plate with two pounds of parsley on it. This is what's happened with the character of Hannibal Lecter. Lecter was a minor character in Thomas Harris's 1981 book Red Dragon; he re-appeared in 1988's The Silence of the Lambs with an expanded role, but was still one character among many.

Silence of the Lambs got made into a 1991 movie -- a disposable January thriller release most notable for Anthony Hopkins's homicidal hissy-fit turn as Lecter -- that went on to win five separate Oscars. Interestingly, super-producer Dino De Laurentiis -- who had made Red Dragon into Michael Mann's Manhunter -- had the right of first refusal to any subsequent on-screen use of the characters, and passed on Silence of the Lambs. (Manhunter was a flop; it's also, unequivocally, the best mystery of the lot, and it holds up far, far better than every Harris adaptation -- even Silence of the Lambs.)

A few days ago Ms. Monika B. was wondering who the new Barbarella should be, and while we don't have an answer on that just yet, we do know that the project is definitely moving forward; old-school mega-producer Dino De Laurentiis just gave the directorial reins to Peter Webber, the man who helmed 2003's Girl with a Pearl Earring and next week's Hannibal Rising.

Variety indicates the Dino D. is promising a "female James Bond in outer space," which probably isn't all that great of an idea, considering how awful James Bond is when he visits outer space. (My apologies to all you Moonraker fans.) And this is far from Dino's only new (massive) project. He still plans to produce Baz Luhrmann's long-gestating Alexander the Great project, plus he's also got the Butterworth Brothers working on "an underwater epic about a killer whale," which makes me think ol' Dino might be getting just a little bit senile; he already made that movie, and most people really hated it.

Before much of her out-spoken political activism, work-out videos and a stint as a monsterous mother-in-law, Jane Fonda was Barbarella. It's been so long since her cheesy sex-bomb sci-fi adventures that it's hard to believe she was actually that same woman. Whereas Racquel Welch ruled the years B.C., Fonda was "the most beautiful creature of the future" a "5-star... astro-navigatrix girl." Now, almost a whopping 40 years later, Dino De Laurentiis wants to update the classic story of the lady who nearly dies of pleasure while taking sex to outer space.

I'm not sure how, but this new franchise will not be a remake, but "a completely new Barbarella," according to De Laurentiis. Exactly how is that? The simple act of keeping the name will mean that it will be re-made, so I assume that he means the story will revolve around a new plot with new characters. Will there be Durand Durand? Perhaps the role can be re-imagined for an even older man, and Milo O'Shea can once again bite into something meatier than his recent films, like the saccharine The MatchMaker.

But more pressing: Who should the new Barbarella be? Love is her speciality, so the role should really go to someone with definitive sex-symbol status, or someone great at both sex and farce. Angelina Jolie would be an obvious sex-charisma choice, but she's moving away from that image. Perhaps Salma Hayek? She can juggle both sexiness and tongue-in-cheek. Cinematical's editor, Ryan, thinks Drew Barrymore is the ticket. As for me, I'd go out on a limb and say Leisha Hailey. On The L Word she tackles both sweaty love and over-the-top craziness with ease, so I bet she could pull off some space-age sexiness as well -- that, and she reminds me of a modern-day Fonda. Who would you choose?

Oscar season is upon us and with it comes the discussion of film legends who never won an Academy Award. While on this topic, it is important to acknowledge how many great producers are ignored by Oscar due to the fact that foreign films are rarely nominated for Best Picture. Carlo Ponti was such a great producer, and with his death today, he misses the opportunity of ever receiving an Academy Award, even a lifetime achievement honor.

Ponti is not well known, but he should be. Aside from the fact that he discovered Sophia Loren, whose film career he jump-started and who he married (twice -- kind of), he also produced films for many of the masters of cinema, including Antonioni (Blow Up; Zabriskie Point; The Passenger), Fellini (La Strada), de Sica (basically any of his starring Loren), Demy (Lola), Godard (A Woman is a Woman; The Riflemen; Contempt), Polanski (What?), Melville (Le Doulos; The Forgiven Sinner), Forman (The Fireman's Ball), Varda (Cléo from 5 to 7) and Lean (Doctor Zhivago). Some of his films were nominated for the foreign language Oscar, and a couple won the award, but Ponti was only nominated once, for Zhivago, in the Best Picture category (which is oftentimes considered the Best Producer category). Of course, he did get to help his wife win an Oscar, at least -- for de Sica's Two Women.