Director Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Lots of movie geeks (yes, like us) have been abuzz with the vague discussions regarding the Predator remake / reboot / sequel / whatever. All we really knew was that the generally kick-ass Robert Rodriguez was on board to oversee, as the producer, but now we have confirmation have Robert's good pal that the director has been named. And that name ... is Nimrod.

Nimrod Antal, to be precise, who fest-goers will know from Kontroll and thriller fans will recall from Vacancy. Harry's got a whole bunch of cool info on the project right here, but I've chosen a small segment that makes me particularly happy: "It involves a very intense group of people stranded on a Predator planet discovering unspeakable horrors." Yes! Plus Mr. Rodriguez shares some enthusiasm from a Fox colleague: "No one is going to talk about AVP again after this movie. I stake my life on it."

Hell, just give us a knock-down, drag-out Predator fest with a few meaty characters, a whole lot of action, and maybe a few storytelling hooks. That'll make a whole lot of people happy. Speaking only for myself, heck, I thought both of Antal's films were darn good, so I've no reason to doubt RR's call on this one!

I think we all know there have been a few 'mishaps' on the path to stardom for Shia LaBeouf, but I'm convinced the man still has a pretty bright future ahead of him. It takes a fair amount of natural charm (and skill) to pull off some of the so-so films that pepper his resume (ahem, Eagle Eye), but somehow the guy manages to walk away from every crappy film with his dignity intact, and more importantly, with another project coming down the pipe. But, like every other actor who came before him, what LaBeouf really wants to do is direct ... a music video ... and now he's made his directorial debut in the form of a music video for Hip-Hop artist Cage, titled I Never Knew You.

The actor has been a long-time supporter of Cage, and back in 2007 he told Vanity Fair that he was going to be directing a feature film based on the rapper's life. According to Cage's bio, he was "Born to a heroin-addicted father and a distant mother, he battled drug addiction and was institutionalized for 18 months, where he became a test subject for Prozac and tried several times to end his life before discovering hip-hop as a vehicle to express his inner-torment." So while tough luck stories are all fine and dandy, you're probably wondering: but is the video any good? Well, the bad news is that it isn't mind-blowing – pretty standard MTV fare. But the good news is that it's definitely a start in proving LaBeouf can handle himself behind the camera -- not to mention that a celebrity director guarantees Cage a few more headlines.

Watch the video below and tell us what you think about LaBeouf as a director...

We've heard a lot of murmurings about a Last House on the Left remake over the last few years, but it looks like the prolific producer Wes Craven has found his director. After handing his Hills remake over to a Frenchman newcomer (and tossing the table-scrap of a sequel to a German guy), Mr. Craven will allow an inexpensive Greek neophyte named Dennis Illiadis to direct the new version of Last House on the Left.

But perhaps Wes Craven has seen something in Mr. Illadis' work (a flick called Hardcore) that fills him with all sorts of confidence. Maybe he's sure this is the guy to re-invent the cult flick's patented brand of unflinching horror and brutal violence. Sure, that could be the case, except that Mr. Craven recently told Fangoria the following: "They are not DGA directors, so we don't have to make the films under DGA guidelines. Productions become more expensive when you have to add on assistant directors, 2nd assistant directors, etc." Well. How very ... pragmatic.

The Rogue (Universal) remake will begin shooting in South Africa in just a few weeks. One can only assume it's cheaper to film a one-location horror movie in South Africa than it is to shoot it in, say, Seattle. On the other hand, perhaps I'm being a whiny little jerk. If it weren't for Wes Craven, we'd have no Hills, no Freddy, and no Scream. (I'm talking about the first Scream, of course.) But as any horror fan can tell you, there's often a BIG difference between movies directed by Wes Craven -- and movies produced (or, ugh, "presented") by Wes Craven.

I'm a pretty big fan of McG's (first) Charlie's Angels film, so I'm glad to hear that the guy (born Joseph McGinty Nichol) will be stepping back into the action genre (especially after the soppily maudlin We Are Marshall) -- but based only on the three features he's done so far, does ANYONE see him as a Terminator director? James Cameron, obviously. Jonathan Mostow, makes sense. McG? Really? Well, apparently someone thinks it's a fine idea, because according to Moviehole.net, it's a done deal:

The presently-titled Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins WILL be "a McG film."

The T4 screenplay comes from John Brancato and Michael Ferris, the team that gave us Terminator 3, so that's some good news, I suppose. (On the other hand, they also wrote The Net, Primeval and Catwoman.) Plot details are a bit sketchy at this point, but I'm sure the franchise managers have a plan took keep Terminator 4 and The Sarah Connor Chronicles as completely separate mythologies. (Or do they?)

Sir Erik Davis told us a while back that the new Terminator flicks may feature some digitally-created Schwarzeneggers, so who really knows what the future holds for this series? More details on the Terminators sequel(s) and spinoff(s) once they hit the street. But this does raise an interesting question: Does what you know of the Terminator series "mesh" with what you know of the artistry of McG? Yeah, I'm still scratching my head over this one ... but of course I'm also a bit more curious about the flick at this point.

So if you needed some final, indisputable proof that somebody out there thinks a Thundercats movie is a great idea, here it is: Warner Bros. has hired a director. First-timer Jerry O'Flaherty will be bringing the ol' Cats into the multiplexes through the magic of CG-laced nostalgia. (I'm guessing it'll look and sound a whole lot like the slick and forgettable TMNT from earlier this year.)

Although he hasn't directed any features, O'Flaherty is a long-time veteran in the field of video game animation. And isn't it really all the same stuff nowadays? The screenplay will come from a guy called Paul Sopocy, who has one thing in common with his new director: Thundercats will mark his first feature film. According to Variety, "the origin story expands on the major heroes and villains from the animated series, with the plot focusing on Lion-O coming of age as the leader of the Thundercats."

And just in case you need a quick refresher course on the long and storied history of the Thundercats, here are two more sentences: "The property revolves around a group of humanoid cats who must flee the planet of Thundera, which is destroyed. Once crash-landing on another planet, Third Earth, they must thwart Mumm-Ra, an evil sorcerer bent on killing them off." Yeah, I remember this cartoon. Trippy-colored cat-people super-heroes and a maniacal mummy sorcerer who really hates them feline freaks. I distinctly remember a very annoying sidekick....

When Ryan spoke with Angelina Jolie last June, she had told us that her big-screen treatment of Ayn Rand's classic political novel Atlas Shrugged wasn't exactly ready for production. Last October, Lionsgate secured a writer for the film, but Jolie told us that "... we have not had all the pieces come together. There's not been a director that's right to come on, or all of those elements. So until it does, you know, I certainly don't want to be a part of something that's just put together to hit 'this date'". So here we are two months later, and Variety is now reporting that Vadim Perelman has been hired to direct the literary property, and also to perform a re-write on the script. Perelman will be updating the original draft written by Braveheart scribe Randall Wallace. If you're familiar with the 'heft' of Ayn Rand's novels, then you have an idea of how difficult it will be to trim down a 1,100-plus page novel into a two hour film.

Rumors of the project had been kicking around since last year, when in the height of all that "Brangelina" nonsense, there was talk that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie would be working together on the film (rumors that have long since been discredited). But now that a director is in place, it seems the project is closer to becoming a reality. Vadim Perelman will be in Toronto later this week for TIFF to present his latest, In Bloom, with Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood. Since Angelina Jolie is expected to be accompanying Brad Pitt to the festival, maybe they can make it a working vacation. Jolie is still shooting the comic-book adaptation Wanted and is already scheduled to start work this fall on Clint Eastwood's The Changeling. According to Variety, Lionsgate is planning a start date for Atlas Shrugged in early 2008 -- so much for taking a year off, huh Ang?

By now, I think most of us have given up on ever seeing that Trainspotting sequel, so at least we can get the next best thing, another Danny Boyle film. Variety reports that Celador Films and Film4 have given the green light for Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire. Slumdog will Boyle's first film with Film4 since working with them on A Life Less Ordinary, Trainspotting and Shallow Grave. Slumdog is based on the true story of a young street kid who goes on to be a champion on the Indian Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. But according to Boyle, the film is really a love story. Boyle describes the film as, "a love story set in the most extreme city on earth. The Maximum City -- Mumbai. From its slums, a kid challenges for the biggest prize on world television. All he knows is that the girl that he loves - and whom he has lost in the chaos of Mumbai - watches the show every night ... if he can stay on the show as long as possible, he might find her again".

Starring newcomer Dev Patel in the lead, the film was written by The Full Monty scribe, Simon Beaufoy. Boyle has always been drawn to different projects, ranging from horror to musicals, so a romance film isn't that far from the realm of possibility for the director (you can also read James' round table interview with the director here). Slumdog is set to start shooting on location in Mumbai this November.

The pre-pre-production on Paramount's cinematic rendition of G.I. Joe has been a small powder-keg of controversy among the hardcore fans -- and they haven't even locked down a script yet! First there was a Latino Review report claiming that Skip Woods' screenplay was a certifiable slap in the face to the established fans, but then we got word that (at least) one more screenplay had been commissioned. And now with Transformers transforming '80s nostalgia into huge lumps of cash, Paramount looks to be interested in getting G.I. Joe rolling much sooner than later.

According to IESB and IGN Movies, it looks like Paramount / DreamWorks may have found their director in Stephen Sommers -- whom you'll no doubt remember from The Mummy, The Mummy Returns and (ugh) Van Helsing. (Confession time: I have a huge soft spot for Sommers' Deep Rising. Dang that's a dumb-fun flick.) Apparently the studio wants to rush this project into production (yep, that horrible impending strike strikes again) and they'll be combining Skip Woods' script with one penned by the team of David Elliot and Paul Lovett. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about the whole "rush into production" angle, but then again I wasn't raised on G.I. Joe cartoons so my interest in the project could be accurately described as "curious, but not much more."

Once the project actually kicks into production (or announces a few cast members) we'll be back to share the news. For previous reports on the live-action G.I. Joe project, check here, here and here.

And by "failed," I mean box-office-wise, although the filmmaker might disagree with that assessment. My opinion that I Know Who Killed Me is a fairly laughable film is just that: one guy's opinion. (Jette didn't care much for it either, but she's not a guy.) But director Chris Sivertson doesn't seem to be stewing in his juices regarding the box office numbers, his leading lady's tabloid appearances, the scathing reviews or his future projects. And since his previous film (The Lost) debuted at SXSW, festival producer Matt Dentler thought it might be a cool idea to ask Mr. Sivertson a few questions regarding his latest flick's fate.

Here's what Chris had to say about I Know: "Well, what can you do? We try to get well-known people in our movies to get some awareness going and to get attention, and then I guess you can't really complain when the attention takes an unwanted turn. The only thing that bums me out about the entire experience is that it didn't make more money. I don't mind being hated by the critics. It's interesting to see how the press covers it. After the opening weekend, they were happy to proclaim that we had "tanked." Bratz and Hot Rod came out the next weekend and when you look at the amount of screens they were on, they basically had the same box office results we did. But come Monday morning, those films "had difficulty finding an audience in a crowded marketplace." Well, at least they didn't tank! But whatever, you know, press and publicity is so fleeting that it's hard to take seriously whether it's positive or negative. The only thing to do is ignore it and make more movies." (For more between Dentler and Sivertson, click here.)

Well said, Chris. While I was definitely not a fan of your new movie, I'll certainly look forward to what you have coming next. Regarding The Lost, which is an adaptation of the horrific Jack Ketchum novel, it looks like Anchor Bay has come to the rescue. According to the director, AB will deliver the flick in a limited theatrical release (and uncut DVD release) some time in the near-yet-undisclosed future. Regarding I Know Who Killed Me, Sivertson seems more than happy to chalk it up to a learning experience and move on to some more indie-style flicks -- which will undoubtedly play at SXSW whenever they're ready.

Although he made his Marvel Comics debut in 1962, (The Mighty) Thor has been around for quite some time. In Norse and German mythology, Thor is the god of thunder ... and war. I'm sorry, but that alone makes him cooler than Superman. Say what you will about good ol' Kal-El -- but he's not exactly a GOD, now is he? Would a god run screaming from a glowing green meteorite? No ,I think not. Plus Thor has this awesome giant hammer called Mjolnir that spits lightning and returns to its owner when thrown at an evildoer. Yeah, Thor! Whack those villains with your gigantic hammer! (But remember the PG-13 rating.)

Oh, and Marvel finally decided who'll be directing their big-screen adaptation of The Mighty Thor. According to Variety, it'll be Matthew Vaughn, director of Layer Cake and Stardust, and producer of Guy Ritchie's only two good movies. Comics fans will no doubt remember Mr. Vaughn as the man who was supposed to helm X-Men: The Last Stand, but bailed on the project (probably wisely) for personal reasons.

Marvel and Vaughn will be working from a screenplay by Mark Protosevich, and our source indicates that the studio might want to get the project rolling before the end of the year -- what with that black cloud of a Hollywood strike looming on the horizon. If Thor turns out to be anything like Marvel's current projects (The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man) then we can expect a whole bunch of nifty casting announcements to hit the scene soon. But for now I ask our readers: Who would YOU hire to play the massive blonde hero-god?

My vote is for DJ Qualls.