EltonJohn Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Forget Zombies; Aliens Now to Invade Jane Austen
Filed under: Comedy », Horror », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », RumorMonger », Scripts », Remakes and Sequels »
This and that volcano movies, his and her asteroid flicks, rival Capote biopics -- it seems only cosmically fair that we may be spoiled with forthcoming Pride and Prejudice riffs that include both zombies AND aliens. Better yet, what was Jane Austen's classic really missing if not the participation of Elton John?If Variety is to be believed, it appears that John will serve as executive producer and music supervisor on this live-action adaptation, in which "an alien crash lands and begins to butcher the mannered protags, who suddenly have more than marriage and inheritance to worry about." My God, it's as if they swapped out Beowulf in Outlander for P&P (and, for the record, I'm perfectly okay with that).
So be honest, which one are you guys and girls more excited for: corsets stained by the blood of the victims of the undead, or corsets stained by the blood of the victims of extraterrestrials? Whoever wins, I'm pretty sure we do too.
Elton John, James McAvoy, Emily Blunt & Star-Crossed Gnome Lovers
Filed under: Animation », Classics », Music & Musicals », Casting »
Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? First you become Tromeo, and now -- Gnomeo. Well, people have been trying to rename you to Gnomeo for a while now. Heck, last time Cinematical wrote about the upcoming CGI feature Gnomeo and Juliet, it was 2006 and Kate Winslet and professional voice actor Greg Ellis were attached to voice the film. Almost two years later, the garden gnome romance is still hiking its way to the big screen, and The Hollywood Reporter posts that James McAvoy and Emily Blunt are in negotiations to voice the leads.While I'm bummed to see another voice actor lose his work, there are some quirks to look forward to with this feature -- namely Elton John classics. At first, a whole new set of romantic songs were going to be penned by Tim Rice and John, but that didn't work out so we get the good ol' classics. Will Gnomeo fall off Juliet's balcony and sing: "I'm Still Standing"? Will the two dance, canoodle, and sing: "Tiny Dancer"? Will "Candle in the Wind" be adapted once again for the tragic finale? Oh, the possibilities.
Now, it's also said to be a "loose and edgy" adaptation, so perhaps these gnomes will get their happy ending -- although I'd hope it wouldn't stray too far from the original. Whatever the case, it'll be a long wait. The project is currently in the storyboard stage, with plans to wrap up production by 2010.
'Australia' Wraps Filming, Elton John Courted for Soundtrack
Filed under: Action », Drama », Romance », 20th Century Fox », War », Nicole Kidman »
.jpg)
A massive wrap party took place on Saturday night for Baz Luhrmann's romantic war epic Australia, which began its long filming schedule back in April and will finally wrap this coming Friday. The film tells the story of Lady Sarah Ashley's (Nicole Kidman) journey from England to the Australian outback to visit her husband's ranch, Faraway Downs. Once there, she meets a rough cattle driver played by Hugh Jackman and an ensuing love triangle situation ultimately culminates with the Japanese bombing of Darwin during the war. (I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that someone dies.) The film shoot is coming in around a month over schedule and also reportedly well over budget, The Herald Sun reports. There are also apparently still some interiors that will be shot during the coming year, but Jackman and Kidman both have new commitments that they must attend to first, he Wolverine and she that movie with Ralph Fiennes.
Also, several outlets are reporting that Luhrmann is courting Elton John to contribute to the movie's soundtrack. John is known to have visited the Australia set last week to watch some filming and while there, he was taken to a screening room to see an early assemblage of footage. When asked for comment, he reportedly declared that the film could be "like Titanic on dry land." John's visit to the set coincided with the filming of some kind of big ballroom sequence and Luhrmann arranged to have the band play one of John's old songs, as part of this musical seduction dance. Australia is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters in November, 2008.
MSNBC Questions the Talent of Today's Stars
Filed under: Newsstand », Lists »
Well, one thing everyone (at least, reviewers) seems to agree on is the fact that Good Luck Chuck is terrible. No, I'm not talking half-and-half terrible, but almost 100% awful. So far, the flick is sporting (as of noon Friday) 3 out of 36 positive reviews -- and those are more like "hey, it's crap, but the kids will like it." So, in honor of this cinematic assault, MSNBC chatted with industry insiders, journalists, and bloggers to see who they thought were the people least-deserving of the spotlight. (With Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie immediately disqualified, of course.)Now, you probably won't agree with all of this list. Heck, you might even think they're crazy, but this isn't about being a decent actor, but whether these guys deserve all the hype they are getting. Do they have the goods to back up the mega-stardom, or are they riding the celebrity machine? Their list: the Jessicas (Alba, Biel, Simpson), Adrian Grenier, Elton John, Nicole Kidman, Carlos Mencia, John Travolta, and Renee Zellweger.* Surprisingly, they left off Tom Cruise. I guess they had to pick which Scientologist actor would take the final space.
So yeah, this is all over the place. The Jessicas are definitely aided by the celebrity, but good ol' Elton has the celebrity because of the years of success and experience (although I don't think I'm the only one who would love to see him return to stuff like Tiny Dancer). And what about people like Kirsten Dunst and Scarlett Johansson, or Colin Farrell and Orlando Bloom? What actors and actresses would you put on this list?
*The final name has been added -- she was hiding below one of those pesky ads.
Gnomeo to Miramax
Filed under: Animation », Music & Musicals », Casting », Deals », Disney », Newsstand »
A couple of week ago, we reported that, as part of the Pixar/Disney marriage,
things were being shaken up at the Disney corral (meaning quality was being reintroduced). As part of the shakeup,
Pixar execs were reviewing Disney's upcoming animated projects, and Gnomeo and Juliet, their planned retelling
of the Romeo and Juliet story (except with garden gnomes, and all the music Elton John has ever written), didn't make
the cut. We, foolishly, assumed it was dead. We should have known better.In Hollywood, in appears, old scripts never die -- instead, they just show up at another studio, with some new names attached. Such is the case with Gnomeo and Juliet: The project has been transfered over to Miramax. As you might expect, Sir Elton is just thrilled to bits at the development -- his project, you see, is "edgy" (Dude, it's an animated romance. Have you not seen anything Disney has made over the past 50 years?), and "Miramax is the perfect home to push the envelope in animation." He's clearly just making things up here, but if Elton's happy, we're happy. He's also undoubtedly pleased that, despite all the shuffling around with the movie, Kate Winslet is reportedly still on board to voice Juliet. Hooray for that.
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
Shelf Life: Fight Club_thumbnail.jpg)
Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
_thumbnail.jpg)
