HawkOstby Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Hughes Brothers Circle Two Live-Action 'Akira' Films
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Deals », Warner Brothers », RumorMonger », Remakes and Sequels »
Nothing is ever dead in Hollywood. Given enough time and enough interest any project can push itself off a dusty development shelf and come roaring back to life. Case in point, the live-action remake of the classic Japanese manga/anime Akira. Search the Cinematical archives and you'll find this headline from June of '09, Fans Rejoice: Live-Action 'Akira' is "Dead as a Doornail".Well, it looks like now we're dealing with a zombie doornail. New York Mag's Vulture Blog has the scoop on how Book of Eli directors The Hughes Brothers are currently in contractual confabs with Warner Brothers and Appian Way on how best to resurrect the project. The kicker? They want to make Akira a two-part film. And rightly they should, considering the dense nature of Katsuhiro Ôtomo's original sci-fi mind-molester wouldn't translate easily to a single film.
Oddly enough, it looks like Warner Brothers and Book of Eli screenwriter / one-time Akira adapter Gary Whitta have parted, paving the way for Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby to bring some of their Iron Man magic to the page. And magic they'll need. I may take flak for saying so, but Ôtomo's anime adaptation of his own manga isn't exactly a bastion of sci-fi accessibility. Sure, Akira is a popular film, but I'd wager that as far more to do with its gorgeous visuals than it does its bizarre psychological inner workings.
Vulture expects an official studio release on the matter within the week, but in the mean time fans should hop over there for a bit more of their speculation as to what parts of Akira the first film will draw from. And of course feel free to sound off below as to why this is either the greatest or worst idea in the world.
Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. Team Up For 'Cowboys & Aliens'
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Deals », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand », Dreamworks », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Western »
I really believe this is the best geek news we'll have all month. Not only is Robert Downey Jr. officially on board Cowboys & Aliens, The Hollywood Reporter announced that he's bringing Jon Favreau along for the ride. Considering the original screenplay was penned by Iron Man screenwriters Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, it's literally a dream team come true. As if it wasn't touched by the movie gods enough, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, they-who-can-write-no-failures, are penning the script, and producer Damon Lindelof came aboard last fall. There's no way this can fail. Even if the movie was one big trick, and simply 2 hours of Robert Downey Jr. in a cowboy hat reading a phone book, it would succeed. We would just call it arthouse, and praise them all for subverting our expectations!
But there's no danger of arthouse here, Cowboys & Aliens really does promise to be pure fun with this team. The story takes place in 1880s Arizona, where a war is raging between settlers and Native Americans. Their war is interrupted by the arrival of a UFO, which promptly unleashes hell onto the plains of Silver City. The Native Americans and settlers must unite to fight a larger threat, and are led to battle by Zeke Jackson (Downey), a gunslinger and former member of the Union Army. You can read the entire graphic novel online, which should keep you satisfied until Cowboys & Aliens hits theaters in the summer of 2011.
Geek Daily: 'Ghostbusters 3', Secret Marvel Projects, and Gasps From 'Justice League Mortal'
Filed under: Action », Comedy », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Casting », RumorMonger », Scripts », Newsstand », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels »
We end the week with all kinds of intriguing possibilities and rumors -- try to contain your joy at the Ghostbusters 3 bit, especially if you're at work. We can't have your employers finding out you're reading Cinematical on the clock!- Bill Murray is at Fantastic Fest, undoubtedly partying with our writers and promoting City of Ember and at the film's Q&A, AICN's Kraken (a stellar guy) asked the question we all wanted the answer too -- would Murray return for Ghostbusters 3? Murray thinks the scriptwriters (borrowed, you'll remember, from The Office) are off to a good start, that enough time has passed to heal the Ghostbusters 2 wounds, and he would definitely be open to playing Peter Venkman again. In fact, his enthusiasm for the franchise was rekindled by recording the voice for the upcoming video game -- and he had even been singing the theme song in public. There's video of Murray's answer up at AICN, so check it out, and get your hopes up.
- One of the questions surrounding Iron Man 2 was its change-up on the writing front. Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby weren't returning, their job was taken by Justin Theroux, and we all frowned a little inside. But MTV has the scoop that they're unavailable for Iron Man 2 because they're working on something else for Marvel. Fergus wouldn't specify what, he just dropped maddening hints. "There are some really juicy [movies] that we are very much talking intensely with Marvel about ... We're interested in working on a bunch of these other Marvel projections and everything in the Marvel canon is fair game. We have a lot of ideas about all this, but until they officially ask us to come do one of these we'll keep our mouths closed about the actual ideas. It's moving along nicely but nothing official yet. But, yes, we are planning on working on some of those movies. That much I'll say." At this point, all of the Marvel movies have writers -- and impressive ones at that. Either they're replacing someone, or it's a new character altogether. Guess away.
Robert Downey Jr. To Ride With 'Cowboys and Aliens'
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Casting », Newsstand », Dreamworks », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Western »
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Robert Downey Jr. is in talks to star in Cowboys and Aliens, DreamWorks' adaptation of Fred Van Lente and Andrew Foley's graphic novel. (Read Matt's original story on it.) Downey Jr. would play Zeke Jackson, a former Union Army gunslinger, who is engaged in a battle against the Apache. But the battle between settlers and Native Americans is interrupted when an alien spaceship crashes into the Silver City prairie. Turns out, they have their eye on conquering Earth, forcing the warring westerners to form an uneasy alliance.
The project has been in and out of development for years, but apparently the latest draft is catching some A-list interest. As it was written by Hawk Ostby and Mark Fergus, who were behind Iron Man and Children of Men, I am immediately expecting good things out of something that, if handled poorly, could be as bad as Wild Wild West. Good writers and a good actor like Downey Jr. could make this movie incredibly fun. This is how movies like the first Pirates of the Caribbean come about.
I have to say, between this and Downey Jr.'s rumored interest in a comic-based Sherlock Holmes, I wonder if he is going to plunge into Hugh Jackman levels of geekdom. They will have to start fighting each other to get to the best comic book scripts. And that should be a movie all its own.
Remembering the Corey Haim That Was
Is Good Fan Art a Myth?
It Continues! 'Iron Cross' Filmmaker Sues Variety For Negative Review
Christopher Nolan Talks 'Superman' and 'Batman 3'
'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse' Trailer (10 Second Version)!
_thumbnail.jpg)
_thumbnail.jpg)
