John Wells Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I believe what you are about to read might be the first movie deal to spring out of an online flame war. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Don Murphy and John Wells are teaming up to produce James Robert Smith's debut novel, The Flock ... but how they found the novel might just be worth a movie on its own.

You see, Murphy -- who's always been a huge fan of Cinematical -- was alerted to a mean comment on Eddie Campbell's blog. Alan Moore fans know Campbell as the artist on Moore's Jack the Ripper epic, From Hell. Smith was posting comments that were critical of the film adaptation, and Murphy tracked him down and discovered he had written a book called The Flock. He ordered a copy, expecting to hate it and trash it, and decided to buy its rights instead. That's the Internet for you, people. A very thin line between love, hate, and stalking. (Campbell has the story up on his blog, too, if you're interested. Also, there's beautiful art!)

The Flock could actually be this generation's Jurassic Park, though. (Lord knows they need one.) It's all about a group of super intelligent prehistoric birds who are roaming a last scrap of wilderness in the Florida Everglades. Naturally, once discovered, everyone wants to exploit them or their land, and its up to a young Fish and Wildlife officer and his girlfriend to save them. Or be mauled to death by the cunning, vicious birds. Either way, it'll be interesting. If it's not, maybe it'll cause a flame war that will see another thriller optioned!

UPDATE: THR has just confirmed that Johnny Depp will indeed play the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, which is currently in pre-production. Disney announced the news earlier today. Depp was rumored to be playing the role for a couple months now, and it definitely suits the actor. The film itself will combine live action and motion-capture animation, and it will be released in digital 3-D. Newcomer Mia Wasikowska has been cast as Alice. Additionally, it's now bring reported that Depp will also take on a role in The Lone Ranger (IESB says he'll be playing Tonto).

Good ol' Ben Affleck must have gone stir crazy. We haven't seen him on the big screen since 2006, and now he's got a bunch of projects on the way. Last week there was The Town, and now The Hollywood Reporter posts that he's in talks to star in The Company Men, with John Wells directing. This is not to be confused with the Ron Livingston-starring The Company Men, which is also in the works. Both are a bit similar in plot -- Livingston gets to try and save a sinking company in a crappy economy while Affleck will get laid off and struggle with the fallout. Hopefully one of them will change their name soon.

Anne Hathaway has landed another gig, this time as a "young, commitment-phobic attorney" in The Opposite of Love, so says The Hollywood Reporter. Essentially, this gal's life falls apart when she rejects her current boyfriend who was ready for marriage, like, yesterday. What's the opposite of interesting?

Bruce Willis is picking up a helming hat. Variety reports that he will make his directorial debut with an indie psychological thriller called Three Stories About Joan. Starring Camilla Belle, Kieran Culkin, and Willis in a supporting role, the film focuses on three tragedies in a young woman's life "that cause her to lose her grip on reality." Hmmm ... Demi directs and now Willis? Could one be trying to top the other? Thoughts?