Stacey Snider Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Steven Spielberg Setting Sail With Michael Crichton's 'Pirates'
Filed under: Action », Thrillers », Deals », Scripts », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand », Dreamworks », Steven Spielberg »
Steven Spielberg is going to need a bigger boat -- a much, much bigger boat. He's leaving this shore, sailing away to 17th century Jamaica for one last adventure with the late Michael Crichton. USA Today reports that DreamWorks has bought the rights to Crichton's posthumous novel, Pirate Latitudes, and has hired screenwriter David Koepp to develop it into a film. Spielberg is producing, but plans on directing, though nothing has been scheduled until the script is completed. While it's a bittersweet reunion, it's one that's sheer luck and coincidence according to DreamWorks' co-chair and CEO Stacey Snider. "Anything that Michael wrote, Steven would be keenly interested to read. But without Michael knowing it, or even me knowing it, it turns out Steven always wanted to direct his own pirate film." Not surprisingly, Spielberg already is coolly confident in Pirate Latitudes. "Michael wrote a real page-turner that already seems suited for the big screen. Michael and I have had almost two decades of solid collaborations. Whenever I made a film from a Michael Crichton book or screenplay, I knew I was in good hands. Michael felt the same, and we like to think he still does."
Pirate Latitudes doesn't hit store shelves until November 24, so plot details are relatively scarce. But this isn't going to be a tale of undead pirates and squid-faced Davey Jones like Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean. Latitudes is a semi-historical tale of piracy that takes place in 1665. Its star is the dashing Captain Edward Hunter, who infiltrates the notorious Port Royal, and plans to raid a Spanish galleon loaded with treasure. Cue the cannons and swashbuckling, though it sounds as though Spielberg plans to load it up with lots of grimy, historical details.
Industry News: Universal Replaces Snider, DreamWorks Library Sale Done
Filed under: Deals », Executive shifts », Paramount », Universal », Newsstand », Dreamworks »
Last month, we shared with you the saga of Stacey
Snider leaving Universal (Sort of - she has to see out her contract before she leaves. Awkward!) for a major leadership
position at DreamWorks. And now, if there were any questions about how great at her job Snider really is, they've been
answered: when she finally leaves, she'll be replaced by not one, but two men. As expected, Marc Shmuger and David
Linde (also co-president of Focus Features) have been named Universal's co-chairs.
Actually, the more senior Shmuger is "chair" and Linde is "co-chair," but the two are supposedly
equal when it comes to power and decision-making.In other industry news, Viacom (Paramount's parent company) has finally off-loaded the rights to their newly-acquired DreamWorks film library. And, as rumored back in January, the buyer was billionaire investor/financier/philanthropist George Soros, along with his partner Steven Mnuchin. According to the most recent reports, the duo paid about $900 million for the rights - not including distribution, which Viacom kept - to 59 films. Holy mother of God.
Quickhits: more Blade, more Conan, Snider to Dreamworks
Filed under: Action », Casting », Deals », Executive shifts », Paramount », Universal », RumorMonger », Dreamworks », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels »
Odds and ends for today:- According to a Marvel panelist at last weekend's Comic-Con, the studio hasn't ruled out a fourth Blade movie (Wesley Snipes is supposedly already signed for the project). As a shameless fan of even the horrible Blade: Trinity, I'm fully in favor of another installment. That said, however, since reports indicate Trinity actually lost money, one wonders how Marvel expects to profit from another try.
- According to an anonymous tipster to an Arnold Schwarzenegger fansite, the president of Warner Brothers is fervently hoping that The Governator is not reelected this fall. It's not, however, because he's embarrassed to have an action star for a governor - instead, he supposedly is desperate for Schwarzenegger to reprise his role as Conan the Barbarian in the character's return to the big screen. In the event of a Schwarzenegger loss, the film could conceivably be ready for release in December 2007. Can you handle the tension?
- Stacey
Snider, the Universal chairman we told you last week was being
courted by Paramount to run their newly-acquired DreamWorks division, has officially made the jump. According to the
AP, Snider will share the "chairman and CEO" title with DreamWorks founder David Geffen.
Universal chair to head Dreamworks?
Filed under: Action », Comedy », Executive shifts », Paramount », Universal », RumorMonger », Newsstand », Dreamworks »
After weeks of speculation that Universal Pictures
chairman Stacey Snider was being considered to replace Paramount's president, it's been revealed that she is in fact in
talks with the company - but to supervise Dreamworks, their recent acquisition. Though Snider was not available for
comment, it's understood that Paramount wants her to run Dreamworks' live-action division, in hopes that she will guide
the studio to the major hits that will be necessary to make Paramount's massive investment begin to pay off.At Universal, Snider has been responsible for such successful (if not quality) franchises as The Mummy, Meet the Parents, and the Bourne and American Pie series, and her talents are in high demand. Though her home studio says it wants to keep her, Universal execs may not be willing to pay the salary that Snider's popularity in Hollywood will enable her to demand.
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