battle angel Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I'm getting a feeling that I should get used to the idea of seeing a lot of vampire movies over the coming year. Variety reports that Bionic Woman writer/producer Laeta Kalogridis has been hired to do a major overhaul of the script for New Line's vampire action flick, Darksiders. The story centers on an FBI agent who teams with a group of vampires to stop an arms dealer in possession of some particularly nasty biochemical weapons. Now maybe I'm just picky about my bloodsuckers, but the idea sounds a little lame on paper, so I hope Kalogridis is planning some major changes. The original script was written by Tom S. Parker and Jim Jennewein and was purchased by New Line back in 2001. Parker and Jennewein's last writing credit was the disastrous Ri¢hie Ri¢h adaptation back in 1994.

Unfortunately, Kalogridis also has a spotty record when it comes to scripts, having written both Alexander and Pathfinder. But I guess it's still better than being responsible for Ri¢hie Ri¢h. Kalogridis will be continuing to work on NBC's Bionic Woman, and has already committed to working with James Cameron on the graphic novel adaptation Battle Angel, and The Dive for Fox. New Line is going to have to wait until the finished script is ready before they can begin looking for a director. In the past, both David Goyer and Jonathan Hensleigh were attached to Darksiders to direct. But considering Goyer already has a vampire flick of his very own, I doubt he'll be returning. Unless Kalogridis and New Line can work quickly, I wouldn't expect the film to go intro production before the dreaded Hollywood strike begins.

Could I be any more excited about James Cameron's Avatar? Typically I'm too cynical to have high expectations about any film in the works, but as I mentioned last week, this isn't just any film. Now, thanks to some rumors being discussed on AICN, my anticipation has risen even higher. It seems that Cameron regular Michael Biehn may have a role in the movie, and there's also a good chance that Sigourney Weaver is attached, as well.

At least Weaver can be confirmed as being linked to either Avatar or Cameron's other in-the-works project Battle Angel. She appeared on the Canal+ talk show Le Grand Journal yesterday to promote Snow Cake, but also slipped in the news that the Alien films were done (or at least her involvement with them) and that she is reuniting with Cameron for a new sci-fi picture. I don't understand French very well, but I watched the show and could make out the gist of Weaver's dialogue. Unfortunately, she didn't name the movie, and so I'll just have to hope she meant Avatar.

Do you want to make a movie trilogy? Are you a big enough director to command a lot of money and studio respect up front? If you answered "yes" to both of these two questions, you might want to consider the hot new trend of filming at least two of your three flicks back-to-back in the same shoot! It is time saving, money saving, and it lets you get your flicks to the screen within a year or so of each other, keeping audiences fresh and well aware of your story. This method has already been successfully proved by such franchises as The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, and the currently popular Pirates of the Caribbean, and has thus far met with strong approval. It is the hot new way to do things in Hollywood, and if you want to stay current with movie trends you should really consider this method.

Just ask James Cameron, who is so enamored of the technique he is considering using it for two upcoming projects of his. Cameron plans to shoot the first film of a Project 880 franchise (probably called Avatar) as well as his much anticipated Battle Angel film and gauge the box office reception they get. If either (or both) of them are successful, he'd like to shoot parts two and three back-to-back. His only stipulation is each film would have to stand alone as an independent story as well -- no big cliffhanger events at the end of each film to draw you back for the next episode.

In a conversation with Harry of AICN yesterday, the great and powerful James Cameron officially admitted that Project 880 is, in fact, "a retooled version of Avatar." He still, however, claims not to know which will be made first, Avatar or Battle Angel - according to Cameron, the projects are undergoing simultaneous development now, so both will theoretically be ready to shoot at the drop of a hat. Whenever production begins, however, he's expecting a non-stop, three-year run during which he'll move right from wrapping the first into shooting the second. The way Cameron spins it, the lack of a major star (you may recall the open casting call for Battle Angel's Alita) in either film is a plus, because the final dates of production won't be dependent upon anyone's schedule but his. So, to sum up: Project 880=Avatar and James Cameron is an outrageously optimistic person. That's pretty much it.

Other tidbits from the chat include the fact that Cameron sees Battle Angel as a trilogy, as well as some tech talk about Cameron's new 3D obsession - if you're into that sort of thing.

Today's odds and ends:

• If you've wondered why John Travolta makes crap like Battlefield Earth, Swordfish, and Be Cool, it's not because he has terrible taste, or is desperate for cash. Instead, it's simply because nobody's sending him the kind of scripts he really wants (and he's apparently unable these days to go a year without working) - so he's taken the bull by the horns and written his own damn screenplay. Apparently the movie he's been waiting for is a romantic tear-jerker, complete with a theme song (which he plans to sing, thanks very much) and, just maybe, a costar named Olivia Newton-John.

• Just so no one else could have it, Warner Brothers bought the rights to Kite, "an intense fictional drama that examines corruption in the California prison system." The screenplay was bought with the intention of making the movie through Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Simpson's Appian Way production house; the great Leo himself may even star.

• It's being reported that James Cameron will soon be returning to the comfortable water world in which he's spent most of his professional time in the 10 years since Titanic. In addition to whatever the hell he's going to be directing next (is it the mysterious Project 880? Is it Battle Angel? Do you care?), Camereon will also be producing The Dive, a feature based on "Francisco Ferreras and Audrey Mustre...[former] world-record holders in freediving." Cameron has reportedly been interested in their story for a long time, and is planning to shoot the movie with his own special 3D technology. Freediving and 3D madness? Well, that's an unexpected combination.