justin marks Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Two months after being replaced on the He-Man movie Greyskull, Justin Marks has lost another big screenwriting gig: McG's Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. You can speculate and snicker all you like. In the meantime, The Hollywood Reporter says that screenwriter Randall Wallace has been brought aboard to rewrite the script before taking his directing job with Disney's Secretariat. (So handy to have those screenwriter / director guys just hanging around the studio!)

20,000 Leagues is being envisoned by Disney as an origin story for Captain Nemo, and that nifty little colon after his name indicates that they'd like to make him over into a nautical franchise to complement their ongoing Pirates of the Caribbean series. Everyone is kind of hoping they'll draw on Jules Verne, and explore Nemo's background as given in that lesser-known sequel, The Mysterious Island. He was revealed to be the Indian Prince Dakkar, who had lost his wife, children, and kingdom after participating in the rebellion of 1857.

While the film is being labeled as an action-adventure, I think it's extremely likely that Wallace is being brought on board precisely to flesh out that tragic backstory, and up the anti-imperialism. This is the screenwriter of Braveheart, Pearl Harbor, and The Man in the Iron Mask, after all. If he has a specialty, it's perilous wartime romances, especially if they're set against the backdrop of revolution. We're probably in for a very frothy 20,000 Leagues, but at least its steampunk setting allows for that. Now cast Naveen Andrews so it'll be sexy steampunk.

If you aren't a fan of screenwriter Justin Marks (and Erik Davis wasn't, calling him "the man they brought on to f*ck up He-Man"), you might be glad at this news, as he's apparently off the Warner Bros remake. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio is bringing on newcomer Evan Daugherty to work his magic on a new draft of Grayskull. It's a big break for the man, as he only has the unproduced, Black List-hailed Shrapnel to his credit.

THR notes that the studio sees Grayskull as a gritty fantasy, and recasts the pageboy prince as a humble soldier named Adam, who sets off to find his destiny and winds up in the land of Eternia. There he encounters Skeletor, who is raising a technological army in the hopes of eradicating magic forever. Back in 2007, Marks was struggling to find a way to combine the cartoon's mix of swords, sorcery, and sci-fi: "You have to make it bothWe have to come up with specific ideas, grounded, that would spawn a world that was people carrying around swords, and yet, guys like Tri-Klops running around with his spinning visor and this sort of nano-technological way about him. What is the sorcery that can create stuff like that?"

Clearly, whatever way he found to combine it didn't meet to Warner Bros liking, though you might remember that Latino Review loved it. Marks' script was dead in the water before John Stevenson picked it back up, so it'll be interesting to see what becomes of the story hailed as a combination of Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, and Batman Begins.

I have to admit it's kind of funny that if you do a quick search for the screenwriter Justin Marks, you will get "the guy they brought in to f*ck up He-Man" in your results (probably not very funny to him, but what can you do?). 'Digital reputations' aside, you have to hand it to the guy: with only a few credits to his name, he's managed to attach himself to some high-profile 'geek' properties in the last year. Marks will be working on McG's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo, as well as Green Arrow: Escape From Supermax and Suicide Squad for Warner Brothers. Now, the latest to be added to the pile according to Variety is courtesy of Sony, who has hired Marks to write the screenplay for a feature film version of the PlayStation 2 game, Shadow of the Colossus.

Colossus centers on a young man named Wander who must battle sixteen giant bad-guys -- and I mean giant -- if he wishes to restore the life of a young girl. The game wasn't your usual action adventure fare, and players spent most of their time traveling on horseback in a desolate (but beautiful) landscape. In fact, the only action you see is when you encounter one of the 'Colossi'. Ultimately, the title was less action and adventure, and more of a puzzle game where you had to discern the weakness of each Colossi if you were to have a hope in hell of defeating it.

Since the game itself is pretty sparse on the details, Marks will most likely be tasked with trying to fill in a little more story in between action set-pieces. Of course, the big question still remains: Is Marks your man if you're looking for interesting characters and a solid story?

Here's some stuff (and things) currently making waves online ...

-- If you, like me, were really hoping Hollywood would bring back He-Man and do the character justice on the big screen, we all may be sh*t out of luck. That's because those basterds over at Latino Review tell us the latest version of He-Man (script written by wonder boy Justin Marks) is dead in the water. Because of executive shifts and a few high profile directors (Bryan Singer, Doug Liman) shying away from the project, it seems He-Man no longer has a home. LR suggests Warners put it into turnaround in the hopes someone else will take a chance on the blonde badass.

-- Liam Neeson will join Christina Ricci (odd pairing indeed) in the film After.Life, which marks Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo's feature directorial debut and tells of a young woman stuck between life and death. Neeson will play a funeral director who "appears to have the gift of transitioning the dead, but may be intent on burying her alive." Freaky. [The Hollywood Reporter]

-- They're hosting A Christmas Story convention in Cleveland at the end of November in honor of the film's 25th anniversary. Said convention boasts a reunion of eight original cast members (Scut Farkus? I'm there! Did you know he has yellow eyes? Yellow eyes!), as well as the premiere of two docs and a special preview of the upcoming A Christmas Story - The Musical (where can I buy tickets?). The downside? It's in Cleveland ... at the end of November. I'm cold just thinking about that. [more info at A Christmas Story House, via Slashfilm]

-- Remember the film Once? It won an Oscar? The song made people cry (not me, shut up, wanna fight about it)? Well, seems Once is becoming a musical, and is shaping up to hit Broadway for the 2010-2011 season. Both Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova are expected to be involved. So, if Once - The Musical hits it big, will Hollywood then re-cast and remake Once, the indie? That's what you all need to be thinking about during dinner this evening. No questions asked! [Variety]

Just one week after news surfaced that the big-screen Voltron was going into turnaround with Fox's Relativity Media, Latino Review is now reporting that Max Makowski has been signed to direct the live-action update. Now I know what you are thinking: 'Who the heck is Max Makowski?' Well, he might not be a household name, but according to Latino's sources "he's actually a great choice." Well, I guess we will have to take their word for it, because Makowski has a pretty scant list of credits to his name. The Brazilian born writer-director has been hired to direct an update of the 70's TV series Kung-Fu, along with penning the update to Hawaii Five-O.

Voltron has been languishing over at Fox since 2005, and other than a few rumblings about Justin Marks' script, the project seemed to have stalled. Marks' take is described as "a post-apocalyptic tale set in New York City and Mexico. Five ragtag survivors of an alien attack band together and end up piloting the five lion-shaped robots that combine and form the massive sword-wielding Voltron that helps battle Earth's invaders." But now that Relativity has finally secured the rights to the big-guy, I guess all the loose ends have been tied up. Besides, what's one more giant robot movie to add to the pile?

So if you are a hard-core Voltron fan with nothing but contempt for a live action version, at least you can take solace in the fact that nothing has been confirmed -- but you might want to get used to the idea of an 'MTV generation' Pidge now.

Other than the fact that the heroine looks an awful lot like Megan Fox, I can't say I know all that much about the horror comic Hack/Slash, but it looks like that is about to change. In an interview with Newsarama, Slash screenwriter Justin Marks (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li) decided to share a few details about Todd Lincoln's upcoming feature film version of Tim Seeley's series.

First up is that the film "won't be an origin story, per se, but the origin will be covered." -- which probably means get ready for some rapid fire flashbacks. Marks also went on to say, "we wanted to do something very different, because this is the first chance to see a slasher movie where there is more than one slasher! Because it follows a hunter, you're going with her and her accomplice as they go from one to another, and building out the mythology of how this world works with its undead slashers."

Hack/Slash is the story of Cassie; a girl traumatized at a young age, who becomes a hunter of 'Slashers' (better known as Revenants). Along with her partner Vlad, the two are responsible for keeping the world safe from the undead menace. News of a feature film version first hit back in 2006, and other than a few rumblings that Fox was on the short-list for the lead, there hasn't been much to report. Luckily for fans of the gory comic, Marks is committed to making an R-rated film, and told Newsarama, "It was written with that mentality in mind, yes".

Well, maybe if Fox does sign on as Cassie, an R rating could guarantee that fan boys finally get that glimpse of skin they've been promised. Hack/Slash is expected to arrive in theaters in 2009.

[Thanks: Coming Soon]

Have you had your fill of giant robots on the big screen yet? Well, Hollywood is banking that you haven't, and while we wait for the next installment of Transformers, it's time to turn our attention to some of the other giant robot flicks heading our way in the not-so-distant future. It's common knowledge that Justin Marks (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li) is in charge of the big-screen adaptation of Voltron, and today a review of Marks' script has popped up online over at Latino Review -- and, thankfully, it looks like good news for fans of the 80's cartoon. But first off, you should know that the review is pretty descriptive about the plot and 'spoiler alert' doesn't even begin to cover it. If you don't feel like reading the whole thing (and it is pretty long), it can all be boiled down to this: the script rocks.

If you didn't grow up watching 80's cartoons, then Voltron might not inspire much excitement. But, for those of a certain age, Voltron was a religion. The story of Volton centered on a team of five young pilots commanding five robot lions which could be combined to form a giant fighting machine called Voltron. Our heroes are left with the task of protecting their home planet from an evil king and a witch named Hagar. But those were the old days, and according to Latino Review, Marks' script is going to deviate from the original anime origins. For the update, Marks' story centers on the fact that "The Drules have invaded Earth and kicked our ass in the ONE DAY WAR. Humanity has gone underground. New York has been decimated and our story opens on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Drule invasion."

You would think that if Legend Films was looking to improve the general opinion of their big-screen reboot of Street Fighter, they would have picked some more exciting photos to tease us with. Legend is now hosting a new gallery of behind-the-scenes photos for the video game flick, and, well, they're a little underwhelming. The shots are mostly comprised of the sets and a few extras, but there are a couple of recognizable faces (including Robin Shou and Kristen Kreuk) in the bunch. However, on the upside, we do get a glimpse of action to tide us over.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li centers on everyone's favorite "Hyakuretsu Kyaku" expert and Interpol Agent (as played by Kreuk). When her mentor and Tai Chi Master (played by Shou) is murdered by criminals, she goes on a quest for revenge. Justin Marks' script takes the character in a more realistic direction and even throws in some gangsters to go along with SF's usual baddies; Bison (Neal McDonough), Vega (Black Eyed Peas singer Taboo), and Balrog (Michael Clarke Duncan).

So even though I have yet to see anything that makes me think the film could work, I'll have to reserve judgment until I see something a little more final than a few on-set photos and the occasional blog entry. After all, isn't that what trailers are for?

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li is scheduled for release February 27, 2009.

[Thanks: Coming Soon]

Last fall, Cinematical head honcho Erik Davis referred to screenwriter Justin Marks as "the guy they brought in to f*ck up He-Man." At the time, I wholeheartedly agreed with the boss man. But as of today, I'm changing my mind. If the script review over at Latino Review is to be trusted, Marks has done anything but f*ck up the adaptation of our beloved '80s cartoon series/action figure line. El Mayimbe has read the latest draft of Grayskull: Masters of the Universe, and he's graded the text an A+. And if that's not good enough for you, here's a sweet summation: "GRAYSKULL is LORD OF THE RINGS meets THE MATRIX and a little BATMAN BEGINS thrown in for good measure."

I don't know about you, but that sounds awesome. It certainly sounds better than both the 1987 He-Man adaptation, Masters of the Universe and the 1982 non-adaptation The Beastmaster, which I always thought of as a pre-He-Man He-Man movie (anyone else ever notice that Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time has the same plot as Masters of the Universe?). Of course, neither of those movies would be hard to beat. Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver could hire a monkey to write a better script.

Unless you're hoping to avoid spoilers, head over to Latino Review to read more praise and plot information for Grayskull (and weep for the omission of Orko). And after getting pumped up about that movie, keep in mind that Marks also wrote or co-wrote the scripts for the upcoming Green Arrow (formerly Supermax: Green Arrow), which IESB.net just reported is looking at a possible summer 2009 release date, Voltron and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (for which we shared another Latino Review script review last year).

Luckily somebody over at the production blog for Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li has finally taken the hint and done away with the MySpace-style writing (I'm not sure how much more of that I could have taken). At least now it's way less annoying to catch up on the latest updates for the video game adaptation. First up is a picture of the newest addition to the story, Det. Maya Sunee, a half-Thai detective in Bangkok's Gangland Homicide division (played by Moon Bloodgood). For dedicated SF fans, the name is not going to ring any bells because Maya is a new character created just for the film. But that is not all; fans now have the chance to submit questions to be answered by cast and crew.

Legend focuses on the story of one of SF's favorite characters, Chun Li. It's the classic revenge tale about her search for her mentor's murderers. Smallville's Kristen Kreuk stars as Chun Li and Robin Shou plays her Tai-Chi master. Even though the story has been modernized slightly, some of Street Fighter's main baddies (including Bison, as played by Neil McDonough, Balrog, as played by Michael Clarke Duncan, and Vega still get to make an appearance. And as an added bonus, the site also gives a glimpse at the storyboard for a fight between Chun-Li and Vega.

Andrzej Bartkowiak is still shooting on location in Bangkok, so there is plenty of time for more updates in the coming weeks. Stay tuned. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li will arrive in theaters in 2009.