kathleen kennedy Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Oh, us Americans. Even when we turn out for the movies with the words on the screen, we still can't seem to stand those words on the screen. After all, why else would Variety say that an English-language remake in the works for both last summer's art-house hit Tell No One as well as District B13, which kicks ass in any language?

The former was based on a crackling mystery by American author Harlan Coben, albeit one transplanted to a French setting, and was most noteworthy for one sweet foot chase and a fairly loopy denouement. (Here's a thought: have the bi-lingual Kristen Scott Thomas reprise her role here.)

The latter was pretty much one sweet foot chase drawn out to feature length, with some punches and kicks thrown in for good measure, as a cop and a criminal parkour their way through post-apocalyptic Paris. (Don't believe me? After the jump... pun moderately intended.)

You know what? Let's combine the two. A doctor under suspicion for the murder of his wife -- who appears to be very much alive -- goes on the run to clear his name AND deactivate a nuclear weapon. With a plot like that, who needs words?

I'm still not sold on this performance-capture stuff (Beowulf looks terrible), but leave it to Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and a little adventuring character named Tintin to change my mind ... hopefully. Dreamworks and producer Kathleen Kennedy (E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial) are busy working on their 3-D animated trilogy based on Georges "Herge" Remi's iconic Belgian reporter character, and I'm really hoping they get it right. Although they haven't yet found a third filmmaker to helm the installment not being directed by Spielberg or Jackson, they have hired a screenwriter. According to The Hollywood Reporter, British television vet Steven Moffat will script all three parts. The guy has written for series' as diverse as Coupling, Doctor Who and this past summer's Jekyll. Is he ready to tackle such a big-deal project?

Personally, I'm not worried about the scripts for the Tintin movies. Herge was such a great storyteller that I can't imagine it would be difficult to adapt his work. What I'm more worried about is how the film will look. From what we've heard so far, they're attempting something that looks realistic (or live-action) while still retaining the look of Herge's drawings (which are cartoons). Sure, I want to be able to trust Spielberg and Jackson (as Scott mentioned awhile back: if you can't trust them, who can you trust?), but then I haven't seen any performance-capture work that I've been satisfied with -- at least not anything that encompassed an entire film and all of its characters. Will it be more like Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf, which looks too much like a video game, or will it be more like Jackson's work with Andy Serkis in both his Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong? Or will it be something totally new, unlike anything we've ever seen? All I have to say is that I hope Zemeckis isn't the third director hired.

Other than ComicCon stuff, it has been awhile since we got a new video from LucasFilm at IndianaJones.com. The last one, right before the Con was a really disappointing look at the international buzz for Indiana Jones IV. Then, of course, we got the confirmation that Karen Allen would be returning as Marion Ravenwood. In her introduction at ComicCon, there was mention of the family being reunited -- I took this to mean it was official that Indiana (Harrison Ford), Marion and Indy Jr. (Shia LaBeouf) were a family in the sequel. So, I saw the title of LucasFilm's latest video, "Reuniting the Family," and figured it would give further proof that the Joneses would be a happy unit. That was obviously stupid of me. How could I believe they'd give any story info away that easily?

The video is actually a montage of scenes from Raiders, Temple of Doom and Last Crusade, inter-cut with interviews about the reunion of the family behind the camera. Featured is Ford, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy. And as if to really annoy me, the video features too much Kate Capshaw and Alison Doody and not enough Allen. It even starts off with a tease of Marion saying, "Indiana Jones. Always knew someday you'd come walking back through my door." Then Spielberg comes on and says, "I'm excited about making Indy 4, if for no other reason than to get a reunion with our original family." Another thing that made me sad: all the footage of John Rhys-Davies (nothing against Ray Winstone, but I'm really going to miss Sallah).

Maybe one day -- before Memorial Day, 2008, perhaps? -- we will find out the whole deal behind Marion's return to the franchise. By then we will hopefully also have a real title and maybe some confirmation that this movie is indeed a full-circle-back to the plot of Raiders of the Lost Ark. But in the meantime, let's keep watching these hype-making videos that give us nothing new. It's better than twiddling our thumbs for the next nine and a half months, I guess.