legendary pictures Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I like the cut of Legendary Pictures' jib. A company that produces Batman Begins, 300, The Dark Knight and Watchmen is one to salute, and their upcoming slate is nothing less than exciting. (Inception, Sucker Punch, Jonah Hex, Clash of the Titans, and Sam Raimi's Warcraft are just a few films they've got cooking for 2010 and beyond.) So when they option a title, I feel like you have to sit up and take notice because it's landed in pretty good hands. Throw in a Warren Ellis title and you might just have The Next Big Thing. Variety reports that just such a deal has gone down, as Legendary Pictures has optioned Warren Ellis' Gravel.

William Gravel is the star of an ongoing series published by Avatar Press (picture James Bond with a few more tricks up his sleeve). By day, he's an SAS sergeant-major, and by night he's a combat magician with mercenary tendencies. He combines traditional weaponry with spells and parchments. Like Daniel Craig's Bond, he's a grim guy with little time for conversation or wisecracks. Ellis describes him as "a man with no ambition beyond closing time at the pub [and] his tolerance for human life is minimal." He battles everything from zombies to massive reptile beasts, always looking to profit and get what's his. If you like your action with a touch of arcane wizardry, you'll like these books.

Ellis is penning the initial draft of the screenplay and will be executive producer on the project. No director is attached, but I'm keen to see this one take shape. I'd like to see a trend towards supernatural comic adaptations, as it would certainly help balance out the vampires.

When we last heard about New Line's adaptation of Jack and the Giant Killer, the fantasy tale was being helmed by D.J. Caruso. It started popping up on Bryan Singer's To Do list when they announced the inexplicable Excalibur remake -- but now it's become official, as The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Jack will be Singer's next film, leaving Caruso free to work on Y: The Last Man if he so chooses.

Jack is a slight reworking of (shocker!) Jack and the Beanstalk with a dash of The Brave Little Tailor. It dispenses with that "I'll sell you some magic beans, and some oceanfront property in Arizona" trope, and is instead set in motion when a giant kidnaps a princess. Obviously, that premeditated action is unacceptable, and it threatens the longstanding peace between men and giants. A young farmer named Jack is given the task to lead an expedition to the giants' kingdom in the hopes of rescuing her. Mark Bomback and Darren Lemke penned the script, which is reportedly a more mature take on the fairy tale than you or I might expect. I don't think that means any rampant sex, violence, or cussing but rather that it'll feature the kind of unblinking action that Lord of the Rings did. I mean, Jack's fighting giants. That's hardcore when done realistically.

The project has no start date, but is being fast-tracked and will be Singer's next film if something else doesn't catch his eye. There's no rumors yet as to who might play farmer Jack, but if they run into a crunch, I think our own Erik Davis still knows the script by heart. He already did a fine job on stage from all reports, and going with an original cast member is always good for the material.

There was a report in the Hamilton College student newspaper about a recent visit paid to the school by Thomas Tull (a Hamilton alumnus), chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures, the successful production company responsible for respectable hits like Batman Begins, deplorable indulgences like 10,000 BC, and middle-of-the-road successes like Superman Returns. The article surveys numerous issues from Tull's visit, most of which pertain to his professional history. Near the end, however, it's noted that Tull "hopes to invoke more of the image of 'an angry god'" with the next Superman film. Subtitled Man of Steel, it's a sequel that's been in the works for quite some time.

Wonders Slashfilm: "Maybe Man of Steel will have a Superman who begins to make irrational emotion-based decisions, throwing cars around out of anger, which will paint him as an Angry God in The Daily Planet?" Maybe, but that's a big deduction for what appears to be a throwaway statement. Whether or not Tull even has specific details about the content of the next Superman film isn't clear, but his emphasis on the character's strength, rather than his pathos, sounds like a response to criticisms of the last movie. Many audiences found it light on action and heavy on a lot of needless other things. Superman Returns was hardly a flop, grossing over $200 million in the U.S. alone, but it could have done much bigger business if it sacrificed some of the contemplative drama for a little more speed.

It was a little over a year ago that a feature film version of the highly successful MMORPG, World of Warcraft was announced. Now, Kotaku is reporting from the Blizzcon 07 that Paul Sams and Chris Metzen from Blizzard Entertainment along with the chief creative officer from Legendary Pictures hosted a panel event to field questions from fans and provide some updates about the film. While details were scarce, there were a few pieces of information for the die-hard fans attending the event.

The fantasy game has been around since 1994, and today counts nine million players worldwide, so you can imagine the pressure is on to please fans; nobody wants to be the guy who screws up one of the most popular game franchises in history. No mention was made of a director, but they did confirm that the film was going to be live action but they had yet to decide just how much CGI was going to be involved. Considering the success Legendary had with 300, you couldn't blame them for wanting to give the green screen another go.

Kotaku also reports Metzen confirmed that "Warcraft is still in the scripting process, but that they have something that they're happy with. Further details were kept under wraps but Metzen told the crowd it would take place about a year before the events of World of Warcraft. Metzen was also quoted as saying that the script will be "principally told from the Alliance perspective." Legendary is still aiming for a 2009 release date, so stay tuned for any updates as they come our way.

Hold onto your seats for the surprise of the century -- Diablo is becoming a movie! Not surprised? Yeah, me neither. There is not much to go on so far, but Legendary Pictures has Diablo listed in their "In Development" section. Don't bother clicking on the link just yet -- right now it just links back to the index page, so unfortunately, that's all the news that there is at the moment. The game centers on the town of Tristram, which is being attacked by demons. The player has to enter the underworld, fighting various monsters until he reaches the lair of Diablo to have a tea party kill him. The villain also has a bunch of history -- namely his quest to break free of his Soulstone prison -- that will probably come into play for the feature.

Can they pull it off? Well, this is the same company that brought us 300, and has got World of Warcraft in the works, as well as The Watchmen. On the bigger blockbuster realm, there's also The Dark Knight and Superman 2. In fact, most of their films are comic-based (Diablo's got comics as well), with a few heading into the video game genre, so I bet the powers that be at Legendary are scouring geek media for their next flick. Considering just how many video game movies have gone into development in the last few years, I wonder how long it will take these companies to completely exhaust the list of possibilities... and how long it takes for someone to decide that a teeny Prince who rolls things into a giant ball will make a good film.

[via Blue'sNews]

I'm sorry, but you have to hand it to them Brits for taking a fairly bland rumor and adding to it a whole lot of pizazz. According to The Sun Online (which, right there, means take everything I'm about to say with a ginormous grain of salt), Legendary Pictures (the folks behind Batman Begins, Superman Returns and 300, among others) has pulled the big-screen version of He-Man out of development hell. Not only that, but one inside source claims none other than Brad Pitt is front and center on Legendary's wish list. Says the source, "They are very keen on Brad for the role. He'll have to bulk up though -- he's very fit but not to He-Man proportions." Now if that doesn't sound like a quote that was made up on the spot, then perhaps I can convince you that Cinematical's own Erik Davis is also up for the role.

If Pitt decides not to sign on (that would be a shocker), then The Sun claims Legendary might go after a more realistic target -- that being King Leonidas himself, Gerard Butler. Him, I could kind of see. Pitt, on the other hand, is laughable. Back when Fox 2000 was in charge of the property (they have since ditched the dude and handed him back to Mattel), the potential casting list included names like Paul Walker, Triple H and The Rock. If this story is true, and Legendary really is interested in He-Man, then perhaps that list has been chucked in favor of some names that are guaranteed to bring in the dough. No word on whether screenwriter Adam Rifkin is still attached (last month he claimed the film was still going to be made), but I'm fairly certain John Woo no longer wants anything to do with the hunky blonde superhero. However, I wouldn't be surprised if we hear Zack Snyder's name thrown in the hat. Would you dig He-Man if it went the 300 route? Shooting everything in front of a blue/green screen would definitely cut down the budget and probably make the studio feel more secure in giving the go-ahead.

[via Moviehole]

As part of a soon-to-close multi-million dollar deal, Legendary Pictures, the production company behind the recent mega-hit 300, and Warner Bros. are teaming up to enter another arena of production -- video games. According to Variety, Legendary Pictures, led by Thomas Tull and Warner Bros. will team up to produce and distribute a slate of video game titles to be based on as-yet unspecified Warner Bros. films.

The new venture, known as Brash Entertainment, will be funded by private investors currently being courted by Tull and Legendary Pictures co-founder Bert Ellis and will be run by Mitch Davis and Nicholas Longano, former execs. of in-game advertising company Massive. At the moment, its not known if Warner Bros. will also be an investor in the company or simply handle game distribution in North America -- as they already do for companies such as British publisher Eidios. Even if the full extent of the partnership between Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. isn't known at present, according to the article, there is one project they almost certainly intend to tackle -- a next gen game based on 300 for the XBox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii.

Even though the studio has already released a 300 game for the Playstation Portable, now that the film has become such a huge success, it seems the studio would love to see a much higher-profile game to better take advantage of the movie's young male demographic. That makes sense considering the game for the PSP was pretty bad and felt rushed. Now that they have a hit on their hands, I don't blame them for wanting to go back and make a better game. I, for one, look forward to playing it.

In a move sure to send future high school students across the country into fits of ecstasy ("Yippee! We can watch the movie instead of reading!"), Legendary Pictures just announced plans for a live-action film versions of John Milton's epic poem, Paradise Lost. In case you've either forgotten or were a bad kid and didn't bother to read the book when it was assigned to you, the work tells the little story of "Lucifer's failed rebellion in heaven [back in his angel days] and his part in the fall of man and Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden." Among other things.

Presumably because he knows his evil, The Exorcism of Emily Rose writer-director Scott Derrickson is on board to not only direct the film, but also help develop the screenplay. According to Legendary representatives, the film, with a budget in the $100 million range, is going to be a visual extravaganza, full of "epic battle[s]" and "fierce" angels.

Calm yourselves though, eight graders -- it's going to be a while before this one is done so, if you're going to be assigned the book, say, sophomore year? You're probably going to be doing some reading.