Plenty of music video directors have gone on to make great films. But what if they were to make a great film based on one of their videos? That's kinda the concept behind a list over at JoBlo.com titled "Music Videos That Should Have Been Movies." Many of my favorites are on there, such as Jamie Thraves' video for Radiohead's "Just," Jonathan Glazer's video for UNKLE's "Rabbit in Your Headlights," and Garth Jennings' video for Blur's "Coffee & TV" (pictured above and watchable after the jump). The last of these is said to be one for the kids, but I'd probably be first in line for a feature-length movie about a milk carton on a mission.

Most of the videos included are quite enigmatic, and JoBlo's Mike Sampson admits that for some he simply wants answers, which could be revealed in the longer format of a narrative feature. Haven't we all wondered what the heck is going on in Mark Romanek's video for Nine Inch Nails' "Closer"? And why's that guy in the "Just" video just lying there? Then there's the more easily adaptable videos, such as Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher". I think they've already somewhat made that movie, titled My Tutor, and there's even a remake on the way, but I'd still be interested in Hot For Teacher: The Movie, directed by Judd Apatow, at Sampson's suggestion.

"He's a male bimbo. He's a mimbo!"

Following last week's Wolfman fiasco, a friend of mine asked me whether I thought Brett Ratner would ever direct another big-budgeted film again. And when I say big-budgeted, I'm talking action, adventure, big stars -- the type of film with franchise potential. It's no secret the internet pretty much despises this man. For those who might not remember, director Mark Romanek dropped out of The Wolfman recently, and a whole bunch of directors were in talks to replace him. At the top of that list was Brett Ratner -- and once sites like AICN got hold of that news, all hell broke loose. Harry Knowles (in an un-Knowles-like hate-spewed rant) went off on Ratner, how he's a cruddy director and that Universal would be idiots to bring him on. Eventually, Jurassic Park III director Joe Johnston took over the project.

But not before the internet (including sites like ours and many others) went off on the Ratner decision. Word is Universal was pretty taken aback by all the hostility, and, in the end, it may or may not have played into their decision to go in a different direction. After all, do they really want months of Ratner bashing when their film has been awarded with nothing but love up until this point? I wouldn't want that. Who would? And that's what brings me to this question: With all the major movie sites in agreement that Ratner is the worst choice for practically any film, will this hurt the dude's future career behind the camera?

It's a very weird place to be in for a major studio, because, in all honesty, the guy's films bring in lots of money. Mass audiences are attracted to his name. But, going forward, will there be a studio willing to deal with all the Ratner web bashing in order to make it to theaters in the hopes that their marketing department could defeat all the bad word of mouth? Rush Hour 4 aside, do you think Brett Ratner will ever direct a big-budgeted fanboy film again?

John Landis may or may not belong in "director jail," as Ryan Stewart wrote about yesterday, but he won't be directing the upcoming big-budget remake The Wolf Man. Instead, Variety is reporting that Joe Johnston has been signed by Universal Pictures to fill the director's chair recently vacated by Mark Romanek due to "creative differences."

Johnston's directorial career began nearly 20 years ago with the earnestly entertaining Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and The Rocketeer. He got bogged down with The Pagemaster and Jumanji before delivering the appealing drama October Sky, my fave of his films. He returned to big budget studio projects with Jurassic Park III and Hidalgo.

Is he the right director for The Wolf Man? Based on a script by Andrew Kevin Walker (Seven), the new film is set to star Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt. Reportedly, Romanek worked for about a year on the film, and del Toro has long been attached to star, but the two producers that Variety says were "integral in keeping the project on track" -- Scott Stuber and Mary Parent -- have a mixed record.

I always love it when Brett Ratner's name gets tossed into the pot with regards to a new, hip fanboy-ish project, because the fanboys run out to cry foul. It hasn't seemed to hurt his career, though, since moviegoers still flock to his flicks because the studios tend to sell them well with flashy trailers and whatnot. The latest flurry of Ratner rage was brought on by a story over at AICN which claims the director is Universal's choice to replace Mark Romanek on The Wolfman. Harry Knowles, who broke the news (and says it comes from a very reliable source), makes a pretty good argument as to why the studio should let Ratner's name go in one ear and out the other.

Knowles says, "Brett Ratner makes watchable films. Movies that go through your system as if consumed off a soapy plate. They're empty - hollow works. He's a terrible ACTOR's director. His basement is a disco, and the Wolfman has no disco in his soul. This is a PERIOD film - to make a convincing period film you need a director for an eye for details... Someone that knows this world and period. X3 was a financial success - but that was based on an incredibly successful franchise by Singer. Ratner killed it." Although I'm not as attached to The Wolfman as others are, I completely agree with Knowles opinion of the guy. Ratner's a joke -- he'll make your film look pretty, like the last girl left in the bar after six hours worth of vodka shots. But when you wake up next to her the next morning, the guilt -- coupled with a massive hangover -- leads to regret. Why, exactly, did I pay $10 bucks to watch that piece of sh*t? Oh yeah, the trailer looked good.

While the news is not official yet, there's definitely enough here to hurt your ears. Here's hoping Universal listens to the cries and goes in a different direction. What do you think?

Hearing that Mark Romanek was going to direct a new stab at The Wolf Man a year ago, with Benicio Del Toro starring, was music to my fangirl ears. It was the sort of project that sliced through remake apprehension, and sounded like tasty, cinematic candy. Well, if Nikki Finke's sources are correct, we can forget that possibility. Over at Deadline Hollywood Daily, she has posted word from her sources, who say that Romanek has just quit the project. And Variety has followed up with confirmation of his departure. What?! Is he nuts!?

The source says: "He just blew the opportunity of a lifetime, which is mind-boggling." Indeed! It seems that the $100 million budget wasn't enough for him: "He's a purist, an artiste, an exquisite craftsman, but he just had a budget schedule he couldn't accommodate." Okay... Sure, budgets can make for headaches, but lots of amazing films have been made with small budgets, and we're talking about Del flipping Toro as the Wolf Man, and Anthony Hopkins as Sir John. I might not sell my blood for it, Rodriguez-style, but I'd somehow make it work.

The studio thinks it will fill his shoes pronto, but there's no word about whether they'll stick to their February 18 start date. With Romanek out -- who could fill in his shoes and do the project justice?

Ever since her star-making role as Meryl Streep's proudly ambitious assistant in The Devil Wears Prada, Emily Blunt has been very much in demand for both big studio and smaller independent pictures. Currently she's a Sundance darling, showcasing her work in two films playing at the festival: Sunshine Cleaning, in which she's teamed with Amy Adams as sisters who become crime scene cleaners, and The Great Buck Howard, in which she plays "a fiery publicist hired to stage the comeback of a lifetime," according to the program notes.

Now it looks like she's set to play the gal pal of a rather hirsute fellow. Back in December, Scott Weinberg first passed on a report that Ms. Blunt had been (almost) hired to play Benicio del Toro's girlfriend in Mark Romanek's version of The Wolf Man, based on a script by Andrew Kevin Walker (Seven). MTV News spoke to her at Sundance, and she confirmed on Saturday that she has been cast and will begin filming in February.

I very much agree with Scott's description of Ms. Blunt as "mega-hot and seriously talented," and the romantic pairing of her with Mr. del Toro looks like a powder-keg of dynamite ready to explode. I look forward to witty banter being exchanged between the couple -- Emily with her pitch-perfect diction rolling bon mots off her tongue, as Benicio mumbles something incomprehensible in return. What a great contrast that will be when Benicio goes all lupine on her! Brilliant casting, I say. The only drag? We'll have to wait until February '09 to see the results.

I know I bitch and moan about horror remakes all the time, but every once in a while there comes a project that melts my cynicism and gets me all geeky. Universal's impending rendition of The Wolf Man is one such project, and I'm basing my early opinions on a few cool factors:

1. Benicio del Toro is going to star, and that's what I call good casting. OK, and this Anthony Hopkins guy is pretty solid, too.
2. Mark Romanek is directing, and if you've ever seen One Hour Photo (or, better yet, this DVD) then you know that's a good thing.
3. The screenplay comes from Andrew Kevin Walker, also known as the man who wrote the blisteringly awesome Seven and one very cool version of Sleepy Hollow.

And now, courtesy of CHUD.com, I have a fourth reason to get excited for this new version of The Wolf Man: The mega-hot and seriously talented Emily Blunt has been (almost) cast as the female lead. (Probably best known for a great supporting turn in The Devil Wear Prada, Ms. Blunt appeared in no less than four films this year: Wind Chill, The Jane Austen Book Club, Dan in Real Life and Charlie Wilson's War.) Plus, like I said, she's really pretty with a powerfully sexy accent.

Unfortunately the new Wolf Man isn't scheduled to make his big-screen appearance until February of '09 -- which will give us plenty of time to bring you all the newest developments.

It seems crazy to me that studios "claim" release dates two and three years before the movies come out. I understand that it builds up anticipation, but hanging a release date over filmmakers' heads can't help the end result. For example, I attended a screening of the director's cut of Troy the other night (very cool), with director Wolfgang Petersen introducing. He discussed how at test screenings he realized the score of the film wasn't working. He wound up replacing it in a huge rush to make the release date, and it became one of many aspects of the final film he was unhappy with. Why not just give directors time to make the films they want instead of all the "starting without a finished script" -type stuff that goes on? Well, two upcoming movies -- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (or as I call it, TCONTVOTDT -- it just flows better) and The Wolf Man -- seem to be doing just that.

Prince Caspian, the second Narnia adventure, is still set for release this May, but TCONTVOTDT has been moved from May 1st, 2009, to May 7th, 2010. Taking its place on the '09 date is something called G-Force, "a Jerry Bruckheimer family-adventure about a band of animal commandoes trying to stop an evil billionaire taking over the world." If that plot description is any indication, Summer '09 is going to be a magical time at the cineplex! Mark Romanek's The Wolf Man, with Benicio del Toro in the title role, is being moved from November 18th, 2008 to Spring 2009. I love del Toro, and am really looking forward to that one. I wonder if the notoriously hairy Robin Williams was considered for Wolf Man? Might have saved money on makeup. Reasons have not been given for the release date changes, but Empire speculates that it likely has something to do with the actor's strike that could shake up the industry next June. Hopefully, putting some extra time and care into these movies will be a good thing.

I am The Wolf Man, coocoocachoo! There are times when remakes make me cringe, times when I'm indifferent and times when I start to get the itch of excitement. The latter usually comes from who is involved. It didn't scare or upset me to hear that Lon Chaney's Wolf Man was getting remade, because Benicio Del Toro's involvement just seemed right. Then we got Mark Romanek added to the pot to make things interesting, and then in a moment of insanity or genius, Anthony Hopkins came on-board to play pops -- Sir John Talbot. Now TMZ has a photo up of Del Toro, who is in the midst of his role as Lawrence Talbot. While this isn't an on-set image, he's still looking wolfy.

Take a look at that mug! Well, imagine it without "The Hunted" truck cap and worn, leather jacket, because they make him look like a scary rapist or something. The hair... The look in his eye... This is what got me amped about the project. Will it be just like the original? Doubtful. Will it do it justice? My magic 8-ball says signs point to yes -- crap! I just pulled it out and actually asked, and it says: "Cannot Predict Now." Back when Hopkins jumped on, his agent had said it was a great script, but then again, as many great roles as he has had, he's also had some stinkers. According to the script review at Latino Review, we've got Victorian London in 1888, and Talbot is a Shakespearean actor performing Hamlet, picked for the passage: "To be or not to be, that is the question; whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them." They also say screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker is at the top of his game. God, I hope so!

Dreamworks and Ben Stiller's Red Hour Films are becoming a hot item these days; not only are they teaming on the talent-packed comedy Tropic Thunder (which Stiller is directing) and the vacation thriller The Ruins, but they also helped bring us Blades of Glory and are now working on a new project called In Deep. Well, that's what they're calling it today. The Hollywood Reporter tells us that the flick will be developed as a potential starring vehicle for Stiller, and is based off a long-gestating original script by George Beckerman. However, studio has tapped Steve Conrad (The Pursuit of Happyness) to do -- what they're calling -- a "Page One rewrite/reconceive," which means chances are the following plot description will change considerably.

Apparently, the meat and potatoes of this story revolves around some dude (Stiller?) who "fights a parking ticket and becomes increasingly enmeshed in criminal allegations." Seems like the perfect material for Stiller, as some of his best roles have found him playing a dope who stumbles his way into a situation that "becomes increasingly" (key words in any Stiller comedy plot description) more hostile, and extremely funny at the same time. Well, funny for those who don't get tired of Stiller's same old shtick. (Side Note: Isn't it about time Stiller crosses over to take on a few serious roles? Or did he already test those waters in the late 90s, only to come away with a couple films no one really watched?) As far as In Deep (which sounds like the name of a soft-core porn sprinkled with a murder/mystery subplot and a little noir for extra flavor) goes, Mark Romanek will finally direct another film, having shelled out the cool and creepy One Hour Photo back in 2002, only to disappear back into music video land. We'll get back to you on this one after it's completely rewritten, has its title changed to Moving Violations, and stars Rob Schneider as a judge with a funny accent and a few quotable catchphrases.