mike bender Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Adam Shankman to Produce Male Cheerleader Comedy
Filed under: Comedy », Music & Musicals », Deals », Disney »
Okay, Will Ferrell has nothing to do with the following production news, but when I think male cheerleaders, I think 'Spartans' -- so sue me. While Ferrell is hardly the most dignified symbol of male cheerleaders everywhere, it's not like a Disney dance comedy is going to do much to raise their profile either. Variety reports that Adam Shankman (the musical producer extraordinaire and part-time judge on So You Think You Can Dance) has signed with Disney to produce the male cheerleader comedy, Matadors. The pitch was written by Mike Bender (Not Another Teen Movie) and is based on the true story of the all-male dance group that performs at home games for The Chicago Bulls. Never heard of them? Don't feel bad, neither had I. But then again, my cheerleader knowledge is limited to what I've learned from watching Bring it On.
Former Laker Girl Anne Fletcher has already signed to direct; Fletcher also worked with Shankman as a choreographer on the dance flick Step-Up back in 2006. According to Variety, the film will primarily be a comedy, but it "will feature extensive dance numbers, drawing on Fletcher's experience as a choreographer." Matadors has not started casting yet, but Fletcher told The Hollywood Reporter, "It's an array of guys, with all sorts of shapes and sizes. We'll be able to have fun with the casting." Well, what do you know? Maybe there's a part for Ferrell in Matadors after all.
Who would you like to see shaking their pom poms for Shankman and company? Sound off below ...
Columbia Pictures Has a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Filed under: Comedy », Deals », Scripts », Family Films », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand »
I don't remember much about my childhood. I remember playing with action figures and watching Fraggle Rock -- but aside from that, my memory is shot. Damn you drugs! However (and this is partly due to the fact that my mother kept every single book she read to me as a child), I do remember reading Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day over and over again. And I'll always remember the book's cover -- here's this kid hiding in his bed, barely peaking out from behind the covers, with this smirk on his face as if to say, "Why does my life totally suck?"
Well, the (good news? bad news?) is Columbia Pictures has just snatched up the film rights to the book for Neil Moritz to produce. Mike Bender (not Binder) will pen the adaptation. Bender and Moritz last worked together on Not Another Teen Movie (in which Bender wrote and produced), and the two are currently looking to take the Not Another Teen concept to TV with Not Another High School Show. (Oooh, please tear into those annoying rich brats on Laguna's Beach House in the Malibu Hills ... or whatever it's called.) As far as Alexander and his horrible day goes, the plot will revolve around a kid who wakes up with gum in his hair ... and it just gets better (or should I say, worse) from there.
What were some of your favorite books as a kid that you'd like to see up on the big screen?
New Line to Remake Torrente
Filed under: Comedy », Foreign Language », Deals », New Line », Newsstand », Cinematical Indie »
Torrente is a corrupt, obnoxious cop who is the main
character in the most successful comedy franchise (it so far consists of three films) in Spanish history. Based on what
little I can find about the films in English, the character
of Torrente is basically a repulsive pig who is also a drunk, racist, and abusive to his crippled father. Nice, huh? In
addition, much of the series' humor is either so regional as to be indecipherable to those outside Spain or based on
the appearances of "popular actors, sportsmen, freaks, [and] low-profile celebrities", the presence of whom
most not non-Spaniards wouldn't even notice. It's quite reasonable, then, that New Line would see the franchise as
having great remake potential. Sigh.Imagine the pitch in the screening room, right after the first film (Torrente: Dumb Arm of the Law) was screened for execs: "Ok, now I know it's totally offensive and really not funny at all. But just wait until we punch it up! And take out the offensive stuff! And totally change the character! Come on, who's with me?" In order to make this thing work for American audiences, the character is going to have to be totally overhauled, as is the style of the humor - I mean, why did they even bother with the remake rights? I can't imagine New Line's first effort (currently being written by Mike Bender and Doug Chernack) will bear more than a passing resemblance to the original film.
If any of you happen to have seen any of these films, please fill us in - is there logic to this whole remake thing, or is it just another case of a studio being blinded by dollar signs?
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