scott stuber Tagged Articles at Cinematical

That's it, I officially give up. Why does it seem like nobody really likes video game flicks, but Hollywood is determined to keep on making them? Well, I guess it's just another day in the movie business, and another game property has been snatched up for the big screen. Gaming giant Electronic Arts have just announced that Universal has purchased the film rights to their latest shooter hit, Army of Two.

The third person shooter centers on two mercenaries who, after earning their stripes, become embroiled in your run-of-the-mill global conspiracy. The game was a huge hit upon release back in March, and gamers loved that the story relied on the cooperation of our two heroes (good news if you normally get left behind and trapped in a corner while your partner sweeps out bad guys) and customizable weapons for maximum carnage.

Bourne Ultimatum scribe Scott Z. Burns has already been hired to adapt the game for Scott Stuber, and EA will also co-produce. EA has been pretty eager to get into the film game lately (and you can't blame them now that Hollywood has come knocking into the gaming business for themselves) and Army is their second feature project that the company has set in motion this year. Army definitely seems like the obvious choice for an easy transition to the big screen since it comes with a ready made story of political intrigue (first up for EA will be a film version of The Sims for Fox and producer John Davis). But let's not forget what is really important: Army of Two might just be Universal's shot at a brand new franchise.

Army of Two is expected to begin production in 2009. So who plays this game? Will it make a good film?

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.

We've seen plenty of sports figures go on to make movies (like The Rock in this week's new release The Game Plan), but how often do they become screenwriters rather than actors? That is what happened to former Ohio State center Leonard Hartman. And the guy is really getting a number of breaks, in all sorts of genres. So far his only credit listed on the IMDb is a short called Gray Matter, but he's got a ton of projects in the pipeline. As we told you earlier in the year, he's adapting a Depression-era circus-set drama titled Water for Elephants and he wrote the spec script which became the upcoming Goosebumps movie. He also previously wrote a spec about the Homestead Act, which was to be made by the late Alan J. Pakula, and pitched another period piece idea that will be produced by screenwriter Gary Ross (Seabiscuit). Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Hartman has another spec script called Fury, which was just bought by Universal (also home to Goosebumps and the Ross pic).

Like most projects announced in the trades, there's not much revealed in THR about the plot of Fury. But it is probably good to assume that it isn't a comic adaptation about Nick Fury, nor remake of Fritz Lang's classic (sorry if the photo is misleading, there wasn't anything better to use here). All that is known is that it's an action thriller about a group of special forces, and it has a bit of the ol' supernatural in it. Hopefully it will be about some kind of special forces team with supernatural powers -- you know, like basically a team of superheroes. The movie will be produced by Scott Stuber and Mary Parent, who are best known for You, Me and Dupree and The Kingdom, two very different films, and neither of which is like a comic-book-type actioner. I'm sure we'll find out more about Fury in the coming months or year, so stay tuned.

There's a bit of a theme running through the work of one of the newest screenwriting duos, Craig and Jeff Cox. They're the men responsible for the upcoming Blades of Glory -- that movie about the two single figure skaters who lose their medals due to a brawl, are banned from singles competition, and after a hiatus, decide to try again as a pair. Maybe seeing Will Ferrell and Jon Heder skate around is what led them to their next film, tentatively named I, Thalus, which will be another treatment of the Olympics.

Obviously, it's not about modern-day quest for the gold. The Cox brothers are bringing the comedy back to the first Olympics. Unfortunately, that's all they will tell us at this time. As with any comedy, this could be easily good, or easily bad. The Cox Brothers are teaming with producers Scott Stuber and Mary Parent, who can instil hope or fear, depending on your taste. They worked together on You, Me and Dupree, Stuber has the recent The Break-Up under his belt, and Parent... she's connected to the hopefully-shelved Oldboy remake.

Since no further information is available, there is lots of room for speculation. I have this funny feeling that they're not going to be faithful to the original games, unless they whip out some black bars, as contestants originally competed naked -- although they might be able to do it with wrestling, if Borat is any indication. Also, considering the subject matter of the current Cox film, it'll be interesting to see if they include ancient practices of homosexuality, or if they leave some things in the past.

In these days of recycled plots and endless remakes, it's always refreshing to see news about studios willing to go in original directions. Take Universal, for example -- they recently picked up the rights to Agony, a horror pitch from Tales from the Crypt and The Outer Limits vet Scott Nimerfro. What's it about, you ask? Well, because the story is just that new and shocking, the studio is keeping details tightly under wraps. We can, however, report that the movie will be "set in the world of urban legends on college campuses, with one horrifying legend in particular turning out to be true." Wait -- an urban legend that comes true? And college kids? Brilliant! Why hasn't anyone thought of that before?

Nimerfro is currently work on the secret script; the film will be produced by Scott Stuber and Mary Parent via their Universal-based company.

I think it's rare to watch raw independent filmmakers slowly push their way into theaters and actually succeed at doing so. I first noticed brothers Jay and Mark Duplass through their shorts, specifically The Intervention. For those of you who haven't seen it, the film is available on their MySpace page along with a few others. The thing that's great about the shorts is, while mixing the perfect blend of comedy and drama, they're all incredibly simple ... yet very complex.

Ultimately, these shorts are what led to their first feature film, The Puffy Chair. After winning an audience award at SXSW, pic hits arthouse theaters across the country this weekend -- and Austin is stoked about it. Variety is now reporting that Brothers Duplass have signed a blind deal (does that mean they can't see it, but need to trust it is there?) with producers Mary Parent and Scott Stuber to write and eventually direct a film. What kind of film? Hell if I know, but seeing as these two producers are behind The Break Up and You, Me and Dupree, there's a good chance we're talking big commercial hit. These boys may soon need to paint that red chair gold. Good for them -- I dig that kind of journey.