The General Movie Thread (news, reviews, random thoughts etc.)

[RatBastich]

"Castlevania" Gets A Director

ComicBookMovie.com

James Wan, the director/co-writer/co-producer on the first Saw and solo director on Dead Silence and Death Sentence will direct the video game adaptation..

Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil and it's sequels) was originally going to write and direct the film adaptation. Then the writer's strike happened, Anderson dumped directing duties to work on Death Race and Sylvain White (Stomp The Yard) was brought in to direct.

That all went out the window too! But now James Wan has stepped in to save the movie from languishing in development Hell any longer..

"I'm very fresh on this project, so its early stages and I'm still trying to work things out, but the producers love my vision for it," James Wan tells Bloody-Disgusting in an exclusive chat. "I'll be working on the script with a writer to give it a new spin, different to the previous versions. This will have my stamp on it which Konami is very excited about.

"The thing I love about what Konami did with Castlevania, was taking the iconic Dracula mythology and Eastern-European setting, and retelling it with a Japanese pop-cultural sensibility," he continues. "That’s the East-meets-West tone I want to visually expand on for the film. I’m thrilled by the opportunity to make a highly stylized, fantasy, action film that focuses on the gothic storyline and the cool, anime-like characters. For once, the human hero is as sexy and dangerous as the vampire villain, and his weapon of choice was what attracted me to the project in the first place – The Vampire Killer Whip.”

Shaman will be pleased! Here's a cool production art still from the movie too...

[Masa]

The Book of Eli Trailer

[Masa]

Avatar Day is August 21st - 15 Minutes in Theaters for Free!

At the very highly anticipated presentation for James Cameron's Avatar this afternoon at Comic-Con, the master filmmaker himself announced an unprecedented marketing campaign unlike anything you've ever seen before - which is just like what you'll see on the screen that very day. On August 21st, Fox will take over "as many" IMAX 3D and digital 3D theaters as they can and screen 15 minutes from Avatar for free to whoever wants to see it. He's been waiting to show the world what this looks like and this is the perfect way to introduce everyone to Pandora. Having just seen footage, I can assure you, you won't want to miss this!

For those who were lucky enough to get into Hall H today in San Diego, they were treated to roughly 25 minutes of select scenes from Avatar. It started out with an introduction to Sam Worthington as Jake and then an introduction to what we'll be seeing for the remainder of the movie - his Avatar body. The bodies are actual biological beings and Jake's mind becomes a part of theirs and he, essentially, becomes this animal. These Na'vi are 10 foot tall creatures who are a pale blue color yet glow at night. This is the kind of footage you'll see on August 21st and this is the truly only way to get immersed into Cameron's amazing new world.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/07/23/avatar-day-is-august-21st-15-minutes-in-theaters-for-free/

[Masa]

Could Quentin Tarantino End Up Shooting a Western Next?

Everything regarding Quentin Tarantino is a bit hazy right now, as he's just finishing up Inglourious Basterds and still only talking about working on that and even prequels and sequels from that same movie. But that doesn't mean Empire can't ask him about what he might be up to next as he was walking the red carpet at the London premiere of Basterds. "Well I still want to do a western, I haven't done a western yet. I keep flirting about with it, but I haven't done it yet," he told them. Not so fast, though. "Well I won't be able to do anything in ten months from now, because I don't even know what the next movie's gonna be."

In regards to upcoming projects, not only has Tarantino entertained the idea of actually making a prequel to Inglourious Basterds (that would include the infamous baseball bat signing scene involving Sgt. Donny Donowitz), but he's got a few other projects in the works, and none of them are really westerns. Two of his rumored next projects are remakes: one is the martial arts movie Come Drink With Me and the other is a modern re-imaginaging of Russ Meyer's Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!. I'd love to see Tarantino dabble in the western genre, especially because he hasn't done one yet (and Sukiyaki Western Django doesn't count).

Of course, who really knows what he'll do next. Like with Inglourious Basterds, it could take him 10 years to put it together. And then he could announce randomly at a press event that it'll be ready in one year's time. I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more from Tarantino in the next few months as he ramps up promotion for the Basterds and the movie finally hit theaters. I think his loyal fans will be very happy to see him appearing often in the headlines once again. If you had it your way, what would you want Tarantino to shoot next?

http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/07/24/could-quentin-tarantino-end-up-shooting-a-western-next/

[RatBastich]

Pirates Of The Caribbean 4 Happening In 2010

By Josh Tyler

CinemaBlend.com

While we were busy drooling over Tron, the boys at Coming Soon were running through the halls of the San Diego Comic Con chasing down Disney's Head of Production Oren Aviv, whom they cornered to ask questions about Pirates of the Caribbean 4. Yep, it’s still happening.

In fact Aviv told them that they already have a start date for production. He says they start shooting Pirates of the Caribbean 4 in April and May of 2010, with a release planned for 2011 if all goes well. There won’t be any of that shooting multiple movies at once nonsense that they did with the last two movies. Instead this one will be shot solo, and then they’ll wait and see if it generates the response to spawn a whole new trilogy. Judging from the amount of interest still lingering out there for Pirates of the Caribbean movies, I don’t think that’s going to be much of a problem.

What’s really interesting is that it sounds like they may be taking things back a step. The franchise started out as a fairly simple pirate tale and eventually ballooned into this huge, world-involving battle for total supremacy. Aviv hints that they may scale things down for the next movie because as he says, “we can’t get bigger.” Instead, they’re using Hollywood’s hottest buzz word: reboot.

[Masa]

Producers Promise a Dark Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie

From their beginnings as a comic, through the years of video games and cartoons, various iterations of movies, and the amazing toy lines that have been produced, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have always had a soft spot in many people's hearts. This year at Comic-Con marks the 25th anniversary of the TMNT, and the progression towards what fans really want in a new Turtles movie appears to be on the horizon. I was fortunate enough to be at the TMNT panel this afternoon, and we were able to get an early feel for what the new TMNT live-action film currently being written by John Fusco will be all about.

Producers Scott Mednick and Galen Walker were on hand to answer a few questions about the new film, currently scheduled for a release sometime in 2011. "I love the Turtles. They have a special quality, the key is that we want to make the greatest Turtle movie ever," stated Walker, a response that was echoed by co-producer Mednick moments later. There is clearly a goal for TMNT, but what exactly is it? "In the world we live in today, in the golden age of superhero movies, we need to get back to where this all started."

I got the feeling from the producers that this will be somewhat of a Turtles origin story (which has been reported before). They were all very adamant about getting back to what the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in '90 did. "The interesting thing about TMNT was the combination of action and humor, and Steve Barron (director from the first Turtles movie) added one thing, heart. We want and need to go back to that. Let's make sure we don't dishonor what has been before, and let's create something new," added Mednick.

With these ideas in mind, the fans still wanted to know one thing - will TMNT follow the same path that other darker superhero movies have been going in the last few years. "Our point of view is this: go back and look at the original Turtles comics. They are very dark. The audience is much more sophisticated than they were in 1990. This is 2009. Take the new Harry Potter for example. It is rated PG and it's still a very dark film. We are headed that direction," Galen said. The fans cheered to this response, and there were smiles all around. For as little as we got today, it's obvious that there is a very bright light at the end of this tunnel.

As a Turtles fan, I am very excited to see what the future holds for this new movie. I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more about in the next few months. And of course, we'll always be the first to break any news for you.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/07/24/producers-promise-a-dark-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-movie/

Wanted 2 Starts Shooting Soon, But Who is Coming Back?

The one-and-only Timur Bekmambetov has showed up a few panels during Comic-Con this week, and therefore some exciting updates on Wanted 2 have arrived. First off, SuperHeroHype reported that Mark Millar said the script was completed and they're starting shooting in eight weeks, though they later found out that this meant they were just going into pre-production in eight weeks. We already know that James McAvoy is back as Wesley Gibson, but in case there was any hesitation, Timur confirmed during the panel for Shane Acker's 9 today that he is back and and that they're preparing to shoot in the next few months.

Without spoiling too much, though, Timur did mention something else interesting during that panel. He said that they're trying to "wake up" Fox, the character that Angelina Jolie played, and that she might return (but isn't confirmed yet). I'm sure Universal wants her back - I would argue she was one of the big names that made it such a success in the end. But how could she come back if she died, though? Well, Timur says that she ended up in one of those healing wax baths - so maybe she didn't die? This is good news for fans of Wanted, as it looks like we could see this next summer. We'll keep you updated on Jolie's return as well!

http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/07/24/wanted-2-starts-shooting-soon-but-who-is-coming-back/

[RatBastich]

Tron: Legacy Teaser Trailer In Glorious HD

By Josh Tyler

This year’s San Diego Comic Con was an explosion of Tron awesome. The movie has a title (Tron: Legacy) and we’ve seen amazing concept art. But… we still haven’t seen any actual footage. That debuted at last year’s Comic Con but for some reason it never made it onto the internet in anything other than grainy, almost indecipherable bootlegs. Until now that is.

It took an entire year, but the Tron: Legacy teaser footage is now online in glorious, beautiful, high-resolution. They’ve modified it a little, turned it into a bona fide teaser trailer for Tron: Legacy, complete with a Legacy title card at the end. Odds are the film itself will look a little different, since this footage was originally made simply as an effects test, but it gives you some idea of what they’re going for. What they’re going for is some of the most eye-popping visuals you’ll see anywhere.



Tron Legacy Comic-Con TRAILER in HD! VFX Test for 2009 Movie

[RatBastich]

Next Two Star Treks May Be One Movie

By Josh Tyler

It looks like Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, writers of the first movie, are already knee-deep into plotting out the next Star Trek movie. io9 cornered them out at the party scene in San Diego last night, and got one, tiny tidbit out of them. The next two Star Trek movies may be all part of the same story.

They say nothing’s been decided yet, but at the last meeting “It was really about, hmmm. You know what, I'll give you a tidbit. [They said to us] 'We thought maybe you could do that as like 2 and 3.’” Creating one, multiple movie story arc worked brilliantly in the original Star Trek movies. Star Trek II – IV all follow one, linear story line in which Spock dies, is reborn, and then travels home to Earth with his friends. If that’s what they have in mind for Star Trek: The Next, I’m in.

[RatBastich]

Screenwriter Hired for Roland Emmerich's Foundation Trilogy

Source: ComingSoon
by Alex Billington



Way back in January it was announced that Roland Emmerich would be directing an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy. That's all we really knew at the time, but when Emmerich appeared at Comic-Con yesterday, he confirmed (via ComingSoon) that they've hired a screenwriter for the adaptation - Oscar nominated writer Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan, The Patriot). "He is the most knowledgeable person I ever met about the Foundation novels. It's great to write with somebody like that because… he knows it. I had a certain idea and he had a certain idea and that together I think will make this a movie."

Emmerich also confirmed that they are going to make an actual trilogy of movies based on the novels, not just one movie. "Foundation is my first attempt to do a series of movies, because we're developing three movies: Foundation, Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation. It took me a long time to actually wait for the moment where the rights were totally free and we got them all." And as for whether or not this will truly be his next movie after he finishes up the apocalyptic end-of-the-world feature 2012, Emmerich said he wasn't sure because he hasn't actually seen a finished script yet. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.

Isaac Asimov's Foundation is an epic saga spanning hundreds of years where humanity finds itself scattered throughout the galaxy under the oppressive rule of the Galactic Empire. Originally published in a serial format as five separate short stories beginning in 1942, Foundation tells the story of a group of scientists, the Psychohistorians, who are doing all they can to preserve knowledge as the colonies around them steadily regress. I'm glad that he decided to bring on a screenwriter who is familiar with this material, as Emmerich has been working with Harald Kloser on his last two projects. We'll keep you updated on the development!

[Tuffty]

Dead Space movie in the works

The Electronic Arts hit vidgame "Dead Space" is on course to become a sci-fi/horror film, with "Eagle Eye" helmer D.J. Caruso attached to direct.

EA will produce the film with Temple Hill partners Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey.

The producers, EA and Caruso have been listening to takes from prospective screenwriters, and once they set a writer and EA signs off on a creative direction, they will auction the property to studios. That will likely happen in early September.

The last EA property to follow that course was "Dante's Inferno" -- a journey through the depths of hell; Universal made the deal after a four-studio bidding battle.

"Dead Space" is set in the 26th century in deep space, where an engineer who responds to a distress signal from a mining ship finds the vessel infested with monstrous creatures called Necromorphs. The creatures are human corpses, reanimated by an alien virus.

EA launched the game in 2008 and is working on the second and third installments.

"Dead Space" becomes the fifth EA title to percolate as a feature property. Aside from the "Dante's Inferno" film that will be produced by Strike Entertainment partners Eric Newman and Marc Abraham, EA is in business with Universal on "Army of Two," with Scott Z. Burns ("The Bourne Ultimatum") scripting and Scott Stuber producing. EA's "The Sims" is being developed by producer John Davis and "Mass Effect" by "Spider-Man" producer Avi Arad.

Temple Hill's Bowen and Godfrey are producing "Gears of War," a live-action adaptation of the Microsoft and Epic Games' vidgame for New Line, with Len Wiseman attached to direct and Chris Morgan scripting.

Caruso is also developing "Defender," the Gary Witta-scripted DreamWorks drama that Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci are producing.

EA's repped by UTA and attorney David Fox, while Caruso's repped by CAA and Media Talent Group.

Source: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118006507.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2564

[RatBastich]

King Kong Yet Again

By Josh Tyler

I don’t know what it is about film nerds between the ages of 35 and 50, but they all seem to have this same strange obsession with King Kong. It was that obsession with lead Peter Jackson to make his version, even though it probably wasn’t necessary, and I suppose it’s a similar obsession which has lead a company called Spirit Pictures to buy up the rights and start making plans to do King Kong yet again. Please, Hollywood, give it a rest. Big monkey good. No more big monkey needed.

The movie will probably be a prequel, since Variety says the rights they’ve purchased are to a prequel book called Kong: King of Skull Island. It’s all about the mega-ape’s fight to kick the ass of everything else on his island home and become master of his domain. You’d see other giant gorillas and dinosaurs and all kinds of massive creatures which you only got a tiny taste of in previous Kong iterations.

This project has been kicking around for awhile. For instance the teaser poster included in this story came from a 2008 attempt by Fantastic Films International to get a movie made from the book. It would seem it went nowhere. If we’re lucky, maybe this attempt will once again meet the same fate.

It’s not that I don’t like King Kong. I respect the original movie as an innovator, a vital key in making movies what they are today. Watched now it doesn’t hold up as well as some pretend (and I'm not just talking special effects), but that’s ok. Since the original it’s been done and it’s been redone and redone and redone again. I even really liked the Peter Jackson version and hell, have a soft place in my heart for some of the cheesy sequels and remakes done before it. King Kong vs Godzilla is a blast. The point is, we’ve got this Kong guy covered. Now a prequel? Really no thanks. If you’re really intent on making something about giant monsters, how about somebody finally make a good Godzilla movie? Oh yeah, they did. It was called Cloverfield. Great. So we’ve had giant robots, retro giant robots, mega gorillas, super dinosaurs, and massive thingys from outer space. Now we’re back to monkeys? Stop! Done. No more please.

This is becoming worse than the overabundance of superhero movies. If you must make this kind of movie, someone get on an NC-17 version of Attack of the 50ft Woman. At least it’d be different.

[RatBastich]

The Rats of NIMH Returning to the Big Screen

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Paramount is developing a feature version of Robert C. O'Brien's award-winning children's tale "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH," says The Hollywood Reporter.

Director Neil Burger (The Illusionist) is in talks to write the screenplay, and former Walden executive Cary Granat is on board to produce.

The film would be the second theatrical go-round for the book, which MGM brought to the screen in 1982 as the animated The Secret of NIMH, directed by Don Bluth.

The story centers on a mouse -- the titular Mrs. Frisby, re-named Mrs. Brisby in the MGM movie -- faced with a crisis when her son falls ill and she must move her family to escape a farmer's plow.

Mrs. Frisby enlists a group of former lab rats, whom she soon discovers run a highly evolved society, who possess advanced technologies and divide labor in the manner of a human community.

[JFC]

Just watched Detroit Metal City

Usually not my type of music, but now I gotta get my hands on the soundtrack!

This movie has been subbed by Skewed Studios. Release info and DL links are on the JE Fusion blog, since the SkewedS website is down.
http://www.jefusion.info/2009/07/skeweds-detroit-metal-city-live-action.html

Video Info:
Resolution: 856x480
Size: 975.95MB
Duration: 1:43:15
Video Codec: h264
Audio Codec: AAC
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English Hardsubbed

[RatBastich]

Comic Con Trailer For Pandorum

By Katey Rich

I'll be honest with you-- I was a little unclear on exactly what Pandorum was about when I watched the newest trailer for the film, the Comic Con version that screened at a panel that I missed when I was in San Diego. I got a little more context by watching the previous final trailer, which we posted a few weeks ago, but it's still a little unclear why Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster are in space, and what exactly they're up to.

But hey, the action in the film looks pretty good, an in a year when neither Alien nor Aliens is coming out, where else are you going to get your paranoid space adventure? Check out the trailer, via

[RatBastich]

Michael Sheen Is Tron: Legacy's Bad Guy?

By Josh Tyler

Tron: Legacy has a bad guy. Michael Sheen was confirmed to be in the film by Disney during the busy Comic Con weekend, and word is from Coming Soon that he's playing the villain.

We're not sure yet exactly how Sheen’s bad guy character will fit. However, he’d be a perfect replacement for fellow Brit David Warner, who played the Master Control Program’s top henchman Sark. Will Sheen be Sark 2.0, or some entirely new, evil, inter-computer force? In the past Sheen described his character as “not a person at all” which definitely makes him some sort of computer program and not an individual in the real world. We’ll let you know when we know.

Tron: Legacy is headed for a fall 2010 release. It’s the story of Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin’s loyal confidant (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.

[RatBastich]

Ron Howard Directs Ludlum's Parsifal Mosaic

By Tim Gomez

Remember when Ron Howard was Opie? Can you believe that dude grew up to become a well-regarded film director with an Academy Award under his belt? And I’m supposed to feel bad for other child actors when they start snorting coke? No, thank you. Despite his creepy gingerness, Howard has made respectable darlings like A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13, but he’s also recently gotten the thriller bug.

And it looks as though that bug will keep biting, as Howard has signed on to direct an adaptation of a Robert Ludlum (writer of the Bourne series novels) book, The Parsifal Mosaic. According to Variety, David Self, of Road to Perdition fame, will adapt the novel, and Brian Grazer will produce (as if Howard would make a movie with anyone else). The novel follows a CIA operative who believes he witnessed the assassination of his lover who had been identified as a KGB agent.

With the way The DaVinci Code worked out (I haven’t caught Angels and Demons yet, but plan to at the $1 theatre this weekend), it’s tough to get excited for another thriller from Howard. If he intends on making a good movie, he’s going to need to diversify. Tom Hanks can’t play everything.

[RatBastich]

Don't Worry, Star Trek 2 Won't Be Like Transformer 2!

Source: io9
by Alex Billington

I'm probably stepping onto thin ice here, but this is worth mentioning only for fun, not for real news. Sci-fi site io9 caught up with screenwriter Roberto Orci on the red carpet of the Entertainment Weekly party at Comic-Con (which I was also at). Their brief conversation focused slightly on Transformers 2, then jumped to Star Trek 2. As was announced previously, Orci and writing partner Alex Kurtzman are writing the sequel to J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. They also wrote Transformers 2, which despite earning $382 million at the box office, hasn't settled well with critics or fans. But you don't have to worry, Star Trek 2 will be very different.

What I'm trying to say here is that you shouldn't be so worried about Kurtzman and Orci writing the Trek sequel. If you're one of those people who didn't like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen at all, but loved Star Trek, and are now worried about Star Trek 2 because of Transformers, well, don't be worried! It's a completely different franchise and, even at the base, is an entirely different kind of story, as Orci said. If anything, this just proves how versatile Kurtzman and Orci can be. And how much influence a director like Michael Bay has on the story in the end. I'm still very excited to see what they'll cook up for us in Trek 2!

[RatBastich]

Ridley Scott Returns To Alien

By Josh Tyler

The rumors and the dreams of a million fanboys have come true. Ridley Scott is returning to the Alien franchise. He’ll do it with a prequel being written for 20th Century Fox by Jon Spaihts.

Great news right? The only way things could possibly get better for the Alien franchise is if someone went back in time and shot Paul W.S. Anderson’s father. Since that’s not happening, be happy with this. So let’s talk about exactly what this is.

Variety broke the story but offers no hint as to what the film may be about, other than that it’s a prequel to Ridley’s franchise starting 1979 horror film. For me the biggest question is, how much of a prequel are we talking about here? Are we talking about a film set on modern day Earth for instance, the way Alien vs. Predator was? That’s almost the only thing that makes sense. Otherwise, why call it a prequel? Ridley’s original movie takes place in a far off future, you can pretty much do any story you want there without worrying about any specific continuity. No need for the prequel label if that’s when it’s set, you can already go anywhere in that universe. It’s not specific.

But that’s just guesswork. What we do know is that it’s being scripted by Jon Spaihts, who has already written a couple of other outer space thrillers for other projects. So that means thriller, maybe even something more horror oriented like Ridley’s original movie. Sure later films skewed off more towards action horror and that was a lot of fun, but I’m hoping Ridley Scott has scaring the shit out of us on his brain.

[RatBastich]

Michael C. Hall Sticks With The Creep Roles

By Katey Rich

Michael C. Hall may well be the king of creepazoids you'd probably want to date anyway. He was an undertaker stuck in the closet on Six Feet Under, is currently busy hacking people up in the name of justice on Dexter, and now he's going to play a 35-year-old starting a relationship with an 18-year-old. Creepy old men or murderers-- which is weirder?

The film in question is East Fifth Bliss, an indie directed by One Night helmer Michael Knowles. Variety writes that the film is an adaptation of Douglas Light's novel, which he will adapt for the screen alongside Knowles.

[RatBastich]

Monsters, Inc. 2 Closer To Happening?

By Josh Tyler

For months now we’ve heard rumors that Disney and Pixar might be planning a sequel to Monsters, Inc.. Pixar, once avowed sequel haters, seems to have jumped feet first into the world of follow-ups recently. Toy Story 3 is already on the way.

Now we have, what would seem to be, something closer to confirmation of Monsters Inc. 2 plans. Disney focused blog Jim Hill has been on the alert, and they’ve spotted Disney registering the domain name “Monsters2.com”.

While normally the registering of a domain name might simply be a pre-emptive strike against squatters, Jim Hill thinks in this case it might actually mean something. Disney has recently registered a couple of other domain names, both of which coincide with the promise of a sequel. Unfortunately that sequel is Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2, a direct to dvd effort.