Richard Johnston’s Lying In The Gutters at Comic Book Resources.com is reporting a pretty significant Batman Spoiler.
Continue reading The Dark Knight Films Funeral Scene
Edmunds Inside Line is reporting that Universal is currently devloping the Fast and the Furious 4 with plans to bring together the first three movies in this new sequel. The project is currently classified merely as “in development” at Universal, with no clear production start date and no announced director.
It’s rumored that the next film will reunite many characters and actors from the first three including Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson and Lucas Black. Obviously the story will once again center around automotive mayhem of the most intense sort, but the rumor is that this time most of the action will be set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As to the cars, look for a resurrected version of the 1970 Dodge Charger from the original film - will mix it up with such contemporary machinery as the new Dodge Challenger and classic South American muscle like the Chevrolet Opala. Also don’t be surprised if Vin Diesel’s character finds his way behind the wheel of a classic 1987 Buick GNX.
Continue reading Furious Sequel Looking For Diesel, Walker, Gibson, Black
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will star in Witch Mountain for Walt Disney Pictures. Andy Fickman is directing, and the studio will begin production in March. Johnson, who just teamed with Fickman in the Disney family comedy The Game Plan, is in talks to play a Las Vegas cab driver who picks up a pair of siblings with magical powers. The plot advances the storyline from the original Escape to Witch Mountain, which Disney released in 1975. Andrew Gunn produces through his Gunn Films, and Ann Marie Sanderlin is executive producer. Matt Lopez wrote the most recent draft.
John Goodman has been cast as Paul Bunyan in Exodus Film Group’s upcoming CG-animated family adventure Bunyan & Babe opposite comedian Eddie Griffin. Goodman, who’s had monster success voicing characters in Disney/Pixar’s Monsters Inc. and Cars, will play the legendary jumbo lumberjack in the film, in which Bunyan works with two adventurous kids to rescue his sidekick Babe the Blue Ox (Griffin) from the evil clutches of a demented circus owner.
Jim Rygiel, who won three Oscars for his special effects work on the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, makes his feature directorial debut with “Bunyan.” The modern take on the folk story was written by Michael Nickles and Julia Wall, with additional work by Flushed Away scribes Ian LaFrenais and Dick Clement. The late composer Basil Poledouris wrote the film’s theme music.
Dimension Films has signed a two-picture deal with writer-director Rob Zombie, reports Variety. Andy Gould, Zombie’s longtime manager and producing partner, has boarded both projects as producer. The deal comes as Dimension and distribution partner MGM prepare to release Zombie’s Halloween nationwide this weekend. Per the terms of the two-pic deal, Zombie will write and direct both titles, although Dimension didn’t release any further details about the projects, including whether they would be horror films. “We are excited about his fresh take on ‘Halloween’ and are thrilled to be expanding our relationship with him on future projects,” Dimension topper Bob Weinstein said. “We admire Rob for all the roles he plays, both as a director and writer.” Zombie said the two-picture deal with Dimension is a “natural step in the evolution of my film career.”
Wizard caught up with David Goyer at Wizard World Chicago and asked him about Magneto, the “X-Men” spinoff he’s writing and directing:
“We’re scouting and budgeting now. It’s the origins of the X-Men with Magneto and Charles Xavier. We’ve done some scouts and it mostly takes place in Europe and Argentina. We’re doing budgets and we’re sort of halfway crewed up, and so that’ll be the big question: whether we can bring it in for a price. But that’s all I can say.”
He also talked a bit more about Super Max, which he is producing. Justing Marks is writing the film about Green Arrow, who is being wrongly imprisoned in a jail for supervillains:
“We haven’t even officially turned in a script for that yet. The idea is that they’re mostly sort of third-tier DC villains, but that was part of the fun, that they’re relatively obscure. But Icicle is in it from JSA—from my days on writing that. I mean, people will recognize most of them. What we did was present to DC a list of people we wanted, and then they went through it on a case-by-case basis and told us whether we could have them or not.”
Owen Wilson, who was hospitalized Sunday following a reported suicide attempt, is no longer scheduled to appear in Tropic Thunder, an ensemble comedy in which he had a supporting role. The DreamWorks production, headlined by Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr., concerns a group of actors who find themselves in the middle of a war. The film is in its sixth week of production under Ben Stiller’s direction, sources said, and Wilson had not begun shooting his part.
Wilson, 38, is hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center near Beverly Hills after fire and police personnel went to his Santa Monica home in response to an emergency call Sunday. A call log published by the Santa Monica Police Dept. indicated that there was a suicide attempt at the address. A statement attributed to Wilson has “respectfully” asked the media to allow him to “receive care and heal in private during this difficult time.”
Lionsgate has a new title for Lexi Alexander’s Punisher movie starring Ray Stevenson - Punisher: War Zone. The new film will be set in New York, where Frank Castle (Stevenson) runs up against a mobster. This sequel will mark the third screen incarnation for The Punisher, which is based on a comic book about Frank Castle, a Marine-turned-vigilante who is driven by a desire to avenge the murder of his family after they witness a gangland killing. The property was turned into a 1989 film that starred Dolph Lundgren and then into a 2004 movie starring Thomas Jane. Jane dropped out of the sequel after production stalled at Lionsgate.
Variety reports that actor Keanu Reeves has signed onto Twentieth Century Fox’s remake of the 1951 science fiction classic The Day the Earth Stood Still, to be directed by Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) from a script by David Scarpa. Reeves will be playing the part of Klaatu, a humanoid alien who arrives on Earth accompanied by an indestructible, heavily armed robot and a warning to world leaders that their continued aggression will lead to annihilation by species watching from afar. The production is looking at a late fall or early 2008 start as a planned tentpole for the studio. Returning Reeves to the world of science fiction for the first time since The Matrix trilogy, plans are to update the original 1951 movie, which was directed by Robert Wise, using the advances in visual effects. The role of Klaatu in the original movie was played by Michael Rennie.
Paramount Pictures has confirmed that Stephen Sommers will direct G.I. Joe, the live-action feature based on Hasbro’s line of action figures. The studio has also hired Stuart Beattie (30 Days of Night, Collateral, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) to write the new script. A February production start is planned for a summer 2009 release. Variety says the accelerated production schedule began right after Sommers pitched his version of the film to Paramount chairman-CEO Brad Grey and production president Brad Weston on Wednesday evening. He was hired in the room. Lorenzo di Bonaventura will produce with Hasbro chief operating officer Brian Goldner. Sommers and his Sommers Co. partner Bob Ducsay will also be involved as producers.