Matt Reeves is in early talks with Paramount to direct a sequel to his recent monster movie Cloverfield, Variety reported. If the studio can complete discussions with Reeves, producer J.J. Abrams and scribe Drew Goddard, there is a chance that the Cloverfield sequel will be his next film.
Cloverfield, which tells the story of a monster attack on New York City through hand-held video footage, broke the box-office record for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend when it opened on Jan. 18 with $46 million in ticket sales. It fell sharply the following weekend, but not significantly enough to deter the studio from moving forward with a deal for a follow-up film. A likely factor was the film’s modest $25 million budget, which it made back in its first two days of release.
IESB is reporting that Stephen Sommers has cast Arnold Vosloo to play Zartan, a mercenary who works with Destro and Cobra. He is one of the main villains in the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic and animated series. Zartan is a chameleon and can imitate anyone to an exact physical and vocal likeness. In the cartoon and comics his chameleon-like abilities were done through a mix of holograms, illusions and hypnosis. Zartan is also fluent in twenty languages and dialects, a ventriloquist, an expert martial artist, master archer and the leader of the biker gang known as the Dreadnoks who also suffers from Paranoid Schizophrenia and Multiple Personality Disorder. The other members of the Dreadnoks, Buzzer, Ripper, Monkeywrench, Zarana, Road Pig, Zanya, Zandar, Thrasher or Torch are not expected to make an appearance in the live action film.
In other G.I. News, IESB also reports that Destro has been cast, he will be played by David Murray. Mainly acting in theater, he has been described as a cross between Alan Rickman and Clive Owen. A strong, good-looking dark haired actor, it is said he can pull off the “aristocratic snob” perfectly. And although Destro had a minor role in the original animated “G.I. Joe: The Movie,” he is the main baddie this time around. In the comics and the animated series, Destro’s full name is James McCullen Destro XXIV, and is Laird of Castle Destro in the Scottish Highlands. He is currently the head of M.A.R.S. (Military Armament Research Syndicate) and wears a mask forged from Beryllium Steel. His sense of honor, calm and cool demeanor and love for the Baroness character are his key traits. As a businessman, Destro is cutthroat and unyielding. He uses his own troops, the Iron Grenadiers, and hires mercenaries to stir up conflict in dangerous regions, then sells weapons to those armies. Continuing a tradition started by the first masked Destro, he will even sell to both sides of the same war.
Platinum Dunes has been tapped by New Line to re-launch Freddy Krueger, the iconic psycho who haunts the subconscious dreams of teenagers and kills them in their sleep. Dunes will create a new franchise based on A Nightmare On Elm Street, the 1984 Wes Craven film. Originally played by Robert Englund, Krueger haunted nine films and two TV series, and was New Line’s most lucrative franchise until The Lord of the Rings. The deal comes as Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form ready for an April start for Friday the 13th, a New Line re-launch of another iconic villian, Jason Voorhees. Marcus Nispel will direct a script by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift (Freddy Vs. Jason).
Both franchises will be given a complete overhaul, something that Platinum Dunes provided in the Nispel-directed The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. New Line won’t hire a writer on Nightmare until the writer’s strike ends. Platinum Dunes is busy. At Rogue Pictures, the producers are prepping an untitled David Goyer-directed exorcism thriller, and a Near Dark remake that will be directed by Samuel Bayer. Bay, Fuller and Form are also developing a Universal remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, with Martin Campbell directing Naomi Watts.
Dennis Quaid and Channing Tatum have been set as the leads in Paramount’s actioner G.I. Joe. Quaid will play General Hawk, the team leader and Tatum will play Duke Hauser, the lead soldier in the film, which is scheduled to shoot next month in L.A. Pic is set for release on Aug. 7, 2009.
They join Sienna Miller, Ray Park, Rachel Nichols, Marlon Wayans, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Said Taghmaoui and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the live-action film, which is set in the future and based on the popular Hasbro action figures. Stephen Sommers is directing from the latest script, penned by Stuart Beattie. The film is scheduled for an August 7, 2009, release.
Guillermo del Toro is in talks to direct back-to-back installments of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Del Toro’s name was on a short list of directors who could tackle the highly anticipated project, the trade paper said. Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson was originally set to direct the prequel films, but he departed the project following a legal dispute with New Line and the project was put on hold. But with the resolution of the lawsuit in December, The Hobbit is now back on track, with Jackson on board as an executive producer.
Because of the strike, no writer has been hired to adapt Tolkien’s children’s classic, though that process will be fast-tracked once it’s resolved. Del Toro and Jackson will oversee the development of the script. Principal photography for the two films, which will be shot simultaneously, is tentatively set for 2009. The production budget is estimated at $150 million for each installment. The release of the first film is slated for 2010 and the second in 2011.
David Bowers (Flushed Away) has been hired to direct the computer-animated film Astro Boy, based on the Japanese character of the same name, Variety reports. He replaces Colin Brady, who was previously announced as the director of the $50 million project. The film, centered around a lonely robot, was adapted from the original Japanese manga and 1960s TV series created by Osamu Tezuka. Astro Boy is set for release in 2009.
Lionsgate and Marvel Studios have both reached an interim agreement with the Writers Guild of America enabling striking Hollywood writers to work on their projects, the Reuters news service reported. Marvel Studios is financing film versions of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. Upcoming Lionsgate films include The Eye, while its television series include Mad Men and a new show, Fear Itself. Writers and producers resumed talks this week aimed at ending a nearly three-month strike that has stopped most prime-time television production, and some hope smaller deals put pressure on the big studios.
Sony Pictures has also released the official plot summary for the November 7 release. Quantum of Solace continues the high octane adventures of James Bond (Daniel Craig) in Casino Royale.
Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal. Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M (Judi Dench) interrogate Mr White (Jesper Christensen) who reveals the organisation which blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined.
Continue reading Sony Releases Quantum Of Solace Plot
Sony Pictures has announced that the official title for the 22nd James Bond installment is Quantum of Solace. The title is taken from one of a collection of short stories published by 007 creator Ian Fleming in 1960. The new film sees 007 (Daniel Craig) out for revenge on a mission that takes him to Austria, Italy and South America. Bond girl Camille, played by Ukrainian-born Olga Kurylenko, leads the secret agent to Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), member of a mysterious organization and a ruthless businessman, seeking to control huge natural resources. The plot follows on directly from Casino Royale, as Bond aims to uncover the truth about Vesper, the beauty who betrayed him, and discovers that she had been blackmailed.
Actor Heath Ledger is dead, the New York Police Department said Tuesday. Ledger was found in his Manhattan apartment by his housekeeper. The New York Fire Department received a call at 2:27 Tuesday responding to a “cardiac arrest call” in New York. They found an unresponsive male dead at the scene. According to WNBC, Ledger was found with prescription and non-prescription pills around him. In a recent interview, Ledger reportly said that since playing the Joker in The Dark Knight that he had developed insomnia and had been taking sleeping pills.
Continue reading Heath Ledger Found Dead In New York