So we can cover as many films as possible, we thought we’d give you these quick updates on some of today’s smaller film announcements…
US ticket selling site, MovieTickets.com has announced that Michael Jackson’s This Is It, the documentary that edits together rehearsal footage from Jacko’s proposed O2 concerts, has joined their list of the 25 biggest advance sellers of all time, and it’s still three weeks until the movie’s release. The massive sales are probably down to the fact it will only be in cinemas for two weeks. While the film is at the bottom of the list at the moment, expect it to move up a lot further before the film is out. (Source: /Film)
Terry Gilliam has announced that he’s found his new Don Quixote, but he’s not saying who it’s going to be. He told Empire that “We’re up and running again, we’ve rewritten the script and finally got it back, the budget’s come in… and I think we’ve found our Quixote! But who’s it going to be? Well, I’m not going to tell you, but it’ll start next Spring.” The film, The Man Who Killed Done Quixote, was previously set up with Johnny Depp and Jean Rochefort, but it collapsed partway through filming. Neither actor is involved any longer, although it seems Gilliam now has all the pieces to get the movie going again. (Source: Empire)
Melora Hardin, Mark Feuerstein and World Wrestling Entertainment star Paul ‘Big Show Wight have signed up for the comedy adventure, Knucklehead. The film is about a fight promoter (Feuerstein) who’s desperate to find a new fighter that will help him win back everything he owes. He discover a 450-pound church handyman (Wight) who has spent his entire life in an orphanage agrees to wrestle on behalf of his fellow orphans. The movie is being directed by Michael Watkins, and made through WWE Studios. Rebecca Creskoff, Dennis Farina, Saul Rubinek, Lester Speight and Bobb’e J Thompson have booked supporting roles. (Source: THR)
The first film from new production company Rendezvous has been announced, with commercials director Kevin Dole helming the romantic comedy Kiss The Girls. The part-French production follow the story of a 35-year-old American marketing executive from Texas who travels to a remote French village in search of her real father and unexpectedly falls in love with a celebrated snail farmer. (Source: Screen International)
With the found-footage mockumentary Paranormal Activity causing all sorts of buzz in the US, the producers of the movie, Steven Schneider and Jason Blum, have managed to scare up interest in their next project, with indie outfit, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, signing up to oversee The Jealous One. The film is described as a Hitchcockian thriller based on a 1965 book by Celia Fremlin, about a wife who dreams she murdered a woman who might be tempting her husband, only to find the woman has in indeed disappeared. (Source: THR)
MIchael Bay’s low budget genre division, Platinum Dunes, has signed a first look deal with Paramount. The company has concentrated on horror films, particularly remakes such as The Amityville Horror, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Friday The 13th and the upcoming A Nightmare On Elm Street, but is hoping to expand into action and thriller. The new deal means Paramount will have the first option on producing and distributing all of Platinum Dunes’ upcoming films. Next up for the company is The Butcherhouse Chronicles, which is described rather bizarrely described as ‘The Breakfast Club in a haunted house’. (Source: Variety)