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…
Although DreamWorks announced last year that they were working on a live action adaptation of the hit anime and manga, Ghost In The Shell, things have been pretty quiet on the project ever since. Now comes the news that the studio has brought in Laeta Kalogridis to replace Jamie Moss as the screenwriter on the film. Kalogordis also wrote the upcoming Martin Scorsese movie, Shutter Island. Although we can see this one getting trapped in dvelopment hell, at least they haven’t given up yet. (Source: Variety)
Writer/Director/Actor Justin Theroux has signed on to produce the Paramount comedy, Air Guitar, which is currently being written by Mike Lisbe and Nate Reger. As you may have guessed from the title, the film is set in the world of air-guitar competitions. At the moment Theroux isn’t planning to direct or star in the film. (Source: THR)
There’s going to be a Sex Crime Panic, as Peter Paige has signed on to direct an indie drama with that name. David A. Lee and Daniel Vaillancourt have adapted the screenplay from Neil Miller’s book, Sex-Crime Panic: A Journey to the Paranoid Heart of the 1950s. The film will explore the sordid true history of the hysteria that led to the incarceration of a group of men in a mental hospital for being gay. “We’re thinking of this film in the vein of Capote, Milk and Girl, Interrupted. It’s an intense, dramatic exploration of a dark period in our history,” Paige commented. (Source: THR)
Comic book artist Dave McKean has one film as a director under his belt, Mirrormask, but since then there’s been nothing on the movie front. However via his Twitter feed, he’s announced, “Great first meeting about Cages film; a long term possibility, but good to know all interested parties are on the same page.” Cages is widely considered McKean’s graphic novel masterwork, and it seems that if a film does come, it will be animated. Expect more news if and when plans for the movie solidify. (Source: Twitter)
Ray Winstone and Temuera Morrison have joined the cast of the manhunt thriller, Tracker, which starts shooting next week in New Zealand. The film is an action thriller about an ex-Boer war guerrilla who is tasked with capturing a Moari seafarer accused of killing a British soldier. The script has been penned by the late Nicolas van Pallandt and will be directed by British director Ian Sharp. (Source: Screen International)
Although it’s quite common for people to say that the budgets of blockbuster films have gotten out of hand, a new study seems to suggest that bigger budgets mean bigger profits. SNL Kagan’s study, Economics Of Motion Pictures, found that between 2004 and 2008, movies that cost more than $100 million to make made an average net profit $247.3 million. The next most profitable were films in the $90-$100 million range, which only made half as much profit, with lower budgeted films making even less. The top genre was animation, with the 50 animated movies counted making an average of $220.5 million in profit. (Source: THR)