Dustin Hoffman To Make Directorial Debut
Saturday March 13, 2010
Teaming up with BBC Films for Quartet
It's almost surprising that Dustin Hoffman has managed to be a big star for so long, but never decided to direct a film himself. However it seems he's about to remedy this, as Screen Daily is reporting that he's teaming up with BBC Films to direct a movie called Quartet, which is being written by The Pianist's Ronald Harwood.
The plot concerns Cecily, Reggie and Wilfred, who are in a home for retired opera singers. However this year’s plans to celebrate Verdi’s birthday with a concert are not going to plan. Does that not sound like the most hideously British movie you could ever possibly imagine? Let's hope it's a bit more interesting than it sounds.
Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay and Albert Finney are currently set to play the lead roles in the film. As you may have gathered by the title, there's also a fourth major character, called Jean, who's the one causing the problems with the celebrations, however as yet it doesn't look like this part has been cast.
Hoffman is taking over from Richard Loncraine as director, and while it does sound like the film could be fairly tedious, the actors are great and it'll be interesting to see how Dustin measures up as a director.
Joaquin Phoenix To Play Edgar Allan Poe?
Saturday March 13, 2010
Looks like he's coming out of 'retirement'
I'm sure like us, you're a massive fan of crazy-bearded rapper Joaquin Phoenix, who left acting behind with dreams of touching people with his music. He did manage to touch people, but mainly their gag reflex. Early last year he said he's never make another movie again, but as he seemed to be in the middle of a minor nervous breakdown at the time, many expected he'd change his mind. Now it seems he has.
Oscar winning sound engineer Resul Pookutty, who won for his work on Slumdog Millionaire, has been talking to the Mumbai Mirror and has said that Phoenix, an Oscar-winning thespian himself, is set to return to the big screen sometime next year in an adaptation of Daniel Stashower's The Beautiful Cigar Girl.
Phoenix is set to play Edgar Allen Poe in the film, which is based on an eerie real-life experience the author had just months before his death. The script is based on a true story that follows Poe's investigation in solving the mystery behind the brutal death of a beautiful society girl.
However what isn't clear is whether this is the same as a film announced in January, which had a very similar plot, but at the time was going under the title The Raven.
Phoenix's involvement hasn't been officially announced yet (and who knows, perhaps he won't be in the movie, and we can look forward to more of his rapping), but hopefully this suggests he's calmed down a bit and decided being crazy isn't a good look.
New Toy Story 3 Poster
Friday March 12, 2010
Plus, Kick-Ass posters go retro
Disney has sent us a brand new poster for Toy Story 3, showing Woody, Buzz and the gang looking slightly uncertain about their new surrounding. But then, wouldn't you be if you'd ended up as playthings in a kindergarten? Toy Story 3 hits UK cinemas on July 23rd, but take a look at the new poster below (and under that, check out some awesome new Kick-Ass retro posters).
The two new retro Kick-Ass posters below were created for the film's screeningand panel at the SXSW festival, and there's little doubt that they're rather cool. Take a look and click on them for larger versions over at MTV.
Casting News: Barry Pepper For True Grit
Friday March 12, 2010
Plus, Giamatti wants to Win Win, Hugh Jackman reveals Selma role and more...
Here's the latest casting news leaking out of Hollywood...
Poor old Barry Pepper. For about two minutes after Saving Private Ryan and The Green Mile it looked like he was gonna be a big star, and then came the disaster that was Battlefield Earth, and we've barely heard anything from him since. However the Coen Brothers don't seem to be put off by his brush with John Tarvolta as a seven-foot tall alien, as they've cast him as 'Lucky Ned Pepper in their True Grit remake. The notorious outlaw was played by Robert Duvall in the 1969 original. He'll star opposite Matt Damon, Jeff Bridges and Josh Brolin in the film, which starts shooting very soon. (Source: Variety)
Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan have signed on to play the lead roles in Tom McCarthy's comedy drama, Win Win, while Melanie Lynskey, Bobby Canavale and Jeffrey Tambor will co-star. Giamatti will play a struggling attorney who moonlights as a high school wrestling coach. However his life is thrown into turmoil when he becomes the legal guardian of a client whose grandson turns up on his doorstep. Filming starts next month in New York. (Source: Variety)
A couple of weeks ago, Precious director Lee Daniels said he'd signed Hugh Jackman for a role in his upcoming civil rights drama, Selma, however he didn't say what the part would be. Now Jackman himself has revealed who he'll play, saying he'll be he'll be Jim Clark, the racist, short-tempered Alabama sheriff whose violent arrests of civil-rights protesters got international attention during the 1960s Selma, Alabama demonstrations. (Source: Vulture)
Jackson Rathbone (Twilight, The Last Airbender) and Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone) are set to headline the inde drama Truckstop. The film is about a man with cerebral palsy who takes care of his dying father while working at a truckstop, where he befriends a troubled young prostitute. Is it just me, or does that sound more like a parody of something designed to win Oscars than an actual film? Production is set to start in September. (Source: Variety)
A.J. Bowen, known for his horror-movie performances in such pics as Creepshow 3 and The House of the Devil, is starring with indie actors Amy Seimetz and Joe Swanberg in the horror-thriller, A Horrible Way to Die. The film centres on an escaped murderer (Bowen) in pursuit of his ex-girlfriend (Seimetz), who has fled to start a new life in a small town. Swanberg plays her budding boyfriend. (Source: THR)
Cloverfield Screenwriter Hired For Robopocalypse
Friday March 12, 2010
And it may be Steven Spielberg's next film
Irrespective of the plot, the title Robopocalyse is enough to get studio executives frothing at the mouth. It did that last November for Dreamworks, who snapped up the rights to Daniel Wilson's as yet unpublished book, with plans to make a movie version. And just to show how exciting that title it, Wilson hasn't even finished the novel yet.
The studio is now moving forward with the project by hiring Cloverfield screenwriter, Drew Goddard, to handle the script. While WIlson is still finishing the book, Goddard has apparently started working on the screenplay anyway, which will deal with the human race's attempt to survive an apocalyptic robot uprising. As well as the title, another thing that may have interested Dreamworks is that Wilson has a Ph.D in robotics and has spent a lot of time working on artificial intelligence, suggesting this may be a more realistic tale of robotic rampage than normal.
Although it's only industry speculation at the moment, Deadline queries whether Robopocalypse may be Spielberg's next movie. Although he's in post on Tintin, that movie doesn't arrive until late next year, and he's said to be keen to get back behind the camera before then. Recent attempts to make a Matt Helm movie and a remake of Harvey both collapsed, leaving the director's diary open. There was also speculation he may direct a George Gershwin biopic, but this now seems unlikely.
While Spielberg has been busy setting Dreamworks back up as an independent company, investors put money into the studio on the expectation they'll get some Spielberg directed movies, but he hasn't made a film since Indiana Jones 4. The word is that while he's made no decisions, either Robopocalypse or an adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's War Horse are most likely to be his next film.
Planet Of The Apes Prequel Gets A Director
Friday March 12, 2010
The Escapist helmes, Rupert Wyatt, is top of the list
I'm always a little bit wary when studios hire a director for a big movie who has little experience with big budget filmmaking and has only ever previously made passably well-received movies. Although it could be that they have faith in their previously untapped abilities, it often seems like a ploy on the part of the studio to get in a helmer who's green enough that they can retain total control, while patting themselves on the back for seeming like they've taken a risk.
However, whatever the reason behind it, Deadline is reporting that Fox is eyeing British director Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist) to helm their long-gestating Planet Of The Apes prequel. The movie is a semi-remake of Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes, but also designed as a reboot of the franchise following the failure of Tim Burton's 2001 version of the original. However exactly how the film will work is still in the air, as it's been changing and gestating for a long time.
The original idea was to do a more hard sci-fi take, with no talking monkeys, which would see scientists creating hyper-intelligent chimpanzees. However Fox wasn't keen on the first version of the script and since then it's been through several different writers and producers, most recently going to producer Peter Chernin, who championed the 2001 Apes remake as the head of Fox. It may be that he's gone back to a more traditional Apes movies, which would see a Chimp called Caesar leading his super-intelligent simian brothers in a revolt against the humans.
Whatever the eventual take, the question is whether we need another Apes reboot, and also whether hiring a director who's never made a Hollywood movie and is yet to show they're a cut above the rest is really the way to go?
Hugh Weaving Is Captain America's Villain
Friday March 12, 2010
He'll be playing the evil Red Skull
While there have been endless rumours and speculation in the last few weeks about who will play the title character in The First Avenger: Captain America (click here for the latest rundown of who's still in the running), it seems we now know who will be appearing as the villain in the superhero flick.
Lord of the Rings and The Matrix star Hugo Weaving is in final talks to play the role of Red Skull in Joe Johnston's film. Although there have been different incarnations of the character, the most logical version of Red Skull for the film is the former Nazi general officer and confidant of Hitler, Johann Schmidt. In the comics the Fuhrer trained Schmidt personally and eventually gave him a grotesque red skull mask, with his job to be embodiment of Nazi intimidation. It was the propaganda effect of Red Skull that encouraged the US to create Captain America in the first place.
The film with reunite Johnston and Weaving, who recently worked together on The Wolfman. However negotiations on the villain role are said to be at a delicate stage. While normally by now it's purely a case of ironing out the details, Marvel is known for playing hardball on both salary and demanding multi-picture deals, which may derail things. However it currently looks like Weaving will indeed be the bad guy. Now all we need is someone for the role of Captain America himself!
Titanic 3D Coming Spring 2012?
Friday March 12, 2010
Plus, Cameron planning Avatar extended cut cinema release
While it takes James Cameron years to make a movie, it seems new versions of films he's already released are on the horizon. For a while he's been talking about converting Titanic to 3D, and now it seems he's firming up his plans and wants to release the movie in spring 2012, to coincide with the 100th Anniversary of the ship's ill-fated voyage.
USA Today spoke to him after he filmed The Black Eyed Peas concert in Times Squares in 3D on Wednesday, and got him to dish the dirt. However we was keen to point out that to convert an old film to 3D properly takes between six months and a year, and he didn't seem too impressed with the automated process that's allowing Warner Bros to turn Clash Of The Titans 3D in only eight weeks, saying, "If you use some automated process or some cost-effective process for that type of programming its going to look like crap. It's like colorization looked like crap."
While Cameron hinted to USA Today about a possible extended cut of Avatar coming to 3D Blu-ray in the autumn, THR is reporting we may be able to see it sooner than that, as Fox is thinking about bringing a longer version to cinemas this summer. The reason is that last weekend Alice In Wonderland took all the 3D screens, and as a result the studio feels they may have missed out on making another couple hundred millions, which they might be able to recoup with an extended cut release later this year.
Cameron apparently has 40 minutes of extra footage that didn't make the original version, however a bigger issue is to do with IMAX. The longest an analogue IMAX film can run is 170 minutes, meaning that those venues would be cut out of any re-release if the director adds back in more than 10 minutes of extra footage.
However whatever they decide, a 2D version of the theatrical cut should be coming to DVD and Blu-ray in the next few months.
Sam Worthington To Play Dan Dare?
Friday March 12, 2010
It seems the Avatar star may be piloting to the future
Although this one needs to be filed in the rumour drawer for now, Pajiba is reporting that Sam Worthington is attached to a movie based on the Dan Dare: Pilot Of The Future comics. Although it may seem a little surprising a film is in the works of a comic that's little known in the States, the character, who first appeared in the 1950s, was bought by Virgin Comics a few years ago with an eye to relaunch him first on the page before bringing him to the big screen.
And with most of the world famous comic characters already having their own film series, Hollywood is looking around for who else might make a good franchise.
When he first appeared, Dan Dare was a typical patriotic British hero, who spoke like he'd just stepped out of a 1940s war movie. At that point, the future he was piloting around in was the 1990s. Although those times have been and gone and we're still stuck on Earth, Dare was busy zooming around the solar system, fighting off evil, including the dastardly Mekon. In recent years, as with many comics, the series has taken on a slightly darker tone, with the world in disarray and Dare trying to sort things out.
Warner now has the rights to characters and they're looking for a writer and director to guide it to the screen.
Worthington would seem a decent choice as he's certainly got the right look for Dan Dare. That said, while he's had hits with Terminator: Salvation and Avatar, he's yet to appear in a movie that really relied on him being the main draw. Dan Dare would give him his own franchise, something he lacks at the moment. However, as Worthington was also rumoured for Flash Gordon a few weeks ago and his name seems to come up in regards to virtually every new film, we'll have to wait for confirmation before we believe he really is going to be Dan Dare.
The Return Of The Sketch Comedy Movie
Friday March 12, 2010
Peter Farelly lines up the stars for his comedy shorts flick
For a brief time in the 70s, it seemed the idea of a movie that was essentially a selection of comedy sketches might become popular. However while Kentucky Fried Movie and The Groove Tube found success, rather like most attempts at portmanteau filmmaking, the novelty quickly wore off and we've seen few in the last couple of decades.
However, that's not going to stop Peter Farrelly (one half of the infmous Farelly Brothers) from having a go, as Variety reports that he's currently putting together a comedy sketch movie that will feature input from all sorts of famous actors and directors. Even though Farelly himself is currently shooting Hall Pass with Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis, the structure of the movie means that some of it is already filmed and production will not continue through late May, with a whole host of stars showing up for one or more of the two dozen planned comedy shorts.
Directors including Brett Ratner, Elizabeth Banks, Bob Odenkirk and Griffin Dunne have already shot segments for the film, but the film will eventually include the efforts of 17 different filmmakers. However what's probably most impressive is the list of actors they've got to agree to appear, probably because each section only takes a short time to make, so it's easier for stars to fit into their schedule. Those who'll appear include Gerard Bitler, Kieran Culkin, Hugh Jackman, Johnny Knoxville, Christopher Mitntz-Plasses, Chloe Moretz, Lieve Schreiber, Seann William Scott, Tony Shalhoub, Emma Stone, Matt Walksh, Patrick Warbuton, Naoni Watts and Kate Winslet.
Relativity Media has now signed on to co-finance and help find distirbution for the film, although with a cast like that, it shouldn't be too difficult to get it into cinemas. However the problem with sketch comedy movies that they're generally very uneven, but let's hope that with the guiding hand of Farelly, this one works.