** MOVIE NEWS **
AMERICAN GOTHIC - THE MOVIE
'Moviehole' scooped a rumour that short-lived cult series American
Gothic will be translated into a movie. Now, Craig Maquardo, the
President of the 'Fathom Motion Picture Company', has confirmed that a
movie and new TV series is being seriously proposed.
Marquardo: "I will exec produce, and the film adaptation was my idea.
Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert [original producers of the series] of
'Renaissance Pictures' are also attached to the film. Sean Cassidy,
series creator, is not affiliated with the project, and won't be. The
following members of the original cast will reprise their roles: Gary
Cole. Jake Weber, Brenda Bakke and Nick Searcy. Paige Turco will not
return. Lucas Black and Sarah Paulson will not return due to their
significant age change since the series run".
'Fathom' is in talks with Traffic screenwriter Stephen Gaghan about
writing the script that "will be based upon elements from the early part
of the series". But "right now, the fate of the film rests with
'Universal'. 'Uni TV' owns the rights. 'Universal Studios' is making the
decision as we speak. They are the ones who will have to decide whether
to greenlight it."
"Even if they say no, there are other options, one of which is 'Fathom'
buying the rights from Uni and making it ourselves".
A new TV series of American Gothic is also being proposed by 'Fathom' to
the 'Sci-Fi Channel' under the banner "American Gothic: Revisited", with
the original series events being ignored."
BATMAN 5
The latest rumour is that director Christopher Nolan, who hopes to begin
shooting Batman 5 very soon, wants Michelle Pfeiffer to return as
Catwoman for a brief cameo. Interestingly, Pfeiffer once stated she's
never wear the cat-suit again, so perhaps her alter-ego Selena Kyle is
more likely to make an appearance.
Of course, Halle Berry is about to start shooting the Catwoman spin-off
movie, so there may be a bone of contention with Nolan's wish...
London's 'Metro' magazine recently interviewed Nolan about Batman 5:
Metro: How is Batman coming along?
CN: Fantastic. I'm having the time of my life.
Metro: What stage are you at?
CN: Very early stages, which is where it's tremendous fun. I'm getting
to watch my vision of the world of Batman. To do that and get paid for
it is brilliant.
Metro: Can you pitch your vision to me?
CN: Er, bloody marvellous? I can't, it's absolutely, excruciatingly top
secret.
They then asked general questions about his influences (which include
Star Wars, Blade Runner and 2001: A Space Odyssey). Nolan also
apparently understood 2001 when he was eight years old:
CN: I think there is a tendency, particularly in Hollywood, to
underestimate kids and the way in which they respond to narratives. I
think that if you show something incredible and take them to a different
world, you don't necessarily have to be telling them the clearest or
most obvious story.
Metro: I'm going to read that as your vision for Batman.
CN: Absolutely. Definitely.
BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA 2
Sadly, the rumour that a sequel is forthcoming has been shot down in
flames. Apparently, director John Carpenter commented that he'd love to
do a sequel, but no studio would give him the budget.
CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
With Johnny Depp making an almighty splash with his portrayal of Captain
Sparrow in Disney's Pirates Of The Caribbean, the now highly bankable
star looks set to star in another Tim Burton movie - playing Willy Wonka
in Charlie & The Chocolate Factory!
THE BOURNE SUPREMACY
Producer Frank Marshall talked with 'About.com' about the Bourne
Identity sequel and confirmed that the film will be set in "Berlin,
Moscow and India".
But the plot will differ to the book: "It will be totally different. The
stories in all three books are very dated. It's about the cold war and
things that have all been resolved and are over with."
CATWOMAN
Lambert Wilson (the Merovingian in Matrix Reloaded) and Sharon Stone
have been cast as a husband and wife in the new Catwoman spin-off movie.
Interestingly, Stone was one of the first actresses rumoured to be
taking the Catwoman role from Michelle Pfeiffer back in 1992, when Basic
Instinct had then made her a superstar.
How times change...
THE CROW 5
'The Z Review' has heard from a reliable source that "UK-based
associates of Edward R Pressman, have let slip plans for a fifth Crow
movie. Tired of the formula 'guy dies and becomes an avenging Crow", the
plan for the fifth time round is for a female to don the make-up and
kick butt... on the streets of Hong Kong.
CURSED
Director Wes Craven has teamed up with Scream writer Kevin Williamson
again for this contemporary teen update of the werewolf myth. But the
movie was shut-down mid-production by Miramax after the studio were
unhappy with the dailies being released by the crew.
'Moviehole' now reports that much of the problem was the apparently
troublesome ending. But, a new finale has been written that the studio
is happy with as and will be filmed very soon.
SPIDER-MAN 2
A new poster to advertise the Spider-Man sequel has been released (see
right)
FANTASTIC FOUR
Director Peyton Reed (Down With Love) has left the project, which is
still scheduled for a November 2004 release. The screenplay is being
polished, with new directors sought.
FINAL DESTINATION 3
Producer Craig Perry spoke about the possibility of a Final Destination
3 to 'About.com': "Theatrical [for Final Destination 2] was slightly
less than it was on the first movie. Still more than enough to turn an
ample profit, but I think they'll get a real landscape with how much
they want to spend on a third one based on DVD."
"Because three years ago when the DVD was released for Final Destination
1, there weren't as much hardware. Now there's tons more hardware. We
want to see how it does."
Any ideas about where the franchise can go? "We've been banging around a
few ideas, but those are really hard to come by so I'm going to keep
quiet... somebody said why not have a roller-coaster disaster? How much
fun would that be? It would be badass. So, think about it."
FIVE CHILDREN & IT
'Empire Online' reports that comedian Eddie Izzard's next screen role
will be voicing a sand fairy in a new film adaptation of the classic
James Nesbitt tale Five Children & It.
Kenneth Brannagh, Tara Fitzgerald and Zoe Wannamaker are also attached
to star in the fantasy film, previously a BBC children's series in the
90s.
FREDDY Vs JASON II
Star Robert Englund recently spoke with 'Bloody Disgusting' about the
possibility of a second Freddy Vs Jason movie and a Nightmare On Elm
Street prequel.
Englund: "I had heard that him [Craven] and Heather [Langenkamp] had
talked about it, whether they'd want Heather to play the mother or
something, I don't now. I had heard that there were ideas in treatment
and in artwork. It would be more of a serial killer film that a monster
film, since Freddy isn't a monster yet."
"Obviously I'd be attracted to that idea; I have a soft spot in my heart
for serial killers... I like that stuff, it intrigues me, the how to
solve it, the Sherlock Holmes element of it."
"Also, I wouldn't have to get into all of the make-up and it would be a
chance to get into psychological work before he sort of became operatic,
I'm always operating in a dream, and there's a certain type of
exaggeration to my performance since I'm in a dream, it's a surrealistic
and magical."
"But if I did the prequel, it's pre-Nightmare and I wouldn't operate in
the magical world. It would be more nuts and bolts psychological
thriller. As for Freddy Vs Jason, not that I'm too old, I did all my own
stunts in the water in the new one, when you see me flying through the
sky in fire, you know. For me it's so hard, so hard to get Freddy Vs
Jason going, you have to get into the fun of it, and the story telling."
"There's a certain degree of difficulty doing another Freddy Vs Jason.
There certainly could be another Freddy movie or another Jason movie, or
even hints that they are operating in the same area or country, but
never say never, never say die!"
HARRY POTTER & THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
'MSNBC' scooped the first proper article on the filming of Harry Potter
3 with new director Alfonso Cuaron's visual style apparently very
different to Christopher Columbus'.
Actress Emma Watson (Hermione): "Alfonso is much more gritty than Chris
ever was. He's really into the idea that [shooting] should be fluid and
natural. People can be eating an apple during a take".
British actor Michael Gambon, hired to play Dumbledore after Richard
Harris' death, is said to have reworked the character into "an elegant
old hippie".
Ex-director Christopher Columbus, now producer, said: "The biggest
pressure on Alfonso is delivering sequences to the effects people early
enough."
HE-MAN
It has been revealed that John Woo (Face/Off) is apparently interested
in directing a movie adaptation of the famous He-Man cartoon series.
The cartoon He-Man & The Masters Of The Universe was turned into a Dolph
Lundgren movie in the 80's, and an updated version of the cartoon has
recently been released.
ROBOCOP 4
Original director Paul Verhoeven has revealed his ambition to return for
a fifth RoboCop movie: "I'm thinking of bringing Robocop back. I think
we will leave the 4 off, and start afresh. I enjoyed Page Fletcher's
performance as the character in the recent mini-series, so ideally we'll
have Page playing the role."
"I'd like to push the boundaries on this one. Take out all the
comic-book style the previous Robocop films had, and bring back the
action, suspense, and really delve deeper into the characters origins.
I'm toying with the idea of centring the story around Murphy and his
grown son, James. But that's all I want to spill at this point."
SON OF THE MASK
'Filmjerk' has revealed that The Mask II: Son of the Mask will begin
principal photography this November in Queensland, Australia. 'The
Hollywood Reporter' had previously reported that a 21 July start was
planned.
The sequel focuses on Tim Avery [played by Jamie Kennedy of Scream
fame], an aspiring cartoonist at Animagic Studios. Not ready for
fatherhood, he finds himself raising a baby, soon discovering that his
son is endowed with the powers of the mask of Loki.
Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz will not reprise their roles, or cameo.
SPEED 3
'The Russian Insider' speculates that a spec-script for Speed 3 is doing
the rounds. The new sequel would apparently require a relatively modest
$30 million budget. The plot apparently involves an armoured car and a
police escort.
SUPERMAN
Ashton Kutcher was interviewed by 'The Face' magazine about his
involvement with the Superman remake.
The Face: Aren't 'Warner Brothers' after you to do Superman?
Kutcher: If they didn't expect me to do a sequel I'd do it. But you have
to stop and think, can you name one other movie that Christopher Reeve
did? It would have to be like when George Clooney did Batman. They
should just let me do the one movie and it'd be the greatest four-hour
movie ever.
The Face: Greater than flying round the earth and making it spin
backwards?
Kutcher: More like flying round the earth and making it spin off its
axis into the sun.
TRUE LIES 2
'Coming Soon' spoke with Jamie Lee Curtis who commented on the
oft-rumoured possibility of a True Lies sequel: "True Lies 2 will never
get made. Never happen. You know why? I found out why. Because
terrorists aren't funny anymore. They never were, but, it was distant
enough from our psyche that we could make it funny. It'll never be funny
again. I just think that that is over, that kind of humour is over."
"Unless they come up with some sort of businessman, make it about
Republican businessmen who are evil, and then, you know, then we can
make it. Maybe they'll make it about... I know, an American presidency,
with kind of, I know, and we'll have the guy not be so bright, oh,
that's great!"
"No, instead I think if they do that, then they'll probably call and say
they have another idea, but based on the original concede, it'll be that
somehow a bad guy group is doing something bad to humanity and the
world."
US TOP 10 (CINEMA)
All figures are weekend box-office gross.
- 1. Spy Kids 3D: Game Over ($33.4m)
- 2. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl ($23.1m)
- 3. Bad Boys II ($22.0m)
- 4. Lara Croft Tomb Raider 2: The Cradle of Life ($21.7m)
- 5. Seabiscuit ($20.8m)
- 6. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ($5.0m)
- 7. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines ($5.0m)
- 8. Finding Nemo ($4.3m)
- 9. Johnny English ($4.3m)
- 10. Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde ($2.7m)
UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)
- 1. The Hulk (£1.38m)
- 2. Bruce Almighty (£1.19m)
- 3. Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle (£0.96m)
- 4. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (£0.82m)
- 5. Daddy Day Care (£0.75m)
- 6. Agent Cody Banks (£0.53m)
- 7. Piglet's Big Movie (£0.48m)
- 8. Veronica Guerin (£0.25m)
- 9. Buffalo Soldiers (£0.16m)
- 10. 2 Fast 2 Furious (£0.14m)
** OBITUARY **
Bob Hope (1903-2003)
Comedian/actor Bob Hope has passed away at the age of 100. Known as "Mr.
Entertainment" or "the King of Comedy," Hope appeared in more than 75
films, starred in more than 475 TV programs and 1,000-plus radio
programs. He also toured tirelessly for the US military.
He was one of the last of the great entertainers whose career took off
in the first half of the 20th century and who continued to reach new
generations of fans by the end of it.
Thanks for the memories.
