** MOVIE NEWS **
LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN II
Despite LXG receiving very mixed reviews, plans are still afoot to
fast-track a sequel into production, to be filmed in Australia with a
new cast - excluding Peta Wilson (right), who will retain her role as vampiress
Mina Harker.
THE A-TEAM
Mike Tyson has voiced his interested in playing Mr T's signature role
B.A Baracus in any future movie adaptation of The A-Team.
BATMAN 5
'Ain't-It-Cool-News' indicates that Morgan Freeman (Seven) is being
considered to play a Doctor/Scientist role - possibly a lead villain -
in the new Batman movie. Anthony Hopkins could also replace Michael
Gough as loyal butler Alfred.
In related news, WWE wrestler Adam Copeland (a.k.a Edge) is rumoured to
have secured a role as a henchman called Egghead in Batman 5.
Interestingly, screenwriter David Goyer (Blade II) is good friends with
another wrestler - Triple H - and has cast him in Blade III.
JOHNNY BRAVO
'Warner Brothers' have hired screenwriters Matthew Berry and Eric Abrams
to script a live-action version of the cult 'Cartoon Network' animation
Johnny Bravo. As rumoured for ages, wrestler The Rock is still attached
to star.
ICE AGE 2
The sequel to Ice Age is provisionally being titled Ice Age 2: The
Meltdown. This strongly hints that the film's premise will revolve
around the apocalyptic end of the Ice Age for its characters.
JOHNNY ENGLISH 2
'Working Title' and Rowan Atkinson are working on sequels to Bean and
Johnny English, in the hope of getting one into cinemas for 2005.
The two sequels will be developed with their original writers - Robin
Driscoll, possibly Richard Curtis for Bean 2, and Will Davies for Johnny
English 2.
KNOWING
Writer-director Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) was interviewed by
'About.com' recently, and asked about all his future projects
Project 1: Cat's Cradle. Kelly: "Just to clarify, the project right now
is sort of in limbo. I was hired by Appian Way... Hilly Elkins has
control of the novel and they came to me and asked me to adapt it. I
accepted their offer and I locked myself in a hotel room by the beach
for about eight days and cranked out an adaptation of the novel."
"But it's yet to be determined who is going to direct it, if it's going
to be Darren [Aronofsky]. I don't know if it's going to be Darren or
not. I think that they're still figuring out exactly what they want to
do with the project."
"It's very much up in the air and in flux right now, so stayed tuned on
that one (laughing). I've taken significant liberties with the novel. I
think I've done a very faithful interpretation. I tried to capture the
essence of the novel. It's a fairly radical adaptation... probably more
"inspired by" the novel."
"I've tried to take some of his [Kurt Vonnegut] visionary ideas and
bring them to a modern audience, and make them accessible to a modern
audience. My hope is that, if this film is made, that a whole new
generation will discover his genius."
Project 2: Knowing: "It's been delayed four or five times due to budget,
distribution, foreign distribution issues, casting issues... It's
seriously harder to get Knowing off the ground than it was to get Donnie
Darko off the ground (laughing)."
"We're definitely hoping to start shooting the first quarter of 2004.
There's some legal entanglements involving the ownership of the
screenplay and foreign distribution that have contributed significantly
to the delay."
"It's frustrating and I wish I could have already been in production by
now, but I just want to get it right. You don't want to rush into a
situation where we can't get enough money or we can't get the right
cast. I'm just holding out till we get it right."
Project 3 - House At The End Of The Street: "That's a project that
Jonathan Mostow [Terminator 3] approached me about, and he'd murder me
if I said anything about the plot. We're still putting the finishing
touches on it and going back and forth with the script. But I'm really
excited about what's going to become of that film, too."
Kelly also mentioned he's working on a Director's Cut of Donnie Darko,
an adaptation of Richard Mathieson's novel The Box with Eli Roth (Cabin
Fever), directing a project entitled Southland Tales, developing a Kate
Hudson action movie entitled Into The Great Wide Open, writing a bounty
hunter biopic script entitled Domino for Tony Scott [True Romance], and
developing a movie called Bessie.
SON OF THE MASK
Actress Traylor Howard (Me, Myself & Irene, right) will be the female lead
opposite comedian Jamie Kennedy in the sequel to 1994's superhero comedy
The Mask.
SPIDER-MAN 2
A one-sheet poster for Spider-Man 2 has been released (see right). The
movie is due to hit US screens on 2 July 2004.
SUPERMAN
The Wachowski Brothers (Matrix Revolutions) are rumoured to be linked to
the Superman project and could write a new draft that would eliminate
the need for a trilogy - which has become a key reason many actors have
rejected taking on the role of Superman.
TOMB RAIDER III
Angelina Jolie has said she would consider doing a third Tomb Raider
movie, saying: "I'd never say never because I love that character. It
wasn't a bad movie; it just didn't come out at the right time."
"I think [Tomb Raider 2 was] a much better film, so I don't think you
can put too much weight on how something opens. At the end of the day I
don't take it so seriously."
WALLACE & GROMIT
Helena Bonham-Carter (Planet Of The Apes) and Ralph Fiennes (Red Dragon)
have been cast in the Wallace & Gromit movie, entitled Curse Of The
Were-Rabbit.
The movie sees the popular characters Wallace and Gromit hunting down a
mysterious beast that has been eating their village's prize marrows and
potatoes days before a giant vegetable growing contest.
Helena will voice new character Lady Tottington, and Ralph will provide
the vocals for Lord Victor Quatermaine.
Curse Of The Were-Rabbit has a budget of approximately $80 million and
will take 18 months of painstaking animation to create, before being
released in 2005.
(DVDfever Dom adds: "No, Robert Wilfort (PC Craig 'Heartbeat'
Harriet in BBC3's "Grass", right) will not be in this film, but since seeing him
in the comedy alongside The Fast Show's Simon Day I've thought he should
play Wallace if they were to make a live-action version.")
** IN THE PIPELINE **