** MOVIE NEWS **
STAR WARS EPISODE III
'TheForce.net' talked to Samuel L. Jackson about his continuing role as
Mace Windu in Episode III. Jackson said "I think in Episode III [George
has] definitely answered a lot of the questions that people had over the
years about how this particular thing happened or why this person is
this way, you know... who is connected to this and who is connected to
that, but I think, he's also done what a lot of people has asked and
probably gone a little further in that people was so angry about the
first episode because they thought it was just a kiddy movie and the
second episode because is kind of, well... that didn't answer all the
things we need."
"So now, he has put all these things together and tied it up. It's very
dark and Shakespearean... and adult, and more violent than a Star Wars
movie used to be. Hopefully they'll be satisfied with this particular
episode."
BIRTH OF THE PINK PANTHER
'MGM' vice-chairman Chris McGurk revealed to the media at his Beverly
Hills mansion that Steve Martin has agreed to star as the inept
Inspector Clouseau in a prequel to The Pink Panther entitled Birth Of
The Pink Panther. The role was originally made famous by the late Peter
Sellers.
GALILEO
A film based on the life of 17th-century scientist Galileo Galilei is
being developed by Lorenzo di Bonaventura's 'di Bonaventura Productions'
and Guy East and Nigel Sinclair's 'Spitfire Pictures'. Vera Blasi (Woman
On Top) pitched the project and will write the screenplay.
The movie will focus on the scientists as he's caught up in the
potentially fatal battle between hard science and religious dogma.
Credited with developing the telescope, Galileo would discover the four
satellites of Jupiter, observe a supernova, verify the phases of Venus
and discover sunspots.
His breakthroughs proved the Copernican system, but for his pains, the
Catholic Church branded him a heretic.
Galileo was also a complicated family man - never marrying, he
nonetheless had a brief and intense relationship with Marina Gamba, a
woman who bore him three children.
KING KONG
The 'Toronto Sun' interviewed actor Andy Serkis about his work as Gollum
in The Lord Of The Rings, and Serkis almost revealed that he may be the
face of King Kong in Peter Jackson's remake of the legendary monster
movie.
Serkis was said to "Ssssh!" and grin mischievously with a thumbs-up
gesture. So it appears that Jackson will be creating Kong in much the
same way as Serkis helped him create Gollum - with an actor providing
the movements and then replaced entirely with CGI effects.
INDIANA JONES 4
Producer Frank Marshall spoke to 'Indiana Jones Hub', saying: "[Indiana
Jones 4 is] going to totally be in the style and the tone of the first
three. I mean, were not going to do anything different. We're not going
to try and change things or modernize things."
"We're going to stick to what works and we're probably going to be in
the fifties. So, we're acknowledging that we're all a bit older and
that's about all I can tell you except that Frank Darabont is writing
it."
LETHAL WEAPON 5
Director Richard Donner has indicated that he may return to film a fifth
Lethal Weapon movie to finish the franchise, saying: "I have the story
in my head for a fifth and final Lethal Weapon, but it's all up to Mel
Gibson."
"It would be 24 hours in the lives of Riggs (Gibson) and Murtaugh (Danny
Glover). The last couple of times I talked to Mel, it really seemed he
was interested in doing one more. I really want to put the franchise to
bed properly."
** IN THE PIPELINE **