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Dan Owen reviews

DAN'S   MOVIE   DIGEST

I s s u e   # 8 2

1 2   M a r c h   2 0 0 4

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KING KONG

Elijah Wood (The Lord Of The Rings, right) revealed to 'Sci Fi Wire' that he talked with the trilogy's co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens about returning to New Zealand to film a cameo in director Peter Jackson's upcoming King Kong remake.

Wood: "I said, 'I'm coming down in September, when you guys are shooting,' And they were like, 'Well, we got to get you in there somehow.' So hopefully... I just said I wanted to come down and visit and hopefully be allowed to be stomped on by a foot. So hopefully I'll have something like that."

BATMAN BEGINS

Christopher Nolan's Batman movie is already a must-see event purely because of the astonishing acting talent involved. First we had hot talent Christian Bale (American Psycho) as Batman, then the legendary Michael Caine as butler Alfred, the talented Katie Holmes (TV's Dawson's Creek) as Rachel Dodson, Liam Neeson as Ducard, Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai) as lead villain Ra's al Ghul, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later) as Jonathan Crane (a.k.a The Scarecrow) and Larry Holden as D.A. Fisk. Well, now add Gary Oldman to that list as a young Commissioner Gordon!

BOND 21

'Empire magazine' spoke to James Bond screenwriters Robert Wade and Neal Purvis, who confirmed they've started writing James Bond 21.

Purvis: "We started writing the new one two weeks ago � so obviously all the clich�s are already in place. As far as we understand it, Pierce Brosnan is Bond. He's a great Bond and he gives you a lot to work with as a writer because he's very good looking. Seriously, he is very good at suggesting an undercurrent of � you don't know what. He shows that there is a shadow on this man."

Wade adds: "[There isn't] a more difficult task. It's all been done. The twentieth film was harder than the nineteenth. It's very difficult to think of new ways to blow things up! But character is the thing; it's finding new ways to explore the character."

CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

A spy inside 'Pinewood Studios' saw some pre-production designs for the Oompah Loompah's for Tim Burton's Charlie & The Chocolate Factory.

Apparently, the makers are torn between using dwarves in the roles (as with the 1970's version with Gene Wilder) or utilize the technology that brought Gollum to life in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

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THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA

The 'AAP' reports that Nicole Kidman flew into Christchurch, New Zealand, recently on a top secret visit to tour locations for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe.

The star took part in a whirlwind tour of Canterbury's high country in a helicopter and visited Flock Hill station near Arthurs Pass. This has fuelled speculation that Kidman is interested in the role of the White Witch, who has used her magical powers to keep Narnia in winter for 100 years.

THE FAST & THE FURIOUS 3

'Universal Pictures' have greenlit a second sequel to The Fast & The Furious, for release in summer 2005. Vin Diesel is in talks to return to the franchise while Paul Walker will not return.

Screenwriter Chris Morgan (Cellular) has been hired to write the script, with his concept following Diesel's character, Dominic Torretto, now a fugitive of the law, hiding out in Mexico. The action will quickly move to Tokyo, the current Mecca of street racing, where Torretto tries to bail out a friend in trouble with Japanese gangsters.

LOGAN'S RUN

Bryan Singer (X-Men 2) has signed to direct the long-awaited remake of 1970's sci-fi classic Logan's Run for 'Warner Brothers' and producer Joel Silver (The Matrix).

Singer: "I was drawn to X-Men because of its universal issues of tolerance. This deals with a utopian society, but also with the obsession of youth and mortality. I've already started working with my X2 production designer, Guy Dyas, to create a visual world we've never seen before."

Silver: "The novel contains a great idea for a film, and Bryan has found a way to go back to it and use his technical abilities to make a huge sci-fi adventure film."

Ethan Gross, Paul Todisco and Brian Singer are writing the script, with the film planned to be released in 2005. Singer is still slated to direct X-Men 3, so this news will push X3 back until 2006 at the earliest.

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THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN

'USA Today' chatted with director Todd Phillips (Starsky & Hutch) about his upcoming movie adaptation of The Six Million Dollar Man TV show.

Phillips: "I like the idea of what we can do with the concept. The TV show took itself so seriously. I want to see what happens with a lighter touch."

Jim Carrey (right) will assume the role made famous by Lee Majors as Colonel Steve Austin, a crippled test pilot who is rebuilt with cybernetic limbs and implants to become a super intelligence agent.

But Phillips promises not to make the movie an all-out comedy, adding: "If your movie isn't sweet at its core, then it's not going to work with audiences. [And] no, he's not going to be The Six Billion Dollar Man. He's not that great."

'ComingSoon.net' asked Jim Carrey what he will be bringing to the character of Steve Austin, who replied: "You probably shouldn't report on this because I don't even know if it is going to happen or not, it's that far down the line, we're developing that script. It's a whole lotta fun."

"I love playing ego and insecurity combined. I guess that's the same thing, ego out of control. Six million dollars doesn't get you a lot in this world these days so you can kinda imagine where the plot is going."

THE RING 2

Noam Murro, the commercials director who was set to helm the sequel to The Ring, will not be working on the sequel after all.

'DreamWorks Pictures' head Walter Parkes said: "This is a mutual parting based on two creative differences. Noam Murro is an extraordinarily gifted director and we intend without hesitation to try to work with him in the future."

According to the studio, the release date for The Ring 2 remains November 10. A new director is expected to be named this week.

Naomi Watts (21 Grams) and David Dorfman are returning for the sequel, written again by Ehren Kruger (Scream 3), but ignoring the Japanese sequel storyline.

TRAILERS

The Day After Tomorrow
Weblink: www.thedayaftertomorrow.com/sw/index.html

Or the day before the day after the day after tomorrow.
Don't be stupid. This is the ominous title for German director Roland Emmerich's latest big-screen disaster, after having aliens destroy every major city in Independence Day and trashing New York with a giant lizard in Godzilla.

Ah, where's Herr Emmerich been recently?
Well, despite filming Mel Gibson's The Patriot, he's probably been licking his wounds from 1997's critical onslaught of Godzilla.

So he's decided to return to his roots and effectively plumb the same waters yet again, with yet another big-scale disaster CGI-fest.
Yes. But with one important difference.

Oh - what?
The absence of long-time collaborator Dean Devlin, who helped craft every Emmerich movie since 1994's StarGate.

I see. So what does this mean?
Well, Devlin isn't writing the movie. ID4 was written in four-days, while Godzilla was a mix of ideas stolen from Jurassic Park and King Kong. The Day After Tomorrow aims to be a bit more cerebral.

So did Deep Impact.
Well, yes. Anyway, the trailer shows promise. At its core, TDAT is about the global warming and climate change, which obviously culminates in the "weather going crazy" and destroying familiar US landmarks.

New York again.
Indeed.

Just what does Emmerich have against NYC?
Your guess is as good as mine! Anyway, the film has some acting muscle - old hand Ian Holm, the dependable Dennis Quaid, and rising star Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko) in his first mainstream role.

Sounds good, but what about the visuals.
Mass bird migrations, a tidal wave hitting the Statue Of Liberty, crazed dogs, a shattering glacier, multiple tornados ripping skyscrapers apart - the usual thing.

Excellent...
TDAT is released this summer. "Where will you be?" indeed...