MOVIE NEWS
HOUSE OF WAX
The 'AAP' reported that a candle used on the House Of Wax (starring Elisha Cuthbert, right)
set is believed to have started a fire which destroyed a studio at 'Movie World'
on the Gold Coast of Australia.
'Studio Eight' was engulfed in flames at about 6.40 p.m (AEST) on Saturday
26 June, causing a smoke hazard for motorists travelling between Brisbane
and the Gold Coast.
Police said a huge candle was believed to have set other props alight,
forcing actors, producers and production crew to flee the building. The
stage was being used to shoot some final scenes for the film.
One of the camera assistants working on the movie said the fire started in
the set of a bookshop and spread quickly. Police said the studio contained
gas bottles which were being used during the filming.
BALLS OF COURAGE
'The Hollywood Reporter' has revealed that Jim Abrahams and Pat Proft, two
of the alumni behind the Naked Gun movies, are re-teaming to spoof the
action movie genre in Balls Of Courage.
CHRONICLES OF NARNIA
The 'New Zealand Herald' reported that actor Rupert Everett will be the
voice of the Fox, a CGI character in director Andrew Adamson's adaptation of
The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. Everett
recently provided the voice of Prince Charming in Adamson's Shrek 2.
'The Scotsman' newspaper has also revealed that Scottish actor James Cosmo
(Troy) has agreed to voice a character for the movie, due for U.S release on
23 December 2005.
HARRY POTTER
'CNN' has reported that Harry Potter author J.K Rowling has revealed the
title of the sixth Harry Potter book on her website www.jkrowling.com.
The title is - Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince.
3001
'The Onion' interviewed Mike Judge (right, creator of TV's Beavis & Butthead and
King Of The Hill) about his new movie sci-fi comedy 3001:
O: You mentioned that you're working on a movie now. Is that 3001?
MJ: "Yeah, although I'm not going to call it that. It's set more like 400
years in the future. There have been so many movies about people being
frozen and waking up in the future. This is mine.
"Apparently, a bunch of Futurama nerds are pissed off, because that's the
year in which that show is set. You know, neither of us invented guys
getting frozen and waking up in the future. But I didn't mean to set it in
3001 anyway - that was just a placeholder title."
O: What's the movie's current status?
MJ: "We started shooting right in the beginning of May, in Austin. The basic
premise is that most science fiction shows the future as being more
civilized or more intelligent, and that's just not the way we're headed.
Like, if someone made a movie in the late '50s about the year 2004, it
probably wouldn't have had The Maury Povich Show, and gangs, and whatever."
"So this starts out as a documentary about how the people who are
reproducing the fastest are guys who are too lazy to put on a rubber, and
lots of highly educated people are waiting until they're 40 to have a kid,
and then having one or none. It's kind of a sleeper movie about how, 400 or
500 years from now, a guy who's your average dumbass today is the smartest
person in the world."
KING KONG
'MTV' spoke to Jack Black about his recently announced role in Peter
Jackson's King Kong remake, saying: "There are some funny things about my
character but, yeah, it is a different thing for me. But I'm not approaching
it differently. I'm approaching it with the same balls-to-the-wall
attitude."
"I just read the script for the first time. It's so rad. And it's top
secret. I can't tell you much, but I can tell you this," he teased. "King
Kong is going to be scary as hell, dude. He's not gonna be sweet and cuddly.
It's not gonna be the cute kind [of movie]. He's a fucking carnivore, as in,
eats flesh!"
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III
'Paramount Pictures' has moved Mission Impossible 3's release date back
seven weeks, to 29 June 2005. The film was previously scheduled to open on 6
May.
With Spider-Man 2 grossing $40.5 million on its opening Wednesday, and
making a six-day total of $180 million (which has set
a record), the 4th of July holiday weekend is looking a lot better to the
studio, says 'Variety'.
SCHOOL OF ROCK 2
Director Richard Linklater has spoken about the possibility of a sequel to
his hit School Of Rock.
Linklater: "I don't know. The producer said that he got a call from one of
the higher-ups in the corporation that Monday morning at 9:00 after the
weekend results: [imitates studio exec] 'Sequel or series? What's it going
to be?' It wasn't a given going into that I was making a movie that was
going to be really successful. Jack hadn't necessarily opened a movie on his
own, but I thought that if we pulled it off, it could be entertaining and
have a wide appeal hopefully."
"It's nice when you have a pop culture moment and people go see it. It's not
always a given. It was a lot of fun to work on, but I don't think there'll
be a sequel actually, to answer your question. I mean it hasn't really
gotten much traction. Maybe some things are better left alone."
"But I love those kids and I really like working with Jack, and if an idea
emerged, I could be recruited. I think I would be a soft sell if all the
kids asked me to do it, and then I'd probably have to do it. Mike White was
a great collaborator and I'd love to work with him again, too. Truth is that
if Mike had a great idea for the story and Jack liked it, we might, but time
is moving on. Everyone is doing other stuff."
JURASSIC PARK 4
An anonymous source has updated everyone on the status of the fourth
Jurassic Park movie, now being prepped for a late-2005/early-2006 release.
The script is being written by John Sayles, based on a draft by William
Monahan. Apparently, many of the new dinosaurs are sea-dwellers, but the
Spinosaurus and the velociraptors are confirmed to return.
Sam Neill is not returning for this movie, but Jeff Goldblum (right) and Richard
Attenborough are back. Director Alex Proyas (I, Robot) is the latest
candidate to direct the film, although this is only in discussion.
SUPERMAN
Unsubstantiated rumours have leaked that director McG (Charlie's Angels) has
left the Superman project, following on from Brett Ratner's departure
earlier this year. 'Warner Brothers' executives are now hoping to replace
him with Michael Bay (Bad Boys II) who is looking for a big-budget project
to sink his teeth into.
THE UNTOUCHABLES - MOTHER'S DAY
'Paramount' and producer Art Linson are developing a spin-off to 1987's The
Untouchables, which was directed by Brian De Palma and starred Kevin Costner
as Eliot Ness.
'Variety' reports that Antoine Fuqua (King Arthur) may direct the film,
tentatively called The Untouchables: Mother's Day. It will focus on the rise
of Chicago mob kingpin Capone, in the years before Ness and his lawmen.
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