The teaser trailer for Batman Begins has been released (see below) and now
the design of the Batsuit has been fully revealed in production artwork.
(see right)
Loken will play the half-human and half-vampire title character, driven by
vengeance to overthrow her father, Kagan, king of all the vampires.
The 21st Bond adventure is still scheduled for release on 18 November 2005,
so the search is on for an actor to fill Brosnan's shoes.
Orlando Bloom's name has been mentioned as a replacement all over the 'net -
but he's surely far too young? Then 'Aint-It-Cool-News' said they were
reliably informed the Bond producers want Eric Bana (Troy) to step into the
007 role, and this rumoured flooded the 'net, before being denied by the
studio.
The psychological thriller concerns four college students who discover an
ancient book containing the secret to eternal life - but the knowledge comes
with a price...
The movie will be based on a trilogy of popular Hong Kong crime films,
directed by Lau Wai-keung and Mak Siu-fai, about a gangster who infiltrates
the police and a cop who infiltrates a crime gangs at the same time. The two
men find out that a mole is in each organization and must race to find each
other's identity.
Richardson will rewrite a script by Mark Bomback, who adapted an existing
'Fox' script called World War 3.com as his basis.
Domino's real-life story centres on Domino Harvey, the daughter of actor
Laurence Harvey, who starred in the original version of The Manchurian
Candidate. Domino Harvey ditched her career as a Ford model to become a
bounty hunter. The script is said to incorporate flashbacks, flash-forwards,
and characters from Beverly Hills 90210!
Principal photography is scheduled to begin next month in Los Angeles and
Las Vegas, with a 2005 release planned.
Based on the Frank De Felitta novel of the same name, the 1981 original
starred Barbara Hershey. The story follows a woman whose life crumbles when
she believes she is being repeatedly molested and raped by an unseen
paranormal force. Terrified, she turns to a parapsychologist to investigate
her claims.
The updated script was written by David DiGilio, who recently penned the
halted Antarctica at 'Disney'.
Flash Gordon dates back to 1934, when it was created by comic strip artist
Alex Raymond, and for decades appeared in movie serials, animated fare, TV
shows and a cult 1980 feature directed by Mike Hodges (Croupier).
The film starts shooting this November, based on a script written by
Aronofsky with Ari Handel.
The role was originated played by Don Adams during the original 1965-70 TV
series and the film spin-off The Nude Bomb.
'Variety' says a script will be written for Carell by Steve Koren (Bruce
Almighty); with Smart facing off against the crime gang KAOS alongside sexy
Agent 99.
Carell can also be seen in the upcoming comedy Anchorman alongside Will
Ferrel, and is also the U.S version of nightmare boss David Brent in the
American version of The Office.
It is based on a true story and a documentary by the same name directed by
Lee Stanley, who will serve as a producer on the film.
"[David] Goyer has a very sardonic, very brutal sense of humour and it's a
different movie. I think it's going to be quite a trip for the audience. I
would love to go back and do a fourth ballistic Blade - vampires all over
the world - but who the hell knows."
Written by Tom Lennon and Robert Robert Ben Garant, this new version of
Herbie places the famous Volkswagen in the world of NASCAR racing. Angela
Robinson (D.E.B.S.) directs.
'The Hollywood Reporter' says Bell will play a young cameraman who
accompanies Black's filmmaker character on a quest to find Kong, while Parke
portrays the first mate on the Venture (the steamer that sails to Skull
Island) who ends up heading the rescue team sent into the jungle to save
Watts' character.
"It's much more in line with certain things that are going on in the
headlines and if I said any more than that I think Tom [Cruise] might have
me killed... I think the third is going to just kick the ass of the first
two."
"So, no, I don't know if I'm going to do any more. They will, of course, to
enchant me back, offer me frightening amounts of money."
In Ocean's Twelve, Coltrane plays a crime guru called Matsui, who tests Matt
Damon's character to see whether he is ready for more responsibility.
The project is based on the first book in Edgar Rice Burroughs' 11-book
series, John Carter Of Mars, which centres on John Carter, a Civil War
officer from Virginia who is transported to Mars and finds himself a captive
of the savage green men from Thark. Eventually, he rises to become the
greatest warrior of all time, marries the beautiful Dejah Thoris, raises a
family and embarks on numerous adventures.
Conran won the gig after original director Robert Rodriguez resigned from
the Director's Guild of America earlier this year, making him ineligible to
direct the 'Paramount' film. Stephen Sommers (Van Helsing) was also in the
running, but didn't succeed.
"In today's market, if it's not a blockbuster, then it's somehow considered
a failure. I just don't understand that point of view. It saddens me that if
a film doesn't sell a million Happy Meals that it's considered to be a
failure and that is just incorrect. We need to change our view of that. In
today's market, there's certainly a place for the blockbuster type of film,
but if you can make a film for $30 million and it's grossed like
50-something so far worldwide and then do a bunch more business on DVD, then
that film has done its job."
"I like movies that don't have to cater and appeal to everybody. Those
movies are great, movies that cross the board and you can take your six-year
old kid and your grandma, and everybody loves it. Fantastic! And there
should be more movies like that and there will be, but there should also be
movies that cater to people who like to see something different."
"People that have a need to see something that is off-the-beaten path a
little bit. That's what The Punisher is there for and that's what it's there
to serve. It's for the fans and I'm very proud of it. I hope they don't ever
process it down and turn it into something that it shouldn't be."
"I like the character a lot and I had a lot of fun with him. For me, the
second one would be an exploration of the morality of what he does. He's so
close to being a bad guy and does what he does cause more harm than good?
Those kind of things are interesting for me. Where do you draw the line
between what you're doing being justifiable and not?"
"The first one ended with him busting into that club and taking out all
those people, and the second will open where the first one left off. It will
just be incredibly violent and then it will just get more and more violent
as the film goes on. That's the kind of film that it should be! It's a real
take no prisoners punk rock kind of an action film, and goddammit, it should
piss a lot of people off!"
Three of the four stars of next year's Fantastic Four movie came down to
'Comic-Con' recently, and were interviewed.
Q: It sounds like from what [producer] Avi Arad and director Tim Story have
said; you're trying to do this treatment of "Fantastic Four" the way the
public deserves to have it done.
Chiklis: "That's what it is all about. I, I think among us, was the fan of
and the most aware of the Fantastic Four growing up. Of course, that makes
me the oldest [laughing]. You know, I really truly was a fan and I think
that we're all aware of how rabid the fans are, how aware they are of every
nuance and every aspect of this - more familiar than we are about it.
I'm a fan. Like I said downstairs in the press conference, I thought I was a
fan until you come here and you realize people can quote just about every
episode number. It's taken to an extreme so, you know, I think we all feel
the weight of it. But at the same time, we're so thrilled to have the
opportunity to be involved in it that we're just going to have a blast and
we're going to do it right and enjoy it."
Q: Despite all of the special effects and everything, do you see any
similarities between this character you're playing in this film and
characters you play, like the one on The Shield?
Chiklis: "Interestingly, yeah. There are some similarities. This is a guy who
can be very scary and also be really likeable and downright cuddly. So,
yeah, there's kind of a through-line in that way. But you know, his problems
- meaning Ben Grimm/The Thing's problems - are different certainly than that
of Vic Mackey or other characters I've played. There are broad stroke
similarities and some specific differences."
Q: Avi Arad, in a recent interview, said the story here would follow much
more the new comic book the "Ultimate Fantastic Four," which is very
different. As a fan of the Fantastic Four, can you talk about how this is a
departure of the last 40 years and a new way of looking at the team?
Chiklis: "No, in a word. I can't... I'm not nearly as familiar as I thought I
was. I was just a kid who loved comics, who read them. I didn't study them.
I didn't memorize them. I liked them. I had a particular affinity for
Benjamin Grimm, for The Thing, just because I related to him.
I could understand, you know, a guy feeling like unattractive and feeling
like he's kind of on the outs, but yet feeling like you had something to
offer. And feeling like there was something that you could do, and having a
good inside of you and all of that. So I just liked him on a personal level,
you know so... As far as the nuances between this version versus that
version, you are much better off asking Avi than I or Tim [Story]."
Q: Are we going to see the love triangle between your three characters in
this film.
Chiklis: "Not in this instalment. You're referring to the love triangle
between Ben Grimm... and... I thought you were referring to my girlfriend.
That's a later thing down the road. There is no triangle here. It's a
square."
Q: Jessica, can you talk about your character and the aspect of her being
the peacemaker of the group? She's always trying to mediate fights between
The Thing and Johnny.
Jessica Alba: "Yeah, The Thing and Johnny - and keep Ben from strangling his
best friend for making him the way he is, and from Doom, you know, becoming
a maniacal, evil bad guy. She keeps trying to keep everybody together. She
just wants everyone to be okay. It seems like when she's trying to do that,
everyone is so caught up in their problems that's when she disappears.
And so it's very metaphorical. I love it. I'm not that familiar with the
comic book and I read the script, and it's just great. It's about family and
it's so hopeful. With so many families breaking up and with so many people
so quick to sue people and to go and fight and go to war and do all these
things, this is just about solving problems."
Q: What was it that the producers and director saw in you that related to
your character that you were cast in?
Alba: "I don't know."
Ioan Gruffudd: "I'm a mathematical genius [laughter]. Gosh, I don't know."
Chiklis: "I'm a thug that you want to hide from."
Q: They saw so many people to choose from for these roles. There were a lot
of people going out for them. Why do you think they chose you?
Gruffudd: "I don't know. I think getting to know each other a little bit
today and you getting to see us today, we're sort of down to earth people.
And I think that's the main attraction of these characters that they are
real people that you can associate with. They're just in these incredible
situations. I think that's the main attraction and possibly we'd like to
think we've been cast because of that."
Q: Did you test together for Fantastic Four or did you meet for the first
time pretty recently?
Chiklis: "The latter."
Alba: "We actually met at an award show. We were presenting together. And
then I met [Ioan] at a hotel bar lobby."
Q: Is that a scandal?
Alba: [Laughing] "No, with the director. He was doing press for "King Arthur"
and he was in the middle of all his stuff. I honestly didn't know that this
was going to happen because I so easily get typecast as the like kick-ass
girl or the hot girl or whatever kind of thing, half-naked in this or that.
And this is really who I am. I am a problem solver. I've been working since
I was 12. I come from a really big family and I'm the oldest of 14 cousins,
and we all live in Southern California. So I've always had to mediate. And I
think when I sat down with Tim, he kind of saw that that's my nature."
Q: Do you think that your role in Sin City prepared you at all for another
comic book character? Did it make you more comfortable in tackling that?
Alba: "Not at all. [Laughing] Sin City is a whole other thing."
Q: What have they told you so far about the special effects particularly in
regards to your characters as far as the CG enhancements?
Gruffudd (right): "Nothing much really. I think all the other movies have raised the
bar now. Spider-Man 2 in particular. I have every faith that this is going
to take it to the next level again."
Chiklis: "I find it interesting, I don't know about you, but thus far we've
been kept in the dark about an awful lot of things, and now things are
starting to be revealed. I think part of that was because there's such
anticipation and there's so many people wanting to know early what's going
on that the policy for them, being the studio, has been the fewer people we
tell, the less the leaks."
Alba: "Even though we're the cast [laughing]."
Chiklis: [Laughing] "Even though we're the 'people'. But you know what? It's
a need to know basis. But I've been assured many times that the resources
are there, they're going to bring everything to bear. There are going to be
some spectacular effects in this.
For my part, I did not want to do this if Ben Grimm was going to be a CGI.
If he was going to be done in the way that The Hulk that was done. I felt
that I would be wasted. I was assured from the get-go that that wasn't going
to be the case, and I was thrilled. They would use some CGI enhancements in
creating nuances, and he told me a couple of ideas that I just thought were
so hot shit.
For an actor, it's a thrill to be involved in this type of thing. I've not
done really anything of this scale. Everything I've done has been about the
acting work, about character development, about people interacting. This is
still very much like that, but with a huge scale of technical support around
it. That's what really attracts me to this project from a directorial
standpoint. Tim has said from the beginning the technical will support the
character development.
I think fans will love to hear that, too. That's a thrill. All too often, as
we all know with big, huge multi-hundred million dollar pictures like this,
the studio or the director often makes the mistake of rushing to the next
explosion. As you all know, if you don't care about your central characters,
you don't care if they blow up or not.
So the idea that the onus will be on the development of this family and
that's why I think personally Spider-Man 2 is so successful and it's so
good. Well-drawn and well-developed characters and yeah, there's spectacular
effects, but you care about Tobey Maguire and Kirsten getting together. You
know, you care about them so they take you on the ride and so those effects
are effective."
Q: There are no secret identities in Fantastic Four. Will the nature of
celebrity be explored?
Chiklis: "That's a very different thing than any of them. We become
discovered."
Alba: "And what's great is Johnny Storm, he acts as every pop star young guy
who's in the Star magazine, in the People magazine, the US Weekly, who gets
a bunch of money and the cars."
Chiklis: "He relishes it."
Alba: "He loves it, and he's living out the fantasy of every pop
star/American Idol-wannabe guy. [Reed's] the scientist and he doesn't
really..."
Gruffudd: "I'm [wracked] with guilt."
Alba: "Yeah, he doesn't capitalize on the fame thing. I think actually Ben
Grimm has a really difficult time with it, and can't really get away from
it."
Chiklis: "I'm the one who looks at it as a malady. She's still gorgeous, but
she can knock people down with this force field. She can disappear. He can
stretch himself but he's still the handsome, dashing cad (laughter). I'm
this leper. And then when I... I don't want to give anything away, but I'm
dealing with a sense of betrayal in this picture, as well, because I want to
believe.
That's one of the great things that's written about this. You have Dr. Doom
who's trying to create a wedge between the relationships of the Fantastic
Four, particularly [Reed] and I and causing mistrust and a feeling of
betrayal. And it's like Jessica said, it's about overcoming that and those
feelings and coming together as a core. And then obviously the ultimate
metaphor is as a core, as a family, overcoming evil."
Q: What about the playful part of the Fantastic Four story, where Reed and
Ben are like brothers going through this?
Gruffudd: "Yes, I think so. I mean, I think the beginning of the story is us
as real people and our friendship, and then the accident happens. So yes,
certainly you'll have that element to it."
Q: Your temples? What colour will they be?
Gruffudd: "I'm not sure whether I play him from the beginning that he went
grey from the age of 19. I think that's the starter. Or do I then... Since
the accident does he develop those little greying hairs? That's something to
play with. We'll have to talk about that and discuss that."
Q: [And Jessica], you're already blonde for the role.
Alba: "I was actually blonde in Sin City and Into The Blue. This is my third."
Chiklis: "I'm blonde too [laughing]."
Q: Will you be throwing any couches in the movie?
Chiklis: "I'll be throwing all kinds of things. I have a really cool moment
with a lamppost in this movie. You know it's one of those things as an
actor, and I know you guys are going to hook up to this, where you read the
[script] and you go, "Oh cool honey, I get to do this!" You know what I
mean? Like there's... No, I can't tell."
Q: Oh, go ahead.
Chiklis: "There's so many moments where I'm reading it going, "Oh, that's
awesome!" It's really well-written, I have to say."
Alba: "It really is."
Chiklis: "As an actor, the hardest thing in the world is when you read a
script and you go, "Oh boy," at all, on any level. And even if it's just
okay, then there's this feeling that you have to lift it. You have to bring
something more to it. When it's good on the page, all of a sudden now it
raises your confidence level because you go into it feeling armed.
The best example I have of that is I did a one-man show on Broadway once. It
was really successful, and it was successful because it was a great script.
And I used to go out there on Friday nights, which is the worst night in the
world on Broadway because it's all the New Yorkers who are sitting there
like this, "Alright asshole. I paid $65 a head, make me laugh." In Defending
the Caveman. But I felt confident because I knew I was armed with the
material. So I could go out there and go, "Okay, you're copping an attitude
now but I know by the time to get to "Alright I'm an asshole! I'm going to
get the laugh." It really feels good to be armed."
Q: Will your character have a blind girlfriend?
Chiklis: "Yeah, yes. And I don't know who she is yet and I can't wait to meet
her" [laughing].
Q: When does this start for you guys?
Alba: "In a month."
Q: Did you have to prepare physically for this?
Chiklis: "I'm training like a freak, personally. [Laughing] I need to trim
down at the waist and bulk up at the [chest]. I'm hitting it big time."
Alba: "I always train before a movie because it's actually quite exhausting.
I mean, we're on the set literally and have to be there 14 hours easy, [on
an] easy day. In order to be able to do that, you've got to be on your game."
Q: Have you tried on the costumes yet?
Alba: [Laughing] "Yeah. I tried mine on. Did you guys try yours?"
Chiklis: "I think one of the most humiliating moments of my life was putting
on spandex, personally. It's always nice when four women pull you into
spandex when you're in jockey shorts. Yeah."
Alba: "With the zippers on the inside."
Chiklis: "And the pinching..."
Alba: "I was so scared of the pinching. She had to use a tool to get my right leg."
Chiklis: "Did they have the fan blowing on you?"
Gruffudd: "Yeah."
Chiklis: "That causes shrinkage."
Alba: "I had the guys making the costumes kind of looking at me like [puzzled
expression]. I was like, 'Is there a problem?', 'No, I'm just looking.'"
Chiklis: "That guy prides himself on being pro, too. He looks at you like
you're a mannequin, not like you're a person. He's doing his job."
Alba: "Yeah. The costumes are very cool and they are spandex and we do have
gloves and boots."
Q: Will the costumes have "4"s on your chests?
Alba: "Yes."
Chiklis: "Now, of course, they are also building The Thing deal. Thankfully
thus far they've spared me a lot of the pre-stuff. They are basically going
to pare the process down to about five hours before they try it on me. Right
now they are doing it on my life cast."
Q: Which company?
Chiklis: "Someone has got to tell us the name of the company again because
we've all forgotten the name of the company. I think it is Spectral Motion.
What is Mike's name?"
Alba: He did Hellboy.
Chiklis: "They're a fantastic group over there. They make it as comfortable
as possible. I know if you're a claustrophobe, it's a nightmare. Thankfully,
I'm not. I don't know if they are."
Alba: "This was really strange for me because I was with a bunch of guys and
I was by myself, and it was 8 in the morning. I had this body suit-thing on
and they're like, "So we're going to put Vaseline all over your body." I was
like, "Oh, okay... Like, everywhere?" They're like, "Yeah, everywhere." So
I'm like, "Okay..." And then they got closer and closer to those certain
areas that only, you know, certain people are allowed to go (laughter). And
they were lubing it up. That was a little weird."
Q: Why did they lube you up?
Alba: "They have to lube you up before they put the cast thing on so it won't
stick to you."
Chiklis: "The life cast."
Q: Why did they need the cast?
Alba: "I think they just wanted it so they can build the costume on it. I
don't even know."
Chiklis: "The life cast. There's a number of purposes for them. They're for
action figures. They are for the spandex suits, [which] have to fit exactly
anatomically correct. And you know a life cast, once they rip it off you in
half, put it back together, they pour the liquid cement in there, it dries,
they pull it off and they have Jessica Alba's body exactly. I don't want to
say the other reasons why they wanted to make these things [laughing]. No,
but I mean there are all practical issues for all of it."
Q: So all four of you went through the process?
Chiklis: "Not him."
Gruffudd: "I'm a perfect specimen."
Q: Are you guys ready to see all three of your likenesses in Toys R Us?
Alba: "I have never been in Toys R Us, by the way."
Chiklis: "I have been. I have 3 children. [Jessica's] lived that and I have
too with The Shield now. They made a bobble-head."
Alba: "It's very strange."
Q: Was a good likeness?
Alba: "I've had two of them. One was a very voluptuous and the other one was
very masculine, so we'll see what this one's like."
Q: Comic book fans are really opinionated and there's been a lot of
speculation on the Internet as to who would be cast in your role. Do any of
you ever pay attention to those comments?
Alba: "Honestly, I was worried. Absolutely, obviously. But at the end of the
day, when this opportunity came I couldn't say no. I just feel I wouldn't be
able to sleep at night if I turned this movie down. It's such a great story
and I'm going to work my ass off. And hopefully people will be pleased."
Q: Is there anything you're doing to non-physical get prepared to start
filming? Are you researching the comic books?
Alba: "Falling in love with a guy who just won't tell me his emotions? Yeah,
I'm doing that" [laughing].
Chiklis: "You know, I'm re-familiarizing myself with the comics. I think
we're all looking back at that."
Alba: "Graphic novels."
Chiklis: "Yeah. And also, I think we're all hungry to get out there and see a
lot of the nuts and bolts aspect of this. How we're going to achieve certain
things. It's one thing when you read it in script form and you see it in
your mind's eye. But then you go, 'How the fuck are we going to do that?'"
Alba: "Yeah, especially that first moment when they put their things to use.
It's pretty fucking, excuse my language, incredible."
Chiklis: "The Thing with me and the Doc going down in the subway. That's
going to be..."
Alba: "You can't say things!"
Q: What about the coat and the hat? Will you be wearing those and the
sunglasses? The classic Thing look.
Chiklis: "I will be."
Q: What about "It's clobbering time?"
Chiklis: "You will hear [in The Thing voice], 'It's clobbering time.', I think
that's about the right pitch."
Q: Do you have a lot of "brainbox" patter to get through?
Gruffudd: "Yes, a lot of that which I will make very interesting for you all."
Chiklis: "I'm so thrilled to be the centre of attention."
** IN THE PIPELINE **