The Return of Weekly Entertainment News

[FH]

Another 28 Days Later
Source: Coming Soon!
Fox Searchlight is developing a sequel to 28 Days Later, the Danny Boyle-directed horror film that became a fall hit in 2002, reports Variety. The trade says that the tentative title is 28 Weeks Later and that the studio is in talks with Rowan Joffe (BBC's Last Resort) to write the script.

Boyle is not expected to direct the sequel, though he and screenwriter Alex Garland likely will take producing roles alongside the first film's producer, Andrew Macdonald.

In the original, a powerful virus is unleashed on the British public following a raid on a primate research facility by animal rights activists. Transmitted in a drop of blood and devastating within seconds, the virus locks those infected into a permanent state of murderous rage. Within 28 days the country is overwhelmed and a handful of survivors begin their attempts to salvage a future, little realizing that the deadly virus is not the only thing that threatens them.

The low-budget film, starring Cillian Murphy, grossed $45 million in the U.S. and north of $25 million overseas.

[FH]

Scott Kosar Writing The Crazies Remake
Source: Coming Soon!
Paramount has hired horror specialist Scott Kosar to write The Crazies, a remake of George Romero's horror-thriller set up at Paramount-based Penn Station.

Variety reports the film will update the storyline of the 1972 original, in which inhabitants of a small Pennsylvania town are beset by death and insanity after a plane crash lets loose a secret biological weapon into the water supply.

Kosar's credits include New Line's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, Paramount Classics' The Machinist, MGM/Dimension's remake of The Amityville Horror, and Salem, in development at Sony-based Laurence Mark.

[FH]

The Bedbugs Bite at New Line Cinema
Source: Coming Soon!
New Line Cinema has picked up the horror script Bedbugs from writer Carter Blanchard, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The project is about a small town that is infested with a species of killer bugs that come at night and burrow inside a person, killing from the inside.

Blanchard worked on The Immortals for Universal and Dog Days at MGM.

[FH]

The final Spider-Man 2 One Sheet

[FH]

Blade: Trinity Teaser Poster & Site Online
Source: Coming Soon!
IGN Filmforce has a first look at the new teaser poster for New Line Cinema's Blade: Trinity, from writer and director David Goyer. The sequel, hitting theaters December 10, stars Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ryan Reynolds, Jessica Biel, and Parker Posey. The studio has also launched the official website which for now just features the film's logo.

For years, Blade has fought against the vampires in the cover of night, with the world above unaware of the brutal ongoing war. But now, after falling into the crosshairs of the FBI, he is forced out into the daylight, where he is driven to join forces with a clan of human vampire hunters he never knew existed – The Nightstalkers. Together with Abigail (Biel) and Hannibal (Reynolds), two deftly trained Nightstalkers, Blade follows a trail of blood to the an ancient creature that is also hunting him... the original vampire, Dracula.

[FH]

Rudin, Tolkin & Michell Team for Huckleberry Finn
Source: Coming Soon!
Scott Rudin will develop Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for Paramount Pictures, says The Hollywood Reporter. Michael Tolkin and Roger Michell are in talks to adapt and direct a period adaptation of the classic book with a focus on its racial issues.

There have been numerous big-screen adaptations of "Huckleberry Finn" - most recently Walt Disney Pictures' The Adventures of Huck Finn, directed in 1993 by Stephen Sommers and starring Elijah Wood.

The project would be part of a current vogue for Twain projects, adds the trade. At DreamWorks, a big-screen adaptation of the novel Mark Twain Remembers, by Thomas Hauser, is in the works; Steven Spielberg is understood to have some interest in directing.

[FH]

McCormick Helming The WB's Global Frequency
Source: Superhero Hype!
Variety reports that Nelson McCormick ("Alias," "ER") has signed on to direct The WB's Mark Burnett drama pilot Global Frequency, which will shoot in Vancouver this August.

Based on the comic book by Warren Ellis, the project revolves around a covert intelligence organization, led by the mysterious Miranda Zero, called on to fight evil around the world.

Nelson is next attached to direct the 20th Century Fox feature "End of the Road," from Mark Gordon. Other credits include directing episodes of "CSI," "Third Watch," "Nip/Tuck" and "Cold Case."

[FH]

Newsweek's The Secrets of Spider-Man 2
Source: Superhero Hype!
Spider-Man 2, which opens in theatres June 30, was almost made without its star Tobey Maguire, Newsweek reports in the June 28 issue (on newsstands Monday, June 21). Under pressure from Columbia Pictures to get the sequel on screens this summer and with expectations high that the movie should surpass it's box-office record of $820 million worldwide, director Sam Raimi reached the conclusion that his star would be unable to meet them. After much agonizing, he phoned Maguire. "Given this situation, I don't think we can make the picture with you," Raimi told him. "I have to hire somebody else."

In it's exclusive cover story, "The Secrets of Spider-Man 2," Newsweek reports the tangled backstory of the making of what is sure to be the summer's hottest movie. For a brief time in 2003, the future of that franchise -- the entire weight of the "Spider-Man" juggernaut -- balanced on the fragile spine of one 28-year-old actor. Maguire had suffered from recurrent back problems for years. As the Spider-Man sequel was gearing up, he was just coming off "Seabiscuit," a movie for which he'd had to lose a lot of weight and do a lot of horse riding, neither of which helped his condition. "My back was the worst it had ever been," he says. "I looked at the stunts I was going to have to do for 'Spider-Man 2,' which were going to be three times as difficult as the stunts on the first movie, and it became a little overwhelming." And that became an overwhelming problem, reports Senior Writer Sean Smith. Soon, Maguire found himself fighting to hold on to his Spider-Man tights.

At the time, Maguire was finishing "Seabiscuit," working 14-hour days, six days a week. He was also in the middle of contract negotiations with the studio. His agent asked for $25 million, or 10 percent of the gross-whichever was bigger. The studio said no. In the middle of those negotiations, Raimi, who was prepping the special effects for Spider-Man 2, asked Maguire to come in on his day off to do about 10 hours of scans, in which computers would map every point on the actor's body to help create a digital double. Maguire declined. "I was on the verge of being sick, my back was killing me, and I was like, 'If I go do this, 'Seabiscuit' is going to suffer'," he says. "It was a tricky situation. I didn't want to hurt the movie. I didn't want to offend Sam. I was just trying to balance everything in my life. So I postponed it for three weeks, and they got pissed off. I didn't realize that at the time." He didn't realize it because he wasn't talking to Raimi or anyone at Columbia directly, but through his representatives, Smith reports. Meanwhile, Raimi and top Columbia execs were doing the same.

Eventually the studio agreed to give Maguire a raise, bringing his total salary package to about $17 million. But that didn't solve the problems. When Maguire began preparing for Spider-Man 2, he realized his stunt work was going to be much more intense, something Raimi had warned Maguire's reps about. Maguire's doctors were concerned, and his reps began insisting on limiting the amount and difficulty of his stunts. Eventually, Raimi says, "it got to me that if Tobey's back was hurt seriously it could cause paralysis. I didn't want to ask an actor to do something that would cause permanent injury. Yet, as a director, I didn't want to compromise my movie. I realized, I'm going to have to lose Tobey." Hence the phone call telling Maguire he was out.

Around the industry, speculation was rampant that the actor had exaggerated his back problems in an effort to hold the studio hostage for even more money. Columbia chairman Amy Pascal won't say whether she agrees with that analysis. "I love Tobey, and I did not want to replace him," she says. "Did he have a bad back? Yes. Was it exacerbated by the situation on 'Seabiscuit'? I think it was. Was it exacerbated by the fact that we didn't want to pay him more money? You can ask him that." Maguire insists it wasn't. "All that stuff about money was total bull----," he says. "I was never worried about my compensation." He pauses. "But you know, on the first movie I was like an excited little monkey. I'm a passionate actor-maybe obnoxiously so sometimes. On this movie I wasn't talking to them. I think [Raimi and the studio] probably felt like, 'What happened to Tobey?' But when I figured out what was happening, I dealt with it." By then, of course, someone had leaked the news that actor Jake Gyllenhaal might replace Maguire to the media, and the story blew up around them. Fences were finally mended in March 2003, at a meeting between Pascal, Raimi and Maguire at Pascal's home, and Maguire was rehired.

By the time production began last spring, everyone was grateful to have the mess behind them. They even managed to have a sense of humor about it. In one scene in Spider-Man 2, (Spoiler Ahead) Maguire plummets from a building and crashes into parked cars. He hobbles away, moaning, "Oh, my back! My back!" Mention it, and Raimi laughs. "My brother wrote that," he says. "Tobey was really game for it. He's not afraid of poking fun at himself." (Spoiler Ends)

Spider-Man 2 retains the angst that plagued Peter Parker in the first movie. "Sam's smart," says Dunst. "He knows that you might spend five hours on one special-effects shot, but at the end of the day, if it's not emotional, nobody cares." That might have worried some studios, but Columbia Pictures was onboard. "In the past, these kinds of movies tended to focus just on who the next villain was going to be," says Pascal. "But the heart of 'Spider-Man' is Peter Parker. It's about making sure his story is as complicated and angst- ridden as it was before, if not more so."

And it seems to work, Newsweek reports. In a review of the film, Senior Editor Jeff Giles writes that "Sam Raimi has made a terrific film" that is smart and deeply felt. Maguire and Dunst, he writes, "are the real attraction. They look gorgeous, and their chemistry is deeper, quirkier and utterly convincing." Maguire and Dunst are already signed on for Spider-Man 3, and Raimi's already at work on the script for the film, which is slated for 2007. "As a child, I dreamed of being Spider-Man, and I always wanted to be a motion-picture director," says Raimi. "So in writing, I get to be both. I really relate to Peter Parker. I really worry about him." Is there life for the franchise beyond part three? Not for Dunst, sadly. "Three's enough," she says. "I'm retiring. If they want to hire another girl, that's fine. I don't want to be known only as Mary Jane. I'm sure Sam will have a heart attack if he hears I don't want to do it. He'll have a nervous breakdown."

[FH]

Vin Diesel Up for Lex Luthor in Superman?
Source: CHUD
CHUD reports that, with the hiring of producer Neal Moritz ("The Fast and the Furious," "XXX"), Warner Bros. might be looking at Vin Diesel...

Warner Bros. has obviously decided they want to make their megabudget Supes movie cool for "the kids", and with Moritz's involvement comes the desire to place Vin Diesel in the role of criminal mastermind Lex Luthor (a role previously linked to everyone from Kevin Spacey to Johnny Depp). With the Chronicles of Riddick franchise turning out to not actually be one (hey, I liked it), getting into another high-profile gig with a built-in recognition factor may not be such a bad idea for the Vin-man.

[FH]

The Kingpin comes to SIN CITY
Michael Clarke Duncan joins the cast
Source: Cinescape
Big man Michael Clarke Duncan has joined the ever-swelling cast of Robert Rodriguez's SIN CITY, reports the trade magazine Variety. What role Duncan will take in the ensemble production remains unknown at the present time.

After fulfilling his obligations to Rodriguez, Duncan will move on to star in AMERICAN CRUDE. Rob Schneider, Jennifer Esposito and Ron Livingston co-star in that project, the feature directorial debut of actor Craig Sheffer (currently starring in The WB's ONE TREE HILL.)

[FH]

Rob Zombie Promises There'll Be No Fun-Loving Killers In Corpses Sequel
Source: MTV
LOS ANGELES — Rob Zombie is midway through shooting his "House of a 1000 Corpses" sequel, "The Devil's Rejects," and he's still adding to his motley crew of actors.

Ginger Lynn, a legend in adult films, is the latest to join a cast featuring Natasha Lyonne ("American Pie"), Danny Trejo ("Spy Kids"), Tyler Mane ("Troy") and William Forsythe ("The Rock"), among others.

"It's funny because our budget is moderate to say the least, but our casting has gotten out of control," Zombie said. "It's great. We have a fortune in casting ... and a lot of people that we pulled from the past."

By the past, Zombie means icons from classic horror films, such as P.J. Soles ("Halloween," "Carrie"), Ken Foree ("Dawn of the Dead), Steve Railsback ("Helter Skelter") and Mary Woronov ("Death Race 2000").

The cast should be seen as a sign of where Zombie is heading with the sequel. "Everything from the script to the way it's cast, it's very different than the first film," Zombie said. "It's much more real, much more gritty. The first film was very ... I mean it's bloody and it's nasty, but there's sort of a surreal element to the first one. I hate the word 'campy,' because that's not what is, but there's almost like a bloody 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' [quality] to the first one, and this one is a very bleak, stark, very real film.

"The thing I hate about sequels is they just sort of do the same thing again and that's always a drag," he continued. "So this one is very different. It's the same characters continuing on in the story, but with a very different feel."

"The Devil's Rejects," a title taken from the media's nickname for the Firefly family that dwells in the "House of 1000 Corpses," picks up seven months later with the focus on Sheriff John Wydell (Forsythe), whose brother, Lieutenant George Wydell, was killed by the Fireflys.

"He's avenging his death, so it's sort of like the tables are turned in this one," Zombie explained. "All the bad people are more on the defensive. That was always the trick in this one because all my leads are evil so somehow now you have to feel sympathy for all the horrible, disgusting characters.

"There won't be a dry eye in the house, trust me," he joked.

That's not to say Mother, Baby and the others have been toned down. In fact, quite the opposite is true.

"If you look at any series of horror-movie sequels, say 'A Nightmare on Elm Street,' Freddy Krueger is this terrifying character in the first, but as time goes on he becomes this fun-loving character that little kids want to dress up as for Halloween," Zombie said. "Same with Michael Myers [from 'Halloween']. And I didn't want that to happen, so I took the humor away so the characters kind of go in the exact opposite direction. They become meaner and more horrible, rather than familiar and fun-loving."

Zombie, who has scratched recording plans to focus on "The Devil's Rejects," said the tone of his first movie got away from him, but in the process he learned how to keep it darker for the second.

However, while the sequel has been another learning experience, the director's third project will not be another "Corpses" movie.

"When I wrote the first movie I had the second one in mind because I thought, 'OK, if it's successful, they'll want a sequel,' so at least I would like to see that through," Zombie said. "But no, two is enough. Two seems to work, three never works."

Zombie's not sure where his film career will take him next, but the avid comic collector has no interest in adapting a comic for the big screen.

"I'm already sick of comic-book movies, truthfully," he said. "They've remade everything."

[FH]

Jennifer Garner, In Midst Of Mildewing Trees, Explores Elektra'sDarkness
Source: MTV


VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Jennifer Garner needs to get something off her chest.

Regardless of what it may have looked like at the end of "Daredevil," Elektra isn't dead. In fact, she's alive and well and kicking some serious ninja butt in a movie of her own.

"That's a common misconception, that she died, but she wasn't dead," Garner insisted, taking a break before enduring a grueling stunt sequence on the chilly set of the "Elektra" movie.

"Apparently we didn't explain that very well. But at the very end of the movie, when Daredevil found the necklace that said 'Elektra' in braille, that was his message from her saying, 'I'm alive. I'll come back ... I'll have a spinoff!' "

FOX studio executives were so intent on launching Garner's character into a film of her own that during production on "Daredevil" — the Ben Affleck comic-book flick that made over $100 million last year despite mixed reviews from critics — they had writer/director Mark Steven Johnson film Elektra spinning her trademark Sai swords on a rooftop across from Daredevil when he finds the necklace.

Johnson ultimately cut the shot, which was done with a stunt person posing as Garner, afraid that the character's "death" at the hands of Colin Farrell's Bullseye would lose its emotional impact.

But now, a new director is at the helm (Johnson retains an executive-producer credit) and the Marvel Comics heroine lives. "We did not see her actually die in 'Daredevil.' Even if she flatlined, there is a plausible point that we can bring her back," insisted Rob Bowman, whose credits include the "X-Files" movie, several episodes of the television show and "Reign of Fire."

"But we don't bring her back through conventional means. We bring her back through... um, a higher form of martial arts," he said. "I'll just be cryptic like that. That's all I can say."

The director's attention on this particular day was focused on the rain machine, which soaked the fake pine trees on his soundstage so thoroughly that everything started to smell like mildew; and on making sure that every stunt felt real and served a genuine storytelling purpose.

Ben Affleck is nowhere to be found on the set of "Elektra," which will focus on the character's training by a band of ninja assassins known as the Hand. Bowman won't have her leaping from rooftops and isn't relying heavily on special effects, opting instead for crazy camera angles and a more character-driven story, with movies like "The Cooler" and "21 Grams" as his reference points.

"We have our share of blowing things up, I've learned a few new weapons and I'm definitely, definitely fighting. It's not like I'm in a period piece, in a corset, or talking Shakespeare," Garner promised. "But it is very much driven by Elektra's darkness and what happens when she comes back to life, and what that second life means: whether it's redemption or whether it's a dark place from which you can't be redeemed. It's very dark and honest."

To that end Bowman is employing similar lighting techniques (and the same cinematographer) he used on "X-Files" to lend the movie a look in line with its story. His goal, at least partially, is to reinvent the way comic-book movies are done. "Because Elektra is a tortured soul, and in the middle of an emotional crisis, I thought this would be the right way to go," he said.

And what makes Elektra so dark? Well, during the course of this film, we'll learn that she kills people for hire. In the comic books she does a lot more for hire, too, although the film won't be exploring that. "I would rather follow the story and not focus on the gore or the fact that she sells her body," Garner admitted. "[In the movie] she's not a prude, she just isn't interested. And I love to fight but it kind of kills it for me to see people bleeding all over the screen. As long as a ninja dies I don't really care how much blood there is."

This isn't meant to imply that "Elektra" has gone soft or will abandon its source material — far from it. In fact, the movie is relying heavily on the Marvel comic books, from putting Garner in a red outfit more true to the character than the black leather she wore alongside Affleck, to the introduction of several supporting players taken right from the page.

"I have the comics pasted up all over my trailer, because it's as though we have our storyboards right from the comic book," Garner said. "You'll see the Hand, Stick, Typhoid Mary; we definitely fold them into our story."

"Typhoid Mary is kind of loopy and armed with this enormous power to kill people," Bowman said of the villainous girl portrayed by model/actress Natassia Malthe. "Because of her beauty she can lure you in right up to that poisonous kiss."

Terence Stamp, whom comic book fans remember fondly as General Zod in the "Superman" movies, has taken on the role of Elektra's martial-arts mentor, Stick. "He is the grittiest guy in the movie, the smartest guy, and I'm sort of making him into a prophet," Bowman explained. "He is the perfect example of 'tough love' and the architect of this journey. Stick feels like there is a gem of light buried inside Elektra's black soul."

Ah yes, Elektra's "black soul." Is there any hope for her at all? Neither Bowman nor Garner will tell, but if there is, it will likely come in the form of a father (played by Goran Visnjic of "ER") and his daughter (newcomer Kirsten Prout) and the bonding the three of them do in a cabin around Christmastime.

A cabin, of course, that gets attacked by ninjas.

"I love playing this role, I love how lethal she is, how completely different she is from me, and how hard it is to find a crack or a crevice in her heart or soul," Garner said, shortly before being called back onto the set. "She's pretty cold. When we're shooting, Rob is always saying to me, 'Too nice, too nice! Go back, there's too much heart, go back.' And I love that!

"Because, he's right, Elektra would just as soon kill you as look at you. And I would play her any day of the week and twice on Sundays."

"Elektra" is due in theaters next year.

[FH]

Here's a bunch of "old news" for the past few weeks...

John Woo to direct Face Off sequel
Source: Moviehole
According to a report on Monkey Peaches, John Woo is considering doing a sequel to “Face Off”, his 1997 blockbuster with John Travolta and Nicolas Cage.

Whilst it’s unlikely that the previous leads will be involved – Cage especially, considering his character bit the dust in the first – Woo’s apparently interested in doing a follow-up, if only because some of the things that happened in the first film are now happening in real life. For instance, a girl is about to get the world’s first full face transplant. Plenty of film-worthy stuff there apparently….

Before a “Face Off 2”, Woo will direct The Rock in “Spy Hunter” and then looks set to do a film adaptation of “The Romance of the three Kingdoms”. “So far, Chow Yun-Fat is the first and the only one being named. Woo would not include or exclude any actor or actress from the future casting, although it will be a Chinese only cast. Written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th and 15th Century, Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a grand scale book depicting the Chinese history in the 2nd and 3rd Century, during which China split into three kingdoms following the fall of Han Dynasty, and after decades of war and peace, reunified under a new dynasty, Jin”, says the site.

Possible storyline for Terminator 4 surfaces
Source: Moviehole

Long-time scooper ‘Brits’ has uncovered more information about C2’s plans for a “Terminator 4” and “Terminator 5” with added verification that The Rock might indeed get involved somewhere along the line.

“Plot rumors have surfaced again for Terminator 4 and loosely involved the same outline as previous years have stated, especially with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson's possible involvement with Arnold's Terminator.

“As like another Cameron related series, Alien, where we'll see Lance Henriksen's robot character from the original Alien series, in human form, word that The Rock could take on a Rebel character that Arnold's Terminator robot was based on.

“It's no secret that Arnold praises and is championing The Rock as the new action star of the 21st century and that Arnold is contracted for T4 - however it's believed he won't be in the movie for very long, paving the way for The Rock. Effectively, they would be playing the same character. Dwayne in human form as the Rebel hero and Arnold as the Terminator.

“And T5? It seemed to a lot of people, that whilst at a press conference in Cannes, promoting T3, there was no love lost between the C2 producers and Cameron. Sure money talks, but what good is that to The King Of The World?”

Last week, Moviehole was contacted by an employee at the studio saying roughly the same – that a “T4” and “T5” are on the cards. The Rock is interested in doing one of the films.


Story and Director rumours for Rambo 4
Source: Moviehole
A couple of weeks ago rumours surfaced that Rambo might be on the comeback trail and John Woo might be trail guide. That was apparently a falsie, but ‘Long-John Silver’ has the real low-down:

“Well here is an update as to who Kassar, Vajna and the Weinsteins want to helm this new Rambo film. According to a source of mine, the names on the top of the directors list are F. Gary Grey (The Negotiator), John McTiernan (Die Hard) and Martin Campbell (The Mask of Zorro).

The rumored plot for the next Rambo film is that nuclear weapons are lost and Rambo is called in to lead a team to locate the weapons of mass destruction before...BOOM!!! There is an even bigger plot behind all this.

The film is tentative to go into production next summer for a release in Summer 2006. The budget they are aiming for is 75-90 million and that takes into account the rumored 30 million that Kassar, Vajna and the Weinsteins plan on paying Sly to play Rambo again. Kassar & Vajna of C2 will pay Sly 15 million and Bob & Harvey Weinstein of Miramax/Dimension Films will pay Sly the other 15 million to make up the massive 30 million payday. Only fellow action hero governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has ever gotten so much money for a single film!”


Chris Carter Says X-Files 2 Talks in Progress
Source: Coming Soon!
Variety talked to The X-Files creator Chris Carter who says that Special Agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Special Agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) might soon reunite on the big screen for a sequel to 1998's The X-Files: Fight the Future, which collected $189 million at the worldwide box office.

"Frank (Spotnitz) and I have worked out a story, and there's a negotiation with (Fox) going on," he said, adding he's also in development on two other potential features.

Carter and Spotnitz both worked on the first film's story. This latest bit comes after recent news from UK's Teletext which spoke to David Duchovny about the possibility of a second film.

"We're all on the same page," Duchovny said. "Gillian Anderson wants to do it, I want to do it, Chris Carter, who would write and produce the film, wants to do it and I believe Fox the studio wants to do it. When you have the four major players in the enterprise wanting to do it, it will happen. It's just a matter of when. I hope it happens within the next year."

The 43-year-old star quit the TV show before it was cancelled, but said he was keen to play Mulder again. "I think it would be fun at this point, a few years removed, to get back into it and do it."


Live-Action The Jetsons Movie Moving Ahead
Source: Coming Soon!
IGN Filmforce talked to Catwoman producer Denise Di Novi who says she's moving ahead with what might be her next project, a live-action adaptation of the cartoon classic The Jetsons.

According to Di Novi, the most recent draft of the screenplay was written by Sam Harper. His credits include Cheaper by the Dozen, Just Married and Rookie of the Year.

Bringing Down the House director Adam Shankman is scheduled to helm the film for Warner Bros. The site adds that Harper's script should be going out soon with the biggest challenge now being the casting of George Jetson.

Steve Niles on 30 Days of Night & More
Source: DarkHorizons
Speaking with Comic Book Resources, writer and comic creator Steve Niles talked about how the film adaptation of his comic "Thirty Days of Night" is progressing, and what other projects he has in development:

Thirty Days of Night
Has a new screenplay being written right now by Stuart Beattie and we're that much closer with Sam [Raimi] being done with 'Spider-Man 2. I know of two different occasions where Sam's been interviewed for 'Spider-Man 2' and he brought up 'Thirty Days of Night.' The studio's still excited about it, I'm still excited, we're just waiting".

Criminal Macabre
"I'm writing the second draft for MGM right now and I have to turn that in soon. It's a big, pulpy Cal movie. That's going really well, I'm having a lot of fun with that. With the movie, it's all down to casting. Everybody worries about all the drug references with Cal. It doesn't have to be like 'Cheech and Chong,' where every time he gets out of the car there's a big puff of smoke. It's really the attitude that's more important. I'm still pushing for that because I feel that part of the noir detective thing is the downtrodden guy. Alcohol was the way people used to do it, but now people have a lot of other ways of doing it. The stuff he abuses is like prescription drugs and whatever else he can get his hands on".

Wake the Dead
We're talking with a well-known director now, but I need another conversation or two with him to find out if he's doing it. Mike Dougherty is still doing the script.

Hyde
They bought that so far in advance, I hadn't even written the comic! So, I just turned in the comic and the studio is running around with that".

Chronicles of Riddick TV spin-off in the works
Source: Moviehole
“Chronicles of Riddick” writer/director David Twohy told SciFi Wire that he’s now concentrating on doing a spin-off of the film, a telemovie that will centre on the character of of Kyra, played in the movie by Alexa Davalos.

"They want to do a sort of Kyra, The Lost Years," Twohy said in an interview. "I'll be writing the story for that, just so that the expanding universe has a creative continuity to it, and it doesn't get too corporate and there are too many hands in the [project]."



The proposed Kyra SCI FI Channel project "will be a two-hour pilot, followed by a series, based on the Jack/Kyra character and how she went in search for Riddick and trouble befell her along the way," Twohy said. The series would fill in the five years between the end of “Pitch Black” and the beginning of “The Chronicles of Riddick”.

Davalos won’t be starring in the series though, says Twohy, because “…A, she wants to pursue a film career, not a cable career, and, [b], it might deal with a slightly younger version [of Kyra]. Because [Riddick takes place] five years later, she's playing 18, 19, 20. I think this character would be 15, 16, 17."

Whoever is cast as Kyra in the pilot will be the third actress to play the character.

Matrix Box Set Details
Nine-disc set is in the works.
Source: IGN

May 20, 2004 - The Digital Bits has the news that a number of online retailers, including Australian's e-tailer EzyDVD, are listing a 9-disc The Matrix Trilogy DVD box set in Region 4, although there is no street date.


The set breaks down as three discs for The Matrix, three discs for The Matrix Reloaded, two discs for The Matrix Revolutions, and the Animatrix DVD.

Among the features are new HD transfers of the films, an extended version of Reloaded with an hour of additional footage and new documentaries, commentaries and other newly-created special edition content.

We've already noted that Eric Matthies Productions, a media production company in the Hollywood area, let the information out that it was working on the box set by boasting of it on its corporate Web site.

EMP said it is working on "over one dozen hours of new material for this upcoming collectors [sic] edition release. This expanded edition of discs will include detailed documentaries on the philosophy and science behind the Matrix scripts as well as a look at the history of action cinema. EMP is also creating a densely layered documentary package estimated at nine total hours using footage that has not been seen in the other Matrix releases."


Viggo Mortensen Has A History of Violence
Source: Coming Soon!
Viggo Mortensen will reunite with his "Lord of the Rings" studio New Line to topline A History of Violence for director David Cronenberg.

Adapted by Josh Olson from John Wagner and Vince Locke's graphic novel of the same name, the film tells the story of an ordinary family's life after the father receives unwanted national attention for a seemingly vigilante-style self-defense killing at his diner. Mortensen would play the father, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Mortensen most recently starred in Hidalgo at Disney and played Aragorn in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

New Line Reaches a Third Destination
Source: Coming Soon!

Variety reports that New Line Cinema has greenlit Final Destination 3 by reuniting with franchise creators Glen Morgan and James Wong.

Wong directed the original film, which he wrote with Morgan and Jeffrey Reddick, in 2000. The second installment was directed by David R. Ellis and written by J. Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress. Both film cost only about $25 million and made $90 million and $70 million worldwide, respectively.

Co-writer Morgan and writer-director Wong have not revealed what kind of accident the third film will entail.

Return of the King Extended Edition DVD in December
Source: Coming Soon!

Video Business reports that New Line Home Entertainment will release the extended edition DVD of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in December.

That falls outside of the holiday shopping primetime of mid-November--when the past two extended versions of the series, "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers," hit stores.

Still, the switch is not expected to hurt sales. Consumers have been aware for months about an upcoming extended take on "Return of the King," given the releases of ones for "Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers".

The trade adds that the extended edition took longer to produce because cast members, now filming new projects, had to be rounded up from all over to complete their commentaries.

Cagney & Lacey coming to the big screen
Source: Moviehole
Are there any TV Shows left to do?

The latest Television show to get the film transfer is cop show “Cagney & Lacey”, according to an insider today.

Instead of being a spoof on the dramatic series though – like “Starsky and Hutch” – producers are out to pretty much transfer the serious tone of the Television serial into the film version. “In the vein of Thelma & Louise, with mature actresses in the leading roles”, says scooper ‘Brits’.

Created by Barbara Avedon, Barbara Corday and Barney Rosenzweig, “Cagney & Lacey” told the story of two female police detectives whose professional and personal lives kind of meet head-on on a daily basis.

No word whether Tyne Daly (Cagney) or Sharon Gless (Lacey) will appear in the film, though cameo appearances are more than likely.


Courtney Love Charged With Attacking Woman
Source: Launch
Courtney Love was charged with attacking a female friend of her former managers in April with a bottle and a metal flashlight, authorities said.

The felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon stems from an April 25 incident at the Los Angeles home of former manager Jim Barber. An arrest warrant for the rocker was issued Wednesday, district attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said Tuesday.

Love was not in custody, and it was unclear whether she had been served with the warrant. She has been charged in three additional cases, including two that occurred hours apart in October.

Her attorney, Michael Rosenstein, could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.

Authorities said cocaine and other opiates were found in Love's system after she was arrested for allegedly trying to break into the home of a former boyfriend in October.

Love pleaded guilty in Los Angeles Superior Court to a misdemeanor count of being under the influence of a controlled substance and agreed to enter a drug rehabilitation program in that case.

Love also faces felony charges in Beverly Hills Superior Court, where she is accused of illegally possessing prescription painkillers. She has pleaded innocent in that case and is scheduled to return to court June 17.

In May, Love was arraigned in New York City on charges of assault and reckless endangerment for allegedly hitting a fan with a microphone stand at a club on March 18.


The Fountain Starts Flowing November 1
Source: Coming Soon!
Scooper 'Narrows101' tells us that, according to Newsday, director Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain will start filming on November 1 in Montreal.

In the Warner Bros. film, starring Hugh Jackman, a quest for immortality - via a "tree of life" found in Central America - is attempted in three different centuries, the ultimate lesson being that death, as part of the process of rebirth, is to be embraced, not feared.

Jackman, who just won Best Actor Tony for his performance in Broadway's "The Boy From Oz," will be toplining the musical through September 12.


David Chappelle in Talks for Super Freak
Source: Coming Soon!
The Hollywood Reporter says that Lorenzo Di Bonaventura is in negotiations to acquire the film rights to Rick James' autobiography, Memoirs of a Super Freak, with David Chappelle in early talks to topline the feature film adaptation of the funk rocker's memoirs for Paramount Pictures.

James, best known for his hit "Super Freak," has been working on a book for some time. In addition to his own pop and R&B hits, James wrote and produced many songs for artists such as the Temptations, Teena Marie and Eddie Murphy.

Chappelle has impersonated James on his Comedy Central series, Chappelle's Show.


Eric Bana Starring in Spielberg's Olympics Film
Source: Coming Soon!
The Terminal director Steven Spielberg is moving forward on his as-yet-untitled DreamWorks and Universal co-production about the 1972 Munich Olympics, says Variety.

The Hulk and Troy actor Eric Bana is the first to come aboard to star in the film, which will begin shooting in European locations beginning in the next six weeks. Ben Kingsley had previously agreed to play one of the leads, but his participation now appears unlikely because Spielberg pushed back the start five weeks so he could lock the score and attach a new ending for "Terminal".

The trade adds that Spielberg, who's producing the Olympics project with Kathleen Kennedy and Barry Mendel, will now begin casting the project in earnest, even though actors are rumored to be committing without getting to read the Eric Roth script.

Spielberg's intends to follow his summer project with a winter start on The Rivals, the Robin Swicord-scripted DreamWorks drama about catfighting 19th Century stage divas. Spielberg then hopes to direct Tom Cruise in a Paramount/DreamWorks adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds, which is being scripted by David Koepp.


Andy Serkis is King Kong!
Source: Coming Soon!
Andy Serkis, who brought to life Gollum's movements and voice in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, is reuniting with Peter Jackson to become the man behind the monster in Universal Pictures' King Kong.

Like he did for Gollum, Serkis will provide motion capture reference for the character of Kong, who will eventually be realized as a completely computer-generated creature.

Serkis also has been cast as Lumpy the cook, a member of the crew of the Venture, the tramp steamer that sails to Skull Island.

"I expect this time round will be a very different experience for both Andy and myself as we'll actually get to shoot extended drama sequences together," Jackson said. "It will be a little weird seeing Andy out of his Gollum gimp suit -- and I hope we can both make the adjustment!"

Commenting on Kong himself, Jackson said: "While Andy will provide very valuable onset reference, this doesn't mean we will be softening Kong by attempting to humanize him. The power of the story lies in the fact that this is a savage beast from a hostile environment, and we don't intend to compromise that."

Serkis joins Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody in the cast. Jackson and his "Rings" colleagues, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, are writing, with Jackson and Walsh also producing.


Wolfgang Petersen Takes a Bullitt for WB
Source: Coming Soon!
Troy director Wolfgang Petersen and Warner Bros. are reloading Bullitt, reports Variety. The studio will remake the 1968 Steve McQueen drama with Petersen directing.

The crime caper, centered on tough-guy detective Frank Bullitt, will be contemporized by Cynthia Mort. The original drama was based on the Robert L. Pike novel "Mute Witness," but the remake isn't. Petersen sparked more to the character than to the original storyline.

"Bullitt" is not about "remaking a film or repeating a plot, it is about reviving a great character," Petersen told the trade. "Frank Bullitt is a cool, no-nonsense man who doesn't compromise. Bullitt walks his own path and his pursuit of the truth is unrelenting."

Mark Waters Directing The Spiderwick Chronicles
Source: Coming Soon!
Freaky Friday and Mean Girls director Mark Waters will helm Paramount and Nickelodeon's children's movie, The Spiderwick Chronicles.

Based on a six-part book series by fantasy writer Holly Black and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, the film revolves around twin boys and their teenage sister. They discover a world of goblins, fairies and other magical creatures.

David Berenbaum (Elf, The Haunted Mansion) is writing the script which is expected to cover the first three books

Waters was also recently attached to the Disney comedy Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, about a bachelor who goes to his younger brother's wedding, where he is visited by the ghosts of his past girlfriends.

Spyglass Takes Rob Liefeld's Spin
Source: Coming Soon!
Spyglass has preemptively purchased a pitch based on the yet-to-be-published online comicstrip Spin, created by Rob Liefeld, reports Variety. Kara Holden is writing the film's script.

The fantasy comedy in the vein of Bruce Almighty concerns a highly successful single woman whose life is uprooted when a curse is put on her.

Comic creator Liefeld is the co-founder of Image Comics, the third largest publisher in the genre after D.C. and Marvel.


Star Wars Opening Info
SourcearkHorizons
Coming Soon has landed one hell of an impressive scoop from Lucasfilm detailling the space battle sequence that opens thee third prequel next year and here's a sneak peek:

"The starfleets of the Galactic Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems are locked in a jumbled brawl of lumbering capital ships and swift starfighters, exchanging fire high in the Coruscant atmosphere.

Hundreds upon hundreds of ships are engaged in this high-stakes battle of the Clone Wars, but the audience will only really follow two small snubfighters into the thick of battle. As Obi-Wan and Anakin dive into the heart of the conflict to carry out a most important mission, they'll be the camera's guide through the chaos.

A dry-erase board hanging in the Animatics Department serves as a recipe list for possible mini-dramas playing in the background of the scene. Note that not all may not be in the final film. This list instead just represents some of the tantalizing possibilities:

- Colliding / scraping starships
- Sacrifice ship to break through blockade
- Diving formation of assault frigates to save cruiser from swarm
- Shockwave causing havoc from large explosion of ship
- Shockwave bombs across surface of larger ship causing damage
- Shockwave bomb on droid fighters
- Tractor beams picking up ships to repair / collision
- Pockets of intense debris caused by explosion that heroes fly through
- Reinforcements dropping out of hyperspace to help less fortunate ships
- Launching and docking tri-fighters / clone fighters
- EMP bomb causing loss of power to large ships, out-of-control collision
- Vulture droids landing on large ships and attacking"



Bachelor Party Rekindled
Source: DarkHorizons
According to a recent interview with producer/writer Bob Israel of Aspect Entertainment, a sequel to the Tom Hanks comedy "Bachelor Party" may be in the works. The original comedy, released by 20th Century Fox in the summer of 1984, starred Hanks, Tawny Kitaen and Adrian Zmed.

Bob Israel, one of the original film's producers, recently spoke to the Bachelor Party 20th Anniversary Movie Website about his involvement in the film. When asked about a potential sequel, Mr. Israel replied, "Right now we are actually in serious talks about doing a sequel. We'll keep you informed."

Israel also released some interesting trivia about 'Bachelor Party'. In the interview, Israel mentions that the studio had auditioned then-up-and-coming actors Jim Carrey, Tim Robbins, Howie Mandel and Paul Reiser for the role that Tom Hanks would eventually get as Rick Gassko. They also considered 'Seinfeld' actress Julia Louise-Dreyfuss and 'The Terminator' star Linda Hamilton for the role of Debbie Thompson, played in the film by Tawny Kitaen.



Alien Vs. Predator Trailer

[FH]

Cameron, Hitler Rumours
Source: DarkHorizons



Two huge projects are being talked about online today, but both are so early in development it's best to take all of this with not only salt but patience:

Automatons
AICN has posted a special report on a project that's the brainchild of writers Ed Solomon ("Men in Black") and Chris Matheson ("Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure"). Seems the pair have already recorded all the dialogue for what they hope will be a stop-motion animation project that they've been developing for over a decade now. The plot follows two giant self-aware robots built in WW2 to kill Hitler, only too have ended up stuck on the ocean floor for the past 60 years. Meanwhile Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo have escaped from their own secret cryo-chambers and decide to do a knock-off play version of "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown". Amongst the voices already recorded - Jack Black & John C. Reilly as the robots, Sylvestar Stallone as Mussolini, Billy Bob Thornton as The Holy Earth Father and John Cleese as Adolph Hitler.

James Cameron's Sci-Fi Project
Moviehole reports that James Cameron’s next flick, a mega-budgeted $200 million dollar 3-D movie, is coming together nicely. Brian Cox [“Manhunter”, “The Ring”] is apparently a certainty to have a role in it. Cox’s role is likely to be a lead. Cameron also wants some even bigger names for some of the parts - certain action heroes of the 80's in fact. "I think (the movie) is going to be huge, and it's going to be a huge enabler for the 3-D experience," Cameron said at this month’s Large Format Cinema Association conference and festival. Some sources say the film may centre on Man’s first trip to Mars, but Cameron has yet to announce the storyline.

[FH]

Rumored Trailer-Description for Batman Begins

"Black screen, The WB logo fades in. It stays on screen for a few seconds, A little longer than normal, Then it fades to black. The black screen also stays for a few moments, then quietly some of the theme starts to play (I'm not too certain but I think it's the same theme they've used in the past for Batman trailers, But I defiantly know it was music from the Burton film). After about 10-15 seconds of darkness a complete white frame fades in, Then it looks blurry, Then we start to see shades of blue, Then it totally fades in. It's a very wide shot of a snowbound mass of land, with a small figure walking towards the camera (I kept thinking what the hell is this? They just must be using Batman music). Then it was an upclose shot of Bale, He falls into the snow. He starts coughing.

There is some voice-overs of different people, mainly Neeson. There are flashes of the rest of the cast, Bale talking about his fears, what drives him. Then We see a man slip on a strange looking gas mask. Very German/Nazi WW2 looking for the design of the mask. Probably the Scarecrow. A black screen, Batman standing on top of a building then jumping falling down towards the screen. Flashes of a fast moving train, What looks like a huge black tank and a helicopter and police cars. A few more flashes of some fast paced car action.

There are a few shots of the city (Which look very dark and pretty rough, Very unfinished). Then Bale's eyes appear over the skyline, Which fades into Bale's face in the Batman mask.


Then a black screen and the new bat logo fades in, kinda old school with a rusted finish. It slowly moves towards the screen with a bass dropping drone. The credits fade in "Next Summer it Begins."