Random Movie News

[TheButcher]

Matt Damon Signs On For ‘The Magnificent Seven’

[TheButcher]

Joseph Kosinski's Oblivion Begins

[TheButcher]

Silver Nitrate takes rights to Elephant Man book - Ash Shah's company will adapt non-fiction tome

Ash Shah's Silver Nitrate Entertainment has picked up feature rights to the book "The True History of the Elephant Man: The Definitive Account of the Tragic and Extraordinary Life of Joseph Carey Merrick" by Michael Howell and Peter Ford.

Merrick, whose life was portrayed in David Lynch's 1980 film "The Elephant Man," spent most of his life as a carnival freak due to physical deformities. He was hounded, persecuted and starving in a brutal Victorian world until his fortune changed when he was rescued and befriended by Dr. Frederick Treves.

Lynch's film received eight Academy Award nominations and won three BAFTA awardss including Best Film and Best Actor for John Hurt.

"There is a whole generation of people who are unfamiliar with Merrick's incredible story, having not been exposed to Lynch's 1980 film," said Shah. "We're confident that an interesting filmmaker can bring this compassionate story to a whole new audience. Merrick's life is a testament to what the human spirit can endure and what life truly should be."

Silver Nitrate is a decade old production and distribution company. Recent productions include the SXSW entry "Small Apartments," starring Matt Lucas, Billy Crystal, Johnny Knoxville and Juno Temple. Past releases include David Goyer's debut "Auggie Rose", Steve Buscemi's "Animal Factory" and Sundance winner "God Grew Tired of Us" which was a joint acquisition with Newmarket Films.

Upcoming Silver Nitrate projects include the development of the Black List script "Message From the King" written by Stephen Cornwell and Oliver Butcher.

[TheButcher]

Tom Wheeler to rewrite 'Mandrake the Magician' - 'Puss in Boots' scribe brought to Warner Bros., Atlas pic

"Puss in Boots" scribe Tom Wheeler has been brought on to rewrite "Mandrake the Magician" for Warner Bros. and Atlas Entertainment.

Pic, based on the popular comicstrip created by Lee Falk in 1934, has been in development at Atlas since 2009. "12 Monkeys" scribes David and Janet Peoples wrote the first draft of the script.

Mandrake, made popular by the 12-part serial Columbia Pictures released in 1939, is a powerful illusionist who hypnotized foes from gangsters to aliens. The character will be given a modern makeover.

Charles Roven and Andy Horwitz are shepherding the project for Atlas, while Sarah Schechter will oversee for WB. Rocky Shepard of King Features Syndicate and Atlas' Alan Glazer exec produce.

Wheeler created and exec produced NBC's short-lived series "The Cape" after scripting DreamWorks Animation's spinoff pic "Puss in Boots." He's also writing "Trollhunters" for DreamWorks Animation and helmer Guillermo del Toro.

Wheeler is repped by WME and attorney Harris Hartman.

[TheButcher]

Sony in talks for 'End for History' rewrite - Michael Brandt, Derek Haas to rework time-travel script

Sony is in early negotiations with the writing team of Michael Brandt & Derek Haas to rewrite time-travel action-adventure "End of History" for Neal Moritz's Original Prods.

Story's centered on a scenario in which humans are no longer able to reproduce and are forced to travel in time to get the necessary gene to fix the problem. The original script by David Gleeson has time travellers going back to 12th century China, where they find themselves in the path of Genghis Khan's army.

Brandt and Haas have teamed on scripts for "Wanted," "3:10 to Yuma," "2 Fast 2 Furious" and "The Double." They are repped by WME.

[TheButcher]

Hideo Nakata To Direct Graphic Novel Adaptation ‘The Suicide Forest’

EXCLUSIVE : Producers Roy Lee and Taka Ichise are teaming on a live action feature adaptation of The Suicide Forest, the graphic novel from IDW Publishing. They’ve attached Hideo Nakata to direct. He helmed Ringu, which hatched The Ring, and he directed The Ring Two.

The first in a series of four graphic novels written by El Torres with artwork by Gabriel Hernandez, the thriller revolves around Aokigahara, a vast forest outside Tokyo which is called the most famous suicide spot in the world. Legend that spirits of past suicides roaming among the trees. An American ex-pat living in Tokyo must enlist the help of a forest ranger in Aokigahara to help free him from the clutches of an evil spirit haunting him from the Suicide Forest.

IDW’s Ted Adams and John Middleton will be executive producers. CAA and Circle of Confusion rep IDW, while Nakata and Ichise are repped by ICM

[Ribbons]

Joseph Kosinski's Oblivion Begins

I'm looking forward to this. TRON: Legacy was not the greatest but Kosinski is definitely a director to watch.

[TheButcher]

From THR:
Paramount Shuts Down 'Ninja Turtles' Reboot; Release Date Pushed (Exclusive)
UPDATED: The film was set for a December 2013 release. A source close the production says the movie will come out in May 2014

"Paramount Pictures has shut down a planned reboot of the Ninja Turtles franchise, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. The effects-heavy film, which was in preproduction in Vancouver, was set for release in December 2013. That date is being pushed to May 2014, according to sources.

The issue is said to be the script. Paramount has delayed several big movies from this year to 2013, including G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Brad Pitt’s World War Z, leaving it with a spotty pipeline for the current year. Now it has halted work on its planned holiday movie for 2013, temporarily laying off preproduction staff and informing those prepping the film that the work stoppage is "indefinite," according to sources. Another source close to the production says the movie has been pushed by ten weeks.

A Paramount rep would not immediately comment.

Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes is producing and Jonathan Liebesman (Wrath of the Titans) is set to direct from a script by Kevin Eastman and Andre Nemec. Other key players include Bourne franchise line producer Denis Stewart and effects man Dan Bradley (Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol).

The move comes as analysts have been knocking Viacom's Nickelodeon division for lower ratings. The Ninja Turtles project, a joint Paramount-Nickelodeon production, was eyed as a chance to bolster Nickelodeon as well as reboot a family film franchise. The studio had paid a hefty sum for rights to the property, which had been the basis for three hit movies for New Line Cinema in the 1990s.

In May, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman touted the Ninja Turtles reboot in a call with investors. "Our pipeline is extremely strong," he said. "We're developing more new [episodes] of our popular series and more exciting new series. And of course, we're particularly excited about the revival of the [Teenage Mutant Ninja] Turtles franchise.

[Spandau Belly]

I think I know why they're delaying the new NINJA TURTLES movie.

Look at the following photo and guess which one could be replaced with Channing Tatum:

[Ribbons]

Is it Leonardo?

[Wolfpack]

They're waiting until Ryan Seacrest dies so they don't feel the urge to cast him as all four turtles. He wouldn't even need makeup!

[TheButcher]

Paramount Delays ‘Ninja Turtles’ Start Date

Another week, and another Paramount movie in trouble. First there was G.I. Joe 2‘s plot problems leading to reshoots and a release date delay. Then there was World War Z‘s problematic production and required reshoots and third act revision. Now it’s the Michael Bay-produced Ninja Turtles reboot. Paramount says it has pushed back the pic’s start date by 10 weeks in order to cut the budget $10M to $20M down to $125M. That means the release date also will push back: from Christmas 2013 to May 16, 2014. Initially, Paramount hired the Iron Man writing team of Art Marcum and Matt Holloway for close to $1 million to revamp Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a fast-tracked live action feature film to be released in summer 2012. At the time, the studio was looking at this as its next huge franchise like Transformers. Then the Jonathan Liebesman-directed live action-CGI combo’s release date was pushed to Christmas 2013. Now Paramount tells me it’s pushed again to May 16th, 2014 — presuming that the studio’s cost target is achieved.

[TheButcher]

Andy Serkis And ‘Apes’ Director Rupert Wyatt Want To Make Performance-Capture Take On ‘Animal Farm’

My goodness -- there is a perfectly good animated film of the book. And why motion capture? It's one thing for Serkis to move like an ape or a devolved hobbit, another for actors to pretend to be farm animals. Are they going to walk around on their hind limbs?

And who will milk them?!?
And HOW will they milk them!?!?

"Beware the milk man for he is the devil's pawn..."
Cornelius

From EW Jul 6 2011:
'Apes' director Rupert Wyatt and Andy Serkis to collaborate on motion-capture 'Animal Farm' adaptation

Here’s some (Old) Major news for you: Rupert Wyatt, the director of Aug. 5′s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, confirmed to EW that he and Apes star Andy Serkis are working on a big-screen performance-capture adaptation of George Orwell’s Stalin-inspired Animal Farm. Though the project is in its early stages, the duo will collaborate on the script, and use Serkis’ motion-capture studio, The Imaginarium, for the project. Seeing as how blown away we were by Wyatt’s use of the technology in clips for Apes, it’s easy to get excited about the prospect of Farm, which would feature a diverse group of human-like barn animals leading a rebellion. “With performance capture, you can really perform this story in such a way that it’s sort of seamless in terms of human performers playing animals,” Wyatt tells EW. “It’s very much like theater. Especially with something like this that is about phsyical movement, nuance through gesture.”


So, if the film will be all about performance, who can we expect to fill the hooves of Old Major, Napoleon, and the like? Obviously, Serkis will be portraying one of the characters, according to Wyatt. As for which one, he’s keeping mum — “I don’t want to give too much away,” he says. (Let’s just be glad that, for once, Apes and King Kong star will be able to branch outside primate parts.) But in order to make the best use of motion-capture, Wyatt is hoping to snag some of the industry’s most talented players. “We want to get the best actors for the role,” he says. “It would be the same as if we were doing a stage production. [And] with Andy as our lead-in, I feel that’s good enough for me right now.”


Of course, Farm is still far from reaching the big screen. First, Wyatt has to see the release of Apes, a film that could turn into a franchise (and push Farm to the back-burner) should it prove to be a box office success. And Wyatt, for one, is certainly open to an Apes sequel. “It’s definitely the desire of everyone involved, to continue telling the story,” he says. “There’s a question mark at the end of the film. All the best stories for me don’t tie up every single loose end. We end with certain questions, and certainly the scenario of what’s next.” (Don’t, however, expect to see star James Franco cursing the film’s apes in front of a buried Statue of Liberty — Wyatt says his Apes deviates from the original film’s ending. “It’s a totally different film in many ways,” he says. “To emulate that or to kind of try to pull the rug from the audience — an audience these days are savvy enough to know what you’re doing to them. We would have suffered for the comparison. So we looked to be more original than that.”)


Audiences who are enraptured with the performance-capture quality of Apes may certainly hope for a sequel — Wyatt says some who have screened footage of the film couldn’t tell that they weren’t looking at real apes. “We created the skin and the hair and the anatomy of the ape on top of a human performance,” he says. “That’s a first. That’s an absolute first. It’s never really been done before, and this is the first photo-realistic film dealing with animals that are not fantastical in any way. They are very much grounded in reality. That’s never been able to be achieved up until now.”

[TheButcher]

From /film:
The ‘Ninja Turtles’ May Fight Like Characters in ‘The Raid’

[TheButcher]

First Poster And Tagline For Transformers 4?

[TheButcher]

Hot Sci-Fi Movie Project 'Rosa' Lands at Fox (Heat Vision Exclusive)

The movie is based on an animated short from Jesus Orellana, a comic book artist who not only created the short but will direct the feature.

Fox's Sci-Fi 'Rosa' Finds Writer

Will Dunn is being tapped to write Rosa, 20th Century Fox’s sci-fi project based on an animated short from Jesus Orellana.

Orellana is on board to direct the project, which is being produced by Simon Kinberg as well as Raymond Brothers and Scott Glassgold of IAM Entertainment.

Rosa, which made waves when it played at several film festivals last year, is described as “an epic sci-fi short film that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where all natural life has disappeared. From the destruction awakes Rosa, a cyborg deployed from the Kernel project, mankind’s last attempt to restore the earth’s ecosystem. Rosa will soon learn that she is not the only entity that has awakened and must fight for her survival.”

Orellana, a comic book artist, made the short from his home computer in Barcelona, with the intent of directing a full-length feature.

Aditya Sood is overseeing for Kinberg's Genre Films.

Dunn, repped by WME and the Safran Co., made waves when his sci-fi spec Ion was optioned in 2010 by Ridley Scott’s Scott Free production company with Channing Tatum attached to star. He comes to Rosa via Fox's writing program.

[TheButcher]

‘Transformers 4’: Michael Bay purges stars, may go into space

Remember the old theme song? “Transformers, more than meets the eye … “ It may be time for a new jingle, perhaps: “Transformers, as far as the eye can see … “ That’s especially the case with Bay turning his attention to a fourth installment that Paramount Pictures is looking to release in the summer of 2014. That news will be met by groans of metal fatigue from film critics but the numbers from the third film, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” show the public feels differently — the film stands as the fifth-highest grossing film of all time in worldwide box office.

“It’s kind of daunting and scary — you want to try to keep it going, to match what’s come before,” Bay said with a rare flash of self-doubt, or something close to it. ”We’ve accomplished a lot [with the first three films] but that doesn’t mean you get anything handed to you or that you’ve got everything figured out.”

After talking for years about making a dark, offbeat tale, Bay finally did it with the $20-million black comedy “Pain and Gain,” which wrapped this month in South Florida and stars Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson as bodybuilders who embark on a criminal career with ludicrous and horrific consequences. Bay is now editing the film, which is based on a 1999 Miami New Times series by Pete Collins, but next week he goes back to his signature brand and the task of getting Optimus primed for a new kind of “Transformers.”

Bay says the film will veer off into new directions but keep the important things. Translation: There will be different human actors delivering the reaction shots when Optimus Prime makes a speech or Bumblebee channels some classic Motown. In a way it’s like “Star Trek” — the crew might change but the Enterprise gets the glamor shots.

“It’s a new cast,” Bay said with a matter-of-fact tone. “We’ve moving on to something different.”

Yes, that means the hard-luck saga of Sam Witwicky ends with a doorstep scene in the rain. Shia LeBeouf’s character was modeled on Marty McFly of “Back to the Future” and has a lot in common with Peter Parker, that other scrappy, misunderstood underdog with a special destiny that includes unlikely girlfriends. Tobey Maguire couldn’t stick for Sony’s fourth Spider-Man movie but at least his character will. Not so with Sam Witwicky, who already had faded away from Bay’s Polaroid picture. (LeBeouf made it clear months ago that neither he nor Bay were coming back to the franchise and, well, he was half right.)

As the director proved with the banishment of Megan Fox, he will brook no dissent on the set. And (with assurances s a $75-million payday for just one of the films) Bay is the only human cog who is as important as the big clanging robots in the title.

Bay hinted that the story might move into the future somewhat and, in an earlier Hero Complex interview, he mentioned that there would be some redesign of the robots (which would mean waves of new toys, welcome news to Hasbro) but he said it is incorrect to call the new film a reboot.

“It’s not a reboot, that’s maybe the wrong word,” Bay said. “I don’t want to say reboot because then people will think we’re doing a Spider-Man and starting from the beginning. We’re not. We’re taking the story that you’ve seen — the story we’ve told in three movies already — and we’re taking it in a new direction. But we’re leaving those three as the history. It all still counts. I met with the writer before I went off to do ‘Pain and Gain’ and we talked about a bunch of ideas. We let that simmer for a bit. He’s been thinking about stuff and now we’re getting back together next week to see what we’ve got and to see if it gels.”

Could the new story involve a departure from Earth? “I think so, yeah, a little,” Bay said. “That feels like the way to go, doesn’t it? I want to go a little off but I don’t want to go too sci-fi. I still want to keep it grounded.That’s what works in these movies, that’s what makes it accessible.”

Also, setting any extended section of the film on, say, the ancient planet of Cybertron would jack up the cost of the visual effects, and Bay has been told he won’t be getting a production budget as large as he did for “Dark of the Moon.”

“It’s going to be less, actually,” Bay said. “Our mandate is to cut about $30 million.”

Together, the three Bay-directed “Transformers” films have piled up a Megatron-sized total in global box office — it’s north of $2.6 billion — and exerted considerable influence on Hollywood’s visual-effects films and action storytelling. Bay’s trademarks are quick cuts, angles that amplify kinetic possibilities, a wicked sense of timing and a passion of all thing sleek and fast. Fair or not, all of that (plus the filmmaker’s fondness for strip-club portrayals of women and his imperious reputation) has made Bay’s name a Hollywood shorthand for making movies with noxious smoke and vanity mirrors.

A different view is offered by Steven Spielberg, the franchise producer who coaxed a then-skeptical Bay into directing the first “Transformers” film. The three-time Oscar-winner told Entertainment Weekly that Bay has “invented a genre and he’s got the secret formula.” That formula can be hard for some people to swallow and keep down, Spielberg said another time, speaking with Variety: ”You can either look at his imagery as assaultive, transformative, or deliriously entertaining.”

Guess which one the film critics usually select? Village Voice film critic Dan Kois wrote that Bay’s last movie really gets inside your head: “Your brain cells perish by the thousands, their howls of agony lost to the cacophony inside your skull.” Apparently, the moviegoers of the world are cool with cerebral catastrophe as long as there’s buttered popcorn and Junior Mints; CinemaScore audiences gave the film an “A” grade.

Bay says this next “Transformers” film will “absolutely” be his last, but he said the same thing while making the third one; and, before that, he predicted his departure would come right after the second’s film’s completion. Why does he keep going back? The writers strike hobbled the second movie, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” and the final product was “kind of a mess” (his words) so pride bought him back with something to prove. This time, he has said, he returned partly because so many people rely on the franchise as an economic engine now that he felt walking away would have been like shutting down a town factory.

There’s also the simple fact that the space robot saga has grown on him — why else would he have jetted down to Florida to work with the creative team behind the new Universal Studios attraction?

Asked if he really thinks he will be able to walk away from a franchise right after he’s reshaped it, Bay looked genuinely surprised. “Here’s the thing, it’s tough to find someone who’s done these kind of movies and to have the complication of creating the new stuff that needs to be in this movie – not just characters but a new type of action, I hope – and that’s a lot for someone new to bite off. And so after this one I will leave it in the best hands possible. That’s the plan.”

[SilentBobX]

I can't believe they're still milking this franchise, or at least Bay is. I'd much rather have a blu ray of the animated movie, which is way more popular(the dvd is out of print again). I hate complaining even now, but it's what I do best.

Mahalo

[TheButcher]

First Poster For The Paddington Movie, From The Director Of The Mighty Boosh

[TheButcher]

'Lost' Director Jack Bender Developing 'Devolution' for Legendary (Heat Vision Exclusive)
The idea behind the project hails from "World War Z" author Max Brooks.

Jack Bender, perhaps best known as the preeminent director of ABC’s Lost, is working on Devolution, a thriller he is developing to direct for Legendary.

Plot details are being kept lock and key, but the pedigree is all genre. It is based on an original idea by Max Brooks, the author of World War Z, while David Leslie Johnson, who worked on Wrath of the Titans and penned a couple of episodes of AMC's hit The Walking Dead, is writing the script.

Brooks is producing with Legendary, indicating that the author is slowly developing deeper relations with the company. Legendary East’s project The Great Wall, about the creature-inspired origins of China's Great Wall, was conceived by him and CEO Thomas Tull. And Brooks was listed as a “supporter” of Legendary’s comic and graphic novel publishing imprint when the arm was launched.

Bender has directed episodes of geek shows Alias, Alphas and Alcatraz, but it is his work on Lost that has garnered him the most attention. He was attached to direct Paramount’s Jack Ryan movie but exited, reportedly over scheduling issues.

Bender is repped by UTA and Myman Greenspan.

[TheButcher]

THE BOURNE LEGACY Sequel May Team Jeremy Renner with Matt Damon
From The Playlist:
'Bourne Legacy' Producer Frank Marshall Says His Dream Is To Have Jeremy Renner & Matt Damon Star In The Next Film

How do you continue the Jason Bourne franchise without Jason Bourne? If you're Tony Gilroy, the writer/director behind "The Bourne Legacy" as well as the screenwriter who has been deeply involved in the Matt Damon-starring trilogy of films, you throw out any and all expectations. "What if there's a much larger story? What if Treadstone wasn't the only black-ops programme?" he told Empire. "I had never spent one moment thinking about how to do a sequel to 'Bourne Ultimatum.' I first came in for two weeks just to spitball. I had a very random idea...so we started with that and it got more and more exciting. All of a sudden I was staring at something that had a great deal of resonance and was soulful and uncynical and was also gonna kick ass. So that was good."

That's an understatement. Judging by trailers so far, no one is going to be asking about Matt Damon once the credits roll on 'Legacy,' a film which is still loosely tied to the narrative that unfolds in 'Ultimatum' but spins off into it's own standalone tale, with Jeremy Renner leading the way as Aaron Cross. And as Renner notes, there is one key but crucial distinction between Cross and Bourne. "He knows exactly who he is; he signed up to this...He wants to be part of a team. I can tell you he was in the military then he joined the programme. He's a person who wants to be part of something... to have a sense of purpose. But then it's taken away," he says.

That's a pretty nifty little twist on the (for lack of a better word) formula and should add a different dimension to the action flick. And it's how Gilroy has opened up the world of 'Bourne' that is most tantalizing, no less to Frank Marshall, a producer on all the movies to date, who hopes for a mega-pairing the next time out. "You see there are several different programmes in the movie with different skill sets. All possibilities are open. My dream is that in the next one we see Matt and Jeremy team up," he shares.

While we won't hold our breath for that happen, it's something to think about for sure, but as of right now our sights are set on Renner and "The Bourne Legacy" which now hits on August 10th.

From EMPIRE:
Empire's New Bourne Legacy Cover
The name's Renner, Jeremy Renner

[TheButcher]

New Van Helsing Film a Total Reboot

"Well, I don’t want to give away too much, because we are actually at the very beginning of talking about what to do with it. But I do feel like the Van Helsing that Anthony Hopkins plays in [Bram Stoker’s] Dracula is sort of the parody version of it, and the Van Helsing that Hugh Jackman played was obviously in a different place as well. I think that these kinds of movies have evolved a lot since then. You know, The Dark Knight was a major, major corner-turning moment in the way that genre and superhero stories could be told. Really grounded in reality. Really grounded in really cool things. That’s what I’d like to do without sacrificing the fantasy element. We aspired to do that as well on Trek, you know, keep it “real.” That’s such a different franchise than Batman, but that’s really what we wanted to do. And we’d love to do that with Van Helsing."

[so sorry]

M Night and Will Smith movie

Also starring...Jaden Smith.

...sci-fi action adventure, in which humans no longer live on Earth after it becomes inhospitable. The elder Smith is playing a hero, while Jaden is his son, considered a failure as a warrior. When the two crash-land on Earth, it is up to the son to save the dad.

From MovieWeb:
After Earth M. Night Shyamalan Concept Art

Director M. Night Shyamalan has released early concept art photos and a set photo from After Earth, which hits theaters June 7, 2013. Take a look at these images below, plus read M. Night Shyamalan's description attached underneath each photo.

Sony released the plot details for After Erf:

In After Earth, one thousand years after cataclysmic events forced humanity’s escape from Earth, Nova Prime has become mankind’s new home. Legendary General Cypher Raige (played by Will Smith) returns from an extended tour of duty to his estranged family, ready to be a father to his 13-year-old son, Kitai (played by Jaden Smith). When an asteroid storm damages Cypher and Kitai’s craft, they crash-land on a now unfamiliar and dangerous Earth. As his father lies dying in the cockpit, Kitai must trek across the hostile terrain to recover their rescue beacon. His whole life, Kitai has wanted nothing more than to be a soldier like his father. Today, he gets his chance.

I dislike M. Night quite a bit, so this will not be anything that I'll be seeing anyway. I have a feeling that if M. night and Will and Jaden Smith's names weren't attached to this movie, I might have been intereseted in seeing it. And the name "Chypher Raige"? That's like Uwe Boll bad.

[Spandau Belly]

Yeah, Cypher Raige goes right up there with Jack Deth and Desolation Williams on the list of sci-fi names that are trying way too hard.

I hope this is a sequel to LADY TO IN THE WATER. It would be awesome if this was set in the future civilization that M. Night's prophet messiah character foretold and for which his writings would be the foundation of their values. I look forward to the scene where they enter the chamber with the giant M. Night head.

The search for our twist ending may lead to a new beginning.

[Wolfpack]

The twist is she wan't really in the water. She was in a giant vat of Sprite Zero.

[TheButcher]

Does Christopher Nolan Already Know What He's Directing Next? Michael Caine Says He's In It

[TheButcher]

'Pacific Rim' Writers Tapped for 'God of War' Adaptation (Heat Vision Exclusive)

The screenwriting pair of Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, who wrote four of the "Saw" films, are set to bring the Sony Computer Entertainment game to the big screen.

From Motion Captured:
'God Of War' calls the writers of 'Saw' and 'Pacific Rim' to arms - If nothing else, it's a big week for possible video game adaptations

I'm guessing every development executive in Los Angeles spent the long 4th of July weekend playing video games. That's the only explanation.

"God Of War" has been in the works as a movie for a while now through Atlas Entertainment, with Chuck Roven and Alex Gartner producing. They originally had David Self attached as the film's writer, but now it looks like Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan have been chosen to help get the film ready for production.

If you were a fan of "Project Greenlight," then you remember Melton and Dunstan as the writers of "Feast." If you're a horror movie fan, then you probably know them from their work on the "Saw" series. And if you're a development exec in town, you probably read their spec "Monstropolis," and you know that they were brought in to do some of the production rewrites on Guillermo Del Toro's upcoming "Pacific Rim."

For those who don't really understand the way writing credits work or how people get jobs based on films they only wrote part of, it's all a matter of people learning what your strengths are. Some guys write great specs that get everyone excited about the potential for something, and while they aren't great at the nuts and bolts work of pinning down a shooting draft with a director, their work is good enough to kickstart these big movies. Other people get a reputation as a "closer," someone you bring in to help break the budget down, to help craft something that can actually be shot at the right price, and to work directly with the filmmaker.

In my experience, you want to be known as the closer, the one who can get a film in front of the camera. It's good at the studio level, it's good because filmmakers feel like you're someone they trust, and it's good because it puts you on the set during production. Obviously, anytime you get work, it's a good thing, but Melton and Dunstan are building a rep for themselves as good people to have on a project when the pressure is on, and that's a great place to be.

"God Of War," for those unfamiliar with the game, is a series about a Spartan warrior named Kratos who goes on huge quests against magical foes and some of the great monsters of mythology, driven by personal tragedy and a desire to destroy the gods of the ancient world. Big, wild, bold stuff, and the games are full of ideas and imagery that could well inspire a big tentpole epic adventure.

We'll keep our ears open for word about how this one comes together.

[Tyrone_Shoelaces]

Does Christopher Nolan Already Know What He's Directing Next? Michael Caine Says He's In It

If I had a nickel for every time Michael Caine spilled some beans about Nolan's plans...

[Dougbot]

2nd AGM Heartland teaser, I'm guessing it's by Neill Blomkamp. Does anyone know what these are actually for?
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EJWkn24woZk

[Wolfpack]

2nd AGM Heartland teaser, I'm guessing it's by Neill Blomkamp. Does anyone know what these are actually for?
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EJWkn24woZk

Well, Youtube is a video website, so I'm guessing they're for boiling spaghetti.

[Dougbot]

If only sarcasm was an energy source, the internet could power the planet for centuries.

Still, I laughed at the spaghetti comment. Dammit.

I just meant are they for a movie, or just something he's doing for fun? Looks like nobody really knows. http://www.firstshowing.net/2012/latest ... heartland/

[TheButcher]

Len Wiseman Wrapping Up Deal To Helm Universal Reboot Of ‘The Mummy’

[TheButcher]

Wait, Michael Bay's sticking around for a FIFTH Transformers?

"After I did the opening ceremonies for the [Transformers theme park] ride, Steven Spielberg walked up to me and chatted and said 'You know we've got you set to do the fourth one and probably the fifth one on the heels of that. So, I guess in December we are on our way to making 4 and 5."

[caruso_stalker217]

Wait, Michael Bay's sticking around for a FIFTH Transformers?

"After I did the opening ceremonies for the [Transformers theme park] ride, Steven Spielberg walked up to me and chatted and said 'You know we've got you set to do the fourth one and probably the fifth one on the heels of that. So, I guess in December we are on our way to making 4 and 5."

Fuck. These. Movies.

[Bloo]

these damn movies are keeping Michael Bay from his true purpose...making Bad Boys 3

[caruso_stalker217]

these damn movies are keeping Michael Bay from his true purpose...making Bad Boys 3

I'm not sure I want another BAD BOYS movie. The last one was what? Four fucking hours long?

[Bloo]

these damn movies are keeping Michael Bay from his true purpose...making Bad Boys 3

I'm not sure I want another BAD BOYS movie. The last one was what? Four fucking hours long?

it was better then Transformers 2 and 3

[caruso_stalker217]

these damn movies are keeping Michael Bay from his true purpose...making Bad Boys 3

I'm not sure I want another BAD BOYS movie. The last one was what? Four fucking hours long?

it was better then Transformers 2 and 3

I don't know. Gabrielle Union was reaaaaaally terrible. And Martin Lawrence was such a pussy it was impossible to buy him as a cop. Someone should have punched his mouth. With a brick.

The film is shit. And the entire third act is garbage. I mean they lifted the best part from POLICE STORY, a film which featured a cop pissing himself in fear and was equally unprofessional in that regard.

Pure garbage.

[Bloo]

these damn movies are keeping Michael Bay from his true purpose...making Bad Boys 3

I'm not sure I want another BAD BOYS movie. The last one was what? Four fucking hours long?

it was better then Transformers 2 and 3

I don't know. Gabrielle Union was reaaaaaally terrible. And Martin Lawrence was such a pussy it was impossible to buy him as a cop. Someone should have punched his mouth. With a brick.

The film is shit. And the entire third act is garbage. I mean they lifted the best part from POLICE STORY, a film which featured a cop pissing himself in fear and was equally unprofessional in that regard.

Pure garbage.

still better then Transformers 2...I'll concede that it's been a long time since I've seen Bad Boys 2 and can't judge fully if it is better then T3

[caruso_stalker217]

these damn movies are keeping Michael Bay from his true purpose...making Bad Boys 3

I'm not sure I want another BAD BOYS movie. The last one was what? Four fucking hours long?

it was better then Transformers 2 and 3

I don't know. Gabrielle Union was reaaaaaally terrible. And Martin Lawrence was such a pussy it was impossible to buy him as a cop. Someone should have punched his mouth. With a brick.

The film is shit. And the entire third act is garbage. I mean they lifted the best part from POLICE STORY, a film which featured a cop pissing himself in fear and was equally unprofessional in that regard.

Pure garbage.

still better then Transformers 2...I'll concede that it's been a long time since I've seen Bad Boys 2 and can't judge fully if it is better then T3

Anything is better than TRANSFORMERS 2.

[TheButcher]

Tom Hardy Climbing Aboard Doug Liman-Directed ‘Everest’; He’ll Play George Mallory

[TheButcher]

Chartoff Prods. heats 'Ice' - Pic based on Shackleton's Endurance expedition to the Antarctic

[TheButcher]

From Variety Aug. 12, 2009:
'Waterproof' gets rewrite - Weekes time at Legendary

Legendary Pictures has tapped Christopher Weekes to rewrite "Waterproof," the family actioner that "Enchanted" helmer Kevin Lima will direct.

Project revolves around a man who unwittingly unleashes a cadre of mythological creatures upon his town.

Legendary initially picked up "Waterproof" as a pitch from Gregg Chabot and Kevin Peterka, who took the first stab at penning the script.

Weekes first attracted attention around town for his script "The Muppet Man," a fictional account of the final days of Jim Henson.

"Waterproof" is expected to be Lima's next directing effort.

Lima will produce the pic with Chris Chase, as well as Daniel Bobker and Ehren Kruger.

Legendary recently attached Sam Raimi to helm "Warcraft," based on the "World of Warcraft" videogame franchise, and is currently in production on the reboot of "Clash of the Titans," "Sucker Punch" and "Jonah Hex" at Warner Bros. Shingle's "Where the Wild Things Are" goes out Oct. 16 and "Ninja Assassin" bows Nov. 25, also through WB.

From Deadline:
Legendary Pictures Fantasy ‘Waterproof’ Getting Rewrite From Melton & Dunstan

Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, have been hired by Legendary Pictures to rewrite the supernatural thriller Waterproof. It’s their second recent rewrite job for Legendary, after they came in to do work on the Guillermo del Toro-directed Pacific Rim.

In Waterproof, a teen boy accidentally unleashes monsters on his small town after finding an order form in an old comic book.

The scribes, who are currently writing Rise for Warner Bros and God Of War for Universal, are best known for writing Saw 4, 5, 6 and 7. Dunstan just directed their script The Collection, a film that puts them back in the fright game. It just had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin. The scribes are repped by WME and Underground

[TheButcher]

From /film:
Carl Erik Rinsch Still Working on ‘47 Ronin’; Have Reports of On-Set Trouble Been Exaggerated?

[TheButcher]

BREAKING: Michael Bay In Early Talks With Marky Mark For TRANSFORMERS 4

[TheButcher]

From BC:
Andy Serkis Directing Motion Capture Animal Farm, Planning Adaptation Of Bone Season

Andy Serkis And ‘Apes’ Director Rupert Wyatt Want To Make Performance-Capture Take On ‘Animal Farm’

My goodness -- there is a perfectly good animated film of the book. And why motion capture? It's one thing for Serkis to move like an ape or a devolved hobbit, another for actors to pretend to be farm animals. Are they going to walk around on their hind limbs?

And who will milk them?!?
And HOW will they milk them!?!?

"Beware the milk man for he is the devil's pawn..."
Cornelius

From EW Jul 6 2011:
'Apes' director Rupert Wyatt and Andy Serkis to collaborate on motion-capture 'Animal Farm' adaptation

Here’s some (Old) Major news for you: Rupert Wyatt, the director of Aug. 5′s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, confirmed to EW that he and Apes star Andy Serkis are working on a big-screen performance-capture adaptation of George Orwell’s Stalin-inspired Animal Farm. Though the project is in its early stages, the duo will collaborate on the script, and use Serkis’ motion-capture studio, The Imaginarium, for the project. Seeing as how blown away we were by Wyatt’s use of the technology in clips for Apes, it’s easy to get excited about the prospect of Farm, which would feature a diverse group of human-like barn animals leading a rebellion. “With performance capture, you can really perform this story in such a way that it’s sort of seamless in terms of human performers playing animals,” Wyatt tells EW. “It’s very much like theater. Especially with something like this that is about phsyical movement, nuance through gesture.”


So, if the film will be all about performance, who can we expect to fill the hooves of Old Major, Napoleon, and the like? Obviously, Serkis will be portraying one of the characters, according to Wyatt. As for which one, he’s keeping mum — “I don’t want to give too much away,” he says. (Let’s just be glad that, for once, Apes and King Kong star will be able to branch outside primate parts.) But in order to make the best use of motion-capture, Wyatt is hoping to snag some of the industry’s most talented players. “We want to get the best actors for the role,” he says. “It would be the same as if we were doing a stage production. [And] with Andy as our lead-in, I feel that’s good enough for me right now.”


Of course, Farm is still far from reaching the big screen. First, Wyatt has to see the release of Apes, a film that could turn into a franchise (and push Farm to the back-burner) should it prove to be a box office success. And Wyatt, for one, is certainly open to an Apes sequel. “It’s definitely the desire of everyone involved, to continue telling the story,” he says. “There’s a question mark at the end of the film. All the best stories for me don’t tie up every single loose end. We end with certain questions, and certainly the scenario of what’s next.” (Don’t, however, expect to see star James Franco cursing the film’s apes in front of a buried Statue of Liberty — Wyatt says his Apes deviates from the original film’s ending. “It’s a totally different film in many ways,” he says. “To emulate that or to kind of try to pull the rug from the audience — an audience these days are savvy enough to know what you’re doing to them. We would have suffered for the comparison. So we looked to be more original than that.”)


Audiences who are enraptured with the performance-capture quality of Apes may certainly hope for a sequel — Wyatt says some who have screened footage of the film couldn’t tell that they weren’t looking at real apes. “We created the skin and the hair and the anatomy of the ape on top of a human performance,” he says. “That’s a first. That’s an absolute first. It’s never really been done before, and this is the first photo-realistic film dealing with animals that are not fantastical in any way. They are very much grounded in reality. That’s never been able to be achieved up until now.”

[TheButcher]

Saoirse Ronan to star in 'Budapest Hotel' - Thesp joins Fiennes, Law, Murray, Schwartzman in Anderson pic

[TheButcher]

First Synopsis for Live-Action/CGI Adaptation PADDINGTON from HARRY POTTER Producer David Heyman

[TheButcher]

From Bleeding Cool:
All You Need Is Kill – First Look At Tom Cruise In A Mech Suit, Running From Fire

Blunt joins Cruise in 'All You Need Is Kill' - Warner Bros. sci-fier from director Doug Liman

After a long flirtation with Emily Blunt, Warner Bros. is in talks to pair the actress with Tom Cruise in Doug Liman's sci-fier "All You Need Is Kill."

Based on the graphic novel, the original story is in the vein of "Groundhog Day," with a twist: A soldier in a war against aliens finds himself reliving his last day over and over after being killed. Through the training and battles he experiences in these time loops, he becomes a better soldier. Blunt plays another soldier who fights alongside Cruise.

Erwin Stoff, Tom Lassally and Jason Hoffs are producing through 3 Arts Entertainment. Dante Harper penned the script with Joby Harold, who's doing a rewrite and serving as exec producer.

Last fall, the studio liked Blunt as the femme lead in "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," but the studio halted that project when it couldn't lock a male to topline and helmer Steven Soderbergh fell out. Blunt is also one of a handful of women meeting with helmer Rob Marshall for the female lead in "The Thin Man" opposite Johnny Depp; sources tell Variety that the director and studio view her as one of their top contenders for the part along with Emma Stone and Kristen Wiig.

Studio is seeking an actress with strong comedy chops, and insiders say that Blunt's perf in Universal's "Five Year Engagement," which bows April 27, has the studio believing she can carry off that type of role.

Besides "Five Year Engagement," Blunt, repped by CAA and Ken McReddie Associates, can also be seen later this year in the sci-fi actioner "Looper" alongside Joseph Gordon Levitt and Bruce Willis.

[TheButcher]

BREAKING: Michael Bay In Early Talks With Marky Mark For TRANSFORMERS 4

Mark Wahlberg to Star in 'Transformers 4'