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Latino Review reports that Korean star Byeong-Heon Lee wil play Storm Shadow and Rachel Nichols is Shana "Scarlett" O'Hara in Stephen Sommers' G.I. Joe adaptation.

Storm Shadow, aka. Thomas S. Arashikage, is the Cobra Commander's ninja bodyguard and assassin who has changed sides several times, conflicted in loyalties between Cobra, G.I. Joe and his long relationship with his swordbrother Snake-Eyes (Ray Park).

The Atlanta-born O'Hara is a crossbow-wielding counter intelligence expert with martial arts and acrobatic skills who serves from time to time as team leader.

Byung-Hun Lee stars in "Winter Sonata" and the upcoming Josh Hartnett thriller "I Come With the Rain." Nichols recently starred in "P2" and "Charlie Wilson's War" and had a regular role on the final season of "Alias."

Those boys at CHUD, or more specifically the very frottage-able Devin Faraci, has posted a bunch of new details from "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins," the upcoming fourth film and kick-off of a new trilogy of Terminator films.

Most interesting is that John Connor (Christian Bale) is NOT the main character in the fourth film, but rather will have a more sizable role in the fifth movie.

Instead the main character is Marcus, a Riddick-esque guy who was 'put out of commission' before the nuclear holocaust and wakes up on post-apocalyptic earth around 15 years before the future shown in the original "Terminator".

No actor has yet been cast in the role but they will be required for all three films and will be the 'star' of the new trilogy which is apparently getting good buzz from those who've read the script and all call it epic in scope and great in terms of action.

That action includes battles with the rubber-skinned T-600 terminators, the differences between the humans and cyborgs are said to play a big part in the story, whilst the character of Reese (Michael Biehn in the original film) has a scene with Connor.

THE FUTURE BEGINS HERE
12.19.07
By Devin Faraci
When Ain't It Cool broke the story that Christian Bale was in Terminator 4, playing John Connor, one of my sources became confused. That couldn't be true, I was told - John Connor is barely in the movie. Turns out that it's true, and that yes, John Connor is barely in the movie. Over the last week I have been gathering some details about Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, and while I am trying to steer clear of serious spoiler material, people who don't want to know anything about this movie should step away from the computer right now.

John Connor is not the main character of Terminator 4; that character is someone named Marcus. Marcus was put 'out of commission' before the nuclear holocaust on Judgment Day and he wakes up about 15 years before the future we see in the original Terminator films, which puts the movie at about 2015 or so. Marcus is a bad ass - think along the lines of Riddick - and what he finds is a blasted world filled with horror. Radiation poisoning, starvation, rampant jaywalking - all the things you expect post-apocalypse. There's also John Connor, who is trying to build a utopian society while running the human resistance.

Connor's role is apparently bigger in the second film; whoever they hire for Marcus (my understanding is that the part is not yet cast) will be around for all three films. Terminator 4 is going to be the most male-centric of all the Terminator films, but there is a butt busting female character by the name of Blair, a pilot for the human resistance.

They're going to need some buttkickers, because the scope of the action in Terminator 4 is HUGE. Lots of machine action in this film, including some battles with the T-600s. Yup, the rubber skin Terminators. And there's another familiar character that shows up - Reese shows up in a scene with John Connor. I don't know what his involvement in the next two films will be, though.

Finally, here's a story point that's probably a legitimate spoiler (although it's sort of the main crux around which the story revolves, so it will probably get blown in the advertising), so I'll invisotext this stuff: A big aspect of the story is the degrees of difference between a human and a Terminator. By which I mean cyborgs. By which I mean human brains in robot bodies.

I've gathered this info from a number of different sources, and while they all have different takes on the material (all mostly positive, with one of my sources saying that the story is great and that the action promises to be incredible), they all bring up one point of comparison: The Matrix films. Make of that what you will. For me, the information I've gotten - including really spoilery stuff I won't inflict on you - has gotten me jazzed. This film feels like it could be epic and erase the taste of the workmanlike T3 from my mouth. Let's hope McG can pull this off.

Dwight Little ("Rapid Fire," "Murder at 1600") has been been set to direct "Tekken," a futuristic martial arts actioner based on the bestselling Japanese vidgame from Namco reports Variety.

"The film plays out as a science fiction story set in the near future, about a rebel who rises up against the Tekken Corp. to seize freedom for his people. It's a gladiator story, but the videogame has a complicated enough storyline that it provides the template for a martial arts spectacular" says Little.

Alan McElroy wrote the script. Crystal Sky Pictures is financing the film, which begins production February 4th in Shreveport, Louisiana.

 Dwight Little  
Čovek koji je radio Anacondas i Ballistic.  
Anticipating...

Quote from: "Dry-Na-Nord"  Dwight Little  
Čovek koji je radio Anacondas i Ballistic.  
Anticipating...

i najmanje loš nastavak HALLOWEENA...

Nije radio BALLISTIC... Zar ne? To je pisao njegov redovni saradnik McElroy ali je radio neki Azijata...

Ja inače mislim da je Little opak reditelj. Njegov HALLOWEEN je sasvim cool, MARKED FOR DEATH je odličan, a RAPID FIRE je legitiman old school pulp.

Da, da moja greška. Ballistic je radio izvesni KAOSayananda, kukala mu prababa sa tim prezimenom...  

Wooohooohoo, Ballistic, now THAT brings back memories! Još uvijek se sjećam riječi jednog druga: "Gledaćemo Ballistic, reklama izgleda dobro!"              

yeeeeee-haaaaa!!!

Coen Brothers to Make Spaghetti Western


Filmmaking siblings Joel and Ethan Coen are set to make their goriest film ever - a Spaghetti Western featuring scenes of primitive torture methods. The brothers, whose notoriously gory new film No Country for Old Men has been tipped for Oscar glory, are desperate to make a film about the days of cowboys and Indians battling it out in the Wild West of America. But - as Joel warns - it won't be one for the faint-hearted. He says, "We've written a western with a lot of violence in it. There's scalping and hanging ... it's good. Indians torturing people with ants, cutting their eyelids off." Ethan adds, "It's a proper western, a real western, set in the 1870s. It's got a scene that no one will ever forget because of one particular chicken."

   

I LIKE IT ALREADY!  

Baron Cohen Signs with Spielberg


Movie funnyman Sacha Baron Cohen has discovered there is life after his comic creation Borat - he has landed a starring role in a Steven Spielberg movie. Just a week after Cohen announced he had retired Borat - following the success of 2006 movie Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan - he has been signed to star as 60s hippie satirist Abbie Hoffman in The Trial of the Chicago Seven. Hoffman found fame during the Vietnam War by playing pranks to campaign against the conflict. The movie is slated for release in 2010. Vincent D'Onofrio previously played Hoffman in 2000 film Steal This Movie, which was based on a screenplay written by Hoffman and his wife Anita.

Arnold NOT In New "Terminator"By Garth FranklinFriday December 28th 2007 12:35am With a new "Terminator" trilogy in the works, the inevitable question since it was first announced has been what involvement, if any, would former series star turned California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger have in the new projects.

Producer Moritz Borman has now revealed to The Sun that Schwarzenegger will NOT be appearing in the upcoming "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins" but could be involved in the inevitable two sequels.

Borman says "We have a huge twist at the end, which we're being careful not to reveal... I can tell you this much -- this is the story everybody has been waiting for. Namely, we're in the future. The part of it where Arnold's character has not yet been built but is on the drawing board and in the next two episodes we'll get to the point where time-travel is more in the foreground. It's the war against the machines, the start of Skynet taking over the world."

He adds that "It's convenient that he hasn't been built at this point of the story, as Arnold has more important things to do right now, but that doesn't mean he might not re-appear later in the trilogy. He knows the material and is very supportive of what we're doing. There might even be hints of his character in this one."

He also quashed rumors of Vin Diesel's involvement - "Everyone is assuming there is a John Connor and a Terminator in the script. Connor is in there along with another figure, but who is that figure? I've heard everything from Sylvester Stallone to Vin Diesel, and other ones. I can tell you that Vin Diesel is not somebody we're currently talking to."

Shooting will begin on April 15th in Budapest.

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Viggo Mortensen are in talks to join the cast of "Vanikoro" reports Bloody Disgusting.

The story follows the ill-fated scientific exploration of the Pacific by French explorer Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse in 1788. His two ships, the Astrolabe and the Boussole, vanished whilst navigating the Solomon Islands.

It was later found out that both ships had crashed on Vanikoro island just north of Vanuatu, and most had been headhunted by the native cannibals. Some survivors had built a raft and sailed off, never to be heard from again, whilst two stayed on the island and lived there for another thirty years.

"Hitman" director Xavier Gens has penned the script and will direct.

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David Fincher's Upcoming FilmsBy Garth FranklinWednesday January 9th 2008 8:15am Out doing publicity for this week's release of the director's cut DVD for his serial killer thriller "Zodiac," David Fincher has spoken candidly about his upcoming slate of projects and how each one is progressing.

He's presently at work on "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and has about nine months of post-production ahead of him. After that he tells IGN Filmforce that "there are a couple of possibilities. Hopefully, within hours, they'll call me and tell me that the deal is done so that I can begin working on another trilogy of Heavy Metal animated CG movies."

He's also looking at making a satirical comedy about videogame development with Sacha Baron Cohen, an adaptation of the graphic novel "The Killer" to which he says "We have a writer and a graphic novel, and I think we have a take", and a film adaptation of the acclaimed novel "The Devil in the White City" about a serial killer at the Chicago World's Fair in the 30's.

He's still planning an adaptation of the graphic novel "Torso" he tells MTV News - "That movie is so not a serial-killer movie. It's about the deconstruction of the myth of [Untouchables leader] Eliot Ness. It has way more to do with "Citizen Kane" than it has to do with "Seven." Ehren Kruger wrote a script that's pretty great. We were speaking with Matt Damon about it."

The long-awaited adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's space exploration flick "Rendezvous With Rama" is still in development hell, Fincher is waiting on a script - "When they're happy with it, they'll send it to me. It's a project I've always loved. It's probably technologically within striking distance right now. That was always the thing: You couldn't afford to build these things as sets. It's just too huge." As a result he would probably shoot sequences using motion capture.

The story would have to be changed too- "The great thing about [Arthur C.] Clarke and the same things that make it hard to translate in 2008, it's the source material. There are people who love Dragonfly and the whole notion of that. It's hard for me to see it in my head and not think that it's going to be goofy. I love the Melting Sea and all that stuff. The interior of Rama is amazing, but there's a lot of stuff in what I call the Andromeda Strain part of the story that doesn't work for me. In '72, this was cutting edge, but it's been done so many times in the interim and that makes it very difficult. I think it has to be re-invented."

Finally Fincher says he'd love to work with "Fight Club" author Palahnuik again, and has been considering bringing "Lullaby" to the big screen - "I was pretty interested in Lullaby. It almost has to be dumbed down a bit for it to work as a movie."

Amy Ryan and Greg Kinnear will join the untitled Iraq war thriller being helmed by Paul Greengrass ("The Bourne Ultimatum") for Universal Pictures reports Variety.

Set in the 'Green Zone', a walled and fortified area where U.S. troops stay during the Iraq occupation. Matt Damon plays an officer who teams with a senior CIA officer to search for evidence of weapons of mass destruction.

Ryan will play a New York Times foreign correspondent sent to Iraq to investigate the US Government's WMD claims, whilst Kinnear plays another CIA officer.

Greengrass and scribe Brian Helgeland adapted the premise from Rajiv Chandrasekaran's nonfiction book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone", critics say flawed decisions are made in Iraq because leaders are separated from the realities of life in war-torn Iraq.

Antoni Corone has been cast as a colonel. Shooting begins today in Spain for Universal Pictures.

Glasina, ali vredi je spomenuti:

BioShock Movie in the Works?
2K executives suddenly inundated with frantic calls from Uwe Boll's agent.
by Jeff Giles | January 11, 2008

Ah, videogame adaptations. Critics hate them, audiences mostly ignore them...and yet the studios can't seem to get enough of them, which is why -- if the latest rumors are correct -- BioShock could be coming to a theater near you.

The scoop comes from Joystiq, where "a reliable source within a major film production company" has shared the news that BioShock developer 2K is in discussions with said company to bring the bestselling game to the big screen.

If you aren't the gaming sort, here's a BioShock synopsis from the gang at CinemaBlend:

Bioshock is a first person shooter set in an alternative version of the year 1960. The game follows a plane crash survivor named Jack who explores a spectacular, crumbling underwater dystopian city called Rapture. The city is infested with mutant beings and mechanical drones which, as you'd expect with fleshy-headed killers, attack.

If you're reading this and thinking to yourself, "Sounds like the kind of thing someone might want to use a lot of green screen to make," well, the studio's apparently right there with you; according to Joystiq, "the studio hopes to bring the fallen aquatic utopia of Rapture to celluloid life through extensive use of green screen technology, an approach not dissimilar to Legendary Pictures' interpretation of 300."

Obviously, this is just a rumor right now -- but BioShock has sold oodles of copies, and where a studio senses a built-in audience, a film (or dozens of films) aimed at that audience tends to follow. And anyway, we're getting another Street Fighter movie, so really, this isn't much of a stretch. Excited yet, gamers?

Source: Joystiq
Source: CinemaBlend
Source: Cinematical

Dan Clowes ("Ghost World") is set to pen the screenplay for the upcoming animated movie from father and son team Paul and Michel Gondry.

Michel Gondry ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind") tells Slashfilm that "[The movie is] about a dictator who runs a crazy world where hair is the source of energy. The people there are forced to create art, and if the art is too good they are executed. So the dictator there doesn't want anyone to be better than him so he kills the inmates who make good art. They try to make rubbish art but sometimes the worse it is for them, the better it is for the dictator."

Entitled "Migel Munya", it's based on a comic book universe created by 16-year-old but already accomplished comic book artist Paul Gondry.

Mark Wahlberg will star in and Peter Berg will direct an untitled film based on the life of international drug dealer Jon Roberts for Paramount Pictures reports Variety.

The documentary "Cocaine Cowboys" chronicled the same story - after returning from Vietnam as a decorated soldier, Roberts headed to Miami in the late '70s and formed a relationship with the Medellin drug cartel, distributing cocaine worth billions of dollars.

Wahlberg will play Roberts, who was turned in by a cohort and served a decade in jail for his crimes. A writer will be set once the strike ends.

Wahlberg is currently filming Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones" and follows that up with the Darren Aronofsky-directed "The Fighter."

FilmsActu reports that Olivier Megaton ("The Red Siren") has been hired to helm the upcoming third installment of "The Transporter."

The third film is scheduled to begin production next summer, with casting still under way. It is assumed that Jason Statham will return to reprise his role of Frank Martin.

Louis Letterier and Corey Yuen directed the first feature in 2002, whilst the former also helmed the 2005 sequel. Megaton was also the second united director on "Hitman".

"Deadwood" and "Hitman" lead Timothy Olyphant will star in the thriller "A Perfect Getaway" for Relativity Media and MGM Films reports the trades.

Olyphant will play a newlywed whose Hawaiian honeymoon becomes a nightmare when he and his bride are stalked by two killers whilst hiking.

Written and directed by David Twohy ("Pitch Black," "The Arrival"), production is slated to begin March 17th in Puerto Rico.

"Heroes" star Hayden Panettiere will be slipping into a different cheerleading uniform for Fox Atomic's coming-of-age teen movie "I Love You, Beth Cooper" reports the trades.

Panettiere would play Beth, the school's hottest cheerleader who shows nerdy valedictorian Denis Cooverman the best night of his life after he proclaims his love for her during his graduation speech.

"Cooper" is based on the novel by fomrer "Simpsons" scribe turned New Yorker writer Larry Doyle. Panettiere recently wrapped filming "Fireflies in the Garden."

Chris Columbus is producing and is also in talks to direct. The studio is aiming to start filming in the spring.

Will Smith has confirmed to Omelete that Steven Spielberg has approached him to do "Chicago 7." Actually, according to Smith, Spielberg asked him to leave some free space in his schedule - when the script is ready, Smith will receive it.

He tells the Brazillian outlet that he's been asked to leave some free space in his schedule and is now awaiting the script - "When Steve is ready he will send it. I don't know specifics, story, anything, but he told me the filming dates, so I can be free to do it. It's not a 100% sure thing yet, but I'm confident."

Smith is up for the role of Black Panther Bobby Seale who was put on trial on federal conspiracy charges for the anti-war riots that engulfed the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.

"The Office's" Craig Robinson and former porn star Traci Lords have joined the cast of Kevin Smith's "Zack & Miri Make a Porno" for The Weinstein Co. and Dimension Films says The Hollywood Reporter.

The story centers around two lifelong friends -- Zack and Miri -- who after finding themselves deep in debt enlist their friends to make a pornographic movie with the goal of earning some quick cash.

Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks and Jason Mewes have already been cast in the lead roles. Ricky Mabe ("Beautiful People"), Jeff Anderson ("Clerks II") and Katie Morgan (HBO's "Katie Morgan: A Porn Star Revealed") have also joined the film.

Production is set to begin Wednesday.

Oliver Stone, who has made films about the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the presidency of Richard Nixon, will next turn his attention to George W. Bush.

Josh Brolin is attached to play the president in the project, titled "Bush."

Stone is looking to secure financing for a script by Stanley Weiser, who co-wrote "Wall Street" with Stone and who also penned the 2003 telefilm "Rudy: The Rudy Giulianai Story."

Stone hopes to begin production on "Bush" as early as the spring in order to release the film by the fall election. But securing financing in the midst of an election cycle in which even the Republican candidates for the presidency are distancing themselves from Bush could present a challenge if the film is to be completed before Bush fades from the scene.

Moritz Borman, who served as a producer on both Stone's "Alexander" and "World Trade Center," and John Kilik, another of "Alexander's" producers, are on board to produce.



Kilik also was to have produced Stone's My Lai massacre film "Pinkville," which United Artists put on hold in November, citing the need for further script revisions, though skeptics also suggested that the company lost confidence in the politically themed project after the boxoffice failure of "Lions for Lambs."

In late 2006 came word that Paramount Pictures was planning to continue its successful Jack Ryan action franchise with a fifth film that would NOT be based on one of Tom Clancy's books.

Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck played the character in four highly successful thrillers from 1990-2002 including "The Hunt for Red October," "Patriot Games," "Clear and Present Danger" and "The Sum of All Fears."

The series was always a solid international earner for the studio, each taking in around $200 million globally from budgets about a third that amount. The studio still owns the film rights to the Ryan character and have every legal right to move forward with a film using him and whatever story they wished.

Then last year Director Philip Noyce was attached to reunite with Harrison Ford on the project which was entitled "By Any Means Necessary". The pair had previously worked on 1992's "Patriot Games" and 1994's "Clear and Present Danger" featuring the character.

Now, Noyce tells Moviehole that both he and Ford are no longer returning to the Jack Ryan series but the project remains in the works and he's heard that acclaimed young actor Ryan Gosling will be playing Ryan.

How the film will fit into the context of the series is a big question. 2002's "Sum of All Fears" was one of the first examples of the now common practice of 'rebooting' a major Hollywood franchise. Yet whilst generally drawing positive reviews, 'Sum' was heavily criticised for its casting of Ben Affleck in the lead role of a young Ryan. A more acclaimed thesp like Gosling in the lead role will no doubt draw more favorable reviews.

The lack of utilising a book is also not unexpected - chronologically the next book in the series is "Debt of Honor" which many consider unfilmable as the ending involves the terrorist hijacking of a passenger jet which is then crashed into the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. during a joint session of Congress.

If they do go ahead, its unlikely that Clancy will give them permission to develop a franchise based on his other lead character John Clark as he still owns the rights to that character and the books involving him including "Without Remorse" and "Rainbow Six."

Fernando Meirelles is the front runner to direct Paramount Pictures "By Any Means Necessary" reports Moviehole.

'Necessary' is the next film in the Jack Ryan franchise made popular in the 1990's and based on the novels by author Tom Clancy.

This film however will not be based on a Ryan book, and will follow the young CIA analyst caught up in global political events. Ryan Gosling is the front runner to play the character.

Meirelles is the acclaimed helmer of Brazillian slum doco "City of God". It's his work on the lauded but unconventional "The Constant Gardener", an adaptation of author John Le Carre's tale of international corruption, that looks to have lead to his name being linked to the project.

Despite their names being linked, neither Meirelles or Gosling has signed anything as yet.

Jonah Hill and comedian Louis C.K. will play Ricky Gervais' neighbors in the Warner Bros. comedy "This Side of the Truth" says Reuters.

The story centers on Mark (Gervais), an average guy who discovers his newfound ability to tell untruths in a world where lying doesn't exist, and uses the skill in his effort to seduce a woman (Jennifer Garner) who is way out of his league.

Hill will play Mark's humorous neighbor who also suffers from depression, while Louis C.K. will play Mark's loser best friend. Rob Lowe also stars.

Gervais, who marks his feature directing debut with the film, is co-writing and co-directing with Matt Robinson. Production is set to begin in April.

BERLIN -- Director Wolfgang Petersen and Berlin-based film group Senator Entertainment have set up a joint venture to produce English-language television miniseries.

The first production under the three-year agreement will be a documentary series on the Cold War that already is in development. Petersen's shingle Radiant Prods. will act as the leading producer on the project.

The Petersen-Senator operation will be based in Cologne, at ProTV, the German television group in which Senator holds a 51% stake.

Petersen got his start in German television, and his international breakthrough -- the submarine epic "Das Boot" -? originally was done as a two-part miniseries.


"The miniseries format opens fantastic creative possibilities that one really doesn't have in film," Petersen said. "I am especially pleased to be able to return to my television beginnings with such a dynamic and forward-looking partner like Senator."

Senator's new drama "Fireflies in the Garden," featuring Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds and Willem Dafoe, will have its world premiere Sunday at the Berlin International Film Festival.

u obimnom intervjuu na dvdu malpertuis luckasti harry kumel kaže da je Wolfgang Petersen jedan od najvećih reditelja koji trenutno rade u usa, štaviše, da je on fritz lang našeg doba!

Šta fali Volfgangu, osim što je režirao onaj užasni film koji nisam gledao?

Jane on the Run for McTiernan
Source: SWAT, Variety February 9, 2008


Thomas Jane (Stephen King's The Mist, The Punisher) will topline the $35 million action-thriller Run, to be directed by John McTiernan for Arclight Films, reports Variety.

McTiernan will shoot the film on location in Argentina. Principal photography is set to begin April 14.

Written by Jonah Loop, the film is being produced by Michael Pierce and Mark Williams. Hamilton and Simon Fawcett of Aramid Capital will executive produce.

The wide spaces of Argentina are appropriate for Run, which has an American Interpol agent happening upon a conspiracy during a thrills-and-spills high-speed pursuit across the country.

"This is an unrelenting action-thriller in true McTiernan style, creating acrobatic mayhem in exotic locales," said Hamilton. "BMW has come onboard to provide the cars, and Roush Performance is designing a Super Mustang for the film, setting up what will be a spectacular vehicle stunt-action chase movie," he added.

"This is an exciting thriller, which just happens to unravel as cars chase each other at over 120 mph," said Pierce.

South Korean pop star Rain has landed the lead role in "Ninja Assassin", the first post-"Speed Racer" project of the Wachowski siblings ("The Matrix" trilogy) reports Variety.

Announced at a press conference in Seoul yesterday, no further word is out as yet on the story details though shooting will run from March to July in Berlin.

The production will use the same setup as 2006's "V for Vendetta" with the Wachowski's and Joel Silver producing, and helmer James McTeigue likely to direct.

Also known by his real name Jung Ji-hoon, Rain's first leading role was in Park Chan-wook's 2007 effort "I'm a Cyborg, but That's OK" and has a supporting role in the upcoming "Speed Racer".

"The Bourne Identity" and "Jumper" Director Doug Liman has confirmed to MTV News that Nicole Kidman is set to play Valerie Plame in the upcoming Warner Bros. biopic about the outed CIA agent.

"She's perfect if you've ever met Valerie. Nicole was supposed to play Jane Smith in 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith.' We owe a movie together! That's an unrequited thing between me and an actor where I fell in love with them for a role and never get to consummate it" said Liman who is helming the project.

Valerie Elise Plame Wilson is a former United States CIA Operations Officer whose covert identity was classified and the wife of former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV. After working for the CIA for twenty years, she retired in December 2005, as a result of the publication and compromising of her classified cover identity by American journalist Robert Novak in 2003. The ensuing fallout lead to a highly publicised scandal reaching all the way up to U.S. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Warners landed the film rights to Plame's memoir "Fair Game" almost a year ago, yet the film has been a tricky one to do considering how much of the book was 'redacted' - ie. heavily censored by the CIA with black lines erasing much of the book's text.

Liman however insists he's found a way around any government objections - "I have a really, really insane take on how to tell it. It's so outrageous. Ultimately, I'd be doing something no one has ever done before. Therefore it's automatically appealing to me. I'm just starting to explore whether [what I have in mind] is even possible to do."

The director has also been having extensive talks with Plame who is said to have lent him her complete support.

BERLIN — Producers of Russia's most expensive ever film, Fedor Bondarchuk's $40 million adaptation of cult Soviet sci-fi novel "The Inhabited Island" are holding back from international sales, despite intense interest from Berlinale market buyers.
At a packed industry-only 10 minute promo screening at the European Film Market Thursday producer Alexander Rodnyansky said he wanted to build international interest before committing to selling either world rights to a Hollywood major or territory by territory to individual buyers.

Sales agent Raisa Fomina said buyers from key territories, including the U.K. were champing at the bit to do deals.

But Rodnyansky, who also runs Russia's top TV entertainment network CTC, is in no rush.

"We want to build interest first and see the possibilities of exploring different options to understand the potential of the movie," Rodnyansky, who is also serving on the Berlinale's international competition jury, told Variety.

A full two hours and 10 minutes long early cut of the film was due to be shown to Sony Pictures executives in Moscow. That version also would be sent back to Los Angeles for viewing by composer Hans Zimmer, who is creating a score for a film that blends Gulag and "Blade Runner" in the story of a 22nd century astronaut who crash lands on a planet run by a sinister totalitarian military order.

Other studios chiefs will also get the opportunity to see the film before sales start, Rodnyansky said.

"If a major player comes up with a good enough offer, I would definitely consider one international rights sale, otherwise we may do it on a territory by territory basis," Rodnyansky added.

The film, which stars newcomer Vasily Stepanov as the young astronaut Maxim whose destiny is to find love and save the planet, also features Bondarchuk.

Due for release across Russia on 1,000 copies probably January 1, 2009 and internationally within six months of that, the film is Bondarchuk's second as a director.

Rodnyansky plans a two picture release for Russia but one edited version for international.

Bondarchuk, whose father Sergei won an Oscar for "War and Peace" in 1969, had been due in Berlin for the promo screening but illness and editing demands in Moscow forced him to cancel.

JOHN LANDIS TO "GHOULISHLY YOURS, WILLIAM M. GAINES"

John Landis ("National Lampoon's Animal House," "The Blues Brothers," "Masters of Horror") has been attached to direct the authorized feature biopic, "Ghoulishly Yours, Wiliam M. Gaines." Landis will develop the project with Joel Eisenberg, who is penning the screenplay based on the life of the titular EC Comics' publisher ("Tales from The Crypt," "Mad Magazine" et. al.).

Pic will revolve around the banding together of an anti-establishment group of artists and writers, led by a reluctant Gaines, as they produce their controversial yet hugely popular line of comic books. At the peak of his success Gaines becomes an unwitting First Amendment figurehead, defending his livelihood against the U.S. government amidst accusations of perpetuating juvenile delinquency.

Landis most recently helmed "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project" for HBO.

Eisenberg is a partner in production concern EMO Films, LLC with Tim Owens and Eugene Mandelcorn.

Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long and Seann William Scott are providing the lead voices to New Line Cinema's first 3-D CG-animated feature "Planet 51" reports the trades.

The $60 million film revolves around a group of residents on the eponymous planet who live in an innocent world right out of the 1950s, complete with the paranoia that they will be overrun by alien invaders.

Johnson will play astronaut Capt. Charles "Chuck" Baker, who arrives from Earth and confirms their worst fears. He's forced to avoid capture so he can find his spaceship and return home.

Long will voice Lem, the local who Chuck befriends. Biel will voice Neera, the film's female protagonist and Lem's love interest. Scott will voice Lem's sidekick, Skiff.

Joe Stillman ("Shrek," "Shrek 2") penned the script, Jorge Blanco is directing, and Javier Abad and Marcos Martinez co-direct. A July 24th 2009 release is being targeted.

Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser and Jackson Rathbone have been cast as vampires opposite the two main characters of Summit Entertainment's hopeful franchise starter "Twilight" reports the trades.

Based on the first installment of Stephenie Meyer's popular young-adult series, the film tells the story of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), a 17-year-old who moves to a small town in Washington state to live with her father and becomes drawn to Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a pale, mysterious classmate who seems determined to push her away.

She later learns he is a vampire and then encounters the entire Cullen family, all of whom are creatures of the night. Nikki Reed, Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz have also joined the cast as vampires in the Cullen family.

Catherine Hardwicke ("Thirteen," "Lords of Dogtown") will direct based on a script by Melissa Rosenberg.

The movie is scheduled to go into production this month and wrap ahead of a potential actor's strike. A late 2008 release is planned

Screenwriter Kurt Sutter has removed his screenwriting credit from Marvel and Lionsgate's superhero reboot "Punisher: War Zone" set for release in September.

The scribe says on his official blog that his take "tried to rip Frank Castle from the comic book world and place him in the real streets of NYC... He's a tortured, highly skilled soldier with a really bad anger problem. I always felt we should see Frank in some place uber-real and gritty."

However the final script has been "rewritten almost completely" into "the perfect comic book formula -- simple story, very obvious dialog and the inclusion of as many characters from the anthology that a movie will allow...it will do exactly what a comic book movie should do -- fill seats, setup a sequel."

The news comes as surprising considering director Lexi Alexander has boasted about her plans to deliver a darker and grittier tone.

Roland Emmerich ("The Day After Tomorrow," "Independence Day") is set for another apocalyptic epic entitled "2012" reports Variety.

The German director, about to release prehistroic actioneer "10,000 B.C.", shopped the script he co-wrote with Harald Kloser around to studios on Tuesday and nearly all of them were interested enough to meet with him today to hear his budget projection and creative aspirations.

After that, studios will bid on an essentially greenlit film that Emmerich intends to direct next and have ready for a Summer 2009 release.

Bong Joon-ho, the director of 'The Host', returns with 'Mother'  

Source: http://www.kfccinema.com/
Early last month news broke that director Bong Joon-ho was developing a new film entitled Mother but little else was known.

The film follows a loving mother who must protect her son from accusastions that he had commited a horrific crime. When all fingers point to the police force, she must seek out and uncover the truth herself and prove her son's innocence.

Mother, which was co-written by Bong Joon-ho and Park Eun-kyo, is budgeted at $5 million.

King, Verbinski team on 'mould-breaking' animation
Jeremy Kay in Los Angeles
21 Feb 2008 05:00

 

Oscar-winning producer Graham King has teamed up with blockbuster filmmaker Gore Verbinski, fresh off his Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy, to develop an untitled animated feature that he will direct with a view to creating a new box office franchise.

Both parties are eager to move ahead quickly on the big budget project and a domestic distribution deal is expected to be announced shortly.

Oscar-nominated writer John Logan, with whom King collaborated on Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, is in talks to write the screenplay based on an original idea from Verbinski's production company Blind Wink Productions and producer John B Carls.

Further details about the storyline were unavailable at time of writing. However, the creative team that Verbinski is assembling leaves the scope and ambition of the film in no doubt.

The director has brought in many of his below-the-line team from Pirates Of The Caribbean including visual effects specialist Mark McCreery and art department designer James Ward Byrkit, who joins the project as head of story and storyboard artist.

Verbinski cited animated films as a constant source of inspiration and said he was aiming to "break free from the traditional mould and create a new style that is all our own."

King, who took home last year's Best Picture Oscar for Scorsese's The Departed, called Verbinski "one of the most imaginative, exciting film-makers around today."

He added: "One only has to look at the fantastic effects and visionary ideas in Pirates to know that Gore's first animated project will no doubt continue that trend."

King's GK Films and Verbinski's Blind Wink Productions are producing the film with Verbinski, King and Carls as producers.

Carls served as executive producer on the Sony Pictures' animation Open Season and is producing Spike Jonze's upcoming Where The Wild Things Are, an adaptation of the Maurice Sendak children's classic that is now in post-production.

Verbinski, Logan and Carls are all represented by CAA. Verbinski is also handled by Warren Dern.

Warner buys into new franchise School Of Fear
Jeremy Kay in Los Angeles
11 Oct 2007 16:13

 

Warner Bros has made a preemptive buy on Gitty Daneshvari's partial manuscript of a four-book series called School Of Fear.


Graham King will produce through his GK Films as the partners aim to establish a children's franchise along the lines of the phenomenally successful Harry Potter series.


The story is based on Daneshvari's unpublished book about four youngsters sent to an exclusive summer camp where they are trained to overcome their phobias. Little Brown will publish the book in autumn 2009.


Grey Rembert and Gail Lyon will oversee production for GK Films and Lynn Harris will oversee for Warner Bros.

Shantel VanSanten, Bobby Campo, Hayley Webb, Nick Zano, Krista Allen and Andy Fiscella are the stars of New Line's upcoming fourth "Final Destination" feature to be shot in 3D reports Variety.

The story kicks off when a teenager's premonition of a deadly racecar crash spares his life and those of a few lucky others. But death continues to stalk those who escaped it.

David Richard Ellis will direct the $43 million horror-thriller based on Eric Bress' screenplay. Principal photography begins this month in New Orleans.

David Fincher is attached to direct the horror romance "Black Hole" for Paramount, MTV Films and Plan B Entertainment reports the trades.

Based on a 12-issue series turned graphic novel by Charlie Burns, the story revolves around a group of high school students whose lives are drastically altered when they come in contact with an incurable sexually transmitted disease called the "teen plague" or "the bug" which causes the sexually-active to develop horrific physical deformities - turning infected teens into social outcasts.

"Beowulf" scribes Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman were previous tapped to adapt the screenplay back in 2006 when Alexandre Aja was previously attached to direct.

Fincher ("Zodiac") just wrapped "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" for Paramount and has "Torso," "The Devil in the White City" and "The Killer" in development at the studio.

Amazon.com will produce its first movie, "The Stolen Child," based on the fantasy novel by Keith Donahue reports Variety.

Donahue's debut novel revolves around a man who was kidnapped by hobgoblins as a boy and replaced by a look-alike imposter. Book follows both versions of the character as they struggle through their new lives and environments.

Ron Nyswaner ("Philadelphia," "The Painted Veil") had begun adapting the book before the strike. Now that its over, he's back to work on it again. 20th Century Fox will finance and distribute the project.

Before Pixar and Disney became Oprah/Gail style partners, a third "Toy Story" was in the works at the Mouse House with an interesting plotline.

Seems the Buzz Lightyear toyline is recalled, including Andy's toy, so the gang go on an adventure to Taiwan to rescue the malfunctioning Buzz.

Now though that John Lasseter and crew are back in the saddle, they have a different plan in store for the fully Pixar-approved third "Toy Story" feature says The Wall Street Journal.

Director Lee Unkrich says that "Woody the cowboy and his toy-box friends are dumped in a day-care center after their owner, Andy, leaves for college." Michael Arndt ("Little Miss Sunshine") wrote the new screenplay.

The sdtuio will re-release Disney Digital 3-D versions of Toy Story on "October 2nd 2009" and "Toy Story 2" on February 12th 2010 to celebrate the 3D-produced third film's release on June 18th 2010.

Universal Pictures and Hasbro announced Wednesday a six-year strategic partnership to produce at least four feature films based on some of Hasbro's best-known game and toy brands says Reuters.

Hasbro has the option of co-funding production of the films and will retain all merchandising rights to the brands with the first film to be out by 2010 or 2011 and at least one film a year released after that.

The manufacturer will partner exclusively with Universal for feature films with the exception of "Transformers" and "G.I. Joe," which are already setup at DreamWorks and Paramount.

Amongst these are such properties as Monopoly, Candy Land, Clue, Ouija, Battleship, Magic, the Gathering and Stretch Armstrong. Hasbro COO Brian Goldner says David Berenbaum is penning a draft for "Ouija" and Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes will produce. He also says Hasbro is in negotiations with Ridley Scott on "Monopoly".

Hasbro is co-financing script development with Universal and has the option of co-funding production of the films. Hasbro will retain all merchandising rights to the brands, and the companies will share in consumer products revenue generated by the movies.

David Wenham and Stephen Graham have joined the cast of Michael Mann's "Public Enemies" for Universal Pictures says The Hollywood Reporter.

An adaptation of Brian Burrough's book, the film centers on famed FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) and the government's attempt to stop John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) and his gang.

Wenham is playing Pete Pierpont, a member of Dillinger's crew who has a violent hostility to all authority. Graham will portray Baby Face Nelson.

Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum, Giovanni Ribisi and Stephen Dorff also star. Shooting begins in March in Chicago.

Sony Pictures Entertainment has landed Roland Emmerich's apocalyptic spec script "2012" and has targeted a July 10th 2009 release date says the trades.

The script story the idea of the Mayan calendar, which predicts the world ending in 2012, with natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, typhoons and glaciers plaguing the planet and a large cast of characters dealing with the mayhem.

Emmerich ("The Day After Tomorrow," "10,000 B.C.") co-wrote the script with Harald Kloser and will direct. He shopped the script around to studios on Wednesday who all expressed interest.

By the end though many pulled out due the costs, said to be a $200 million budget and a $20 million against 25% of first-dollar gross price tag for Emmerich himself. Others reportedly disliked the story.

Production is scheduled to begin either late Summer or early Fall.

Sean Lennon will score the indie vampire comedy "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Undead" starring Jake Hoffman, Devon Aoki, Jeremy Sisto and Ralph Macchio says The Hollywood Reporter.

Writer-director Jordan Galland's feature debut stars Jake Hoffman as an unemployed actor who gets his big break directing a bizarre off-Broadway version of "Hamlet." But there's a catch: The adaptation is written by a Romanian (John Ventimiglia) who happens to be undead.

Aoki plays Hoffman's love interest. Macchio will play a mob boss who ends up fighting vampires. Sisto plays a bumbling detective investigating the mysterious deaths surrounding the production. Kris Lemche, Joey Kern and Waris Ahuwalia also star.

Lennon scored the fantasy musical he starred in and co-wrote, "Friendly Fire," which featured appearances by Aoki, Asia Argento and Lindsay Lohan.