ZNAK SAGITE — više od fantastike — edicija, časopis, knjižara...

Zack Snyder's proposed "Alice in Wonderland with machine guns" project, entitled "Sucker Punch", aims to kick off filming in the Fall of 2009 in Vancouver.

Talking with Collider, Snyder says the film takes place in the late 60's and "it's about a girl that's been committed to an insane asylum and she fantasizes that she can escape and she has these crazy adventures in her mind where she goes into the past and into the future."

He adds that it's a hardcore action film that's "definitely rated R". Snyder and Steve Shibuya penned the script based off a short story.

Snyder's adaptation of Alan Moore's acclaimed graphic novel "Watchmen" hits theaters in two weeks and he's been in and out of Sydney for the past few months working on his animated project "Guardians of Ga'Hoole".

"Traffic" scribe Stephen Gaghan will pen the adaptation of Jon Stock's espionage novel "Dead Spy Running" for Warner Bros. Pictures says The Hollywood Reporter.

The story is the first in a trilogy and aims to reinvent the spy genre by telling the origin story of a newly trained spy which mixes Robert Ludlum's grittiness with John Le Carre's wit.

McG is attached to direct the project which kicks off with the protagonist running the London Marathon, where a fellow racer is strapped with explosives. The scenario leads to a globe-trotting adventure to clear the name of the man's father.

McG, who would direct at least the first installment, is producing with Jeanne Allgood.

Hey folks, Harry here and GREEN HORNET officially just jumped the rails and is in territory where I can't conceive of what this movie is going to be now. But I'm excited, terrified, intrigued, filled with trepidation and curiosity. Brilliant & sometime erratic director Michel Gondry is directing Seth Rogen and Stephen Chow in THE GREEN HORNET according to Variety. I have no earthly idea what the resulting film is going to be. Not a single moment. What is this film now? I really haven't a clue.

Hey folks, Harry here and GREEN HORNET officially just jumped the rails and is in territory where I can't conceive of what this movie is going to be now. But I'm excited, terrified, intrigued, filled with trepidation and curiosity. Brilliant & sometime erratic director Michel Gondry is directing Seth Rogen and Stephen Chow in THE GREEN HORNET according to Variety. I have no earthly idea what the resulting film is going to be. Not a single moment. What is this film now? I really haven't a clue.

Fox Searchlight has acquired rights to the upcoming novel "Breathers: A Zombie's Lament" by S.G. Browne.
Diablo Cody will produce the zombie romantic comedy, marking her third collaboration with the specialty label following "Juno" and the upcoming Megan Fox starrer "Jennifer's Body," which Cody exec produced.

"Breathers" centers on a recently deceased Everyman and newly minted zombie who is having trouble adjusting to his new existence. All that changes when he goes to an Undead Anonymous meeting and finds kindred souls.

Broadway will publish the book March 3.

Mason Novick is also producing, and Geoff Latulippe will adapt.

Latulippe penned the romantic comedy spec "Going the Distance," which is being developed by New Line and Offspring Entertainment as a helming vehicle for documentary filmmaker Nanette Burstein.

Brendan and the Secret of Kells
(France-Belgium-Ireland)
By LESLIE FELPERINRead other reviews about this film

Powered By A Les Armateurs, France 2 Cinema (France)/Vivi Film (Belgium)/Cartoon Saloon (Ireland) production, with the support of Le Fonds Eurimages du Conseil de l'Europe, Media Plus Programme i2i Audiovisuel, with the participation of Canal Plus, Cine Cinema, Gebeka Films, Conseil General de la Charente, Conseil Regional de Poitou Charentes, Piste Rouge, in association with Sofica Soficinema 2, with the help of the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland, in association with RTE, with the support of Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Centre du Cinema et de l'Audiovisuel de la Communaute française de Belgique et des Teledistributeurs Wallons, La Region Wallonne -- Promimage, La Region Wallonne -- Wallimage, with the participation of Tax Shelter ING Invest of Tax Shelter Prods., Belgacom, Kinepolis Multi. (International sales: Celluloid Dreams, Paris.) Produced by Didier Bruner, Viviane Vanfleteren, Paul Young. Executive producer, Ivan Rouveure. Directed by Tomm Moore. Co-director, Nora Twomey. Screenplay, Fabrice Ziolkowski.

Voices: Evan McGuire, Mick Lally, Christen Mooney, Brendan Gleeson, Liam Hourrican, Paul Tylac, Michael McGrath, Paul Young.
(English dialogue)

 Refreshingly different precisely because its look is so profoundly retro, "Brendan and the Secret of Kells" harks back not just to older animation styles but to pre-medieval illuminated manuscript tradition. With its jewel-bright colors and intricate use of lines, the result is absolutely luscious to behold. Evoking the simplified drawings of children's books, the pic will most please the underserved 3- to 10-year-old demographic (even though bits are quite scary) and parents, but older kids may be sniffier, especially given the earnest, joke-light screenplay. Theatrical prospects, even in Europe, look tricky, but "Brendan" could reap lots of ancillary coin.
Set sometime during the ninth century, the story revolves around young Brendan (voiced by Evan McGuire), a roughly 10-year-old novice who lives in the abbey in Kells, Ireland. Brendan loves helping the monks (a multicultural gang that includes an African and an Asian in a slightly too-PC touch) in the abbey's scriptorium as they illustrate the gospels.

But Brendan's uncle, Abbot Cellach (Brendan Gleeson), wants him to devote more energy to help build up the abbey's walls to protect the community from Viking invasions. Given the Nordic threat and the fact the surrounding woods are said to be enchanted, Brendan's going outside the wall is strictly forbidden -- and, of course, a plot inevitability.

Seeking refuge from the Vikings, renowned Scottish illustrator Brother Aidan (Mick Lally), with his fluffy feline friend Pangur Ban, arrives in Kells bearing his masterpiece, the lavishly wrought but still unfinished Book of Iona. Inspired by the master, Brendan becomes even keener to help complete the book, but that would require gathering special berries for ink in the forest, thus risking confrontation with the demons rumored to dwell there.

Debutant feature helmer Tomm Moore and the pic's hordes of animators drew most of the characters by hand (although it's easy to spot where CGI has been used as a supplementary tool). Their approach produces a pleasingly ye-olde-world-y look that plays off the simplified, UPA-studio-meets-the-Dark-Ages characters with intricate, Celtic design-inspired detailing, especially when the book literally comes to life.

Space is distorted so that everything looks deliberately flattened, yet there's a very high level of craft deployed throughout to build up patterns within patterns. This may be the perfect film for children whose parents are art historians specializing in pre-Renaissance periods.

That's not to say others won't enjoy it, but finding an aud is going to be a challenge for marketing departments. Despite the many participants from across Europe listed in the credits, the pic's most fruitful territory is likely to be Ireland, and even there, competition with Hollywood fare will still be tough.

More than one option(Co) Canal Plus
Filmography, Year, Role
(Co) Canal Plus
Filmography, Year, RoleMore than one option(Person) Paul Young
Co-Executive Producer, Executive Producer, Story By
(Person) Paul Young
Actor
(Person) Paul Young
From Story, Screenplay
(Person) Paul Young
Song Performer
(Person) Paul Young
Cinematographer
(Person) Paul Young
Assistant, Production Assistant, Set Production Assistant
(Person) Paul Young
Character Design
(Person) Paul Young
DirectorMore than one option(Person) Michael McGrath
Technical Advisor
(Person) Michael McGrath
Actor
(Person) Michael McGrath
Medic, Production Assistant
(Person) Michael McGrath
(Color); editor, Fabienne Alvarez-Giro; music, Bruno Coulais; art director, Ross Stewart; animation supervisor, Fabian Erlinghauser; creative supervisor, Anton Roebben; storyboard, Remi Chaye; character designers, Moore, Barry Reynolds; Viking designs, Jean Baptiste Vendamme; background designers, Aurelie Bernard, Adrien Merigeau; sound (Dolby Digital), Kairen Waloch. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (Generation Kplus), Feb. 13, 2009. Running time: 78 MIN.

Warner Bros. Pictures, Kennedy/Marshall Co. and Leonard DiCaprio's Appian Way are all in discussions about reviving the 1980's kid fantasy classic "The NeverEnding Story" says The Hollywood Reporter.

Based on Michael Ende's German-language novel, the original Wolfgang Petersen-directed film centered on a boy named Bastian Balthazar Bux (Barret Oliver) who discovers a parallel world in a book titled "The NeverEnding Story."

As the boy, a loner, delves deeper into the book, he increasingly finds his life intertwined with the plot of the novel, in which a hero (Noah Hathaway) in the land of Fantasia must save the universe on behalf of an empress.

This new version will examine the more nuanced details of the book that were glossed over in the first film. Dieter Geissler will produce, though no writers re yet attached.

George Miller directed a sequel which came out in 1990, while a third movie in 1996 went direct-to-video.

Producer Gilbert Adler ("Superman Returns," "Ghost Ship") is set to produce the $20 million indie horror film "Dead of Night" for Hyde Park Group and Platinum Studios which kicks off filming today in New Orleans says The Hollywood Reporter.

Adapted from the top-selling 1986 Italian comic book series "Dylan Dog," created by Tiziano Sclavi, "Dead" stars Brandon Routh as a private investigator who stumbles onto the world of the undead.

Kevin Munroe ("TMNT") is directing a screenplay by Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly ("Sahara," "Conan the Barbarian") which moved the action from the U.K. to the deep bayou of Louisiana.

DRAC Studios ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button") will handle makeup effects. Scott Mitchell Rosenberg and Ashok Amritraj are producing

Michael Cera ("Juno," "Superbad") has finally agreed to do the feature film version of Fox's cancelled but highly acclaimed sitcom "Arrested Development" says E! Online.

Cera had been the lone holdout among the show's stars for several weeks. The rest of the show's cast including Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, Tony Hale, Jessica Walter, Jeffrey Tambor and David Cross, are already up for it according to sources and the movie may go into production as early as the end of the year.

Ron Howard told Ryan Seacrest at the Oscars on Sunday that "It's looking very much like we're going to make [the movie], but we've now been asked to stop offering any details. It's cloaked in a little mystery, but it's looking good."

Vinnie Jones has signed for the comedy "Wedlocked" and Universal's Joe Carnahan-produced prequel "Smokin' Aces: Blowback" says The Hollywood Reporter

In "Wedlocked," Jones plays a Croatian mobster who attempts to kidnap his crush, who is on her honeymoon with the American man she married to get U.S. citizenship.

Dave Annable and Katharine McPhee previously were cast in writer-director Rob Hedden's film.

In "Blowback," Jones plays an assassin gunning for a mob snitch who is hiding in Las Vegas. Tom Berenger, Clayne Crawford, Tommy Flanagan and Maury Sterling also star.

P.J. Pesce is set to helm the direct-to-DVD release, which Mike Elliott is producing.

Eric Brevig ("Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D") will helm Warner Bros.' 3D CG-animated feature take on the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon "Yogi Bear" says The Hollywood Reporter.

Combining live action and CG ala "Garfield" and "Alvin and the Chipmunks," "Yogi" will offer a new take on the half-century-old title character and his sidekick Boo Boo, who get into a series of misadventures in Jellystone Park.

Ash Brannon ("Surf's Up") was attached to helm "Yogi" when it was a 2-D film. Joshua Sternin and Jeffrey Ventimilia ("That '70s Show") are penning the screenplay while Donald De Line and Karen Rosenfelt are producing.

Peter Baynham ("Borat," "Bruno") will pen the remake of Dudley Moore 1981 comedy "Arthur" for Warner Bros. Pictures reports Variety.

The project is being crafted as a vehicle for Russell Brand ("Forgetting Sarah Marshall") as the boozy playboy whose plan to marry into a moneyed family goes awry when he falls in love with a working class gal.

Larry Brezner will produce.

Matt Damon and "The Bourne Ultimatum" scribe George Nolfi are attached to the contemporary science fiction love story "The Adjustment Bureau" which is being shopped around to studios by Media Rights Capital reports Variety.

Nolfi, who also penned "Ocean's Twelve" and the upcoming fourth "Bourne" film, wrote a script that is loosely based on a Philip K. Dick short story, and he will make his directing debut on the film, which will begin production by late summer.

Media Rights Capital is also shopping aroundthe action comedy "B Team". "Anchorman" helmer Adam McKay will direct the project which casts Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as cops. Chris Henchy ("Land of the Lost," "Entourage") penned the script.

Vinnie Jones has signed for the comedy "Wedlocked" and Universal's Joe Carnahan-produced prequel "Smokin' Aces: Blowback" says The Hollywood Reporter

In "Wedlocked," Jones plays a Croatian mobster who attempts to kidnap his crush, who is on her honeymoon with the American man she married to get U.S. citizenship.

Dave Annable and Katharine McPhee previously were cast in writer-director Rob Hedden's film.

In "Blowback," Jones plays an assassin gunning for a mob snitch who is hiding in Las Vegas. Tom Berenger, Clayne Crawford, Tommy Flanagan and Maury Sterling also star.

P.J. Pesce is set to helm the direct-to-DVD release, which Mike Elliott is producing.

Zentropa gives birth to new animation outfit
Jacob Wendt Jensen in Copenhagen
26 Feb 2009 14:30

 


Denmark's Zentropa has launched a new animation company, Rambuk, to be headed by director Stefan Fjeldmark.

Most recently Fjeldmark has been working with Denmark's Fine and Mellow Productions in a non-animation role.

Commenting on the appointment, Zentropa CEO, Peter Aalbaek Jensen described Fjeldmark as having "a rare ability to combine his borderless creativity and leftfield imagination into films often made with a mix of exciting new techniques. He has an offbeat way of thinking and this fits right into the Zentropa family."

Local feature animation films have fared well with Danish audiences of late with Terkel In Trouble, Journey To Saturn and Sunshine Barry & The Disco Worms among the successes.

International animation features have also been well received. The last two Shrek films alone saw a combined total of more than one million admissions.

Zentropa's relaunch of its animation focus follows other initiatives since it joined forces with Nordisk Film in April 2008, including the recent opening of an office in Norway and a new arm, Zentropa Games, focusing on the development and production of computer and video games

Carrey, Gyllenhaal do 'Yankees'
New Line taps actors for adaptation of musical
By MICHAEL FLEMING

New Line Cinema is playing ball with Jim Carrey and Jake Gyllenhaal on "Damn Yankees," attaching both actors to star in a contemporized film transfer of the classic musical.
Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel are set to write the script.

The musical is being produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the duo behind New Line's musical "Hairspray"; a sequel to that film is in the works.

"Damn Yankees," which bowed on Broadway in 1955 and won seven Tony Awards, focuses on Joe Boyd, a happily married middle-aged man whose devotion to a hapless pro baseball team prompts him to make a Faustian bargain with the devil to help the team. He's transformed into slugger Joe Hardy, in exchange for Boyd's soul. Boyd can break the deal, but the deadline occurs during the World Series. For good measure, the devil engages Lola, a gorgeous lost soul, to seduce the slugger and seal his fate.

The plan is for Carrey to play the devil, and Gyllenhaal to play Boyd. It's the first musical for each.

The producers tried but struck out on a version of "Damn Yankees" five years ago at Miramax, where they made "Chicago." The rights lapsed after Harvey Weinstein exited that studio. After two years of rights negotiations, "Damn Yankees" is moving forward with Toby Emmerich's New Line.

The trick is finding a balance that retains the show's classic tunes like "(You Gotta Have) Heart" and "Whatever Lola Wants," while injecting a contemporary feel on a musical that is firmly rooted in the 1950s. The intention is to get a script from Ganz and Mandel before meeting directors, and actresses who'll want to play Lola.

The original was directed by George Abbott and choreographed by Bob Fosse, with music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, and book by Abbott and Douglass Wallop. "Damn Yankees" was turned into a 1958 Warner Bros. film that was directed by Abbott and Stanley Donen, with Ray Walston and Gwen Verdon re-creating their stage performances, and Tab Hunter playing the slugger.

Carrey is coming off "Yes Man" and "I Love You Phillip Morris," the latter of which premiered at Sundance and is in distribution discussions. Carrey also plays Ebenezer Scrooge and several other roles in "A Christmas Carol," which Robert Zemeckis directed for Disney in performance capture digital 3-D animation. Carrey also plans to star for director Jason Reitman in "Pierre Pierre" for Fox Searchlight.

Gyllenhaal recently completed the David O. Russell-directed "Nailed," the Jim Sheridan-directed "Brothers," and he plays the title role in the Mike Newell-directed "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" for Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer.

Seth Green will star in Walt Disney Pictures and ImageMovers' performance-capture feature "Mars Needs Moms!" says The Hollywood Reporter.

An adaptation of the Berkeley Breathed children's novel, the story follows a boy named Milo (Green) who stows away aboard a spaceship to rescue his mom (Joan Cusack) after she was kidnapped by aliens.

Mindy Sterling ("Austin Powers") will play the alien leader of Mars, inspiring terror in all who meet her. Dan Fogler (Fanboys) is playing Gribble, a friend of Milo. Elisabeth Harnois has also joined the cast.

Simon and Wendy Wells adapted the screenplay with the former directing. Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey are producing.

Keira Knightley will star in the sci-fi thriller "Never Let Me Go" for Fox Searchlight and DNA Films says Variety.

Mark Romanek ("One Hour Photo") will direct the cloning-themed film that also stars Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan.

Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich and Alex Garland are producing. The film is set to shoot in April in London and Norfolk, England.

O ovom projektu sam cuo od svojih izvora, da je vrlo zanimljiv shaneblackovski, otud uznemirava angazman Kevina Smitha...

Kevin Smith has signed on to direct the blatantly titled "Couple of Dicks" for Warner Bros. Pictures says ERC Box-Office.

Bruce Willis and Tracey Morgan star in the comedy though story details are being kept under wraps. Robb and Marc Cullen penned the script, marking the first project Smith will direct but not write (though he may perform a re-write).

This will also be Smith's first film for Warners. The studio has set a January 29th 2010 release.

Leonardo DiCaprio is in final negotiations to topline Christopher Nolan's upcoming sci-fi drama "Inception" for Warner Bros. Pictures says Production Weekly.

The story is described only as "a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind". The project is seen as a 'between Batman films' project for Nolan, much like 2006's "The Prestige" was between "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight".

Filming kicks off this year for release in summer 2010. Nolan and Emma Thomas are producing.

Ginnifer Goodwin, John Corbett and Bridget Moynahan have joined the cast of "Ramona and Beezus" for Fox 2000 says The Hollywood Reporter,

Based on the classic children's book series written by Beverly Cleary, Goodwin will play 10-year-old Ramona's favorite person, Aunt Bea, and Moynahan and Corbett will play the two girls' parents, Dorothy and Bob Quimby.

Elizabeth Allen ("Aquamarine") is directing while Denise Di Novi and Alison Greenspan are producing. Shooting is scheduled to start in Vancouver in April.

Barry Sonnenfeld ("RV," "Men in Black") will direct and produce an English-language remake of the Korean box office hit "Scandal Makers" reports Variety.

The story centers on a philandering pop singer whose life is turned upside-down when he discovers that he has a daughter and a grandson.

Sonnenfeld is currently seeking a major studio and producer to develop and release the project. Kang Hyung-chul directed the original which opened last year and took in $36 million at the South Korean box-office.

Logan Lerman ("3:10 to Yuma," "Jack & Bobby") and Brandon T. Jackson ("Tropic Thunder") will co-star in "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief" for Fox 2000 says the trades.

An adaptation of Rick Riordan's children's novel, the story follows Greek god Poseidon's 12-year-old half-human son, Percy (Lerman), on a fantastic quest across modern America to save his mother, return Zeus' stolen lightning bolt and prevent a deadly war among the gods.

Jackson will play Percy's best friend, Grover Underwood, a satyr (half-goat, half-human) with whom he shares a psychic link. The character is in his early 30s but is about 16 mentally because satyrs mature half as quickly as humans in Riordan's novel.

Christopher Columbus directs the fantasy-adventure which the studio is eyeing as a potential franchise as Riordan is penning five books in the series. Columbus and Craig Titley wrote the screenplay.

Filming kicks off in April in Vancouver.

Zack Snyder ("300," "Watchmen") has gathered together an impressive assembly of young actresses for his upcoming action fantasy "Sucker Punch" reports Entertainment Weekly.

Amanda Seyfried ("Mamma Mia!"), Vanessa Hudgens ("High School Musical"), Abbie Cornish ("Elizabeth: The Golden Age"), Evan Rachel Wood ("The Wrestler") and Emma Stone ("The House Bunny") are in talks to star in the action fantasy.

Set in the 1950s, "Punch" follows a girl named Babydoll (Seyfried) who is confined to a mental institution by her stepfather, who intends to have her lobotomized in five days.

While there, she imagines an alternative reality to hide her from the pain, and in that world, she begins planning her escape, needing to steal five objects to help get her out before she is deflowered by a vile man.

The other four actresses would play Seyfried's fellow inmates who also travel into the alternate reality.

Snyder and Steve Shibuya co-wrote the script which fuses such elements as dragons, B-52 bombers and brothels.

Max Thieriot ("Kit Kittridge," "Driving Lessons") has been cast in Atom Egoyan's "Chloe" for Montecito and Studio Canal says The Hollywood Reporter.

A remake of the French thriller "Nathalie ...". the story centers on a married woman (Julianne Moore) who hires a prostitute (Amanda Seyfried) to find out whether her husband (Liam Neeson) is cheating on her.

The prostitute, however, cons her about the nature of her husband's fidelity, a move that puts the family in jeopardy. Thieriot plays Neeson and Moore's son.

Ivan Reitman and Tom Pollock are producing.

Braga, Rourke, Cassel join 'Minutes'
Actors to star in adaptation of Coehlo novel
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Rourke


Braga


Cassel


More Articles:
Willis, Morgan to play 'Cops'
Hit Entertainment gets into movie biz
David Permut steers DeLorean biopic
Miramax, Rudin are 'Believers'
New Line adapting 'Thirteenth Hour'
'Lymelife' to open Gen Art festival
Alice Braga, Mickey Rourke and Vincent Cassel are set to star in "11 Minutes," an adaptation of the steamy Paulo Coehlo novel that will be directed by Hany Abu-Assad.
Hollywood Gang's Gianni Nunnari is producing, with Craig J. Flores and George Waud as exec producers. Shooting begins June 1 in Brazil and Geneva.

Braga plays a naive girl who is betrayed by her first lover and swears off romance. She becomes a high-priced call girl who works at an upscale gentlemen's club in Geneva. Cassel plays a music exec who gets her hooked on S&M. Rourke plays the club owner.

Italian heartthrob Riccardo Scamarcio is in talks to round out the cast.

The book was a global bestseller translated into 40 languages. Abu-Assad, who made his film breakthrough with "Paradise Now," has rewritten a script by Marcos Bernstein.

Hollywood Gang will fully finance.

Braga just completed the Universal sci-fi thriller "Repossession Mambo." Rourke is coming off "The Wrestler" and is negotiating to play the villain in "Iron Man 2." Cassel was seen in "Eastern Promises" and just won the acting Cesar for French pic "Public Enemy Number One." Scamarcio is coming off the Costa-Gavras-directed "Eden a l'ouest."

For Hollywood Gang, "11 Minutes" becomes one of four 2009 production starts. It produced, with GK Films, the Martin Scorsese-directed "Shutter Island," set for release in the fall. It's in pre-production on WB sci-fi film "The Days Before," with Timur Bekmambetov directing, and on the Tarsem-directed "War of Gods" with Relativity. Also, Hollywood Gang and GK are plotting an April production start for the Scorsese-directed "Silence."

Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan will star in Warner Bros.' detective comedy "A Couple of Cops," with Kevin Smith directing his first major studio pic.
Marc Platt's producing the project, formerly titled "A Couple of Dicks." The scripting team of Robb and Marc Cullen penned the screenplay, centered on a pair of cops who track down a stolen baseball card, rescue a Mexican beauty and must deal with gangsters and laundered drug money.

Warner picked up the project in turnaround last year from Gold Circle, where it had been in development with Robin Williams and James Gandolfini in the lead roles.

Willis will next be seen in Disney sci-fi thriller "The Surrogates," directed by Jonathan Mostow. "Saturday Night Live" and "30 Rock" star Morgan has been set for a remake of "Death at a Funeral" for Screen Gems and Sidney Kimmel.

Smith directed "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" last year for the Weinstein Co.

Michael Brandt and Derek Haas have signed on to adapt upcoming Richard Doetsch novel "The Thirteenth Hour" for New Line Cinema and producer Michael De Luca.
New Line acquired the book last fall. Story follows a man accused of murdering his wife who gets to go back in time -- in one-hour increments over 12 hours -- with the chance to stop his wife's killer.

Haas said the book "is a fast-paced thriller with a supernatural twist and characters who really pop."

The novel will be published by Atria.

Alissa Phillips will be executive producer.

The writing team of Brandt and Haas ("Wanted," "3:10 to Yuma") most recently adapted Robert Ludlum thriller "The Matarese Circle." The MGM film, to be directed by David Cronenberg, is shaping up as a potential pairing of Denzel Washington and Tom Cruise. The scribes are also scripting a new installment of "Beverly Hills Cop" for Eddie Murphy and director Brett Ratner at Paramount.

With producer Rachael Horovitz, De Luca is prepping "Moneyball," the Steve Zaillian-scripted adaptation of the Michael Lewis book for Columbia Pictures that will team Brad Pitt and director Steven Soderbergh.

DeLorean


More Articles:
Willis, Morgan to play 'Cops'
Hit Entertainment gets into movie biz
Miramax, Rudin are 'Believers'
New Line adapting 'Thirteenth Hour'
Braga, Rourke, Cassel join 'Minutes'
'Lymelife' to open Gen Art festival
David Permut is getting into gear for a biopic of maverick auto exec John Z. DeLorean, with Steve Lee Jones also producing through his Bee Holder Prods.
Jones has secured life rights from the late DeLorean's longtime attorney, Mayer Morganroth.

The film will chronicle DeLorean's rise and fall, starting with his work as a young exec VP at General Motors, where he developed the Pontiac GTO and Firebird, and the creation of his own company and the DeLorean DMC-12 car -- later featured in the "Back to the Future" films. DeLorean's downfall came when was arrested in 1982 on charges of drug trafficking to help his faltering auto company. He was freed two years later after a court ruled he was a victim of government entrapment.

Permut Presentations VP Steve Longi will co-produce.

Permut is in post-production on "Youth in Revolt" for Dimension. He also produced documentary "The Boys," which Disney is releasing this year.

Jones is in post-production with Foundation Films on director Matthew Galkin's doc "Kevorkian," about Dr. Jack Kevorkian's bid for a congressional seat.

The idea of turning the board game "Monopoly" has always sounded ridiculous, yet according to producer and Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner, the timing couldn't be better

"The whole world is about the financial markets. You can't turn on the news today without understanding the financial markets and what's going on out there...Combine that with Pamela Pettler who's writing this great script about real people kind of playing a real-life game of 'Monopoly,' not the board game, although they're icons of the game. And then you really get the idea why this story could make sense right now" he told MTV News this week.

Acclaimed director Ridley Scott ("Gladiator," "Alien") was less enthusiastic but seems to believe in the project: "I have to direct it. We're in progress right now. We're having it written. We have identified a pretty good story and it is fundamentally a movie, not a game, probably describing in a way the characters in the film, the passion of the game, and how the game came about."

"Transformers" babe Megan Fox is in final negotiations to star in two comic book adaptations - the action western "Jonah Hex" for Warner Bros. Pictures and the underwater adventure "Fathom" for Fox Atomic reports the trades.

'Hex' will have Fox playing Leila, a gun-wielding beauty and love interest of Hex (Josh Brolin), a scarred bounty hunter tracking a voodoo practitioner (John Malkovich) who wants to raise an army of undead to liberate the South.

Directed by Jimmy Hayward, shooting kicks off next month with Andrew Lazar and Akiva Goldsman producing.

"Fathom" follows a young woman named Aspen who learns she is a member of a race of aquatic humanoids who possess the ability to control water.

"Prince of Persia" game creator Jordan Mechner is adapting recently deceased artist Michael Turner's comic. Peter Safran is producing with Steve Bessen and Brian Austin Green.

MGM and the WWE are teaming to develop a direct-to-DVD remake of the Chuck Norris 1984 Vietnam pic "Missing in Action" says The Hollywood Reporter.

The original centered on Col. James Braddock (Norris), a POW of the Viet Cong who escapes Southeast Asia and heads back to liberate other U.S. captives. A prequel and a sequel were released in the following four years.

Jeremy Passmore, who also is penning MGM's "Red Dawn" theatrical remake, is on board to write the script with partner Andre Fabrizio.

The new film will be updated to reflect modern military realities and will be set during the current Iraq War. Andrew Stevens ("Heist") will produce.

Danny Boyle has denied reports that he will direct a remake of Chan-wook Park's "Lady Vengeance" reports MTV News.

"No I was never going to do that. I don't know where that story came from" says Boyle.

A rep later told the site that Boyle being linked to helm the next JAmes Bond film is also untrue - "While Danny says he always has and always will enjoy the Bond movies he has no plans to direct one. Danny is naturally flattered to be thought of""

The denials come as the rumor emerged today that Boyle has been asked by Sony Pictures to helm the remake of "My Fair Lady".

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck ("The Lives of Others") is in talks to direct Tom Cruise-led drama "The 28th Amendment" for Warner Bros. Pictures reports the trades.

The drama revolves around a U.S. president who discovers the existence of a secret cabal that runs the government and wants him dead.

Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci ("Eagle Eye," "Transformers") penned the script. Basil Iwanyk and Richard Donner are producers.

Universal is picking up George Nolfi's sci-fi thriller "The Adjustment Bureau" which has Matt Damon attached says The Hollywood Reporter.

Nolfi, who co-wrote "Ocean's Twelve" and "The Bourne Ultimatum", will also make his directorial debut on the $60-$65 million picture,

Loosely based on a Philip K. Dick short story, Damon plays a politician who falls for a ballerina only to find mysterious forces keeping the two apart.

Nolfi, Chris Moore, Bill Carraro and Michael Hackett will produce. Filming kicks off in September.

Jay Roach's comedy "Dinner for Schmucks" is finally getting into production says Variety.

A remake of Francis Veber's 1998 French comedy "Le Diner des cons", the project suffered a number of setbacks when original star Sacha Baron Cohen had to pull out.

Steve Carell and Paul Rudd have now cleared their schedules for the project when it kicks off shooting in October.

Spyglass Entertainment and Paramount Pictures are set to release the project.

Mark Wahlberg will star in the dark kidnap thriller "Prisoners" for Madhouse Entertainment reports the trades,

Aaron Guzikowski penned the script which centers on a Boston man who turns vigilante after his six-year-old daughter and her best friend are kidnapped. He takes matters into his own hands by in turn kidnapping the man he suspects responsible.

The project is now out to directors, though studios are apparently very keen to land the property so expect it to be in production shortly.

Big Rich Films has optioned Owen Sheers' WW2 novel "Resistance" says Variety.

Amit Gupta will write and direct the pic, which is set in an alternative 1944 where Russia has fallen to Nazi Germany and the D-Day landings have failed.

With Britain now half-occupied by German forces, the women in an isolated Welsh border valley awake one morning to discover all their husbands have mysteriously disappeared.

Richard Holmes ("Eden Lake") will produce and co-write the script with Gupta. Filming kicks off on location in Wales next year

You'd think we Americans would have a leg up on Moviehole's Clint Morris, given that we're in America where all the movie stars are, and he's in Australia, which movie stars move away from as soon as they start being famous. But damn him if he isn't buying groceries at the same place as Damian Walshe-Howling, who apparently has landed the key role of the main villain in Point Break Indo.

We've been talking for a while about Jan de Bont's plans to make a sequel to Kathryn Bigelow's 1991 action movie, and with Walshe-Howling added to the cast, production seems just about ready to roll. He'll play a sea pirate named Dali whose team wears masks to disguise them as members of the Bush Administration. Yes, this is a movie in which we get to see Colin Powell rob ships. Prepare yourselves.

Walshe-Howling isn't very well known to American audiences, having had minor roles in Australian movies like Ned Kelly and Macbeth in addition to appearances on Australian TV. I don't particularly think a villain role in Point Break 2, a sequel no one really asked for, will be Walshe-Howling's ticket to fame. But hey, it's a start. We'll see where he takes it from here

While fans who are aware of "Tintin" have been enthusiastic about the project, the single most common complaint from fanboys unfamiliar with Herge's brilliant stories of the roving reporter has been that their 'god' Steven Spielberg shouldn't be wasting his time with such nonsense.

This is despite the fact almost all of them are completely unfamiliar with the material, even though the twenty-four graphic novels have been in publication for over eight decades. Decades before the likes of "Watchmen" hit the shelves it was weaving stories of Middle Eastern tension, South American and Eastern European coup d'etats, opium smuggling, human trafficking, arms dealing and espionage.

The endless bickering has angered and upset me, a guy for whom Tintin was one of the few comic books I read and adored growing up, far more than I expected. For those moaners though I've got good news, you can have him back - it looks like he's done.

An article in Variety this weekend reports that the surprisingly short 32-day principal photography shoot on the 3D motion capture project "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn" has come to a close.

More interesting is that despite reports that this was to be a Steven Spielberg/Peter Jackson collaboration, much of the work on this first film is going to be handled by the latter. Spielberg has now essentially handed over the project to Jackson who will focus on the film's special effects for the next eighteen months.

Jackson also traveled to Los Angeles for rehearsals and for the first week of shooting, begging the question - who really is directing this film?. Producer Kathleen Kennedy claims that "They are amazingly collaborative, even more so than Steven and George (Lucas were on the 'Raiders' films)."

Jackson is currently sketching out ideas for the second film and its script, though actual writing duties may be handled by some or all of the trio of scribes who worked on the first one - Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish. No green light has yet been given on the property.

One thing is for sure, the technology being used to create the adventure feature is being kept top secret. "You have to see it to understand (the technology). It really can't be described" says Spielberg's longtime spokesman Marvin Levy, while Kennedy says "It's extremely difficult to explain to someone unless they are standing here next to me, and usually then their reaction is, 'Oh my god.'"

Sony will be handling distribution in Europe and other countries where the character has had a long and well-established reputation. Paramount on the other hand will be handling territories such as the US and parts of Asia where many aren't familiar with the character

Producer Neal Moritz and "Austin Powers" director Jay Roach are teaming on a narrative feature based on the documentary "The Complete History of My Sexual Failures" for Universal Pictures reports Variety.

Jay Reiss has been tapped to write the screenplay which centers on a man who sets out to interview every girl he has dated and ask the all-important question, "What's wrong with me?"

Chris Waitt's original film premiered at last year's Sundance Film Festival. Moritz and Roach will produce this remake with the later potential directing.

New Regency has picked up the futuristic action film "Last Man" reports Variety.

The story follows a hardened captain assigned to protect an outpost on a distant planet must lead a group of young, inexperienced American soldiers in battle against an alien race.

David Ayer ("Harsh Times," "Street Kings") will write and direct. Erwin Stoff, Scott Stuber and Pam Abdy will produce.

Nick Nolte, Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Morrison are set to star in the mixed martial arts fighting drama "Warrior" for Lionsgate reports Variety.

Nolte plays an ex-Vietnam vet boxer-turned-steel mill worker whose family was torn apart by his alcoholism; the now-sober and remorseful dad welcomes back his youngest son (Hardy) and trains him to compete in a mixed martial arts tournament. He and his older brother (Edgerton) are on a collision course in the ring.

Gavin O'Connor and Anthony Tambakis co-wrote the script which O'Connor ("Pride and Glory") will direct and produce along with his brother Greg. Shooting begins in April in Pittsburgh.

Elisabeth Moss ("Mad Men," "The Missing") has been cast opposite Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant in romantic comedy "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" for Sony Pictures says The Hollywood Reporter.

Parker and Grant are starring as an estranged high-powered New York couple who witness a murder and are placed in a witness-protection program in a small Wyoming town.

Moss will play Parker's executive assistant with a controlling and almost obsessive-compulsive personality.

Marc Lawrence will direct from his own script. Liz Glotzer and Martin Shafer are producing and shooting begins in May in New York.

"X-Men" and "Ugly Betty" regular Rebecca Romijn will play the lead in "Eastwick", ABC's small-screen adaptation of the film and book "The Witches of Eastwick" says TV.com.

As Roxie Torcoletti, Romijn is one of a trio of women who discover they have witch-like powers when a mysterious man comes to town.

Lindsay Price ("Lipstick Jungle") and Jaime Ray Newman ("Veronica Mars") will play the other witches, while Paul Gross is the mysterious stranger.

Marcel Langenegger ("Deception") is set to direct Phoenix Pictures' thriller "Mile Zero" and will develop it as a potential Milla Jovovich vehicle reports the trades.

Penned by Holly Brix, the story centers on a young woman attempting to clear her father's name in a string of gruesome murders at an Alaskan oil refinery.

Mike Medavoy, Arnie Messer, Brad Fischer and James Vanderbilt will produce.

Gold Circle's yet to be released "The Fourth Kind" is also a Jovovich-led, Alaska-set, fact-based thriller which has the "Resident Evil" star playing a government investigator probing 40 years of unexplained disappearances in a small town.

Chris Hemsworth ("Star Trek," "Home and Away"), Kristen Connolly ("Revolutionary Road"), Anna Hutchison ("Underbelly"), Fran Kranz ("The Village") and Jesse Williams ("The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2") are set to join the horror film "The Cabin in the Woods" for United Artists says The Hollywood Reporter.

Joss Whedon penned the genre-tweaking screenplay, though plot and character descriptions have been withheld by the filmmakers and the studio. Richard Jenkins ("The Visitor") and Bradley Whitford ("Bottle Shock") have already been cast.

Whedon is producing, and his old "Angel" co-hort Drew Goddard is directing. Filming is already underway, though the release has been pushed back from this Halloween to February 5th next year.

Sean Penn is in talks to star in the action drama "Cartel" for Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment reports Variety.

Scripted by Peter Craig, the mission movie will follow Ed Marker as he journeys to protect his son after his wife is brutally murdered in the gritty world of Mexican cartels.

The project began as a remake of the 1993 Italian film "La scorta" before evolving into an action vehicle for Penn.

Asger Leth ("Ghosts of Cite Soleil") will direct and Brian Grazer is producing. Production is currently aiming for a Summer start if Penn's deal can be locked.

Penn is still in discussions to star with Naomi Watts in the Doug Liman-directed Valerie Plame scandal drama "Fair Game".

Worthington Not Replacing Batman's Bale
By Garth Franklin Tuesday March 10th 2009 06:34AM

A Herald Sun story published yesterday says that Australian thesp Sam Worthington ("Avatar," "Somersault") is set to replace his "Terminator Salvation" co-star Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader in the upcoming third Chris Nolan-directed "Batman" film.

The reasons being cited are that the well-publicised on-set spat between Bale and the Salvation D.O.P. that got a lot of airplay has damaged the British actor's reputation so much that the studio wants to replace him.

This is despite the fact that Bale is under contract for at least one more Batman film, his long-standing relationship with Nolan, and the fact that a third film is a LONG way off from being scripted let alone cast.

If anything the spat has enhanced Bale's reputation as someone almost too serious, dedicated and moody - playing a kid-friendly character it may be an issue, but in a darkly serious film series like this? C'mon, be serious.

Citing no inside sources or confirmation, chuck this rumor back in the bin where it came from.

Worthington, who legitimately was a contender for another high profile role a few years ago - James Bond - is about to get to work on the "Clash of the Titans" remake for Warner Bros. Pictures.

OVO ZVUČI VRLO ZANIMLJIVO - iako aža napušta horor (nadajmo se privremeno), ovo deluje kao potencijalno mudovit projekat!

I wasn't a big fan of MIRRORS (save for a few key moments, either involving Amy Smart's gory and very naked death or Jack Bauer yelling at his reflection like it was a terrorist that knows where the suitcase nuke is), but I really love what Aja did with THE HILLS HAVE EYES and still think HAUTE TENSION was an almost masterpiece of horror.

Looks like he's going to follow up his PIRANHA 3-D (can't wait, by the way) with a drama, taking him out of the horror realm. The flick will be called THE CONTRACTOR and be about a sort of alternate or near-future world where the US can't afford going to war anymore and instead hires out private contractors, elite soldiers, to fight on its behalf. Ian Jeffers (last to polish up CASTLEVANIA) is scripting, per Variety.

Other than that info, I don't have much knowledge of the property. I'll keep my ear to the ground, though. Anything Aja's involved in of interest to me. I'm especially curious as to what the tone of this is going to be. Is it a political message movie, a talking head drama, or do we follow the soldiers as they fight? Could go in a lot of different ways. Let's see what develops.