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The Will Smith-produced remake of the 1984 family hit "The Karate Kid" has scored the official title of "Kung Fu Kid" according to The Associated Press.

Filming kicked off on Saturday in Beijing on the co-production between the state-run China Film Group and Columbia Pictures.

'Kid' stars Jaden Smith as the titular student and Jackie Chan as the wise kung-fu master. Harald Zwart ("Pink Panther 2") directs.

Producer Ken Stovitz confirmed the story will be set in modern-day Beijing and filming will continue for three months.

Aentikeu: Seoyang Goldong Yanggwaja Jeom (South Korea)
By BOYD VAN HOEIJ


A Showbox/Mediaplex release of a United Pictures, Soo Film, Zip Cinema production. (International sales: Finecut, Seoul.) Produced by Min Jin-su, Eugene Lee. Executive producers, Lee Jeong-hun, Lee Tae-hun. Directed by Min Kyu-dong. Screenplay, Lee Gyeong-eu, Kim Da-yeong, Min, based on the manga by Fumi Yoshinaga.

With: Ju Ji-hun, Kim Jae-wook, Andy Gillet, Yu Ah-in, Choi Ji-ho, Kim Chang-wan, Lee Hwi-hyang, Oh Mi-heui, Nam Myeong-ryeol, Lee Hwan, Go Chang-seok.
(Korean, French dialogue)

A Japanese manga conceived for teen girls gets a Korean bigscreen makeover in "Antique," the story of four hot guys who run a pastry shop, dealing with same-sex attraction and a criminal on the loose while preparing unpronounceable Gallic confections for their clientele. Helmer Min Kyu-dong zooms in on the mouthwatering cast and delicacies on sale, though this light souffle has a few too many ingredients to achieve a satisfactory balance. Still, gay and Asian fests will want to have this cake and eat it, before the pic starts reaping some cherries on the top in ancillary.

Pic is already the third adaptation of the "Antique Bakery" manga by femme artist Fumi Yoshinaga. The comic is part of the Japanese Boys Love genre, which features stories about gay relationships targeted at young teenage girls (take out the threat factor, double the eye candy). Helmers such as Kotaro Terauchi have been making low-budget BL movies for some time, but this highly polished South Korean adaptation is clearly aimed at the masses. Locally, "Antique" drew some 1.2 million admissions on release late last year.

Rich kid Jin-hyeok (handsome Ju Ji-hun) decides to open a pastry shop, called Antique, despite the fact he hates cake. The excuse he gives his family: "All the customers are girls." Indeed. But all the employees are boys, as demanded by his star pastry chef, Seon-woo (androgynous Kim Jae-wook), a comfortably out gay man who learned his trade in France from his then-lover, Jean-Baptiste (Andy Gillet).

Seon-woo has a strange fairy tale-like quality that makes every man, gay or straight, fall in love with him -- every man, that is, except for the slightly homophobic Jin-hyeok, who (as revealed in the prologue) is the only man who ever rejected Seon-woo's advances, a decade earlier at school.

The film's first half is a light, humorous look at this odd pairing as they start selling their wares (often shown in closeup, a la "Eat Drink Man Woman"), with even a song-and-dance number thrown in that plays like a cross between a small-scale Busby Berkeley sequence and "Memories of Matsuko." The duo hire help in the form of sweet-toothed former boxer Ki-beom (Yu Ah-in, who eats more than he speaks).

The dynamics change when Su-yeong (Choi Ji-ho), a bodyguard for Jin-hyeok, appears. The pic moves into darker territory when Jin-hyuk's reasons for opening the shop become clear, while more complications arise with the arrival of the amorous Jean-Baptiste.

As in the Sapphic psychothriller "Memento Mori," which Min co-helmed, the same-sex love story, melodrama and traditional Asian thriller motifs mesh well, though it may be a tad much for some Western auds. Arguably, the pic could have worked just as well without the added crime story.

Actors were cast for their looks, but as the central pair, Kim and Ju especially imbue their stock characters with some humanity, and the shared history between Seon-woo and Jean-Baptiste feels surprisingly real.

The pic is brightly lit and good-looking; production designer Jeon Gyeong-ran turns Antique into a bakery that's half Parisian art-deco, half Gaudian colored tiles. Costume designer Chang Hyo-jae overdoes the gays-love-scarves look but otherwise delivers work on par with the other tech contributions.

Camera (color, widescreen), Kim Jun-yeong; editor, Kim Seon-min; music, Chang Yeong-gyu, Dalparan; production designer, Jeon Gyeong-ran; costume designer, Chang Hyo-jae; sound (Dolby SRD), Choi Tae-yeong; visual effects, Yun Jae-hun. Reviewed on DVD, Luxembourg, July 13, 2009. (In Berlin Film Festival -- Kulinarisches Kino.) Running time: 109 MIN.

Universal Pictures has begun development of a film adaptation of the Dark Horse sci-fi comic book series "Fear Agent" says The Risky Biz Blog.

"Agent" centers on a colorful, borderline alcoholic astronaut named Heath Huston, a Texan who works as a so-called fear agent, the last of a dwindling breed of spacemen whose mission it is to fight threats to the planet Earth, which is partly destroyed during the course of the series.

Rick Remender created the series in 2005. A writer is currently being sought for the film, though "Air Force One" and "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" producer Jonathan Shestack penned a spec script based on the property that may be utilized (with Shestack onboard to produce).

Emily Blunt will star in the sci-fi romance thriller "The Adjustment Bureau" for Universal Pictures and Media Rights Capital says the trades.

The story follows a congressman (Matt Damon), on the rise in politics, who meets a beautiful ballet dancer (Blunt) and finds his future thrown into doubt by uncontrollable events.

"Bourne Ultimatum" scribe George Nolfi is directing and adapted the script from a Philip K. Dick short story.

Chris Moore, Michael Hackett and Bill Carraro will produce alongside Nolfi. Filming kicks off mid-September in New York City.

Jeff Wadlow ("Never Back Down") is set to direct the sci-fi action film "Arena" for Summit Entertainment says The Hollywood Reporter.

Toby Wagstaff and Darren Howell's screenplay revolves around a group of modern-day soldiers transported to a shifting landscape, where they are forced to face off against the best warriors from different eras in gladitorial battle.

The director had been working on the prison-escape action project "The Tomb" at the studio until it stalled, the studio then moved him over to 'Arena'. Chris Bender, J.C. Spink, Jim Thompson, Alex Franklin and Jonah Loop are producing.

Morgan Freeman in talks to star in 'Red'
Actor eyes Summit thriller starring Bruce Willis
By DAVE MCNARY
Morgan Freeman

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Morgan Freeman is in talks to star alongside Bruce Willis in Summit Entertainment's espionage thriller "Red," based on the WildStorm/DC Comic.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian are producing with DC exec Gregory Noveck serving as exec producer. Brothers Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber are penning the script.

Summit acquired rights to "Red," originally written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Cully Hamner, last year. The three-book series, published in 2003 and 2004, tells the story of a former black-ops CIA agent now living a quiet life in retirement until the day a high-tech assassin shows up intent on killing him.

Freeman's toplining Nelson Mandela biopic "Invictus," directed by Clint Eastwood for Warner Bros. with a December release date.

Warner Bros. and Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way are moving ahead on a "Twilight Zone" movie, hiring Rand Ravich to pen a script based on the iconic TV series, which melded fantasy, science-fiction and horror elements.

Studio first set up the project with the Warner-based shingle a year ago.

Ravich's feature credits include directing "The Astronaut's Wife" and exec producing "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind." He also created NBC's detective series "Life."

The original "Twilight Zone" series ran for five seasons starting in 1959 on CBS, with Rod Serling creating the skein and writing more than half of the 156 episodes.

Warners released the previous bigscreen incarnation of the property, 1983's "Twilight Zone: The Movie," with Steven Spielberg and John Landis producing and directing segments.

Paintball
(Spain)
By JONATHAN HOLLAND

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A Filmax release of a Castelao Prods. production in collaboration with TVC. (International sales: Filmax, Barcelona.) Produced by Julio Fernandez, Eva Taboada. Executive producers, Carlos Fernandez, Alberto Marini. Directed by Daniel Benmayor. Screenplay, Mario Schoendorff.

With: Brendan Mackey, Robert Maskell, Patrick Regis, Jennifer Matter, Peter Vives, Anna Casas.

"Paintball" reps the cinematic equivalent of having color-filled bullets pumped at you for 90 minutes. Bloody but heartless horror-thriller delivers bucketsful of noise, action and suspense, but the total absence of anything else -- including any true, character-based tension or novel twists -- will limit its chances of replicating recent Spanish successes in the genre, despite the English dialogue. Released July 10, pic could still hit its mark in niche Euro markets.

Eight thrill-seeking stereotypes, including good-hearted black guy Eric (Patrick Regis), feisty lady Anna (Jennifer Matter) and morally suspect leader-type David (Brendan Mackey) are dumped from the back of a van in the middle of nowhere and, within 10 minutes, are being fired upon with real bullets. The rest of the film sees many of them picked off, one by one, by a team of snipers employed by even wealthier thrill-seekers. Suspense elements are decently handled as the deaths become increasingly elaborate and painful, but the handheld camerawork quickly becomes as tiresome as the overdone audio. The final scene suggests that the audience is as sadistic as the killers, a hint of wit that comes too late.

Camera (color), Juan Miguel Azpiroz; editor, Elena Ruiz. Reviewed at Cine Acteon, Madrid, July 16, 2009. English dialogue. Running time: 85 MIN.

Swinki (Poland-Germany)
By ALISSA SIMON

A Widark Film & Television Prod. (Poland)/ 42film (Germany) production with support from the Polish Film Institute, MMM. (International sales: Widark, Warsaw.) Produced by Witold Iwaszkiewicz. Co-producers, Eike Goreczka, Thomas Jeschner, Mario Schneider. Directed by Robert Glinski. Screenplay, Joanna Didik, Glinski.

With: Filip Garbacz, Daniel Furmaniak, Anna Kulej, Dorota Wierzbicka, Bogdan Koca, Tomasz Tyndyk, Rolf Hoppe, Heiko Raulin, Katarzyna Pysznska.

Polish teens sell themselves to German pedophiles for cash and consumer goods in the heavy-handed Polish melodrama "Piggies." Vet helmer Robert Glinski crudely belabors the relationship between Polish poverty, access to the fruits of Western capitalism and a collapse in traditional values. Repping something of a disappointment to fans of his more nuanced "Hi Tereska," the pic is unlikely to see as much fest travel but might touch a chord at home.

Set in 1990, when the updated Schengen agreement removed border controls between Poland and Western Europe, the story unfolds in an economically depressed Polish town just across the river from Germany. Bright, clean-cut 16-year-old Tomek (Filip Garbacz) earns top marks and participates in his church youth group; an aspiring astronomer, he wants to raise money to buy a fancy telescope, but his goals change when he falls for club girl Marta (Anna Kulej), a pint-sized gold-digger who demands expensive gifts.

While Tomek earns little from his job at the local market, his best friend, Ciemny (Daniel Furmaniak), is mysteriously flush with cash and fancy clothes. When Tomek accidentally witnesses how Ciemny earns his money, he's shocked and disgusted and tries to drag him to the priest.

The shrilly moralistic, cliche-ridden screenplay by Joanna Didik and Glinski fails to make convincing or particularly poignant their protagonist's sudden transformation from straight arrow to piggie. Tomek's character turns out to have just two facets -- which is twice as many as the other dramatis personae.

It's hard to say which one-note character appears the most ridiculous -- perhaps Tomek's constantly primping sister (Katarzyna Pysznska), whose motto is, "I don't care how you earn the money -- it's important that you have it," or his foul-mouthed, beer-swilling father (Bogdan Koca), who cares only about soccer matches. With family like this, no wonder pimp Borys (Tomasz Tyndyk) and petty criminal Max (Heiko Raulin) must maintain a constant leer to indicate their evil natures.

From the ridiculous way the male piggies dress, even the most clueless parent should have an idea of what's going on. Costume details, like the rest of the lurid tech package, support the histrionics of the plot, particularly in the over-the-top ending.

Camera (color), Petro Aleksowski; editor, Krzysztof Szpetmanski; music, Cornelius Renz; production designer, Stefan Hauck; costume designer, Agata Culak; sound (Dolby Digital), Florian Marquardt, David Sikorski. Reviewed at Karlovy Vary Film Festival (competing), July 7, 2009. Running time: 94 MIN.

Phil Claydon ("Lesbian Vampire Killers") has signed on to direct the comedy "Dan Mintner: Badass for Hire" for New Line says The Hollywood Reporter.

A light-hearted homage to 1980s action thrillers, Chad Kultgen's script centers on a tight-jeans-wearing, matchstick-chewing man stuck with an '80s mentality while kicking some modern-day butt.

Beau Flynn, Tripp Vinson and Mason Novick will produce.

Sam Worthington joins Summit's Danish thriller remake The Candidate
22 July, 2009 | By Jeremy Kay


Summit Entertainment has acquired remake rights to Kasper Barfoed's Danish thriller The Candidate (Kandidaten) with Sam Worthington attached to star.

Beau Willimon will write the screenplay about an aspiring lawyer who tries to escape a blackmail plot after he wakes up in a hotel room and finds the woman he met the night before dead in the bathroom.

Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen will produce through Temple Hill Entertainment. Peter Bose and Jonas Allen of Miso Film will serve as executive producers.

Summit's worldwide production and acquisitions chief Erik Feig will oversee the project for the company alongside development director Gillian Bohrer.

Worthington starred in Terminator Salvation and is currently shooting Clash Of The Titans. He will be seen later this year in James Cameron's Avatar.

Worthington and Willimon are represented by CAA.

ROME -- The upcoming Venice Film Festival is shaping up as a launching pad for plenty of U.S. kudos hopefuls, a strong European lineup and new works from big-name helmers including Steven Soderbergh, Michael Moore, Joe Dante, Werner Herzog and Todd Solondz, alongside Claire Denis, Jacques Rivette and Giuseppe Tornatore.

With one week to go before the July 30 announcement, artistic director Marco Mueller and his selection committee seem to have lined up a slew of pics with media-friendly stars, which should pacify the international press corps, which griped last year that the Lido was thin on star power.

Soderbergh's "The Informant!" -- toplining Matt Damon as an agri-business price fixer -- is likely to world preem at the event, which runs Sept. 2-12. Warner Bros. would then give the comedy-thriller a North American sendoff in Toronto.

Moore's docu "Capitalism: A Love Story," about the global economic meltdown, is tipped to launch in Venice ahead of its Stateside bow via Overture Films on Oct. 2 -- one year and a day after the U.S. Senate voted to bail out Wall Street.

Other English-lingo pics said to be ensconced in Lido berths include Australian director John Hillcoat's "The Road," an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel starring Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron; Dante's 3-D horror pic "The Hole"; and Herzog's "Bad Lieutenant" redo "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans," with Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes.

Horrormeister George Romero may make the trek with "Zombieland" (aka "Survival of the Dead"), the sixth entry in his Living Dead series, which is also unspooling in Toronto.

Former Gucci creative director Tom Ford is expected to bow his helming debut "A Single Man," centered on an L.A.-based British college professor who loses his partner of 16 years. Pic stars Colin Firth and Julianne Moore.

Solondz looks to be Lido-bound with his long-in-gestation "Life During Wartime," a sequel of sorts to 1998's "Happiness," with Charlotte Rampling and Ciaran Hinds among thesps in the ensemble cast.

Wes Anderson's stop-motion-animated film "Fantastic Mr. Fox," a Roald Dahl adaptation, has also been submitted to the Lido, but it's not certain whether it will bow there. Pic's voice cast includes George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Meryl Streep. Also possible: Lido regulars Ethan and Joel Coen may bring their black comedy "A Serious Man."

Mike Judge ("Office Space") is likely to unveil his latest workplace comedy, "Extract," starring Jason Bateman and Mila Kunis.

Iranian-American artist Shirin Neshat's first feature film, "Women Without Men," developed at the Sundance Institute's Screenwriters Lab, is also said to be headed for the fest.

The rich roster of Euro goods will likely include the usual copious contingents from France and Italy.

Already announced as the opening-night pic is "Baaria," Tornatore's big-budget Sicilian epic that marks the festival's first Italo opener in two decades. The list of local entries is also believed to include Tilda Swinton starrer "Io sono l'amore" (I Am Love), by Luca Guadagnino; Michele Placido's 1968-themed "Il grande sogno" (The Big Dream); and Naples-set drama "Lo spazio bianco" (The White Space), from Francesca Comencini. Also set in Naples and tipped for a Venice berth is Abel Ferrara's docudrama "Napoli, Napoli, Napoli," which explores the underbelly of this highly cinematic Southern Italian city.

Among French fare that looks likely for a Venice bow are Rivette's Gallic-Italo co-production "36 vues du Pic Saint Loup," with Italian actor Sergio Castellitto playing alongside Jane Birkin; Denis' Cameroon-set "White Material," starring Isabelle Huppert and Christophe Lambert; and Patrice Chereau's love triangle drama "Persecution," with Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Spain looks to be repped at Venice with Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza's "REC 2," their follow-up to cult chiller "REC"; Austria may make a Lido showing with "Lourdes," from Viennese helmer Jessica Hausner, also in Toronto; Switzerland may make an appearance with "Pepperminta," a first feature film by Swiss visual artist Pipilotti Rist.

Given Mueller's known bent for Asian cinema, the Far East is expected to be a presence at the Lido this year; but after an Asia-heavy Cannes, available hot titles may be somewhat scarce. One buzz pic in Mueller's mix, if completed, is Chinese historical actioner "The Warrior and the Wolf," helmed by Tian Zhuangzhuang and toplining Maggie Q. It's co-produced by Focus Features and Hong Kong-based Edko Films.

Deals cut for 'Saw VII'
Lionsgate has greenlit franchise's seventh installment
By DAVE MCNARY
David Hackl

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It turns out there's plenty of life left in "Saw" and Jigsaw John.

With "Saw VI" due to open in the usual October slot, Lionsgate has greenlit "Saw VII" with a January start of production. David Hackl -- production designer of the second, third and fourth films and helmer of "Saw V" -- has been tapped to direct.

Mark Burg and Oren Koules, who have produced all six of the "Saw" pics, are back as producers. And scribes Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, who penned the fourth, fifth and sixth films, are writing the seventh.

Lionsgate has worldwide rights in North America and the United Kingdom. The five "Saw" pics to date have grossed more than $700 million worldwide.

Dunstan and Melton, who broke into Hollywood via Project Greenlight, also wrote home-invasion thriller "The Collector," which opens next weekend through Freestyle Releasing. That pic also marks Dunstan's helming debut

Trejler za "The Book of Eli": Apple - Trailers - The Book of Eli

Frank Miller ("300") has completed a first draft of a proposed sequel to his graphic novel "300" says Digital Spy.

Serving as a direct follow-up to its predecessor, the book will provide the basis for a potential film collaboration between Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures who produced the first film.

Zach Snyder, who helmed the first movie, has expressed an interest in returning and co-writer Kurt Johnstad is rumored to be contributing to the screenplay.

Paul W.S. Anderson (AVP, "Mortal Kombat") is set to return to the director's chair for "Resident Evil: Afterlife" says Production Weekly.

Anderson directed the first installment, but served only as a writer and producer for the two sequels. He also penned the fourth film.

Filming will get underway shortly in Toronto for release next September.

Shock Til You Drop also confirmed that the film is the first in a new trilogy, and will be shot in 3D using the same camera systems used on James Cameron's "Avatar".

James Wan ("Saw," "Dead Silence") will co-write and direct the film adaptation of classic video game "Castlevania" reports Bloody Disgusting.

Paul W.S. Anderson penned the script and is producing. The story begins as a Transylvanian knight leads his men into a gothic castle to seek refuge from the Turkish army. The knights soon discover the castle is controlled by the original vampire.

The script sets up a generational clash between Vlad the Impaler and the Belmont family, a clan that unleashed the original vampire and battles to defeat him.

Wan is replacing Sylvain White, who was previously set to direct.

Josh Brolin is tipped to nab the villain role in "Money Never Sleeps", Oliver Stone's follow-up to his classic 1987 feature "Wall Street" says Deadline Hollywood Daily.

Javier Bardem was originally sought for the part but the actor turned it down. Oliver Stone and screenwriter Allan Loeb ("21") are adding the final touches to the screenplay.

In "Money Never Sleeps", Brolin would play a villainous hedge fund manager. Shia LaBeouf plays a young trader who seeks revenge with advice from his fiancee's dad - Michael Douglas' Gordon Gekko character.

Danny Huston has joined the cast of "You Don't Know Jack" for HBO Films says The Hollywood Reporter.

The biopic of controversial euthanasia advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the film already stars Al Pacino, Susan Sarandon and John Goodman. Huston will portray Geoffrey Fieger, Kevorkian's lawyer.

Barry Levinson is directing with shooting scheduled to kick off later this year.

Ron Livingston, Jim Gaffigan, Kelli Gellar, Rob Riggle and Jason Sudeikis have joined the cast of New Line's romantic comedy "Going the Distance" reports Variety.

Written by Geoff LaTulippe, the observational comedy concerns a young couple (Drew Barrymore and Justin Long ) navigating their way through the perils of a long-distance relationship.

Nanette Burstein directs the film which is being produced by Adam Shankman and Jennifer Gibgot. Filming kicked off two weeks ago.

Jon Hamm and Rebecca Hall are joining the romantic crime thriller "The Town" for Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures reports the trades.

An adaptation of the Chuck Hogan novel "Prince of Thieves," the story follows the relationship between a bank manager (Hall), a career criminal (Ben Affleck) who falls for her during a robbery, and a dedicated FBI agent (Hamm) trying to bust him.

The agent sees her as his golden ticket to catching the crim, Boston's most infamous bank robber.

Affleck is directing himself with shooting to take place in Boston starting next month. Peter Craig and Hogan penned the script which Affleck re-wrote, while Graham King will produce.

Charlize Theron's Denver and Delilah Films has acquired screen rights to Christopher Buckley's satirical novel "Florence of Arabia." Theron will produce and develop the film as a star vehicle.

Pic will be written by Dean Craig.

"Florence of Arabia" is about a State Dept. employee (to be played by Theron) who, after watching her friend marry the prince of a Middle East country and subsequently get executed, fights for equal rights for the women of that country.

Theron will produce through Denver and Delilah. The Johnson-Roessler Co. will be exec producer.

Craig is writing "The French Exchange" for Pathe and Forward Films, and he scripted "Fresh," a seven-episode series that airs on BBC in September. He also wrote "Death at a Funeral," the 2007 comedy that is being remade by director Neil LaBute for Screen Gems.

Theron is repped by One Talent Management and WME, Craig by UTA and Principal Entertainment.

"The Wolfman" won't howl this year as planned. Universal Pictures is moving the reboot of its classic monster franchise to early next year.

The horror pic, which stars Benicio Del Toro as the hairy shape-shifter, will now be released Feb. 12 and serve as counterprogramming to New Line's romantic comedy "Valentine's Day," the Summit drama "Remember Me," with "Twilight's" Robert Pattinson toplining, and Disney's 3-D re-release of "Beauty and the Beast."

It's the fourth date for "Wolfman" after roaming from Feb. 13 to April 3 and then Nov. 6 this year.

Despite the change, studio's theme park still plans to heavily hype the property at its annual Halloween Horror Nights event.

"We have seen just how enormous first quarter movies can be," said Adam Fogelson, president of marketing and distribution for U, citing the $215 million that studios generated on the February weekend this year, versus the $136 million that pics earned on the November date last year.

Marketers believe next year could become "a perfect storm" for distribs, considering Valentine's Day falls on a Sunday and will be closely followed by the President's Day holiday, the next day.

The November slot will be taken by U's alien-abduction drama "The Fourth Kind," starring Milla Jovovich. It had previously not had a home on the release schedule. Studio picked it up from Gold Circle Films.

U also slotted new dates for four other pics, giving it one pic to unspool each month through the first half of next year, when also taking into account the Nancy Meyers comedy "It's Complicated" (that opens Christmas Day and will play well into January) and the untitled Robin Hood actioner with Russell Crowe (May 14).

The other dates include:

n March 12 for "Green Zone," the Paul Greengrass drama that reunites the helmer with Matt Damon.

n An April 16 position for "MacGRUBER," the Lorne Michaels comedy spun off from "Saturday Night Live" that Relativity is producing through its Rogue Pictures banner.

n A prime summer slot of June 11 for the Russell Brand comedy "Get Him to the Greek," produced by Judd Apatow. U had previously succeeded with an early June date with "Knocked Up," and Warner Bros. has struck gold with "The Hangover" this year. An April release had been previously eyed for the R-rated laffer. Fox has its adaptation of "The A-Team," and Sony has its reboot of "The Karate Kid" on that date, as well.

    * A yet-to-be-chosen first quarter slot for the action thriller "Repo Men," formerly known as "Repossession Mambo," with Jude Law and Forest Whitaker.

Robert Schwentke, German director of "Flightplan" (38% positive among "top critics" at Rotten Tomatoes) and "The Time Traveler's Wife" (due Aug. 14), is talking to Summit Entertainment about helming "Red," based on Ellis' acclaimed graphic novel.

The story deals with a retired black-ops CIA operative surprised one day by a high-tech assassin determined to kill him.

Bruce Willis is aboard as the main character. Erich & Jon Hoeber (the Kate Beckinsale Antarctica thriller "Whiteout," due in September) penned the screenplay.

I'm excited, I suppose, not because it's Schwentke, but because the hiring of a director provides more evidence that Ellis' nutty, uberviolent story is really headed to the big screen.

Summit is the shop behind everything from "Memento" to "American Pie" to "Insomnia," "Vanilla Sky," "Wrong Turn," "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," "The Brothers Grimm," "The Hottie and the Nottie," "Happy-Go-Lucky," "Step Up," "Once," "P2," "In The Valley of Elah," "Sex Drive," "Push," "Knowing" and the "Twilight" saga.

US independent distributor Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired North American rights to Danish thriller Terribly Happy (Frygtelig Lykkelig).


The film, directed by Henrik Ruben Genz, tells the story of a Copenhagen police officer who is transferred to a provincial town following a breakdown. Once there, he meets bizarre locals, including a married femme fatale.

The film premiered at Karlovy Vary in 2008 (where it won the Grand Prix) and it went on to win seven Danish Robert Awards.

Oscilloscope plans a theatrical release followed by a DVD and digital release.

Adam Yauch, head of Oscilloscope Laboratories said: "I love this film. It is just further proof that Danish people are clearly out of their minds."

The deal was negotiated by Susan Wendt for TrustNordisk on behalf of the filmmakers and David Fenkel for Oscilloscope.

This marks Oscilloscope's 18th acquisition since its founding in 2008. The company recently announced that it would do business as usual despite founder Adam Yauch announcing that he is being treated for cancer.

Other upcoming Oscilloscope releases include No Impact Man, The Messenger, and Michel Gondry's The Thorn In The Heart.

Universal Pictures has attached Ron Howard to direct "The Parsifal Mosaic," an adaptation of the espionage thriller by "The Bourne Identity" author Robert Ludlum.

David Self will adapt the Ludlum novel about a CIA operative who thinks he witnessed the execution of his lover after she was identified as a KGB double agent.

Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer will produce with Captivate Entertainment partners Jeffrey Weiner and Ben Smith. Imagine's David Bernardi will be exec producer.

The studio, which is separately developing a fourth "Bourne" installment with director Paul Greengrass, and "The Sigma Protocol" (an adaptation of yet another Ludlum thriller), began negotiating the rights for "Parsifal Mosaic," for which it had first-look rights in a deal U made with Captivate, which controls screen rights to the late author's books.

Self, best known for "Road to Perdition," most recently co-scripted "The Wolf Man" for Universal.

District 9
(New Zealand)
By JUSTIN CHANG

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'District 9'
Sharlto Copley must reverse his own alien metamorphosis and help extraterrestrial refugees return to their planet in 'District 9.'
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A Sony Pictures Entertainment (in North America) release of a Peter Jackson presentation in association with TriStar Pictures and Block/Hanson of a WingNut Films (New Zealand) production. (International sales: QED Intl., Los Angeles.) Produced by Jackson, Carolynne Cunningham. Executive producers, Bill Block, Ken Kamins. Co-producer, Philippa Boyens. Co-executive producers, Paul Hanson, Elliot Ferwerda. Directed by Neill Blomkamp. Screenplay, Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell.

With: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Vanessa Haywood, Mandla Gaduka, Kenneth Nkosi, Eugene Khumbanyiwa, Louis Minnaar, William Allen Young.
(English, Nyanja dialogue)

Upon the ashes of his aborted "Halo" vidgame adaptation, producer Peter Jackson has erected "District 9," an enjoyably disgusting sci-fier set in and around a rubble-strewn war zone where extraterrestrial refugees have taken up indefinite residence. Better conceived and executed than one might expect from a low-budget rebound project, this grossly engrossing speculative fiction bears Jackson's blood-splattered fingerprints but also heralds first-time feature director Neill Blomkamp as a nimble talent to watch. A viral campaign reminiscent of the more gimmicky "Cloverfield" should draw hefty hordes initially, but positive notices and buzz will be required to sustain a B.O. invasion.

Shot and set in Blomkamp's native South Africa, "District 9" imagines a present-day scenario in which humans and aliens are forced into an uneasy co-existence and, predictably, bring out the violent worst in each other. As scripted by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, the result reps a remarkably cohesive hybrid of creature feature and satirical mockumentary that elaborates on the helmer's 2005 short "Alive in Jo'burg," borrows plot points from 1988's "Alien Nation" and takes its emotional cues from "E.T."

The film's faux-verite visual style, however, is very much a thing of the present, blending handheld HD camerawork with ersatz news coverage (complete with CNN-style text scrolls) and talking heads, plus actual archival footage from local news agencies, so as to suggest an urgent dispatch from the front lines of an interspecies war.

The introductory 15 minutes are swiftly paced, making modest demands on the viewer to keep up with the jiggly aesthetic and the particulars of the premise: Twenty years ago, an enormous spaceship came to rest over Johannesburg, now a sun-scorched urban wasteland. Since then, the ship's inhabitants, referred to as "prawns" -- four-legged insectoid beings that walk upright, secrete black goo and speak in subtitled grunts and gurgles -- have been moved into the titular ghetto and placed under the control of Multi-National United, a private corporation bent on cracking the secrets of the aliens' ultra-powerful weapons.

Into the fray strides Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley), an annoyingly chipper, boastful MNU operative overseeing the transfer of aliens to the more remote District 10. Blithely navigating cameramen through the creatures' filthy shack homes, Wikus accidentally comes into contact with an icky substance that, within hours, begins altering his DNA.

In the script's most ingenious gambit, the contaminated Wikus is suddenly coveted by MNU, as well as by a gang of Nigerian thugs and witch doctors who won't win the filmmakers any prizes for ethnic sensitivity. Forced into hiding, Wikus teams up with an intelligent, green-skinned prawn, Christopher Johnson (voiced by Jason Cope), and his kid, Little CJ, who's kinda cute in a hideous sort of way; together, they seek a way to reverse Wikus' alien metamorphosis and help the refugees return to their planet.

Rather than plunge the viewer immediately into unrelieved carnage and chaos, the film opens on a note of anxious uncertainty and tense humor as it probes the varying degrees of hostility in human-prawn relations. Though compelling throughout, "District 9" never becomes outright terrifying, largely because Blomkamp is less interested in exploiting his aliens for cheap scares than in holding up a mirror to our own bloodthirsty, xenophobic species.

That said, he doesn't skimp on the viscera; it's hard to watch the grisly climactic battle, with its parade of high-tech weaponry and exploding body parts, and not think of the horror cheapies Jackson was making pre-"Lord of the Rings." The pic does take a sentimental turn toward the end, with an excess of alien reaction shots that feel at odds with the much more authentic passion Blomkamp lovingly invests in his grotesque setpieces.

Copley makes the most of the only substantial human role -- and not an especially likable one at that -- with a twitchy, blustery, shifty-eyed performance of ferretlike intensity. Dropping F-bombs in Afrikaans-accented English, he ably conveys not only Wikus' physical transformation but also his mental deterioration and subsequent moral awakening; it's to the pic's credit that when Wikus is shown on the battlefield, his half-mutated body covered with festering wounds and alien protrusions, he has never seemed more profoundly human.

Lensed primarily on the Red-One camera, the film looks and sounds terrific, its seeming improvisation masking the obviously exhaustive planning required in all departments. The interactions between the aliens (a combo of f/x and old-fashioned prosthetics) and the humans are handled as confidently as anything in the "Transformers" movies and are arguably more impressive for d.p. Trent Opaloch's off-the-cuff shooting style. Clinton Shorter's percussive score is effective but at times over-reliant on the loud wailing/crooning that has become a too-easy signifier of Africa and other foreign locales.

Camera (color, HD-to-35mm), Trent Opaloch; editor, Julian Clarke; music, Clinton Shorter; music supervisor, Michelle Belcher; production designer, Philip Ivey; art directors, Emilia Weavind CQ, Mike Berg; lead set decorator, Guy Potgieter; costume designer, Diana Cilliers; sound (Dolby Digital/SDDS/DTS), Ken Saville, Lebo Mawasha, Basiami Segola; supervising sound editors, Brent Burge, Chris Ward; sound designer, Dave Whitehead; re-recording mixers, Michael Hedges, Gilbert Lake; visual effects supervisors, Dan Kaufman, Robert Habros, Matt Aitken, Trevor Adams, Patti Gannon; visual effects, Image Engine, the Embassy Visual Effects, Weta Digital, Zoic Studios; weapons, creatures and makeup effects, Weta Workshop; stunt coordinator, Grant Hulley; line producer, Trishia Downie; assistant director, Paul Grinder; casting, Denton Douglas. Reviewed at Sony Studios, Los Angeles, July 27, 2009. (In Comic-Con, San Diego.) MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 111 MIN.

Twentieth Century Fox is resuscitating its "Alien" franchise. The studio has hired Jon Spaihts to write a prequel that has Ridley Scott attached to return as director.

Spaihts got the job after pitching the studio and Scott Free, which will produce the film.

The film is set up to be a prequel to the groundbreaking 1979 film that Scott directed. It will precede that film, in which the crew of a commercial towing ship returning to Earth is awakened and sent to respond to a distress signal from a nearby planetoid. The crew discovers too late that the signal generated by an empty ship was meant to warn them.

The deal gives Fox another chance to keep the "Alien" franchise alive. There were three sequels to Scott's original, but it is the first time the director has set his mind on directing one.

Spaihts has become a go-to-guy for space thrillers. After Keanu Reeves became attached to his Warner Bros. sci-fi script "Shadow 19," Reeves hired Spaihts to write the space journey epic "Passengers," which is berthed at Morgan Creek. That script got Spaihts the meeting with Fox and Scott Free, and he won the job with an "Alien" reboot take that the studio and Scott loved.

Fox has separately hired him to rewrite "The Darkest Hour," which Timur Bekmambetov to produce with Tom Jacobson. Spaihts is writing "Children of Mars" for Disney and Scott Rudin, and he will follow by rewriting "St. George and the Dragon" for Sony and Red Wagon.

Inače, ovaj Spaihts je ozbiljan pisac, čitao sam PASSENGERS i to je zaista izvanredan scenario pa ne čudi da na osnovu njega dobija druge ponude. Šteta je samo što je sam PASSENGERS praktično nesnimljiv.

Hmda, ali... kako napraviti prikvel sa ovakvim sinopsisom a koji neće biti samo rehash prvog filma?

Quote from: Meho Krljic on 31-07-2009, 12:48:30
Hmda, ali... kako napraviti prikvel sa ovakvim sinopsisom a koji neće biti samo rehash prvog filma?

great minds think alike: već rekoh na ovu temu sledeće -
oćeš da ti kažem otkud ljudi, i o čemu je plot?
biće to prežvakavanje I dela, sa ekipom LJUDI koja bilo nabasa bilo svesno bude poslata na mesto gde se sretnu s alienima. biće to film o tome kako je Kompanija saznala za aliene (jer u I delu je jasno hintovano da oni imaju neku predstavu o njima).
ljucki, previše ljucki, ima da bude to, mark my words.
na neviđeno, tvrdim - ako dobaci do TROJKE po mojoj tarifi, biće to gigantsko postignuće!

sve to, i još mnogo drugog, piše na topiku o ovom prikvelu, ovde:
http://www.znaksagite.com/diskusije/index.php?topic=7765.0

Da, sad se sećam da si to tada napisao. Sirijsli, Finčer je već napravio rehash prvog dela u trećem delu i po mom ničim izazvanom mišljenju izvukao se na najdostojanstveniji moguć način. Kako to odraditi i po treći put?

Might secret agent Matt Helm provide the answer to which film Steven Spielberg will next helm?

Spielberg is seriously considering a film that DreamWorks developed for several years before leaving it behind at Paramount as part of the divorce settlement between the two companies. But the question of whether Spielberg will direct involves a series of complex issues that touch on the relationship between Paramount and DreamWorks, and the latter studio's new finance partner, Reliance.

Spielberg's camp said he is attached to produce, but it's unclear if he's going to direct. Clearly, Spielberg is excited about the project again after the rewrite that Paul Attanasio delivered last week.

While some DreamWorks-developed projects left behind at Paramount give Spielberg and Stacey Snider the option to co-finance and co-distribute, "Matt Helm" isn't one of them. The picture is 100% owned by Par.

As Spielberg and Snider near the closing of their financing and their new deal with Disney, they would like nothing more than to have those partners be part of Spielberg's next picture. But Paramount isn't obligated to make that deal, and it's unclear whether the studio will step up to Spielberg's traditionally rich deal terms.

Confident that "Matt Helm" can launch a franchise, Par brass have an interesting decision to make. The studio, which has made a concerted effort to cut back on first-dollar gross deals, could save money by going with another filmmaker.

But who better to create a franchise's footprint than the most commercially successful director on the planet?

"Matt Helm" is based on a series of 27 novels written by Donald Hamilton about a government agent whose mission is to take down enemy agents. While the novels were set in the post-WWII Cold War era, the current script is set in the present. While a series of tongue-in-cheek films were made with Dean Martin playing Helm as a playboy spy, the tone of Attanasio's script is closer to that of "The Bourne Identity."

Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are producing.

The drama is expected to play out by week's end.

Rising Aussie helmers Michael and Peter Spierig ("Undead," "Daybreakers") have signed on to direct a remake of the classic 1935 swashbuckler "Captain Blood" for Warner Bros. Pictures says Variety.

Errol Flynn starred in the original as a wrongly imprisoned British doctor named Peter Blood who escapes with a French pirate (Basil Rathbone) and clashes with the buccaneer who kidnapped his woman (Olivia de Havilland).

The new version switches the location to space though will keep quite close to the storyline. Bill Gerber will produce while John Brownlow will pen the script.

Coweb
Zhan, wu shuang (Hong Kong-China)
By DEREK ELLEY

Emily Halpern & Sarah Haskins(1226 views)
A Joy Charm Enterprise (Hong Kong)/Beijing Channel Pictures Co. (China) presentation of a Singing Horse production. (International sales: Easternlight Films, Beverly Hills.) Produced by Wang Guoju, Xiong Xinxin. Executive producers, Joe Ma, Eddie Chan. Directed by Xiong Xinxin. Screenplay, Sunny Chan; story, Xiong.

With: Jiang Luxia, Sam Lee, Eddie Cheung, Kane Kosugi, Chan Kwok-pong, Peggy Zeng, He Zhonglin, Zhang Zuofeng, Mike Moeller, Eskindir Tesfay, Andy Taylor.
(Mandarin dialogue)

A Chinese distaff action star is born in "Coweb," an otherwise by-the-numbers contempo martial-artser that harks back to the exhilarating quickies of '80s and early '90s Hong Kong cinema with femme leads like Moon Lee and Cynthia Khan. Befitting the times, the new star is from the mainland, 23-year-old Shaolin wushu champ Jiang Luxia, whose pugnacious energy invigorates this so-so helming debut by well-known martial-arts coordinator-cum-thesp Xiong Xinxin. Pic opened in China in May but is ancillary fodder elsewhere.

With her boyish looks, broken nose and baggy clothing, Jiang has the androgynous appeal of mainland Chinese singer Li Yuchun and the recklessness of onetime action distaffer Sharon Yeung, making her a potential gay icon in the West.

Unfortunately, the pic doesn't allow her to express any of the humor or character she showed in her own online shorts, which made her a 2007-08 Web hit under the alias "Cat-Eared Baby." However, as a wushu fireball, she has the wherewithal to blaze a trail alongside other Asian newcomers such as Thailand's Jeeja Yanin ("Chocolate") and Japan's Rina Takeda ("High-Kick Girl!") in the newly reinvigorated femme action genre.

The plot is simply an excuse for one setpiece after another -- on bamboo scaffolding, in water, with nunchucks, and even in a breakdance sequence -- as Nie Yiyi (Jiang), after signing up as a bodyguard to a Hong Kong millionaire (Eddie Cheung) and his wife (Peggy Zeng), finds herself participating in an online tournament in which the rich bet vast amounts on her survival.

As in Yanin's and Takeda's movies, much effort goes into showing that Jiang does her own stunts (well, most of them, anyway), though the more dangerous ones are wire-assisted. Xiong's deliberately retro approach fits in with current trends ("Yip Man," etc.), and Jiang's final, lengthy standoff with Asian-American martial artist Kane Kosugi (son of vet Sho Kosugi) caps a genuinely impressive and breathless display of the diminutive lead's abilities.

Though mostly set in Hong Kong, the pic was actually shot in China's Guangdong province. Sam Lee provides a smidgen of lightness as her childhood friend, and Cheung most of the acting smarts. Tech package is OK, though editing is choppy.

English title is never explained, though could be an abbreviation for "Combat Web." Chinese title roughly means "Peerless Combat."

Camera (color), Chan Chor-keung; editor, Lee Ka-wing; music, Brother Hung; art director, Simon So; costume designer, Sukie Yip; sound (Dolby Digital); martial arts director, Xiong. Reviewed on DVD, London, July 28, 2009. Running time: 87 MIN.

Chaw
Chawoo (South Korea)
By DEREK ELLEY


A Lotte Entertainment release of a Lotte Entertainment, Big House Vantage Holdings presentation of a Soo Jack Film, Big House Vantage Holdings production. (International sales: Fine Cut, Seoul.) Produced by Park Gyeong-deok. Directed, written by Shin Jeong-weon.

With: Eom Tae-woong, Jeong Yu-mi, Jang Hang-seon, Yun Je-mun, Park Hyeok-gweon, Jeong Yun-min, Heo Yeon-hwa, Go Seo-heui, Park Hye-sin.

"Razorback" meets "Jaws" in the blackly comic horror outing "Chaw," in which a giant wild boar dines on humans in the South Korean countryside. This smartly scripted nod to B-movie conventions, which also throws in references to "Predator" for good measure, is a tasty crowdpleaser for auds of all stripes, with midnight fest legs and juicy ancillary potential. Mid-July release has racked up a toothsome 1.25 million admissions locally in its first three weeks, and has already sold to 15 countries.

Title (pronounced "chow") is supposedly a dialect word for an animal trap used in the central and northwest parts of the country. More conveniently, the English transliteration also evokes that of Spielberg's shark thriller, as does its general outline -- an early kill mistaken for the real thing, a local official worried about the impact on tourism if news of the murders seeps out.

Setting is the small village of Sameri, populated by the usual collection of gruff locals and weirdos -- including a madwoman (Go Seo-heui) with a baby doll -- and surrounded by a forest where something evil lurks. As the body count gradually rises and a retired hunter's cute granddaughter (Jang Hang-seon) becomes the latest victim, the preening Det. Shin (Park Hyeok-gweon) arrives from Seoul to investigate. Also in town is short-fused cop Kim (Eom Tae-woong, the main character in "Handphone"), who's been reassigned from the capital and is staying with his heavily pregnant wife (Heo Yeon-hwa) and crazed mom (Park Hye-jin).

After the hungry hog arrives unannounced at a premature celebration of its death, Cheon, Shin and Kim finally team up with a younger pro hunter (Yun Je-mun), and a young ecologist (Jeong Yu-mi), to hunt the critter down and find Kim's mom, who's gone AWOL.

The construction and the characters are knowingly generic, but the protags' personal quirks and mildly goofy interplay maintain human interest until the monster's next appearance. Park is good as the shades-wearing Mr. Cool detective who can't stop pilfering other's possessions; Yun aces as the arrogant, high-tech hunter who's the polar opposite of vet stalker Cheon; and a deglammed Jeong likable as the geeky researcher who wants to record everything on her digicam.

Helmer Shin Jeong-weon mines some of the same small-town material he did in his macabre comedy, "To Catch a Virgin Ghost," but delivers thrills when the occasion demands. Martial score ups the adrenaline at crucial moments, and creature effects, though cheesy, do the job.

The pic was partly shot in California, where Polygon Entertainment also worked on the visual effects.



Camera (color), Kim Yong-cheol; editor, Kim Du-jin; music, Kim Jun-seong; art director, Kim Gyeong-mi; sound (Dolby Digital), Jeong Jin-mo; creature effects supervisor, Erik Jensen; visual effects, Polygon Entertainment, Stareast Digital Lab. Reviewed at Primus 11, Bucheon, South Korea, July 20, 2009. Running time: 122 MIN.

Black
(France)
By JORDAN MINTZER


A Zootrope Films release of a Chic Films production, with participation of Canal Plus, CineCinema. (International sales: Shoreline Entertainment, Los Angeles.) Produced by Marco Cherqui. Executive producer, Lauranne Bourrachot. Directed by Pierre Laffargue. Screenplay, Laffargue, Lucio Mad, Gabor Rassov.

With: MC Jean Gab'1, Carole Karemera, Francois Levantal, Anton Yakovlev, Mata Gabin, Thierno Ndaye Doss, Ibrahima MBaye, Michel Duperial, Tapha Gueye, Nicky Naude, Louis-Karim Nebati, Youssef Hajdi, Francois Bredon.

Thirty-five years ago, Gallic blaxploitationer "Black" would have make debuting helmer Pierre Laffargue someone to watch. But with neither the irony of the recently revamped "OSS 117" series nor the hipsterness of Quentin Tarantino, pic is merely a straightforward reworking of a genre that was never made in France during its heyday. Thanks to the joyously retro soundtrack and widescreen staging, as well as the delightfully B-grade perf by rapper MC Jean Gab'1 (pronounced "Gabin," like the actor), aficionados will want to add this to their superfly playlists. Otherwise, the B.O. macking will be minimal.

Beyond selected tracks by funk greats like Roy Ayers and Eumir Deodato, and a kitsch level as large as Pam Grier's afro in "Coffy," "Black" is not your average blaxploitation pic and Black (Gab'1) not your average streetwise hero: Mean and muscular, a low-key dresser, far from a ladies' man and slightly awkward when mouthing the script's scant, cuss-heavy dialogue, he's closer to Carl Weathers of "Action Jackson" than to bad boys like "Shaft" or "Black Caesar."

Likewise, the film's combat-packed sequences, "exotic" tropical settings and gangs of raging Russian mercenaries make it feel more like a throwaway '80s actioner than a '70s blend of urban groove and African-American empowerment.

Still, the overall upbeat pacing and handy widescreen compositions by Patrick Ghringhelli ("After We're Gone") make for a pleasant ride as the pic first follows ex-con Black during a bumbled Parisian armored-car robbery, and then on the run to Dakar, where he hopes to heist a briefcase of priceless diamonds.

Though his origins are Senegalese, Black has never been to his home country. He quickly gets more than he's bargained for, losing his fellow henchman but teaming up with a suave local cop (Carole Karemera) to make it out alive.

Like his character, Gab'1 ("District B13: Ultimatum") was himself involved in several robberies, spent seven years in prison and then rose to fame with his hit rap single, "J't'emmerde" (roughly, "Fuck you"). He's not the most animated of actors, but he does have a wry sort of humor and a child's smile a la Mike Tyson that makes him wickedly charming.

He also seems vaguely human, compared with his Caucasian adversaries. These include a lanky arms dealer (Francois Levantal) who's slowly transforming, Cronenberg-style, into a human snake, and a mad Russian general (Anton Yakovlev) who resembles Dolph Lundgren on amphetamines.

Faithful to his influences, Laffargue films the action in sustained, old-school wide shots, using plenty of eye-catching street locations in Senegal and very little detectable CGI.
More than one option

    * (Co) Canal Plus
      Filmography, Year, Role
    * (Co) Canal Plus
      Filmography, Year, Role



Camera (color, Panavision widescreen) Patrick Ghringhelli; editor, Pierre Laffargue; production designers, Arnaud Roth, Moustafa Ndiaye; costume designers, Alice Cambournac, Lattali Soraya; sound (Dolby Digital), Jean-Luc Audy, Patrice Grisolet, Christophe Vingtrinier; assistant directors, Hubert Barbin, Demba Dieye; casting, Gigi Akoka, Hubert Laba Ndao. Reviewed at Rex 7, Paris, July 15, 2009. (In SXSW Film Festival -- Fantastic Fest at Midnight.) Running time: 109 MIN.

Haeundae
(South Korea)
By DEREK ELLEY


A CJ Entertainment release and presentation of a JK Films production, in association with CJ Entertainment. (International sales: CJ, Seoul.) Produced by Yun Je-gyun. Executive producer, Kim Jeong-ah. Directed, written by Yun Je-gyun.

With: Seol Gyeong-gu, Ha Ji-weon, Park Jung-hun, Eom Jeong-hwa, Lee Min-gi, Gang Ye-weon, Kim In-gweon, Cheon Bo-geun, Song Jae-ho.
(Korean, English, Japanese dialogue)

South Korea's most popular beach resort gets trashed by a tsunami -- but the characters triumph over the CGI -- in "Haeundae," the first full-on disaster movie from the peninsula. This thoroughly entertaining, tightly cut slice of widescreen hokum goes the usual route of focusing on a small, dysfunctional group before the badass brine hits, but with much more leavening humor than most Western efforts. Its July 22 release swamped local theaters, taking a beefy 2 million admissions (some $15 million) in its first five days; offshore, it'll be more of a specialty curio, especially after Sony/Columbia's "2012" overwhelms the planet in November.

The past couple of years have seen London underwater ("Flood"), China ravaged ("Super Typhoon") and Tokyo's subway waterlogged ("252"). Overall, "Haeundae" is the best of the bunch, and its $10.5 million tab, huge by local standards, is all up on the screen.

Haeundae is part of the southern coastal sprawl that makes up Busan, the country's second biggest city and home to its best-known film fest. The pre-credits sequence, set in December 2004, references a (real-life) milder event, as a deep-sea trawler is caught in a heavy storm-cum-tsunami. One man dies, trapped under equipment.

On board that night was Choi Man-shik (Seol Gyeong-gu) who, in August 2009, still blames himself for the accident. Choi hasn't been to sea since, drowning his sorrows in drink while trying to care for his young son (Cheon Bo-geun). Meanwhile, Choi's longtime g.f., Gang Yeon-heui (Ha Ji-weon), who happens to be the dead man's daughter, runs a small seaside fish eatery while waiting patiently for Choi to propose.

Script by helmer Yun Je-gyun (a Busan native) wastes no time drawing connections among a small cluster of characters. They include Choi's handsome younger brother, lifeguard Hyeong-shik (Lee Min-gi), who, after rescuing an oversexed college student from Seoul (Gang Ye-weon), spends the rest of the movie fending off her rich jock admirer.

Also in the frame are Choi's uncle (Song Jae-ho), a wealthy property developer; Kim Hwi (Park Jung-hun), a marine geologist involved in the earlier tsunami; and Kim's careerist ex-wife, Lee Yu-jin (Eom Jeong-hwa), in town for a business event along with the young daughter Kim never knew he had.

The opening hour of most disaster movies generally reps a tiresome waiting game before the effects kick in. But in brief strokes, "Haeundae" manages to sketch a likable collection of drunks, losers and people just getting by in life that's entertaining on its own terms. (Choi's drunken escapade at a baseball game is a case in point.) In one magical sequence, all the characters enjoy a brief moment of true romance and happiness during a fireworks display that cements the pic's emotional framework.

The second hour, as Park vainly tries to persuade the Disaster Prevention Agency that a real mutha is on its way following an undersea earthquake, sees all the characters trapped in individual situations when the tsunami rolls in.

Visual effects, supervised by Hans Uhlig ("The Day After Tomorrow") and masterminded by Marin County's Polygon Entertainment, are OK, especially for a movie in which they're the cherry on the cake rather than the whole bakery. Special effects, utilizing some original, half-comic ideas, are generally more impressive.

A dramatic lead with an impressive resume, Seol ("Public Enemy," "Oasis") makes attractively light work of his loser/drunk, and is nicely balanced by the charismatic Ha -- a regular in Yun's movies ("Sex Is Zero," "Miracle on 1st Street") -- as his smiley-eyed, practical other half. Other perfs are more rote.

Editing by Shin Min-gyeong, some 10 minutes tighter than originally announced, wastes little time. Lee Byeong-woo's big score is overdone in the final reels.

Camera (color, widescreen, HD-to-35mm), Kim Yeong-ho; editor, Shin Min-gyeong; music, Lee Byeong-woo; production designer, Hwang In-jun; costume designer, Kim Jong-weon; sound (Dolby Digital), Eun Heui-su, Andy Wiskes; senior visual effects supervisor, Jang Seong-ho; visual effects supervisor, Hans Uhlig; visual effects, Polygon Entertainment; special effects, Hong Jang-pyo; San Francisco unit camera, Carl Miller. Reviewed at CGV 4, Bucheon, South Korea, July 22, 2009. Running time: 120 MIN.

High-Kick Girl!
Hai-kikku garu! (Japan)
By DEREK ELLEY


A Hexagon Pictures, Nagoya Broadcasting Network, Digital Hollywood Entertainment KK production. (International sales: Birch Tree Entertainment, Las Vegas.) Produced by Masaaki Mizuno, Ken Nakanishi, Fuyuhiko Nishi. Executive producers, Akira Yoshida, Motoko Kimura, Yoichi Sakai. Directed by Fuyuhiko Nishi. Screenplay, Nishi, Yoshikatsu Kimura; story, Nishi.

With: Rina Takeda, Tatsuya Naka, Ryuki Takahashi, Kyoji Amano, Masahiro Sudo, Ichiro Sugisawa, Akihito Yagi, Kazuma Yamane, Shinji Suzuki, Mayu Gamo, Kazutoshi Yokohama, Misako Nagashima, Hisae Watanabe, Fuyuhiko Nishi, Aya Sugiyama, Kazuma Takeda, Yuka Kobayashi, Kumi Imura, Sayaka Akimoto.

East Asia's newly resurgent femme-action genre gains its youngest star -- and most offbeat movie -- in "High-Kick Girl!" This showcase for then-17-year-old karate wunderkind Rina Takeda plays almost like a training manual for the sport, stripped to the bone of plot and cinematic technique by martial-arts coordinator Fuyuhiko Nishi ("Black Belt," "Shaolin Girl") in his helming debut. Hot item at this year's Hong Kong Filmart looks grotty on the bigscreen due to DigiBeta lensing, though Takeda's deceptive cuteness and high-kickin' talent should make this a must-have among genre fans in ancillary. Pic went out in Japan mid-May.

Tiny, toned Takeda has a very different screen appeal from other newcomers like China's boyish Jiang Luxia ("Coweb") and Thailand's mop-haired Jeeja Yanin ("Chocolate"). In spotless white shirt and jumper, plus plaid miniskirt, Takeda is all Nipponese neatness and impassivity but springs to life with whiplash kicks and chops. Unlike Jiang and Yanin, the sexual tease quotient is high.

A wannabe black belt who takes on more accomplished opponents to prove her skill, brown-belted Kei Tsuchiya (Takeda) is first seen calmly walking into a Tokyo dojo and telling her milquetoast b.f. (D-Boys boy-bander Ryuki Takahashi), "Looks like they're ready for the real thing." After demolishing the entire club, she's called on the carpet by her master, Matsumura (Tatsuya Naka), who makes her do basic kata routines to exhaustion. "Karate is the art of defense," he says. "Never hit first."

But when Kei gets a call from a group called the Destroyers, who hire top martial artists to beat people up for money, she can't resist the challenge to find out how strong she is. After testing her out on a group of young femmes -- played by real-life karateka Yuka Kobayashi and aikido black belt Sayaka Akimoto -- the Destroyers' head (vet Masahiro Sudo) takes her on. They've been looking for Matsumura for 15 years, and use Kei to get to him, leading to an epic gym battle that occupies the whole third act.

The excuse for a plot -- was Matsumura so hard to find in the phone book? -- is simply intended to teach Kei the true philosophy of karate, as Matsumura takes on a roomful of fighters one by one and Kei gets the bejeezus beaten out of her. Contrary to basic genre rules, Kei disappointingly ends up as a guest star in her own movie when Matsumura takes the stage.

Still, the impressive lineup of real-life martial artists, including Kyoji Amano as the Destroyers' chief fighter, plus Ichiro Sugisawa and women's mixed martial-arts star Hisae Watanabe, holds attention. Almost every fight sequence is repeated in slow-motion, giving the whole movie a vid-manual feel.


Camera (color, DigiBeta), Nobuyuki Matsuo; editor, Kawahara Hiroshi; music, Tomoo Misato; art director, Hiroko Shimane; costume designer, Mitsuru Takahashi; sound (DTS), Mitsuru Sedani; associate producers, Kazuki Kanamori, Taku Nishida. Reviewed at PiFan (World Fantastic Cinema), Bucheon,South Korea, July 22, 2009. (Also in Hong Kong Filmart.) Running time: 80 MIN.

Hey folks, Harry here - There have been a great deal of rumblings of this project gaining increasing momentum. The following is not decisive information, meaning Jeremy's reading and screen-testing for the part. That just means he's most likely one in a handful of names at this stage. Now - is Jeremy Renner fucking A you're right for MAD MAX? Yessirree!!! I would be genuinely excited if Renner nabbed the role. It'd be perfect frankly. Damn I love the idea of a MAD MAX movie starring Renner. What about all of you?

Hi Harry

Found this interview whilst cruising the net. Jeremy Renner, star of The Hurt Locker, says he's screen-testing for a part in George Miller's Mad Max 4, which still appears to be set to start filming next Summer. What part he's testing for, he didn't say (damn). Anyway, here's the quote and link.

"*Q:* What is next for you?

*A:* I'm off to Boston on Aug. 19 for a film Ben Affleck is directing called "The Town." It's based on the novel "Prince of Thieves" about a group of career bank robbers. One of the robbers falls in love with a girl we rob. So it's a great crime thriller and romance. It's a lot of fun.

I'm a robber. Ben will direct and star. It also has Rebecca Hall ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona"), Jon Hamm ("Mad Men"), and Blake Lively ("Gossip Girl") plays my sister.

*I'm also fighting to do the new Mad Max film with George Miller. That might be next summer. I'm screen-testing and meeting George Miller."*

The Collector
By JOHN ANDERSON

A Freestyle Releasing release of a Liddell Entertainment presentation of a Fortress Features production. Produced by Brett Forbes, Julie Richardson, Patrick Rizzotti. Executive producers, Jennifer Hilton, Mickey Liddell. Co-producers, Courtney Moorehead Balaker, Christopher Lockhart, Ben Weiss, Michael Gozzard. Directed by Marcus Dunstan. Screenplay, Dunstan, Patrick Melton.

Arkin - Josh Stewart
Michael Chase - Michael Reilly Burke
Victoria Chase - Andrea Roth
Hannah Chase - Karley Scott Collins
Jill Chase - Madeline Zima
The Collector - Juan Fernandez, Tom Gulager, Patrick Melton

With both feet planted firmly on the sticky accelerator of the torture-porn vehicle, "The Collector" is a surprisingly stylish and confident high-concept thriller in which a burglar breaks into a family home already invaded by a super-sadistic serial killer; bloodletting and mood lighting ensue. Hyper-violent slicer-dicer takes its time getting to the dismemberments, disembowelments and death by bear trap, but the execution, so to speak, is first-rate. Pic shows utter disregard for auds' gastrointestinal well-being and yielded about $3.6 million in its opening weekend, but style points and fan buzz could prompt sequels.

Slaughter cinema can be divided into two pools of thought, the Freudian vs. the Manichean. The former includes "Psycho" (Mom did it!) and "Friday the 13th" (it was those rotten kids!). Helmer Marcus Dunstan and his co-writer/producing partner Patrick Melton have chosen the other side of the debate, dispensing with apologetic psychology altogether and portraying their Collector as a purist, as in pure evil.

It's scarier that way: There's never an explanation for why the captive man bursts out of a mysterious box during the opening credits, or why the box was there to begin with. Or why, shortly thereafter, the Chase family is already being subjected to unspeakable terror when their house is broken into -- again -- by an itinerant carpenter, Arkin (Josh Stewart), who had been working there in the afternoon. Why the Chases? Because, as Edmund Hillary might have said, they were there. What Arkin has to decide is whether to get the hell out or try and save the family. All things considered, he doesn't choose well.

There are a certain number of preliminaries (a surprising number, given the target aud) before the commencement of Butchery 101. Arkin has a daughter and an ex-wife, who owes money to loan sharks. He may seem like a stoner (Stewart actually imbues his character with a generous sense of cosmic resignation), but he's otherwise a decent guy: To pay off his ex's debt before her midnight deadline, he agrees to break into the Chase house, where he knows an uncut ruby of enormous size is waiting in the upstairs safe.

What he doesn't expect to find is a house that's been rigged up by the Satan-meets-"Hostel" version of Rube Goldberg -- knife-studded chandeliers, staircases bristling with spikes and nails, and a machete poised, a la guillotine, to swing down from the ceiling. There are also a number of Alexander Calder-inspired arrangements involving fish hooks.

It's a rather ingenious series of tortures-to-be, seemingly characteristic of the Dunstan-Melton aesthetic and taste for perversity: In one of our first looks at Mrs. Chase (Andrea Roth), she applies a syringe full of Botox to a wrinkle on her forehead: The audience cringes, and it's a pretty good joke -- especially in light of what happens later -- about just what it takes to get an audience of horror fans to recoil. Judging by "The Collector," it's a very tiny needle, or a bucketload of gore.

Production values are first-rate, especially the sound design, and lenser Brandon Cox's virtually light-free shooting.

Camera (Technicolor), Brandon Cox; editors, Alex Luna, James Mastracco, Howard Smith; music, Jerome Dillon; music supervisor, Tricia Holloway; production designer, Ermanno Di Febo-Orsini; art director, Michael Barton; set decorator, Marina Starec; costume designer, Ashlyn Angel; sound (Dolby Digital), Gary Day; sound designers, Steven Avila, Peter Lago; supervising sound editor, Trip Brock; re-recording mixers, Kelly Vandever, Mark Rozett; special effects coordinator, Frank Ceglia; visual effects supervisor, David Karlak; makeup effects, Gary J. Tunnicliffe; stunt coordinator, Hiro Koda; associate producers, Bonnie Forbes, Shanon Davis, Tighe Michael Curran; assistant director, Alisa Fredericks; casting, Monika Mikkelsen. Reviewed at AMC Empire 25, New York, July 31, 2009. Running time: 88 MIN.

Nema nighe one high kick girl na divx, rapidi, torrenti, ...
???
Nigde nista, bas mi se gledo neki portabl kill bill sa kosookima,kad ono...
zna li neko negde?!?!?!

Carla Gugino has reunited with "Watchmen" director Zack Snyder on "Sucker Punch," the Warner Bros./Legendary drama about a girl who's institutionalized by her wicked stepfather and retreats into an alternative reality as a coping strategy.

Gugino will play a nurse in the insane asylum who becomes a madam at a brothel in the film's alternate reality. Emily Browning plays the girl; Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Jena Malone and Abbie Cornish co-star.

Zack and Debra Snyder are producing through their Cruel & Unusual banner. Pic begins shooting in early fall.

Gugino, who just completed a Broadway run in "Desire Under the Elms," next stars in the Sebastian Gutierrez-directed "Women in Trouble." She plays a porn star who discovers she's pregnant.

Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way banner is developing a Gothic reimagining of "Little Red Riding Hood" with screenwriter David Leslie Johnson.

The Warner Bros.-based banner partnered with Johnson on horror pic "Orphan," which has grossed $28 million in its first 11 days.

The "Red Riding Hood" project's been developed internally at Appian Way but isn't being positioned as a possible acting vehicle for DiCaprio.

The best-known version of the story -- in which a wolf disguises himself to fool a girl delivering food to her sick grandmother in the forest -- was published in the 19th century by the Brothers Grimm. Earlier oral versions of the tale, which date back to the Middle Ages, are far darker and sometimes involve a werewolf rather than a wolf; the first published version, by Charles Perrault, concludes with Red Riding Hood eaten by the wolf, with no happy ending.

Appian Way is partnered with Phoenix Pictures on Paramount's upcoming thriller "Shutter Island," starring DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese.

Trejler za THE LOVELY BONES!

Apple - Trailers - The Lovely Bones

Podseća na HEAVENLY CREATURES i THE FRIGHTENERS, a to su mi omiljeni Jacksonovi filmovi, jedva čekam!

A Perfect Getaway
By DENNIS HARVEY

A Rogue Pictures release of a Relativity Media production in association with QED Intl. Produced by Ryan Kavanaugh, Mark Canton, Tucker Tooley, Robbie Brenner. Executive producers, Robert Bernacchi, Scott Fischer, Mark Fischer. Co-producers, Kenneth Halsband, Camille Brown, Geoffrey Taylor. Directed, written by David Twohy.

Nick - Timothy Olyphant
Cydney - Milla Jovovich
Gina - Kiele Sanchez
Cliff - Steve Zahn
Kale - Marley Shelton
Cleo - Chris Hemsworth

A big-reveal thriller with surprises that really do surprise -- and are worth waiting for through an audaciously long buildup -- "A Perfect Getaway" finds writer-director David Twohy in popcorn form with a muscularity not seen since 2000's "Pitch Black." Toplining Milla Jovovich and Steve Zahn as one of three Kauai-vacationing couples imperiled by homicidal maniacs, pic offers a basic "In the Blue"-type lure, marrying suspense to spectacular scenery both natural and gym-toned. What develops, however, is gratifyingly twisty, and doesn't lose its humor even when the going gets very tough. Late-summer sleeper status is assured, with likely stronger ancillary biz.

Excerpts from a wedding video intercut with the early Hawaii honeymoon days of Cydney (Jovovich) and Cliff (Zahn), accompanied by ominous music, raise the usual expectations that we'll soon witness deep trouble in paradise. After viewing their destination by helicopter, the two purchase permits allowing them to hike 11 miles to a remote beach.

Their rental-car drive to the trail's start point is marred by a brief encounter with hitchhikers Cleo (Chris Hemsworth) and Kale (Marley Shelton). She seems nice; he really doesn't. Once on foot, our yuppie protags meet a more congenial fellow traveler in Nick (Timothy Olyphant), who leads them to a gorgeous waterfall where his own amour, sassy Southerner Gina (Kiele Sanchez), is already taking the waters au naturel.

The warning signs are many: The more Nick and Gina talk, the weirder they get. The stalking/skinning of a wild goat for supper induces Cliff to observe that his new friends have "officially graduated to the 'crazy' category." This is no idle jest; by then, everyone has become aware that a pair of honeymooners in Honolulu were brutally murdered by another couple who are still at large.

It takes "Getaway" a full hour before it springs its biggest -- though far from last -- plot twist (which no doubt will be spoiled for many by text-messaging friends and unsubtly hinting reviewers). But that hour is far from time spent waiting for something to happen, as Twohy's screenplay gifts its principals with some fresh, sparky dialogue. When things finally do go to hell in the proverbial handbasket, the humor becomes more visceral than verbal, though one female character does get a memorably offhand last line.

The script's sole dicey aspect is the characters' occasional, self-conscious quipping about the very thriller-movie tropes being upended (excused by the fact that Cliff is a rising screenwriter), but fortunately those aren't pushed to overload. Twohy's one directorial misstep is a late bit of split-screen gimmickry that values style over content. But those minor quibbles aside, "A Perfect Getaway" is most satisfying (admittedly, "perfect" would be a stretch) pop entertainment that's clever enough to require no apologies for being sexy, gory, and far-fetched when thought about afterward.

Clearly enjoying their character idiosyncracies, the thesps are sharp, with slowly rising star Olyphant and comparative unknown Sanchez likely to get career boosts. Production is first-rate down the line; Mark Plummer's widescreen images were mostly shot on Puerto Rico for tax-credit purposes, with some Jamaica and Kauai pickups dressed in.

Camera (Technicolor, widescreen), Mark Plummer; editor, Tracy Adams; music, Boris Elkis; music supervisor, Gina Amador; production designer, Joseph Nemec III; art director, Zina Torres; set decorator, Lisa J. Alkofer; costume designer, Laura Goldsmith; sound (Dolby Digital), Steven Grothe; re-recording mixers, Marc Fishman, Tony Lamberti; visual effects supervisors, Jonah Loop, Tim Carras; assistant directors, Myron Hoffert, Joan G. Bostwick; casting, Anne McCarthy, Jay Scully, Freddy Luis. Reviewed at Sony Metreon, San Francisco, August 4, 2009. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 97 MIN.

'Green Hornet' casts Kato role
Jay Chou joins Seth Rogen in Columbia pic
By DAVE MCNARY
Jay Chou

Chou
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Taiwanese singer-actor Jay Chou has joined the cast of Columbia's "The Green Hornet" opposite Seth Rogen in the role of sidekick Kato.

Chou replaces Hong Kong actor Stephen Chow in the role, originally made famous by Bruce Lee in the 1966-67 TV series.

Col made the announcement Friday. "Hornet," directed by Michel Gondry, is slotted for a summer 2010 release and the project's moving ahead for a fall start date.

"Jay is incredibly unique and charming and fights like a wild dog!" Gondry said.

Chou broke into film in "Initial D" in 2005 in China, starred opposite Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li in Zhang Yimou's "The Curse of the Golden Flower" and "Kung Fu Dunk" and made his directorial debut and starred in "Secret."  He's also in the upcoming Chinese film "Ci Ling" and in Yuen Woo-Ping's "True Legend."

The studio's in early talks with Nicolas Cage to play the gangster villain in "The Green Hornet" and Cameron Diaz is negotiating to play a reporter and love interest (Daily Variety, July 21).

Frank Langella will join the cast of "Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps," the Oliver Stone-directed sequel for 20th Century Fox.

Shia LaBeouf stars with Michael Douglas, who'll reprise his Gordon Gekko role. Josh Brolin is reportedly circling a part in the Allan Loeb-scripted drama as well.

Langella is in talks to play Lewis Zabel, an old-time broker who mentors LaBeouf's character, a young Wall Street broker. The mentor's fate plays a major part in the film's plot.

It's Langella's first role since his Oscar-nominated turn as Richard Nixon in "Frost/Nixon" in 2008.

He will next be seen starring with Cameron Diaz and James Marsden in Richard Kelly-directed thriller "The Box" and Andrew Jarecki's "All Good Things" with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst.

WME reps Langella. Stone and Edward R. Pressman are producing with Eric Kopeloff.

Jon Heder to star in 'Buddy Holly'
Adaptation of comic sci-fi novel comes to bigscreen
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Jon Heder

Heder
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Jon Heder is set to star in "Buddy Holly Is Alive and Well on Ganymede," an adaptation of the Bradley Denton comic sci-fi novel. Robert Rugan wrote the script and will direct.

Heder will shoot the film when he has time off from the untitled sitcom he stars in. Laffer, produced by Gary Sanchez Prods. and Debmar-Mercury, will air on Comedy Central.

Molly Mayeux ("Diary of a Mad Black Woman") is producing "Buddy Holly" through her Dahlia Street Films banner with producer partner Michael Hennessy ("Trailer Park of Terror"). Brian Bullock of Caspian Pictures is exec producer.

In the film, Heder will play Oliver Vale, an average geek whose uneventful life changes when Buddy Holly turns up on every TV channel and declares that Vale is the only one who understands why this is happening -- which causes Vale to be pursued by a mob of disguised aliens. Rugan was creative director of the motion graphics boutique Superfad, and his first indie feature was "Alice's Misadventures in Wonderland."

Columbia Pictures and Happy Madison have acquired an untitled script by Johnathon Schaech, Josh Wolf and Richard Chizmar that comedically explores an incident in the life of ex-Baltimore Orioles player Rick Dempsey, whose Little League coach turned out to be a bank robber.
The script was written with input from Dempsey, the scrappy ballplayer who was named MVP of the 1983 World Series.

Schaech, who starred in the Tom Hanks-directed "That Thing You Do," is a lifelong Orioles fan who got involved after meeting with Dempsey. Schaech and writing partner Chizmar brought in Wolf, an established comedy writer to add humor to the character piece.

The writers pitched the story around town, and sparked to Happy Madison and Col, which is overhauling another fact-based baseball film: Aaron Sorkin is rewriting "Moneyball," the film that imploded recently but still has Brad Pitt attached to play Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane.

"Our pitch was, it's 'Catch Me if You Can' meets 'Bad News Bears' with a touch of 'Bad Santa,' " Schaech said.

Dempsey's coach, John Jennings, steered the team to a Little League World Championship in 1963, did time for his crimes and died of cancer after his release from prison.

It is the second turn at bat for Dempsey, who was aligned several years ago to a project that was set up at Warner Bros. That project went away, and the writers started from scratch.

Schaech and Chizmar most recently adapted the Stephen King novel "From a Buick 8" into a Tobe Hooper-directed thriller.

Kim Basinger is negotiating to join Zac Efron in "The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud," the Burr Steers-directed drama for Universal Pictures.

Basinger would play the grieving mother of Efron's character, a caretaker at a cemetery who has weekly meetings with a younger brother whose accidental death he feels was his fault. Efron stepped out of "Footloose" in March to re-unite with his "17 Again" director Steers on the project.

Pic was originally scripted by Craig Pearce and polished by Steers. Marc Platt is producing.

Basinger most recently starred with Charlize Theron in "The Burning Plain," the Guillermo Arriaga-directed drama that will be released Sept. 18.