the most anticipated...

[crippled_avenger]

J Blakeson ("The Disappearance of Alice Creed") is in negotiations to direct "Hell and Gone" at Warner Bros. Pictures reports Heat Vision.

Jonah Nolan penned the script described as a Titanic-like historical tragedy and romance tale set against the backdrop of the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. The cause of the fire remains unknown to this day, though it killed hundreds and wiped out much of the city.

Rebuilding began quickly and turned the city into one of the most populated and economically important metropolises in the country. Donald De Line and Ed McDonnel are producing.

[crippled_avenger]

Spanish studio Filmax has confirmed several sales deals of key titles at AFM, including Miguel Angel Vivas' home invasion thriller Kidnapped to Icon for distribution in the UK.

The Spanish thriller, starring Fernando Cayo and Ana Wagener, is drumming up a lot of business following its best film and best director wins at the Fantastic Fest and its positive reaction at the Sitges festival in Spain last month.

Filmax has already sold Kidnapped to IFC Midnight for North America, and has also now secured the UK deal and further agreements with King Records for Japan, EDKO for Hong Kong and Kinoprom for CIS. At Toronto the film was sold to Universum for Germany, GUSSI for Latin America and CCV for Scandinavia.

Filmax has also pre-sold key theatrical rights to the two new Rec films, [Rec] Genesis, directed by Paco Plaza, and Jaume Balaguero's [Rec] Apocalypse. Universum has picked up the film for Germany, Broadmedia for Japan and EDKO for Hong Kong. Principal photography for Genesis starts in January.

Balaguero's new horror Sleep Tight, currently in post-production, starring Cell 211 leads Luis Tosar and Marta Etura, has also been sold by Filmax to Senator for Germany and Frenetic for Switzerland. The film is almost sold out, with just the US, UK, CIS and Japan still available.

And finally, Filmax's horror Exorcismus, directed by Manuel Carballo, has been sold to Telepool for Germany, Seven Sept for France, At Company for Japan and Star Kinekor for South Africa) following its pick up by IFC for North America in a double deal with Kidnapped.

Commenting on these deals, Vicente Canales, head of the international division at Filmax International, says: "We are happy with the numbers and moreover with the companies we have closed the deals with. We are very selective with our clients and we know they are selective with the products they buy too. We are here for business not just to sign deals and we believe we have secured great titles to great companies and therefore business will be positive for all of us".

Carles Rojano, managing director of business affairs, speaking about the market in general adds: "Things are tough and there is not a place for everyone and everything anymore. Being competitive and offering quality and different products is the key to succeed nowadays and that is what Filmax International is doing. The market situation in Spain is really rough at the present moment, as it is in Japan and in some other key territories. But we have to see the positive side of things: we have closed good deals with great Japanese companies, also with CIS companies. We are all working hard and looking for top-quality products, this is the right way."

[crippled_avenger]

Fredrik Bond is attached to helm the sci-fi action feature "Year 12" which was previously setup at Paramount reports The Wrap.

Currently without a distributor, the setting is in Manhattan twelve years after aliens successfully invaded and took over the Earth. The story follows an underwater uranium miner who is recruited by the human resistance to smuggle uranium in his blood so they can use it to blow up the alien mothership.

Edward Ricourt penned the spec script and Joe Roth will produce. Bond is an awards-winning commercials director and was previously attached to direct the comic adaptation "Hack/Slash" for Rogue Pictures.

[crippled_avenger]

Swedish directing team Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein ("Shelter") are set to direct the fourth film in the "Underworld" series for Screen Gems and Lakeshore Entertainment reports Heat Vision.

Kate Beckinsale is set to return as vampire Selene, though further plot details are presently unavailable. Filming kicks off in March in Vancouver.

John Hlavin penned the script which J. Michael Straczynski ("Changeling") re-wrote. Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi and Len Wiseman are producing.

[crippled_avenger]

Acclaimed commercials and shorts director Carl Erik Rinsch is no longer attached to direct the long-gestating remake of sci-fi cult classic "Logan's Run" for Warner Bros. Pictures says Heat Vision.

William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson penned the original 1967 novel (and its two subsequent sequels) set in a utopian future where anyone over the age of 30 is mandatorily euthanized in order to maintain a balance over the consumption of resources. The story follows Logan 5, a 'Sandman' who serves as an enforcer who pursues those who try escaping as they approach their 30th birthday, and ultimately ends up on the run himself.

Most people remember the property via the 1976 cult film classic starring Michael York. "X-Men" helmer Bryan Singer was developing a new film adaptation back in 2004 but work on "Superman Returns" ground things to a halt. The likes of Robert Schwenke ("Flightplan"), James McTeigue ("V for Vendetta") and Joseph Kosinski ("Tron Legacy") have all been attached to direct the remake at one time or another.

Rinsch's name first became attached back in May but he's left the project so he can devote his energy to the upcoming Keanu Reeves-led "47 Ronin" at Universal Pictures.

Rinsch had to make a decision between the films this month and 'Ronin' had moved ahead of 'Logan' in terms of readiness. 'Ronin' will mark Rinsch's feature debut after his award winning commercials and short film work.

Joel Silver and Akiva Goldsman are producing 'Logan' from a script by Alex Garland and are likely to seek a new helmet rather than wait for Rinsch to finish 'Ronin'.

[crippled_avenger]

Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Soderbergh ("Traffic") is in early talks to direct Warner Bros.' long-gestating adaptation of the '60s TV series "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," according to the Hollywood Reporter.

James Bond author Ian Fleming co-created NBC's Cold War-set spy series, which followed the adventures of American and Russian members of a secret agency known as the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.

The studio has been developing the project since the '90s, most recently with David Dobkin ("Wedding Crashers") directing from a script by Max Borenstein that was reportedly well liked by Warners brass.

However, Dobkin has decided that he'll only be involved as a producer (along with John Davis), and WB is in negotiations with Soderbergh's "The Informant!" screenwriter Scott Z. Burns to write a new script.

While "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." was expected to take a more comedic tone with Dobkin at the helm, it's unclear which direction Soderbergh will take the project, as the genre-hopping filmmaker can't be tied down to one particular type of movie.

Soderbergh has Relativity's action film "Haywire" on the horizon, and he'll soon return behind the camera for WB's globetrotting virus thriller "Contagion," which was also written by Burns.

With such a busy schedule, Soderbergh will have to wait until the end of next year at the earliest to direct "U.N.C.L.E."

Soderbergh and Burns are represented by Anonymous Content, while the latter is also repped by UTA.

[crippled_avenger]

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are set to re-write the comedy "Neighborhood Watch" reports Heat Vision.

The story follows several suburban dads who join a neighborhood watch program. In their somewhat over enthusiastic approach, they stumble upon supernatural evil afoot on their block.

Peter Segal ("Get Smart") directs while Shawn Levy will produce. Will Ferrell was originally slated to star, but no actors are currently attached.

[crippled_avenger]

Crime Scene Pictures has signed on to finance the Joel and Ethan Coen-scripted remake of 1966 British caper comedy "Gambit" reports Deadline.

Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine starred in the original about a cat burglar who tries to rob a billionaire of a priceless statue. He enlists the help of a waitress who is a dead ringer for the victim's late wife, but the job's execution is complicated by his relationship with his accomplice.

Though Doug Liman had been linked to the job previously, Michael Hoffman ("The Last Station") is set to direct and shooting will kick off next May in London. Mike Lobell will produce.

[crippled_avenger]

Leonardo DiCaprio will star in and produce "Legacy of Secrecy", a film adaptation of Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartmann's book about the John F. Kennedy assassination reports Variety.

The book follows FBI informant Jack Van Laningham (DiCaprio) who was part of a dangerous and long-term undercover operation in which he became confidant to Mafia godfather Carlos Marcello, a man who ran much of the organized crime throughout Louisiana and Texas.

The book claims Marcello confessed to Van Laningham to having ordered JFK's assassination and includes a bunch of information from declassified FBI files dealing with the clandestine undercover operation. Marcello's name did not appear in the 1964 Warren Report on the assassination.

DiCaprio and his father George will produce through their Appian Way production banner at Warners. A 2013 release is likely to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the assassination.

[Mark]

Juce je Scott Mosier nahvalio ovo cudo:

127 Hours Trailer

[crippled_avenger]

Relativity Media has picked up U.S. distribution rights to David R. Ellis' currently untitled 3D shark thriller from Sierra Pictures and Incentive Filmed Entertainment says Heat Vision.

The story follows a group of college friends spending a weekend at a house on the lake to find that danger lurks beneath its waters.

Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Katharine McPhee, Chris Carmack, Alyssa Diaz, Joel Moore, Donal Logue, Sinqua Walls and Chris Zylka all star in the film which will get a new title and a specific release date sometime in 2011.

Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes penned the script while Chris Briggs, Mike Fleiss and Lynette Howell will produce.

[cutter]

Neill Blomkamp mysterious teaser from Wired magazine

Nije District 10. Genetska modifikacija & uzgoj na tragu Gwoemula?

[crippled_avenger]

Casting tests will kick off in London in the next fortnight for Bryan Singer's "Jack the Giant Killer" at New Line and Legendary Pictures reports Heat Vision.

Testing will take place for the leads with Aaron Johnson, Nicholas Hoult and Aneurin Barnard up for the titular young farmer Jack while Adelaide Kane, Lily Collins and Juno Temple are testing for the part of the kidnapped princess whom Jack must rescue to prevent a war between humans and giants.

Jamie Campbell Bower was also on the list for the male role but can't test due to a broken ankle. The production start date will begin in March and actors are being asked to commit a rather substantive eight to nine months on the project.

[crippled_avenger]

Though it looked like the film wasn't going to happen, Michael Douglas is already bouncing back from his treatments and is prepping for Steven Soderbergh's musician biopic "Liberace" as his first post-cancer role.

Last month Douglas' co-star Matt Damon told Entertainment Weekly that "I've talked to Michael and everything's on schedule for him, which is great. So we've all cleared our schedules and are all really excited about that happening".

Douglas himself, speaking with The Hollywood Reporter , says "I've got a bunch of tapes of performances. I'm thinking; I'm a blank slate. Everything shows me he was a lovely man; I just want to reconfirm that."

[crippled_avenger]

Scribe Peter Craig ("The Town") is set to pen "Fathers and Guns", the Hollywood remake of French-Canadian 2009 drama "De Pere en Flic", for Sony Pictures reports the trades.

Sony acquired the rights a year ago to the story of two feuding cops who are also father and son. The pair are soon forced together for an assignment to investigate an outdoors group for fathers and sons.

Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Denise Robert and Émile Gaudreault are producing.

[crippled_avenger]

True Grit
By Peter Debruge
'True Grit'

'True Grit'
A Paramount release presented with Skydance Prods. of a Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss production. Produced by Rudin, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen. Executive producers, Steven Spielberg, Robert Graf, David Ellison, Paul Schwake, Megan Ellison. Directed, written by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, based on the novel by Charles Portis.
Rooster Cogburn - Jeff Bridges
Mattie Ross - Hailee Steinfeld
LaBoeuf - Matt Damon
Tom Chaney - Josh Brolin
Lucky Ned Pepper - Barry Pepper
It's hard to imagine bigger boots to fill than the ones that earned John Wayne his Oscar in "True Grit," and yet Jeff Bridges handily reinvents the iconic role of Rooster Cogburn in the Coen brothers' back-to-the-book remake. Though the sibs return things to the perspective of vengeance-bent 14-year-old Mattie Ross, all eyes are definitely on Cogburn. Rather than a case of the Dude doing the Duke, Bridges' irascible old cuss is a genuine original who feels larger than the familiar saga that contains him. Awfully gritty for its PG-13 rating, this characteristically well-crafted outing could draw a wide range of audiences, ranking among the Coens' more commercial pics.

The story of a righteous young woman (played by unknown Hailee Steinfeld, her plain-faced scowl framed by a pair of girlish braids) who enlists the help of the meanest, toughest lawman she can find to track down her father's killer (a pitiless Josh Brolin), "True Grit" fits the bill of properties that film purists would rather leave untouched. But in many ways, Henry Hathaway's film was already old-fashioned by the standards of late-'60s Western storytelling (made all the more apparent when Sam Peckinpah's bloody "The Wild Bunch" opened one week later in June 1969), and is therefore ripe for retelling.

What that original film offered was a revolutionary depiction of a frontier teen assertive enough to handle her own finances, trade barbs with a pair of surly bounty hunters and avenge her father's murder, even if it meant staring down the varmint herself -- themes that reflected shifting gender roles at the time of its release.

While the Coens significantly expand Mattie's role, scrubbing away all sentimentality in the process, the character's independent nature feels significantly less resonant 40 years on. No matter, the Coens are strictly apolitical filmmakers whose interest in the material lies not in exploring gender-related themes; rather, Charles Portis' novel poses the opportunity to add another entry to their gallery of regional and period-specific portraiture, a career-long obsession that spans a wide range of genres, while remaining laser-focused on capturing the vernacular and mannerisms of the characters involved.

Portis makes a logical target, considering his ear for authentic dialogue and wry wit, with "True Grit" offering a choice opportunity to attempt their first authentic Western (a far different beast in tone and energy from the 1980s-set "No Country for Old Men"). The Coens show their appreciation for Portis' prose by hewing close to the language of his novel, evident from Mattie's tone-setting opening narration to the colorful barbs she trades with her two traveling companions -- the second being an indignant Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf (rhymes with "the chief"), sincerely yet self-deprecatingly played by Matt Damon.

But the brothers also severely rein in the humor, which the book offers in spades -- a curious call in light of the often-satirical undercurrent in their other films. What comedy does survive exists primarily between Bridges and Damon, whose characters are constantly undermining one another in Mattie's presence. Since the broad strokes of the story are known by most, the Coens are free to indulge in serious character investigation. And yet, one major, inescapable carryover from the 1969 film can be found in Cogburn's age -- like Wayne, Bridges is a good 20 years older than the 40-ish character Portis imagined.

In keeping with the novel, Steinfeld's Mattie is a plain, almost homely girl (characters frequently joke about her stern, unladylike features) whose unrealistic sense of justice doesn't jibe with the untamed wilderness of the Choctaw Nation, where her trek unfolds. Though the Coens tone down Mattie's Scripture-quoting sensibility, her dispassionate view of violence matches the directors' own, which makes for several unflinching displays of Wild West punishment -- and a return to the book's tough-luck epilogue.

The film's heavily styled language feels distancing at first, not unlike the heightened dialogue in HBO's "Deadwood," with the actors' drawling delivery making some of the lines virtually indecipherable. Even without catching every word, the subtext of each exchange is clear, as when Mattie dickers with a horse trader (Dakin Matthews) for her late father's money, demonstrating that she can hold her own in a man's world.

In what surely ranks among the most peculiar introductions in screen history, the Coens set Mattie's first encounter with Cogburn through the wooden door of an outhouse, demystifying his character from the beginning, only to build him back up during the rather taxing trial scene that follows. Bridges pulls off a total physical reinvention, complete with whiskey-stained moustache, rotting underbite and trademark eyepatch. The actor seems to have absorbed the character into his very marrow, and though Cogburn seems perfectly set in his ways, the great pleasure of the film is watching how his attitude toward Mattie goes from patronizing to paternal over the course of their adventure.

As always, the Coens' support team help pull off the directors' ambitions, with Carter Burwell supplying a full-bodied reinterpretation of "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" (the same hymn featured in "The Night of the Hunter") and Roger Deakins' widescreen lensing serving to de-romanticize the terrain and the characters themselves. For the most part, "True Grit" resists the unspoiled vistas we've come to expect from Westerns, favoring the craggy, unkempt terrain of Cogburn's face instead.
Camera (Deluxe color prints, widescreen), Roger Deakins; editor, Roderick Jaynes; music, Carter Burwell; production designer, Jess Gunchor; supervising art director, Christy Wilson; art director, Stefan Dechant; set decorator, Nancy Haigh; costume designer, Mary Zophres; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS/SDDS), Peter F. Kurland, Douglas Axtell; sound designer, Craig Berkey; re-recording mixers, Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff; special effects coordinator, Steve Cremin; visual effects supervisor, Payam Shohadai; visual effects, Luma Pictures; assistant director, Betsy Magruder; casting, Jo Edna Boldin, Ellen Chenoweth, Rachel Tenner. Reviewed at Paramount Studios, Los Angeles, Dec. 1, 2010. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 110 MIN.
With: Dakin Matthews, Jarlath Conroy, Paul Rae, Elizabeth Marvel, Roy Lee JonesEd Lee Corbin, Leon Russom, Bruce Green, Candyce Hinkle, Peter Leung.

[crippled_avenger]

A Gaumont release of an LGM Films, Gaumont, TF1 Films Prod., K.R. Prods. production, in association with Nexus Factory, Ufund, with participation of Canal Plus, TPS Star. (International sales: Gaumont, France.) Produced by Cyril Colbeau-Justin, Jean-Baptiste Dupont. Executive producer, David Giordano. Co-producers, Sylvain Golberg, Serge de Poucques, Adrian Politowski, Gilles Waterkeyn. Directed by Fred Cavaye. Screenplay, Cavaye, Guillaume Lemans.
With: Gilles Lellouche, Roschdy Zem, Gerard Lanvin, Elena Anaya, Mireille Perrier, Claire Perot, Moussa Maaskri, Pierre Benoist, Valerie Dashwood, Virgile Bramly
Unlike John Boorman's trippy 1967 L.A. noir of the same title, frenetic Gallic suspenser "Point Blank" provides few existential thrills but plenty of heart-racing action as it follows one man's marathon dash to save his kidnapped wife from execution. While there may be no real point to this rather blank exercise in classic genre conventions, helmer Fred Cavaye follows his feature debut, "Anything for Her" (remade Stateside as "The Next Three Days"), with enough impressively handled chases and setpieces to incite solid B.O. during pic's French rollout. Offshore theatrical and ancillary, plus another Hollywood makeover, are likely.

The film literally hits the ground running with a shot of a man (Roschdy Zem) crashing through a door as he dodges a pair of gun-wielding stooges; he then heads into a tunnel, where he collides head-on with a motorcycle racing by at 100 mph. All this occurs during the opening credits, and beyond a few pauses that clumsily attempt to explain the story's unlikely chain of events, pic speeds by in 80 minutes (sans end credits) of nonstop gunplay, pileups (of people, not cars) and occasionally exhilarating location work throughout Paris' streets and subways.

At the center of all the mayhem is Samuel (Gilles Lellouche), a nurse-in-training whose very pregnant other half, Nadia (Elena Anaya), is confined to permanent bedrest. When Samuel saves the wounded man (whom we learn is a career thief named Sartet) during his night rounds, Sartet's cronies kidnap Nadia, coercing Samuel into springing the criminal from an intensive care unit under 24-hour guard. Soon enough, not one but two teams of trigger-happy cops are out to either kill or protect Sartet and Samuel, as the unlikely duo runs into a barrage of false leads, double-crossings and chaotic violence.

As in "Anything for Her," the motivation here is a guy's willingness to do whatever it takes to save his gal, though Cavaye and co-scribe Guillaume Lemans ("Caged") have upped the adrenaline factor (even using actual adrenaline in an early scene) by tossing an unborn baby into the mix and shortening the timeframe. Improving upon his previous pic's rhythm by turning this movie into one long chase, the helmer and returning dp Alain Duplantier make fine use of Paris geography to accompany the action, which is highlighted by a lengthy pursuit inside the Opera metro station.

While the onslaught of characters and events can seem confusing or even absurd at various points, we stick close enough to Samuel's side that his predicament feels, if not at all realistic, than often riveting. Taking the classic wrong man scenario and bolstering it with an overdose of twists and reversals demands a certain level of deft, and in the end, Cavaye and his team wind up providing us with way more deft than depth, especially when the script's main MacGuffin turns out to be a predictable device used in any number of throwaway TV policiers.

If Vincent Lindon was never entirely convincing as a booklover-turned-gunslinger in "Anything For Her," Gilles Lellouche ("Little White Lies") does a better job at portraying the fear and bewilderment Samuel faces as he leaps from one deathtrap to another. As the silent killer type, Zem ("Outside the Law") gives Sartet plenty of screen presence, though he feels closer to a living plot point than to an actual person. The large supporting cast of mostly corrupt cops, lead by the ruthless Commandant Werner (Gerard Lanvin), are really just fully armed stock characters, with performances to match.

Tech is aces all around, providing an array of actual stunts that editor Benjamin Weill ("Dog Pound") avoids cutting to pieces.
Camera (color, widescreen), Alain Duplantier; editor, Benjamin Weill; music, Klaus Badelt; production designer, Philippe Chiffre; costume designer, Marie-Laure Lasson; sound (Dolby Digital), Pierre Mertens, Alain Feat, Marc Doisne; stunt coordinator, Gilles Conseil; line producer, Anne Giraudau; assistant director, Michael Viger; casting, Olivier Carbone. Reviewed at Gaumont screening room, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Nov. 22, 2010. Running time: 84 MIN.

[Vampirella]

Ovo bi moglo biti dobro, barem poster obecava:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1161864/

[crippled_avenger]

Author Daniel H. Wilson ("Robopocalypse") has sold film rights for his upcoming novel "AMP" to Summit Entertainment reports Deadline.

The story is set in the near future when technology designed to make the disabled whole turns them into supermen. Summit apparently beat out bids from the likes of Paramount Pictures and Working Title for the rights.

"Knowing" and "I, Robot" director Alex Proyas is attached to produce and will likely direct according to Wilson himself on his blog. Proyas apparently intends to shoot the film in Australia for a modest budget.

[crippled_avenger]

Ben Foster and Giovanni Ribisi are in talks to join the $30 million thriller "Contraband" for Universal Pictures reports Variety.

An English-language remake of Oskar Jonasson's Icelandic thriller "Reykjavik-Rotterdam", the plot centers on a security guard and former alcohol smuggler (Mark Wahlberg) who is tempted back into illicit business by his brother-in-law after encountering financial problems.

Foster will play said brother-in-law, Ribisi's role is undisclosed. Aaron Guzikowski ("Prisoners") is adapting the script while the original film's producer/star Baltasar Kormakur will direct the remake.

Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are producing. Shooting kicks off in January for a release in March 2012.

[crippled_avenger]

"Twilight" and "Red Riding Hood" director Catherine Hardwicke is in early negotiations to direct "The Maze Runner" for 20th Century Fox reports The Wrap.

Based on the first novel in a popular sci-fi trilogy by author James Dashner, the story follows a boy named Thomas who awakens up in a strange enclosed structure called The Glade with no memory aside from his first name.

Surrounding The Glade's tall stone walls is a large maze filled with monsters called Grievers. Every day boys known as 'Runners' venture into the labyrinth to map it in an attempt to find a way out.

The Maze seems familiar to Thomas who has extraordinary abilities as a Runner, but strange things begin to happen which arouses the suspicions of the boys also trapped there.

Lindsay Williams will produce.

[Agota]

Gulliver's Travels: Trailer
3D u bioskopima od 30 decembra 

[Meho Krljic]

Heh heh

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/heat-vision/wachowskis-warner-bros-aim-hood-57312

Matrix Creators Want Will Smith to Play Updated Robin Hood

Since Robin Hood hasn't graced a screen in the past month or so, the Wachowskis have decided the time is ripe to film an updated, modern spin on it.

The most recent adaptation of Robin Hood opened in theaters seven months ago next week, so the timing seems just about right for another one. The Wachowskis (The Matrix, Speed Racer) have just sold Warner Bros. a modern take on the robber of the rich, and are currently looking for a cast. They've reportedly approached Will Smith, who infamously passed when they offered him the role of Neo in The Matrix. Yes, that happened.

The film is called Hood, and The Hollywood Reported describes it as "a modern, urban take on the Robin Hood myth." That description may be vague, but it's practically a spoiler for Andy and Lana Wachowski, who generally keep mum regarding upcoming projects. The siblings will write and direct the film, as they have for Speed Racer, Bound, and the entire Matrix trilogy.

This isn't the duo's only project in the works right now. The Hollywood Reporter reminds everyone that the Wachowskis are still putting together "their Iraqi war movie CN-9," about which we also know a great deal. As The Reporter tells it, the film is "told from the point of view of archeologists piecing together events from the U.S. occupation of Iraq using found footage [which] includes two male soldiers falling in love and a plot to assassinate George W. Bush." The film, also known as Cobalt Neutral 9, is still in want of additional financing.

[crippled_avenger]

Valjda će ih Big Willy spasiti.

Mada ostaje pitanje jel ostalo nešto vredno da se spase?

[Meho Krljic]

Pa, sudeći po plotu ovog "iračkog" filma - ne.

[crippled_avenger]

Warner Bros. Pictures is planning to take late 70's British children's comedy series "Rentaghost" and turn it into a Beetlejuice-esque big screen vehicle for comedian Russell Brand reports Deadline.

The original followed Fred Mumford, a recently deceased loser who feels he can find work for ghosts whose lives were as failed as his. He soon starts up a temp agency where he rents out ghosts to the living.

Amongst his spectral clients are a mischievous jester with zero knowledge of modern technology, a delicate Victorian-era gentleman morally shocked by the modern world, a pantomime horse, a Dutch ghost who teleports when she sneezes, a Scottish witch and a female Wild West gunslinger.

Brand will play Mumford and the studio is currently seeking writers for the project. Kevin McCormick, Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun are producing.

[crippled_avenger]

Zac Efron is reportedly attached to the gritty action drama "Die In A Gunfight" for Media Rights Capital, Mark Gordon Company and Efron's own Ninjas Runnin' Wild production company reports Deadline.

Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari penned the script about a "fight-prone and death-obsessed young society man who pursues a romance with the daughter of his father's enemy."

The film marks yet another upcoming project by Efron to branch out from his clean-cut "High School Musical" and "Charlie St. Cloud" tween image. His next two projects are starring as a conman in "The Art of the Steal" and a remake of the Swedish drug drama "Snabba Cash".

[crippled_avenger]

Armie Hammer ("The Social Network") is in talks to star while Charlize Theron is up for a role in Clint Eastwood's biopic of former FBI head J. Edgar Hoover reports Entertainment Weekly.

The Dustin Lance Black-penned film, now retitled "J. Edgar", will follow the career of Hoover from his founding of the F.B.I. in 1935 where he remained as director until his death in 1972. It's expected to be a warts-and-all look at the man from his success efforts in the gangland wars of the 30's, his paranoid concern about "subversives", his links with the Mafia and Freemasons, rumors of him being a deeply repressed gay man, and the often dirty and illegal methods he sanctioned to bring down people and organisations he considered threats.

Hammer would play Clyde Tolson, a former lawyer turned FBI employee who some allege was Hoover's secret lover. Theron would play Helen Gandy, a Justice Department file clerk picked to be Hoover's secretary and served in that capacity for over five decades.

Clint Eastwood directs and shooting is slated to kick off sometime early next year for release in 2012.

[crippled_avenger]

Taylor Lautner has signed on to star in the sci-fi prison thriller "Incarceron" for Fox 2000 reports Deadline.

Based on Catherine Fisher's young-adult novel series, the dystopian fantasy follows a young man Finn incarcerated in a futuristic and completely self-contained living prison ruled by rivalry and savagery.

The daughter of the prison's warden lives outside in a future world made to resemble the 17th century and is being forced into an arranged marriage. Both find a device, a crystal key, which allows them to communicate with each other and hatch a plan to escape their respective incarcerations.

Adam Cooper and Bill Collage are adapting the script while Hugh Jackman and John Palermo will produce. No director is currently attached.

[crippled_avenger]

Dir/scr: Dick Maas. Netherlands. 2010. 85mins

Saint (Sint) is a nicely nasty spin on the Dutch Saint Nicholas legend (the country's variation on the Santa Claus tale), offering up action, chills and more than a few moments of real terror. Writer-director Dick Maas has constructed a smart festive horror movie that has been delighting local audiences in the run up to Christmas.

    The action is well staged plus there are some genuinely chilling moments.

In this variation on the festive theme, the good Saint Nick in ancient times happened to be an evil bishop who favours killing children rover giving them presents. When pitchfork wielding villagers band against him the bishop swears supernatural revenge.

The story then switches to 1968 when on December 5 – during the obligatory full moon – when a scarred and resurrected Saint Nick attacks a family, with a small boy the only one who escapes....naturally he grows to be a cop and features later. Skip on to 2010 and with snowy Amsterdam getting ready for festive fun, Saint Nick is back for more bloody revenge.

As is common with such films there are some good-looking teen girls to terrorise and a cynical cop (guess who) who is the only one who thinks there is something supernatural going on and starts looking at the rooftops where lurks a chap in a red outfit. But once the cops realise that this bad Santa has murder on the mind they are quick to give chase and respond with machine gun fire.

Dick Maas is expert at producing tense entertainment – Amsterdamned and The Lift have both been local hits – and this film could be a smart genre pick-up for distributors in other territories, especially if looking for a tasty anti-Xmas DVD for Christmas 2011.

The action is well staged – especially Saint Nick galloping across the Amsterdam rooftops while the cops shoot from the streets and canals – plus there are some genuinely chilling moments.

The Dutch Advertising Code Committee received dozens of complaints from parents who thought that the advertising for the film was unsuitable for children (the film is a '16' certificate in the Netherlands, the highest aging band possible), which, of course, is a sure sign that it would be a hit with chill-seeking teens.

[crippled_avenger]

Michelle Yeoh is starring and Luc Besson is directing a currently shooting biopic on Burmese pro-democracy politician Aung San Suu Kyi reports The Associated Press.

Entitled "Into the Light", the story follows Suu Kyi who lead the National League for Democracy (NLD) party to a landslide election win in 1990. However the win was never recognised by Myanmar's military rulers who have locked her up for most of the past two decades.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner was freed last month after seven straight years of house arrest at her lakeside mansion, less than a week after an election that critics said was a charade aimed at preserving military rule behind a civilian facade in Myanmar.

Filming began in Thailand and recently wrapped up its leg of shooting there. The production is now moving to London, followed by a fortnight's studio shoot in France. Yeoh met Suu Kyi last week.

[crippled_avenger]

The Notable Films of 2011: Part One


By Garth Franklin Monday December 13th 2010 09:39AM

Back for its third year (see the 2010 edition) and bigger than ever, today kicks off the first in a fifteen-part look at the various cinematic releases hitting the U.S. in 2011. Each 'part' contains brief descriptions and editorial opinion/analysis of varying length covering twenty films. Expect the remaining ones to go up between now and the first major releases in mid-January.

Like all cinematic lists set within a timeframe, there's some overlap. Some films here have already opened worldwide but have yet to hit the U.S., some upcoming films you'd expect to be here aren't because they're either still in development or have already announced 2012 release dates, some were on last year's list but got delayed so have been included again (but with all new analysis).

I confined my list to films that have either set 2011 release dates or had begun/completed production, and only films that have a good chance of getting some kind of theatrical release - even then its come out just shy of 300 titles at present. So, away we go:

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5 Days in August
Opens: March 2011
Cast: Val Kilmer, Andy Garcia, Rupert Friend, Heather Graham, Johnathon Schaech
Director: Renny Harlin

Summary: A group of war correspondents are caught behind enemy lines when Russia invaded Georgia in 2008. They manage to witness and film the most horrific of war crimes only to find the world media focused on Beijing. They must fight to get the footage out - a quest that may cost them their lives.

Analysis: With the sovereignty of Abkhazia and South Ossetia still in question, the relatively short-lived conflict of 2008 when Russia annexed those Georgian territories is still prominent in the mindset of many living anywhere near the Black and Caspian Seas. How this $20 million feature about war correspondents caught up in the fighting will go down there is anybody's guess, though like any political-themed film one does expect it to be divisive in and of itself - supporters calling it a bold and gritty cinematic treatise, detractors dismissing it as a propaganda puff piece.

A promotional trailer that went online a month ago shows Finnish director Harlin retaining his strong skills for shooting action with impressive scenes of helicopter gunship attacks and tank units launching devastating assaults, though it very noticeably avoids showing off any real dialogue in its scenes. An interview with him and a producer on the film claims that it's an "anti-war story that could take place in various countries."

Shot on-location in Tbilisi with the approval of the Georgian government, the setting is pretty much as on target as you can get. Yet like any real event movie with state-backing, one wonders how much of the truth will be adjusted to obey cinematic conventions and nationalistic pride. In spite of all the military hardware on display, this is essentially an independent film without any big marquee names attached, though does manage to employ a mix of veterans (Kilmer, Garcia), babes with talent (Graham, Schaech) and rising young stars-of-tomorrow (Friend, Chiquiri).

The other issue is marketability. In Europe and parts of Asia this will likely do well, around the rest of the world it's a much tougher sell. Films about the far more publicised and ongoing conflict to the south in Iraq have almost all fizzled at the box-office, and there doesn't seem to be much on offer here to separate this other than the setting. Even that is tricky enough, there's still quite a few out there who upon hearing the term 'Russia/Georgia war' think you're probably talking about some skirmish between Atlanta and Moscow back in the 80's. The synopsis hints at the lack of media coverage about the conflict as a plot point, something I hope does get explored.

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11-11-11
Opens: November 11th 2011
Cast: Unknown
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman

Summary: After the tragic death of his wife and child, a famed American author tries to reunite with his estranged brother and dying father in Barcelona. His life soon becomes plagued with strange happenings, and the constant sightings of the number 11 a portent for an entity's arrival on our earthly plane.

Analysis: Filming doesn't kick off for another month on this, but Darren Lynn Bousman is used to turning around films fast like he did with the second, third and fourth "Saw" movie. Those skills will come in handy for this, what's essentially being called a "marketing department's wet dream" where the title and release date are one and the same (and work no matter what day/month/year configuration you care to make). The worry of course is "The Number 23", the tedious Jim Carrey-led thriller that tried to explain the conspiracy theories behind that particular figure and bombed badly with critics and at the box-office.

While this will look into a similar theory, there seems to be more of a vibe along "The Prophecy" lines with the idea that something from another world entering our dimension for 49 minutes via a heavenly gate. When Christian mythology is done right, you get the entertaining story arcs on "Supernatural" over the past few years. When done wrong, you get last year's truly terrible "Legion". Bousman is an interesting director with a keen visual eye, but any director is only as good as his or her material - on that front he hasn't lucked out so well yet. For now with no cast announced and a lot of details uncertain, it's far too early to make call either way on how this'll work.

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13 Assassins
Opens: 2011
Cast: Kôji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yûsuke Iseya, Gorô Inagaki, Masachika Ichimura
Director: Takashi Miike

Summary: Set in mid-19th century Japan, a Shogun advisor sets in motion a plan to be carried out by a samurai strike team to kill a sadistic but influentially growing noble lord while he's enroute home. However he's well protected and lead by a warrior who knows the leader of the strike team well.

Analysis: Not many 50-year-old Japanese men can get Western geeks sexually aroused, but one of the few is filmmaker Takashi Miike. With over four dozen films to his name (he churns out 2-3 films a year) and two bonafide underground genre classics in the forms of "Ichi the Killer" and "Audition", Miike is renowned for his excess, taking extremes to new heights of tastelessness and ultra violence. Topics like incest and necrophilia are common place, as are inventive camera angles ranging from the bottom of a toilet bowl to the inside of a vagina.

When genre directors like David Cronenberg and David Lynch have toned down their voraphiliac and surrealist tendencies respectively, it has resulted in some of their most wide-appealing and acclaimed works ("A History of Violence," "Eastern Promises," "Mulholland Drive," "Twin Peaks"). Miike looks to be adopting the same approach with this remake of Eiichi Kudo's 1963 black-and-white Japanese film - bringing a few touches of darkness and horror to the all too familiar avenging samurai story which seems to have stayed pretty comfortably in the same mold since Akira Kurosawa's highly influential "Seven Samurai" over five decades ago.

With producers Toshiaki Nakazawa ("Departures") and Jeremy Thomas ("The Last Emperor") onboard, Miike launched the film last year at Cannes and managed to score a nomination for the prestigious Golden Lion a few months later in Venice. Reviews were strong, calling it beautifully photographed, largely faithful to Kudo's original, epic in scale and refreshingly straight-forward for a Miike film. Celebrating both his and our love for the genre and carefully deconstructing it without mocking it, 'Assassins' should also be packing genre fans in for its last act which contains a "45-minute showdown that has to be the best final battle sequence in cinema" according to one review.

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30 Minutes or Less
Opens: August 12th 2011
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Fred Ward, Nick Swardson, Aziz Ansari
Director: Ruben Fleischer

Summary: Two fledging criminals take a pizza delivery boy and a junior high history teacher hostage, strapping a bomb to the delivery boy's chest and forcing him to rob a bank within 30 minutes.

Analysis: With "Zombieland" proving both a critical and commercial success, director Ruben Fleischer pretty much had his pick of follow-up projects, including the fourth "Mission: Impossible", but instead opted for this caper comedy. The pedigree is good - Eisenberg coming off his "Social Network" success teamed with rising comics Danny McBride and Aziz Ansari who'll both pull in their own growing fanbases. Taylor Lautner's rumored cameo may have more of an impact though.

The storyline sounds like light fun, the script described by one outlet as "'Pineapple Express' with more heart", however scribes Matthew Sullivan and Michael Diliberti are unknowns at this point (Diliberti was a former assistant to Scott Rudin so he understands debasement). Ben Stiller is producing and shooting seemed to go smoothly in Michigan back in the late Summer. We'll know a lot more when a trailer hits sometime in the new year.

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Abduction
Opens: September 23rd 2011
Cast: Taylor Lautner, Lily Collins, Alfred Molina, Sigourney Weaver, Jason Isaacs
Director: John Singleton

Summary: Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner) comes across a picture of himself on a missing persons' web site. Setting out to uncover his real identity, Nathan quickly learns his parents are far from who they say they are. When the police, government agents and shadowy figures start to pursue him, Nathan goes on the run.

Analysis: Taylor Lautner's first leading man role since the "Twilight" craze made him a household name, the box-office fate of this young-skewing Bourne-esque thriller will be watched closely to determine how much pulling power the 18-year-old has on his own. His co-star Robert Pattinson has taken the 'serious actor' route with roles in indie films and period dramas like "Little Ashes," "Bel Ami" and "Water for Elephants". His pull alone managed to turn throwaway romance drama "Remember Me" into a decent little $55 million grosser. Lautner on the other hand is trying to maximise his star power while he has it, setting up potential franchise features like "Stretch Armstrong," "Incarceron", and this.

While Lautner's involvement will certainly pull in the younger crowds, it's the other elements of the production that are actually more impressive. Musician Shawn Christensen penned the script on spec and Lionsgate won a bidding war for it back in February. The mini-major made it a priority, quickly getting Jeffrey Nachmanoff ("Traitor," "The Day After Tomorrow") to do some rewrites before locking down a shoot in Pennsylvania in July. The high concept story actually sounds quite interesting and could have a lot of potential if executed properly.

John Singleton is directing, his first time since 2005's "Four Brothers", and the rest of the cast is excellent starting with "Wolverine" scene stealer Lily Collins in the lead female role. Supporting turns from great veterans like Alfred Molina, Jason Isaacs, Sigourney Weaver, Maria Bello and Swedish "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" star Michael Nyqvist could hold promise. How the tone of this will come off is anybody's guess at this point, the mystery and action angles will hopefully be played up and give us at least an entertaining diversion in the early Fall.

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The Adjustment Bureau
Opens: March 4th 2011
Cast: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, John Slattery, Terence Stamp, Daniel Dae Kim
Director: George Nolfi

Summary: Loosely based on the Philip K. Dick short story "Adjustment Team". David Norris, a charismatic congressman meets a beautiful ballet dancer named Elise Sellas, only to find strange circumstances keeping them from getting closer. Norris discovers forces are at work to ensure they stay apart, and he pushes to find out why.

Analysis: Shot late 2009 on location all around Manhattan, Damon and Blunt seem like a good idea for an onscreen pairing and the central premise of the original story is interesting if not entirely original. The only concern at the time was writer/director Nolfi who, though having served as co-writer "The Bourne Ultimatum", was responsible for the scripts of the famously awful film adaptation of Michael Crichton's "Timeline" and the utterly forgettable Michael Douglas secret service thriller "The Sentinel".

Then around the early Summer things started to go awry. A trailer launch around Memorial Day wasn't that well received, the idea that fate exists and is being controlled by a bunch of guys in suits is fine on paper but comes off as somewhat cheesy and self-defeating on screen. A late July release was pushed back into September and then pushed back again to a March 4th 2011 date - a full eight months from its originally planned release.

With at least two sets of reshoots (late February, mid June), Universal is obviously hedging its bets and tweaking this like crazy. You can't help but get the feeling that the project might have been too ambitious for first-time director Nolfi and it got away from him, leaving the studio to clean up the mess. A PKD story is usually a good start but the quality can vary from solid sci-fi features like "Blade Runner," "Total Recall" and "Minority Report" to disappointments like "Paycheck," "Next" and "Impostor". Hopefully this will fall along the lines of the former, a Damon-led project rarely stinks, but the delay means the onus is now on the studio to justify the film's worth.

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The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Opens: December 23rd 2011
Cast: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Daniel Craig, Toby Jones
Director: Steven Spielberg

Summary: A computer-animated motion-capture feature based on a two-part story from the classic Herge comics. Murderous antique dealers, a wallet thief and three miniature replicas of a sailing vessel are the key to Tintin's search for the treasure of 17th century West Indies pirate Red Rackham.

Analysis: With the studios content on feeding from the seemingly endless trough of talking critter movies, even Pixar is slumming it this year with "Cars 2", it's up to Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson to bring some inventiveness to the animation genre next year with this awkwardly titled first entry in a planned trilogy of films adapted from the famous Belgian comics.

"Tintin" is an unusual property for its inverse appeal you could call it. Comics in general sell very little outside the United States, with only the odd title like a Batman or Superman really establishing a foothold globally. "Tintin" was the opposite, a title that's still barely known within the United States and never went beyond a small cult niche there with much of that coming from the watered down kiddie animated show version. On the other hand for much of the 20th century, Herge's work was a staple in many households in Europe, Australia and other parts of the world.

Fusing well-paced adventure, mystery, political thriller and frequent character-based humor, Herge's 23 completed stories published from the 1930's through to the mid-1970's were wide appealing enough for kids yet still explored rather adult issues of drug smuggling, slavery, forgery, espionage, Government corruption and the control of oil resources. Despite being politically incorrect at times (especially in the very early books which are replete with colonialist attitude), many of the stories are produced with a very cinematic style and were a big influence on Spielberg when he came up with "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

So we come to this film and the big question is will it work? In terms of talent behind the screen, there couldn't be any finer. Simon Pegg & Nick Frost as Thompson & Thomson is perfect casting along with Bell and Serkis, while even small supporting parts are populated by the likes of Daniel Craig, Daniel Mays, Toby Jones, Tony Curran, Mackenzie Crook and Kim Stengel.

Spielberg's directing, Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy are producing, John Williams is doing the score, while beloved filmmaker Edgar Wright ("Shaun of the Dead," "Scott Pilgrim") and current "Doctor Who" and "Sherlock" showrunner Steven Moffat adapted the script. While the use of mo-cap animation didn't enthuse many who wanted a live-action take, it has allowed the filmmakers to preserve Herge's unique style of artwork while updating it with more realistic textures.

That does bring up concern of the 'uncanny valley' effect seen in many of Robert Zemeckis' films ("The Polar Express," "A Christmas Carol") where the realism becomes disturbing to watch. The first batch of stills certainly raised my concerns sharply about this, but thankfully further stills have hinted at a more stylised take. Still, none of the shots have yet shown a full on facial shot of Tintin himself, and a LOT will depend upon how all of this looks in motion.

Internationally the film has a solid chance. Set to open in October throughout much of the world, the brand name awareness is already well in place and the anticipation is already there as it's one of the few remaining comic properties familiar to many that has yet to see a major film adaptation onscreen. The age of the property could have an impact, Tintin isn't anywhere near as big amongst the current younger generation as it was to those of us who grew up in the 80's and 90's. Still, expect this to have a long life throughout October and November.

In America however is where the real war will be fought. A battle not just of brand awareness but a shameful amount of wilful ignorance on the part of the geek community which usually has no problem rallying behind comic titles far more obscure and much more third-rate. You couldn't read an article about the film in 2010 without at least several comments decrying their beloved gods Spielberg and Jackson were working on a film they assumed to be something along "My Little Pony" lines because of the use of the word 'Unicorn' in the title. In fact, at a set visit I attended last year a writer for a certain blog known for being higher brow and knowledgable about what they write seemed to take pride in that ignorance. I love my news writing brethren, but on rare occasion the odd comment like that makes me want to grab one of them by the balls and squeeze painfully hard - harder than usual anyway.

Many still have zero idea of even the general tone of the property, which means Paramount has to 'hit it out of the park' as it were with the first trailer and really demonstrate the scale, the sense of adventure, the fun and the characters. It's much more an uphill battle, but one that could pay big dividends should it succeed. The one obvious hurdle I hope they can overcome is that this is one of the quieter and weaker works in the series, lacking the epicness of the other two-parters or the sheer brazenness of many of the standalone works.

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Albert Nobbs
Opens: 2011
Cast: Glenn Close, Michael Gambon, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Aaron Johnson
Director: Rodrigo Garcia

Summary: In 19th Century Ireland, a woman has spent two decades disguising herself as a man to take advantages of the luxuries, opportunities and wealth not offered to women. She soon finds herself involved in an unusual love triangle and realises that she has confined herself to a prison of her own making.

Analysis: With filming about to get underway in Ireland, this long-gestating adaptation of the acclaimed off-Broadway stage play "The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs" is finally happening. With its "Gosford Park"-esque class drama, introspective themes about losing ourselves in order to conform to society, acclaimed helmer Rodrigo Garcia ("Mother & Child," "Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her") directing, and a great cast including Glenn Close reprising one of her most famous stage roles from the 80's - it would be a surprise for this to be anything but stellar.

Close herself is said to be personally involved in the writing and the producing of the adaption, and though there have been delays they've all been to refine the project and deliver the best possible interpretation according to sources involved. Presently an early 2012 release date is being targeted, but it's highly likely the film will have some kind of limited release late next year in order to garner a swag of potential award nominations.

Close's chances for a best actress nomination seems almost a fait accompli at this point, while the supporting cast including Michael Gambon, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Aaron Johnson, Mia Wasikowska and Janet McTeer along with director Garcia are likely to get some serious consideration should this come out right.

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Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
Opens: December 11th 2011
Cast: Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney, Jason Lee, David Cross
Director: Mike Mitchell

Summary: Alvin, Simon and Theodore become shipwrecked on an island. Singing and chipmunk-related hilarity ensues.

Analysis: Two words: F*CK NO. When your poorly reviewed 'Squeakquel' pulls in nearly half a billion in ticket sales alone from a mere $75 million budget, it makes perfect economic sense why any studio would continue with such a franchise - it's a cash cow invulnerable to criticism. That doesn't make it any easier for anyone over the age of five being forced to sit through this nonsense, it's like Alex in "A Clockwork Orange" being brainwashed without the random shots of breasts to keep you awake.

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Amigo
Opens: 2011
Cast: Garret Dillahunt, Chris Cooper, Lucas Neff, DJ Qualls
Director: John Sayles

Summary: A fictionalized account of the Philippines-American War at the turn of the century that began after two American privates killed three Filipino soldiers in a suburb of Manila. The incident turned into a bloody war that lasted two years.

Analysis: Sayles remains Hollywood's go-to man for script doctoring, but hasn't really had a hit with his own directing efforts since 1996's "Lone Star". "Amigo" hopes to change that, this passion project is based on the nearly 1000-page historical fiction novel "Some Time in the Sun" which Sayles spent years writing. Profits from it raised the funds for this micobudgeted $1.2 million film adaptation originally titled "Baryo" and shot in April on the island province of Bohol.

Yet festival screenings have yielded mixed responses, reviews praising the historical accuracies but proving much more divided on the performances and politics of the piece. No U.S. distributor has yet been locked down and one wonders if this will see a theatrical release of any kind.

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[crippled_avenger]

Anonymous
Opens: September 30th 2011
Cast: Rhys Ifans, Rafe Spall, David Thewlis, Joely Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave
Director: Roland Emmerich

Summary: A political thriller about who actually wrote the plays of William Shakespeare-- Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford-- set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I, and the Essex Rebellion against her.

Analysis: Having destroyed the world countless times over in big-budget disaster epics like "Independence Day," "The Day After Tomorrow," "Godzilla" and "2012", filmmaker Roland Emmerich is trying a change of pace with this "political thriller" exploring the Oxfordian theory that Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, was the real author of Shakespeare's plays. That authorship issue is set against the backdrop of the failed coup by Essex and the political turmoil at the end of the Elizabethan age.

"Band of Brothers" and "A Mighty Heart" scribe John Orloff actually penned the script for this back in 1998. While it received strong reviews, the project never took off because "Shakespeare in Love" had just been released. Then back in 2005 Emmerich read the script and the pair did further research and revision before finally getting the green light to go ahead and film it this year. Emmerich himself says his past financial successes allowed him essentially carte blanche on this $30 million project in terms of letting him cast whom he wants and being able to film the script without studio interference.

Emmerich's FX work has come in handy as all but one of the many exterior shots in the film is being done entirely with green screen and a computer-animated late 16th century recreation of London to be used throughout. Interiors were shot in Berlin on seventy hand-built sets and Orloff claims in an interview that while the movie "takes it as a given that he [Shakespeare] did not write the plays", the film is "stunningly accurate" in terms of historical events and the period recreation.

Yet "Anonymous" also incorporates the far more dubious 'Prince Tudor' theory that de Vere was the illegitimate son of Elizabeth I. Emmerich himself says in an interview that "When Shakespeare wrote 'Henry V', he made things up and we're making things up too." Orloff says in the same piece "there is a point where you have to go with the emotional truth, not the literal truth, because the drama is the primary concern." Stunningly accurate huh?

Given more serious subject matter in the past, Emmerich proved himself a robust director with "The Patriot". Whatever the quality of this, it has already sparked op-ed pieces and quotes from professors and actors alike - talk that will only grow in the lead-up to the film's release.

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Apollo 18
Opens: March 4th 2011
Cast: Unknown
Director: Gonzalo López-Gallego

Summary: The story revolves around recently "found footage" shot by the crew of an abandoned moon mission that NASA claims never took place in the early 1970s. The footage reveals the existence of alien life and explains why the agency has hidden the evidence for all of these years.

Analysis: Another very low-budget 'found footage' style feature (ala. "Paranormal Activity," "Blair Witch Project"), this one works on the interesting sci-fi posit that evidence of alien life on the moon affected the future of the space program. Rushing into production this month, there's essentially no real facts out about this other than "Wanted" director Timur Bekmambetov is producing and Dimension Films is pushing hard to get this done and in cinemas by March.

Yet there are causes for concern. These low budget, pseudo-doco style films seem to be on the wane, neither the recent well-received "Monsters" of the utterly panned "Skyline" set the box-office alight. The writer is an unknown, though one review says the script is better than that of Dark Castle's similar rival project "Dark Moon".

The cast is REALLY unknown at this point (they're still being locked down), and the little known director had the thankless job of taking over from a visual effects guru who'd previously been slated to direct. Still, the Weinsteins seem high on this project which hopefully means there's something here worth checking out.

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The Apparition
Opens: September 9th 2011
Cast: Tom Felton, Ashley Greene, Sebastian Stan, Julianna Guill, Luke Pasqualino
Director: Todd Lincoln

Summary: A young couple are haunted by a scary ghost-like form, apparently brought into existence by students testing a whole new form of science. Who will help them escape the terrifying apparition?

Analysis: Dark Castle's horror entry for this year is a sci-fi meets haunted house tale that takes its inspiration from "Paranormal Activity," "Poltergeist" and "Flatliners" - with the plot following a couple being terrorised in their home by something unleashed after a university parapsychology experiment goes awry. Producer Joel Silver says that despite being shot in Berlin, the setting is around a cul-de-sac in LA's San Fernando Valley in an area where a lot of houses didn't ever get finished (an unformed neighbourhood of sorts). Their aim is to be "really, really scary", taking the setup of films like 'Paranormal' and then pushing it beyond into something darker.

Filmmaker Lincoln is an unknown, this marks his screenwriting and directorial debut. The young cast though is surprisingly pretty good, the best actress of the "Twilight" films, Ashley Greene, makes her debut in a leading role here opposite one of my favourite young actors Sebastian Stan ("Kings," "Gossip Girl," "Hot Tub Time Machine," "Black Swan") who'll hopefully hit it big this year as the sidekick of "Captain America". Brits Tom Felton, best known for playing Draco Malfoy in the "Harry Potter" series, and "Skins" star Luke Pasqualino are also good choices to have onboard.

One thing this thankfully won't be is overly gory. Greene mentioned in a roundtable interview earlier this year that "It's not going to be that slash-gore movie. It's that thing that just scares you to the core, and it's terrifying. The way that I can best explain it is that we do everything that a normal person would do. Everyone is going to watch it and say, 'Do this!' And that's what we're going to do. Unfortunately, it doesn't solve things, and we're still having to deal with them. I think that's the scariest part, is when you do everything that you should do and you still end up ruined." Sounds like good fun to me.

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Arthur
Opens: 2011
Cast: Russell Brand, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner, Nick Nolte, Greta Gerwig
Director: Jason Winer

Summary: Arthur is a drunken playboy and heir to a vast fortune which he is told will only be his if he marries a woman he doesn't love but whom his family expects will make something of him. Arthur proposes but then meets a girl with no money who he could easily fall in love with.

Analysis: The original multi-award winning 1981 Dudley Moore comedy is still considered a classic in various circles, so the idea of remaking it seems as heretical as another version of "Tootsie" or "Caddyshack". These three were classics in their day that are still hilarious even now, but nonetheless are very much products of their time.

The point of a remake is to take the original premise and explore new tangents or reconfigure it in a way that doesn't just work for contemporary audiences, but hopefully improves upon the flaws of the original. "Arthur" isn't everyone's cup of tea, I'm not the biggest fan of it myself I admit, but it did exploit its premise to full effect and did so with a style that nabbed it two Oscars - something very few studio comedies can claim.

So now comes the inevitable remake with Russell Brand in the starring role. Brand's schtick has quickly become old and yet oddly enough people still keep hiring him, much like Jack Black. Playing the role of a drunken rich prat allows him to turn up his obnoxious-meter all the way up, which fans will adore but will likely turn away anyone else with even a remote interest. What new angle can be brought to this premise? Why remake a property with a star whose fanbase is mostly made up of those who've probably never heard of the original?

If there's one consolation it's that he's surrounded by some top notch talent. Helen Mirren takes over from John Gielguld in the role of Arthur's butler. Rising star Greta Gerwig is the love interest while Jennifer Garner and Luis Guzmán add strong support. Actor-turned-filmmaker Jason Winer, who has directed many episodes of breakout hit comedy series "Modern Family", is at the helm. Peter Baynham, who penned "Borat" and "Bruno" along with Brit comedies "Big Train," "I'm Alan Partridge" and "The Day Today", wrote the update which should ensure some biting and darker laughs than we may expect. I'll wait until a trailer comes out, for now though this holds little interest.

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Arthur Christmas
Opens: November 23rd 2011
Cast: James McAvoy, Bill Nighy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton
Director: Barry Cook

Summary: 'So how does Santa deliver all those presents in one night?' The answer: Santa's exhilarating, ultra-high-tech operation hidden beneath the North Pole. Inside is a family in a state of comic dysfunction and an unlikely hero, Arthur, with an urgent mission that must be completed before Christmas morning dawns.

Analysis: The first feature effort from "Wallace and Gromit" creators Aardman Animation since the well-received but far too expensive "Flushed Away" got washed down the sewer at the box-office back in 2006. An early trailer released the other week, a full year out from release, shows this to be at least a bit more promising than some of the other family-orientated CG movies due out next year. Backed by a cast of great British actors, the project is helmed by Barry Cook, originally an effects animator for Disney throughout the 80's and 90's who graduated to direct Disney's solid "Mulan" back in 1998.

Most exciting are the writers attached who specialise in some of the best British comedies of the past decade. Sarah Smith, who cut her teeth as a producer on "The League of Gentlemen" and "The Armando Iannucci Shows", is serving as co-director and co-writer on the project. She's being helped by Peter Baynham, who penned the screenplays for "Borat" and "Brüno" along with many episodes of "I'm Alan Partridge". Hopefully the pair will bring some freshness to a tale that could be far too sickly sweet in the wrong hands.

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Atlas Shrugged: Part One
Opens: April 15th 2011
Cast: Taylor Schilling, Grant Bowler, Matthew Marsden, Graham Beckel, Edi Gathegi
Director: Paul Johansson

Summary: Dagny Taggart, a railroad heiress, tries to save her company and faces increasingly corrupt government, her incompetent brother, and the systematic loss of her best workers. She soon suspects a sinister force working against her as a country-wide helplessness is spurred by the phrase – "Who is John Galt?".

Analysis: The first attempts at an adaptation of Ayn Rand's 1957 magnum opus began long before I was born. In 1972 Albert S. Ruddy wanted to film a version, Rand refused. Rand approved NBC's proposed eight-hour mini-series back in 1978 but the network scrapped it. Rand attempt to adapt her own work into a script in the early 80's, but died with only one-third of it complete. Her student was given the rights but knocked back one attempt. In 1992 he sold the rights to entrepreneur John Aglialoro who retains them to this day.

Aglialoro himself oversaw an attempted TNT mini-series in 1999 which fell through after the AOL/Time Warner merger, while in 2004 another film version fell apart - that version had the likes of Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron linked. Things changed earlier this year as Aglialoro realised the studios weren't going to get a film into production in time before the deadline on his ownership of the rights ran out. Thus in May this year came the announcement about this independently financed, first of a planned trilogy of films based on the property which would begin production on June 13th, literally two days before Aglialoro's deadline.

With a budget said to be around $10 million, only five weeks of filming and no major stars - the obvious concern is that of quality. Actor Stephen Polk was originally slated to direct but was replaced at the last minute by "One Tree Hill" actor Paul Johansson whose only directing credits so far include twelve episodes of that teen drama and the TV movie "The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie". The lead role of Dagny Taggart (a name that always conjures up the image of Dabney Coleman in my mind for some reason) ultimately went to little known but quickly rising Taylor Schilling, the female lead of NBC's short-lived hospital drama "Mercy" and the upcoming Zac Efron-led Nicholas Sparks adaptation "The Lucky One".

Aglialoro has indicated that one of the main reasons for doing this film independently is that he's keen on staying as true to the novel as he can, whereas studios wanted to make some obvious changes. Staying true in this case could be detrimental. For all its popularity and status, 'Atlas' is also a famously self-indulgent exercise in literary masturbation. Rand uses a flimsy narrative mixed with colourful prose to incorporate her passionate if misguided thesis for objectivism - essentially a form of unbridled and unrestrained capitalism where self-interest is the only real rule. Gore Vidal, a man far more wise than either you or me, famously called it "nearly perfect in its immorality" - and this is the man who penned the oft-banned "Caligula".

Getting people excited about a film that celebrates this philosophy could be hard, especially considering it asks people to sympathise and champion big business CEOs - those whose unrestrained greed caused the recent global financial crisis. The material is extraordinarily difficult on its own to adapt, for example the big climax is a speech over seventy pages long, and the man given the unenviable task is Brian Patrick O'Toole whose most notable work to date is as writer/producer on low-budget schlock like "Evilution" and "Cemetery Gates". O'Toole mentioned in a forum posting that this film adapts the first 336 pages of the book and he did his "best to stay true to the spirit of Ayn Rand's novel".

It's a noble sentiment but can't hide the fact that this is one project that probably should've stayed on the shelf a bit longer. A book of this scale and ambition deserves a film of equal size and balls, what we're getting is something that's been heavily compromised and rushed into production to meet a legal deadline. Aglialoro may yet surprise us, but what's not surprising is that with the low budget on offer, the first photos from the film are decidedly unimpressive and have a very TV movie feel to them. Whether this is seen as a bold vision or an absolute trainwreck, it'll be interesting to watch nonetheless.

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Bad Teacher
Opens: June 17th 2011
Cast: Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Jason Segel, Lucy Punch, Molly Shannon
Director: Jake Kasdan

Summary: A comedy centered around a foul-mouthed, junior high teacher who, after being dumped by her sugar daddy, begins to woo a colleague -- a move that pits her against a well-loved teacher.

Analysis: Sony is confident enough in this comedy they moved it from a quiet April 1st release to slap bang in the middle of Summer on June 17th where it goes up against superhero juggernaut "Green Lantern". The premise is decent, especially if they retain the R-rated dark edge of the original script, and it's nice to see a studio comedy where the lead female character is allowed to be a bit of a bitch.

They've a solid director in the form of Jake Kasdan ("Walk Hard," "The TV Set," "Orange County") who helms from a script by the duo whose only major credits are the odious Jack Black comedy "Year One" and a "Ghostbusters III" script that's not ready for production. That's the obvious downside, and a script review earlier this year indicated a previous draft took a decidedly strange turn in the final act that doesn't fit, hopefully that's a problem they've resolved.

More exciting is the strong supporting cast - Jason Segel gets what is said to be the film's best role as Diaz's roommate, while there's strong support from the likes of John Michael Higgins, Molly Shannon, Thomas Lennon, Eric Stonestreet and Justin Timberlake as various other teachers. Diaz is fine given the right material, and her playing the schemer trying to steal the man from the lovely and innocent Punch marks a nice role reversal from her work in "My Best Friend's Wedding".

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Barney's Version
Opens: January 14th 2011
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Scott Speedman
Director: Richard J. Lewis

Summary: Barney Panofsky (Giamatti) is a seemingly ordinary man who lives an extraordinary life. Barney's candid confessional spans three decades and two continents, and includes three wives, one outrageous father and a dangerously dissolute best friend.

Analysis: After thirteen years of development, the film adaptation of Mordecai Richler's final novel is finally making its debut in a few weeks following its premiere a few months ago at the Toronto Film Festival. Producer Robert Lantos reportedly went through several different writers, including Richler himself and two Oscar winners, with ultimately little known Canadian television writer Michael Konyves finally nailing a draft Lantos was happy with. "The book is extremely difficult to adapt. It's sprawling in nature, [has] a huge cast of characters, with flashbacks and flash-forwards, and it's narrated by this character who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's" said Lantos in an interview earlier this year.

Armed with a $28 million budget and a stellar cast, reviews out of Toronto were decidedly mixed with the performances in particular praised, but the rather straightforward and linear approach to the adaptation seen as a disappointment. Clocking in at over two hours with a rather despicable lead character and a tone that's all over the place apparently hasn't done the film any favours, the likely blame going on newbie scribe Konyves and TV director Lewis. This might explain why the film isn't getting much in the way of a big push for awards consideration beyond Giamatti's performance. Filmmakers David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan also make cameos which might be fun though.

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Battle: Los Angeles
Opens: March 11th 2011
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Pena, Bridget Moynahan, Ne-Yo
Director: Jonathan Liebesman

Summary: When Earth is attacked by unknown forces and the world's great cities fall, Los Angeles becomes the last stand for mankind in a battle no one expected. It's up to a Marine staff sergeant and his new platoon to draw a line in the sand as they take on an enemy unlike any they've ever encountered before.

Analysis: Also known as "World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles" outside the U.S. to try and get us pesky foreigners onboard for the ride - thank you condescending focus group pricks. Presently the $100 million Sony-backed 'Battle' is famous more for its legal dispute over the $20 million indie "Skyline" than on its own. For those not up on the case, the visual effects company Hydraulx, which did the visuals for 'Battle', also produced "Skyline" on its own dime before Universal picked it up.

Both are films about aliens invading Los Angeles, both feature lots of handicam visuals to try and convey 'gritty realism', and "Skyline" locked in a release date several months before 'Battle'. Sony was understandably upset by this, and probably grew more concerned when the reviews for "Skyline" utterly savaged it while the worldwide gross thus far isn't a particularly crow-worthy $47 million.

Since then the mood has changed. The first few trailers for 'Battle' came out and are impressive, with a decidedly different visual style and some rather intriguing looking mechanical aliens. There's a slightly better director, Jonathan Liebsman, and certainly a better writer in the form of Christopher Bertolini ("The General's Daughter") with some uncredited work by Shane Black.

Yet the use of shaky cam, a trend that thankfully seems to be dying, is already annoying in the previews alone. Attempts by marketing to link it to a real life 'post war nerves' incident that actually took place in L.A. is utterly laughable, even the setting itself seems decidedly cliche - so much so that you could dedicate a whole genre to films that destroy Los Angeles via some disaster. I like the cast and the choice to release a big old action epic at that time of year, but Sony is going to have to improve upon what's there if it hopes of selling the film not just outside North America but inside it as well.

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Beastly
Opens: March 18th 2011
Cast: Vanessa Hudgens, Alex Pettyfer, Mary-Kate Olsen, Neil Patrick Harris
Director: Daniel Barnz

Summary: A spoiled rich kid is cursed by a girl who turns him into a hideous figure. His only solution is for someone to fall in love with him, and he tries to force it by making the daughter of an addict he has power over live with him.

Analysis: A teen gothic romance take on "Beauty and the Beast", this is a film tailor made for young women. An arrogant sleaze with a rippling six pack whom the girl manages to tame into a kind-hearted man devoted to them? Check. A touch of the supernatural to give it a slightly dark and forbidden (but still safe) edge? Check. A non-threatening tween starlet whom they can empathise with? Yep.

Early last year CBS films kicked off a very visible online marketing campaign eiyh trailer and photo launches making impacts on social networks across cyberspace. It was uninspiring, showing off something that looked more akin to a TV movie for The CW, certainly something that felt distinctly soft-pedalled. Scheduled to open July 30th, CBS did the smart move and pushed it back to the far less competitive slot of March this year. At the time they cited the reasoning being the Zac Efron fantasy-drama "Charlie St. Cloud" opening the same week and fans were complaining that "Zac and Vanessa's movies [were] opening on the same day". Sigh.

To be fair though the fledgling distributor has refocused its campaign, playing up the darker elements of the story in more recent trailers and keeping just enough clips and previews out there to keep the awareness up but without pushing so much as to become annoying. Its only danger now lies in the one real piece of competition it has that month which opens the week before - Catherine Hardwicke's more interesting looking "Red Riding Hood". For those of us who don't speak fluent BellaSwan-ian, the only saving grace in the previews is the potential comic relief from Neil Patrick Harris as a blind tutor.

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DreamWorks Pictures has acquired the film rights to Tom Rubython's biographical novel "Shunt: The Story of James Hunt" reports Deadline.

The project is being designed as a vehicle for rising young actor Alex Pettyfer ("Beastly," "I Am Number Four") who'll play Hunt, the British race car driver who took first place in the 1976 Formula One World Championships and a famous playboy off the track.

He went on to become a commentator for the sport, but died in 1993 after suffering financial and health issues including alcoholism and depression.

The studio is currently seeking writers for this biopic which Pettyfer and John Palermo will produce.

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Eric Bana ("Troy"), Olivia Wilde ("Tron Legacy") and Charlie Hunnam ("Sons of Anarchy") are all in negotiations to join the crime thriller "Kin" for 2929 Entertainment and Mutual Film Company reports Variety.

The story follows a desperate brother (Bana) and sister (Wilde) who are fugitives evading the law and find themselves wrecking the holiday homecoming of a troubled ex-boxer (Hunnam).

Stefan Ruzowitzky directs from an original script by Zach Dean. Shooting kicks off in early March in Canada.

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Billy Zane and Jack Huston have joined the cast of indie pic "Two Jacks."

Jamie Harris and Richard Portnow have also boarded the project, which stars Sienna Miller and Danny Huston.

Feature adaptation of the Leo Tolstoy-penned short story "Two Hussars" centers on two generations of the Hollywood-based Hussar family, namely, the father Jack (Danny Huston) and his son played by Huston's real-life nephew Jack.

"Two Jacks" was adapted by Bernard Rose, who is directing. He previously helmed 1997's Sophie Marceau-Sean Bean rendition of "Anna Karenina."

Julia Verdin produces through her banner Rough Diamond.

Zane will play a movie star, while Harris ("The Green Hornet") and Portnow ("Law Abiding Citizen") will portray a director and studio head, respectively.

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EXCLUSIVE: Though it hasn't yet been shopped to studios by Media Rights Capital, Neill Blomkamp's District 9 followup Elysium is looking better and better. He's just gotten Jodie Foster to commit and join Matt Damon and District 9's Sharlto Copley to the sci-fi film he wrote and will direct as his next project. Simon Kinberg is producing. Plot is being kept under wraps. Foster most recently completed directing and starring alongside Mel Gibson in The Beaver, which Summit Entertainment will release April 11. Foster is also starring alongside Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly in God of Carnage, the Roman Polanski-directed adaptation of Yasmina Reza's Tony-winning play. Foster's repped by ICM.

[Grgolj blaster]

Hoće li to biti novi 3d movie?

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MADRID -- Salma Hayek and Spanish comedian Jose Mota will topline "La Chispa de la vida" (As Luck Would Have It), a satirical take on contempo society helmed by Alex de la Iglesia ("The Oxford Murders," "The Last Circus").

"Luck" is based on a screenplay by U.S. screenwriter and producer Randy Feldman ("Early Edition," "Tango & Cash").

Originally written in English, "Luck" was developed by former-DC Comics prexy Jenette Kahn and ex-Motion Picture Corp. exec Adam Richman, exec producers on "Gran Torino" via their New York-based Double Nickel.

Andres Vicente Gomez will produce for Valencia's Trivision and Madrid-based Al Fresco Enterprises, a new company created to tap Spanish tax breaks. Richman and Kahn take executive producer credits.

Mota, one of Spanish biggest TV stars, plays a once whiz-kid publicist now out of work for three years. His luck finally appears to take a turn for the better when he accidentally takes a fall and impales his head on a small metal bar in a Roman Amphitheater.

Conscious but unable to be moved, surrounded by TV crews, a publicity-craving mayor and an impromptu agent, he sees a chance to monetize his fate through an exclusive primetime death's door interview, saving his family, led by his loving wife (Hayek), from financial ruin.

Franck Ribiere's Paris-based La Fabrique 2, which co-produced De la Iglesia's Venice Silver Lion-winner "The Last Circus," will put up 20% equity on "Luck."

It is possibly the first time a remake has been shot before the original. "As far as I know, this is the world's first example of a 'pre-make,' " Gomez told Daily Variety, signaling that though the Spanish-language adaptation transfers the action from the U.S. to Spain, it otherwise cleaves close to Feldman's original.

"(The film) is terribly dramatic, although apparently a comedy," said De la Iglesia.

It rolls from later this month in Madrid and Cartagena, Spain.

Kahn and Richman optioned U.S. remake rights to De la Iglesia's "Commonwealth" and "Dying of Laughter," both produced by Gomez.

[cutter]

Hehe, primejk.

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Robert Pattinson has signed to star in Cosmopolis, David Cronenberg's adaptation of the Don DeLillo novel, stepping into the shoes that were to be worn by Colin Farrell.

Paul Giamatti and Marion Cotillard are already on board the film, which is eyeing a mid-May start in Toronto.

The project centers on a 28-year-old financial wizard and billionaire, to be played by Pattinson, as he traverses Manhattan in his stretch limo. His goal is to get a haircut at Anthony's, his father's barber, but on this day his driver has to navigate a presidential visit, an attack by anarchists and a rapper's funeral. Stuck in traffic, he anxiously monitors the value of the yen on the limo's computer, his fortune in the balance.

Martin Katz is also producing Cosmopolis. Renee Tab is exec producing.

Farrell was attached to play the lead but segued to Columbia's remake of Total Recall, which also shoots in the spring.

Cronenberg is producing with Paulo Branco of Alfama Films.

Pattinson is repped by WME and 3 Arts.

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"Bourne" film series director Paul Greengrass has announced that his next project will be "Memphis", a film about the lead-up to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination in Tennessee in 1968 reports Vulture.

The story looks at the time in the man's life just before his murder on April 4th when his marriage was faltering, his outspokenness on the Vietnam War cost him his relationship with President Lyndon B. Johnson, and his recent interests put him on the fringes of the rising Black Power movement.

Greengrass wrote Memphis based on his own original research. Scott Rudin is reportedly in discussions to produce with Focus Features distributing, however no formal negotiations have taken place.

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Jeffrey Dean Morgan has signed onto star in Ole Bornedal's horror-thriller "Dibbuk Box" for Lionsgate reports Variety.

A feature film spin on LA Times writer Leslie Gornstein's article "Jinx in a Box", Morgan will play a recently-divorced father whose youngest daughter develops a bizarre connection to an antique wooden box she bought at a garage sale.

The father discovers that it is in fact a Dibbuk Box, which contains a demonic entity that is seeking out a human host.

Juliet Snowden and Stiles White ("Knowing") have penned the script while Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert will produce. Filming is expected to kick off shortly.

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"District 9" producer Bill Block has teamed with Adrian Askarieh's Prime Universe Prods. for the alien invasion movie "Alien Sleeper Cell," it was announced on Wednesday.

Felipe Linz came up with the original pitch and Morgan Davis Foehl has been hired to write the screenplay. Once its complete, Prime Universe and Block's QED International will package the project for independent financing, or partner with a major studio to fund production.

Story details remain under wraps but the project is described as having a fresh and surprising take on the all-too-familiar alien invasion genre that features the tense tone of "The Bourne Identity."

Block, Askarieh and Linz will produce along with Paul Hanson and Prolific Entertainment partner Will Rowbotham, while Fran Durekas will exec produce.

Askarieh was the one to raise development funds for the script, having previously done the same for L+E Productions' feature adaptation of the Eidos video game franchise "Just Cause," which Michael Ross ("Turistas") is currently writing.

Askarieh clearly has his finger on the pulse of the gaming industry, with credits including 20th Century Fox's "Hitman" and Lionsgate's upcoming "Kane and Lynch," both of which were also Eidos titles.

Linz previously worked at David Friendly Productions and Alloy Entertainment, while Foehl is a former film and TV editor whose original screenplay "Whatever Gets You Through the Night" was featured on the 2009 Black List. He recently adapted the Top Cow graphic novel "Crosshair" for Mandeville Films.

    * Movie of the Week: 'District 9' Jan 08, 2010

Foehl is represented by WME and Wirehouse Entertainment.

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Three years after production fell apart just weeks before it was about to commence, Paramount Pictures is having another go at "Ripley's Believe It or Not", a biopic about newspaper columnist and adventurer Robert Ripley reports Deadline.

The story follows Ripley's search around the world for the most unusual people and places that he immortalized in his column, and his journey to appreciate that said unusual people were more than just conquests to be cataloged.

Tim Burton was previously set to direct the $175 million film which was to begin shooting in China in 2007 with Jim Carrey as Ripley, but a delay caused it to fall apart. A year later Chris Columbus was in talks to direct but that version never came to fruition either.

Now, Oscar-winning scribe Eric Roth has been signed on to do a full rewrite of the script. Carrey is reportedly still attached for the lead role.

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Actress Brooklyn Decker says that reshoots are likely in order for Peter Berg's upcoming $200 million action tentpole "Battleship" at Universal Pictures.

"We will do reshoots. We have shot a bunch of alternate endings. There's a lot of CGI to be done - a lot of stuff in post. [Reshoots?] Yes, depending on the storyline and where they want to take it we might be doing some reshoots", explained Decker to Moviehole.

Sais reshoots are reportedly already figured into the original production schedule, and with nearly 17 months until release there's plenty of time to do them.

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Bryan Singer is going from mutants and giants to the life of one of the great choreographer-directors of the 20th Century.

HBO Films has optioned Bye, Bye Life: The Loves and Deaths of Bob Fosse, a forthcoming biography from Sam Wasson. Singer (X-Men, Jack the Giant Killer) is attached to direct the adaptation, which is to be a feature-length film designed for the premium cable network. Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, the duo behind movies such as Hairspray and Chicago and the upcoming remake of Footloose, is exec producing with Singer.

The project, now untitled and in early development, will be a co-production with Sony Television. No writer is on board.

An actor, dancer, choreographer and stage and screen director, Fosse presented a version of his life in his autobiographical 1979 feature All That Jazz. That Oscar-winning film starred Roy Scheider as a hard-living choreographer/director determined to push the envelope.

After several early film appearances in such movies as Kiss Me Kate, Fosse moved to Broadway, where he choreographed such shows as The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees. On Yankees, he met his future wife, dancer Gwen Verdon.

Fosse created his own, immediately recognized jazz dance style, full of bowler hats, jazz hands, angular hip thrusts and shrugging shoulders.

On Broadway, he went on to direct and choreograph such shows as Redhead, Sweet Charity, Pippin and Chicago.

He made his film debut as a director with the 1969 movie version of Sweet Charity, starring Shirley MacLaine. His second feature, Cabaret, won eight Oscars, including best director and best picture. In addition to All That Jazz, his other feature credits include Lenny, which starred Dustin Hoffman as comedian Lenny Bruce, and Star 80, in which Mariel Hemingway played murdered Playboy centerfold Dorothy Stratten.

Wasson is a movie historian who wrote A Splurch in the Kisser: The Movies of Blake Edwards as well as Fifth Avenue, 5AM: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's and the Dawn of the Modern Woman.

Singer, repped by WME and attorney David Feldman, is in preproduction on his latest tentpole, New Line's Jack the Giant Killer, and is narrowing the list of young actors for the movie's lead after conducting screen tests in December. He also is producing X-Men: First Class along with Lauren Shuler Donner. First Class opens June 3.

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Sacha Gervasi, the filmmaker behind acclaimed 2009 documentary "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" about the fallen heavy-metal pioneers, is in discussions to write and direct a film about a key part in the career of Alfred Hitchcock for Montecito Pictures reports The Los Angeles Times.

Gervasi would take the reins of "Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of 'Psycho,' " a long-gestating film based on Stephen Rebello's 1990 book which "Black Swan" writer John McLaughlin previously adapted.

The film explores how the 1960 hit "Psycho" was actually quite a departure for the helmet in that it was a more explicitly shocking film which was meant to compete with other low-budget horror pictures. Anthony Hopkins was previously linked to play Hitchcock.

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"Easy A" and "Friends With Benefits" director Will Gluck is attached to produce a remake of the 1986 Brat Pack comedy "About Last Night" for Screen Gems reports Variety.

Based on David Mamet's 1974 play "Sexual Perversity in Chicago," the Ed Zwick-directed original film follows a couple (Rob Lowe, Demi Moore) who start a romantic affair despite their friends' disapproval. Jim Belushi and Elizabeth Perkins also starred.

Gluck will help recruit a director and writer for this new take on the material.

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"Little Britain" comedian Matt Lucas has signed on to star in the comedy "Small Apartments" to be directed by Jonas Åkerlund ("Spun," "The Horsemen") reports Coming Soon.

Based on the book by Chris Millis, the darkly comic story has Lucas playing Franklin Franklin, a simple man who dreams of Switzerland and lives in an apartment complex with a pothead, a busybody, and frequent parcels of fingernail clippings from his brother. Oh, and his landlord turns up dead on the floor of his kitchen.

Shooting is expected to kick off in March.