Posts Tagged ‘Sony’
Posted by dominie in Comics, Films, News on October 23rd, 2008
The official trailer for Sony Screen Gems’ Underworld: Rise of the Lycans can now be viewed at Apple.com. Directed by FX specialist Patrick Tatopoulos (Angel Hair) and starring Michael Sheen, Rhona Mitra, Bill Nighy, Shane Brolly, Steven MacKintosh, and Kevin Grievoux, the third installment is a prequel to the previous films. Set in the Dark Ages, the story will trace the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires led by Viktor and the werewolf slaves known as the Lycans. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans debuts in theaters January 23, 2009.
Marvel’s search for Thor is still in the works. The studio is rumored to only have a short list of potentials. IESB caught up with Daniel Craig at the press day for Quantum of Solace and managed to sneak in a few questions about another known hero, the upcoming Thor Marvel adaptation. Craig reveals that “[Marvel] did approach him but he turned it down.” He jokes, “It would have bent too much of a power trip, both Bond and Thor, and running around with long hair and a hammer.”
Warner Bros. released a new teaser poster for Zack Snyder’s Watchmen today. The new extended trailer that premiered at the 2008 Scream Awards can also be viewed online here.
Posted by dominie in Films, News on October 1st, 2008
Kirsten Dunst has made a pretty strong charge back into the media as of late. Busy prepping for her role in A Jealous Ghost, which she will also partake in producing and promoting her upcoming film with Simon Pegg, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, she has also been the subject of many conversations regarding the Spider-Man 4 and 5 sequels being shot back-to-back.
Will Dunst be returning to don MJ’s red wig once again? “I’m in,” the actress told MTV News. “I’m in if they’re in,” referring to director Sam Raimi and actor Tobey Maguire. While Raimi and Maguire have signed on to return, the actress remained reserved from making any official announcements about her return.
Posted by dominie in Films, News on September 25th, 2008
Though Michael Peña (World Trade Center, Crash, The Lucky Ones) won’t reveal what his role may be, IESB reported today that the star is the latest to be cast in the upcoming The Green Hornet starring Seth Rogen who’s been slimming up to play the masked vigilante and Steven Chow as Kato, the Green Hornet’s valet crime-fighting partner.
According to Peña, Rogen is still working on the script for the film with writing partner Evan Goldberg. Again Steven Chow will direct the superhero movie as well, marking his American film debut.
Posted by dominie in Films, News on September 16th, 2008
As reported previously, in an effort to contain costs, Spider-Man 4 and 5 will be shot back-to-back over a six month span next year. In the latest news, actor Tobey Maguire has been granted “family time” as part of an unprecedented deal to reprise his role in the next two sequels of the top-grossing Spider-Man franchise. Additionally, Maguire is expected to earn a record $50 million in salary and profit shares from the two films.
Maguire, 33, will receive early mornings and evenings off during the grueling six months to spend time with wife Jennifer Meyer Maguire, 31, and their daughter Ruby Sweetheart, who is only 22 months old. The couple married in 2007 and Ruby is their first child.
According to the Times Online, Sony was prepared to offer the Spidey role to another actor because it was wary the clause could set a bad trend. That is, until Sony Chairman Amy Pascal, a mom herself stepped in and agreed with Maguire that six months without any built-in family time would not be fair for any parent. Bravo to Maguire for taking a stand and cheers to Pascal!
As for whether Kirsten Dunst will be returning to play Peter Parker’s love interest, Mary Jane Watson, Sony is expected to reveal the news in the next few days. Production for the upcoming sequels is expected to start in Fall 2009 with the release date still scheduled for May 2011. James Vanderbilt will script the movies with Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad producing, while Sam Raimi is still in talks to direct.
Posted by dominie in Films, News on September 12th, 2008
Variety reported that Universal Studios has sealed the deal to mount their next Sid and Marty Krofft feature. The studio has acquired writer-producer Dana Gould of The Simpsons to pen the live-action film based on the Krofft brothers’1970’s kidshow Sigmund and the Sea Monsters.
Sigmund will be the studio’s third movie treatment for the Krofft brothers. The first being Land of the Lost (budgeted at $100 million) which stars Will Ferrell now delayed for release until June 2009, and the second is a live-action H.R. Pufnstuff currently in pre-production with director Conrad Vernon (Shrek 2) in talks to helm the film. Similar to the first two features, the Krofft brothers will produce the project alongside Jimmy Miller under his Mosaic banner.
For those unfamiliar with Sigmund, the original kidshow ran Saturday mornings on NBC from 1973-1975 about a timid sea monster whose nasty brothers disowned him for not wanting to scare humans. Forced to leave his home, Sigmund (Billy Barty) is befriended by two boys Johnny and Scott Stuart (Family Affair’s Johnny Whitaker and Scott Kolden) who hide him in their clubhouse. Their friendship grows in this on-going tale that spanned 29 episodes in two seasons and became a hit rerun choice on local TV stations for the remainder of the decade.
The growing interest on these current properties leaves high hopes for owners Sid and Marty who told Variety they would love to see their remaining properties (Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Lidsville, The Bugaloos, Dr. Shrinker, Bigfoot and Wildboy, and Wonderbug) originated as well.
Posted by dominie in Events, Films, News on September 12th, 2008
When Warners Bros. shifted Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from its November release date to July next summer, other competing studios didn’t hesitate to realign their current outlooks, steering clear of the wizard’s wand.
Among the shifters is (THR reports) Universal Studios, who’s bumped their $100 million budget Will Ferrell action fantasy Land of the Lost (set in a land of dinosaurs and myriad other magical creatures) up from July 17 to now June 5, and bounced its Fast and Furious (the fourth installment to The Fast and the Furious franchise) release back from June 5 to June 12.
The studio is confident that Land of the Lost has found a safe haven for a summer 2009 release. At present there is no other competition slated for a June release, and studio execs are not concerned that a back-to-back release of their two features would inhibit sales as the target audiences for the two films are sufficiently distinct.
Land of the Lost is based on one of many classic children’s TV series created by Sid and Marty Krofft (currently producing features H.R. Pufnstuff and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters), about a family trapped in a world inhabited by dinosaurs, cavemen and other bizarre insectoid/humanoid reptilian creatures. As they focus on surviving and finding a way home, their exploration of the exotic land is the force behind the kidshow hit. Director Brad Silberling (Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events) directed the feature film, which just wrapped production this summer. Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies), Danny R. McBride (Tropic Thunder), and Jorma Taccone (TV’s Saturday Night Live) also star.
Posted by dominie in Films, News on September 12th, 2008
News about a Candyman remake hit the scenes several weeks ago here. To recap, Sony revealed plans to go forward on a remake based on the original Clive Barker story, The Forbidden, only with a new approach in mind. Shock Till You Drop caught up with Tony Todd for his thoughts on Sony’s potential “Caucasian Candyman” reboot.
Tony Todd’s response to Shock, “When I first heard it…like everyone has said, it’s ridiculous. The whole point is that he was a former slave and it’s an interracial love story. But [Sony] owns the property and they’re entitled to do what they want.” Though the original story never proclaimed any Candyman origin or backstory, Tony Todd, genre fans can easily agree, made Clive Barker’s character uniquely iconic.
Not to worry. Nothing has been set in stone. It seems the studio has been playing with different ideas for quite some time now. “Just two years I was in a meeting with them talking about going forward. Some of my agents feel [the remake news] could be a move to see how much interest there is out there for it,” Todd admits. “Maybe we could put our heads together and do something modern. If they do it, I’m willing to do one more as a final payoff or good-bye. I wouldn’t just phone it in, I’d want to commit to it.”
Lucky for us, a discerning Todd makes for high hopes. He continued, “Look, it’s about profitability, most of these movies now are reinventions but there’s no longevity. I could live forever with the thought of what we did with the first two Candyman films just fine.”
Posted by dominie in Films, News on September 6th, 2008
According to The Hollywood Reporter, we may be seeing the fourth and fifth installments of Sony’s Columbia Picture’s top-grossing Spider-Man franchise sooner than we imagined. Tobey Maguire and director Sam Raimi are close to locking in a deal so that production on the next two installments may start. Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad will produce the screenplay penned by Jamie Vanderbilt (Zodiac).
The studio is considering filming both installments back-to-back beginning in fall 2009. This approach will help contain costs explains the producers who’s modeling their plan similar to that of New Line’s filming of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which filmed simultaneously for 274 days. The Spider-Man franchise has grossed $2.5 billion worldwide for Sony, its most successful movie franchise to date. Ziskin revealed the studio is aiming for a May 2011 release for Spider-Man 4.
Additionally, Columbia has smothered any speculations regarding who will play Peter Parker’s character. “The studio never considered any other actor. Tobey was our only choice and the only person we’ve discussed the role with,” said Sony spokesman Steve Elzer. No word yet on whether Kirsten Dunst will reprise her role as Mary Jane Watson yet though.
In related news, Sony will be developing Venom, a spinoff feature of Spider-Man. Jacob Estes was first recruited to draft the script and recently Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, the scribes of Zombieland was brought in. Topher Grace played the villian in Spider-Man 3 but casting is still to be determined at this point.
Posted by dominie in Films, News on September 5th, 2008
This goes to show that maybe if we cry enough, it will happen. Since this summer’s Comic-Con, rumors have been surfacing, squashed, resurfacing, and then re-squashed (get it?) that the heads over at Columbia Pictures is in heated talks for a motion to the long awaited Ghostbusters 3!
Sources at Variety have just confirmed, “Columbia Pictures is getting serious about scaring up a new installment of its blockbuster ‘Ghostbusters’ franchise.” Scribes Lee Elsenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, Emmy-nominated co-executive producers of The Office, are putting together a storyline to bring back the original cast members Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson.
There seems to be high potential in the cause. Elsenberg and Stupnitsk just finished their latest project, Year One, a comedy Ramis directed. And Ackroyd, who wrote the original two films with Ramis, told E! News, “It would be an absolute dream,” for a Ghostbusters comeback.
This is great news, but we still have a bumpy road ahead of us. Although Ghostbusters was Columbia’s highest grossing film ever before Men in Black and Spider-Man came into the picture, Variety reports, “No deals will be made with the original cast until the script is ready… An attempt to make a third installment of the franchise was stymied in the dealmaking stage. Sources said so much gross was pledged to the participants that it was next to impossible for the studio to make any money on a third installment.”
“Sony now has a standing policy not to allow more than 25% of first dollar gross out the door,” an issue that will surely have to be addressed before any deals can be closed. We’ll keep our fingers crossed and keep the news coming as we hear more.
Posted by dominie in Events, Films, News on September 2nd, 2008
Just one week away from its theatrical debut, Passengers, the horror thriller starring Anne Hathaway (The Devil Wear Prada) and Patrick Wilson (Watchmen, Little Children, Hard Candy), has been postponed from its September 5, 2008 release date to now October 24th. The film will now compete against Saw V, whose franchise has grossed nearly three hundred million dollars to date. Sony hasn’t released any details regarding the matter leaving us to speculate potential problems with the film, but they did release the official one-sheet and trailer, which can be found at Reelz Channel. We provide a detailed synopsis from IMDB:
After a plane crash, a young therapist, Claire (Anne Hathaway), is assigned by her mentor (Andre Braugher) to counsel the flight’s five survivors. When they share their recollections of the incident—which some say include an explosion that the airline claims never happened—Claire is intrigued by Eric (Patrick Wilson), the most secretive of the passengers. Just as Claire’s professional relationship with Eric blossoms into a romance, the survivors begin to disappear mysteriously, one by one. Claire suspects that Eric may hold all the answers and becomes determined to uncover the truth, no matter the consequences.
The official trailer for Sony Screen Gems’ Underworld: Rise of the Lycans can now be viewed at Apple.com. Directed by FX specialist Patrick Tatopoulos (Angel Hair) and starring Michael Sheen, Rhona Mitra, Bill Nighy, Shane Brolly, Steven MacKintosh, and Kevin Grievoux, the third installment is a prequel to the previous films. Set in the Dark Ages, the story will trace the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires led by Viktor and the werewolf slaves known as the Lycans. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans debuts in theaters January 23, 2009.
