New images
AICN: a Lemony Snicket teaser poster?
Coming Soon: CG Tom Hanks from The Polar Express
IGN: Torque, Dawn of the Dead, Thunderbirds, Van Helsing, Chronicles of Riddick, The Bourne Supremacy, Alien Vs. Predator, The Day After Tomorrow, I, Robot, Garfield, Taxi, The Girl Next Door, Ben Stiller's Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
IMPAwards: a cute—dare I say it—Garfield poster
Latino Review: Van Helsing, Wimbledon, Thunderbirds, The Bourne Supremacy, Two Brothers, The Chronicles of Riddick, Connie and Carla, Along Came Polly, Dawn of the Dead; posters for Taking Lives, Scooby Doo 2: Blah Blah Blah
Movieweb: Disney’s Teacher’s Pet, Along Came Polly
Orlando Multimedia: Haven set pics
Superhero Hype: Son of the Mask poster
Upcoming Horror Movies: 2001 Maniacs
Z Review: Torque, Constantine, Uptown Girls, Northfork, Goodbye Lenin!, Ned Kelly
Trailers and multimedia
Apple: Secret Window
Empire Online: Shaun of the Dead
Jo Blo: Butterfly Effect clips
The Movie Box: The Clearing (Robert Redford, Willem Dafoe), Jersey Girl, Butterfly Effect clips, The Perfect Score clips and music video
Trailer Park: Blueprint (Franka Potente), A Cinderella Story
Casting calls and future films
Quick casting
Backwaters: Billy Zane, Erika Eleniak, Jeff Trachta, dir. Jag Mundhra (Dark Horizons)
Batman: Laurence Fishburne as Lucius Fox? (CHUD)
Bewitched: Will Ferrell, Nicole Kidman (old news basically reaffirming that they’re still on) (Sci-Fi Wire)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Bill Nighy (Underworld, Love Actually), Martin Freeman (“The Office”) (Moviehole)
Horizon: Kevin Costner will write, star, and direct (CHUD)
Kingdom of Heaven: Jeremy Irons, Alexander Siddig (Cinescape)
Logan’s Run: Matt Damon? (AICN)
The Mask 2: Bob Hoskins? (Moviehole)
Mozart and the Whale: Josh Hartnett, possibly Rachel Weisz (CHUD)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer: dir. Tom Tykwer, possibly Orlando Bloom (AICN)
Superman: Selma Blair? (Superhero Hype)
Walk On: Jessica Simpson (Dark Horizons)
When Will I Be Loved: Neve Campbell (naked, apparently), dir. James Toback (Jo Blo)
Screenwriters
Catch and Release: Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich) will make her directorial debut; she’s currently looking at actresses even as she writes a new draft. (Cinescape)
More films
A Day with Wilbur Robinson: William Joyce’s children’s book will be adapted by Disney’s remaining animation department into a CG film. (Cinescape)
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: …is shooting in Iceland? (Cinescape)
John Woo musical: “We have almost got a finished script right now, [he tells Empire Online]. It is an ambitious project. I have been dreaming of making this for seven years. It is an American gangster story, based on a true story. In the 1920s there was a gang boss who was also a great dancer. It’s also a love story – this guy was in love with two women. So it’s a new kind of challenge, a new kind of experiment…. There’s going to be a lot of dance and a lot of action. Sometimes the action will look pretty much like dance and the dance will look pretty much like action." (Empire Online)
Kingdom of Heaven: Dark Horizons has a few set reports.
Matt Helm: Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) wants to dust off the old Dean Martin secret agent movie. Be warned: accompany picture of Martin is truly terrifying. (Cinescape)
Musical remakes: Dark Horizons reports: “The Denver Post indicates that in payment for his Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights cameo, Patrick Swayze will appear in one of Miramax's three musicals in development - Damn Yankees, Pippin or Rent. Swayze is also desperate to ‘make sure An American In Paris gets remade - with me in it.’”
One Step Behind: Paul Verhoeven will try to redeem himself with this adaptation of one of Henning Mankel’s Kurt Wallander books. Premise: “The story has [police inspector] Wallander investigating the murder of three college girls.” (CHUD)
Saw: Lions Gate has bought up the rights to this thriller: “Starring Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter and newcomer/screenwriter Leigh Whannell, SAW is about the search for a serial killer. Known as "Jigsaw" by the police because of the puzzle-shaped piece branded into the flesh of his victims, the movie kicks into overdrive when a doctor and another man (Elwes and Whannell) awake to find themselves chained to the wall of a room and have no idea how they got there. Realizing they are slated to be the next victims of the Jigsaw killer, the pair try to find a means of escape and to stay alive before the killer can return.” (Cinescape)
Star Wars: Episode III: Movieweb has the latest on ILM’s progress with the effects.
Trumpet of the Swan: Paramount is working on a live-action version of the E.B. White children’s book. (Empire Movies)
Reviews (Here be spoilers!)
AICN: Torque
CHUD: Smilin’ Jack Ruby goes gaga for a rough partial cut of Hellboy
Dark Horizons: Weather Man script, Hellboy, Mindhunters, The Butterfly Effect, Thunderstruck, Torque
Film Jerk: The Weather Man (script)
Latino Review: Ocean’s Twelve (script)
Salon: Chasing Liberty; Yves Saint Laurent: His Life and Times; Yves Saint Laurent: 5, Avenue Marceau, 75116 Paris
Upcoming DVDs
DVD Fanatic: Underworld, The Order, Alex and Emma, features on Matrix Revolutions and American Pie
DVD File: Underworld, The Office: First Series, To Live and Die in LA
DVD Savant: Ikiru, Aswang & the Living Corpse, Blackmail Is My Life, A Brief Vacation, La Terre, I Was a Male War Bride
IGN DVD: Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Interviews and profiles
About.com: Monet Mazur, Ice Cube (Torque)
Dark Horizons: Jennifer Aniston, Debra Messing (Along Came Polly)
Latino Review: Ice Cube (XXX 2, Are We There Yet?), Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston (Along Came Polly)
Moviehole: Jennifer Aniston, Debra Messing (Along Came Polly), Ashton Kutcher (The Butterfly Effect)
Salon: Toni Collette (Japanese Story), Saadi Yasef (The Battle of Algiers)
Other news
Ananova: Oscar voting chaos in Britain; US producer plans Loch Ness Monster horror movie; Families back Omagh film; Nighy and Freeman for Hitchhikers
Chicago Sun-Times: 'LOTR' final installment the Critics' Choice for best picture; 'Big Fish,' 'Lord' in photo finish for box office lead
CHUD Media Reports: Premiere, EW, Stuff, Movieline Hollywood Life, Cinefex
Film Jerk: Who’s bought Super Bowl movie spots?
IMDB: Ross' Drunk-Driving Plea Bargain; Massive Support for Jackson Court Appearance; Kidman's Controversial Gift; Aniston Pokes Fun at the Paparazzi; Ben and Jen Will Keep Wedding Secret; Mariah To Duet With Archrival J.Lo?; Cameron's Chilly Response to Chile; Depp Plagued by On-Set Admirers; Neve Loses Out qith New Film; Cruise's Family Tree Treat
Jam Showbiz: 'Rings' star Astin courts Oscar; 'Rings' estate wins domain name; Baldwin, Basinger in custody battle; Kutcher, Moore marriage on hold; Oscar screener ends up on Internet; Actor-writer Spalding Gray missing; Disney closes animation studio; Critics select best in film; Campbell loses money with 'Company'; 'Rings' wins box office reversal
USAToday: Ashton and Demi? So 2003: New year, new hookups; Jacksons rally the faithful; Dr. Kovac as Spartacus?; Spalding Gray missing
Yahoo: NC-17 Film by Bertolucci to Be Released; Actor-Writer Spalding Gray Missing; Oscar Screener Copy of Movie Found Online; 'Return of King' rings in New Year strongly; Lions Gate Stalks Horror Pic 'Saw'
Zap2It: Kutcher Quashes Wedding Rumors; '10 Directors' Party at Sundance Film Fest; Paul Robeson Stamp Issued by Postal Service; Disney Closes Animation Studio; 'Hitchhiker's Guide' Casts Last Human on Earth; Basinger - Baldwin Custody Battle Set; Spalding Gray Reported Missing
Fun and games
Fametracker: Ian McKellen's Fame Audit
Short Attention Span Theater: “Gondor calls for pants!" "And Rohan will answer!"
Parting shot
EW: “Academy targets actor in piracy probe”
** When the Motion Picture Association of America decided this fall to fight piracy by banning studios from sending out ''screener'' videos of eligible movies to awards voters, it carved out an exception for Academy members. But it seems that even Oscar voters can't be trusted. According to the Los Angeles Times, an Academy probe traced an uploaded copy of ''Something's Gotta Give'' to a screener cassette that the studio had sent to an Academy member. The Academy didn't name the member, but a person familiar with the probe identified him as Carmine Caridi, a character actor whose resume includes ''The Godfather Part II'' and the role of Det. Vince Gotelli on ''NYPD Blue.''
The Academy said it learned of the illicit web copy of the film last week from ''Something'''s distributor, Sony, and used the electronic watermark imprinted on the image to trace the video leak. The uploaded ''Something'' -- a movie that contains a likely Best Actress nominee in Diane Keaton -- was the first known instance of an Oscar member's screener copy being identified as the source of a pirated duplication.
In imposing the screener ban (which was overturned in court last month), the MPAA made an exception for Oscar voters, arguing that the Academy was capable of policing itself. To receive screeners this year, Academy members had to sign a pledge (only 80 percent of them agreed to do so), promising not to circulate the tapes or allow them to be copied, on pain of possible expulsion from the Academy.
Academy executive director Bruce Davis told the Times he'd spoken briefly on the phone with the accused voter, who Davis said promised to call back and explain his actions fully but never did. A formal letter from the Academy also received no response. The Times reported that it was unable to reach the 69-year-old actor for comment.
Sony told the Times it was considering legal action, though the studio would wait to make a decision until the Academy probe was completed. ''I still have trouble believing that anybody would take the care of a 2003 screener lightly,'' Davis told the Times. ''It never occurred to me that anybody would ever let this happen. It's risking the whole ability of the Academy members to get their screeners next year.'' |
