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Dan Owen reviews
I s s u e # 1 20 4 O c t o b e r 2 0 0 2
** MOVIE NEWS **
“HELLBOY” – Casting Begins / Artwork Released
Casting has begun on Guillermo Del Toro’s “Hellboy” movie – anadaptation of the Mike Mignol comic-book series about a demon whoinvestigates the paranormal for the US Government.
Reports suggest they are close to signing an actor for the physicalportrayal of the amphibious Abe Sapien character – and may use the sameactor’s voice for the final film.
Sapien’s look will be created by Jose Fernandez, who worked on thecostumes for “X-Men” and is also doing designs for “The AmazingSpider-Man.” Guillermo Del Toro said: “He’s a very, very sought-after designer”.
Big name actors like Kevin Spacey and Steve Buscemi have suggested aspotential voice-artists after principal photography has been completedon some of film’s monsters.
In related news, graphic artist Phil Postma has drawn what he thinksactor Ron Perlman will look like as the titular Hellboy in the upcomingmovie (see right). Looks very, very promising!
“BACK UP” – Killing Cage!
Nicolas Cage is reportedly starring in “Back Up” – a sci-fi murdermystery about a cop (Cage) who is resurrected from death (i.e, “backedup”) to investigate his own murder!
“BATMAN: YEAR ONE” – Going Ahead?
With all the talk having shifted to Brett Ratner’s “Superman”, and theconsequent demise of the “Batman Vs Superman” project, we seem to haveforgotten about “Batman: Year One” – the project with Darren Aronofsky(“Requiem For A Dream”) attached to direct.
Well, thanks to Aronofsky’s failure to get sci-fi movie “The Fountain”up and running in Australia, rumours have it that ‘Warner Brothers’ -and particularly producer Lorenzo DiBonaventura – want him to steamahead with his “Batman: Year One” project.
“THE CROW: WICKED PRAYER” – Sequel Flies!
A third sequel to 1994’s “The Crow” begins shooting on 15 February 2003,with Edward Furlong (“Terminator 2”) in the lead role. The movie will bedirected by Lance Mungia.
“DOOM” – Movie Moving Forward?
‘Warner Brothers’ are in final negotiations for the rights to film amovie adaptation of the computer game “Doom”. If successful, the moviecould begin shooting in approximately 15 months time, aiming for a PG-13rating in the States (likely a 12A in the UK).
“GREASE 3” – Greased Lightning In A Bottle?
John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John are in talks to reprise their rolesas Danny and Sandy for “Grease 3” – the second sequel to the originalhit musical “Grease”, which helped launch Travolta’s career.
The current premise had Danny and Sandy meeting up years after theirHigh School days. Stockard Channing (Rizzo) is likely to reprise herrole, and original director Randal Kleiser could also return behind thelens.
“MAD MAX 4” – Finally Happening?
‘Moviehole’ have reported that “Mad Max 4” is now a “go picture”. Aninsider has said that ‘Fox Studios’ in Sydney have clinched a deal withdirector George Miller to make the film there in March 2003. But willMel Gibson return?
“PETER JACKSON”…talks zombies!
Director Peter Jackson (“Lord Of The Rings”) may return to thelow-budget zombie movies that made his name in the 80’s and early-90’s.Talking to ‘Fangoria’ magazine he said: “I am seriously thinking aboutthe idea of another zombie film. Part of the fun of doing low-budgethorror films is the freedom you have.”
“I’m kind of thinking that it would be fun to shoot something over along period of time. Whatever we might do after ‘Lord of the Rings’, I’mseriously thinking of filming on the weekends… It’ll be another yearbefore I can actually do anything, but certainly now is the time tostart planning”.
So will his big-budget remake of “King Kong” really be put on theback-burner for another schlock horror project? I doubt it, somehow…
“POLAR EXPRESSZ” – All Aboard!
Tom Hanks is set to star in a computer-animated adaptation of Chris VanAllsburg’s book “Polar Expressz” for ‘Castle Rock’. The book is about aboy whose belief in Santa Claus results in a fantasy trip to the NorthPole aboard a magical train.
Director Robert Zemeckis (“Back To The Future”) has been working on thescript with his “Cast Away” scribe William Broyles, and now the film isnearly set for a February 2004 start date.
With any luck the film should premiere around Christmas 2004, with Hanksplaying the train conductor. The movie is already said to potentially bethe most CGI-ambitious Christmas movie since “The Grinch”.
“THE HAUNTED MANSION” – Spooky Eddie!
‘Walt Disney Pictures’ has opened a teaser website for the latest EddieMurphy movie “The Haunted Mansion”, directed by Rob Minkoff (“StuartLittle 2”). In the film, due out next year, Murphy encounters a ghost ona job interview and the vision spooks him into a profound awareness ofthe importance of family…
Visit the websiteHERE
“SPIDER-MAN 2” – Chabon Chews The Fat!
New screenwriter Michael Chabon recently spoke to ‘Entertainment Weekly’about his writing duties on “The Amazing Spider-Man”. He said: “I’mcompletely the man for the job. It’s my destiny”.
The magazine says that elements from David Koepp’s script, as well ascomponents from Alfred Gough and Miles Millar’s script will contributetowards Chabon’s own ideas.
“THE SIMPSONS” – The Movie!
After years of speculation regarding a “Simpsons” movie, producer Al Jeanrecently told an audience at The Vancouver Film Festival that:“Currently there are no plans to end the fourteen-year run of the showand the writing staff is having enough trouble coming up with plotlinesto fill 22 minutes of TV show, let alone 80-90 minutes of feature film.”
But, he did confirm that the principal voice cast have already signedfor a three-picture deal of “Simpsons” movies should the project everhappen!
“STARSKY & HUTCH” – Owen In!
‘Variety’ magazine reports that Owen Wilson (“Shanghai Noon”) will joinBen Stiller in a movie adaptation of TV cop drama “Starsky & Hutch”, for’Warner Brothers’, with Stiller as Starsky and Wilson as Hutch.
The cameras should start rolling in February 2002. The screenplay hasbeen written by Todd Phillips, who wrote the last draft of the scriptwith Scott Armstrong – who will also direct.
The original TV show was firmly set in the 70’s, but the movie versionwill update the premise to focus on the formation of the duo’spartnership.=20
“SUPERMAN” – Director Confirmed / Studio “Furious” / Script Rewrites!
We’ve known it for weeks, but ‘Warner Brothers’ have now officiallyconfirmed that Brett Ratner (“Red Dragon”) is the director of the new”Superman” movie.
Ratner said: “It’s been a dream since I was a child to do this movie. Iwas born to make this movie. It’s the perfect time to make this movie,as everyone is looking for someone to save the world, and who betterthan Superman?”
Alan Horn, the President of ‘WB’ said: “Superman is an American icon anda timeless hero who shares a rich history with ‘Warner Brothers’. We arevery happy to be working with Brett, Jon [Peters] and J.J [Abrams] onthis important new chapter in the Superman legacy.”
Jeff Robinov, the President of Domestic Production, said: “J.J. Abramsand Jon Peters were given the daunting task of re-imagining the Supermanepic and J.J. met the challenge, delivering a terrific script withemotion, depth and scale that bring new dimension to this legendarycharacter.”
“We couldn’t be more pleased to entrust the next chapter in the Supermanmythology to Brett Ratner, a dynamic director whose skilful blend ofaction, comedy and drama has captured the imaginations of audiencesworldwide.”
The studio are targeting a Summer 2004 release, which means the movieshould be competing with other comic-book adaptations “The AmazingSpider-Man” and “Hellboy”. The ‘Superman Cinema’ site has also been toldthat ‘Warner Brothers’ executives are furious about the leaked review ofthe current “Superman” script onto the ‘net, and are fearful they mayhave a “Batman & Robin”-style disaster on their hands.
J.J Abrams’ is apparently now writing a second draft of the screenplay,which has disposed of a few concerns fans had with his now infamousfirst draft. Let’s hope he makes more of the necessary changes. Onanother plus side, ‘Aint It Cool News’ webmaster Harry Knowles has alsonow reviewed the first draft of Abrams’ “Superman” script – and found itquite enjoyable, with just a few admittedly major problems.
Anthony Hopkins also confirmed on the ‘Howard Stern’ radio show that hehas signed to play Jor-El in Ratner’s movie, having just worked with himon “Red Dragon”. He hopes to get his hands on J.J Abrams’ screenplay thisweekend.
So – looks like “Superman” could still make a fine 21st Century movie.
“WATCHMEN” – Coming Soon…?
Screenwriter David Hayter (“X-Men”) spoke to ‘USC Trojanvision’ (a radiostation for the University of Southern California) and indicated thestatus of the fabled “Watchmen” movie adaptation.
He said: “When I signed on to do my draft of ‘The Hulk’, and then AngLee came on to direct, I was a really hot commodity, and my agents askedme ‘What’s your dream? What do you want to do?’ And I said that my dreamis that I want to do ‘Watchmen’. So I chased it down, and they said it’sbeen floating around for 17 years, the rights are all tied up =96 it’s abig mess, you’ll never get it.”
“So a year later I sat down with the producer who owned the rights tothe film, I told him what I wanted to do with it, and he checked it outand all the rights were cleared up. So the big lesson there for me wasjust if you want something, just ask… [Watchmen] is very literate andvery cool, but I don’t think we could have made it before ‘X-Men’ was sosuccessful. ‘X-Men’ opened up some more untraditional comic booksgetting movies.”
Yes! Looks like Alan Moore’s masterpiece is coming… slowly…
“TERMINATOR 3” – John Connor Talks!
Nick Stahl, who has just finished filming “Terminator 2: Rise Of TheMachines”, where he plays future human resistance leader John Connor,has spoken about filming the long-awaited third movie.
Stahl first commented on the Internet rumours surrounding “T3” beforeand after he joined the production: “I went on[line] when we firststarted filming and I kind of vowed not to do it again. Someone on theset said I had to go on this website because people are writing scriptsfor it that don’t exist and making photos, mock posters. So, I went onand the very first thing I read was this guy giving about 50 reasons whyI should not be playing this role. I just turned it off. That’s the kindof support that I read and it really drives me, so I’ve tried to avoidthat.”
He also commented on the relationship in “T3” between himself and ArnoldScharzenneger’s Terminator character:
- “That’s one of the things from the second movie that I loved. It’s avery paternal relationship. The character’s father was never around whenhe was young. It’s sort of teaching this machine the human ways. It’sdefinitely a source of humour in the movie and I think he feels a realstrong bond with him.”
“And where it gets interesting is the sort of ambiguity of you notknowing whether this machine has human feelings. You assume that hedoesn’t, but they play with that a bit and it mirrors human situations,things like that. There was so much to work with for me as far as thatrelationship goes.”
Was Stahl fazed with working with Arnie?
- “I always saw Arnold as alarger than life character, as people do I guess. I don’t know if itreally affected the working relationship. I guess I just had seen himbefore and he’s been doing it so long, so you automatically look tosomeone in this type of movie for some sort of guidance because he’sjust mastered this type of movie. It’s just his professionalism and thetype of role.”
“He’s not even playing a human character. He’s got this character downand it’s not like our roles were similar in any way. I just think evensomewhat unconsciously, you know that this person is so tried and truein what he does in this medium, so it was more on a personal level andhis attitude towards work.”
“It was a really long shoot and it required a lot of stamina at times.He approached that with his good humour and his professionalism rubbedoff on everybody. So, it was more on a personal level as opposed to thework or the film.”
So what about Clare Danes’ role in “T3”?
- “I don’t know how much I cansay. Our relationship is being kept under wraps. They’re being secretiveabout it.”
Stahl also spoke of the physical demands of the movie:
- “The one thingabout this type of movie I discovered is that you shoot something 100different ways, so every time you do anything physical, you’re going todo it over and over again. That can get somewhat taxing if you’re notprepared for it, but there was a little physical training involvedbeforehand.”
“I was trying to be very physically prepared for the role a couplemonths previously and did some training with weapons that I was going tobe using in the movie, different hand-guns and things like that, so itwas all really fun actually. It was all really new for me but I just hadfun with it. It wasn’t that tough at the end of the day.”
So will there be a “Terminator 4”?
- “I guess it’s really up to them as towhether they’re going to do another one, but if they’ll have me back,I’d love to.”
Is he ready for a life-changing career in the wake of “T3” next summer?
- “I’ve just been making sure that the rest of my life is in as much orderas possible because I don’t know what to expect from this. You canspeculate and I know we’ll be travelling and doing some press, butbecause it’s going to occupy a lot of my life next year, I’ve just triedto make sure that other areas in my life were in order so that theywon’t get in the way of all of the stuff for this movie.”
“X-MEN 2”
The look of new character Nightcrawler (played by Alan Cummings) in thenew “X-Men 2” movie, due out next Summer, has finally been released!Take a look! (right)
“TOY STORY 2”
“Toy Story 3” could be released in 2006, but only if ‘Pixar’disestablish their arrangement with ‘Disney’. A rumoured plot uses anelement first thought of for the original film’s 1991 treatment: what ifAndy [the child who owns the toys] grows up?
However, ‘Pixar’ has stated that “Toy Story 2” didn’t count as a film inthe eyes of ‘Disney’ CEO Michael Eisner – who still wants ‘Pixar’ tohonour its February 1997 agreement with them – to the letter. Under theterms of this contract, which supersedes the original three picture dealthat the computer animation studio signed with Mickey back in 1991,’Pixar’ has until 2007 to deliver five finished feature-length animatedfilms to ‘Disney Studios’.
Sequels do not count – because back in 1997 when ‘Disney’ and ‘Pixar’originally signed their deal, it was assumed that any and all sequelsthat would be done to earlier ‘Pixar’ productions would be done on thecheap (i.e., direct-to-video sequels – which “Toy Story 2” wasoriginally set to become)
So, “Toy Story”, “A Bug’s Life”, “Monster’s, Inc.” and the upcoming”Finding Nemo” equal four non-sequel films. ‘Pixar’ have to create threemore by 2007, and only then can they think about making “Toy Story 3”!
“VERTICAL LIMIT 2” – Vertigo Sufferers Stop Reading NOW!
Chris O’Donnell (“Batman Forever” – let’s be kind and not mention “&Robin”) has confirmed that he’s involved in the sequel to his minor hitaction movie “Vertical Limit”.
US TOP 10 (CINEMA)
** TRAILERS **
Swept Away:Guy Ritchie (“Lock, Stock…”) leaves East End gangsters back in Englandto direct his wife (pop diva Madonna) in this tale of a snotty socialitewho finds herself shipwrecked with a communist sailor.
Buzz Rating: 2/5 – early word has been very harsh on director GuyRitchie’s follow-up to “Snatch”. Rumours suggest the husband and wifepairing didn’t work well together professionally, and that Ritchieshould stick to gangster films – which he’s reported to be doing. Thislooks set to seriously tank at the box-office despite Madonna’s starstatus, and damage Ritchie’s fledgling US credibility in the process…
CLICK HERE
The Ring:A full trailer for this eagerly-awaited US remake of the Japaneseoriginal, starring Naomi Watts (“Mulholland Drive”) as she investigatesa strange video-tape that causes all those who see it to die within 7days.
Buzz Rating: 4/5 – Naomi Watts should really hit the big-time afterthis, if early word is to be believed. Test screenings have suggestedthat director Gore Verbinski (“Mouse Hunt”) has successfully created afitting Hollywood version of the Eastern original. This should be veryspecial, and could possibly evoke a rebirth of the American horrorfranchise away from slasher films and parodies…
CLICK HERE
The Tuxedo:Another Jackie Chan action vehicle, but this time his extraordinaryphysical abilities come courtesy of a gadget-laden secret agent’s tuxedosuit! Jennifer Love Hewitt also plays against genre convention to staras his love interest!
Buzz Rating: 2½/5 – Chan has plenty of fans around the world, whichshould ensure solid business at world-wide cinemas. The formulaic scriptand apparently uninspired direction may stop “The Tuxedo” attaining thesuccess of Chan’s “Rush Hour” franchise, but the chemistry between Chanand Hewitt is said to be strong…
CLICK HERE
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.