DAN’S MOVIE DIGEST 36

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Dan Owen reviews

DAN’S MOVIE DIGEST
I s s u e # 3 62 8 M a r c h 2 0 0 3

** MOVIE NEWS **

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SUPERMANBrett Ratner has sensationally quit as director of the ailing project,blaming the difficulties of casting the titular role.

But insiders say the project hasn’t died, with Ratner’s decision knownamongst executives for some time now. Problems apparently arose betweenRatner and the studio after he began championing unknown actor MatthewBomer for the role, with ‘Warners Brothers’ wanting an established name.Idiots!

David Boreanaz (TV’s Angel) was also a potential candidate to don thecape, but the potential cancellation of Angel proved unfounded, and heis contractually obliged to stay with his TV series. But Boreanaz maynow be put forward to star as Bruce Wayne in the next Batman movie,possibly to be directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento).

So casting for Superman continues with another unknown actor – HenryCavill. With Ratner’s departure it now seems unlikely that AnthonyHopkins will play Jor-El – as his involvement was primarily down tofavour for his Red Dragon director.

An anonymous source also revealed recently that Billy Zane (Titanic, The Phantom)is being considered for the role of Lex Luthor.

BATMAN – THE FRIGHTENING’Superhero Hype’ reports that ‘Warner Brothers’ have purchased twodomain names that could indicate the success of the Batman TheFrightening screenplay amongst executives; namelyBatmanTheFrightening.comandBatmanTheFrightening.net,although at the time of writing (March 28th 2003) these websites are not yetonline.

For an exclusive review of the Batman: The Frightening screenplay,CLICK HERE.

BLADE IIIScreenwriter David Goyer told ‘Comic Book Resources’ that Blade IIIcould start shooting as early as September 2003, if everything worksout. His script was apparently “very well received”, so now theproduction is looking for a director, which may end up being Goyerhimself… HARRY POTTER & THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN’MarcusFlint.com’ has reported that actor Jamie Yeates will also not bereturning as the Slytherin Quidditch Captain in Harry Potter & ThePrisoner Of Azkaban. Neither will actor Sean Biggerstaff who playsGryffindor Captain Oliver Wood.

This seems to suggest that in the interest of streamlining the movie’sduration, the filmmakers are cutting Quidditch out of the third movie.Well, wasn’t it getting stale after two consecutive appearances, anyway?

ONIMUSHAAsian action star Donnie Yen (Shanghai Knights) announced a filmadaptation of the hit video-game Onimusha is being developed. Yen said:“The director is quite well-known. He would be in charge of the detail[of the movie], and I would be the action director and the leading man”.

‘Disney’ is handling distribution with production to begin in 2004 for a2005 release.

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THE SIMPSONS – THE MOVIEThe ‘Calgary Sun’ talked with The Simpsons’ creator Matt Groening aboutthe interminable wait for a movie version. Groening said: “We’re talkingabout doing it. We just want to make sure, if we do, it doesn’t followin the dismal footsteps of other currently-running TV shows turned intomovies.”

“I can only think of one that worked and that was South Park. You wantto honour the fans of the show, but you want to give them a little more.With the TV show, every week it’s like a little movie. There arecertainly enough incidents to fill a regular movie comedy. Whetherpeople could stand it for an hour and a half, I don’t know.”

SPIDER-MAN 2Jerry O’Connell (Sliders), fresh from championing himself as a candidatefor the next Superman, now seems set to star in the Spider-Man sequel asa love-interest for Kirsten Dunst.

Dunst herself has spoken about the changes in her character: “The growthof my character is really good. I’m really happy where they’ve broughtMary Jane and she’s really a stronger woman now. She’s learned a lot andI’m ready for her to move on and be the strong one and take theinitiative with Peter and be like stronger.”

Oscars 2003: The 75th Academy Award Winners

  • BEST FILM – Chicago
  • BEST ACTOR – Adrien Brody, The Pianist
  • BEST ACTRESS – Nicole Kidman, The Hours
  • BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – Chris Cooper, Adaptation
  • BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – Catherine Zeta Jones
  • BEST DIRECTOR – Roman Polanski, The Pianist
  • BEST ANIMATED FEATURE – Spirited Away
  • BEST VISUAL EFFECTS – Lord Of The Rings – The Two Towers
  • BEST ART DIRECTION – Chicago
  • BEST ANIMATED SHORT – The ChubbChubbs!
  • BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT – This Charming Man (Denmark)
  • BEST COSTUME DESIGN – Chicago
  • BEST MAKE-UP – Frida
  • BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – Elliot Goldenthal, Frida
  • BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM – Nowhere In Africa
  • BEST SOUND – Chicago
  • BEST SOUND EDITING – Lord Of The Rings – The Two Towers
  • BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE – Bowling For Columbine
  • BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT – Twin Towers
  • BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – Conrad L. Hall, Road To Perdition
  • BEST FILM EDITING – Chicago
  • BEST SONG – Eminem, 8 Mile
  • BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY – Ronald Harwood, The Pianist
  • BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – Pedro Almodovar, Talk To Her
  • HONORARY AWARD – Peter O’Toole

CoverUS TOP 10 (CINEMA)

  • 1. Bringing Down the House ($16.2m)
  • 2. Dreamcatcher ($15.0m)
  • 3. Agent Cody Banks ($9.2m)
  • 4. View From The Top ($7.0m)
  • 5. The Hunted ($6.5m)
  • 6. Chicago ($6.1m)
  • 7. Piglet’s Big Movie ($6.0m)
  • 8. Tears of the Sun ($4.4m)
  • 9. Old School ($3.9m)
  • 10. Boat Trip ($3.8m) UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)
  • 1. Just Married (£0.97m)
  • 2. Maid in Manhattan (£0.80m)
  • 3. The Life of David Gale (£0.43m)
  • 4. National Security (£0.42m)
  • 5. The Ring (2002) (£0.41m)
  • 6. Evelyn (£0.34m)
  • 7. Equilibrium (£0.30m)
  • 8. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (£0.24m)
  • 9. Treasure Planet (£0.17m)
  • 10. Two Weeks Notice (£0.16m)

    ** IN THE PIPELINE **

    Note that these are US release dates.

  • March 2003: “The Core” (28), “House Of 1000 Corpses” (TBC)
  • April 2003: “Ripley’s Game” (4), “Timeline” (11), “Bulletproof Monk” (16), Basic” (18)
  • May 2003: “Matrix Reloaded” (16), “Bruce Almighty” (23), “Finding Nemo” (30), “The Italian Job” (30)
  • June 2003: “Fast & The Furious 2” (6), “Freddy Vs Jason” (13), “Hulk” (20), Charlie’s Angels 2″ (TBC), “Tomb Raider II” (TBC)
  • July 2003: “Legally Blonde 2” (2), “Terminator 3” (2), “Pirates Of TheCarribean” (9), “League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen” (11), “Bad Boys II(18), “Exorcist – The Beginning” (18), “Dumb & Dumberer” (18), “Spy Kids 3” (25)
  • August 2003: “American Wedding” (1), “Cursed” (8), “Jeepers Creepers 2” (29)October: “Kill Bill” (10), “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (17), “Underworld” (TBC)
  • September 2003: TBA
  • October 2003: TBA
  • November 2003: “Matrix Revolutions” (7), “Looney Tunes – Back In Action” (14),Around The World In 80 Days” (21), “The Cat In The Hat” (21), “DirtyDancing 2” (21)
  • December 2003: “The Last Samurai” (5), “The Alamo” (12), “Lord Of The Rings -Return Of The King” (17), “Garfield” (19), “Lemony Snicket” (19), “PeterPan” (25) Page Content copyright © Dan Owen, 2003.

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