DAN’S MOVIE DIGEST 53

SPIDER-MAN 2The first pics of Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus have been released(see right and below-right). Looks very promising! BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA 2It is rumoured that screenwriter Corey Mitchel recently spoke withproducer Debra Hill and director John Carpenter, and later indicatedthat Carpenter is “totally on board” for a Big Trouble In Little Chinasequel.

Kurt Russell is rumoured to be interested, and work is quietly underwayto tempt Jackie Chan onto the project.

BLADE III’Comics Continuum’ talked with Marvel CEO Avi Arad over the weekend andupdated the status of practically all Marvel movie projects.

Blade III? “We have a great script, Wesley [Snipes] is back and we aredoing our thing”.

Hulk 2? “We are just waiting for a script. We are going to make anotherHulk, absolutely.”

Fantastic Four? “We have a release date and we are all working hard toget there”

Iron Man? “We are very advanced into Iron Man and Elektra. These two aresomething. Then we’ll have news in a couple of weeks on Deathlok. It’s agreat script, and this movie is going to get made. And we just got aphenomenal director.”

DEATHLOKLee Tamahori (Die Another Day) will direct Deathlok for ‘ParamountPictures’ and ‘Marvel Studios’. Written by Stu Zicherman and RavenMetzner, the film concerns a suburban family man who is unwittingly madea test subject for technology research that slowly turns him into aliving computer.

Marvel Studios’ Avi Arad is producing the project with Steven Paul andhis ‘Crystal Sky Productions’, the latter of which has a co-productionand co-financing deal with ‘Paramount’.

THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS’Sci Fi Wire’ reported that actress Nona Gaye, who reprises her role ofZee in The Matrix Revolutions, has confirmed that the final Matrixinstalment with answer everyone’s questions: “People will be relievedwhen they see Revolutions. I know a lot of people are like, ‘What’sgoing on?'”

The actress also added that Revolutions will continue to bephilosophically complex: “I think it depends on your perception. When Iread the script, it made sense to me. Number three is where I get down.I’m doing a lot of diving and running and jumping and stuff.”

IRON MANSmallville co-creator Miles Millar spoke to ‘Sci-Fi Wire’ about how hisand co-writer Alfred Gough’s screenplay for a film-version of Iron Manis going: “We’re about halfway through the script. We spent, I guess,seven months developing the story. So we’re happy… It’s faithful [tothe comics], but it’s also very different from the original.”

“And it’s updated… I think we found a really cool way, actually, toreinvent the suit, make it very high-tech, make it very cool visually…It’s going to be a very different suit. But, yeah, it will be a goldsuit”.

JURASSIC PARK 4’Box-Office Magazine’ spoke with Keira Knightley about the rumour thatshe is set to star in Jurassic Park 4.

Knightley: “It’s true! I didn’t think anybody knew about that! It was soamazing because I’ve been a big fan of the original film for years.Steven [Spielberg] said he liked my work in Bend It Like Beckham andwanted to meet me.”

“I think Sam Neill really pushed for me as well, ’cause we had workedtogether before on [the TV series] Doctor Zhivago. There were actuallytwo roles in Jurassic Park 4 Steven thought I might fit. First there wasthe granddaughter part, which wasn’t all that big a role; she was onlyin it at the beginning. The other part he was considering for me wassubstantially larger, but I won’t go into any details in case I makeSteven angry [laughs].”

“I truly don’t know if I’ll end up getting either part or not. Thescript is pretty much locked down, but I think they’re still working onfinal drafts at the moment. But just to be even considered by StevenSpielberg was a humbling honour”.

CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORYIt’s increasingly likely that director Tim Burton (Beetlejuice) willremake the classic 1971 movie Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, itselfbased on the celebrated children’s book by Roald Dahl. PHANTOM OF THE OPERADirector Joel Schumacher spoke up about his upcoming adaptation of themusical classic to ‘IGN Filmforce’: “I don’t really have all my ducks inorder yet. We don’t start shooting until October… The music will bere-invented for this film.”

“Remember, these orchestrations were done sixteen years ago… [Inregards to changing the story, Andrew Lloyd Webber has] left that up tome. He’s not really a film person. He’s really a theatre person. Hedoesn’t claim to be a film guy.”

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN II’The Hollywood Reporter’ indicates that ‘Disney’ are already pushingforward plans for a sequel to surprise hit Pirates Of The Caribbean.Screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio have already begun talks towrite the sequel but no storyline is yet planned. RESIDENT EVIL II’The Hollywood Reporter’ indicates that Oded Fehr (The Mummy) and SiennaGuillory have joined the cast of the Resident Evil sequel. SHREK 2’About.Com’ talked with Shrek 2’s directors Kelly Asbury and ConradVernon, and managed to get a few pertinent questions answered:

• Will there be spoofing of more movies?
  Asbury: “Little things, you know, little nods of homage’s in some cases,but yeah, we’re having fun with some of that. That’s the nature of theShrek world. It’s kind of that Mad Magazine world that was created inthe first one. We’re trying to carry that through, that samesensibility”.
• Will there be a Shrek 3?
  Asbury: “That’s not for me to say. We’re just working on this movie… Ithink like any film, if it’s a good story and the characters work andyou like them, it’s open for possibly any future.”

  Vernon: “One of the things they were saying about the first one is oneof the biggest mistakes in it was marrying them off. Because now what dowe do now? Okay, meet the parents, we’ll do that. But once you make thatmistake once, you kind of say, ‘Okay, well, if there’s a possibility,we’ll try to work that’ but you still have to end the filmsatisfyingly.”

SK8ER BOIYes, Avril Lavigne’s hit song Sk8er Boi is to be adapted into a film.Enough said. Avril herself will not star. Shame. No, really…

(DVDfever Ed: Is it just me, or when Avril Lavigne’s appearson TV I think of the advert, “My sister’s a greaser!”

SUPERMANOrlando Bloom has apparently turned down an offer to star as Superman. WATCHMENProducer Lloyd Levin confirmed to ‘IGN Filmforce’ that the script hasbeen completed by David Hayter and he may possibly direct the moviehimself.

All figures are weekend box-office gross.

• 1. Bad Boys II ($46.5m)
• 2. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl ($34.0m)
• 3. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ($10.1m)
• 4. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines ($9.3m)
• 5. Johnny English ($9.1m)
• 6. Finding Nemo ($7.2m)
• 7. Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde ($6.1m)
• 8. How To Deal ($5.8m)
• 9. Charlie’s Angels 2: Full Throttle ($3.8m)
• 10. 28 Days Later ($2.5m)

UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)

• 1. The Hulk (£3.52m)
• 2. Bruce Almighty (£1.26m)
• 3. Charlie’s Angels 2: Full Throttle (£1.18m)
• 4. Daddy Day Care (£0.76m)
• 5. Piglet’s Big Movie (£0.30m)
• 6. Veronica Guerin (£0.25m)
• 7. 2 Fast 2 Furious (£0.16m)
• 8. Whale Rider (£0.15m)
• 9. Buffalo Soldiers (£0.11m)
• 10. The Matrix Reloaded (£0.10m)

Seen it!
No, this is a remake…

Why remake Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Why not do a sequel?
They have – numerous sequels, each one less frightening than TobeHooper’s original slice of cannibalistic terror.

Is Hollywood so starved of ideas?
Debatable. But, somebody decided that Chainsaw should be brought bangup-to-date with a sequel, although the remake retains a 70’s setting.

Ok, just tell me this isn’t a shot-for-shot remake like Gus Van Sant’s Psycho?
It’s not a shot-for-shot remake.

Phew!
Instead, the movie generally just tells the same story but with all thetechnical polish and plot improvements the 21st-Century can muster.

Does the trailer look good?
In fact, it really does! The tone and style of Hooper’s original looksintact (with the same lack of gore), and the trailer is effectivelychilling despite revealing very little.

Does Leatherface make an appearance?
Briefly.

And his chainsaw? Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
Of course.

Excellent. Final thoughts?
Despite being produced by Michael “more is more” Bay (Armageddon) thislooks like a restrained and effective update of the 70’s classic. Fromthe trailer there doesn’t seem to be anything for fans to complainabout, so yes, this looks like a satisfying remake waiting to bereleased. Breathe a sigh of relief.

Note that these are US release dates.