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Dan Owen reviews
I s s u e # 73 0 A u g u s t 2 0 0 2
** MOVIE NEWS **
“BATMAN: YEAR ONE” – Scarecrow Manson!
‘Variety’ magazine has reported that shock rocker Marilyn Manson is inline to play The Scarecrow in Darren Aronofsky’s “Batman: Year One”. Somany Batman and Superman franchises in development hell right now, it’sdifficult to keep up!
“THE CROW 4” – Lazarus Is Born!
The screenplay for “The Crow 4” has been rewritten to become astandalone movie project entitled “Lazarus” – about a man who turns onhis best friend, owing to some creepy supernatural forces, after the twoare involved with a gruesome crime. The potential movie should bedirected by Tony Bui (“Green Dragon”)
“DUMB & DUMBER 2” – Director Does Dumb!
Troy Miller has been hired by ‘New Line Cinema’ to direct the sequel to”Dumb & Dumber” – actually a prequel entitled “Dumb & Dumberer”!
“BLACK PANTHER” – Snipes Signs On?
Wesley Snipes has commented on the long-gestating possibility of himplaying Black Panther in a movie. He said: “We’re trying to get itprepared for production next year, so we’ll see. You know how this moviebusiness goes. Will Smith could be in the role, I could wake uptomorrow… ‘Will’s doing Black Panther!'”
The actor also confirmed he is interested in doing “Blade 3” should theproject be written and greenlit.
“THE FAST & THE FURIOUS 2” – Villain Cast!
Cole Hauser (“Pitch Black”) has been cast the villain in JohnSingleton’s sequel to “The Fast & The Furious” – which starred Hauser’s”Pitch Black” co-star Vin Diesel!
“FREDDY vs JASON” – Englund Speaks!
Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger) has spoken about the upcoming horrorcrossover “Freddy Vs Jason”. He said: “My [current] script dates back toJuly and boy, it’s a good script. It has the one thing that I felt ithad to have – we have to get into Jason’s nightmares. Whatever’s goingon, whatever remains of his synapse and psyche, we have to get intothat. And they really exploit that in this.”
“There’s also a wonderful set piece at a rave that’s just an amazing,amazing sequence… Freddy needs Jason. He manipulates him, and then itall starts to fray at the edge. We’ve really returned to core Freddy inthis one. It wouldn’t be Freddy if he didn’t crack some jokes, and hedoes in ‘Freddy vs. Jason,’ but they’re a little meaner [and] kind ofpolitically incorrect.”
It has also been confirmed that Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland hasjoined the cast as the film’s female lead! She will play just one of agroup of teenagers who decide to trick Freddy Kruger and Jason Voorheesinto fighting one another, in the hope of destroying both child-killers.
“KILL BILL” – Pei Mei Cast!
Quentin Tarantino will not star in his new movie “Kill Bill” as orientalKung Fu master Pei Mei. The role will now go to Gordon Liu (“5 MastersOf Death”) – a legendary Kung Fu movie veteran.
Julia Louis-Dreyfuss has also been cast as Sofie Fatale, while ChiriaKuriyama will play GoGo Yubari.
“LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN” – Flood Status!
Flooding in Prague halted production on Steven Norrington’s “The LeagueOf Extraordinary Gentlemen” picture last week.
Producer Don Murphy has this to say: “We had to shut down shootingTuesday at 10:45 Czech time. Sixty percent of the crew were in theHilton which was evacuated after the lobby became filled with a foot ofwater”
“The Nautilus set, quite possibly the most beautiful set I have everlaid eyes on, was very close to the river and we cannot get to it but islikely to be waterlogged. Many of the actors were in beautifulapartments by the river that had to be evacuated on Monday. Theremaining actors were in the Four Seasons which was evacuated lateMonday. The rains continue. The film is definitely not shooting untilnext week at the earliest.”
In related news, the movie’s screenwriter James Robinson has spokenabout the difficult task in adapting the comic-book for the screen@“It’s truer to the comic in spirit than in plot. I added two characters:Dorian Gray and Tom Sawyer… added Dorian Gray because he actuallyhelped the story. I won’t reveal the twist and, because of commerce, Ithink ’20th Century Fox’ felt more comfortable making a movie that wasvery expensive knowing that there was a young American character.”
“[Alan Moore] is the greatest comic book writer of all time. Taking thatinto account, “League” is one of his great works. Is it better than”Watchmen”? It depends on what you prefer. That gets into relativeopinions. “League” is definitely one of my favorite works that he hasdone.”
“HELLRAISER VI” – Tearing Souls Apart Once More!
‘Cinescape’ interviewed Tim Day – the co-writer of “Hellraiser: Deader”- about the new movie’s plot: “We’ve taken a script called ‘Deader’ thatNeal Marshall (’13 Ghosts’) Stevens sold to ‘Dimension’ almost 2 yearsago as a spec, and I’ve rewritten it to incorporate the ‘Hellraiser’mythology.”
“Our heroine is a female reporter for a London newspaper, who is sent toBucharest to investigate an underground suicide cult known as the’Deaders.’ She is quickly drawn into their dark world and soon can seeno way out other than to join them in preparation for the coming of…well, I don’t want to ruin it for you”.
The proposed sixth “Hellraiser” movie is being worked on before numberfive – “Hellraiser: Hellseeker” – is even released in the US on 15October!
“MEET THE FOCKERS” – Shooting Now???
The US ‘TV Guide’ has reported that “Meet The Fockers”, the sequel to”Meet The Parents” with Robert DeNiro and Ben Stiller is currentlyshooting! Perhaps this is an error on their part, but has director JayRoach launched himself into another movie so soon after “Austin PowersIn Goldmember”?
“RUSH HOUR 3 & 4?” – Ratner Abandones #4
Director Brett Ratner has admitted that he may not shoot two further”Rush Hour” sequels back-to-back, but start “Rush Hour 3” in January2004. The current plan is to start the movie in New York and then acountry where both Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker’s characters are fishout of water.
“SPIDER-MAN 2” – Screenwriters Spin Their Story…
Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (creators/writers of “Smallville”) havespoken about their next project – writing the sequel to this Summer’shit “Spider-Man”:
“We can’t really talk too much about the story-because the “X-Men” willbe sent out to kill us-but you will see Peter grow and evolve. That’sreally the story Sam wants to tell. You’ll see him grow as a person, asuperhero and in all his relationships.”
So how did the creators of “Smallville” get involved with Spider-Man?Gough: “We got a call from ‘Columbia Pictures’ and we went and had ameeting. They actually took us over to the set of the first “Spider-Man”and we met Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire, and [Producer] Laura Ziskin. Andthey basically said they’d like us to consider writing the sequelbecause they really like “Smallville” and “Shanghai Noon”. And you callus up and invite us to the set like that, nine out of 10 our answer willbe ‘yes.'”
“We were told once, ‘You guys had done the Marvel Comics version of’Superman’.’ So to have ‘Marvel Comics’ come to us and ask us to getinvolved in this, that was a real thrill!”
Millar: “We’ve read a lot of comics now and we’ve also read the’Ultimate Spider-Man’ books. We have definitely done our homework.”
“STAR TREK NEMESIS” – Is It The End?
Patrick Stewart has commented that: “If this is the end of ‘The NextGeneration’, it’s actually a beautiful and appropriate ending. There iscomplete closure on ‘The Next Generation’ in this movie.”
He also confirmed that the new movie “Star Trek Nemesis” will featurecameos from stars of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “Star Trek:Voyager” (Kate Mulgrew as Admiral Janeway).
“SUPERMAN 5” – Up, Up & Away?
More information has arrived on the J.J Abrams’ screenplay thatimpressed ‘Warner Brothers’ recently. Insiders have christened thescript “Superman: The Man Of Steel”.
Producers David Heyman (“Harry Potter”) and Barrie M. Osbourne (“TheLord Of The Rings”) are involved in the project, and original “Superman”director Richard Donner is being asked to become an executive-produceron the new movie!
It has also been speculated that Brendar Fraser (“The Mummy”) could playSuperman following his multi-picture deal with ‘Warner Brothers’!
And who will direct? Well, as I said last issue, “Charlie’s Angels”helmer McG could be pushed out of the frame by one of the following:Stephen Sommers (“The Mummy”), Stephen Hopkins (“Lost In Space”), KevinReynolds (“Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves), Robert Rodriguez (“Spy Kids2”) or the current favourite Brett Ratner (“Rush Hour”).
“TREMORS 4” – Tunnelling To TV…
“Tremors 4” is about to begin shooting at FOX Studios Baja, togetherwith the pilot for a television series.
“WOLFENSTEIN” – Game-To-Screen?
‘ID Software’ CEO Todd Hollenshead has spoken about plans to adaptcomputer games “Doom” and “Wolfenstein” into movies. He said: “”Ofcourse, movies based on PC and video game properties continue to be hotand recently ‘Sony’ announced plans to make a ‘Return To CastleWolfenstein’ film.”
Hollenshead has met with the producers of the game and was impressedwith their enthusiasm for both the game and making the movie. Theproducers are currently looking to secure a writer for the “Wolfenstein”movie. The “Doom III” E3 demonstration in Los Angeles also caught theeye of some Hollywood producers, according to Hollenshead. He also said’id’ is currently looking at a number of ideas for a “Doom” movie…
“xXx2” – $22 million!
Vin Diesel is said to be getting $22 million and 3% of the total grossof the sequel to “xXx” once it’s made! This firmly put Diesel amongstthe biggest earners in Hollywood – not bad for a relative unknown just 6months ago!
US TOP 10 (CINEMA)
** TRAILERS **
X-Men 2:A sneak-peak of the new movie, and not strictly a theatrical trailer,but it still offers some tantalizing glimpses of the sequel – whichalready looks set to eclipse the original.
CLICK HERE
Page Content copyright © Dan Owen, 2002.
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.