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Dan Owen reviews
I s s u e # 8 21 2 M a r c h 2 0 0 4
KING KONGElijah Wood (The Lord Of The Rings, right) revealed to ‘Sci Fi Wire’ that he talkedwith the trilogy’s co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens about returningto New Zealand to film a cameo in director Peter Jackson’s upcoming KingKong remake.
Wood: “I said, ‘I’m coming down in September, when you guys are shooting,’And they were like, ‘Well, we got to get you in there somehow.’ Sohopefully… I just said I wanted to come down and visit and hopefully beallowed to be stomped on by a foot. So hopefully I’ll have something likethat.”
BATMAN BEGINSChristopher Nolan’s Batman movie is already a must-see event purely becauseof the astonishing acting talent involved. First we had hot talent ChristianBale (American Psycho) as Batman, then the legendary Michael Caine as butlerAlfred, the talented Katie Holmes (TV’s Dawson’s Creek) as Rachel Dodson,Liam Neeson as Ducard, Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai) as lead villain Ra’sal Ghul, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later) asJonathan Crane (a.k.a The Scarecrow) and Larry Holden as D.A. Fisk. Well,now add Gary Oldman to that list as a young Commissioner Gordon! BOND 21’Empire magazine’ spoke to James Bond screenwriters Robert Wade andNeal Purvis, who confirmed they’ve started writing James Bond 21.
Purvis: “We started writing the new one two weeks ago so obviously all theclichés are already in place. As far as we understand it, Pierce Brosnan isBond. He’s a great Bond and he gives you a lot to work with as a writerbecause he’s very good looking. Seriously, he is very good at suggesting anundercurrent of you don’t know what. He shows that there is a shadow onthis man.”
Wade adds: “[There isn’t] a more difficult task. It’s all been done. Thetwentieth film was harder than the nineteenth. It’s very difficult to thinkof new ways to blow things up! But character is the thing; it’s finding newways to explore the character.”
CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORYA spy inside ‘Pinewood Studios’ saw some pre-production designs for theOompah Loompah’s for Tim Burton’s Charlie & The Chocolate Factory.
Apparently, the makers are torn between using dwarves in the roles (as withthe 1970’s version with Gene Wilder) or utilize the technology that broughtGollum to life in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy.
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIAThe ‘AAP’ reports that Nicole Kidman flew into Christchurch, New Zealand,recently on a top secret visit to tour locations for The Chronicles ofNarnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe.
The star took part in a whirlwind tour of Canterbury’s high country in ahelicopter and visited Flock Hill station near Arthurs Pass. This hasfuelled speculation that Kidman is interested in the role of the WhiteWitch, who has used her magical powers to keep Narnia in winter for 100years.
THE FAST & THE FURIOUS 3’Universal Pictures’ have greenlit a second sequel to The Fast & TheFurious, for release in summer 2005. Vin Diesel is in talks to return to thefranchise while Paul Walker will not return.
Screenwriter Chris Morgan (Cellular) has been hired to write the script,with his concept following Diesel’s character, Dominic Torretto, now afugitive of the law, hiding out in Mexico. The action will quickly move toTokyo, the current Mecca of street racing, where Torretto tries to bail outa friend in trouble with Japanese gangsters.
LOGAN’S RUNBryan Singer (X-Men 2) has signed to direct the long-awaited remake of1970’s sci-fi classic Logan’s Run for ‘Warner Brothers’ and producer JoelSilver (The Matrix).
Singer: “I was drawn to X-Men because of its universal issues of tolerance.This deals with a utopian society, but also with the obsession of youth andmortality. I’ve already started working with my X2 production designer, GuyDyas, to create a visual world we’ve never seen before.”
Silver: “The novel contains a great idea for a film, and Bryan has found away to go back to it and use his technical abilities to make a huge sci-fiadventure film.”
Ethan Gross, Paul Todisco and Brian Singer are writing the script, with thefilm planned to be released in 2005. Singer is still slated to direct X-Men3, so this news will push X3 back until 2006 at the earliest.
THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN’USA Today’ chatted with director Todd Phillips (Starsky & Hutch) about hisupcoming movie adaptation of The Six Million Dollar Man TV show.
Phillips: “I like the idea of what we can do with the concept. The TV showtook itself so seriously. I want to see what happens with a lighter touch.”
Jim Carrey (right) will assume the role made famous by Lee Majors as Colonel SteveAustin, a crippled test pilot who is rebuilt with cybernetic limbs andimplants to become a super intelligence agent.
But Phillips promises not to make the movie an all-out comedy, adding: “Ifyour movie isn’t sweet at its core, then it’s not going to work withaudiences. [And] no, he’s not going to be The Six Billion Dollar Man. He’snot that great.”
‘ComingSoon.net’ asked Jim Carrey what he will be bringing to the character ofSteve Austin, who replied: “You probably shouldn’t report on this because Idon’t even know if it is going to happen or not, it’s that far down theline, we’re developing that script. It’s a whole lotta fun.”
“I love playing ego and insecurity combined. I guess that’s the same thing,ego out of control. Six million dollars doesn’t get you a lot in this worldthese days so you can kinda imagine where the plot is going.”
THE RING 2Noam Murro, the commercials director who was set to helm the sequel to TheRing, will not be working on the sequel after all.
‘DreamWorks Pictures’ head Walter Parkes said: “This is a mutual partingbased on two creative differences. Noam Murro is an extraordinarily gifteddirector and we intend without hesitation to try to work with him in thefuture.”
According to the studio, the release date for The Ring 2 remains November10. A new director is expected to be named this week.
Naomi Watts (21 Grams) and David Dorfman are returning for the sequel,written again by Ehren Kruger (Scream 3), but ignoring the Japanese sequelstoryline.
TRAILERSThe Day After Tomorrow
Weblink: www.thedayaftertomorrow.com/sw/index.html
Or the day before the day after the day after tomorrow.
Don’t be stupid. This is the ominous title for German director RolandEmmerich’s latest big-screen disaster, after having aliens destroy everymajor city in Independence Day and trashing New York with a giant lizard inGodzilla.
Ah, where’s Herr Emmerich been recently?
Well, despite filming Mel Gibson’s The Patriot, he’s probably been lickinghis wounds from 1997’s critical onslaught of Godzilla.
So he’s decided to return to his roots and effectively plumb the same watersyet again, with yet another big-scale disaster CGI-fest.
Yes. But with one important difference.
Oh – what?
The absence of long-time collaborator Dean Devlin, who helped craft everyEmmerich movie since 1994’s StarGate.
I see. So what does this mean?
Well, Devlin isn’t writing the movie. ID4 was written in four-days, whileGodzilla was a mix of ideas stolen from Jurassic Park and King Kong. The DayAfter Tomorrow aims to be a bit more cerebral.
So did Deep Impact.
Well, yes. Anyway, the trailer shows promise. At its core, TDAT is about theglobal warming and climate change, which obviously culminates in the”weather going crazy” and destroying familiar US landmarks.
New York again.
Indeed.
Just what does Emmerich have against NYC?
Your guess is as good as mine! Anyway, the film has some acting muscle – oldhand Ian Holm, the dependable Dennis Quaid, and rising star Jake Gyllenhaal(Donnie Darko) in his first mainstream role.
Sounds good, but what about the visuals.
Mass bird migrations, a tidal wave hitting the Statue Of Liberty, crazeddogs, a shattering glacier, multiple tornados ripping skyscrapers apart -the usual thing.
Excellent…
TDAT is released this summer. “Where will you be?” indeed…
US TOP 10 (CINEMA)All figures are weekend box-office gross.
- 1. The Passion of The Christ ($53.2m)
- 2. Starsky & Hutch (2004) ($28.1m)
- 3. Hidalgo ($18.8m)
- 4. 50 First Dates ($7.6m)
- 5. Twisted ($5.1m)
- 6. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen ($4.0m)
- 7. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($3.0m)
- 8. Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights ($2.9m)
- 9. Miracle ($2.5m)
- 10. Monster ($2.1m)
UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)
- 1. Along Came Polly (£1.57)
- 2. 21 Grams (£0.58m)
- 3. School of Rock (£0.54m)
- 4. The Haunted Mansion (£0.53m)
- 5. Torque (£0.50m)
- 6. Looney Tunes: Back in Action (£0.416m)
- 7. Cheaper by the Dozen (2003) (£0.414m)
- 8. Something’s Gotta Give (£0.36m)
- 9. Lost In Translation (£0.345m)
- 10. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (£0.343m)
** IN THE PIPELINE **All dates are U.K release dates, and are subject to change.
Email Dan Owen
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.