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Dan Owen reviews
I s s u e # 8 42 7 M a r c h 2 0 0 4
MOVIE NEWS SEED OF CHUCKYEx-S Club 7 pop nymph Hannah Spearritt (Agent Cody Banks 2: DestinationLondon – right) has joined the cast of Seed Of Chucky, alongside Billy Boyd (Lord OfThe Rings), Brad Dourif (Child’s Play) and Jennifer Tilly (Bound).Spearritt will play Joan, a young woman trying to break into the moviebusiness by working as a personal assistant to actress Tilly (playingherself). But for Joan, Hollywood becomes more cutthroat than usual whenTilly gets involved in a movie about the murderous exploits of living dollsChucky and Tiffany, and the real things come to call.
The film has already started production in Romania.
ALIEN 5Ridley Scott was interviewed recently about the prospects of a fifth Alienmovie in the light of the upcoming Alien Vs Predator:
- Q: And what of the rumour of another Alien movie?
RS: We have been talking about doing another one for years. It’s been acomplex situation. At the end of the day, a studio has to be pleased, a coreaudience has to be pleased, and a director has to agree to all that. I amglad to say things are progressing…
Q: With you as Director?
RS: I don’t think I’ll be directing, but I will have some involvement. It’llprobably be based on an idea I have, so I hope I’m asked to be involved.
Q: Can you talk about the idea?
RS: In broad terms, it’s something for those folks that want to see Ridley’sJourney come full circle and…
Q: Does that take her to the home planet of the Aliens?
RS: She won’t necessarily see the home planet, but you might…
BIRTH OF THE PINK PANTHER
Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda) is in talks to star alongside Steve Martinin the upcoming Pink Panther prequel, as Inspector Dreyfuss.
Beyonce Knowles (Austin Powers 3) and Jean Reno (Leon) have already agreedto star in the film, which begins shooting this May in New York and Paris.
The new film follows Chief Inspector Dreyfuss, who needs an idiot to takeover the investigation of the missing Pink Panther diamond. The person heneeds is a fool who will divert public attention that in turn will make himlook better when he solves the case himself. He then turns to InspectorClouseau (Martin).
BATMAN BEGINS’Warner Brothers’ have revealed the new Bat logo for their Batman Beginsproduction (see right). The website has also opened, here:Batman Begins.Warner Bros.com
‘Zap2it’ also talked to producer Charles Roven about the movie. Rovenrevealed that filming in Iceland was hampered recently by 75 m.p.h winds,and the crew are moving to London for shooting there.
Roven: “As soon as we set down in Iceland two weeks ago, we were hit withthe most crazy weather – sunny one minute and two hours later a rain storm.The storms have not delayed production.”
“The new Batmobile jumps and flies and turns on a dime! It’s a fantasticpiece of equipment, and there is no CGI [computer generated imagery] forthat. It’s a cross between Lamborghini and a Humvee – not like any of theBatmobiles you’ve seen before.”
CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORYWell, Tim Burton may have ordered a rewrite because it wasn’t to his darkertastes, but John August’s script for Charlie & The Chocolate Factory hasreceived a glowing review from a spy at ‘Ain’t It Cool News’!
Click this link to read for yourself, but beware of major spoilers
DOCTOR WHONot, strictly speaking, a piece of movie news, but I thought people may liketo know that actor Christopher Ecclestone (Shallow Grave, 28 Days Later) hasbeen cast as Doctor Who.
The new 13-part BBC TV series will start in 2005, with Russell T. Davies(who wrote TV’s The Second Coming, also starring Ecclestone) executiveproducing and writing the majority of the episodes.
Interestingly, the ‘BBC’ are currently caught up in a legal issue over therights to use the show’s famous robot villains The Daleks.
THE GREEN HORNETWriter-director Kevin Smith (Jersey Girl) has met with actor Jake Gyllenhaal(Donnie Darko) about taking the lead role in his upcoming screen adaptationof The Green Horner comic-book.
‘About.com’ also interviewed Smith, who revealed the potential villain forthe movie, saying: “I’ve got to create one for [The Green Hornet]. I’ve gotto give him a villain, at least in this one, because having him go after gypartists doesn’t really make for a big action movie.”
“If you listen to the old radio shows, that’s what he’s always doing isgoing after mobsters, racketeers and gyp artists. There was one radio show Ilistened to where he’s going after an insurance scam racket, and it’s likewhy do you have to put on a mask to do that?”
“… there’s nothing really from the run of the comics that I read that Iwas real fond of. It’s just something I’ve got to create, come up with forthe purpose of the movie.”
BLADE TRINITYWWE wrestler Triple H is starring in the second Blade sequel, and to proveit – here is his first publicity shot from the movie (right) HOUSE OF WAXJared Padalecki (Flight Of The Phoenix) has joined the cast of House of Waxfor director Jaume Collet-Serra. The film starts shooting in May inAustralia.
Padalecki joins Elisha Cuthbert (The Girl Next Door), Chad Michael Murrayand Paris Hilton (TV’s The Simple Life) in the remake of the 1953 classichorror film that starred Vincent Price.
JINXComic-book writer Brian Michael Bendis announced at the ‘Wizard World’convention in Los Angeles that Oscar winner Charlize Theron (Monster) willstar in and produce the big screen adaptation of his graphic novel Jinx.
The crime series, published by ‘Image Comics’, features a bounty hunter, twogrifters, and a treasure hunt.
JOHN WOO’The Australian Associated Press’ reported that director John Woo wants HughJackman to star in a new action-musical about an American gangster withgreat dance moves.
Woo: “I want to do an action-musical. I have dreamed about doing it forseven years. It’s an American gangster movie and is about a gangster who isalso a good dancer. It is not a singing movie, but there is dancing andaction. We are working on the script and it’s almost done.”
KILL BILL VOLUME IIDavid Carradine (right) told the ‘Los Angeles Daily News’ that Kill Bill Volume II,opening April 16 in the U.S, is “very different” from the first film.
Carradine: “The content, even the style, are very different. It’s not thejuggernaut of fighting that the first one was, although there’s a lot of hotaction in it. Everyone talks a lot – what people are used to with Quentin[Tarantino].”
“The heart of the movie is the stuff between me and Uma – wonderful stuff. Ijust saw the finished picture, and it’s beyond my expectations. The secondone is, I think, a better picture than the first.”
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3’Ain’t-It-Cool-News’ has reported that writer-director Frank Darabont (TheGreen Mile) has been hired to write Mission Impossible III. Darabont willtake over the task from Dean Georgaris (Paycheck), who was previouslyannounced as the writer involved.
Darabont co-wrote the upcoming Cruise action-thriller Collateral for’DreamWorks’. ‘Paramount Pictures’ is confident of a 6 May 2005 release datefor M:I-3, to be directed by Joe Carnahan (Narc).
Darabont recently turned in a draft for Indiana Jones 4 to ‘Paramount’ whichgot Steven Spielberg’s approval but not from George Lucas…
PHANTOM OF THE OPERA’MTV’ talked to actress Minnie Driver (Grosse Point Blank) about her singingin the upcoming big screen adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera.
Driver: “With no disrespect to Renée Zellweger, who has a nice voice, Chicagcan be transposed to a place that is much more contemporary. Andrew LloydWebber is ripping off actual operas — Mozart, Wagner — and you’re singing inthat style. You have to be such an accomplished singer. I could only fake itto a point. I could sing the low stuff. But the high stuff? Forget about it.There’s only like sixty women in England who could sing one particular part.It was like glass breaking and dogs start howling when you are singing upthere. There was no way.”
SUPERMANCreature effects designer Patrick Tatopoulos (Independence Day) has told’Moviehole’ that the Superman production is gearing up again.
Tatopoulos: “My best friend called me two days ago and said Superman is on.It’s starting up again. He’s the concept illustrator, the designer worked onThe Matrix, he’s Australian, from Sydney. I can’t tell you much more thanthat, but yeah, it’s going to be filming in Australia soon.”
US TOP 10 (CINEMA)All figures are weekend box-office gross.
- 1. Dawn of the Dead (2004) (right) ($27.3m)
- 2. The Passion of The Christ ($19.1m) (total to date: $295.0m)
- 3. Taking Lives ($11.4m)
- 4. Starsky & Hutch (2004) ($10.6m)
- 5. Secret Window ($9.6m)
- 6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ($8.6m)
- 7. Hidalgo ($8.5m)
- 8. Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London ($6.0m)
- 9. 50 First Dates ($4.3m)
- 10. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen ($1.5m)
UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)
- 1. Mona Lisa Smile (£1.19)
- 2. Honey (£1.06)
- 3. Along Came Polly (£0.88)
- 4. 21 Grams (£0.42m)
- 5. Starsky & Hutch (2004) – London only (£0.41m)
- 6. The Haunted Mansion (£0.37m)
- 7. School of Rock (£0.359m)
- 8. Looney Tunes: Back in Action (£0.352m)
- 9. Cheaper by the Dozen (2003) (£0.26m)
- 10. The Passion of the Christ – London only (£0.22)
** 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.