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Dan Owen reviews
I s s u e # 8 72 4 A p r i l 2 0 0 4
MOVIE NEWS THE HITCH-HIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXYThe movie has started filming in Elstree Studios under the direction of NickGoldsmith. ‘Magrathea’ carried a great interview with the director andwriter Garth Jennings here:herewith snippets below:
- MJ: Can we start off by discussing the cast members who have so far beenofficially confirmed? Why did you pick Martin Freeman for the role ofArthur?
- Garth: Arthur Dent had to be Martin really. Martin screen-tested for therole many months ago now. Robbie saw the tape along with us and it was thekind of tape you hope you’re going to have but very rarely do, when someonejust comes in and nails it.
He has just been extraordinary. He has reinvented it so its still Arthur butits a very new, fresh take on it. As you’ve seen in The Office, he can makeeven the most preposterous situations real and have real heart. He’s just sonatural and wonderful. To see Martin struggling with hitchhiking through theuniverse is going to be the most lovely thing to watch.
- MJ: What about the unusual choice of Mos Def as Ford?
- Garth: Well, you can’t get more of a contrast than between Martin Freemanand Mos Def. He’s just marvellous, a fabulous bloke. You wait till you meethim, you’ll love him. He’s perfect for Ford. We didn’t know much about Mosbefore we went to meet him; since meeting him and investigating everythinghe’s done, it was almost no question – it had to be him.
- MJ: Can you just allay the fears of some people that, although Mos Def is arap artist, he won’t be playing a hip-hop Ford?
- Garth: No, I think that would be the most appalling thing ever in thehistory of the world. To be fair, I didn’t know much about Mos Def before Imet him and didn’t think that he was going to be right. But that’s why Isay, when you meet him, he’s the most wonderful actor first and foremost buthe’s also incredibly funny, incredibly clever. He just fits the brief in amost unexpected way really.
- MJ: And Zooey Deschanel, right, will be Trillian. Why did you pick her?
- Garth: Trillian’s one of those characters that needed a bit more going on.She was a character that needed much development and that’s something thatDouglas was working quite hard on. Zooey again just fitted the bill as faras being somebody who can be both smart and funny but not irritating. Itsvery hard to have somebody who’s very clever and knows lots of things andnot have them get under your skin. We found somebody who also works verywell with Arthur, to really give Arthur a run for his money – and everyoneelse. She can hold her own. The last thing we wanted was the token female,and Zooey more than fitted the bill. I could go on about her for agesbecause she’s absolutely fabulous and she is extraordinary in real life aswell. If we just get a bit of what she’s like in real life, I think well bethere.
- MJ: I know a lot of people feel Sam Rockwell is a great choice for Zaphod.
- Garth: Sam is an extraordinary fella. He’s the only man I know who can gofrom a high karate kick, straight into the splits without pulling a muscleand still look cool! He really took to Zaphod like a duck to water and hisdetermination to get it right is more than I could hope for. I would imagineits a bad idea to let him have an espresso before work unless we have are-enforced set but other than that I think he’s going to be excellent.
- MJ: Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast was the first casting we heard about butthe last of the main roles to be confirmed – why was that?
- Garth: Nick and I received the script for the film just after watching theBBC’s State Of Play in which Bill Nighy was fantastic. Bill’s just perfectfor Slartibartfast and we never bothered even considering anyone else. Iwrote to him on several occasions to ask him to play Slarti but didn’t hearanything back for a while because he was so busy. The next thing I knew, hewas in the papers talking about how much he loved the script and how excitedhe was to be offered the part. His enthusiasm and understanding ofHitchhikers is priceless. You can’t ask for more than that.
SPY HUNTERLatino Review spoke to The Rock on the set of Be Cool, the sequel to GetShorty, which he is starring in alongside John Travolta and Uma Thurman. TheRock seemed to speculate that John Woo (Face/Off) could be in the running todirect his next movie, Spy Hunter.
Spy Hunter will be a movie-adaptation of the famous arcade game from the1980s, starring The Rock as Alec Sects, a former F-15 pilot employed by theInternational Espionage Services as a member of the Spy-Hunter team.
WATCHMENAlan Moore’s celebrated 80s graphic novel has been in development hell foralmost two decades now, but the film is slowly becoming a reality thanks toscreenwriter David Hayter, who had hoped to direct… but not now.
Instead, the studio have entrusted the project to Darren Aronofsky (RequiemFor A Dream)! Fantastic news for those who have seen Aronofskys incrediblework. First, Aronofsky will film The Fountain.
DONNIE DARKO – THE DIRECTOR’S CUT’Newmarket Films’ are definitely releasing a director’s cut of RichardKelly‘s Donnie Darko this summer in the U.S. The film, starring JakeGyllenhaal, right, only made $517,375 when it was released in U.S cinemas inOctober 2001, but will now get a second chance. Audience interest has beendemonstrated by strong sales of the DVD which have grossed $10 million onabout a million units!
The new version will include 21 minutes of footage not in the originalrelease, to be premiered on 29 May at the ‘Seattle Film Festival’.’Newmarket’ plans to release the film on 10 screens in Seattle as a test runfor a wider national release.
‘Empire Online’ spoke to writer-director Richard Kelly about the extramaterial in the Director’s Cut, with Kelly saying: “I kind of want to leaveit as a surprise but I will say that this it will be worth the price ofadmission – it’s not trying to cash-in on the fan-base, it’s a wholly newtheatrical experience.”
“It will expand the meaning of the film and offer more clues and moresolutions to the puzzle and create an additional layer of mystery for theaudience. There really is a tremendous amount of new material – some ofwhich will surprise even the most die-hard fans. One thing I am reallyexcited about is the new sound.”
“I was really unhappy with the mix that we had in the first cut. We neverreally had time to go in properly and design the sound. We can go back andreally get it right this time. I’m very excited about the new sonic elementsof the film.”
IRON MANScreenwriter David Hayter (X-Men) will rewrite Iron Man for ‘New LineCinema’, says ‘The Hollywood Reporter’. Alfred Gough and Miles Millar,creators of TV’s Smallville, wrote the previous draft. THE RING 2Bloody Disgusting has revealed that actress Daveigh Chase wont reprise herrole as the spooky Samara for upcoming Ring sequel, to be directed by HideoNakata.
Apparently, her character only appears in three small scenes and doesn’thave any dialogue, so the actress was apparently advised to move onto otherprojects.
In related news, horror icon Sissy Spacek (Carrie) has joined the castalongside Naomi Watts.
US TOP 10 (CINEMA)All figures are weekend box-office gross.
- 1. Kill Bill Vol.2 ($25.1m)
- 2. The Punisher ($13.8m)
- 3. Jonson Family Vacation ($5.9m)
- 4. Hellboy ($5.6m)
- 5. Home on the Range ($5.5m)
- 6. Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed ($5.2m)
- 7. Walking Tall ($4.6m)
- 8. Ella Enchanted ($4.2m)
- 9. The Alamo (2004) ($4.1m)
- 10. The Passion of The Christ ($4.0m) (total to date: $361m)
UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)
- 1. Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (£1.77m)
- 2. 50 First Dates (£1.19m)
- 3. Shaun of the Dead (£1.13m)
- 4. The Cat in the Hat (£0.78m)
- 5. The Butterfly Effect (£0.73m)
- 6. The Girl Next Door (£0.71m)
- 7. The Passion of the Christ (£0.56m)
- 8. Gothika (£0.49m)
- 9. Hidalgo (£0.44m)
- 10. Starsky & Hutch (2004) (£0.28m)
** 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.