DAN’S MOVIE DIGEST 94

Two more wonderful images of Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, starringChristian Bale as the Caped Crusader, have been released (see right andbelow-right).

BULLITTDirector Wolfgang Petersen (Troy) will helm the ‘Warner Brothers’ remake ofthe 1968 Steve McQueen hit Bullitt, reports ‘Variety’. The movie, whichfocuses on tough detective Frank Bullitt, will be contemporized by CynthiaMort. The original was based on the Robert L. Pike novel Mute Witness, butthe remake will instead choose a different storyline.

Petersen: [The film is not about] “remaking a film or repeating a plot, itis about reviving a great character. Frank Bullitt is a cool, no-nonsenseman who doesn’t compromise. Bullitt walks his own path and his pursuit ofthe truth is unrelenting.”

MORGAN FREEMANMorgan Freeman (Bruce Almighty) and screenwriter Gregory Allen Howard areteaming up for an untitled World War II project for ‘DreamWorks’ about the761st Tank Battalion, says ‘The Hollywood Reporter’. The 761st TankBattalion was the first black armoured unit to enter combat during World WarII.

The unit, also known as the “Black Panthers”, arrived in November 1944to help Gen. George Patton in France and spent the rest of the war on thefront. They were also instrumental in the Battle of the Bulge. The unitreceived a Presidential Unit Citation in 1978, 33 years after the end of thewar…

STEVEN SPIELBERGDirector Steven Spielberg is moving forward on an untitled’DreamWorks’/’Universal’ co-production about the 1972 Munich Olympics, says’Variety’.

Eric Bana (Troy) has signed onto the film, which begins shooting in variousEuropean locations in the next month or so. Ben Kingsley had agreed to playone of the leads, but his participation now appears unlikely becauseSpielberg delayed starting by five weeks so he could shoot a differentending to his current movie The Terminal.

Spielberg is said to hope he can direct Tom Cruise in their remake of H.G.Wells’ classic novel The War of the Worlds, which is being scripted by DavidKoepp (Panic Room).

THE FOUNTAINDirector Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain will start filming on 1 November 1in Montreal. Hugh Jackman takes the lead role in a story that spans threedifferent time periods, via a quest for immortality thanks to a “tree oflife” found in Central America. I DREAM OF JEANNIELindsay Lohan (Mean Girls) talked to ‘Empire’ magazine and revealed she’sinterested in starring in the big screen version of TV’s I Dream of Jeannie.Lohan: “It’s a great script. I know of [the TV show]. I’ve seen some of there-runs”.

The actress is also due to star in a remake of The Love Bug. “In Herbie Iplay a twenty year old, she’s more mature, she’s a student in college andshe’s drives race cars. I’m taking driving lessons for that now.”

CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORYIrish actor David Kelly (Waking Ned Devine) has won the role of Grandpa Joein Tim Burton’s Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, according to ‘The HollywoodReporter’.

The child actors cast include Anna Sophia Robb (Violet), Jordan Fry (Mike),Julia Winter (Verucca), Philip Wiegratz (Augustus) and Freddie Highmore(Charlie). Robb plays the competitive Violet Beauregarde and Fry takes onthe role of Mike Teavee, a brainy bully with a passion for television.

‘Warner Brothers’ are targeting a 15 July 2005 release date.

FINAL DESTINATION III’Variety’ reports that ‘New Line Cinema’ has greenlit Final Destination 3,and will reunite the franchise with its creators Glen Morgan and James Wong.Wong directed the original film, which he also co-wrote with Morgan andJeffrey Reddick, back in 2000. The second instalment was directed by DavidR. Ellis and written by J. Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress. Both film only cost$25 million to make, but made $90 million and $70 million worldwide,respectively.

Co-writer Morgan and writer-director Wong have not revealed what kind ofaccident the third film will entail, although the rumour about arollercoaster accident seems too inviting to move away from…

KING KONGAndy Serkis, who voiced and acted Lord Of The Rings’ Gollum, before the CGIboffins stepped in, has been tasked by Peter Jackson to breathe life intothe Kiwi director’s latest venture King Kong – as the enormous ape himself!Serkis will also appear as Lumpy the cook, a crewman aboard the Venture, thetramp steamer that sails to Skull Island.

Jackson: “I expect this time round will be a very different experience forboth Andy and myself as we’ll actually get to shoot extended drama sequencestogether. It will be a little weird seeing Andy out of his Gollum gimp suit– and I hope we can both make the adjustment!”

“While Andy will provide very valuable onset reference, this doesn’t mean wewill be softening Kong by attempting to humanize him. The power of the storylies in the fact that this is a savage beast from a hostile environment, andwe don’t intend to compromise that.”

LOGAN’S RUN’Hollywood North Report’ revealed that director Bryan Singer’s Logan’s Runremake will start production in September, using the new 4 stage 64,000 sqft Canadian Motion Picture Park in the Big Bend area of South Burnaby.

The production have booked the facility until September 2005, for what isexpected to be the largest production in Vancouver history. The shoot isexpected to last until early-2005 but the sets will be retained for possiblepick-up shots and re-shoots once the CGI work is nearly done.

MARTIAN CHILDDirector Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook) and actor John Cusack will worktogether on The Martian Child, reports ‘Variety’. Adapted from a short storyby sci-fi author David Gerrold, Jonathan Tolins and Seth Bass’ script mixesE.T with Parenthood in the story of an unusual father-son relationship.

Cusack will play a sci-fi writer who, shattered by the death of his fiancée,adopts a 6-year-old because he wants to be a dad. His kid is a bit peculiar;convinced he is an alien from Mars…

FANTASTIC FOURThe latest casting rumours have Jason Isaacs adding Dr Doom to hisrepertoire of bad-guy roles – after Harry Potter’s Lucius Malfoy and PeterPan’s Hook!

‘Moviehole’ has also interviewed actress Kadee Strickland, who stars in TheStepford Wives remake, and she hinted that she could be close so signingonto Fantastic Four. Strickland: “We’re talking about it”. The actress isgood friends with the movie’s director, Tim Story, and bears a strongresemblance to Susan Storm (aka The Invisible Woman).

‘Superhero Hype’ exclusively revealed a rejected design for The Thing (seeright), on display at the recent International Make Up Artist Trade Show inPasadena. At the show, it was announced that now the team who worked onHellboy’s make-up will use that film’s make-up techniques to bring The Thingto life.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIAThe ‘New Zealand Herald’ spoke to director Andrew Adamson (Shrek 2) abouthis big screen version of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lions, the Witch andthe Wardrobe, that begins filming very soon.

Adamson: “It’s going very well. We are days away from shooting or weeks awayfrom shooting, so it’s a train that is coming at me definitely. But it’sgoing great. We have a great cast assembled now so it’s really comingtogether. It’s exciting. It’s terrifying and exciting. To me it’s aboutmaking a movie which lives up to my memory of my book rather thanspecifically the book itself.”

“And it needs to live up to everyone else’s memories and that is what mychallenge is – to make it accessible and real. You read it and it’s a 1940schildren’s book. I want it to feel real and for kids today to actuallyrelate to the children.”

“So I’ve really tried to make the story about a family which isdisenfranchised and disempowered in World War II, that on entering Narnia,through their unity as a family become empowered at the end of the story.It’s really bringing the humanity of the characters into what is effectivelya symbolic story.”

REPAIRMAN JACKDirector Douglas Aarniokoski, who often collaborates with Robert Rodriguez(Desperado), is working on Repairman Jack for ‘Beacon Pictures’, says ‘TheHollywood Reporter’.

The project is described as Indiana Jones meets The Mummy, focusing on a manfor hire who tries to track down an elusive evil figure and save the world.Originally written by Trevor Sands, the project was most recently handled byscribe Chris Morgan. Aarniokoski is attached to direct The Courier for AviLerner’s ‘Millennium Films’ and producers Willi Baer and Carmen Miller attheir ‘Eternity Pictures’.

SHREK 3 & 4’DreamWorks’ co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg admitted to the ‘Sydney MorningHerald’ that there were always plans to make four Shrek movies, saying: “Wedidn’t have the guts to tell anybody when we started out. We have two morechapters to tell. Not unlike Peter Jackson did with The Lord of the Rings.The difference is they did have the guts to make all three of themback-to-back-to-back.”

Katzenberg confirmed that work on Shrek 3 has been proceeding for ninemonths and on Shrek 4 for three months, which will continue the series until2009. “Thirteen years… you think Peter Jackson went at it a long time! Wedo spend three or four years making them. The nature of the process is[that] you get to see your work and view it over and over and over again -and redo it and remake it in a way that live action doesn’t have.”

TINTINAccording to French magazine ‘L’Écran Fantastique’, the reason why thelong-awaited Tintin movie has taken so long to get started is because StevenSpielberg wants to produce and maybe direct three of the movies!

The Secret Of The Unicorn, Red Rackham’s Treasure, The Seven Crystal Balls,Prisoners Of The Sun, The Blue Lotus & Tintin In Tibet are all potentialmovie adaptations waiting to be adapted for the big screen. The movies arerumoured to start production in 2005 for a 2006 release. Gregory Smith(Small Soldiers) has been linked to the Tintin role (see right).

SUPERMAN’Variety’ published a new update on the stalling Superman movie, saying theproject is moving ahead for a late-2004 start. The studio is in talks withNeal Moritz (The Fast & The Furious) and Gilbert Adler (Constantine) toproduce the film.

Director McG (Charlie’s Angels) hasn’t been signed to direct officially, buthe has recently screen-tested six actors for the Superman part. Newcandidates said to have tested are Jason Behr (Roswell), Henry Cavill (TheCount of Monte Cristo), Jared Padalecki (New York Minute) and MichaelCassidy.

The infamous J.J. Abrams script has been streamlined to a budget of justover $200 million.

All figures are weekend box-office gross.

• 1. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story ($30.0m)
• 2. The Terminal ($18.7m)
• 3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ($17.4m) (total to date: $190m)
• 4. Shrek 2 ($13.6m) (total to date: $378m)
• 5. Garfield: The Movie ($11.0m)
• 6. The Stepford Wives (2004) ($9.2m)
• 7. The Chronicles of Riddick ($8.3m)
• 8. The Day After Tomorrow ($7.55m) (total to date: $167m)
• 9. Around the World in 80 Days (2004) ($6.8m)
• 10. Troy ($1.71m) (total to date: $129m)

UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)

• 1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (£4.39m)
• 2. The Day After Tomorrow (£1.84m)
• 3. Troy (£0.72m)
• 4. Van Helsing (£0.18m)
• 5. Connie & Carla (£0.15m)
• 6. La Mala educacion (£0.07m)
• 7. Hum Tum (£0.062m)
• 8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (£0.060m)
• 9. lo non ho paura (£0.041m)
• 10. Dev (£0.040m)

All dates are U.K release dates, and are subject to change.