DAN’S MOVIE DIGEST 125

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Dan Owen reviews

DAN’S MOVIE DIGEST
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MOVIE NEWS

THE FOGTom Welling (TV’s Smallville) and Maggie Grace (TV’s Lost, right) will star in theremake of John Carpenter’s classic horror The Fog for ‘Revolution Studios’.

Rupert Wainwright is directing and Debra Hill, David Foster and Carpenterare producing the film, which Cooper Layne is penning from the screenplaywritten by Hill and Carpenter for the original 1980 film.

The Fog is set in a Northern California town where, about 100 years ago, aship sank under mysterious circumstances in a thick, eerie fog. The ghostsof the deceased mariners return from their watery graves to seek theirrevenge.

Welling will play a local boat owner who never left the town, and Grace willportray a college girl who is back in her hometown for the summer.

STAR WARS EPISODE IIIRumour has it that writer-director George Lucas will have a small cameo rolein final Star Wars movie Revenge Of The Sith. TRANSFORMERSScreenwriter John Rogers has revealed on his ‘Kung Fu’ blog that, afterhaving turned in a revised first draft for Transformers, he has moved ontoanother project. He may come back at a later time for more work on thescript.

Rogers: “Nothing horrible, everything’s cool. But I was technicallycontracted to start another movie when the Transformers gig popped up. Theproducers of that flick – including one-of-us Akiva Goldsman – were realgentlemen about the situation and stepped aside for the duration of thehigh-intensity TF first draft.”

‘IGN Filmforce’ has learned that the new writers on Transformers are RobertoOrci and Alex Kurtzman, who have worked on Alias and Xena: Warrior Princess.They also wrote upcoming features The Island, The Legend of Zorro, andMission: Impossible 3.

Transformers is a potential summer 2006 release.

TERMINATOR 4Various rumours are surfacing about the proposed third sequel of theTerminator franchise. Original star Michael Biehn could possibly return asKyle Reese, under the direction of Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium), with ArnoldSchwarzenegger still being courted for a cameo. Also, former Mr UniverseRalph Moeller (right) has apparently being approached to play one of six Terminatorsin the new movie… U WANT ME 2 KILL HIM?’Variety’ reports that ‘Warner Brothers’ are after the screen rights to JudyBachrach’s article U Want Me 2 Kill Him? which appeared in the Februaryedition of ‘Vanity Fair’. Bryan Singer will develop and direct the film.

The story chronicled a bizarre internet relationship between a 14-year-oldloner with a vivid imagination and the 16-year-old with whom hecorresponded. The younger boy wound up being stabbed twice and nearly killedby the older boy. The twisted saga left one charged as the co-conspirator ina murder attempt – his own.

However, before Singer can begin work he still has to film his Supermanremake and is attached to direct a Logan’s Run remake.

CoverTRAILERS House Of Wax” – Trailer 1(weblink)

Madame Toussades – The Movie?
Hardly.

Explain, please.
This is a remake from ‘Dark Castle’ of the classic Vincent Price horror.

Dark Castle? Hmm, didn’t they remake13 Ghosts?
Yes, amongst others. Their modus operandi is to take existing low-budgethorrors, such as House On Haunted Hill, and remake them for contemporaryaudiences.

But they remake them badly.
Well, none of their remakes has surpassed the original – yet.

Does House Of Wax look like redeeming the company’s ethic?
It doesn’t look too bad, to be honest – but most horror movie trailers canbe edited to appear quite effective.

So what’s the low-down?
House Of Wax stars Elisha Cuthbert (Jack Bauer’s now absent daughter fromTV’s 24, right) and US “It Girl” Paris Hilton. You know, the one with the leakedsex tape on the internet. An American version of Abi Titmiss with half theintelligence but quadruple the bank balance.

You don’t need to explain – I have the tape!
Ahh, ok. Anyway, it appears from the trailer that the obligatory rag-taggroup of teens find themselves in a ghost town where the local populace havebeen encased in wax by the proprietor of “The House Of Wax” museum. Cue lotsof screaming, spooky-looking “mannequins”, a serial-killer with a waxfetish, and the odd glimpse of cleavage from Hilton heiress Paris.

A predictable slasher flick, then?
In essence, yes – but it all looks quite glossy and should provide the oddfright. The trailer gives a fair bit away, I’d guess, but it looks like theexpected B-movie rollercoaster ride you’d expect.

CoverUS TOP 10 (CINEMA)

All figures are weekend box-office gross.

  • 1. Hitch ($31.8m)
  • 2. Constantine ($30.5m)
  • 3. Because of Winn-Dixie ($10.8m)
  • 4. Son of the Mask ($7.67m)
  • 5. Million Dollar Baby ($7.19m)
  • 6. Are We There Yet? ($6.5m)
  • 7. Boogeyman ($5.5m)
  • 8. Pooh’s Heffalump Movie ($4.41m)
  • 9. The Aviator ($4.17m)
  • 10. Sideways ($3.9m)

UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)

  • 1. Meet the Fokkers (£1.89m)
  • 2. Ocean’s Twelve (£1.32m)
  • 3. Sprung! The Magic Roundabout (£1.14m)
  • 4. The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (£1.12m)
  • 5. Shall We Dance (£1.08m)
  • 6. Are We There Yet? (£0.88m)
  • 7. Racing Stripes (£0.85m)
  • 8. Son of the Mask (£0.69m)
  • 9. In Good Company (£0.59m)
  • 10. Sideways (£0.36m)

Cover** IN THE PIPELINE **

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

  • 25th February 2005: Spanglish, The Woodsman, Hide and Seek, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (right), Coach Carter
  • 4th March 2005: Hitch, Somersault, Kinsey, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Boogeyman, Flight of the Phoenix, King’s Ransom
  • 11th March 2005: Hungry Heart, The Choir, 9 Songs, Hostage, The Machinist, Stalker
  • 18th March 2005: 5×2, Non ti muovere, Robots, Monster Man, Constantine, The City of No Limits
  • 25th March 2005: Melinda and Melinda, Maria Full of Grace, Wild Side, Valiant, Pooh’s Heffalump Movie, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
  • 1st April 2005: Be Cool, The House Keys, The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse (London), Mean Creek, The Rage in Placid Lake, The Ring Two
  • 8th April 2005: The Assassination of Richard Nixon, The Cave, Bullet Boy, Sahara, DiG!
  • 15th April 2005: The Edukators, The Weather Man
  • 22nd April 2005: Tarnation, Sin City, Palindromes, Machuca, The Wedding Date, Unleashed, The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse
  • 29th April 2005: In Your Hands, One Love, XXX: State of the Union
  • 6th May 2005: Rubber Johnny, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Mysterious Skin, Twin Sisters, Kingdom of Heaven, Monster-in-Law
  • 13th May 2005: The Eye 2, Friday Night Lights, A Good Woman
  • 20th May 2005: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (19thh), Saint Ralph, What the Bleep Do We Know?
  • 27th May 2005: Clifford’s Really Big Movie, Torremolinos 73, Ong-bak, The Pacifier
  • 3rd June 2005: House of Wax
  • 10th June 2005: Silver City, Screaming Blue Murder
  • 17th June 2005: Mr and Mrs Smith
  • 24th June 2005: Batman Begins, Wonderful Days
  • 1st July 2005: Stray Dogs, Madagascar
  • 8th July 2005: War of the Worlds (2005)
  • 15th July 2005: Fun with Dick and Jane (2005)
  • 22nd July 2005: The Wedding Crashers, Whisky, Fantastic Four (2005)
  • 29th July 2005: The Skeleton Key, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
  • 5th August 2005: Stealth, Because of Winn-Dixie, Nanny McPhee
  • 12th August 2005: The Island, Herbie: Fully Loaded
  • 19th August 2005: Doom, Bewitched (2005), Dark Water
  • 26th August 2005: The Dukes of Hazzard (2005), Edison, Goal!
  • 2nd September 2005: Cinderella Man, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
  • 9th September 2005: Elizabethtown
  • 16th September 2005: TBA
  • 23rd September 2005: Pride and Prejudice (2005)
  • 30th September 2005: The Perfect Man
  • 7th October 2005: TBA
  • 14th October 2005: Wallace & Gromit Movie: Curse of the Wererabbit
  • 21st October 2005: Aeon Flux, Sky High, Corpse Bride
  • 28th October 2005: Noel, Flightplan, Halloween 9 (31st)
  • 1st November 2005: Bad Blood
  • 18th November 2005: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  • 9th December 2005: Underworld: Evolution, The Chronicles of Narnia: Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
  • 14th December 2005: King Kong (2005)

All the following are U.S. release dates, and are subject to change.

  • FEBRUARY: Constantine (18), Son Of The Mask (18), Cursed, (25)
  • MARCH: Be Cool (4), A Sound Of Thunder (11), The Ring 2 (18),
  • APRIL: Sin City (1), Amityville Horror (15), XXX State Of The Union (29),
  • MAY: Kingdom Of Heaven (6), Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (6), Star Wars Episode III (19)
  • JUNE: Mr & Mrs Smith (10), Batman Begins (17), War Of The Worlds (29)
  • JULY: Fantastic Four (1), Bewitched (8), Charlie & The Chocolate Factory (15), The Island (22), The Dukes Of Hazzard (29)
  • AUGUST: 3001 (5), Doom (5), Deuce Bigelow European Gigolo (12),
  • SEPTEMBER: Birth Of The Pink Panther (23), Legend Of Zorro (23), Serenity (30), Spy Hunter (30)
  • OCTOBER: Wallace & Gromit (7), The Fog (14), Land Of The Dead (21)
  • NOVEMBER: Cars (4), Harry Potter 4 (18), Brother Grimm (23)
  • DECEMBER: Chronicles Of Narnia (9), Underworld 2 (9), King Kong (14), The Producers (24), Zathura (21), Mad Max Fury Road (31), Die Hard 4 (31)

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