DAN’S MOVIE DIGEST 185

Sean Connery (right, with Harrison Ford) has told ‘Scotland On Sunday’ that he is considering returningas Dr. Henry Jones in Indiana Jones 4, reprising the role he played he1989’s Indiana & The Last Crusade.

The new script by Davie Koepp (Spider-Man) has been approved by directorSteven Spielberg and producer George Lucas. Indiana Jones 4 will beginshooting this summer for a release in May 2008.

Connery: “At the moment there’s nothing decided. I haven’t got the script.Everything depends on the script.”

‘FilmStew.com’ talked to screenwriter David Koepp, who dropped someinteresting hints about the new movie, saying: “You can’t write a fanscript. You have to pretend that this movie exists without the other one.The worst thing to do would be to have him make reference to things he saidin the first movie, like to pun on lines of dialogue.”

BLACK SWAN’Universal Pictures’ is going ahead with Black Swan, to be directed byDarren Aronofsky (The Fountain).

The movie is a psychological thriller, written by John McLaughlin, about amanipulative relationship between a veteran dancer and a rival.

GET SMARTDwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Terence Stamp are to join Steve Carrell andAnne Hathaway in Get Smart, an adaptation of Mel Brooks’ 1965 hit TV show.

Shooting begins next month on the Peter Segal-directed comedy for ‘WarnerBrothers’ and Village Roadshow Pictures.

Tom Astle and Matt Ember wrote the script, which will contemporize the TVseries, but retain classic gadgets like the “cone of silence,” the shoephone and the original cars.

GHOST IN THE SHELLAnimation company ‘Production I.G’ has acquired the rights from publisher’Kodansha’ to sell the animated Ghost In The Shell for a live-action remake,reports ‘Variety’.

Kodansha published Ghost In The Shell comic-book in 1989, then made it intoa hit animated feature film in 1995 (an inspiration for The Matrix trilogy).

THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR 2’Entertainment Weekly’ spoke to ex-Bond actor Pierce Brosnan about thehighly-anticipated sequel to The Thomas Crown Affair.

Brosnan: “Thomas Crown 2, for all intents and purposes, will happen. Thescript came in two days ago and it’s good. We’ve announced it, we’ve said tothe world that we’re going to do it — come hell or high water, we’re goingto do it. The bar is high on this one; the expectation is high on it.”

Brosnan, who will also produce the sequel, added that Rene Russo does notappear in the sequel, which has a working title of The Topkapi Affair. Thesequel will draw on material from 1964’s and will draw on material from1964’s Topkapi and the Eric Ambler novel it was based on called The Light OfThe Day.

HAPPY FEET 2Co-writer, director and producer George Miller says he is interested inmaking a sequel to the animated hit about dancing penguins, which has earned$350 million worldwide.

Miller: “It’s certainly now a real possibility. There’s about two or threefilms I want to do before we would ever embark on that, including anotherMad Max sooner or later.”

Happy Feet received an Oscar nomination on Tuesday for Best AnimatedFeature.

IRON MANDirector Jon Favreau has posted an update on the production on his officialBlog. He confirms the casting of Gwyneth Paltrow as secretary VirginiaPepper Potts.

Famous creature designer Stan Winston is working on the Iron Man suit, whilesets are being built.

The comic-book adaptation about a billionaire who builds himself asuper-powered metallic suit, will star Robert Downey Jr.

THE MUMMY 3’Sci-Fi Wire’ interviewed writer Al Gough (Smallville) about his script forThe Mummy 3.

Gough: “We figured out a really good family story with Rick and Evie, and[their son] Alex is now grown up. So it’s really interesting.”

Director Rob Cohen (xXx) is taking over from Stephen Sommers, in a storythat will involve the grown-u[ son of Rick (Brendan Fraser) and Evie (RachelWeisz). A new mummy will be used, replacing Arnold Vosloo’s character.

Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are in talks to return for the sequel.

SPIDER-MAN 4’Superhero Hype!’ reported that Indiana Jones 4 screenwriter David Koepp isbeing courted to return to the Spider-Man franchise for its fourthinstalment.

Koepp is not signed for Spider 4 yet, but the studio is definitely movingforward with another movie after being wowed by Spider-Man 3.

BEST ACTOR

• Leonardo DiCaprio in “Blood Diamond”
• Ryan Gosling in “Half Nelson”
• Peter O’Toole in “Venus”
• Will Smith in “The Pursuit Of Happyness”
• Forest Whitaker in “The Last King Of Scotland”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Alan Arkin in “Little Miss Sunshine”
• Jackie Earle Haley in “Little Children”
• Djimon Hounsou in “Blood Diamond”
• Eddie Murphy in “Dreamgirls”
• Mark Wahlberg in “The Departed”

BEST ACTRESS

• Penélope Cruz in “Volver”
• Judi Dench in “Notes on a Scandal”
• Helen Mirren in “The Queen”
• Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada”
• Kate Winslet in “Little Children”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Adriana Barraza in “Babel”
• Cate Blanchett in “Notes on a Scandal”
• Abigail Breslin in “Little Miss Sunshine”
• Jennifer Hudson in “Dreamgirls”
• Rinko Kikuchi in “Babel”

BEST ANIMATED MOVIE

• “Cars” dir: John Lasseter
• “Happy Feet” dir: George Miller
• “Monster House” dir: Gil Kenan

BEST ART DIRECTION

• “Dreamgirls”
• “The Good Shepherd”
• “Pan’s Labyrinth”
• “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”
• “The Prestige” (Buena Vista)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• “The Black Dahlia” Vilmos Zsigmond
• “Children of Men” Emmanuel Lubezki
• “The Illusionist” Dick Pope
• “Pan’s Labyrinth” Guillermo Navarro
• “The Prestige” Wally Pfister

BEST COSTUMES

• “Curse of the Golden Flower” Yee Chung Man
• “The Devil Wears Prada” Patricia Field
• “Dreamgirls” Sharen Davis
• “Marie Antoinette” Milena Canonero
• “The Queen” Consolata Boyle

BEST DIRECTOR

• “Babel” Alejandro González Iñárritu
• “The Departed” Martin Scorsese
• “Letters from Iwo Jima” Clint Eastwood
• “The Queen” Stephen Frears
• “United 93” Paul Greengrass

BEST PICTURE

• “Babel”
• “The Departed”
• “Letters from Iwo Jima”
• “Little Miss Sunshine”
• “The Queen”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• “Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation ofKazakhstan” by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Peter Baynham & Dan Mazer
• “Children of Men” by Alfonso Cuarón & Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata andMark Fergus & Hawk Ostby
• “The Departed” by William Monahan
• “Little Children” by Todd Field & Tom Perrotta
• “Notes on a Scandal” by Patrick Marber

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• “Babel” by Guillermo Arriaga
• “Letters from Iwo Jima” by Iris Yamashita
• “Little Miss Sunshine” by Michael Arndt
• “Pan’s Labyrinth” by Guillermo del Toro
• “The Queen” by Peter Morgan

All figures are weekend box-office gross, including Sunday estimates(at the time of posting):

• 1. Stomp the Yard ($12.3m)
• 2. Night at the Museum ($12.0m)
• 3. Dreamgirls ($8.01m)
• 4. The Hitcher (2007) ($7.82m)
• 5. The Pursuit of Happyness ($6.31m) (total to date: $146m)
• 6. Freedom Writers ($5.21m)
• 7. El Laberinto del Fauno ($4.50m)
• 8. Children of Men ($3.71m)
• 9. The Queen ($3.40m)
• 10. Arthur et les Minimovs ($3.08m)

UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)

• 1. Rocky Balboa (£3.63m)
• 2. The Pursuit of Happyness (£1.72m)
• 3. Night at the Museum (£1.41m)
• 4. The Last King of Scotland (£0.70m)
• 5. Miss Potter (£0.64m)
• 6. Casino Royale (2006) (£0.59m)
• 7. Babel (£0.59m)
• 8. Smokin Aces (£0.56m)
• 9. Employee of the Month (£0.42m)
• 10. Happy Feet (£0.41m)

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

• 26th January 2007: Blood Diamond, Bobby, Suburban Mayhem, Venus, The Fountain
• 2nd February 2007: Dreamgirls, Running with Scissors, Welcome to Dongmakgoi, Gridiron Gang, Notes on a Scandal
• 9th February 2007: Back in Business, Blood and Chocolate, Music and Lyrics, Shark Bait, The Climate, Goal 2: Living the Dream, For Your Consideration, Factory Girl, Epic Movie, Hannibal Rising, Charlotte’s Web
• 16th February 2007: The Bridge, Because I Said So, The Truth About Love, The Upside of Anger, The Illusionist, Hot Fuzz
• 23rd February 2007: The Good Shepherd, The Number 23, Bamako, School for Scoundrels, Letters for Iwo Jima
• 2nd March 2007: Ghost Rider, Freedom Writers, A Guidde To Recognising Your Saints
• 9th March 2007: Ten Dead Men, Becoming Jane, Gone, The Good German, Inland Empire, Outlaw, Norbit
• 16th March 2007: Molly’s Way, Stomp the Yard, Eden, Zodiac
• 23rd March 2007: Catch a Fire, Bridge to Terabithia, Shooter, Amazing Grace, The Gigolos, Fast Food Nation, Catch and Release
• 30th March 2007: The Namesake, Frank Miller’s 300, Ten Canoes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2007), Meet the Robinsons, Mr Bean’s Holiday

Page Content copyright © Dan Owen, 2007.