DAN’S MOVIE DIGEST 56

GARFIELDThe first image of the CGI Garfield have been released, to be voiced byBill Murray. (see right) AKIRADirector Stephen Norrington‘s The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen hasbeen resoundingly panned by the US critics, so his attachment to thelive-action remake of anime hit Akira is now in doubt.

Norrington himself said: “I have dropped out of all my Hollywooddevelopment deals because I want to pursue more creative avenues” -therefore this remake project he was attached to is now free.

ALEXANDER THE GREAT’Entertainment Weekly’ spoke with director Baz Luhrmann about his takeon the biopic headed for production next year. In terms of casting herevealed that “Nicole Kidman is playing Alexander’s mother, Olympia, whois sort of a match for Cleopatra. I’ll be seeing her in a few weeks andLeonardo [DiCaprio] in Montreal and I’m bringing them a draft, so bothof them will know exactly what I’m doing.”

“I still can’t technically offer anyone contracts. I’ve gotten into thestory by investing hugely in Alexander’s childhood at the age of 9. So,I’ve got to find the perfect 9-year-old that looks like Leonardo as achild, who’s really good with a horse and can act, and then I’ve got toschedule him before he grows up. As soon as I can cast the child, I canoffer the contracts to the other actors.”

And what will the aesthetic of the film be like? “The assumed look ofthe ancient world was cooked up in 50’s Hollywood – everyone in whitebed-sheets and white miniskirts. It’s definitely not that. There’s avisual richness that you don’t associate with the kind of camp 50’sHollywood language of it. It’s a world you look at and wish you’d beenpart of.”

FLETCH ONEWriter-director Kevin Smith (Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back) has committedto direct Fletch One (a.k.a Fletch Won) for ‘Miramax’, followed by thesci-fi adventure Ranger Danger & The Danger Rangers for ‘DimensionFilms’.

Fletch One will continue the exploits of journalist detective Fletchplayed in the two previous movies by Chevy Chase, and in this new one byJason Lee. Shooting will begin in January.

Ranger Danger is described by Smith as “my stab at a comic-book/sci-fimovie. It’s in the vein of Flash Gordon, something I’ve noodled with acouple of years. Now I feel we are mature enough filmmakers to tackleit.”

Smith hopes to shoot that movie while Fletch One is in post-productionduring the Autumn of 2004.

BOND 21Mariah Carey has apparently signed to provide the theme song for thenext James Bond movie – as long as she gets a cameo role, a la Madonna.

A source said: “Mariah has had meetings with producers Barbara Broccoliand Michael G. Wilson. She was asked if she’d consider singing the themetune for Bond 21. Mariah said she wanted a part in the new film althoughthe story hasn’t been discussed yet.”

DOOM’Sknr.net’ claims that screenwriters Ron Mita and Jim McClain have beenhired to write an adaptation of the famous 90’s computer game Doom. HARRY POTTER & THE GOBLET OF FIREMike Newell has agreed to direct Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire, thefourth film in the franchise. Newell recently completed production onMona Lisa Smile, starring Julia Roberts, and also directed Four WeddingsAnd A Funeral, Enchanted April and Donnie Brasco.

Production on the fourth film is scheduled to begin in April 2004. DavidHeyman will again produce with Steve Kloves writing the screenplayadaptation. The movie should be released in late-2005.

A spokesman said: “We’re really happy to bring Mike on board to directthis movie. He has the ability to get tremendous performances from hisactors, and handles drama and comedy equally well.”

“We’ve been lucky to have worked with excellent filmmakers on the firstthree Harry Potter movies and we are looking forward to continuing thattradition as we start on this next movie with Mike.”

David Heyman agreed: “When Alfonso made the decision to focus on completingHarry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban, we were faced with the dauntingtask of finding a director to handle the complex challenges of HarryPotter & The Goblet Of Fire and to follow in the footsteps of ChrisColumbus and Alfonso Cuaron.”

“Mike’s rich and diverse body of work show him to be the perfect choice.He has worked with children, made us laugh, and had us sitting on theedge of our seats. He is great with actors and imbues all hischaracters, all his films, with great humanity. I’m thrilled.”

Newell later commented: “I’m very excited about directing Harry Potter &The Goblet Of Fire. As audiences have become more familiar with both thebooks and the movies, there has been an increasing challenge to continueto develop each of these characters and to make their world real on thescreen.”

“It is a pleasure to follow directors Chris Columbus and Alfonso Cuaron,who have done so much to establish the tradition of Harry Potter onfilm, and to work with David Heyman and Steve Kloves, whose love andrespect for this material have been central to the success of thisenormous undertaking.”

FREDDY VS JASON IIOkay, the latest rumour is that a sequel to Freddy Vs Jason is alreadybeing considered, with Freddy and Jason teaming up against a commonenemy – Bruce Campbell’s Evil Dead character Ash!

No kidding. Apparently the ‘New Line’ executives think the idea is areal winner and are pushing for the movie to go into pre-production verysoon. Could be groovily ghoulish fun…

INDIANA JONES 4Writer/director Frank Darabont talked to the ‘Alameda Times-Star’ aboutwriting Indiana Jones 4 – still set for a July 2005 release.

“I absolutely don’t want to do things like having him say, ‘I’m gettingto old for this shit.’ I don’t want to be slipping and sliding inclichés. This character is no longer in the 1930’s. He has to agehonestly. He’s got to be in the 1950’s.”

“Let’s face it, what’s not to like about Indiana Jones? I saw the firstmovie in 1981, five years before I started my writing career. Who knew Iwould grow up to write the sequel?”

KING KONG’Universal Pictures’ are ready to pay Lord Of The Rings director PeterJackson $20 million against 20% of the box-office gross for his KingKong remake.

Jackson will share that fee with co-writers Fran Walsh and PhilippaBoyens.The $20 million advance puts Jackson in the same category as superstarslike Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson.

The movie will be shot in New Zealand, for a Christmas 2005 releasedate.

THE LOOKOUT’DreamWorks Pictures’ is hoping to sign director David Fincher (PanicRoom) to helm The Lookout. The thriller is rumoured to have attractednames such as Sam Mendes, Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio.

The movie has been penned by screenwriter Scott Frank and focuses on ayoung man who is rendered semi-disabled by short-term memory loss in thewake of a car accident. He is then befriended by a local gangster whoneeds help robbing a bank.

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET – THE PREQUELRobert Englund has revealed that the title of the Nightmare On ElmStreet prequel is currently known as Elm Street: The First Murders. OUTPOST’The Z Review’ reports that writer-director Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers)is set to develop a new film set in the North Sea in partnership withthe UK Film Council’s Development Fund.

Neil Marshall confirms that the action “is set on a derelict oil rig where asecret genetic experiment goes horrifically awry. 48 hours later aspecial military forces team arrives to investigate only to findthemselves faced with a fearsome and mutating opponent.”

So, Resident Evil meets The Thing, then…

OZZY OSBOURNEJohnny Depp is rumoured to be interested in playing Ozzy Osbourne in a’Paramount’/’MTV’ biopic about the heavy-metal Prince Of Darkness.

‘The Herald Sun’ reported that Depp has been “fascinated” for years bythe former Black Sabbath rock-star, describing him as “a deeplyfascinating human”.

SCARY MOVIE 4Anna Faris, who plays Scary Movie’s lead character Cindy, recently toldher official site that she is not coming back for a fourth instalment.She has indicated that whilst she loves playing the character, shedoesn’t want to be typecast to this series. SON OF THE MASK’MTV’ interviewed Jamie Kennedy about his starring-role in The Masksequel Son Of The Mask. Kennedy: “I’m not playing the Jim Carreycharacter; I’m playing a different character… I play a father.”

Indeed, Kennedy will play a cartoonist named Tim Avery whose infant sonstumbles upon the magical Mask Of Loki. Alan Cumming (X-Men 2) will playhis son (once transformed by The Mask, of course).

Lawrence Guterman (Cats & Dogs) will direct the movie, which iscurrently being shot in Australia.

TERMINATOR 4’The Movie Guide’, a Lebanese film magazine, interviewed producer MarioKassar about the possibility of a Terminator 4 now that ArnoldSchwarzenegger has decided to run for Governor of California.

Mario Kassar: “T4 is in the works. The screenplay will be ready in 8 or 9months. Once we have that, we will proceed with the production. Thequestion that has never been answered in all the Terminator films istime-travel.”

“You can come from the future to change the present. But we never seehow they go back to the future, which is a subject that can be explored.I think you already know where T4 is going from the ending of T3.”

So will Schwarzenegger return? “It depends on what he’s doing in life.If he wants to do politics, he’ll do politics. Then we’ll have to figureout a way to do it without him. But he has expressed interest in doingT4.”

Interesting, but not surprising news. One worrying thing is that it wasalready established in The Terminator that time-travel was a one-waytrip – something Kassar has obviously forgotten about. Let’s hope thescreenwriters have better memories…

All figures are weekend box-office gross.

• 1. S.W.A.T. ($37.0m)
• 2. Freaky Friday ($22.2m)
• 3. American Pie 3: The Wedding ($15.4m)
• 4. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl ($13.0m)
• 5. Seabiscuit ($11.9m)
• 6. Spy Kids 3D: Game Over ($9.7m)
• 7. Bad Boys II ($6.0m)
• 8. Lara Croft Tomb Raider 2: The Cradle of Life ($5.2m)
• 9. Finding Nemo ($2.5m)
• 10. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines ($1.6m)

UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)

• 1. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (£3.76m)
• 2. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (£2.24m)
• 3. Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (£0.57m)
• 4. Spy Kids 3D: Game Over (£0.56m)
• 5. Rugrats Go Wild! (£0.36m)
• 6. What a Girl Wants (£0.22m)
• 7. Piglet’s Big Movie (£0.19m)
• 8. Bruce Almighty (£0.18m)
• 9. Koi… Mil Gaya (£0.17m)
• 10. Veronica Guerin (£0.16m)

Note that these are US release dates.