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Dan Owen reviews
I s s u e # 5 82 9 A u g u s t 2 0 0 3
BLADE – TRINITY’Variety’ reports that actor Ryan Reynolds is in talks to join WesleySnipes in Blade: Trinity for writer-director David Goyer, playingvampire hunter Hannibal. Ashley Scott, who starred in cancelled TVseries Birds Of Prey, may also join the cast as a vampire huntress.Jessica Biel (right) (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake) has also been cast inan unspecified role. ALEXANDER THE GREATDirector Baz Luhrmann has hired veteran British playwright David Hare(The Hours) to pen the script for his Alexander The Great movie. Thismeans Luhrmann’s project is way behind Oliver Stone’s “competing”Alexander The Great film. THE BOURNE SUPREMACYProducer Kathleen Kennedy talked to ‘GLARE’ about the sequel, saying:“We leave for Berlin to shoot in November with a script written by TonyGilroy, who wrote the first movie. It’s loosely based on the secondbook. Paul Greenway will direct.”
“I can tell you that the movie will take place in India, Berlin andMoscow. This film is really about Jason Bourne’s internal struggle tofind out exactly who he is.”
Hmmm, sounds familiar…
Original stars Matt Damon and Franka Potente will reunite for the secondmovie, which is due for release in July 2004.
CATWOMAN’Variety’ reports that Sharon Stone’s role in Catwoman will be as leadvillainess Laurel – the head of a cosmetics firm.
In related news, the character of Catwoman is rumoured to be gettingsome interesting new traits – a supernatural ability to leap greatdistances and for her eyes to literally become cat-like at night.
CONSTANTINETilda Swinton is in talks to star as rogue angel Gabriel for ‘WarnerBrothers’ Constantine – the adaptation of the DC-Vertigo comic bookHellblazer, to be directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Keanu Reevesin the title role.
BATMAN 5British actor Hugh Dancy (right) (Black Hawk Down) is apparently in talks withdirector Chris Nolan (Memento) about playing the caped crusader in thefifth Batman movie. THE FINAL CUT’Action-Adventure Movies’ talked with Stephanie Romanov (Angel) abouther role in The Final Cut. The movie, starring Robin Williams, is asci-fi thriller about a society where people’s memories can be stored onreplaceable electronic chips.
Romanov: “My husband has died and he was the lawyer for the company thatmakes the [memory] chips. And it’s a lot of what the story is about, soI’ve hired him [Williams] to clean up my husband’s life and present amemory about family, career and community, all good stuff…”
“The chips are basically a video of this person’s life through theireyes. So, once they die, everything in their life that they’ve looked atand they’ve done has been recorded onto this chip.”
INDIANA JONES 4Harrison Ford is overseas promoting Hollywood Homicide and he mentionedreturning as Indy in Indiana Jones 4: “There is a script in preparationfor Indiana Jones 4. It’s come a long way. If we can get to be happywith the progress of the script we’ll start shooting in the summer of2004.”
“I’m delighted to get back to that character and work with [director]Steven Spielberg again. I’m delighted to revisit Indiana Jones.”
GLADIATOR 2Original director Ridley Scott revealed to ‘Latino Review’ recently thathe is involved with the sequel to Gladiator, saying: “Yes I am[involved]… probably the beginning of 2005”.
The sequel will not further explore Roman history, according to Scott:“[It’s the] next generation… You’ve got such a colourful dramaticRoman history, Jesus.”
“You go into it and look in detail what they did, what they got up to,that’s far more exotic than any racking your brains about what are wegoing to do next. You just have to take a line. The thing on Gladiatorwas the only fiction in there was Maximus. Everything else was prettywell on target.”
JAMES BOND 21Keira Knightley (Pirates Of The Caribbean) is apparently beingconsidered as a lead in the next James Bond movie. The Bond producershave also apparently held talks with Clive Owen (Croupier) aboutreplacing Pierce Brosnan in a future instalment. JURASSIC PARK 4’LDJW Films’ confirms that talk of the town Keira Knightley (Pirates OfThe Caribbean) has definitely agreed to star in Jurassic Park 4.
KING KONGDirector Peter Jackson (Lord Of The Rings) and visual-effects Directorof Photography Alex Funke talked to ‘USA Today’ about the upcoming KingKong remake.
No official meeting has taken place to discuss how to create thespecial-effects required for the movie, although Alex Funke revealed that“the crew is saying, ‘Hey, when we get to New York, I’ve got a greatidea on how to light the skyscrapers.’ One of my electricians is alreadyhunting for little light bulbs.”
Of course, back in 1996 Jackson’s team were already gearing up to makeKing Kong before they decided to make the Lord Of The Rings trilogyinstead. Here is a statuette the WETA designers made of Kong versus somedinosaurs to keep you interested (see right)
MR & MRS SMITHBrad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have signed to star in this thriller,possibly to be directed by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity). The filmcentres on a bored married couple who discover that they are enemyassassins hired to kill each other. SHREK 3’UIP’ has confirmed that if Shrek 2 is a success (undoubtedly) thenShrek 3 will see the green ogre taking on the Arthurian legend. SUPERMANIt appears that Anthony Hopkins has no intention to play Superman’sfather Jor-El now that director Brett Ratner has left the production.
TRAILERS The Matrix Revolutions – International Trailer 1
What?! Already?
Yes, the hype machine is already gearing up to ensure the third andfinal instalment of the Wachowski Brothers’ sci-fi extravaganza isfirmly in audiences minds.
When is it released?
November. About a week after Reloaded hits the DVD shelves, apparently.
Okay, I loved The Matrix but was a little disappointed with Reloaded.Why should Revolutions be any better?
Personally, I thought Reloaded was fantastic, but (unsurprisingly)inferior to the 1999 original. But for hardcore sci-fi fans the final 20minutes were sweet bliss! Watch the DVD when it–
Stop right there and answer my question! Will Revolutions be good?
Undoubtedly, yes, but I’m sure it’ll split audiences again.
So what is this trailer like?
Excellent. Unlike the Reloaded trailer – which hyped the smoother”bullet time” sequences – Revolutions looks more grounded, darker andadult in tone. There are some stunning machine designs, more “realistic”use of bullet-time and an awesome sequence with Neo versus Agent Smithin the pouring rain… (see pic)
Doesn’t Revolutions take place in the real-world…?
Mainly, yes. But just what is the “real” world…?
Oh, don’t get into that – my head’s already hurting! Final comment?
Expect Revolutions to play like the dark twin of Reloaded, hopefullywith more serious-minded intelligence and less adolescentspecial-effects overload. As the filmmakers say – Reloaded was just atease for Revolutions. Come November, a fresh trilogy to idolize willhave been born.
Scary Movie 3
The horror continues – in more ways than one…
I know, I know – I hated Scary Movie (too formulaic) and detested ScaryMovie 2 (convoluted, no laughs), but Scary Movie 3 could buck the trend.
How so?
The franchise has been snatched away from the terminally unfunny WayansBrothers and given to director David Zucker (Airplane!) and his usualcohorts.
Okay, so Zucker made seminal spoof movie Airplane. But that was in 1981!What else looks promising?
The film’s co-writers include Pat Proft (Naked Gun), Kevin Smith(Clerks) and Zucker himself. Co-stars include Charlie Sheen (HotShots!), Leslie Nielsen (Naked Gun), Eddie Griffin (Undercover Brother),Queen Latifah (Chicago) and Anna Faris (Scary Movie).
So – ‘fess up – is the trailer funny?
Quite funny, yes. It just consists of spoofing movies again – fromPamela Anderson in The Ring, Michael Jackson in The Others, to PopIdol’s Simon Cowell judging a rap content (8 Mile).
Damnit! Parodying movies is easy! The best spoof movies had their ownstory to tell, with parody only occasionally thrown into the mix.
I know and I agree with you. A genuinely good send-up movie hasn’t comealong since Hot Shots! Part Deux. But, at least Scary Movie 3 looksfunnier than its predecessors. Who knows, maybe it’ll be less obviousthan the trailer shows. It still looks funny anyway…
CLICK HERE FOR TRAILER
US TOP 10 (CINEMA)All figures are weekend box-office gross.
- 1. Freddy vs Jason ($13.1m)
- 2. S.W.A.T. ($10.5m)
- 3. Open Range ($9.4m)
- 4. Freaky Friday ($9.3m)
- 5. The Medallion ($8.1m)
- 6. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl ($7.2m)
- 7. Seabiscuit ($6.1m)
- 8. Uptown Girls ($5.6m)
- 9. American Pie 3: The Wedding ($5.4m)
- 10. My Boss’ Daughter ($4.8m)
UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)
- 1. American Pie 3: The Wedding (£2.18m)
- 2. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (£2.09m)
- 3. Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Circle of Life (£1.52m)
- 4. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (£0.79m)
- 5. Freddy Vs Jason (£0.44m)
- 6. Spy Kids 3D: Game Over (£0.42m)
- 7. Confidence (£0.32m)
- 8. Rugrats Go Wild! (£0.23m)
- 9. The Man Who Sued God (£0.19m)
- 10. Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (£0.18m)
** IN THE PIPELINE **Note that these are UK release dates.
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.