September 28, 2008

Amazon



Scarlett Johansson is set to star with writer Dirk Blackman (Outlander, Conan) who has finished a script. "A gladiatrix exacts vengeance on an army that destroyed her homeland". An old quote from Rosario Dawson leads me to believe this could be yet another Robert Rodriguez project. She said that she would play an Amazon woman for Rodriguez. It could be for this project or Barbarella you never know until casting is confirmed. Considering Dawson's height she'd be ideal.

Robert Rodriguez presents Madman



Based on the comic book character Madman and will be produced by Robert Rodriguez. The project as been in limbo for the last couple of years but that could change at anytime. Rumored interest in Elijah Wood (Sin City) to play Madman and Natalie Portman to play his girlfriend Joe.



"It Girl", a friend and fellow superhero could make it into the film. Abbie Cornish (A Good Year) is someone I see in the role.

September 26, 2008

The Hands of Shang-Chi



Marvel's little known martial arts character "Shang-Chi" is being developed into a movie. While there hasn't been a lead announced Woo-ping Yuen has been attached to direct. Yuen is best known as one of Hollywood's greatest action choreographer working on such films as Kill Bill 1-2, The Matrix series, Unleashed (Danny The Dog) and The Forbidden Kingdom. Shang-Chi is a martial arts expert who fights crime when he finds out his father is the world's worst criminal Fu Manchu, he allies himself with MI-6 agents. Think Bond meets Enter The Dragon and you can imagine why Marvel is interested in bringing this to theaters. I could see this becoming another franchise for Marvel if they do this properly. Yuen has to be the best person I think to bring a project like this to life when it's all about action and fight scenes, I know this a throwback popcorn flick so that's what I'm expecting.



A lot of people see Donnie Yen in this role and I have to agree. Plus he's already worked with Marvel on Blade 2, along with starring in some of the greatest martial arts films ever made such as Seven Swords and Hero.

Daredevil reboot?



20th Century Fox hopes to reboot the Daredevil character the same way Marvel previously has with The Hulk. Considering Mark Steven Johnson's awful directing/writing in the first installment , Fox hopes to find a different way to introduce the popular Marvel hero. I'm sure they're going to scrap and ignore the first film replacing Ben Affleck. Knowing the trend of hiring quality actors instead of flavors of the month to play superheroes these days. I'd love to see Benicio Del Toro (Sin City, Che) play Daredevil. It would make sense because they need an actor who can play dark and vengeful on the same lines as Bale's Batman. There are many similarities between the two characters and Del Toro would be a great fit. The studio is going to need a proven and skilled writer to produce a decent script. Along with a highly talented director who has worked on character driven films. Even if the script and director are set the studio could sabotage it by jerking around the production to fit product lines or target audiences. This seems to be happening even with the promising Wolverine movie, where Gavin Hood has been underminded by Fox on many occasions.

The Lone Ranger




A new film of the television and comic series "The Lone Ranger" will soon be in production. Johnny Depp has been confirmed as playing Tonto and George Clooney recently is rumored to be up for the Lone Ranger.

September 25, 2008

Fathom



Megan Fox is busy these days after burning up the screen in Transformers, now with Jennifer's Body (Diablo Cody) and Transformers 2 she's making a name in Hollywood. Fox has been cast as the lead character Aspen in a movie based on the Fathom comic. A while back James Cameron's company Lightstorm Entertainment bought the rights to make the comic into a feature film. I highly doubt that Cameron himself would direct having many other projects like "Battle Angel" which is still in script phase. Although the "underwater" theme could be enough to draw him to direct it.

"Fathom follows the aquatic exploits of a beautiful girl named Aspen, brought to dry land on a boat thought to have sunk years ago. With no memories of who she is or where she came from, but with a clear affinity for the water, Aspen becomes an Olympic swimmer, a marine biologist and eventually gets involved in research at a high-tech underwater lab. At the lab, she discovers a mysterious underwater race, and her own water-based powers."

September 22, 2008

Tony Scott's Emma's War



Another project of Tony Scott is "Emma's War" the story is about a British aid worker in the Sudan who marries a warlord bent on controlling part of the country. A few actresses have been rumored for the lead which include Keria Knightley, Kate Beckinsale and Nicole Kidman.

Ridley Scott's Blood Meridian



Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men, The Road)which is a dark western story. "The narrative follows a teenage runaway referred to only as "the kid", with the bulk of the text devoted to his experiences with the Glanton gang, a historical group of scalp hunters who massacred Indians and others on the United States–Mexico borderlands in 1849 and 1850. The principal antagonist is the demonic Judge Holden, an extremely large and intelligent man who is utterly devoted to violence and conflict." If this novel gets adapted it could be one of the most violent ever put on screen.



The film is in early stages but I can only guess what actors Scott could have in mind. Josh Brolin, Russell Crowe, Daniel Day Lewis, Christian Bale, Mark Strong and possibly Brad Pitt. It's unlikely all or any will be cast but if one director could assemble this caliber of cast would be Scott. Considering westerns are starting to become popular again.

Ridley Scott's Brave New World



After an interview with Eclipsemagazine.com giving details about his new films "House of Lies", "Nottingham" and "Blood Meridian" Scott reveled his next movie after "Nottingham" will be a new science fiction flick.“I waited for a book for 20 years and I have got the book. I am not going to tell you what the book is but that film is going to probably be written within the next month. That will definitely be what I do next”. I'm so happy Ridley Scott is doing another sci-fi project although I enjoy a majority of his films although his talent is creating new worlds. Like with his genre defining films like Legend, Alien and Bladerunner which all have set the standards. It's very unlikely that Scott will be making another Alien movie but it would be interesting what he's going to tackle next.



An article from the Los Angeles Times back in March gives more details about the "book" Ridley Scott may be speaking of. The article reveals Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio were pursing a movie adaption of the classic novel "Brave New World". This project could have died off and Scott may have moved onto another great book. Yet it would be exciting to see this story come to life on screen. I was forced to read the novel in my highschool English class and I was pleasantly surprised by it's content and semi-accurate vision of the future. I wouldn't be surprised to see both Russell Crowe who has previously worked on five films with the director and DiCaprio starring in the project no matter what story he chooses.

"In a future society based on pleasure without moral worries, love is prohibited but casual sex, now called 'engaging', is strongly encouraged. Everyone is kept happy with a legal drug, soma. People are hatched and cloned on conveyor belts to meet the requirements of five different social classes, from ruling Alphas to robot-like Epsilons. Bernard Marx is a different Alpha male with an inclination to thinking. He and a girl called Lenina Disney go visit a reservation of 'savages' where they meet a handsome young man John and bring him back to 'civilization'. John turns out to be the son of the director of the cloning authority, which causes a scandal and makes John a celebrity freak. John falls in love with Lenina but his desire is ruined by his antiquated sexual morale derived from reading Shakespeare. John hates the over-social but anti-emotional civilization, asks to be sent to live in isolation, and gets a job as a lighthouse guard. But even there he can't forget Lenina or escape his celebrity status."

Evil Dead : The Musical



The Toronto based Evil Dead: The Musical is getting the film treatment with the blessing of Sam Raimi. The widely successful off Broadway musical has been one of the most popular cult musicals since Rocky Horror. From what I know it mixes elements from all three movies into one story.

-from 2003 production

September 9, 2008

Guy Ritchie's The Real RockNRolla



The Real RockNRolla is the sequel to "RockNRolla", Ritchie has implied it has already been written and it's ready to go as soon as his next project is over with. Also depending on the box office of the first movie it could have many more installments. Without giving too much away from the first film part two will include Johnny Quid, Archie and the Wild Bunch. This may not be as funny as Snatch and Lock Stock but these characters are just as lovable. It doesn't surprise me that Ritchie wants to make a trilogy, considering this is the genre he does so well. I feel making more of these movies will help Ritchie develop other projects like "Sherlock Holmes" and "The Dirty Dozen". Ritchie is now working with studios that may have been cautious of hiring him earlier because of "Swept Away" and "Revolver". You have to make the masses and studios happy if you want to keep making films in Hollywood.



UPDATE: It looks like Ritchie's next film will be Lobo and then possibly Sherlock Holmes 2. I assume if there isn't a script for Holmes 2 by the end of 2010 he could take on The Real RockNRolla, between the two giant films...

UPDATE #2: I've come up with a new article answering some of the questions you guys might have. Ritchie is up for lots of other films so it's not looking good. Click Here