The Hobbit Movie in Production, with Jackson at the helm
That’s right, after years of being in developmental hell, The Hobbit is finally in production and fully cast. Among the actors returning to Middle Earth are Ian Mckellan as Gandalf, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Elijah Wood as Frodo, Andy Serkis as Gollum, Christopher Lee as Saruman, and Orlando Bloom as Legolas. The presence of Elrond, played by Hugo Weaving, is oddly absent from the cast list. An odd thing since Rivendell is the adventurers first stop on the way to Erebor.
As for the new actors: starring as a young Bilbo is British actor Martin Freeman (The Office, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and Saorise Ronan (The Lovely Bones) as Itaril. Among those rumored to be in the film is Doctor Who’s David Tennant as Thranduil and Leornard Nimoy as the voice of Smaug. The same writing team of Jackson, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh have written the script for The Hobbit which will be broken up into two films, with the intention of bridging the gap between The Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring.
The first film is set for release in 2012, and the second in 2013. The films will be presented in 3-D.
Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland – First Trailer
Those who attended Comic-Con recently were the first to see the first trailer for Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland, starring Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway and Crispin Glover. Here’s what they saw. Enjoy.
The Dark Tower Movie News
For those of you who don’t know, Lost Executive Producer J.J. Abrams bought the rights to The Dark Tower Series for a incredible 19 dollars (presumably in keeping with the recurring number in the books). Abrams is quoted as saying this in regard to the upcoming project’s status:
“Damon Lindelof and I talked to Mr. King. We got the rights for ‘ The Dark Tower’ as a film. Damon is obviously still on ‘Lost’, and we’ve been working on ‘Star Trek’ together. As soon as ‘Lost’ is done, hopefully we’ll begin tackling that.”
The plan is to make seven films out of the seven books in the series, a la Harry Potter.
Lindelof had this to say about the series’ potential:
“The Dark Tower is to me every bit as daunting an adaptation as the Lord of the Rings trilogy must have been for Peter Jackson, except we’ve got seven books we’re looking at. And the idea of doing that at the same time Carlton and I are bringing Lost to a close is simply not viable. There are always Dark Tower conversations, but the figuring out of what this will look like as a movie has not begun. If The Dark Tower were in the right hands, I would love to see seven movies executed just right. But you have to get people to see the first one to get them to come and see the second one.”
I think that with J.J. Abrams, The Dark Tower is in pretty good hands. Even if your not a fan of everything he has done, you cannot deny that he takes pride in all his projects and strives to make the best possible movie or TV show that he can.
UPDATE: SORRY TO SAY, BUT THE PROJECT IS APPARENTLY OFF. I SUPPOSE THERE’S NO TELLING WHEN OR IF WE WILL SEE ROLAND AND HIS KA-TET ON THE BIG (OR LITTLE) SCREEN…
The New Freddy Krueger
Well, apparently Hollywood has this strange obsession with remaking movies from the seventies and eighties. Horror movies are the most recent genre targeted for Hollywood face lifts. Halloween, Last House on the Left, Hellraiser. Now, Nightmare on Elm Street. My only question is why? We last saw Freddy on the big screen only a few years ago. Robert Englund has been and will always be Freddy Krueger. However, the makers of the new N.O.E.S. have a different idea. And it’s actually not a bad one. It’s still sacrilege, but if they are hellbent on remaking Nightmare with a new Freddy, their choice of actor to don the red and green sweater maybe the only guy other than Englund who could pull it off: Jackie Earl Haley, most recently seen as Rorschach in Watchmen. Not a bad choice. I still don’t see the need to remake a classic horror film–although I will admit to being a fan of The Hills Have Eyes and Dawn of the Dead remakes. Either way, that’s the news on the new Freddy. Filming on the project began on May 5th in Chicago.
New trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Here is the newest trailer for the next Harry potter film, coming to theaters on July 17, 2009.
World War II, Tarantino Style
Well, before long we will see Quentin Tarantino’s version of WW II and the American soldier’s attitude toward the Nazis a.k.a. Inglorious Basterds (intentionally misspelled). The trailer below is essentially the opening of the movie (Brad Pitt adressing his men) with brief glimpses of other scenes throughout the film. This has been a film that has sat in pre-development for years, and it’s almost here. But first, the trailer…
Preacher Movie News
For those of you who don’t know, director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) will be directing the movie adaption of the popular Vertigo comic Preacher. The 66-issue series, written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Steve Dillon is considered by many (including myself) to be one of the best comic series of all time. I say “one of the best” because of the existence of Sandman, Watchmen, Transmetropolitan, and a few others; which are all equally great in their own unique ways. Currently, John August is writing the script. For those of you who do not know who the hell this guy is, he wrote Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Go, and both Charlie’s Angels films. The only film that comes remotely close to Preacher is Go, and that’s only because of the violence and swearing, other than that, the two projects bear no resemblance.
I am still on the fence if this is the right guy to write the screenplay. Who knows? We might all be pleasantly surprised. I certainly hope so.
However, to be completely honest, I was hoping that the HBO series would stick. That would have been the perfect venue for a serial that ran for 5 and a half years.
So how will this story carry over to the big screen? Can you rally take a 2000 page story and condense it into a two hour film? Even Watchmen was nearly three hours and it only ran twelve issues. Let me know your thoughts on all this by sounding off on the comment board.
What about casting? No one has yet been named to portray these characters. Who are you picks? Let us know.
My picks:
Jesse Custer: Johnny Depp (I also think he would make a good John Constantine if someone decides to actually make an adaption that does the comic justice, or at least doesn’t butcher it until it’s unrecognizable.)
Tulip: Charlize Theron or any number of talented blonde actresses who are not afraid to play tough.
Cassidy: Colin Farrell (Farrell would essentially be playing an undead version of himself.)
Herr Starr: Not sure on this one.
The Saint of Killers: This chacter was always based on Clint Eastwood, but Eastwood is a bit old for the part, I think. I recently saw Don Swayze (Patrick’s brother) on an episode of True Blood and he looks a lot like the Saint, i.e., big, tall and ugly as hell. Same hook-like nose, too.
The inbred descendant of Jesus Christ (“He’s shitting in his hand, Brendel.”): D.J. Qualls
What do you think?
Sound off below…
Watchmen Frustration
Here’s something I don’t get:
The one image that is most closely related to Watchmen is the smiley face button with the spot of The Comedian’s blood on it. Why was this particular item not made for the release of the film? There are T-shirts, books, magnets, and yes, even buttons, several of them. But not one is the most iconic image associated with the story. In fact, not a single item in support of the film bears the happy face image. Why is this? It would be the the cheapest thing to make and they could sell it for roughly 100 times the cost to make it. All I want is a smiley face button, you would figure that would be the easiest thing to find.
Not even the Internet yielded positive results. Except for ebay, but I don’t trust ebay since the images of the button for sale weren’t photos of the actual product. They were just like the picture to the left. Maybe I’m a bit paranoid, but that seems shady to me.
I don’t get it. Does any one else have any thoughts or knowledge on this? I welcome any and all comments…
Review of Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter DVD
Those of you who have read the book know well the story of the sea captain driven mad after an attack by the demonic crew of The Black Freighter. In this animated retelling of the comic-book-within-a-comic-book, we have 300’s Gerard Butler as the voice of the sea captain, minus his inexplicable Scottish accent he used for his Spartan character in 300. The animation is great, and it is nice to experience the tale outside the realm of the larger Watchmen story. In a way, it pulls you deeper into the captain’s world as he slowly loses his grip on reality. In the book, the tale serves as reinforcement of what is happening in the main story, but is difficult to appreciate in and of itself. This DVD allows that to occur. The Tales of the Black Freighter (subtitled Marooned! in the graphic novel) clocks in at 26 minutes.
Also on the DVD is Under the Hood which is done in a documentary style. Not only does it have Hollis Mason (the first Nite Owl) talking about the formation of the Minuteman, but it also pulls other elements of the Watchmen mythology into play as well. For anyone who has seen the movie, this DVD takes you deeper in the the Watchmen world. The DVD has a behind the scenes look at both features, too. If you have seen the movie, but haven’t read the book, you will want to watch this feature (called Story within a Story: The Books of Watchmen) first so you understand it’s place in the story. Or better yet, buy the book to truly get the full Watchmen experience. Aside from this is a behind the scenes look at the animated Green Latern movie and chapter one of Watchmen, the motion comic. This feature is essentially screenshots of the orginal comic with sound effects and voice talent. The latter of which is the most horrendous example of acting I have ever witnessed. It’s almost as if they recorded these actors as they read the script for the first time.
And for some inexplicable reason, the voice of Laurie Juspeczyk/Silk Spectre 2 is performed by a guy.
Luckily this feature is not a main proponent of the DVD, but more of a little extra thrown in for our amusement (it amused me, at any rate). The DVD as a whole is a must for fans of the movie, and even more so for fans of the novel.
Star Trek 11 – Newest Trailer (in HD)
Here is the newest trailer for Star Trek, the newest J.J. Abrams’ project. Ever since Nemesis, My interest in the Star Trek franchise had already begun to wane, and I never got into Enterprise. But this new movie has reinvigorated my interest. I will see this movie when it hits theaters. The fact that J.J. Abrams (who created Lost, my favorite show right now) is responsible makes me a bit bias, I admit. he also did Cloverfield, another movie I really liked. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I am a J.J. Abrams fan, even though I have no idea what the hell he has done beside Lost, Cloverfield, and Star Trek. Anyway, here is the newest trailer for Star Trek, in High definition for your viewing pleasure….
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Coming Soon… Review of Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter and Under the Hood
Terminator: Salvation Trailer (In HD)
Ever since seeing the first Terminator, I always wanted to see a movie that took place in the future, after Judgement Day. Basically, all the stuff that Kyle Reese talked about. Now it’s here. When I heard that McG was set to direct, I began to get concerned. Then I heard that Christian Bale would be playing John Connor. I honestly cannot think of a better actor to portray that character. Christian Bale will make a perfect John Connor, I have no doubt of that. But still, I was concerned. McG, freaking McG. But now that I have seen the new trailer (shown before Watchmen), I have begun to think this movie will be pretty amazing. I hope I am right. Here the newest trailer in high def…
Laugh of the Day
A brief clip from My Favorite Year starring Peter O’Toole as Allan Swann. This is how Swann handles a brief foray in the ladies room.
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CLOCKWORK and GHOSTS OF WEST VIRGINIA By Geoffrey Foster
The Daily Wire 