Public Enemies - What Did You Think?
If the horror film Saw was a Mentos commercial… it would look something like this. Warning: the mash-up includes spoilers from the original Saw film. Video after the jump.
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Leonardo DiCaprio and the Screenwriters of Rounders To Enter The World of Online Casinos
Posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Paramount Pictures has bought a yet-to-be titled pitch from Rounders screenwriters Brian Koppelman and David Levien. Leonardo DiCaprio is attached to star, and produce with Appian Way. So what is the project about? We don’t know much other than that it takes place in the world of Costa Rica-based online casinos.
Usually I don’t write news stories about developing projects with little to no information. But I loved, Loved, LOVED Rounders and I’m very interested to see what Koppelman and Levien will be able to do in the world of online casinos. Koppelman and Levien were ahead of the curve on the whole poker craze, and are well versing in the world of card sharks and casinos, but I’m curious to see their angle on the world of online casinos.
source: THR
The Birds Remake Back-Burnered, Rosemary’s Baby Re-Do Still Happening?
Posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 by Russ Fischer
The notion of remaking Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds was absurd from day one, and now the Platinum Dunes guys are suggesting they’ve started to see the light. “We lay ourselves out there and get annihilated out there online all day long,” said producer Brad Fuller during a chat with journos on the set of A Nightmare on Elm St., “and [The Birds] just opens us up to a whole different level of annihilation.” What’s the conclusion? “…it doesn’t feel like that’s up next for us.” More pecking around the corpse of The Birds and the (still?) planned Rosemary’s Baby re-do after the jump. Read More »
Fox has announced the premiere dates for the 2009-2010 Fall Season. Full press release after the jump.
First Look: Gemma Arterton in Clash of the Titans
Posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
GemmaArtertonOnline has the first photo of Gemma Arterton in costume on the set of Louis Leterrier’s Clash of the Titans. In the film, Arterton (Quantum of Solace) plays Io, Perseus’ mysterious spiritual guide throughout his journey. Clash is currently filming in Europe. Check out the previously released photos of Sam Worthington in action.
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Angelina Jolie’s Character May Return For Wanted 2
Posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 by Russ Fischer
A Russian report (spoilery English version here) quotes director Timur Bekmambetov saying that he’s about to start preparation for Wanted 2, and that the film could shoot in late autumn or winter. He also says that Fox, Angelina Jolie’s character, will be back. (Played by her, or someone else?) Which is a bit…surprising. More (including spoilers for Wanted) after the jump. Read More »
Platinum Dunes Says Friday the 13th Sequel is Snowbound? 3D? Admit to Disappointing First Entry
Posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 by Hunter Stephenson
Update: /Film commenter, Infrafan, points out that a “snowbound” setting opens up the following scenario: Jason finds himself on a frozen lake. Jason then “plays hockey” with the decapitated head of an AXE body spray model or a fake breast. Knowing Platinum Dunes, we could actually see this happening.
Even though last February’s Friday the 13th opened to $44 million domestic but failed to crack the $100m milestone due to underwhelming word-of-mouth and stunted effort to make a definitive and fun entry, Platinum Dunes made a killing on the $16 million budget. Semi-good news: The horror company’s go-to director Marcus Nispel will not be back for the previously announced sequel. Uber-bad news: Unfortunately, Nispel will take his exhausted MTV-metallic sheen and ridiculously back-lit atmospherics to Conan instead. Ryan Rotten at STYD spoke recently with PD producer, Brad Fuller, who felt the need to fess up to fans’ criticisms of the first film and reveal the “hook” for the sequel.
Did Rupert Murdoch Leak Wolverine? Or Was It The Scientologists?
Posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 by Russ Fischer
This story is too great not to post. According to an ‘unlawful termination’ suit that the lawyer for fired Fox columnist Roger Friedman will file in New York this week, the Wolverine leak can actually be traced back to News Corp. head Rupert Murdoch. Martin Garbus, Friedman’s lawyer, claims that Murdoch requested a DVD copy of the film, and “apparently, someone made another copy for themselves.” No shit? I’m still siding with Devin at CHUD, who explained how a post-production leak was probably the hole from which Wolverine wriggled onto the internet. But everyone hates Murdoch, so why not pin this on him, too. That’s not even the whole of the lawsuit, which claims that Friedman’s firing was actually the result of…whisper it…Scientologists! I told you this was great. More after the jump. Read More »
Robert Rodriguez just does whatever the hell he wants to do, it seems, and what he wants to do now is Machete. (Or, more properly, that’s what he has money for right now.) That’s the feature film version of the trailer that ran as part of Grindhouse, featuring Danny Trejo as a bad-ass Mexi-can who takes revenge on greedy business types. Despite recent rumors about the film actually going forward I would have bet that Nervewrackers is next, but at CineVegas last week Danny Trejo told Gordon & the Whale that the film starts production in five weeks. (As noticed by the ever-vigilant Playlist.) More details after the jump. Read More »
When the project was first announced, most people assumed that Inception would be a smaller film that Christopher Nolan would film before returning to make a third Batman film. But with a budget of over $200 million (or possibly $178 Million if the initial number is Canadian dollars) , the film isn’t looking so small after all.
The legendary “white hat” singing screen cowboy Roy Rogers will make his way back to screens in a trilogy of new films, says Variety. Which is weird, because he’s dead. A Nashville company, working in concert with the Roy Rogers Family Entertainment Corp, plans to bring a new ‘King of Cowboys’ film series to audiences alongside all the other modern merchandising accouterments: TV, video games, Burger King glasses, etc. Read More »
Not familiar with George Hardy’s work as an actor? Click here to watch a packed audience reacting to him on screen . It’s totally worth it.
About a week ago, while drinking slushies on a beach, I attempted to brainstorm a hyperbolic-geek intro for this interview that was impossibly cheesy and awful, yet aptly expressed my sentiments about the subject. As follows: It would be very difficult indeed to find a dentist who has contributed to more smiles around the globe than would-be actor, Alabama dentist, and newly-championed cult icon George Hardy.
For those who don’t know, Hardy was one of the lead human stars of 1990’s Troll 2; over the last few years, the shittastic fantasy-horror movie has rocketed in cult status and is a viable contender for a next-gen Rocky Horror Picture Show. Made for MGM by a crew of non-English speaking Italians, Troll 2 ironically exists today as an innocent, warped time-capsule of 1980s’ American summers, American culture, and genre films. In the role of the movie’s aloof dad, Michael Waits, Hardy is renown for the silly parental anecdote, “You can’t piss on hospitality!!” His performance is regarded by a growing number of cult cineastes to be one of the worst and most cherished of all time. Patton Oswalt, the Alamo Drafthouse, and Edgar Wright are counted as huge fans. The basic storyline is that of a generic Vacation knockoff meets slime and plot holes worthy of a drug trip: Hardy hauls his family (and a grandfather’s ghost) in a van to spend a summer in a dusty, desolate town called Nilbog. Goblin spelled backwards, Nilbog is populated by devilish country-folk and vegan Druid non-Trolls. In the end, the Waits fam defeats them and their leader, an STD-plagued witch, using a mystical bologna sandwich. Or do they?
Best Worst Movie, the new documentary about the reunited cast of Troll 2 and its international fandom, is a 2009 favorite of the /Film and /Filmcast staff. Directed by Troll 2’s former “child star,” Michael Stephenson, much of Best Worst follows Hardy as he temporarily leaves his life as a small-town dentist to encounter the ups and downs of modern fame and his performance’s excavated notoriety. Thanks to a compelling story and the sharp twists and turns of real life, Best Worst can be enjoyed with or without having viewed the flick that spawned it. George called me from his lake house to discuss all of this while eating a sandwich. For our interview with Michael Stephenson, click here.
