I can see how Brett Ratner and Hugh Hefner would go together like compact mirrors and rolled up banknotes, and Robert Downey Jr. can easily sit at the same table with me only feeling a vague sense of disappointment and not weird awkardness but… Diablo Cody? The Hef himself has this week had a meeting with Cody “to talk about the Brian Grazer Playboy film”. Would I ever be able to look at that credits roll without singing “One of these kids is doing their own thing”?
Posted on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Earlier this week it was reported that Universal was in final talks to acquire the rights to 152-book series Sweet Valley High for Academy Award winning screenwriter Diablo Cody to adapt to the big screen. At the time, I wasn’t at all excited about the potential project as the source material just doesn’t appeal to me (and probably shouldn’t since it never was meant to target my demo). But in the last 24 hours I’ve somewhat rethought my stance on the project, and Cody has spoken up to clear the air about some concerns about the adaptation, which I thought was worth sharing.
Universal is in discussions to acquire the rights to 152-book series Sweet Valley High with Diablo Cody attached to adapt the franchise for the big screen. Cody apparently grew up on the series, and developed a take on the property. According to HeatVision, the package was taken around town last week and spawned a bidding war between Fox 2000, Mandate and Universal.
Posted on Sunday, September 20th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Last week I had the opportunity to interview screenwriter Diablo Cody and producer Jason Reitman about the new teen horror comedy Jennifer’s Body.
During the interview we talked about the 1980’s horror influences of the film, the magic of old horror movie cover art, Diablo’s cameo and the full burn that never happened, the prospects of a Cody/Reitman comedy tour, the warm thoughts from /Film commenters, Cody’s writing process, the troubles of keeping pop culture jokes relevant through the lengthy development process, Jason’s thoughts on directing horror films, the first time Jason watched Nightmare on Elm Street, Diablo on writing strong female protagonists, and finally… Reitman and Cody address the Juno backlash.
And since Diablo and Jaosn are both very active on Twitter, I also decided to ask some quick questions from Twitter users: Will Reitman direct Tara? Does Diablo feel pressure to change her writing style? Will Diablo direct? Will Jason and Diablo work together again? What does Diablo think of the “unfair criticism”? Does Jason feel pressure to be more like his father? How are the characters in Juno and Jennifer’s Body connected? Which John Hughes teen movie would be better with Demons?
Posted on Thursday, September 17th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Earlier this week I sat down with screenwriter Diablo Cody and producer Jason Reitman to talk about the upcoming teen horror film Jennifer’s Body. That interview will run later this week. But I wanted to first share a snippet from that interview, where Jason and Diablo talk about the “overwhelmingly warm response” they have gotten in the past from /Film commentors. And while Diablo says she avoids any reviews, comments or commentary about her work, it’s clear she has some idea what the /Film commentors have been saying. Watch the hilarious clip after the jump.
Two years ago, screenwriter Diablo Cody made a huge splash with her big screen debut Juno, which was praised by critics, and was ultimately met with backlash by those who arrived on the backend of the hype. An Academy Award and two years later, Diablo is back in Toronto with something to prove. If you hate Cody, I doubt Jennifer’s Body will do much to change your mind. There are sure to be a lot of naysayers with a vocal agenda who will likely never give this film a real chance.
For me, Jennifer’s Body was a lot of fun. The movie feels more like the teen horror films that I grew up with in the 1980’s than the contemporary slashers produced by Platinum Dunes or Dimension Films. Actually, it plays more like a teen comedy than a horror film, and that’s not a bad thing. The laugh to jump ratio is probably 50:1.
Posted on Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 by Russ Fischer
Well, now we know the title of George Romero’s formerly untitled new zombie film. The Toronto International Film Festival announced its Midnight Madness program today, and that film, now called Survival of the Dead, is on the list. So is Jennifer’s Body, which is a pretty big coup for the program. See the whole list and read some thoughts after the break.
Midnight Madness is among my favorite aspects of TIFF. The festival has parallel schedules for press/industry and public screenings, but the MM films are ones I always make an effort to catch during the actual midnight public screenings, because it is a hell of a lot of fun to sit in a massive theatre full of exicted genre fans. That makes the next morning difficult, but it’s always worth the effort.
Earlier this week you watched the red band trailer for for Jennifer’s Body, now check out the PG-Rated Green Band trailer which was just released online. Written by Academy Award winner Diablo Cody and directed by Karyn Kusama, the film tells the story of a small-town high school hottie Jennifer (Megan Fox) who is possessed by a hungry demon and begins eating boys.
The new trailer features an introduction from Megan Fox, and lacks some of the more sexual visuals, a Thai joke and hipster music of the red band. Basically, the trailer is cut to appeal to the masses. Watch the trailer embedded after the jump, and tell me what you think in the comments below.
The red band trailer got great response, but the hatred for Diablo Cody is still running at a high, which I honestly don’t understand. Cody just tweeted “Some guy in Idaho just tweeted that I’ve ruined cinema. Already? Had no idea I was so hugely influential. Suck it, Truffaut!” … “Love the idea that one person who doesn’t even DIRECT can singlehandedly destroy an industry. I’m like GM killing the streetcar!”
Posted on Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
After the red band trailer, you might have thought that you had a pretty good idea of what Jennifer’s Body is about. But this new photo, published over at Fangoria, proves that we haven’t seen everything yet.
Written by Academy Award winner Diablo Cody and directed by Karyn Kusama, the film tells the story of a small-town high school hottie Jennifer (Megan Fox) who is possessed by a hungry demon and begins eating boys. If you missed the red band movie trailer which was unleashed earlier this week, check it out here. Jennifer’s Body hits theaters on September 18th 2009.
20th Century Fox has released a red band movie trailer for the Diablo Cody-scripted Karyn Kusama-directed teen horror film Jennifer’s Body on Shock. Remember how we told you that a trailer for the film would be attached to Bruno on Friday? Well apparently that trailer is “a straight horror preview” but the filmmakers wanted to also release a red band which they’re calling a “filmmaker’s cut” which they think “captures the comedy and scares of the horror films we grew up on - a kind of nostalgia for when horror films were fun.”
The film tells the story of a small-town high school hottie Jennifer (Megan Fox) who is possessed by a hungry demon and begins eating boys. But will this film actually make us scared of Megan Fox’s sexiness? I enjoyed the script when I originally read it around the time Juno was really hot. The trailer looks good but if I had any complaint, it would be that the dialogue seems a bit too PG-13, compared to the R-rated sex and violence imagery. But overall it looks good. Watch the trailer after the jump and leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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