Say what you will about M Night Shyamalan, but one thing this filmmaker isn’t is up to date on the latest promotional services offered by the internet. He only joined the web two years ago with a untraditional explorable haunted mansion website MNightShyamalan.com. And now M Night has finally decided to open up Twitter and Facebook accounts. While his Twitter and Facebook are currently unverified, links to both of the accounts were shared on Google+ by screenwriter Gary Whitta. Seems good enough as verified to me, considering Whitta wrote Night’s upcoming film One Thousand A.E..
Once the hottest new director in the business, Night’s public reputation has reached an all time low after the release of The Happening and The Last Airbender. Even the mention of Night’s name as producer in trailers for Devil resulted in groans in theaters around the world. Entering the social webspace might allow the filmmaker to connect directly with his fans and critics, and repair the relationship while he goes into production, on what many believe, will be the filmmaker’s comeback film.
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Posted on Wednesday, June 8th, 2011 by Angie Han
Way back in 2009, we reported on a couple of comic book adaptations in development: Lions, Tigers and Bears, about a boy whose stuffed animals come to life; and The Nye Incidents, based on a Devil’s Due comic about an alien abductee serial killer. Neither project got much farther than the early stages, however, and we eventually forgot about them altogether. (Or at least I did. Maybe you didn’t. I don’t know your life.)
Now, news comes that both projects are back on track again. Get updates on both, plus info on a potential Penny Arcade-inspired film, after the jump.
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There has been a lot of small news of late on the Warner Bros. remake of Akira, which will be directed by Albert Hughes and produced by he and his brother Allen for Appian Way and WB. James Franco, Mila Kunis and Brad Pitt were reportedly all offered roles, and WB seems keen on casting a big name in the lead.
Now there is word — and this is the most reliable report we’ve had on the film so far — that Harry Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves is going to polish the script written by Albert Torres (Henry Poole is Here). Read More »
Gary Whitta has come a long way in a few years. Once the editor of PC Gamer magazine, Whitta wrote The Book of Eli and at least one draft of the live-action Akira movie(s). Now another script of his, Reaper, has been given a new title, Undying, and found a star in Kurt Russell. Read More »
The Hughes Brothers have been absent from the big screen for far too long. Their last feature, the so-so adaptation of Alan Moore’s From Hell with Johnny Depp, was released way back in 2001. Since then, they’ve dabbled in docs and TV work, so I’m pretty astounded by my acute anticipation for Hughes Bros movies. I mean, the wild-eyed energy and knack for cool they displayed with Menace II Society and Dead Presidents made a stir in the industry more than 10 years ago.
Denzel Washington will star in the directors’ Book of Eli for mega-producer Joel Silver. Described by screenwriter Gary Whitta (upcoming Akira movies) as a “kind of post-apocalyptic Western,” here’s the logline…
A lone hero fights his way across the wasteland of post-apocalyptic America. He’s the protector of a sacred book that may hold the key to saving humanity.
A rewrite of Witta’s script was done by Anthony Peckham, who scribed Clint Eastwood’s planned Nelson Mandela biopic, The Human Factor, and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. I look forward to hearing more about this project because my kneejerk reaction is a blockbuster-drippy version of I Am Legend sans mutants rather than a dystopian nightmare-scape a la the buzz surrounding this winter’s The Road. But truthfully, Washington always lowers my hopes for grimly-sounding material. Too much the surface charmer. The writers’ credits are admittedly intriguing and Albert and Allen Hughes remain more hit than miss.
Discuss: Are you a Hughes Bros. fan? Based on the talent involved and the premise, what’s your gut intution for Book of Eli?
