When it was first announced that JJ Abrams and Tom Cruise were reteaming to co-produce a fourth Mission Impossible film, a lot of factors were unknown. Would it be a reboot, a spinoff? Would Tom Cruise return as Ethan Hunt? Would JJ Abrams also direct? Well now we finally have our answer — Paramount Pictures has signed a deal with Tom Cruise to reprise his role as Ethan Hunt in M:I-IV. The bad news is that JJ Abrams is sitting this one out.
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What a weird set of potential buyers for Catfish, the documentary hit that has already been tagged as the next Paranormal Activity. Not that Catfish is anything like Paranormal Activity at all, except for the fact that it is a low budget documentary-style film (more on that in a second) and is now being courted by Paramount.
The studio is holding a test screening of the film on its lot today to see how it plays in front of a non-festival audience. JJ Abrams reportedly wants Paramount to buy the film. But much in the style of the movie’s narrative, there’s a late twist — Brett Ratner has come up with an offer to buy the film outright, with no audience testing necessary. Read More »
Posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 by David Chen
This week, Dave Chen, Devindra Hardawar and Adam Quigley discuss the creative bankruptcy of the Death at a Funeral Remake, gush about Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant, and review The Mel Brooks Collection on Blu-Ray. Special guest Anne Thompson from Indiewire joins us.
You can always e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993. Join us next Tuesday at 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST at Slashfilm’s live page as we review Avatar.
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Mad speculation time.
We’ve known that Paramount would be making new Star Trek and Mission: Impossible movies at some point, and that JJ Abrams, director of the last installment in each franchise, would likely be involved as producer, though possibly not as director. We also knew that the studio had picked up a couple of other options for Abrams to produce and possibly direct. Now a cryptic statement by Paramount chief Brad Grey suggests that the next film for Abrams will indeed not be Trek or M:I, but something else altogether. Read More »
It wouldn’t be true to say JJ Abrams is adapting Man on Wire into a feature film, but that would certainly crossover with the truth and that’s probably the legend you’ll be overhearing in the line at the cinema. What Abrams is actually doing, specifically, is having his Bad Robot production company adapt Colum McCann’s novel Let The Great World Spin. McCann himself is writing the screenplay, telling a series of separate stories about a number of characters around New York at the time Phillippe Petit performed his high-wire stunt in the early 70s.
If you don’t know about Petit, I’ve got the trailer for the documentary profile Man on Wire after the break. This was definitely one of the most loved documentaries in recent years, thanks in no small part to the astonishing charisma of the eccentric wirewalker at its heart. There’s also a video interview tucked away down there with Colum McCann explaining his inspiration for Let The Great World Spin.
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Harlan Ellison is a notoriously prickly fellow. Aside from his many works, Ellison is infamous for his decade-long feud with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry after he rewrote much of Ellison’s only Trek episode, “The City on the Edge of Forever.” Now that the franchise is in the hands of J.J. Abrams, Ellison is offering his services for the second film in Abrams’ reboot (for a price, of course).
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You might remember, that before the cast of Star Trek was officially announced, it was widely rumored that JJ Abrams wanted Matt Damon to play Captain James T Kirk. It has been one of those internet rumors that has become sort of a mystery, with different sides giving different “stories.” IGN asked Damon about the reports during the Bourne Ultimatum junket, and Matt brushed it off as a simple “internet rumor”. When asked if he was offered the role of James T Kirk in the Star Trek reboot, Damon responded with the following:
“I know JJ, and I talked to him and said ‘what is the deal?’ and he said ‘no. the Kirk in my movie is much younger. These are the early years… I think he’s hiring a twenty year old actor…”
Nearly two years later, JJ Abrams finally admitted that he had approached Damon for a part in Trek, but Damon turned down the offer:
“I actually approached Matt and we had some discussions, but everything happens for a reason. On the one hand, it would have been great to work with Matt - but at the end of the day, it was such a better move to cast the movie with unknowns.”
We’ve always wondered who was telling the truth. What was the truth? And now, we have a clarification from Abrams, which we believe to be — the truth. What is the truth? Was Matt Damon offered the role of James T Kirk in Star Trek? No… But he was offered a role in Star Trek. Details after the jump.
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Star Trek 2 details are floating all over the place following a recent event to promote the film’s DVD and Bluray release. Sci Fi Wire reports that both J.J. Abrams and writer/producer Damon Lindelof have stated that 2012 is pretty much the earliest we can expect the film, especially since they haven’t started writing yet and are still bouncing ideas around. Abrams also won’t confirm he’s directing the sequel since it makes little sense for him to commit to a film with no script.
And even though everyone wants Khan to be the next villain, they’re still not any closer to confirming the former villain’s place in the story. Right now it seems like they’re just keeping everything open.
More details, and a Khan casting rumor after the break.
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JJ Abrams‘ Star Trek hits DVD/Blu-ray shelves today nationwide, and if you’re debating on buying the Blu-ray special edition - just do it. I got a chance to watch a sampling of the special features while hanging out at Film School Rejects headquarters the other night, and boy is this release extensive. One of the highlights of the special features is the Gag Reel. I’m not usually that into blooper reels because they usually consist of a bunch of botched takes strung together, with only one or two funny moments. But the Trek gag reel is extremely well edited, attempts to tell a narrative, and gives you a good idea of the quality of the other special features that are also contained on this release. And we learn that Mr. JJ Abrams is not only a great screenwriter/filmmaker, but also a master at creating jams on a microphone in between takes. You can watch the gag reel embedded after the jump. Read More »
I keep thinking that the idea that J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof would be adapting Stephen King’s epic Dark Tower series was commonly understood as a dead deal. The last time Lindelof spoke about the project, in October, seemed pretty definitive: “My guess is they will get made because they’re so incredible. But not by me.” Now J.J. Abrams has weighed in on the subject with his own statement that is sure to crush the hearts of hopeful King fans everywhere. Read More »
