Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’ll be the first Snow White to the ball? Three separate studios are currently vying to get their competing Snow White movies to the big screen: Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman, Relativity’s The Brothers Grimm: Snow White and Disney’s Snow and the Seven. And while we’ve heard plenty about the first two, little has been revealed about the Disney project except that it’ll see Snow White in China and the Seven Dwarves as Shaolin Monks.
Now, fresh off an Oscar nomination for Toy Story 3, screenwriter Michael Arndt, who already won as Oscar for writing Little Miss Sunshine, is in negotiations to rewrite the screenplay for Snow and the Seven and Oscar-winning production designer John Myhre has also come aboard to begin working on a look for the film.
Read more about Snow and the Seven and recap all the Snow White projects after the jump. Read More »
Adam Shankman‘s big-screen version of the rock opera Rock of Ages is slowly coming together. There has been a lot of word about actors circling the project, but no hard and fast casting news as of yet. The biggest name being discussed so far has been Tom Cruise, who will reportedly take a supporting role in the musical. Now Russell Brand is circling a role as well. A rundown of the possible cast as it stands is after the break. Read More »
The Hollywood Reporter has posted their one hour long discussion between 2010 Oscar contenders Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network), Simon Beaufoy (127 Hours), Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3), John Wells (The Company Men), Todd Phillips (Due Date) and David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole).
Wait a second, is Due Date really an Awards contender? I guess maybe for the Golden Globes Best Comedy/Musical category, but Phillips does seem like the odd man out in this list of screenwriters (and this is not a slam against Todd, I enjoy his movies). Seems like The Coen Brothers (True Grit), David Seidler (The King’s Speach) or Alex Garland (Never Let Me Go) might have been better choices considering the award-focus.
I’m always excited to watch THR’s series of discussions each year, but they usually only post the more interesting clips and not the entire chat. But this year they decided to post the entire thing. Hit the jump to watch the entire hour and seven minute-long discussion.
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If you read /Film regularly, you know my love for long form interviews where filmmakers are allowed to go deeper into the art of storytelling and moviemaking. This week Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich and screenwriter Michael Arndt appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross. The 37-minute interview delves into a bunch of interesting subjects. For example, here is the story from Unkrich’s life which inspired the story in the film:
Years ago, my wife Laura and I were moving from one apartment to another and packing everything up. And about a month after we moved to our new place, Laura asked me if I’d seen her beloved stuffed animals, her childhood stuffed animals. And I said: What box were they in? And she said, well, they weren’t in a box. They were in a garbage bag. And my blood instantly ran ice cold because I realized exactly what had happened: I had thrown all of her stuffed animals away in the dumpster behind our building. So I feel terrible to this day that that happened, but I do hope that by immortalizing that moment in the movie, that they somehow have been immortalized themselves.
Arndt gives us a peek into the story development process, admitting that he turned in 60 drafts of the scene where the toys discuss being abandoned.
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If you liked the idea that David Fincher has seen and given notes on the current cut of Tron Legacy, then you’ll love this. There are reports that reshoots for the film took place in June (not a big shock, reshoots being a relatively common way massive films deal with changes and narrative issues) and the new material for the reshoots was written by Brad Bird and Michael Arndt in conjunction with the original writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. Cue Pixar fangasm in 3…2..1.. Read More »
After over a year of speculation, yesterday it was finally officially announced that Pixar is working on a Monsters Inc sequel. Not only that, but Monsters Inc 2 even has a release date: November 16th 2012.But the one thing absent from the announcement was any mention of a writer or director. Who is writing Monsters Inc 2? What is Pete Docter‘s mystery project? We delve into these questions and more, after the jump.
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Big news on the Disney/Pixar front, the mouse house has revealed Pixar’s future animation slate:
May 29th 2009: From the Academy Award®-nominated team of director Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc.) and co-director Bob Peterson comes Up, a comedic adventure taking off (and lifting spirits). Here is a brand new plot synopsis direct from the studio: Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner) spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest. But at age 78, life seems to have passed him by, until a twist of fate (and a persistent 8-year old Wilderness Explorer named Russell) gives him a new lease on life. Up takes audiences on a thrilling journey where the unlikely pair encounter wild terrain, unexpected villains and jungle creatures. When seeking adventure next summer – look Up. Christopher Plummer voices the villian. Up will be released in Disney Digital 3-D™.
October 2nd, 2009: TOY STORY in 3-D
February 12th, 2010: TOY STORY 2 in 3-D
June 18th, 2010: The creators of the beloved Toy Story films re-open the toy box and bring moviegoers back to the delightful world of Woody, Buzz and our favorite gang of toy characters in Toy Story 3. All we know is that Andy grows up and is leaving for college. Lee Unkrich, co-director of Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo) directs this highly anticipated film, and Michael Arndt, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Little Miss Sunshine, brings his unique talents and comedic sensibilities to the proceedings. The voice talent confirmed includes: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, Estelle Harris, John Ratzenberger, Ned Beatty. Composer Randy Newman returns.
Summer 2011: newt marks the directing debut of multiple Academy Award winning sound designer Gary Rydstrom, who made his Pixar debut with the short film Lifted, which premiered in front of Ratatouille. What happens when the last remaining male and female blue-footed newts on the planet are forced together by science to save the species, and they can’t stand each other? Newt and Brooke embark on a perilous, unpredictable adventure and discover that finding a mate never goes as planned, even when you only have one choice. Love, it turns out, is not a science. Will be released in Disney Digital 3-Dâ„¢.
Christmas 2011: The Bear and the Bow is Pixar’s first fairy tale, from acclaimed filmmaker/writer Brenda Chapman (The Prince of Egypt). Chapman began as an additional animation artist on Who Framed Roger Rabbit and contributed story for The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Fantasia 2000, Chicken Run and Cars. A rugged and mythic Scotland is the setting for Pixar’s action-adventure “The Bear and the Bow.” The impetuous, tangle-haired Merida, though a daughter of royalty, would prefer to make her mark as a great archer. A clash of wills with her mother compels Merida to make a reckless choice, which unleashes unintended peril on her father’s kingdom and her mother’s life. Merida struggles with the unpredictable forces of nature, magic and a dark, ancient curse to set things right. Director Brenda Chapman and the storytelling wizards of Pixar conjure humor, fantasy and excitement in this rich Highland tale. Will be released in Disney Digital 3-Dâ„¢.
2012: Cars 2 will be directed by Brad Lewis, the producer of Ratatouille and Antz. All the world’s a racetrack as racing superstar Lightning McQueen zooms back into action, with his best friend Mater in tow, to take on the globe’s fastest and finest in this thrilling high-octane new installment of the “Cars” saga. Mater and McQueen will need their passports as they find themselves in a new world of intrigue, thrills and fast-paced comedic escapades around the globe. Will be released in Disney Digital 3-Dâ„¢.
The big news is that all of the announced future Pixar releases will get the Digital Disney 3-D treatment. I remember the days when Brad Bird was preaching that Pixar would only do 3D if it complimented the story. But I understand that 3D is the newest trend, and the result is bigger box office, so Pixar must go with the flow. I just wonder if Pixar would have made this choice if they weren’t owned by Disney. Bird also said that Sequels aren’t in the Pixar business plan and they also just announced Cars 2, the second sequel to be released by the studio in the next four years. The other big news is that it appears that Pixar will now be taking on two films per year starting in 2009. I hope this doesn’t result in a loss of quality. The Bear and the Bow and Newt sound, at least on the surface, more like films that Disney would make. But We’ll have to wait and see.
Let’s look at the results from the 79th Academy Awards ceremony:
Best Motion Picture of the Year:
The Departed
- Babel
- Letters from Iwo Jima
- Little Miss Sunshine
- The Queen
Achievement in Directing:
Martin Scorsese for The Departed
- Clint Eastwood for Letters from Iwo Jima
- Stephen Frears for The Queen
- Alejandro González Iñárritu for Babel
- Paul Greengrass for United 93
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:
Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland
- Leonardo DiCaprio for Blood Diamond
- Ryan Gosling for Half Nelson
- Peter O’Toole for Venus
- Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:
Helen Mirren for The Queen
- Penélope Cruz for Volver
- Judi Dench for Notes on a Scandal
- Meryl Streep for The Devil Wears Prada
- Kate Winslet for Little Children
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