[Update: The international trailer of Green Zone is now available courtesy of MSNBC (via Collider). This trailer is cut much less like a Bourne film and doesn't emphasize the same fonts and interstitials of that series. See both trailers after the jump and let us know which one you like better in the comments. The original post follows.]
One of the movies I’ve been increasingly curious about in the last year has been Green Zone, the Paul Greengrass-directed semi-adaptation of Rajiv Chandrasekaran‘s book Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone. Universal has just released the first trailer. Check it out and let us know what you think of the latest political actioner from the guy behind United 93, Bloody Sunday and the last two Bourne movies. Read More »
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UPDATE: Since publishing this, /Film reader Eneko Ruiz pointed me to Straczynski’s own site, where an email he reprints (from Oct 24) suggests that he’s not actively working on Silver Surfer. JMS writes: “My guess is that since my draft was closely tied into FF2, which is ancient now, they’ve struck off in a different direction.” Original article follows, but I deleted ‘Still on Silver Surfer’ from the original title of this piece.
The game Shattered Union only came out in 2005, but I doubt too many people remember it. The PC and Xbox turn-based strategy title speculated on a political future in which the US sees states seceding from the Union after the second-term retention of the most unpopular president in the nation’s history. Now Jerry Bruckheimer is setting a film version up at Disney, and has tapped J. Michael Straczynski to write. Read More »
There’s been a lot of talk about the projected fourth Jason Bourne movie, and Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass still seem to be heavily considering it as a possible project. But some of the talk is getting into bizarre territory, like the report that Universal is developing parallel scripts. But according to Damon, he hasn’t yet read either script, and we can infer from comments made today that Greengrass hasn’t either. Read More »
Last we heard, Universal was trying to get a fourth film in the Jason Bourne series on track for a Summer 2010 release. Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass were signed on to return, all they needed was a screenplay and a shooting schedule that fit. But the tentatively discussed Summer 2009 shoot doesn’t seem to be on the horizon.
Producer Frank Marshall updates us on the status via Twitter saying that Bourne Ultimatum/Ocean’s Twelve scribe George Nolfi “should have a draft by June” 2009 and that the film “is in the works for Summer 2011.” This of course would mean that the film would need to go into production by Summer 2010, October at very latest. “It really take long to get these scripts right! :),” admits Marshall. Marshall has previously stated that he would like to see Bourne go to South America in his next adventure, which will be the first movie not based on a Robert Ludlum novel.
/Film reader “Sauce” attended a test screening for the Paul Greengrass war thriller Green Zone, which is based on the 2006 book Imperial Life in the Emerald City by journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran, and stars Matt Damon, Amy Ryan, Greg Kinnear, and Brendan Gleeson.
There is still no release date for this movie (but last I heard, the studio was aiming for a November/December 2009 opening), so I assume that that it is a very early cut of the film without final effects, sound mix or score. A lot could change between now and the time of release, they might even do some reshoots. Who knows. Just wanted to add a bit of context. Read the review after the jump.
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Entertainment Weekly just published their list of the 25 Greatest Active Film Directors. It’s one of those really annoying slideshow stories, so we’ve done the legwork and printed the entire shortlist after the jump.
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So what’s the latest on the fourth film in the Jason Bourne series? Last we heard, producer Frank Marshall was hoping to begin shooting next Summer for a 2010 release. Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon have already signed on, all they need now is a script. Today it was announced that Universal is serious about doing a fourth film, hiring George Nolfi to write the script. Not only was Nolfi a co-writer on Bourne Ultimatum, but he also wrote Ocean’s Twelve.
The next film in the series will not even be loosely based on one of the novels, but will instead be an entirely new adventure (with a possible South American destination). From what I understand, the sequels to the original Robert Ludlum novels left much to be desired. Lets hope that Nolfi can come up with something better.
source: Variety
Last we heard, Steven Spielberg decided to put The Trial of the Chicago 7 on hold in order to tackle Tintin and his upcoming Lincoln biopic. Everyone assumed that the project had fallen into development hell, never to be seen from again. Nope – apparently the project is still in the works, and currently Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum, United 93) might now be attached to direct. Rejects found the juicy tidbit hidden within the pages of Production Weekly. At one point, Sacha Baron Cohen was in line to play Abbie Hoffman, and other names circling the project included Will Smith, Taye Diggs, Adam Arkin, Kevin Spacey and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Who knows how Greengrass’ take on the story will differ from Spielberg’s original plans. I’m guessing a lot, since both of filmmakers are very different in almost every single way. One thing we can probably count on – it is sure to involve a lot of Greengrass’ trademarked documentary-like shaky cam. Personally, I don’t really see the point of making this film. I think Brett Morgen’s 2007 documentary Chicago 10 (which actually had animated reenactments) pretty much said everything that needs to be said.
Something even more baffling about the project, Devin from CHUD just sent me an email to tell me that the film is actually a remake of the documentary, something I was previously unaware of.
Discuss: Is anyone excited for a Chicago 7 movie? What will Greengrass bring to the table?
