Public Enemies - What Did You Think?
Animator Dan Meth shows us the scary horrible future that awaits us as Hollywood scrapes the very bottom of the barrel for future movie franchises. Yes, I’m talking about toys and television sitcoms. Witness these uncanny mash-ups of your most beloved toys from your childhood. Imagine Play-Doh, Cabbage Patch Kids, and Smurfs portrayed in movies by Ron Howard, David Cronenberg, and Peter Jackson. Watch the video after the jump.
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Spielberg’s Tintin Will Get Released Internationally First; December 2011 in The US
Posted on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment have finally announced their release plans for Steven Spielberg’s 3D performance capture adaptation of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. The film will be released internationally in late October and early November, 2011, more than a month before the film is released stateside by Paramount on December 23rd 2011.
The early international release makes sense as the property is a lot more popular overseas. The reception from European audiences and critics will be a nice transition for American audiences who aren’t as familiar with the character.
When the Universal Studios backlots were set ablaze in Hollywood last year, the fire destroyed sets and one of the park’s signature attractions — King Kong. The ride has been part of the park’s tram tour for over 20 years. But when the fire destroyed the attraction many speculated that Universal would replace it with a ride based on a more recent movie property. Fear not King Kong fans, Universal is rebuilding King Kong… kinda.
Universal is actually building a new version of the ride based on Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake of the classic 1933 film, combining “visceral” effects with what Universal is calling “the world’s largest Surround Digital projection system to create a next-generation theme park experience.”
Sony has released three photos from the Peter Jackson-produced Neill Blomkamp-directed sci-fi film District 9. Two of the photos, included after the jump, we’ve kinda seen before, but the photo above is completely brand new. Click on the photos to enlarge.
The teaser trailer for Neil Blomkamp’s District 9 debuted just the other day, and regardless of whether or not you appreciated its faux-documentary style, I think it’s pretty safe to say that Blomkamp’s visual style is unique and, in my opinion, spectacular. One of the critical moments in the teaser is an exchange that takes place between a human and an alien who is sitting behind a table in an interrogation room. The alien responds to some basic questions, but we don’t see what the alien’s “face” looks like (it’s blurred out, Cops style), nor do we understand what it is saying.
Now, via IMDB, a new trailer has surfaced which removes the blur and adds in some English subtitles for the alien language. I for one was kind of a fan of the mysterious undertones of the original teaser, but the subtitles give further hints as to the plot/setting/circumstances of the new film. Hit the jump to check out the trailer, then hit the comments to let us know what you think.
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Peter Jackson to Direct Nazi Zombie Time Travel Movie?
Posted on Friday, May 1st, 2009 by Brendon Connelly
Update: Entertainment Weekly have spoken to Ken Kamins, Jackson’s manager and received some kind of weak denial. He said: “It sounds like an April Fool’s joke. Peter and Fran are working diligently on The Hobbit for the foreseeable future.” Which is basically equivalent to answering the question “Will you join me for dinner tonight?” by saying “That sounds like you’re hitting me. I’ll be diligently washing my hair for the foreseeable future”. I think Fry may have gotten the wrong end of the stick here, somehow… but that it’s still just about possible there is a stick to get the wrong end of.
Here’s a story I wasn’t expecting to hear today. Even more, I wasn’t expecting to hear it from Stephen Fry.
A popular British radio show with film buffs (and some UK readers of this site, I’ve noticed from the comments) is Simon Mayo’s afternoon slot on BBC Five Live. On a Friday, he features movie reviews and often guests, and today one such guest was none other than the aforementioned Fry. When the conversation came around to the Peter Jackson/Christian Rivers Dambusters remake for which Fry has written the screenplay, he couldn’t reveal much news at all - it sounds like the picture is just in some kind of holding pattern - but he did have some brilliant incidental information about Jackson.
District 9 Movie Trailer Will Be Online This Thursday
Posted on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
The movie trailer for the Neill Blomkamp’s District 9, the super secret sci-fi project produced by Peter Jackson, will be attached to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Apple will be premiering the trailer online sometime during Thursday afternoon. But if you have the chance to see this thing on the big screen, you might want to resist watching it for the few extra hours. I’ve also heard that an extended trailer (possibly the 4-5 minute reel shown at ShoWest) will be released online in a few weeks.
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Those of you who stepped out and snapped up the 20th Anniversary issue of Empire will already have seen the latest - and indeed, greatest - images from Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones. For those of you no lucky enough to live ‘over here’, the good news is that some industrious souls have scanned those pages and posted them online.
After the break, a look at a couple of these images - but, really, do seriously consider shelling out for the actual magazine. For one thing, there’s so much in there, and only a certain amount of it is going to ever roll up online.
Empire Spill Tintin Beans Galore - Second Film Coming Really Soon!
Posted on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 by Brendon Connelly
The much lauded 20th Anniversary issue of Empire is out now and on shelves across the UK. The Oxford Cornmarket St. branch of WH Smith has definitely sold at least one copy already. I’m sat here with it now, and am quite taken aback by how brilliant it truly is. Really, this is Empire at its best. This is the Empire we want month in, month out. They’ve delivered the ideal version of a magazine devised to cover studio and mainstream fare in an exciting and accessible way and mainly they’ve done that by stuffing it full of exclusives. Buy one. You know you want to.
A lot of the best stuff comes in a feature on Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s Tintin film or, rather, films. Amongst other things, the magazine confirms that the second film is not only funded, but in pre-production already. Jackson’s quote on that - and lots more - after the break.
First Two Photos From Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones
Posted on Sunday, April 19th, 2009 by David Chen
Empire has debuted a photo of actress Saoirse Ronan in the role of Susie Salmon for Peter Jackson’s upcoming film, The Lovely Bones. Based on the best-selling book by Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones tells the story of Susie Salmon, a 14-year-old girl from suburban Pennsylvania who is murdered by her neighbor. She tells the story from Heaven, showing the lives of the people around her and how they have changed, all while attempting to get someone to find her lost body. Mark Wahlberg is playing the role of Susie’s father, Jack Salmon, after “creative differences” caused Ryan Gosling’s departure. Rachel Weisz plays Abigail Salmon, Susie’s mother.
This photo is interesting because it shows the film’s version of Heaven. Reportedly, Jackson and his art director clashed on set over how best to depict the ethereal location, so much so that it even caused the production to stop filming last May. So, what do you think of the photo? Does it look like everything you imagined Heaven to be? Head on over to Empire to see the image in all its high-resolution glory.
Update [Peter Sciretta]: Peter Jackson tells USA Today tonight: “It’s God-less in the sense that when Susie dies, she finds herself caught in a place between Earth and heaven — she is in an ‘In-Between,’ as Alice Sebold calls it.” The newspaper also offers a second photo from the film, of Stanley Tucci as George Harvey, who is the culprit. Check out the second photo after the jump.
The teaser trailer for the Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 was scheduled to hit theaters this weekend with Crank 2: High Voltage, but Sony Pictures pulled the trailer at the last minute. I wouldn’t be surprised if the trailer was moved to Angels & Demons.
Blomkamp is the South African born short film and commercial director who hired to direct a big screen adaptation of Halo before “financial problems” forced the project back into development. District 9 is super secret sci-fi project produced by Peter Jackson, based on Blomkamp’s short film Alive in Joburg.
Sony has released the first image from the film, but unfortunately it doesn’t show the cool alien creatures featured in the movie. The photo features Wikus (Sharlto Copley), a Multi-National United agent who becomes infected by alien biotechnology. He must go on the run from the oppressive government into District 9, a internment camp where “non-humans” have been forced to live since landing on Earth nearly 30 years ago. Thanks to /Film reader Mike S for the tip.
The Hobbit Plans Change - Del Toro and Jackson Spill New Details
Posted on Friday, April 17th, 2009 by Brendon Connelly
The upcoming 20th birthday of Empire Magazine has been guest edited by none other than Steven Spielberg. By the power of his magical directing beard, he appears to have secured some rather nifty exclusives for the mag, and now they’re starting to flood out.
Quite impressively, they’ve got the scoop on Peter Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro’s revised plans for The Hobbit. Previously we’d been told that they were going to make two films, the first an adaptation the novel and the second to bridge the gap between that book and The Fellowship of the Ring. Now, however, it seems that The Hobbit itself is going to take up two full length pictures all by itself.
