This rumour comes from a UK gossip magazine, so it’s almost certainly just been made-up. All the same, there’s an interesting kink or two in the details…
According to OK, Efron has been hand-picked for the role of Peter Parker by Tobey Maguire. We’d previously heard that Sam Raimi had personally selected Nimrod Antal for the director’s chair, and that didn’t turn out at all - the job went to Marc Webb. Perhaps (just perhaps) Raimi and Maguire did nominate their favoured replacements, and these favoured replacements were Antal and Efron. That’s not impossible.
Efron is currently making a concerted effort to get on board some good projects, and is currently tied-up with Brian Michael Bendis, creator of Ultimate Spider-Man, the comics that have inspired this new reboot of the movies. In a universe where Bendis has come over to Sony to redraft the new Spidey films, maybe Efron could have come with him. The questions is… do we really live in that universe? I doubt it, but it certainly doesn’t seem like too horrible a place.
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I don’t remember when it was I first heard of Brian Michael Bendis but I remember how, and I remember that I was holding a copy of his comic book Fire in my hands at the time. I’d pretty much forgotten it, if I’m being honest, but I do have a faint, fuzzy fondness for what I can recall and therefore I’m pretty happy to report it’s being made into a movie, and happier still that Bendis is getting to write the adaptation himself. His leading man is set to be none other than Zac Efron, who I’ve liked just fine in everything I’ve seen him in, even when those things themselves were not entirely likeable.
Last Friday, it seems, the actor and writer went out together to a handful of studios and ended up making a deal with Universal. He tweeted about it at the time, though only now do I quite see what he was getting at:
Heading to Warner brothers with my mystery movie star pal
Leaving universal. My job here is done. Chik fil a put the nuggets in the fryer!!
In Fire, the comic, the lead character is a young jewish man recruited from school to join the CIA. Hes told that he’s the first recruit of Project Fire, an initiative to try and turn ordinary citizen into operatives. Of course, that’s not quite true and this chap ends up having to go a bit Bourne.
Fire is just one of two projects that Efron has newly slated. The other is not quite so easy to explain or, at this stage, understand.
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There are a lot of Award shows in Hollywood. Some of them are serious presentations, awarding accomplishment and talent: the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes..etc. Other award shows are nothing more than pure spectacle. The MTV Movie Awards falls into the latter category. Every year we post the award winners, and every year we complain about how some tween heartthrob, this year - Zac Efron, beats out some insanely talented actor, this year Robert Downey Jr, for Best Male Performance. Or how Twilight beat out both The Dark Knight and Slumdog Millionaire to win Best Movie.
But truth is, we love to bitch about the MTV Movie Awards, which explains why I’m posting these results. It’s certainly not that we give credence to this list of winners. Any award show which gives out five statues to Twilight can’t be taken seriously. So leave your comments below. Be smart, clever, funny, and biting.
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In this episode of the /Filmcast, David Chen, Devindra Hardawar and Adam Quigley discuss the ideal business situation for 3-D glasses at theaters, get excited about Duncan Jones’ Moon, deconstruct the awfulness of Marley & Me, and reflect on the brilliance of Jody Hill. Special guests Katey Rich from Cinemablend and Whitney Matheson from USA Today’s Popcandy blog join 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 MONDAY night at Slashfilm’s live page at 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST as we review Crank 2.
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After months of rumors, Hero Complex has confirmed that Zac Efron has signed on to play the title lead role in a big screen live-action adaptation of Johnny Quest. If that doesn’t get you angry, the following bit might be just enough to get your blood boiling. According to Boucher, Warner Bros wants to change the title to something other than Johnny Quest entirely, in hopes to prevent another Speed Racer.
Because we all know that Speed Racer failed at the box office because audiences were turned off by the film’s title, right? Oh wait… That wasn’t it all all, was it? May be it was because the main audience of the Wachowski Brothers, teenagers and adults, were turned off by the prospect of a 135-minute kids film, and kids thought it looked more goofy than cool. Either way, I don’t have much faith for this big screen adaptation with, or without the Johnny Quest title.
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The new video on FunnyOrDie is co-directed by Hairspray director Adam Shankman and stars the biggest cast to ever grace one of the comedy site’s viral videos: Zac Efron, Thomas Lennon, Nicole Sullivan, Vanessa Hudgens, Justin Long, Nicole Ritchie, Joel Madden, Queen Latifah, Brody Jenner, Carmen Electra, Lance Bass, Brittany Snow, Jessica Stroup, Chelsea Staub, Jessica Rose, Ruta Gedmintas, Abby Pivaronas, Ryan Rottman, DJ Timbo, Mark Kvammsuck. The question is, why does the video suck so much?
I’m a huge fan and supporter of FunnyOrDie, and I understand their biggest videos have featured the participation of big name Hollywood stars. I’m sure this video will get record hits. Heck, it has Zac Efron, and in 2009, that’s almost as good as having that guy with the weird hair from Twilight. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I know the reason I’ve liked FunnyOrDie’s videos is because they were actually funny, well written, and well produced. Eric Appel took things to a new level with Gobstopper. But this video just seems like they invited a bunch of semi-famous people to a pool party and tried to film a video around the participants. Lets hope this doesn’t become the norm.
Our friends at FirstShowing report that Mandalay have picked up the rights to develop a big-screen live action adaptation of the version of the Japanese manga/anime series Full Metal Panic. I haven’t heard of the series before tonight, but apparently it tells the story of a member of the covert anti-terrorist mercenary group who is tasked with protecting a Japanese high school girl with mystical powers. If the one-sentence log-line doesn’t immediately grab you, chances are you’ll be completely turned off by the fact that High School Musical Zac Efron is interested in starring in the project. I know I was.
Hollywood’s attempts to translate anime into live-action American feature films have resulted in some spectacular failures - Fist of the North Star, Guyver, Speed Racer, and most recently Dragonball. Does this mean that the live-action American anime adaptation is doomed? Not necessarily. It just means that it isn’t easy to execute.
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IESB has some new news regarding Warner Bros upcoming adaptation of The Adventures of Johnny Quest. Before we get into the news, let me remind you that the original Hanna-Barbera produced sci-fi animated tv show followed an eleven-year-old boy who accompanies his father on extraordinary adventures. So the question is, what can you possibly do to ruin this concept? How about casting 21-year-old High School Musical star Zac Efron as Johnny Quest?
And how about casting Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Race Bannon, Johnny’s special agent bodyguard? The Rock tells IESB that the latest draft of the script is both “awesome” and “badass” and that “there’s no one else who can be Race Bannon than me. There’s no one else.” Of course, this is after he just admitted that he hasn’t read the latest draft, and was just going based on what the suits at Warner Bros told him (”Wow, I don’t know if you’ve read the latest one but it’s awesome and it’s badass and I haven’t read, this is what I told everyone over at Warner Bros.”). Not a good sign at all.
To be fair, an earlier draft of the Johnny Quest script was listed on last year’s Black List, which is basically a list of the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood. But don’t worry, Johnson says that “there are just a couple of tweaks and changes that” need to be made first.
But lets forget about casting and story for a minute, because obviously, those things are important (yes, that was sarcasm). Who will direct this sci-fi action adventure adaptation? You need someone that is well versed in shooting action sci-fi, right? Andy Fickman is in talks to helm the project… you know, the guy who directed the Amanda Bynes teen romcom She’s The Man and the horrible family sports comedy The Game Plan. Sounds like he would be a perfect fit, right? Oh, it doesn’t? Hmmmm…
Last night I was lucky enough to be invited to a very special presentation of Adam Shankman’s Hairspray at Dolby Laboratories. I must admit, I’m not a fan of musicals, or at least I haven’t been in the past. Baz Luhrman’s Moulin Rouge! was my first positive experience in the genre. And Dreamgirls became one of my favorite films of last year (although not in my top 10). I’m very critical of the genre, and I sometimes wonder it’s value in contemporary times. That said, New Line has definitely created something magical with the New Hairspray. Read on.
The screening room in the Dolby Labs is a wooden modernized art deco design, with a small stage, curtain, and stadium seating. While I sat in my seat waiting for the presentation I looked around wondering where the speakers were. I didn’t see a single speaker, ANYWHERE. And you would expect a place like Dolby would have a jacked up sound system. And you would be correct. I later discovered while exiting the screening room that the entire wall is a speaker. What seems to be wallpaper is actually that mesh speaker material. The sound was quite incredible.
Hairspray director Adam Shankman came out and introduced himself. He claimed that this film was “the best experience” he’ll ever have. He talked about how everyone in the cast signed on because they really wanted to do this movie. Adam said that Michelle Pfeiffer supposedly calls herself Dr. No, because she never says yes to movie offers anymore. He talked briefly about the original John Waters film, and how Waters told him “You have to do your own thing.”
“Which is a very sweet thing to say to the guy who made Cheaper By The Dozen 2,” joked Shankman. “Which I did completely as a favor.”
Shankman is an incredible speaker. He talks and you listen as the stories pour out of his mouth and fill the room.
The lights then went down and we saw a 20 plus minute preview of the film which Shankman called a “Franken Trailer.” It consisted of pieces of songs, pieces of scenes, montage segments that seem like they should be part of a theeatrical trailer, and more. We were warned that parts of the cut were not completely finished, although you wouldn’t have noticed at all from the footage.
The footage began with newcomer Nikki Blonsky, who plays the lead character - Tracy Turnblad in the film, waking up to get to school. She misses the bus and is forced to hitch a ride. The whole thing is done in this wonderfully music number which is perfectly cut. You can see the love and time that must have gone into the story-boarding and choreography of this sequence.
The next segment followed Tracy and her best friend Penny Pingleton, played by Amanda Bynes, as they rushed home to catch the Corny Collins show on television. Tracy tries to convince her mother, played by John Travolta in a female fat suit, into letting her audition for the tv show. She of course says no, but her father, played by Christopher Walken says yes. If there is one trepidation I have about the footage I viewed, it would be the over the top performance of Travolta. His part seemed so out of place, and more like a gimmick than anything else. Walken is, well, Walken. You can never go wrong with him, even in the worst film.
We then see Tracy at the tryout, where she blows away Corney Collins, played by James Marsden. There is so much going on in this film. It’s so colorful, and over the top. The dance numbers are what you would expect from an old Hollywood musical. For example, the next one they showed involved Tracy and her mother leaving a thrift store. I’m not exactly sure about the context but the pair start dancing and singing in the street where 30 or so random people join in for a big dance number.
We also got a glimpse of Queen Latifah (who plays Motormouth Maybelle) at a record store party. Tracy’s mom shows up an embarrasses her but is quickly appeased by the offer of food. The preview ended with a montage of slips from throughout the film, in trailer fashion.
When the footage ended, the whole screening room broke out in applause. I can’t stress to you how great some of this footage was. Shankman really went for it, with confidence, and without holding back.
The director again thanked the crowd and thanked New Line for green-lighting the film when other musicals weren’t doing so well. I can only assume he meant Rent.
A reception was held in the lobby with food and wine. I was able to speak with the producer Neil Meron, who actually admitted that he wasn’t completely happy with the 20+ minute preview reel. He claims that the preview footage doesn’t do the film justice, and he wished that New Line would have let them show the whole thing. Usually such a statement could be dismissed as hype, but I got the feeling that Meron’s feelings were authentic. He seemed really pleased with the result.
I also discovered that the film’s lead, Nikki Blonsky, was a complete newcomer. She has done nothing before this. The casting director discovered Nikki on MySpace. So expect to hear a lot about that leading up to the movie’s release. If it weren’t for the recent Jennifer Hudson/Dreamgirls performance I’d probably be praising Nikki, who seems to be perfect for the role of Tracy.
I also learned that Marissa Jaret Winokur (from the musical cast), Rikki Lake (from the John Waters film), and newcomer Nikki Blonsky (from the Shankman film) had just recorded a version of “Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now” for the soundtrack release.
I asked Shankman if John Waters had seen any of the footage yet, and he told me that not only had Waters seen the movie, but he loved it. So take that for what it’s worth.
One thing is for sure, Hairspray is one to watch this Summer, let’s just hope if doesn’t get buried between all the Threequels being released. Hairspray hits theaters on July 20th 2007.
The new poster for Adam Shankman’s remake of Hairspray is just what you would expect. It’s colorful, and feels very broadway-ish. But what’s with this new “Who’s who behind the do?” tagline? New Line better come up with something better than that. But since they asked, the cast includes John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nicole Blonsky, Queen Latifah, Amanda Bynes, Christopher Walken, Allison Janney, Zac Efron, and James Marsden. I heard very good things about the footage that was shown at ShoWest, so be sure to add this one to your calendar.
Click on the poster to see a larger version, thanks to cinematical. Hairspray hits theaters on July 20th 2007.
