NEWS

In the last few years Hollywood has moved to a slightly different financing model than it used to have, where most major movies are now co-funded by various investors and companies who put cash towards a slate of films and then share in the profits. Usually though, these investors have little control over the finished movie or which film are included in the slate their cash is helping get made.

That wasn’t true of Legendary, who negotiated a very different deal with Warner. They put in hundreds of millions of funding in the last eight years, but got to cherry pick exactly what movies they wanted to be part of – and they could literally choose anything – and then actively help put it together. The deal resulted in The Dark Knight movies, Watchmen, Man Of Steel and various other film, including this week’s Pacific Rim.

However that deal is coming to an end and Warner wanted to renegotiate, feeling that allowing Legendary to share in the premiere projects was cutting into their profits, particularly from properties they owned long before Legendary came along, such as Batman and Superman. However talks broke down, with Legendary’s Thomas Tull deciding that it would be better if his company took its cash and went elsewhere – and to be honest, Warner didn’t seem too upset about that.

Now it’s been revealed that Legendary will set up home at NBCUniversal. Variety reports that there had also been talks with 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures and Lionsgate, but that Universal offered Legendary a more attractive deal.

The exact terms aren’t known, but its believed to be similar to what Legendary had at Universal, where it will be able to choose which projects it wants to co-finance and then actively develop them from beginning to end. It’s also know that Legendary wants to movie in the TV business, and Universal is the perfect place for that.

Disney has been looking into its fairy tale back catalogue with live-action versions of Alice In Wonderland and the upcoming Maleficent and Cinderella, but now they’re eyeing another of the animated classics for the big budget treatment, The Jungle Book.

THR reports that Disney has hired Justin Marks to write the script for a new live-action Jungle Book movie. It’s very early days yet though, as there are no producers or a director attached as yet.

There’s no news on the exact take the movie will take. A 1994 take on Rudyard Kipling’s tales saw Jason Scott Lee as Mowgli, surrounded by real but not talking animals. We’d imagine this take will be slightly more fantasy, with CGI talking critters, but we could be wrong.

It’s not the only live-action Jungle Book in the works though, as Warner Bros. is developing version with Steve Kloves (Harry Potter) writing.

The Child’s Play franchise has been pretty sporadic but always entertaining. Starting with Child’s Play in 1988, we’ve had five films starring killer doll Chucky, with the sixth now on its way, Curse Of Chucky.

Here’s the trailer: ‘He’s back! From the filmmakers that brought you Chucky comes the terrifying return of the pint-sized doll possessed by the spirit of a notorious serial killer. When a mysterious package arrives at the house of Nica (Fiona Dourif, True Blood), she doesn’t give it much thought. However, after her mother’s mysterious death, Nica begins to suspect that the talking, red-haired doll her visiting niece has been playing with may be the key to the ensuing bloodshed and chaos. The return of America’s favorite toy, voiced again by Brad Dourif, is unrated and full of more blood-splattered thrills and chills.’

Brad Dourif once more voices Chucky. It’ll be out in the US in September and hopefully arrive in the UK shortly afterwards. [Read more…]