Last week we got the first trailer for Snow White & The Huntsman, which surprised many by how good it looked. Now we have a promo for next year’s other Snow White movie, Mirror Mirror, which is unlikely to get as good a reaction. While the Huntsman was all dark, gothic and brooding, this one goes more for colour and comedy. It may not appeal to adult tastes, but could score well with a family audience. The Tarsem Singh directed movie stars Lily Collins, Julia Roberts, Armie Hammer and Nathan Lane and is due in cinemas next March, a few months ahead of its rival’s July debut.
Bill Nighy Joins I, Frankenstein
Over the past year or so, about half a dozen Frankenstein projects, all with a slightly different takse on Mary Shelley’s classic tale, have been in development in Hollywood. One now finally seems to be moving ahead – I Frankenstein. Aaron Eckhart recently signed on to play the title character in this modern day sequel, and now Variety reports that Bill Nighy and Socratis Otto (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) have joined the cast.
Stuart Beattie will direct I, Frankenstein, which is about Adam Frankenstein (Aaron Eckhart), the creation of Dr. Frankenstein, who is still alive centuries after his ‘birth’. Adam is hunted down by a clan of demons who want to learn Adam’s secret in order to reanimate deceased demons to start a new army. Bill Nighy will play a demon prince, while Socratis Otto will be the prince’s right hand man, who goes after Adam.
Beattie is directing I, Frankenstein from his own screenplay, which is adapted from Kevin Grevioux’s graphic novel of the same name. Shooting will start next February, in Victoria, Australia, with a February 22nd, 2013 release date already pencilled in
General movie news courtesy of Movie Muser
Eric Roth Set To Write Cleopatra
It’s been quite a while since Angelina Jolie was first loosely attached to new biopic of Egyptian queen Cleopatra and then earlier this year David Fincher started sniffing around to to direct. Initially Brian Hegeland was set to write the script, but now Variety reports that Forrest Gump and Benjamin Button screenwriter Eric Roth is in talks to take over.
The idea is that the movie will tell the Egyptian Pharaoh’s tale from a woman’s perspective, portraying her as a cunning strategist and politician. You’d think therefore that it might be a good idea to get a woman to write the screenplay, but that’s something that never seems to cross people’s minds in Hollywood.
Fincher and Jolie are both still circling the project, although they’re waiting until plans get a little further along before they decide whether to officially commit to making the movie. James Cameron was initially set to direct Cleopatra, before he stepped away from the project last November, due to the fact Fox wanted him to concentrate on sequels to Avatar.
General movie news courtesy of Movie Muser
Muppets Have Fun With Twilight Parody Posters
The Muppets have been having fun all year with parody posters and trailers aping some of the other big releases, from The Hangover Part 2 to Green Lantern, and now it’s the turn of Twilight to get a ribbing with three Muppety posters.
So take a look above and below for Bella Swine, the Vamphibian and the WereRowlf!
The lucky American will get to see The Muppets on November 23rd, but we in the UK have to wait until February 10th.
General movie news courtesy of Movie Muser
Kristen Stewart Offered Akira Role
She may appear to be trying to turn being morose into an art form, but Kristen Stewart is shaping up to have a strong post-Twilight career, not least because she’s just been offered a role in Akira. Twitch, which seems to have a hotline straight in to Akira exclusives, has the news, and says Stewart has been offered the female lead Kei.
There is no word yet on whether or not the actress has accepted the offer. In Katsuhiro Ôtomo’s manga Kei is a psychic medium who falls for the lead character of Kaneda. However no character details were revealed for the new live-action remake, so things may have changed.
Garett Hedlund is now officially in talks for the role of Kaneda, the leader of a New Manhattan biker gang who sets out to rescue his best friend Tetsuo from a military experiment. The likes of Ezra Miller and Alden Ehrenreich have read for Tetsuo, but it isn’t known if any offers have been made yet.
If Stewart and Hedlund do take the roles it would reunite them after they worked together on Walter Salles’ adaptation of On The Road. Jaume Collet-Serra is directing Akira, with production expected to start in the new year.
General movie news courtesy of Movie Muser
Tim Burton May Enter Miss Peregrine’s Home
It seems Tim Burton is starting to think about what movie he wants to make after he completes work on Dark Shadows (which is out next May), and may have decided upon Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. 20th Century Fox bought the rights to Ransom Riggs’ novel back in May, and Burton is now in early talks to direct the adaptation, according to Deadline.
The story is about a 16-year-old boy named Jacob, who sets off to find a mysterious orphanage, which used to house children with special and dangerous abilities. When Jacob finds the abandoned home, he gets the feeling that these children may still be alive, somewhere in the facility.
It’s still very early days for the adaptation yet, as while Peter Chernin will produce, there’s no screenwriter attached as yet.
General movie news courtesy of Movie Muser
New Aussiebum Ad – Purely For Artistic Appreciation Only!
I think there might be something wrong with me, but my main reaction to this new Aussiebum ad is that the ‘wonderjock’ really doesn’t look comfortable. However they do have certain properties that make for a pleasant aesthetic experience! I might have to watch it a few more time so I can truly appreciate the bulge-art on display. [Read more…]
Special Gala Screening Of We Were Here Tonight
We know it’s short notice, but if you’re in London and have the time, there’s a Special Charity Gala screening of the powerful AIDS documentary, We Were Here, taking place tonight (September 15th) at the Odeon Covent Garden, hosted by Peccadillo Pictures, Terrence Higgins Trust & Attitude magazine with director David Weissman in attendance.
The critically acclaimed film documents the coming of what was called the “Gay Plague” in the early 1980s. It illuminates the profound personal and community issues raised by the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco as well as the broad political and social upheavals it unleashed. Deeply moving and inspirational, David Weissman and Bill Weber’s beautifully made film offers a real insight into how a community rose to the challenge with courage and compassion.
Funds raised by the event will be donated to HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins trust.
Head over to the Odeon Website to book a ticket.
BBC Editor Defended For Use Of ‘Queer Street’ Term
Robert Peston, the BBC’s business editor, has been defended for using the established term “Queer Street” to describe financial dire straits.
Peston posted a link to his BBC blog on Twitter, saying: “Why investors love lending to UK government – & how Debt Management Office kept us out of Queer Street.”
As some Twitter users responded with criticism, Peston responded with a link to the term’s Wikipedia page, which explains its many possible etymological origins.
Read more at: BBC editor defended for use of “Queer Street” term – PinkNews.co.uk.
Three Young Adult Clips
In recent interviews, Charlize Theron has been having to explain why it’s not important to her if you like her characters, as long as you understand and perhaps empathise with them. The reason she’s been talking about this is because she plays a bit of a bitch in Jason Reitman’s Young Adult (which also reunites him with Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody). Three new clips from the movie have now appeared online, so click above and below to take a look.
Theron plays Mavis Gary, a writer of teen literature who returns to her small hometown to relive her glory days and attempt to reclaim her happily married high school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson). When returning home proves more difficult than she thought, Mavis forms an unusual bond with a former classmate (Patton Oswalt) who hasn’t quite gotten over high school, either. The UK release is due February 12th.
David Gordon Green Directing Q Adaptation
Few directors have ‘gone Hollywood’ quite as wholeheartedly as David Gordon Green, who made his name with contemplative, indie dramas such as George Washington, Snow Angels and Undertow, before leaping into the studio system with abandon, making Pineapple Express, Your Highness and the upcoming The Sitter.
Now Variety reports that Columbia Pictures is in talks to pick up Evan Mandery’s novel Q, with writer/director David Gordon Green and producer Matthew Tolmach attached.
The movie would take Green away from the stoner-type comedies he’s been involved with for the past few years, as it about a man who it visited by a future version of himself, who tells him not to marry the love of his life. He agrees and spends the rest of his life trying to undo that fateful choice and find the only woman he ever loved.
General movie news courtesy of Movie Muser
Bradley Cooper Eyes Fight Before Christmas
Anne Fletcher has had significant hits with Step Up, 27 Dresses and The Proposal, but Hollywood is still a tough place for female directors, so it’s taken her a while to get more films off the ground. She’s now got My Mother’s Curse, starring Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand, in post-production, and Variety says she’s just signed on to helm the cheesily titled The Fight Before Christmas.
Due Date writer Adam Sztykiel wrote the script, with Shawn Levy producing. The next step is to find a cast. Bradley Cooper has already been offered the male lead in the movie, but it isn’t known if he will accept.
There’s no clue either as to what the movie is about, other than that presumably there will be some fighting and it’ll happen before Christmas.
General movie news courtesy of Movie Muser