Thursday, November 26

• Guy Pearce Joins The Hungry Rabbit Jumps

  According to Production Weekly's most recent Tweet, actor Guy Pearce will be joining Nicolas Cage and January Jones in Roger Donaldson's (The Bank Job) new film, The Hungry Rabbit Jumps.

  The script, written by Robert Tannen, tells the story of a man (played by Cage) who becomes entangled with a vigilante group when he goes out seeking retribution on those who assaulted his wife. Rabbit is being produced by Tobey Maguire's Maguire Entertainment and Endgame.

  The Tweet from PA also indicates that filming will begin in New Orleans in two weeks.

  
  

  Posted 11/26/2009 by BrentJS

  Related: Guy Pearce | Nicolas Cage | Tobey Maguire | January Jones | Roger Donaldson | Robert Tannen

Wednesday, November 25

• James McTeigue Enlisted Comic Book Artist for Ninja Assassin

  In the past, comic book artists were not regarded very highly in Hollywood. When a director needed to have certain scenes "pre-visualized," it was often a storyboard artist that was tapped for the job. However, with the recent popularity of comic book movies and the sky-rocketing costs of developing feature-length action films, directors have increasingly turned to comic book or "sequential" artists to help flesh out their ideas.

  James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) is one such director. For his latest film, Ninja Assassin, McTeigue hired comic book artist Steve Skroce to help him bring the script to life, he told ComingSoon.net.

  What I usually do with Steve is that we start off with concept pieces — we call them key frames. We talk about the key frames and how they come together and then I'll say to him, "Look, I felt like this should be a cross between anime and gameplay," so then he starts sketching out the boards and I go, "Maybe look at Ninja Scroll" and then he'll go and do that and he'll draw some key frames, and then once we flesh out the aesthetic of the film, then we start getting into the action sequences. He pretty much draws a lot of them. And then after he does that, once you get the aesthetic down, you get the action choreographers —in this case, it was Chad Stahelski and David Leitch — and then we start working out the choreography exactly, like all the mechanics of how that will work. The way I do that is that we work out the basic choreography, then they get with their fight teams, and they video tape it, and then we edit it down and go, "Oh, that's good, that's not so good, let's put a bit more of that in, do a bit more of that, let's use this weapon ... the katana or the shuriken you see." So it's sort of a slowly evolving process.

  Skroce has worked on The Matrix trilogy and is the artist and co-creator of Doc Frankenstein, which is published by the Wachowski Brothers' Burlyman Entertainment.

  
  
  

  Ninja Assassin - Trailer

  Rain stars - in theaters today

  Posted 11/25/2009 by BrentJS

  Related: James McTeigue | Ninja Assassin

• Peter Jackson Updates The Hobbit and Tintin

  With his Lovely Bones opening next month, writer-director Peter Jackson spent some time talking with the British press about a few of his upcoming producing projects. One of the most-anticipated is The Hobbit, the sequel to Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Jackson told In The News that an initial script has been delivered to the studio.

  The Hobbit will be two movies and we've written the first script and delivered it to the studio who seem to be happy with it. We're now halfway through the second script and Philippa [Boyens], Fran [Walsh], Guillermo [Del Toro] and myself are doing the scripts and having great fun. It was an interesting experience because eight or nine years have passed since we wrote the Lord of the Rings screenplays and I was worried it'd be weird or hard or uncomfortable to go back there, but as soon as we started writing the scripts it was fun, actually, and easy.

  Del Toro will be directing The Hobbit, a situation he is "happy" about, stressing that "it's our job to support him and to help him tell the story." Jackson told BBC News that having Del Toro in on the writing process should make the transition easier.

  We're writing the screenplays with him, so in terms of the script, there is continuity. We're writing Ian McKellen's dialogue just the same as we did in Lord Of The Rings. But Guillermo, being the director, will obviously take the script and interpret that and shoot his film. So that'll be interesting to see. That's actually the reason I wanted him to do it. I felt like I'd be trying to compete with myself and deliberately do things differently, which is not the way I want to work. I want it to be natural.

  Jackson stated that The Hobbit will be shot "in 35mm, old-fashioned film" because of Del Toro's desire to have the movie "in the same space as the original trilogy." Meanwhile, Jackson's other producing project, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, will be in 3-D. Jackson said that the movie is complete. Mostly.

  Tintin is great. It's made. The movie is cut together and now [we] are turning it into a fully-rendered film. So the movie, to some degree, exists in a very rough state.

  All that's left is to turn the movie from motion capture into 3-D animation, which will only take a mere two years to complete.

  
  

  Posted 11/25/2009 by Ryan

  Related: Peter Jackson | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | Guillermo del Toro | The Hobbit | Tintin

• Guide to Online Movie Services: Which One's Best for You?

  Digital movies have gone mainstream. Now it's increasingly easy, and cheap, to get movies online. Not only are these legal rental and download services more convenient — no more driving to the store or waiting on the mail — they're also frequently cheaper.

  With so many services available, how can you make the best choice for your technology and movie-viewing preferences — especially when the details are not always easy to find? We've put together a Guide to Online Movie Services: Which One's Best for You?, just in time for your holiday wish list.

  
  

  Posted 11/25/2009 by reelz

  Related: Leonard Maltin's Secret's Out | At the Movies | Our Favorite Movies | ReelzChannel Spotlight | Saturday Morning @ ReelzChannel | Twilight Weekly: Spotlight | Hollywood Dailies | Hollywood and Dine | Movies and Music

• Wes Craven May Be Back for Scream 4

  In an interview with BlockBook, Neve Campbell, revealed that Scream director Wes Craven will likely return for Scream 4.

  I'm pretty sure at this stage that Wes is back on board to direct and Kevin [Willamson] is definitely writing it ... so it is going to be great.

  Campbell says the movie will go into production "in mid-April" and is "so happy" to see that both Courteney Cox and David Arquette are returning. While Campbell has yet to see the script, she says the hardest thing about playing the character of Sidney Prescott again will be achieving the same haircut.

  Physically speaking, it's all about working the bob! And the only way I can achieve that properly every day on set is through Tara Smith hair products. Seriously, if Tara didn't cut and style my hair in an amazing girly way to re-create the Sidney look, I wouldn't have a starting point [for the character]. I'm not kidding.

  
  
  

  Scream 4 Update

  David Arquette talks The Tripper and Scream 4.

  Posted 11/25/2009 by Ryan

  Related: Wes Craven | Neve Campbell | Scream 4

• Ryan Reynolds Discusses Green Lantern and Deadpool

  Actor Ryan Reynolds is calling 2009 the "most unbelievable year" of his life. In addition to running a marathon and marrying superstar actress Scarlett Johansson, Reynolds is preparing to make movie history by starring as two iconic characters from competing comic book companies: DC Comics' Hal Jordan/Green Lantern and Marvel Comics' Wade Wilson/Deadpool.

  In a recent interview with MTV, Reynolds said that landing both roles was especially gratifying because he had pursued them passionately.

  It's incredibly validating and gratifying when you can see that you can manifest something that you desperately want or a goal that you have. This is a difficult industry to get anything made, let alone a passion project, so when you see people understand what your vision is and come aligned with that common goal, it's pretty cool. I'm including all the creative types that are actually involved with Deadpool and Green Lantern, because those guys want to make an authentic movie, and that's something a few years ago studios disregarded.

  Reynolds said that one of the "definitive" moments for him was seeing the Green Lantern costume for the first time because he could tell that the film would be "happening in the right way." In contrast, while Reynolds' portrayal of Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine was well-received by fans, the character itself was criticized by many in the fan community for straying too far from its comic book origins.

  It's always difficult to fully embrace something that isn't perfect, in terms of staying true to the source material. So it was a little bit frustrating. I really wanted to play Wade, and I really wanted to play Deadpool, and it would kill me to see someone else play them. I had a kind of ham-fisted attitude that it had to be perfect, but it doesn't. The movie's called Wolverine, it's not called Deadpool or Wade. I thought it was a nice little wink and tip of the hat to things to come. Finding the tone of that character alone is such a difficult prospect. I've been in so many meetings lately about Deadpool and meeting all these writers. Everyone is always looking for that one line, "What is that character?" and for me it's kind of like, "There's a guy, and he's in a highly militarized comedic fame spiral." That's not an easy thing to write — an entire screenplay, let alone a franchise. I had a blast playing Wade. Every line I had in that was stuff I thought he would say. It wasn't something that a writer said to me. It was fun to really create that character, including everything he spits out of his awful mouth.

  

  Reynolds admits that he knew of the character of Green Lantern his "whole life," but wasn't a fan until he had a meeting with director Martin Campbell about the film.

  I fell in love with [Green Lantern] when I met with Martin Campbell. When I sat down with him, I really got what it is that this guy is all about. When you have a guy like Martin Campbell, part of his charm is that he has balls of titanium, and the other part is that he's slightly crazy, and you have to be to take on something with the scope of Green Lantern. He's less of the director and more of a general. He just really knows strategies, he knows the intricacies, and his attention to detail! It's infectious. I sat down with him, and I could not even believe what he was saying. When I went to the meeting, I was entirely cynical. I thought, 'What the hell, I'll see what they have to say,' and I left the room with a completely different perspective.

  
  

  Posted 11/25/2009 by BrentJS

  Related: Scarlett Johansson | Martin Campbell | X-Men Origins: Wolverine | Green Lantern | Ryan Reynolds | X-Men Origins: Deadpool

• Woody Allen Hires the First Lady of France, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

  Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has accepted Woody Allen's offer of a role in his next movie, The singer, songwriter, and former model is the wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and has been the at the center of all sorts of controversies. This will be her first acting job, though, she confesses in an interview with Bloomberg.

  He offered me a role in his next movie.... I don't know for what character, but I said yes. I'm not an actress at all.... Maybe I will be terrible. But, in my life, I cannot let such a chance go.

  The part is not for Allen's next project, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, which is currently in post-production, but for the one after that. Not much is known about that movie yet, other than that it is to be a romantic drama set in Paris.

  Although Bruni-Sarkozy has not appeared in any movies, she did make one recent foray onto television: She was lampooned as a sex-mad femme fatale in a recent episode of The Simpsons called "The Devil Wears Nada." Unlike many celebrities mocked on the show, she did not lend her own voice to the segment, which has become something of an Internet sensation, especially in France. You can see the full episode on Hulu.

  
  

  Posted 11/25/2009 by Bill

  Related: Woody Allen

• Old Dogs Reviews

  It's confirmed. Director Walt Becker's Old Dogs, starring John Travolta and Robin Williams, is as bad as it looks from the trailer. (And that's really bad.)

  "...stupefying dimwitted."

  — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

  "Wild Hogs, Old Dogs — what's next, Bumps on Logs? Truly, I would rather watch John Travolta and Robin Williams sitting on a tree trunk, doing nothing, than endure their best efforts to energize this ol' hound."

  — Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

  "Old Dogs does to the screen what old dogs do to the carpet. It's unfortunate that only the latter can be taken out and shot."

  — Kyle Smith, New York Post

  "So wretched that it should be unceremoniously put down, Old Dogs is a series of sub-sitcom sequences designed to destroy any affection once felt for John Travolta and Robin Williams."

  — Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

  "Six-year-old boys may laugh at the bowwow of a comedy Old Dogs. But then, 6-year-old boys laugh at the word poop — and the word poop plays a big steaming part in this stinky endeavor."

  — Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

  
  
  

  Old Dogs Trailer

  Robin Williams and John Travolta star - Releasing Nov. 25, 2009

  Posted 11/25/2009 by reelz

  Related: Old Dogs