The MovieBox site is mirroring a preview that Fox posted online earlier this week. It looks promising but I'll wait to see how the develop the story. If you are curious, there are a variety rumours floating around as to characters and plot.
Quentin Tarantino, director of violent films like "Kill Bill" and "Pulp Fiction" will make a cameo appearance in a new ABC-TV movie featuring the Muppets and based on the classic tale "The Wizard of Oz," ABC announced Thursday.
The film, with the working title "The Muppets' Wonderful Wizard of Oz," is set to begin production in Vancouver, British Columbia, next month and air in the coming TV season on "The Wonderful World of Disney."
Tarantino's role as himself is likely to be overshadowed by pop star Ashanti, starring as Dorothy, and Miss Piggy. The muppet will play three wicked witches and Glinda, Good Witch of the South. Among other muppets, Kermit the Frog is the Scarecrow, the Great Gonzo is the Tin Man and Fozzie Bear is the Lion. Besides Ashanti, the film features actress-singer Queen Latifah playing Auntie Em.
Described by the network as a "madcap adventure," the project is based on L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." Judy Garland played Dorothy in the famed 1939 film version, while Diana Ross starred in 1978's "The Wiz."
© 2004 Associated Press
Patrick Mullin wrote a nice piece on drive-ins for this weekend's Globe and Mail. Mullin dispels the rumour that the drive-in has declined in popularity and gives a glimpse into the sense of community that develops around these theatres.
After being delayed for several years due to Hollywood politics, Arthur Golden's best-selling novel from 1997 - Memoirs of a Geisha will be adapted to the screen. Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, best known for her role in 2000's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, will play the lead role. Last Samuari co-star Ken Watanabe and former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh will also have major roles. The film will be directed by Rob Marshall and produced by Steven Spielberg.
For anyone interested in keeping up with the production of "The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy" film, check out the blog that has been setup.
Cinematographer Neal L. Fredericks, best known for his work on "The Blair Witch Project," was killed this past Saturday while shooting the independent film "Cross Bones" in the Florida Keys. Reuters reports that Fredericks was filming aerial shots for the movie from a single-engine Cessna 206 when the plane's engine sputtered twice at about 500 feet before going down in 50 feet of water.
Fredericks, who was 35, has a long list of independent film credits, including the upcoming "Black Dahlia" and "Abominable," but he may be best remembered for his contributions to Blair Witch.
Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks announced today a November 2004 start for the "The War of the Worlds," directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise. "The War of the Worlds" will be a 2005 release and rumours have the budget exceeding that of Titanic.
The screenplay is by David Koepp ("Spiderman," "Panic Room," "Jurassic Park") and is based on H.G. Wells' legendary science fiction classic, The War of the Worlds (published in 1898). A radio version of the story caused panic in America in 1938 when listeners became convinced that Earth was being invaded by Martians.
"Fahrenheit 9/11," Michael Moore's documentary lambasting President Bush and the war in Iraq will be released on DVD on Oct. 5, its distributor said on Monday. Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, a unit of Sony Corp. , said the DVD will sell for $28.95 and include deleted scenes as well as testimony by U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice before the 9/11 Commission and a press conference by President Bush after his appearance before the commission.
As the DVD will be released before the November presidential election, It will be interesting to see if more allegations of Moore violating campaign advertising laws pop up. For a review of the complaints to date, check out an article that the National Review posted back in July.
I found an interesting series of articles on the Guardian'sweb site and thought I would share them with you. Each week they examine a different novel-to-film adaptation. I haven't read all of the articles yet but the couple I read were well written and thought provoking.
The Toronto Star offers a look at the upcoming Ridley Scott film Kingdom Of Heaven, which is based on the Crusades. The script, by William Monahan, is based on real characters of the three-century Crusades, including Balian of Ibelin, a Crusader knight who led the defence of Jerusalem in 1187, and the Muslim leader Saladin, who defeated him. Scholars who have reviewed the script disagree about its historical accuracy and some concerns have been raised about the potrayal of Muslims. The film is set for release next year, so we'll have to wait and see if the controversy is valid or not.
British newspaperThe Guardian is reporting that Steven Spielberg's much-awaited film about the aftermath of the 1972 Munich Olympic hostage drama is to be delayed while the script undergoes a complete rewrite. Screenwriter Tony Kushner has been brought in to work on the new draft. He's the man behind the critically-acclaimed HBO mini-series Angels in America.
Spielberg will turn to his adaptation of HG Wells's early science fiction classic The War of the Worlds while the rewrite takes place. Tom Cruise is set to star, which means the production of Mission: Impossible 3 will also be pushed back.
FilmForce has posted a story about Ben Kingsley signing on to play Kagan, King of the Vampires in the forthcoming film version of the hit videogame BloodRayne. Kingsley joins Kristanna Loken (Terminator 3) who will play the heroine BloodRayne.
A press release from the production company gives the following synopsis: "The beautiful Rayne has a human mother and a vampire father, giving her superhuman strength, yet at the same time, allowing a softer, more vulnerable side to her personality. Still, she is driven by vengeance to overthrow her vampire father, who turns out to be the powerful and evil Kagan, King of the Vampires... Kagan wants nothing to do with his daughter and is intent on bringing her to doom. On her journey, Rayne is befriended by two vampire hunters. Together, the three must combat the great Kagan before he manipulates the earth into darkness, with vampires ruling forever."
According to ZDNet, MSN signed agreements with Blockbuster for DVD movie rentals. It also teamed up with CinemaNow for movie and TV show downloads. These new features come at a time when movie watchers have been turning to delivery services such as Netflix to dish up movies without leaving home.
Under the Blockbuster deal, MSN users can pay a monthly subscription fee to Blockbuster for unlimited rentals of three to eight DVDs at a time, with no limitations on when the DVDs need to be returned. The monthly fee ranges from $19.99 to $39.99. In addition, MSN and CinemaNow will offer a pay-per-view service for $3.99 for a 24-hour period of viewing, as well as a monthly subscription service of $9.95. The companies will also offer a premium subscription service for $29.95 a month for TV and music content.
According to British Sky Broadcasting Steven Spielberg has postponed his latest film project amid fears that the production could be targeted by terrorists. Vengeance is about the hunt for the Palestinian terrorists who murdered 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic games in Munich. The sensitive subject matter and the current political climate has led the director to put the production on hold. Actor Sir Ben Kingsley has been forced to drop out because of the delay but Eric Bana, who played Hector in Troy and Bruce Banner in The Hulk remains signed as the lead actor.
Apparently Michael Moore's documentary does not have its facts straight. According to an article posted on their website, The Pantagraph (a newspaper for the Bloomington-Normal, Illinois areas) has sent a letter to Mr. Moore seeking an apology, an explanation of how such a big discrepancy occurred in his movie and compensatory damages -- of $1. The problem stems from a scene early in the movie Fahrenheit 9/11, as newspaper headlines from around America that relate to the legally contested 2000 presidential election flash across the screen. One of them is purported to be from a Dec. 19, 2001, edition of The Pantagraph. A check of that day's newspaper revealed the large headline prominently flashed in the movie -- "Latest Florida recount shows Gore won election" -- never appeared in that edition. Instead, the headline appeared in a Dec. 5, 2001, edition -- but not as a news headline. It was in much smaller type above a letter to the editor. Those headlines reflect only the opinions of the letter writer and are not considered "factual" news stories.
The first tease trailer and a few photos are now available on the official Batman Begins website. Summer 2005 is a long time to wait but this film looks like it will be worth it. Batman Begins explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight's emergence as a force for good in Gotham. Momento's Christopher Nolan is directing and helped write the screenplay along with David Goyer who has worked on other sci-fi screenplays like Blade and Dark City. The cast is impressive with Christian Bale starring as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Michael Caine as his trusted butler Alfred, Gary Oldman as Lieutenant James Gordon, Katie Holmes as a childhood friend of Wayne's, Liam Neeson as Wayne's mentor, Ken Watanabe as the villainous Ra's Al Ghul; and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, a former board member of Wayne Enterprises.