Movie News

General News:

Twentieth Century Fox is set to shut down comedy and genre films production label Fox Atomic. Head Debbie Liebling will return to 20th Century Fox as an executive, continuing to develop comedy and genre films. Atomic movies coming out later this year are Chris Columbus’ comedy I Love You, Beth Cooper (July 10), and Karyn Kusama’s horror Jennifer’s Body (September 18). Other titles that “presumably will move over to 20th” include 28 Days Later sequel 28 Months Later, and potential Sacha Baron Cohen vehicle Accidentes.

Regent Releasing and Here Media have North American distribution rights to Entertainment Motion Pictures’docudrama Eichmann. “The story is based on the final confession of Adolf Eichmann, who was known as an architect of Hitler’s ‘final solution’ during World War II. Captured by intelligence operatives in Argentina 15 years later, Eichmann recounts events from his past to a young Israeli police officer, Captain Avner Less, who is faced with the monumental task of tricking the consummate manipulator into self-incrimination. As the world waits and Avner’s fellow countrymen call for immediate execution, the two men must confront each other in a battle of wills – the result of which will change a nation forever.” The film will hit select cities this October.

Matthew McConaughey’s production company J.K. Livin is developing Exchange Student. Mike Vukadinovich has been hired to write the comedy about “two exchange students, one who ships out from the U.S. and one who comes in, who experience new environments in very different ways: One has the time of his life, the other goes off the rails. The tenor of the project is described as a family comedy with wry overtones a la Wes Anderson.”

Elisabeth Moss, Sean Combs, and Rose Byrne will be in Universal’s Get Him to the Greek. Nicholas Stoller wrote and will the direct the movie about “a fresh-out-of-college record-company intern (Jonah Hill) hired to get an out-of-control rock star (Russell Brand) from London to a gig at Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre, becoming introduced to an out-of-control life of hookers and blow along the way.” Apatow Prods is producing.

Kristen Bell will star in Disney and Andy Fickman’s You Again. The comedy’s about “a girl who’s horrified to find that her brother is marrying the very girl who made her life a living hell in high school.” Filming starts this summer.

Megan Fox will star in The Crossing, Screen Gems’ thriller about “a couple returning home from a Mexican Vacation get carjacked, and the husband is kidnapped. The wife is forced to smuggle some heroin across the border in exchange for her husband.”

Patrick Wilson has joined Roger Michell’s morning anchors comedy Morning Glory.

James Franco, Mark Wahlberg, Steve Carell, Tina Fey Leighton Meester, Common, Taraji P. Henson, and Kristen Wiig have been cast in Shawn Levy’s comedy Date Night. Josh Klausner’s script is about “a married couple who find themselves in harm’s way after their routine date night goes horribly awry.”

Sequels; Prequels & Remakes:

Possibilities for a Dr. Horrible sequel.

Director McG talks about Terminator: Salvation’s ending.

Samples of the Star Trek soundtrack.

Michael Bay says that a new trailer for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will be attached to X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Guillermo del Toro on the Hobbit: “We’ve decided to have The Hobbit span the two movies, including the White Council and the comings and goings of Gandalf to Dol Guldur. We decided it would be a mistake to try to cram everything into one movie. The essential brief was to do The Hobbit, and it allows us to make The Hobbit in a little more style, if you like, of the [LOTR] trilogy.” [E: So no gap filling second movie.]

Universal has hired Evan Spiliotopoulos to write Wanted 2, based on a story by Chris Morgan who also co-wrote on the first one. Timur Bekmambetov is back to direct and will produce with Marc E. Platt and Jim Lemley.

Producer Lauren Shuler Donner on X-Men First Class: “It is the first class of Xavier’s school, way back when, so it’s young Scott, young Jean, young Beast and that’ll be really fun. I think (the plan) is to follow some of the characters into their own stories, and weave them back into the X-Men world. And hopefully First Class will become its own franchise and we can follow them as they grow up.” Josh Schwartz will write. Shuler Donner (who produced all three X-Men movies and the Wolverine movie) also says that the Magneto movie is still in development.

Thomas Dekker is in final negotiations for the Nightmare on Elm Street remake as Jesse, “a jock on the swim team.”

Declan O’Brien has optioned the rights to Roger Corman’s Little Shop of Horrors for a “big studio remake.” “We’re in the process of talking to studios this week. It will be a remake of Roger’s original 1960’s movie. I don’t want to reveal too much, but it’s me, it’ll be dark. It won’t be a musical.”

Producer Arthur Sarkissian has remake rights to Jonnie To’s Hong Kong crime thrillers The Mad Detective and The Mission. The Mad Detective is about “a police detective who uses his ability to see the inner personalities of suspects to solve crimes,” while The Mission is about a Triad boss who has just escaped being killed in an assassination attempt and hires five killers for protection.

Adaptations:

Warner Brothers’ Green Lantern will be made in Sydney Australia, with preproduction starting in July and filming scheduled for November. Martin Campbell will direct the movie that has a planned December 2010 release.

Patrick Tatopoulos, Kevin Grevioux, and Death Ray Films will adapt I, Frankenstein. Grevioux, who will also write the script, and Darkstorm Comic’s upcoming series “brings together classic monster characters, including Frankenstein’s Monster, the Invisible Man, Dracula and the Hunchback of Notre Dame, in a contemporary film noir setting. The Monster, for example, has evolved, learned how to control his anger and now acts as a private investigator. Dracula, meanwhile, is a kingpin of crime, and the Invisible Man is a secret operative.”

Lorenzo di Bonaventura will produce Lions, Tigers and Bears for Paramount. Based on Mike Bullock’s comic book, it’s “told from the perspective of an adult reminiscing about his childhood, revolves around a group of stuffed animals that come to life at night.” Adapted by Joey Aucoin, it will be live action with “considerable” CG effects.

DM Productions has the rights to Danny King’s upcoming superhero novel The Henchmen’s Book Club. “The story centers on a lowly henchman for hire working for some of the world’s most notorious supervillains who starts up a book club.”

Michael Chabon will do revisions to Andrew Stanton and Mark Andrews’ script for Andrew Stanton’s John Carter of Mars.

Catherine Keener will play the mother in Christopher Columbus’ Percy Jackson movie.

Kristen Bell will play the lead in, and produce, a movie based on Meg Cabot’s Queen of Babble novels. “This one tells of the misadventures of a college girl looking for Mr. Right in Europe.”

New Line has bought the pitch for comedy “What Was I Thinking?” Writers Susanna Fogel and Joni Lefkowitz sold the pitch that’s based on Barbara Davilman and Liz Dubelman’s book about “a quartet of girlfriends who take a hedonistic ski trip after one of them gets dumped.” Leslie Mann and Elizabeth Banks are attached to star.

Tsumugu Hashimoto’s light novel series Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora – looking up at the half-moon has been green-lit for a live action film. It’s about “the evolving relationship between Yuichi and Rika, a boy and a girl in the same hospital for different reasons.”

Zac Efron has been confirmed as Jonny Quest.

Jerry Bruckheimer says The Lone Ranger will be, “geared more towards the Pirates [of the Caribbean] audience, 10 and up.”

New Regency and 20th Century Fox have the rights to classic TV show Father Knows Best. Chad and Dara Creasey will write “the contemporized film will involve a father whose modern-day parenting displeases his more traditional father, who comes to live with the family. They clash over which father knows best.”

Toby Kebbell has joined The Sorcerer’s Apprentice as “Drake Stone, a celebrity illusionist who joins forces with Alfred Molina’s evil sorcerer, Horvath, to gain ultimate powers.”

Cartoon Network and Lionsgate’s Alli Shearmur are developing a live action movie of the legend of King Arthur. Travis Wright wrote, the tentatively titled, Reborn “a modern retelling of the King Arthur tale, with archetypal characters from the legend transported to the present.”

McG’s next project will be based on Broadway musical Spring Awakening. He’ll direct and independently produce the movie. “Set in 19th-century Germany, the coming-of-age story follows a group of teens discovering their sexuality and dealing with high-wire topics like masturbation, abortion, rape and suicide.”