Movie News

General News:

Fanboys will go into a limited release February 6, with a wide release depending on how it fares. Here are the limited release locations: Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Philidelphia, Seattle, Houston, and Austin.

Jay Chandrasekhar will direct Bold Films’ body switching comedy Opposites Attract. Dan Ewen’s script is about a couple who “walk a mile in each other’s shoes.” Chandrasekhar and Bold Films will be going for an R-rated movie.

Prequels, Sequels & Remakes:

Emily Blunt has been cast as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in Iron Man 2.

Due to money, Samuel L. Jackson may not be playing Nick Fury in the upcoming Marvel movies. Says Jackson: “there seems to be an economic crisis in the Marvel Comics world.” … “somebody else will be Nick Fury, or maybe Nick Fury won’t be in it.” … “I saw Jon Favreau at the Scream Awards, and we had a conversation. He said, ‘I hope things are working out for you, because we’re writing stuff for you.’ Then all of a sudden last week I talked to my agents and manager, and things aren’t really working that well.” While Marvel can’t comment, they claim that negotiations are still “active.”

Alfonso Cuaron has announced that Guillermo Del Toro will direct an adaptation/remake of Roald Dahl’s The Witches. The stop motion animated feature was originally supposed to be co-directed by Cuaron also, but he says, “Guillermo wrote this amazing screenplay really quickly.” If you haven’t read it (E: and it’s great) “Dahl’s book follows the story of a young boy who stumbles upon a witches’ convention. The fantastical witches of the story mask their hideous corporeal form in order to walk among humans and make it their business to eradicate the children of the world. They hate children. The creepiest thing about The Witches is that they are among us, incognito and have hatred and murder on their minds. The young boy is able to recognize said witches because his wise grandmother taught him the traits in them to look out for.” Nicholas Roeg directed the first adaption in 1990.

Transformers: Rise of the Fallen will have Superior, the Autobot version of Devastator: “The mighty union of the five AERIALBOTS, SUPERION thinks of little else besides destroying any DECEPTICONS he encounters, and protecting any innocent bystanders nearby. The robots that combine to form this powerful warrior are experienced teammates, working in tandem to see that the AUTOBOTS emerge victorious from the fire of THE ANCIENT WAR. (Silverbolt – Aerialbots leader; Airazor – Small but fierce; Fireflight – Easily distracted daydreamer; Skydive – Aerial strategy expert; Air Raid – Reckless divebomber)”

Scream 4 has become an active project again with Kevin Williamson writing a draft and Wes Craven thinking over a directing option. The main cast will be new with cameos by Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox-Arquette, and David Arquette.

Emma Thompson is weeks away from beginning filming on Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang. Maggie Gyllenhaal will play the mom in this one.

Adaptations:

Warners and Fox have resolved the Watchmen dispute in a confidential agreement and the March 6 release date holds [E: Yee-haw!]. “Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but the deal is said to involve a sizable cash payment to Fox and a percentage of the film’s boxoffice grosses; Fox will not be a co-distributor on the film, nor will it co-own the Watchmen property, but it will share in revenue derived from it.” In a statement released by both sides’ attorneys said both studios “look forward with great anticipation” to the film’s release.

Focus Features has announced a September 9 release for Tim Burton’s 9.

Jon Turteltaub, exec producer on the show, said that he and his partners are developing a Jericho movie, “We’re developing a feature for Jericho. It would not require you to have seen the TV show, but it gets into life after an event like this on a national scale. It would be the bigger, full-on American version of what’s going on beyond the town in Jericho.” He also hopes to get some of the cast back.

Sunrise has officially announced that it, Fox, and 3 Arts Entertainment will collaborate on a live action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop. Producer Erwin Stoff and production supervisor Joshua Long are attached, Kenji Uchida and Keiko Nobumoto will be associate producers, and Masahiko Minami will act as production consultant, with Keanu Reeves set to star.

Paramount and Parks/MacDonald are developing a Daemon movie. Daniel Suarez’s novel is a man vs. machine techno thriller with “an iconic game designer who, before he died, set up a program to fight mankind.”

Jon Turteltaub on The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: “Obviously, we’re not turning that eight minutes into two hours, but the premise of a sorcerer needing to train an apprentice and taking place in present-day New York City really opens up what the movie is. In the present, modern-day context, sorcery and all that stuff doesn’t quite fit like it did in the animated version. It’s sort of that fish-out-of-water quality that gets added in.”

Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford will star in what will be the first project of the new CBS Films, The Untitled Crowley Project. “Fraser plays a father who recruits the help of a reluctant maverick scientist (Ford), forging an unlikely friendship in a race against time to solve the scientific mystery that could save his family. The film is inspired by the true story of John Crowley, a man who moved mountains to build a company that could rescue his children only to face the impossible choice of putting family first or the work that might spare them.” Tom Vaughan will direct Robert Nelson Jacobs’ screenplay based on Geeta Anand’s book The Cure. Double Feature Films is also producing.