Author Archives: Candace Ramirez

About Candace Ramirez

"Sun is bad for you. Everything our parents said was good is bad. Sun, milk, red meat... college." -Woody Allen Accomplished wearer of dresses.

Yet Another Nicholas Sparks Adaptation In The Works

Leave a reply

Josh Duhamel may join the cast of the latest Nicholas Sparks adaptation. Duhamel, most known for Transformers, is negotiating with Relativity Media to work out the details.

The film, Safe Haven, follows the success of Sparks’ The Lucky One, currently in theaters. It reached number two in the box office.

The novel, which was published in August of 2011, is another in a long line of romantic struggles, crisis of identity and self growth. The official plot is described as:

When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family.

But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo’s empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven.

Duhamel is being considered for the role of the widower. The female lead role is still in consideration with no word on who is eyed for the role.

The film will be produced by Sparks and Relativity’s Ryan Kavanaugh, Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen. Tucker Tooley will executive produce. Lasse Hallstrom (Chocolat) will direct.

Sparks, best known in the film industry for the adaptations of his books A Walk to Remember and The Notebook, has made a routine of bringing his novels to the silver screen. Along side Safe Have, another one of Sparks novels, The Best of Me, is also being considered for the big screen, as Warner Bros. bought the rights to it on July 17.

Since 1999, seven of his books have been adapted. His movie adaptations include:

  • Message in a Bottle (February 12, 1999)
  • A Walk to Remember (January 25, 2002)
  • The Notebook (June 25, 2004)
  • Nights in Rodanthe (September 26, 2008)
  • Dear John (February 5, 2010)
  • The Last Song (March 31, 2010)
  • The Lucky One (April 20, 2012)
  • Safe Haven (Upcoming)
  • The Best of Me (Upcoming)

While Safe Haven, a romance typical of Sparks, will certainly not be for everyone, the author has a large and devoted fanbase. His last several films have received mixed reviews, but The Notebook and A Walk to Remember remain fan favorites.

The Lucky One is also fairing relatively well at the box office, so Sparks may be due for another box office hit.

Ender’s Game Producers Also To Write Amazing Spider-Man Sequel

Leave a reply

The Amazing Spider-Man won’t hit the silver screen for two more months, but Sony Pictures is already hard at work developing a sequel.  Writing duo Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci, the pair who are currently working on the big screen adaptation of Ender’s Game, have signed on to work on the screenplay to The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

The first draft of the screenplay was written by James Vanderbilt, who was also predominantly in charge of the script to The Amazing Spider-Man.

Production is tentatively scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2013, according to Sony Pictures.

Kurtzman and Orci are perhaps best known for their frequent collaborations with J.J. Abrams and Michael Bay. The duo is gaining a reputation for adapting comic books into movie scripts. They also collaborated on the Transformers series, Watchmen and Cowboy and Aliens.

We grew up as huge Spider-Man fans so, to us, the opportunity to work on this film is akin to being handed the Holy Grail,” Kurtzman and Orci said. “We love the direction Sony and the filmmakers are taking the Peter Parker/Spider-Man mythology, and we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this legendary franchise.”

Co-producer Matt Tolmach said Kurtzman and Orci have an exciting take on the franchise.

“Alex and Bob have a unique ability to write great characters and spectacular action that makes them pitch perfect for Spider-Man,” Tolmach said.

Co-producer Avi Arad said the two will put their stamp on the franchise.

“They have an innate understanding of what makes Peter Parker not just a superhero, but a hero for all of us,” Arad said.

This year’s film, The Amazing Spider-Man will hit theaters on July 3rd in 3D, 2D, and IMAX. The film stars Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, and Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors.

Sookie Stackhouse Writer Has Another Series Optioned

Leave a reply

Charlaine Harris, writer of the novels that inspired HBO’s award-winning series “True Blood”, may soon be developing a second show. Syfy recently bought the rights to Harris’ Harper Connelly Mysteries with plans to create a show titled “Grave Sight.”

The series is based on her four-book series that launched in 2005. The story is about a young woman named Harper Connelly, who was struck by lightning as a teenager.

Now in her 20s, she senses the location and last memories of dead people,” according to Entertainment Weekly. “In the Syfy adaptation, Connelly teams up with her protective stepbrother, Tolliver Lang, to help find a missing teenage girl, only to uncover a network of lies and murders throughout a small town in the Ozarks.”

The pilot episode is being written by Kam Miller (Law and Order: SVU). “Grave Sight” has a decent shot at picking up viewers considering Harris’ first book-to-television adaptation, “True Blood”, continues to enjoy great success going into its fifth season. The series has received critical acclaim, and has also won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

Harris, a New York Times bestselling author, also continues to have a large and devoted fanbase. The news of the prospective show is being re-tweeted at a rapid rate by Harris’ followers.

As long as Syfy doesn’t try anything weird (see: Sharktopus), the show should see generous viewership. For those interested in checking out the books before the Syfy premiere, official plot summaries follow.

Book 1: Grave Sight (2006)

Harper Connelly has what you might call a strange job: she finds dead people. She can sense the final location of a person who’s passed, and share their very last moment. The way Harper sees it, she’s providing a service to the dead while bringing some closure to the living – but she’s used to most people treating her like a blood-sucking leech. Traveling with her step-brother Tolliver as manager and sometime-bodyguard, she’s become an expert at getting in, getting paid, and getting out fast. Because for the living it’s always urgent – even if the dead can wait forever.

Book 2: Grave Surprise (2007)

“While in Memphis, psychic Harper Connelly senses-and finds-two bodies in a grave. One of a man centuries-dead. The other, a girl, recently deceased. Harper’s investigation yields another surprise: the next morning, a third body is found-in the very same grave.

Book 3: An Ice Cold Grave (2008)

Hired to find a boy gene missing in Doraville, North Carolina, Harper Connelly and her brother Tolliver head there, only to discover that the boy was the only one left of several who had disappeared over the previous five years. All of them teenagers. All unlikely runaways.

All calling for Harper.

Harper soon finds them—eight victims, buried in the half-frozen ground, all come to an unspeakable end. Afterward, what she most wants to do is collect her fee and get out of town ahead of the media storm that’s soon to descend. But when she’s attacked and prevented from leaving, she reluctantly becomes a part of the investigation as she learns more than she cares to about the dark mysteries and long-hidden secrets of Doraville—knowledge that makes her the next person likely to rest in an ice-cold grave.

Book 4: Grave Secret (2010)

Lightning-struck sleuth Harper Connelly and her stepbrother Tolliver take a break from looking for the dead to visit the two little girls they both think of as family. But as they travel to Texas, memories of their horrible childhood resurface. Family secrets ensnare them both, as Tolliver learns his father is out of jail and Harper finally discovers what happened to her missing sister Cameron so many years before. And what she finds will change her world forever.

All of the books are available on Amazon for $7.99. For comic lovers, there is also a three-part graphic adaptation of the series. Launched by Dynamite Entertainment last year, the book offers yet another take on Harris’ mystery.

Dexter Season 7 Details Update

Leave a reply

As any truly devoted Dexter fan knows, each season’s cast additions are a very big deal. Everyone wants to know who will play the baddie. Thankfully, fans of the Showtime series may not have to wait much longer.

Ray Stevenson (The Punisher) has signed on for a recurring role in the show’s seventh season. This will mark Stevenson’s return to television acting after spending the last few years acting for film. It’s not unfamiliar ground for Stevenson, who is perhaps best known for his role as Titus Pullo in HBO’s Rome.

According to TVLine, Stevenson will play a “high ranking member of an Eastern European crime ring who arrives in Miami determined to learn who killed one of his associates.”

The importance of Stevenson’s role has yet to be established, but many are speculating that he could be the new season’s main villain. Along with Ray Stevenson, Calista Flockhart has also confirmed that she will guest star in season 7.

This comes fresh off the heels of executive producer Manny Coto’s interview with IGN, in which he promised this season would change up the show’s typical formula.

We’re going to do it fresh,” Coto said. “We’re always trying to come up with new things. There may be a big bad, there may not be. Debra might be the big bad. We don’t know. Or Quinn. We try to change things up. This is all speculation of course. But I can tell you that next year will be a change up to the formula. And the ‘big bad’ may take a form that we’re not used to.”

Will this form be Ray Stevenson, or is he destined to be just another blood slide in Dexter’s collection? For now the producers and actors are keeping mum about any spoilers for the upcoming season. As for the cliffhanger of Deb and Dexter, we do know that we get a small glimpse into their life up to this point via flashbacks in the first episode entitled, “Are you…?”

Showtime has also announced that “Dexter” was renewed for two more seasons, season 7 and 8, each consisting of 12 episodes. They also revealed that an overlaying story arc would be present across both seasons.

Season 7 will see the return of the main cast including:

  • Dexter Morgan: Michael C. Hall
  • Debra Morgan: Jennifer Carpenter
  • Angel Batista: David Zayas
  • María LaGuerta: Lauren Vélez
  • Vince Masuka: C.S. Lee
  • Joey Quinn: Desmond Harrington
  • Harry Morgan: James Remar

 

 

Dexter will return for season 7 on September 30, 2012.

Lionsgate Options Another Young Adult Trilogy, Chaos Walking

Leave a reply

Lionsgate hopes to duplicate the success of The Hunger Games franchise with yet another young-adult novel series, Chaos Walking, by Patrick Ness. The trilogy is set in a dystopian world and centers around two children (Sound familiar?). The two children, named Todd Hewitt and Viola Eade encounter several moral issues as the planet around them erupts into war.

The twist is that there are no women and everyone can hear each others’ thoughts through a stream of images and words called “Noise.” Trippy.

The Knife of Never Letting Go was published in 2008 and follows Todd as he is forced to flee town after the discovery of a patch of silence, a place that is free of Noise. The novel is follows by, The Ask and the Answer (2009) and the final book Monster of Men (2010). The first novel is narrated entirely by Todd while the second one has the viewpoints of both children. Whether the film adaptation will follow this formula or not has not been revealed.

The official description for the book is as follows:

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him — something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn’t she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd’s gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

Charlie Kaufman most known for his work on Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, has signed on to adapt the first book in the series, The Knife of Never Letting Go.

Kaufman has previously adapted Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief into Spike Jonze’s 2002 crowd-pleaser, Adaptation, as well as 2002’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, directed by George Clooney. Kaufman is known for his dreamlike collaborations with directors like Jonze and Michel Gondry  (The Science of Sleep).

And considering the subject matter, it’s entirely possible that the screenplay might be a little more bizarre than the average tween novel-to-movie adaptation. But the guy helped revise the Kung Fu Panda 2 script, so who knows?

Doug Davidson’s production company, Quadrant Pictures, has also signed on to produce.

There is no word on an expected release date or who will star in this adaptation as of yet.

Jaden Smith To Star In Adaptation of Thriller Trilogy

Leave a reply

Sony Pictures and Overbrook Entertainment have joined several other production companies and have optioned a novel for the big screen before it has even been released. Sony and Overbrook have entered the early stages of a plan to turn an upcoming novel series into a film starring Jaden Smith (Pursuit of Happyness).

Boy Nobody, currently being penned by award-winning novelist Allen Zadoff, is the first installment of a planned young adult thriller trilogy. According to Variety, the story is about a teenage assassin who has been trained not to feel, but begins to regain his emotions.

The main character “could function in every situation without fear, sympathy or anger… could assassinate strangers and then walk away emotionally unscathed,” Zadoff said.

The author is best known for his adult memoir Hungry: Lessons Learned on the Journey from Fat to Thin, released in 2007. At age 28 and weighing 350 pounds, Zadoff realized how urgently he needed to lose weight. In Hungry, he chronicled his progress approaching the matter by addressing not only food issues, but also physical and emotional causes of what he called his “disease.”

The book received positive reviews, being called “gentle, funny, uncommonly appealing” in a Los Angeles Times review.

Zadoff also has experience writing for young adults. 2009’s Food, Girls and Other Things I Can’t Have received positive reviews and won the 2010 Sid Fleischman Humor Award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and was a finalist for the Georgia Peach Book Awards.

The young star of the upcoming film adaptation, Smith, is the actor son of superstar actor Will Smith. His big breakthrough came from acting with his father in the 2006 film The Pursuit of Happyness. He has since starred in other hits such as The Day The Earth Stood Still and The Karate Kid. He will also appear in the upcoming sci-fi film After Earth which is currently filming.

The novel version of Boy Nobody will be released in Spring 2013. To follow the progress of Boy Nobody and Zadoff’s other projects, visit the author’s official website.

The Hunger Games Loses Box Office Throne To Fellow Book Adaptations

Leave a reply

The box office has been kind to optioned projects in recent weeks. After the immense success of The Hunger Games, based on the first novel of Suzanne Collins’ post-apocalyptic trilogy. The film spent the last four weeks at number one but was replaced during their fifth week last weekend by a fellow book-to-film project.

The film, Think Like a Man has taken the top spot on the chart, earning $33 million in its opening weekend edging out The Hunger Games.  Think Like a Man, is a comedy directed by Tim Story who previously worked on The Fantastic Four. It was adapted for the big screen from a novel written by comedian and television show host, Steve Harvey. The adaptation was done by Keith Merryman and David Newman.

The official plot synopsis follows:

Four friends conspire to turn the tables on their women when they discover the ladies have been using Steve Harvey’s relationship advice against them,”

So far, the film has received mixed reviews, including a 49% rating from Rotten Tomatoes and an 86% from audience reviewers. While it seems that audience have enjoyed the film, critics have not.

Drastically overlong, burdened by too many stories about too many couples who are too one-dimensional to be relatable,” Eric Snider, a film.com critic said.

This sentiment was mirrored by numerous other critics, though audience reviewers seemed to think differently.

“Don’t listen to the negative reviews,” Nichole W., a Rotten Tomatoes audience reviewer said. “I haven’t been to a movie this funny in a very long time! The audience had a good time. Yeah, some of the scenarios were a little unrealistic, but what movie isn’t? The point is that it was entertaining. The men were very easy on the eyes, I must say! I would say it’s a must-see!”

The other film that premiered this weekend, The Lucky One, rose to spot number two, earning $22.8 million during its opening weekend. It is an adaptation of the 2008 novel of the same name, by Nicholas Sparks, the mind behind such love stories as The Notebook and Dear John. The film stars Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling, and Blythe Danner.

The Hunger Games is now number three, earning $13.5 million in its fifth weekend. IMDB states that the film has earned $357 million in the US and over $500 million worldwide.

New Batman Animated Series To Hit Cartoon Network

Leave a reply

Cartoon Network will premiere a new Batman animated series this year, and it will be unlike any of its predecessors. “Beware the Batman,” produced by Warner Bros. Animation, will be the first in the Dark Knight franchise to use CGI animation.

The series will also set itself apart in another way, according to ComingSoon. It will incorporate villains not previously featured in animated form.

The official description of the new series follows”

Crime-fighting vigilante Batman teams up with swordtress Katana and his gun-toting ex-secret agent butler Alfred Pennyworth to face the criminal underworld led by the twisted Anarky, Professor Pyg, Mister Toad, King Kraken, and Magpie.

The new show will be executive produced by WBA’s Sam Register and produced by Batman Beyond’s Glen murakami and Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated’s Mitch Watson.

IMDB has also reported that Kurtwood Smith from “That 70’s Show” has signed on to voice Commissioner Jim Gordon.

Despite the new format, this is not the first time the Caped Crusader has fought crime in animated form. There have been five other shows, beginning with the “New Adventures of Batman” (1977-1981), followed by “Batman: the Animated Series (1992-1995), the “New Batman Adventures” (1997-1999), “Batman Beyond” (1999-2001) and then “Batman” (2004-2008).

The beloved character of Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in 1939, has an even longer history in comic form, according to Comic Vine.

The character currently stars in six different comic titles, including Batman, Detective Comics, Batman and Robin, Batman: the Dark Knight, Justice League and Justice League International.

Batman has also been the subject of numerous films, most recently director Christopher Nolan’s trilogy.

Nolan’s highly anticipated final installment, the Dark Knight Rises, is due out July 20.

“Beware the Batman” will begin airing in early 2013.

You can watch the new teaser promo for the series below:

Eliza Dushku Confirms Voicing The She-Hulk in Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.

Leave a reply

Eliza Dushku has been confirmed that she will provide the voice of She-Hulk in Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., according to SuperHeroHype. The show will be an animated series, set to air on Disney XD early next year.

Dushku (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse) has had multiple voiceover roles in the past, including both cartoon and videogame work. Dushku’s videogame credits include 2011’s Fight Night Champion, 2009’s Wet and 2003’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds, among others.

She has also voiced comic book characters, including most recently Selina Kyle/Catwoman in Batman: Year One, released by Warner Bros. Aside from She-Hulk, the show will feature Hulk, Red Hulk, Skarr and A-Bomb, Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb said at Comic-Con last summer.

Writer Paul Dini, who works on Disney XD’s animated series Ultimate Spider-Man, will also be working on Hulk, according to a release from Marvel.

Adrian Pasdar, who voices Iron Man on Ultimate Spider-Man, said he will be guest-starring as the character on Hulk as well.

She-Hulk is not a new addition to the Marvel Comics family. She was created in the 1970s in order to avoid CBS copywriting. They created their own She-Hulk character to capitalize on the popularity of the live-action Incredible Hulk series.

To stop this from happening, Marvel asked Stan Lee (Spider-Man) to write the first issue of a She-Hulk comic book series, according to Comic Vine.

According to the Marvel Database, the character he created was this:

“As the cousin of Bruce Banner, Jen Walters received her abilities when she had a transfusion of blood from her gamma-powered cousin. She usually has the ability to change into her She-Hulk form on demand, and usually retains her intellect after the change as well. She’s a strong character who tries to balance her life as a lawyer with her life as an Avenger and adventurer.”

The resulting series, the Sensational She-Hulk, launched in 1989, and it relied on comedy to sell issues.

“She-Hulk was jumping pages, tearing holes in the paper of the page to escape, and often yelling at the writer. The series was stand-alone, as in not part of the dozen or so crossovers with an X-Men or Spider-Man title. Remember when the X-Men were funny? She-Hulk was sort of like that… with more laughs.”

She-Hulk has been a member of several superhero teams as well over the years. She has been a part of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Heroes for Hire, the Defenders, Fantastic Force, and S.H.I.E.L.D. As a highly skilled lawyer, she has served as legal counsel to various superheroes on numerous occasions in addition to being a hero herself.

Few other details have been released about Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.

Fifty Shades of Grey Author Admits She’s Not A Great Writer

Leave a reply

Universal Pictures recently bought the film rights to adapt London-based author E.L. James’ erotic fiction novel Fifty Shades of Grey for the big screen. The book, which James said was inspired by the Twilight series, is currently at the top of the New York Times Best Sellers list.

The official synopsis:

When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms. Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.”

Though Twilight received backlash for its portrayal of a dominant/submissive relationship, James has addressed whether Grey would be realistic relationship material.

“That’s really attractive on paper,” she said. “I think in their fantasies, yes. In real life I think it’s something very, very different. You want someone who does the dishes.”

Grey, according to E News, is far more sexually charged than Stephanie Meyers’ creation. So erotic, in fact, that James described discussing her novel as “excruciating” on The Today Show Tuesday.

“This is my midlife crisis—all my fantasies out there,” James said.

Though James is now a bestselling author, she isn’t letting the success inflate her ego. She relates that she never saw the book getting so popular, and is still amazed by its popularity. James also admitted to having flaws as a writer.

“I did this in a very undisciplined way,” she said. “I’m a very undisciplined writer. It’s really kind of raw, and, you know, I’m not a great writer.”

As for the film adaptation, few decisions have been announced. Though no official casting decisions have been released, there is speculation over who will play the lead roles of Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey.

Popular choices include Dakota Fanning, Amanda Seyfried and Emmy Rossum as Steele, and Chris Hemsworth, Ryan Gosling and Chris Pine as Grey.