In a controversial move, Warner Bros. is considering the possibility of releasing a prequel to The Shining, Stanley Kubrick’s highly regarded 1980 horror classic based on the novel written by horror specialist Stephen King.
There is no word yet on whether King will be involved, though he has stated he is penning a sequel.
The original novel, “The Shining”, was released in 1977. The title was inspired by the John Lennon song “Instant Karma!”, which contained the line “We all shine on…”.It was King’s third published novel, and first hardback bestseller, and the success of the book firmly established King as a preeminent author in the horror genre.
The cult classic film version was originally released in 1980. The book was also later adapted into a television mini-series in 1997.
King also stated that the novel was heavily influenced by Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death and The Fall of the House of Usher,and Robert Marasco’s Burnt Offerings. The story has been often compared to Guy de Maupassant’s story “The Inn”.
Hollywood writer-producer Laeta Kalogridis and her partners Bradley Fischer and James Vanderbilt are on-board to produce, according to a report by Los Angeles Times.
Kalogridis, according to Los Angeles Times, already has experience with the horror genre, as she wrote Shutter Island for Martin Scorsese two years ago. She also wrote and executive produced James Cameron’s Avatar.
The film would take place before Jack Torrance brought his family to the eerie Overlook Hotel, and would focus on the events that made the hotel “haunted,” (because with Kubrick, you never really know).
A representative for WB said the project is in very early stages, and is not even formally in development. Still, many fans are already voicing strong opinions on the matter, many against tampering with Kubrick’s work.
The news certainly raises some questions. Do you think it will it be possible for filmmakers to step out of Kubrick’s shadow? Or are you dreading the possible prequel altogether?
Rupert Sanders’ Snow White and the Huntsman, starring Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth and Sam Claflin, will be released on Blu-ray, On Demand and Digital Download as and Extended Edition on Sept. 11.
The Combo Pack includes an extended version of the film not shown in theaters, as well as a digital download of the film, compatible with iPhone, iTunes, iPad, iPod, iPod touch, Android or online retail partners including UltraViolet (a service that allows consumers to collect movies and TV shows in a cloud to stream and download to TV’s, computers, tablets and smartphones).
The Blu-ray and DVD bonus features include:
A New Legend is Born
Feature Commentary with director Rupert Sanders, visual effects supervisor Cedric Nicolas-Troyan and co-editor Neil Smith
Bonus Features Exclusive to the Blu-ray:
Reinventing the Fairy Tale
Citizens of the Kingdom
The Magic Of “Snow White and the Huntsman”
Around the Kingdom: 360° Set TourUniversal’s Second Screen: Viewers can control, interact with and explore the film with features on a networked tablet or computer, in sync with the movie on the television screen. During the film, users can access:
Flick View: Move content from the tablet to the TV screen, and compare storyboards, animatics, and other bonus material with a “flick” of the fingers.
Behind the Scenes (Picture in Picture)
Around the Kingdom: 360° Set Tour
Virtual flip books
Cast of Characters
UltraViolet
Digital Copy: Viewers can redeem a digital version of the full-length movie from a choice of retail partners to watch on an array of electronics and portable devices including computers, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Android and more.
pocket BLU App for smartphones
Advanced Remote Control: A new way to operate Blu-ray players.
Video Timeline: Users can bring up the video timeline, allowing them to instantly access any point in the film.
Mobile-To-Go: Users can unlock a selection of bonus content with their Blu-ray discs to save to their device or to stream from anywhere there is a Wi-Fi network, enabling them to enjoy content on the go, anytime, anywhere.
Browse Titles: Users will have access to a complete list of pocket BLU-enabled titles available and coming to Blu-ray. They can view free previews and see what additional content is available to unlock on their device.
Keyboard: an intuitive keyboard for data entry
BD-LIVE: Access the BD-Live Center through an Internet-connected player to access the latest trailers, exclusive content and more.
Actor Laurence Fishburne may be returning to television for the upcoming television series, “Hannibal” based on the prolific film and novel series. The new show will be a contemporary take on the book produced by NBC acting as a prequel to the novels.
According to TVLine, Fishburne, a former CSI detective, is considering the role of Jack Crawford, the agent-in-charge at the Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI who is tasked with tracking down a flesh-eating serial killer. The role of Crawford was played by Dennis Farina in 1986’s Manhunter, Scott Glenn in 1991’s Silence of the Lambs, and Harvey Keitel in 2002’s Red Dragon.
The first season has received an order for 13 episodes and is said that any future seasons will also be 13 episodes long.
The new project was written and executive produced by “Pushing Daisies” creator Bryan Fuller.
It is scheduled to debut at mid-season, and centers on the budding relationship between FBI agent Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and his mentor Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen).
It should be noted that “Hannibal” should not be confused the other pilot based on Clarice Starling that will be appearing on Lifetime.
Showtime has released another preview for season seven of “Dexter,” which returns Sept. 30. The promo, titled The Last Piece, compiles clips spanning the series which could have lead Deborah to the truth about her adoptive brother.
The final scene, of course, is the end of the season six finale, in which Deb walks in on Dexter killing the season’s big baddie, Travis Marshall (Colin Hanks).
No new information is revealed in the trailer, but the Internet is abuzz with spoilers and speculation alike, so we’ve gathered the best (and most accurate) bits for you here.
At Comic-Con, Showtime treated fans to a screening of the first two minutes of season seven’s premiere.
The writers waste no time picking up exactly where they left off, as the clip opens with Deb’s obviously emotional reaction to Dexter’s fresh kill.
At this year’s Comic-Con Carpenter stated, “I think if anything it’s not that she’s shying away from the power and authority she has [as head of Miami Metro], she actually needs it,” Carpenter said. “It’s the one card she has to play and it’s also the one card that will protect and save her. At any second — if I live! — I could tell someone to put cuffs on him and I think [Dexter] knows that.”
Another announcement brought the news that season eight will the the show’s last season. Sara Colleton, executive producer for the show, told TV Guide that the decision to end the show is definite.
“We wanted to end it this year, but the network convinced us that it would be best to do it in two years.,” Colleton said. “In some ways, this is a two-season series-ender. We have worked that out and know where it’s going to end. Next year will definitely be the last year of ‘Dexter.’ Absolutely.”
Colleton also said Deb will learn everything about her brother this season. There will be no more secrets.
“Obviously this whole season we’re going to have great fun playing with every permutation that can be played between Debra and Dexter in their relationship now that this information has come out.,” she said.
In answer to the question on many fan’s minds, Colleton addressed Deb’s newly realized romantic feelings for Dexter.
“It will be explored,” she said. “It has to explored, because one doesn’t come to a realization like that and then completely change. But obviously what she learns is going to affect it, so all of the things that have been the bedrock of Deb’s life get moved around. That’s part of what we hope will be fascinating for our fans, is to watch and see how we play out all of those various interpretations.”
As for new spoilers (reader beware), Lieutenant LaGuerta finds Dexter’s blood slide forgotten at the crime scene, and immediately recognizes it from the Bay Harbor Butcher case. She sees this as a chance to clear Sergeant Doakes’ name, as the case had initially been pinned on him.
Colleton said this will begin quietly, but the clues will eventually lead back to Dexter.
Hall also commented on how Harrison will affect the new season as well as life for Deb and Dexter.
“As Harrison gets older and becomes more perceptive, it gets diecier every day. Deb now has a sense of what she’s dealing with with her brother that changes things as well,” Hall says. “He has someone who’s really encouraging him to face just what he’s trying to pull off as a parent. But Harrison is still in the picture — and very cute.”
Lastly, there are several new cast members in season six.
Ray Stevenson will play the head of a crime syndicate who owns several nightclubs in Miami. Jason Gedrick will play the U.S. manager of all of his clubs. Perhaps catching the most buzz is Yvonne Strahovski.
“She plays this woman named Hannah, who took off from this small rinky-dink Florida town and ran off with this older guy and they went on this wild killing spree,” Colleton told TV Guide. “So when they got caught, she turned state’s evidence on the boyfriend, he went to jail for life and she started a new life. Years later, she’s in her 30s and she will intersect with Dexter. I would say Hannah is a still water that runs very deep and is quite unlike any woman Dexter has ever known.”
TV Guide asked Colleton whether Dexter will die at the series’ end.
“I would never answer that question,” she said with a laugh.
You can see the new promo, titled The Last Piece, below and be sure to watch the new season on September 20th.
Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises reached the top of the box office charts over the weekend despite the deadly shootings in Aurora, Colo. at the Friday midnight screening.
Warner Bros., followed by all major studios, decided to withhold box office estimates throughout the weekend out of sensitivity to the families of the Aurora victims, but released the report Monday.
The third and final installment in Nolan’s Batman trilogy earned $160.9 million from 4,404 theaters. This is the best opening ever for a 2D title, beating The Dark Knight’s $158.4 million opening, and the third largest overall domestically, behind Marvel’s The Avengers at $207.4 million and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 2 at $169.2 million.
The film earned $75.5 million on Friday, $44.9 million on Saturday and $40.2 million on Sunday. It earned $88 million from 17 international markets for a worldwide total of $249 million after one weekend.
IMAX screens contributed $4.8 million overseas, according to ComingSoon.
Trailing the Caped Crusader in the box office report is Ice Age: Continental Drift (last week’s #1), which dropped 56.2 percent in ticket sales and earned $20.4 million. The sequel has earned $88.8 million after two weeks.
The film’s worldwide total is now at $529.3 million. Rounding out the top three is another superhero flick, Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man. Spidey dropped 68.6 percent in its third weekend, earning $10.9 million.
The 2012 pitch season is underway, and Transformers/ Ender’s Game writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are shopping a series based on Washington Irving’s eerie classic, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Phillip Iscove will assist Kurtzman and Orci in writing the script, as the project was his own idea.
The story follows Ichabod Crane as he partners with Sleepy Hollow’s local female sheriff to solve mysteries “in a town ravaged by the battle between good and evil,” according to Deadline.com.
Iscove has been an assistant for UTA (United Talent Agency) for five years, and has had a script on the Black List.
Len Wiseman (Underworld) is on board to direct the drama, which is being touted as a modern-day supernatural thriller. Kurtzman, Orci and Wiseman have worked together before, on the pilot for Hawaii Five-0, which Kurtzman and Orci co-wrote and Wiseman directed.
The three will executive produce “Sleepy Hollow” with K/O’s Heather Kadin.
They are pitching the project to Fox, CBS, ABC and NBC. There is no word on whether anyone is currently interested in the series or if the writers have any talent in mind for the project.
Chris Hemsworth is in consideration to star in Steven Spielberg’s Robopocalypse, the award-winning director’s new techno-thriller. Hemsworth has steadily gained recent popularity with his roles in Thor, The Avengers, and Snow White and the Huntsman.
The Disney-Fox-Dreamworks project will be released worldwide on April 25, 2014. The script for the film is based on Daniel H. Wilson’s novel about the human race’s attempt to survive an apocalyptic robot uprising, according to Deadline.com.
The novel is also quite accurate regarding the mechanics presented within the story. The author has a PhD in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University, and many of the robots in the novel were inspired by real-world robotics research.Sources like Robert Crais and Booklist have compared the book to the works of Michael Crichton and Robert Heinlein.
There is no official offer for Hemsworth yet, and the actor would be Spielberg’s first casting for the film.
View the official summary for Robopocalypse below, and follow this link to read an excerpt from the book.
“They are in your house. They are in your car. They are in the skies…Now they’re coming for you. In the near future, at a moment no one will notice, all the dazzling technology that runs our world will unite and turn against us. Taking on the persona of a shy human boy, a childlike but massively powerful artificial intelligence known as Archos comes online and assumes control over the global network of machines that regulate everything from transportation to utilities, defense and communication. In the months leading up to this, sporadic glitches are noticed by a handful of unconnected humans – a single mother disconcerted by her daughter’s menacing “smart” toys, a lonely Japanese bachelor who is victimized by his domestic robot companion, an isolated U.S. soldier who witnesses a ‘pacification unit’ go haywire – but most are unaware of the growing rebellion until it is too late.
When the Robot War ignites — at a moment known later as Zero Hour — humankind will be both decimated and, possibly, for the first time in history, united. Robopocalypse is a brilliantly conceived action-filled epic, a terrifying story with heart-stopping implications for the real technology all around us…and an entertaining and engaging thriller unlike anything else written in years.”
Gwyneth Paltrow is in negotiations to star in the independent film Blood, Bones & Butter, based on Gabrielle Hamilton’s 2011 foodie memoir. Paltrow, a well-known lover of food, is a fitting pick for such a role. In 2008, the actress launched her own website called goop.com, which regularly features healthy recipes from both the goop staff and contributors.
Last year, Paltrow also released her own cookbook, called My Father’s Daughter. It was met with much praise, though some critics noted that it would take a cooking novice “…$450 and five days’ shipping time to acquire the ‘essential’ ingredients of Gwyneth Paltrow’s pantry,” according to The Atlantic. “It would cost an additional $1,300 to upgrade a standard kitchen to one with all her ‘essential tools,’ such as earthenware bowls, butcher block countertops, Global knives, a Vitamix blender, and a Le Creuset Dutch oven. That’s before you get anywhere near the organic duck.”
In any case, it is clear that the actress has a passion for cooking, much like Hamilton, the subject of “Blood, Bones & Butter.” Hamilton is the owner and chef of New York’s Prune restaurant, and a trained writer with an MFA from the University of Michigan. In her memoir, Hamilton chronicles her unusual background. She is the youngest of five siblings born to a French mother and an artist father who made sets for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus. She also details her unconventional trajectory to becoming a chef, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Rodrigo Teixeira of RT Features will produce alongside Anne Carey (Adventureland) and her producing partner Mindy Goldberg (Junebug).
The upcoming film is being described as similar to Julie & Julia, the Meryl Streep-starring biography/drama/romance that became an unexpected box-office hit.
Marvel has released a new trailer for its upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe box set. It shows viewers how all of the discs and extras are stored, as well as the surprises inside the back of the case.
Check out the video below:
The following content is included in the 10-disc set:
Marvel’s The Avengers (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray)
Released: May 2012
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson
“Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. brings together a team of super humans to form The Avengers to help save the Earth from Loki and his army.”
Captain America: The First Avenger (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-Ray)
Released: July 2011
Starring: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving and Samuel L. Jackson
“After being deemed unfit for military service, Steve Rogers volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, a superhero dedicated to defending the USA’s ideals.”
Thor (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-Ray)
Released: May 2011
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman
“The powerful but arrogant warrior Thor is cast out of the fantastic realm of Asgard and sent to live amongst humans on Earth, where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.”
Iron Man 2 (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-Ray)
Released: May 2010
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Mickey Rourke and Gwyneth Paltrow
“Because of his superhero alter ego, Tony Stark must contend with deadly issues involving the government, his own friends and new enemies.”
The Incredible Hulk (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray)
Released: June 2008
Starring: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler and Tim Roth
“Dr. Bruce Banner, thanks to a gamma ray experiment gone wrong, transforms into a giant green-skinned hulk whenever his pulse rate gets too high. Meanwhile, a soldier uses the same technology to become an evil version of the original.”
Iron Man (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray)
Released: May 2008
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Terrence Howard
“When wealthy industrialist Tony Stark is forced to build an armored suit after a life-threatening incident, he ultimately decides to use its technology to fight against evil.”
Bonus Disc- The Phase One Archives (Blu-ray)
Collectible packaging with exclusive memorabilia from the Marvel Cinematic Universe
The set will be released Sept. 25, but it can be preordered on Amazon now for $139.96.
Robert Kirkman’s “The Walking Dead” has become the first television series to be featured at Universal Studios and its Orlando counterpart’s Halloween Horror Nights experience.
The event will include mazes designed to resemble the post-apocalyptic world of the AMC series. The sets will be elaborate, and will include iconic locations and scenes from the show, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Walkers” will also be wandering around both parks.
“We want people to experience the same terror of the walker-filled reality our characters faced in Seasons 1 and 2 — and will continue to face in our third season,” said Greg Nicotero, co-executive producer and special effects makeup artist. “Our collaboration with Universal’s creative teams is exciting as we work to truly capture the essence of the show.”
Halloween Horror Nights has been an annual event for Universal Studios for more than 20 years, featuring stage shows, mazes and other interactive events.
Season three of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” will begin Oct. 14.
