Category Archives: Movie Adaptations

Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg to Headline The End of the Tour

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According to a recent report from The Wrap, Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg have been added to headline the film,  The End of the Tour. Segel will star as the late David Foster Wallace with Eisenberg playing Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky. Lipsky is both the author and central character of the film’s source material, “Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace.”

The memoir was published about a year and a half after the author’s death. In the book, Lipsky puts together a travelogue composed of interviews he conducted with DFW in 1996 during the final week of the book tour for the novelist’s epic tome.

The project will reportedly be more of a biopic, making this one of Segel’s more dramatic roles to date. This will be in stark contrast to the only other film adaptation of  a DFW book to date: John Krasinski’s stylish approach to the 1999 short story anthology, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.

Jason Ponsoldt is directing the project. The screenplay was adapted for film by Donald Margulies. Production is said to begin in February or March of 2014 with Anonymous Content’s Matt DeRoss and David Kanter and Modern Man Films’ James Dahl producing.

Paramount Hires Director for “World War Z” Sequel

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Paramount Pictures and Skydance Pictures are moving forward with the sequel to “World War Z” and have recently hired Juan Antonio Bayona to direct the feature. Brad Pitt is expected to return to star and produce with David Ellison also producing for Skydance.

In the original, Pitt played a former United Nations employee who travels the world trying to stop a zombie plague. The film is very loosely based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Max Brooks.

“World War Z” made $540 million at the worldwide box office despite the film’s production overshadowed in controversy and backwards movement that included a rewrite of the third act. As of October 18, 2013, World War Z has a 67% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 6.2/10 based on an aggregation of 241 reviews. The site summary states “It’s uneven and diverges from the source book, but World War Z still brings smart, fast-moving thrills and a solid performance from Brad Pitt to the zombie genre.” Metacritic, which uses a weighted mean, assigned a score of 63 out of 100, based on reviews from 46 film critics.

At the moment there are no writers are attached to the project. It is also not known what the exact plot of the sequel will follow.

Paramount Developing Jack Reacher Sequel Based on Lee Child’s Never Go Back

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Last year’s Jack Reacher film adaptation did decently in the box office despite many fans of the novel panning lead actor, Tom Cruise’s portrayal. Now it is confirmed that the film is getting a sequel based on author Lee Child’s most recent Jack Reacher novel “Never Go Back,” published this fall.

In “Never Go Back,” Reacher goes back to his old Virginia military base to have dinner with a female colleague who he learns has been arrested, and soon, Reacher finds himself being charged with crimes himself. Once again, he needs to learn the truth the way that only Jack Reacher knows how, which often means violence.

The film ended up grossing roughly $80 million domestic and another $138 million overseas, so it is no surprise that Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions are moving ahead with the sequel.

However, Christopher McQuarrie will not return to write the sequel though Paramount hopes he may return to direct. It is assumed that Cruise will reprise his role as the titular character once production on Mission impossible 5 (MI:5) concludes.

Fans of the novel series became vocal over the casting of Cruise due to actor’s stature not matching the description of Reacher in the novels most notably Cruise being rather short compared to the beast of a man that the Reacher character is described. Explaining the casting decision, author Lee Child said that it would be impossible to find a suitable actor to play the giant Reacher and to recreate the feel of the book onscreen, and that Cruise had the talent to make an effective Reacher. Child also said, “Reacher’s size in the books is a metaphor for an unstoppable force, which Cruise portrays in his own way.” Of Cruise’s relatively small stature, Child said, “With another actor you might get 100% of the height but only 90% of Reacher. With Tom, you’ll get 100% of Reacher with 90% of the height.”

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Peyton Reed Plans The Fifth Beatle Adaptation

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Peyton Reed, most known for directing Down With Love and Being It On, is planning to helm the big screen adaptation of Vivek J. Tiwary’s recent graphic novel” The Fifth Beatle.” The graphic novel was written by Tiwary and features artwork by Andrew C. Robinson. Tiwary will produce alongside Bruce Cohen with production targeted to begin next year.

“The Fifth Beatle” is a graphic novel and feature film recounting the untold true story of Brian Epstein, the brilliant visionary who discovered the Beatles in a cellar in Liverpool, nurtured, protected, and guided them to international stardom, and died extremely successful and painfully lonely at the age of 32. It’s a human story about the struggle to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds—Brian was homosexual when it was a felony to be so, Jewish at a time of anti-Semitism, and from Liverpool when it was just a dingy port town. It’s a story about staggering ambition yielding staggering success, through a desire to change the world by messages of love and peace. A story about being an outsider and trying desperately to belong. A story about speed, triumph, and tragedy. A story whose themes resonate deeply across generations, sexes, and sexual preferences. A story full of dreams and music… The greatest music of all time.

The Fifth Beatle charts Brian Epstein’s discovery of The Beatles and his work to sharpen them into the stars they became—crafting their infectious image and presentation from truly rough and tough beginnings, securing a record deal when no one wanted to touch them, successfully bringing them to a world stage with a scale and scope no music impresario had ever attempted, and eventually proving through “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” that pop music could be an inspirational art form. Brian Epstein’s boast—”The Beatles will be bigger than Elvis!”— seemed absurd in 1961, but proved not just prophetic but humble by 1967.

Yet behind this “behind the music” story, The Fifth Beatle also follows Brian’s personal struggles and his desire to be “one of the boys”—a true “Fifth Beatle” if you will—in the face of crushing personal obstacles and loneliness from never having fallen in Love. His struggles with rapid, overwhelming success in the face of his simple human desire to belong. “The Fifth Beatle” will leave us passionately inspired but equally forced to question the last song on the last Beatles album when it suggests: “In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

You can check out a trailer for the graphic novel version of the story in the player below:

Veronica’s Room to Hit The Big Screen

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Ira Levin, the writer behind the unsettling tales “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Stepford Wives,” has another work heading to film. Levin’s 1970’s Broadway thriller “Veronica’s Room” will be adapted thanks to Bob and Harvey Weinstein. They’ll produce, finance and distribute the feature adaptation under the TWC-Dimension label.

Similarly to his previous works of terror, “Veronica’s Room” explores the thin line between fantasy and reality. Students Susan and Larry find themselves enticed to an old New England mansion by its caretakers to meet the sole surviving member of the family. They insist that Susan bears a striking resemblance to Veronica, the family member’s long-dead sister. They believe her presence will comfort the dementia-afflicted woman and allow her to die in peace. But what begins as a simple errand of mercy quickly spirals into a nightmare cycle of guilt, sacrifice, and murder.

“From ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ to ‘Deathtrap,’ Harvey and I have been admirers of Ira Levin, as he has created some of the greatest thrillers in film history,” commented TWC & Dimension Films’ Co-Chairmen Bob Weinstein. “With ‘Veronica’s Room’ we have discovered a hidden gem that is going to reintroduce Ira’s genius to a new generation. It will also provide a fantastic opportunity for top tier actors and actresses to embody Ira Levin’s fascinating, complicated characters.”

No word yet on when production will begin on “Veronica’s Room.”

Daughter of Smoke & Bone Finds a Director in Michael Gracey

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After almost two years in development limbo, Universal Pictures big screen adaptation of Laini Taylor’s fantasy adventure “Daughter of Smoke & Bone” is finally moving forward. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Michael Gracey has signed on to direct the project with a script from Stuart Beattie and original author Taylor.

The first book in the series is officially described as follows:

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low. And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war. Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”; she speaks many languages–not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out. When one of the strangers–beautiful, haunted Akiva–fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Taylor will also produce alongside Joe Roth and Jane Putch while Palek Patel will serve as executive producer. There is no word on when the project will begin production or who the studio is eyeing for the lead role.

CBS Films Plans Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Adaptation

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Prepare for a nostalgia bomb readers over 20. CBS Films has optioned the rights to the children’s book series, “Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark” written by Alvin Schwartz. You know, those horror anthologies we used to read late at night under the covers or at sleepovers? According to Deadline, the anthology series is being adapted into a film with Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton providing the screenplay. The Sean Daniel Company’s Jason Brown and Sean Daniel are set to produce Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark alongside 1212 Entertainment’s Elizabeth Grave.

“Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark” was originally published in 1981 and later became a three book series which included titles “More Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark” and “Scary Stories 3: More Tales To Chill Your Bones.”

This spooky addition to Alvin Schwartz’s popular books on American folklore is filled with tales of eerie horror and dark revenge that will make you jump with fright. There is a story here for everyone — skeletons with torn and tangled flesh who roam the earth; a ghost who takes revenge on her murderer; and a haunted house where every night a bloody head falls down the chimney. Stephen Gammell’s splendidly creepy drawings perfectly capture the mood of more than two dozen scary stories — and even scary songs — all just right for reading alone or for telling aloud in the dark. If You Dare!

The original (incredibly creepy) illustrations from Stephen Gammell were replaced with art by Brett Helquist for a recent 30th anniversary edition of the books. The switch led to some heavy criticism from fans who grew up with the original artists’s truly terrifying images.

There is no word yet on who will be directing the feature or what exactly the film will follow plot-wise. However, if any of the original art comes to life in the film, it will be truly terrifying.

Sin City TV Series Coming Following A Dame to Kill For?

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The long-awaited sequel to Frank Miller’s 2005 Sin City film adaptation is almost here. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is set for an August 22, 2014 release date but it looks like we may have a television series to look forward to as well.  The Weinstein Company’s Bob Weinstein told The New York Times that they are looking at developing a “Sin City” TV series as well.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

Bob Weinstein, interviewed separately from his brother, said he was developing original projects that would be in tune with his horror and action-oriented Dimension brand, along with several shows based on movies he has overseen for the company. He is preparing a pilot based on the “Scream” films for MTV, for instance, and developing a proposed 10-part series with Frank Darabont, based on Dimension’s film version of Stephen King’s “The Mist.”

Mr. Weinstein said he was also hoping to quickly follow the August release of the film “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For,” directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez, with a “Sin City” television series from Mr. Miller and Mr. Rodriguez.

The “Sin City” franchise is based on the graphic novel series of the same name written by Frank Miller. A Dame to Kill For is a comic book limited series first published by Dark Horse Comics in 1993. It is the second story in Frank Miller’s Sin City series, and the first to be published in miniseries format. It was written and drawn entirely by Miller

 

Edgar Wright Thinks “Ant-Man” Will Surprise People

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Edgar Wright’s upcoming addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ant-Man, is fast approaching its 2015 release date but fans actually know very little about the film. Recently, Wright, spoke with Entertainment Tonight about the film and why he thinks the film will surprise fans.

Wright said,

“I want to make him into a badass. No, I always liked that comic and I always thought it would be an interesting thing to see in live-action. That’s why I [showed] that Comic-Con test that we did for Marvel, to show this fight scene like a proof of content, like this is what the action is going to look like. I think a lot of people who maybe don’t know the character sort of see that test and go, “Oh, right, I get it. It’s like an action film,” so that’s the idea. I think people will be surprised by what kind of movie it is, and so in that respect it’s something that I know is going to stand out because it’s got a very different story and is a very different movie.”

He also confirmed that the tone of the film would remain in line with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“Well, I think the Marvel movies are funny, you know? I think generally the Iron Man films and The Avengers is funny. They’re not ever in the comedy section, but they are funny and entertaining, so I think it’ll be something in a similar vein to that.”

Walt Disney Pictures has scheduled a July 31, 2015 release for the film, which was written by Wright and Joe Cornish.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon Producing Adaptation of Sleeper for Warner Bros.

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According to a report from Variety, BFF’s Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have officially signed on to produce the film adaptation of popular comic series, “Sleeper.” The comic comes from Vertigo and will be produced for DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Also reported is that Shawn Ryan (“The Shield”) and David Wiener (“The Killing”) will pen the screenplay for the adaptation.

“Sleeper” was created by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. It ran from 2003 through 2005 and centers on an operative whose fusion with an alien artifact makes him impervious to pain and allows him to pass it on to others through skin contact. He is placed undercover in a villainous organization by an intelligence agency and falls for a member of the group, named Miss Misery. The series consisted of two twelve-issue limited series and the events of the first “season” served as a catalyst for the Coup D’Etat line-wide crossover.

The comic series was previously planned for a film adaptation via Warner Bros. with director Sam Raimi producing and Tom Cruise starring but the project fell through. Brubaker has said that this is at least the fifth time there have been serious attempts to film the story.

Currently, there is no director signed on for the film.