Category Archives: Movie Adaptations

Jurassic Park 3D Reveals New Poster For Anniversary Re-Release

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We (and the rest of the collective internets) reported on the 20th anniversary release of Jurassic Park: 3D earlier this year as it is set to return to theaters on April 5th 2013. Today, the re-release has unveiled a brand new poster which you can see above.

Next Summer marks the 20th anniversary of the big screen adaptation of the 1990 novel written by Michael Crichton. The film featured a cast that includes Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough and many more.

Jurassic Park was initially released in 1993 and was directed by Steven Spielberg. The film centers on the fictional Isla Nublar near Costa Rica in the Central American Pacific Coast, where a billionaire philanthropist and a small team of genetic scientists have created an amusement park of cloned dinosaurs. The novel was already amidst a film rights bidding war before it was even published with Universal Studios winning out.

Over the years, Jurassic Park has remained one of the most loved films as well as being highly regarded as a landmark in the use of computer-generated imagery, and received positive reviews from most critics. During its release, the film grossed over $900 million worldwide, becoming the highest grossing film released up to that time (surpassing E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and surpassed four years later by Titanic), and it is currently the 23rd-highest-grossing feature film (adjusted for inflation, it is the 20th-highest-grossing film in North America). It is the highest grossing film produced by Universal and directed by Steven Spielberg.

Jurassic Park 3D will hit theaters next summer, April 5th, 2013 with a trailer set to be released later this week.

Francis Lawrence Signs On To Direct Mockingjay Part 1 and 2

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When Gary Ross left the The Hunger Games franchise after the first film, it was up in the air whether or not new director Francis Lawrence would stick around. Thankfully, he recently announced that he would be also helming the two part adaptation of the final novel, Mockingjay. 

Lawrence came in to take over directing the second adaptation of Catching Fire which is currently filming in Atlanta.

Franchise star, Josh Hutcherson, who plays Peeta Mellark, commented on the new director saying,

“He’s fantastic. He’s such a smart guy. He has some great ideas for the movie. I just really like where his head is at. I really like him a lot.”

Catching Fire also sees the addition of several new cast members as fans are given a whole new set of tributes for the 75th Hunger Games Quarter Quell. Main cast members Jennifer Lawrence, Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, and Elizabeth Banks also return.

New cast members include Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee, Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair, Jeffrey Wright as Beetee, Amanda Plummer as Wiress, Jena Malone as Johanna Mason, Lynn Cohen as Mags, Meta Golding as Enobaria, Bruno Gunn as Brutus, Alan Ritchson as Gloss, E. Roger Mitchell as Chaff, Maria Howell as Seeder, Stephanie Leigh Schlund as Cashmere.

Catching Fire will hit theaters on November 22, 2013.

Cloud Atlas Is Better As A Trailer – A Review

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Directed by: Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski

Adapted from the novel of the same title by David Mitchell (published 2004)

Why are you interested in this adaptation? 

Elena-

Oh, wow, I am interested in this movie for a lot of reasons, none of which have to do with the book itself which I have never read or even heard of until this movie was announced.

Probably the biggest reason I’m interested in seeing this one is the idea that drives it—a web of stories of the same souls meeting again and again, sometimes as lovers and sometimes as friends, but always looking for each other.  That kind of reincarnation/affinity has always resonated with me; regardless of whether I believe it, the idea is powerful and beautiful.  It perfectly suits my aesthetic of High Romance.

Otherwise, the film looks visually stunning.  I was sold on seeing it after the first 10 frames or so of the preview (so maybe my primary interest is the visuals).  I am especially interested in the future sequence, and would see the movie for that storyline alone even if all the others looked terrible.

There is also the matter of who is involved in it…I trust Tykwer as a director, and I think the Wachowski brothers shine much more brightly as producers rather than directors (unless they go old school Bound style and stop using CGI).  I think they all make a great pairing of artistically conscious directors who have experience with fragmented narratives, large casts, and Butterfly Effect nuances of how big a difference one change can ultimately make.

Rachel –

I’m not particularly interested in Cloud Atlas. I guess you could say I have a chip on my shoulder about novels that are talked about as “Literary Fiction” when they are clearly frakking SciFi. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE when genre stories are embraced by the literary elite. They need to realize that genre stories are just as relevant, hard to write and hard to read as any other piece of fiction. (I mean…the good ones. Let’s just admit there is some pretty bad genre stuff AND some pretty bad “literary” stuff. But mostly the resistance to genre is all about pretensions and outright prejudice.) Cloud Atlas was short listed for a Nebula Award so, ya know…SciFi. Accept it.

I was also pretty epically disappointed in The Matrix Trilogy. I’m expecting this to be a bit of a mess. A pretty one with a couple of good fight scenes and a lot of heavy-handed appropriated mythology.

Elena-

The last Matrix movie pretty much ruined me on the trilogy. The first one was pretty good, and the second was mostly good.  The third just free-fell down the black hole of letting the CG nerds do anything they could jizz out onto the screen. Also the behind-the-curtain mythology got stupid.  So I agree there is definitely mess potential.

What would make it awesome?

Elena-

If the movie lives up to its preview, it will be awesome.  I expect it to look beautiful throughout, tell interesting sub-stories, and weave together into a sweeping epic where everything truly is connected by the end.  Also I expect there to be some creativity in the filming and editing (hallmarks of both Tykwer and the Wachowskis as directors).  If they can deliver that…I will be satisfied.

But that’s just the technical side of things. What would take this movie over the top is if I also love the characters (or at least some of the characters) and their stories.  If we get some Fountain-esque tale of spending 500 years trying to save someone that just pushes all my button about impossible (but maybe not!) love stories that span space and time…you know, all those glorious True Love motivations that the pragmatic German in me just couldn’t do in real life and hence must live out vicariously.  Yeah.  Give me that, and the technical spec’s I asked for, and you have made an awesome movie.

Rachel –

Girl, did we even watch the same preview? I watched a trailer that was 6 minutes long and made no damn sense except I got to see Tom Hanks and Halley Barry wear a bunch of terrible wigs…

FOR SERIOUS WHAT IS THIS MOVIE ABOUT?

LOVE.LIFE.KISSING.

DEATH.TOMHANKS.SUNSETS.

I gave up and read the Wikipedia synopsis of the novel just now. Nesting novels! Dystopian futures!!! The structure of the novel is the most interesting part about it; I hope they keep that structure in the film. That would make it awesome.

What would make it suck?

Elena-

A movie of this scope carries a number of inherent risks:  having to rush through the various storylines to fit them all in, having one weak sub-story/sub-cast that brings the whole to a screeching halt because it just doesn’t work, getting so lost in the sub-stories that the main story/overarching story is left undeveloped.  This is a bigger cast and set of storylines than either Tykwer or the Wachowskis have handled before, so while it might not be beyond their reach to pull off, it will be a stretch.

Beyond that are a couple of risk factors specific to this project.  First is the possibility that the story is built on an idea that seems profound at first glance but, when examined, turns out to be nonsensical or totally shallow.  I haven’t read the book, so it might be that the book is based on a not-so-profound idea, but there is the secondary risk that an adaptation of the book will dumb down a great idea into a trite one.

The other danger I see is how the stories are woven together.  I actually really enjoy tapestry movies when they are done well.  Crash was a movie that, I thought, did it well, whereas Babel was terrible.  The sub-stories have to be intimately connected for the whole to work; otherwise they just look like coincidences, and coincidence is weak storytelling.

Rachel-

I’m having all sorts of The Fountain flashbacks, I really am. And I didn’t enjoy that film like you did. I fell asleep.

I get really bored when movies try to preach at me and say “everything happens for a reason.” I am emphatically against that mindset. I think it’s a huge problem in our society…but I won’t start ranting now.

The way the novel ends, with a reminder that no matter what your contribution to the human race – it can affect someone. I think that’s nice. I think it’s even nicer that such effects are not based at all upon having children and spreading a philosophical legacy via them. I like that it’s more particular and individual. (Okay…the whole society on Hawaii things (no Spoilers) is just…fucking hackneyed, but everything else seems interesting so I will let it slide.)

This movie has a high “total mess” probability.

Additional thoughts on casting or production?

Elena-

I have really high hopes for this film.  I know my expectations are high, but I don’t think they’re unmeetable, and I trust the people involved enough to be capable of pulling off a movie like this.  While I do have some fears that this one will ultimately be a disappointment, I am hopeful for a movie-going experience that sweeps me off my feet and never lets me down.

Rachel-

Eh… there are lots of people in this movie that will appeal to my mother (but I love Tom Hanks!!! I luff him I dooooo). Casting is whatever. I heard that there was some yellow-face going on in the film (when a white person plays an Asian person, a la Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s), but I didn’t see any evidence of that in the trailer. Some of the actors play different characters indifferent time periods…I sure hope they don’t have any white people playing Asians in the dystopian Korea. That…would be a terrriiiibllleee idea. 

Reaction to film?

Rachel-

I’d like to tell you a story. A story about a couple generations of highly evolved mammals on the planet Earth that douched around using up fossil fuels and screwing with several world eco-systems until said planet Earth started becoming another planet altogether – Planet Hurricane.

One day Planet Earth (not quite yet Planet Hurricane) conjured a Hurricane as big as an ocean and sent it blasting along some of that planet’s most heavily populated shores.

One of the cities on those shores was called New York, and New York functioned almost entirely through a maze of subterranean electric trains. In the days that followed the Ocean-Sized Hurricane’s visit, New York was renamed THUNDERDOME, and it didn’t have those subterranean electric trains anymore. It didn’t even have food anymore. No, all it had were diseased migrating rats, block after block of cold, dark buildings, and a halo of ash floating in flood waters that used to be where the latest generation of highly evolved mammals lived.

THUNDERDOME was not a place of frivolity. THUNDERDOME didn’t have such establishments as Movie Theaters.

THUNDERDOME ONLY HAD THUNDERDOME.

Elena-

I think the moral of “Welcome to Thunderdome” there is, Hurricane Sandy happened in order that Rachel would not have to watch Cloud Atlas.

Truth be told, I almost envy her.  I liked this movie so much more before I saw it.

I really, really, really wanted to love this movie.  Obviously.  I walked out of the theater not sure how I felt about it.  A movie with this many storylines and messages does take some parsing out.  Unfortunately, the more I thought about it the less I liked it overall.

Technically, this movie was up to my expectations for it.  Beautiful to watch, varied and creative without being distractingly so, just a treat to look at.

However.  If you did more than look at it, by which I mean, paid attention to the stories and characters, then problems arose.

First of all, ugh. This movie was so politically correct! Big evil oil trying to control the world’s energy! Misunderstood ghey lovers! The slave with career skillz and a heart of gold who convinces a man to become an abolitionist!  The evil government overlords who want to control everything and kill anyone who opposes them!  A slight complaint, really, but it did make me roll my eyes, like “Really, that’s the best you could come up with?”

I didn’t mind the multiple castings.  I don’t know if there would have been a clear way to delineate who was who in each scenario without something even hokier than repeating actors, like always putting the “same” character in one particular color or giving them physical ticks or habits like smoking, reading the same book, eating the same thing, etc.  That would have been worse.  None of the parts really stood out to me as amazing character work on their own; Tom Hanks definitely differentiated his characters better than Halle Berry.  The others played such different parts, in such different stories, that I sometimes forgot they were the same actors.  But the real scene stealer was Hugo Weaving.  Mr. Anderson was a fucking fabulous villain, playing the, or at least an, antagonist in basically every storyline and nailing each one—even the comedic one in the most light-hearted of the stories.

To address Rachel’s concern about the yellow-face—in the context it did not bother me at all.  This was because it was applied consistently, and to characters who were from a different race than Somni.  She was a fabricant (cough *replicant* cough), while they were not.  So I don’t know if they were actually meant to be Asian or if they were meant to have some odd forehead deformation that was part of their physical characteristics as a race at that point.

Honestly, the two biggest problems I had with this movie is that there was no real philosophical or emotional payout from the film as a whole, and most of the relationships didn’t really work for me.

The two that moved me were the gay lovers and the dystopian city genetically modified girl/natural “full human” man.  Interestingly enough (or perhaps this is so expected it’s not interesting) those were also the storylines that engaged me the most.  I didn’t really like the publisher’s story. It seemed needlessly frivolous, like it was comic relief for a movie that really wasn’t intense enough to require comic relief.  The reporter/scientist storyline seemed built mainly on their mutual sense of déjà vu, and the plot was a pretty tried-and-true evil corporate cover-up gone murderous.  The future, post-apocalyptic story was just sort of there.  The sea journey was painfully cliché.

I did really, truly enjoy the composer’s story.  That was a very compelling storyline, and I enjoyed the characters and their relationship. Definitely the most complex of them, and the story that will stick with me the longest.

I also enjoyed the future story.  The city was definitely in the mode of Bladerunner dystopias, and the events carried the sort of desperate romanticism I was expecting.  The girl’s philosophy, of only needing to convince one person of the truth of her words, was a nice twist away from the typical over-the-top rhetoric about telling “the people” the truth and giving them enlightenment.

But that leaves a tally of 4-2 stories I didn’t like to stories I did, and in the end I really didn’t feel much of a connection between the stories and characters other than being told these were reincarnations.  Small pieces were woven together—the composer is reading the journal of the abolitionist, the reporter knows the composer’s only work, the publisher has a manuscript for novels written about the reporter by her friend, the future girl watches a movie about the publisher’s time in a nursing home, the goat-herder’s religion is based on the girl’s “revelation.”  To Rachel’s point above, it actually is a clear representation of things we leave behind us, marks on the world, that have nothing to do with children.  A positive, but in the end much more a Babel than a Crash in terms of weaving stories together and making them necessary to each other.

So for me, this movie is better in the 6-minute version than the 136-minute version.  The long trailer captured many of the most beautiful scenes and most of the best lines.  It hinted at an idea that was really never explored more deeply in the film than it was there in the trailer, and thus done better with the brevity that allows your own imagination room to breathe.

I’m not saying this movie was a bomb.  It wasn’t terrible.  It had a lot of redeeming qualities.  But for all the glitz on its surface, its heart was made of tin, not gold, and so I have to come down solidly on the ground, having been let down, after all.

Album Art And Release Date for The Hobbit Soundtrack Revealed

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Watertower Music has officially announced the upcoming release date for the soundtrack as well as album artwork for the film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The soundtrack is set to be released December 11, three days before the release of the film in theaters.

The soundtrack will be available both digitally and as a 2 CD set.  A Special Edition of the soundtrack featuring six exclusive bonus tracks, seven extended score cues, and deluxe liner notes will also be available December 11. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey features original score by Academy Award® winner Howard Shore recorded at famed Abbey Road studios by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Additionally it includes an original song entitled “Song of the Lonely Mountain,” written and performed by Neil Finn (Crowded House).

The film follows the titular hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever… Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities… A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.

Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis and many, many more star in the December 14 release.

You can pre-order your copy of the special edition by clicking here.

THE HOBBIT SPECIAL EDITION TRACKLIST

DISC 1:

  • My Dear Frodo
  • Old Friends (Extended Version)
  • An Unexpected Party (Extended Version)
  • Blunt the Knives performed by The Dwarf Cast
  • Axe or Sword?
  • Misty Mountains performed by Richard Armitage and The Dwarf Cast
  • The Adventure Begins
  • The World is Ahead
  • An Ancient Enemy
  • Radagast the Brown (Extended Version)
  • The Trollshaws
  • Roast Mutton (Extended Version)
  • A Troll-hoard
  • The Hill of Sorcery
  • Warg-scouts

DISC 2:

  • The Hidden Valley
  • Moon Runes (Extended Version)
  • The Defiler
  • The White Council (Extended Version)
  • Over Hill
  • A Thunder Battle
  • Under Hill
  • Riddles in the Dark
  • Brass Buttons
  • Out of the Frying-Pan
  • A Good Omen
  • Song of the Lonely Mountain (Extended Version) performed by Neil Finn
  • Dreaming of Bag End

EXCLUSIVE BONUS TRACKS

  • A Very Respectable Hobbit
  • Erebor
  • The Dwarf Lords
  • The Edge of the Wild

THE HOBBIT STANDARD EDITION TRACKLIST

Disc 1:

  • My Dear Frodo
  • Old Friends
  • An Unexpected Party
  • Axe or Sword?
  • Misty Mountains performed by Richard Armitage and The Dwarf Cast
  • The Adventure Begins
  • The World is Ahead
  • An Ancient Enemy
  • Radagast the Brown
  • Roast Mutton
  • A Troll-hoard
  • The Hill of Sorcery
  • Warg-scouts

Disc 2:

  • The Hidden Valley
  • Moon Runes
  • The Defiler
  • The White Council
  • Over Hill
  • A Thunder Battle
  • Under Hill
  • Riddles in the Dark
  • Brass Buttons
  • Out of the Frying-Pan
  • A Good Omen
  • Song of the Lonely Mountain performed by Neil Finn
  • Dreaming of Bag End
Frank Grillo

Frank Grillo Added to ‘Captain America: The Winter Solider’

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Frank Grillo

It’s confirmed, actor Frank Grillo will play a key role in the comic book movie sequel, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

I’m a fan of the actor you may remember as Nick Savrinn of TV’s Prison Break. A natural as the gritty, NYC cop type, his other credits include Pride and Glory and Edge of Darkness. My favorite role was his somewhat small part as a trainer in the mixed martial arts flick, Warrior. He seemed to have a lot of heart in that one and his physique wasn’t bad either.

Grillo was also the jerk in the cast of The Grey, starring Liam Neeson, which was okay because he sort of redeemed himself in the end…a little. He also played in one of the best cop dramas of all time, 2012’s End of Watch, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña. I still think Peña’s name should come first on that one, though. He plays their police sergeant.

But let’s talk comic book movies! Actor Chris Evans will return to the big screen as Captain America. The film is called Captain America: The Winter Soldier and I can’t wait until more details are revealed. I simply have to know if Agent 13, also known as Sharon Carter, a relative of Cap’s First Avenger love interest, Peggy, will be introduced.

I’ve also noticed that Sebastian Stan, who acted as Bucky Barnes is returning to the cast! This either means there will be WWII flashbacks involved, or, dun dun dun, Bucky lives!!! Well, you hard-core Marvel Comics fans probably saw that coming as soon as you read the film title. It’s true that Buck’s comic book hero name is The Winter Soldier. But I won’t give any more spoilers than that. We don’t know how closely the Captain America movie franchise will follow the comics anyway.

Anthony and Joe Russo are directing the film which comes to theaters April 4th, 2014. Frank Grillo is playing the villainous Crossbones! He’s one heck of a mercenary, but I doubt he’ll be the main antagonist in the film. We’ll have to wait until more is revealed. Great casting choice, though!

Frank Grillo must have a really great agent. We’ll also see him this December in the Kathryn Bigelow showstopper, Zero Dark Thirty. Bigelow won an Oscar for The Hurt Locker, so there are some ridiculously big expectations for this film, which proposes to tell the story of the ten-year hunt for Osama bin Laden. There is a great cast, including the spitfire Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Mark Strong, James Gandolfini and Kyle Chandler.

The next Marvel Comics film will be Iron Man 3, released on May 3rd, 2013. Did you see the trailer yet? That one is followed by Thor: The Dark World on November 8th, 2013. Then, we re-visit Cap in 2014. The Avengers sequel is likely to follow along in 2015. Joss Whedon will probably return as director. That’s great news for this thriving franchise!

I don’t know how closely related it will be, but another Marvel film in development is Guardians of the Galaxy from director James Gunn. That one will bring the Rocket Raccoon to the big screen!

John Dies at the End

‘John Dies at the End’ Trailer Reveal

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John Dies at the End

Start with some Bill and Ted, add some Evil Dead, Cheech and Chong, Men in Black and even a dash of A Scanner Darkly, pop it all into a blender and you’ll probably get a black, vile substance which causes hallucinations and one that no intelligent human being would touch with a ten foot pole; no would dare ingest it, that is, except for maybe a couple of pin heads called John and Dave. The bumbling pair are also the heroes in an epic new cult classic in the making called John Dies at the End. Today we’ve got the trailer, hot off of those proverbial presses.

John Dies at the End will hit theaters in limited release, beginning on January 25th. The darkly comedic horror thrill ride comes from the demented mind of Don Coscarelli, who did the screenwriting for the project, inspired from the novel of the same name, written by Jason Pargin, who published it under the pseudonym David Wong.

Don Coscarelli also directs John Dies at the End. If you want to get an idea of the brilliant insanity lurking in the recesses of this man’s mind, just take a gander at his previous work. In 1979 he unveiled Phantasm, which he wrote, directed and produced, starring Michael Baldwin. The villain at the the heart of the tale is a frightening undertaker who transforms the dead into dwarf zombies who assist him in his campaign to take over the world.

The real gem in his body of work, to me; however, remains Bubba Ho-tep, inspired by the novella from Joe R. Lansdale. Bruce Campbell stars in the 2002 release, which is very nearly ‘Nuff Said. The heroes in that film, trying to save the world from zombies, are Elvis Presley, as acted by Campbell, and his side-kick, Jack, played by Ossie Davis. Now Elvis, in an attempt to escape the pressures of his fame, switched places with an impersonator named Sebastian Haff. Haff is the fellow who actually died in 1977, leaving Elvis to a life of impersonating himself. As if that weren’t pure gold on its own, his side-kick Jack, believes himself to be, though it is never proven, President John F. Kennedy. Apparently after the “attempted” assassination, Lyndon Johnson dyed him black and stashed him in a nursing home.

We can only assume the new film, John Dies at the End, will be just as chilling, goofy, and brilliant. The film stars Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes and the exuberant Paul Giamatti. Events unravel as a new drug called Soy Sauce hits the streets. Users explore time and space with each hit, but nothing that otherworldly can go without consequences. Some users are coming back…changed. That means there is in all out invasion going down and only John and Dave can save the world. They’ll give it the old college try at least…. Did I mention they both dropped out of college? Oops.

Paul Giamatti is also helping to executive produce the project. He told Ain’t It Cool News in an interview, that the film was like a “violent adult cartoon” and cutting any of the terrific scenes during the editing process was going to be very painful.

No man, it’s almost like an embarrassment of riches, that thing. It’s almost going to be like what’s going to be tragic is what’s going to have to go, because stuff is going to have to go and it’s like it will kill me whatever goes because you want it all to be in there and you’ve still got to have this stuffed bag of stuff.”

You can watch the trailer below:

days of future past

No Matthew Vaughn for ‘X-Men: First Class’ Sequel

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days of future past

Matthew Vaughn directed the successful prequel X-Men: First Class, produced by Bryan Singer. New news suggests Singer may direct the sequel, X-Men: Days of Future Past, with Vaughn moving to the producer’s chair.

The project is a big deal for 20th Century Fox and it seems like a logical choice to move from Vaughn to Singer now that Vaughn has stepped aside. Singer was behind X-Men and X2 as a director and writer. He first hit my radar screen with the crime drama The Usual Suspects, which he directed very well.

Vaughn’s influence won’t go missing on the Days of Future Past set, however. He wrote the film’s treatment. It was based on a script by Simon Kinberg, who will now follow suite in the game of musical chairs behind the picture to produce the movie alongside Lauren Shuler Donner.

Matthew Vaughn isn’t going on hiatus instead of directing X-Men: Days of Future Past. On the contrary, he’ll be hard at work on something else, and the rumor mill suggests that the something else might just be the Mark Millar adaptation, Secret Service.

The X-Men: Days of Future Past script is already complete. Returning with the sequel are actors Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence. The tentative release date is July 18th, 2014 release date. McAvoy recently voiced Arthur Christmas.

Nabbing Bryan Singer as director to replace Vaughn is not yet set in stone. I’m sure fans will agree that he’s a great choice, but we can’t count on him accepting just yet. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. His fairy tale adventure Jack the Giant Slayer starring Beast actor Nicholas Hoult, will debut from Warner Bros. on March 1st, 2013.

As for Vaughn, he is also directing Kick-Ass 2 film, which has been making headlines. We just recently released the film’s official synopsis. What is interesting about that project is that Jim Carrey has joined the cast.

I really enjoyed First Class and I’m especially excited about the sequel. The Days of Future Past storyline in the comics was dark and dramatic and we have yet to see something so nuanced come to the big screen, with the exception of Christopher Nolan’s Batman series. The storyline in the sequel would involve a sinister future being revealed to the current members of the X-Men team. Believe me, they won’t like what they see.

What is further interesting to me has been the talk of other X-Men franchise characters returning to explore their origin stories. I thought of First Class as more of a reboot than a prequel, but it looks like I’m a little flawed in that line of thinking. We did, after all, see a glimpse of Rebecca Romijn in the film, though Jennifer Lawrence had taken over the role. That more than hints at the connection between the first X-films to the latest ones.

Rose Byrne and January Jones have also expressed their interest in returning to their roles.

It was Brett Ratner who directed the third film in the franchise, X-Men: The Last Stand. Might he be in the running for director if Bryan Singer doesn’t sign the dotted line?

Boris Kodjoe from ‘Undercovers’ to ‘Addicted’

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Addicted

Beefcake, Boris Kodjoe, has a new gig coming up. He’ll lead the cast in an upcoming adaptation of the Zen novel, Addicted. One byline for the novel reads, “A woman’s sexual addiction will be her downfall or her liberation.”

Lionsgate has acquired the big screen rights to Addicted, which is a best seller from a lady who really knows romance. If you’ve yet to hear about Zane, I can tell you she’s a New York Times bestselling author, whose other books include Afterburn and the Flava series. She’s also the mind behind Zane’s Sex Chronicles, as spicy series on Cinemax. Zane has a spirited voice when she writes, and the protagonist of Addicted is irreverent and candid.

Addicted tells the story of a successful African-American businesswoman named Zoe Reynard. Zoe has it all; a marriage with her childhood sweetheart, three great kids, and a very successful company. She’s also a sex addict, and its that detail that threatens to topple everything she’s worked so hard to build.

Zoe seeks help through therapy and its in those sessions that she finally reveals her scandalous tale. The men whose company she has enjoyed in secret range from the dangerously violent, to a sensitive artist. And yet, as her life begins to take a swan dive down, she’ll discover that she has the choice to uncover the roots of her issues or lose everything.

Bille Woodruff, director of Honey, will helm the adaptation project. Woodruff also directed the Toni Braxton video for the hit song “Un-Break My Heart”, among many others.

Kodjoe played a role in Resident Evil: Retribution and was the lead in the J.J. Abrams action series, Undercovers. I never noticed Kodjoe’s accent before, probably because I always see him playing American roles, but his parents are German and he was born in Vienna, Austria. He’s a hottie alright, but he’s taken, ladies!

Speaking of Resident Evil: Retribution, Nurse 3D is a horror film directed by Doug Aarniokoski and written by David Loughery. Kodjoe is in the cast and working on the set re-teamed him with Aarniokoski, who also served as second unit director on Retribution

It is about time the work of Zane has been adapted for theaters. This should be the first of many, especially if Addicted rakes in some dough at the box office. Her body of work offers plenty to work from. Fans of Fifty Shades of Grey and Michael Fassbender’s turn as a sex-a-holic in Shame, not to mention fans of Californication on Showtime, will probably really dig this project.

Mark Millar Wants Bradley Cooper for ‘Supercrooks’

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Marvel’s man Millar wants Bradley Cooper? That’s right! First we hear that 20th Century Fox hired the comic book writer behind The Authority, Wanted and Kick-Ass as their creative consultant for all the upcoming Marvel Comics-themed projects, then we discover the first look at the Kick-Ass sequel official synopsis, and now we discover that the man with the plan wants to adapt Supercrooks with our very own “Face” from 20120’s The A-Team.

Kick-Ass and Wanted are just the beginning of the Millar-pocalypse! Millar wants to deliver movies for at least three more of his MillarWorld comics. Apparently the interwebs are all a-buzz with new news concerning an adaptation of his comic, Supercrooks.

Not familiar with that one? Well, Supercrooks, is an Icon Comics title, like Kick-Ass. There are four issues, which Millar wrote with the very talented artist, Mr. Leinil Francis Yu.

Millar has a chosen a director for the project, but hasn’t named him as of yet and there is already a screenplay, which means, half the preliminary work seems to be done! Millar really hopes this project will be in full production mode as soon as Christmastime. And if you’ve been to a department store lately, then you know Santa’s already on his way.

What really has the buzz going is Millar’s name dropping. What’s on his Christmas list this year? He wants Bradley Cooper to star as Johnny Bolt. I hope you are listening, Mr. Cooper.

I am literally calling up his guys tomorrow and want to secure him as Johnny Bolt.” says Millar “It’s about TIME he did a super-movie and having him as a likeable super-villain in a super-heist flick sounds about perfect. He’s our ideal choice and we’re going to pursue this properly tomorrow once I’m done with our Kick-Ass 2 business for the day.”

You’ve got me sold, Mr. Millar! By the by, did we mention three MillarWorld comics would be coming to a theater near you, besides the ones you already know? Well, Supercrooks isn’t one of those three! So this will be kind of like a treasure hunt as we wait for the names to be dropped of the other three.

And here’s what you’ve really been waiting for. What the heck is Supercrooks about?

When the market is flooded with competition and the authorities are always on your tail, what’s an all-American super villain to do? Go to Spain, of course! Johnny Bolt convinces his villainous pals to pull off one last heist but will culture shock get to them before the policia do? And when Johnny’s target is revealed as the greatest super villain of all time, things go horribly wrong – but it’s too late to turn back. A massive secret in the American superhero community might just work in their favor, and if the Supercrooks can survive, it will mean an enormous payday!

Sounds like a rip-roaring good time to me! If you are wondering, yes, Cooper does look a tad bit like Yu’s illustrations of Johnny Bolt.

Kick-Ass 2 is coming June 28th, 2013.

Right now Cooper is wowing in Silver Linings Playbook opposite Hunger Games star, Jennifer Lawrence.

Universal to Adapt Stephen King Short

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When you have two horror flicks topping the box office in the same weekend, you really should get to choose a new project near and dear to your heart. That looks to be the case for Jason Blum, who is all set to finance an adaptation on Stephen King’s Gramma.

Gramma is the title of a King short story released in a 1985 collection called, Skeleton Crew. In the chilling tale, two young boys go with their single mother to visit their elderly, senile grandmother, whose name is Mercy. As events unravel; however; they learn that Gramma Mercy is a witch. It doesn’t sound like she’s a white witch either.

The film will be called Mercy. Jason Blum will produce via his Blumhouse Productions. That’s the same studio behind current hits, Paranormal Activity 4 and Sinister. Peter Cornwell of The Haunting in Connecticut will direct Mercy using a script from Matt Greenberg, whose previous work includes 1408. Aussie actress Frances O’Connor from Mansfield Park and The Hunter, which paired her with Willem Dafoe, will star in the new horror film. I think its safe to say she’ll be acting the part of the single mother.

Universal is the studio behind the project.

Stephen King’s story was once unveiled on the small screen once. It was adapted as an episode of “The New Twilight Zone” in 1986. At that time, the infamous Harlan Ellison provided the script and an actress familiar with King’s work, Piper Laurie, who played Sissy Spacek’s mother in the original adaptation of Carrie, did voice over for the character of Gramma Mercy. Of course Carrie is in the news again because there’s a re-make in the works. The new film stars Chloë Grace Moretz as the title character and Julianne Moore as her mother. It will debut March 15, 2013.

Speaking of King short stories being adapted, we reported it right here when we learned his short, titled, A Good Marriage, was going to be adapted. That one came out in the 2010 collection, Full Dark, No Stars and will star Joan Allen.

Mercy director Peter Cornwell was behind Haunting in Connecticut, which drew in $77 million worldwide and incited a whole string of Gold Circle Films, including The Haunting in Georgia. A sequel, The Haunting in New York, is being planned, too.

Matt Greenberg, our writer, wrote Halloween H20 and adapted a King piece before when he provides a screenplay for 1408. How exciting is this: Paramount has hired him to work on a Pet Semetary remake!

Before we see O’Connor acting in Mercy, we’ll see her in Billy Bob Thornton’s film, Jayne Mansfield’s Car, and in the Francesca Gregorini directed independent drama, Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes.