Catching Fire Script Delivered to Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games hasn’t even been released yet, and the world already knows it is going to be a hit. (I’ll admit it, I bought tickets for the midnight showing… something I have never done before). So it was no surprise when a few months ago it was confirmed that the other novels in the series, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, were also going to be adapted.

It was recently confirmed that the script for the second film based on the second novel has been sent to author Suzanne Collins for review. This is a big step forward for the film to begin production even though it is scheduled to be released more than a year from now.

Screenwriter Simon Beaufoy recently said regarding the script:

 “I just finished the first draft, literally a few days ago. I’m waiting to see what everyone thinks.”

He also went on to say that Collins knows her audience very well and knows what they can and can’t cut out.

“Actually, she’s reading possibly right now the first draft. She’s involved a lot and there will be things. She just knows her audience brilliantly and she’ll say, ‘That bit you just can’t cut out because they’ll all go crazy.’ And other bits she’ll go, ‘This is fine. You can change this.’ But she really knows her readers and because she’s been in the film world, she understands about adapting, that things have to go and things have to change. She’s been fantastic to work with.”

Beaufoy revealed that he had actually worked very closely with Collins on The Hunger Games script and the same is going to be true for Catching Fire. It has also been confirmed that the three lead stars, Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson, have already signed on for four movies of  the franchise.

Beaufoy also said that similarly to The Hunger Games it will be a very close adaptation with only a few minor tweaks here and there.

“Things always do have to change otherwise there’s always something very flat about very faithful adaptations,” he said. “But on the other hand, there’s an extremely loyal fan base and readership and you just have to be careful of how many liberties you do take.

He also said,

“So fortunately Suzanne is here to help me,” he continued. “She’s reading this draft at the moment and she’ll tell me, ‘You can’t do that. You must do this.’ Because there are some things that are sacrosanct to her readers and she knows them very well and she’ll let me know.”

Catching Fire follows Katniss as she and Peeta leave the Capitol and head home following the events of The Hunger Games. Once home, however, she and Peeta must act the part of a loving couple in an attempt to quell growing anxiety and rebellion among the citizens on Panem. Instead things grow worse and she has to figure out where she stands as the girl on fire and deal with the new twist thrown into the 75th Hunger Games Quarter Quell.

Lionsgate has announced that Catching Fire is set to hit theaters on Nov. 22, 2013.

Bolivar the Last Dinosaur Optioned For The Big Screen

In another bold move, Warner Bros. has picked up the adaptation right for an upcoming graphic novel that has not been released yet. The graphic novel is due for release come May 2013 is called Bolivar, written and illustrated by Sean Rubin from Archaia Entertainment.

Bolivar is a story about a young girl named Sybil who moves to New York. Sybil discovers that her neighbor is Bolivar, a dinosaur. Well aren’t they extinct? Yes, well he is the last of his kind.

Bolivar refuses to befriend Sybil despite her persistent efforts. Somewhat of a recluse, the dinosaur hides away from the world, a world that Sybil wants him to explore with her. He soon realizes that Sybil means a lot to him and that he would risk everything for her.

I’m conflicted here. This could go three ways.

One, this could be very kiddy where everyone learns a valuable lesson from caring and sharing in the end. Bolivar who can be equated to a garbage can dwelling muppet, might learn the true meaning of ‘friendship’ for once in his life. There may also be songs that I cringe at.

Two, this could be sadistic and evil on so many enjoyable levels; to me at least. Asides from the difficulties that Bolivar should have with combustion engines; they run on the liquefied remains of his people; this could be a very sarcastic movie. For example, Bolivar must be able to get whatever job he wants as no one has met the dinosaur quota for employees. Heh, affirmative action is funny. I’m also reminded of one of my favorite movies, Leon/The Professional. Leon the creepy assassin befriends a child named Matilda and later gives up everything for her. I really want to see a dinosaur wearing the toque and round sunglasses now.

Three, the story becomes serious in a mock sense. Take some of Rubin’s previous works in Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard. It’s about cute mice in medieval garb fighting for their lives! They struggle for survival against their natural foes and against each other with lots of treachery. So for as cute it is, it has a lot of death and mature themes. For all we know, the story of Bolivar might be a tale of his victimization and survival, the failing struggles of a guy who was born looking like a dinosaur.

Though it would be interesting as a live action movie, Bolivar has been slated as an animated feature. This will be adapted and directed by Irish filmmaker Kealan O’Rourke, winner of the best animation prize for The Boy in the Bubble at the Irish Film and Television Awards. Akiva Goldsman and Kerry Foster are expected to produce this film via their Weed Road company, while Archaia editor-in-chief Stephen Christy will also produce.

Discover The (Gorgeous) Secret World of Arrietty – A Review

Why are you interested in this adaptation?

Elena-

The real question is why would I NOT be interested in this movie?

I love animated films.  And by animated I mean cartoons. Anime is one of the few remaining sources for old-school animation, and it’s also essentially the only place you find animation for adults that is therefore moving the techniques and aesthetics of the medium forward still.

I also enjoy anime as a genre, although I never really go out of my way to find it…but when it comes to me, I see it and enjoy.

To the final relevant point in this discussion, I enjoy fairy tale/folk tale type stories, especially new ones (either new to me or original stories in that vein), and the idea of a world of little people who live in a small corner of our world is right along the traditional folk lines.

Rachel-

Sure, I read the plethora of novels about small things when I was a kid (The Borrowers, Indian in the Cupboard, etc.) but I’m in this for Studio Ghibli. I pretty much love Every. Single. Thing. Ghibli has ever produced. (Except Tales from Earthsea, but we can talk about that later…)

They’re just sooo friggin beautiful! And there are lots of girl heroes! The stories are also much more varied than the Disney offerings of the last 15 years, and I really appreciate that. I didn’t discover Ghibli until college, but I was an instant convert.

If you’ve never heard of Studio Ghibli or its founder, Hayao Miyazaki, you probably remember Spirited Away winning an Oscar about 10 years ago, or you’ve seen the Ghibli character of Totoro making cameos in a few Pixar films. Suffice it to say, Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli are extremely influential, and to call him the Japanese Disney is at once accurate and entirely misleading.

And yes, my favorite is Nausicaa. People are never surprised by this.

Elena-

I would like to point out another instance of my growing up under a rock: I had no idea what The Borrowers book series was until after I had seen this movie when I was recommending it to a friend and she was all, “Oh, I wonder if it was based on The Borrowers books?”

And for the record Howl’s Moving Castle is probably my personal favorite Ghibli film, but that’s probably just because it’s so abstract and weird, especially in the middle.

 

What would make it awesome?

Rachel-

I don’t really know what to expect. I’ve purposefully only seen the teaser trailer. I know it’s beautiful already, and I won’t be disappointed there. I also know it won’t follow The Borrowers‘ plot even though some of the names are the same. The teaser trailer doesn’t really let you know any plot details, so I can’t point to any specifics. I assume the Borrowers will be discovered, and there will be an escape of some kind.

I’m also looking forward to the soundtrack and even the sound editing, which in Ghibli films is always excellent. Judging from the teaser trailer and posters this is going to be a nature-heavy film (most of them are, but I’m thinking of My Neighbor Totoro especially), and I’m looking forward to seeing the fruits of the extensive research Miyazaki and his team have obviously done.

Elena-

I am going to take this question as, what would make it not just good but FUCKING GOOD.  To that end…if the animation is really creative and proves why this has to be a 2-d animation movie.  What I mean by this…there were scenes in some of the Cowboy Bebop episodes that literally could not be filmed in live action.  The angles and perspectives were just too extreme.  That is pushing animation as a film technique forward.  If this movie has that kind of A-game animation, and a really good and original story, then it will be off the chain.

At this point with the track record Rachel and I have had on watching movies together, I’ll settle for just a really good and slightly original story!

 

What would make it suck?

Elena-

I don’t really think there’s a lot of feasible ways to make this film terrible.  Maybe if they just rewrote the story of the original and were working with either a spliced version of the visuals or trying to fit a new story onto the original animation.

But if they’re working with the original movie (which is highly acclaimed and would not be chosen for export if it were not solid), just dubbed in English, there’s nothing that will make this awful short of using Gilbert Gottfried and Fran Drescher as the voice talent.

Rachel-

Before I had seen Tales from Earthsea, I would have said with great confidence that no Studio Ghibli film could ever disappoint me, but Miyazaki’s son definitely did that with Earthsea. There’s some drama behind that film (it led to a feud between father and son because Hayao didn’t think his son Goro was ready to direct, and the film was based upon not just Ursula Le Guin’s novels but also Hayao’s manga. You can see how things got touchy). While Tales from Earthsea had the quality animation we’ve all come to expect from Studio Ghibli, it was a rambling, incoherent mess. It suffered from too much going on, the type of interrupted plot lines you get when you watch condensed film versions of really long anime series.

I hope the story is simple. That’s what Studio Ghibli excels at.

 

Thoughts on casting/production?

Rachel-

While Hayao Miyazaki’s name is attached to Arrietty, he is not directing it. He did write the screenplay and is involved in production, so I am confident that this won’t be another Tales from Earthsea.

I am disappointed in the fact that I’ll be watching a US-specific dubbing when I see it in the theater. In general, I find the Disney-lead American dubs to be more about using famous voices to get American parents to see a film with their children than picking good voice actors. In fact, they generally don’t even use professional voice actors at all, which is really disappointing! The US dub features Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, and Carol Burnett. A more inspired casting than, say…Christian Bale in Howl’s Moving Castle…but I’ll bet the UK version will be better. (Although…Christian Bale could technically be the UK dub of that one, except I don’t believe they did region specific dubbing on that film, just Japanese and English)

Elena-

I…didn’t even bother to watch the trailer.  I read the synopsis and country of origin and knew I wanted to see it.  I actually don’t want to go into the film with any expectations—I think in this case a blank slate might be better for me—so, long story short, no, I have no additional thoughts about this production before I see it.

 

Reaction to film:

Rachel-

AHHH. IT WAS SO GOOOD!!!

Legit. Look at this. LOOK AT IT.

The dubbing was fine; there really wasn’t all that much dialogue to begin with. I was having little artgasms examining all the scenes filled with random bits of stuff and trash that the Borrowers had converted into useful objects. Just looking in the corners of their home was worth the ungodly price of NYC admission. It really was.

I loved how ridiculously brave Arrietty was. It was a wonderful counter to the careful details that really made the audience FEEL how being that small must feel. Simple human movements became lumbering, clumsy and ominous. And yet when confronted by cats, insects, chasms and heart stopping realizations, Arrietty just stood and faced it. NO. FEAR. It was just amazing. The boy that the lonely Arrietty befriends, Shaun in the American dub (Sho in the Japanese version), was kind of horribly creepy. But I liked that. He wasn’t charming or really that endearing. He was almost zombie-like in the way he moved around the house and how he just sat, unmoving. He came across as a very sick and lonely boy with no one to talk to and not very much to say anyways. But his intentions were good, if misguided. But yea, that scene (that I now know is in the official Trailer because I watched it) when Arrietty and her father and taking tissue and she realizes Shaun is just STARING at her…that was terrifying!

I also liked the sad little ending. The two new friends must part, never to meet again, but you know that Arrietty will continue her adventures and you feel happy for her that she is going somewhere where she can make friends (and possibly boyfriend! I laughed when a friend of mine who was seeing it at the same time but in another state texted me “Spiller is totally husband material. He grunts, he flies, and he can steer a kettle down a river!”). I’m not sure what happens in the Japanese version as I haven’t gotten my hands on a subbed version yet, but in the American dub Shaun doesn’t die like I was CONVINCED he would. I know in the Borrower novels the boy is the one telling the stories, and you don’t really know if everything he writes about happened or if he is just making it all up. So I assume that Shaun surviving is a nod to those novels. I don’t know why I was so morbid about him. He seemed pretty lackluster as a character. Arrietty definitely stole the show. Hell, Spiller was more interesting than creepy Shaun.

Favorite Scene: When Arrietty is sitting in the crawl space and the roly-poly bug comes up and she uses it as a ball. I don’t know why but I was SO HAPPY when that happened.

Least favorite scene: The freaking CROW in the screen of the window! HOLY CRAP. I mean, hilarious, especially when Haru came in and solved the issue by beating it on the head with her shoe. That scene had me laughing, but I also felt like it was kind of intensely crazy? I dunno. It was like meditating in the glow of a warm and happy film full of quilts and cookie flour and then CROW IN YOUR FACE AND IT WON’T STOP SQUAWKING. Mostly it was jarring.

Ha…jarring. Poor Homily. Haru is a sadist. At least she poked holes in the plastic wrap? I had visions of poor Homily suffocating as soon as she shoved her in that mason jar. Tsk tsk!

Actually let’s take that back. My least favorite scene was the opening scene (even though it was awesome) when I had to listen to that ridiculous song about coming into a garden and the trees and she used to spend her childhood. WHAT. IS. THAT? WHAT IS THAT SONG? IT’S HORRIFIC. It inspired my boyfriend to rewrite the song with dirty lyrics, and he sang it all weekend. That song has to go. It’s even in the Japanese version with the English lyrics. GET IT OUT. IT’S AWFUL. Arrietty’s song at the end was fine, though. Just the coming into the garden song…ugh.

And the cat! We love the cat! I love that cats are looked upon fondly in Japanese culture. Too many Americans are all “I’m a dog person!” and…proud of that. For some reason.

Cats forever.

Except when they eat little people. They shouldn’t do that. Don’t let your cat eat any borrowers living in your house. It’s not nice.

Elena –

I have three words to anyone who loves art and is wondering if they should see this film (and for once none of them are f-bombs):  moving Impressionist garden.

That’s what this movie looked like to me in its animated art direction.  There were lots of colors, lots of shades of green, lots of details of leaf shapes, and yet…this was not photo-realism.  It wasn’t even pretending to try to be. It was just…blurry and lovely and rustling and alive.  It’s worth seeing if you love visual art just for that.

But…the movie on the whole is also pretty much fucking awesome (hey, there’s the drop you knew was coming!).  The heroine, Arrietty, is just awesome. She’s the kind of female hero character we need more of—unafraid of the world, curious, determined, and self-sufficient, yet also vulnerable and open and able of accepting help and seeing the good in others.  She’s like all the good parts of urban fantasy heroines blended with actually being a whole, healthy person instead of an embittered introvert.  I loved especially how willing she was to question the established rules of her life.  I know that’s what kids are supposed to do, but…I don’t think I questioned survival issues when I was 14.

Then there is the High Romantic angle of this being like…the most impossible of all impossible love stories.  She’s the size of one of his fingers.  Even if they were true soul mates they could never have more than companionship.  But they can’t even have that!  Because her parents live by the rule of “human sees us, we have to leave”—and evil housekeeper Haru proves them right to have that rule.  Oh, she’s awful!  (There may also have been a strong resemblance to someone I used to know in real life who caused me significant grief, so my reaction to her was perhaps…extreme.)  It was hilarious to see her foiled again and again and put herself in an even worse position than she’d been in before, when her employers just thought she lost things left and right.

Anyway, the burgeoning friendship between Shaun and Arrietty is sweet and bittersweet at once, since the closer they become the more certain it is that she will have to leave.  Not gonna lie, I teared up at the end.  It was so beautiful.  And how sad was it that the grandfather and Shaun’s mother had built that lovely dollhouse just for them, and they could never live in it?  I totally expected Shaun to relocate them into it and take them home with him, or give them to another house but within the dollhouse.

There were definitely echoes of it being a vaguely romantic interest, at least on Shaun’s part, because both he and Spiller give each other the stink eye, who is THAT asshole?, style.  Spiller was hilarious.  He was great comic relief, but subtle, and also a point of extreme depth for the film’s world-building because he showed that not only are there other Borrowers but that there are also very different ways of Borrowing.  Not all of them live in houses and scaled-down versions of human civilized life.

The movie felt longer than it was—not in a bad way, but it seemed more than 90 minutes.  Maybe because it unfolds at a pretty slow pace, and for all that you can guess several directions it might take you’re never sure which it will take, so you can’t guess how far you are in the plot by typical 3-act structure analysis.

One of the things I liked most is the feature this film shared with other Ghibli movies I’ve seen, and that is that it’s a callback to the fairy tales of childhood.  Not necessarily specific stories, but the infusion of a sense of wonder into quotidian, mundane life.  In an age where Disney has decided they are done with fairy tales (lame), I love that Studio Ghibli proves they can not only be retold but also invented fresh.  While this had great reminders of “Thumbelina” or “Tom Thumb” in terms of the relationship between full-size human and little person, and the scale of our world to them, the story and the scenario were totally different.  Again, not having read The Borrowers series, I can’t speak as to how close it was to those books, but it was fabulous for an impartial observer.

The Hunger Games Meets The Muppets!

Yahoo! Movies recently revealed a newly released The Muppets parody trailer in way of The Hunger Games.
The Hunger Games is less then a month away from hitting theaters and now the cast of The Muppets are taking the opportunity to remind you that their movie will be released on DVD soon as well. Parodying the upcoming film Adaptation in their add, it is sure to gain attention. It is a pretty great way to draw attention to themselves right now when the whole world is watching for The Hunger Games!
The Muppets is Available March 20th! The Wocka Wocka Value Pack, contains the movie on Blu-ray high-definition, DVD and Digital Copy (3 discs) plus a download card for the film’s soundtrack from Walt Disney Records!

Graphic Novel “Trespassers” Gets Optioned For The Big Screen

Variety recently reported that the supernatural graphic novel, “Trespassers” will be heading to the big screen. The graphic novel was written by Scott Hampton but the script will be written by Bob Gale and the film produced by Ryan E. Heppe.

The graphic novel follows a group of mythbusters, set on debunking the legend of a famous allegedly haunted house. They have their scientific rationality tested when they discover demonic guardians, a gateway to hell and the fact that not all of them are exactly who they claim to be.

Heppe stated regarding the project:

“A good horror flick needs one thing: a simple, original premise that’s terrifying as hell,” Heppe said. “Add to that obvious franchise potential, and the opportunity to combine “found footage”-style scares with traditional filmmaking frights and you’ve got something really unique.”

Hampton previously wrote and drew “The Upturned Stone.” Gale co-wrote the first Back to the Future film and penned its two sequels on his own. He also wrote for the second “Tales from the Crypt.” Heppe is currently rebooting everyones favorite robot movie, Short Circuit at Dimension as well as developing feature versions of “T.J. Hooker” and “V.”

I am definitely ready for something new to scare me and thrill me, and this definitely could be awesome. My only concern is that with so much on all the plates of everyone involved, the project could get stalled at some point. I hope that it doesn’t, but I had a hell of time even finding this graphic novel online.

The project is still only in development with no word on any plans regarding who will star in the film or a project release date.

Men in Black to the Future! New Official Trailer and Still!

Men in Black 3, produced by Columbia Pictures, has released a new still for the upcoming movie (which you can see above).  If that wasn’t enough, today we get to see the new trailer.

Official movie description:

In Men in Black 3, Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back… in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. But when K’s life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him — secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K (Josh Brolin) to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind.

There have always been stories and conspiracy theories.  Almost part of urban myths and legend, the men in black would appear in the wake of paranormal activity, suppressing all information leaks.  Even though this may be the inspiration, the Men in Black was originally adapted from a black and white comic book back in 1990.  Created and written by Lowell Cunningham and illustrated by Sandy Carruthers, the comic was published by Aircel Comics.  In an example of how small fish are constantly eaten by larger fishes; which we call the food chain; Aircel was bought out by Malibu Comics, only to be bought out by Marvel.  In the end there can only be one, and Disney ate Marvel.

This serves to illustrate why the original story of the Men in Black has changed over the years.

The original story introduced Agent Jay; Caucasian male; the new guy being inducted into the Men in Black organization by his partner, Agent Kay.  Even though Kay is a tough guy who gets the job done, he’s also psychopath; which makes him the ideal MIB agent according to the manual.

In all situations that they go into as partners, Agent Kay prefers to have Jay go ahead of him.  It allows Jay to act as bait while Kay just enjoys aiming a gun at his partner’s back.

Jay is often forced to play the good cop trying to find alternatives to Kay’s problem solving methods.  For example, Kay suggests that killing witnesses over memory wiping them for efficiency.

The prime example of how twisted Kay can be occurs when he’s forced to mind wipe a kid who’s been beaten by his father.  Jay has no idea what’s being said to the kid, but the tail end of the commands are, “Then, when you turn nineteen, take the rifle to the top of the tallest building you can find and do the same thing.  Got it?”

I think I would have gotten a kick out of watching Tommy Lee Jones act like the chain smoking psycho that the character truly is.  Then again, it’s nice to see Will “I make this look old” Smith do a comedy.

Meanwhile the new trailer looks visually hot.  While it does feel like an Austin Powers movie, traveling back in time we see old time science fiction pieces in the trailer.  The space men have bubble helmets!  I’m even sure I saw some inspiration drawn from Lost in Space.

The movie will open on May 25 in theaters, available in 3D, 2D and IMAX 3D.  Check out the new trailer below.

Valiant’s Bloodshot Gets Optioned by Sony

Valiant Comics return to prominence this year has yielded a new step forward for one of their creations into the world of movies. It was recently reported that Sony Pictures and Neal Moritz Original Film have teamed up to acquire the rights for the Valiant Comics series, Bloodshot. 

Bloodshot, like many comic book characters, was born out of experimentation gone wrong. Mob assassin Angelo Mortalli was forced into an experimental procedure which involved his body being injected with nanites that enhances his strength and skills but unfortunately in the process his memory was wiped clean.

The comic, Bloodshot, was introduced to the world in 1994 during a time when comics were “grim and gritty.” This time period gave us Marvel’s The Punisher and Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns.” Bloodshot became one of the highest-selling comics in the history of Valiant Comics when it sold a reported 900,000 copies.

When Acclaim Entertainment bought Valiant, they began the process of developing a video game based on the character, but unfortunately they scraped the project shortly after.

But good news! Valiant Entertainment has plans to bring the character back to the comic book world later this year.

Here is the official press release from Sony:

Columbia Pictures is closing a deal to acquire the rights to adapt Bloodshot, the bestselling Valiant comic book character, into a feature film to be produced by Neal H. Moritz through his Original Film banner and Jason Kothari and Dinesh Shamdasani on behalf of Valiant Entertainment, it was announced today by Hannah Minghella, president of production for Columbia Pictures.  Jeff Wadlow will write the screenplay.

Bloodshot first appeared in Valiant comic books in 1992 and quickly became one of the comic world’s most popular characters.  Appearing in over 70 issues, the character sold seven million comic books globally and was a cornerstone of the Valiant Universe, which sold more than 80 million comic books, third only to Marvel and DC. As Valiant re-launches in 2012, the Bloodshot character will return to shelves as well.

Commenting on the announcement, Minghella said, “The Bloodshot character has been a fan favorite for nearly two decades, selling  approximately 7 million comic books globally. Because there have been more than 1,500 pages of storylines published, there is a rich legacy to draw from as we develop the screenplay.  Neal is one of the best action producers working today and we know he is the right filmmaker to take on this potential franchise.”

Originally founded in 1989, Valiant Comics quickly became one of the most successful comic book publishers by creating unique and compelling heroes and villains and focusing on storytelling.  Valiant characters have been written and illustrated by many of the industry’s most famous creative talents, including Jim Shooter, Bob Layton, Barry Windsor Smith, Joe Quesada, Jim Lee, Frank Miller, Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis, Bryan Hitch, Steve Ditko, Mike Mignola, Kevin VanHook, Don Perlin and Neal Adams, among many others; in addition, Valiant was previously named Publisher of the Year by Diamond Comics Distributors.  Valiant is returning to comic books in May 2012 and has a number of movie projects in development based on its characters involving some of the industry’s top business and creative talent.

Neal Moritz and Original Film are currently in post-production on four films: 21 Jump Street andTotal Recall for Columbia Pictures, R.I.P.D. for Universal, and Warner Bros.’ Jack the Giant Killer. He is entering pre-production on the sixth entry in the Fast and Furious franchise as well as onDead Man Down, starring Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace. With over 40 films to Moritz’s credit, past titles include Battle: Los Angeles, The Green Hornet, The Fast and Furious series, I Am Legend, XXX, S.W.A.T., Gridiron Gang, Sweet Home Alabama, Click, Vantage Point, Blue Streak, Cruel Intentions, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Skulls, Volcano, Urban Legend, and Juice. Original Film’s box office is north of 2 billion worldwide.

We definitely need a new comic book adaptation to love and cherish. I don’t think I can handle yet another reboot of Superman, Spider-Man, or Batman for at least another ten years. And while I have never read Bloodshot (and I keep hoping they do a young justice movie with Secret, Spoiler, and Impulse) I like the idea of another gritty, dark comic book being made for my viewing pleasure.

Robert Kirkman Discusses Shocking Death on The Walking Dead

 

:::Warning Spoilers Ahead For the Latest Episode:::

Most fans of “The Walking Dead” are no stranger to death in the series. But even with that in mind, sometime a death is still just shocking and unbelievable. If you have read the comic books that this show is based on then you know that the death in last night’s episode occurred wayyy earlier than expected. It was an unfortunate night for everyone who watched.

I can safely say I was not prepared for the death of the fan-favorite character Dale. Dale is played by Jeffery DeMunn and he made his final appearance during the last episode. And yes, his exit was just as gruesome as you would expect from “The Walking Dead.” In case you missed it and need to know, Dale was injured by a roaming zombie and then mercifully euthanized with a bullet to the head by Daryl, played by Norman Reedus.

Robert Kirkman, who is the executive producer of the AMC hit series took time to discuss the decision to kill the character of Dale.

“Dale’s death comes at a time where he’s very much needed, [Rick and the gang] are trying to make this decision on what to do with Randall. The farm is becoming increasingly dangerous. There is still tension between Rick and Shane, despite the fact that it appears that they’ve put much of their differences behind them for now. They need that moral compass [in Dale], and it’s been taken away.”

Kirkman has also promised fans that Dale’s death will not go in vain. It will have some major repercussions on the rest of the cast and the season. You can bet that among those it will affect the most will be Carl as he was partially responsible for the death of Dale. (Earlier in the episode, Carl had gone into the forest alone and taunted a *seemingly* immobile zombie, which you guessed, would be the one to injure Dale.)

“It’s interesting to see Carl doing kid stuff: going out on his own, trying to prove he’s strong enough to kill a zombie, proving that he’s deserving of carrying a gun,” Kirkman said. “He instigated this whole situation. We’re going to deal with his emotions and what comes from him causing Dale’s death to a certain extent. That’s definitely one of the big repercussions where Dale’s death affects these characters.”

Fans of the comic books will note that Dale’s death is a deviation from the original comic book text. In the comics, Dale goes on to survive several SEVERAL issues before finally being bitten by a zombie.

Kirkman explained the changed by saying,

“One of the things we wanted to do is show how dangerous these zombies actually are. We were sitting around the writers’ room early on in the planning of season two, and we thought, you know, there aren’t a lot of zombies actually succeeding in what they’re trying to do. They eat people here and there, but we’ve never really had a zombie actually take down one of our main characters — at least not for a while, not since the first season. We wanted to remind people how dangerous these creatures are. It also threw a wrench in everyone’s plans to take Dale off the table, so those two ideas merged into one until we eventually came to offing this character.”

One of the biggest loses from the death is not the character it self, but the actor. DeMunn has long been one of the favorite actors on the show. Kirkman, however, has said that they did not treat his departure lightly.

“It’s a tremendous loss,” he admitted. “It’s difficult. It’s difficult for the cast, because they’ve become pretty much a family hanging out in rural Georgia. They keep each other company. It’s definitely a big deal [losing Jeffrey]; it sucks for everybody. Jeffrey in particular brought a serious sense of gravitas to the role and definitely legitimized this show by gracing us with his presence. We were lucky to get an actor of his caliber. He added a lot to the show, and his presence is definitely going to be missed.”

But Kirkman defended the choice with one last line.

“this is ‘The Walking Dead.’ It would be inaccurate to portray this show as anything other than completely dangerous, and in order to do that, you have to lose characters from time to time.”

So while the death of this character, as he put it, sucks, there is at least a good reason behind it. No one wanted to see Dale killed this early on, but sometimes you have to remember, zombies are not playthings…. they will kill those you love. When Z-day comes, just remember that. (Oh and also don’t taunt a zombie even if you think it is immobile)

City of Bones Finally Moves Forward With New Director

Since Screen Gems dropped the project earlier this year, fans have been eagerly awaiting news on the film adaptation of City of Bones, the first novel of the Mortal Instruments Series.

Now it has been revealed that the new screenwriter, a new producer, and the new director are all meeting with author Cassandra Clare.

Marlene King, who rewrote the script revealed the news last week. Apparantly, Clare has already spoken to the new director and is now prepared to meet with him within the next few weeks.

The new director has also already met with the lead actors of the film adaptation, Lilly Collins who will play Clary Fray, and Jamie Campbell Bower, who is set to play Jace Wayland. And he apparently loves them both.

Clare has said that the producers have made it a point to include her in the process which has led to the new meeting with everyone.

She recently wrote this regarding the project:

I just wanted to say is that I am so glad that Marlene is meeting with the director and the producers at Constantin. I know lots of rumours have been floating around and I tend to be really quiet, but I want to make sure that when I tell you something, it’s true to the best of my knowledge. The movie industry runs on rumors and innuendo (this is why IMDB is basically useless till a movie goes into production and they lock down the page) and while things can always change, I want to be passing along info that’s as final as things in Hollywood get.

I have a little bit of news that’s exciting — and not even the news I was talking about yesteday! — I will be flying to Los Angeles from Mexico to meet with the new director. I can’t tell you who he is yet, but I’ve talked to him on the phone and he’s had a lot of great insight into the characters, really smart thoughts about the filming, and he had great thoughts about Jace, talking about how he wasn’t just an action hero, he was a layered, complex character with a lot of depth (oh and he has met with Lily and Jamie and he loves them.)

I’m excited he and the producers have made a special point to meet with me, go over concept sketches, talk about the characters and their direction — that doesn’t happen all that often with authors in Hollywood, that we get included that much. However I don’t want to jinx anything, so I’m going to be vague until things are definite. I will keep you updated as much as I can — I know it’s hard to wait; believe me, it’s hard for me, too. I’m actually really glad that we moved on from Screen Gems because things have been proceeding at enormous speed since then and I hope to have some concrete stuff to tell you soon. In the meantime I promise photos of my crazy trip to LA. :)

While we aren’t sure who the new director is, they should be revealing that soon. This is definitely a big step forward for the project which has been in the works for years without moving forward. Hopefully this director will do it justice, but with the author involved, it is a good sign.

What You Won’t See In The Hunger Games Movie

In case you are one of the fans that is worrying about the new adaptation of The Hunger Games, I can tell you now, that you can stop fretting! Entertainment Weekly recently revealed the four aspects that fans won’t see in the film adaptation of The Hunger Games. I am happy to say that the four things are not to major for me to be disappointed.

Thankfully, we at least get a little bit of an explanation of why each scene was changed. Gary Ross and producer, Nina Jacobson took the time to explain each one.

Madge Undersee

If you have read the novel, you know that Madge was a pseudo-friend of Katniss and also the daughter of the mayor of District 12. In the novel, she is the one who gives Katniss the mockingjay pin before she is taken to the Capitol. However, in the preview for the film we saw that Katniss gives the pin to Prim, and Madge is not mentioned at all.

On the change, Jacobson says,

“you have so little time to establish these characters. So if Madge has to get thrown under the bus so you can make sure that an audience who hasn’t read the books understands the devotion between Katniss and Prim, then that’s what you do.”

The Avoxes

In the novel, we meet the Avoxes when Katniss described seeing a girl taken by the Capitol, only to show up again as her servant before the games. It is not a major plot point, but it was definitely a darker part of Capitol. While they are in the film, they are not explained or given much of a back story.

Ross says, regarding the change,

 “we have Avoxes, but we don’t digress in the film. I think it’s a wonderful way to populate the world, but there are just certain [cutbacks] that have to happen.”

The Prep Team

Katniss’ prep team while in the Capitol includes, Octavia, Flavius, and Venia. Don’t fret, they are in the film, but unlike the novel, the audience doesn’t get the chance to know them. The only one the movie focuses on is Cinna, especially because of his role as confidant to Katniss.

Jacobson explains,

“we agreed that the main thing is to establish Cinna. So we had to sort of borrow from Peter to pay Paul!”

Capitol Awesomeness

If you remember the book, the Capitol has all kinds of sweet gadgets and awesome things that no one else in the other Districts have. An examples is the food automators. While these won’t be shown, the Capitol will still retain its ominous presence.

Jacobson explained the subtraction,

 “we didn’t want the Capitol to appear too fanciful. It has to appear ominous and threatening. The Capitol has to be a mind-blowing experience, but it can’t be Whoville.”

So it seems that the film adaptation will be pretty faithful to the novel. If these are the only changes we have to worry about, I will be pretty satisfied with how it turns out. Although, I would have liked to see Madge, I am ok with that change still because I have the feeling this is going to be a great adaptation.

I mean after all, author Suzanne Collins, has praised the film version herself. 

Source: Entertainment Weekly new issue