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.

Fox Searchlight Plans J.R.R. Tolkien Biopic

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The film adaptations of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings is immensely popular and with that Fox Searchlight is tentatively planning a new biopic about the novels author, J.R.R. Tolkien, According to a report from The LA Times, David Gleeson will be providing the screenplay. Peter Chernin will produce Tolkien through his Chernin Entertainment.

The biopic is very originally titled, “Tolkien,” and is said to focus largely on the author’s young life, including his time at Pembroke College and his military service during the first World War. The film will tie his experiences as a young man to those depicted in his iconic fantasy novels. In 2008, The Times ranked him sixth on a list of “The 50 greatest British writers since 1945.” Forbes ranked him the 5th top-earning “dead celebrity” in 2009.

Currently, there is word on whether Tolkien’s estate will be involved in the biopic’s production in any capacity. Christopher Tolkien, J.R.R.’s son, is infamously not a fan of Peter Jackson’s big screen adaptations. The latest adaptation hits theaters on December 13 entitled The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. It is the second film of a trilogy based on the novel of the same name. 

There is no confirmed anticipated release date for the biopic.

 

Gavin O’Connor to Helm Tell No One Adaptation

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“Tell No One,” the 2006 novel written by Harlan Coben, has found its director. Gavin O’Connor has signed on to helm the project from Universal and Warner Bros. The film is a remake of both the recent French thriller and the original novel. The new film version, which features a script by Chris Terrio.

“Tell No One” is a story of loss and redemption. It begins innocently enough. Dr. David Beck and his beloved wife, Elizabeth, are celebrating the anniversary of their first kiss in the quiet of Lake Charmaine. They grew up together, first kissed at age twelve, and now, twenty-five years old and married less than a year, they return for an idyllic weekend away.

Tragedy shatters their solitude. Elizabeth is abducted and murdered, her body found in a ditch. Her killer is caught and brought to justice. But for David Beck, there can be no closure. Eight years pass. He never gets over Elizabeth’s murder. He loses himself in his work as an inner city pediatrician.

But everything changes on the eighth anniversary of Elizabeth’s death. Two unidentified bodies are found at Lake Charmaine, unearthed years after their deaths. But even more disturbing, Beck gets a bizarre email that mentions a specific phrase – a phrase known only to him and Elizabeth. The email also tells him to click a hyperlink the next day at a specific hour – “kiss time” – 6:15PM.

There is no word yet on any actors being eyed for the lead roles or an anticipated production or release date.

John Krokidas Signs Up for Standard Happiness Package

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krok__131125224922According to Deadline, John Krokidas, the writer and director behind the critically praised film, Kill Your Darlings, has taken on a new project at Fox Searchlight entitled, Standard Happiness Package. The film is based on the short story from Charles Yu called “Standard Loneliness Package.” The story was the opening short story to his 2012 anthology “Sorry Please Thank You.”

The tale is set in the near future, where a recent college graduate gets an entry-level job at a tech company where he’s paid to experience painful events in other people’s lives. He falls desperately in love with his boss, and tries to build a genuine relationship in a society that’s becoming entirely virtual and where he essentially serves as a human pain cushion.You can read “Standard Loneliness Package” in its entirety at Lightspeed Magazine.

Standard Happiness Package was scripted by Keith Bunin. Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey will produce the film through Temple Hill Entertainment. The outlet also reports that Krokidas is set to rewrite Fox 2000’s modern thriller Highrise with his writing partner Austin Bunn. The original screenplay hails from Flightplan scribe Peter Dowling.

There is no word yet on an anticipated release date for the feature film. The studio has also not announced who they are eyeing for the cast.

Terry Gilliam Is Attempting The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (Again)

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It feels like Terry Gilliam has been attempting to make The Man Who Killed Don Quixote for years now. Is now finally the time? During a recent interview following the festival-opening screening of the director’s latest release, The Zero Theorem, Gilliam spoke about his plans to begin work on his long-awaited Miguel de Cervantes adaptation.

Gilliam first began the project in 2000 with Jean Rochefort as Quixote and Johnny Depp in the role of Sancho Panza. Unfortunately, the shoot met with dilemma after dilemma and was never finished, although the behind-the-scenes of the troubled production did end up becoming a feature-length documentary, Lost in La Mancha, in 2002. Other attempts at bringing the project to the big screen have involved Robert Duvall as Quixote and Ewan McGregor as the Sancho Panza.

Now, nearly 14 years later, he is trying it again.

“I’m going to try to do ‘Don Quixote’ again. I think this is the seventh time. Lucky seven, maybe. We’ll see if it happens. This is kind of my default position, going back to that. I actually just want to make it and get rid of it. Get it out of my life,” said Gilliam.

There is currently no word as to which cast members might be involved this time around, but Gilliam seems cautiously optimistic that he might finally bring his impossible dream to life.

Game Of Thrones Jack Gleeson Is Done Acting Once King Joffrey Is Gone

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King Joffrey is a character we all love to hate. And by hate I really mean LOATHE. The “Game of Thrones” character played by Jack Gleeson is one of the most famously bad characters in television and literature. So when his character inevitably exits the show, Gleeson has stated that he plans to quit acting. For good.

Gleeson said he would rather quit acting so he can focus on charity work during an interview with The Independent. According to the interview, a recent trip to Haiti with international aid organization, Goal, was one of the deciding factors that led Gleeson to wanting to step out of the limelight and spend more time doing charity work.

Whether this ends up being permanent or not, it is still incredibly selfless and admirable. Though it would have been nice to see him in a non-villain role. One day maybe? Either way, way to go Gleeson.

“Game of Thrones” is scheduled to premiere in early 2014 on HBO. It will be based roughly on the second half of A Storm of Swords, the third book of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R. R. Martin, of which the series is an adaptation. The season will consist of ten episodes .

The Walking Dead Enlists Andrew J. West for Secret Season 4 Role

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According to The Hollywood Reporter, “The Walking Dead” is about to get one more survivor in the gang. Andrew J. West, most known for his role on “Greek,” has joined the cast in a role that has yet to be released. Details about his character are being kept secret but it is said that his character is not directly from the source material. Instead, he is a “remix” of someone from the comic series.

The article also notes that, similarly to other added characters, West will be credited as a “guest star” for the second half of season 4 with an option to become a series regular in season 5. Other new cast members for the fourth season of “The Walking Dead” include Larry Gilliard Jr.,  Josh McDermitt, Michael Cudlitz, Alanna Masterson and  Christian Serratos.

It was also not revealed when fans can expect his entrance into the series.

The fourth season of the series premiered on October 13, 2013,  and is set to consist of 16 episodes. The fourth season has already introduced several notable comic characters including Abraham Ford, Eugene Porter, Rosita Espinosa, and Bob Stookey as well as a modified version of the Chalmers family from The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor tie-in novel including prominent comic/novel character Lilly.

“The Walking Dead” airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.

The series is based on the series of comic books of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard; it was developed for television by Frank Darabont, and is executive produced by Kirkman, Scott M. Gimple, Greg Nicotero, and Gale Anne Hurd. Gimple assumed the role of showrunner after Glen Mazzara’s departure at the conclusion of the previous season.

Telltale Reportedly Developing Game of Thrones Video Game

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Telltale Games, the company behind the hugely successful “Walking Dead” video games series is reportedly developing a new game based on everyone’s favorite fantasy series, “Game of Thrones.” IGN has reported that they have heard from multiple sources that the developer is working on the game adaptation.

However, it is not currently known whether the game would be based on the HBO series or the source material, “A Song of Ice and Fire,” by George R.R. Martin.

When asked, Telltale Games responded simply,

“We get these sorts of rumors about what we could be working on next cropping up all the time. Officially we have no comment.”

If anyone is going to make a “Game of Thrones” video game, I would want Telltale to be one of the developers. If it is anything like the “Walking Dead” season games it would be massively successful and masterfully well done (I am assuming, of course.) What we don’t need is another fuck up like the last “Game of Thrones” video game that failed both in the eyes of critics and fans.

The HBO series is based on the novels from “A Song of Ice and Fire” written by Martin. He began the first volume of the series, A Game of Thrones, in 1991. He published it in 1996. Martin gradually extended his originally intended trilogy to seven volumes, the fifth of which, A Dance with Dragons, took him five years to write before its publication in 2011. Martin’s work on his sixth, The Winds of Winter, is still underway.

Cary Elwes to Write a “Princess Bride” Memoir

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The Dread Pirate Roberts (my first bad boy crush), also known as Cary Elwes, is writing a new memoir about his time filming one of the greatest movies ever, The Princess Bride. The memoir will be entitled, “As You Wish: Tales From the Princess Bride,” named for his character’s memorable line to Princess Buttercup, and will be published by Simon & Schuster imprint Touchstone in fall 2014.

Elwes explained that he was inspired to write about that time in his life during a cast reunion at the 2012 New York Film Festival, when the film was recognized on its 25th anniversary.

“It was a joy to work on such a magical film with an amazing cast of talented actors and friends,” Elwes said in a statement. “It will be great fun to revisit The Princess Bride and to share my fond memories of the unforgettable experience we all had.”

The memoir will include behind-the-scenes memories of the making of the hit through interviews with cast members, including Billy Crystal, Robin Wright, Carol Kane, Christopher Guest, Chris Sarandon and writer William Goldman. Director Rob Reiner is contributing the book’s foreword.

The Princess Bride was based on the 1973 fantasy/romance novel written by William Goldman. It is presented as an abridgment of The Princess Bride by S. Morgenstern (though no such book exists), and Goldman’s “commentary” asides are constant throughout. The film adaptation sits on the American Film Institute’s “100 Greatest Love Stories” and the Writers Guild of America’s “101 Greatest Screenplays.”

LEGO The Hobbit Videogame Officially Announced for 2014

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legohobbitgame2Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games and The LEGO Group have officially announced the next installment in the LEGO video game franchise. “LEGO The Hobbit” will adapt the legendary tale from the book by J.R.R. Tolkien and Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit Trilogy.”

The game will be based on the first two films of “The Hobbit Trilogy,” The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and the upcoming The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, a production of New Line Cinema and MGM, opening worldwide beginning December 13, 2013. Following the storyline of the first two films, “LEGO The Hobbit” will take players on quests throughout Middle-earth, joining Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Grey, and Thorin Oakenshield and Company in their exciting adventures toward the Dwarven Kingdom of Erebor.

Players will be able to take on the form of their favorite Hobbit characters, including Bilbo, Gandalf, and all of the Dwarves: Thorin, Fíli, Kíli, Óin, Glóin, Dwalin, Balin Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori and Ori. Each has his own special – and quite hilarious – ability: For instance, Bombur can be used as a trampoline that enables his companions “belly-bounce” out of danger! Players will visit key locations from the films, including Bag End, Bilbo’s Hobbit-hole in Hobbiton, trek through the treacherous High Pass over The Misty Mountains, and explore the depths of Goblin-town, Mirkwood and Rivendell. Along the way, players will solve countless puzzles, partake in Treasure Quests and battle with Orcs, Trolls and fouler things. They will also be able to mine for gems, discover loot from enemies, and craft powerful magical items or build immense new LEGO structures.

Tom Stone, Managing Director, TT Games, said,

“We are thrilled to depict the characters and environments of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth in LEGO form with the ‘LEGO The Hobbit’ video game. Our family-friendly take on these thrilling adventures will have kids and parents playing and laughing together as they build and explore in LEGO Middle-earth.”

“LEGO The Hobbit” will be available in 2014 for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation, Vita, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, as well as Windows PC and Mac.