The classic 1939 and much beloved film adaptation of The Wizard of OZ is heading to theaters once again but this time in 3D. For the film’s 75th anniversary, Warner Brothers have announced that they will be featuring the movie in a 3D re-release in IMAX theaters in September. Continue reading
Tom Cruise has officially signed on to star in an upcoming adaptation of the Warner Bros. Pictures sci-fi project Yukikaze. The film will be the big screen adaptation of the novel of the same name written by Japanese author Chohei Kambayashi. Continue reading
Deadline reported today that Glen Mazzara, the former show runner of AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” is in talks to write the script for The Overlook Hotel. The film will serve as a prequel to Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of The Shining. Kubrick famously adapted the Steven King novel in 1980 starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers, and Danny Lloyd. The project for the prequel was first announced in 2012 by Warner Bros. Continue reading
Warner Bros. recently acquired the film rights to the upcoming novel from Howard Blum entitled, “Dark Invasion.” The deal closed as a high six figure negotiation and is planned as a vehicle for star Oscar-nominated actor Bradley Cooper. The nonfiction book will be published by Crown/Random on 9/11/13. The date is significant, as the book is about what is considered the first attacks on U.S. soil since its formative years. Continue reading
We’ve seen Odysseus be pretty much a badass in all major settings except the final frontier (that’s right, I said it and I am not ashamed.) Warner Bros. is FINALLY making Homer’s awesomely epic epic, The Odyssey, into a science fiction film. The studio has officially hired James DiLapo to write the script to the futuristic remaining. Warner Bros has also put in place a blind writing deal behind the project to keep him in the studio fold.
High school english just wasn’t complete till you read Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey both of which have been previously adapted and most likely viewed by you. The Iliad was adapted into the Wolfgang Petersen-directed Troy, which starred Brad Pitt as Achilles. The Odyssey was most famously adapted in 1997 starring Armand Assante, Greta Scacchi, Irene Pappas, Isabella Rossellini, Bernadette Peters,Christopher Lee, and Vanessa L. Williams.
The Odyssey centers on the Greek hero Odysseus and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed he has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors who compete for Penelope’s hand in marriage.
Terry Dougas of 1821 Pictures hatched the idea of setting the tale in space and he and cohort Paris Kasidokostas Latsis brought the idea to the studio. The project got kickstarted with the pitch by DiLapo. The studio now sees it as a potential franchise and it’s being steered by Greg Silverman and Courtenay Valenti and Racheline Benveniste.
There is no word yet on when the project is expected to begin production or who they want to star in the epic. How they will adapt the story for a space/futuristic setting will be interesting to see but not to difficult given the universal themes that makes the story relatable throughout the ages.
USA Today recently released the first two photos from the upcoming project from Warner Bros. Pictures,’ Seventh Son. The adaptation features Jeff Bridges, Ben Barnes, Kit Harrington, Olivia Williams, and Julianne Moore.
The script came from Matt Greenberg and Chuck Leavitt is adapted from the first of Joseph Delaney’s book series, “The Wardstone Chronicles” called The Spook’s Apprentice; for Americans it’s titled The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch.
Seventh Son has the official description below:
In a time long past, an evil is about to be unleashed that will reignite the war between the forces of the supernatural and humankind once more. Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) is a knight who had imprisoned the malevolently powerful witch, Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), centuries ago. But now she has escaped and is seeking vengeance. Summoning her followers of every incarnation, Mother Malkin is preparing to unleash her terrible wrath on an unsuspecting world. Only one thing stands in her way: Master Gregory.
In a deadly reunion, Gregory comes face to face with the evil he always feared would someday return. Now he has only until the next full moon to do what usually takes years: train his new apprentice, Tom Ward (Ben Barnes) to fight a dark magic unlike any other. Man’s only hope lies in the seventh son of a seventh son.
The Sergei Bodrov-directed film hits 3D, 2D and IMAX 3D theaters on October 18, 2013 and also stars Alicia Vikander, Antje Traue, Olivia Williams and Kit Harington.
You can see the new photos below:
After the success of their most recent comic book adaptation, “Arrow,” The CW is eyeing a new project. Warner Bros. TV is working to create a pilot for a potential new series based on the Wonder Woman comic book series. The studio has already hired a director to search for the titular heroine in the adaptation.
The project will also include the Wonder Woman origin story written by Allan Heinberg that chronicles the female superhero’s life as a young Amazonian, before she becomes a warrior princess with super powers.
The studio has released an official breakdown of the character for the project which states,
“She comes from a remote, secluded country and until now has spent most of her life as a soldier and a leader on the battlefield. Because of relentless brutality of her life at home, Iris looks at our world with absolute awe and astonishment. She’s delighted and just as often horrified by the aspects of everyday life that we take for granted: skyscrapers, traffic, ice cream. It’s all new and fascinating and sometimes slightly troubling to her. Iris is completely unschooled in our world, our culture, our customs. And she’s completely inexperienced at interpersonal relationships. She has no social filter, does not suffer fools, and tends to do and say exactly what’s on her mind at all times. She’s bluntly, refreshingly honest. She can tell when you’re lying to her. And she doesn’t have time or patience for politics or tact because she’s too busy trying to experience everything our world has to offer. There are too many sights to see and things to learn and people to care for. Hers is a true, noble, and generous heart. And she will fight and die for the people she loves. Iris is a fierce warrior with the innocent heart of a romantic and she will fight to the death to make the world safe for innocents and true romantics everywhere.”
As the script continues to be written, the cast for project is still being hired. There is no word on when the pilot may be done or which actresses they are looking toward to fill the lead role.
When it comes to hard-boiled detective types, you’ve probably heard the names Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe, but do you know Mike Hammer? Audiences will get the chance to fall in love all over again as Warner Bros. options the crime novel I, The Jury.
Mickey Spillane created Mike Hammer and wrote over a dozen novels starring the pulp detective figure. Spillane’s first was called I, The Jury. Now the tough guy P.I. is returning to the big screen. I, the Jury has been adapted before. Biff Elliot starred as Mike Hammer in a 1953 production and Armand Assante had his turn in 1982.
The new deal to bring Film Noir back to theaters is a co-production between Film 360 and Thunder Road. Guymon Casady and Ben Forkner for Film 360, along with Basil Iwanyk for Thunder Road, will produce. Also on the production team is Ken Levin, the representative for author Spillane’s estate. Warner Bros. is hoping to launch a whole new action franchise with their I, The Jury re-make. I think it’s a great time for it. I haven’t really seen a Film Noir since Leonardo DiCaprio’s psychological, period thriller, Shutter Island. That was also a book adaptation.
I’d be remiss if I failed to mention a few other titles claiming the neo-noir sub-genre. The Cannes Film Festival, 2012, saw Brad Pitt in the very gritty piece, Killing Them Softly, which I’ve yet to sample. Also this year, Woody Harrelson starred in Rampart as a dirty cop. The Town, Drive, Shame and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo all share noir elements, but there’s something to be said for revisiting yesteryear in the way that Shutter Island did, with colorful costumes, excellent cinematography and even accents that transported audiences to another time. This all means Warner Bros. will have to decide in which decade to set their version of Mike Hammer.
Though I’m in favor of letting him live in the past, it’s probably more commercial to let him live in the present. This works for the popular FX series, Justified, which brings elements of the Western to modern-day Kentucky. I’m just saying, it can be done. This would probably be the route I’d take.
According to Deadline.com, author Ian Fleming once admitted that Mike Hammer was an influence when he created James Bond. That hard-boiled element is also highly noticeable in characters like Clint Eastwood‘s Dirty Harry and Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. I’m not very familiar with Reacher myself, but Tom Cruise will be playing him in the upcoming Paramount film. Spillane’s Hammer novels actually held seven places out of only 10 on the list of the best-selling books of all time. Now that’s impressive. His mysteries have sold 225 million copies worldwide.
If he is such hot material, you may be asking why no one has introduced a Hammer film in ages. As is usually the case, a rights dispute is to blame. Now that Spillane’s work is back in the hands of the author’s estate, a clear title could be delivered to make the movie deal happen. Spillane’s co-author, Max Allan Collins, with whom he wrote at least six more Hammer novels, will act as executive producer, along with Spillane’s widow, Jane Spillane.
Superheroes are in today’s headline. For a second, I thought Warner Bros. was releasing a new animated comic book movie. Don’t get me wrong, even when they are released direct to video, many of those animated stories are pretty fantastic. But today’s news revolves around the Justice League and a live-action blockbuster, my friends. That’s something to get truly exited about. You can even drool a little. I won’t tell.
Marvel fans reveled in The Avengers film from director Joss Whedon. Now DC Comics fans may get their turn to party. You may be asking, “Hey, what took so long?” Well, apparently, the courts are to blame. Warner Bros. has been in a long tussle over winning the rights to the Superman property.
Now, which the nastiness behind them, let’s hope, for good, the studio wants to take a page out of The Flash’s book and hurry things along! They are now pushing the development of a Justice League movie. The film would star Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and other characters. Can I play Zatanna in the sequel? Please, oh please, oh please?
The studio has targeted 2014 for filming, with a projected release date in the Summer of 2015. Since they already has a script in development, the next order of business is to pin down a director and start casting roles.
If Warner Bros. had lost the case they brought against the family of Superman co-creator Joe Shuster, all Justice League or any other movies, television shows or comics featuring elements the Superman mythos would have been off-limits after 2013, unless new deals were made. Yikes!
The climate was further negative with the Green Lantern film being largely lackluster. When it comes to Warner Bros. and DC Comics, only Christopher Nolan’s amazing Batman movie trilogy has been successful thus far. Their strategy for sequels is also sounding risky. You see, for Marvel movies, solo titles hit the big screen first and developed fan based prior to bringing everyone together on The Avengers set.
Warner Bros. plans to do the opposite. They’ll unveil Justice League, then release solo titles. Do you foresee success? I think the key to wining the box office will be a few very well-known actors and one dynamite screenwriter. It is very difficult penning a script with vying personalities getting along, arguing, fighting bad guys together, and shining in turn. Don’t put a rookie on the case. And whereas Henry Cavill is relatively low on the fame radar, but should still make a stellar Man of Steel in his June 14th, 2013 debut as Sup, I think an expensive star or two definitely needs to be on the League roster to draw crowds. Hey, it takes money to make money. Oh, and will Cavill play Superman in JL?
No, I’m not saying I didn’t like Immortals, starring Mr. Cavill. Saw it twice in theaters, thank you very much.
Here’s another important question. What time period are our heroes going to be living in? Wasn’t there something more stylist about the X-Men: First Class than the previous, modern-day X-Men films? Actually, a case could be made for either era. If we set the Justice League in our current time period, a lot of costumes need updating.
I know one DC hero who isn’t down and out. The Green Arrow is enjoying success in the CW’s hottest show in three years, Arrow.
The big screen adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower continues to fall on troubled waters as another studio turns down the project. Universal Pictures dropped the project that would have been a multi-film commitment earlier this year and now Warner Bros has reportedly turned down a proposal to take over the ambitious project.
The adaptation was being helmed by Ron Howard and Imagine Entertainment according to Variety.
While Warner Bros, is the latest in a list of studios turning down the project, the film may not necessarily be dead. In a world where most of our biggest hitting franchises are adaptation of fantasy and science fiction novels, King’s Dark Tower franchise would seemingly fit right in.
Howard initially planned to make a triology based on the novel series with an accompanying television series to fill in the gaps between each film installment. Akiva Goldsman is on board to provide the screenplay and has reportedly delivered his latest draft for the first film
It was also originally reported that Javier Bardem would be expected to portray gunslinger Roland Deshain, a character who travels across a desolate and vaguely post-apocalyptic landscape in his quest for a black tower. Russell Crowe later showed interest to take the lead role if the project got a greenlight from Warner. There is no word on whether Crowe will remain attached to the project since the studio passed on the project.