45. QUICK TAKES
DR. JEKYLL AND MR. MAMET. David Mamet recently completed directing
DIARY OF A YOUNG LONDON PHYSICIAN, based on his own adaptation of Robert
Louis Stevenson's classic novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for Warner Brothers
and Franchise. Jude Law and Penelope Cruz star. . . . BUGS REDUX. In last
month's ICS Files I mentioned that J. T. Petty has signed on to write and
direct the MIMIC sequel, MIMIC SENTINEL (the story was "The Bugs Are Back
In Town"). I've got some more news on that. Amanda Plummer, John Kapelos
and Lance Henriksen will star in the sequel. Production has recently begun
in Romania. . . . SO WHAT HAVE YOU GOT IN A FAT MIDDLE-AGED WHITE GUY?
I usually shy away from rumors, but this one is too good. Rumor has it
that director Jay Roach (of, among other things, the AUSTIN POWERS series)
is looking at USED GUYS, a sci-fi comedy with Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn.
It's set in a near-future Los Angeles in which women buy and trade men
like used cars. The film was originally written in 1998 and recently put
into turnaround at Columbia. . . . SAMURAI JACK IS COMING TO A THEATER
NEAR YOU. Brett Ratner said he will still direct a live-action feature
film based on the Cartoon Network animated series, SAMURAI JACK. Don't
get in line yet, though. We won't see it until after 2004, when he wraps
his next two projects. "I'm a young man," Ratner explained. "I'll do it
after SUPERMAN and RUSH HOUR 3.". . . ARE YOU PLANNING ON CATCHING CABIN
FEVER NEXT SUMMER? CABIN FEVER is a new horror film that left audiences
screaming in the aisles at the Toronto Film Festival. In this EVIL DEAD-like
plot five college friends, vacationing in a remote cabin in the woods,
face true horror when one of them contracts a deadly flesh-eating virus
and it spreads amongst them. Lions Gate picked the movie up for theatrical
distribution. They're planning on releasing it theatrically next summer.
. . . HELLRAISER IV IS ABOUT TO GO TO PRODUCTION. Production is slated
to start Oct. 21 in Romania on HELLRAISER IV: DEADER, the seventh installment
in the franchise. The film is likely headed for a straight-to-video release.
Rick Bota is directing. Neal Marshall Stevens (THIRTEEN GHOSTS) and Tim
Day (HELLRAISER: HELLSEEKER) wrote the script. Doug Bradley will reprise
the role of Pinhead. The story revolves around Amy Klein, a London reporter
who receives a tape showing a person being killed and brought back to life,
and Amy travels to Bucharest to investigate. . . . GLADIATOR II. Screenwriter
John Logan, who cowrote the original GLADIATOR script, was hired to write
GLADIATOR II, which will pick up 15 years after the end of the first installment.
Since his character died in the original, Russell Crowe is not expected
to return for the sequel. . . . LOOKING FOR ZORRO. If the intended sequel
to the 1998 THE MASK OF ZORRO is going to happen in won't be with its former
lead. Antonio Banderas has refused to reprise his role. He was offered
$20 million to co-star opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones in a follow-up movie,
but snubbed the offer to concentrate on "other things." Antonio says, "I
could have been rich. It would have been $20 million for each sequel. But
I would prefer to concentrate on other things, theatre maybe." . . . TOM
HANKS - LADYKILLER. Tom Hanks is joining the Coen brothers' remake of the
classic 1955 Alec Guinness-Peter Sellers comedy LADYKILLERS. It's about
a group of thieves who try to kill a seemingly harmless old lady.
. . . A SINGING, DANCING KONG? British theatrical producers are working
on bringing the 1933 KING KONG to the stage in a lavish production that
will employ an animatronic Kong and other prehistoric monsters depicted
in the movie. Debbie Isitt, the writer of the current London hit "The Woman
Who Cooked Her Husband" is working on the stage adaptation. . . . THE O.E.D.
LEARNS ICS-SPEAK. The newest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary now
includes "Jedi" "Klingon" and "warp drive" among the new entries. Not making
the cut, however: "Muggles." . . . PROJECT TERMINATED? A couple issues
back we ran a piece about how the folks in Schwarzenegger's hometown of
Graz, Austria were going to put up a statue of their favorite son, as "the
Terminator" to co-incide with the release of the latest film. Ahnuld sent
a letter to the group back home, requesting they not build the 82-foot
Terminator statue in the city's park. The figure, holding a globe over
its head, would have towered over more traditional statues. The Grazians
said, "[Arnold] was flattered but that he thought it would be better to
spend the money on social projects and the Special Olympics."
46. CAGE GETS BACK UP
Nicolas Cage is attached to star in BACK UP.
It's a science fiction thriller described as MEMENTO meets FACE/OFF. It
will star Cage as a cop who is brought back to life to investigate his
own murder.
BACK UP is set in the near future, when technology
allows for the resuscitation of humans and the "backing up" of their memories
onto a computer. Cage plays a cop who gets "backed-up" and wakes up 90
days later with a gap in his memory. Learning that he was murdered and
his wife has left him, Cage's character is intent on hunting down his murderer
and figuring out what he did during the missing days that ruined his life.
47. PARAMOUNT GETS ITS BAD GUY
Paramount Pictures is in negotiations to pick
up feature film rights to "Bad Guy", an independently published comic book,
that has, at this writing, only produced one issue! Barry Josephson and
screenwriter David Hayter will produce. The comic's creators, Jason Harris
and Zack Morrissette, will write the screenplay, which will be supervised
by Hayter, writer of X-MEN and THE SCORPION KING.
"Bad Guy" is set in a world in which those who
wish to be superheroes can interview at the Oden Co., which then puts candidates
through various genetic, physical and mental tests. Oden then decides on
an appropriate superpower, costume and city in which the chosen ones will
be based to fight crime. When the superheroes get bored on the job and
begin abusing their powers - using them for evil rather than good - a mortal
named John takes it upon himself to fight the villains via contract killings.
48. JESSICA ALBA WANTS TO BE A BEAUTIFUL KILLER
Jessica Alba is set to become a big screen super-hero
with an adaptation of Black Bull's comic BEAUTIFUL KILLER. Universal Pictures
and Strike Entertainment are developing the concept for the former DARK
ANGEL star.
The BEAUTIFUL KILLER comics focus on a young
girl out to avenge the murders of her spy parents. The movie will not keep
the comics title.
"This is very cool, dark material that at its
core is about a girl who loses her family to mysterious killers, flees
and ultimately chooses to exact revenge," Alba said. "The chance to shape
a character and story from inception is a luxury for an actress. I had
the opportunity to collaborate that way with James Cameron and Chic Eglee
from the very beginning (on DARK ANGEL), and it is an experience I hope
to repeat."
Marc Abraham and Eric Newman are producing for
Strike while Alba and Chris Henze will get executive producer creds. No
writer is signed yet, but they hope to have one on board in time to roll
when Alba next becomes available.
49. PIERCE BROSNAN MIGHT QUIT BOND AND BECOME AN
ACTOR
Pierce Brosnan admits that being a movie star
is "boring." Despite the fact that he's making movies on a regular basis,
"I haven't done much acting for awhile."
While he was promoting his new film, EVELYN,
he explained his concerns. "I love doing James Bond, but it's not what
I call real acting. Aside from this film [EVELYN], I think the last movie
I really acted in was THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR. Other than that, there really
isn't much effort from my part."
When asked how long his stint as James Bond will
last, he said "One more, and then we'll see."
As to the slew of Bond wannabes out there like
Vin Diesel and Mike Myers, he smiled, "Let them try. I think Bond is a
tradition that goes back several generations and when audiences go see
a Bond movie, they know what to expect. I'm not threatened."
50. THE DEVIL IS DEAD
Anthony Hopkins said that the new film version
of Stephen Vincent Benet's short story "The Devil and Daniel Webster" will
never be finished. "They pulled the money out, apparently, so it'll never
be seen," Hopkins said. "The producers have no money to finish it."
This version was set in our era, in New York
City's literary world. A struggling writer makes a deal with the Devil
to become a hot New York Times best-selling author in exchange for his
soul in ten years. Those ten years go by like hours and soon, the author
must implore the help of Daniel Webster, an ace lawyer and the head of
the most powerful publishing firm in the City, to get him out of the deal.
This results in a rousing, climactic battle of wits and words as the Devil
and Daniel Webster go to trial over the author's soul.
Hopkins played Webster. Alec Baldwin made his
directoral debut and co-starred in the film as the writer, Jabez Stone.
Jennifer Love Hewitt starred as the Devil. Hopkins was positive about Baldwin's
take on the short story, which was previously made into a play and a 1941
film. But he added that even Baldwin has abandoned the project. "He's good,
a fine director," Hopkins said. "He's good to work with, but I don't know
if Alec is even interested in [completing] it. We finished filming it a
long time ago."
Filming wrapped in March 2001. Baldwin refused
to start postproduction for fear that there wasn't enough money to complete
the process. He stated that he and others were not paid during the last
four weeks of production. The production company, Cutting Edge seemed to
have no idea what he was talking about. They stated that they racked up
so many good sales at Cannes that there was "more than enough money to
cover what's outstanding, which is why Alec's comments are so shocking."
Both sides later wound up in court. It looks
as though this film, though completed, will rust in peace.
51. FRANCE - IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT JERRY LEWIS ANYMORE!
The French government honored Canadian filmmaker
David Cronenberg (eXistenZ, THE FLY, THE DEAD ZONE, SCANNERS) with the
National Order of the Arts and Letters during a presentation of the director's
latest film, SPIDER, at the Toronto International Film Festival. The award
will bump the director from French Chevalier to the rank of officer.
The order is given out twice annually to a few
hundred people worldwide. The recipient receives a certificate and is entitled
to wear an insignia, a medal suspended from a ribbon of white stripes against
a green background.
52. FREDDY VS. JASON VS. RENFRO
Brad Renfro has left the FREDDY VS. JASON. He's
being replaced by Jason Ritter (SWIMFAN). Monica Keena and Destiny's Child
singer Kelly Rowland also star in the movie.
Ritter and Keena will play members of a group
of friends who team up to spark a battle between Freddy and Jason. Renfro's
exit was attributed to creative differences. Ritter is the son of actor
John Ritter.
53. IS DANIEL RADCLIFFE OUTGROWING POTTER?
There are reports that HARRY POTTER star Daniel
Radcliffe is getting too big for his robes. A recent photograph of the13-year-old
Radcliffe, who is reported to be 5 feet 3 inches tall, shows him easily
towering over his mother, Marcia Gresham. Radcliffe appears to have grown
at least six inches in the last year. The sequel movie HARRY POTTER AND
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS was rushed into production to avoid a growth spurt
on the part of Radcliffe and his co-stars, Rupert Grint (Ron) and Emma
Watson (Hermione).
The person most aware of the changes is Radcliffe
himself. He says, "In a couple of years, I might have changes so much that
I look wrong for the part - even though Harry grows with the books. So
I'm enjoying the fame while I can - after all, I might do these films and
then disappear or something might go horribly wrong and I'll never act
again."
So what happens when a young wizard ages? Does
his wand get hair on it? Does he spend a lot of time working on x-ray vision
spells while standing around the girl's locker room? I guess we'll all
get to find out.
54. HITCHHIKER FINALLY GETS A GREENLIGHT
After more than a decade of waffling, lapsed
commitments and false starts, THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY may
finally be coming to the screen. Screenwriter Karey Kirkpatrick (CHICKEN
RUN) has been hired to co-adapt the Douglas Adams' screenplay. Adams wrote
his own feature adaptation before he died last May and will receive a posthumous
producing credit on the proposed film. Jay Roach (the AUSTIN POWERS franchise)
is attached to direct.
HITCHHIKER has already had an outrageous number
of lives. It started out as a BBC radio series. It was adapted as a novel,
then a TV series and a video game. It centers on Arthur Dent, who starts
his morning off by finding out his cozy English home is being immediately
demolished to make way for a new highway bypass. By the time brunch is
being served, Arthur's morning goes from bleak to miserable as he finds
out his cozy blue-green planet is being immediately demolished to make
way for a new interstellar hyperspace bypass. He's whisked away by a friend
who turns out to be a visiting alien from Betelgeuse, and then his life
begins to get very strange.
55. PROYAS WORKS ON ASIMOV AND ELLISON
Director Alex Proyas (DARK CITY) is trying
to adapt Isaac Asimov's classic I, ROBOT for the screen. Proyas said that
he's not sure a movie version of the book is feasible. "The visual effects
are really, really challenging, and I just want to know if I go into it,
that I can actually pull this stuff off with total believability," Proyas
said. "We're trying to push the envelope a little bit technically. It looks
very positive at this point."
Proyas also said his production company just
got a draft for a script called DRIVE, a sci-fi film based on Harlan Ellison's
short story "Along the Scenic Route," which is "basically about futuristic
road rage," the director said. That project is still in early stages.
56. ARAGORN: THE LADY'S MAN?
The next installment of THE LORD OF THE RINGS
trilogy will involve a love triangle between three central character that
does not appear in the book. Tolkien purists already enraged by the passion
between Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn and Arwen, played by Liv Tyler, are set
to be further upset by the introduction of Miranda Otto's Lady Eowyn. The
character will spice up the clandestine relationship by diverting Aragon's
attention from the Elvish princess.
Someone connected with the production said, "There's
going to be a romantic triangle in the next one. We sexed it up a bit.
No, you won't get to see Viggo's butt. But there will be plenty of tension
between the three."
57. NEW WRITERS FOR THE OUTER LIMITS
MGM has hired Douglas Cook and David Weisberg
(THE ROCK) to rewrite the film adaptation of THE OUTER LIMITS. MGM hopes
to put the adaptation of the 1960s TV series into production as quickly
as it can, with Rupert Wainwright (STIGMATA) directing.
MGM originally hired Gerald Di Pego (PHENOMENON)
and his sons Justin and Zachary to write the screenplay earlier this year.
Mark Victor and Michael Grais of Victor/Grais are producing THE OUTER LIMITS,
along with Trilogy Entertainment's Pen Densham (UPN's THE TWILIGHT ZONE),
Guy McElwaine and John Watson.
The hope is to make THE OUTER LIMITS a movie
franchise. Franchises have become the new "buffalo" for movie studios.
When they perform well they'll feed the tribe forever.
58. RAMBO REDUX?
It was once a big event when Sylvester Stallone
released a new movie. He ROCKY'ed and RAMBO'ed his way to the top. Despite
obvious lemons like his arm wrestling movie, OVER THE TOP (1987), his country-western
movie RHINESTONE (1984) and the indescribably awful STOP OR MY MOM WILL
SHOOT (1992) his career still chugged along. Then something happened that
Hollywood finds unforgivable - his movies started loosing money. JUDGE
DREDD cost $90 million to make and earned just $35 million. GET CARTER
cost $40 million and earned $15 million. DRIVEN cost $72 million and earned
$33 million.
Perhaps he's craving a taste of little of the
old days. Stallone, who last appeared as Rambo in 1988, announced at a
press conference at the Deauville Film Festival in France that he may be
bringing the character back to life in a new movie. "We're talking about
doing another Rambo because I think it's time to combine action with politics,"
he said.
That should work. Just ask Tom Laughlin about
BILLY JACK GOES TO WASHINGTON. I think I saw him working the counter of
a 7-11 recently.
59. INDIA - THE LAND OF DOGS AND SNAKES
The Hindu activist group Shiv Sena has vowed
to mount a protest against the screening of a Bollywood version of Quentin
Tarantino's RESERVOIR DOGS. The movie, titled KAANTE features a number
of song-and-dance numbers. It's due to be released across India soon.
Shiv Sena has denounced the American cultural
values that it says are displayed in the film (the film was shot entirely
in L.A.). The group has already begun destroying posters for the movie
and has threatened to unleash venomous snakes in any theater showing it.
That threat was denounced by animal-rights activists.
One question - where were these guys when BATTLEFIELD
EARTH came out? Dodging cobras and black mambas would have been more fun
than watching Rastafarian aliens and Hollywood cavemen mix it up.
60. SHYAMALAN THINKS HALEY WAS ROBBED OF AN OSCAR
M. Night Shyamalan is convinced his THE SIXTH
SENSE star Haley Joel Osment was robbed of an Oscar at the 2000 Academy
Awards bash. He was deeply disappointed when Haley missed out on the Academy
Award for Best Supporting Actor to Sir Michael Caine.
Shyamalan says, "Movies become what they're eventually
gonna be over a period of time, you never really know straight away. Neither
THE SIXTH SENSE nor AMERICAN BEAUTY were the films that people think they
are now when they first opened. If I said to you, 'Gosh Michael Caine gave
one of the greatest performances ever in CIDER HOUSE RULES,' you know I'd
be lying. I don't think you'd ever hear anybody say that. But you could
easily hear somebody say, perhaps ten years from now, that Haley Joel Osment
gave the best child performance ever, in (my) film."
61. KUNG-FU FAIRY TALE
Disney is in talks with the famed Chinese choreographer
Yuen Wo Ping. They want him to direct a live-action martial-arts version
of SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS. Instead of the dwarfs, however, Snow
White will team with seven Shaolin monks. The film was at first titled
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN SHAOLIN. The deal would mark Yuen's English-language-film
directing debut.
Written by Josh Harman and Scott Elder, the SNOW
WHITE update is set in the 1890's. It follows a woman who returns home
to Hong Kong to attend her father's funeral, only to discover that her
stepmother is plotting against her. She escapes to mainland China, where
she seeks solace with seven Shaolin monks who, in turn, come to believe
the woman holds the fate of the world in her hands.
62. SPIDER-MAN, SPIDER-MAN - DOES WHATEVER
A PULITZER PRIZE WINNING WRITER SAYS HE CAN
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon
has been hired for a rewrite on SPIDER-MAN 2, now referred to as THE AMAZING
SPIDER-MAN. Chabon is well-known as the author of the comic book-themed,
Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
and the novel upon which the movie WONDER BOYS was based.
Chabon was approached by Fox in 1996, when the
studio was still seeking a writer to crack THE X-MEN. Although the author
wrote an impassioned letter outlining his take on the story, he ultimately
wasn't selected for that project.
Chabon is said to be getting paid a mid-seven
figures for the work. Previous authors on the screenplay include Alfred
Gough and Miles Millar (SMALLVILLE) and the first film's writer David Koepp.
It sounds like the studio will pay and do anything to get this movie right.
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN is slated for production
early next year. It's due out May 7, 2004.
63. RICK BERMAN AND FURTHER GENERATIONS OF TNG
Rick Berman said that the latest NEXT GENERATION
film may, or may not, live up to its billing as "a generation's final journey."
He explained, "There may be [truth to that]. We'll see. It's coming from
the powers that be. I mean, it's not coincidental. . . . This is
not happening behind my back. The film is being promoted as 'The final
journey is about to begin.' Now there are a lot of ways that one can interpret
that, and I'm not about to help you interpret that. You'll have to wait
and see."
It's been speculated that NEMESIS could mark
the final film for the cast of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, though various
cast members have previously said they think Paramount would make another
one if NEMESIS does well at the box office.
As for the film's progress, Berman said, "We've
screened it for Paramount. They're crazy about it. We're going to be having
some test screenings soon. But the picture's pretty much done."
You'll soon be able to judge for yourself. NEMESIS
will be in theaters on Dec. 13.
64. BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN VS. SUPERMAN
If you've been anxiously waiting to see the Man
of Steel tangle with the Dark Knight you may been in for a very long stretch.
Warner's has put BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN on the backburner in favor of a new
SUPERMAN movie.
The film with the two heroes tangling was deemed
too dark by studio execs. They were wowed by the upbeat optimistic SUPERMAN
script by J.J. Abrams, the creator of ALIAS and THE GILMORE GIRLS (see
more on that below).
After a shake-up with directors (McG's out, Brett
Ratner's in) the new SUPERMAN movie's in very early pre-production right
now. This film looks to re-invent the entire franchise and to be the first
of a trilogy (once again, see below).
The only announced casting at the moment is Anthony
Hopkins as Superman's Kryptonian father, Jor-El. Brett Ratner's talking
about possibly using an unknown to play Superman. He said, "To be honest,
I want a total unknown in the tights. I'm going to do a massive hunt for
my Superman first. I also have no idea who would be good for Lois Lane."
Maybe they can get Marlon Brando to play Krypton.
65. ANGRY FANS PROTEST WARNER'S SUPER-TAMPERING
Warner studio execs have glowed over J.J. Abrams'
"upbeat" script for SUPERMAN. It's new director gushed, "It will be the
origins story with a fantastic script that explains more than you've ever
seen before."
The screenplay was leaked to "Ain't It Cool News."
A review and synopsis, along with hundreds of hurt, puzzled and enraged
fan reactions, were posted Online. The well-known Superman mythos, as easily
to recite as the pledge of allegiance (and for some, as sacred), has been
substantially altered. What follows is a distillation of some of that.
Before beginning keep in mind that the script
that was reviewed was a first draft. Abrams is said to already be deep
into a second draft. Some of the story elements that fans likely found
offensive may already be out. Nevertheless, this is the screenplay that
got greenlighted and drew such exuberant reactions from studio execs (and
got BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN jettisoned).
KRYPTON doesn't explode. Jor-El has already visited
Earth and deliberately picked the Kents to be Kal-El’s new parents. The
movie shifts between Earth and Krypton.
SUPERMAN doesn't just rely on super strength
to win battles. He's also a high-flying martial arts master. His uniform
seems to have a mind of its own (throwing in elements of THE GREATEST AMERICAN
HERO). One somewhat unusual thing that Superman does in this first of three
movies is die. We get to witness lots of artificial grief and a lengthy,
pointless funeral sequence. Lois gets to cry. Everyone gets to be very
solemn. We KNOW he can't die, because he's a flagship character for DC
Comics and this is the beginning of a trilogy. There's no way he’s staying
dead. They decide to bring him back with New Age voodoo. Jor-El “senses”
the death of his son all the way from Krypton, so he slices his own stomach
open and goes to Heaven. Jor-El actually argues his son out of being dead.
LEX LUTHOR is CIA Special Agent Dr. Lex Luthor.
He’s described as being in his 50s with closely cropped hair. At first
they make him sound like Fox Mulder. He’s the Director of the Special Operations
Division of the CIA, which means he chases UFO activity and tries to either
verify or debunk it. He gets fired over his insistence that Congress connect
Superman with a strange space pod that the government's found. We later
discover he's got a few surprises under the hood. He's not only an evil
ex-CIA Director - he's a super-villain. That pod that got him fired was
his. Lex and Superman fly through the air in a prolonged super-battle.
SPEAKING OF BATTLES, in one battle with a gang
of evil Kryptonians waged over Washington much of the city is destroyed
(the public turns on Superman, blaming him for the bad guys ever coming
to Earth). The question arises how much entertainment value audiences are
going to find post 9/11 in watching beloved Washington landmarks being
destroyed.
JIMMY OLSEN's a little younger. He's described
as “Brooklyn-born and somewhat effeminate.” Perry White makes jokes about
Jimmy’s boyfriend later in the scene.
Abrams has said that the third-act revelation
about the true nature of Lex Luthor has been discarded. He said that Jimmy
Olsen is not portrayed as a gay character, although Abrams said he never
intended that. The line of dialogue in the movie that suggested the character
was gay was merely a joke intended to underscore how good-looking Olsen
is (don't forget, Jon Peters is involved with this project - that's the
same Jon Peters that insisted earlier that Superman be given a robot-dog
companion - a gay robot dog companion). The changes involving Krypton might
stay. Abrams would only say, "We'll see."
66. T3 AND TOILET TRAINING
Arnold Schwarzenegger talked about details of
a key fight between his cyborg character and a new female Terminator, played
by Kristanna Loken, in T3: THE RISE OF THE MACHINES. Schwarzenegger and
Loken shot the fight scene, which takes place mainly in a modern public
bathroom, over the course of a week at studios in downtown L.A., just before
film production wrapped in September.
"Everything has gone extraordinarily well, except
we took a little bit more time, I think, than anyone expected, because
there were so many visual-effects shots," Schwarzenegger said. "But it's
going to be a real spectacle, because we've never really seen a fight scene
of two people who are actually machines. One weighs two thousand pounds
and one a thousand pounds. So every move you make, towards any piece of
wall or door or anything, [it] immediately breaks. So everything has to
be rigged. . . . Like, for instance, there's a scene where I grab her by
the jaw, lift her up in the air and then just throw her down on the ground.
So as soon as I throw her down into the ground, the tiles on the ground
just break. And then I lift my foot up really high and just step down on
her head. And that then makes her whole head crush into below the floor
of the bathroom. You have to rig all that stuff, and then you have to cut,
and then you have to put the dummy down, because I can't step on her head,
otherwise it breaks her nose. It's very extraordinary to see the effect
it has when two of those machines start letting loose in small quarters
like the bathroom area - what happens to the walls, to the ceilings, to
the pipes. There's one scene where I throw her against the toilet bowl,
and the whole thing just explodes and water shoots out everywhere. Whenever
you cause some damage, you have to show also the effects of it. The water
coming out, the gas from the gas pipes, water pipes, and all that stuff,
sparks flying and all this. It takes a lot of setup and work."
Don't look for a lot of Hong Kong style kicks
in this. "In general we stay away from all martial arts-type of movements
because it would be ridiculous that a terminator would have a block - block
for what? He's made of steel! So why would he be blocking? If she hits
him in the head he can stand there smile and then pick her up and throw
her against the wall," Schwarzenegger explained.
The 5-foot-11-inch Loken, said that it was sobering
taking on Schwarzenegger at first. "At first, it was a bit out-of-body
in the sense that I am supposed to be overpowering him, and I'm like, 'Yeah,
but it's Arnold.,' But then after a while, you just start believing it,
and he's been extremely accommodating and really great to work with, and
just such a powerful, wonderful presence. [He's] so skilled in what he
does, and it's just been a really wonderful learning experience."
As for the fight, Loken said, "This whole sequence
is pretty much the culmination of the big fight. It takes place on three
different sets, and the majority of it happens in the bathroom. . . . It's
different in the fact that you haven't seen anything like it, because it's
just sheer force. With the weight of the Terminators and everything, it's
a lot of really violent, large-scale things."
When T2 came out 11 years ago its quantity and
quality of special effects shots stunned the world. It had a total of 47
visual-effects shots. T3 will have between 350 and 500. New technology
is being pioneered to accomplish the look they're going after.
Unfortunately you'll have to wait to see the
dueling Terminators abuse the plumbing and the other magic box of effects.
The movie's set for a July 2, 2003, release.
67. JACKIE CHAN FINDS THE TUXEDO A BAD FIT
Recently a room full of aggressively loud reporters
fell into stunned silence at an announcement by Jackie Chan. While on a
press junket, publicizing his latest, THE TUXEDO, he proclaimed, "I don't
like THE TUXEDO, I don't like the story. I only think I like Steven Spielberg,
DreamWorks - that's all."
He went on to commit the ultimate faux pas at
the round table - he started asking the journalists interviewing him if
they liked the film. Only one reporter dared to say "No."
"See! That's my old fan, you watch all my Hong
Kong films, right?" he asked the reporter.
It appears that Chan's fans aren't the only ones
who think his American films don't compare to his Chinese ones.
"So many scripts they give me are like RUSH HOUR.
No! I don't like that movie. Two cops? Not interested. But they say, 'Jackie,
please try. You have to try," he explains. "But the action, compared to
my Hong Kong films is terrible, right? The dialogue - I don't understand
it. I'm right - why? Because RUSH HOUR is a big success in America, but
in the Asian market, nobody is going to see it."
He refers to his African-American co-star and
some of the funniest lines in RUSH HOUR and adds, "In the [Asian] theater,
'What up n---a?' - the whole theater didn't understand what n---a meant.
Nobody was smiling."
"I realize that I'm making American films, that
I'm learning American culture, I'm learning what American audiences like
- but I have to go back to make Asian films."
Before you jump to the conclusion that Jackie
Chan is moving back to Hong Kong, let it be known that he just finished
filming SHANGHAI DAWN, the sequel to SHANGHAI NOON with Owen Wilson, and
next he starts filming a remake of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS for Paramount.
Plus, he's already attached to another RUSH HOUR sequel, RUSH HOUR 3 with
Chris Tucker. He's definitely still Hollywood-based, yet with all the sequels
and franchises, he says he's itching to do something different.
"All these years I've been looking for some other
new things, even like I'm tired of myself doing DRUNKEN MASTER 1, 2…I'm
tired, RUSH HOUR 1,'" he emphatically says. "I want to do something new,
something with real action, something with special effects, something pure
drama. That's what I'm looking for right now."
"I always tell my manager, please tell the studios
to give me something like SPY GAME or KRAMER VS. KRAMER - some drama,"
he adds, also citing the film GLADIATOR.
But while Asian audiences may be open to seeing
him do something other than risky stunts or Chan's famous blend of action-comedy
films, American audiences are still being introduced to who he is and what
he can do.
"It's really not fair to me; Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise,
Robert De Niro - they only have one kind of audience, I have two kinds
of audience, the ones that have been watching me for 20 years and the new
audience who like RUSH HOUR" Chan says.
Spending a little time to please his old fans,
Chan is also planning a return to Hong Kong film - he is expected to shoot
the film TITANIUM RING shortly and is currently writing ARMOR OF GOD PART
III."
Perhaps not helping Chan's lack of enthusiasm
for the film is the fact that many of the fight scenes were shortened in
order to keep the film's rating a PG-13.
"I'm just a little bit disappointed; at the end
we have a lot of fights, at the beginning we have a lot of fight," he says,
describing how a rope scene where he ties up to bad guys was severely shortened.
"I don't understand. Probably the studio decided that it’s a family movie
and that they can not do so many fights, we're too long at the end, we
must shorten. Sometimes we can not have the final cut - it really makes
me frustrated."
But at the end of the day, he says he's still
open to doing a sequel to THE TUXEDO.
"DreamWorks is talking to me about part 2. I
said, 'No, let's wait. If the box office is good, I get more money," he
smiles. "I want to gamble. We both gamble. If it's no good, then it's good
for you [that I don't sign], if it's good, then it's good for me, then
I get a high pay."
68. LOOK FOR MORE IMAX MOVIES
IMAX is about to explode. They've limped along
for three decades on a steady ration of documentaries with "gee-whiz" visuals
and an occasional Hollywood bone in the form of an adapted feature tossed
their way. They've been trying to draw folks in by showing blockbusters
like GLADIATOR and LORD OF THE RINGS: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. The problem
is that they've been showing 35-milimeter prints projected on the giant
IMAX screen. The pictures got bigger and grainier. The folks at IMAX have
solved that problem.
They've developed a process that can convert
35 millimeter to the IMAX 70-milimeter. It's called Digital Remastering
(or DMR). First, each frame of the film's original 35-milimeter print is
scanned at the highest-possible resolution into digital images. Then, with
the filmmaker looking over their shoulders, IMAX technicians enhance and
clean up each frame, removing grain, correcting color and sharpening the
image where necessary. Finally these digital frames are put back onto IMAX's
70-millimeter film.
The first film that gets the new treatment is
the 1995 Ron Howard movie, APOLLO 13. Both Ron Howard and Tom Hanks were
deeply skeptical. Hanks said, "When I first heard the idea I thought, 'Well,
yeah, O.K., that might work for the big action sequences.' But what
about the close-ups and the dialogue scenes? Are they going to be able
to see every hair and pimple on my face?"
It didn't take long to win him over. "To me the
clincher was when I saw the close-up of Kathleen Quinlan," who plays the
wife of Mr. Hanks's character, an astronaut, "during the launch sequence,"
Mr. Howard said. "It was already a great performance, but somehow seeing
it that big made it even better, even more emotional."
The system's still not perfect. The biggest flaw
is running time. IMAX projectors can accommodate movies of two hours or
less. So a film like APOLLO 13, which is longer than two hours, must be
trimmed. Ron Howard cut his from 2 hours and 19 minutes to just under 2
hours.
We'll be seeing several movies hitting IMAX screens
soon. STAR WARS: EPISODE II - ATTACK OF THE CLONES will screen in 70 of
their theaters, starting Nov. 1. Fox plans to play EPISODE II in about
50 IMAX commercial venues in the U.S. and Canada and another 20-30 IMAX
theaters in science museums and other institutions for about seven weeks.
It will be shortened by 23 minutes to fit the 2-hour limit.
The new Ben Affleck superhero film, DAREDEVIL
and Steven Spielberg's MINORITY REPORT might be headed for the very, very
big screen too.
69. MOVIEGOERS TOP TEN COMPLAINTS
A new survey of moviegoers by Zagat, the restaurant
guide people, lists their top complaints. They are:
1. People talking
2. High ticket costs
3. Cell phones
4. Bad seats
6. Crowds
7. Dirty theaters
8. Ticket lines
9. Unending trailers
10. Ads
I'd place on the list wasting time and money
Hollywood's fetish for over-hyped lifeless blockbusters, brain-dead teen
movies, movies that seem to have been patched together by committee and
any movie where, every time the main character moves his arms for anything,
you hear a "whoosh" sound (if you need an example check out THE SCORPION
KING) .
70. IMAGINATIVE CINEMA FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER
OCTOBER 4: RED DRAGON stars Anthony Hopkins as
everyone's favorite monster, Hannibal Lecter. This is based on the 1981
novel of the same title by Thomas Harris, which was originally brought
to the screen as the breathtaking 1986 thriller, MANHUNTER. In that film
Hannibal Lecter was played by Brian Cox and William Petersen was Will Graham.
This time Edward Norton is FBI Agent Will Graham, the agent nearly killed
by Hannibal Lecter. This time around we'll see Graham's capture of Lecter.
He finds himself asking the imprisoned killer for help in solving a new
serial killer, Francis Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes). The cast also features
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Harvey Keitel, Mary Louise Parker and Emily Watson.
The director is Brett Ratner (THE FAMILY MAN, RUSH HOUR and its sequel).
The screenplay's by Ted Tally (THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, ALL THE PRETTY
HORSES).
OCTOBER 11: BELOW is a haunted house story set
in the confines of a World War II submarine under attack. An American sub,
the USS Manta, is in desperate trouble with Nazi U-boats above. The Manta
rescues three survivors, including a nurse (Olivia Williams) from a sunken
British hospital ship. The crew begins to wonder if the Nazis are their
only threat. They slowly realize that not everyone aboard the Manta is
still alive. The dead are feeding on the living. The cast also features
Matt Davis as the captain and Bruce Greenwood as his first officer. The
director is David Twohy (PITCH BLACK, THE ARRIVAL and a pair of interesting
films in development - RIDDICK: PITCH BLACK 2 and a movie version of the
classic OUTER LIMITS episode, DEMON WITH A GLASS HAND). The screenwriters
are Darren Aronofsky (PI, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM - he was once in talks to
direct this film), Lucas Sussman (making his debut) and David Twohy.
KNOCKAROUND GUYS is about four sons of major
Brooklyn mobsters (Vin Diesel, Seth Green, Barry Pepper, Andrew Davoli).
When one of them goes on a job to deliver the money out West for his mob
father (Dennis Hopper) on the advice of his uncle (John Malkovich) things
go disastrously wrong. They have to team up to retrieve a bag of cash in
a small Montana town ruled by a hard-as-nails corrupt sheriff (Tom Noonan).
The movie was written and directed by Brian Koppelman and David Levien
(they're the writing team of ROUNDERS and a coming film THE RUNAWAY JURY
- KNOCKAROUND GUYS marks their debut as directors).
THE TRANSPORTER was supposed to come out on September
13 (as it was reported in last month's ICS Files). You might recall that
I said that September movies tend to be the runts of every studio's litter.
Fox Studios did some test screenings of this film just prior to its intended
release and, to their astonishment, people actually liked it! So did they
decide to give theater owners and patrons a break for September with a
film that might actually have some merit? No. They decided to hold the
movie for October.
To refresh your memory, this is the story of
a professional courier (Jason Statham) whose job it is to not ask questions
about what he's delivering. When he begins to wonder exactly what he's
carrying his life is in danger as word spreads of his curiosity. His survival
depends on the outcome of a dangerous chase between him and a villain named
Wallstreet (Matt Schulze - Vince from THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS). The mysterious
woman he meets along his journey is portrayed by the scintillating Hong
Kong action star, Qi Shu. This film marks the English language debut for
the famous Hong Kong action director, Corey Yuen. It's written by screenwriters
Luc Besson (THE PROFESSIONAL and LA FEMME NIKITA) and Robert Mark Kamen
(THE KARATE KID and its sequels). This is the writing team of that did
THE FIFTH ELEMENT and KISS OF THE DRAGON.
TUCK EVERLASTING is about a 15-year-old girl
(Alexis Bledel) who discovers that her next-door neighbors, the Tucks,
have a spring that bubbles with water that prevents people from ever growing
older. In the process of trying to protect the spring, the girl learns
lessons about "life, death, and the cycle of nature." Ben Kingsley plays
a greedy stranger hoping to take advantage of the spring. Amy Irving plays
the girl's mother. William Hurt and Sissy Spacek play Mr. and Mrs. Tuck.
The director is Jay Russell (MY DOG SKIP). The screenwriters are Jeffrey
Lieber (also has TANGLED coming soon) and James V. Hart (BRAM STOKER'S
DRACULA, co-writer of CONTACT).
This was based upon a novel of the same title
by Natalie Babbitt, which was also previously adapted as a 1980 movie.
The movie was filmed in and around Baltimore.
OCTOBER 18: ABANDON is a psychological thriller
about Katie Burke (Katie Holmes), a senior at a prestigious university.
Under pressure to complete her thesis and earn a top job at a very competitive
consulting
firm, she's still coping with the sudden unexplained disappearance of her
first love, Embry Langan (Charlie Hunnam) two years before. A police detective
(with plenty of his own inner-demons, played by Benjamin Bratt) is called
in to investigate. His investigation uncovers facts so disconcerting that
it threatens to destroy both the student and the cop. The movie was written
and directed by Stephen Gaghan. Gaghan has previously written RULES OF
ENGAGEMENT and TRAFFIC. This movie marks his debut as a director. The film's
based on the novel Adam's Fall, by Sean Desmond.
FORMULA 51 is an unusual film. An illegal
drug chemist (Samuel L. Jackson) travels to Liverpool hoping to find a
market for his new product, for his "last big deal" before he retires.
Things go awry when the Brit he "hooks up" with as a guide to the Liverpool
"rave scene" turns out to be an adamant anti-Yank. Emily Mortimer plays
an assassin hired to stop Jackson from making his sale. The cast also features
Robert Carlyle, Rhys Ifans and Meat Loaf. The unusual aspect of this film
is its writer - Stel Pavlou. He's making his debut with this film. Prior
to this he was a clerk in a British liquor store. He wrote this script
with Samuel Jackson in mind. He mailed it to Jackson, and was understandably
stunned when Jackson replied, agreeing to produce and star. The film was
directed by Ronny Yu (BRIDE OF CHUCKY, THE BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR and currently
filming FREDDY VS. JASON).
THE RING is about a "killer" video. A journalist
(Naomi Watts) discovers a disturbing videotape with a bizarre history.
Everyone who's seen its contents has died within seven days. Is she next?
The cast also features Chris Cooper, Brian Cox, Rachael Bella and Daveigh
Chase. The director is Gore Verbinski (THE MEXICAN, MOUSE HUNT, currently
shooting PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN). Makeup effects were done by Rick Baker
(AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, MEN IN BLACK, ED WOOD). The screenwriter's
Ehren Kruger (SCREAM 3, ARLINGTON ROAD, REINDEER GAMES).
This film is an English- language remake of the
1998 Japanese film, RINGU, which was based upon the first novel of a trilogy
by Suzuki Koji. It has already been followed by the sequel, RINGU2, and
the third film, RINGU 0, a prequel. There was also a Korean version, RING
VIRUS. If this American remake is successful, we can probably also expect
the other two books to be adapted. A central element to the film is itself
based upon a true person, possibly psychic Mifune Chizuko.
OCTOBER 25: GHOST SHIP is about a salvage crew
that discovers a long-lost 1953 passenger ship floating lifeless in a remote
region of the Bering Sea. Once they begin towing the ghost ship towards
harbor, a series of bizarre occurrences happen and the group becomes trapped
inside the ship, which they soon learn is inhabited by a demonic creature.
The movie stars Gabriel Byrne, Alex Dimitriades, Ron Eldard, Desmond Harrington,
Julianna Margulies, Karl Urban and Isaiah Washington. It was directed by
Steve Beck (13 GHOSTS - prior to his directing career he was the effects
supervisor for INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, THE ABYSS and HUNT FOR
RED OCTOBER). The screenwriter is Mark Hanlon (BUDDY BOY). This film is
a remake of a 1952 British movie of the same name that starred Hazel Court
and Dermot Walsh.
The movie comes to us from Dark Castle Entertainment
in association with Warner Bros. You might remember that Dark Castle is
the production company owned by Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, Gil Adler
and Richard Mirisch. It was created to produce high-budget remakes of William
Castle's pictures. So far they've released HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL and 13
GHOSTS. GHOST SHIP is their first non-Castle remake. |
