Posts Tagged ‘Fantasy’
The last time we talked about Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur movie, it was suggested that a new script was going to be called for, superceding the Warren Ellis draft and now, we’ve found out who the new writer will be. The lucky winner is John Hodge, probably most famous for having written Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave and Trainspotting. If his adaptation of Trainspotting is anything to go by, he can certainly make order out of rather sprawling and tangled narrative messes, so perhaps he’s a great choice for guaranteeing a driving through-line in this episodic, stop-start storyline.
At least when Ellis was at the Word Processor the film’s basic shape was to be “very specifically about the gathering of the Knights”. Cue Lock Stock style ensemble of British character actors. Variety have reported that the basic source material will be Mallory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, but I can’t imagine the tone and flavour of a 15th century French romance being maintained under Ritchie’s directorship.
According to a new piece at The LA Times, Warner Bros. are currently looking to push ahead with one of their two, long-in-development takes on the Wonderful Wizard of Oz story; meanwhile, Collider are reporting that no movement has been made on either project in over a year and that the Times piece is simply repackaging old information with no real reason to be doing so right now. In fact, they even call it ‘hit whoring’.
Who’s right? I guess we’ll have to wait and see if there’s any action in the next few weeks or so, but I personally wouldn’t be surprised to find Warners chasing after Alice in Wonderland’s big box office with the nearest thing in reach.
The two projects supposedly in contention are the Josh Olson version, and another one from Darren Lemke, writer on the upcoming fourth Shrek as well as Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant Killer and a New Line take on The Nutcracker.
Meanwhile, Universal have their Wicked film (based on the Oz-related musical of the same name) somewhere along the pipe, and there’s also a John Boorman-directed CG version of Oz that hasn’t been heard of for a while, though is still said to be progressing, if slowly. The future is looking more than a little Baumy.
With the recent release of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, I thought we’d take a look at the first film adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s tale, which was created 107 years ago.
Recently been restored by the BFI National Archive from severely damaged materials. Made just 37 years after Lewis Carroll wrote his novel and eight years after the birth of cinema, the adaptation was directed by Cecil Hepworth and Percy Stow, and was based on Sir John Tenniel’s original illustrations. In an act that was to echo more than 100 years later, Hepworth cast his wife as the Red Queen, and he himself appears as the Frog Footman. Even the Cheshire cat is played by a family pet. With a running time of just 12 minutes (8 of which survive), Alice in Wonderland was the longest film produced in England at that time. Film archivists have been able to restore the film’s original colours for the first time in over 100 years. Music: ‘Jill in the Box’, composed and performed by Wendy Hiscocks.
via: TDW
DreamWorks Animation has released a new clip from their upcoming film How To Train Your Dragon on ComingSoon. The clip features a Viking teenager named Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) who is attempting to tie a harness to a dragon’s tail. The sequence seems like it would be a lot more impressive in 3D. Watch the clip now, embedded after the jump.
From the studio that brought you “Shrek,” “Madagascar” and “Kung Fu Panda” comes “How To Train Your Dragon” — an adventure comedy set in the mythical world of burly Vikings and wild dragons, based on the book by Cressida Cowell. The story centers around a Viking teenager, who lives on the island of Berk, where fighting dragons is a way of life. Initiation is coming, and this is his one chance to prove his worthiness to his tribe and father. But when he encounters, and ultimately befriends, an injured dragon, his world is turned upside down. The voice cast includes Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Craig Ferguson, Kristen Wiig, and America Ferrera.
Watch the trailer in High Definition on Yahoo. How to Train Your Dragon hits theaters in March 26th 2010.
We might be closing in on the musical for people who don’t like musicals (which will do until we find an outright cure for their curious condition).
Over the last couple of years, Sin Nombre director Cary Funkunaga has been working on “a musical or an opera of some kind” with Zach Condon and Owen Pallett. Condon is a member of the band Beirut and was a contender to score Sin Nombre, while Pallett is a member of the amazingly named Owen Pallett (okay, they used to be called Final Fantasy, so I get the need for a name change) and has also been one of the many members of Arcade Fire. Pallett has also written music for John Cameron Mitchell’s upcoming Rabbit Hole. Pallett and Condon have already made music together, but I don’t know it - critiques in the comments would be welcome.
Fukunaga has now revealed what the premise of the film is, and the only way that it’s not a little surprising is if you think he’s past being surprising now, having skipped from Sin Nombre to Jane Eyre in a single step.
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the director explains how the musical is set-up and which tragic tale it echoes:
It’s about a boy and a girl who are in love with each other, and they both live in parallel dimensions. Her world is like our world and his world is like our world, but they don’t coincide, and the way they’re able to see and hear each other is via singing. But they can’t touch each other, so that’s like the worst thing. So it’s a nod to Pyramus and Thisbe.
It also sounds a little like Juan Diego Solanas’ in-the-works Upside Down, a doomed love-affair across a dimensional divide. Seeing as Jim Sturgess is starring in Solanas’ picture, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few original songs creep in around the edges somehow there too - see Heartless for an indication of how subtly this might be done.
Speaking to the NY Mag last year, Fukunaga gave away nothing of the musical’s storyline but did express his concerns with the genre:
I don’t really like musicals. We just don’t like the music in musicals, so the big question is how to turn the challenge of pushing narrative forward through song in a way that the songs aren’t ruined.
Somebody get this guy a copy of Cabaret and quick.
There’s another project that Fukunaga is about to pitch to Universal Studios, something he says will diverge from his career pattern in a similar fashion to Alfonso Cuaron’s sharp swerve into directing a Harry Potter picture. I’m expecting this is the time travel picture we’ve heard a little abut before.
Lightstream Pictures has preemptively acquired and will co-finance Shrek franchise director-writer-producer Andrew Adamson’s live-action fantasy adventure film Fountain City.
The project is based on an original idea by screenwriter Joby Harold (Awake, Ronin). Harold is writing the script, which Adamson will direct. Storyline details are being kept under wraps, but Variety reports that the project is budgeted at more than $100 million.Assuming the genre, budget, and people involved, we assume this is being planned for a 3D production (but what isn’t these days? we’ve had like 4-5 3D stories on the front page of /Film today…)
Adamson directed Shrek, wrote and helmed the sequel Shrek 2, and wrote Shrek the Third. He directed the first two installments of the live action The Chronicles of Narnia series: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. I haven’t really been impressed by Adamson’s work thus far, especially not his writing efforts. When we find out more about this project, we’ll be sure to report back.
You may recall that, last year, Warren Ellis mentioned he was working on a treatment for an Arthurian film that may or may not be a remake of Excalibur. Now Warner Bros. has evidently attached a director to the film: Guy Ritchie, ready for more adventure after scoring a success with Sherlock Holmes.
Pajiba reports that Ritchie is attached to the Star Wars-like version of Arthur’s tale, which is being assembled by Hollywood Gang, the company that co-produced 300. The site also reports that there is indication that Hollywood Gang and Warner Bros. are looking to move forward with the Ellis treatment, and are going out to writers about script development.
There’s not yet a real hurry on this one; Ritchie has another Sherlock Holmes film to shoot this summer, after which this would likely be in the pool of possible follow-up projects.
Recall that Ellis said of the Arthurian treatment:
‘Untitled Arthurian Project,’ as I call it (just so I can’t feel John Boorman’s EXCALIBUR looming down at me from my DVD shelf), differs from the prior 751 King Arthur movies in many ways, but perhaps most obviously in that it is very specifically about the gathering of the Knights.
Question is, does this moot Bryan Singer’s proposed remake of Excalibur, which would be a more direct updating of John Boorman’s original film? Possibly not, though he’s not going to be able to get to that soon. Chances are Ritchie would be able to move forward on this film first, though that isn’t set in stone.
I’d rather see Ritchie play with an Arthurian tale that isn’t a direct Excalibur remake, anyway. The Boorman film has faults, but it is such a singular combination of casting, effects and storytelling that I can’t imagine a remake hitting the same notes. Then again, the ‘Star Wars-like’ note makes me wonder. Is that in terms of tone (i.e. more light and adventuresome than the Boorman) or structure?
You may recall that, last year, Warren Ellis mentioned he was working on a treatment for an Arthurian film that may or may not be a remake of Excalibur. Now Warner Bros. has evidently attached a director to the film: Guy Ritchie, ready for more adventure after scoring a success with Sherlock Holmes.
Pajiba reports that Ritchie is attached to the Star Wars-like version of Arthur’s tale, which is being assembled by Hollywood Gang, the company that co-produced 300. The site also reports that there is indication that Hollywood Gang and Warner Bros. are looking to move forward with the Ellis treatment, and are going out to writers about script development.
There’s not yet a real hurry on this one; Ritchie has another Sherlock Holmes film to shoot this summer, after which this would likely be in the pool of possible follow-up projects.
Recall that Ellis said of the Arthurian treatment:
‘Untitled Arthurian Project,’ as I call it (just so I can’t feel John Boorman’s EXCALIBUR looming down at me from my DVD shelf), differs from the prior 751 King Arthur movies in many ways, but perhaps most obviously in that it is very specifically about the gathering of the Knights.
Question is, does this moot Bryan Singer’s proposed remake of Excalibur, which would be a more direct updating of John Boorman’s original film? Possibly not, though he’s not going to be able to get to that soon. Chances are Ritchie would be able to move forward on this film first, though that isn’t set in stone.
I’d rather see Ritchie play with an Arthurian tale that isn’t a direct Excalibur remake, anyway. The Boorman film has faults, but it is such a singular combination of casting, effects and storytelling that I can’t imagine a remake hitting the same notes. Then again, the ‘Star Wars-like’ note makes me wonder. Is that in terms of tone (i.e. more light and adventuresome than the Boorman) or structure?
Warner Bros./Village Roadshow Pictures will release the first movie trailer for Zack Snyder’s computer animated adaptation Legend of the Guardians, based on the popular children’s book series Guardians of Ga’Hoole, with Disney’s Alice in Wonderland. But you don’t have to wait until Friday to get a look at Snyder’s first family film, as Warners has released a bunch of photos in Thursday’s edition of USA Today.
Deborra-Lee Furness plays Barran, the queen of the great tree, a source of knowledge for the noble owls of Ga’Hoole.
Hugo Weaving voices Noctus, the father to main hero Soren. Head on over to USA Today to see more photos.
The computer animated film is an adaptation of the 14 book bestselling kids series by author Kathryn Lasky and illustrator Richard Cowdry. The producers have described the tone as more “Harry Potter” “than Happy Feet.” The film is based on the first three installments of the book series: The Capture, The Journey, and The Rescue. The story follows a young barn owl named Soren, who is kidnapped by owls of St. Aggie’s,where owlets are brainwashed into becoming soldiers. He and his new friends escape to the island of Ga’Hoole, to assist its noble, wise owls who fight the army being created by the wicked rulers of St. Aggie’s.
The film features the voice talent of Sam Neill, Geoffrey Rush, Hugo Weaving, David Wenham, Emily Barclay, Abbie Cornish, Emilie de Ravin, Ryan Kwanten, Jay Laga’aia, Miriam Margolyes, Helen Mirren, Deborra-Lee Furness and Jim Sturgess. Legend of the Guardians is scheduled to hit theaters on September 24th 2010.
Neil Patrick Harris has been racking up a hell of a lot of cred. He’s done well on How I Met Your Mother and has parlayed the geek crowd’s young memories of his Doogie Howser, M.D. role into a mature fanbase thanks to appearances in Starship Troopers, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, the Harold and Kumar movies and even a star turn hosting the Emmys.
And now he’s going to spend that cred on Smurfs: The Movie?
Deadline Hollywood has the scoop on Harris appearing in the film. He won’t be a Smurf; instead he’ll play the lead live-action character in the live-action CGI hybrid story. The film has reportedly been under development for a few years, and we’ve only recently begun to learn anything about it. But it’s the freakin’ Smurfs. Not really rocket science.
Raja Gosnell (Scooby Doo and Beverly Hills Chihuahua) directs, and the story involves ‘real’ characters like the one played by Harris encountering the society of little blue dudes and one blue dudette.
We saw some of a casting call sheet for the film not long ago, which described two “Major supporting roles,” which presumably suggests that the real major roles are (as you’d expect) the Smurfs. One is a late 20’s/early 30’s first-time expectant mother named Grace who is juggling an overworked husband and a household fill of Smurfs. The second character is Odile, a beautiful, charming (when she wants to be), high-powered executive for a high-end French cosmetics company.
Is it a stretch to think that Neil Patrick Harris might be playing Grace’s husband? And, for the love of all that is good, why am I thinking about it even this much? Again, it’s the freakin’ Smurfs. Three-apple high little mushroom dwellers who fight a wizard named Gargamel. I’m actually sad that Harris is doing this.
Unless he’s playing Gargamel. If we get a singing, dancing, cat-petting Neil Patrick Harris as the evil Smurf-hating wizard of this thing, then all may be forgiven.
Smurfs: The Movie shoots in April.
