Saoirse Ronan is very close to signing the dotted line as she finalizes talks to star in Disney’s Order of Seven. Interestingly, according to Variety, Seven was originally developed as a Kung Fu retelling of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” – development began a decade ago.
If Ronan signs the dotted line, she will play Olivia Sinclair, a British expatriate in 19th century Hong Kong. She seeks the protection of a centuries old group of warriors, who are now a contemptuous group of outlaws. The reemergence of an ancient evil empress causes Sinclair to help the warriors reclaim their destiny and noble roots.
Variety reports that Disney hopes to boost the international appeal of the movie by casting the roles of the warriors with well-known stars in China, Russia and Japan, creating a global team of heroes. Studio execs have been making trips to those territories to begin talks with local talent.
Michael Gracey, known for his visual effects supervision and commercials, is set to make his directorial debut on the fantasy movie. The most recent version of the script was written by Jayson Rothwell and Michael DeBruyn.
IMDb lists Ronan as the U.K. voice for Arrietty in The Secret World of Arrietty that Disney is distributing for Studio Ghibli and will star in Andrew Niccol’s The Host, based on “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer’s novel.
A little something special to close out the week, folks–a little something I hadn’t even thought existed. The folks out at Acorn Media sent over a copy of Robin of Sherwood Set 2 for us to review, and if you liked the first one, man, will you ever love the second one.
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Daphne DuMaurier’s classic Rebecca will arrive, once again, on the silver screen. Originally brought to the screen by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine, DreamWorks and Working Title Films are embarking on a feature remake with Eastern Promises writer Steven Knight signed on to write the script.
Variety reports that Knight will base his script on the classic novel not Hitchcock’s version. DaMauier’s story centers on a naive young woman who marries a rich widower and settles in his gigantic mansion. She soon discovers the only the memory of the first wife maintains a grip on the household and the servants with a mystery as to how she died.
Knight just adapted Dan Brown’s bestselling novel The Lost Symbol for Sony. Currently, Knight is preparing for his directorial debut Hummingbird, starring Jason Statham.
William Goldman is rewriting the remake of 1986 Heat, a Burt Reynolds movie. The remake is for Jason Statham to star and Brian de Palma is directing. What a combination!
What is very cool is that Goldman also wrote the screenplay for the original – now he’s changed it for a more modern tone.
The story centers on a recovering gambling addict. His job is providing protection in the rough edges of the gambling world, and he refuses gunplay. Instead, he uses hand and edged weapon combat. His friend is brutally beaten by a mobster, and he helps the victim seek out revenge.
If you are not familiar with Goldman, he wrote Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as well as other classics. He even wrote about screenwriting in Hollywood called “Nobody Knows Nothing“.
You know, if I was ever really having doubts about Lions Gate’s committment to direct to video horror, the last couple weeks have cleared them right up, as they sent out a copy of Mothman for me to review for you. And if this one looks familiar, it’s because you may have already seen it. But on the off chance you haven’t yet caught this one on the SyFy channel, then you’re in luck, because you’re about to get the word ahead of schedule.
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It’s not every day that you get a piece of exploitation movie fare land in your lap, especially not from the crew out at Image Entertainment, who sent over a copy of, of all things, Nude Nuns With Big Guns for me to review for you guys. And with a name like that, it’s pretty clear what we’ll be getting into. But will we get anything more than the name implies? Or will we be in for exactly what we’d expect?
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Zak Penn, who wrote The Incredible Hulk, has been hired to rewrite the untitled sequel to 2010’s box office hit The Karate Kid.
Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris were hired to write the sequel once Karate Kid remake brought in $55.6 million domestically. With China as the backdrop the movie brought in $359 million worldwide.
The story remains hush-hush with original stars Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan expected to return, though no deals are currently in place.
According to Variety, Penn should know his way around fight scenes, having written the superhero movies like X-Men: The Last Stand and The Incredible Hulk. He also co-created the Syfy series “Alphas” and wrote, directed and produced the improvisational poker comedy “The Grand.”
Of late, the writer has been busy with writing the Dirty Dozen remake, as well as an original version of the classic Argonauts tale.
Our friends out at the History Channel have once again shipped us something exciting, and this time it’s Ancient Aliens Season Three, the show that will ask the same question, over and over, in hundreds of different ways.
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Marvel’s The Avengers :30 second commercial during the Super Bowl was awesome to behold. Now Disney just released the :60 second, aka extended, Super Bowl commercial. Why they didn’t air it on Super Bowl, but is called the Super Bowl extended commercial, is beyond my comprehension.
I like both commercials, but prefer the :60 second spot because we get more clips of the characters and actual dialogue relating to the story.
You can see the extended commercial at YouTube. If you want to compare the two, you can see the original commerical at YouTube as well.
Marvel’s The Avengers opens in movie theaters on May 4, 2012.
Are you familiar with the term “Brony”? If you’re not, you’re about to get an education. And if you are, then you’re probably already firing up the squee. And what’s producing all this furor, you might ask? Simple. The folks out at Shout Factory sent us over a copy of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: The Friendship Express for us to review for you, and this one’s going to be something big indeed.
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