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“.
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.
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.
Mark Ruffalo has teamed up with Scarlett Johansson in the movie Can A Song Save Your Life?
The movie was written by John Carney, who will also direct the Song. The story follows a young female singer. She just moved to New York City in hopes of making it in the music business. She gets dumped by her boyfriend, and her whole world crumbs. But, life takes a turn for the better when a down-on-his luck record producer discovers her. The two form a romantic relationship and help turn each others’ lives around.
No surprises here, Viola Davis landed two new projects after receiving an Oscar nomination and SAG Award — Ender’s Game and Beautiful Creatures.
Beautiful Creatures will be directed by Richard LaGravenese, who also wrote the adaptation Margaret Stohl-Kami Garcia book. The story follows two teens who must confront a curse that has haunted the girl’s family for generations.
Davis is set to play a librarian and friend of the teenage boy’s deceased mother. She loves the boy like he was her own son and will do whatever is necessary to protect him from harm.
Gavin Hood will direct Ender’s Game, also starring Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin and Harrison Ford.
Hood wrote the adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s novel. The story takes place in the future where a genius strategist is recruited by the government to help destroy an insect-like alien race.
Davis will play a military psychologist. She supervises the emotional stability of young trainees while designing the games that test their skills and resilience. Note: The only problem is that psychologist will not exist in the future.
Davis will shoot Ender’s Game first and Beautiful Creatures later in the year.
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Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are working together, again, in Serena, a very deep and emotionally driven story. The pair just wrapped David O. Russell’s The Silver Linings Playbook. So, this new project should be great material for both of them.
Serena will be an adaptation of Ron Rash’s novel of the same name, set in 1929. The North Carolina story follows a couple who relocate with the plan to build a timber empire. The circumstances and blind ambition works against them as the childless wife, who is unable to bear children, builds a vengeance against her husband’s illegitimate son.
In a Better World director Susanne Bier will direct this film.
Justin Timberlake is joining Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams in Trouble With the Curve — marking the directorial debut of Eastwood’s longtime producing partner Robert Lorenz.
The script was penned by Randy Brown and the story follows Eastwood’s character, who is an aging baseball scout with vision problems. He goes on a road trip to Atlanta with his daughter (Adams) to take a look at a hot prospect.
Timberlake will play Eastwood’s pal Johnny Flanagan. Flanagan is a former pitcher and works as a baseball scout for the New York Yankees. His character is a potential love interest for Eastwood’s daughter.
Interestingly, according to Variety, Curve marks the first film Eastwood has starred in but did not direct since Wolfgang Petersen’s 1993 In the Line of Fire.
This spring Monty Python’s Flying Circus members are teaming up, again, for Absolutely Anything. The movie is a science fiction farce – using CGI and live action. Terry Jones is set to direct the movie, which will be filmed in U.K.
The storyline is so fitting for Monty Pythons, who will be voicing key roles as a group of aliens who endow an earthling with the power to do “absolutely anything”.
The story follows the earthling to see what a mess he’ll make of things – that is exactly what happens. According to Variety, there is a talking dog named Dennis. The canine understands more about the wackiness that ensues than anyone else in the movie. Another added benefit is Robin Williams will voice the dog.
Jones and Gavin Scott have been developing the script for two decades. Jones is very familiar with Monty Python’s Flying Circus. He co-directed 1974′s Monty and the Holy Grail with Terry Gilliam. He also directed Life of Brian and Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life. According to Variety, Python members John Cleese and Michael Palin will perform in the movie – hopefully producers will be able to sign Eric Idle.
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F. Javier Gutierrez is set to direct the remake of The Crow – written by Jesse Wigutow. The original 1994 film starred Brandon Lee and follows the comic book series and comic strip by James O’Barr. O’Barr also co-wrote the original movie.
The new version will be adapted and follow the iconic character Eric Draven. According to Variety, Draven returns from the grave as The Crow. He is on a vengeful mission of his wife’s murder – so he can finally rest peacefully at death.
Casting hasn’t been announced yet, but we should hear about principle casting within the next two weeks.
Gutierrez arrived as a director with his debut of the Spanish-language apocalyptic thriller Before the Fall (aka Tres Dias), which won top honors at the 2008 Malaga Film Festival, as well as four awards at Scream Fest in 2009.
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Tim Burton is producing a movie based on the lives of Margaret and Walter Keane. Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Reynolds are attached to star in the indie Big Eyes. The movie will be written and directed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski.
The movie focuses on the Keanes’ pop-eyed paintings — a worldwide sensation in the 1960s. Yet, controversy pervaded their lives. Margaret was the true talent who toiled in obscurity while Walter stole all the credit and benefit from fame.
“We are ecstatic to have this dream cast for our dream project,” the directors said in a joint statement, according to Variety. “Walter is a larger-than-life antihero — charming, funny, dangerous, and a little crazy. Ryan will knock it out of the park. As for Reese, she will be perfect as Margaret — soulful, decent, transforming from vulnerability to learning to fight for herself.”
