Trek Shoot, Beowulfing At Sony, & FX Guy Builds Dream
(scifi.com) Roberto Orci, who with writing partner Alex
Kurtzman is scripting the new Star Trek movie, told SCI FI Wire that
they have finished the script are in preproduction on the movie, which
will go into production in November under director J.J. Abrams. "We're
still casting," Orci said while promoting his next film, Michael Bay's
Transformers. "We're in preproduction, actually this month."
While revealing little about the 11th Trek film's top-secret plot,
Orci offered a few tidbits. "Kirk is in the movie," he said. "Some
kind of Kirk. ... We literally haven't cast them yet. It's actually
one of the challenges, and so we're hoping to have something by
Comic-Con [in San Diego in July], but we'll see."
Orci added that producers are wrestling with who to cast. "That's one
of the debates, you know?" he said. "Like, how much does a familiar
face hurt or not?" As for rumors that Matt Damon is line for Kirk or
Adrien Brody for Spock, Orci would only smile. "I've read all those
rumors, too."
Is the Trek movie being eyed as the kickoff of a possible TV series?
"I'm sure CBS is thinking about that," he said. "That's not
[something] we're thinking about. We're just thinking about the movie.
Certainly, I don't know how they could not think about that."
Studios Feel Pressure To Deliver VFX Tentpoles In 2008
(Variety.com) The problem with Hollywood's snowballing box
office success is that all records are made to be broken.
So with 2007 high-performers "Spider-Man 3," "Shrek the Third" and
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" each promising as much as
$900 million in worldwide grosses, the challenge on the horizon for
the six major studios is: That's great, but what can you do for an
encore?
At first glance, studios face a daunting task to match -- much less
exceed -- 2007 performance levels, which built on early hits like
"Night at the Museum," "300" and "Mr. Bean's Holiday" with a
franchise-filled summer. Domestically, box office revenues have risen
by more than 6%, while on the foreign side, they're up a robust 20%.
But the big six studios are quietly confident that next year's slate
can deliver the goods. Rob Moore, Paramount president of marketing,
distribution and worldwide operations, says he's already been struck
by how many quality tentpole pics have emerged on next year's
calendar.
"The summer of 2008 has been completely dated and looks very
impressive," Moore says. "We may not see as many films going over $300
million domestically as this year, but there are a number of
high-profile films with a lot of pedigree to them. It's a little hard
to predict, but I'm pretty optimistic."
Top of everyone's list for 2008 are two sequels, Paramount's
long-awaited "Indiana Jones 4" and Disney's "The Chronicles of Narnia:
Prince Caspian."
It's been 18 years since Harrison Ford last picked up the bullwhip for
"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" -- a long time to ask even
hardcore fans to wait. Still, it's worth noting that the first three
movies grossed a combined $1.2 billion worldwide (now conservatively
worth more than $2 billion in price-adjusted dollars) during a time
when foreign markets weren't anywhere near as developed as they are
now.
As for the new "Narnia," that pic taps into the enormous good will
generated when "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe" struck a worldwide chord two years ago and generated
three-quarters of a billion dollars.
"The first 'Narnia' was a real sleeper hit, so the expectations will
be much higher this time," admits BVI VP David Kornblum.
Sony's teamed with Will Smith again on "Tonight He Comes" after
generating better-than-expected grosses on "Hitch" and "The Pursuit of
Happyness." "Will can open any kind of film," notes Sony Pictues Intl.
Releasing topper Mark Zucker.
2008's other summer biggies include:
"The Dark Knight," Warner's sixth Batman movie, has Christian Bale returning.
Fox's remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and Eddie Murphy
comedy "Starship Dave" are coming in May.
Warners is bringing to life a pair of well-liked TV properties, "Speed
Racer" and "Get Smart," the latter starring Steve Carell and Anne
Hathaway.
Paramount's "Iron Man," starring Robert Downey Jr., is the first pic
to come out of its deal with Marvel Studios. In a sign of Par's
confidence, it's been given a choice May 2 opening date.
Disney/Pixar has "Wall-E," in which a robot looks for a home in space.
Given the Pixar pedigree ("Finding Nemo" took in $800 million
worldwide), there's a strong chance of a breakout. "Pixar movies have
always performed well," Kornblum notes.
Universal's relying on established properties with a new version of
"The Incredible Hulk," a second "Hellboy" and a third "Mummy" movie,
seven years after "The Mummy Returns." The first two "Mummy" pics
brought in nearly $900 million worldwide.
DreamWorks has not one but two Jack Black pics set for summer 2008,
the computer-animated "Kung Fu Panda" and Ben Stiller-directed "Tropic
Thunder."
New Line's going the 3-D route with a remake of 1959's "Journey to the
Center of the Earth."
And unlike 2007, with summer attracting the biggest of the big while
fall remains relatively fallow, studios have opted to backload the
2008 schedule, banking as fourth-quarter releases the 23rd James Bond
movie, the sixth "Harry Potter," Paramount's 11th "Star Trek," U's
rebirthing of "The Wolfman," a Par/DreamWorks "Madagascar" sequel and
Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code" companion "Angels and Demons" from Sony.
That late-'08 scheduling strategy can be attributed in part to studios
trying to stay out of the way of two massive summer sporting events --
the European Cup soccer matches and the Beijing Olympics -- that can
have a huge impact on theatrical performance. Last summer, studios saw
international biz slide significantly during the World Cup.
David Kosse, topper at Universal Pictures Intl., believes that the
distraction of soccer in European markets is going to put enough of a
damper on overall biz to make it difficult to match 2007 -- though
he's quick to add that he believes Universal's lineup will do at least
as well next year as this year.
"I think that 2008 could match 2007," Zucker agrees. "It's certainly
going to finish strongly."
Early handicapping put James Bond, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince" and "Angels" as the most likely success stories. The trio all
have the lineage of success, are instantly recognizable in any market
and are set in international-type locales.
But the anxiety doesn't end with 2008.
The scrambling for box office dollars is so severe that studios are
already deep into 2009 planning. "With tentpoles, you really don't
have a lot of available dates, so you have to plan farther and farther
out," says Fox. Intl. VP Joe Ortiz.
Haley is Rorschach in Snyder's Watchmen
(comingsoon.net) Actor Paddy Considine, who was attached to
play masked vigilante Rorschach in Watchmen back when Paul Greengrass
was directing, has revealed on his official fan site that Warner Bros.
has now gone out to Jackie Earle Haley for the role.
Haley received an Oscar nomination for his role in Little Children. He
also recently starred in All the King's Men and played Kelly Leak in
the "Bad News Bears" films in the '70s.
Zack Snyder (300) is directing the big screen adaptation, based on the
12-issue comic book created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave
Gibbons. The comic is a crime-conspiracy story that provided the first
realistic look at the behind-the-heroics lives of superhero
archetypes.
First Works of Lucasfilm Singapore Studio To Be Out In Summer Releases
(channelnewsasia.com) SINGAPORE: You scan the building lobby's
company directory for its name. Nothing.
When you ask the security guard for the floor it's on, he whispers a number.
Maybe you misheard him, because once you get to the floor and the
lift-doors open, blank walls and a locked, frosted glass door greet
you. Trying the intercom button, you offer the name of an employee. It
works. The door eases back — and Yoda stands before you.
Welcome to Lucasfilm's studio in Singapore, an operation running on
secrecy and suspense — the very ingredients that have hooked millions
since the 1977 global blockbuster, Star Wars.
As you will learn from a printed notice while signing in at the
reception, everything you see, hear and touch on the Changi Business
Park premises is strictly confidential. Nothing that the
California-based company's first overseas unit is crafting has been
publicly unveiled yet.
The first fruits, however, will be out soon, said managing director
Christian Kubsch, 43, head of Lucasfilm Animation Singapore since its
opening in October 2005.
Several America-made movies to be released in the coming weeks will
contain segments created by the team here, Mr Kubsch told TODAY in an
interview.
He declined to name the films involving the Singapore-based
visual-effects artists or the animation team, which is also working on
the soon-to-be-launched 3D-animation television series, Clone Wars.
Neither would he give details about the hand-held game that is being
developed in Singapore "from start to finish" for the global market.
Mum's the word when it comes to ideas in an industry banking on
original plots and pictures.
But Mr Kubsch believes freshness is in the brew, thanks partly to his
mini United Nations team. Of the 130 staff, "close to half" are
Singaporeans, he said. The others hail from some 30 countries,
including Argentina and the Czech Republic. And the list may lengthen
after this week's recruitment drive at CG Overdrive, to bring the
headcount to around 200 by year's end.
"The more cultural diversity you can fold into the production, the
more interesting and appealing it gets ... we all want to see stuff no
one has seen before," said Mr Kubsch, whose 20-odd years of animation
experience includes movies such as Over the Hedge and Harry Potter and
the Chamber of Secrets.
Mr Kubsch also hopes to bolster the Singaporean headcount — which is
tough to do currently. "Given that Singapore is a young market in this
business, there are very few people at the top end of the spectrum and
only some in the mid-range. So, for now, we have to fill in those
areas from abroad," he said.
Lucasfilm has been partnering polytechnics and universities here by
holding master classes and accepting interns under an industrial
attachment programme.
Some 800 students have been tapped so far.
The aim is to "shape the curriculum" to reflect specific industry
needs, said Mr Kubsch. Currently, the schools teach a broad spectrum
of skills as there are not enough companies here offering
digital-media jobs. "As a result, we're getting people coming out of
school who are generalists and who have little expertise in many
areas," said Mr Kubsch. Schools will find it more feasible to offer a
particular course when Singapore hosts more digital-media companies,
he added.
Until then, Lucasfilm is bending hiring norms by taking in fresh
graduates. "The California companies don't hire straight out of school
at all. We've actually said, no, we are going to and spend a
significant amount of resources to train people who are entry-level,"
said Mr Kubsch.
Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/entertainment/view/282916/1/.html
Diablo Movie in Development
(comingsoon.net) The official Legendary Pictures website is
listing a Diablo movie as being in development along with such
projects as World of Warcraft, Clash of the Titans and the Superman
Returns sequel.
The dark fantasy action-adventure game was released by Blizzard
Entertainment in December of 1996. Set in the fictional Kingdom of
Khanduras, Diablo has the player take control of a lone hero as he or
she battles to rid the town of Tristram of the titular Lord of Terror
and his demon minions.
An expansion pack, titled "Diablo: Hellfire," was released in 1997,
followed by a sequel, "Diablo II," in 2000.
Go Deep With The Team Behind 'Beowulf': Imageworks Pros Talk 3-D
(variety.com) At Sony Imageworks, 3-D isn't just a part-time
interest but a dedicated production pipeline. In 2005, the company
helped convert Robert Zemeckis' "The Polar Express" to 3-D, creating a
special stereoscopic version of the toon for Imax theaters. A year
later, the effects house gave "Open Season" the 3-D treatment, and now
it's wrapping work on Zemeckis' motion-capture follow-up, "Beowulf,"
due to open on nearly 1,000 digital 3-D screens this fall.
Variety sat down with three of Imageworks' 3-D pros -- exec VP Debbie
Denise (who oversees the 3-D pipeline), digital effects supervisor Rob
Engle (stereo lead on "Beowulf") and senior producer Buzz Hays -- for
a roundtable discussion about the past, present and future of the
format.
Variety: 3-D has gone through cycles of popularity before, flaring up
in the '50s and again in the '80s. With all these new 3-D movies being
produced, the real question is whether this is another fad, or is 3-D
finally here to stay?
Debbie Denise: New technology has made stereo 3-D a more viable option
for filmmakers and theater owners because it's comfortable -- you're
not looking through red-and-blue glasses that give you a headache
unless you're 7 years old. And with CG technology getting robust
enough to create these virtual worlds, it's a perfect scenario for
3-D.
Variety: On computer-animated movies, you can actually create a second
virtual eye to render the 3-D movie, but live-action requires a
special two-camera system. Has Imageworks considered crossing over to
live-action 3-D?
Buzz Hays: You can already read the press asking how many animated
films we need in a year -- we're already getting backlash about that
-- and 3-D shouldn't be limited to that. So certainly, live action's
an option. One of the problems is that everyone's waiting to see how
Jim Cameron's going (on "Avatar"), but that's two years away.
Variety: With a heavy-hitter like Cameron onboard, theaters are now
compelled to make the transition to digital. Considering that
polarized 3-D technology has been around for decades, why would anyone
have gone with the inferior experience of red-blue glasses?
Hays: It's all about cost distribution. With a red-blue (anaglyph)
movie, you can literally make a 35mm print and take it to any theater,
give out a bunch of red-blue glasses, and anybody can watch it in 3-D.
(Before digital, polarization typically required two projectors and a
special silver screen.) There is an infrastructure that is needed to
do good-quality 3-D, and the way Imax does it is literally with two
strips of 70mm film. 3-D technology in theaters has evolved over the
years. For example, back when "Dial M for Murder" came out in 1955,
they were using two-projector systems for that, and they were actually
polarizing them, but because most theaters only had two projectors,
they had to put intermissions in these very short movies.
Rob Engle: It really comes down to the availability of the theaters.
Had the Real D system (which adapts digital projectors to support
polarized 3-D releases) had as much penetration as it does now when
"Spy Kids" came out, they certainly would have released it in Real D.
Variety: On "Polar Express," Warner Bros. grossed $65 million from
Imax 3-D screens alone -- that's a pretty compelling statistic. Now
they've got competition from digital megaplexes, and people believe
3-D could be the "killer app" to drive even more conversions.
Hays: On "Monster House," the 3-D screens were grossing two to three
times (more than the standard version), and that's proved itself on
every feature since: "Open Season," "Meet the Robinsons." Basically,
what it comes down to is exhibitors still need assurances that they're
going to have product. Most of them have gone digital -- that's the
expensive hurdle -- and then the 3-D upgrade is an incremental cost.
That's why DreamWorks has already made a pronouncement that starting
in 2009, all their animated features will be in 3-D. Cameron's still a
few years out, but it's setting the tone that this is going to be
around for a while.
Engle: The other question is, will the public want to see every movie
in 3-D or not? When you go back to why people stopped going to see 3-D
movies in the past, I think it's because 3-D movies became all gags
and no content, it was all "House of Wax" stuff being jabbed in your
face. "Polar Express" was not specifically designed to be a 3-D film,
but the reason it succeeded was because (Zemeckis') sense of
composition lends itself perfectly to 3-D. As soon as you start making
a movie that is nothing but 3-D gags, then you start to turn off the
public.
Variety: It's an enhancement, just like sound, and some filmmakers
know how to use it, while others make your eardrums bleed. I have a
hard time believing that we'll reach a point anywhere in my lifetime
when we see every movie in 3-D, but I think it can be one of those
value-adds for the more spectacular films in the same way that THX was
used on selective event movies early on.
Engle: When people watch a 3-D movie, we're asking them to do
something they don't actually do in the normal world, which is to
disconnect where they're focusing -- because they're always looking at
the screen -- from where their eyes are converging. For a lot of
people that causes discomfort, and if we start to make every film in
3-D, you're actually going to turn off a reasonable percentage of your
viewing population.
Hayes: The biggest thing about 3-D is education. Very few directors
have any experience with it whatsoever, but if you get them to step
away from the video monitor for a few seconds, the whole world is 3-D.
They're so used to this little rectangular box that they've
disconnected themselves from it. It seems like a bit of a hurdle
having two cameras on set, but it's all fear of the unknown.
Variety: When it comes to visual effects, it's hard enough getting CG
to blend with live action. How do you do it when you're working in
3-D, the way Cameron is approaching "Avatar"?
Hays: You pretty much have to use the same technique for all of the
elements within a shot. If you don't, it becomes readily apparent.
Denise: Typically, in a CG feature or a live-action feature, you do
lots of cheats just to make that final frame look good, and with 3-D,
you have to go back to the rendering phase of the shot instead of
doing a composite fix.
Engle: When you're doing a film like "Beowulf" where you're simulating
humans, people have a really good idea of what looks right and what
looks wrong. It's totally different if it's a CG bear or an ant, but
people expect humans to look human and to have roundness and shape. We
really want to be sure that feels natural.
Variety: A number of companies, from Imax to In-Three, are working to
"dimensionalize" live-action movies that were shot in 2-D (for
example, Imax converted the last 20 minutes of this summer's "Harry
Potter" movie into 3-D). There's talk that George Lucas will try it
with "Star Wars." How does that work?
Hays: It's a hard thing to do, as it turns out. It's not just a matter
of slicing stuff out and moving them to various points in space. When
you're pulling apart a 2-D movie, you have to understand that 3-D
space and be faithful to it. If things are just slightly wrong in
space, it becomes hard to watch.
Denise: And motion blur is not our friend.
Engle: I don't remember who thought of doing "My Dinner with Andre" in
3-D -- the first response is to laugh, but it's perfect, lots of nice
long shots and you could sit there and just soak it in. Sure, it
wouldn't be spears in your eyes, but it would definitely be an
experience.
Variety: It would be interesting to see a non-spectacle movie in 3-D.
Hays: What really sells 3-D for all of us are the subtle aspects of
it, not the stuff that beats you over the head. When you see
"Beowulf," I think you'll be blown away by the subtle details that
just go right by you in 2-D, while in 3-D, you're sort of entranced by
it. Bob (Zemeckis) knows where your attention is going to be. He's put
a lot of his efforts into making sure that "Beo" looks great in 3-D,
and it's the little tiny details that sell it.
Denise: For instance, there's a shot where there's a foreground
character speaking, there's a background character that he's address,
but in between there's a character that has all this motivation, all
this emotion and all these questions in his eyes and in the way he's
moving, that I never noticed in the 2-D shot. I only saw it in 3-D.
Hays: The other shot is Beo talking, and the person he's talking to is
a reflection in the mirror, and again, it gives you this whole sense
now that you're here with these people and you know exactly where
everything is in the room, just based on looking at one shot, which
you can't do with 2-D.
Variety: Is there anything that frustrates you now or hasn't been
solved in terms of this 3-D puzzle?
Engle: There are a couple technological issues. One is that the medium
we're working in is really delivering two separate movies, one to the
left eye and one to the right eye, and so far there is not a delivery
means -- Real D, Imax, whatever -- that is perfect in (separating the
two pictures), which creates "crosstalk" or "ghosting." "Beowulf" is a
really good example of that. Because of the time frame it takes place
in, you don't have electric light, so it's a high-contrast movie.
Scenes with high contrast are more likely to be objectionable in 3-D.
The other issue is that we need people to start thinking about the
consequences of the choices they make in 2-D, how they're going to
affect the 3-D.
Variety: When will we reach a point where the filmmakers and
distributors say, "This is only going out in 3-D? I'm not creating a
2-D version for the other 90% of theaters that can't display 3-D."
Denise: When (producer) Steve Bing saw our 3-D "Beowulf" work, he
said, "If I could, I would only release this in 3-D." But there's not
enough theaters.
Hays: But the nice thing is that's a solvable problem. Again, it's
hard to convince exhibitors to spend that kind of money when we're all
excited about what happens this November, but what about next spring
and next summer? We have to make sure we're giving them enough reasons
to convert. Back in the days when all that revolutionary stuff was
happening, like 3-D and Sensurround, studios still controlled the
movie theaters, and they were giving their own reason to get people to
come to their theater. They didn't care about the one down the street,
so it was a very gimmick-driven thing.
Variety: By the time they convert the number of screens needed to
support a tentpole opening only in 3-D, the homevideo side may have
figured out 3-D as well. Will this be the cure for the wane of
theatrical attendance? Cameron and others are positioning this as a
reason to get people back into theaters for an experience they can't
get at home, but I see a certain fallacy in that argument.
Engle: I agree. They're making an argument that 3-D is what's going to
get people into the theaters, but at the same time, they're saying,
the home theater is going to get that technology as well. The way to
rectify that is to realize it's going to take a long time before we
have 3-D in everybody's home, and yet we can build up an
infrastructure of 3-D capable theaters right now.
Hays: The good thing for us is, because we've already done so many 3-D
pictures and we have more in mind, it gives us a chance to keep
refining all these ideas and making more and more comfortable
experiences, hopefully to the point where you don't bring up the point
that you're seeing a 3-D movie. Today, no one asks, "Are we going to
see a color movie tonight?" You're just going to see a movie.
Source: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117967069.html?categoryid=2604&cs=1
Kane Adapting The Historian
(scifi.com) Child actor-turned-writer Brad Caleb Kane will adapt
the vampire novel The Historian for the big screen for Sony, Variety
reported.
Elizabeth Kostova's first novel revolves around a young woman's search
for her father, who is on the hunt for the grave of Vlad the Impaler,
the Wallachian feudal lord who inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Kane has written the widely read script These City Walls and a draft
of the Richard Pryor biopic Live.
'Star Trek XI' Announcements Will Be Made at ComicCon
(cinematical.com) Things are apparently moving forward quickly
with Star Trek XI -- IESB.net is reporting that at the L.A. junket for
Transformers, screenwriter Roberto Orci told the roundtablers to
expect some major announcements (presumably about casting) at this
year's ComicCon. He said the casting process is going on right now,
and that some significant decisions are going to be made soon. He also
told the journalists that the film is scheduled to begin shooting in
November. Up to now, there has been nothing more than educated (and
uneducated) guesses about who could possibly lead this thing. Names
that have been bandied about include Matt Damon, Gary Sinise, Jennifer
Garner and James McAvoy, but nothing solid has developed.
The only credible info we have on the project is that it's being
produced and directed by J.J. Abrams, written by Orci and Alex
Kurtzman and will feature a storyline that revolves around the early
days of James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock. We also know that it's going to
be less geared toward traditional Star Trek fans than the previous
film series and more towards a general, 'non-Trekker' audience.
Paramount apparently has no qualms about this, given the lackluster
box-office for the recent Star Trek films. The film has a tentative
release date of Christmas Day, 2008. Finally, there's also been a
persistent rumor that the title they want to go with is, simply, Star
Trek.
For Weta Workshop Becoming Kong Takes Some Work
(The Dominion Post) In the 2005 film, Kong was a
computer- generated character. But the 2.6-metre-tall head, made by
Wellington visual effects studio Weta Workshop to the same scale as
Kong in the film, was used in some scenes so that actors had a
reference point to where the animated ape would be later added.
The free exhibition Becoming King Kong, which opens on June 29, is the
first time
Universal Studios has given permission for conceptual drawings and
paintings, videos, models and props from the film to be shown to the
public anywhere in the world.
The NewDowse collaborated with Weta Workshop and Weta Digital on the
exhibition, that will take up three floors. Universal has restricted
what can be photographed before the exhibition opens – including
efforts to sign a "photographic clearance form" – but allowed The
Dominion Post a glimpse of Kong's head.
The exhibition will run till November 18.
'Animation Faces Quality Crunch'
(business-standard.com) There exists a huge demand-supply gap
of quality animation professionals in India. With the country expected
to don the role of a major hub for animation in five years, shortage
of world-class animation professionals poses a severe challenge for
the industry.
Though scores of small-time institutes are churning out animators year
after year, most of them fall short of expectations when it comes to
quality.
Sanjeev Ramachandran speaks to Dino M Cordero, Dean, Toonz Animation
Academy, the premier animation institute backed by the
Thiruvananthapuram-based animation major Toonz Animation, on the
animation training scene and the problems before it.
The animation industry is booming. But there is a lack of quality animators?
We should react to the matter positively by reaching out to the raw
talent in India. The need is to find and nurture talent in a proper
manner.
Besides, there is a lack of industry-based institutes. The training
industry and the animation industry are disjointed.
How can the shortage of animators be addressed?
This can be effectively done by creating a pool of talent and training
them to become world-class and industry-ready animators. For this,
quality training should be imparted.
What is the state of affairs in animation training?
I would indeed term it as moving forward. The growth is slow but steady.
Animation academies seem to be coming up in dozens. Do you think they
can churn out quality professionals?
I see many institutes sprouting left and right, but most of the time
they fail. This is mainly because of the attitude that animation is
easy.
More: http://www.business-standard.com/iceworld/storypage.php?leftnm=8&subLeft=8&chklogin=N&autono=288048&tab=r
Fox Gets A Piece Of Halo
(cinemablend.com) It was a little less than a year ago that
20th Century Fox's deal with Microsoft and executive producer Peter
Jackson fell through and doomed the much anticipated Halo movie to
development hell. Now, it looks like Fox is getting back in the Halo
business. Just not necessarily the Halo movie business.
The trades are all reporting that Fox has signed a massive deal with
Microsoft and game maker Bungie to become the primary licenser for
merchandise based on Halo. That includes the games, and anything else
that might result from the franchise. Presumably that also means
movies.
With "Halo 3" soon to arrive on Xbox 360 game consoles, Fox is
planning a media blitz of Halo related products targeted at young
adults and even us soon to be irrelevant thirtysomethingers. It's
books, collectibles, clothing, the usual stuff, but I doubt anyone
reading this article actually cares about the methods Fox will use to
get even richer. The question here is: could this get the movie going
again?
The answer? Don't hold your breath. Last we heard Peter Jackson was
still pretty adamant that the movie would only be made if someone
would give him a massive pile of cash and let him use an
inexperienced, under-qualified director. Fox on the other hand seemed
pretty certain at the time that this was lunacy, and I doubt a
marketing deal will change any of that.
Still, a deal like this does draw Fox a little closer to the Halo
universe. If they own the merchandising rights to everything connected
with the movie, they stand to make even more money off a film, should
it ever happen. Maybe that extra taste will help them justify the
amount of money they'd have to risk on the project. It can't hurt.
Hollywood Special Effects Guru Builds Dream In Senoia
(content.times-herald.com) Paul Lombardi earned superstar
status in Hollywood by blowing things up. He plans to end his career
doing just the opposite: building a dream in Senoia, Georgia.
In 1988, Lombardi and his father, Academy Award-winning special
effects creator Joe Lombardi, bought 120 acres outside Senoia and
built Riverwood Studios. In the years since, Riverwood has been on a
roller coaster ride, soaring in the 1980s when Hollywood sought
cheaper production sites in Georgia and sagging to near extinction by
the late nineties.
After new Georgia tax incentives revived Riverwood two years ago,
Lombardi started courting movie producers again. But this time, the
Riverwood business plan wasn't based solely on star-struck dreams.
Lombardi and a group of partners purchased most of the available land
in Senoia's historic district and began writing a new script for
Senoia.
The Historic Senoia Project has already taken the first steps in a
comprehensive re-development of downtown Senoia and will continue
constructing infill development designed to echo the town's existing
architecture, anchored in the styles of the late 1800s and early
1900s.
It's the kind of gamble even a steel-nerved Hollywood producer would
think twice about. Lombardi doesn't doubt it for a minute.
More: http://content.times-herald.com/313781981005999.bsp
Captain America Hits the Big Screen
(thecelebritycafe.com) The superhero Captain America is being
developed into a feature film.
With the flood of superhero movies, that have been superpowers at the
box office, it is no wonder that studios relish the idea of
transforming a beloved comic book character into a box-office-smash.
Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios President of Production, knows all the
gossip and details on projects currently in development. In a recent
interview, Feige, said Captain America is in the works to become a
feature film and join the ranks of Spiderman and his friends on the
multi-million-dollar-screen. David Self is currently developing a
script for the movie and Feige hopes to find a director soon. In the
hyper-sensitive political climate the world now lives in, how is the
superhero who is a super-patriot translate?
"I certainly think we'll have to play with that. Play with Captain
America being this patriotic propaganda machine on one hand, but being
a very human Steve Rogers, interesting, fascinating hero in his own
right," The movie is going to take place in the past as well as the
present, somehow bridging the gap between the two.
Watson Confirms Role In Next Harry Potter Movie
(irishexaminer.com) Actress Emma Watson will star in the next
'Harry Potter' movie, despite rumours she was leaving the franchise.
The actress, who has played Harry's sidekick Hermione in the last five
films, has played down suggestions she wanted to leave the much loved
series - insisting she would do them for free.
Earlier this year, her co-star Rupert Grint fuelled reports she was
quitting, by saying: "Emma doesn't want to do it any more. She's tired
of being known as 'that girl from Harry Potter'."
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