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Jackson, Del Toro Will Write 'The Hobbit'

I can't say this is terribly surprising: Peter Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro have decided to pen the script for the Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit themselves instead of hiring outside writers for the job.

Jackson, of course, directed the record-shattering trilogy and will produce both Hobbit movies. Del Toro is slated to direct the two new film entries into Tolkien lore. The pair will get help from Fran Walsh (Mrs. Jackson) and Philippa Boyens, both of whom worked with Jackson on the LOTR screenplays.

Curiously, Jackson and Del Toro had put out feelers for the better part of a year to find new writers, even though both directors commonly write their own original scripts and adaptations. I can't possibly imagine that they both thought they'd be more comfortable working from someone else's material; in a way, I'm still a little surprised Jackson didn't want to direct The Hobbit himself, not that Del Toro is a huge step down or anything.

With that obstacle out of the way, the filmmakers will start manipulating the script in earnest with an estimated production date of late 2009. The Hobbit is scheduled to roll out in 2011, with the sequel following the next year.

Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 05:04PM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , , , , | CommentsPost a Comment

Red Band Trailer - Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz Heat Up 'Elegy'

elegey-movie-poster2.jpgIn general, I don't think Philip Roth novels transfer very well to the screen. Certainly, anyone who sat through Portnoy's Complaint had complaints of his or her own, and most recently, The Human Stain was spun from a Roth book, and that didn't end very well, either.

And while it's a risky proposition to put too much weight into a trailer, Elegy looks like an entirely different situation. It's based on the novel The Dying Animal, and even though Ben Kingsley has kind of been all over the road in the past few years (he's popped up in everything from Sexy Beast and The Wackness to Suspect Zero and The Love Guru), it appears that he's giving the kind of thoughtful, intelligent, weathered performances he can be so good at.

Penelope Cruz also looks up to snuff here, and she's usually not very good when she has to speak English. That's not really a criticism, though, because in the Almodovar movies, she's perfectly fine.

I first became aware of what this movie was when I saw the posters above earlier this summer. But, knowing it was Philip Roth, I was skeptical. Today, with the unveiling of this new Red Band trailer, I'm a little relieved and excited: This looks pretty damn good.

As always, Red Band trailers are the not safe for work variety, and since they're unrated, they are intended for mature audiences. 

Elegy has already been released in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. It will open in about 15 cities this Friday, with more to follow in September. Check out the official website for more release date info. And many thanks to Trailer Addict for the Red Band.

Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 02:29PM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , , | CommentsPost a Comment

Director, Studio Head Reportedly Clash Over 'Wolverine'

That's funny: We were just talking about the dark tone of superhero movies and how it fits today's moviegoing audience better than indestructible saves-the-day types (think Batman vs. Superman), and now there's a rumor that Fox brass and X-Men Origins: Wolverine director Gavin Hood are having some disagreements over the mood of one of next summer's big tickets.

Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere is reporting that Hood and Fox CEO Tom Rothman don't share the same instincts when it comes to Wolverine. Case in point: Apparently, a huge set was constructed for the film and it was designed to be "dark, dingy, and somber" to fit the palette Hood was creating. While the director was away from the set, it was repainted with brighter colors and looked a lot more like the vision Rothman is said to have for the movie.

Uh-oh, Spaghetti-Ohs.

Wells acknowledges that the full story is probably not as cut and dry as the report, although that's certainly not the first case of a studio chief imposing his will on a pet project as he sees fit. Who knows what kind of behind-the-scenes conversations Hood and the studio have had. Perhaps the director had already agreed to brighten up the set and upon seeing that it hadn't been done, Rothman made an executive decision.

Having seen the very good teaser trailer and knowing more about Wolverine than I do almost any other comic book character, Hood's vision is more correct. I wonder why, as a studio chief, you'd hire a guy who understands that character and can give you a pretty accurate and artistic interpretation of him if what you really want is a Michael Bay movie.

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Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 11:15AM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , , | CommentsPost a Comment

'Transformers': Revenge of the Fakers

Last week, we were the first to bring you the phony but exceptional Dark Knight Returns poster featuring The Riddler. There's plenty of evidence to suggest that it was fan made, but still, it's quite the poster and quite the rumor starter.

Now we have fakes for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. G4 got its hands on them yesterday. It might be a little tougher to dismiss these, since the movie is less than a year away and we've already seen a Terminator Salvation poster, but the studio confirms these aren't real. Don't love the first one. Do love the second one.

You know, we talk about marketing a lot, and when we're dealing with movies as huge as The Dark Knight and Transformers, marketing is crucial to their success. I'm not as big on viral video as everyone else, because as soon as you categorize your marketing angle as "viral," it's suddenly not viral. But I can't think of a better way to generate the sort of widespread reaction to your movie than to just let these fan-made posters (and trailers, too) do the work for you. If I were the DreamWorks, I wouldn't have said a word about these posters, just as Warner and DC haven't made any comment about The Dark Knight Returns.

And if DreamWorks can't top the second poster in this set, then shouldn't they use it for reals?

Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 09:56AM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , | Comments1 Comment

Warner Bros., DC Comics Look to the Future of Superman and Batman

When it comes to comic book supremacy at the box office, it's still pretty clear that Marvel has done a better job manufacturing hits than has its rival, DC Comics. Even with the towering success of The Dark Knight, there have only been four DC films to ever gross over $200 million in the U.S., and two of those feature Batman and the Joker. Marvel, on the other hand, has four franchises that have posted a total of seven $200 million flicks since 1997, in the form of Spider-Man, X-Men, Men in Black, and Iron Man.

There has been some question for a while about what DC Comics will do moving forward; Superman Returns was not what everyone thought it could be, and that franchise may now be in for another retooling. Anne Thompson at Variety says that Warner Bros., which has enjoyed all of this Batman success, may want to similarly freshen up The Man of Steel. "Today I was told that it is a priority at the studio to find the right direction and if Bryan Singer is willing to do that, fine, but if he gets in the way, he may not stay on the project," reports Thompson. She also reveals that there are currently no writers attached to the project.

I'll say it now so I don't have to put up with a dozen comments later: What about Kevin Smith's script?

There. Happy?

Anyway, the point is Warner Bros. may want to take a mulligan on Superman, the same way Marvel did with The Hulk. Although you'd have a hard time convincing anyone that the New Coke version of the Hulk made a noticeably deeper impression with audiences.

Do you find it surprising that they can't figure out what to do with Superman? I don't.

I've been of the opinion since seeing the Bryan Singer flick that Superman is just not a contemporary hero. We don't like superhumans, or super-Kryptonians, or whatever the hell you want to call Clark Kent's alter-ego. We like 'em real, flawed, and dark these days. And Superman is not those things. His weakness is a rock. On the plus side, he can reverse the rotation of the planet. See? We don't respond as well to God in a cape as we used to.

Yes, there are dark corners in the DC canon for Superman to pursue, but will that please enough people? Maybe it's just best if DC bides its time with Superman and searches for another more complicated hero instead.

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Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 12:46AM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , , , , , | Comments7 Comments
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