Filmonic » Conan

The characters of Conan

Liam — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:47:47 +0000

The upcoming Conan movie is slowly working it’s way into production and today a casting call has found it’s way online and it contains a list of characters that will appear in the film along with details of the plot. Apparently the producers aren’t looking for a big name actor to play Conan, which is probably the best way to go.

From MovieHole:

[ CONAN ] He’s in his 20s to early 30s, Caucasian, powerfully built, broad-shouldered, sun browned skin lined with scars. Piercing blue eyes and square-cut black mane, tall. He is a savage killer that has matured into the refinement his father tried to teach him when he was young. Conan is very smart, almost inhumanly strong, and very cunning. His entire life, from the moment of his birth, has been shaped by violence. Being the last of his tribe and having to watch his father die a cruel death, he is determined avenge his peoples slaughter by killing all those who led the attack on the Cimmerians, including the all-powerful Khalar Singh. He is prepared to die in order to accomplish his goal. What Conan did not expect, was to find a reason to live? LEAD
[ TAMARA ] She is 18 to 24 years old, Caucasian or Middle Eastern, open to all ethnicities; beautiful, studious, correct, a novitiate of a Greek influenced monastery. A master of martial arts, she has been trained to be the Queen’s servant, bodyguard and best friend. She and many other female bodyguards to the queen have been in hiding most of their lives because of the curse of Acheron, which would take the queen’s life to bring almost immortal power to its king. When Khalar Singh, a powerful warlord with ambitions to become the king of Acheron, storms the monastery and captures all of the novitiates, she is separated from Ilira, the one she must protect. With all of her strength and will, Tamara is determined to find and rescue her. She finds herself in league with Conan because of a mutual need to find Khalar Singh. She is not in the least intimidated by Conan’s size or grim demeanor and their alliance eventually blossoms into something that surprises them both? LEAD

You can read the rest by clicking here!

Conan will begin filming next February in Bulgaria and will be directed by Marcus Nispel (Pathfinder). At the moment I don’t really have high hopes for this, but it’s still early days yet.

Red Sonja may start filming in 2010

Liam — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:59:00 +0000

Things have been quiet on the Red Sonja front for a while. A few posters were released last year, but then producer Robert Rodriguez and Rose McGowan split. Then they got back together, and now McGowan has taken to her Twitter account to give an update on what’s happening:

To clarify press reports: Red Sonja is delayed. I pulled out of doing it in ‘09. Not permanently. Hopefully will follow Conan.
I am still contracted to do Red Sonja. Hopefully Filming in ‘10 not ‘09

I’ll take a guess that she pulled out because of the split, however Filmonic isn’t a gossip site so I’ll leave it at that. Back in June producer Joe Gatta also said that it would probably start filming next year:

“Because of certain issues and the economy, we had to change our plan a bit,” executive producer Joe Gatta told Empire Magazine . “It’s frustrating because we thought we’d make the movie last year, before Conan.”
Even last month, Gatta explained that Sonja was going to have to wait until after production on “Conan.” As he explained to Empire: “I would say though the emphasis is on Conan [rather than Red Sonja]. It’s our crown jewel here at the company and that will be the leader. Red Sonja probably won’t happen until next year, as far as making it goes. So we want to launch Conan and reinvent the franchise.”

Out of the two i’m not exactly eager to see either film, however I’d probably take Conan over Red Sonja. I also think there are better actresses who could play the character (forget what I said about Filmonic not being a gossip site. McGown only got the part because she’s hooked up with Robert Rodriguez).

Brett Ratner no longer directing Conan

Liam — Thu, 07 May 2009 21:53:21 +0000

Empire got the chance to speak with Conan producer Joe Gatta who revealed that Brett Ratner is no longer directing the Conan reboot, and that they are currently looking for someone else to direct.

“We’re currently in the process of hiring a director,” he told us. “For the past six months we were discussing the movie with Brett Ratner, and for more timing issues than anything else we had to part ways with Brett. We all wanted him to do it, believe me; just the timing didn’t work. But you never know what can happen.”

However, having no director hasn’t stopped them from setting a start date:

“We have a potential start-date on Conan of August 24. And we’ll be shooting in Bulgaria. I would say though the emphasis is on Conan [rather than Red Sonja]. It’s our crown jewel here at the company and that will be the leader. Red Sonja probably won’t happen until next year, as far as making it goes. So we want to launch Conan and reinvent the franchise.”
As for the hiring of Conan himself, you might want to start pumping some serious iron: Gatta says that, “We’ll have an open casting call: as soon as we hire our director the search is on.”

Personally I didn’t think Ratner was the best director for the project. Whoever they eventually hire will give us a clear idea which direction they are heading. Will it be faithful gritty reboot or a commerical popcorn flick?

Weekend Linkage

Liam — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 18:14:42 +0000

Behind the scenes of Sasha Baron Cohen’s Bruno [FilmDrunk]

10 Greatest George W. Bush Moments [ScreenJunkies]

A new poster for the upcoming Street Fighter movie [ComingSoon]

Movie Mash-Ups We’d Like To See [HolyTaco]

Daniel Craig wants the next Bond to be black [DigitalSpy]

Brett Ratner is in final negotiations to direct Conan [THR]

Brett Ratner Directing Conan. Apparently

Liam — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:09:58 +0000

According to Dread Central Nu Image, the people behind the Conan remake, are threatening to put Brett Ratner in the directors chair. This is the same Brett Ratner who a few weeks ago wanted to make a Guitar Hero movie. It is also the same Brett Ratner who directs music videos for Jessica Simpson, Mariah Carey and Miley Cyrus.

We got word today that Nu Image is offering the long-awaited new Conan movie to, of all people, Brett Ratner. Over the years there have been so directors circling this project, everyone from Robert Rodriguez to Rob Zombie, the fact that Brett Ratner might actually attach himself to this and make it a reality is almost enough to make one wish they’d just stop trying to bring Robert E. Howard’s creation back to the big screen.

Lets hope this is pure lies and another director gets attached soon. (Anyone will be an improvement…anyone!)

Another Conan Teaser Poster

Liam — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:46:14 +0000

ToxicShock got a new teaser poster for Conan, which you can see below. It’s nothing much, just a boulder being impaled by a sword, which I’m pretty sure it doesn’t appreciate.

Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain are currently working on the script and Lionsgate are fast tracking the movie which is expected to be R rated.

Conan Gets Writers

Liam — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:33:58 +0000

Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain, writers of Alien vs. Viking epic Outlander, have been hired to rework the script for Conan. The writers have gone back to Howard’s original stories to create a $100 million R-rated origin film, the largest production to date for Lionsgate and Millennium.

Paradox Entertainment president and CEO Fredrik Malmberg said:

“We all want this movie to go into production as soon as possible,” Malmberg said. “It’s a fast-tracked movie. Lionsgate felt the process was enhanced by having a second team come in and do a script.”
“Fans expect (these types of movies) to be more true to the source material,” Malmberg said. “There’s no reason there couldn’t be a Conan movie every two years. He’s almost like Batman: He’s a dark hero. He’s a hard hero. He has to be badass, but we also have to like him.”

So that’s Conan, Thor, He-Man and two Hercules movies on the way. I can see why they have fast-tracked it, because I am sure people will get tired after we see 3+ movies released with huge men on steroids wielding a sword around.

Although, I suppose now is a good time to be a body-builder in Hollywood!

Movies We Can Now Look Forward To As The Writers Strike Draws To A Close!

Liam — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 19:23:05 +0000

Since the 5th November 2007 members of the Writers Guild of America have not written, typed, engraved or sprayed any words down on whatever they would normally write, type, engrave or spray on. People have lost jobs, sleep and most likely, weight, due to all the protesting instead of sat on their backends writing. But most importantly, production on some of the most anticipated movies ever have been halted.

In most cases the studios have done what they can under the circumstances, such as storyboarding, thinking and possibly scribbling down those thoughts down. But no script means no filming. So now that the writers could be back at work within days, what movies can we now look forward to?

In no particular order…

The Hobbit

Just over a month after the writers began their strike it was announced that Peter Jackson and New Line has sorted out their problems and Peter would indeed be involved with The Hobbit. As Jackson was busy with The Lovely Bones and Tintin, he would not be directing, but would be an executive producer and will have creative control, along with writing the script with Fran Walsh. It is thought that if Peter has finished with Tintin, he could then direct the second Hobbit film.

Recently Guillermo del Toro has been linked to the directors chair, with some saying he is a 100% lock, however Toro has said that even though he would love to direct, it is not certain yet. TheOneRing.net think that all will be well once the writers strike ends, and Guillermo del Toro will sit comfortably in the directors chair.

Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis, Viggo Mortensen, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood and Christopher Lee have all said they would reprise their roles should they be needed. Now that writing is no longer considered morally wrong, we will be going back to Middle Earth in 2010!

Transformers 2

With Transformers being a hit for Paramount last year, it didn’t take a robot that can change into a stereo to realise what is going to happen next. A release date of June 26th 2009 was set two months before the strike and writers of the first film , Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, were brought on-board. Then the strike happened and things were put on hold. Director Micheal Bay did what he could to try and move the production forward, even saying he was writing some of the script himself.

“We knew from early on that the writers strike could get ugly, and this has got to bring a little sanity to the situation,” Bay said. “I can’t do the movie without my writers, but I have been prepping. I’m not in the guild, but I’ve been writing every day. This strike (is) insane, and a director’s responsibility is to the 50 crew members who depend on you for their livelihoods. We’ve got battle plans ready for the possibility of an actors strike. Somehow, you’ve got to keep the ball rolling.”

Now things can start rolling forward, with Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Peter Cullen and everyone else expected to return. Its is unknown whether the June 2009 date will stick, but they can damn well aim for it!

Thor

Marvel brought Matthew Vaughn on board to direct the thunder God after he expressed interest during his X-Men 3 days. I Am Legend screenwriter Mark Protosevich was also hired and the duo embarked on a weekend writing the script and eventually handed it in to Marvel. The good news was that they loved it, the bad news was that it would cost up to $300 million to make, so Vaughn and Protosevich would have to make some changes to get it down to $150 million. A month later the strike occurred so everything was put on hold. In December Mark Protosevich spoke about the films status:

“That project is as much a passion project for me as ‘I Am Legend,’” he said. “I was a comic book kid. Thor was my absolute favorite.”
Once the writers’ strike is over, production can start and Protosevich says audiences will be “pleasantly surprised” by this interpretation of the character. It’s much more rooted in the Norse roots of the character, he says.
“There used to be a segment in the Thor comics called ‘Tales of Asgard’ — and it’s much more akin to that,” he said. “It really is set in that world. It does deal with Earth. The primary focus we’re taking on it is really all about the Norse myths.”

Marvel signed a deal with the WGA a couple of weeks back, so things may very well be happening now. Matthew Vaughn has expressed interesting in filming at the end of 2008 in the UK, and says he has someone in mind to play Thor, but wouldn’t indicate whom…

Tintin

The reason Peter Jackson wont be directing The Hobbit is due to this adventurous fellow. Jackson and Steven Spielberg have decided to make a Tintin trilogy, Jackson will direct the first movie, and Speilberg the second. But not only that it will be in 3D and they will be using similar motion capture technology to that of James Cameron’s Avatar. There is no word on who will direct the third, but that is years away so they have time to get someone. The only problem is that you have two amazing directors doing the first movies, so someone of equal greatness will have to take on the job and finish the trilogy, which will no doubt be a hard task.

In September 2007, Dr. Who writer Steven Moffat was hired to write the screenplay for the three films. Whether his Britishness helped the production as he could continue writing is unknown, but writing a trilogy would usually take someone a long time. Andy Serkis is the only cast member announced, and many suspect he will be playing Captain Haddock. Serkis has said that he has already done some work for Tintin in New Zealand, and filming is expected to begin in September.

Magneto

The X-Men Trilogy rounded up back in 2006, so FOX decided to continue the X-Men world with spin-off’s. We have X-Men Origins: Wolverine currently filming now, but what happened to Magneto?

Back in 2004 Sheldon Turner was hired to write an X-Men spin-off, which ended up being Magneto. Turner’s intent for the film was to examine Magneto’s “psychological roots”. The plot would also deal with the character’s friendship with Charles Xavier which eventually turned sour. FOX waited to get X-Men 3 out of the way and in April 2007 they announced that Blade Trinity director David S. Goyer would be directing, with a 2009 release planned.

In August, Goyer said that they were busy scouting for filming locations, possibly in Europe and Argentina, and sorting out the budget. Then in September 2007 a list of ‘priority movies’ was released, with studios wanting to fast-track some movies due to the impending strike. Magneto was listed with a January start date. However, that date came and went and Goyer is currently focused on an ‘untitled supernatural thriller’. No doubt the strike meant that he could not de re-writes and FOX decided to put the film on hold. Now the strike is over they can either wait for Goyer to finish off his other projects, or get another director on board.

Jurassic Park IV

It all started back in 2002 when screenwriter William Monahan was hired to write the first draft, with an aim of 2005 for the film’s released. Then a re-write took place in 2004 by John Sayles, which focused on a new character called Nick Harris who is hired to train five genetically modified Deinonychus as mercenaries. By April 2005 the film was still not ready, with Steven Spielberg not happy with the script, saying “He felt neither of [the drafts] balanced the science and adventure elements effectively. It’s a tough compromise to reach, as too much science will make the movie too talky, but too much adventure will make it seem hollow.”

By 2007 Sam Neil said he had not been contacted to reprise his role as Dr. Alan Grant, however Laura Dern had been contacted regarding the film, as had Richard Attenborough. Now that the strike is over they can focus on finally getting the script ready and hiring a director with Universal still aiming for a 2009 release date.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

Prince of Persia is being produced by super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who also is responsible for Pirates Of The Caribbean and is based on the video game, which follows an adventurous prince who teams up with a rival princess to stop an angry ruler from unleashing a sandstorm that could destroy the world. There were rumours floating around that Michael Bay was up for directing, however Mike Newell was eventually hired as director. Writer Jordan Mechner discussed the status of the film in January:

I wrote the first draft and several revisions over a period of about a year and a half. Two more years of development followed, in which additional revisions were done by (in this order): Jeff Nachmanoff, Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard. That sounds like a crazy number of writers, but the original screenplay structure, plot and characters have survived the whole process pretty much intact. It’s still very much the same movie John August and I pitched to Disney and Bruckheimer back in 2004 — it’s been streamlined in certain ways, souped up in others. It’s a good, solid story and I think it’ll be very satisfying on screen.
The movie is in pre-production. At this moment there’s no way to know how long the writers’ strike will last, or if the directors’ and actors’ guilds will strike as well. It’s a very insecure time for the whole industry. A lot of big movies that were set to go, now aren’t. I was really hoping that Mike Newell would be the one to direct this movie and I was ecstatic when he agreed, but it was bittersweet because I only had about 24 hours to rejoice before the writers’ strike began.
I support my guild and the writers’ cause, so until the strike is resolved I can’t meet with Newell and the Bruckheimer execs or contribute further to the development of the movie. It’s frustrating because I’ve been dreaming of a Prince of Persia movie, basically, for 20 years, and now at this key moment when the project has finally found the right director and he’s brimming with enthusiasm and excitement, I can’t even meet with him.

The film is aiming to start filming in June for a 2009 release date. It would be mighty useful to complete the script and hire some actors before then.

Venom/Spiderman 4

The greedy bastards at Sony have apparently got three more Spiderman films lined up for us, after the Trilogy took in nearly $2.5 billion worldwide. Director Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst have said that they would return if each other did, but it is for Sony and Marvel to decide whether they go in a complete new direction, or whether they carry on from Spiderman 3. Sony hired Spiderman writer David Koepp to write a script in January 2007. In October 2007, Raimi said that he and the studio were looking for a new writer that would have a brand new take on the Spider-Man series. Raimi would relinquish creative control of the sequel’s story and focus on either directing or producing the script. Zodiac screenwriter James Vanderbilt was eventually hired and spoke about writing and the strike.

“It’s sort of an odd process because you’re sitting down with the people who made the first three and going, ‘Well let me tell you what to do.’
“But I was lucky enough that they were interested in me and I’m a huge fan of those movies, so we closed that up right before the strike. Once the strike’s over I get to go to work,” he added.

There are also reports that producer Avi Arad spoke about making a movie based on the Spiderman 3 villain Venom. Apparently a number of ‘A-List’ writers have met with the studio to discuss the project, and will probably get down to work once the strike comes to an end.

World of WarCraft

WarCraft began is 1994 and has since become a gaming phenomenon with over 9 million people playing worldwide and over 15 million minutes of the game being played every day. However, the gamers shouldn’t expect storylines from the game being translated to the big screen as Blizzard feel it be too similar to Lord of The Rings. Instead, the storyline will follow events before the first World of WarCraft game as tensions between all of the different races of the universe grow, which will result in battles similar to those seen in 300, Braveheart and Alexander.

Legendary Pictures are aiming for an epic action movie that will be around 2 hours 30 minutes but as of now no director has been announced and the strike prevented the script from being developed. Designers of the game were collaborating with Legendary Pictures on the story and script and want someone of Zack Snyder calibre directing, which will hopefully please the gaming community.

Honourable mentions go to Justice League, Fantastic Four 3, Conan The Barbarian, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, Angels & Demons and all of the other movies that can now develop thanks to a deal being struck!

The Writers Strike Is Officially Over!

Liam — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 17:16:15 +0000

Its official. After nearly 4 months of strike action, the WGA have struck a deal. The WGA West board of directors and the WGA East Council will meet Sunday to formally endorse the contract. And writers could be back at work as early as Monday, depending on whether the WGA’s ruling bodies decide whether to end the three-month strike at those Sunday meetings. You can read all of the details, including a letter from WGAE President Michael Winship and WGAW President Patric M. Verrone to the WGA members announcing the tentative deal, over at Variety and ComingSoon. Here is a excerpt:

To Our Fellow Members,
We have a tentative deal.
It is an agreement that protects a future in which the Internet becomes the primary means of both content creation and delivery. It creates formulas for revenue-based residuals in new media, provides access to deals and financial data to help us evaluate and enforce those formulas, and establishes the principle that, “When they get paid, we get paid.”
Specific terms of the agreement are described in the summary on our website and will be further discussed at our Saturday membership meetings on both coasts. At those meetings we will also discuss how we will proceed regarding ratification of this agreement and lifting the restraining order that ends the strike.

So what movies can now be made now the strike is over?

Transformers 2, The Hobbit, Thor, Tintin, Magneto, Conan, Jurassic Park 4, Justice League and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time to name a few. There is also a possibility that Fantastic Four 3, Cloverfield 2 and Pirates 4 could begin work. Spiderman 4’s script has been put on hold so screenwriter James Vanderbilt can continue and it is likely that Terminator Salvation will go through a re-write. There are probably quite a few other movies that can now begin to roll forward thanks to the strike ending.

Lets hope the writers are back to work on Monday!

Small Updates: Conan, Jumper, WALL-E and Narnia!

Liam — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:44:50 +0000

Bloody Disgusting says they have “confirmed 100% that Rob Zombie has been taking meetings with Lionsgate and Nu Image to get behind the director’s chair for their upcoming Conan film.” If this turns out to be true, expect lots of blood, gore and a much darker Conan than we may have seen before.

An extended Jumper scene has appeared online and can be seen over at Yahoo!

An international trailer for WALL-E has popped up over at Empire. We get to see more of WALL-E, along with a whole new character and we finally get to see more of the plot line. Check it out here.

NarniaWeb received word that filming for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will start filming this summer, to be released in May 2009. Producer Mark Johnson said “As long as the Narnia movies keep succeeding and I don’t make a big mistake, I will continue doing them.”