Filmonic » Steven Spielberg

More details on Hugh Jackman’s robot boxing movie

Liam — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:45:52 +0000

While on the rounds promoting the DVD for Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian director Shawn Levy was asked about Real Steel, a sci-fi film that would see Hugh Jackman boxing Rocky-style against robots.

From Sci-Fi Wire:

“Hugh Jackman plays a former boxer who can therefore no longer do the only thing he was ever good at and has to make his way in this new world,” Levy said in an exclusive interview. “It’s faithful to the story in that that story was very much about a down-on-his-luck, slightly desperate journeyman who works in this robot boxing sport and who is desperately needing redemption and one last shot. The movie is more Rocky than Transformers.”
Levy has not cast the main character’s son yet but has a good idea about the robots. “They are most definitely not Transformers, not Terminators, definitely not WALL-Es, either,” Levy said. “Unlike a lot of these others, these are human-built, human-scale fighting machines. They are built for human spectacle. People in this movie have gotten bored with human carnage and human violence. So in the quest for more, more, more, this sport has evolved to this.”

According to Levy Steven Spielberg offered him the movie and after directing a bunch of comedies he wanted to do something different, so he accepted. I would gladly see the movie just based on the plot. The last time I saw robots boxing was in an episode of Futurama, and I wanted more!

Joe Johnston talks Jurassic Park 4

Liam — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:18:11 +0000

For years there has been talk of a Jurassic Park 4, however it has never moved out of the development/scripting stage. In the past we have heard rumours of it revolving around the extinction, and another about dinosaurs with guns attached to them, however it seems those ideas have been scrapped.

While promoting The Wolfman Jurassic Park III director Joe Johnston spoke about a possible return to the franchise:

Joe Johnston: Well, there is a great story for the fourth one that I would be interested in getting involved with and it’s nothing like the first three. It sort of takes the franchise off in a completely different direction, which is the only way I would want to get involved.
Harry: Another movie about a group of people struggling to survive a dinosaur attack is…
Joe Johnston: We’ve done that and it’s been done three times and I figure it’s…
Harry: Stay away from that island. Don’t go there!
Joe Johnston: Why would anybody go back to that island? It was hard enough to figure out the second and third reason for them to go, but it would take it off in a whole other trilogy basically, but when it gets to that level it’s sort of about studios and Steven’s thing and who knows. I think we are at that point where we are due for another one if we are going to do it. They had what four years between them? 1992… 1996 or 1997, and then 2001, so we are past due. I don’t know, but we will see.

We haven’t had a good dinosaur movie in years, so I would welcome a Jurassic Park 4 with open claws. No silly dinosaurs with guns though. I’m glad that script didn’t get the greenlight.

Nick Frost talks Paul and Tintin

Liam — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:27:19 +0000

ComingSoon.net recently caught up with Nick Frost and he spoke about two films I can’t wait to see. Paul is his third outing with Simon Pegg after Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, and will follow the duo travelling across the U.S. after Comic Con. During their adventure they encounter an alien called Paul outside Area 51, who will sound a lot like Seth Rogen.

During the interview, Frost discussed how difficult the movie’s filming had been. “Any shot that Paul was in, we had to do him with no-one there, then with a little fella wearing a green suit, then a kid with a mask on, then a man holding a grey ball, then a lighting puppet, then ‘Mr. Eyes,’ which is a stick with eyes on it. Then nothing. Then red lights, which was our eye-line.”

Frost also commented on The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn which will see him team up with Simon Pegg once again, however this time they will be fully CG in the form of twins Thompson and Thompson.

Asked how that compared to the entirely CG animated The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, the first of two “Tintin” movies directed by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, respectively, Frost told us, “‘Tintin’ was weird enough. At least with ‘Tintin’ everyone’s there. Everyone’s on the set and you’re acting with real people”.
This led to an anecdote about how Spielberg came to be involved with the “Tintin” franchise. According to Frost, Spielberg had originally been made aware of “Tintin” during the publicity tour for the original “Indiana Jones” film. Various members of the press had compared Jones to Tintin, which inspired Spielberg to research the character, and eventually purchase the rights.

Paul hasn’t received an official release date yet, however it will be out sometime in 2010. Tintin on the other hand has a release date of December 2011, which is long time for us to wait!

Sean Connery Back For Indy 5?

Dave — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:59:18 +0000

The state of the fifth Indiana Jones movie is still something of a mystery. In the sense that we know it’s happening and that the story probably exists on one of George Lucas’ laptops somewhere. The most recent update we received was from Harrison Ford who suggested that the MacGuffin has been settled on and a script might possibly exist.

Now, from Ireland Online – complete with all the grains of salt this source comes with – is suggesting that Indy 5 might bring Sean Connery out of retirement:

The 79-year-old actor turned down the chance to reprise his role as the father of the daredevil archaeologist in last movie ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’, and the script hinted his character Professor Henry Jones had passed away.
However, creators on the next movie, the fifth in the hugely successful franchise, are planning to bring Henry back.
A source said: “Steven Spielberg has been working on a script with George Lucas and there is an element of the story that could see Sean returning. Anything is possible in these movies and if Sean wants to return he will become central to the new story.”

Central to the new story, you say? ZOMBIES!, says I. Zombie Henry Jones could be the next fridge to be nuked.

Will Robert Downey Jr. befriend a 6ft tall invisible rabbit?

Liam — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:42:05 +0000

In an article from Variety about Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln movie (which he still plans to make) is this small nugget of news:

Spielberg is presently focusing on his “reimagining” of “Harvey,” with Robert Downey Jr. possibly playing the man who sees an invisible rabbit.

We heard last month that Harvey would be Spielberg’s next movie, however we haven’t heard any more details, and this is the first time we’ve heard any news on casting since Tom Hanks said he wouldn’t be taking on the role. If Downey Jr. does join the movie we should have confirmation soon as Spielberg aims to begin production early next year.

Harvey is the story of an amiable eccentric, Elwood P. Dowd, and his friendship with a six and a half feet tall invisible rabbit and how this affects every member of his family and his community.

Transformers 3 meetings taking place this week

Liam — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:40:43 +0000

Today a post appeared on Michael Bay’s official website that updated us on a few of his upcoming films: Transformers 3, Pain & Gain, and Bay Boys 3.

I spoke to Michael today and he had a little update on his future projects:
- He will be meeting later this week with Steven Spielberg, and Ehren Kruger to discuss ideas for Transformers 3. By the end of the week he should have an idea if Transformers 3 will hit your local cineplex in the summer of 2011 or 2012.
- In the meantime “Pain & Gain” is looking very possible as is Bad Boys 3. Either film coming to a theater near you before or after Transformers 3.

Around the time Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen came out Bay said that he “would like to take a year off” from robots and wanted to make a small movie before he heads back to the CGI explosion that is Transformers. He described the smaller film as a “dark comedy” that will be an adaptation of a Miami New Times article from 1999 called “Pain & Gain”. The true story is about a couple of steroid-abusing knucklehead bodybuilders from Florida who become criminals involved in an extortion ring and a a kidnapping plot that all goes horribly wrong.

Steven Spielberg to make a Pirate movie

Liam — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:29:16 +0000

After the success of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise I am surprised that nobody else has tried to make their own pirate adventure. The Lord of the Rings trilogy spawned more fantasy movies, superhero movies spawned even more superhero movies, but Pirates of the Caribbean seems to have taken up the whole pirate genre for itself. Until now that is. According to USA Today Steven Spielberg is developing a film based on the novel Pirate Latitudes by the late Michael Crichton.

The men who brought dinosaurs back to life in Jurassic Park are teaming up again, though it’s a bittersweet reunion since one of them is no longer here. Spielberg plans to produce and is considering directing. Screenwriter David Koepp, who adapted Crichton’s novels for Jurassic Park and its sequel The Lost World, also has signed on to create the script. DreamWorks Studios describes the novel, set for release Nov. 24, as the story of “a daring plan to infiltrate Port Royal, one of the world’s richest and most notorious cities, and raid a Spanish galleon filled with treasure.”
“It’s a mission movie, and we see it through the prism of what it might have been like to live on the island during that time,” says Stacey Snider, Spielberg’s partner in DreamWorks and the company’s co-chair and CEO.
“Anything that Michael wrote, Steven would be keenly interested to read. But without Michael knowing it, or even me knowing it, it turns out Steven always wanted to direct his own pirate film.”
Coincidentally, DreamWorks is beginning a new distribution deal with The Walt Disney Co., which rejuvenated this genre with Johnny Depp and the Pirates of the Caribbean films, another of which is planned for 2011. Snider says these swashbuckling movies won’t clash because Pirate Latitudes will be more grounded in reality, as opposed to the supernatural fantasy of the Disney films. “We would only pursue this if it was wonderful in its own way, and didn’t interfere with their films,” she says.

The Pirates of the Caribbean films are fun, enjoyable rides, however I’ve always wondered what a pirate movie would be like if it took a more serious route, and this may be what I’ve been waiting for. From the looks of things the film will take a few years before it gets wind in it’s sails, but I will be following it with interest.

Go See District 9

Dave — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:44:43 +0000

District 9 is the kind of science fiction we deserve. The main character is a spineless racist who is only really concerned with his own well-being and the love of his wife, the plot takes logical steps to elevate the situation towards an action-packed climax, but the whole ordeal grows out of a classic aliens-as-metaphor conceit.

Best of all, the flick doesn’t feel like it’s pulling any punches or taking any leaps of faith to trick you into liking it. It’s a bold debut film and, with the exception of Duncan Jones’ Moon, the only science fiction film that feels like it’s ready to join the family of classics without depending on becoming a box office smash over a few weeks. District 9 might be my favorite movie of the year thus far, and I don’t want to spoil the experience I had by blowing the film’s wad in plot description and details.

That being said…

Decades ago, an alien ship appeared over Johannesburg, South Africa. It stopped and hovered until the inhabitants of Earth finally cut through its hull, revealing malnourished and starving aliens living in their own filth. It seems that the leadership of the race had died and the remaining aliens, dubbed “prawns” because of their lobster/grasshopper like appearance, we stranded here.

As part of a seemingly philanthropic gesture, the prawns were moved to District 9 in South Africa where they have lived until present day. District 9 has become a slum and the residents of Johannesburg are less than thrilled with their extraterrestrial neighbors. The aliens have brought weaponry, though it’s mostly been confiscated and cannot be operated by any non-alien due to DNA recognition technology that is beyond our understanding. What weapons are left are quickly gobbled up by Nigerian slum-lords who run District 9’s black market and crime syndicate (including prostitution, which – thank God – we never have to watch).

Finally, public uproar is heard and MNU, a faceless bureaucratic company combined with a Blackwater like militia, is charged with evicting the residents of District 9 and moving them to a new camp with a more organize, concentration camp feel. Put in charge of this operation is Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley), a character who initially looks better suited to be guest-starring on the British incarnation of The Office than running this sort of large-scale, possibly illegal operation.

Wikus burns prawn babies and finds some illegal caches of weapons…and something else.

What happens to Wikus kicks the story off running and the fauxumentary look of the beginning of the film, complete with expert interviews, melts away so we can follow some amazing action set pieces and CGI aliens with hand-held, in the moment action beats. When everything finally simmers down, we get a coda in the documentary style, bookending an intimate experience with wide-world implications.

This is the debut film from Neill Blomkamp, the fine young gentleman who was all ready to direct the Halo movie before that fell apart (now that responsibility lies with Steven Spielberg), and it shows. The action is frenetic and full of tech, the camera is occasionally mounted to soldiers as they spin around corners, guns ready and some of the alien weaponry looks like a video game made manifest. I’m so sad Blomkamp says he won’t do Halo. His prepping for the movie shows, and his series of three Halo live-action shorts titled “Arms Race” have a lot of similar looking action to District 9.

Although it gets dangerously close to spoilers, I will only say that District 9 does leave room for a sequel, but I really hope no one thinks that’s a good idea. A $30 million dollar debut feature has been executed about as well as anyone could, and – like classic science fiction before it – all of our questions don’t need to be answered, they just need to be asked.

District 9 is amazing and because the joy of discovering it is part of the magic, this review is mediocre. Go see it when you can, then I would suggest THIS All Things Fan Girl article for your post-D9 reading.

Microsoft says Halo is still on hold

Liam — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:38:27 +0000

Over the weekend we heard that Steven Spielberg may have signed up to produce Halo: Fall of Reach, based on the script by G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra writer Stuart Beattie. Fans of the game were probably welcomed this development considering the Halo movie has been dead ever since everything fell apart a few years ago. Plus it’s Steven Spielberg. However, gaming site Kotaku decided to ask Microsoft whether there was any truth to this, and while that didn’t deny anything, they said that the movie is still “on hold”.

We’re glad there’s still a lot of enthusiasm in the entertainment industry surrounding the idea of a Halo movie. That said, the Halo feature film remains on hold as we focus on projects like Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach.

I hope that Steven Spielberg has decided to produce and that this isn’t just someone jumping the gun, however even if Spielberg was on-board Microsoft probably wouldn’t have announced it anyway, as the deals may not be complete. Hopefully if there are developments we will hear about them in the upcoming weeks and months.

Steven Spielberg producing Halo: The Fall of Reach

Liam — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 12:56:06 +0000

District 9 is released next week and is director Neill Blomkamp’s first feature film, however if 20th Century Fox and Universal didn’t pull the plug his first big film could have been a movie adaptation of the game Halo. Peter Jackson was producing and his special effects company WETA were working on the effects, however the studios didn’t want to take a risk with the first time director. Blomkamp recently spoke to MTV about his time working on the film, and confirmed that it was dead:

“It’s completely and utterly dead,” he said, with a small, wistful grin. “‘Halo’ is a really tough one for me… it keeps coming up.” Not terribly surprising, considering how passionate and loyal the gamer fanbase — and the “Halo” fanbase in particular — tends to be.
“It’s tough because I spent five months working on it, like 24 hours a day. Not only because it was my first film and I had an opportunity to try and, you know, make the best film I could make, but I loved the creative environments of ‘Halo’ so much,” he said. “The whole universe is incredibly compelling.”

Even though that particular Halo project wasn’t moving forward writer Stuart Beattie (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) who is a fan of the game decided to write a ’spec script’, which is basically a script he didn’t get paid for and which he will be presenting to movie studios in the hope that it will get a greenlight. The title of the script was Halo: Fall of Reach. Last year Latino Review read and reviewed the script and has this to say:

The script is, first and foremost, a character-driven story about a soldier named John who was kidnapped or “conscripted” by the UNSC when he was just six years old, and then brutally trained to become an elite Spartan warrior known as Master Chief 117.
The script then takes us through the horrific first contact with the Covenant hordes on the doomed colony world of Harvest, and then climaxes with the spectacular fall of the UNSC forward base on Reach, during which every other Spartan is slaughtered.

Now according to IESB a producer and director who goes by the name of Steven Spielberg is currently in active negotiations to develop the film based on Stuart Beattie’s script.

Spielberg is blown away by writer Stuart Beattie’s take on the game in his script entitled HALO THE FALL OF REACH. This coupled with the fact that his Dreamworks umbrella is looking for a big tent pole to help launch their newly independant studio with distribution over at Walt Disney Pictures after losing Transformers to Paramount in the separation, it’s the perfect combination.
Word is CAA, who rep both Spielberg and Beattie, is pushing these negotiations heavily.

If these negotiations work out well we could be getting a Steven Spielberg produced Halo film. There is also the possibility that Spielberg could get Peter Jackson back on-board seeing as though both he and Jackson are working on Tintin together. If things work out the big question will be who they get to direct. Any Halo fans out there have a dream Halo director in mind?