Random News of the Week (July 21 - July 27, 2008)

The Y: THE LAST MAN film adaptation of the great comic series is on the fast track. The script is expected to be given to the studio in the next week or so. Supposedly, the story is being envisioned as a trilogy. There are certainly enough cliff hangers in the books to use as story points in the films. The "Beth" back story will be downplayed according to Caruso (screenwriter). Shia Lebouf is still planning on playing the main character, Yorick.

Playtone, the production company behind WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE says they are still comitted to trying to bring Spike Jonze vision exactly as he intended to screen (despite the current troubles with the project and the studio's concerns with it).

Ian McKellen is confirmed to be reprising his role as Gandalf in THE HOBBIT. He hasn't signed a contract yet but says that they have every intention of using him.

Tim Burton has found his Alice for his upcoming ALICE IN WONDERLAND live action film for Disney. Her name is Mia Wasikowska and she is an Australian actress with most of her acting credits in numerous TV shows.

The new NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET film for New Line has a writer now. Wesley Strick (CAPE FEAR, DOOM, THE SAINT) has been hired to write a script that will keep to the high school setting of the other films but delve more into the backstory of Krueger himself as well as the psychology of dreams.

Want to know what Alan Moore (the writer of the Watchmen book) thinks of the new WATCHMEN film? Moore did an interview with Entertainment Weekly and had this to say "I know that that's not what people going in to see a film like 300 are thinking about but...I wasn't impressed with that.... I talked to [director] Terry Gilliam in the '80s, and he asked me how I would make Watchmen into a film. I said, ''Well actually, Terry, if anybody asked me, I would have said, 'I wouldn't.''' And I think that Terry [who aborted his attempted adaptation of the book] eventually came to agree with me. There are things that we did with Watchmen that could only work in a comic, and were indeed designed to show off things that other media can't." You can read the entire article here: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20213004,00.html.

After DUNE, Peter Berg's (FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, THE KINGDOM, THE RUNDOWN) planning to direct an adaptation of the comic series HERCULES: THE THRACIAN WARS.

Brett Ratner (RUSH HOUR, X-MEN 3) is rumored to be in the runnings to direct a big screen version of the popular video game GOD OF WAR.

A few updates from director McG about TERMINATOR SALVATION came out this week. We've already seen the lame teaser that is running in front of DARK KNIGHT reels that basically gives no information or even excitement about the series so far. Now, a few more tidbits are out. According to McG, "The story of the movie is the 'brink moment' Reese always talked about". "From a technical perspective, we have set out to achieve a completely new visual style that hasn't been seen before. We're shooting the film on color stock but are using a method inspired by the Oz process which was developed at Technicolor by Mike Zacharia and Bob Olson. Basically we are adding three times as much silver. It creates a surreal texture that is in keeping with the notion of the entire picture - feeling detached from the world we know today." "Every morning and every night Christian and I work on the story. Sam's contribution has been excellent. We are committed to putting the story and character first and then supplementing that with action and visual effects. It is our intention to make a film on a large scale with the nuance and subtext of a high quality independent picture."

A few tidbits came out this week about the possibility of an INCREDIBLE HULK sequel. According to director Leterrier, he does not think a sequel will be likely because the movie did poorly in the overall box office and because the story of Hulk's "anger management" issues gets tiresome. He is sure that Hulk will make an appearance in the AVENGERS movie even if Ed Norton is not contractually bound to it.

Writer David Self (ROAD TO PERDITION, THE WOLF MAN) will be writing the Darren Aronofsky directed version of ROBOCOP. MGM plans the budget to be around $100 million and it is due for a 2010 release.

The famous TV show Siskel and Ebert, which later became Ebert and Roeper has now officially been cancelled. The studio is said to be taking the show "in a new direction." Ebert has said he still retains the rights to the "thumbs" though and is planning to use the thumbs in his own way.

A TOP GUN sequel may be in the works. Supposedly, Tom Cruise has been asked to reprise his role as Maverick. This time, he would play Maverick who is now much older and the instructor at the Top Gun school. Of course, as the cliché goes, it is his turn to have to deal with a cocky new pilot who is also a female.

Hugh Jackman talked about the upcoming WOLVERINE this week. He calls the film "action-packed and bad ass!" and says that we will see a lot of "berserker rage."

Bryan Singer (SUPERMAN RETURNS, X-MEN 1 & 2) is in talks to produce a WB superhero film called CAPESHOOTERS. It is based on a yet unpublished graphic novel about two losers who take amateur film of super heroes. They are on the run after they find some evidence that a famous superhero is actually evil.