Random News of the Week (November 10 - November 15, 2008)

In the most bizarre news I’ve heard all week, Ridley Scott is now set to direct a big screen adaption of the famous Parker Bros. game MONOPOLY. At first when I heard this, I figured that Ridley was reaching into his “THELMA AND LOUISE bag of tricks” to do this one for paycheck only. But now we find out that he plans to do the film with “an eye toward giving it a futuristic sheen along the lines of his iconic BLADE RUNNER.” Say what?

Clint Eastwood is set to direct HEREAFTER. Peter Morgan (THE QUEEN) wrote the script. The story details are being kept under wraps but the film is said to be in the vein of THE SIXTH SENSE.

Danny Boyle may be coming back to the 28 DAYS LATER series. The script for 28 MONTHS LATER is almost completed. He says, "I'd certainly like to. I feel the idea is quite a strong idea, and it could well involve me directing it. Yeah, absolutely."

McG (TERMINATOR SALVATION) is said to be attached to direct the proposed WONDER WOMAN film for Warner Bros. Not sure about that because I haven’t seen him pull off TERMINATOR yet. What’s worse is that Beyonce is actively campaigning for the lead role. She has even met with Warner Bros. about it.

Joe Johnston has been hired to direct FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA. It is set for a 2011 release date. Marvel president Kevin Feige says, “ This is a guy who designed the vehicles for 'Star Wars,' who storyboarded the convoy action sequence for 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' " Feige said. "From 'Rocketeer' to 'October Sky' to 'The Wolfman,' you can look at pieces of his movies and see how they lead to this one.”

THE DARK KNIGHT is close to hitting $1 billion worldwide box office. Bad news came out this week though on the Oscar front. Hans Zimmer and company have been disqualified for the musical score Oscar because the film’s music was done as more of a collaboration between 5 individuals. The rules state that a maximum of 2 people must be responsible for more than 70% of the overall score of the film in order to qualify as a possible nominee.

Marc Forster (QUANTUM OF SOLACE) is set to direct the adaptation of WORD WAR Z. Yet another flesh eating zombie outbreak film about the end of the world. The book is a collection of first person accounts of people as they deal with the situation including political ramifications and personal on a world-wide scale.

The Wayans brothers almost have a script completed for their remake of THE MUNSTERS as a feature length film. Described as a modern-day reboot of the classic characters, the Wayans themselves will not be acting in the film (at best a cameo) - "We're not gonna make The Munsters black all of a sudden. They're gonna be green, white people just like they were in the TV show. Their characters are still who they were in the '50s. It's just in modern day" says Shawn Wayans.

A remake of THE KARATE KID is planned with Will Smith’s son Jaden taking on the role of Daniel made famous by Ralph Macchio. The remake will be set in Bejing this time. I wonder if they could get Macchio to come back and play the Mr. Miyagi character?

First we heard that Ratner was a guaranteed lock to direct the new CONAN reboot. Now we find out from Ratner himself, “"Let me make this very clear," he told me. "I am not doing 'Conan' now. This is totally premature. For now, 'Conan' is only a development deal. I have a deal at Paramount and I'm doing 'Beverly Hills Cop' first, no matter what. Avi shouldn't be telling you or anyone else in the press what I'm doing." Sounds like his heart is first and foremost on BEVERLY HILLS COP 4 which is much more up his alley anyway.

A synopsis for the MAGNETO spin-off film indicates that Professor X plays a key role - "That character was a soldier in the allied force that liberated the concentration camps. The professor meets Magneto after the war and while they bond over the realisation that they are alike in their special powers, their differences soon turn them into enemies.

The Sony Animation film adaptation of the popular 80's cartoon "The Smurfs" will come out December 17th 2010. The project, which will mix CGI animation and live-action segments, will likely have to face Disney Animation's "Rapunzel" due sometime around Christmas 2010.