Frickin' Eh Movie News 8.12.09: Return to the Imaginarium

Posted by Matthew Motiuk on 08.12.2009

Another addition to the Green Hornet movie, some news on the Stooges, the new Imaginarium trailer, and more!

We're almost halfway into August, which means I've only got half a month of summer vacation left before university starts back up. Ugh . . . It definitely hasn't been long enough. But it will be nice to get back into the swing of things, too.

Anyway, let's get right into the news . . .


The Mid-Week Box Office Time Machine

So this past weekend saw G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra take the top spot with a respectable $54.7 million. Julie & Julia held their own at second with $20 million. G-Force stuck in third with another $9.9 million, while Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince fell two spots to fourth with $8.9 million. Funny People fell from first to fifth with $8 million. The Ugly Truth fell from fourth to sixth while A Perfect Getaway opened at seventh with a weak $5.9 million. Aliens in the Attic descended to eighth from fifth, (500) Days of Summer rose from twelfth to ninth with $3.7 million, and Orphan rounded out the top ten, dropping from sixth and making $3.7 million.

What's opening this weekend? Lots, actually. Disney's latest musical romp, called Bandslam and starring Vanessa Hudgens and Alyson Michalka. This looks like the typical Disney musical movie, and will probably do well thanks to its younger focus and Disney title. District 9 also opens, produced by Peter Jackson and directed by newcomer Neill Blomkamp, and about aliens camping out in South Africa. Third, Jeremy Piven's latest, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, which actually looks like it could be pretty funny, especially if Piven is at his best. Paper Heart is the first love story of the weekend, starring Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera. The other, and slightly more interesting, love story is The Time Traveler's Wife with Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams. I had a friend fill me in a little bit on the book and it sounds like an interesting idea, putting aside the difficulties with time travel in the first place. Finally we have Ponyo, a movie which is already doing great things in Japan, and apparently based on The Little Mermaid. So take your pick, there's lots to see this time around.


Jackman Confirms Wolverine 2's Start

Hugh Jackman talked to MTV and confirmed that Wolverine 2 will take place in Japan.

"Japan is where we're heading, [and] we're starting to work on it now. We're in the ... first steps of developing that story," Jackman said about adapting Frank Miller and Chris Claremont's story arc.

He added: "I think the fans love that saga. It's my favorite saga of the Wolverine stories."

I don't think the Japan thing is a surprise to anyone, not only does it sound like the natural place to go with the stories, but Wolverine left off with him in Japan. It's good that Jackman is behind the story, that always helps when the actor is in tune with what they're doing. Personally, I can't wait.


Giamatti Joins the Stooges

The Boston Globe got some big news from Peter Farrelly, who revealed that Paul Giamatti will replace Sean Penn as Larry in The Three Stooges. Penn pulled out of the film earlier this summer.

Benicio Del Toro is still attached to play Moe, but the newspaper added that Jim Carrey won't be playing Curly as was previously reported. Farrelly did not tell them who will take on the role instead.

MGM is eyeing a 2010 release for the big screen adaptation that will be written and directed by the Farrelly Brothers.

I'm still against this idea, but putting that aside, Giamatti is about as good as you could go. He's someone who might actually fit the role. I like Benicio Del Toro but I don't know if I see him as Moe. Thank goodness Penn and Carrey are gone. I just don't like Penn and I think Carrey would have altered the dynamic of the movie too much – anything Carrey is in has a very specific flavor, and I'm hoping this is going to be a true take on the Stooges.


International Trailer for the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

The new international trailer for Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, starring Heath Ledger and Christopher Plummer, and featuring Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law, is now online.

You know, as much as I was very cautious about this movie thanks to my dislike of Gilliam's directorial eye and the fairly outrageous idea behind the movie, but watching this trailer, I actually think this might be pretty good. Of course it will come off as a tribute to Ledger but even besides that, it just looks really interesting and crazy. Check out the trailer and see what you think.


Edward James Olmos Teams Up with the Green Hornet

Hollywood Snitch learned from "Battlestar Galactica" star Edward James Olmos this weekend that he has landed a role in Columbia Pictures' The Green Hornet. The site reports:

I spoke with actor Edward James Olmos yesterday at Wizard World Chicago Comic-Con. Among discussing his past ("Blade Runner") and present ("Battlestar Galactica" and the upcoming TV film), he dropped he said of his future plans that he will be joining Michel Gondry's "The Green Hornet."

"I'm on my way to do 'The Green Hornet,'" Olmos told me. "It'll be a lot of fun with Seth [Rogen], Nicolas Cage and Cameron Diaz."

There's no word yet on what role he might play. The studio announced on Friday that Jay Chou will play Kato in the July 9, 2010 release. Michel Gondry direct.

And this one just continues to grow. They've got a strong cast all around, a lot of different and good actors filling the roles, but I can't help but be cautious for a lot of reasons. Most important will be if this ensemble cast, as strong as they are, can all come together and make something that works. We'll have to hope and see, I guess.


Spielberg Taking on Halo Now?

IESB has posted an interesting scoop saying that Steven Spielberg is in talks to produce Halo: The Fall of Reach, screenwriter Stuart Beattie's adaptation of the Eric Nylund novel that is based on the series of video games. Here's an excerpt from their article:

IESB has learned exclusively (believe me this is solid and I've confirmed it three times over with studio executives and our close ties to CAA) that one of the biggest producers in Hollywood history is currently in active negotiations to develop the feature film adaptation and no it's not Jerry Bruckheimer or Peter Jackson. It's the man behind Jaws, E.T., Indiana Jones and Transformers, Mr. Steven Spielberg.

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.

20th Century Fox and Universal's previous attempt at bringing the game to the big screen fell apart. District 9 producer Peter Jackson and director Neill Blomkamp were attached to that version.

Hmm . . . It's definitely possible. Spielberg is drawn to big over-the-top movies like this, and this is going to be the grand daddy of them, I think. But the development hell that Halo has found itself in the middle of might be too tough for even Spielberg to triumph. Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe the new studio will take this as their opportunity to set themselves up right off the bat and maybe Spielberg will do everything in his power to get this rolling. But I'm not holding my breath.


Underworld 4 Will Be Coming

ComingSoon.net's horror arm ShockTillYouDrop.com has learned exclusively that Sony's Screen Gems is moving ahead with a fourth film in the "Underworld" franchise and is targeting a January 2011 release. The movie will be shot in 3-D. The last installment, the prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, earned $91.1 million at the worldwide box office.

Well this makes me very happy, because I love the Underworld movies. The 3D gimmick is getting a tad annoying to hear about, but whatever, I can live with it. The real question will be when the story takes place. Will it be another prequel in line with Rise of the Lycans, or will they return to the modern era and bring back Kate Beckinsale? I'm curious. I'm sure we'll be hearing soon enough.


Mission: Impossible IV Gets Writers

Paramount Pictures and producers Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams have set Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec to write the screenplay for Mission: Impossible IV, reports Variety.

Applebaum and Nemec spent four seasons with Abrams as co-executive producers of "Alias," and they will script "M:i:IV" based on a story Abrams wrote with them.

"I've been looking forward to working with Josh and Andre again for years," Abrams said. "Their sense of balance between character and action is wonderful, which I know is hugely important to Tom as well. We're off to an exciting start, so, as usual, fingers crossed."

The film is targeted for a 2011 release.

I actually thought that the last installment might end this series with how it ended. Silly of me, I know, but I thought they left on a high note, and they might just let it rest there. It's good that Abrams has got writers he trusts on this and obviously works with very well, so hopefully this all goes well and they pull off a worthy fourth movie.


Joe Gazzam Writing Barbarella

In June, it was announced that director Robert Luketic was working with producer Dino De Laurentiis to set up an update of Barbarella at a new studio. A previous version of the project at Universal had Robert Rodriguez attached to direct, with Rose McGowan starring.

Now, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Joe Gazzam has been tapped to write the screenplay for the sci-fi action-adventure, centering on the character that was immortalized by Jane Fonda in the 1968 original.

Barbarella centers on a female mercenary who roams the universe of a distant future, undertaking missions that require fearlessness, ingenuity and sensuality.

The new take on the iconic character will not be campy, though it will keep the sexuality; there will be seductions, but the focus will be on the adventure.

So Barbarella might finally be getting off the ground. It's been a while coming, that's for sure. Luketic doesn't really have any experience in this field but hopefully he can pull this off. It's far too early to be sure about anything for this one, though.


Rapid-Fire: Blade (1998, starring Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson)

This is a series of movies that I simply never got into originally, not for lack of interest, but it just passed me by, and I never watched one of them. Well, finally I got a hold of a trilogy set at Wal-mart for fifteen bucks, and I watched all three. So this week I present:

I'm not a huge vampire fan so I don't know everything about them, but from what I can tell, this series takes their own liberties, as every vampire interpretation does, with the legends. Specifically, this one updates it to the modern era – the heads of the vampire nation are all businessmen and very technologically advanced – and focuses in on garlic, silver, and sunlight as weaknesses. Blade is there to hunt them down, himself half vampire but lacking their weaknesses. It's an interesting dynamic, to be sure.

Unfortunately, what plagues this movie is just how ridiculously cheesy all of it is. It's a very serious movie and has almost no humour in it, and that would be fine – it works for Underworld - if it wasn't so cheesy. The special effects are downright bad. And why do vampires explode? Disintegrate, fine. Explode? Come on. It gets worse when they develop the new weapons that are supposed to make them explode, and then we get down to the final fight. As cheesy as the movie is, it reaches new heights in the final battle, which surpasses everything else in cheesiness.

As far as acting goes, Snipes as Blade is believable, although he has the odd bit of almost-humour thrown in there (a quick cheeky grin or look) that is out of place with the rest of the movie. Kristofferson as Whistler has a relatively small role and fits it well. Dorff is an interesting villain, the pampered ambitious boy who has his eyes set on greater things, but something just doesn't fit with him the entire time, and I'm just not sure what it is. N'Bushe Wright as Karen Jenson, the main female component of the movie, is a nice sidekick to Blade, and it's actually kind of refreshing that this movie doesn't degrade to sex and lust, but that there is more to it than that, mainly involving Blade's mother.

This is an interesting movie that feels like it could have been much better if some of the problems had been ironed out and if they'd held out and used some better special effects. All in all, it's a watchable vampire movie, a watchable comic book movie, and for the most part enjoyable, but it's nothing overly special, either.


Closing Time . . .

I know this weekend the guys I work with are planning an old horror movie marathon. I'm unable to attend thanks to the Skaro Shrine Pilgrimage but it's a cool idea. I think they're planning on doing the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, but their other ideas were movies like Hellraiser and Silver Bullet. Anybody have any favourites?

Anyway, until next week . . .


[All news, images, and other stuff from www.comingsoon.net, www.imdb.com, www.rottentomatoes.com and www.youtube.com.]