Ant-Man pauses to ponder.

ComingSoon caught up with Edgar Wright at Comic-Con, where Wright is doing publicity duties for the DVD release of his TV show Spaced. He also talked about his upcoming films Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Ant-Man. Here is an excerpt from the section where he talks about the movie side of things, because we are a movie blog; if you’re a fan of Spaced and want to read about that, don’t forget to go to ComingSoon to check that out (it’s kind of long, so click onward, Ant-Man fans):

Keep reading →

Doctor, I keep having this dream where I fall down a rabbit hole….

We’ve talked before about Tim Burton’s planned Alice in Wonderland adaptation. Well, now there’s some casting news–according to, Australian actress Mia Wasikowska is in final talks to take on the role.

Wasikowska’s age is listed as eighteen on her IMDb page. She’s probably best known to US audiences for her role as Sophie on the HBO series In Treatment.  Prior to that, she was on Australian television in All Saints and made several films in her native country. She’s in the upcoming World War II drama Defiance and just finished shooting a role in Mira Nair’s Amelia Earhart biopic.

I admit I know next nothing about Wasikowska other than the above, so I’m not prepared to applaud or condemn her casting. But I’d lean more towards the applaud side for no other reason than that Tim Burton usually does a pretty good job of finding the right people for his movies, so I’m willing to trust him on this one. At least it’s not Dakota Fanning. That’s what I feared.

Burton’s Alice will be a mix of live action and performance capture, and will be released in 3D. Linda Woolverton (known for writing The Lion King) will write the script. THR says filming is set to begin in November, which is sooner than the early 2009 that had been originally listed.

Surely John Travolta is just dying to get back into drag again.  

You know, when you think of movies that demand sequels, Hairspray isn’t one of the obvious choices. But think again–it didn’t cost a huge amount of money to make and it earned a decent amount. And that’s all that’s really needed for something to be deemed sequel-worthy, isn’t it?

So now Variety is reporting that New Line Cinema has re-signed pretty much the entire creative team for a second Hairspray film. Director-choreographer Adam Shankman and producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will be back. Tony-winning songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman will return to write new songs for the film.

John Waters will write a treatment for the film. A screenwriter will be brought in after Waters’ hands in his work. The general idea is that it will pick up where the original movie left off and continue the story of the Turnblad family. No cast is set and again, presumably won’t be until it’s decided who is needed.

Hairspray was set in 1962 so presumably they would be heading into the part of the 1960s that’s less cute and fun. You know, assassinations, civil rights struggles (the kind that go beyond the dance floor), Vietnam, long straight unhairsprayed hair. Hey, I know, why don’t they jump it ahead a few years and turn it into a story about a bunch of hippies dealing with sex, drugs, and the draft? Just drop the spray part from the title and I think you’ve got something. It could be called Hair. You know, a kind of tribal-love rock musical. Wait, what? That’s taken? Oops. Sorry.

Just for the heck of it, I’m guessing this will be the plot: Tracy is just mad about this new pop band from England. Now they’re coming to play a concert in New York and she and her friends will do anything to get there to see it! Much madcap misadventures and music ensue.

Oh, and John Waters–if this pops up as the plot of the movie, I’m going to demand restitution.

Errol Flynn had a way with the ladies.  

According to Variety, Phillip Noyce will develop a remake of the 1935 classic Captain Blood for Warner Brothers. Noyce may direct, but that’s not official yet.

If you’re not familiar with it (and how sad if  you aren’t) Captain Blood was based on the Rafael Sabatini novel about noble doctor Peter Blood, who is falsely accused of treason and sold into slavery. Blood and his fellow prisoners escape and become pirates (in the Caribbean, I think). Michael Curtiz directed and Errol Flynn, in his first leading role, played Blood (Doctor Blood, Captain Blood, Pirate Blood…they all sound good). The film turned Flynn into an instant star.

The original film is excellent (come on, you young kids, don’t be scared by black and white), but there’s no law against remaking it; the 1935 version was essentially a remake of an earlier, silent adaptation. I would have though that the fashion for pirates had peaked and was almost over, but if someone can play it out a little longer, why not? The main problem with making this is that anyone who is cast as Blood will be compared to Flynn, and let’s be honest: there’s no star in Hollywood today who even comes close to Flynn. He’s one of those actors for whom the word star seems to have been invented. So good luck to anyone trying to fill those boots.

Can anyone fill Tim Curry’s corset? 

(This is sort of film/television news but whatever, we’ll include it here.)

Variety reports that MTV is planning on remaking cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show. Sigh.

(struggling to go on…struggling to go on…)

The network is planning on using the original screenplay (which, btw, is based on the stage musical) but may add songs. They’re hoping for a Halloween 2009 television premiere, but that’s not definite. No cast has been announced, which means there’s plenty of time for rumors to fly. Undoubtedly some will suggest star of the original Susan Sarandon’s daughter Eva Amurri to take over Sarandon’s part because people tend to think that kind of thing is cool, you know, keeping it in the family. Some people, that is.

Excuse me for lacking enthusiasm for this. I guess I’m just worried that it will have too much of an MTV stamp on it. Also, there will undoubtedly be an urge to update the creaky little thing which would be unfortunate, because part of its charm is that post-Cabaret, New Wave preview vibe it has.

I also wonder about the meaning of making it for TV–wasn’t the reason the movie became so beloved was the fact that it developed the whole party atmosphere around each show? Midnight screenings, people coming in costume, contests for best costume, the audience generated responses that varied from location to location, the mass Time Warp dance in–the movie by itself isn’t that special; what developed around it was, and I don’t see how that spirit translates to TV. Yeah, you can invite your friends over and have a Rocky Horror party, but the fun of doing it all at the movies was that you were responding and having a good time with strangers. So whatever. Make it all shiny and new. Add cool new songs. Put famous people in it. Run it on TV. Fine. Go ahead. I won’t be marking it on my calendar.

Pay Will Smith a lot of money and he’ll bring in a lot of money.

Forbes magazine has just put out its list of Hollywood’s five highest paid actors. This covers the period from June 1, 2007 to June 1, 2008. Here’s the list, actor’s name followed by amount earned during the year–and remember it’s highest paid as in salary, NOT highest earning, as in whose movies earn the most:

1. Will Smith ($80 million)

2. Johnny Depp ($72 million)

3. (tie) Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers ($55 million)

5. Leonardo DiCaprio ($45 million)

Will Smith and Johnny Depp more than earned their keep last year; Smith’s I Am Legend took in $256.4 million at the box office and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End had a box office of $309.4 million (numbers from BoxOfficeMojo). DiCaprio doesn’t make blockbusters, but he pays off in prestige. As for Murphy and Myers? Well, I hope they have some good investments because they have an awful lot of rebuilding to do before they can even hope to earn half of what they got paid in the last year.

Mulder and Scully check online for early reviews of their movie. 

Here are two video interviews from ShockTillYouDrop with the X-Files: I Want to Believe main players director Chris Carter and stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. Thanks, STYD.

There is a minor spoiler in the Carter interview. Also, if you’re wondering what he’s doing just out of camera range, he’s petting his dog, who graciously accompanied him to the interview. That one runs about five minutes. The Duchovny/Anderson one is about 4 minutes. The two seem relatively at ease with each other, so if there was any animosity between them by the end of the show, it seems that time has made it fade. Yes, I know they’ve said that, but it’s more convincing to see it. There’s not a huge amount of info there, but it’s worth a look if you’re a fan.

I have to say, the clips from the movie in the interviews didn’t really encourage me. I so want this movie to be good, but I’m trying to drop my expectations really low so I won’t be too disappointed. I keep hoping for the best. Anyway, click here to watch.

In a Pretty in Pink video game, do players get to make Andie a less ugly prom dress? 

Interesting little story in Variety about Paramount moving into the video game world. Not the fact that movie studios want to invest in games and make some money from that side of the business, but the movies they’ve chosen for their intro. With the vast library of films that they have, their first attempts will be games based on…Clueless, Mean Girls, and Pretty in Pink.

Yes, the teen girl movies, where cliques and social status are the battlegrounds and fashion is the weapon of choice, will become games slated for the “casual” category, which Variety says is the area most likely to appeal to teen girls. I’ll go with their word on this as I have no business info on how games breakout.

So anyway, it’s not like it’s inconceivable that these films could be made into games. I’m sure you could work something out where you accumulate points to buy clothes and the ultimate goal is to become the most populare girl in school, or get to the prom or whatever.

I wouldn’t play these games but I like the Paramount choices for two reasons: one is that it acknowledges girls as a video game audience. Okay, if I had a daughter I’m not sure if I’d be thrilled about her playing a game where the goal is something like the prom, but it’s better than the often condescending (and untrue) assumption that girls don’t play games.

The other, and more interesting point, that games can be made out of more than just your standard war or battle scenario–whether it’s based on real wars, fictional post-apocalyptic wars, sci-fi wars, whatever–a lot (not all, but a fair number) of video games really have the same premise just dressed up in different clothes.

So let’s let the movie to video game palette expand. What are some movies that you wouldn’t immediately think of as game properties that could be games? What would they be like? For some reason, the first one that pops into my mind is There Will Be Blood. A game about dominating the oil business? That could be an old-fashioned board game (is it?).

Okay, let’s wander a little further afield (and I’m just thinking recent films–I’m not going to throw at you the This Gun For Hire game. Though that would be pretty cool). Okay, how about this? Atonement: The Video Game. Try to get Cecilia and Robbie back together! Fight World War II in between!

Now that would turn the video game industry upside down.

Never get in a fight with a man wearing  a lion on his head.

Variety reports that Peter Berg is moving from the 21st century superhero trials of Will Smith to the classical era superhero trials of Hercules in Hercules: The Thracian Wars. The film will be based on Steve Moore’s comic book series from Radical Publishing (as I’m sure you remember, Radical also recently announced a deal for John Woo to direct their property Caliber…oh, and yes, this is counting as comic book adaptation of the week #2). Ryan Condal is writing the script.

After the solid, but not jaw-dropping success of Hancock, Berg is settling into Mr. Dependable status in the big action and/or sci-fi film department. He’s also booked to do a new adaptation of Dune. I’m guessing it’ll be a long time before we see him in front of the camera again–which is kind of a shame because he wasn’t too shabby as an actor.

 As usual, there are 10,000 people producing the film, including: Spyglass Entertainment’s Jonathan Glickman, Roger Birnbaum and Gary Barber will produce with Berg and his Film 44 partner Sarah Aubrey, with Barry Levine producing for Radical. Jesse Berger will exec produce.

Supposedly Berg, Aubrey and Glickman wanted to make a film “true to the comic book,” leading Levine to make this statement:

“What resonated for them was that this was character driven, about a character who’s more man than god, with conflicts and redemption.”

Hercules (or Herakles), as I’m sure you remember from your sixth grade social studies class, is most famous for two things–one is searching for the Golden Fleece with Jason and the Argonauts. The other is the Twelve Labors, which he was ordered to do to atone for the crime of killing his children. Here they are, just for your own edification (because I’m not sure you were paying attention in sixth grade social studies):

1. To kill the Nemean Lion.
2. To destroy the Lernaean Hydra.
3. To capture the Ceryneian Hind.
4. To capture the Erymanthian Boar.
5. To clean the Augean Stables.
6. To kill the Stymphalian Birds.
7. To capture the Cretan Bull.
8. To round up the Mares of Diomedes.
9. To steal the Girdle of Hippolyte.
10. To herd the Cattle of Geryon.
11. To fetch the Apples of Hesperides.
12. To capture Cerberus. 

Got that? Quiz later.

 This is Bryan Singer.

Comic book adaptation of the week alert!!!

(And it’s only Tuesday–maybe if more come along we’ll be able to put them all together and vote on which has the most potential. Ooh…fun.)

Today’s contestant is Capeshooters–Variety reports that Warner Brothers has acquired the as yet unpublished graphic novel to be written by Rob Liefeld (best known amongst comics aficionados for Youngblood, I believe). Bryan Singer is attached to produce.

The story apparently is about two paparazzi types who develop a niche business shooting undercover videos of superheroes. When they find evidence that a beloved superhero is actually a villain, they have to go on the run. JP Lavin and Chad Damiani will write the script. This in itself is news, because both Lavin and Damiani’s credits are incredibly…not creditable. They both worked on the 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. They worked on the reality show “Anchorwoman,” about a model or something like that who tries to become a news anchor at a small tv station. It was cancelled after about one episode. Yeah, I’m surprised too. But that’s the whole extent of their experience. Either they’ve got powerful friends or they can pitch like you wouldn’t believe.

This story sounds like one of those things that’s really intriguing on paper and not so much on the big screen. Of course, we’ll always give the benefit of the doubt to  a project like this because the right director or cast could turn it all around. 

There isn’t any timeline on this or word on whether Singer might be up for the directorial duties himself.