From ComingSoon.net:
"Heat Vision is reporting that Warner Bros. Pictures has hired Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs helmers Phil Lord and Chris Miller to write and direct the LEGO movie.
Based on the popular building blocks, the movie will mix live action and animation. The studio is keeping the plot tightly under wraps, but it's described as an action adventure set in a LEGO world.
Dan Lin and Roy Lee are producing and LEGO's Jill Wilfert is executive producing.
The duo 'prepared a presentation that not only had to pass muster with Warners brass but also with execs from Lego, which is extremely protective with its toys and brand and had a significant hand in the process,' adds the trade.
Lord and Miller are currently developing the 21 Jump Street movie and plan on doing LEGO after that."
Getting better and better!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
THE GREEN HORNET stings a trailer
From ComingSoon.net:
"Hollywood was host to a very special reception this evening as guests gathered at Mann's Chinese 6 for the first ever look at The Green Hornet trailer that just debuted online. Joining the private screening was director Michel Gondry, star Seth Rogen, writer Evan Goldberg and producer Neal Moritz, who fielded questions with an audience of journalists and their friends.
Q: 'Can you sum up the basic story in your own words?'
Seth Rogen: 'To explain it, I guess, briefly, I'm an irresponsible kind of idiot (as one might imagine) and my father dies and I form a friendship with someone else who did not have the highest opinion towards him. One of his employees, Kato. Through that friendship, we realize that maybe we can create this kind of thing that will help us both live out our dreams. In time, we realize that each other's personalities are the most difficult thing to overcome and try to form this thing. That's how the story goes.'
Michel Gondry: 'We see a bit of his childhood and home. This friendship finds its resolution through his inner voice. He's talking to his dad in his mind.'
Q: 'Some of the shots look very different in terms of how the action is shot. Is this the final look of 'Kato Vision' or is it still evolving?'
Gondry: 'It's not really represented here. There's an outside of Kato vision. There's the way he sees things... [which is] more like a surprise I guess.'
Rogen: '[There are] two steps to 'Kato Vision' as I guess we've called it. The way you see the fights as an observer and then the way Kato sees fights in his own eyes.'
Q: 'Have you reconsidered how you stage fights, now that you're doing it in 3D?'
Gondry: 'To be honest, we were always hoping to go 3D. The way I put the camera was always [thinking] it would be so cool to see it in 3D. We pushed a little more of the effects. The way the fight works... the use of the 3D to split the screen. We sort of always wanted to do it in 3D.'
Q: 'This is the first time an audience has seen any of the movie? How involved were the four of you in deciding what went into the trailer? Do you have another version of this trailer?'
Rogen: 'There have been a lot of versions of this trailer. We were pretty involved. We watched it every step of the way. I have to acknowledge, honestly, that our perceptions of the movie are different sometimes to your general person who knows absolutely nothing about the movie... I'm sure every person in this audience knows a millions times more about the Green Hornet than 99% of people who will be seeing this trailer. And some of you came to set and saw another thing... We really had to keep reminding ourselves that we were presenting to people who knew nothing about the Green Hornet. And we really wanted to make sure that it portrayed the real feel of the movie more than anything.'
Neal Mortiz: 'We really showed it a lot and we got a lot of feedback. We tested the trailer a lot of times quite a few times to make sure that what we liked about it was the same thing that the audience was going to like about it as well.'
Gondry: 'We wanted to make sure our enthusiasm for the story and the characters would be portrayed. We really worked close. For the first time I'm really excited about the movie.'
Moritz: 'The goal of the movie is the relationship between Kato and Britt and in the subsequent trailer we really want to develop that more.'
Rogen: 'We have to introduce the idea of the Green Hornet to people first. There will be more trailers and more advertisements down the line and we can explore the intricacies of what the movie is about. To make sure people understand the general concept of what it is we are doing.'
Q: 'There's sort of been the idea in the past that Kato is more the superhero and the Green Hornet is a work in progress? Is that still an aspect that will remain?'
Evan Goldberg: 'Kato is definitely the more skilled individual. We joke about it with Seth that he had to get in shape to do the movie and Jay didn't. He was in shape. It was inherently there. He is a very talented, genius kind of guy and Seth is a normal guy.'
Rogen: 'We didn't want the joke to be, 'Look at this!' One of complete and utter goofiness and complete physical incompetence at all times. And we knew that, ultimately, it had to live up to the expectations of a superhero movie and needs to have the kind of action, full-blown action that people expect from that genre and we knew that we couldn't just rest on the comedy to make it interesting.'
Moritz: 'Something they create together.'
Q: 'What kind of tone are you going for? What kind of tone do you see emerging? Balancing action and comedy? This is clearly not some kind of dark superhero film.'
Gondry: 'There is comedy but, overall, the tone is not a spoof. You get that in the trailer. We never intended to do something comical. We really embraced the superhero feature and there are serious parts. Of course, there is some comedy but I think it's more of an action movie.'
Moritz: 'We always talk about it as an action movie with comedy versus a comedy with action.'
Rogen: 'Michel and Sally [Menke], our editor, are really coming up with a lot of interesting ways to tell the story, Both of them are really great at that. She had Pulp Fiction and movies like that, which really are great at telling the narrative, the story and it's really amazing to see what they've done in the editing room and how giant a creative step the movie has taken, leaving it in Michel and Sally's hands for a little while. It's really exciting for us as fans to see our movie filmed and then taken to this whole other place.'
Q: 'How close does storyline fit into the comic?'
Rogen: 'The Green Hornet comic has nothing to do with our movie. Other than it's called The Green Hornet. Unless you love the Green Hornet comics, then it's exactly based on the comic. We clearly all got our ideas from the same source. There are some elements that are the same. But I think naturally when you are trying to update something, the ideas are going to go to similar places, but there is no collaboration on behalf of comic and the filmmakers.'
Goldberg: 'The one constant is that he poses as a criminal to catch criminals.'
Gondry: 'What is important to say is that the Green Hornet has so many forms. It was a comic. Then it was on television and then you have Bruce Lee. We had to digest all of that to find what would be our version of the Green Hornet. As a director, I was thinking to make a movie before it was asked to be a film. And as well the notion of Kato has evolved so much over the years. He was supposed to be Japanese and then, during WWII because of the war, they had to change the character so he was not Japanese. He was Filipino and then he was Chinese. So all of that inspired us. We respected that, but we had to bring it to a place that it would fit now.'
Q: '3D conversion process has gotten criticisms lately because of Clash of the Titans and Alice in Wonderland. What measures are you taking to avoid pitfalls?'
Moritz: 'That's why we moved the release date back. We wanted the 3D to look really good. The only way was buying ourselves time to make it look good. We already have some sequences that we've turned over now in 3D so we have plenty of time to actually make it good and do it the right way as opposed to Clash of the Titans which was done in six to eight weeks.'
Rogen: 'It's like any other visual effect. There's really good applications of it and really bad applications of it. It all depends on whose hands it's in. You look at CG sometimes and it's terrible. You look at CG sometimes and it's great. I think it's no different. Very good versions and very bad versions. I think it's like any other creative decision. It's going to be gauged by the levels of enthusiasm... of the creative people behind it. It's something that we all feel really strongly about... something that we've always wanted to do... since the first idea of this movie came along. I've been working in 3D movies for years. I started in Monsters vs Aliens almost four or five years ago. It was then that I traveled around the world with Jeffrey Katzenberg, hearing him pontificate on 3D and what a big evolution it was going to be. So its always something I've been a big fan of. It started in the society of the 60's I believe so its always been something we've been big supporters of and I think just like I said there's good versions and bad versions and we hope to do a really good version.'
Gondry: 'You could imagine a movie in 2D in 3D and transform it. If you take this type of movie where they really use the full depth of field. This movie, if it was transformed in 3D, would use much more fast editing. And even before we could do it in 3D, we'd talk about the fight or we'd say, 'Okay, we don't want to rely too much on the other team, so we didn't make it so fast with editing and this is a very important element to make 3D work well.''
Moritz: 'We didn't make a rash decision by any means. We saw a lot of demonstrations with a lot of different companies and then ultimately brought in a number of these companies into the editing room and then went through the film with them together and really looked at the pitfalls, positives and negatives to doing it. And kind of weighed those all out before we even approached the studio and asked them to let us turn it into 3D which is obviously a huge financial impact. After that as well. And I remember Amy Pascal said to us, 'This is going to cost a lot of extra money. Are you sure about this?' And we were because we had done so much homework on it. And we did not want to be reprimanded like Clash of the Titans was. We really wanted to take our time and do it right.'
Rogen: 'First thing people like you say is that the studio is forcing us to do it and it's a quick fix. The funny thing is it could not be more opposite. It was us begging and pleading as creative entities to the studio to allow us to have this tool to tell our story in an original way. And were super excited that were able to do it.'
Gondry: 'There were some ideas. The father relationship is such that, even after he's passed away, he keeps talking to him in his mind. Several times. We got this idea to represent his father by his silhouette, which you can only see if you watch the movie in 3D. In 2D, you would hear the voice but in 3D, he's going to pop out. So that's why we were so thrilled to be able to execute this in 3D. We always had the voiceover of the father in the story but then when we decided to do it in 3D, it was perfect.'
Q: 'In marketing this film, are you gonna try to evoke the Bruce Lee thing? Some kind of selling point?'
Rogen: 'If you ask most high schoolers who Bruce Lee is they will say that it someone they sit next to in English class. I don't think that it would. I think its not something that would never be my instinct to do and not to attempt. Jay Chou is one the coolest dudes I've ever met or been around. What we say is that he's like Steve McQueen. He does everything cooler than anyone else does anything. And I think Jay... Man, I've never been psyched to show up to work and be completely overshadowed by somebody on a regular basis. And it's just how it is. Jay in his own right will win people over. He is an incredibly impressive and charismatic performer. Jay is an incredibly talented martial artist and he's just a rad dude and I don't think we will need to do that.'
Moritz: 'No one here thinks that we will replace or be better than what Bruce Lee was.'
Rogen: 'Yeah, we didn't try. Just as different as I am from Van Williams, Jay is from Bruce Lee. We wanted to create new characters in telling it.'
Gondry: 'Of course, for any actor from Asia, it's a very heavy task over Bruce Lee. So Jay never wanted to emulate Bruce Lee by any means. Did not want to use his type of expression, sound or scream. So out of respect we didn't want to mimic him.'
Rogen: 'Yeah, he definitely was very conscious of not doing a Bruce Lee impression. He wanted to make his own character. He was into that and thank god he did because he makes a great Kato.'
Q: 'Since the character is lesser known than, say, Superman or Spider-Man or other superhero movies, is there any concern going into that? Marketing-wise?'
Rogen: 'For whoever saw the first trailer and then this one. I think that thought is exactly what led us to say this is the approach that we need to take. Like we look at Iron Man. I remember when Iron Man came out. I drove by a billboard with my girlfriend and she said, 'Who's Iron Man?' and they did a good job at taking Iron Man and, believe it or not, he was a relatively unknown Marvel character when that first movie came out. And they did a good job at introducing it. They didn't really tease it. There was no teaser. They just kind of showed you exactly what it was and that's something that we talked about. That they successfully took a pretty obscure character and made him well known and introduced him to people and that's kind of what we realized we had to do. Not show our version of the Green Hornet, but to say, 'Here's what... the Green Hornet is....'
Q: 'We are a month away from Comic-Con? Are you guys gonna be there and what are you gonna show the fans?'
Moritz: 'We are definitely going to be at Comic-Con and will be there with a big presence. We are going to show a piece of the film. As long as the 3D is done to the standard that we want it, we will show the trailer in 3D.'
Rogen: 'Yeah, we've already been looking at stuff to show. We are all Comic-Con fans and as comic book nerds and it's important to us to show respect for those people who go out there...'
Goldberg: 'Show the whole movie backwards. With voice over of the teaser guy.'
Q: 'Is there more of bringing your Michel Gondry style to a comic book? I didn't see it much in the trailer. Is there more?'
Gondry: 'There is more. I don't want really to... There is a danger of having a shtick. It's different than you will see in the movie. There's a difference between a trailer and a movie. That's traditional for a movie. There is some sequences that we're still working out that you didn't see in the trailer, that's more of my specific signature. But when we met, they said we want to see Michel Gondry sequences and I said no.'
Rogen: 'Originally, I was going to be made a string.'
Q: 'Seth you talked about always being a comic book fan, is this the first time you're getting an action figure that's actually you?'
Rogen: 'I have a B.O.B., but that's not really an action figure. It's a blue toy. But yeah, it's pretty cool. I'm excited, but yeah, it's my instinct to blow it up with firecrackers. I might do that.'
Q: 'More than people are saying 'This is the Green Hornet movie' than are saying 'This is the Seth Rogen action movie'. You slimmed down. What is your approach to getting people over that hump to Seth Rogen as an action hero?'
Rogen: 'My guy is not exactly like Bruce Wayne. The whole story of the movie is that I'm an irresponsible idiot who is trying to get his life together and do something worthwhile. So, as an irresponsible idiot, I'm quite good. And that's why we always knew it was an easy buy. We didn't want to just tell people what the whole story of the movie was.... But that's why we knew it was going to be fine because the story wasn't that of a completely serious well-groomed man who decides to become a superhero. It's about a guy who is grappling with his own irresponsible old activities and tendencies and can he put those all aside and do something worthwhile and that's why I think, as an actor, I thought it was something I could tackle. It displayed what people expected of me and what maybe I could show as a growth through the character.'
Gondry: 'What I was hoping when I took the job, basically is that my contribution could help that. I think that with Jim Carrey, as good as he was at being a comedian, he was excellent at being much more dramatic in Eternal Sunshine. I think Seth is selling himself short a little bit because I think that he really conveys a really complex and interesting character and what I hope is that people will see him evolve.'
Rogen: 'It's true that part of the reason we decided to approach Michel was that we knew that it was gonna be something different, taking it in a new direction and that he was traditionally someone who worked with comedic actors and took them in new directions. Just as he had taken people not traditionally known as comedic actors and made them much funnier than they were before as Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine. That's something that was one of his strengths and something that we hoped he could bring to this.'
Q: 'Who was really the champion among you guys who said to Sony, 'We need to make THE Green Hornet movie?'
Moritz: 'It's a good question. We were all champions at different times.'
Rogen: 'Yeah, we've all been champions at different times. Where does an idea come from? I'm sure Inception will answer that for all of us. It's hard to think... I mean Michel Gondry was attached to a Green Hornet movie 13 years ago. It's hard to say who is the first one who wanted to do it. I would say that no matter what they are making a Thor movie and no matter what they are making a Captain America movie. But they are not no matter what making a Green Hornet movie. We had to work really hard to have them let us do it. It wasn't a given that it was eventually going to get made no matter what. We were lucky enough to be the guys that got to do it. We really creatively saw this as an opportunity that was exciting to us and we've all fought really hard. A lot of uphill battles. A lot of bad press, a lot of strikes against us and it hasn't been easy but ultimately we are all really proud of the movie. We all love the movie and I'm excited to be able to show you some of it. I was just saying to Evan as we were walking up here, 'Today is the first day I believe this might get released,' which is exciting.
Moritz: 'I've been involved in a movie where we had so many starts and stops and I think it was August of last year that Amy Pascal was on vacation and I think that was the reason we got to go ahead. It's been a great experience.'
Rogen: 'Honestly, it's something we all strongly agreed. We were passionate about. It's an idea for some reason. The relationship between those two guys. The idea of exploring that relationship. It's creative. Evan and I, as writing partners, Michel as the director, make these relationships and you try to make something out of it and it's something that we all felt very strongly about. It was not a movie that was going to get made no matter what. It's something we had to will into being. We had to work to make happen. If we didn't do it there would not be a 'Green Hornet' movie on screen right now.'
Q: 'Seth, you're know for improv. Was there much improv on set?'
Rogen: 'We definitely wanted it at times in the relationships. When the relationships have that spontaneous feel. I just think that me and Evan found something that works really well. The things in movies that people relate to a lot and the ways characters interact. They see themselves in the characters and a lot of that is through improv. Jay is amazing at it and even in that thing 'I don't want to touch you.' He improvised that and we were joking around one day on a scene and, yes there was a lot and everyone got really into it. I mean, obviously, as an action movie there's limitations to what you can do, but it doesn't have a rigid feel to it. It's a very loose conversational feel.'
Gondry: 'I think always my interest in making movies is to have something really technical mixed with something that was not so formal... something free. I realized very soon that it's not because there are constraints like that and there is a lot of it in-camera effect. The person wants us to be stiff. That is a lot of time the actor. They don't think too much about what they have to do to act or be funny. This context is a very good or great performance.'
Q: 'What was it like working with Christoph Waltz? What comes from his background in European cinema?'
Rogen: 'Working with him was great. I would say that his character is a very unique villain, I hope. Not something we're gonna talk about a lot because I think it's something that people are excited to discover on their own. Christoph is a great actor. Really fun. He embraced coming and doing things in our strange way with open arms. And I don't know. He's technically a very impressive actor to watch. And the way he does things is very demanding at times. At the same time he is very nice and collaborative. I would love to work with him many more times.'
Q: 'Have you started work on score? Can you talk about the process and what we should expect?'
Gondry: 'Danny Elfman is doing the score. It's in the beginning stages.'
Rogen: 'Watching him and Michel weird out together is pretty rad.'
Q: 'How was working with Cameron Diaz? How much did she get into all the action?'
Moritz: 'Nicest lady in whole world.'
Rogen: 'As to how much she gets involved in the action, we should keep that somewhat under wraps. She's amazing. She gets very involved creatively. The character is very important to us that it was not just an obligatory character. The character added a lot to the movie both comedicaly and story-wise. She had a lot of great ideas. Anytime someone that famous puts any extra effort into anything. I really feel great about it. Anyone that famous... you don't expect them to get involved at all. Evan literally had a party one night and she showed up when Evan was really drunk and literally gave him two hours worth of notes and made Evan drunkenly type them on his computer. And I thought wow, that's so impressive.'
Goldberg: 'She came in like ten times to help Jay Chou learn English.'
Rogen: 'His English at first was a little sketchy at times. She put an enormous amount of time and energy into making sure that their scenes were natural and understandable and very loose and funny. Again, it’s the kind of thing where you're like 'She's too... famous to be doing this. She should be on her island.'"
"Hollywood was host to a very special reception this evening as guests gathered at Mann's Chinese 6 for the first ever look at The Green Hornet trailer that just debuted online. Joining the private screening was director Michel Gondry, star Seth Rogen, writer Evan Goldberg and producer Neal Moritz, who fielded questions with an audience of journalists and their friends.
Q: 'Can you sum up the basic story in your own words?'
Seth Rogen: 'To explain it, I guess, briefly, I'm an irresponsible kind of idiot (as one might imagine) and my father dies and I form a friendship with someone else who did not have the highest opinion towards him. One of his employees, Kato. Through that friendship, we realize that maybe we can create this kind of thing that will help us both live out our dreams. In time, we realize that each other's personalities are the most difficult thing to overcome and try to form this thing. That's how the story goes.'
Michel Gondry: 'We see a bit of his childhood and home. This friendship finds its resolution through his inner voice. He's talking to his dad in his mind.'
Q: 'Some of the shots look very different in terms of how the action is shot. Is this the final look of 'Kato Vision' or is it still evolving?'
Gondry: 'It's not really represented here. There's an outside of Kato vision. There's the way he sees things... [which is] more like a surprise I guess.'
Rogen: '[There are] two steps to 'Kato Vision' as I guess we've called it. The way you see the fights as an observer and then the way Kato sees fights in his own eyes.'
Q: 'Have you reconsidered how you stage fights, now that you're doing it in 3D?'
Gondry: 'To be honest, we were always hoping to go 3D. The way I put the camera was always [thinking] it would be so cool to see it in 3D. We pushed a little more of the effects. The way the fight works... the use of the 3D to split the screen. We sort of always wanted to do it in 3D.'
Q: 'This is the first time an audience has seen any of the movie? How involved were the four of you in deciding what went into the trailer? Do you have another version of this trailer?'
Rogen: 'There have been a lot of versions of this trailer. We were pretty involved. We watched it every step of the way. I have to acknowledge, honestly, that our perceptions of the movie are different sometimes to your general person who knows absolutely nothing about the movie... I'm sure every person in this audience knows a millions times more about the Green Hornet than 99% of people who will be seeing this trailer. And some of you came to set and saw another thing... We really had to keep reminding ourselves that we were presenting to people who knew nothing about the Green Hornet. And we really wanted to make sure that it portrayed the real feel of the movie more than anything.'
Neal Mortiz: 'We really showed it a lot and we got a lot of feedback. We tested the trailer a lot of times quite a few times to make sure that what we liked about it was the same thing that the audience was going to like about it as well.'
Gondry: 'We wanted to make sure our enthusiasm for the story and the characters would be portrayed. We really worked close. For the first time I'm really excited about the movie.'
Moritz: 'The goal of the movie is the relationship between Kato and Britt and in the subsequent trailer we really want to develop that more.'
Rogen: 'We have to introduce the idea of the Green Hornet to people first. There will be more trailers and more advertisements down the line and we can explore the intricacies of what the movie is about. To make sure people understand the general concept of what it is we are doing.'
Q: 'There's sort of been the idea in the past that Kato is more the superhero and the Green Hornet is a work in progress? Is that still an aspect that will remain?'
Evan Goldberg: 'Kato is definitely the more skilled individual. We joke about it with Seth that he had to get in shape to do the movie and Jay didn't. He was in shape. It was inherently there. He is a very talented, genius kind of guy and Seth is a normal guy.'
Rogen: 'We didn't want the joke to be, 'Look at this!' One of complete and utter goofiness and complete physical incompetence at all times. And we knew that, ultimately, it had to live up to the expectations of a superhero movie and needs to have the kind of action, full-blown action that people expect from that genre and we knew that we couldn't just rest on the comedy to make it interesting.'
Moritz: 'Something they create together.'
Q: 'What kind of tone are you going for? What kind of tone do you see emerging? Balancing action and comedy? This is clearly not some kind of dark superhero film.'
Gondry: 'There is comedy but, overall, the tone is not a spoof. You get that in the trailer. We never intended to do something comical. We really embraced the superhero feature and there are serious parts. Of course, there is some comedy but I think it's more of an action movie.'
Moritz: 'We always talk about it as an action movie with comedy versus a comedy with action.'
Rogen: 'Michel and Sally [Menke], our editor, are really coming up with a lot of interesting ways to tell the story, Both of them are really great at that. She had Pulp Fiction and movies like that, which really are great at telling the narrative, the story and it's really amazing to see what they've done in the editing room and how giant a creative step the movie has taken, leaving it in Michel and Sally's hands for a little while. It's really exciting for us as fans to see our movie filmed and then taken to this whole other place.'
Q: 'How close does storyline fit into the comic?'
Rogen: 'The Green Hornet comic has nothing to do with our movie. Other than it's called The Green Hornet. Unless you love the Green Hornet comics, then it's exactly based on the comic. We clearly all got our ideas from the same source. There are some elements that are the same. But I think naturally when you are trying to update something, the ideas are going to go to similar places, but there is no collaboration on behalf of comic and the filmmakers.'
Goldberg: 'The one constant is that he poses as a criminal to catch criminals.'
Gondry: 'What is important to say is that the Green Hornet has so many forms. It was a comic. Then it was on television and then you have Bruce Lee. We had to digest all of that to find what would be our version of the Green Hornet. As a director, I was thinking to make a movie before it was asked to be a film. And as well the notion of Kato has evolved so much over the years. He was supposed to be Japanese and then, during WWII because of the war, they had to change the character so he was not Japanese. He was Filipino and then he was Chinese. So all of that inspired us. We respected that, but we had to bring it to a place that it would fit now.'
Q: '3D conversion process has gotten criticisms lately because of Clash of the Titans and Alice in Wonderland. What measures are you taking to avoid pitfalls?'
Moritz: 'That's why we moved the release date back. We wanted the 3D to look really good. The only way was buying ourselves time to make it look good. We already have some sequences that we've turned over now in 3D so we have plenty of time to actually make it good and do it the right way as opposed to Clash of the Titans which was done in six to eight weeks.'
Rogen: 'It's like any other visual effect. There's really good applications of it and really bad applications of it. It all depends on whose hands it's in. You look at CG sometimes and it's terrible. You look at CG sometimes and it's great. I think it's no different. Very good versions and very bad versions. I think it's like any other creative decision. It's going to be gauged by the levels of enthusiasm... of the creative people behind it. It's something that we all feel really strongly about... something that we've always wanted to do... since the first idea of this movie came along. I've been working in 3D movies for years. I started in Monsters vs Aliens almost four or five years ago. It was then that I traveled around the world with Jeffrey Katzenberg, hearing him pontificate on 3D and what a big evolution it was going to be. So its always something I've been a big fan of. It started in the society of the 60's I believe so its always been something we've been big supporters of and I think just like I said there's good versions and bad versions and we hope to do a really good version.'
Gondry: 'You could imagine a movie in 2D in 3D and transform it. If you take this type of movie where they really use the full depth of field. This movie, if it was transformed in 3D, would use much more fast editing. And even before we could do it in 3D, we'd talk about the fight or we'd say, 'Okay, we don't want to rely too much on the other team, so we didn't make it so fast with editing and this is a very important element to make 3D work well.''
Moritz: 'We didn't make a rash decision by any means. We saw a lot of demonstrations with a lot of different companies and then ultimately brought in a number of these companies into the editing room and then went through the film with them together and really looked at the pitfalls, positives and negatives to doing it. And kind of weighed those all out before we even approached the studio and asked them to let us turn it into 3D which is obviously a huge financial impact. After that as well. And I remember Amy Pascal said to us, 'This is going to cost a lot of extra money. Are you sure about this?' And we were because we had done so much homework on it. And we did not want to be reprimanded like Clash of the Titans was. We really wanted to take our time and do it right.'
Rogen: 'First thing people like you say is that the studio is forcing us to do it and it's a quick fix. The funny thing is it could not be more opposite. It was us begging and pleading as creative entities to the studio to allow us to have this tool to tell our story in an original way. And were super excited that were able to do it.'
Gondry: 'There were some ideas. The father relationship is such that, even after he's passed away, he keeps talking to him in his mind. Several times. We got this idea to represent his father by his silhouette, which you can only see if you watch the movie in 3D. In 2D, you would hear the voice but in 3D, he's going to pop out. So that's why we were so thrilled to be able to execute this in 3D. We always had the voiceover of the father in the story but then when we decided to do it in 3D, it was perfect.'
Q: 'In marketing this film, are you gonna try to evoke the Bruce Lee thing? Some kind of selling point?'
Rogen: 'If you ask most high schoolers who Bruce Lee is they will say that it someone they sit next to in English class. I don't think that it would. I think its not something that would never be my instinct to do and not to attempt. Jay Chou is one the coolest dudes I've ever met or been around. What we say is that he's like Steve McQueen. He does everything cooler than anyone else does anything. And I think Jay... Man, I've never been psyched to show up to work and be completely overshadowed by somebody on a regular basis. And it's just how it is. Jay in his own right will win people over. He is an incredibly impressive and charismatic performer. Jay is an incredibly talented martial artist and he's just a rad dude and I don't think we will need to do that.'
Moritz: 'No one here thinks that we will replace or be better than what Bruce Lee was.'
Rogen: 'Yeah, we didn't try. Just as different as I am from Van Williams, Jay is from Bruce Lee. We wanted to create new characters in telling it.'
Gondry: 'Of course, for any actor from Asia, it's a very heavy task over Bruce Lee. So Jay never wanted to emulate Bruce Lee by any means. Did not want to use his type of expression, sound or scream. So out of respect we didn't want to mimic him.'
Rogen: 'Yeah, he definitely was very conscious of not doing a Bruce Lee impression. He wanted to make his own character. He was into that and thank god he did because he makes a great Kato.'
Q: 'Since the character is lesser known than, say, Superman or Spider-Man or other superhero movies, is there any concern going into that? Marketing-wise?'
Rogen: 'For whoever saw the first trailer and then this one. I think that thought is exactly what led us to say this is the approach that we need to take. Like we look at Iron Man. I remember when Iron Man came out. I drove by a billboard with my girlfriend and she said, 'Who's Iron Man?' and they did a good job at taking Iron Man and, believe it or not, he was a relatively unknown Marvel character when that first movie came out. And they did a good job at introducing it. They didn't really tease it. There was no teaser. They just kind of showed you exactly what it was and that's something that we talked about. That they successfully took a pretty obscure character and made him well known and introduced him to people and that's kind of what we realized we had to do. Not show our version of the Green Hornet, but to say, 'Here's what... the Green Hornet is....'
Q: 'We are a month away from Comic-Con? Are you guys gonna be there and what are you gonna show the fans?'
Moritz: 'We are definitely going to be at Comic-Con and will be there with a big presence. We are going to show a piece of the film. As long as the 3D is done to the standard that we want it, we will show the trailer in 3D.'
Rogen: 'Yeah, we've already been looking at stuff to show. We are all Comic-Con fans and as comic book nerds and it's important to us to show respect for those people who go out there...'
Goldberg: 'Show the whole movie backwards. With voice over of the teaser guy.'
Q: 'Is there more of bringing your Michel Gondry style to a comic book? I didn't see it much in the trailer. Is there more?'
Gondry: 'There is more. I don't want really to... There is a danger of having a shtick. It's different than you will see in the movie. There's a difference between a trailer and a movie. That's traditional for a movie. There is some sequences that we're still working out that you didn't see in the trailer, that's more of my specific signature. But when we met, they said we want to see Michel Gondry sequences and I said no.'
Rogen: 'Originally, I was going to be made a string.'
Q: 'Seth you talked about always being a comic book fan, is this the first time you're getting an action figure that's actually you?'
Rogen: 'I have a B.O.B., but that's not really an action figure. It's a blue toy. But yeah, it's pretty cool. I'm excited, but yeah, it's my instinct to blow it up with firecrackers. I might do that.'
Q: 'More than people are saying 'This is the Green Hornet movie' than are saying 'This is the Seth Rogen action movie'. You slimmed down. What is your approach to getting people over that hump to Seth Rogen as an action hero?'
Rogen: 'My guy is not exactly like Bruce Wayne. The whole story of the movie is that I'm an irresponsible idiot who is trying to get his life together and do something worthwhile. So, as an irresponsible idiot, I'm quite good. And that's why we always knew it was an easy buy. We didn't want to just tell people what the whole story of the movie was.... But that's why we knew it was going to be fine because the story wasn't that of a completely serious well-groomed man who decides to become a superhero. It's about a guy who is grappling with his own irresponsible old activities and tendencies and can he put those all aside and do something worthwhile and that's why I think, as an actor, I thought it was something I could tackle. It displayed what people expected of me and what maybe I could show as a growth through the character.'
Gondry: 'What I was hoping when I took the job, basically is that my contribution could help that. I think that with Jim Carrey, as good as he was at being a comedian, he was excellent at being much more dramatic in Eternal Sunshine. I think Seth is selling himself short a little bit because I think that he really conveys a really complex and interesting character and what I hope is that people will see him evolve.'
Rogen: 'It's true that part of the reason we decided to approach Michel was that we knew that it was gonna be something different, taking it in a new direction and that he was traditionally someone who worked with comedic actors and took them in new directions. Just as he had taken people not traditionally known as comedic actors and made them much funnier than they were before as Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine. That's something that was one of his strengths and something that we hoped he could bring to this.'
Q: 'Who was really the champion among you guys who said to Sony, 'We need to make THE Green Hornet movie?'
Moritz: 'It's a good question. We were all champions at different times.'
Rogen: 'Yeah, we've all been champions at different times. Where does an idea come from? I'm sure Inception will answer that for all of us. It's hard to think... I mean Michel Gondry was attached to a Green Hornet movie 13 years ago. It's hard to say who is the first one who wanted to do it. I would say that no matter what they are making a Thor movie and no matter what they are making a Captain America movie. But they are not no matter what making a Green Hornet movie. We had to work really hard to have them let us do it. It wasn't a given that it was eventually going to get made no matter what. We were lucky enough to be the guys that got to do it. We really creatively saw this as an opportunity that was exciting to us and we've all fought really hard. A lot of uphill battles. A lot of bad press, a lot of strikes against us and it hasn't been easy but ultimately we are all really proud of the movie. We all love the movie and I'm excited to be able to show you some of it. I was just saying to Evan as we were walking up here, 'Today is the first day I believe this might get released,' which is exciting.
Moritz: 'I've been involved in a movie where we had so many starts and stops and I think it was August of last year that Amy Pascal was on vacation and I think that was the reason we got to go ahead. It's been a great experience.'
Rogen: 'Honestly, it's something we all strongly agreed. We were passionate about. It's an idea for some reason. The relationship between those two guys. The idea of exploring that relationship. It's creative. Evan and I, as writing partners, Michel as the director, make these relationships and you try to make something out of it and it's something that we all felt very strongly about. It was not a movie that was going to get made no matter what. It's something we had to will into being. We had to work to make happen. If we didn't do it there would not be a 'Green Hornet' movie on screen right now.'
Q: 'Seth, you're know for improv. Was there much improv on set?'
Rogen: 'We definitely wanted it at times in the relationships. When the relationships have that spontaneous feel. I just think that me and Evan found something that works really well. The things in movies that people relate to a lot and the ways characters interact. They see themselves in the characters and a lot of that is through improv. Jay is amazing at it and even in that thing 'I don't want to touch you.' He improvised that and we were joking around one day on a scene and, yes there was a lot and everyone got really into it. I mean, obviously, as an action movie there's limitations to what you can do, but it doesn't have a rigid feel to it. It's a very loose conversational feel.'
Gondry: 'I think always my interest in making movies is to have something really technical mixed with something that was not so formal... something free. I realized very soon that it's not because there are constraints like that and there is a lot of it in-camera effect. The person wants us to be stiff. That is a lot of time the actor. They don't think too much about what they have to do to act or be funny. This context is a very good or great performance.'
Q: 'What was it like working with Christoph Waltz? What comes from his background in European cinema?'
Rogen: 'Working with him was great. I would say that his character is a very unique villain, I hope. Not something we're gonna talk about a lot because I think it's something that people are excited to discover on their own. Christoph is a great actor. Really fun. He embraced coming and doing things in our strange way with open arms. And I don't know. He's technically a very impressive actor to watch. And the way he does things is very demanding at times. At the same time he is very nice and collaborative. I would love to work with him many more times.'
Q: 'Have you started work on score? Can you talk about the process and what we should expect?'
Gondry: 'Danny Elfman is doing the score. It's in the beginning stages.'
Rogen: 'Watching him and Michel weird out together is pretty rad.'
Q: 'How was working with Cameron Diaz? How much did she get into all the action?'
Moritz: 'Nicest lady in whole world.'
Rogen: 'As to how much she gets involved in the action, we should keep that somewhat under wraps. She's amazing. She gets very involved creatively. The character is very important to us that it was not just an obligatory character. The character added a lot to the movie both comedicaly and story-wise. She had a lot of great ideas. Anytime someone that famous puts any extra effort into anything. I really feel great about it. Anyone that famous... you don't expect them to get involved at all. Evan literally had a party one night and she showed up when Evan was really drunk and literally gave him two hours worth of notes and made Evan drunkenly type them on his computer. And I thought wow, that's so impressive.'
Goldberg: 'She came in like ten times to help Jay Chou learn English.'
Rogen: 'His English at first was a little sketchy at times. She put an enormous amount of time and energy into making sure that their scenes were natural and understandable and very loose and funny. Again, it’s the kind of thing where you're like 'She's too... famous to be doing this. She should be on her island.'"
The Master of the Mystic Arts in a Movie?
From ComingSoon.net:
"Marvel Studios has hired screenwriters Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer to write the script for Dr. Strange. The duo wrote the upcoming Conan, video game adaptation Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and a draft of Jon Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens.
Stephen Strange is a world-renowned but selfish neurosurgeon, until a car accident damaged his hands, preventing him from conducting surgery. Depressed and scouring the world for a cure to his condition, Strange locates a hermit called the Ancient One in the Himalayas. After Strange selflessly attempts to thwart the Ancient One's traitorous disciple, Baron Mordo, he is taught the mystic arts.
The film could be the first one for Marvel Studios that gets distributed through Disney."
Basically, I see this as a more action-packed The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
UPDATE:
"Patrick Dempsey is pitching himself for the role of Doctor Stephen Strange, reports Bleeding Cool, who also brings an artist's rendering of the 'Grey's Anatomy' star in the role."
"Marvel Studios has hired screenwriters Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer to write the script for Dr. Strange. The duo wrote the upcoming Conan, video game adaptation Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and a draft of Jon Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens.
Stephen Strange is a world-renowned but selfish neurosurgeon, until a car accident damaged his hands, preventing him from conducting surgery. Depressed and scouring the world for a cure to his condition, Strange locates a hermit called the Ancient One in the Himalayas. After Strange selflessly attempts to thwart the Ancient One's traitorous disciple, Baron Mordo, he is taught the mystic arts.
The film could be the first one for Marvel Studios that gets distributed through Disney."
Basically, I see this as a more action-packed The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
UPDATE:
"Patrick Dempsey is pitching himself for the role of Doctor Stephen Strange, reports Bleeding Cool, who also brings an artist's rendering of the 'Grey's Anatomy' star in the role."
ON STRANGER TIDES sets sail...
From ComingSoon.net:
"Production has commenced on location in Hawaii, the United Kingdom and Los Angeles on Walt Disney Pictures' and Jerry Bruckheimer Films' sweeping comedy adventure Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth entry in the blockbuster franchise which has already reaped $2.7 billion in worldwide box office from the previous three films, and the first to be filmed and presented in Disney Digital 3D. Johnny Depp returns to his iconic, Academy Award-nominated role of Captain Jack Sparrow, newly joined by Academy Award winner Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Ian McShane (HBO's 'Deadwood') and newcomers Astrid Berges-Frisbey and Sam Claflin. Also rejoining Johnny Depp and Captain Jack are Academy Award-winner and three-time nominee Geoffrey Rush ('Shakespeare in Love') and Kevin R. McNally (first three Pirates of the Caribbean films, Valkyrie). The film is slated to open May 20, 2011.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides captures the fun, adventure and humor that ignited the hit franchise --this time in Disney Digital 3D. In this action-packed tale of truth, betrayal, youth and demise, Captain Jack Sparrow crosses paths with a woman from his past (Penelope Cruz), and he's not sure if it's love--or if she's a ruthless con artist who's using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn't know who to fear more: Blackbeard or the woman from his past.
Rush reprises his role as the vengeful Captain Hector Barbossa, and Kevin R. McNally returns as Captain Jack's longtime comrade Joshamee Gibbs. Claflin stars as a stalwart missionary, while Berges-Frisbey is transformed into a mysterious mermaid.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is written by Pirates veterans Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio. The executive producers are Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, Barry Waldman, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio and John DeLuca."
"Production has commenced on location in Hawaii, the United Kingdom and Los Angeles on Walt Disney Pictures' and Jerry Bruckheimer Films' sweeping comedy adventure Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth entry in the blockbuster franchise which has already reaped $2.7 billion in worldwide box office from the previous three films, and the first to be filmed and presented in Disney Digital 3D. Johnny Depp returns to his iconic, Academy Award-nominated role of Captain Jack Sparrow, newly joined by Academy Award winner Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Ian McShane (HBO's 'Deadwood') and newcomers Astrid Berges-Frisbey and Sam Claflin. Also rejoining Johnny Depp and Captain Jack are Academy Award-winner and three-time nominee Geoffrey Rush ('Shakespeare in Love') and Kevin R. McNally (first three Pirates of the Caribbean films, Valkyrie). The film is slated to open May 20, 2011.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides captures the fun, adventure and humor that ignited the hit franchise --this time in Disney Digital 3D. In this action-packed tale of truth, betrayal, youth and demise, Captain Jack Sparrow crosses paths with a woman from his past (Penelope Cruz), and he's not sure if it's love--or if she's a ruthless con artist who's using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn't know who to fear more: Blackbeard or the woman from his past.
Rush reprises his role as the vengeful Captain Hector Barbossa, and Kevin R. McNally returns as Captain Jack's longtime comrade Joshamee Gibbs. Claflin stars as a stalwart missionary, while Berges-Frisbey is transformed into a mysterious mermaid.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is written by Pirates veterans Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio. The executive producers are Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, Barry Waldman, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio and John DeLuca."
Bradley Cooper hits a dramedy home-run
From ComingSoon.net:
"Disney has bought an untitled baseball pitch from Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps screenwriter Allan Loeb with Bradley Cooper attached to star.
According to the trade, 'the dramedy centers on a baseball player who gets injured and has to go back to the minors where the only place he can find lodging is in a senior citizens' home. There, he meets an old baseball guru who helps lead him back.'
The project is said to be in the vein of Scent of a Woman and The Rookie."
Never seen Scent of a Woman but I have seen The Rookie, so it sounds cool.
"Disney has bought an untitled baseball pitch from Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps screenwriter Allan Loeb with Bradley Cooper attached to star.
According to the trade, 'the dramedy centers on a baseball player who gets injured and has to go back to the minors where the only place he can find lodging is in a senior citizens' home. There, he meets an old baseball guru who helps lead him back.'
The project is said to be in the vein of Scent of a Woman and The Rookie."
Never seen Scent of a Woman but I have seen The Rookie, so it sounds cool.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Next NARNIA film sails away on a trailer!
From ComingSoon.net:
"Fox Walden has released the first trailer for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, opening in 3D and 2D theaters on December 10. Directed by Michael Apted, the third film in the franchise stars Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Ben Barnes, Will Poulter, Gary Sweet, Bruce Spence, Arthur Angel, Shane Rangi and Liam Neeson.
This time around – Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their pesky cousin Eustace Scrubb – find themselves swallowed into a painting and on to a fantastic Narnian ship headed for the very edges of the world.
Joining forces once again with their royal friend Prince Caspian and the warrior mouse Reepicheep, they are whisked away on a mysterious mission to the Lone Islands, and beyond. On this bewitching voyage that will test their hearts and spirits, the trio will face magical Dufflepuds, sinister slave traders, roaring dragons and enchanted merfolk. Only an entirely uncharted journey to Aslan's Country – a voyage of destiny and transformation for each of those aboard the Dawn Treader – can save Narnia, and all the astonishing creatures in it, from an unfathomable fate."
"Fox Walden has released the first trailer for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, opening in 3D and 2D theaters on December 10. Directed by Michael Apted, the third film in the franchise stars Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Ben Barnes, Will Poulter, Gary Sweet, Bruce Spence, Arthur Angel, Shane Rangi and Liam Neeson.
This time around – Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their pesky cousin Eustace Scrubb – find themselves swallowed into a painting and on to a fantastic Narnian ship headed for the very edges of the world.
Joining forces once again with their royal friend Prince Caspian and the warrior mouse Reepicheep, they are whisked away on a mysterious mission to the Lone Islands, and beyond. On this bewitching voyage that will test their hearts and spirits, the trio will face magical Dufflepuds, sinister slave traders, roaring dragons and enchanted merfolk. Only an entirely uncharted journey to Aslan's Country – a voyage of destiny and transformation for each of those aboard the Dawn Treader – can save Narnia, and all the astonishing creatures in it, from an unfathomable fate."
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Miley Cyrus gets ready to WAKE
From ComingSoon.net:
"Miley Cyrus is attached to star in paranormal thriller Wake, an adaptation of the Lisa McMann novel at Paramount Pictures and MTV Films. Disturbia co-writer Christopher Landon will adapt the book for the screen.
Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Lindsay Williams of The Gotham Group (The Spiderwick Chronicles) are producing along with Jodi Zuckerman and Tish Cyrus of Hope Town Entertainment and Steven Schneider and Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity). Eddie Gamarra will be an executive producer.
Wake, which is the first in a series of three books, is described as follows:
"Miley Cyrus is attached to star in paranormal thriller Wake, an adaptation of the Lisa McMann novel at Paramount Pictures and MTV Films. Disturbia co-writer Christopher Landon will adapt the book for the screen.
Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Lindsay Williams of The Gotham Group (The Spiderwick Chronicles) are producing along with Jodi Zuckerman and Tish Cyrus of Hope Town Entertainment and Steven Schneider and Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity). Eddie Gamarra will be an executive producer.
Wake, which is the first in a series of three books, is described as follows:
For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.
She can't tell anybody about what she does -- they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't control.
Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant...'
The sequel 'Fade' and 'Gone' detail Janie's investigations with boyfriend Cabel into the perverse activities of teachers at their school and the difficult fate that lies ahead for her."
Sounds interesting. Like Inception meets Disturbia.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
THE GREEN HORNET wings onto IMAX 3D
From ComingSoon.net:
"IMAX and Sony Pictures announced today that The Green Hornet will also be released in IMAX 3D. The full announcement:
IMAX Corporation and Sony Pictures Releasing announced today that The Green Hornet, the highly anticipated adaptation of the radio and television masked superhero character will be released to IMAX theatres, simultaneously with the film's wide domestic 2D and 3D release on January 14, 2011. The film will be digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience and presented in IMAX 3D.
'We are tremendously excited that The Green Hornet will be released in IMAX 3D as part of our wide release of the film,' said Rory Bruer, President, Worldwide Distribution for Sony Pictures Releasing. 'When you have a film that has such an imaginative and unique depth, scope, and visual style, you really should experience the film with the outstanding 3D elements that the filmmakers are delivering. We believe The IMAX 3D Experience will offer audiences a truly state of the art cinematic experience.'
'Superhero movies typically play very well with IMAX audiences, making the release of The Green Hornet a great way to kick off our 2011 slate,' said IMAX Chief Executive Officer Richard L. Gelfond. 'We're pleased with the continued expansion of our relationship with Sony Pictures, and we're excited to work with them to reach our growing audience base with another quality film.'
'We're excited to welcome Michel Gondry to the list of acclaimed directors who have released films into the IMAX network and we believe his innovative creative vision will play very well in IMAX,' added Greg Foster, Chairman and President, Filmed Entertainment. 'This film is ideally suited to our fanboy audience, and in IMAX 3D, they will be transported into the world of The Green Hornet.'
In the film, Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), son and heir to Los Angeles' largest newspaper fortune, is a rich, spoiled playboy who has been happy to maintain a direction-less existence. When his father James Reid (Tom Wilkinson) mysteriously dies, Britt meets an impressive and resourceful company employee, Kato (Jay Chou). They realize that they have the resources to do something worthwhile with their lives and finally step out of James Reid's shadow. Kato builds the ultimate weapon, The Black Beauty, an indestructible car with every weapon and gadget imaginable and Britt decides that in order to be heroes, they will pose as villains. With the help of Britt's new secretary, Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz), they learn that the chief criminal in the city is named Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz). He has united all the gangs under his power, and he quickly sees that the Green Hornet is a direct threat to the prosperous criminal underworld he controls. Directed by Michel Gondry. The screenplay is by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg, based upon 'The Green Hornet' radio series created by George W. Trendle. The film is produced by Neal H. Moritz."
"IMAX and Sony Pictures announced today that The Green Hornet will also be released in IMAX 3D. The full announcement:
IMAX Corporation and Sony Pictures Releasing announced today that The Green Hornet, the highly anticipated adaptation of the radio and television masked superhero character will be released to IMAX theatres, simultaneously with the film's wide domestic 2D and 3D release on January 14, 2011. The film will be digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience and presented in IMAX 3D.
'We are tremendously excited that The Green Hornet will be released in IMAX 3D as part of our wide release of the film,' said Rory Bruer, President, Worldwide Distribution for Sony Pictures Releasing. 'When you have a film that has such an imaginative and unique depth, scope, and visual style, you really should experience the film with the outstanding 3D elements that the filmmakers are delivering. We believe The IMAX 3D Experience will offer audiences a truly state of the art cinematic experience.'
'Superhero movies typically play very well with IMAX audiences, making the release of The Green Hornet a great way to kick off our 2011 slate,' said IMAX Chief Executive Officer Richard L. Gelfond. 'We're pleased with the continued expansion of our relationship with Sony Pictures, and we're excited to work with them to reach our growing audience base with another quality film.'
'We're excited to welcome Michel Gondry to the list of acclaimed directors who have released films into the IMAX network and we believe his innovative creative vision will play very well in IMAX,' added Greg Foster, Chairman and President, Filmed Entertainment. 'This film is ideally suited to our fanboy audience, and in IMAX 3D, they will be transported into the world of The Green Hornet.'
In the film, Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), son and heir to Los Angeles' largest newspaper fortune, is a rich, spoiled playboy who has been happy to maintain a direction-less existence. When his father James Reid (Tom Wilkinson) mysteriously dies, Britt meets an impressive and resourceful company employee, Kato (Jay Chou). They realize that they have the resources to do something worthwhile with their lives and finally step out of James Reid's shadow. Kato builds the ultimate weapon, The Black Beauty, an indestructible car with every weapon and gadget imaginable and Britt decides that in order to be heroes, they will pose as villains. With the help of Britt's new secretary, Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz), they learn that the chief criminal in the city is named Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz). He has united all the gangs under his power, and he quickly sees that the Green Hornet is a direct threat to the prosperous criminal underworld he controls. Directed by Michel Gondry. The screenplay is by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg, based upon 'The Green Hornet' radio series created by George W. Trendle. The film is produced by Neal H. Moritz."
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Sam Raimi conjures up OZ
From ComingSoon.net:
"Disney [hired] Sam Raimi as director of Oz, the Great and Powerful.
The project, a prequel to the classic Wizard of Oz story, would focus on the character of the Wizard himself and his humble beginnings in Omaha, leading to the balloon accident that leaves him stranded in Oz.
Many directors [were] rumored in conjunction with the film, including Sam Mendes, Adam Shankman and Guillermo del Toro."
I'm not a huge fan of Wizard of Oz. Not that I'm scared of the monkeys. I do appreciate the technical achievements that changed the film industry, though.
I think Sam Raimi can make Oz cool.
UPDATE:
From ComingSoon.net:
"The film will be developed as a vehicle for Robert Downey Jr. to star in. The script will be rewritten."
"Disney [hired] Sam Raimi as director of Oz, the Great and Powerful.
The project, a prequel to the classic Wizard of Oz story, would focus on the character of the Wizard himself and his humble beginnings in Omaha, leading to the balloon accident that leaves him stranded in Oz.
Many directors [were] rumored in conjunction with the film, including Sam Mendes, Adam Shankman and Guillermo del Toro."
I'm not a huge fan of Wizard of Oz. Not that I'm scared of the monkeys. I do appreciate the technical achievements that changed the film industry, though.
I think Sam Raimi can make Oz cool.
UPDATE:
From ComingSoon.net:
"The film will be developed as a vehicle for Robert Downey Jr. to star in. The script will be rewritten."
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Michael Bay again updates TRANSFORMERS III
From ComingSoon.net:
"USA Today visited the set of Transformers III and got new details on the third film, opening in theaters on July 1, 2011. The newspaper confirmed it will be released in 3D.
Talking about the second film, director Michael Bay said, 'I'll take some of the criticism' while standing at a set built to resemble a dilapidated nuclear reactor. 'It was very hard to put (the sequel) together that quickly after the writers' strike (of 2007-08).'
Bay said that 'This one really builds to a final crescendo. It's not three multiple endings... As a trilogy, it really ends. It could be rebooted again, but I think it has a really killer ending.'
'One thing we're getting rid of is what I call the dorky comedy,' Bay added. So the twins, 'They're basically gone,' he said, though John Turturro returns for comic relief.
The newspaper says the new villain will be Shockwave, 'the robot cyclops-turned-laser-cannon, who became dictator of their home world of Cybertron after the other Autobots and Decepticons journeyed to Earth.'
According to USA Today, 'The new film features Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) taking his first tenuous steps into adulthood while remaining a reluctant human ally of Optimus Prime.' 'Shia has this great line: 'You know, I've saved the world twice, but I can't get a job,' producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said.
Transformers III centers around the space race between the U.S.S.R. and the USA, suggesting there was a hidden Transformers role in it all that remains one of the planet's most dangerous secrets.
'The movie is more of a mystery,' Bay said. 'It ties in what we know as history growing up as kids with what really happened.'"
Cool. 3D Transformers. Just like Megan Fox to skip out on the 3D.
"USA Today visited the set of Transformers III and got new details on the third film, opening in theaters on July 1, 2011. The newspaper confirmed it will be released in 3D.
Talking about the second film, director Michael Bay said, 'I'll take some of the criticism' while standing at a set built to resemble a dilapidated nuclear reactor. 'It was very hard to put (the sequel) together that quickly after the writers' strike (of 2007-08).'
Bay said that 'This one really builds to a final crescendo. It's not three multiple endings... As a trilogy, it really ends. It could be rebooted again, but I think it has a really killer ending.'
'One thing we're getting rid of is what I call the dorky comedy,' Bay added. So the twins, 'They're basically gone,' he said, though John Turturro returns for comic relief.
The newspaper says the new villain will be Shockwave, 'the robot cyclops-turned-laser-cannon, who became dictator of their home world of Cybertron after the other Autobots and Decepticons journeyed to Earth.'
According to USA Today, 'The new film features Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) taking his first tenuous steps into adulthood while remaining a reluctant human ally of Optimus Prime.' 'Shia has this great line: 'You know, I've saved the world twice, but I can't get a job,' producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said.
Transformers III centers around the space race between the U.S.S.R. and the USA, suggesting there was a hidden Transformers role in it all that remains one of the planet's most dangerous secrets.
'The movie is more of a mystery,' Bay said. 'It ties in what we know as history growing up as kids with what really happened.'"
Cool. 3D Transformers. Just like Megan Fox to skip out on the 3D.
TANGLED strings up a trailer!
From ComingSoon.net:
"Walt Disney Pictures has revealed the teaser trailer for Tangled. Directed by Byron Howard and Nathan Greno, the movie is voiced by Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi and Donna Murphy.
Opening on Nov. 24, Tangled is an action-packed, swashbuckling, animated musical comedy about the girl behind 70 feet of magical, golden hair. A princess stolen from her parents' castle as a baby, Rapunzel (Moore) is locked in a hidden tower longing for adventure Now an imaginative and determined teenager, she takes off on a hilarious, hair-raising escapade with the help of a dashing bandit (Levi). With the secret of her royal heritage hanging in the balance and her captor in pursuit, Rapunzel and her cohort find adventure, heart, humor, and hair... lots of hair."
"Walt Disney Pictures has revealed the teaser trailer for Tangled. Directed by Byron Howard and Nathan Greno, the movie is voiced by Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi and Donna Murphy.
Opening on Nov. 24, Tangled is an action-packed, swashbuckling, animated musical comedy about the girl behind 70 feet of magical, golden hair. A princess stolen from her parents' castle as a baby, Rapunzel (Moore) is locked in a hidden tower longing for adventure Now an imaginative and determined teenager, she takes off on a hilarious, hair-raising escapade with the help of a dashing bandit (Levi). With the secret of her royal heritage hanging in the balance and her captor in pursuit, Rapunzel and her cohort find adventure, heart, humor, and hair... lots of hair."
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
THE MUPPETS are back!
From ComingSoon.net:
"Walt Disney Pictures has set a December 25, 2011 release for The Muppets, to be directed by James Bobin from a script by Jason Segel and Nick Stoller. Segel is also starring in the film.
The movie will be going up against...Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn [opening two days earlier in 3D].
Fox has also decided to open Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz-starrer Knight and Day two days earlier on June 23 which gives it a bit of a jump on Sony's Grown Ups, opening June 25."
Whatever happened to The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made?
Did Tom Cruise get scared of Adam Sandler?
"Walt Disney Pictures has set a December 25, 2011 release for The Muppets, to be directed by James Bobin from a script by Jason Segel and Nick Stoller. Segel is also starring in the film.
The movie will be going up against...Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn [opening two days earlier in 3D].
Fox has also decided to open Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz-starrer Knight and Day two days earlier on June 23 which gives it a bit of a jump on Sony's Grown Ups, opening June 25."
Whatever happened to The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made?
Did Tom Cruise get scared of Adam Sandler?
Stanley Tucci supports CAPTAIN AMERICA
From ComingSoon.net:
"Marvel Studios announced today that Oscar-nominated actor Stanley Tucci has been cast to star as Dr. Abraham Erskine in the studio's highly anticipated movie Captain America: The First Avenger opposite Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Hugo Weaving, and Hayley Atwell.
In the early comics, Dr. Erskine was a German scientist behind Project Rebirth, the secret experiment that created the Super Soldier known as Captain America. Joe Johnston will direct the film penned by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely.
Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige will produce Captain America: The First Avenger. Alan Fine, Stan Lee, David Maisel and Louis D’Esposito will executive produce. The film will be released in the US on July 22, 2011 and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
Captain America: The First Avenger will focus on the early days of the Marvel Universe when Steve Rogers volunteers to participate in an experimental program that turns him into the Super Soldier known as Captain America.
Tucci's credits include Julie & Julia, Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, and The Devil Wears Prada. He can next be seen in the upcoming comedy Easy A."
Notice they didn't mention Tommy Lee Jones.
"Marvel Studios announced today that Oscar-nominated actor Stanley Tucci has been cast to star as Dr. Abraham Erskine in the studio's highly anticipated movie Captain America: The First Avenger opposite Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Hugo Weaving, and Hayley Atwell.
In the early comics, Dr. Erskine was a German scientist behind Project Rebirth, the secret experiment that created the Super Soldier known as Captain America. Joe Johnston will direct the film penned by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely.
Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige will produce Captain America: The First Avenger. Alan Fine, Stan Lee, David Maisel and Louis D’Esposito will executive produce. The film will be released in the US on July 22, 2011 and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
Captain America: The First Avenger will focus on the early days of the Marvel Universe when Steve Rogers volunteers to participate in an experimental program that turns him into the Super Soldier known as Captain America.
Tucci's credits include Julie & Julia, Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, and The Devil Wears Prada. He can next be seen in the upcoming comedy Easy A."
Notice they didn't mention Tommy Lee Jones.
Jeremy Renner is HURT'n to play Hawkeye in THE AVENGERS
From ComingSoon.net:
"Jeremy Renner may be close to locking a deal to star as Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye, in Joss Whedon's The Avengers, reports Heat Vision.
Since last year, rumors have persisted that Marvel has been after the star of The Hurt Locker to play the character, though official sources would not confirm that Hawkeye even has a role in the upcoming summer blockbuster, much less actor selection.
Renner talked exclusively with SuperHeroHype late last year, indicating that, while he'd love to join the Marvel Universe in some capacity, the film was too far off and, at the time, didn't even have a director. It appears that, with Joss Whedon now on board and pre-production moving forward, Renner may become an official member of the team yet."
"Jeremy Renner may be close to locking a deal to star as Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye, in Joss Whedon's The Avengers, reports Heat Vision.
Since last year, rumors have persisted that Marvel has been after the star of The Hurt Locker to play the character, though official sources would not confirm that Hawkeye even has a role in the upcoming summer blockbuster, much less actor selection.
Renner talked exclusively with SuperHeroHype late last year, indicating that, while he'd love to join the Marvel Universe in some capacity, the film was too far off and, at the time, didn't even have a director. It appears that, with Joss Whedon now on board and pre-production moving forward, Renner may become an official member of the team yet."
Meet the new TRANSFORMERS girl!
From ComingSoon.net:
"Director Michael Bay's official website has confirmed that Victoria's Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley has landed the lead female role in Transformers III. Huntington-Whiteley has worked with Bay before on his Victoria's Secret 'A Thousand Fantasies' ad.
She joins Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Ken Jeong, Patrick Dempsey and Alan Tudyk in the third film scheduled for release on July 1, 2011."
I'm in.
I'm still wondering how in the world Victoria's Secret got a hold of the news before Bay released the statement.
MUSIC:
"I'm In" by Keith Urban
"Director Michael Bay's official website has confirmed that Victoria's Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley has landed the lead female role in Transformers III. Huntington-Whiteley has worked with Bay before on his Victoria's Secret 'A Thousand Fantasies' ad.
She joins Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Ken Jeong, Patrick Dempsey and Alan Tudyk in the third film scheduled for release on July 1, 2011."
I'm in.
I'm still wondering how in the world Victoria's Secret got a hold of the news before Bay released the statement.
MUSIC:
"I'm In" by Keith Urban
Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are back!
From ComingSoon.net:
"The Proposal director Anne Fletcher, stars Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, and producers David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman are reteaming for Universal Pictures' Most Wanted.
In the action comedy, Bullock plays a woman on the run with Reynolds as an agent who is supposed to be handling her.
The project is described as having a tone similar to that of Universal's 1988 release Midnight Run, with Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin, which the studio is developing a sequel for.
Reynolds will also executive produce along with his Dark Trick Films partner Jonathon Komack-Martin."
Didn't they already try to do this and it didn't work? The Bounty Hunter ringing a bell?
Betty White better be in this.
UPDATE:
Not so fast, says Sandra Bullock.
"Although it was announced earlier this week that Sandra Bullock was set to star again alongside Ryan Reynolds in a comedy called Most Wanted, her representatives are now making clear that this is not necessarily the case, according to a piece at the LA Times.
Though Most Wanted is not necessarily out for Bullock, the actress will have final script approval and, as such, is not locked into doing the film at all. According to her CAA representative, Bullock will certainly not make the film her next project and, instead, is carefully selecting a role to follow her recent Oscar win."
"The Proposal director Anne Fletcher, stars Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, and producers David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman are reteaming for Universal Pictures' Most Wanted.
In the action comedy, Bullock plays a woman on the run with Reynolds as an agent who is supposed to be handling her.
The project is described as having a tone similar to that of Universal's 1988 release Midnight Run, with Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin, which the studio is developing a sequel for.
Reynolds will also executive produce along with his Dark Trick Films partner Jonathon Komack-Martin."
Didn't they already try to do this and it didn't work? The Bounty Hunter ringing a bell?
Betty White better be in this.
UPDATE:
Not so fast, says Sandra Bullock.
"Although it was announced earlier this week that Sandra Bullock was set to star again alongside Ryan Reynolds in a comedy called Most Wanted, her representatives are now making clear that this is not necessarily the case, according to a piece at the LA Times.
Though Most Wanted is not necessarily out for Bullock, the actress will have final script approval and, as such, is not locked into doing the film at all. According to her CAA representative, Bullock will certainly not make the film her next project and, instead, is carefully selecting a role to follow her recent Oscar win."
Friday, June 4, 2010
Jack Black goes on GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
From ComingSoon.net:
"20th Century Fox has brought online the trailer for Gulliver's Travels, starring Jack Black, Emily Blunt, Jason Segel, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, James Gorden, Catherine Tate and Chris O'Dowd. Opening in 3D and 2D theaters on December 22, the fantasy action adventure is directed by Rob Letterman from a script by Nicholas Stoller and Joe Stillman.
In the contemporary re–imagining of the classic tale, Black stars as Gulliver, a big–talking mailroom clerk who, after he's mistakenly assigned a travel piece on the Bermuda Triangle, suddenly finds himself a giant among men when he washes ashore on the hidden island of Lilliput, home to a population of very tiny people. At first enslaved by the diminutive and industrious Liliputians, and later declared their hero, Gulliver comes to learn that it's how big you are on the inside that counts."
Okay, it's not that bad of a kids' movie. Great Star Wars references (we're that much closer to a 3D Star Wars)! Jack Black is definitely going back to the School of Rock crowd.
UPDATE:
"20th Century Fox has brought online the trailer for Gulliver's Travels, starring Jack Black, Emily Blunt, Jason Segel, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, James Gorden, Catherine Tate and Chris O'Dowd. Opening in 3D and 2D theaters on December 22, the fantasy action adventure is directed by Rob Letterman from a script by Nicholas Stoller and Joe Stillman.
In the contemporary re–imagining of the classic tale, Black stars as Gulliver, a big–talking mailroom clerk who, after he's mistakenly assigned a travel piece on the Bermuda Triangle, suddenly finds himself a giant among men when he washes ashore on the hidden island of Lilliput, home to a population of very tiny people. At first enslaved by the diminutive and industrious Liliputians, and later declared their hero, Gulliver comes to learn that it's how big you are on the inside that counts."
Okay, it's not that bad of a kids' movie. Great Star Wars references (we're that much closer to a 3D Star Wars)! Jack Black is definitely going back to the School of Rock crowd.
UPDATE:
SNOW WHITE to get bad with Brett Ratner
From ComingSoon.net:
"The classic children's fairy tale, Snow White will be getting an updated live-action retelling in 3D courtesy of Brett Ratner and Relativity Media.
The new version, said to take an 'edgy' and comedic look at the original Brothers Grimm story will come from a script written by Melisa Wallack, whose sole produced credit is the 2007 Aaron Eckhart film Bill, which Wallack co-directed.
Claiming, 'This is not your grandfather's Snow White,' Ratner promises a departure from the Disney version of the film.
'His dwarves were miners, and here they are robbers. There is also a dragon that was in the original folk tale... [O]urs is edgy and there is more comedy. The original, made for its time, was soft compared to what we're going to do.'
Ratner will produce alongside Wallack's Bill co-director, Bernie Goldmann."
Basically, I'm getting a vibe that no old childhood story is safe from the 3D-explosion going on right now.
"The classic children's fairy tale, Snow White will be getting an updated live-action retelling in 3D courtesy of Brett Ratner and Relativity Media.
The new version, said to take an 'edgy' and comedic look at the original Brothers Grimm story will come from a script written by Melisa Wallack, whose sole produced credit is the 2007 Aaron Eckhart film Bill, which Wallack co-directed.
Claiming, 'This is not your grandfather's Snow White,' Ratner promises a departure from the Disney version of the film.
'His dwarves were miners, and here they are robbers. There is also a dragon that was in the original folk tale... [O]urs is edgy and there is more comedy. The original, made for its time, was soft compared to what we're going to do.'
Ratner will produce alongside Wallack's Bill co-director, Bernie Goldmann."
Basically, I'm getting a vibe that no old childhood story is safe from the 3D-explosion going on right now.
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