All Things:Science Fiction/Fantasy

That Darkover TV show we always dreamed about is finally happening | Blastr

Given the massive, runaway success of HBO's Game of Thrones, it was probably just a matter of time before someone snapped up another sweeping, character-dense, world-rich genre book series to bring to the small screen. And Marion Zimmer Bradley's best-selling Darkover saga seems to be next in line.

Producers Ilene Kahn Power—who gave Angelina Jolie her big break in HBO's Gia—and Elizabeth Stanley have obtained the rights to Bradley's Darkover books, almost 40 in all, which chronicle the foundation of a human colony on an inhospitable planet in orbit around the red giant star known as Darkover and incorporate elements of both fantasy and science fiction.

According to Kahn Power:

"With the ability to create the Darkover world through state-of-the-art effects and the opportunity to utilize multiple platforms to unfold our narrative, now is the ideal time to create a lasting and far-reaching series that features compelling characters and gripping stories that will appeal not only to existing fans but also to the broader audience which has embraced series such as Game of Thrones and Battlestar Galactica."

They're setting a pretty high bar for themselves; let's hope they can clear it. To date, there's no network involved, nor are there any creatives involved beyond the producers, but I could always use another ambitious, sweeping science fiction saga. How about you?
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Jonathan Liebesman to Direct TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES Reboot

Paramount is in development on a live-action reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It has been a rough transition so far from comic to feature, but the studio is taking the project in an unexpected direction. Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, and Andrew Form of Platinum Dunes—the production company behind horror remakes such A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th—are shepherding the reboot. The studio assigned the script to Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, the writers who most recently penned the whip-smart Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Now Variety reports Jonathan Liebesman is in negotiations to direct. Liebesman directed Battle: Los Angeles, and his next project is Wrath of the Titans. He’s the up-and-comer you call when you want a big action film. Tone will always be tricky when your main characters are anthropomorphic turtles who know martial arts. But if they can reinvent TMNT on the level of, say, Bay’s Transformers… well, that sounds like a blast.
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Hugh Grant Says He Plays Six “Incredibly Evil” Characters in ‘Cloud Atlas’ | /Film

Either good or bad...this movie is going to be AWESOME.

And this is part of why I positioned Cloud Atlas, written and directed by Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski, as my second most-anticipated film of 2012.

Let’s run through the basics again, for those who are just joining in: One film. Two parallel film units with three directors shooting six interconnected stories. Most of the cast plays multiple roles, sometimes switching genders and races in tales that range from classic adventure to detective thriller to dystopian sci-fi.

We know the cast (Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, Susan Sarandon, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant and Bae Doona) but have only known a bit about the characters each person will play. Now Hugh Grant is talking about Cloud Atlas, and it sounds like he had the time of his life playing six “incredibly evil” characters, even if each is a relatively small role.

Empire talked to Grant, who said as an overview:

I have six cameo parts in this strange, ambitious film. I do a lot of killing and raping. I wear an awful lot of prosthetic make up, too. You probably won’t know that I am in the film! But it was a laugh. I thought before I read it that I’d turn it down, which I normally do, but I was interested in meeting the Wachowskis because I have always admired them enormously. And they are so charming and fascinating.

Count me in! (Not as an endorsement of killing and raping so much. Just of Hugh Grant doing it. On film.)

As far as specific roles go, Grant only mentions that he played “a cannibal, about 2000 years in the future,” which means he’s got a small part in the ‘final’ story, ‘Sloosha’s Crossin’ an’ Ev’rythin’ After.’ But the fact that he’s got six roles means he’s probably in each of the six tales. And if he’s in all six, can we expect that everyone in the cast follows suit?

Grant finished with,

I have seen little bits of cut footage and it is just astonishing. I probably had 20 shooting days, and each of them is shooting their own part of the film with their own crews. It’s remarkable.
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Rumor: None of the Original Cast Returning for TRANSFORMER 4

Earlier this week, we reported that Michael Bay would be rebooting his own damn franchise with Transformers 4, an idea so stupid that it’s truly fitting of these movies. In a recent interview with E! Online, Josh Duhamel says he’s not coming back for the sequel and neither is anyone else:


“I don’t think anybody’s doing it. I know Shia [LaBoeuf]‘s not doing it. I don’t think Tyrese or Rosie [Huntington-Whiteley] or anybody else is doing it.”

Take this with a grain of salt. Actors are the last to know anything regarding a movie’s production. LaBeouf previously stated Transformers: Dark of the Moon was his last one, but then again, so did Bay. Either way, it’s not like the cast makes much of a difference in these movies. Transformers 4 opens June 29, 2014.
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Data predicts John Carter could be a major box office disaster | Blastr

It's no secret that Disney's John Carter has a massive budget, so massive that it's going to need to earn upwards of $700 million at the box office just to earn the right to a sequel. But according to new tracking on the flick, it might not even come close. Could the Martian adventure be this year's biggest flop?


With the onslaught of trailers, posters and images getting heavier just three weeks out from the film's March 9 release, Disney is getting feelers out to see just how aware prospective moviegoers are of the flick, and how many of them are interested in seeing it. Disney won't share their tracking numbers, of course, but Deadline's Nikki Finke is hearing from rival studios that the situation looks pretty grim.

"'Not good. 2 unaided, 53 aware, 27 definitely interested, 3 first choice,' a senior exec at a rival studio emails me," Finke wrote Thursday. "Another writes me, 'It just came out. Women of all ages have flat out rejected the film. The tracking for John Carter is shocking for a film that cost over $250 million. This could be the biggest writeoff of all time.' I'm hearing figures in the neighborhood of $100 million. And the studio isn't even trying to spin reports of the 3D pic's bloated budget any more."

But it's not like Disney wasn't aware of this before. According to an executive close to current Walt Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross, it wasn't their movie to begin with. The project began under previous studio head Dick Cook (who left in 2009), and now it's their job to try and make it worthwhile.

"It's the last leftover from the previous regime of Dick Cook," the exec said. "We're not running away from the movie. Our job is to sell it."

Rich Ross and his regime have been able to sell previous Cook leftovers, too, like Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, but this flick isn't carrying Johnny Depp's name. Plus, the hope of word-of-mouth buzz pushing the flick to sustained moneymaking is a little dimmed by the fact that two weeks after it opens, The Hunger Games will hit theaters and steal most of whatever thunder it has.

Still, Disney isn't giving up. This Sunday they're amping up their John Carter media push even higher, and by release day you won't be able to turn on a TV without seeing a trailer for the flick. It might not be enough for the film to earn its keep, but John Carter won't go down without a fight.
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Wow. Not good. This is seemingly already a disaster. Word of mouth is going to have to be GODFATHER pt 1 like to get any traction for this. D.O.A.
 
All those trailers and posters and I have NO idea what the hell the movie is about. And I have a vague awareness about the movie.
 
Dude somehow shows up on Mars and cus of the lowered gravity he can jump far and punch hard. For some reason Mars people are fighting other Mars people. Dude helps the good Mars people win.

That's my guess.
 
Horrible ad campaign for what looks like a very pedestrian movie. The story of how many creative teams attempted this prior would make a better story. It's a shame. I mean this is an Edgar Rice Burroughs written story. A lot of the problem is Taylor Kitsch and the other 'actors' involved. The fact that the bulk of the tease material came out before the effects were incorporated really did not help. This character is in the Conan the Barbarian realm of beloved properties...and yet this looks just so...mediocre. The cost and scope of this potential failure may cost Andrew Stanton(Wall-E) his career...at least in live action.
 
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Disney's Matterhorn Finds a Writer to Breathe Life into its Yetis | Horror Movie, DVD, & Book Reviews, News, Interviews at Dread Central

We're still pondering just how Disneyland ride The Matterhorn is going to make the transition from mini-rollercoaster to big screen event, but a writer has been tapped to bring it all full circle. So who's taking the reins? Read on!

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ehren Kruger (Scream 3, Scream 4, The Ring, The Ring 2, Skeleton Key) has landed a gig to work on Disney’s untitled explorers movie project.

First-time feature director Brian Beletic is attached to helm the pic, whose first draft was written by Jason Dean Hall. Justin Springer (Tron Legacy, Prom) is producing the project.

The story centers on five young adventure seekers -- an action sports guy, travel guide, cartographer, archeologist and escape artist -- who venture into the Alps for mysterious reasons and face Yetis that guard a secret.

The project formerly was associated with the Matterhorn ride at Disneyland, but its scope has since been broadened. The studio is hoping to keep part of the movie grounded in hardcore adventuring and has brought on Brain Farm Cinema, the boutique production house that is known for filming extreme sports, as production consultants.
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JOHN CARTER Final Trailer

I’ve heard good things about John Carter from people who have seen it, but sadly the film’s marketing has been a mess. A recent featurette finally showed off the film’s scope and so does the final trailer. But none of the trailers (except one that was fan-made, and far better than any of Disney’s trailers) took a single moment to explain who John Carter is, how he got to Mars, and why he has special powers. Does any audience member who is unfamiliar with the source material, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novel A Princess of Mars, know anything about the character beyond “Shirtless Dude Who Fights Weird Creatures”? The movie is titled “John Carter” and Disney never took the time to tell us anything about him.

Hit the jump to check out the final trailer. The film stars Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Daryl Sabara, Polly Walker, Bryan Cranston, Thomas Haden Church, and Willem Dafoe. John Carter opens in IMAX and 3D on March 9th.
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This new trailer looks better simply because a lot of the effects are complete and the mere presence of Mark Strong helps. I want this to succeed despite what looks like certain failure. I don't think that even spectacular word of mouth can save this though. Crosses fingers!!!!
 
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