Also in comic film news, Marvel angles for Chris Columbus to direct Namor. Well, there went what little interest I had in the project…except maybe if they cast Hugo Weaving.
Category: Directors
Smeagol goes Ape.
The rumors are true: Peter Jackson talks more about Andy Serkis (Gollum) as King Kong.
Prisoners of Carrey, Gangs of LA.
Also missed during my own private blackout: New trailers for Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (Haven’t read the books, but know enough to know that this shouldn’t be such a Jim Carrey vehicle) and Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator (Looks intriguing, although the Old Hollywood stuff looks like more fun than the planes.)
On the Comeback Trail.
Booyah…We’re finally getting close to a release date for the RotK:EE: December.
Tricksy.
Time? What time do you think we have? While the world enjoys the RotK theatrical edition (released on DVD last Tuesday…or earlier, if you live in NYC), the Extended Edition runs into delays, and now might not see the light of day until 2005. For what it’s worth, Entertainment Weekly has at least confirmed some inclusions, although nothing we haven’t heard before. Ah well, I’m ok with waiting a few extra months if it’ll mean a difference in quality.
The Unsubtle Pie.
Will Chris Weitz of American Pie direct His Dark Materials? This sounds like a terrible idea at first…then again, I thought he and brother Paul Weitz did a solid job with About a Boy. Well, hopefully they won’t throw out the Tom Stoppard script too quickly…
Back in the Saddle?
While Indy 4 flails about in Development Hell, Harrison Ford signs on for James Cameron’s Godspeed, which so far sounds like something between Solaris and Outland. Unfortunately, Cameron is only producing this flick, and so his much-awaited sci-fi 3D spectacular still waits in the wings.
Forthcoming Issues / Darth Awakens.
AICN reports some (somewhat dubious) rumors on a slew of comic book sequels, including Hellboy 2, Spiderman 3, and X3/X4. Also in the sequel department, Episode 3 — now apparently titled Rise of the Empire — gets the Latham Film treatment. (They previously made the Hobbit and RotK fan teasers, although this one, frankly, isn’t quite up to snuff.)
Tide Bandits.
Reports suggest Terry Gilliam’s next film (after The Brothers Grimm) will be Mitch Cullin’s Tideland. If the book blurb deeming it a “modern gothic version of Alice in Wonderland filled with ghosts, spirits, and magic” is correct, then it sounds like a great fit for Gilliam.
Tyler and Benny.
In related news, David Fincher has also picked a new project, and it’s F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Benjamin Button, about a man who begins aging backwards at the age of 50. Well, I haven’t seen a second of it, and it’s already more interesting than Panic Room.