Future Film Round-up

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

- Sony is developing a remake of Total Recall. A deal is said to be imminent.
- Speaking of remakes, Warner Bros. is redoing The Neverending Story.
- The deal is done. After thinking that it wouldn’t happen, Samuel L. Jackson has signed on to play Nick Fury in Iron Man 2 (he cameoed in Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk). The deal also includes an option for nine (yes, 9!) other Marvel comics films.
- Monopoly and Clue weren’t enough, so there are also now plans for a Ouija film. I have no idea how, but the article does say to not expect anything like Jumanji.
- Warner Bros. is working on adaptation of the comic book series The Suicide Squad.
- Warner Bros. is also remaking Arthur, as a vehicle for Russell Brand (Forgetting Sarah Marshall).
- Ed Helms (The Daily Show, The Office) is developing an original screenplay (thank god someone is) about four Civil War re-enacters who are accidentally transported back in time to the real Civil War.
- Cate Blanchett has signed on to play Maid Marion in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, opposite Russell Crowe.
- The Broadway musical Damn Yankees is getting another big screen treatment, this time starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Jim Carrey.
- Bill Condon is going to direct Eddie Murphy in a biopic of Richard Pryor.
- Woody Allen 2010 (that’s what I’m calling it) has added Antonio Banderas to its cast.
- Arrested Development is a go, but has not been written yet.
- J.J. Abrams is developing a sequel to Cloverfield.
- The least prolific director ever, Terrence Malick (only 4 films since 1973) has a new film coming out, maybe this year, maybe next. It’s called Tree of Life, and the original plot synopsis made it seem as if it was a small character film set in the 1950s (the period of Malick’s childhood). However, a new twist is word from an FX company that is working on giant IMAX CGI dinosaurs for the film. No idea what that means, so take it as it is.
- Malick part II (2 days later): Now it looks like there are TWO Malick films coming in the next year; the one I mentioned above, and an entirely IMAX film about the birth and death of the universe. Both films are having their effects done by Douglas Trumbull, who worked on 2001: A Space Odyssey.
- The 3rd Narnia film (Voyage of the Dawn Treader) will be released December 10th, 2010.
- Edward Zwick (Last Samurai, Blood Diamonds) is making In The Heart Of The Sea, about the true story that inspired the novel Moby Dick.
- Atom Egoyan’s next film is Chloe, which is a remake of a French film from a couple of years back called Nathalie…
- Leonardo DiCaprio has been cast in Christopher Nolan’s next film, Inception.
- Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others) will be directing Tom Cruise’s next film, the 28th Ammendment, about a US President who discovers a secret cabal that controls the Government.
- Steve Carell is making a film called Hi-T, about a man who experiences uncontrollable mood swings after taking testosterone injections.