If Miramax and producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron could make ''Chicago'' a hit and an Oscar frontrunner, why not another classic musical about showgirls and high rollers? According to the Hollywood Reporter, the studio and the producers are in talks to remake ''Guys and Dolls,'' the venerable Broadway show about two tough-talking gamblers and the women who transform them.
The Frank Loesser musical, inspired by a Damon Runyon story about colorful Times Square characters, was first staged in 1950 on Broadway. It became a movie in 1955, starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons and Frank Sinatra. A 1992 New York revival starred Peter Gallagher and made a full-fledged Broadway star out of Nathan Lane.
Zadan and Meron, who have also produced several TV remakes of musicals, including ABC's recent version of ''The Music Man'' starring Matthew Broderick, still have to clear some rights issues and decide whether or not to update the period setting. Then there's the small matter of a director and cast.
There's one actor who's on record as being up for the job: Vin Diesel. The ''XXX'' star told reporters last fall that he's a big fan of musicals, that he wanted to star in a ''Guys and Dolls'' remake, and that he had even talked to Nicole Kidman about co-starring. ''Nicole is excited about the idea, so I think it may happen,'' he said at the time. The ''Moulin Rouge'' star can certainly sing, but can he? ''I don't know how good a singer I am but I know I can carry a tune,'' he said. Hey, that's about all Marlon Brando could do, and his version turned out fine.
Entertainment Weekly
Showing posts with label adaptation: new we swear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adaptation: new we swear. Show all posts
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Let The Right One In (2010)
After having directed the "Godzilla"-for-the-Twitter-generation known as "Cloverfield," Matt Reeves was in meetings in early 2008 trying to set up a small drama he had written.
An executive at Overture Films asked him to take a look at a then-unreleased Swedish horror film, "Let the Right One In," a hauntingly touching film about a lonely 12-year-old boy who realizes the kind girl who moved in next door is a vampire.
"I was just hooked," Reeves recalled recently. "I was so taken with the story and I had a very personal reaction. It reminded me a lot of my childhood, with the metaphor that the hard times of your pre-adolescent, early adolescent moment, that painful experience is a horror."
Reeves signed on to adapt and direct an American remake of the cult hit, now called "Let Me In," the English translation of John Ajvide Lindqvist's original novel. He recently finished a second draft of the script, currently set in Reagan-era Colorado, and is scouting locations, looking to maintain the original story's chilly, snow-swept environs. The film is scheduled for a fall 2010 theatrical release.
LA Times
An executive at Overture Films asked him to take a look at a then-unreleased Swedish horror film, "Let the Right One In," a hauntingly touching film about a lonely 12-year-old boy who realizes the kind girl who moved in next door is a vampire.
"I was just hooked," Reeves recalled recently. "I was so taken with the story and I had a very personal reaction. It reminded me a lot of my childhood, with the metaphor that the hard times of your pre-adolescent, early adolescent moment, that painful experience is a horror."
Reeves signed on to adapt and direct an American remake of the cult hit, now called "Let Me In," the English translation of John Ajvide Lindqvist's original novel. He recently finished a second draft of the script, currently set in Reagan-era Colorado, and is scouting locations, looking to maintain the original story's chilly, snow-swept environs. The film is scheduled for a fall 2010 theatrical release.
LA Times
Oldboy (2010)
London (IANS): Hollywood filmmaker Steven Spielberg's plan to remake cult Korean film Old Boy seems to have become jeopardised as the makers of the 2003 hit are not authorised to give permission for a remake.
Spielberg and Smith recently secured the rights to modernise director Park Chan-Wook's film, which was produced by Show East.
But Show East have found themselves at the centre of a lawsuit from Futabasha officials, the Japanese publishers of the original series, who claim the producers were in no position to negotiate with the Hollywood filmmakers and Universal Studios, reported Dailystar.co.uk
Seoul-based Show East has since shut down and its executives have ceased all contact with Futabasha, further complicating legal proceedings, which began last week.
However, Universal bosses are refusing to halt pre-production on Spielberg and Smith's planned version and have given them the green light to continue work.
Hindu.com
Spielberg and Smith recently secured the rights to modernise director Park Chan-Wook's film, which was produced by Show East.
But Show East have found themselves at the centre of a lawsuit from Futabasha officials, the Japanese publishers of the original series, who claim the producers were in no position to negotiate with the Hollywood filmmakers and Universal Studios, reported Dailystar.co.uk
Seoul-based Show East has since shut down and its executives have ceased all contact with Futabasha, further complicating legal proceedings, which began last week.
However, Universal bosses are refusing to halt pre-production on Spielberg and Smith's planned version and have given them the green light to continue work.
Hindu.com
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Total Recall (2011)
Neal H. Moritz and his Original Films are in final negotiations to develop and produce for Columbia Pictures a contemporary version of Total Recall, the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi action movie directed by Paul Verhoeven, says The Hollywood Reporter.
The original, based on the Philip K. Dick story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," follows a man haunted by a recurring dream of journeying to Mars who buys a literal dream vacation from a company called Rekall Inc., which sells implanted memories. The man comes to believe he is a secret agent and ends up on a Martian colony, where he fights to overthrow a despotic ruler controlling the production of air.
The movie explores one of Dick's favorite topics, reality vs. delusion, as audiences never knew whether or not the story was a dream. Either way, the movie grossed a very real $261 million worldwide.
Calling Dick's story "prescient," Moritz said he hoped the advancements in technology and state-of-the-art visual effects can help tell the "Recall" story in a fresh way.
Source: ComingSoon.net
The original, based on the Philip K. Dick story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," follows a man haunted by a recurring dream of journeying to Mars who buys a literal dream vacation from a company called Rekall Inc., which sells implanted memories. The man comes to believe he is a secret agent and ends up on a Martian colony, where he fights to overthrow a despotic ruler controlling the production of air.
The movie explores one of Dick's favorite topics, reality vs. delusion, as audiences never knew whether or not the story was a dream. Either way, the movie grossed a very real $261 million worldwide.
Calling Dick's story "prescient," Moritz said he hoped the advancements in technology and state-of-the-art visual effects can help tell the "Recall" story in a fresh way.
Source: ComingSoon.net
Clue (2011)
Universal Pictures has made a series of deals with Hasbro to adapt board games and toys into big screen movies. Last year the studio signed Ridley Scott to develop a movie based on Monopoly. Over the past month it was announced that Platinum Dunes was developing a movie based around the Ouija board, Etan Cohen was writing a screenplay for Candyland with Enchanted director Kevin Lima to direct, and Steve Oedekerk to write a big screen adaptation of Stretch Armstrong.
And now comes news that Pirates of the Caribbean helmer Gore Verbinski has signed on with Universal to direct and produce a live-action adaptation of the board game Clue. While most of the other properties might seem like odd choices, Clue has a murder mystery storyline that seems much easier to turn into a narrative story.
As you know, the board game is set in a big mansion where a murder has taken place. The competitors try to uncover who committed the murder, Professor Plum, Ms. White, Col. Mustard, Miss Peacock, Mr. Green or Ms. Scarlet, what murder weapon was used, either a knife, rope, candlestick, wrench, pistol or a lead pipe, and what room the murder was committed in. The board game has made over $1 billion in sales over the last 61 years.
The board game was previously turned into a big screen film in 1985, and while the black comedy was a critical and financial failure at the time of it’s release, the film has gone on to develop a cult following on DVD and television airings. Most interesting is that the film actually is one of the only mainstream movies I know of which was released with alternative endings. Depending on which theater you screening the movie, moviegoers were presented with one of three different endings. Newspapers listed the film with an A, B or C depending on the ending included with the print. It would be interesting if they tried to do such a gimmick in the Internet age, and if the gimmick would result in more ticket sales.
Verbinski is an interesting choice because he has experience in bringing fantastical period stories to life with a great mix of realism and wonderful visuals. However, this is just one of the films that Verbinski has on his plate. I think I would much rather see his big screen adaptation of the video game Bioshock than another Clue movie.
Source /film
And now comes news that Pirates of the Caribbean helmer Gore Verbinski has signed on with Universal to direct and produce a live-action adaptation of the board game Clue. While most of the other properties might seem like odd choices, Clue has a murder mystery storyline that seems much easier to turn into a narrative story.
As you know, the board game is set in a big mansion where a murder has taken place. The competitors try to uncover who committed the murder, Professor Plum, Ms. White, Col. Mustard, Miss Peacock, Mr. Green or Ms. Scarlet, what murder weapon was used, either a knife, rope, candlestick, wrench, pistol or a lead pipe, and what room the murder was committed in. The board game has made over $1 billion in sales over the last 61 years.
The board game was previously turned into a big screen film in 1985, and while the black comedy was a critical and financial failure at the time of it’s release, the film has gone on to develop a cult following on DVD and television airings. Most interesting is that the film actually is one of the only mainstream movies I know of which was released with alternative endings. Depending on which theater you screening the movie, moviegoers were presented with one of three different endings. Newspapers listed the film with an A, B or C depending on the ending included with the print. It would be interesting if they tried to do such a gimmick in the Internet age, and if the gimmick would result in more ticket sales.
Verbinski is an interesting choice because he has experience in bringing fantastical period stories to life with a great mix of realism and wonderful visuals. However, this is just one of the films that Verbinski has on his plate. I think I would much rather see his big screen adaptation of the video game Bioshock than another Clue movie.
Source /film
The Neverending Story (2011)
The new movie will put a modern spin on the material by examining the more nuanced details of the book that were glossed over in the first feature.
The Kennedy/Marshall Co., whose credits include "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," and Leonard DiCaprio's Appian Way are in discussions with Warners about reviving the 25-year-old franchise. The studio recently acquired rights to the property, clearing the way for a potential remake.
Based on a German-language novel by Michael Ende, the film centers on a boy named Bastian Balthazar Bux who discovers a parallel world in a book titled "The NeverEnding Story." As the boy, a loner, delves deeper into the book, he increasingly finds his life intertwined with the plot of the novel, in which a hero in the land of Fantasia must save the universe on behalf of an empress.
Wolfgang Petersen directed the 1984 film, which earned a respectable $20 million for Warners. The film has had a long life on home video and an even larger influence on popular culture, prefiguring the Harry Potter stories and other children's fantasies.
A sequel directed by George Miller came out in 1990 and earned $17 million; a third movie followed in the U.S. in 1996 but quickly went to video.
"NeverEnding" came out long before the fantasy genre was seen as a springboard for a Hollywood blockbuster, and Warners is said to see a new opportunity in the first-generation children's fantasy.
Source: Reuters
The Kennedy/Marshall Co., whose credits include "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," and Leonard DiCaprio's Appian Way are in discussions with Warners about reviving the 25-year-old franchise. The studio recently acquired rights to the property, clearing the way for a potential remake.
Based on a German-language novel by Michael Ende, the film centers on a boy named Bastian Balthazar Bux who discovers a parallel world in a book titled "The NeverEnding Story." As the boy, a loner, delves deeper into the book, he increasingly finds his life intertwined with the plot of the novel, in which a hero in the land of Fantasia must save the universe on behalf of an empress.
Wolfgang Petersen directed the 1984 film, which earned a respectable $20 million for Warners. The film has had a long life on home video and an even larger influence on popular culture, prefiguring the Harry Potter stories and other children's fantasies.
A sequel directed by George Miller came out in 1990 and earned $17 million; a third movie followed in the U.S. in 1996 but quickly went to video.
"NeverEnding" came out long before the fantasy genre was seen as a springboard for a Hollywood blockbuster, and Warners is said to see a new opportunity in the first-generation children's fantasy.
Source: Reuters
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Bonnie & Clyde (2010)
Hollywood icons Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty are none too pleased after learning that there is a revamped version of their 1967 classic Bonnie And Clyde in the works.
The two Oscar winners both said, ”Why?” upon hearing the news little-known director Tonya S. Holly will direct The Story of Bonnie and Clyde, based on her own screenplay, The Chicago Sun-Times reported on Wednesday.
According to The Sun-Times scoop, leading lady Faye Dunaway is especially disturbed that her role as Bonnie Parker in the ten time Academy Award-nominated original will be portrayed by former Disney tweener Hilary Duff.
”Couldn’t they at least cast a real actress?”
Ouch.
The Story Of Bonnie & Clyde will be released in 2010.
Source: PopCrunch
The two Oscar winners both said, ”Why?” upon hearing the news little-known director Tonya S. Holly will direct The Story of Bonnie and Clyde, based on her own screenplay, The Chicago Sun-Times reported on Wednesday.
According to The Sun-Times scoop, leading lady Faye Dunaway is especially disturbed that her role as Bonnie Parker in the ten time Academy Award-nominated original will be portrayed by former Disney tweener Hilary Duff.
”Couldn’t they at least cast a real actress?”
Ouch.
The Story Of Bonnie & Clyde will be released in 2010.
Source: PopCrunch
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