William Shatner’s weekly ABC lawyer drama “Boston Legal” made the cut and will be returning for the 2008 season. The two-time Emmy winner plays the unpredictable Denny Crane on the delightfully entertaining show.
Emile Hirsch (“Lords of Dogtown”) is in final talks to star in “Speed Racer,” a film to be produced by Joel Silvers and the famous Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix Trilogy).
It looks like “Mad Max” will get it’s forth film, minus Mel Gibson. Director George Miller said Gibson is too old to continue playing the central character, however that doesn’t mean he might not show up in a cameo. Now that Miller has had success with “Happy Feet” he is ready to go full bore on the Max project.
Warner Bros. has acquired the rights to make the Lois Lowry award winning story “The Giver” into a major motion picture. The plot centers around a young boy growing up in a repressed, futuristic utopian society.
The sci-fi thriller “The Surrogates” will be coming to the big screen from Disney Pictures. The team behind “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” will be in charge of production. Jonathan Mostow will direct with the screenplay coming from Michael Ferris and John Brancato. The story is set in a Philip K. Dick-style future universe. Since the subject matter may be a little to edgy for Disney to stamp its name on the finished product, one of their other companies, such as Touchstone Pictures may do the distribution.
Dean Devlin (“Independence Day,” The Triangle”) and the TNT Network are teaming up to develop a Mission Impossible-like TV series called “Leverage.” The show will center on six pros from various fields of expertise who come together as an organization to fight corruption on an international scale.
The cast for “The Midnight Meat Train” have boarded with tickets in hand. The film, based on Clive Barker’s “Books of Blood” will star “X-Men: The Last Stand” actor Vinnie Jones, Bradley Cooper of the “Wedding Crashers”, Brooke Shields (who needs no introduction — who doesn’t know Brooke?) and Leslie Bibb (“Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”). The story tells the tale of a photographer on the trail of a bizarre serial killer.
The Weinstein Co. has purchased the rights to make an English version of the French supernatural thriller “Inside.” It is a tale about a pregnant woman who begins being haunted by the ghost a mysterious and violent woman after she looses her fiance in a auto crash.
Nicolas Cage has stated that if and when director/writer Mark Steven Johnson is ready to do a sequel to the successful “Ghost Rider” he is ready to ride. Cage said that doing this film was a real blast and he’s willing for another ride on the flaming chopper. In other Cage news, he and Todd Garner will be producing a live-action film for Walt Disney Pictures called “The Scorcerer’s Apprentice.” The film will be loosely based on Disney’s animated classic “Fantasia.”
Walt Disney pictures will be offering up a full CGI animated version of the story of Tinker Bell in 2008. This will be the first time in the cartoon fairy’s long screen career that fans will be able to hear her speak, that is — if you totally ignore Julia Roberts’ live-action portrayal of her in the Robin Williams flick “Hook.”
Sony Pictures Television International has acquired “Afterworld,” a futuristic 2.5D animated web-based concept from Emmy nominated producer Stan Rogow. Dedicated web content can be found at Afterworld.tv, along with archived back episodes, daily journals, community blogs and interactive content with online games. “Afterworld” will consist of 13 half-hour episodes for broadcasters along distribution of TV, web and mobile outlets.
Mel Gibson got into a shouting match on Thursday (March 22) with Alicia Estrada, assistant professor of Central American studies at the California State University, Northridge. She accused the director of misrepresenting the Mayan culture in his movie “Apocalypto.” In typical Mel fashion he dismissed the professor with an expletive remark as she was soundly removed from the campus screening of the film. Gibson’s publicist blames the woman of being a rude, disruptive heckler, whereas the professor denies the accusation. Gibson eventually apologized to the audience for his use of improper language and his outburst. “It was a brief disruption to an otherwise interesting stimulating event,” commented John Chandler, a university spokesperson.
“Nancy Drew” is coming to the big screen on June 15, 2007 in the U.S. followed in August and September 2007 in the rest of the world. This will be producer Jerry Weintraub and director Andrew Fleming’s attempt to breath new life into the one-time popular franchise of the young female investigator. A sequel is already in the works for sometime in 2008 or 2009. The movie will star “Aquamarine” actress Emma Roberts as Drew. Co-starring in this re-imagined attempt are Max Thieriot, Josh Flitter, Amy Bruckner and Daniella Monet.
The Academy Award winning actor Robin Williams will be honored with the prestigious Peter J. Owens Award on May 3 at the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival. The award recognizes Robin, a longtime resident of the Bay Area, for his years of works of brillance and integrity on television, stage and screen, as well as his philantrophic endeavors such as Comic Relief. Williams’ sharp mind and improvisational skills has earned him the title of the “Albert Einstein of Entertainment.”
Director Tim Burton will receive the Golden Lion for career achievement from the Venice Film Festival which will be celebrating its 64th Anniversary on August 29 – September 8, 2007.
Sony Pictures TV has joined iTunes by signing a deal with Apple that will allow its music, television programs and selected movie titles to be purchased as downloads on the popular content-share site.
Speaking of Apple, their new Apple TV is here. Arriving in stores this past Wednesday (March 21). Apple TV is a set-top box that can wirelessly stream or download iTunes podcasts, videos and music from your computer to a television set. Suggested retail price is $299.00 in US dollars.
“Pathfinder” the epic Viking movie opens in theaters on April 13. Right now you can play the Pathfinder Ghost Warrior Game online HERE.
Why does everyone crap on Hook? I liked that movie.
So did I. I only mentioned it because Tinkerbell spoke in it. But, since it was a live-action film and not animated, I guess it doesn't count as official Disney Tink-Canon.
That "Leverage" series sounds good to me. I do like "Mission: Impossible" and I'm saddened that there isn't anything like that on TV ("The Lone Gunmen" was sort of like that, but it got cancelled before its time). So, I'll definitely be checking this one out, whenever it airs.
Hook is one of the all time great kid/parent films and a real favorite of my family. I know you weren't saying anything bad about Hook, were you. No, of course you weren't.
By the way, Sam, I really like it when you participate "live" in SOSF. It doesn't happen often enough for me!