J.D. Shapiro, the screenwriter who put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and churned out the script for the abysmal John Travolta sci-fi flick Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000, has apologized for the film.
Earlier this month, Battlefield, released in 2000, won the not-so-coveted Razzie Award for “Worst Movie of the Decade” and Shapiro was gracious enough to attend the ceremony and accept the trophy. Writing in the New York Post, Shapiro follows up on the “win” with a mea culpa that explains how the project came into existence.
Shapiro reveals that Travolta loved his script, calling it “The ‘Schindler’s List’ of sci-fi.” He insists the original written incarnation was very different from the final film, writing, “My screenplay was darker, grittier and had a very compelling story with rich characters. What my screenplay didn’t have was slow motion at every turn, Dutch tilts, campy dialogue, aliens in KISS boots, and everyone wearing Bob Marley wigs.”
After receiving a set of notes “from John’s camp,” the writer says he knew the production was in trouble. He refused to make the changes Travolta wanted in the script and was fired from the project.
Shapiro, who also wrote the classic Robin Hood: Men in Tights, claims in the end to be “strangely proud” of the picture. “Because out of all the sucky movies, mine is the suckiest.” Well, that’s something.
The L.A. Times is reporting that tabloid queen Angelina Jolie could soon be starring as Disney’s most diabolical queen. Jolie is rumoured to be interested in stepping into the big black boots of Maleficent, the nasty green-skinned royal who does her best to kill off Sleeping Beauty. The new take on the tale, titled after Maleficent herself, is currently in development.
With Alice in Wonderland setting box offices ablaze, the Times says Disney is actively putting together skewed live-action takes on some of their other properties. Maleficent is the leading contender to be first out the gate, if only because the idea has been floating around for so long.
It was reported just last week that Alice screenwriter Linda Woolverton is taking a crack at the script while Alice director Tim Burton is potentially interested in directing or producing. The story is a reworking of Sleeping Beauty, told from the perspective of Maleficent, the villain of the original picture.
Nothing has been signed or confirmed, but Brad Pitt’s famous lady-friend is actively looking for her next role now that she’s wrapped the thriller The Tourist. That film, which also stars Johnny Depp, is scheduled for a February 2011 release. Before then, audiences can catch Jolie in the action thriller Salt, this July.
It’s not at all uncommon for film directors to develop a strong attachment to a particular actor. Pedro Almodovar has Penelope Cruz, Tim Burton has Johnny Depp and now David Cronenberg has his muse as well, in Viggo Mortensen.
Deadline Hollywood is reporting that the pair will reteam to shoot Eastern Promises 2, a sequel to 2007’s brutal tale of violence within the seedy underbelly of the Russian mob in England. Though the first film doesn’t exactly cry out for a follow-up, it’s hard to argue with the idea of Mortensen reprising the role of fearless killer-with-a-heart-of-gold Nikolai.
The creepy Canadian director and the intense American actor first worked together back in 2005, on the brilliant thriller A History of Violence. They’re also set to begin shooting The Talking Cure in May, which will see Mortensen play pioneering psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (a role he took over when Christoph Waltz walked away).
Mortensen recently wowed audiences in the stark The Road, but is still perhaps best known for his portrayal of the heroic Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.
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After starring in the High School Musical trilogy, Zac Efron has struggled to carve out his niche as an actor in Hollywood. Now rumours are swirling that he may be close to signing on to star in a remake of the classic sci-fi fantasy Flash Gordon.
Word on the street had been that Efron was heavily favoured to take over the role of Spider-Man in Sony’s planned re-launch of their smash-hit super-hero series. But according to DigitalSpy.com, Efron may be changing gears.
“Zac is one of the frontrunners to play Flash and he’s making no secret of the fact that he would love the role,” the website quotes an insider as saying. “Spider-Man has been done and he doesn’t want to follow someone like Tobey Maguire. Flash would be all Zac and a chance for him to make a mark with his own franchise.”
There have also been reports that Efron was in line to play Johnny Quest alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in a film version of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon. Details on that particular project remain sketchy at best.
Flash Gordon began life as a newspaper comic strip back in 1934 created by Alex Raymond. Films, cartoons and TV series followed. The most famous adaptation was a campy film from 1980 starring Playgirl centerfold Sam J. Jones and featuring an awesome soundtrack by Queen.
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The beautiful Sofia Vergara is the latest actor to sign on to star in The Smurfs. The star of ABC’s hit comedy Modern Family has been cast in the big screen adaptation of the Saturday morning cartoon from the ’80s according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Vergara joins fellow humans Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria, George Lopez, Glee’s Jayma Mays and singer Katy Perry for the story about the little blue critters who live in the woods. Vergara is apparently on board to play Harris’s wife, an executive at a ritzy cosmetics company.
The film will be a hybrid of live-action and CGI animation. Director Raja Gosnell, who has previously brought audiences Scooby Doo and Beverly Hills Chihuahua, will be at the helm.
Colombian actress and model Vergara’s star is rising thanks to her attention-getting performance on Modern Family. She also recently signed to join the cast of Happy Feet 2 in 3D. That film is currently in production with an expected November 2011 release date.
These days it seems like Kevin Smith has more beefs than the Ponderosa Steakhouse. If he’s not raging at airlines he’s spouting off about the cruelty of film critics that didn’t take kindly to his most recent offering, the Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan comedy Cop Out.
Just last month, Smith took to his Twitter account to lambaste the critical lambasting Cop Out received, writing “A movie like Cop Out, while an easy target for critics, is clearly not intended to impress those prone to show off their cinema erudition. Critics can stab at Cop Out with their poison pens all they want, but it still doesn’t change the fact that it’s a funny flick.”
Now, Smith’s at it again, taking to Twitter to post a massive screed railing against those who make a living applying their subjective opinions to works of mass market entertainment, i.e. movie critics. “Writing a nasty review for Cop Out is akin to bullying a retarded kid,” he writes, “All you’ve done is make fun of something that wasn’t doing you any harm and wanted only to give some cats some fun laughs.”
Crass comments about the mentally disabled aside, Smith has now gone one step further, declaring he will no longer allow free screenings of his films for critics. “From now on, any flick I’m ever involved with, I conduct critics screenings thusly: you wanna see it early to review it? Fine: pay like you would if you saw it next week.”
Despite bad reviews, Cop Out has proven to be Smith’s biggest film, raking in over $40 million at the box office.
One of the greatest Hollywood legends of all time will be making a surprising return to the big screen. A rare recording of Orson Welles, made months before he passed away, will be used as the narration for a new Christmas film.
The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that special effects company Drac Studios is entering the film production business with Christmas Tails, a family film based on a self-published book by Robert X. Leed. Welles recorded five reel-to-reel audio recordings of himself reading the book before he died in 1985.
Now those tapes will be used to narrate a 3D live-action/CG hybrid movie version of the story, to be directed by Todd Tucker. Drac president Harvey Lowry began putting the project together soon after hearing about the existence of the tapes. “This is a substantial find,” Lowry said “It’s something that a filmmaker dreams of.”
A script for the film has been penned by Matt Thompson, based on Leed’s book. It tells the story of how Santa’s dog saves Christmas after the jolly red elf’s famous team of reindeer falls ill. Welles’ recording of the original story will narrate the events.
It’s the first feature production for Drac Studios, which has won multiple Academy Awards and nominations for make up and special effects work on such films as Titanic, The Passion of the Christ and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood has been selected for the coveted opening night slot at the famous Cannes film festival. The film, which stars sour-pussed Australian Russell Crowe as the legendary vigilante, will screen out of competition on May 12 according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film has generated massive buzz ever since word first leaked of plans for the project. A deadly serious take on the story of the man who “stole from the rich to give to the poor,” the film is said to be a gritty, realistic treatment of the character and a far cry from Kevin Costner or Errol Flynn’s portrayals.
Starring alongside the irascible Crowe are Cate Blanchett as the beautiful Maid Marian and British actor Matthew Macfadyen as the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. Mystic River and L.A. Confidential writer Brian Helgeland wrote the script, which covers the hero’s early days in Sherwood Forest.
Robin Hood will be released worldwide on May 14th, just two days after its Cannes premiere.
This marks the third time one of Scott’s films has shown at the festival after 1977’s The Duellists and 1991’s Thelma and Louise.
Oscar nominated director John Singleton has signed on to direct Twilight dreamboat Taylor Lautner in the thriller Abduction, according to Deadline Hollywood.
Lautner and his six-pack abs have their choice of roles these days, which is not a bad position for a young actor to be in. But with at least four projects in the works, it has been unclear which would happen first. With Singleton signing on to helm Abduction, it appears that mystery has been cleared up.
The script, by Shawn Christensen, was bought by Lionsgate in a bidding war in January. It tells the story of a young man who learns that he was kidnapped by his “parents” as a baby. His discovery opens up a rabbit hole of conspiracies that send him on the run.
Taylor will shoot Abduction before retuning to the role of Jacob the Werewolf for Breaking Dawn, the fourth Twilight film, scheduled to start shooting later this year.
Singleton was the youngest person ever nominated for a Best Director Oscar when he got the nod at 24 for his breakout film Boyz N the Hood. His most recent picture was 2005’s Four Brothers.
A little over a year ago, one would have been hard pressed to find almost anyone who knew or even recognized Carey Mulligan from her handful of small roles. But thanks to her star-making, Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated turn in An Education, the British actress has shot up the ranks to become a serious A-lister.
Now she’s the latest name attached to play Eliza Doolittle in the planned remake of the classic musical My Fair Lady.
Actress Emma Thompson, who has penned the script for the new film, told the BBC she believes Mulligan is a lock, while the part of her male sparring partner remains uncast. “I think Carey is set to play it, yes,” she said. “But we still don’t know about [Henry] Higgins.”
One name that has been bandied about for the part is Hugh Grant, an idea that sits very well with Thompson. “I love Hugh so I’d love him to do it, he might want to, he might not want to, so we don’t know yet. But hopefully we’ll make it later this year.”
It should be noted that none of this is official just yet and Mulligan is only the latest in a long list of names that have circled the part. Last summer Keira Knightley was said to be a sure thing after beating out blonde bombshell Scarlett Johansson. Knightley reportedly backed out when plans for the long-gestating project continued to stall.
My Fair Lady is the story of rough-around-the-edges Eliza’s efforts to make herself a lady under the tutelage of Mr. Higgins. The first film of the Broadway musical starred Rex Harrison as Higgins and the inimitable Audrey Hepburn as Eliza.
