This Week’s Ketchup brings you the usual news about sequels (James Bond, Mission: Impossible) and remakes (Conan, Bride of Frankenstein, Meatballs) as well as a refreshing number of original concepts, including news about fan favorite directors Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler), John Carpenter (The Thing) and Andrew Stanton (WALL-E).
#1 THE NEW CONAN HAS BEEN FOUND, AND HE’S A LOT LIKE THE OLD ONE
Lionsgate and Nu Image/Millennium have apparently settled upon their choice for the star of the new Conan movie, and he bears a lot of similarities to the original movie Conan, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Roland Kickinger is a 41 year old Austrian bodybuilder-turned-actor, whereas Arnold Schwarzenegger was a 35 year old Austrian bodybuilder-turned-actor when he starred in 1982’s Conan the Barbarian. Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in the first three Terminator movies, and Roland Kickinger played a T-800 robot in Terminator: Salvation. Also, Roland Kickinger actually played Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 2005 A&E made-for-cable biopic See Arnold Run. The casting of Roland Kickinger seems to be an attempt to hew as closely to Schwarzenegger’s films as possible. Hopefully this reboot will attempt to bring in more elements of the awesome sword & sorcery lore and mythology of Robert E. Howard’s original stories (though many fans feel the movies were quite unfaithful to Howard’s stories). Filming of Conan begins in the fall of 2009 in Bulgaria, and will be directed by Marcus Nispel (the remakes of Friday the 13th and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) from a script by Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer (cowriters of Sahara and A Sound of Thunder). The Hollywood Reporter ends their article with a zinger that I have to repeat: “No word on whether Arnold will make a cameo — or on whether Kickinger will run for governor.”
#2 FROM GAMBIT TO JOHN CARTER OF MARS
Before casting the live action adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars novels, someone at Walt Disney Pictures apparently had just seen X-Men Origins: Wolverine, as the studio has cast Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins (that movie’s Gambit and Silver Fox) as John Carter, the title character of the franchise and Dejah Thoris, the title character of the first novel, Princess of Mars. John Carter of Mars is the story of a Civil War veteran who finds himself mysteriously teleported to Mars, where the lower gravity makes him a superman of sorts, capable of great strength and heroic leaps into the air. Carter quickly finds himself a pivotal player in the wars between the various races, allying himself with Dejah Thoris, the princess of the city state of Helium and with Tars Tarkas, a fierce green-skinned, four-armed insectoid warrior. TThomas Haden Church (Sideways, Spider-Man 3) also revealed this week that he has been cast in John Carter of Mars in an unknown role. John Carter of Mars is the live action debut of director Andrew Stanton, who has helmed six of Pixar’s most popular movies, including Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo and WALL-E. Filming will start in November, 2009 and last until July, 2009 (at nine months, that’s quite a long shoot) and will happen at various locations in Utah, a state that has has provided the exotic desert settings for movies like Planet of the Apes and the latest Star Trek (it posed as Spock’s home world of Vulcan). It’s interesing to know that as Burroughs wrote the John Carter books, the inhabitants of Mars did not wear any clothing except for the odd bits of jewelry. Somehow, I don’t think Disney is going to give us a big fantasy epic showcasing thousands of naked guys and gals running around in the desert (though maybe that will happen in the inevitable porn knock off, John Holmes of Mars).
#3 JAMES BOND ONLY LIVES TWENTY-THRICE
MGM and EON Productions have hired three writers to work on the 23rd entry in the James Bond franchise. The film (as yet unnamed) will be the third movie featuing Daniel Craig as the legendary British spy. Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon) will be working with the team of Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who also cowrote the two previous Daniel Craig Bond films, as well as Die Another Day, The World is Not Enough and the spy spoof Johnny English. There are no details on the plot yet, but there is a rumor about the villian, although the source is a British tabloid (which makes it highly questionable). According to The Daily Express, Michael Sheen, who starred Frost/Nixon and The Queen, is being considered as one of 007’s most classic villains, Ernst Blofeld (the head of the evil SPECTRE organization). Blofeld appeared in six classic James Bond films, and was portrayed by four different actors. Blofeld is also famous for being the obvious inspiration for Mike Myers’ Dr. Evil character in the Austin Powers franchise (in particular, Donald Pleasance’s performance in 1967’s You Only Live Twice). On the other hand, the Blofeld rumor could be completely untrue, and the Sheen rumor just based on Peter Morgan’s involvement. MGM is hoping to have the script written and the movie produced in time for a 2011 release.
#4 TOM CRUISE AND J.J. ABRAMS TAKING ON ANOTHER IMPOSSIBLE MISSION
Tom Cruise and Star Trek director J.J. Abrams have agreed to co-produce a fourth entry in their Mission: Impossible franchise for Paramount Pictures, and they’re aiming for a 2011 release. Although 2006’s Mission: Impossible III (directed by Abrams) earned $134 million, it was considered a disappointment relative to the first two movies. That disappointment was cited as part of the reason that Paramount ended their 14 year partnership with Cruise. 2011 is the target year for Star Trek 2, which J.J. Abrams will direct, so it’s unlikely that he’ll be directing M:I IV. There is no writer attached yet, and as such, no word on what the premise this time around might be. The plans to revive Mission: Impossible are apparently due to Viacom chief Sumner Redstone’s interest in repairing his relationship with Tom Cruise, whom he now calls “a great actor and a good friend.”
#5 HERE COMES THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment are in talks with Neil Burger (The Illusionist, Interview with the Assassin) to write and direct their long-in-development remake of the classic 1935 monster movie Bride of Frankenstein. Although 1931’s Frankenstein has been remade several times (since Mary Shelley’s book is in the public domain), Bride of Frankenstein was only remade once, as 1985’s The Bride, starring Jennifer Beals and Sting. In James Whale’s original film (which many, including me, consider superior to Frankenstein), the Monster convinces the retired Dr. Frankenstein to create a female mate who ultimately rejects the Monster’s advances, leading to a disastrous ending. Previous attempts by Universal to remake Bride of Frankenstein had a modern setting, but there’s no word yet as to what Burger’s setting or take will be. Bride of Frankenstein is just one of several projects at Universal trying to revive old monster franchises, in addition to this fall’s The Wolf Man, and revivals of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Invisible Man and Creature from the Black Lagoon.
#6 HAPPY TRAILS FOR THE KING OF THE COWBOYS
821 Entertainment, a Nashville-based production company (that includes “redneck/hillbilly comedy” in its list of target genres), has acquired the film rights to all intellectual properties of the Roy Rogers Family, announcing plans for a “King of the Cowboys” film trilogy. In an unusual twist, the “characters” of Roy Rogers, his wife and partner Dale Evans and Rogers’ trusty steed Trigger will star in the King of the Cowboys movies, which will not be biopics, or traditional cowboy Westerns, but instead belong to the “family fantasy adventure” genre. Variety describes Roy Rogers as the “top Western box office star from 1943-1954,” who starred in “more than 88 films with Evans and Trigger; produced and starred in 100 episodes of his own TV show; and appeared on more than 400 licensed items, with 120 million comic books sold.” So, who does the RT community think would be a good choice to star as the new Roy Rogers and Dale Evans?
#7 NATALIE PORTMAN TO DANCE FOR ARONOFSKY IN BLACK SWAN
Natalie Portman is now attached to star in Black Swan, a supernatural thriller being developed by director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream). Black Swan started as a project at Universal Pictures, but was put into turnaround before the success of The Wrestler (d’oh!), so Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures is now shopping Black Swan to other distributors. In Black Swan, Portman would play a veteran New York City ballet dancer who finds herself locked into an increasingly competitive situation with a rival dancer. Leading up to a big performance, she starts to wonder if the other dancer is actually a “supernatural apparition” or perhaps just a figment of her imagination. Mark Heyman, coproducer of The Wrestler, has rewritten the original draft by John McLaughlin (cowriter of the 2005 comedy Man of the House). It is unclear if Black Swan will be Aronofsky’s next project, since he is also developing the reboot of Robocop, which MGM reportedly is now pegging as a 2011 release instead of the previously announced 2010.
#8 LEONARDO DICAPRIO CLICKS ON “DOUBLE DOWN” FOR ONLINE CASINO MOVIE
Leonardo DiCaprio will produce and star in an untitled project for Paramount set in the shady world of online casino sites based in Costa Rica. With this movie, the writing team of Brian Koppelman and David Levien are establishing somewhat of a reputation for stories set in the world of gambling, following Ocean’s Thirteen and 1998’s Rounders. Koppelman and Levien are also working with DiCaprio and his Appian Way production company on Beat the Reaper. That script is based on a crime novel about a former hitman who enters witness protection and takes up a new career as a medical resident at a hospital where he encounters a mobster whose life he must save. In other DiCaprio news, this week Bloody Disgusting broke the news that the two-part live action remake of the classic sci-fi anime film Akira is “dead as a doornail” at Warner Bros.
#9 ADRIEN BRODY, FOREST WHITAKER AND ELIJAH WOOD SUBJECTS OF THE EXPERIMENT
Adrien Brody (The Pianist), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Elijah Wood (Frodo in Lord of the Rings) and Cam Gigandet (Twlight, Never Back Down) have signed to star in the English language remake of the chilling 2001 German psychological thriller, Das Experiment. Inspired by the true story of the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, Das Experiment was the story of a reporter who goes undercover as a participant in a psychological study in which men are given the roles of either “guards” or “inmates” to determine how social roles determine morality and choices. As you might expect, the experiment goes horribly wrong. Paul Scheuring, the creator, producer and writer of Fox’s somewhat similarly-themed Prison Break is making his directorial debut with The Experiment. Adrien Brody will be playing the leader of the inmates (which might be the reporter role) and Forest Whitaker will be playing one of the “prison” guards. The Experiment is an independent production and is scheduled to start filming in Iowa in July, 2009.
#10 DANIELLE PANABAKER AND AMBER HEARD CHECKING INTO JOHN CARPENTER’S THE WARD
Fan-favorite horror and thriller director John Carpenter (Halloween, Escape from New York) hasn’t made a movie since 2001’s Ghosts of Mars, but he’s returned from an 8-year hiatus, and will start filming a psychological horror thriller called The Ward next month in Spokane, Washington. This week, the production found more of its cast, mostly young actresses. Amber Heard (Never Back Down, Pineapple Express) is starring in The Ward as Kristen, a young woman who is committed to a psychiatric facility, where she meets other patients, as well as a mysterious girl who roams the halls of the ward at night. Danielle Panabaker (Friday the 13th, Sky High) will be playing a flirtatious and snobbish patient who is facing the threat of electoshock therapy, and Mamie Gummer (Stop-Loss) will play another patient. The original script was written by Michael and Shawn Rasmussen (cowriters of 2005’s direct-to-video thriller Long Distance), and was rewritten by Jim Agnew and Sean Keller, the writers of Dario Argento’s latest film, Giallo.
ROTTEN IDEA OF THE WEEK: PARAMOUNT ORDERING SECONDS OF MEATBALLS
1979’s Meatballs is a modern comedy classic, basically inventing the “summer camp” subgenre that spawned three inferior sequels in the 1980s and 1990s, other usually awful summer camp movies like Camp Nowhere, Heavyweights and American Pie Presents: Band Camp and ultimately the 2001 homage comedy, Wet Hot American Summer. Meatballs still stands up today as a very funny movie, and was also the first film for Bill Murray (who had just replaced Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live). Meatballs was also the first hit for director Ivan Reitman, who went on to work with Bill Murray again in Stripes, Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II. Unfortunately, it might just be the strong legacy of Meatballs that has led Paramount Pictures to revisit the franchise. The new Meatballs is expected to be a remake, with hopes that it will inspire a new series of Meatballs movies. Hollywood’s obsession with remaking, rebooting and revamping favorites of the past of the past continues, and now not even Meatballs is safe from reimagining.
For more Weekly Ketchup columns by Greg Dean Schmitz, check out the WK archive, and you can contact GDS through his MySpace page or via a RT forum message.
