So yes, you've probably heard more about Michael Moore in the last two days than you ever needed to hear in, say, a month: First there was the announcement of the June 29 release date for Moore's health-care documentary Sicko, then the news that Moore is under federal investigation for taking Sept. 11 workers to Cuba, and let's not forget the Weinstein Company's hiring of a political strategist to run interference when Moore inevitably gets sued.
But finally we have something actually related to the movie itself -- yup, we've snagged key art from the poster for Sicko. We're told that the tagline for the poster, when it's finished, will be "This might hurt a little," and while I can't wait to see what sort of treatment the title is going to get, I have to say the sight of Michael Moore pulling on the rubber gloves is already creeping me out enough. (Click on the art for a larger image.)
Want Moore? (Sorry, couldn't resist.) Check out three exclusive photos from Sicko, after the jump.
When the Apple iPhone commercial began airing, my first thought was that I wanted one. My second thought: How much will I get in residuals for the one-second clip from the first Charlie’s Angels?
Guy Maddin strikes again. "Brand Upon the Brain," his latest cinema/stage-show/silent film/early talkie/midnight movie will be touring New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Here in Boston, we'll just get the movie alone at the Brattle in late June. What, they don't think we can handle the castratos? Pishers.
Breaking box-office and hype records everywhere, the third outing of Peter Parker and his gang of flawed super-villains has finally arrived. But it hasn’t so much arrived with a bang as it has a small, controlled explosion.
We find Peter (Tobey Maguire) and Mary-Jane (Kirsten Dunst) where the last film left off; happy and annoying. But soon MJ hits career-trouble and she becomes even more of a whiney, irritating twat. Peeved that her hero boyfriend is too busy saving people’s lives to be extra nice to her, the two drift apart. With the help of an alien symbiote, Peter finds his darkside and goes all… dark. Meanwhile, he has to contend with his vengeful best friend (James Franco), his uncle’s sandy murderer (Thomas Haden Church) and a rival photographer (Topher Grace).
The Halcyon Company has announced plans to revive the cyborg-battling movie series with at least three more films, after the production company purchased all rights to the dormant franchise for an undisclosed, though likely eight-figure, sum.
But while Halcyon founders Victor Kubicek and Derek Anderson are looking to begin preproduction on Terminator 4 as soon as possible, they will do so without a leading man. Or man-machine.
Plot details for the fourth film have been kept under tight wraps, though are said to pick up with John Connor, heir to the rebellion, in his thirties, leading the remainder of the human race in its ever-worsening battle against the machines. As the film will mark the beginning of a new trilogy, rather than a continuation of the previous three installments, its unlikely that the Terminator himself,
Arnold Schwarzenegger, will even take part in the film reinvention, other than perhaps a cameo.
Of course, there are other reasons why the Ah-nuld won’t be featured on the big screen. He has a bit of a schedule conflict due to matters of a more gubernatorial nature.
T4 has already been fast-tracked for production, with Halcyon looking to get the installment in theaters by summer 2009. As it is, Schwarzenegger will be leading the state of California through 2011.
While a spokeswoman for the governor asserts that “no law says he couldn’t” star in the reimagined flick if he wanted to, the project was nonetheless “not even on his radar.”
Still, the franchise’s new minders aren’t worried about extending the brand beyond Arnie.
“With T3, we included many incidental details and plot points that, along with the ain narrative, set the stage for an entirely new set of inter-related stories covering the future adventures of John Connor and the Terminators,” producer Moritz Borman said. “This new Terminator trilogy will build upon the already huge worldwide Terminator fan base, which was both revitalized and expanded with the global success of T3.”
In fact, T3, along with T2 and, well, plain old T, have grossed just over $1 billion worldwide since Terminator was first released in 1984.
“The Terminator franchise represents by far the most popular and successful franchise not owned by a major studio,” Kubicek said. “We see this global franchise as a cornerstone of Halcyon’s future business plans.”
A very large cornerstone.
In addition to the big-screen cyborg saga, the company snapped up all future merchandising and licensing rights to the franchise, future revenue generated by T3: Rise of the Machines and a portion of the rights to an almost guaranteed TV series based on the films.
Warned Bros. has already filmed a pilot for The
Sarah Connor Chronicles, an hourlong show based around the Terminator character and mythology surrounding the movies. According to Variety, Fox has already expressed interest in the project, and could opt to pick up the series at next week’s upfronts, when the fall prime-time schedules are unveiled.
Last month, I brought you news of the Harvard School of Public Health's proposed plan to take depictions of smoking out of movies marketed to young people. This February, Harvard and Johns Hopkins academics made a presentation on the matter to the MPAA, as well as executives from all the major studios. (You can read in-depth notes on the materials presented and view PowerPoint presentations from the meeting here). In 1999, a similar meeting had little to no impact. But times have changed, and today the HSPH's plan is being put into effect. Smoking will now affect movie ratings. It was just announced that the Motion Picture Association of America "is expanding its current consideration of teen smoking to all smoking when evaluating and assigning a movie rating."
Said Harvard School of Public Health Dean Barry R. Bloom at the meeting that brought the change about: "No one has died from hearing the f-word. But 438,000 people in U.S., and five million worldwide, die each year from tobacco-related illness. We appreciate that movies are expensive, complex and demanding to make. If you are honest I think you will admit that most smoking in movies is both unnecessary and cliched, and serves to make smoking socially acceptable to kids." The MPAA agrees, releasing a statement today saying: "In the past, illegal teen smoking has been a factor in the rating of films, alongside other parental concerns such as sex, violence and adult language. Now, all smoking will be considered, and depictions that glamorize smoking or movies that feature pervasive smoking outside of an historic or other mitigating context may receive a higher rating." I'm no fan of censorship, but I can agree that smoking should be held to the same standards as sex and violence. A kid's a lot more likely to start smoking than he is to blow up a building based on seeing it in a movie. What do you guys think?
According to trade reports, the Dreamworks committed late Friday to shelling out at least $65 million to make
Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Alice Sebold’s best-selling 2002 novel about the murder of a 14-year-old girl and what it does to her family—as narrated by the victim’s spirit after the fact.
This is a really great story. I picked up the book from the author at a trade show. She was giving it away. Beautifully written, from a really different perspective (come on, the narrator is narrating from her “Heaven”).
“When you read an emotionally magical story that cries out to be turned into a major motion picture, you hope its winding path can find its way to the door of your own company,” said
Steven Spielberg, who has reportedly been wanting to work with Jackson for some time.
Jackson used his own cash in early 2005 to option the rights to Sebold’s book and started shopping his script, which he co-penned with Lord of the Ring collaborators Fran Walsh (also his wife) and Philippa Boyens, about a week ago.
Paramount-owned DreamWorks was one of several powerhouses vying for a chance to bring the five-hanky story to the big screen, eventually besting bids from Sony, Universal and Warner Bros. Pictures. Industry insiders have said that, with marketing costs and other intangibles factored in, the eventual price tag for The Lovely Bones could climb as high as $90 million.
LOTR studio New Line opted out of the process, with exec Bob Shaye having vowed never to work with Jackson again, despite the fact that the Academy Award-winning director was expected at one point to helm The Hobbit for New Line, as well. (Spider-Man’s
Sam Raimi has since said that he’d love the chance to take on The Hobbit.)
While the New Zealand-born Jackson is best known by mainstream American audiences for his Middle-earth epics and his 2005 King Kong remake, the filmmaker is also more than equipped to handle Sebold’s brand of tragedy, dark humor and emotional fragility—even without a host of CGI characters traipsing around.
Jackson’s 1994 true-crime drama Heavenly Creatures introduced
Kate Winslet to the big screen and established Jackson as someone who knew how to depict a twisted soul.
Cameras are expected to roll on The Lovely Bones in October in Pennsylvania and New Zealand, with Jackson surmizing that the finished product will be ready for a late 2008 release.
Recently, (actress?) Lindsay Lohan has gone on record saying she's all about taking on more serious roles. In fact (and I quote): "I want to get a nomination. I want to win an Oscar. I want to be known for more than, like, going out ... I bust my ass when I'm filming and when I have time off, yeah, I like to go out and dance." Well, the good news is that La Lohan has finally found a role in which she can utilize her strongest assets -- those being her sexy body and the desire to dance. The bad news ... well, I guess if you're a horny teenage boy, then there is no bad news here. While appearing on The David Letterman Show last night, Lohan confessed that she'll be playing a stripper in her next film, I Know Who Killed Me. Oh, and I should also mention that her character will be kidnapped, tortured and have her legs cut off. (Yup, here's where we need to do a background check on screenwriter Jeff Hammond.)
When asked more about her stripper role, Lohan said the audience will be seeing "a lot" of her, and that the pic is a "really dark, scary film." Hmm, so will Lohan be taking it all off in the name of an Oscar nomination (someone forgot to tell her that torture flicks aren't necessarily the type of material Academy voters are attracted to)? Or, will we get another Demi Moore-type performance, a la Striptease. Damn that flick! And damn you Demi! Oh c'mon, you know this film just moved up a few notches on your radar -- I mean, who wouldn't want to see La Lohan's nakeddisfiguredattractive body dance around a pole? Heh, now all those nights out at Scores strip joint here in New York City make a whole lot more sense. She was doing research! Well guys, you won't have to hold your breath for too long, as Saw meets a naked (but more serious!) Lindsay Lohan (aka I Know Who Killed Me) arrives in theaters on July 27.
The Weinstein Co. has rehired political strategist Chris Lehane as a consultant for Michael Moore's new film, Sicko. Lehane, who formerly served as a spokesperson and lawyer for President Clinton, was a press strategist for Moore's previous film, Fahrenheit 9/11. While this probably won't help Moore's battle with the U.S. Treasury Department, the employment of Lehane is expected to aid in any scuffles that Moore and the Weinsteins get into with HMOs and pharmaceutical companies, which are criticized in the health care-themed documentary. TWC also brought on praiser Ken Sunshine, because Harvey Weinstein says he needs two guys who will strike back if the HMOs strike first (oh wait, I mean strike second).
The film has already been attacked through statements, including one this week (which I can't find anywhere) by Ken Johnson of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Johnson, who likely hasn't seen any footage of the film, claims that Sicko is not balanced, thoughtful or well-researched. He also called Moore a political activist and creator of sensationalist works. Based on some of Moore's films, this isn't an ungrounded assumption, but we can all hope that Moore is learning how to be fair and balanced and less manipulative. Anyway, Lehane and Sunshine will both accompany the film to its premiere at Cannes this month to serve as something like spin bodyguards. Sicko will hit theaters on June 29.
Breaking box-office and hype records everywhere, the third outing of Peter Parker and his gang of flawed super-villains has finally arrived. 
Last month, I brought you 
Recently, (actress?) 
The Weinstein Co. has rehired political strategist Chris Lehane as a consultant for 
