Friday, October 05, 2007

Movie Minesweeper - The Create Edit Posts Moderate Comments Edition

- There are duelling Knight Rider projects, one for TV and the other for cinema. The fanboy army appear to be backing the film version, even though it's being developed by Glen Larson, perpetrator of the original series. And this isn't better-the-devil-you-know thinking but blind sentimentality. So what if you enjoyed Knight Rider when you were a kid? Can't you tell it's utterly awful yet? Haven't you raised your standards? The way I see it, each project has about the same virtually negligible chance of transcending utter banality.

- It looks like the Hulk smashes stuff up by night as well as day.

- The Nicholl Fellowship finalists for the year have been selected.

- Writers in the WGA strike will be able to write for TAG-covered animation projects.

- JJ Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci have over $10 million from Fox for just the pilot epsiode of Fringe, their ooky-spooky, hopefully a little kooky, show.

- The Kite Runner has been postponed for six weeks out of fear for the safety of three boys who appear in the film. Apparently the young stars are to be relocated in the meantime. Asylum through stardom?

- Oxygen have a Ms. Tree pilot on the go. I saw the link at TheBeat.

- Warner Bros. have gone for the film rights to Shining City, Seth Greenland's upcoming novel about a chap who inherits, to his surprise, a prostitution ring.

- Jamie King has been cast in The Spirit. No idea who she's playing - yet.

- Neveldine and Taylor promise that Crank 2 is to be even more over-wound than the original. I'm told that it begins with Chev Chelios 'losing a life' as it were, and then picking himself up to try 'the level' again. We'll see.

- David Ross' The Babysitters (about another prostituion ring - there's something in the air) has sold for $1 million plus to Peace Arch Releasing.

- The full Dr. Katz DVD set has a great many special features.

- The Peanuts toons are coming back to DVD courtesy of a new deal with Warner Bros. Count me in.

- Run Run Shaw is, officially at least, 100 years old.

- BAFTA have neglected to push any Gaelic or Welsh language films for the 'Foreign Oscar' because, they say, none of them are good enough. This has led to the resignation from BAFTA of Chris Young, producer of Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle. He considers BAFTA's decision 'parochial'. For the record, I haven't seen Seachd myself but I hear it's pretty dull.

- Is Wes Anderson a racist? Less controversially - is Max Fischer going to return in another film?

- Michel Gondry will be directing the video for Bjork's single Declare Independance at some point next month.

- Todd Phillips is to try and get set producing and directing Hangover before the strike. Jon Lucas and Scott Moore have earned $2 million for their spec script about three friends trying to locate the missing groom and undo the disastrous after effects of their wild bachelor party in time for the wedding. Is the twist that they didn't lose him but he left of his own accord? I wouldn't be surprised.

- Peter Fincham has quit the BBC as a result of the 'Queen tantrum' controversy.

- A curious spoiler image (or maybe not) for Avatar Season 3 has been released. Much more spoilery, but less image-y, are details of the Season 3 Book 2 DVD.

- Every store in the States wants you to buy your copy of Transformers from them - so they're offering all manner of tat to try and persuade you.

- Derek Cianfrance is to direct Blue Valentine, a romantic drama that ThinkFilm will distribute and, I expect, butcher on DVD.

- Neil Blomkamp has made it clear that his Halo shorts were not intended to resurrect interest in the deader than dead feature film. Meanwhile, Bungie have split from Microsoft.

- What did Sputnik do for cinema?

- Two scriptwriters from MTV's Undressed have taken the remake option on Reinas,a Spanish comedy about five mothers organising a mass same-sex wedding.

- A Dr. Who movie could well be on the cards - surprise, surprise.

- The producers of Jericho have two endings in the can - one to be used in the event that they are given a third season, another for use in face of cancellation.

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