Awakening is a 'digital comic book' to promote I Am Legend. It's like a fairly slick animatic, in effect. The scenes portrayed detail the original outbreak of badness that will, by the time Will Smith laces his sneakers and heads out onto the lonely streets, have wiped out almost everybody on Earth.
Download Awakening in hi-def lo-res Quicktime, or 480p, 720p or 1080p hi-def options.
It started on the Brazilian site Omelette but since then, it's started to spread across the web like wild fire: apparently, a seven minute sequence from The Dark Knight is to play in IMAX cinemas this December, before screenings of I Am Legend.
Now, it makes sense that this will be the bank job sequence, taking place parallel to events in Batman Begins and already teased with production stills. It's one of four sequences in the film that have been filmed in the IMAX format and it's entirely possible that, in fact, it won't be part of the main release (though I expect it will, and so will the other three such scenes, just curiously reformatted to 'fit' a standard 35mm aspect ratio, be it cinemascope or widescreen). On the upside, at least when this IMAX 'prologue' is presented as a seven minute stand-alone piece, the problems I noted previously about shifting between aspect ratios will be moot.
This is one heck of a trailer/stunt and I'm sure the IMAX box office of I Am Legend is going to benefit greatly from this addition. It's obvious that 'the theatrical experience' is getting more and more like a theme park as home cinema eats into the straight-up viewing experience (just like the 1950s all over again, but seemingly more lasting) and now my curiosity is flaring: just what tricks will be played on us in the next few years to squeeze those ever inflating ticket prices out of our stony wallets?
Francis Lawrence has signed on to direct Disney's long-gestating martial arts take on the Snow White story. The working title has Snow and the Seven for some time though this has long been earmarked for replacement.
According to new and old reports, the lead character, Snow, is a member of British aristocracy raised in China. She leads seven Shaolin monks into battle against an evil 'force' (read: wicked witch). Rumour has it that Natalie Portman has the part already in the bag, but these don't seem to be very credible rumours. Finding the seven Shaolin monks shouldn't be too hard - maybe this is the perfect excuse a Shaolin Soccer reunion?
Yuen Woo Ping is choreographing the fights and acrobatics. That's a very good thing.
