What was supposed to be the year of the gritty revisionist fairy tale blockbusters has turned into a rather questionable “happily ever after.” Less than two weeks ago we learned Paramount had moved Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters to January 2013. Now, Warner Bros. has delayed Bryan Singer‘s Jack the Giant Killer
Golden Golbe nominee Jessica Chastain had signed on to star in Joseph Kosinski’s currently untitled post-apocalyptic flick alongside Tom Cruise, but will star in Kathryn Bigelow’s upcoming film about the death of Osama bin Laden instead. Former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko will take her place.
Fear not, Hancock fans. Peter Berg, who directed the 2008 surprise box-office hit starring Will Smith, Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron, says Hancock 2 should still happen — eventually.
This weekend will give moviegoers a heavy dose of Gina Carano, star of Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire. Should it prove successful, it could open the doors for more female butt-kicking, including the fast-tracking of projects such as Relativity Media’s Hack/Slash.
New film adaptations of the popular ’90s book series Goosebumps are in the works and Columbia Pictures has scared up a new writer in Darren Lemke. The studio is close to making a deal with the writer of Shrek Forever After and Bryan Singer’s upcoming Jack the Giant Killer.
His big-screen debut is still a few weeks away, but that hasn’t stopped 20th Century Fox from naming newcomer Josh Trank as its frontrunner for directing its planned reboot of Fantastic Four. The studio seems confident that Trank’s work on Chronicle, out Feb. 3, is strong enough to consider handing him the keys to a big-budget franchise.
Success or not, Lionsgate is pulling for the long haul when it comes to “The Hunger Games” series. With the first film just a couple months away, word is that Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours), who adapted the first book, is well underway scripting the second installment, Catching Fire.
Surging beyond expectations, heist thriller Contraband gave Mark Wahlberg one of the best openings of his career, whereas the 3-D re-release of Beauty and the Beast opened solidly in second.
Despite the phenomenal box-office take of Alice in Wonderland, it wasn’t exactly Tim Burton’s finest achievement. However, he’s hopefully back to form with Dark Shadows, an adaptation of a gothic soap opera. It’s naturally dark, so here’s hoping it lacks the faux-edginess of “Wonderland.”
This week’s Recommendation of the Week is the Blu-ray re-release of the Steven Soderbergh movie about of the War on Drugs Traffic. Featuring an assemble cast and winning a number of awards Traffic tells the story of the War on Drugs from the perspective of law enforcement, drug barons and the family of a user. The re-release comes courtesy of the Criterion Collection and despite not being about to report on their features their re-releases are often high quality affairs. The major First Release of the week is The Ides of March, the highly praise political drama by George Clooney that features a cast of acting heavyweights. The rest of this week’s First Release is sadly a unremarkable affair, though tweens may get a kick out of Taylor Lautner’s Abduction. If you are looking for a re-release the Criterion Collection offer us the French movie Belle de Jour and you also could have a double bill of two Robin Williams movies.
