New Films in Production

[cocaine socialist]

This article may be two months old, but nonetheless I'm excited about Monte Hellman's next film. It's said to play at Venice, and hopefully it will garner Hellman the attention and respect he deserves.

[Markson]

Photos from Darren Aronofsky's new ballet drama Black Swan.

[Finch]

The Guardian has some info on Lars Von Trier's next, Melancholia

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog ... -von-trier" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But the most exciting news of the day for me is that Guillermo Del Toro seems to have gotten greenlight from Universal to shoot At The Mountains of Madness at long last (in 3D and with James Cameron producing)

http://www.deadline.com/2010/07/guiller ... universal/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hopefully this is going to be confirmed by other sources like Variety soon enough but I'm very excited about this. This is clearly going to be a labour of love for Del Toro.

[HarryLong]

But the most exciting news of the day for me is that Guillermo Del Toro seems to have gotten greenlight from Universal to shoot At The Mountains of Madness at long last.

YES!!!!!

[swo17]

Malflick

[Awesome Welles]

The BFI have picked up Patrick Keiller's third 'Robinson' film, Robinson in Ruins

[flyonthewall2983]

First still from the Coen's True Grit.

[knives]

Baron Cohen remakes Chaplin among several other embarrassing things.

[FerdinandGriffon]

Baron Cohen remakes Chaplin among several other embarrassing things.

Seth Rogen and Barbara Streisand.
Astounded that Quantum of Solace wasn't ample proof that Marc Forster cannot direct action sequences.
Flabbergasted that Mel Gibson's real life rom-com wasn't enough to sink his cinematic one's spin-off.

[Markson]

Indeed, that list is pretty grim. Maybe I'd prefer to be naive about Hollywood's flair for eschewing innovation and their wolf-like guard of their bottom lines, but seeing those proposed "films" made me a mite more disheartened about something over which I'm already disheartened.

[Mr. Ned]

Looking for a writer of this JJ Abrams idea - it's a thriller based on the teenage makeout game - two teenagers go into a closet but when they come out, all their friends are dead.

HAHAHAHAHAHA.

[domino harvey]

I actually thought the Seven Minutes in Heaven one sounded brilliant

[Brian C]

They're not dead, they're just in purgatory.

The Bigelow was the only one that sounded at all promising to me.

[Numero Trois]

I think the Baron Cohen film has at least some possilities. If he's clever enough to develop it enough on his own terms. It's not like the world has run out of dictators to make fun of. The long winded Chaplin film is no masterpiece, not even close. It's not like Cohen is redoing Modern Times. If he keeps it concise then he stands a chance of making a decent film.

[swo17]

It's not like Cohen is redoing À nous la liberté.

Fixed.

[knives]

I think the Baron Cohen film has at least some possilities. If he's clever enough to develop it enough on his own terms. It's not like the world has run out of dictators to make fun of. The long winded Chaplin film is no masterpiece, not even close. It's not like Cohen is redoing Modern Times. If he keeps it concise then he stands a chance of making a decent film.

I agree totally. The Chaplin is one of his worst films and I think Baron Cohen can be silly enough to improve upon those parts that drag in the original. It along with the horror stuff seems to be the only worthwhile things from that memo.

[Numero Trois]

To my memory the only worthwhile scene from The Great Dictator is this one. It's surprising how magical it feels even now.

Fixed.

Ha ha touché!

[oldsheperd]

Don't know if anyone has gotten to this yet, according to UHM.com:

It's said that the main character will once again be a woman.
Ridley Scott briefly revealed minor details as to where the story will go for the prequel: "The film will be really tough, really nasty. It's the dark side of the moon. We are talking about gods and engineers. Engineers of space. And were the aliens designed as a form of biological warfare? Or biology that would go in and clean up a planet?"
Original designer H.R. Giger will be consulted to create new designs for the creatures in the film. Ridley is interested in possibly creating a new look for the aliens.
Director Ridley Scott had this to say about the story: "It's set in 2085, about 30 years before Sigourney [Weaver's character Ellen Ripley]. It's fundamentally about going out to find out 'Who the hell was that Space Jockey?' The guy who was sitting in the chair in the alien vehicle — there was a giant fellow sitting in a seat on what looked to be either a piece of technology or an astronomer's chair. And our man [Tom Skerritt as Captain Dallas] climbs up and says "There's been an explosion in his chest from the inside out — what was that?" I'm basically explaining who that Space Jockey — we call him the Space Jockey — I'm explaining who the space jockeys were." He added... "[The film] is about the discussion of terraforming — taking planets and planetoids and balls of earth and trying to terraform, seed them with the possibilities of future life. "
It's said that this will be the first of two prequels that lead up to the events of the first film.
This will be in 3D.
Keanu Reeves hired writer Jon Spaihts to script the space journey epic Passengers, which apparently got him the meeting with Fox and Scott Free, where he pitched the idea of an Alien prequel that the studio and Scott loved.
Originally the film was to be directed by newcommer Carl Rinsch and merely be produced by Ridley Scott, and his brother Tony Scott. However, 20th Century Fox eventually decided to bring back Ridley himself to helm the prequel.
Original director Ridley Scott returns.
The currently untitled prequel to classic 1979 film Alien.

[Mr Sausage]

So, basically, they're taking everything that was effective for being unexplained, and then explaining it.

[oldsheperd]

I'm ambivalent about it but I know for sure I'm not keen on the film being in 3D. Prepare for a bunch of pointless in your face shots in order to make the 3D more effective

[Matt]

So, basically, they're taking everything that was effective for being unexplained, and then explaining it.

I'm so tired of everything and everyone having to have an elaborate, psychologically complex backstory. Even in the remake of Clash of the Titans (I knew what I was getting myself into), we had to have the origin of the Kraken explained to us (it can't just be a sea monster?) and the whole sad saga of how Medusa came to be a Gorgon (which, to be fair, was actually accurate to Ovid, but completely irrelevant to the story).

[Napier]

So, basically, they're taking everything that was effective for being unexplained, and then explaining it.

I'm so tired of everything and everyone having to have an elaborate, psychologically complex backstory. Even in the remake of Clash of the Titans (I knew what I was getting myself into), we had to have the origin of the Kraken explained to us (it can't just be a sea monster?) and the whole sad saga of how Medusa came to be a Gorgon (which, to be fair, was actually accurate to Ovid, but completely irrelevant to the story).

I guess most people these days don't keep up with their Greek mythology. It didn't come as an app on their new iphone, so the they felt Medusa's origin needed explaining.

[Matt]

Most of what's in Clash of the Titans has a very coincidental relationship to Greek mythology. Djinn, for Pete's sake.

[colinr0380]

I was just complaining yesterday that this summer looked like the worst in 20 years, but then this:



imdb

We now have a hilarious review of the film! Sadly it seems like we should stick with our copies of Deep Rising as the standard bearer for entertainingly cheesy oceanic disaster films.

[tavernier]

Sacha Baron Cohen to play Freddie Mercury