New Films in Production

[FerdinandGriffon]

Ya' got me officer.

Sorry for letting my personal anti-Arnold bile rise, but I do think that it's a little dull to watch the same ground retread over and over again.

[ambrose]

Sorry for letting my personal anti-Arnold bile rise, but I do think that it's a little dull to watch the same ground retread over and over again.

Not quite the same ground!. At least the actor playing Heathcliff is ethnically closer to Emily Bronte's conception of the character than previous adaptations.Though strangely still not totally in alliance with that original conception after-all, as the linked article states, Heathcliff was of East Indian origin!.(Bengali?)

[Murdoch]

Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights is still the best.

[MoonlitKnight]

They need to stop adapting classic novels altogether. How many versions of Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, Oliver Twist, The Great Gatsby, etc. do we really need (especially when definitive versions for nearly all of them have already been made)? :-k

[ambrose]

They need to stop adapting classic novels altogether. How many versions of Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, Oliver Twist, The Great Gatsby, etc. do we really need (especially when definitive versions for nearly all of them have already been made)?

Why should the cinema not reflect a long-standing practice in the theatre whereby each successive generation of actors can interpret or redefine certain iconic roles!.(And if as in the case of Wuthering Heights past adaptations have not been totally felicitous to the spirit of the book, another adaptation might be required.)

[matrixschmatrix]

Well, for one thing, the past generations of theater aren't readily available for anyone who wants to see them the way past generations of film are.

I do generally prefer O Brother Where Art Thou?-style 'adaptations' of the classics that are more vaguely inspired by them than literal adaptations- literary adaptations tend to be pretty airless and draggy (The Great Gatsby, I'm looking in your direction).

[zitherstrings]

They need to stop adapting classic novels altogether. How many versions of Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, Oliver Twist, The Great Gatsby, etc. do we really need (especially when definitive versions for nearly all of them have already been made)? :-k

Considering the best film version of Pride and Prejudice is Wright's, clearly we do need to keep making 'em. (I'm not counting the BBC version which, at 6 hours, is a different beast.)

[ambrose]

Thatcher Biopic!.(A "possibly" ideologically motivated decision by the soon to be defunct Film Council to fund this film?.)

[ianungstad]

The new Noah Baumbach film is starting to come together:

Ben Stiller and James Franco may be teaming up for Noah Baumbach's latest project, While We're Young.

The actors are in whispered talks along with Cate Blanchett to be involved with the dramatic comedy, which Baumbach and producer Scott Rudin are packaging before taking out to buyers. The project is at such an early stage that any actor's involvement is tenuous, caution sources.

The original script, by Baumbach, is described as being more accessible and more commercial then Baumbach's previous movie, Greenberg (which also starred Stiller). The story centers on a free-spirited couple who have an impact on a documentarian and his wife, getting the latter duo to loosen up.

It's the second original project to which Rudin is in the midst of attaching; the producer is talking to Bill Murray, Bruce Willis and several others to star in Moon Rise Kingdom, the new original project from Wes Anderson.

The project is one of the few to which Franco has boarded since garnering universal acclaim for his performance in 127 Hours. Stiller, meanwhile, is shooting Universal's comedy Tower Heist.

[aox]

Tarr's new film has a runtime!!!

150 minutes

[kaujot]

PTA reportedly adapting Pynchon's "Inherent Vice."

[Kellen]

PTA reportedly adapting Pynchon's "Inherent Vice."

Awesome, I was bummed that The Master fell through so this is good news. It would be interesting to see RDJ and PTA work together.

[Markson]

Well, that's a completely unforeseen choice for Anderson. Inherent Vice is arguably the "easiest" to adapt of TP's novels, and––while I have a love-hate relationship with his films––PTA is an intriguing director to tackle the job. I'm a little concerned about the idea of Downey playing Sportello, though. IIRC, Downey's much older than the character, by quite a margin, and I've also grown weary of his latest career phase of winking, smug performances (which are still often quite good, but, hey, there's only so much I can take).

[knives]

Precious remakes Cabiria

[Murdoch]

lol

[James Mills]

Well, that's a completely unforeseen choice for Anderson. Inherent Vice is arguably the "easiest" to adapt of TP's novels, and––while I have a love-hate relationship with his films––PTA is an intriguing director to tackle the job. I'm a little concerned about the idea of Downey playing Sportello, though. IIRC, Downey's much older than the character, by quite a margin, and I've also grown weary of his latest career phase of winking, smug performances (which are still often quite good, but, hey, there's only so much I can take).

Surprisingly enough, I felt the same way when reading that RDJ was likely to be the lead. I've always thought he was one of the best actors in the world, but now that the rest of the world realizes it, he seems to be typecasted as RDJ the superstar rather than RDJ the actor.

I never would have thought the idea of matching one of my favorite directors with one of my favorite actors would have been unsettling, but the days of Short Cuts and Chaplin RDJ seem pretty distant.

[Markson]

I've always thought [RDJ] was one of the best actors in the world, but now that the rest of the world realizes it, he seems to be typecasted as RDJ the superstar rather than RDJ the actor.

Precisely. While Pynchon's novel can be quite broad, I'm not convinced it needs a broad Downey.

[Finch]

The first Alien prequel has a title, Paradise. Other tidbits here

[James Mills]

The first Alien prequel has a title, Paradise. Other tidbits here

Meh, apparently not.

[ambrose]

Veteran director Yoji Yamada will direct Tokyo Story homage!.

[Amy Racecar]

Tarr's new film has a runtime!!!

I didn't even know Volker Spengler was still alive. Can't wait for this.

Wong Kar Wai's upcoming film about Kung Fu master Ip Man has apparently been retitled The Grandmasters.

I had forgotten about this project. It's funny that there have been two Ip Man films in 2010, one of which was a sequel to another film from last year, and soon this. I wish I was that popular.

[flyonthewall2983]

Holy shit.

[James Mills]

Holy shit.

Yeah, it's exciting. I heard about the possibility of it happening about a year ago, but had no idea if it was anything more than a rumor. I'm stoked...

[swo17]

It's going to be like Meet the Fockers, 88 Minutes, Love Ranch, and, um, a meticulous restoration of all of Powell & Pressburger's films, all rolled into one!

[aox]

You might be already giving it too much credit and consequently over-hyping it SWO.