According to Variety, DreamWorks and Working Title Films are planning a new movie adaptation of Daphne DuMaurier's 1938 novel Rebecca. This version will reportedly stick closer to the original source material than Alfred Hitchcock did when he adapted the story in 1940, but there's still no news on casting or a release date.
Thanks to all those males ages 18-34 who watched the Super Bowl, several exciting-looking action movie trailers have been released recently. Behold:
The Amazing Spiderman
It doesn't look bad, per se, but was this movie really... necessary? I mean, the last Tobey Maguire version just came out five years ago.
The Avengers
Okay, Scarlett Johansson looks fully ridiculous. Couldn't they have at least given her a non-child-sized weapon? Or posed her next to someone other than Thor?
At long last, there is news on the film adaptation of Jeff Smith's Bone. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the project has found a writer (Patrick Sean Smith, creator of the ABC Family show Greek), and director (P.J. Hogan, director of My Best Friend's Wedding and the 2003 version of Peter Pan). I still think there's a solid chance this project will never actually materialize—Warner Bros. has held the rights since 2008 without much movement—but these are definite signs of life.
According to the website GossipCop, Lionsgate Films would really like to find a way to continue the Twilight movie series after the final* installment is released this fall.
Like they're not going to make money hand over fist...
According to THR, the American Federation of Musicians intended to picket a shoot of the TV show Mad Men yesterday. I have little interest in Mad Men, but the reason the musicians are angry is actually Wordcandy-related: Lionsgate Films produces both the AMC TV show and the upcoming Hunger Games movie, and they've apparently chosen to score their mega-blockbuster-to-be entirely in Europe–despite filling it with what they describe as “native Americana music".
According to NPR, nine of the top ten money-making movies of 2011* were "kiddie" films—movies based on YA books, comics, toys, or pulp fiction. I'm unconvinced by that definition (pulp fiction is automatically for kids now? Has anyone informed Stephen King?), but I'm even less clear on why this qualifies as a surprise. There were virtually identical numbers for 2010 (the top ten included six movies based on children's stories, three non-book-based animated pictures, and Inception) and they're likely to hold true for 2012. Guess what, NPR? People like to watch fun stuff, and comic books and children's stories are actually pretty solid sources of fun material.
And I'm sure the Hollywood version will be even deeper and more thoughtful than the original.
There's a fair amount of big-name casting news out for the upcoming movie adaptation of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. I've always disliked the book (I was particularly irritated by Card's introductory essay for his "Author's Definitive Edition", which implied that if you didn't like Ender's Game, it was probably because you weren't smart enough to grasp its brilliance), but my brother absolutely loves it, so I'm excited about the movie—well, sort of—on his behalf.
The Batman: The Dark Knight Returns trailer is out:
I'm certain there's some thoughtful comment I should be making about what this movie has to say about the current state of politics and the economy, but all I was really thinking about was why Christopher Nolan hasn't cast any blonde women in these movies. Does he think blonde hair is too cheery for his unrelentingly grim world, or is he trying to avoid any comparisons between his leading actresses and Tim Burton's versions with Kim Basinger and Michelle Pfeiffer? Because, trust me, Mr. Nolan: no one is going to confuse your work with Burton's. One of you has a sense of humor.
And speaking of dour movies, the new adaptation of John le Carré's 1974 espionage novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy has hit theaters:
It's getting great reviews, so if you'd like to see something that takes your mind off listening to Wham! singing Last Christmas for the ten millionth time this year*, this might not be a bad bet.
*Seriously, do all grocery stores play this song on repeat, or am I just paranoid?
The first full-length trailer is out for Disney's John Carter (based on the "Barsoom" series by Edgar Rice Burroughs), and it looks like it's staying pretty close to its space-western roots:
Barring truly jaw-droppingly bad reviews, I fully intend to see this.
According to ABC News, Twilight: Breaking Dawn-induced seizures are a Real Thing, so if your significant other is dragging you to see it for the third time this week, you can now fake a plausible medical emergency to get out of watching at least part of it. (I don't know when they get to the birth scene, which is apparently what triggers the seizures, but I'm assuming it's fairly late in the movie. Still, every little bit helps, and this should at least get you out of watching it a fourth time.)
Rumiko Takahashi has drawn a poster for the upcoming live-action adaptation of her classic manga Ranma 1/2, and while I'm feeling most of it, what is up with Genma's panda suit?!? I understand not wanting to go nuts with the CGI... but did they really need to go with the rattiest-costume-left-on-the-Halloween-clearance-aisle look instead?
The first full-length trailer is out for The Hunger Games, and it focuses far more on the interpersonal drama than the kid-on-kid violence. Probably a smart move, considering I still have no idea how they can make this movie without giving it anything less than an R-rating.
According to Variety, DreamWorks and Working Title Films are planning a new movie adaptation of Daphne DuMaurier's 1938 novel Rebecca. This version will reportedly stick closer to the original source material than Alfred Hitchcock did when he adapted the story in 1940, but there's still no news on casting or a release date.
