Besides Paramount, I guess: "The new project will reunite producers Jason Blum and Oren Peli with Christopher Landon, the writer of the second and third installments in the Paranormal franchise. Landon will write and direct the project, described by sources as a 'cousin' to the Paranormal movies but not a sequel, reboot or spinoff. The real kicker is that the movie will be Latino-themed. It will star a Latino cast and will tackle Catholic-based paranormal mythology. It will not, however, be in Spanish. The aim is to make the micro-budgeted movie in the next several months." [THR]
Legendary auteurs, they're just like us! When iconic filmmaker Ingmar Bergman passed away in 2007, he left behind one of the greatest bodies of work known to cinema -- and a vast, meticulously catalogued VHS collection, the subject of the upcoming Swedish documentary Bergman's Video. Among his tapes, somewhere between the Bunuel and the Tarkovsky: Jurassic Park, Ghostbusters, and The Blues Brothers, which at least partially explains the ghosts and Jake/Elwood-esque sibling dynamic in Fanny and Alexander. The dinosaurs, not so much. [Cineuropa via Movie City News]
Alas. But not because he's gay! Maybe? "Though [Chris] New was recently turned down for the role of Jesus on a U.S. TV show, and suspects it was because he is gay, he said that actors should not blame homophobia for not getting cast in the roles they want. 'There could be a million reasons why you might not get a job and gay people have to be careful about blaming [homophobia], because they're reinforcing their own closet door.'" Anyway: Out or not? The debate continues... [Guardian]
No Bully-style quibbling here: Per a just-issued press release email, the Weinstein Co. approves of the MPAA's decision on their other Very Important Movie of the year, the boobtacular June sequel Piranha 3DD. "PIRANHA 3DD accepts a well deserved Rated R for 'sequences of strong bloody horror violence and gore, graphic nudity, sexual content, language, and some drug use,'" writes a rep for the company. See, they can totally accept the MPAA's decision without turning it into a shameless opportunity for publicity!
"The movie has a big, babbling, stupid, awesome heart, and its hokiness and dopiness is central to its charm. All the great universal entertainers, the ones who moved the world rather than a select group of cultish admirers, have had a certain crazy tunnel vision to them, a total inability to see shades of gray, or understand jaundiced views of the world. (Think Michael Jackson, or Charlie Chaplin, or Steven Spielberg.) Titanic went huge — dominated the movie world, even still to this day—because it touched on basic, universally held human concepts of love and fate and time and loss. It did this in an extremely obvious way, but that's a reason to admire it and to mock it." [Deadspin]
Steve Wozniak isn't really selling me on the most pressing casting issue of our day: "I look at the casting agencies and directors who are experts at casting. I trust that they considered all the relevant factors and made the best selection. The fear that many might have is that Ashton was selected because he's 'hot' right now. But I feel that his selection was done in the most professional manner. And I'm glad that he's onboard. I think he'll put a lot into it and that he cares about this particular subject. It's almost too bad that Steve Jobs is gone. His opinions and guidance, as to the story and film crew and cast would have been invaluable." [TMZ]
Here are 2,000 words devoted to the "most '90s movie soundtrack of all time," a phrase that doesn't even make sense but which we can no doubt all agree comes down to Until the End of the World. Glad that's settled! [EW]
Even without Mickey Rourke! "I remember meeting with a studio executive after he saw the movie and he said, 'You have a lot to learn about editing.' I said 'I’m sure I do, give me an example.' He brought up the roast beef sandwich scene. 'Well you’re going on and on with, "Are you gonna eat the sandwich, not eat the sandwich," just cut it and get on with the story.' I said, 'Well, that is the story.' It’s a way to talk about friendship. A lot of time you see movies and people are talking about, 'How long have we been friends?' Friends don’t talk about being friends. From the nature of their conversation, you know they’re friends. That was the point. We talk about problems with girlfriends in abstract ways, we get off the point, we get into arguments that are not essential to what the argument is really about. We’re always messy. That, really was the point of Diner." [Baltimore Magazine via The Awl]
He's about to embark on his ambitious one-man Mark Twain show, and soon enough Val Kilmer will also be a doctor, courtesy of William Woods University! Kinda. "It’s embarrassing if you have a brother with a real doctorate. [Laughs.] I called him up without thinking — I was so excited! — and said, 'You won’t believe it! They called me out the blue. I’m going to be just like you! Dr. Kilmer.' There was a long pause, and I immediately realized what a mistake this phone call was." [Vanity Fair]
Screenwriter David H. Steinberg's credits include two American Pie sequels, National Lampoon's Barely Legal, the 2002 Devon Sawa vehicle Slackers, and, yes, Puss in Boots... which makes him an expert on adapting for the screen, of course! "...Ultimately I was underwhelmed. The movie simply failed to capture the emotion of the book... (No one in the movie ever looks hungry!)" [Yahoo]
"Going into a conversation where you’re defending Adam Sandler is normally not going to work in your favor. I learned this six years ago when I was doing my shift hanging out with Holocaust survivors, and one of the old guys actually turned to me and said, 'This is the worst thing I've ever seen,” and this was coming from a man who was in Auschwitz. There was no way I was going to try to defend the merits of Sandler talking gibberish to a room full of men who lived through one of the darkest periods in all of humanity. If he thought Sandler making a bottle of shampoo battle a bottle of conditioner was bad, then I had to agree." [Splitsider]
Looks like indie film financier/Tweeter Megan Ellison's promise came true: According to a Box Office Mojo update, Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master has been added to the fall 2012 release calendar, to open on October 12 -- just in time for an awards run! No official word from distrib The Weinstein Co. on the date or final title for the Philip Seymour Hoffman-starrer, nor mention of if/when the pic will first debut at one of the season's prestigious film festivals. While you await more info, mark your calendars... [Box Office Mojo via The Playlist]
Wrath of the Titans actor Toby Kebbell (Control, RocknRolla) was once up for the part of Tetsuo in Warner Bros.' live-action adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo's cyberpunk manga and anime Akira -- but with the project stalled, he unleashed some real talk on the direction the studio intended on taking the big-budget franchise. Among WB's plans: They wanted to adapt the anime and not the richer source material of the mangas, and planned on taking certain liberties with key character relationships to boot. “I was like, ‘The point is that Tetsuo can’t comprehend how someone who isn’t his brother could love him so much — and that’s where his wrath and his rage come from. Do you not see that? Why have you made them brothers? What the fuck are you doing?’” [IFC via Collider]
The Ninja Turtles Culture War just gets better: "Paramount marketing changed the name. They made the title simple. The characters you all remember are exactly the same, and yes they still act like teenagers. Everything you remember, why you liked the characters, is in the movie. This script is being developed by two very smart writers, with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles. They care VERY MUCH about making this film for the fans. Everyone on this team cares about the fans. Just give them a chance. Jonathan the director, is a major fan of the whole franchise. HE'S NOT GOING TO LET YOU DOWN." [Shoot For the Edit]
"'I’m very proud of John Carter. Box office doesn’t validate me as a person, or as an actor. [...] I’d love to go do John Carter 2. I really would. It’s just shitty I don’t get to work with the [John Carter] family. It really was a special thing." [EW]
