Also in this morning's edition of Biz Break: Sony Classics reunites with an Oscar-winner, Music Box takes a risk with a Hemingway, John Woo gets in on a remake, and more...
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The new four-minute preview from The Amazing Spider-Man promises an extended look at "the summer's most anticipated film" — Sony's bracing, ballsy rebuke to The Avengers, Prometheus and The Dark Knight Rises. Only you know how truthfully that claim applies to you, but this much is true: There's not very much "new" here.
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You may have heard the news that Sony plans a big-screen adaptation of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the animated series that yielded the Melissa Joan Hart cult TV favorite from the '90s. This time, though? She's a superhero. "The live action film will be an origin story in the vein of Spider-Man, about a young girl coming to terms with her remarkable powers," writes Mike Fleming at Deadline. Of course. I guess it'll work, but I can think of at least 20 TV characters off the top of my head whom I'd sooner see grappling with hero issues:
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I love the first teaser posters for Django Unchained — just vague enough to stir the imagination and just explicit enough to sing the film's epic, violent intentions in a way everyone can hear them. Very retro, very minimal, very... Quentin.
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Sony debuted the first poster for Rian Johnson's Looper, which feels like its been in the works for something close to ever but nevertheless has nearly six months remaining before it comes to theaters on Sept. 28. In the meantime, here are its stars doing their best playing-card imitation. Jack of hearts? King of clubs? Enh, forget it.
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Let's talk Turkey! Ahem. Literally: The country's CNN outpost brings viewers worldwide this heartwarming story of a teenager in Adana who reportedly sneaked into a railyard where the cast and crew of Skyfall had taken up production of a fight sequence. The young man was caught, queried and removed from the set — but not before smuggling out footage of James Bond slugging it out atop a train. Yaşasın!
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It wasn't tough to spot Channing Tatum or Jonah Hill at the after party following the SXSW premiere of 21 Jump Street; they were the ones, beaming unselfconsciously in the middle of the crowd, wearing bicycle-cop uniforms. More specifically, wearing their costumes from the movie, in which they play a pair of bumbling rookie policemen sent undercover to high school -- a set-up that so delivers beyond its premise that the '80s Johnny Depp TV series adaptation is actually one of the best new films of 2012, comedy or otherwise.
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As previewed earlier today for select audiences around the globe, here's Sony's brand spankin' new theatrical trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man. (Find my full detailed Spider-Man preview Q&A recap, including descriptions of the sizzle reel that has not yet been released, here.) Take a look and weigh in, Spidey fans -- is this the version of the Marvel superhero we both need and deserve?
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Forget blowing a million or more on a Super Bowl ad; the day after upcoming tentpoles John Carter, Battleship, and G.I. Joe targeted football-watchers with pricey TV spots, Sony went after niche fans with an international simulcast screening of new footage and a 3-D preview of the new Amazing Spider-Man trailer set to hit tonight at midnight PT. Though it included some unfinished visual effects, the sizzle reel featuring 30-40 percent new footage (according to a rep for the studio) hinted at the scope and darkly humorous tone of the Marc Webb-directed reboot.
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... and by better I mean worse, and by worse I mean now that the licensing deal between Universal and toy company Hasbro has ended, Sony has snatched up the Candy Land board game movie project -- you know, the one like "Lord of The Rings, but set in a world of candy" -- as a vehicle for none other than Adam Sandler. Said Columbia prez Doug Belgrad: "Candy Land is more than just a game. It is a brand that children, parents and grandparents know and love. The world of Candy Land offers an extraordinary canvas upon which to create a fantastical, live-action family adventure film with a larger than life part for Adam. We are thrilled to partner with Hasbro and Happy Madison on this project." [THR]
Or Van Helsing and Dracula, or whatever Sony's apparently calling it? Don't everyone speak up at once. [Fusible]
"Weak." "Lackluster." "Underwhelming." "Less-than-stellar." Such are the general characterizations of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo's box-office earnings to date from observers, insiders and pundits around the Web. And now for an equally appropriate one-word response to those perceptions: "Huh?"
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Aside from a few honors of the Teen Choice and MTV Movie variety, newly minted Screen Actors Guild Award and Golden Globe nominee Jonah Hill is an awards virgin -- which makes this year's lead-up to the Oscars particularly exciting for the actor, who earlier this year impressed critics with his role in Moneyball as Brad Pitt's Ivy League-educated, number-crunching Oakland A's wingman. The role, like his 2010 titular turn in Cyrus, was a welcome departure from the wise-cracking characters audiences have grown accustomed to seeing him play, from the early days of Knocked Up and Superbad to last weekend's The Sitter. Next up, Hill uses his sarcastic charm to crack down on a high school drug ring in the March 16 feature adaptation of 21 Jump Street, which Hill also wrote and produced.
Kathryn Bigelow's upcoming movie about the team of Navy SEALs who killed Osama bin Laden was originally set to debut right before election day 2012, prompting U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-NY) to call for an investigation of the extent of the Obama administration's assistance to the project. Now, that point seems moot; Sony has rejiggered its release schedule so that the Mark Boal-penned picture will debut after the Presidential election, and possibly not until 2013. Then again, with today's news of Muammar Gaddafi's death, Obama might not need as much help raising the victory flag, pre-election. [NYT]
You knew it would happen sooner or later: Late Apple founder Steve Jobs will reportedly be getting getting the big screen biopic treatment, courtesy of Sony. The Social Network studio has acquired feature rights to Walter Isaacson's as-yet unreleased authorized book Steve Jobs, which culls interviews with Jobs and his close associates and family members and has been fast-tracked to hit shelves October 24. It should be an interesting match, considering Sony's tech division is a direct Apple competitor; imagine the cross-branding planning meetings! As for the film, fantasy casting is wide open. (Put your hand down, Noah Wyle.) [Deadline]
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