Big news for all you anime buffs this week–we’ve got a whole bunch of new and interesting things lined up over the course of the next couple days that starts right here, with a nearly live report from the depths of Kuzuricon, a new anime convention that just wrapped up in Battle Creek, Michigan.
And when I say new, I mean it–this is the first one they’ve ever had, though I had thought that there were more than this one.
Today we’re going to kick things off with a couple of photos I brought back–you can see from them why I’m not a photojournalist. Though it’s not hard to feel a little like Frank West walking into this thing–you can see from the shot at right that the whole thing was taking place in an environment that felt downright terrifyingly like the Willamette Parkview Mall.
However, there was one great sign, that you can see right here, as the game room which was kept open almost twenty four hours daily invited patrons in in the grandest Kevin Smith style.
Anime buffs out there, you’re likely to want to keep an eye on Kuzuricon–once it gets its feet underneath it and pounds out its many dents (the Smash Brothers tournament, much like the game itself, was epic-scale lunacy on par with herding cats on heavy doses of mescaline and paint thinner, and the promised Rumble Roses tournament failed to materialized due to a double-dip curse of a lack of participants and a nigh-total lack of anyone over the age of eighteen) it will likely be the same kind of grandiose anime bacchanal that the word ACen brings to mind.
Pre-production on Halloween 3-D has apparently been shut down at the EXECUTIVE level. Seems Bob Weinstein though that pre-production was just “rushing too fast”, which may well be the first time I’ve heard a producer say THAT.
It’s actually kind of refreshing to hear a producer say, whoa, let’s slow things down a notch, take our time and do it right. This actually gives me a note of hope for the proceedings, and considering that Rob Zombie, who has already conclusively proven that he wouldn’t know a horror movie if it crawled up his pant leg and started licking him, is no longer involved with the project only makes things better.
What is this I’m feeling? Is this…is this HOPE? For a Halloween remake? Wow. I’m stunned. Keep it up, Weinsteins…I might actually have a GOOD review for you next time.
Yeah, I know…most of us Venom purists out there (of which I happily count myself among) were pretty convinced that casting Topher Grace as Eddie Brock was some kind of insult, either that or the result of the studio being utterly convinced we all had the mental candlepower of certain kinds of fish.
But I got one real good reason to cheer up and look forward to that Venom movie–two of the writers come from Zombieland.
Ohhhhh yeah. One of the freakiest looking action horror titles of the year and they’ll be writing the Venom movie. Apparently the script is already in Marvel’s hands, and from here it’s all a matter of getting it produced. The current suspicion is that Spider Man 4 will actually be used to set up the Venom movie, so it’ll be at least two years before Venom actually gets a watchable big screen experience. Ah well…we’ve waited longer for worse, and I’m definitely looking forward to this one.
Renee Zellweger’s Case 39, which has been the subject of intense scrutiny and a raftload of rumors in its own right, has apparently, finally, managed to land a release date. Specifically, this will be busting out on New Years Day 2010, likely so the studio could buy off a critic or two into calling this “The most suspenseful title of 2010″ or “the scariest movie this year”.
Although, to be fair, New Years Day IS on a Friday this year so it likely would’ve ended up that way anyway, but it does seem pretty clear that the studio doesn’t have a whole lot of faith in this one. Paramount’s the one releasing this one, and considering how often this one’s played musical release dates I can see why they’d choose to bury it in the deep dark ice-lined hole that is January.
I’m hopeful, however, that this one isn’t as bad as its scheduling suggests it will be, and have some hope that it’ll at least be watchable. But then, I’m weird that way.
From big names like the remake of Red Dawn to tiny little films like recent review target Mr. Art Critic, you’ll find that a whole lot of films coming out or coming soon have a whole lot in common–filming location.
The state that gave the world Evil Dead, Home Improvement, and Dumb and Dumber (yes, Jeff Daniels IS one of theirs) is now poised to become the cheapest place to film movies anywhere outside of third world countries.
Welcome to Michigan, folks–home of the best tax credit for filmmakers in North America. More films are being produced here this year alone than from the entire period of 1946 to 1988. It’s that tax credit that’s making filmmakers interested–just for background, a deduction reduces income considered for tax purposes, while a credit reduces the total tax amount owed. And in Michigan’s case, it’s a whopping forty percent of all amounts spent on making the film in Michigan. Drop ten million here–a tiny budget by filmmaking standards–and you can kiss four million good bye on your tax bill.
And as long as that stays in place, beleaguered Michigan has every opportunity to make itself the new Hollywood.
With maverick director Terry Gilliam parading around the Cannes Film Festival in order to shop around his apparently madcap film The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus (containing Heath Ledger’s last performance), there’s great news about his next project. It appears Gilliam has managed to buy back the rights of his script, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, and is set to make it next year.
Anyone who has seen the documentary Lost in La Mancha will no doubt be whooping with joy. The documentary followed Gilliam’s first attempt to adapt the sprawling novel Don Quixote, and ended up capturing the series of misfortunes that eventually forced the producers to close down production. From the few moments of footage we’re treated to in the documentary, the film could have been Gilliam’s return to form.
Variety are reporting that Gilliam has teamed up with producer Jeremey Thomas (The Dreamers, Sexy Beast) and Hanway Films will deal with international distribution. Also, Gilliam has updated the plot and the film now follows a modern day film-maker who travels back to 17th Century Spain and becomes the sidekick of a delusional self-proclaimed knight. Gilliam is looking to cast Johnny Depp as the lead. Fingers are crossed that the production will stay afloat this time.
While the world of cinema is no stranger to Nick Cave, the antipodean singer-songwriter who released brilliant and brooding songs such as The Mercy Seat and Where the Wild Roses Grow, it is pretty strange to see him be part of the Hollywood engine that churned out Gladiator. This week it was revealed that Cave wrote a sequel to the sword-and-sandal hit, at the behest of fellow Ozzie Russell Crowe.
Many would be confused at how a sequel was possible considering the end of the original, but Cave, obsessed with the afterlife (his Lyre of Orpheus album is one of his best), sets the story in the Roman afterlife, as our hero Maximus is reincarnated in an attempt to find his son, and ends up living well into the 21st Century. Sounds strange? Well, it is, so much so that the script was rejected and the film will never be made, despite Crowe’s positive response to the story and Cave’s writing. For more details on the story, including sample dialogue, head here.
In other news relating to Nick Cave, John Hillcoat (director of the Cave-written The Proposition) is also set to direct Cave’s next script, Death of a Ladies’ Man.
Now here’s a piece of good news in this cold, harsh January. Over the past month or so news has been coming in of a legal dispute between Warner Brothers, who were planning to release comic-book adaptation Watchmen in March, and 20th Century Fox, who claimed to have owned the rights. Things didn’t look good when the case’s judged granted tha Fox did indeed have a claim to the film’s rights, and that this may lead to the film being postponed, or even never seeing the light of day.
Last week was supposed to see the two parties return to court, but it was delayed due to a seemingly positive settlement. And now we know the result of that settlement, in which Fox will receive 8.5% of the gross box-office intake, plus a lump sum in cash, plus a share of any sequels or spin-offs. This means that Watchmen will indeed be released on March 6. Comic book fans can now rejoice (die-hard comic fans can scowl). In other news relating to the film, it now looks like it will run at 163 minutes, a suitablly long time for the complex comic.
Despite being the most hyped film of 2009 for quite some time, further problems have emerged in the bitter legal battle over the adaptation of classic cult comic Watchmen. Several months ago it was reported that Warner Brothers (who produced and are releasing the Watchmen movie) were in a court battle with 20th Century Fox, who previously owned the film rights and claim they still have a stake in it.
This week saw a turn for the worst. The cases judge has now ruled that Fox has a stake in the film, and even a right to distribute the film. This means that further legal maneuvering is required to sort this out, which means that it is very possible that the film will not be released in March, as had been planned and promoted for the past few months. This will be huge blow to fans eager to watch the movie, as for the industry in total as now there’s no tentpole pic in the spring to boost business. There is a chance that Fox will just ask for a financial settlement, but considering how WB made more money this year than an other studio, I wouldn’t be surprised if Fox (who are currently 6th) got nasty.
Word over at Aint it Cool News is saying that the forthcoming A-Team movie, based on the popular 80’s action show, has been pushed back to 2010 at the earliest. And if that doesn’t sound like a good sign for the project, attached director John Singleton (Boyz in the Hood, Four Brothers) has backed out, possibly due Fox’s official announcement that they’re developing and rewriting the script even more. The film is rumoured to star Bruce Willis as Hannibal, Ice Cube as BA, and Woody Harrelson as Murdoch.
To be honest, it looks as if Fox are backing away from the project, and rightly so. Nostalgia doesn’t necessarily mean people are going to fork out good money for a revival. Look at the diminishing ratings for the new Knight Rider TV show, for example. And, already this month we hear that a planned He-Man film got the axe. Will the A-Team movie go the same route? It’s probably best for all if it does.