Having been stuck in development limbo for quite some time now, American McGee’s Alice is seeing a “turnaround” now according to Scott Faye, the film’s producer.

"The Alice project is presently in "turnaround" from Universal Studios. Jon and Erich Hoeber have written a very compelling feature film screenplay adaptation of the Alice game,” he said. “Their screenplay will certainly serve as a jumping off point as we find a new studio home for the project."

He, however, admits that there are still problems: "To be perfectly honest, the script still needs a little bit of work. The downtime since the Hoebers turned in their last draft has allowed me to establish a bit of creative objectivity. I suspect that the next draft of the screenplay will allow the project to take a substantial leap forward toward production."

Faye confirmed that Sarah Michelle Gellar is no longer attached to the project, as is Marcus Nispel who was at one point set to direct the film.

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On /Film are some pictures from the set of Max Payne, the upcoming film adaptation of the slow-motion, bullet-dodging video game featuring the constipated titular police officer. The pictures show a wrecked car and the film crew standing around it, implying that there is going to be at least one car chase in the movie.

The film, starring Mark Wahlberg as the titular character, a former NYPD detective, who goes up against the Punchinello Mafia family. It is unknown if the film will carry the game series’ trademark slow-mo dives and other antics.

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Slashfilm reports that Len Wiseman, the dude behind the Underworld franchise, is set to direct the upcoming film adaptation of blockbuster Xbox 360 game Gears of War. Wiseman, also the man behind Live Free or Die Hard, will develop the story with Chris Morgan, whose credits include the craptacular Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift.

The director is currently working with Morgan on Shell Game, an upcoming sci-fi thriller at Lakeshore/Columbia Pictures. The story focuses on a detective investigating the “dangerous black market business of immortality” in the future. Wiseman has also worked as an art director on blockbuster films such as Men in Black, Godzilla and Independence Day.

Gears of War was originally released on Xbox 360 in 2006, followed by a PC release an year later. A sequel is in the works for release exclusively on Xbox 360 this November.

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You may not have heard of German director Uwe Boll, but you’ve probably heard of his movies. You almost certainly have never seen these movies, but instead passed by Screen 124 while on your way to  the blockbuster on Screen 1.  Boll has directed such classic crap as  Alone in the Dark, BloodRayne,  and House of the Dead. All three are adapted from relatively plotless video games. And with even fans of the games complaining, you can imagine how bad these films are.

In fact, people are so annoyed at Boll that after a facetious remark he made in an interview with The Guardian, stating that he’d quit if a million people asked him so, there is now a petition to do that very thing. Check it out here, and get voting!

In retaliation, Boll posted a hilarious video response, claiming that his work is genius and better than all that “social-critic George Clooney bullshit that you get every fucking weekend”.

It’s pretty obvious that Boll is very aware of himself and is generating self-promotion through such ridiculous claims. This is, after all, a man who challenged 5 of his worst critics to boxing matches (and won all five). His movies are flops, and he is only able to make them through a loophole in the German film industry tax-break scheme (am I the only one thinking of Max Bialystock?). Anyway, I implore you to turn the tables on Boll’s plan, and vote against him. Let th epublic decide!

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Jerry Bruckheimer taught us that yes you can in fact turn a theme park ride into a good movie with the success of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, and now, he’s set out to debunk a similar problem plaguing the video game-to-movie arena.  Bruckheimer is taking the popular video game “Prince of Persia” and aims to prove that videos can be made into good movies as well.

“It’s a game that was brought to us early on, and I thought it was very exciting. First of all, it’s an interesting period and it’s something that other people weren’t doing. So I always like to go into arenas that other filmmakers aren’t in. I think it’s the 8th or 9th century but you know, that could change, too. We might change it a little. It’ll definitely be a period film. We’re not going to make it contemporary,” said Bruckheimer.

Directing the film adaptation will be Mike Newell, who did one of the Harry Potter films and Donnie Brasco.   He is expected to “bring something really special to it.”
Meanwhile, the script hasn’t yet been finalized, but they still have time to kill.  The film isn’t set to be filmed until June, and Bruckheimer is hoping that the writers will be able to wrap up their strike by then.  But even still, he might have to worry about a possible Screen Actors Guild strike, as their contracts expire next summer.

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