Depp to give Lone Ranger’s Tonto the Jack Sparrow treatment

Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow

By Fred Topel – SciFiWire.com

Jerry Bruckheimer is developing a new movie based on The Lone Ranger, the popular western hero from radio plays and movie serials, and Johnny Depp is attached to play the Native American sidekick, Tonto.

Bruckheimer said to expect Depp to do for Tonto what he did with Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean.

“[Pirates writers Ted] Elliot and [Terry] Rossio worked on that also with some other writers and with Johnny [Depp],” Bruckheimer said in a group interview last week in Santa Monica, Calif. “So they’re creating something that has a kind of true-to-the-western [feel], but adding other additional elements like we did with Pirates so it won’t be just a straight-ahead western.”

Depp’s choice to play the Native American sidekick fits the actor’s quirky tastes. Bruckheimer has his work cut out for him finding a lead who can make a good Ranger to a superstar Tonto.
“We’re still creating a pretty wide net and figuring it out,” Bruckheimer said. “It comes down to who is available when we want to make it. We have a wish list.”
The Lone Ranger is in development for a tentative 2012 release date.

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Method Man digs ‘Mortician’ role

Method Man

Angelic Zambrana

By Stuart Kemp – HollywoodRepoter.com

Hip-hop star Method Man (“The Wackness”) and Angelic Zambrana (“Precious”) have joined the cast for “The Mortician 3D.”

Billed as a gritty, urban drama, the backers also said they are in talks with Tom Hardy (“Bronson”) and Edward Furlong (“American History X”) to join the cast.

“Mortician” is produced by New York label Belladonna Prods.’ Rene Bastian, Linda Moran and Adam Folk, the team behind “Transamerica,” and U.K.-based Full Circle Films.

The picture is set to shoot this month in Louisiana.

The film also counts Molinare and the U.K.’s Film and Music Entertainment as backing partners and is being repped at AFM by startup sales and finance house Stealth Media Group.

The $6 million project is written and will be helmed by Gareth Maxwell Roberts and produced by Rhys Thomas.

SMG was formed in November 2008 by Sean O’Kelly, founder of Go for It Entertainment with film producers Michael Cowan and Jason Piette of Spice Factory.

“The Mortician 3D” marks the first project to attract funding from MediaPro, which was recently launched as a minimum guarantee cashpool with an exclusive relationship with Stealth Media.

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JJ Abrams Toys With Hasbro’s Micronauts

 

Michael Stevens – HollywoodNorthReport.com

Director J.J. “Star Trek” Abrams is interested in producing a film adaptation of the Japanese action figure line ‘Micronauts’, recently acquired by toy maker Hasbro.

Debuting in Japan in 1974, the plastic/metal ‘Micronaut’ 3.75 inch action figures were released in North America by the Mego Corporation. Pallisades Toys picked up the toy line in 2002, following a succession of Micronauts comic books published by Marvel, Image and Devil’s Due Publishing.

According to the first Marvel comic book, the Micronauts originate in the ‘Microverse, a microscopic series of habitats linked together in the fashion of molecule chains. The original team comes together in response to the threat posed by former academic and now dictator, ‘Baron Karza’. ‘Commander Arcturus Rann’ (returning from a thousand-year deep space voyage in suspended animation) and ‘Biotron’, his robot co-pilot, land on the ‘HMS’ (Homeworld Micro Ship) “Endeavor,” to discover Karza has removed the royal family, who are Rann’s parents.

What follows is an epic war across the Microverse: Rann and his allies against Karza. In addition to Biotron, Rann’s team includes ‘Princess Mari’ of Homeworld, who, with her brother, ‘Prince Argon’, are the only survivors of the royal family. Known to the team as ‘Marionette’, she falls in love with Rann.

The warriors ‘Acroyear’ and ‘Bug’ also join Rann’s cause, one a noble warrior prince and the other a joking ‘insectoid’. The last member of the original team is ‘Microtron’, Mari’s robot tutor. Trapped for a time on Earth (where they are the size of toys), the team returns to the Microverse for more battles against Karza and his genetically engineered armies of soldiers, until the Micronauts triumph and Karza is destroyed.

Rann is able to claim victory with possession of the ‘Enigma Force’, a semi-sentient power that bonded with him during his period of suspended animation, enabling him to perform super feats.

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Kick-Ass New Character Posters for Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass!

by Alex Billington – FirstShowing.net

IGN has debuted the first four character posters for Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass tonight. By now everyone has probably heard about this (or seen the leaked Comic-Con footage), so I don’t think it needs an elaborate introduction. Kick-Ass is the adaptation of Mark Millar’s awesome comic series about a kid who decides to dress up and be a superhero. While it could’ve been a goofy, Hollywood spoof, Vaughn went all out to make sure it was a bloody, brutal, violent adaptation true to his own pure vision. And that’s already starting to show even in the marketing, as these posters definitely look awesome.

Kick-Ass is both written and directed by British filmmaker Matthew Vaughn, of Layer Cake and Stardust previously. The screenplay was co-written by Vaughn and his writing partner Jane Goldman, of Stardust as well. The story is an adaptation of Mark Millar’s comic of the same name that is currently in the middle of its first series. Kick-Ass was funded entirely by Matthew Vaughn and his own private investors and sold once finished to Lionsgate earlier this year. They’ve currently set an April 16th, 2010 release date for the film, although I hope they change that, because that’s a terrible opening day. Hopefully we’ll see a trailer soon!

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Ashley Greene Sees ‘The Apparition’

Ashley Greene

From AceShowBiz.com

One “Twilight Saga” star will go from portraying a vampire in the drama series to be a person haunted by supernatural presence in “The Apparition”. Variety reported that Robert Pattinson’s on-screen sister, Ashley Greene, is in talks to star in the horror movie produced by Joel Silver’s Dark Castle.

It is still unclear what character the 22-year-old will take on, but the story, which reportedly is inspired by true events, centers on a young couple haunted by a supernatural presence unleashed during a college experiment. Should the negotiations go according to plan, she is expected to join the production when it starts on February 1, 2010.

“The Apparition” will have Silver producing with Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman. Todd Lincoln who originally developed the project with Silver Pictures/Dark Castle executives Heineman and Daniel Alter, is penning the script and will serve as director. Alter, Steve Richards and Sue Baden Powell are the executive producers.

Starting her career as guest on many popular TV shows, Ashley Greene made her big break when landing the role of Alice Cullen for 2008’s “Twilight”. Soon to be seen reprising the role in November 20-released “The Twilight Saga’s New Moon”, she has recently finished filming for the third movie, “The Twilight Saga’s Eclipse”.

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Danny Boyle Confirmed for ‘127 Hours’ Mountaineer Project Next

Danny Boyle

by Alex Billington – FirstShowing.net

As is the case with any director who wins an Oscar, their next film is always a hot topic. Variety has finally confirmed today that the next film from Danny Boyle will be 127 Hours, the story about the mountaineer Aron Ralston who had to amputate his own arm back in 2003.

The title obviously pertains to how long he was stuck pinned beneath a boulder in Utah. I think the title actually ups the intensity, too, even just a little bit, because now we know this guy was sitting there hanging on to life for that long. Fellow Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy, who wrote the Slumdog Millionaire script, is in talks to write the script for 127 Hours.

In addition to Boyle and Beaufoy, producer Christian Colson will also be back, making this a “reunion of the creative team and the financiers behind Slumdog Millionaire, which won eight Oscars.” Fox Searchlight will be financing and distributing the project in partnership with Pathe.

Boyle wrote the original treatment and handed it off to Beaufoy to turn into a complete script. This confirms our report from October that Danny Boyle would be shooting this project next year. However, Variety says he hasn’t chosen an actor yet to play Ralston, so that rumor about Ryan Gosling isn’t true (for the time being). We’ll keep you updated on casting

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The horror, the horror…Why we like to get scared

By Samantha Kramer- Medill News Service

The “Saw” horror movie series solidified its position in the record books by grossing more than $14 million on a recent weekend, according to the film Web site Box Office Mojo, as moviegoers flocked to theaters to see the sixth installment of serial killer Jigsaw’s exploits.

The series is already the 45th most successful franchise in film history, grossing $700 million in its first five films, according to The Numbers Web site, which compiles gross amounts and other statistics on films. The series features Jigsaw and his followers torturing victims to death with riddles and puzzles.

The previous installment, “Saw VI,” had low production costs of $10.8 million and grossed $113.2 million. “Saw VII” is scheduled for release in October 2010, according to Michael Geiser, a spokesman for Lionsgate, which distributes the series.

The success of the critically panned franchise has left many people wondering what’s behind the public’s love affair with horror.

Glenn Walters, a clinical psychologist and author of behavioral psychology books, is a horror fan. In a 2004 paper published in the Journal of Media Psychology, he suggested that horror ensnares viewers by acting as an emotional conduit.

“It deals with our fears in a safe environment,” Walters said. “It often deals with fear of acceptance, identity, and mortality, which makes it so popular amongst adolescents who are going through a very tumultuous period in their lives.”

According to a 2008 Nielsen report on trends in youth consumption of media, 49 percent of U.S. teens ages 12 to 17 were horror fans.

Walters asserted that tension, relevance and unrealism keep audiences coming back for more. The movies are fiction and so viewers know what’s on the screen isn’t real.

Tension, meanwhile, holds their interest.

Cultural relevance is another important element to the popularity of the genre, Walters said.

“We’ve come into an age where everyone is worried about swine flu and contagions, so it’s good fodder for horror because that’s where our fears lie at the moment,” he noted. “Look at the zombie and vampire trend, it all has to do with blood and contamination and disease.”

Dr. Joel Cohen, adjunct professor of anthropology and director for the Center of Consumer Research at the University of Florida-Gainesville, believes that the need for horror movies relates to our need to satisfy an internal stimulation level for enjoyment.

The fascination with the macabre is interesting because it challenges human nature, Cohen said.

“The assumption is that people will willingly expose themselves to things that make them feel good, not things that cause fear and anxiety,” he said.

Cohen studied the reactions of self-described horror movie viewers and non-horror movie viewers to various horror film clips. He and Eduardo Andrade, a marketing professor at the University of California-Berkley, discovered that watchers and non-watchers experienced the same level of fear, but horror fans got a “positive effect” from the clips.

However, Cohen found that non-viewers had a more positive response when handed biographies of the actors, which reminded them that the clips were not real.

“Some people have learned how to put themselves in a ‘protective frame,’ and detach themselves from a threatening aspect, while other people have not learned how to do that,” he said.

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“2012″ director still has appetite for destruction

By Borys Kit – Reuters.com

Five years after he made Earth freeze over in “The Day After Tomorrow,” director Roland Emmerich is wreaking more havoc, this time with “2012.”

The disaster epic, which opens November 13 via Sony, sees the end of the world come from solar flares that cause the Earth’s core to melt and shift tectonic plates.

While the movie is preposterous, and recycles a set piece three times, you can’t deny the mesmerizing quality of devastation, especially on the big screen.

During Tuesday’s world premiere in downtown Los Angeles, Mickey Rooney began clapping during the epilogue, leading the crowd to applause during the credits.

“When you normally see disasters, you always see the aftermath; movies actually show it happening,” theorized Emmerich at the after-party as to why those kinds of movies are popular. People are fascinated.”

Roland Emmerich

While the German native got out of the directing gate with “Universal Soldier” and “Stargate,” it was the 1996 alien-invasion disaster movie “Independence Day” that really made his career. And he knows it, too.

“When (producer) Dean Devlin and I made ‘Independence Day,’ it had a lot of destruction in there and it became very successful. It became a signature for me. And I realized that people get very excited when things blow up. When we blew up the White House, people applauded! Because of ‘Independence Day,’ I get money to make these kinds of movies.”

Mark Gordon, who’s produced four of Emmerich’s movies including “2012,” says there’s a sweetness to Emmerich’s films influenced by the director’s love of Steven Spielberg’s works.

“When I see Roland destroy things, I howl because it’s fun. It’s not depressing,” said Gordon. “He shoots these scenes with a certain kinds of filter that as terrifying as it is, it’s magical at the same time. It’s not gritty, it’s clean. It’s pop.”

Emmerich may not want to be labeled as the disaster guy, he also admits to being very particular in what he likes directing.

“I don’t like superheroes,” he said. “And that takes out about 60% of the big movies Hollywood makes. And I don’t like very much fantasy, and I don’t like making famous books into movies. That’s another 20% cut. So it’s a very narrow field that I can service.”

Emmerich’s next project, however, will take him as far away from White House demolitions as possible. “Anonymous,” a drama set in 16th century England, tackles the question of whether William Shakespeare really was the author of his many plays. The project is targeting a spring 2010 shoot in Berlin’s Babelsberg Studios.

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Ian Somerhalder breathes new life into the undead on ‘The Vampire Diaries.’

 

Ian Somerhalder

Sarah Kuhn – HollywoodReporter.com

In prepping to audition for “The Vampire Diaries,” Ian Somerhalder employed an unusual approach. “I found out about the meeting at 9 o’clock the night before, and I was in Vegas, a five-hour drive away from L.A.,” he recalls. “I taped my sides together in the car and drove across the desert in the morning. That’s how I worked on my script.”

While this may not be the method most recommended by in-the-know acting coaches, it appears to have worked: Somerhalder nabbed the role of nefarious Damon Salvatore, a devilish bloodsucker who spends most of his time tormenting his younger, more earnest sibling (Paul Wesley). Somerhalder brings a wicked sense of fun to the role; with his well-timed smirks and smooth line delivery, he steals nearly every scene he’s in. In a way, he makes it all too easy to root for the bad guy.

“Damon is, by societal standards, bordering on the level of a sociopath,” says Somerhalder with a chuckle. “But here’s an interesting thing: My coach, Ivana Chubbuck, one phrase that she coined about Damon is that Damon has ill intentions but for righteous reasons. People like that are beyond dangerous. On a positive note, what makes that really fun is he truly believes in what he’s doing and he loves it.”

After reeling in a decent chunk of viewers with its moody early episodes, “The Vampire Diaries” was picked up by the CW for a full season. For Somerhalder, this lessens the sting of failing to book a part on that other vampire show, HBO’s runaway hit “True Blood.” The actor auditioned for the role of troublemaking Jason (which eventually went to Ryan Kwanten), but it didn’t go so well.

“I wanted it so badly, and I blew my audition with [show creator] Alan Ball,” Somerhalder says bluntly. “I had rehearsed this stuff so many times and it worked. And then I got in the room and I just blew it. I was bummed about that, and to be honest with you I couldn’t watch ‘True Blood’ until I booked ‘The Vampire Diaries.’ ” He chuckles bemusedly. “Then I realized, ‘Wait a minute. I have my own vampire thing now.’ “

Continue reading Sarah’s article HERE

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Kristin Bauer could play the next lesbian vampire on “True Blood”

by Trish Bendix – AfterEllen.com

Last week, True Blood creator Alan Ball talked with The Advocate about future gay characters on the hit HBO series. The show has already featured a handful of queer characters, including Vampire Queen Sophie-Ann (Evan Rachel Wood, her lover Hadley (Lindsey Haun), the fabulous fry cook/drug dealer Lafayette and season 1’s Eddie.

Ball said:

We’ll be meeting the vampire king of Mississippi and his long, long-term companion — and by long-term I mean really long-term — Talbot. I think Lafayette may meet a love interest, and certainly Pam, who works with Eric, she’s certainly got a lesbian vibe — I don’t know that that’s all she is, but she certainly does seem to appreciate the women.

Pam is played by Kristin Bauer, who serves as Eric’s wingwoman at the vampire bar, Fangtasia. Her interests included fancy pumps, showing no mercy and now, apparently, the bar maid, Ginger.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Bauer said about Pam going for women. “I think she’s pansexual. … There are so many hot [women on the show], but I’ll pick Ginger. Ginger’s hot. Ginger’s fun. She’s a screamer and she’s a blood donor.”

As for Sophie-Ann, Ball said that there will be something between her and her lover’s cousin Sookie, but it’s most likely platonic:

I think Sophie-Anne is definitely interested in Sookie; I don’t believe it’s for sexual or romantic reasons but she is definitely interested in Sookie and whatever it is about Sookie that is special beyond the realm of what is human, and that’s something that we definitely will learn more about in the upcoming season.

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