Highlander Reboot Gets Fast and Furious

James Cook – TheMovingPicture.net

There’s been talk of a Highlander reboot for several years, and now it looks like one is actually happening as Summit Entertainment has signed Justin Lin (Fast & Furious) to helm a new film in the franchise that originally starred Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery. The trades say Summit plans to expand on the original “Highlander” premise of immortals hunting each other through the ages. The new film will center on the immortal Scottish swordsman Connor MacLeod, who must confront a murderous barbarian who lusts for a fabled prize. The original 1986 film was directed by Russell Mulcahy and along with Lambert and Connery starred Clancy Brown and Roxanne Hart. It launched four sequels and three TV spin-offs. The last big screen outing for the series was 2000’s Highlander: Endgame. Neal H. Moritz, who worked with Lin on Fast & Furious, will produce. Longtime Highlander producer Peter Davis is also producing along with Moritz.

Japanese superhero spoof BIG MAN JAPAN

by Adam Wing – 24FramesperSecond.com

Director: Matsumoto Hitoshi…..Don’t you just love Japanese cinema, if you like your movies left of centre then look no further, Big Man Japan isn’t even on the same page.

Popular manzai comedian Matsumoto Hitoshi directs and stars in this bizarre mockumentary about regular guy Dai Saito, he may look like your average Joe but he’s actually a superhero.

When electrocuted, Dai Saito transforms into the gigantic, purple boxer-wearing Dai Nipponjin (Big Man Japan), doing battle against super-sized monsters like Jumpy Baddie, Baby Baddie, and of course Smelly Baddie. There’s a link there somewhere.

Saving Japan over and over again is all well and good, but Dai Saito doesn’t get much in return. His ex-wife and daughter can only bare to see him twice a year, he lives out a boring life with a stray cat in a rundown house, just waiting for the Department of Defence to call him into superhero action (the pay isn’t too hot either). All his battles are broadcast on television, but the public couldn’t care less about his exploits and his neighbours hate him. His heroics fill the late night slot on TV but the glory days of being a superhero are long gone, in fact, even the monsters stay away these days.

So it’s a cross between The Office, Hancock and Godzilla then, and even though I use the word quirky way too often, Big Man Japan could never be described as anything else. It’s also deliriously entertaining if you’re in the right frame of mind.

Edward Norton likes the idea of Hulk as The Avengers villain

by Liam – Filmonic.com

Even though the folks at Marvel aren’t ready to reveal anything just yet, there is a good chance that The Hulk will be the villain in The Avengers. They’ve been talking about the idea for a while and even The Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier hinted at it last year when commenting on the films closing shot. Leterrier said “…if you decide that he’s smiling, in control, then he’s a good guy, that’s ‘The Hulk 2,’” he continued. “If Hulk is a failure, then he looks up and smirks and that’s eventually the Hulk of the Avengers — the uncontrollable beast that they need to team up to stop.”

If the director knew of Marvel’s intentions then one would assume Edward Norton would be in on it too, and from this interview with MTV it seems he is.“In the comics, there was always a tension between the rest of the superhero community and he was always this problem… They treated him as this problem,” said Norton.

In Toronto to promote his well-received film “Leaves of Grass” at the International Film Festival, Norton said he could definitely see the Hulk character becoming something that the rest of Marvel’s superheroes joined forces to battle. After all, Hulk’s never been shy about telling the world he’s “the strongest there is. I think that’s a fun way to go with it,” said Norton.

If Norton likes the idea, which he does, then he could return as Bruce Banner in The Avengers. When The Incredible Hulk came out Norton and Marvel weren’t the best of friends as they had disagreements over the final cut and Norton didn’t receive credit for rewriting the script. At the time I am sure Norton wouldn’t have wanted to work with Marvel again, but time as passed and he may be up for it again. He’s probably contracted to return anyway.

Barbarian Princess upsets native Hawaiians

Q'orianka Kilcher

StudioBriefing.net

A movie based on the life of Hawaiian Princess Kaiulani has drawn fire from native Hawaiian groups, primarily because of its title — Barbarian Princess. In a front-page article that appeared in the Honolulu Advertiser on Wednesday, University of Hawaii professor Jon Osorio was quoted as saying, “We really feel helpless to deal with producers … who sensationalize our history in order to get to the wider audience.” Vicky Holt Takamine, president of the Ilioulaokalani Coalition, called the title an “outrage.” But Roy Tijoe, a co-owner of Island Film Group, which produced the $8-million movie insisted that the title was meant as “irony” and was drawn from newspaper accounts of the Princess’s visit to the mainland shortly before the turn of the century. “It was a way to bring to the fore what had happened in the past,” he said. (The role of Princess Kaiulani is played by Q’orianka Kilcher, who portrayed Pocahontas in 2005′s The New World. The Advertiser noted that after an earlier protest the title was dropped, only to be reintroduced in time for a screening at the Hawaiian International Film Festival next month. The producers told the newspaper that they were unable to come up with another title that could pique interest in the movie as effectively as the original one.

Blowing Up on the Small Screen

A victim is carried from the wreckage of an exploding oil tanker truck in the first episode of NBC’s ‘Trauma.’

By Amy Chozick– Wall Street Journal

In the first seven minutes of new medical drama “Trauma,” an electrician working on the roof of a skyscraper sustains a huge jolt. An ambulance races through the San Francisco hills, and a rescue helicopter crashes head-on with another chopper tumbling into a busy restaurant in a fiery blast.

This series of calamities may sound like the stuff of a big-budget Hollywood movie, but NBC plans to pull off such stunts weekly in “Trauma,” premiering Monday at 9 p.m. Eastern. The network hopes the action-packed medical show about first-responder paramedics can pick up viewers who watched “E.R.,” which ended in April.

The show is part of television’s growing use of expensive effects. Until recently, the small screen, except for reality series, rarely filmed off the studio set, and shot expensive special effects like multicar crashes or catastrophic explosions even less. Technological advances have made stunts cheaper and less time-consuming to pull off, making them more accessible to budget- and time-strapped TV crews.

Networks now devote about 10% of a show’s budget to both visual effects generated on computers and special effects that recreate live events on-set, up from as little as 1% three years ago, according to industry estimates. Last fall, Fox spent about $10 million on the two-hour pilot of “Fringe,” a science-fiction series about FBI agents investigating mysterious global occurrences loaded with computer-generated visual effects. CBS often uses costly special effects on its popular police series “NCIS” and on crime drama “CSI” about Las Vegas criminologists who solve grisly murders.

Anastasia Griffith as Nancy Carnahan in ‘Tauma’

NBC, ranked last in total prime-time viewers among the four major broadcasters, has recently tried to cut costs. Earlier this month it debuted “The Jay Leno Show,” a nightly 10 p.m. comedy show that is less than a third the cost of producing a scripted prime-time drama. The savings from Mr. Leno’s show let NBC make “Trauma,” its most expensive new program this season, says Angela Bromstad, president of prime-time entertainment at NBC. She calls “Trauma” an “adrenalized version of ‘E.R.’ “

The first episode of “Trauma” also features a multicar pileup that makes an oil tanker truck explode, an effect that required producers to close down part of San Francisco’s Interstate 280 for five days. The episode cost nearly $8 million to make, compared with about $3 million for the average hour-long show. NBC declined to discuss the budget for subsequent episodes.

Almost every episode will feature at least one major accident (or “MCI,” mass casualty incident) that calls into action cocky helicopter medic Rabbit, sexy blonde paramedic Nancy Carnahan and the other members of the team of first responders. In the sixth episode, a drunk speedboat driver in the San Francisco Bay crashes into a party cruiser with a Hungarian wedding on board. “We’re champing at the bit to do an earthquake,” says Dario Scardapane, creator and an executive producer.

While flashy special effects may entertain a movie audience for two hours, television viewers typically tune in each week out of loyalty to characters or suspense on a storyline, not eye-popping effects. “Knight Rider,” a NBC series based on the 1982 show by the same name and packed with effects and on-location scenes ended after a single season due to low ratings.

Producers say more dialogue and character-driven scenes have been added to “Trauma” with a conflicted young hospital intern and a rookie paramedic on a steep learning curve. The ensemble cast includes Cliff Curtis, who’s had roles in such films as “Three Kings” and “Training Day”; “Notorious” star Derek Luke; and Anastasia Griffith, best known for playing Katie Connor on the FX drama “Damages.” “We’re very concerned that it just doesn’t become the ‘pileup of the week,’ ” says director and executive producer Jeffrey Reiner.

Scottish Zombie film ‘The Dead Outside’ scoops horror honors

Kris Bird and Kerry-Anne Mullaney

from the BBC

A film shot on location in the south of Scotland has taken two awards at a movie festival in Spain.

The Dead Outside won best film and Kerry-Anne Mullaney took best director at the 10th Estepona International Horror and Fantasy Film Festival.

It was filmed in Auldgirth near Dumfries and beat off competition from some bigger budget rivals.

Ms Mullaney currently has two more feature films in the pipeline which she also hopes to shoot in the region.

She said she was delighted to have received the recognition for her work.

“I was so thrilled to receive best director. I never expected to receive best film too,” she said.

“People came up afterwards and told me how much they loved the film and its foreboding atmosphere.”

Ms Mullaney runs film company Mothcatcher along with producer Kris Bird.

They recently moved to the village of New Abbey in Dumfries and Galloway, from a base in Edinburgh.

Mr Bird said the festival awards were a “major achievement” which would hopefully help to secure the support necessary to start filming another feature film later this year.

Here is the synopsis of “The Dead Outside”:

In the stark aftermath of a neurological pandemic, two strangers come together on an isolated Scottish farm. April, a young survivor with a dark past has survived alone for months.

Daniel, a man desperate and bereaved clings on to the hope of life in the outside world, but the maddened cries outside are increasing- the farm is not the safe haven it once was. As Daniel clings to his own sanity, he finds that the true enemy lies much closer to home.

David Cronenberg is Remaking David Cronenberg’s The Fly

by Alex Billington – FirstShowing.net

Yep, you read that right. David Cronenberg is developing a reboot of his own 1986 sci-fi classic The Fly. Cronenberg’s film is already a remake of Kurt Neumann’s 1958 film of the same name as well. The story centers on an eccentric scientist named Seth Brundle (played by Jeff Goldblum) who, after an experiment with teleportation goes awry, is transformed into a fly. Geena Davis starred as Goldblum’s love interest, Veronica. Oddly, Cronenberg has said in the past that he did not want to be involved a remake, but now he’s just doing it on his own. I can’t wait for someone to talk with him to find out exactly why he’s coming back.

This is only in the early development stages (via Risky Biz), so we’re not sure when Cronenberg will get to this. A return to The Fly would also mark the latest in a mini-trend of directors remaking their own work. Michael Haneke last year remade his thriller Funny Games while Werner Herzog re-imagined his doc Little Dieter Learns to Fly with the 2006 feature Rescue Dawn. Cronenberg was attached to direct the Robert Ludlum adaptation The Matarese Circle but apparently ditched that to take on Cosmopolis instead.

Sam Raimi to produce Yeti flick ‘Refuge’

By Steven Zeitchik – HollywoodReporter.com

Sam Raimi is taking “Refuge.”
The genre maestro has signed on to produce a supernatural horror pic of that name, based on a pitch from up-and-coming British director Corin Hardy. The project has been set up at Mandate, where Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures has a deal.

“Refuge” centers on a remote town terrorized by a Yeti, the mythological creature native to the mountains of the Himalayas. Hardy will direct from a script by fellow British writer Tom De Ville; both are repped by Paradigm’s Marc Helwig and Trevor Astbury.

Jason Blum, Nathan Kahane and Steven Schneider will produce.

Meanwhile, Blum’s Blumhouse Prods. will finance a short film with the same premise as the “Refuge” feature. Hardy and De Ville will work on that as well. The idea is to offer a teaser that can help Hardy refine his vision even as the script is being developed.

Genre auteurs are increasingly taking on projects from young directors and shepherding them through the indie and studio system as both producers and mentors. Guillermo del Toro, for instance, has taken on that role with Juan Antonio Bayona and other Spanish newcomers.

The CAA-repped Raimi, who is next set to shoot “Spider-Man 4″ as well as an adaptation of the video game “World of Warcraft,” is involved in a number of projects as a producer, including the vampire comic book adaptation “Priest” at Screen Gems.

Full Scale Bumblebee from Transformers Up For Auction

Full-scale screen used Hero Bumblebee robot from Transformers

From Seibertron.com

You could own the one and the only, Camaro Concept Bumblebee. No, we’re not talking about some one of a kind Legends figure, Deluxe repaint, or Human Alliance redeco. We’re talking about the real deal, the Bumblebee cast that was made for the movies. This full-scale replica of Bumblebee is probably the most impressive on-set item to be sold. As the auction describes;

Full-scale screen-used Hero Bumblebee robot from Transformers. (Paramount, 2007) Standing exactly 16 feet 10 7/8 inches tall and weighing 3200 pounds, this screen-used hero Bumblebee robot is an incredible feat of engineering craftsmanship. Built by renowned special effects company FXperts, Inc. (a.ka. John Frazier Special Effects), Bumblebee was the result of a direct request by Director Michael Bay for a full-size Transformer. He was used prominently in all the critical scenes in the film: when Sam and Mikaela are first introduced to all the Autobots; when Bumblebee is captured by Sector 7 with a helicopter; in the interior of the Hoover Dam; and on the back of a tow truck during the final battle sequences. As a major character in the film, Bumblebee has become one of the most popular and beloved Transformers. Since the opening of the movie, this Bumblebee robot has been on a worldwide tour, to such locations as Japan, Korea, London, Las Vegas, Dallas, Chicago, New York, and Bolton, Mississippi. He was also featured at the Los Angeles premieres, Universal Studios, Cannes Festival, and Indy 500, where he drew as big of a crowd at the Indy cars. With possible arms, Bumblee stands a full 16’ 10 7/8” tall and 13’ 5 13/16” wide when fully assembled. He is currently de-assembled and housed in three large wooden crates.

Click here for the Auction Website

Two More Actors Join the Cast of Kenneth Branagh’s Thor

Jaimie Alexander and Colm Feore

by Ethan Anderton – FirstShowing.net

The last we heard about Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Marvel’s Thor was the official casting of the always beautiful and talented Natalie Portman as love interest Jane Foster. Since then, the casting couch has been relatively quiet (as far as we know) until today’s announcement from THR adding Colm Feore (seen in Season 7 of “24″) and Jaimie Alexander (seen in ABC Family’s “Kyle XY”) to the cast. They join the already cast Chris Hemsworth (as Thor) and Tom Hiddleston (as the villain Loki), but as with all of Marvel’s productions, not even the hammer of Thor can get us anymore than a tidbit of info on these characters.

The beautiful Jaimie Alexander will take on the role of Sif, an Asgardian warrior who also shares Thor’s love interest, but whose strength should not be underestimated by any man. Feore’s role is being kept under tight wraps (apparently actors aren’t even being sent an entire script), but the word on the street is that his role is a villainous one. The story follows the Norse god Thor, whose cocky, arrogant attitude sparks an ancient war causing him to be cast to Earth as punishment. Only when the most dangerous villain of Thor’s world sends the dark forces of Asgard to invade Earth does Thor realize what it takes to step up and be a real hero.