Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland Trailer is out!

This is the correct Trailer, sorry for any inconvenience . 

The very first look at Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” has fallen down the web-bit hole and landed on your screen. The release date is early March 2010.

Cast
  Mia Wasikowska… Alice Kingsley
  Johnny Depp … The Mad Hatter
  Helena Bonham Carter … The Red Queen
  Alan Rickman … The Caterpillar
  Anne Hathaway … The White Queen
  Michael Sheen … The White Rabbit
  Stephen Fry … The Cheshire Cat
  Timothy Spall … The Bloodhound
  Crispin Glover … The Knave of Hearts
  Christopher Lee… The Jabberwock
  Noah Taylor … The March Hare
  Matt Lucas … Tweedledee/Tweedledum

Depp’s next role unclear as green lights delayed

Steven Zeitchik and Borys Kit – Hollywood Reporter

 Johnny Depp is coming off an acclaimed role in “Public Enemies” and stars in one of the most anticipated movies of this weekend’s Comic-Con, “Alice in Wonderland.”

But the Mad Hatter is facing an unusual situation: Like the character he plays in “Alice,” he soon could be killing time.

Depp is attached to a number of high-profile development properties but is facing a landscape devoid of “go” pictures — those ready for production. Instead, there are a dizzying number of possibilities and schedule permutations, none of which seems likely to result in a produced movie for him anytime soon.

Producers have been interested in Depp for the title role in Warner Bros.’ “The Incredible Mr. Limpet.” Kevin Lima’s remake of the 1964 fantasy comedy that would continue a whimsical, if slightly less drama-intensive, streak for the actor. He has not signed on, however, and in any event the pic would not go into production until next year.

Meanwhile, the fourth installment of “Pirates of the Caribbean” remains a priority for Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. At an earlier point, it was going to be the next picture for Depp, who toplines as Jack Sparrow. But with Gore Verbinski no longer directing the franchise, the ship has slowed.

Disney is seeking a new director, a process that could take time. Although the studio is believed to want an established helmer of franchise and action fare, it has put the word out to agents that it would be open to younger directors and new ideas, potentially prolonging the process. That could mean as much as a four- or five-year hiatus since the 2007 release of the previous picture, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”

(Disney also would like to scale back the size and budget of the next movie compared with previous installments; for that reason, it likely won’t bring back relatively pricey Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley.)

Because of the “Pirates” lag, a Depp project that was supposed to go into production after the Sparrow-fest, “The Lone Ranger,” could end up getting pushed back further, though there’s also a possibility it could shoot ahead of the nautical tale.

For the moment, though, “Ranger” also remains locked in the stable. “Pirates” writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio have written a script for the Disney/Bruckheimer update, but the studio could wind up commissioning a polish or another draft. There’s also no director, and Depp is attached to play Tonto, with the title role still to be cast.

Finally, Warners’ feature update of the ghoulish TV series “Dark Shadows” — a Depp/Tim Burton collaboration that might have shot later this year or early next year — also might be back-burnered. Burton still has work to do on “Alice,” which opens in March, and tends to spend a lot of time on prep work.

What the possibilities boil down to, besides head spinning, is that there are projects with momentum that Depp has not signed for, and projects he has signed for that don’t have a lot of momentum.

In other words, it’s a very 2009 phenomenon brought on by a star’s choosiness on the one hand and studios’ increasing caution on the other. (In what might be an emerging mini-trend, Will Smith and Leonardo DiCaprio happen to find themselves in similar situations.)

The result is that Depp could face a year or longer without appearing on the big screen.

That might not sound like a major departure, but for moviegoers, it will seem like a shift. Depp has been in one of the most fertile periods of his career: The actor also stars in the Hunter S. Thompson adaptation “The Rum Diary” and had a supporting role in Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” which hasn’t yet been released in the U.S. In the past nine years, Depp has not had more than two movies come out in any 18-month period; if “Imaginarium” gets a release by the end of 2010, he’ll have had four.

Then again, the absence of a new role might mean a respite from his breakneck schedule. Even a pirate needs some time off.

(Editing by Sheri Linden at Reuters)

Tim Burton Talks ‘9′ and New Image Released

 ‘9’ is the first full length feature film from Director Shane Acker and the visionary filmmakers Tim Burton (Batman / Edward Scissorhands) and Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted / Nightwatch). It is based upon a short film of the same name that was made by Acker back in 2005 (click here to visit a page where you can watch the short, the original trailer and an extended clip from the upcoming movie).

The story of 9 takes place in a post-apocalyptic and alternate reality future where all of humanity is gone. The remaining inhabitants are rag dolls but their very existence is threatened by fearsome killing machines determined to hunt the rag dolls down to extinction. 9 (voiced by Elijah Wood) is created to help protect the remaining raggies, but rather than guide them to safety, 9 convinces them that their only chance of survival is to fight back.

Producer Tim Burton has spoken with MTV Movies Blog ahead of his scheduled attendance at next week’s San Diego Comic-Con panel to promote the film.

“I just love the texture and stop-motion feel to it,” Burton said. “I know animation is broadening its horizons but this just felt different… I liked the world that [Acker] created and the texture. It felt like a different type of animated film. The visuals were helping to create the story. I just felt very in tune with the look and feel of it.”

“Our goal as producers—if you see someone you like, you don’t want to suppress them—the goal was to create an environment where he can do his thing,” Burton continued. “My attitude is always to give suggestions and if he uses them fine, if not, okay. We wanted this to be grounded and slightly realistic in the similar vein to stop-motion, let the film breathe. We wanted it to have mystery and let it breathe.”

When asked what attendees at the Comic-Con could expect to see from the film Burton was careful not to give anything away.

“Probably a sequence or two,” he said.

Burton will be present at the Friday July 24 panel alongside 9 stars Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly, director Shane Acker and fellow producer Timur Bekmambetov.

9 will be released in the US – September 9, 2009

Source(s): SciFiScoop.com, EW.com, MTV.com

Mattel’s Max Steel goes to the movies

Marc Graser – Variety

Just weeks before Paramount Pictures invades theaters with “G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra,” the studio is teaming with Joe Roth to pick up Mattel’s “Max Steel” as another action figure it wants to play with on the bigscreen.

The toy property revolves around a 19-year-old extreme sports junkie recruited by a secret agency after an accident infects his body with nanobots, making him superhuman.

Although Mattel introduced the character in the U.S. in 1999 as an action figure, and soon after in an animated series that ran from 2000-2002, he’s proved more popular in Latin America, where Max Steel is the region’s No. 1 action figure. Mattel has continued to produce animated direct-to-DVD features for the region, produced by Rainmaker Entertainment in Vancouver.

But Mattel wants to use movies as a way to relaunch the toy line in the U.S. and the rest of the world, the way the “Transformers” pics have helped generate new heat around Hasbro’s action figures.

“A theatrical film plays a significant role to relaunch the franchise,” said Barry Waldo, Mattel’s VP of worldwide entertainment marketing and strategy. “But we have a strong Latin consumer we’re going to keep happy while broadening the franchise for the rest of the world. We wouldn’t do ourselves a favor if we turned a blind eye to it. That’s the artistic challenge we’ve got.”

Roth, who is a producer on Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” at Disney, and produced last summer’s “Hellboy 2: The Golden Army,” will serve as executive producer on “Max Steel,” with Waldo and Tim Kilpin, general manager for Mattel’s girls, boys and games group, who is shepherding the company’s top brands for boys and girls.

Mattel was keen on pairing with Roth, considering the Max Steel character has similarities to the “XXX” franchise he launched while head of Revolution Studios. The Xander Cage character in the first film was an extreme sports athlete turned spy.

Roth has had a relationship with Mattel over the years when it comes to marketing and charities.

Mattel and Roth are seeking a screenwriter and director, who will work closely with the toymaker to develop the film’s characters and storyline to match the company’s plans for the franchise.

“Max Steel” will be the first pic Mattel has set up at Paramount since it began aggressively looking to turn its toys into features.

It’s the sixth property that Mattel has set up in the past year or so since signing with Creative Artists Agency to get those movies made. Mattel has “He-Man: Masters of the Universe” and “Hot Wheels” at Warner Bros. with Joel Silver producing; “Major Matt Mason” with Tom Hanks; and a musical based on a yet-to-be-revealed monster property at Universal that Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are shepherding. A “View-Master” movie is also in the works at DreamWorks, with Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman producing

Amazon Specials!

 

Hollywood Bringing Heavy-Hitters To San Diego Comic-Con

Comic-Con 2009

THU, JULY 23 -SUN, JULY 26      …..    PREVIEW NIGHT: WED, JULY 22

SAN DIEGO
Convention Center
111 W. Harbor Dr.
San Diego, CA 92101

    The annual Comic-Con is fast approaching, and this year’s event, taking place from July 23-26, shines a brighter spotlight than ever on Hollywood.

  Disney on Thrusday announced its heavy-hitter lineup — John Lasseter, Robert Zemeckis and Tim Burton — while networks and cable, from CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” and USA’s “Burn Notice,” are also well-represented.

 Below is a schedule of events — many details of which are still to be determined

 PANELS

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22

“Human Target,” “V” and “Vampire Diaries” (6 p.m.-9 p.m., room TBD): Full pilot previews.

THURSDAY, JULY 23

Summit Entertainment: “Astro Boy” (10:15-11:15 a.m., Room 6BCF) Astro Boy is an all-new CG-animated feature film based on the classic manga about a young robot with incredible powers and his adventure-filled journey in search of his identity and destiny. Director David Bowers, producer Maryanne Grager, and stars Freddie Highmore and Kristen Bell will debut exclusive footage and answer questions.

TheOneRing.net: “The Hobbit” (10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m., Room 7AB) Chris Pirrotta, Larry Curtis, Cliff Broadway and other from TheOneRing.net will take you behind the scenes of the latest news, announcements, and rumors pertaining to the Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro production of The Hobbit.

Disney 3-D Panel (11 a.m-12:30 p.m., Room TBD) With Robert Zemeckis, Tim Burton, Sean Bailey, Steve Lisberger. Concept art, trailers, footage of “A Christmas Carol,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Tron.”

“The Middleman” (11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Room 6A). Panel with Matt Keeslar, Natalie Morales, Mary Pat Gleason, Britt Morgan, Jake Smollett, Javier Grillo-Marxuach and cast reading of lost 13th episode script, “The Doomsday Armageddon Apocalypse”

Richard Hatch: “Battlestar” Retrospective (12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m., Room 6A) Moderated by actor/author Richard Hatch, with composer Bear McCreary, writer/producer Michael Tayler, scientific advisor Kevin Grazier and special guests, this panel provides a review and discussion of the past four seasons of “Battlestar Galactica.”

“Dante’s Inferno” (12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m., Room 8. Jonathan Knight, Ash Huang, Brandon Auman, Christos Gage and Diego Latorre talk about the adaptation of the epic poem into pop culture: a video game, an animated feature, and a comic series.
   20th Century Fox and James Cameron present “Avatar” (12:45 p.m.-2 p.m., Hall H) Cameron, Jon Landau and cast members will show the first public screening of footage in 3D from the movie, which debuts in December.

Spotlight on Kevin Eastman (1 p.m.-2  p.m., Room 5AB) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle co-creator Kevin Eastman talks about his TMNT days and shares sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes teasers for his upcoming animated film projects.

Sony Pictures Animation: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2:00-3:00 p.m., Room 6BCF) Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Andy Samberg, Bobb’e J. Thompson, Chriss Miller, Phil Lord discuss the upcoming Sony/Columbia movie.

Summit Entertainment (2:15 p.m. -3:15 p.m., Hall H)
Summit Entertainment presents a sneak peek of some of its upcoming major film releases such as “Astro Boy,” “Sorority Row” and “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”

DVD/Blu-ray Producers 2009 (2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m., Room 7AB)
Bill Hunt, Adam Jahnke and Todd Doogan (of The Digital Bits.com), talk about the latest DVD and Blu-ray developments with special-edition producers like Robert Meyer Burnett, Laura Gross, Charles de Lauzirika, David Naylor and Cliff Stephenson.

Masters of the Web (3 p.m.-4 p.m., Room 32AB)
Director Kevin Munroe (“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”) moderates a panel of representatives from top genre and movie websites such as Movieweb.com and Latinoreview.com. Brandon Routh and Sam Hungintgon join to preview a sneak peek of their new film “Dead of Night.”
 

“Robot Chicken,” “Titan Maximum” (3 p.m.-4 p.m., Room 6A). Panel with Seth Green, Matthew Senreich, Tom Root, Doug Goldstein, Chris McKay, Breckin Meyer, Kevin Shinick, Mike Fasolo, Dan Milano.

J. Michael Straczynski: Professional Writing (3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m., Room 7AB)
The “Changeling” writer discusses the steps and tools needed to be a professional writer.

Joe Dante: “The Hole” (3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m., Hall H)  Joe Dante  and Haley Bennett discuss their new film and working in 3D.

Entertainment Weekly: Wonder Women: Female Power Icons in Pop Culture (3:45 p.m. -4:45 p.m., Ballroom 20) EW will moderate a conversation with Sigourney Weaver, Elizabeth Mitchell, Kristen Bell  and others about the actresses who have redefined the rules and the female characters that have shattered the glass ceiling for all women. 
 

Cartoon Network Comedy: Original Animation (4:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m., Room 6A). Panel on “Chowder,” “The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack,” “Adventure Time With Finn and Jake.”

Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus” (4:45 p.m. -5:15 p.m., Hall H) The director of “Time Bandits” and “Brazil” introduces his new film starring Christopher Plummer, Johnny Depp, Heath Ledger, Colin Farrell, Jude Law, Verne Troyer, Tom Waits, and Lily Cole. 
 

“Dexter” (5 p.m.-6 p.m. Ballroom 20)

Overture Pictures: “Pandorum” (5:15 p.m.-5:45 p.m., Hall H) Actors Ben Foster, Cung Le  and Antje Traue discuss their new thriller about two crewmembers on a seemingly abandoned spacecraft.

Kick-Ass (5:45 p.m.-6:45 p.m., Hall H) Director Matthew Vaughn, Nicolas Cage and Christopher Mintz-Plasse and comic co-creator John Romita Jr. present world premiere footage from the new film, based on Mark Millar’s bestselling comic.

Focus Features: “Thirst” (6:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m., Hall H) Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook discusses his film, which won the Prix Du Jury (Jury Prize) at the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival, and his career.

Robotech Industry Panel (6:45 p.m.-7:45 p.m., Room 6A) Tommy Yune, director of “Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles” and Steve Yun, writer of “Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles,” discuss upcoming Robotech releases in the wake of the announcement of the live-action feature film.

Comedy Central’s “Drawn Together Movie” Roundtable (7 p.m-8 p.m., Room 6BCF) Co-creators Matt Silverstein and Dave Jeser and stars from the show discuss “The Drawn Together Movie” and host a roundtable discussion.

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog (8:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m., Room 6A) The California Browncoats host a screening of the original three acts, followed immediately by “Commentary! The Musical.”

“Green Lantern”: First Flight World Premiere (8 p.m.-9:30 p.m., Ballroom 20) Warner Home Video, Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation present the world premiere of “Green Lantern: First Flight.” “Lantern,” due out July 28, stars Christopher Meloni, is directed by Lauren Montgomery and written by Emmy Award winner Alan Burnett.

Halloween Comes Early: Trick ‘r Treat Screening (9:30 p.m.-12:00 a.m., Ballroom 20) Writer-director Michael Dougherty screens his new movie, which is preceded by a panel. Ain’t It Cool News mogul Harry Knowles will moderate the panel, which features Dougherty and cast members Anna Paquin, Tahmoh Penikett, and Brian Cox.

“Burn Notice” (room & time TBD) Panel with Bruce Campbell, Seth Peterson, Ben Shenkman, Jay Karnes, Matt Nix, Alfredo Barrios Jr., Michael Shanks

“Legend of the Seeker” (room & time TBD)

“Psych” (room & time TBD) Panel with James Roday, Dule Hill, Corbin Bernsen, Maggie Lawson, Timothy Omundson, Chris Henze and Kelly Kulchak. Scrpt-to-screen demonstration documenting the process of creating an episode.

“Twilight: New Moon” Panel (room & time TBD)

FRIDAY, JULY 24

“Batman: The Brave and the Bold” (animated) (10 a.m.-11 a.m., Room 6DE) Panel with Diedrich Bader, Sam Register. Screening of “Mayhem of Music Meister” episode featuring voice of Neil Patrick Harris.

“Stargate Universe” (10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Robert Carlyle, Brian J. Smith, Elyse Levesque, David Blue, Alaina Huffman, Jamil Walker Smith, Ming-Na, Brad Wright, Robert Cooper

Lucasfilm Panel: “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”: Building the Universe (11 a.m.-Noon, Room 7AB)

“The Prisoner” (11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., room TBD)

“Caprica”/”Battlestar Galatica”: The Plan (11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Esai Morales, Edward James Olmos, Ronald Moore, David Eick and Jane Espenson

“FlashForward” (11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m., Room 6A)

Lucasfilm Panel: “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”: Behind the Mic (Noon-1 p.m., Room 7AB)

“The Middle” (Noon-1 .p.m., Hilton Bayside Indigo Ballroom). Patricia Heaton. Sneak preview.

Disney Animation Panel (12:45 p.m. Room TBD ) Panel with Hayao Miyazaki, John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, Kirk Wise, Ron Clements, John Muske (“Toy Story 3,” “Prep & Landing,” “The Princess And The Frog” and “Ponyo.”)

“The Big Bang Theory” (1 p.m.-2 p.m.,Ballroom 20) Panel with Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Chuck Lorre

“24” (2:15 p.m.-3 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Kiefer Sutherland,
Mary Lynn Rajskub, Anil Kapoor, Freddie Prinze Jr., Katee Sackhoff, Howard Gordon

“Past Life” (2:15 p.m.- 3:15 p.m., Room 6A) Panel with Kelli Giddish, Nicholas Bishop, Ravi Patel, David Hudgens

“Bones” (3 p.m.-3:45 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Emily Deschanel,
David Boreanaz, Hart Hanson

“Eureka” (3:15 p.m.-4:15 p.m., Room 6BCF) Panel with Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Erica Cerra, Neil Grayston, Jaime Paglia

“Dollhouse” (4 p.m.-6 p.m. Ballroom 20) Panel with Eliza Dushku, Joss Whedon. Screening of episode “Epitaph One”

The BBC Panel: The Mighty Boosh (4:45 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. Room 6A) Panel with Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding, Michael Fielding, Rich Fulcher, Dave Brown

Lucasfilm Panel: The Star Wars Spectacular (5:15 p.m.- 6:15 p.m. Hall H)

“The Box” Panel (room & time TBD)

“District 9” Panel (with Peter Jackson) (room & time TBD)

SATURDAY, JULY 25

“Chuck” (10 a.m.-11 a.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Josh Schwartz

“Eastwick” (10:15 a.m.-11:15 a.m., Room 6A) Panel with Rebecca Romijn,
Lindsay Price, Jaime Ray Newman. Full pilot screening

“Lost” (11 a.m.-noon, Hall H) Panel with Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof

“Family Guy” (11:15 a.m.-Noon, Ballroom 20) Panel with Seth Green, Mila Kunis, Seth MacFarlane

Cartoon Network Action Adventure Animation: “Ben 10” (11:45 a.m.-12:45
p.m., Room 6DE) Panel with Alex Winter, Ryan Kelley, Galadriel Stineman, Nathan Keyes, Alyssa Diaz, Glenn Murakami, Dwayne McDuffie, Yuri Lowenthal

“The Cleveland Show” (Noon-12:45 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Sana’a Lathan, Kevin Michael Richardson, Seth MacFarlane, Mike Henry, Rich Appel

“Sanctuary” (12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m., Bayside Hilton Indigo Room) Panel with Amanda Tapping, Robin Dunne, Martin Wood and Damian Kindler

“Futurama” (1 p.m.-1:45 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Matt Groening, David Cohen

“Glee” (1:30 p.m.-3 p.m., Bayside Hilton Indigo Room) Panel with Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith. New episode screening

“The Simpsons” (1:45 p.m.-2:30 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Matt Groening, Al Jean, Matt Selman, Mike Anderson

“Warehouse 13” (2:15 p.m.-3:1 5 p.m., Room 6A) Panel with Eddie McClintock, Joanne Kelly, Saul Rubinek, Allison Scagliotti, Jack Kenny, David Simkins

“V” (2:45 p.m.-3:45 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Elizabeth Mitchell, Scott Wolf, Scott Peters, Jeffrey Bell

“Fringe” (4 .m.-5 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Anna Torv, John Noble

“Human Target” (4:45 p.m.-5:45 p.m., Room 6BCF) Panel with Mark Valley, Chi McBride, Jackie Earle Haley

“Vampire Diaries” (6 p.m.-7 p.m.,Room 6BCF) Panel with Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, Nina Dobrev, Kevin Williamson

Adult Swim: Series Development and “The Venture Bros.” (6 p.m.-7:15 p.m., Room 6DE) Panel with Nick Weidenfeld, Matt Harrigan, Jackson Publick, Doc Hammer, Jon Schnepp, James Urbaniak, Mike Sinterniklaas

“Mythbusters” (7:15 p.m.-8:15 p.m., Room 6BCF) Panel with Jamie Hyneman, Adam Savage, Tory Belluci, Grant Imahara

“Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead” and “Torchwood: Children of Earth” screenings (7:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m., Room 6A)

“Heroes” (room & time TBD) Tim Kring and cast

SUNDAY, JULY 26

“Doctor Who” (10 a.m.-11 a.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with David Tennant, Russell Davies, Julie Gardner, Euros Lyn

“Smallville” (10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m., Room 6BCF) Panel with Erica Durance, Justin Hartley, Cassidy Freeman

“American Dad” (11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Seth MacFarlane, Wendy Schall, Dee Bradley Baker, Mike Barker, Matt Weitzman

“Supernatural” (11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m., Room 6BCD) Panel with Misha Collins, Jim Beaver, Eric Kripke

Mattel Panel: “Hot Wheels Battle Force 5” (Noon-1 p.m., Room 7AB) Panel with Audu Paden, Johnny Darrell. “Hot Wheels Battle Force 5” world premiere

WB Panel: Zoinks! “Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins” (12:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m., Room 6DE) Panel with Brian Levant, Brian Gilbert, Robbie Amell, Kate Melton, Hayley Kiyoko,Nick Palatas. Screening of the new, live-action/CGI film

“Ghost Whisperer” (1 p.m.-2 p.m., room TBD)

“Being Human” and “Torchwood” (2:15 p.m.-3:45 p.m. Room 6BCF) Panel with John Barrowman, Russell Tovey, Lenora Crichlow, Aidan Turner, Russell Davies, Julie Gardner, Toby Whithouse, Euros Lyn

EVENTS

WEDNESDAY, July 22

Comic-Con TweetUp (Twitter MeetUp) especially for Comic-Con (7 p.m., Voyeur, 755 5th Avenue)

THURSDAY, July 23

“Rocky Horror Picture Show” (5 p.m., Horton Plaza Cinemas)

 Zombiewalk (7:30 p.m., Corner of 4th & Broadway)

Book and a Beer Club with Wil Wheaton (Time: TBA; Stone World Bistro and Brewing Gardens in Escondido)

FRIDAY, JULY 24

“Road Trip: Beer Pong” Happy Hour hosted by Paramount Home Entertainment (TBA, Henry’s Irish Pub)

 Tim & Eric Awesome Show Performance (7 p.m., 4th and B, 345 B Street)

 Brian Posehn & Doug Benson live comedy show (8 p.m., Balboa Theater)

 Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School ComicCon Afterparty (8 p.m.-10 p.m., Ruby Room in Hillcrest, 1271 University Ave.)

 The BBC and Adult Swim Present: The Mighty Boosh Bash (A full cast DJ Set) (11 p.m., 4th and B, 345 B Street)

“Repo! The Genetic Opera” (Midnight, Gaslamp Stadium Cinemas)

 SATURDAY, JULY 25

Tim and Eric Awesome-Con 2009 (Noon -3 p.m., Embarcadero Marina Park North)

Robot Chicken Party (8 p.m.-11 p.m., Skate San Diego, 700 East 24th Street, National City)

 X-Sanguin: Comic-Con’s largest after-party, featuring The Suicide Girls and 5 DJs. (9 p.m.-3 a.m., Spin Nightclub)

 

Hollywood’s most wanted look familiar as films revisit old ‘Enemies’

By Maria Puente, USA TODAY

They’re back —Bonnie and Clyde, Dillinger and Baby Face, Jekyll and Hyde, Holmes and Watson. Say hello again to Robin Hood, the Wolf Man, the Lone Ranger, Frankenstein, the Invisible Man and Conan the Barbarian. Hamlet, dear boy, long time, no see! They have all been here before, and soon they’ll all be here again, dashing across big screens around the world, drawing in a new generation of moviegoers perhaps unfamiliar with earlier versions of these characters.Or so Hollywood hopes.

Exhibit A: Public Enemies, out Wednesday and starring Johnny Depp as the charming and public-relations-savvy bank robber John Dillinger in a retelling of how the early FBI got its man in 1934. (It was messy and bloody, and innocent people were caught in the crossfire.)

Real-life “public enemies” such as Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Bonnie and Clyde were celebrities to Depression-era Americans who cheered them for stealing from despised banks. By the 1940s and through the 1970s, Hollywood made scores of movies and TV shows about Dillinger and his gang. Now, in the midst of an economic calamity and multiple bank bailouts, Universal hopes a sexy outlaw targeting bankers and outwitting brutal G-men will resonate with audiences.

“It’s hard to predict, but (banks) are not going to garner an undue amount of sympathy — let’s put it that way,” jokes Enemies director Michael Mann. He’s not concerned about past Dillinger movies; he knows most moviegoers will be more familiar with Depp than with Dillinger, but he believes they’ll be drawn to a story about a “fascinating life.”

But you have to wonder about all this effort being lavished on movies that have been made before, even if the characters and stories are being presented in fresh ways. Surely today’s filmmakers haven’t run out of new characters or creative juice. Maybe it’s the result of the crashed economy, as risk-averse studios fall back to familiar (and proven) moneymakers.

Call them insurance policies

Or maybe it’s a matter of tradition and history: As in any art form, entirely new stories are relatively rare; what came before is recycled and reimagined to make new art.

“The idea of re-using characters and remaking films goes back to the earliest days of Hollywood, but the flood today does seem rather stunning,” says UCLA film historian Jonathan Kuntz. “But with so much riding on major pictures costing hundreds of millions, they want some kind of insurance. Taking a story or character already well known makes it easier to market, to get that opening weekend box office at a reasonable level.”

It will not have escaped Hollywood’s notice, Kuntz says, that characters such as Batman and the Mummy, each dating back decades, have been enormously successful in recent revivals. No wonder, then, that Universal, long known as the studio of monster movies, would return to its archive: The Wolfman (original 1941) is due in November with Benicio Del Toro; The Invisible Man (original in 1933) is scheduled for 2011; and planning has begun for Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954).

So it’s back to the past — only with better (and more expensive) special effects. “There’s always talk in the Hollywood press about this— ‘Do we have to recycle everything all the time, why can’t we come up with new characters?,’ ” says David Gross, editor of MovieReviewIntelligence.com, which analyzes movie reviews from newspapers around the USA. “There’s not a whole lot new under the sun, so if you have to go back to the well every 20 years, there’s a new generation of moviegoers (to attract).”

Most of nearly two dozen coming movies are based on classics of English literature or Western folklore, with American comics, pulp fiction and TV series thrown in. Thus: Frankenstein; The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; and the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Also: Conan the Barbarian (based on 1932 stories by Robert E. Howard, remake of the 1982 film due in 2010); John Carter of Mars (based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs stories, coming in 2012 with Taylor Kitsch);The Three Stooges (coming in 2010, with Jim Carrey, Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro); and The Lone Ranger (2012, with part-Cherokee Depp as faithful companion Tonto).

Most have been made multiple times, such as Gulliver’s Travels (2010, Jack Black), A Christmas Carol (November 2009, Jim Carrey) and Disney’s Alice in Wonderland(2010, directed by Tim Burton with Depp as the Mad Hatter), which even Disney has done before, in a 1951 animated feature.

“The other versions haven’t been very good,” says Richard Zanuck, an Alice producer, “and we’ve never seen the story through the eyes of a visionary like (Burton).”

As in literature, certain cinematic characters and themes are returned to repeatedly because they resonate across all boundaries of time, space and cultural milieu. So, every generation needs its own on-screen Hamlet — and now we’re about to get another one: After Lawrence Olivier (1948), Richard Burton (1964), Mel Gibson (1990), Kenneth Branagh (1996) and Ethan Hawke (2000), now comes young heartthrob Emile Hirsch, 24, who is set to play Hamlet next year and is the first actor in his 20s to play the prince of Denmark on-screen at roughly the same age as the character.

Director Catherine Hardwicke and screenwriter Ron Nyswanger say they will present the story as a “contemporary supernatural thriller.”

“Hamlet is the ultimate, alienated young hero, who exposes the hypocrisy of society,” Hardwicke says. “His struggle to find the truth and act on it is universal and particularly relevant to young people today, living in a world that’s in crisis mode on so many fronts.”

Call them universal themes

But does every generation need its own Robin Hood? Even if it’s Russell Crowe and he’s wearing macho armor instead of tights? Maybe so. After all, rob-from-the-rich-give-to-the-poor is an evergreen concept.

Robin Hood, of course, is much older; the character is based on late 12th-century English folklore. Errol Flynn nailed the role in 1938, then Sean Connery in 1976, Kevin Costner in 1991, and Mel Brooks in a comic version in 1993.

Now Oscar-winning Crowe will be the prince of thieves, starring in Robin Hood, due out later this year and directed by Ridley Scott. Producer Brian Grazer says the story was ripe for revisiting, again, because it’s a “universal theme.” (There’s that phrase again.)

Robin Hood “is trying to create equality in a world where there are a lot of injustices,” Grazer told USA TODAY earlier this year. “He’s a crusader for the people, trying to reclaim some of the ill-gotten gains of the wealthy.”

Filmmakers are not only bringing back characters we have seen before. In some cases, there are two sets of filmmakers making films about the same characters at more or less the same time.

Two Holmes and Watson films are in the works. Sherlock Holmes, with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, directed by Guy Ritchie, is out later this year; the second, still untitled with no release date, is a comedy with Sacha Baron Cohen and Will Ferrell. And two Jekyll & Hydes: Jekyll and Hyde, with Forest Whitaker and 50 Cent, out later this year, and Jekyll, with Keanu Reeves, no release date yet.

Also, two William Tells. Errol Flynn played him in a 1953 picture. Now comes William Tell: The Legend, due in 2010, with Jim Caviezel. The second film has a name, Ironbow: The Legend of William Tell, due in 2011, but as of yet no named star.

Who are the audiences for two William Tell movies? He may be a Swiss hero, but to everybody else he’s … well, he’s the opera overture adapted as the theme for The Lone Ranger. But the Tell movies may be the offbeat exception.

“This is not business as usual — this is Hollywood’s attempt to deal with risk in a troubled marketplace,” says Brett Walsh, a producer on the Whitaker/50 Cent Jekyll and Hyde, which he says will follow director Abel Ferrara’s darker, more suspenseful vision of the story.

“Going back to known brands or characters is perceived as a way of protecting your downside risk, because they have an existing value,” Walsh says.

Maybe, but it might also be true that oldies are goodies. And each new generation of moviegoers gets to discover the gems in Hollywood’s archive anew — as is happening already with The Story of Bonnie and Clyde, expected to begin shooting later this year with Hilary Duff as Bonnie.

Tonya Holly, who is writing, directing and producing the movie, says she’s not intimidated by the Oscar-winning 1967 Bonnie and Clyde with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Not only has film technology improved in 40 years, but her target audience is filled with moviegoers who are not familiar with the real-life bank robbers and who haven’t seen the earlier film.

“But they know Hilary and Kevin (Zegers as Clyde), and their fan base is going to boost interest,” Holly says. Besides, she says, when it comes to movies, “There are a million ways to tell a story, and the story changes with each storyteller.”

New concept art from Tim Burton’s upcoming Alice in Wonderland

Some more concept art from Tim Burton’s upcoming Alice in Wonderland film has arrived online, courtesy of the French website, The Art of Disney. Some of the art you’ll remember from the recent USA Today spread, but then there’s other stuff — like Alice’s trip through the giant mushroom patch — that we haven’t yet seen. I attempted to translate the French text on the site (if you speak French, feel free to correct me here), and I believe it talks about how this film will be a continuation of the classic novel, with Alice traveling back to Wonderland 10 years after her original trip.

Directed by Tim Burton, and starring folks like Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Matt Lucas, Christopher Lee, Crispin Glover, Alan Rickman and newcomer Mia Wasikowska as Alice, the film will be a mixture of live-action and animation, and will arrive in theaters on March 5, 2010.

For more images, go to The Art of Disney.

Johnny Depp, Tim Burton on board for ‘Dark Shadows’

by Adam Markovitz

   At the LA premiere of Public Enemies, Johnny Depp confirmed that he’ll star in an upcoming big screen version of the cult 1960’s show Dark Shadows, directed by Tim Burton. Rumors of the project have circulated ever since Depp, an admitted fan of the gothic soap opera, acquired the rights to the series in 2007.

   Producer Richard D. Zanuck confirmed Depp and Burton’s involvement last December, but this marks the first time that Depp has publicly said that Burton will direct. “Dark Shadows with Tim will also be down the line,” Depp told EW June 23 in LA. “Tim has to finish [Alice in] Wonderland before he can start work on the next film. I love what he did with that. I think people are going to be so excited and satisfied when they see that film. Some of his best work.  And I will be thrilled to work with him again on Dark Shadows. I was a big fan of it when I was a kid and I think it is another of those perfect projects for Tim to reimagine.”

 

Mia Wasikowska, is Tim Burton’s Alice in ‘Alice in Wonderland’

Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, and Anne Hathaway as the White Queen in director Tim Burton's version of 'Alice in Wonderland.'

 Olivia Smith – Daily News  
   Will it be a real-life case of “Through the looking glass” when a relatively unknown actress pairs up with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in director Tim Burton’s version of “Alice and Wonderland”?

   The first glimpses of the film, set to open in both 3-D and regular screen versions in March 2010, were released Monday, and Burton’s freaky aesthetic is in full play.

Mia Wasikowska

At the center of the director’s latest off-kilter universe will be relatively unknown Australian actress Mia Wasikowska, 19.

   Wasikowska has been picked to play the plumb role of Alice, who is 17 in Burton’s realization of the classic fantasy book by Lewis Carroll (the heroine of the book is a younger girl).

   Burton said of his choice, “We met a lot of people, but she just had that certain kind of emotional toughness, standing her ground in a way that makes her kind of an older person with a younger person’s mentality,” as quoted by the MailOnline.

   Wasikowska will actually be familiar to fans of the HBO show “In Treatment,” in which she played Sophie, a patient of Gabriel Byrne’s psychotherapist, during the series’ debut season in 2008.

   Wasikowska may be the only actor in the film who approaches anything like her normal appearance.

   Johnny Depp will sport bright-red hair worthy of Bozo the Clown as the Mad Hatter, while brunette Anne Hathaway goes platinum blond to play the White Queen.

Many of the actors’ faces will be digitally altered, but Burton muse and real-life romantic partner Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen actually gets her head swollen thanks to computer enhancement, as an outward symbol of her character’s outsize ego.

Tim Burton Heads To MoMA For Five-Month Exhibition

by Peter Knegt

   The Museum of Modern Art will present a major exhibition exploring the full scale of filmmaker Tim Burton’s career, both as a director and concept artist for live-action and animated films, and as an artist, illustrator, photographer, and writer. The exhibition will be on view from November 22, 2009 through April 26, 2010.

   “There is no other living filmmaker possessing Tim Burton’s level of accomplishment and reputation whose full body of work has been so well hidden from public view,” said Ron Magliozzi, MoMA’s Assistant Curator. “Seeing so much that was previously inaccessible in a museum context should serve to fuel renewed appreciation and fresh appraisal of this much-admired artist.”

   The exhibition will bring together over 700 examples of Burton’s rarely or never-before-seen drawings, paintings, storyboards, moving-image works, puppets, maquettes, costumes, and cinematic ephemera, and includes an extensive film series spanning Burton’s 27-year career. The exhibition explores how Burton “has taken inspiration from sources in pop culture and reinvented Hollywood genre filmmaking as an expression of personal vision, garnering him an international audience of fans and influencing a generation of young artists working in film, video, and graphics.”

   The exhibition is organized in collaboration with Burton himself, and by Ron Magliozzi, Assistant Curator, and Jenny He, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Film, with Rajendra Roy, The Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film, The Museum of Modern Art.  Included are little-known drawings, paintings, and sculptures created in the spirit of contemporary Pop Surrealism, as well as work generated during the conception and production of his films, such as original “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “The Corpse Bride” puppets; “Edward Scissorhands,” “Batman Returns,” and “Sleepy Hollow costumes;” and even severed-head props from “Mars Attacks!” Also featured are the first public display of his student art and earliest nonprofessional films; examples of his work for the flash animation internet series “The World of Stainboy” (2000); a selection of the artist’s oversized Polaroid prints; graphic art and texts for non-film projects, like “The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories” (1997) and “Tim Burton’s Tragic Toys for Girls and Boys” (2003) collectible figure series; and art from a number of early unrealized projects. Additionally, a selection of international posters from Burton’s films will be on display in the theater lobby galleries.

   Burton’s entire cinematic oeuvre of 14 feature films will screen over the course of the five-month exhibition in the Museum’s Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters: “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” (1985), “Beetlejuice” (1988), “Batman” (1989), “Edward Scissorhands” (1990), “Batman Returns” (1992), “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993), “Ed Wood” (1994), “Mars Attacks!” (1996), “Sleepy Hollow” (1999), “Planet of the Apes” (2001), “Big Fish” (2003), “Corpse Bride” (2005), “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (2005), and “Sweeney Todd” (2007).  His early short films “Vincent” (1982) and “Frankenweenie” (1984) will also be featured.

   In conjunction with Tim Burton, MoMA will also present “The Lurid Beauty of Monsters,” a series of films that influenced, inspired, and intrigued Burton. Taking as its starting point a screening of horror movies that Burton organized in Burbank in 1977, the series includes such films as “Jason and the Argonauts” (Don Chaffey, 1963), “Frankenstein” (James Whale, 1931), “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (Robert Wiene, 1920), “The Pit and the Pendulum” (Roger Corman, 1961), “Nosferatu” (F. W. Murnau, 1922), and “Earthquake” (Mark Robson, 1974).

 

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