I'm going to see the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still next week. I'm not keen on remakes, particularly of classics, but the visual effects look outstanding. The new cinema that opened nearby has an IMAX screen that the film will be showing on, which I think will make the visual spectacle even better. The first trailer for X-Men Origins: Wolverine is also attached to the film.
The Day the Earth Stood Still director Scott Derrickson and co-writer Stuart Hazeldine have an ambitious plan to adapt John Milton's poem Paradise Lost into a film. Derrickson is consulting with Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) about how to visualize such a production. It seems folly to even consider making a mainstream film based on the work.
Bill Willingham's award-winning comic book Fables may be coming soon to a television screen near you. The ABC network has ordered a pilot to be written by Six Degrees creators Stuart Zicherman and Raven Metzner, and directed by David Semel (a veteran of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Heroes). If it's well received, the network will commission a full series. I think it'll be difficult to adapt, but ABC proved with Pushing Daisies that it can handle a quirky fantasy property (at least as long as it gets good ratings).
The cast of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland has grown to include Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts, and Christopher Lee and Stephen Fry in unknown roles. They join the already announced Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, and Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen.
It looks like Watchmen's running time will be around two hours and thirty-five minutes, with an extended three hour and ten minute director's cut planned for later release on DVD. I don't know why they can't just release the director's cut theatrically, since The Lord of the Rings proved films of that length can be very successful.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader remains in pre-production. Several reports indicate that it won't be greenlit for production unless the budget can be cut, perhaps by as much as half, due to the disappointing box office results of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.
Remember John Carpenter's cool 1980s sci fi B-movie, They Live? Universal Pictures wants to remake it. Is there anything that isn't being remade?
We're two months away from the debut of Dollhouse, the new Joss Whedon-created series. Whedon insists the poor time slot on Fridays and massive network creative interference aren't problems, but I think he's simply being too nice about it. Former Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Battlestar Galactica staff writer Jane Espenson has joined the writing staff, though. If the show can survive long enough, I think her presence can only help.
Labels: dollhouse, dr horrible, fables, joss whedon, narnia, remakes, tim burton, watchmen
posted by Danielle Ni Dhighe at 9:40 PM
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