John Cusack Marks Edgar Allan Poe’s Birthday with a Shot from the Set of THE RAVEN
by Matt Goldberg Posted: January 19th, 2011
John Cusack has tweeted a photo from the set of James McTeigue’s upcoming thriller The Raven. In the film, Cusack plays famous author Edgar Allan Poe. Poe must team with a detective (Luke Evans) after the author’s fiancée (Alice Eve) has been kidnapped by a serial killer who is using Poe’s work as inspiration for a murder spree. Today is Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday so Cusack tweeted an image of Poe’s (presumably) favorite things: chairs bearing his name and bottles of Fiji water. Had Poe not died at the relatively young age of 40 in 1849, he would still be dead as people don’t live to the age of 202.
Hit the jump to check out the image.
Image via John Cusack’s twitter:
New Trailer for RED RIDING HOOD
by Brendan Bettinger Posted: January 19th, 2011
Warner Bros. has released a new trailer for Red Riding Hood, which opens similarly to the November teaser before it delving deeper into the plot. Amanda Seyfried (Letters to Juliet) stars as Valerie, a beautiful young woman torn between a brooding outsider (Shiloh Fernandez) and the wealthy man of her parents’ dreams (Max Irons). Unfortunately, one of them may be the wolf that terrorizes her village. (Such virility is a turn-on, but werewolves are notorious commitment-phobes.) Gary Oldman, Billy Burke, Virginia Madsen, and Julie Christie also star.
Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) directed the gothic re-imagining of the familiar tale; Red Riding Hood is due in theaters March 11. Watch the trailer after the jump.
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Alexandre Aja Talks About His Adaptation of the Space Opera Manga COBRA THE SPACE PIRATE
by Talia Soghomonian Posted: January 19th, 2011
Alexandre Aja is currently writing his next movie, a live-action 3D adaptation of Buichi Terasawa’s popular manga, Cobra the Space Pirate. The Piranha 3D director had already shared his enthusiasm about this project few months ago, and it really seems like a personal goal that he has set for himself. “Cobra is unique. Of all the animés I used to watch as a kid, it’s the most avant-garde, in both rhythm and imagination,” he told French site Cinemateaser.
Hit the jump to find out more.
Cobra, or Kobura, is a manga series written and illustrated by Buichi Terasawa, who apparently drew inspiration from French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, famous for his action-adventure movies from the 60s and 70s. Cobra embarks on a series of adventures himself as he tries to escape his enemies. His tactics include surgically altering his face and erasing his own memory which he later regains. His arm? The Psycho Gun, a weapon that is connected to his brain. He also has a regular gun, just in case. His close confidante is Lady Armaroid, a mechanical cyborg with a really cool name.
The manga originally appeared in the Japanese magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump between 1978 and 1984. It has already been adapted to television as well as the big screen in 1982’s Space Adventure Cobra. But Aja, inspired by his recent mainstream success with Piranha 3D, is aiming for a movie of overambitious blockbuster proportions and continues to compare it with Star Wars.
Considering the volume of material available, it will be quite an undertaking.
“The 25 mangas by Terasawa are incredibly rich. Its tone has no equal. This project is a huge challenge, because it’s going be a space opera. I envision it as a sort of Star Wars. I just have to convince all the financial partners now.”
It’s also fairly unknown in America. Maybe its sexy undertones will attract a larger American audience. And as Aja intends to stay as close to the original work as possible, the sexy bits will surely be depicted in the film.
“You have to respect the essence of Cobra. He’s an adventurer and a seducer. Its ’sexiness’ has to be included in the film, just like its humor and adventure. My Cobra has to remain true to Terasawa’s universe.”
And hopefully to the expectations of the diehard French fans.
“There are so many Cobra fans in France that they’ll understand why I’m so passionate about this and why it’s so essential that I succeed in making this film.”
And he’s already thinking about who will portray Cobra.
“I have a lot of names in mind, but I can’t say anything right now. I’m still thinking about it.”
Who do you think should play Cobra and Lady Armaroid?
Johnny Depp in Talks to Replace Robert Downey Jr. in OZ, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL
by Brendan Bettinger Posted: January 19th, 2011
The pairing of Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) Robert Downey Jr. for Oz, the Great and Powerful sounded fantastic from the get-go. But as late as October, we had Downey listed as “unofficially attached.” It turns out his involvement was all too tenuous, as Downey has dropped out of the project. It’s a regrettable turn of events, particularly after the news that a similarly promising collaboration between Downey and Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men) for the sci-fi film Gravity was not to be.
But just as George Clooney stepped in to restore the prospects of Gravity, there is a a glimmer of hope for Oz. Thanks to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and last year’s Alice in Wonderland, Disney is BFFs with Hollywood’s most idiosyncratic megastar, Johnny Depp. The studio is eager to get Oz in production later this year, and is currently in discussions with Depp to replace Downey. Of course, fitting the film into Depp’s busy schedule will take some fancy calendar work. Hit the jump for a look at the various projects Depp must schedule, plus background on the film.
Depp will shoot Dark Shadows with Tim Burton this spring. Despite how long the film’s been in development, that start date seems pretty set in stone.
Depp is also attached to star as Tonto in The Lone Ranger, another project that has long been on his to-do list. According to Heat Vision, if Depp commits to Oz, that would necessarily delay Lone Ranger. Plus, there’s always the looming possibility of more Pirates sequels, which would be truly daunting if shot back to back as rumored.
But there is some wiggle room. The Lone Ranger and Pirates are both housed at Disney, and the studio is clearly willing to shuffle all of these project in front of cameras at some point. It’s worth noting that Oz, the Great and Powerful is the furthest along in the development process. The Lone Ranger has a director in Gore Verbinski, but still no is signed to play the titular character. (Depp likes Brad Pitt and George Clooney for the masked cowboy.)
Oz, the Great and Powerful is a prequel of sorts to the familiar Wizard of Oz lore. There is no official start date, but reports suggest Disney wants to begin principal photography this summer. According to Heat Vision, the studio has hired a unit production manager and “begun the task of creating the world of Oz.”
Here’s a tentative plot outline:
http://collider.com/robert-downey-jr-johnny-depp-oz-great-powerful/71471/The Wizard — a snake-oil salesman posing as a magician — enters Oz via a hot-air balloon, which he uses to escape an angry husband who has found out that Oz slept with his wife. There, Oz — a fast-talking huckster who wears a velveteen frock coat (yes, I can see that) — falls in love with Glinda (the Good Witch), and the two combine forces to fight the evil witches Evanora and Theodora. Theodora starts out as a good witch, but after Oz jilts her sexual advances, Evanora — the truly evil witch — convinces Theodora to become an evil witch with her and help her to rule all of Oz.
