-
Phil Carlo, author of the 2006 best-selling novel The Ice Man, thinks actor Mickey Rourke would be "great" at bringing serial-killer-turned-hitman Richard Kuklinski to life in a film based on his novel.
Lorenzo di Bonaventura originally bought the movie rights after the book came out, but Carlo refused to extend Bonaventura's option when he learned the famous movie producer wanted to cast Channing Tatum in the lead role. After Bonaventura's option expired, Carlo met with Rourke and the two men "hit it off beautifully," according to Carlo.
I think Mickey Rourke would really be good. He's got that sense of danger ... it's not Channing Tatum.
[Mickey's] really looking forward to being the Ice Man, and I think he'll do a great job. He's talking about it being his Raging Bull.
Carlo's novel documents how Kuklinski transitioned from killing upwards of 50 vagrants just for the fun of it to claiming the lives of another 150 victims as a hired killer for the Gambino crime family before being murdered in prison by another mafia hitman, Sammy "The Bull" Gravano.
He used to use cobblestones [to bash in his victims' heads], but he was getting gray matter on his clothes, so he stopped.
According to Carlo, he will be producing The Ice Man with Rourke, and shooting is expected to begin in the spring in New York, New Jersey, and Florida.
Posted 09.24.09 by BrentJS -
Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra opened nationwide Friday and despite mostly negative critical reviews so far, it's likely that fans of the the cartoon, toys, and comic book that inspired the movie will be thrilled to see their heroes and villains come to life, especially when one of those villains is Sienna Miller clad in skin-tight black leather as The Baronness.
But, according to Miller, the fantasy does not always live up to the reality. She told a London gossip magazine that the suit "will get men," but admitted that the Baronness catsuit wasn't very fun to wear.
The costume was really uncomfortable. I had this Hannibal Lecter-style ironing board I was wheeled around on because I couldn't sit down, so that was quite fun.
It was corseted and I was sweating in the leather but it's worth it when you see the result because it does pull you in where you want to be pulled in.
In the past, Miller has even been critical of her own performance in the movie, saying that it wasn't "the best acting work" she's ever done.
Posted 08.10.09 by BrentJS -
Just days before Lorenzo di Bonaventura's movie G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is set to debut nationwide, a parent advocacy group has stepped forward to ask that the movie industry stop targeting children in ad campaigns.
The group, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), reportedly sent a petition to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) citing thousands of instances of violent advertisements for PG-13 movies during children's programming.
G.I. Joe is not the only movie mentioned in the petition, however. Other films that CCFC claims have been advertised to children under thirteen years old include Star Trek, Terminator Salvation, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, all of this summer's biggest blockbusters. Diane Levin of CCFC said in a statement:
It makes it harder for parents to deny requests to see the film when children are subjected to a steady stream of ads telling them that that products linked to the film are especially for them.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is directed by Stephen Sommers and stars Dennis Quaid as Hawk, Channing Tatum as Duke, Sienna Miller as Baroness, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cobra Commander.
Posted 08.06.09 by BrentJS -
Reaction to the myriad of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra trailers released so far could be described as either excited or fearful. Early critical reviews have been supportive, and the below trailer capitalizes off of it, specifically using a review from Harry Knowles at AICN and some new footage to highlight the movie.
Even the cynics would have to agree that G.I. Joe poses a tricky adaptation, considering the wealth of back story that several comics books and a TV show have created. Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura says those difficulties just needed to be simplified.
There are 32 Joes in the comic book, and you couldn't make a movie with 32 characters. So the first challenge is to whittle down the number of characters to where you could do an effective job at portraying them — in my experience that's somewhere between six and ten. Second, when you choose your characters and the relationships between them are so extensive, you have to really think about the evolution of these relationships through the movie and the plot has to then serve those.
So far audiences really like the fact that we spent a lot of time with all these characters and they've given us a good pat on the back for it.
The latest clip of the movie highlights some of the character interaction that di Bonaventura mentioned, but also could be an example of why some fans are leery of the movie with its forced banter between Marlon Wayans and Rachel Nichols:
One small clip can't be indicative of the whole movie, and as LatinoReview points out in their latest review, the movie is called G.I. Joe, so audiences should expect some of the dialogue "is going to be corny." With clips like this one, fans should take comfort in director Stephen Sommers's explanation of the Paris chase sequence, which makes the movie look like it is in assured hands and capable of being a fun and satisfying summer blockbuster.
Posted 07.31.09 by Ryan -
With the massive success of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, a sequel was certain to follow. Director Michael Bay, who worked on the Transformers movies back-to-back, has already said he wants to do a different movie before he does another tour in the robotic world. But would a Transformers 3 get made without Bay? Transformers producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura explained to IGN that a Bay-less sequel is possible:
As the producer I'd certainly love to see him back. I can't imagine Transformers without him. I guess the studio will see it sometime as such a big asset that they are forced to do it, but Michael has never intimated anything like that — the timing is the big question for him, not whether he is going to do it or not.
So it's less about Bay wanting to do another Transformers and more about whether Paramount wants to wait for him to be ready. Speaking of Transformers 3, isn't it time to bring out Unicron, the planet-morphing robot from the animated Transformers: The Movie?
Unicron worries me because it's so big that it dwarves emotion. It's so hard, because when you're working to that scale, it sort of becomes outside any kind of human reality you have. It's obviously a great character, and one that we're definitely going to talk about, but for me personally — and I'm not the only vote here — that one scares me. Because of its size, it becomes sort of impersonal when it gets to that scale.
I remember seeing the second Fantastic Four and Galactcus, and suddenly I was in another world and it took it away from the human characters. One of the tricky parts about Transformers is you've got these five-to-six foot things called humans, then you've got the 32-foot Transformers, then you come to Devastator and you've got 125-feet. You become increasingly small on a physical level, and I think that's true on a story level. I think if you go to Unicron, you're going to end up sacrificing your human characters. And for me that worries me because I like the human characters.
But isn't a giant robot planet perfect for the IMAX experience?:
Well, Devastator covered it from foot to top so I don't know what the hell else you'd do to tell you the truth. Don't get me wrong — Unicron is an obvious and great character, I just worry about it from the experience of the movie.
No matter if Unicron makes into Transformers 3, his voice won't, since alas, Orson Welles won't be available. So what would Di Bonaventura like to explore in the sequel?
I love the Mini-Cons actually — I think they're very cool.
Mini-Cons? The human-sized Transformers? Hmm, Transformers 3: Attack of the Mini-Cons lacks a little punch, but their history in the cartoon series Transformers: Armada is tied to Unicron, so maybe it's not such a bad idea after all.
Posted 07.24.09 by Ryan -
Hollywood is out of ideas. OK, that's not necessarily 100% true, but it is easy to believe when you consider that Universal just won a four-studio bidding war over ... Asteroids, the classic (read: old) black-and-white Atari video game. What's next? Frogger? Pong?
Originally released in 1979 as a stand-up arcade game, the entire goal of Asteroids is to safely maneuver your tiny triangular spacecraft through an asteroid field while shooting the asteroids to reduce them in size and ultimately destroy them all. Unlike many modern video game properties that have a built-in storyline, there's no Asteroids story per se, so Universal has the freedom to craft a story from scratch and hope that name recognition will drive fans to the theater to watch it.
Lorenzo di Bonaventure, producer of the upcoming action film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, will also produce Asteroids, with Universal Senior VP of Production Jeff Kirschenbaum overseeing production. Matthew Lopez (Race to Witch Mountain) is writing the script.
Posted 07.02.09 by BrentJS -
Rumors started circulating when LatinoReview reported that G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra director Stephen Sommers was locked out of the editing room by a Paramount executive after a screening went poorly.
However, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura later responded to the report to not only clear up the rumors regarding Sommer's supposed dismissal, but the poor test screenings as well. Said di Bonaventura about Sommers:
It's very unfair to Steve, it's completely untrue he was never asked to leave or been fired or any of that. That's ridiculous. The movie tested very well.
As for the test screenings:
We had three test screenings, three different times and tested it and each time it just got better and better. We started off in a good place and we ended up in even in a better place, which is what you hope on a film from testing it.
So, Sommers is still on the job. In fact, he even has final cut. So now fans will have to wait until August 7 to see how well Sommers did, or did not do, with G.I. Joe.
Posted 06.12.09 by Ryan -
Though "G.I. Joe" is a generic term for soldiers going back to World War II, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura swears his summer blockbuster G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra has nothing to do with the modern American military. Di Bonaventura told Entertainment Weekly:
This G.I. Joe has nothing to do with American foreign policy. It's about a team of skilled operatives fighting an evil organization that's trying to take over the world. There are no politics in it at all.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is directed by Stephen Sommers and stars Dennis Quaid as Hawk, Channing Tatum as Duke, Sienna Miller as Baroness, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cobra Commander.
Posted 05.02.09 by BrentJS