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Actor Channing Tatum has been toiling this year mostly in romantic dramas like The Vow and comedies like 21 Jump Street and the upcoming Magic Mike, but he'll return to action for one of his next roles. THR reports that Tatum is in talks for the lead role in Columbia's action-thriller White House Down for Independence Day and 2012 director Roland Emmerich.
The project is being described as "Die Hard in the White House" and the comparison is apt. Tatum will play a Secret Service agent who is a single father and finds himself with few resources to defend the President when the White House is taken over by a paramilitary group. (Who's next to be cast — Alan Rickman?) The studio paid $3 million for the spec script written by James Vanderbilt (The Amazing Spider-Man), and also faces competition from a similar project, Olympus Has Fallen, which will star Gerard Butler and will be directed by Antoine Fuqua (Brooklyn's Finest). However, Tatum is coming off of back-to-back hits and will test his action mettle with a (possibly brief) appearance in the upcoming G.I. Joe: Retaliation, which puts White House Down in an excellent position for Columbia.
Already scheduled for a November 1, 2013 release date, production on White House Down is set to start this summer.
Posted 05.16.12 by Ryan -
Now that Sony and MGM have a director (Jose Padilha, Elite Squad) and a lead actor (Joel Kinnaman, The Killing) ready to work on their upcoming remake of Robocop, the studios are making further changes to the script, now in the hands of its third screenwriter.
The original script was written by Josh Zetumer, who was hired at the same time as Padilha last March. Gran Torino scribe Nick Schenk, who is collaborating with Padilha on another project, was hired to do rewrites in January, but apparently it wasn't enough. Variety reports that Sony has brought in writer James Vanderbilt to do a "polish" on the script. Sony is very high on Vanderbilt after his work on The Amazing Spider-Man and reportedly outbid other studios for Vanderbilt's "Die Hard meets Air Force One" spec script White House Down.
What changes Vanderbilt will make are unknown, though fans can already expect that the latest RoboCop won't be a retread of director Paul Verhoeven's 1987 original. While fans may or may not have been pleased by Kinnaman's recent admission that his version of the armor won't include the visor used in the previous RoboCop movies, the 32-year-old Swedish-American actor told Collider that he will "fight" to keep the movie rated R.
more from kinnaman on RoboCop >> Posted 04.03.12 by Ryan -
Sony wants to stay in the Spider-Man business.
Perhaps to beat Marvel and Warner Bros. before they can announce another their own comic book adaptations for 2014, The LA Times reports Columbia executives have Sony Pictures has set a May 2, 2014, release date for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, less than two years after The Amazing Spider-Man reaches theaters on July 3, 2012. A spokesman said that the scheduling "speaks volumes" about the studio's confidence in director Marc Webb's reboot of the Spider-Man franchise. Clearly, the studio has seen more than the recently released first trailer.
The scheduling of the sequel also ostensibly "speaks volumes" in the studio's confidence in Amazing Spider-Man screenwriter James Vanderbilt, who was hired to write an initial draft for the sequel in March.
check out some new hi-res photos from the movie >> Posted 08.06.11 by Ryan -
Production is still ongoing for The Amazing Spider-Man, and Columbia has already hired a screenwriter to pen a sequel.
THR reports James Vanderbilt, who wrote the first draft of The Amazing Spider-Man, was given "the thumbs up" to write a draft after outlining his take on the sequel to the studio and the movie's producers. Vanderbilt wrote the first draft of the Spider-Man 4 script for director Sam Raimi and was retained for the Amazing Spider-Man reboot after Raimi left. As has been the custom for all of Vanderbilt's drafts, Alvin Sargent may eventually be brought in to rewrite.
Production on Spider-Man wrapping up >> Posted 03.25.11 by Ryan -
It's been four months since Sam Raimi's departure and the Spider-Man 4 reboot were announced, and fans are still hotly debating what this means for the series. Those months have also been filled with lots of conjecture and rumor about what Marc Webb would do with the origin story. We're now getting closer to finding out, with the announcement from THR that Alvin Sargent has been hired to rewrite the script started by Jamie Vanderbilt.
is this good news for the fans? >> Posted 05.17.10 by reelz -
With just two weeks to go before the premiere of director Sylvain White's The Losers, Warner Bros. is making a promotional push that better introduces moviegoers to the major players and plot. The three-fold push includes the release of a series of new stills, an official plot synopsis, and a sexy, action-packed extended video clip that's nearly three-and-a-half minutes long.
watch the action-packed clip >> Posted 04.10.10 by BrentJS -
One of the theories behind Sam Raimi's departure from Spider-Man 4 was that the director wanted to bring more special effects (a la Avatar) to the movie and Sony didn't agree. But now that the studio is rebooting the franchise, Sony apparently is embracing the current 3-D craze. In a press release, Sony confirmed that the Spider-Man reboot will be in 3-D.
CULVER CITY, Calif., February 10, 2010 – Spider-Man will swing intotheaters worldwide in 3D beginning July 3, 2012, it was announced today by Jeff Blake, Chairman of Sony Pictures Worldwide Marketing & Distribution. The new film, which is still untitled, will begin production later this year directedby Marc Webb from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt. Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin will produce the film from Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios.
Commenting on the announcement, Blake said, "Spider-Man is the ultimate summer movie-going experience, and we're thrilled the filmmakers are presenting the next installment in 3D. Spider-Man is one of the most popular characters in the world, and we know audiences are eager and excited to discover Marc's fantastic vision for Peter Parker and the franchise."
Posted 02.10.10 by Ryan -
After a week of rumors and speculations, Marvel Entertainment and Columbia Pictures have confirmed that (500) Days of Summer director Marc Webb will indeed helm the Spider-Man reboot. A statement from the studios described the factors involved in choosing a new director.
The key for us as we sought a new director was to identify filmmakers who could give sharp focus to Peter Parker's life. We wanted someone who could capture the awe of being in Peter's shoes so the audience could experience his sense of discovery while giving real heart to the emotion, anxiety, and recklessness of that age and coupling all of that with the adrenaline of Spider-Man's adventure. We believe Marc Webb is the perfect choice to bring us on that journey.
Previously forced to decline confirmation of this appointment, Webb was clearly excited to finally speak about the job.
This is a dream come true and I couldn't be more aware of the challenge, responsibility, or opportunity. Sam Raimi's virtuoso rendering of Spider-Man is a humbling precedent to follow and build upon. The first three films are beloved for good reason. But I think the Spider-Man mythology transcends not only generations but directors as well. I am signing on not to "take over" from Sam. That would be impossible. Not to mention arrogant. I'm here because there's an opportunity for ideas, stories, and histories that will add a new dimension, canvas, and creative voice to Spider-Man.
The hiring also had the approval of Spider-Man's creator, Stan Lee.
I'm excited that Sony has chosen a director with a real penchant and understanding for the character. This is a brave, bold direction for the franchise, and I can't wait to see what Marc comes up with next.
Sony hopes to go into production on the movie by the end of the year. James Vanderbilt wrote the script, which will place Peter Parker back in high school for a retelling of the character's origins.
Posted 01.20.10 by Ryan -
Forget all that you knew about Spider-Man 4. There's no rewrite on the way. John Malkovich won't be playing The Vulture, and no one will play The Black Cat because there won't another Spider-Man movie made with director Sam Raimi or Tobey Maguire in the lead role.
Deadline Hollywood reported earlier this morning that Raimi left Spider-Man 4, citing that he could not make the movie in the timetable that Sony required. Once Raimi left, Sony decide to scrap Spider-Man 4 and start over. Sony released a press release that explained the change.
Culver City, CA (January 11, 2010) — Peter Parker is going back to high school when the next Spider-Man hits theaters in the summer of 2012. Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios announced today they are moving forward with a film based on a script by James Vanderbilt that focuses on a teenager grappling with both contemporary human problems and amazing super-human crises.
The new chapter in the Spider-Man franchise produced by Columbia, Marvel Studios and Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin, will have a new cast and filmmaking team. Spider-Man 4 was to have been released in 2011, but had not yet gone into production.
"Working on the Spider-Man movies was the experience of a lifetime for me. While we were looking forward to doing a fourth one together, thestudio and Marvel have a unique opportunity to take the franchise in a new direction, and I know they will do a terrific job," said Sam Raimi.
According to the report, Maguire learned of the news through a phone call and was not upset, but would have continued with the project had Raimi stayed on board. Meanwhile, Raimi could start work on his World of Warcraft adaptation.
More news of the Spider-Man reboot will arrive in the coming weeks as production begins on the movie.
Posted 01.11.10 by Ryan -
While it's still unclear whether stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, who play Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson respectively, will be returning after the fourth installment of Spider-Man — or even if director Sam Raimi will be on board — Sony Pictures Entertainment is moving forward with plans for Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6. It was just announced that Sony has hired James Vanderbilt (Zodiac) to write the next two installments in the wall-crawler's franchise.
Sony will begin production of Spider-Man 4 in early 2010 for a May 2011 release, with Raimi shooting from a twice-rewritten Spider-Man 4 script. Vanderbilt was the first writer to work on that script, but Raimi was rumored to have been unhappy with it and hired David Lindsay-Abair to do rewrites. Apparently Lindsay-Abair didn't get it quite right either, because Gary Ross was then brought in to perform a second rewrite. Considering the length of time needed to produce movies like this, it's possible that Vanderbilt's scripts for Spider-Man 5 and 6 are intended to relaunch the franchise, though that's just what's rumoured.
Posted 08.17.09 by BrentJS