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Interest in having Russell Crowe appear in nearly every production currently being readied in Hollywood continues, this time with Harker, a re-imagining of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.
According to Vulture, Warner Bros. is in talks with Crowe to play the title character of Jonathan Harker, who is now a Scotland Yard detective investigating a string of murders that should lead him to the nefarious Count. The project has been lingering around Warners for a while now, but with the studio's adaptation of Akira recently shut down over budget concerns, Harker has regained momentum. The report claims that the studio wants director Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown, ABC's The River) to helm Harker first, and then address Akira's budgetary issues.
While Crowe is in talks, his participation isn't confirmed. The actor is set to play Inspector Javert in The King's Speech director Tom Hooper's musical version of Les Miserables starting this month, and recently became attached to Winter's Tale, the upcoming directorial debut for Crowe's A Beautiful Mind screenwriter Akiva Goldsman. Crowe is also being sought for Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky's Biblical epic Noah, and was at least mentioned for the possible lead in director Joe Carnahan's Death Wish remake.
cavill to travel to The Great Wall >> Posted 02.13.12 by Ryan -
While there are variations on whether the project is dead or alive, one thing is for sure, the Americanized-adaptation of Akira is in trouble. THR reports that Warner Bros. has shut down production offices in Vancouver. "Everybody is being sent home," an insider told the site. What went wrong? Seemingly everything, as script, budget and casting issues continue to plague the long-gestating project.
Based on the highly acclaimed six-volume manga ("comic book" in Japanese) series created by Katsuhiro Otomo, Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way production company has been developing Akira for three years. After receiving a script polish from Harry Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves, Warners greenlit Akira, but apparently the script is still problematic.
what else is wrong? >> Posted 01.07.12 by Ryan -
Whether or not Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) will retire after his Liberace biopic for HBO as he has implied — Soderbergh admitted at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con that he is "winding down" — the Academy Award-winning director still has more than enough movies in the pipeline to satisfy his fans for years to come. In addition to his global pandemic movie, Contagion, which is currently in theaters, Soderbergh has already completed work on Haywire, a spy thriller starring mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano, and he is currently filming Magic Mike, a "sexy, funny and shocking" movie inspired by headliner Channing Tatum's days as a male stripper.
Squeezed between Magic Mike and Liberace — we're pretty sure there's a joke in there somewhere — Soderbergh plans to direct The Man from U.N.C.L.E., a remake of the '60s TV series of the same name about a secret international spy and law-enforcement agency called U.N.C.L.E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement). Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven star, George Clooney, was on tap to play the top agent, Napoleon Solo, but ultimately rejected the part over fears that the stunt work required of the role would aggravate some injuries the silver fox sustained while filming Syriana. After both Matt Damon and Johnny Depp turned down the role, Variety has reported that Soderbergh offered the part of Solo to Bradley Cooper, who is likely to accept. Soderbergh had intended on going into production on U.N.C.L.E. in February, but the addition of Cooper would push the start date back until late-March/early-April because of Cooper's commitment to Paradise Lost.
Akira casting news >> Posted 10.23.11 by BrentJS -
After three years of push-and-pull, Warner Bros. (WB) has finally given the green light to Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way-produced live-action adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo's acclaimed 6-volume manga ("comic book") series, Akira.
DiCaprio began developing Akira in 2008 after WB secured the rights from Japanese manga publisher Kodansha in a 7-figure deal, but the project stalled out almost immediately when Appian Way pitched the movie as a two-part, $300 million epic. It remained in limbo for a couple years while a string of writers took a crack at the script, and finally generated some momentum when Steve Kloves of Harry Potter fame was hired to polish the script and Albert Hughes (The Book of Eli) signed on to direct. When Hughes dropped out over "creative differences" WB wasted no time in hiring his replacement, Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown), a sign that the the studio was serious about getting Akira into production. According to Variety, WB continued to haggle with Apian Way over the budget right up until last weekend, when the deal was finally sealed. With a planned "late February/early March start" in mind, it's now a matter of locking down a bankable cast.
who will star in Akira? >> Posted 10.21.11 by BrentJS -
After Albert Hughes (The Book of Eli) dropped out of Warner Bros.' adaptation of Akira in May, Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown, Orphan) has taken the helm, THR reports.
Based on the series of Japanese Manga by Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira has been in development since 2008. Harry Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves was brought on board to rewrite the script in February, prompting the studio to finally start casting the movie. At the time, candidates for the two lead roles included Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield, Chris Pine and Justin Timberlake, among others. Whether any of those actors are still a possibility is unknown, but the next step for Collet-Serra and Warners is likely casting.
Recently, Collet-Serra was one of two contenders to helm the 300 spin-off, 300: Battle of Artemisia. No word on whether Collet-Serra is still up for the project, but, likely, Akira will keep him too busy.
Posted 07.15.11 by Ryan -
For a while, it looked like director Zack Snyder was going to follow-up this year's Sucker Punch with Xerxes, a spinoff of Snyder's 2007 hit, 300. Like 300, Xerxes is based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller. Last July, Snyder said that he and co-screenwriter Kurt Johnstad were busy writing the script, using Miller's comic book frames for reference. The script was finished earlier this year.
Yet, when Snyder was hired to direct Warner Bros.' Superman reboot, Man of Steel, producer Mark Canton was left to contrarily state in April that Snyder was "very much at the helm" of Xerxes and that he might be too "busy" to direct it as well. We know, it was confusing to us too. It's all cleared up now that the movie has a new title and two new possible directors.
who could direct? >> Posted 06.29.11 by Ryan -
Academy Award-nominated actor Liam Neeson recently revealed that a sequel is in the works to his 2009 surprise hit thriller, Taken. Until then, however, fans of the brawny Irishman's more action-packed movies will no doubt enjoy Unknown, which has a similar vibe as Taken in that it is equal parts mystery and thriller set against a European backdrop with Neeson (practically) alone against seemingly insurmountable odds.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan), Unknown follows Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) as he wakes up from a coma to find that his wife (January Jones) doesn't recognize him and that another man (Aidan Quinn) has taken over his life. Determined to return to the life he used to know, Dr. Harris is set upon by mysterious assassins bent on silencing him forever. Diane Kruger also stars.
watch four preview clips >> Posted 02.09.11 by BrentJS -
The first trailer for director Jaume Collet-Serra's (Orphan) new thriller, Unknown (formerly Unknown White Male), is now online. Academy Award–nominated actor Liam Neeson stars as Dr. Martin Harris, a happily married man who awakens from a coma following a car accident to find that his wife (January Jones) doesn't recognize him and another man (Aidan Quinn) has assumed his identity. Now, hunted by mysterious assassins and beginning to question his own sanity, Martin turns to an unlikely ally (Diane Kruger) to aid his quest to uncover the truth.
watch the trailer >> Posted 10.24.10 by BrentJS -
Frank Langella has signed on to star opposite Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, and January Jones in the Jaume Collet-Serra-directed thriller Unknown White Male, according to Variety.
The script is based on the Didier Van Cauwelaert novel Hors de moi (Out of My Head) and tells the story of a man (Neeson) who wakes from a coma following a car accident. He finds that his wife of ten years (Jones) does not recognize him and has struck a relationship with another man who has stolen his identity.
Both Kruger and Langella will portray characters that help the protagonist in his quest to recover his identity and his relationship with his wife.
This will be the fourth project for Langella following his Oscar-nominated performance in Frost/Nixon. He had a memorable role as the enigmatic Arlington Steward in Richard Kelly's The Box and has completed shooting on Andrew Jarecki's thriller All Good Things and Oliver Stone's sequel Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.
Posted 12.09.09 by reelz