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So far, our look at David Hughes" Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made? has focused on movies that remained stuck in "Development Hell," never to see the light of day. In our fourth and final chapter, we examine Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, one of the rare examples of a movie that spent years in Development Hell, but somehow managed to break free and find its way to the big screen (though many die-hard fans of the franchise wish that it hadn't), where it earned a place in Hollywood history.
Sit back, grab a handful of popcorn, and prepare to have your mind blown as we journey to Development Hell in the final installment of Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made?.
Part 4: Keeping Up with the (Indiana) Joneses >>
Posted 03.26.12 by BrentJS -
How much rugged handsomeness can fit in one box? Several hours' worth, it turns out. Paramount Pictures is releasing all of the exciting Indiana Jones adventures (and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) in a Blu-ray box set this fall.
Along with all four movies in "the highest possible high definition," the box set will also include a collection of documentaries, featurettes, and interviews, as well as "a few new surprises." It may seem a tad early to start putting a Christmas wish list together, but with this announcement, March seems like as good a time as any to start. A 39-year-old Harrison Ford in high def? It's enough to make anyone's Christmas very merry indeed.
Along with the announcement, a boxed set trailer was also released that serves as a great reminder of why we love Indy so much.
watch the trailer >> Posted 03.01.12 by Mandy -
Chris Pine's meteoric rise to fame started with 2009's Star Trek (sorry, Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement fans), with Pine stepping into the iconic role of Captain Kirk. Pine took a step backward with This Means War, the recently released romantic comedy that received lousy reviews and failed to impress at the box office.
Still, with Pine currently shooting Star Trek 2 (working title), the actor has little cause for concern. Despite the fact that his non-Star Trek efforts, This Means War and 2010's Unstoppable, have failed to become massive successes, Pine has already lined up another potential franchise. He will be taking over the role of CIA analyst Jack Ryan in an untitled reboot — the first movie to feature the Tom Clancy character since 2002's The Sum of All Fears.
In an interview with Australia's Adelaide Now, Pine admitted he's "not too nervous" about playing Ryan after already successfully playing James T. Kirk.
what did pine say? >> Posted 02.23.12 by Ryan -
George Lucas is bringing his Star Wars saga back to big screen again, starting today with Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace 3D. While the plan is to re-release the entire franchise in 3-D, the Blu-ray versions released last year allowed Lucas to frustrate fans with more alterations, particularly to Return of the Jedi (now Ewoks blink and Darth Vader yells "Nooo!" before tossing the Emperor to his doom) and Phantom Menace, which will see the puppet version of Yoda replaced with a CGI one instead. During a recent interview with THR, Lucas explained why he decided to add a digital Yoda.
We tried to do Yoda in CGI in Episode I, but we just couldn’t get it done in time. We couldn’t get the technology to work, so we had to use the puppet, but the puppet really wasn’t as good as the CGI. So when we did the reissue, we had to put the CGI back in, which was what it was meant to be.
lucas discusses han vs. greedo >> Posted 02.10.12 by Ryan -
When it comes to a potential prequel or sequel to Blade Runner, it's understandable that rumors of Harrison Ford's involvement would continue to swirl. Alcon Entertainment acquired the franchise rights to director Ridley Scott's 1982 sci-fi classic last March, and five months later Scott was committed to direct and produce either a prequel or sequel. With Scott on board, it only seemed natural to assume that Ford would return as retired police officer Rick Deckard, though producer Andrew Kosove was quick to dismiss the rumor.
Despite the denial, Twitch reported last week that Ford had "entered into early talks" to join the next Blade Runner movie, leading both Kosove and Scott to separately address the casting rumor. Kosove told Deadline this week that any talk of Ford's casting was "patently false" while also updating the progress on the next Blade Runner.
scott weighs in on ford and discusses progress on Blade Runner >> Posted 02.09.12 by Ryan -
Earlier this month, Harrison Ford was targeted for the adaptation of Ender's Game, based on the 1985 novel by Orson Scott Card. Coming from the sci-fi/Western mash-up of Cowboys and Aliens, it would seem that Ford would want to stay away from yet another sci-fi movie, as the actor's resume likes to switch genres from project to project. But with Ford being cast in the Jackie Robinson biopic 42, Ender's Game seemed like a good possibility, and finally it's official.
THR reports that Ford has signed on to play Colonel Hyrum Graff, Commander of Training for the International Fleet. In Ender's Game, humanity has been decimated by an insect-like alien race, with the government enlisting gifted children into battle school to train them to aid in the fight against the invaders. Bullied Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield, Hugo) masters a zero-gravity, laser-tag game and Graff sees his potential for saving humanity. Abigail Breslin has also been cast as Ender's sister.
Ender's Game is looking at a February production start under the direction of Gavin Hood (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), who also adapted the script. Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) was previously cast as Petra Arkanian, Ender's most trusted ally, with Ben Kingsley (Hugo, Ghandi) playing Mazer Rackham, Ender's mentor. Brendan Meyer (Spooky Buddies) will play one of Ender's bullying classmates. Ender's Game is scheduled for release on March 15, 2013.
Four actors join Linda lovelace biopic >> Posted 12.22.11 by Ryan -
Disney's adaptation of The Lone Ranger is finally back in the saddle after the studio shut down production in August over the movie's reported $250+ million budget. After director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer worked to bring down the budget, which Bruckheimer said took "four to six weeks" to get the budget down to an more acceptable $215 million (which still seems like a lot, but we digress) and were rewarded with a May 2013 release date in October.
With production rescheduled for February, it was reported that the movie's leads were intact, with Armie Hammer (The Social Network) remaining in the title role, Johnny Depp set to play Tonto — a role he's been attached to since 2008 — but what wasn't clear was whether the movie would retain its supporting cast, but Deadline reports that the rest of the cast will also be retained.
Tom Wilkinson (The Kennedys), originally cast in June, will still play railroad tycoon Latham Cole, a character who is, as we expected, the movie's main villain. Ruth Wilson (BBC's Luther), originally cast in July, will be back as Rebecca, The Lone Ranger's female lead.
kingsley enters Ender's game >> Posted 12.11.11 by Ryan -
In October, we reported that Warner Bros. was trying to talk Tom Cruise into accepting a role in the adaptation of Hiroshi Sakurazaka's novel, All You Need is Kill. Looks like the convincing worked.
Deadline reports that Cruise has officially committed to the role of a futuristic soldier fighting a war against an alien race who gets killed in action. In a Groundhog Day twist of fate, he is reborn every day to repeat his final day, slowly realizing that there are difference in the repetitions and that he be able to change his future.
All You Need is Kill earlier reported to have the unfortunate title, We Mortals Are, but now thankfully back to it's original title, is one of two sci-fi projects Cruise is attached to. After finishing the action/thriller adaptation of One Shot this fall, Cruise heads into production of Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski's sci-fi epic Horizons next year. However, Cruise had to work out his busy schedule before he could commit to the movie.
casting begins on Ender's Game adaptation >> Posted 12.02.11 by Ryan -
The entire Star Wars saga is released on Blu-ray on September 16, and in case light-saber-weilding fans seemed hesitant to buy the series on yet another format, Lucasfilms is making it clear that there is some cool new stuff in the set. So far, we know about audio commentary from the cast and crew, a documentary about the making of The Empire Strikes Back, as well as an alternate opening to Return of the Jedi that features some of Luke Skywalker's time on Tatooine before he goes to Jabba's lair.
Now, Entertainment Weekly has gotten a hold of a deleted scene from The Empire Strikes Back that gives a longer look at the scruffy nerf-herder Han (Harrison Ford) and the one-person-committee Leia (Carrie Fisher) having a sexual-tension-filled argument in the rebel base on the ice planet Hoth. From this clip, it's surprising that the entire planet didn't melt as a result of all the energy between the scoundrel and the princess. Sadly we couldn't embed it, but it's still worth checking out. You'll love it; we know.
Check out the trailer for the Blu-ray set featuring Admiral Ackbar! Posted 09.07.11 by Mandy -
We've already given you five reasons to see director Jon Favreau's adaptation of Cowboys and Aliens, but screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci also recently offered their three reasons to see the sci-fi and Western mash-up in an interview with EW.
While the two writers have been working steadily since scripting the 2009 reboot of Star Trek, they aren't asking audiences to see the movie based on their (and co-screenwriter Damon Lindelof's) work, but hope that producers Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg will bring some clout to the production. Said Orci:
It’s an historic match up of talent. The keepers of the western and the sci-fi genres — Howard and Spielberg — hashing their point of view onto this new generation in [director] Jon Favreau. They were like referees as the rest of us generated the story. They would push us back on the field if we went too wrong on the western or too wrong on the aliens.
what are the other two reasons? >> Posted 07.28.11 by Ryan