Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – Feb. 19, 2009

This week:

Get ready to meet the Little Fockers; Don Johnson burns Nash Bridges; Monahan helps Shia LaBeouf become an Associate; Warner Bros. lighten the Darkness for Mel Gibson; Jolie’s Salt adds a pinch of Schreiber; Elton John wants Pride and Predators and Leonardo Di Caprio plays War Games.

1. It looks like the third Meet The Parents film is on the way!

John Hamburg will rewrite Larry Stuckey’s original script of Little Fockers. Jay Roache who helmed Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers will not return to direct the film because of prior commitments. Universal and Tribeca Productions hope that the film will start shooting in the Summer or the Fall.

Ben Stiller, Robert DeNiro, Owen Wilson, Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand are all expected back in some capacity.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

2. Don Johnson is angry  – the Miami Vice and Nash Bridges star is suing 2929 Entertainment , Rysher Entertainment and Qualia Capital for profits from Nash Bridges – the San Francisco based cop show that ran from 1996-2001.

Johnson states that the 122 episode run of the show has so far earned $300 million and he wants his half of the profits! Johnson said :

“Nash Bridges is a very successful series and I am entitled to half of the profits, which I have not received.”

Johnson produced, starred and co-conceived the show and his company – Don Johnson Productions owns a 50% stake in the show.

I’m guessing that this is going to delay the long awaited DVD release of the show.

Source: Deadline Hollywood

3. William Monahan, the writer of The Departed will adapt John Grisham’s The Associate for the screen. The film is being developed as a Shia LaBeouf starrer. According to Variety:

“LaBeouf will play a Yale Law School student with a sordid secret that leaves him vulnerable to blackmail. He’s manipulated into taking a job at a law firm and working on a multibillion-dollar lawsuit.”

Monahan is currently preparing to make his directorial debut with London Boulevard which is due to star Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley.

Monahan’s next script to hit the big screen will be Mel Gibson’s Edge of Darkness.

Source: Variety

4. Speaking of Edge of Darkness – Warner Bros. have bought the domestic rights to the Martin Campbell directed thriller.

According to Variety:

“The film, based on the BBC miniseries of the same name, is centered on a veteran homicide detective for the Boston Police Dept. whose only child is murdered on the steps of his home.”

Campbell directed the original series for British TV back in the 80’s.

Source: Variety

5. Liev Schreiber is in talks to star in Angelina Jolie’s Salt. Schreiber will play Jolie’s boss on the film. According to Variety:

“The story centers on Evelyn Salt, a CIA officer who is fingered as a Russian sleeper spy. She eludes capture by superiors who are convinced she is out to assassinate the president. While trying to reunite with her family, she struggles to prove someone else is the traitor.”

The film was originally conceived as a Tom Cruise starrer before the role was tailored for Jolie.

The film starts shooting next month under the direction of Phillip Noyce.

Source: Variety

6. Elton John’s Rocket Pictures hope to produce a Jane Austen adaptation with a difference.

According to Variety:

“Will Clark is set to direct Pride and Predator, which veers from the traditional period costume drama when an alien crash lands and begins to butcher the mannered protags, who suddenly have more than marriage and inheritance to worry about.”

You couldn’t make that news story up if you were to try!

John’s producing partner and er… partner-partner said:

“It felt like a fresh and funny way to blow apart the done-to-death Jane Austen genre by literally dropping this alien into the middle of a costume drama, where he stalks and slashes to horrific effect”

I can’t imagine this one getting past 20th Century Fox’s lawyers without a fight!

Source: Variety

7. Leonardo DiCaprio will produce a remake of War Games for MGM.

The original starred Matthew Broderick as a teenager who hacks into the Department Of Defense computers and starts WW III by believing he is playing a game.

There’s no news on cast or director, but I can imagine that MGM are praying that DiCaprio will star in the reboot.

Source: Production Weekly

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.