Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – Oct. 16, 2008

I swear that one day I’ll get this out on a Wednesday.

This week:

Dick Donner talks The Goonies 2; the film version of The Road may be delayed until 2009; Ron Shelton and Tim Robbins talk Bull Durham 2; Sam Raimi’s Sleeper gets a writer and Kight Rider and The Sarah Connor Chronicles get more scripts.

1.  I seem to be spending a lot of time writing about Richard Donner lately. That’s not a complaint, he’s a great director and the man should get more praise. He should also be allowed to make more movies, be them Lethal Weapons or not.

Donner has announced that a sequel to his 80’s classic The Goonies has been scrapped. Donner told Variety:

“We tried really hard, and Steven (Spielberg) said, ‘Let’s do it.’ We had a lot of young writers submit work, but it just didn’t seem to call for it”

However, if you love The Goonies there might be a musical. Donner says:

“I’m in the process of trying to get it done as a musical on Broadway. Wouldn’t that be great?”

Dick, I really don’t know. Music by Cyndi Lauper?

Source: Variety

2. Fans of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road may have a longer wait for the film adaptation of the novel. The Hollywood Reporter reports that the film won’t be making its scheduled release date of November 16.

The Viggo Mortensen starrer may be pushed to 2009, as director John Hillcoat is still in the editing phase. That’s gotta hurt as the film is seen as prime Oscar material. I know some people who have read the book, and it has brought a grown man to tears. He wasn’t a particularly tough man, but he cried all the same.

There could be a long road ahead.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

3. There’s more news on the sequel to Bull Durham, Kevin Costner’s iconic baseball flick. Director Ron Shelton and co-star Tim Robbins have been talking up the film at the original movie’s 20th anniversary commemoration at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Shelton said:

“For 20 years I have said no to a sequel. For the last year we’ve been talking about it. I used to say ‘You can’t do a sequel 20 years later.’ Then the fact that it’s 20 years later started to intrigue me.”

Robbins says:

“I actually told Ron this idea a couple of months ago. (Nuke) hurt his arm. I want the sequel to open with him at one of those trade shows signing autographs.”

The pair went on to give a detailed plot for the film:

You pan from Pete Rose and all these guys getting $350 and $500 an autograph, and there’s Nuke and he’s getting 15 bucks. And he’s really steamed about it because (he was supposed) to get 25.

My view of his major-league career is he went up there and in his second year in the majors he was 18-4. In his third year he was 4-18,It was a sort of an unrealized career in which we saw glimpses of his greatness. (Crash Davis – Costner)is now managing Durham in Triple A, back with a (major-league) dream alive again. I think he’s kept this wonderful hot relationship with Annie (Susan Sarandon), who probably has the Faulkner Chair in Oxford, Miss. Crash and Annie find him in the middle of a drunken stupor in the middle of his hotel room or something and bring him back to the majors by teaching him how to throw a knuckleball …”

It sounds like it could work – but will Costner play ball?

Source: Times Union

4. Brad Ingelsby will write the adaptation of Sleeper for Warner Bros. The Comic book film will be produced by Sam Raimi and Josh Donen. Wrap Up favorite Tom Cruise is interested in starring.

Source: Dark Horizons

5. Although ratings are dropping on both series, Fox and NBC has ordered more scripts for The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Knight Rider.

Might The Sarah Connor Chronicles be terminated? Could it be the end of the road for Knight Rider?

Maybe, but if things improve then you’ll have a few more episodes to watch, and lets face it – at least they aren’t canceled!

Source: SyFy Portal

That’s it for another week. See you at the movies.