Screen Rant » state of play

Zombie Updates: Resident Evil 4 Confirmed & New WWZ Writer

Rob Keyes — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:22:13 +0000

To all of you Zombie rights activists out there, we have two bits of news for you movie needs today. Firstly, Resident Evil 4 finally got its unsurprising confirmation and the World War Z movie has seen some movement again with a new writer added to formulate the screenplay.

Details after the jump.

Two weeks ago, we heard from Shock Till You Drop that Resident Evil 4 was getting close to becoming a reality and that we’d likely see the finished product sometime next year. Today, Coming Soon found out that it has been confirmed with a release date of September 17, 2010 with Milla Jovovich back as the lead. The fourth installment will be called Resident Evil: Afterlife.

No director has been signed yet but they’ll be working from Paul W.S. Anderson’s script. They’ve scheduled a 2-month shoot in Toronto starting September 28th. Hmmm… My city on my Birthday – not exactly what I expected to get.

Switching over to another potential Zombie franchise, Max Brooks’ World War Z book is moving closer to the silver screen. According to the author, Paramount will have the book adapted by Matthew Michael Carnahan.

Carnahan helped write the Screenplay for this year’s State of Play movie which I thought was brilliant (until the end, that is). He also wrote The Kingdom which I thought was solid so he’ll fit well with this project.

The last we heard on WWZ was last fall when Marc Forster was picked up to direct the film that would be produced by Brad Pitt’s production company, Plan B Productions partnering with Paramount. At that time, the screenplay was to be written by J. Michael Straczynski and apparently the draft he wrote was decent, giving Carnahan a lot to work with.

On Fangoria Radio, Brooks had this to say about the addition of Carnahan:

“He’s one of Hollywood’s hot A-list writers, so if they went after him and paid him a mountain of gold, it definitely shows their confidence in this project”

World War Z is the 2006 best-selling novel written by Max Brooks about a future global war against zombies. It is written in the form of interviews featuring multiple survivor perspectives from all over the world recounting their individual struggles throughout the war.

What do you think about these two projects?

I could pass on RE4 but I’m looking forward to seeing something come out of WWZ.

Sources: Fangoria, Production Weekly (via Coming Soon)

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Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: May 10, 2009

Niall Browne — Sun, 10 May 2009 23:50:29 +0000

In the Wrap Up this week:
The Box Office boldly goes where no Star Trek film has gone before; Joel Silver sees an Apparition; Keanu Reeves Hydes Jekyll; James McAvoy and Elizabeth Banks have The Details;Val Kilmer, Ray Stevenson and Christopher Walken know The Irishman and Nick Fury is a Pirate.

Box Office

J.J Abrams’ Star Trek reboot’s Spock-tacular $76 million opening ensures that the franchise will live long and prosper. The opening (which includes $7 million from Thursday) took almost as much as most films in the long running series banked in their entire run- unadjusted of course. Look for the film to “engage” with non-Trek fans and expect a sequel to go into production at warp speed. Can (Khan) the film have legs in future weeks? Word of mouth will probably override the initial geek stereotype.

Last week’s box office champion Wolverine felt the wrath of Abrams and had to settle for the runner-up position with a weekend take of $28 million giving the spin-off/ prequel a total gross of $130 million. It looks like the Hugh Jackman film will struggle to get to $200 million, but the film has already crossed that barrier when foreign grosses are taken into account. A 68% drop in its second weekend is nothing to brag about.

Matthew McConaughey’s Ghosts of Girlfriends Past nabbed another $10 million giving the romantic comedy a total gross of $30 million. $50-60 million is now within reach.

Beyonce Knowle’s Obsessed is now knocking at the door of a $60 million total gross as is Zac Efron’s 17 Again. Robert Downey Jr and Jamie Foxx’s The Soloist has now grossed about $25 million while the Russell Crowe/ Ben Affleck starrer State of Play has so far made a disappointing $33 million.

Movie News
1. Joel Silver’s Dark Castle production company has hired Todd Lincoln to write and direct The Apparition.

The horror film is supposedly based on true events (aren’t they all) but the details of the plot are being kept a secret – which I presume means that there will be a twist ending.

I wonder if they’ll market it as “From the makers of Gothika?”

Source: Variety

2. Whoa.

Keanu Reeves is attached to star in a new film version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

The man behind Revolutionary Road – Justin Haythe will write the script.

Nicolas Winding Refn is in negotiations to direct the Universal Picture which is currently titled Jekyll.

Universal were developing a version of the tale with Guillermo del Toro, but he’s busy making a little film called The Hobbit and then he has about 100 films lined up to direct.
I really think that they should retitle this Jekyll and Hyde’s Excellent Adventure!

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

3. Wanted’s James McAvoy, Elizabeth Banks, Laura Linney and Anna Friel are in the frame to star in Jacob Estes’ black comedy The Details.

According to Variety:

“The story concerns a couple, to be played by McAvoy and Banks, who discover an infestation of raccoons in their back yard. Disagreements over how to deal with the animals lead to an escalating series of events.”

The film starts shooting this summer.

Source: Variety

4. Val Kilmer, Ray Stevenson and Christopher Walken will star in Jonathan Hensleigh’s The Irishman.

According to Variety:

“The project is based on the life of mobster Danny Greene (Stevenson), who lorded over Cleveland’s criminal underworld during the late 1970s. Walken is onboard to play infamous loan-sharking nightclub owner Shondor Birns, and Kilmer will portray a Cleveland cop who befriends Greene.”

So a Batman and Punisher team-up. Who isn’t excited?

The Irishman starts shooting on May 19th.

Source: Variety

5. Nick Fury himself Samuel L. Jackson is taking to the high seas. Jackson’s Uppity Films has purchased the rights to the life story of Andrew Mwangura. Mwangura was a negotiator between pirates and the owners of ships that were hijacked off the coast of Africa.

Jackson plans to play the negotiator – who, get this - wasn’t paid for his negotiating duties. He made his living as a freelance journalist.

Nautical but nice.

Source: Variety

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

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State Of Play Review

Niall Browne — Mon, 04 May 2009 21:22:12 +0000

Short version: State of Play is a classy, old fashioned newspaper movie with strong performances and no CGI.

Screen Rant’s Niall Browne reviews State of Play

State of Play is a classy piece of Hollywood filmmaking that delivers an entertaining two hours in the cinema and features enjoyable star performances from Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams.

The film which is based on the British BBC series of the same name (which first aired in 2003) unfolds in the tradition of other newspaper films such as All The Presidents Men and even His Girl Friday. State of Play is an old fashioned thriller that deals with political conspiracy, journalistic values and as a running theme – how the internet has changed the written word.

In a way State of Play’s under-performance at the box office mirrors the print journalism vs. blogging theme that is woven throughout the film’s running time. In the same way that a lot of people now look for their news online, the target audience for A State of Play will probably wait for the film to hit DVD before catching it, thus making the film unprofitable, and therefore possibly hurting the chance of other films of this ilk hitting the big screen. A shame.

We are first introduced to Crowe’s Cal McAffery, a writer for the Washington Globe following the murder of a pretty criminal and the attempted murder of a passer-by. McAffery is an old school journalist who loves ink on his hands and who has a working relationship with his police contacts that offers him ground level information on the killing. A short time later a young political researcher dies in what appears to be subway accident. She’s currently working for (and having an affair with) Affleck’s Stephen Collins – a rising political star investigating a private security firm.

Soon the Capitol Hill dogs are howling and Crowe’s McAffery is dragged into the proceedings because he’s an old friend of Collins’ from college. Infuriated by McAdam’s character (Della Frye), a political blogger whose lack of effort in news gathering (she just posts what she hears on the web without checking the facts), McAffery takes Frye under his wing to show her how to find the real story and clear the name of his old friend.”

The anchor of Kevin McDonald’s film is without a doubt Russell Crowe. The Oscar winning actor delivers a charming performance that’s filled with heart and passion. While I’ve never been a great fan of his work (great in LA Confidential and overrated and overexposed after Gladiator) I think that he’s now coming into his own. The Australian star portrays a character lacking in vanity with long greasy hair and a love of chili fries – it’s almost as if he’s portraying the tabloid version of himself. There’s even a scene in a hotel room with Jason Bateman where a telephone comes close to being thrown.

Affleck is also good – although his role could have been expanded, though I’m sure this is the casualty of the film being adapted from a six hour series. Affleck often comes under severe critical scrutiny for his performances and I feel that he acquits himself well, playing the all American political hero with skeletons in his closet. Rachel McAdams is also good as the “green” blogger who is groomed by Crowe to become “an old fashioned newspaper man.” The pair have good chemistry and in a bygone era they might have even gotten a sequel out of this film.

The major let down in the film is Helen Mirren’s turn as Crowe and McAdams’ Editor. For an acclaimed Oscar winning actress she just doesn’t show conviction, it’s as if she believes that all that’s needed to act as an editor is spout lines like “you’ve got a deadline.” Mirren appears self conscious and miscast, which is confusing considering that the younger stars are so good.

While on occasion the film’s plot hangs on coincidence and the occasional contrivance, it’s still a cut above the usual Hollywood output in the 21st Century. As an entry in the pantheon of newspaper films the thriller can justly sit alongside other films in the genre like the aforementioned All the Presidents Men, His Girl Friday as well as Mean Season, The Paper and of course Ace in The Hole.

What makes State of Play so enjoyable is that there’s a solid story and good performances. The film should feature a disclaimer saying “no CGI or snappy edits are contained in this feature.” it’s Hollywood filmmaking at it’s purest and I highly rate it for that.

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Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: April 26, 2009

Niall Browne — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:45:35 +0000

This week:

Beyonce is Obsessed with being number one; Tony Scott and Denzel Washington are Unstoppable; it’s all Greek to Warner Bros. with Odysseus; James Marsden hassles the “Hoff” in Straw Dogs; will DiCaprio Beat the Reaper? Catherine is Keener for Jackson.

Box Office

It looks like all the independent women threw their hands up in the air for Beyonce Knowles starring Obsessed. The female fronted film grossed $28.5 million – which is about $10 million more than the studio predicted.

Zac Efron had to settle for a runner-up spot this week with an $11.5 weekend take for 17 Again. The film has so far banked about $39 million clearly going through the door-marked profit.

Channing Tatum (who’s on the cusp of big things with G.I Joe) and Iron Man’s (but not Iron Man 2) Terrance Howard came a close third this weekend with $11.3 million for Fighting.

Iron Man himself Robert Downey Jr was fourth with The Soloist. The film which co-stars Jamie Foxx was delayed by Paramount and although reviews were good it couldn’t make enough sweet music. With a weekend gross on just over $9 million it looks like The Soloist might have to sing for its supper.

Monsters vs. Aliens earned another $8.5 million. With a total of almost $180 million – expect a sequel.

State of Play couldn’t use its good reviews to build on its audience. With just over $7 million it looks like the Russell Crowe/ Ben Affleck film will have to find its audience on DVD.

Hannah Montana: The Movie has now banked $65 million (if you care) at least Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus will be happy. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker’s Fast and Furious has powered to $145 million. I wonder how fast and furious the next installment will be?

Movie News

1. Tony Scott and Denzel Washington are like er… Tony Scott and orange filters – inseparable.
Washington is in talks to star in Unstoppable, Scott’s runaway train movie.

If Washington cho-cho-choses (I know I made that joke before) the action pic will be their fifth film together…

Their fourth The Taking of Pelham 123 opens on June 12.

Source: Variety

2. Warner Bros. have won a major bidding war for the script Odysseus.
According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“The story centers on the legendary hero Odysseus, famed king of Ithaca, who returns to his island after 20 years of fighting the Trojan Wars, only to find his kingdom under the brutal occupation of an invading force. Odysseus single-handedly defeats every last man and takes back his wife, his son and his kingdom.”

Warner’s seem to love Greek based movies – a few years ago they had Troy, 300 and they have the forthcoming Clash of The Titans.

Haven’t they heard the expression “beware of Greeks bearing gifts”?

Source: Variety

3. James Marsden will play the Dustin Hoffman role in Rod Lurie’s Straw Dogs remake.
The former X-Man will star in the film which is due to start shooting in August.
The controversial original film Sam Peckinpah saw an American return to his wife’s rural village in England, only for the locals to turn nasty.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

4. Brian Koppelman and David Levien have been hired to adapt the Josh Bazell novel Beat the Reaper in the hopes that Leonardo DiCaprio will star.

“The drama, being developed as a potential star vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio, revolves around a Manhattan ER doctor whose life becomes complicated when a mobster recognizes him from his former life as a hitman.”

Well, we haven’t seen this since A History of Violence.

Source: Variety

5. Catherine Keener will join former James Bond Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, Sean Bean, Kevin McKidd in Christopher Columbus’ Percy Jackson.

The non Warner Bros. produced Greek fantasy film “put(s) Greek gods in modern times, (it) involve (s) Poseidon’s half-human son, Percy, who is on a quest in modern America to prevent a war among the gods.”

Keener will play Percy’s mother in the film which is currently shooting in Canada.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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

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Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: April 19, 2009

Niall Browne — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:45:36 +0000

Welcome to another Weekend Movie News Wrap Up. In this week’s comedy filled line-up:

Zac Efron might be 17 Again but he’s also No.1 at the box office; Reese Witherspoon is Nice; Sean “Diddy” Combs goes Greek; Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning go Somwhere for Sofia Coppola; Felicity Jones is a woman in Ricky Gervais’ The Men At The Pru and Brotherhood’s Blake Masters fires 2 Guns for Universal Pictures.

Box Office
Zac Efron is a movie star. The High School Musical star’s role in 17 Again helped the film make $24 million over the weekend. The body swap comedy also stars Friends‘ Matthew Perry as an older Efron. Poor guy - a decade ago he was headlining (mediocre) romantic comedies and now he’s supporting a tween star.

In second place was State of Play starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck. Again about 10 years ago this would have opened at number one when the two stars were at their peak. Now, they’ll have to settle for a $14 million runner-up position. With good reviews this one just might have legs.

Hannah Montana: The Movie dropped over 70% for a third place finish. The film grossed about $12.5 million over the weekend giving the Miley Cyrus film a $56 million total.

Monsters Vs Aliens and Fast and Furious both banked about $11 million over the weekend bringing their totals to $161 and $135 respectively.

Crank High Voltage didn’t have much juice over the three days with a weak $7 million debut. Has the profitable Jason Statham action genre finally run its course?

Observe and Report dropped over 70% this weekend with a second weekend take of just $4 million. The film will be lucky to see a $25 million finish.

Movie News

1. Reese Witherspoon will produce and may star in an adaptation of en Sacks’ novel
Nice. According to Variety:

“The protag(onist) is a magazine writer who accidentally kills her boyfriend. She finds a way to get rid of the body and discovers that killing boyfriends is easier than breaking up with them.”

I cant say that I’m much of a Witherspoon fan, so I’ll be sitting this one out.

Source: Variety

2. Rapper with many names Sean “Diddy”/”Puff Daddy” Combs has signed onto the sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The film entitled Get Him To The Greek stars controversial British comedian Russell Brand, Jonah Hill, Elisabeth Moss and Rose Byrne.
According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“In the film, Combs plays the role of Sergio, an executive who owns a record label. Moss will play Daphne Binks, the girlfriend of Aaron Greenberg (played by Hill), while Brand plays an out-of-control rocker named Aldous Snow. Byrne will play Jackie Q, a scandal-ridden pop star and Snow’s character’s newest love interest.”

Judd Apatow produces. There’s a surprise!

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

3. Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning will star in Spofia Coppola’s Somewhere.

“(The) story centers on a bad-boy actor stumbling through a life of excess at the Chateau Marmont. With an unexpected visit from his 11-year-old daughter, he is forced to reexamine his life.”

The film will be shot in Hollywood’s famous Chateau Marmont hotel.

It sounds like someone is trying to recreate some of that Lost In Translation magic.
A bit of advice Sofia – Dorff is no Bill Murray.

Source: Variety

4. British actress Felicity Jones will join Ricky Gervais in The Men At The Pru.

“(In the 1970’s set “dramedy”) Jones will play Julie, who is led to believe by the men around her that a woman should focus on raising a family but who wants to break out and pursue a career in photography.”

Unlike most people I can’t say that I’m a fan of Gervais. I find him quite smarmy and full of himself.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

5. Blake Masters the creator of TV’s Brotherhood will adapt 2 Guns for Universal Pictures.

“Guns, written by Steven Grant with art by Mat Santolouco, follows a DEA agent and an undercover naval intelligence officer who are unwittingly investigating each other and who steal mob money for the good guys. They realize later that the mob actually got them to swipe $50 million from the CIA.”

Apparently the film will have a 1980’s buddy movie vibe, but with a modern spin.

Wasn’t that Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or Rush Hour?

It sounds interesting though – we’ll see what happens.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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

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New ‘State of Play’ Pics (Plus A Trailer)

Carl Lee — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:37:14 +0000

If you caught last night’s Heroes (and didn’t skip through the commercials), you would’ve seen glimpses of Universal Pictures’ political thriller, State of Play. Based on a BBC Television mini-series, the film revolves around a team of investigative reporters work with a police detective to solve the murder of a research assistant/mistress to potential presidential candidate, U.S. Congressman Stephen Collins. Filled with drama and conspiracy, the film features a number of great actors including: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and Helen Mirren.

State of Play is directed by Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland), the screenplay is written by Matthew Michael Carnahan (Lions for Lambs, The Kingdom), Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, Bourne-series), and Billy Ray (Breach, Flightplan). Judging by the scribes involved, State of Play has potential to be a heart-pumping meeting of the minds.

Official Synopsis:

Oscar® winner Russell Crowe leads an all-star cast in a blistering thriller about a rising congressman and an investigative journalist embroiled in an case of seemingly unrelated, brutal murders. Crowe plays D.C. reporter Cal McCaffrey, whose street smarts lead him to untangle a mystery of murder and collusion among some of the nation’s most promising political and corporate figures in State of Play, from acclaimed director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland).

Handsome, unflappable U.S. Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) is the future of his political party: an honorable appointee who serves as the chairman of a committee overseeing defense spending. All eyes are upon the rising star to be his party’s contender for the upcoming presidential race. Until his research assistant/mistress is brutally murdered and buried secrets come tumbling out.

McCaffrey has the dubious fortune of both an old friendship with Collins and a ruthless editor, Cameron (Oscar® winner Helen Mirren), who has assigned him to investigate. As he and partner Della (Rachel McAdams) try to uncover the killer’s identity, McCaffrey steps into a cover-up that threatens to shake the nation’s power structures. And in a town of spin-doctors and wealthy politicos, he will discover one truth: when billions are at stake, no one’s integrity, love or life is ever safe.

Ben Affleck in scene from State of Play

Russell Crowe looking scruffy in State of Play

Rachel McAdams with her best “mom look” in State of Play

Although we cover more of the sci-fi/superhero/action genres, the State of Play trailer piqued our interest:

[See post to watch Flash video]

Looks like a good solid drama to tide us over until the flood of superhero & sci-fi goodness arrives in May.

State of Play hits theaters on April 17th. You can catch more about the film at StateOfPlayMovie.net.

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New Posters For ‘Wolverine’, ‘Up’ And ‘State Of Play’

Rob Keyes — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:24:35 +0000

Today we have a batch of new posters for your viewing pleasure for the upcoming movies X-Men Origins: Wolverine, State of Play and Disney Pixar’s Up.

To start, we have the French one-sheet for X-Men Origins: Wolverine which depicts Hugh Jackman as the fierce mutant re-enacting a scene from The Sound of Music (with his claws out mind you). Following that is the very generic poster for State of Play which lets us see the faces of its lead actors. And last but not least, three new posters for Up, each featuring one of the lead characters.

Out of the Up posters, take notice of the one with the dog called Mudds (voiced by Christopher Plummer) and look how real the dog looks from the collar down – it looks like a photo of a real canine.

Pixar’s posters, while simple, can afford to be that way based on the reputation they’ve earned and the quality of their movies that moviegoers have come to expect – I’m looking forward to seeing this one.

Enough talking, check them out:

There’s nothing really special or amazing about these in my opinion, but you can’t go wrong with a little Wolverine yelling at the clouds.

What do you think of the posters and will you catch these movies in theaters?

X-Men Origins: Wolverine opens May 1 2009, Up opens May 29 2009 and State of Play opens April 17 2009.

Sources: Collider, Coming Soon, First Showing, /Film

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Ben Affleck Replaces Ed Norton In State Of Play

Niall Browne — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:45:17 +0000

Since the writers’ strike began one of the most troubled and high profile films has been Kevin McDonald’s political thriller State Of Play. The film was originally supposed to star Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, but when pre-strike rewrites didn’t satisfy Pitt, he walked.

Universal Pictures then successfully courted Russell Crowe for the part of the investigating journalist who is covering a high profile murder story. Norton had still been attached to the film, but now as the films start date was pushed back to January he has had to leave the project because it clashes with Tim Blake Nelson’s comedy Leaves of Grass.

Variety is now reporting that Ben Affleck will now be replacing Norton as the young politician involved in the murder conspiracy.

I think that this is great news. In fact, it was just the other day that I was thinking about Affleck and his career. It’s been ten years now since he burst onto the film scene with Good Will Hunting, and while Matt Damon has gone on to be a superstar, Affleck’s career has been very quiet of late. I’m not even going to mention his relationship with Jennifer Lopez, or Gigli(oops), but I’ve always liked Affleck as an actor and I feel that he never fully achieved his potential.

His casting in State of Play seems like another good step forward following Hollywoodland and his recent directing effort Gone Baby Gone. With a bit of luck, this will help him to get back on the A-list, and hopefully give him the career that he deserves.

A teaming of Crowe and Affleck seems cool. Do you agree?

Source: Variety

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