When does the movie business ever go as planned? Rarely, it seems, as evidenced by the change-ups with the upcoming thriller The Tourist, the remake of the 2005 French film, Anthony Zimmer.

We recently reported that Angelina Jolie had replaced Charlize Theron in the movie, with Jolie joining the already-cast Sam Worthington (who originally replaced Tom Cruise). Then a week later came news that after previously attached director Bharat Nalluri had stepped away from the project, The Lives of Other director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck was being eyed to helm the film instead.

All seemed to be in place and The Tourist was set for an early 2010 shooting start. However, although the latter is still true, there appears to STILL be major change-ups happening, as not only is yet another new director being looked at to now replace Donnersmarck, but Worthington may be getting replaced by Johnny Depp!

Variety is reporting that both Donnersmarck and Worthington have left The Tourist over “creative differences” (isn’t that always the “insert here” reason?). Depp is now in talks to play the titular American tourist who is drawn into a web of intrigue by a female Interpol agent (Jolie) who is attempting to locate a criminal who was once her lover. GK’s Graham King – who’s distributing and financing through his deal with Sony Picture Entertainment – brought Depp into the mix as he has a strong relationship with him after collaborating on Rango and The Rum Diary.

Many people were expecting Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides to be Depp’s next film, which is supposed to start filming next Spring. So where does that leave Captain Jack Sparrow?…

On top of the casting replacement, there’s also the need for a new director. One name that Variety specifically points out is Alfonso Cuaron, the man behind such films as Children of Men and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (my personal favorite Harry Potter, FYI).  He’s not in talks officially, but is “circling” the project along with a few other directors.

I don’t know why there’s been so many change-ups with The Tourist, but if Depp signs on it’s certainly a step-up in terms of star power from Worthington. Even if the latter is a rising star – with Terminator Salvation, the upcoming Avatar and the upcoming Clash of the Titans now on his resume – Depp is a bankable name and him teaming up with Jolie (who you can see in the recent trailer for Salt), one of the hottest  female movie stars in the world, can only draw major attention to the project from people who probably wouldn’t have been interested otherwise.

Hopefully everything gets sorted out with The Tourist for its early 2010 shooting start. We’ll keep you posted on the status of the project.

What do you think of Johnny Depp potentially replacing Sam Worthington as The Tourist? Do you think the team up of Depp and Angelina Jolie will draw in a lot more viewers than her and Worthington would have? Which director would you like to see take on the project?

If all goes to plan, The Tourist will start filming in February 2010, and is set for a release sometime in 2011.

Source: Variety

The box office says This Is It; The Tourist finally gets its bags packed; Billy Bob Thornton and Dwayne Johnson go Faster; Ricky Gervais hosts The Golden Globes and DeNiro and Stiller are hanging out with the Little Fockers.

Box Office

Michael Jackson’s This Is It topped the box office over the Halloween weekend with an estimated $21 million. The concert film has made $32 million in the US in the five days since it opened. It’s an okay start for the movie, but not the huge debut that Sony was hoping for. It’s doing twice as well overseas and has brought in about $100MM worldwide so far.

Paranormal Activity scared-up another $16.5 million over the spooky weekend giving the $11, 000 budgeted film a mind-boggling $84.7 million total. Ka-ching!

Law Abiding Citizen banked another $7 million to give the Gerard Butler/ Jamie Foxx flick a solid $51 million.

The grand total for Vince Vaughn’s Couples Retreat now stands at $86 million after taking another $6 million.

Saw VI plunged 60% this weekend. The fright flick has taken just $22 million since its debut last weekend. Saw films normally open far above that figure!

Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are took in $5 million for a $61 million total, while The Stepfather nabbed another $3.4 for a $24 million total.

Astro Boy grossed another $3 million for a pretty shocking $10 million cumulative gross while Amelia took in the same number this weekend for a grand total of $8 million – yikes!

Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant saw its franchise hopes sink with a weekend take of just under $3million. With $10 million in the pot so far it looks like fans will have to read the books rather than check out the adventures on the silver screen.

Movie News

1. GK Films has signed on to finance and produce Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s The Tourist. The remake of the French film Anthony Zimmer will star Angelina Jolie and Sam Worthington.

The Sony Pictures film will start shooting in February.

The Tourist marks the second time that Jolie has stepped into Tom Cruise’s shoes. Cruise had been eyeing The Tourist and Jolie’s forthcoming Salt as potential starring roles but he dropped out to star in Knight and Day.

Both films were retooled for Jolie – with Salt’s main character changing sex.

Source: Variety

2. Speaking of Angelina Jolie…

Billy Bob Thornton will join Dwayne Johnson in the action-comedy Faster.

According to Variety:

“Johnson plays Driver, an ex-con out to avenge his brother’s murder. Thornton plays Cop, a veteran policeman who trails Driver as he races to settle with those responsible for the murder. Also in the mix is Killer, an egocentric hitman who’s after Driver.”

Does the word generic mean anything to anyone?

Source: Variety

3. Ricky Gervais has finally landed himself an awards show.

The British comedian will host the forthcoming Golden Globes in January – it’s the first time the show has had a host since 1995.

Gervais said:

“It’s an environment where I feel I can get free rein as host. I have resisted many other offers like this, but there are just some things you don’t turn down.”

I’m sure that the paycheck is quite hefty too.

Source: Variety

4. Robert DeNiro and Ben Stiller have been snapped on the set of Little Fockers.

They look exactly like DeNiro and Stiller standing on a film set.

Little Fockers opens on June 30, 2010

Source: MTV

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

Last week we reported on the possibility of Angelina Jolie replacing Charlize Theron in the upcoming thriller, The Tourist. Along with that news, we also learned that the previously attached director, Bharat Nalluri, had stepped away from the project, leaving the producers actively seeking a new director. And today we get the news that a new director has been found in the form of German helmer Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others).

Variety reports that although Donnersmarck has yet to officially enter into negotiations for The Tourist with Spyglass Entertainment, the talks are expected to happen very soon. Jolie was contacted by the studio a couple of weeks ago about starring in the project in place of Theron, but her involvement was said to be contingent on finding the right director. After meeting with a number of different directors, von Donnersmarck seems to have emerged as the right man for the job, according to insiders.

If von Donnersmarck officially signs on, it will be his first feature-film since his Oscar-winning The Lives of Others a few years back. And I wouldn’t be surprised if along with the news of him signing on we hear that Jolie has signed on the dotted line as well.

If Jolie jumps onboard The Tourist, she will play an Interpol agent “who draws an unwitting American tourist into her attempt to locate a criminal who was once her lover.” The film is a remake of the 2005 french thriller, Anthony Zimmer, which was originally set to star Tom Cruise along with the aforementioned Theron. However, after Cruised pulled out to star alongside Diaz in Knight and Day (formally titled Wichita), Avatar star Sam Worthington came on-board to replace Cruise as the titular American tourist.

The Tourist’s script was first written by Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park), but The Usual Suspects writer, Christopher McQuarrie, has rewritten it. Spyglass is producing in partnership with StudioCanal, with Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum and Jonathan Glickman also set to produce.

I already was intrigued by The Tourist – with its plot and impressive-sounding “switched cast” – but I’m even more interested now that it’s looking like von Donnersmarck is going to be behind the camera. If you haven’t checked out his fantastic The Lives of Others from 2006, I highly recommend you do so ASAP. Even though I felt Pan’s Labyrinth deserved the Best Foreign Language Film that particular year, I still can’t really complain because of how good the The Lives of Others is. Hopefully von Donnersmarck will bring the creative complexity found in The Lives of Others with him if and when he ends up directing The Tourist.

von Donnersmarck's Oscar-winning 'The Lives of Others'

What do you think of Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck being eyed for The Tourist? Do you think the cast and director the film has now is better than the those it had before?

As far as we know, The Tourist is being aimed for an early 2010 shooting start, and is said to likely be ready for a release sometime in 2011.

Source: Variety

A couple of months ago we got wind of the news that Terminator Salvation and Avatar star, Sam Worthington, was going to be replacing Tom Cruise in the spy thriller, The Tourist. That’s the male lead sorted out, but what about the female lead? Well, up until this point it was Charlize Theron who was set to play the role, but today we learn – by way of THR’s Risky Biz Blog – that she’s officially stepped away from the project, and word is that Brad Pitt’s even prettier half, a.k.a. Angelina Jolie, is in talks to step in and take her place.

A remake of the 2005 French-language thriller, “Anthony Zimmer“, The Tourist centers on “an American tourist who, on behalf of Interpol, goes undercover to entrap a former lover who’s a suspected global criminal.” If Jolie actually signs on for the role, it will follow her recent spy role in Salt (she, ironically, replaced Tom Cruise in a gender-switched role), with the role here being described as, “one-part seductress, one-part action.”

The Tourist is said to follow in the footsteps of such films as Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much, Roman Polanski’s Frantic and is even said to share a central theme with the Liam Neeson surprise hit, Taken. From what I understand from the plot description of the original French film, Anthony Zimmer, the story concentrates on the titular male lead (presumably being portrayed by Worthington) – but I wonder, with Jolie being the bigger name, will they tell the film from her character’s perspective? It’s entirely possible.

On top of Theron stepping away from the project, and the folks behind The Tourist needing to look elsewhere for their female lead, they will also need to look for a new director, too, as Bharat Nalluri (The Crow: Salvation) has also stepped down from the project. Neither the studio (Spyglass), Jolie, Theron or Nalluri’s reps could be reached for comment on the change-ups, but the producers are actively looking for a new director. There’s been a production start date of early 2010 set for a while now, which, if that start date is still holding, may prompt producers to hurry up their hunt for a new director.

Oscar-winning screenwriters Julian Fellows (Gosford Park), Chris McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) and Bill Wheeler wrote the script for The Tourist and as far as we know, that’s the version that will be filmed.

Would you call Angelina for Charlize a "fair trade?"

I haven’t had a chance to see the original Anthony Zimmer, so I can’t speak as to whether a remake is warranted or not. But to me the plot sounds intriguing enough, and even with the switching up of actors giving off a bit of a “make your mind up” smell, I’m interested in seeing Jolie in another action-plus-beauty role, as well as Worthington expanding his resume. With regards to the latter, with roles in three huge movies – Terminator Salvation, Avatar and Clash of the Titans – it goes without saying the Aussie actor is doing extremely well for himself. More power to him, I say.

What do you think of the change-ups of The Tourist’s lead actress and director? Would you like for Jolie to be the one to replace Theron, or would another actress be the better choice?

As far as we know, The Tourist is set to start shooting in early 2010, with no release date set as of yet.

Source: THR’s Risky Biz Blog

Credit must really be given to Sam Worthington’s agent. The man really works his socks off for his client.

Hot on the heels of the Australian star being cast in James Cameron’s Avatar, Terminator Salvation and Clash of the Titans comes news that he is set to replace Tom Cruise in The Tourist opposite Charlize Theron.

In the thriller Worthington will play a tourist who is used by an Interpol agent(Theron) to flush out an international criminal.

The male lead was originally supposed to be American and there are currently no details as to whether the filmmakers will make the character Australian to accommodate Worthington’s natural tones.

Tom Cruise had been mulling over starring in the film since last year (along with a whole host of projects) and his loss now appears to be Worthington’s gain as the young actor ratchets up another high profile acting job.

Bharat Nalluri will direct this remake of the 2005 French film, Anthony Zimmer. This new Hollywood version has been penned by Oscar-winning screenwriters Julian Fellowes, Chris McQuarrie (who was brought in at the request of Cruise) and Bill Wheeler.

It’s not the only foreign remake that Worthington has become attached to, he’s also currently set to star in a new version of the Danish thriller The Candidate, a film which is allegedly similar to David Fincher’s superb Michael Douglas starrer The Game.

The Tourist starts shooting in January 2010.

Meanwhile James Cameron’s Avatar opens on December 18, 2009

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Revenge of The Fallen meets Dawn of the Dinosaurs; it’ll take 6 years to see the last Airbender; Adams looks on as Batman fights Marky Mark; George Clooney leaves Warner Bros; The Green Hornet is delayed and Tony Scott, Denzel Washington and Chris Pine are stoppable.Box Office

Sandra Bullock’s The Proposal banked a little less than $14 million bringing the total of the comedy to $86 million. The magic century mark is within spitting distance.

The Hangover is hanging in there with a gross of $4.5 million. The R-rated comedy now has a spectacular total of $198 million.

The Cameron Diaz starring My Sisters Keeper took about $6 million giving the film a total of $23 million. The Taking Of Pelham 123 has so far taken $56.9 million – look for it to stop at the $60 million mar.. Year One banked just over $2 million for a flaccid $37 million total while Night at the Museum 2: Battle Of The Smithsonian took home just under $2 million to bring its grand total to $166 million.

Movie News

1. Now that the marketing machine has started up for M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender all eyes have turned to the potential sequels to the film.

The producer of the film, Frank Marshall has discussed the possible time frame of the sequel and Shaymalan’s involvement. Marshall said:

“One of the things we’ll be doing is using the sets, ships and elements for each different nation in this film and incorporating them into movies two and three. We’re not waiting. There just isn’t enough time. Night will finish this movie, then the script and then we’ll prepare for the next one. I think it’ll probably happen over six years.”

I’ve been a fan of Shayamalan’s work for the last decade or so, and while I will admit that his films have been declining since he made his mark with The Sixth Sense I’ve always been willing to defend his choices. However, I can’t say that I’m looking forward to The Last Airbender. I’m not a fan of animation and the film looks terrible.

I know that there’s a lot of people out there looking forward to this – but I’m not one of them.

Source: SlashFilm

2. Amy Adams will join Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg in David O. Russell’s The Fighter.

“(The long in-development film) revolves around the life of boxer “Irish” Mickey Ward (Wahlberg) and trainer-brother Dick Eklund (Bale), chronicling their early days on the rough streets of Lowell, Mass., through Eklund’s battle with drugs and Ward’s eventual world championship in London.”

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Bale will be intense, Wahlberg will be wooden and Adams will be a love interest.

Over the years Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and Darren Aronofsky have been attached to the troubled film that is set to start shooting soon.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

3. George Clooney is ending his longstanding relationship with Warner Bros. The star along with his producing partner Grant Heslov will move their Smokehouse production company off the Warner lot to Sony Pictures.

Warner Bros has been behind most of Clooney’s big hits over the years from his star-making stint in ER through to The Perfect Storm and The Ocean’s trilogy.

Read the press release below to see what Sony head Amy Pascal and Clooney have to say, as well as a list of the films that Smokehouse is currently developing:

“George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smokehouse Pictures are in final negotiations to sign an exclusive two-year theatrical development and production deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment, it was announced today by Amy Pascal, Co-Chairman of Sony Picture Entertainment and Chairman of the studio’s Motion Picture Group.”

“Commenting on the announcement, Clooney said, ‘Warner Bros. has been a great place to work and I’ve felt like part of a family for almost 20 years. So in moving on, I’m leaving a terrific company and a lot of dear friends. They’re a class act. In looking ahead, I’m tremendously excited to be working at Sony Pictures, and we all feel like it’s a perfect match for Smokehouse. Grant Heslov and I hope to deliver the kind of films that will make them proud.’”

“We admire and respect George and Grant as filmmakers and producers and we couldn’t be more excited to be in business with them and their talented team at Smokehouse Pictures,” said Pascal. “The broad range of quality projects they have championed and the compelling and sometimes provocative material they support says everything about their company and their creative aspirations. While we have been trimming production deals overall for the last few years, we see real value in opening our doors to producers with their critical and commercial track record and their artistic point of view, and we know they will be a fantastic addition to the Sony Pictures family.”

“My nine year relationship with Warner Bros. was extremely gratifying and now, George and I look forward to Smokehouse being a part of the Sony family,” Heslov said.

The Smokehouse Pictures team includes Senior Vice President of Development Nina Wolarsky, and creative executive Alex Meenehan. The company is currently in development on the following projects with Warner Bros:

THE CHALLENGE
Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin. An adaptation of Jonathan Mahler’s nonfiction book chronicling the historic Supreme Court case in which two lawyers sued the Bush administration on behalf of accused terrorist Salim Hamdan.

OUR BRAND IS CRISIS
A satirical comedy about American spin doctors competing in the same Presidential election in Bolivia. Based on the documentary by Rachel Boynton, with a script by Peter Straughan (MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS).
FARRAGUT NORTH
An adaptation of Beau Willimon’s critically acclaimed play, set during the Iowa primary of a presidential race.

ESCAPE FROM TEHRAN
The true story of how the CIA used a fake movie project to smuggle hostages out of 1979 Tehran. Chris Terrio is writing the screenplay.

THE TOURIST
A contemporary spy thriller about a spy who risks everything to reveal a conspiracy after he’s accused of a murder he didn’t commit. Based on the bestselling book by Olen Steinhauer. Tony Peckham is writing the screenplay.

THE INNOCENT MAN
Based on the bestselling nonfiction book by John Grisham, the true story of murder and injustice in a small town in Oklahoma. Adapted by David Gordon Green..”

The irony of this story being that just days before this deal was sealed Pascal ditched Clooney’s Ocean movie pals Steven Soderbergh and Brad Pitt’s Moneyball due to script issues.

Source: Deadline Hollywood

4. Those of you who have been waiting to see Seth Rogan as The Green Hornet better prepare to wait a little bit longer.

The comic book adaptation’s release date has now been changed from June 25, 2010 to July 9, 2010 release. It’s only two weeks so don’t worry too much.

The Michel Gondry directed Green Hornet will now be sandwiched between Toy Story 3 and Twilight: New Moon.

Source: Film School Rejects

5. It looks like Tony Scott’s runaway train film Unstoppable might be…er stoppable after all.

The film was set to star Scott’s go-to-guy Denzel Washington and Star Trek’s Chris Pine, however 20^th Century Fox have hot the brakes of the film because of budget concerns.

Unstoppable was set to go before cameras this fall but that start date now looks uncertain. One of the reasons for the studios cold feet is the so-so performance of the latest Scott and Washington action film The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 which has so far grossed $56 million from an estimated $100 million budget.

Washington currently gets $20 million a film while Pine is probably asking for a couple of million following the success of Star Trek.

More when we get it.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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

Currently Cruise has four potential projects in development, with studios spending HUGE amounts of money paying top-tier writers to help tailor the scripts to meet Cruise’s needs.

The four films in the top gun’s firing line include Motorcade, The Tourist, The Matarese Circle and Wichita (with Vanilla Sky co-star Cameron Diaz). Two potential films that have been dropped from his list of potentials include The 28th Amendment (to be directed by (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck), and the romantic comedy Lost For Words (set to be helmed by Susanne Bier). It really is a war of the words.

The world may be undergoing financial troubles right now, and Hollywood may be cutting prices on movie stars and writers, but it would appear that in order to catch Tom Cruise the studios are really showing the color of money.

Script doctors have been making as much as $250,000 a week, for two-to-six week’s work on scripts for Cruise. For some it might be a risky business for others it just shows that the Hollywood legend really is a rain man.

Writers who have been shown the money include Scott Frank, Paul Attanasio, Richard Curtis, Billy Ray, Valkyrie writer Christopher McQuarrie, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The studios involved must have some serious collateral to pay that sort of money out for one man. Having said that, the script doctors that Cruise has chosen are a few good men.

The star hasn’t made the firm commitment to any of the films – but I feel that David Cronenberg’s The Matarese Circle is far and away the most likely choice, as it would team Cruise with fellow A-lister Denzel Washington.

In the last couple of years the press have been saying that Cruise was “losin’ it” with regards to box office appeal, but if he still has all the right moves he should be making a choice soon. With so many scripts to choose from it must be mission: impossible. It would probably be best for Tom to select scripts with his eyes wide shut!

More Cruise news when we get it. (I’m all punned out.)

Source: Variety

This week:

Baz Luhrmann gets Gatsby; Brian Helgeland adds Salt; Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise believe that four times is a charm and Parmount Pictures finally get to know Jack!

Box Office

It was the battle of the A-Listers at the box office and against all odds Jim Carrey captured the top spot with Yes Man. A weekend take of $19 million should ensue. Will Smith had to vacate his usual number one position and settle for the runner-up place with Seven Pounds. The drama should make around $15 million this weekend. The Day The Earth Stood Still crashed and burned this weekend dropping a mighty 75% and grossing just $10 million. It looks like the Keanu Reeves film will have to make its coin back on DVD. Not good. You hear that Fox?

Four Christmases grossed another $8 million helping the “comedy” cross the magic $100 million mark. Ho Ho Ho! Gran Torino grossed $115,000 from 19 locations and the Mickey Rourke drama The Wrestler might make $200, 000 only four theatres. What a body slam!

Movie News

1. The Great Gatsby will return to the big screen under the direction of Australia helmer Baz Luhrmann. The film, which is based on the legendary novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, tells the tale of Gatsby, a lonely millionaire and his long lost love Daisy Buchanan.

The book is a masterpiece and I’m quite fond of the 1970’s Robert Redford film, so I’m pretty interested to see how this turns out.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

2. Oscar winning screenwriter Brian Helgeland has been hired to polish Kurt Wimmer’s script for the Angelina Jolie action film Salt (formerly Edwin A. Salt).

Phillip Noyce will direct the film which Sony hopes will become a major franchise for the studio.

Source: Daily Script

3. Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise must have enjoyed working together on the forthcoming Valkyrie as the duo have three other projects on the boil. McQuarrie will co-write Flying Tigers which is:

” based on the volunteer fighter squadron formed to help the Chinese fight the Japanese before the U.S. entered World War II.”

According to Variety:

“McQuarrie also is writing and producing with Guillermo del Toro the previously announced United Artists project The Champions, penning the script with an eye toward hammering it into a Cruise vehicle. The British TV series transfer concerns a team of government agents rescued from a plane crash in the Himalayas by an advanced civilization and given superhuman abilities.”

McQuarrie is currently rewriting Jullian Fellows’ The Tourist, a spy thriller in which Cruise will star with Charlize Theron.

Source: Variety

4. It looks like Paramount Pictures will soon have a script for their Jack Ryan reboot. Hossein Amini will write the script for the film which has no title, no star, no director and until now no story (that we know of). At he very least it should get some talent interested.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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

Charlize Theron is “in negotiations” to join Tom in The Tourist, an espionage thriller that we told you about way back in August. According to Variety:

“Theron will play a female Interpol agent who uses an American tourist in an attempt to flush out an elusive criminal with whom she once had an affair.”There’s no word on who little Tom will play yet, but I’d place my money on the American Tourist. However, that’s just me playing it safe – he could be the “elusive criminal”, but because this is a Tom Cruise vehicle I’d say my money is safe. Maybe.

The script was originally penned by Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park), but Christopher McQuarrie who helped script Cruise’s latest Valkyrie is doing a polish.

The Bharat Nalluri directed remake of the 2005 French film Anthony Zimmer is due to start shooting in March.

Meanwhile Cruise can next be seen the the WWII thriller Valkyrie which opens on December 26, while Theron will be seen in the adaptation of Cormac Mc Carthy’s The Road which has been delayed until some date in 2009.

Source: Variety

Now, it’s not like Tom (I write about him so often he feels like a friend) has no intention of making these films – he wouldn’t be so mean. It’s just that in Hollywood things take time and different projects have different gestation periods.

The latest possible film to catch Tom’s eye is Sleeper which is based on a comic book by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.

If you can’t tell from the headline – Sam Raimi will produce and possibly direct.

According to the Hollywood Reporter the plot of the comic book follows:

“ An operative whose fusion with an alien artifact makes him impervious to pain and allows him to pass it on to others through skin contact. He is placed undercover in a villainous organization by an intelligence agency and falls for a member of the group, named Miss Misery.”

The film is being set up at Warner Bros. who hope that the film will become, yep you guessed it – a franchise!

Now be warned, Tom may not star in this. It now looks like his next film will indeed be The Tourist (though that could change) but Raimi apparently loves the comic book, so there’s a good chance that this will see the light of day. Or should that be the darkness of the cinema? Who knows.

There are a few legal issues over the rights of the film/comic book, but that shouldn’t bother Warner Bros. who I’m sure will just plough away with the film regardless. Just kidding, the Warner legal team are going over this sucker with a fine tooth comb. I mean the last thing you’d want is to spend $100 million on a film and then find out you don’t have the rights to release the bloody thing! Right?

More on Sleeper as we get it.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Love him or loathe him, Cruise has had an incredible career and you have to admit that his place in film history is secure. However in the last few years the star has had a bit of a rough time, not only from the press, but also by the head honchos in Hollywood.

This week has seen a flurry of Tom Cruise related news, and as Screen Rant’s main Cruise supporter and apologist it has come down to me to report it.

We have seen Valkyrie’s release date change (again), Cruise drop out of Edwin A. Salt, the star realize that he has a love of comedy – as well as thriller and his friend/ mentor Paula Wagner was booted from the United Artists lot.

Following several test screenings of Cruise’s Nazi thriller Valkyrie, MGM has decided to move the release date forward to December 26th. The film has been moved all over the release schedules, with the last date being set for Valentine’s day 2009 – but it would appear that the studio wants to show the film some Oscar love. Another reason for the move is that the tests went so well that the studio feels that they could have a major hit on their hands and they want to maximise box office potential over the holiday season.

For the past few months Cruise has also shown a major interest in spy-thriller Edwin A. Salt, a film that is to be directed by Phillip Noyce. However, it would appear that Cruise didn’t like the film enough to commit and now the film is being retooled as a starring vehicle for Angelina Jolie!

It seems like Tropic Thunder has unleashed Cruise’s love of comedy as the actor is now in talks to star in chef-comedy Food Fight. The Steven Brill directed film would see Cruise star as a high class chef who is forced to cook in a school cafeteria. High-jinks will obviously ensue and I presume that a lesson will be learned.

Cruise has also shown an interest in The Tourist, a remake of a French thriller from 2005. Bharat Nalluri will direct the film which has been written by Gosford Park’s Julian Fellows.

Meanwhile, Paula Wagner – Cruise’s producing partner and Chief of United Artists has quit her post. Depending on who you believe Wagner was either fired or quit in order to return to her first love of producing.

According to Deadline Hollywood’s Nikki Finke – Wagner’s indecision on pulling the trigger on film production was major factor in her departure. Her lack of green lighting put the $500 million funding package in jeopardy, leaving the studio no other option but to fire Wagner, move the release date of Valkyrie and greenlight several films.

Wagner had this to say:

“I’ve truly relished working with my longtime partner Tom Cruise to revitalize United Artists, and I am proud of all that we’ve accomplished in the past two years, reinvigorating the brand and developing such a strong slate of films,” she said. “But I always tell my sons, ‘Follow your passion’ — and I’ve got to follow that advice myself. As much as I’ve enjoyed my time as an executive, I have longed to return to my true love, which is making movies, so that’s what I’ve decided to do. I still believe in our vision for UA, and I am confident that Harry Sloan and our colleagues at MGM will see that vision through to reality.”

What a week for Tom Cruise.

We will have more on these films when (and if) they move forward in development.

Sources: Variety, Hollywood Reporter and Deadline Hollywood

George Clooney becomes a Tourist, Harrison Ford dabbles in science, Amanda Peet gets her diary ready for 2012, The Three Musketeers make a comeback (come on – if Stallone can do it so can they!) Liam Nesson and James Nesbitt return to Ireland and Val Kilmer and 50 Cent make sweet music together.

1. George Clooney is being tapped to star in The Tourist, an adaptation of a Olen Steinhauer novel.

“The Tourist is a contemporary international thriller about a spy who risks everything to reveal a conspiracy after he’s accused of a murder he didn’t commit.”

It sounds a bit generic, but if Clooney has a hand in it expect it to have a 1970’s feel like Sydney Pollack’s Three Days of the Condor.

This could be a good franchise starter. Clooney will produce the script by Anthony Peckham with his Smokehouse partner Grant Heslov.

Source: Variety

2. Harrison Ford will star in Crowley. The Robert Nelson Jacobs scripted film is based on the true story of John and Aileen Crowley, whose two children had a rare genetic disease, they found a researcher (to be played by Ford) who had a possible cure.

CBS Films hope that the film will be going into production soon. It doesn’t sound overly exciting, but I suspect that Ford might get his second Oscar nomination and that the film will under go a change of title.

Source: Variety

3. Amanda Peet has signed up to star in Roland Emmerich’s 2012. Peet will Co-star alonside John Cusack, Danny Glover and Oliver Platt. It’s the third teaming of Cusack and Peet following Identity and Martian Child.

The film should be going before cameras soon, that is if the SAG don’t strike.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

4. The Three Musketeers are making a return to the big screen. Millennium films plan a series of movies to show the adventures of Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D’Artagnan. The first film will show how the Musketeers first decided that they should be “One for all, and all for one.”

The youngest member of the group D’Artagnan may be introduced at the end of the first movie or in the second movie in the franchise.

The Alexandre Dumas novel has entered the public domain, so you could say that the rights are “free for all and all for one”

Sorry. It was either that or a Dumas joke.

Source: Variety

5. Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt will star in Five Minutes of Heaven, a drama set in Northern Ireland from the outbreak of the troubles in the 1960’s through to the Good Friday Agreement in the 1990’s.

Oliver Hirschbiegel the director of Downfalland the ill-fated Nicole Kidman – Daniel Craig starrer Invasion will helm the film.

Nesbitt starred in the Paul Greengrass directed Bloody Sunday , and if you look very, very closely you’ll see me in the crowd scenes. However, don’t hold your breath!

Source: Dark Horizons

6. Aaron Ashmore will Join Val Kilmer in the Sci-Fi horror The Thaw.

Mark A. Lewis’ film starts shooting on Monday in Canada. The film follows the fight for survival of an artic research team whose lives are threatened by a parasite which has been freed by the melting polar icecaps.

Meanwhile Kilmer and 50 Cent are planning a Christmas hit – Christmas is Calling. The pair recently co-starred in Streets of Blood a New Orleans set drama.

Source: Variety and Val Kilmer

That’s it for another week. I’ll see you at the movies!