Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: August 10, 2008

Welcome to another fun filled installment of Screen Rant’s Weekend Movie News Wrap Up.

This week:

We see who is penning Flash Gordon, we learn some details about Alex Proyas’ Dracula Year Zero, discover what David Goyer is working on, Channing Tatum lines up something for after GI Joe and The Conversation goes to television.

1. The Flash Gordon Remake/ adaptation has now grabbed Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless to pen the script. The Neil Moritiz produced, Breck Eisner (Sahara) directed film is in production at Columbia.

I just hope the film is more like the 1980’s movie and less like the Si-Fi channel show.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

2. Speaking of Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, their script for Dracula Year Zero is to be directed by Robot and Dark City director Alex Proyas. Proyas recently gave some details about the Dracula prequel/origin story:

“You could see it as a prequel to Bram Stoker’s novel, in some ways. All the cool bits out of Francis Coppola’s “Dracula”. You can see it that way as well.”

It sounds like a cool idea. I hope that they change the title. It worked for Batman in a comic – that’s it!

Source: Moviehole

3.  David Goyer spoke with MTV about his upcoming film slate, the writer-director appears to be a very busy man. He’s got a Magneto film in the works, an Invisible Man film in the pipeline as well as a slew of comic book adaptations on the way.

Goyer had this to say:

“I’m writing a new version of ‘The Invisible Man’ for Universal I’m in the process of (doing that) right now, and I’m working with some conceptual artists in tandem with writing the script. I’m actually working with one of the artists from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. So it could be ‘Magneto’, or it could be The Invisible Man next.”

“Well, ‘The Invisible Man’, the Universal film, is a great movie, a Claude Rains film. My take is kind of an extrapolation. It actually deals with a nephew of the first character. It’s got some of the characters from the H.G. Wells book, but it’s kind of a continuation. It involves Scotland Yard getting their hands on the current Invisible Man and basically saying, ‘Wow, you’d be a really good secret agent to send into Imperial Russia right now. It starts off from there.”

“It kind of crosses a lot of genres. It’s very steam punk. I don’t want to give too much away, but I took what being invisible could mean to the next logical extreme. We do a lot of crazy things in it that are sort of far beyond what anyone’s done with it yet.”

I always enjoy a good Invisible Man film, so I really hope that it gets cooking before Magneto, because who really wants a Magneto spin-off?

Not me.

Source: MTV

4. Forthcoming GI Joe star Channing Tatum is attached to a free running film at New Line Cinema. The script written by Kevin Lund and T.J. Scott involves a pair of Parkour experts who use their skills in order to carry out crimes. The film will be directed by Rychie Smith, and it is currently without a title.

Tatum’s character will be called Peter Parkour.

Just kidding.

Man – Parkour is so 2005

Source: Variety

5. I have a real soft spot for the Francis Ford Coppola directed film The Conversation, starring Gene Hackman. The film plays like a low key prequel to Hackman’s Enemy of The State (that co-starred Will Smith). Seriously, watch the two movies back to back in a double bill – it’s worth it!

Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) and Erik Jenresen (Band of Brothers) are writing a television series based on the film for cable channel AMC.

The series will have the same 1970’s setting as the film.

I’m pretty interested in this, but as it’s a remake I won’t get too excited. The original is a masterpiece and it includes a beautiful performance from Gene Hackman and a strangely creepy turn from Harrison Ford.

Source: Variety

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