Or so says director Sam Raimi: “We want to be really faithful to the game. We would have our writer, Robert Rodat, really craft an original story within that world that feels like a ‘World of WarCraft’ adventure. Only obviously, it’s very different ’cause it’s expanded and translated into the world of a motion picture."

While the plot originally centered on the Lich King, apparently that was recently changed. It’s unclear whether the film will be based on a central character or a new idea altogether. Says Raimi, “I think we would try and find touchstones within the game to make it accurate and true and choose one or some of the lands that are portrayed in the game with as much accuracy and authenticity as possible.”

I’m familiar with the World of Warcraft mythology, but I wonder if the movie will be enticing for people who aren’t familiar with the WoW universe…

Post from: Film Gecko

But no, this is a Disney movie and has nothing to do with "Seinfeld." It’s based on an original idea by studio production president Oren Aviv (pictured, left, with Bob Iger), and centers on a corporate hatchet man who wakes up one morning and finds he must follow the exact opposite of his normal routine. I’m sure all hilarity ensues.

"Nancy Drew" scribe Tiffany Paulsen has been hired to write it; I really like that movie, so that’s a good sign. She’s also attached to write "Further Adventures of Babysitting," Disney’s remake of the 1980s teen hit.

Aviv has a great record, too, including the "National Treasure" franchise, for which he received a story credit.

Image: INF; Source: Hollywood Reporter

Post from: Film Gecko

"We’re hopefully going to have everyone, obviously, from the first cast,” says Abrams. “I keep trying to spread this rumor that I’m going to recast Kirk as Greg Grunberg, but no one ever prints it.” Ok, there you go, Mr. Abrams.

He says that Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof and Roberto Orci have started work on the script, but he didn’t spill much about it. “Yes, we know the direction, but it’s very early. We’re working on a script right now still. I can tell you it’s cool. We have some really cool ideas, but it’s too early."

As for a “Mission Impossible 4” film, Abrams says this script is also in the works. “Yeah, we have a really cool story. It’s being written right now by Andre Nemec and Josh Applebaum. We’re hoping to get [a draft] soon, like by the end of the year."

Sounds good on all counts. I’m a big “Fringe” fan (read my “Fringe” reviews over at TV Squad), and I’m usually all over anything by Abrams.

Excited for “Star Trek 2” and “Mission Impossible 4”?

Image: INF

Post from: Film Gecko

It’s an interesting turn of events that brought him to the script. George Nolfi, who worked on “The Bourne Ultimatum,” was originally tapped to pen the fourth entry, but had to step away because of his work on “The Adjustment Bureau,” based on a Philip K. Dick short story starring “Bourne” helmer Matt Damon.

Zetumer wrote “The Infiltrator” for Warner Bros. with Leonardo DiCaprio attached, as well as “Dune” (2010) for Peter Berg and Paramount.

Image: Amazon.com; Source: Hollywood Reporter

Post from: Film Gecko

Jordan Scott’s lawsuit claims that while she was writing her book, “The Nocturne,” she posted passages online, which Meyer then stole for her own book.

I haven’t read "The Nocturne,” but apparently, the books have similar language, storylines, and characters. Scott’s lawsuit, for example, states that both books contain a wedding passage and a post-wedding scene of sex on a beach. Ok, so … that particular storyline is probably in thousands of books – and probably even a few other vampire books.

Hachette Book Group, publisher of the “Twilight” series, says the "alleged similarities" are "wholly lacking in substance," and that Meyer based "Breaking Dawn" on an earlier, unpublished sequel to "Twilight" that she wrote.

"The Nocturne," which Scott started writing at age 15 in 2003, had an initial printing of 5,000 books and is about to go into a second printing, according to her lawsuit.

What do you think? Any basis for a lawsuit here?

Image: Bauer-Griffin; Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Post from: Film Gecko

Things get even more complicated when Jane learns that her architect, Adam (Steve Martin), is interested in her, too. The stellar cast also includes John Krasinski (“The Office”), Hunter Parrish (“Weeds”), and Lake Bell. See what I mean about the cast? They must have had a blast making this movie.

And it will be cool seeing Meryl playing a real-woman character, rather than a pop culture icon (Julia Child) or a woman most of us only see in the movies (“Mamma Mia!”). Personally, I don’t know anyone who owns a rustic B&B on an exotic Italian island. 

As for Nancy Meyers, her credits include a string of hits (in my mind, anyway), including “Something’s Gotta Give,” “What Women Want,” “The Parent Trap,” and “Father of the Bride.”

“It’s Complicated” hits theaters Dec. 25, 2009. I know which movie my daughter and I will see on our traditional Christmas Day theater sojourn! Are you looking forward to seeing it? Watch the trailer…

Image: Universal Pictures

Post from: Film Gecko

In case you weren’t around in 1968, the sci-fi action-adventure centers on a female mercenary (played by Jane Fonda) who roams the universe of a distant future, taking on missions requiring bravery, creativity, and sensuality. It was all very sexy.

Now a remake is in the works! Joe Gazzam is writing the screenplay, with original producer Dino De Laurentiis  and his wife, Martha De Laurentiis on board to produce the update.

Originally, Robert Rodriguez was eyeing the project for Universal in 2007 with Rose McGowan in mind to star. But the studio and director couldn’t agree on where to shoot, so they parted ways.

Now I’m wondering who will be directing, because it sounds like just the quirky, sci-fi flick that Rodriguez is so good at. And let’s hope they find a fresh new face to star, rather than turning to the usual suspects like Megan Fox or any number of other actresses populating movie theaters.

Buy the original "Barbarella" on DVD.

Image: Amazon.com

Post from: Film Gecko

What strikes me about the film is that most movies in the 1960s focused on the younger generation – the Woodstock generation. But this film concentrated on two wealthy, upper middle-class couples living in L.A. I was coveting their homes and cars and swimming pools, but of course, under the facade are  bunch of issues – sexual issues, in this case.

If you’re not familiar with the story, it follows two couples, played by Natalie Wood and Robert Culp, and Elliott Gould and Dyan Cannon, all contemplating what it means to be married and whether you can fool around outside the marriage and have it all be ok. They start out believing it IS ok, but by the end of the movie, when it comes down to whether they can swap spouses and be ok with it, that’s another story.

A few notes from Paul Mazursky:

A colleague said the film would be considered “dirty,” but Mazursky told him, “If I get Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, then it wouldn’t be dirty.” So it was a matter of casting the right actors.

He was “a little uptight” about auditioning three women who needed to sit naked in a room in the  movie, and joked that he did the auditions with his wife, Betsy, in the room. At least, I think he was joking. Maybe he was serious.

During the scene at the nightclub, when the foursome is entering the room, Robert Culp bumped into an extra played by Bill Cosby, his co-star in “I Spy” at the time.

On making movies about the upper middle class, Mazursky said “I treat them with affection, but my tendency is to have some satire in it … not that I was one of them. I was broke at the time I made this movie,” driving a brown and white Studebaker rather than the Jaguars and Cadillacs most Hollywood players owned. 

Mazursky and his wife Betsy went to the Esalen Institute, the center depicted in the opening scenes of the movie; he said they were “a version of of Bob and Carol.”

On getting the actors to strip down to their undies, even though they were covered by blankets and other things, “in those days, actresses like [Wood and Cannon] didn’t show their breasts,” Mazursky said. “Natalie had pasties on, which you didn’t see.” He added that “those were the greatest undies I’ve ever seen.” It’s true – the women’s undergarments in that movie are absolutely gorgeous!

“Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice” actually changed the course of history in the movies, because “up until this picture, they were reluctant to do a movie like this,” he said.

On the pot-smoking scene, Mazursky said, “I’m sure that Culp had smoked, but Natalie, I don’t really know.  Cary Grant introduced Dyan to acid.” (She was recently divorced from Grant when this movie was made.)

On the scene with Dyan and the psychiatrist, Mazursky said, “She was brilliant. No scene that I’ve ever done has been better than that scene with Dyan and the psychiatrist.” As a side note, that was Mazursky’s real-life psychiatrist, whom “later flipped, cracked up,” he said. “Because of me, I think.”

Mazursky said of the cast: “It was a very good cast. It’s hard to think of anyone else in this film. Elliott Gould is a very funny guy, and Natalie Wood was at a crossroads at this point. Her career had slowed down, and she was cautious about what to do next. But she read the script and loved it, and that was it.”

Robert Culp’s entire wardrobe in the movie came from his own closet, except for one thing. “I gave him the beads,” said Mazursky.

He said Quincy Jones was the first one to see the film, and he encouraged Mazursky to keep the “Hallelujah Chorus” at the beginning of the film, “and he added a few riffs here and there.”

As for whether the movie has a moral, Mazursky says, “If you have a message, let Western Union send it. That’s one thing I don’t like to do in my movies.”  

On using “What the World Needs Now” for the ending song, Mazursky said when he first heard it, “I got goosebumps.”

The cast kept asking for eight weeks how the movie would end, and whether the two couples would swap partners in bed. Mazursky said, “It was in the script, but it was unclear how it would go. I said, ‘I don’t know. Let’s wait and see.”

Any differences in the audiences then and now? Not really, he said. “I screened it for about 1000 people in the Czech Republic two years ago, and they went nuts over it. So it still seems to work.” It absolutely does.

Image: Zuma Press; Amazon.com

Post from: Film Gecko

Matthau has written a screenplay inspired by Leonard’s 1988 novel "Freaky Deaky,” and he’ll also direct the film adaptation of it, scheduled to begin production in January. The novel revolves around former 1960s radicals and their escapades in 1974 Los Angeles.

Matthau is producing the film through his Matthau Co., along with executive producers Simon Horsman of Future Films USA and Fred Pauzar of Blackwood Entertainment Group.

"I am the luckiest director in the world to be able to bring Elmore Leonard’s favorite and finest novel to the screen," Matthau said. Other Leonard film adaptations include "Out of Sight," "3:10 to Yuma," "Get Shorty," "Jackie Brown" and "The Big Bounce."

I’m excited about this project and wondering who they’ll get for the players. Probably some of the great crop of fresh young actors in the biz.

Image: Copyright Fine Line Features / New Line Cinema, All Rights Reserved.

Post from: Film Gecko

Brad Pitt remains on board to star, but Steven Soderbergh is out as director and writer. Based on Michael Lewis’ bestselling book, the story follows the Oakland A’s and their unorthodox approach to evaluating talent.

There’s no doubt that Sorkin is a talented writer. He recently completed “The Social Network” (a.k.a. the Facebook movie), and also penned 1992’s “A Few Good Men” and ABC’s “Sports Night” for ABC a decade ago.

Image: INF; Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Post from: Film Gecko