Friday, December 05, 2003
X-MEN 3: Bryan Singer in negotiations
Variety has reported that 20th Century Fox has signed director Bryan Singer to an overall development deal. The project will include projects for Singer to produce and direct. Singer has named his production company BAD HAT HARRY, which is a reference from his favorite film, Jaws.
This is the first studio production deal for Singer who first attracted attention with The Usual Suspects. “I’ve been stockpiling a number of different projects in movies, TV and videogames, and it’s great to have a base of operation and a place to put writers to work,” said Singer.
Fox and Singer have also begun separate negotiations for X-MEN 3. “We had such a fantastic experience with Bryan on X2,” said Hutch Parker, Fox production president. “He was a great partner who navigated the process, which included the magnitude of the budget, the number of visual effects, and our desire to build on the first film and make a better and more satisfying movie. The deal is an outgrowth of the strong relationship we built on those two films.”
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Thursday, December 04, 2003
IFP 2004 Nominees announced
I love seeing the nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards because they are such a refreshing change of pace from othe Oscars and the other big awards. These nominations capture a lot of what I liked about movies this year. Just look at the quality selection in the Best Feature category. Outstanding films. I was also glad to see Zooey Deschanel get nominated for her role in All the Real Girls. And although he will no doubt lose to Niki Reed, I was glad to see Victor Rasuk get nominated for Best Debut Performance. Raising Victor Vargas was a great, very independent film that I was afraid everybody had forgotten about. Enough rambling, here’s the list.
BEST FEATURE
American Splendor
In America
Lost in Translation
Raising Victor Vargas
Shattered Glass
BEST DIRECTOR
Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini, American Splendor
Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation
Jim Sheridan, In America
Peter Sollett, Raising Victor Vargas
Gus Van Sant, Elephant
BEST SCREENPLAY
American Splendor; Writers: Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini
Lost in Translation; Writer: Sofia Coppola
A Mighty Wind; Writers: Christopher Guest & Eugene Levy and the cast of A Mighty Wind
Pieces of April; Writer: Peter Hedges
Shattered Glass; Writer: Billy Ray
BEST FIRST FEATURE
Bomb the System; Director: Adam Bhala Lough; Producers: Ben Rekhi, Sol Tryon
House of Sand and Fog; Director: Vadim Perelman; Producers: Michael London, Vadim Perelman
Monster; Director: Patty Jenkins; Producers: Mark Damon, Donald Kushner, Clark Peterson, Charlize Theron, Brad Wyman
Quattro Noza; Director: Joey Curtis; Producer: Fredric King
Thirteen; Director: Catherine Hardwicke; Producers: Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Michael London
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)
Anne B. Real; Director: Lisa France; Writers: Lisa France, Antonio Macia; Producers: Josselyne Herman, Luis Moro, Jeanine Rohn
Better Luck Tomorrow; Director: Justin Lin; Writers: Ernesto M. Foronda, Justin Lin, Fabian Marquez; Producers: Julie Asato, Ernesto M. Foronda, Justin Lin
Pieces of April; Writer/Director: Peter Hedges; Producers: Alexis Alexanian, John S. Lyons, Gary Winick
The Station Agent; Writer/Director: Thomas McCarthy; Producers: Mary Jane Skalski, Robert May, Kathryn Tucker
Virgin; Writer/Director: Deborah Kampmeier; Producer: Sarah Schenck
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Blue Car; Writer: Karen Moncrieff
Monster; Writer: Patty Jenkins
Raising Victor Vargas; Writers: Peter Sollett and Eva Vives
The Station Agent; Writer: Thomas McCarthy
Thirteen; Writers: Catherine Hardwicke & Nikki Reed
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Agnes Bruckner, Blue Car
Zooey Deschanel, All the Real Girls
Samantha Morton, In America
Elisabeth Moss, Virgin
Charlize Theron, Monster
BEST MALE LEAD
Peter Dinklage, The Station Agent
Paul Giamatti, American Splendor
Sir Ben Kingsley, House of Sand and Fog
Bill Murray, Lost in Translation
Lee Pace, Soldier’s Girl
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Shohreh Aghdashloo, House of Sand and Fog
Sarah Bolger, In America
Patricia Clarkson, Pieces of April
Hope Davis, The Secret Lives of Dentists
Frances McDormand, Laurel Canyon
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Judah Friedlander, American Splendor
Troy Garity, Soldier’s Girl
Djimon Hounsou, In America
Alessandro Nivola, Laurel Canyon
Peter Sarsgaard, Shattered Glass
BEST DEBUT PERFORMANCE
Anna Kendrick, Camp
Judy Marte, Raising Victor Vargas
Victor Rasuk, Raising Victor Vargas
Nikki Reed, Thirteen
Janice Richardson, Anne B. Real
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Elephant, Harris Savides
In America, Declan Quinn
Northfork, M. David Mullen
Quattro Noza, Derek Cianfrance
Shattered Glass, Mandy Walker
BEST FOREIGN FILM
City of God - (Brazil); Director: Fernando Meirelles
Lilya 4-Ever - (Denmark); Director: Lukas Moodysson
The Magdalene Sisters - (England/Ireland); Director: Peter Mullan
The Triplets of Belleville - (France); Director: Sylvian Chomet
Whale Rider - (New Zealand); Director: Niki Caro
BEST DOCUMENTARY
The Fog of War; Director: Errol Morris
Mayor of the Sunset Strip; Director: George Hickenlooper
My Architect; Director: Nathaniel Kahn
OT: our town; Director: Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Power Trip; Director: Paul Devlin
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The Horror Channel launches
If you know many horror fans, you have probably heard rumblings about The Horror Channel. The project has been in development for some time and there was even an on-line petition circulating a while back. Well, it’s now official. The Horror Channel is launching just in time for Halloween 2004.
The Mission of the Channel is: To create the first and only 24-hour digital cable network dedicated to the Horror genre and to become the branded television gateway for the underserved Horror fan base.
The more cynical among you may be imagining a lame Sci-Fi Channel type network only focused on horror movies. A channel that would feature a few cheesy original shows and then fill the rest of their airtime with Friday the 13th movies that have all the tits and blood edited out. Fortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case. The channel plans to present all films un-cut and un-edited and when possible in the letterbox format. Very cool.
To make the project even better, check out the amazing roster of creative advisors they have assembled to help guide the programming:
• John Carpenter - Director, Screenwriter, Composer
• Roger Corman - Producer, Director
• Don Coscarelli - Director, Writer, Producer
• Wes Craven - Director, Screenwriter, Producer
• Guillermo del Toro - Director
• Mick Garris - Director
• Stuart Gordon - Director, Screenwriter
• Tobe Hooper - Director
• Lloyd Kaufman - Director, Screenwriter, Producer, Actor
• Alfredo Leone - Producer, Writer, Director, Inventor
• Lucky McKee - Director
• Robert Parigi - Writer, Director
• George Romero - Director, Screenwriter, Actor
• Eli Roth - Director
• Tom Savini - Make-up Artist, Actor, Special Effects
• Joe Wolf - Producer
• Rob Zombie - Musician, Director
So it looks like The Horror Channel has a shot at being something very cool. Get ready to upgrade your cable to digital so you won’t miss out on all the gory goodness.
For more information, check out the official website.
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Monica Bellucci in Brothers Grimm
The Italian magazine Chi recently scored a look at Monica Bellucci in Terry Gilliam’s upcoming film The Brother Grimm. Bellucci plays The Evil Queen in the film, which also stars Matt Damon and Heath Ledger as the titular brothers. Bellucci’s character is the ruler of a forest who must drink the blood of virgins in order to preserve her beauty.
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Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Peter Jackson talks KING KONG
Peter Jackson recently talked to Stuff, a New Zealand news website about his plans for his upcoming remake of King Kong. Jackson will take a short vactaion after the premiere of Return of the King and start serious preproduction work on Kong in January. The film will start shooting in August.
Approximately 80% of the film willbe shot at Jackson’s Miramar Studios, including Skull Island. “I’m interested in (King) Kong being quite stylised and the jungles of Skull Island I want to be very over-the-top, like a jungle from hell,” said Jackson. “I imagine we are going to be more successful pulling that off in the studio or in a back lot than we are trying to find a beech forest in the South Island.”
Jackson also confirmed that Naomi Watts will be playing the Fay Wray role in the film. “She got really excited and it was great. Naomi’s the only person that we’ve really approached because she’s becoming so eagerly sought after by everybody,” said Jackson.
No other leads have been cast as the script will be written from scratch starting in January.
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