The UK Film Council Binned

The cut backs and tax rises from our newly formed government have struck another blow; this time its target was the UK Film Council. Deadline ran with the report that the decision confirmed in Parliament by Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has come about as part of the many cost cutting exercises that have combed the government funded public sector. Hunt stated;

"In the light of the current financial situation, and as party of our drive to increase openness and efficiency across Whitehall, it is the right time to look again at the role, size and scope of these organisations" 

The overall intention by the government is to have the UKFC to cease come April 2011. However, the government has did continue to back its £15 million commitment funded by the National Lottery and its tax relief system for home-grown film productions. 

Established in 2000 with an annual budget of £15million the UKFC was created to "stimulate a competitive, successful and vibrant UK film industry and culture, and to promote the widest possible enjoyment and understanding of cinema throughout the nations and regions of the UL." Though only blessed with a small budget, in modern cinema terms at least, it was a dedicated pot of money to invest in the British film industry, an industry dwarfed by its American counterpart. 

The UKFC facilitated many project categories, from the development of new promise or in benefiting major releases such as Armando Iannuci's In the Loop and Shane Meadows' This is England. 

The CEO of the UKFC, John Woodward has called the decision 'short sighted and potentially very damaging" and continued to say that there had been 'no notice or period of consultation". 

So what do we make of this? A necessary follow through on their own mandate to make the tough decisions in order to get Britain back on track, or is it a further back hand slap to current generation and  the individuals that aspire to be part of this creative and diverse industry? 

Nolan's Batman Finale Countdown Nears.

Good News Everyone! A source has sounded out that Christopher Nolan's Batman third incarnation is set to shoot in April 2011. We would be the first to be wary of just any source, but, in this case we will make a exception.
His name... is Michael Caine. [Irresistible] while talking at the premier of Nolan's INCEPTION, Caine was asked whether or not his character and Batman franchise stalwart Alfred would be returning for Batman 3.


His response did not give much away; " I don't know about that but I think they're going to do it in April,". Apart from the start date bombshell. Obviously.


Our response is this, considering Caine has appeared in Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight and Inception, or every film in other words, every film Nolan has directed since meeting on Batman Begins we would be highly surprised if Caine does not don the coat and tail attire one last time.  

This, as reported by Nolan, will act as a final chapter of a riveting trilogy. Nolan's vision turned the tide for comic adaptations solely being seen as a cash in the attic gimmick for Marvel and DC studios into engrossing film making.

Edward Norton You Wont Like Him When He's Angry

You may, as we did at first, think that the picture of Edward Norton was possibly a candid photo taken from his recent meeting between Marvel Studios; who, as it happens has just unceremoniously dumped Norton from reprising his incarnation of the Hulk from the upcoming The Avengers. The reason is beautifully ironic.


A statement from Marvel Studio's President of Production Kevin Fiege read:


“We have made the decision to not bring Ed Norton back to portray the title role of Bruce Banner in TheAvengers. Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members. The Avengers demands players who thrive working as part of an ensemble, as evidenced by Robert, Chris H, Chris E, Sam, Scarlett, and all of our talented casts. We are looking to announce a name actor who fulfills these requirements, and is passionate about the iconic role in the coming weeks.”


So what is being implied by Fiege is that the giant green bastard does not like to play nice and share his toy's with the other monster's, well... no shit. Honestly, we are thankful for the news. Hopefully, just maybe, with contractual obligations torn up with Marvel and the Hulk, Norton can get back to testing roles with depth, because there is no doubting he is a fine actor.

Favreau On Iron Man 3

With the Iron clad sequel raking up the worldwide revenue, Jon Faverau has spoke about his desire to return and continue his Iron Man solo outings. But, any future installments will have to wait for Avengers in 2O12 to wrap first.

So what did Favreau say exactly? “You’ve got to The Mandarin”, says the director, “the problem is, the way he’s depicted in the comic books…you don’t want to see that”. With The Mandarin as the prime candidate to square up to Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark in the next outing, one question is who is he? And what is that Favreau suggests we don’t want to see?

The way he is depicted is as a Chinese descendent, a scientific genius and master of martial arts. Brought up embittered against the world around him. He garners power from ten magical rings. Wait a minute,  here it is, in a super tech charged Iron Man Favreau concedes that this could be the problem, introducing the ‘supernatural’. But with the Avenger’s will bring Thor, and thus Favreau states ‘maybe introducing magic wont seem out of place’.

However, one thing is for sure, magic or no magic. Iron Man 3 will have to wait, a long wait, before movement begins in its production. 

MATT RICHARDSON

Judge Dredd The Second Attempt.

Talk about the new vision of Judge Dredd had gone very quiet over the last few months, staying under radar under the control of Andrew McDonald’s DNA Films, with scribe Alex Garland penning the latest incarnation. Now it has moved one step closer to production with Vantage Point/ Omagh director Pete Travis on board to direct.

Deadline has reported that this years Cannes festival is destined to be the auction hall for the project, that is being priced with a miniscule sub $5O million budget. Have they taken a look at what the recent Marvel mandate is attempting by chance? Less money equals more balls, or words to that effect.

Currently DNA Films has joined with Reliance Big Entertainment to source initial funding, they are now on the scour for studio backing to bring the latest vision to topple Sylvester Stallone’s 1995 effort.

MATT RICHARDSON

Anthony Hopkins joins Arabian Nights.

Anthony Hopkins is keeping himself busy on the back of Thor, according to Heat Vision Blog he is in the final reels of negotiations to sign on to Chuck Russell’s Arabian Nights.

The film is a period epic [is this the new 3D fad] written by Russell and Barry P. Ambrose, it centres on the already cast Liam Hemsworth, a young commander who joins forces with Sinbad, Ali Baba and the Genie in the lamp in a bid to rescue their queen, Scheherazade, after the king is murdered in a coup.

Hopkins will return to his villainous roots as Pharotu, an evil sorcerer who killed Sinbad’s love of the path to amass more magic.

Cameras are set to roll at the end of the summer.

MATT RICHARDSON

After what seems a prolonged absence from our screens with Jumper being his last major vehicle; it now appears that he will hit the screens again in the upcoming novel adaptation The Genesis Code, headed by director David R. Ellis.

Written by John Case: The Genesis Code follows Joe Lassiter, an ex FBI investigator on the trail of revenge following the murder of his sister and young nephew. With the killer hospitalised, he is driven to answer the question why? Despite police warning, Lassiter strides further into murky inter connected deaths and a religious fundamentalist group named The Shadow Of The Cross. For those who have noticed, yes it does sound very much like the story will step on the toes of Dan Brown’s style of novella, and of course Ron Howards incarnations; see The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons. 

So what do we know from the off? Well, Hayden Christensen casting does not naturally fit the bill for the lead character, firstly he is much younger than the character Lassiter and secondly as Jumper indicated, he is not a leading hero role actor, not yet at any rate.

David R. Ellis’s recent previous efforts include: Snakes on a Plane and The Final Destination, so what do we think he is capable of at the helm of this project? Don’t hold your breath, is our first reaction, but as ever we are not willing to write off any project until we start seeing some raw footage.

MATT RICHARDSON.

The Nightmare Continues

Well after an opening weekend that garnered 3O million in the bank, Warner Brothers have started to make the necessary steps to brink dream horror A Nightmare On Elm Street back for a sequel; in 3D no less.

“We don’t have a story yet, but this is the largest horror opening in the April may corridor, and it just proves there’s a lot left in the franchise” Warner distribution president Dan Fellman tells The Wrap.

So despite luke warm critical reviews; was it ever going to receive anything else? Its seems that there is enough profitability in the old tank yet for Krueger and chums.

Producer Andrew Form told Dread Central.  “It would be amazing to work with Jackie and the cast again. Unfortunately, as far as we know right now, Sam wouldn’t be back to direct the follow-up, but we’d love to come back to Elm Street because Freddy always has a story to tell. We definitely left ourselves open for a sequel so it would be a great privilege to get to do another Nightmare film."

And on the film being potentially in 3d fellow producer Brad Fuller commented. "We think that 3D movies have to be designed and written as such. If Eric Heisserer and Wesley Strick came to us with a Nightmare script that is for a 3D movie, we’d be fools not to make it.”

Nothing is set in stone, but the future looks just rosy for our dream state serial killer.

MATT RICHARDSON

Pirates Cutting Corners

When Rob Marshall shepherds his cast on the latest pirates of the Caribbean installment; he will do so with a budget cut by a third in comparison to the Gore Verbinski had for the last installment, due to the scaling down that Disney chairman Rich Ross is putting in place.

The LA Times blames the an increase the cost of making movies and its ‘stunning’ effects over the money that a movie can generate at the box office and dvd sales.. [Cynically we await the announcement that Stranger Tides will under take the cheaper post production 3D convert that will see ticket prices hiked]  

However, this may just be a blessing in disguise for the project. After all, the sequels to the enjoyable original have felt over bloated with countless plot lines and special effects. So if the scale down means that screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio have to sharpen up there script in terms of characterization over spectacle we may find ourselves with a better Pirates films than we otherwise envisaged.  

MATT RICHARDSON

GR3MLINS:

Why break a trend if you can help it? The 8Os classic Gremlins is set to join the ranks of films that should be left alone… but aren’t by soon to be created voodoo torture doll studio execs. The original director Joe Dante speaks about the possibility of the next green menace outbreak.

“It’s been heavily booted around on the internet that there is a Gremlins 3 and then somebody said ‘Gremlins 3? Gremlins 3-D! I bet it’s a sequel in 3-D and I bet they’re gonna ask Joe to do it!” Well the answer is no, no and no.”

Yet, Dante does belief that it will happen, as a natural occurrence that is taking over Hollywood.

“I’m sure it’ll happen. It’s too valuable a title to not get the remake treatment. I think it will be a remake rather than a sequel. I think they’ll start over and do a remake or a sequel.”

Well, it is not really the big “No!” announcement that they are doing it, but it is the murmurings of disquiet that it is only a matter of time. 


MATT RICHARDSON

Fox Exec's Go Commando

Somewhere...Somehow...Someone's Going to Pay! Our thought's exactly. Short of using every conceivable explosive against the Fox network, without out a scratch to ourselves, what can one say to this news? Let of some steam? So I shall. Have you run out of ideas Hollywood? Is it a mandate for studio’s to trample on every god given classic you can get your hands on? What on earth would possess twentieth century Fox to remake 8O’s gun toting action fest Commando.

Don’t get us wrong; this is not like retreading a classic in the sense of Halloween like Rob Zombie; still Commando is a film that is so ridiculous its  finds itself in the niche ‘guilty pleasure’ market. But honestly, a remake, reboot, re-imaging… however each way you put it…it is just plain wrong.

David Ayer notable for his writing credit for Training Day; and behind the lens with Street Kings has been recruited to bring this nightmare to the screens. No confirmed details surrounding the plot have been released; in honesty was there one in the original?

As the news comes will keep you posted. Still, surely studio’s can do better than this

MATT RICHARDSON

Ghostbusters Update:

Well it seems all the talk of Ghostbusters 3 will not cease, the will they wont they has to some point been landed at the door step of star Bill Murray, however  after speaking with Coming Soon it seems that this is not the case.

According to Murray it seems that the recent trouble with getting the production off the ground is the under performance of last year’s steamer Year One. Of course it just so happened that the film was directed by Ghostbusters Harold Ramis, and was written by the crack team that was charged with the task of creating the Ghostbusters 3 screenplay. So despite good reactions to said screenplay, it appears that the studio executives have got a bit twitchy.

Murray says “These guys that were supposedly the writers that were going to do it, they wrote a film that came out and people saw the film and went, ‘We’re not going to do it after all, are we?’.

But Murray recently on David letterman revealed that he enjoyed working on the recent Ghostbusters video game and then backed that up while speaking with Coming Soon adding ‘Maybe it’d be fun to do… the guys are funny and I miss Rick Moranis and Annie Potts and Danny Aykroyd. That’s really a big part of it.”

So there you have it, if you think it is Bill Murray holding back, think again, there is certainly interest in the ‘irritating’ ghostbusters 3 saga. Whether or not the trust is their with the studio, or indeed the writers who shall remain nameless, it does look like it still a long way down the road.

MATT RICHARDSON

The Hobbit Update

With all the financial hoohah [that's the technical term were sticking with] over at MGM, speculation has consumed the message boards about the state of their most prized and high profile assets, namely: The Hobbit and Bond 23. Up till now any concrete news about the production let alone the release dates of both projects are scarce, yet it looks like Warner Brothers know the score as they announce a December 2O12 release.


What we are waiting for however is some interaction from some of the major players, i.e Guillermo Del Toro or Peter Jackson would suffice, just to confirm that indeed The Hobbit is not in permanent stasis as is feared with Bond 23.


More news as it comes.


MATT RICHARDSON

Dwayne Johnson Joining Fast 5.

The next entry to the Fast and Furious franchise, currently working under the title of Fast 5 is looking to freshen up the macho stakes in the next installment with Dwayne Johnson considering a starring role in the project.


Reported by Deadline; it is clear that nothing has been set in concrete, but the role –  if accepted –  would see Johnson take up the role as a foe opposite Vin Diesel and Paul Walker.


At the moment Johnson is working with CBS Films on the drama Faster a revenge heist   thriller that see's him play the character 'Driver'. So it appears that a role in the upcoming revved up entry would be up his street.


At its best the franchise is a guilty pleasure; in this respect the appeal that Johnson would bring to the latest offering would be strong, there is no denying the charisma and presence that given the chance The Rock can deliver. With a summer 2011 release production will soon be kicking in to gear.


MATT RICHARDSON 

ICE AGE RETURNS.

With Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs becoming the most popular of the series it was only a matter of time before a further sequel was added, yet with each new installment the bar has been raised, so talk of another is met with a positive hum of approval.


In the briefest of all reports Variety has reported the following: new entry will be titled Ice Age: Continental Drift. Yes we know the geographical and historical values of these titles are just getting plain silly. It's a cartoon! It will be in 3D. Yes we know this is now mandatory. And it will arrive in summer of 2O12.


Though it has not been reported by Variety, we feel safe to speculate that there are no foreseeable issues with a returning cast with Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo and Queen Latifah surely set to return.


MATT RICHARDSON

Matthew Vaughn Locked In To First Class

Well after a relatively short bout of speculation X Men: First Class has locked in its director in the shape of Matthew Vaughn with Fox officially announcing that the Kick Ass director will release his latest in just over a year.


According to Heat Vision Blog have reported that after locking in Vaughn and a recent rewrite to the script peened by Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz Fox have a firm belief that they can get this project done and dusted for June 3rd next summer.


Based on the comic the film will introduce the beginning of the X Men universe, following the early days of mutant high, where Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr [Not yet Professor X and Magneto] were in unison; aiding the young mutants troubled by there newly discovered powers. 


Vaughn is no stranger to the X Men world, he was circling X Men The Last Stand after Bryan Singer went to do Superman Returns. But with this punishing schedule First Class is set to be an evener greater task than the 'final chapter' of the original X Men trilogy. 


MATT RICHARDSON

Update: Die Hard Five

Time must surely be running out to get the fifth potential Die Hard film off the ground; Bruce Willis' John McClane is only get closer to his pipe and slippers as each day goes by. 


Yet, According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox who have still not got a draft completed to satisfaction, have now started to negotiations with scribe Skip Woods to produce one.


Woods is not exactly a stellar candidate with his previous credits including Hitman, X Men Origins: Wolverine and Swordfish, though the glimmer of hope that is upcoming adaptation of the TV Series The A Team, this may just claw back some creditability.


But Fox want to push ahead after Die Hard 4.O or [Live Free And Die Hard] written by Mark Bomback and directed by Len Wiseman made $378 million worldwide. And that was after a fair amount of ribbing, after all it was released twenty years after the original New York Cop meets terrorist scenario. 


MATT RICHARDSON

Michel Gondry Talks 3D

With all the recent speculation concerning the Green Hornet: is it in 3D is it not? Are the studio executives getting twitchy fingers in handing over the reported sums of investment? Well Michel Gondry has been cornered to shed some insight by Latino Review.


Firstly Green Hornet is and always has been a 3D project. Secondly the studio is backing the project to the hilt. “If the film is not good, the studio will stop paying any money... Believe me, if they did not think the movie would be great they would stop spending any money on it. It's how big corporations work. They don't spend money to save a project, they spend money when they think they're going to get more money back." Says Gondry.


While you would imagine to hear nothing else from the helmer; not many people would come out and publicly announce a film in turmoil, Gondry at least is not one to hold punches on his thoughts at least.


MATT RICHARDSON

The Clash: Round Two

The Clash of The Titan's may have had its problems; whether you choose from its screenplay, delivery or the rushed through 3d conversion, yet it has made nearly $400 million worldwide. So it should be no surprise that Warner Brothers' are scratching around for a sequel.


Deadline Hollywood reports that the entire surviving cast members including Sam Worthington are likely to sign on, director Louis Leterrier is not concerned with taking up the reins on the next installment; so he can focus on something else apparently.


The studio are looking to put the sequel in to cinemas as early as 2012 with Green Lantern scribe Greg Berlanti ready to get to work on a treatment and executives already looking to possible writers and a replacement director for Leterrier.

MATT RICHARDSON

Sara Paxton Joins The Innkeepers

The Last House on the Left Sara Paxton has signed on to another horror flick in the shape of The Innkeepers which begins rolling cameras this week in Connecticut.

The Innkeepers is centered around the final two employees of the haunted hotel The Yankee Pedlar before it closes down for good after a hundred years in service.

The last remaining clerks, Claire [Paxton] and Luke [Pat Healy] are determined to prove that it is. And as mysterious guests check including a tv actress turned psychic and an old man insistent on staying in a particular room, as several occurrences begin to mount.

Writer director Ti West wLast House on the Left has based the idea on his new project after staying in a spooky inn while making that film.

MATT RICHARDSON

How To Train Your Dragon Franchise

The soaring popularity of How To Train Your Dragon which climbed back on top of he summit of the US box office charts has seen a future franchise being set up by Dreamworks, who want to get a sequel in the production.


Yesterday DreamWorks boss Jeffrey Katzenberg announced the studio's plans amid a financial report. "2010 is off to a strong start, thanks in large part to the performance of How To Train Your Dragon, which – having grossed nearly $375 million to date in worldwide box office – has become DreamWorks Animation's next franchise. We plan to release the sequel theatrically in 2013."


So there you have it, three years will allow a very short and strict timeline for a CGI picture like this one, but if everyone is in place it is not an impossible task.A plus point is that the original film acts as a prequel of sorts to Cressidad Cowell's original novel and she has a written a subsequent series of source material for future films.


MATT RICHARDSON

Pixar Announce Monster's Inc II

Toy Story 3 is set to christen cinemas worldwide shortly, but as but as always Pixar are hard at work on their upcoming developments and have delighted us with the announcement that a sequel to the 2001 feature Monster's Inc is officially being released November 16,  2012.

Disney Chairman Rich Ross did not reveal any details which like Toy Story will be kept under wraps to build and fester anticipation to a much loved Pixar classic. But with a release date set it means that these busy bees have being working on its development for some time now, yet Ross did not give any mention to an attached director, with original director Pete Doctor denying his involvement at the round of press junkets for UP; but that was before it was green lit officially of course.

This was not the only news to grace from the Disney/Pixar coalition with the sequel will be the second of two films released by the studio that year with the announcement of Brave, formerly titled The Bear And The Bow and is described as Pixar's first fairytale.

Brenda Chapman is in the directing chair for this one, with vocals being provided by Reese Witherspoon voicing a Scottish princess whose headstrong ambitions put her family in danger. June 15th,  2012 for this one.

MATT RICHARDSON

Marvel To Go Small Scale

With each evolution of the comic book adaptation genre, the scale grows with the landscape of CGI SCI FI fantasy blown to epic proportions thanks to James Cameron and Avatar. Where are Marvel set to go after the four character strong epic The Avengers? Rein it in apparently.

According to CHUDD, Marvel Studios' are currently discussing with a host of writers and directors on the possibility of small scale movies based on their long back catalogue of characters. The price bracket being banded around of twenty to forty million dollars is minute in comparison to modern day studio features; however it is seen as an experiment. Smaller budgets will allow the opportunity for more risk in terms of character, plot and using lesser known talents who would not be given the opportunity otherwise.

The characters being on the role call are Dr. Strange, KaZar, Luke Cage, Dazzler and Power Pack are among the long list of possibles to be put in to production. It is believed as long as the vision is right for Marvel tthere is no no go areas for possible productions, which is all a bit exiing really.

This plan will allow Marvel to do two things, one infilitrate cinema with an ever growing universe of their characters, and secondly deliver them in fresh and different ways. Without doubt the comic book adaptation market has dominated the box office since the millennium, but the with each new release the sameness is growing, smaller budget, more imaginative processes will allow they type of freedom to new upcoming talents to deliver something that is not prohibited by mainstream expectations from studios.

MATT RICHARDSON

MGM MELTDOWN: Bond Next To Suffer

It appears that the financial meltdown that MGM finds itself in is really taking a hold. First news filtered through that the upcoming Hobbit productions had been delayed from starting; and now it it has been officially announced that not even James Bond can withstand the enemy at the gates of MGM. Oh, their just bailiffs.

EON productions' Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli have put out a joint statement via Coming Soon that casts a dim light on the future of the project.

"Due to the continuing uncertainty surrounding the future of MGM and the failure to close a sale of the studio, we have suspended development on Bond 23 indefinitely. We do not know when development will resume and do not have a date for the release of the film."

Will Bond return? Of course its a british film institution Bond will always exist in some form on the big screen. However when we will next see our man? And will it be Daniel Craig when it does come about? However while only small moves by other studios to enquire how much MGM would be looking to sell up and cover the reported $4 billion debts against it is another question entirely.

This news of course will also stir the mystical pot of The Hobbit, is it heading the same way indefinate delay? Unfortunately it is a matter of waiting to find out.

Stripping the assets and its back catalogue of films in order to save itself from bankruptcy, the likes of Bond and The Hobbit are likely to be auctioned off in order to generate revenue, one thing is for sure, while these films are held by MGM, they will not get made.

MATT RICHARDSON

Green Lantern Update: Jon Tenney On Board

We reported not to long ago that Green Lantern was adding to its cast in the shape of.... Now Dc Comics latest offereing continues to fill in the gaps, this time with Jon Tenney; he will play Martin H. Jordan.

Tenney previouses include co-starring on cop drama The Closer, and has a prior role within the DC universe with appearing in the 90's TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman; playing a Kryptonian warrior who is seduced by Teri Hatcher.

Speaking with SuperHeroHype Tenney reveals, “The Closer's letting me shoot off in June a little bit, and im doing a picture called Green Lantern”. Before adding “Ryan Reynolds is the Green Lantern, and when he is a young boy, like 11, i'm his father. I'm Hal Jordan's dad. I'm very excited – it's incredible company”.

MATT RICHARDSON

New Writers For HeMan

He-Man And Masters of the Universe is need of a miracle touch, it is bogged down in development hell and has been for some time now. Its now boasts a host of stop starts and drafted scripts that have been thrown on to the heap. Now, two new writers are battling it out to create a script in the shape of Alex Litvak and Mike Finch.

Sony have turned to the recent Predators scribes after they managed to pitch and idea to both the studio and more importantly the rights holders Mattel, [who have in the past halted development over there dislike at characterisation of their leading characters] and both accepted the idea.

Of course details are scarce and will be, a lot of time and effort has gone into the project with the first draft written over two years ago by Justin Marks no-one will want to let the cat out the bag early on this one.

Yet, we imagine it is certain to stay close to the original lore that features the eternal battle between good and evil. In the 1980's TV show, He-Man centered on the warrior prince Adam, who would transform into the titular character; defending the planet Eternia from Skeletor desires to conquer the Castle Grayskull, which holds He-Man's powers.

More news as it comes.

MATT RICHARDSON