Big Screen World of Movies
Words by H! Magazine 17/11/2008
WHAT’S ON SCREEN THIS MONTH… WHAT’S BEING FILMED AT THE MOMENT… AND WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE… MICKY REYNOLDS LOOKS INSIDE THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF MOVIES SIX OF THE BEST INTERNATIONAL RELEASES FOR NOVEMBER W. – 7 November (no release date for Spain)OLIVER STONE’s latest vehicle is a biopic chronicling the life and presidency of George W. Bush – and no it’s not a comedy. JOSH BROLIN, JAMES CROMWELL, ELLEN BURSTYN, THANDIE NEWTON Max Payne – 14 November (already released in Spain) For synopsis see main story. Quarantine – 14 November (7 November in Spain)This is a remake of the highly rated 2007 Spanish horror REC. The US government seals off an apartment complex in LA with the residents still inside after a deadly virus breaks out. A TV news crew enter to find out what is really going on. JENNIFER CARPENTER, STEVE HARRIS, JAY HERNANDEZ What Just Happened? – 21 November (no release date for Spain)Satirical comedy-drama about two weeks in the life of a fading Hollywood producer who’s having a rough time trying to get his new picture made while, at the same time, going through his second divorce. ROBERT DE NIRO, SEAN PENN, CATHERINE KEENER Hamlet 2 – 28 November (no release date for Spain)Comedy about a failed actor turned high-school drama teacher who stages a politically incorrect musical follow-up to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. STEVE COOGAN, CATHERINE KEENER, AMY POEHLER, DAVID ARQUETTE Passengers – 28 November (already released in Spain)After a plane crash, a young therapist is assigned by her mentor to counsel the flight’s five survivors and finds herself at the root of a mystery when her clients begin to disappear one-by-one. ANNE HATHAWAY, ANDRE BRAUGHER, PATRICK WILSON Next month: The Day the Earth Stood Still, Transporter 3 MAX PAYNEThe Omen director JOHN MOORE gives yet another cult computer game the big screen treatment, with MARK WAHLBERG portraying the titular maverick New York cop who sets out to track down the parties responsible for the brutal murder of his wife and young son, and bring them to justice – whatever it takes.After being reassigned to the “cold case” unit Max gets a lead through a murder mystery and teams up with a Russian assassin (MILA KUNIS) who herself is out to avenge her own sister’s death. After more mysterious killings the pair find themselves being hunted not just by the police, but by the mob, a ruthless corporation and enemies from beyond the natural world.The film opened in the States on 17 October to mixed reviews but the public gave it the thumbs up as, on its first weekend of release, it topped the box office charts, cashing up $18 million in the process. Also stars BEAU BRIDGES, CHRIS O’DONNELL, AMAURY NOLASCO, NELLY FURTADO, CHRIS “LUDACRIS” BRIDGES QUICK CLIPSn Both sides of the actors’ strike are still not playing ball with each other and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) wants to bring the trade to a standstill. At the end of September, in a poll of union members, 87 per cent of voters gave SAG leaders a vote of confidence. However, fewer than 10 per cent of its 120,000 members bothered to vote, showing that the majority just want to get on with their work. n WILL SMITH might not be Hollywood’s highest earner anymore (see next paragraph) but big bucks will be in the bank with the I Am Legend prequel as he reprises his role as scientist Robert Neville. The film will chronicle the final days in New York before the man-made virus caused a plague that left Smith’s character the only human survivor in a city full of mutants. He has also purchased the rights to The Last Pharaoh and will himself play Taharqa, an Egyptian leader who battled Assyrian invaders in 677 BC. Braveheart writer RANDALL WALLACE is penning the script. n When JOHNNY DEPP recently signed a three-film deal he inherited the title of top dog on Tinseltown’s “rich list”. As everyone must already know he is returning as loveable rogue Jack Sparrow for Pirates of the Caribbean 4; playing Tonto, the Red Indian sidekick of the Lone Ranger (a role that GEORGE CLOONEY wants); and, as mentioned in September, he will don the headwear of the Mad Hatter for TIM BURTON’s Alice in Wonderland. Joining him on set for that will be Little Britain’s MATT LUCAS as both Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum; HELENA BONHAM CARTER as the Red Queen; and ANNE HATHAWAY as her banished sister, the White Queen; plus British thespian MICHAEL SHEEN, who has a yet to be decided role. n SHEEN is currently working on the suspense thriller Unthinkable. BRANDON (Superman) ROUTH and GILL (Ally McBeal) BELLOWS are members of an FBI anti-terrorism team run by CARRIE-ANN MOSS (The Matrix), who with the help of a black-ops agent (SAMUEL L. JACKSON) must interrogate an American Muslim (Sheen) who claims to have planted nuclear bombs in three US cities. n SAMUEL L. has also confirmed he will return as Marvel army hero Nick Fury in Iron Man 2 after making a cameo appearance right at the end of the first one – for those who missed it he appeared in Tony Stark’s office after the credits had finished. ROBERT DOWNEY JR. is back in the hero’s role and GWYNETH PALTROW is expected to return as Stark’s assistant Pepper Potts but TERRENCE HOWARD has been replaced by DON CHEADLE as Jim Rhodes, Tony Stark’s best friend and future armor-clad hero, War Machine. n Legendary 20
th century British horror studio Hammer has just started work on its first movie since 1976. The Wake Wood tells of a grieving couple who are offered the chance to spend three days with their recently deceased daughter after she was mauled by a vicious dog. TIMOTHY SPALL, EVA BIRTHISTLE and RUTH McCABE are all on board. At its peak in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s, the Hammer Studio churned out many horror classics including several featuring the Prince of Darkness – Dracula. n Director JULIE TAYMOR has turned her version of SHAKESPEARE’s The Tempest on its head, changing the lead character from male to female to accommodate HELEN MIRREN. Prospero, the exiled duke-turned-sorcerer, is now Prospera; together with her daughter (FELICITY JONES), she is shipwrecked with a ship’s crew who are her enemies. Also stranded are JEREMMY IRONS, ALFRED MOLINA, RUSSELL BRAND, DJIMON HOUNSOU, BEN WISHAW and possibly GEOFFREY RUSH. Filming starts this month in Hawaii. n NICOLAS CAGE and RON PEARLMAN start filming this month for the Season of the Witch, as 14th century knights transporting a girl suspected of being a witch responsible for spreading the Black Plague. Joining them are STEPHEN CAMPBELL MOORE, CLAIRE FOY and ROBBIE SHEEHAN. n GEORGE NOLFI, a co-writer for The Bourne Ultimatum, has made the job his own for the fourth film in the franchise. The first three were based on ROBERT LUDRUM’s three books but the next chapter will not. MATT DAMON and director PAUL GREENGRASS are both set to return.
