Author: Robert Greenberger

Hugh Jackman Talks ‘Wolverine’ Sequels

Hugh Jackman is heavily promoting Baz Luhrman’s Australia, which opened on Wednesday and has happily spoken of his next big film, X-Men: Origins: Wolverine.

 ”If it’s clear to us on May second or third that that’s gone, then I’ll walk away happily," Jackson told Moviehole about his tenuous future as Logan. ”I’m not going to flog something – or flog a dead horse, or try and make movies that people don’t really want to go and see. I have no interest in that. Even no matter how much I love the character. So there are many prerequisites".

Jackman has made the character his pet project, taking on production chores and as a result is already thinking about future installments. "There’s a few story lines that are running my head which I think would be really cool, but unless the script is right, then I just don’t see the point in doing it. I’m probably at the point in my career where I don’t need it. And the last thing I want to do is just to push it on people, if it doesn’t warrant a full feature movie.”

He also discussed how the solo project came about. “David Benioff, one of the great writers in Hollywood, came knocking at our door,” Jackman explained. “And I went and had a meeting with him, and he told me his idea. And I just went, ‘That is so brilliant.’ Now, I know this character by now, and he is a mad, mad fan of the comic books. He’s not cheap. But he came to us with this idea, which was smart and interesting. And it was also steeped in a deep love of the character, and the comic book history. So I just went, ‘Okay. There’s a reason to make this film.’ I was always a mad fan, in reading the comics, of the Wolverine in Japan saga, which is one of the most famous. But ultimately, we all decided – I think rightly, after seeing the film – that you need to understand the character’s origins, to understand who he is. And to really get it. So that’s what the movie does. It goes right back to him as a kid, basically.”

Additionally, Fox News reports that he will return to the Broadway stage as legendary magician Harry Houdini.

“Danny Elfman, once the leader of pop group Oingo Boingo and now often a composer of movie scores, is writing the music. Kurt Andersen, a former magazine editor and current radio host here in New York, is said to be working on the script although no one’s seen anything yet,” the site reports.

“The main thing is that Hugh is already working on magic routines. The show, when it materializes, would include Jackman replicating big Houdini tricks on stage. Hugh has already played a magician in the movie, The Prestige, so he’s up for it. Magician extraordinaire Ricky Jay is said to be giving him advice. At some point the producers may reach out to David Blaine and to Cirque du Soleil for help.”

‘Comic Book Dreams’ Avialable on Sunday

Letterer extraordinaire Todd Klein has announced the release of his latest signed print, Comic Book Dreams, in collaboration with famed artist Alex Ross. This one is for comics fans of all ages. The print goes on sale this Sunday, November 30, at Noon, Eastern Standard Time at Todd’s website.

Available at the same time will be the third printing of Alphabets of Desire, written by Alan Moore, and the second printing of Before You Read This, written by Neil Gaiman. All prints are 11 by 17 inches, printed on Exacta Vellum Bristol paper, and each has elements hand-painted by Todd. There will be 500 copies available of each print, which will be placed in a protective plastic sleeve and mailed in a sturdy mailing tube. Todd expects all orders received in at least the first week to arrive before Christmas.

Todd has written about the projects here and here.

 

‘Igor’ Coming to DVD in January

The CGI-animated Igor, telling a monster story from the point of view of the mad scientist’s erstwhile assistant, may have done poorly at the box office, with just under $20 million earned to date, but should make for fun winter viewing when MGM releases it on DVD January 20.

Igor features a stellar ensemble voice cast including Golden Globe nominee John Cusack (Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity), Academy Award nominee John Cleese (Shrek The Third, A Fish Called Wanda), Golden Globe nominee Steve Buscemi (Fargo, The Big Lebowski), Sean Hayes (The Bucket List, Will & Grace), Emmy Award winner Jay Leno (Ice Age 2: The Meltdown), Jennifer Coolidge (American Pie, Joey), Christian Slater, Emmy Award nominee Molly Shannon (Kath And Kim), Emmy Award winner Eddie Izzard (The Riches) and Arsenio Hall.  

Synopsis
This hilarious animated twist on the classic monster movie is must-see family fun!  Determined to prove he can create his own diabolical invention, a mad scientist’s (John Cleese) nice-guy assistant, Igor (John Cusack), creates a female Franken-monster.  But his creation, Eva (Molly Shannon), is sweet and sings show tunes!  That is, until she falls into the clutches of Dr. Schadenfreude (Eddie Izzard) and his shape-shifting girlfriend (Jennifer Coolidge).  Now it’s up to Igor and his sidekicks (Steve Buscemi and Sean Hayes) to save Eva – and their country – from real evildoers, including sneaky Prince Malpert (Jay Leno)!

The Igor DVD is presented in widescreen and full screen with English Dolby Surround 5.1 sound and includes bonus features such as deleted scenes, bloopers and “Be An Igor” featurette.  Entertaining for children and adults alike, the IGOR DVD will be available for a suggested retail price of $17.99 U.S.  The IGOR Blu-ray Disc is presented in widescreen and features an alternate opening scene and commentary by Director Tony Leondis, writer Chris McKenna and producer Max Howard and will be available for a suggested retail price of $39.99.

Igor
DVD Price:                              $17.99 U.S.
Blu-ray Price:                          $39.99
Street Date:                             January 20, 2009
Total Run Time:                     87 minutes
Rating:                                     PG
Screen Format:                      Widescreen and Full Screen
Subtitles:                                 English
Closed Captioned:                Yes
 

Jane Espenson Tries Her Hand at Comic Book Scripting

Jane Espenson has written comedy and drama, science fiction and horror, and blogs regularly about the script writing process.  Having just written for Dark Horse’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic, she wrote about the process and does a nice job summarizing it for the curious.

Summing up the experience, she wrote, “I got to weigh in on preliminary drawings and even colors during the latest issue I wrote, and it’s fascinating, seeing it all come together. Comic books feel both very autonomous and very collaborative at the same time — it begins entirely under your control, without the limitations of a filmed production, and it ends entirely in the hands of others. It’s one of the most satisfying final products, too, for a TV writer, since it’s both a physical object and a lot faster than a novel.”

Espenson recently left the completed Battlestar Galactica for Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse.
 

‘The Three Companions’ Named

Big Finish Productions has revealed the cast for  The Three Companions, the 12-part Companion Chronicles miniseries that will be included as a bonus feature on monthly Doctor Who audio dramas starting this Spring. Anneke Wills returns as Polly who, in the present day, tracks down Jo Grant (Katy Manning), and realizes their past adventures with the Doctor have actually intersected. Meanwhile, as the planet Earth faces environmental catastrophe, a third companion is observing them from afar… A certain Thomas Brewster (John Pickard), who is in possession of a stolen TARDIS.

The Three Companions is written by Marc Platt, and directed by Lisa Bowerman.

 

‘Wicked’ Film Inevitable

Kristin Chenoweth, now out of work with the cancellation of Pushing Daisies, was asked if she’d be reprising the role of Galinda in the inevitable feature film version of Wicked. She told Moviehole, ”Well, will it ever be made? Yes, I do think it will be made. I think — you know, there’s some sort of thing going on right now where everyone’s hearing that there’s going to be a movie. You know, there will be a movie. But I believe — and I could be wrong, but I believe it will be years before we see it as a movie, because — you know, Universal will really want to make sure that they suck it dry, so to speak in all the theaters. And if you look at movies like Chicago and Phantom of the Opera those were 20, 25 years after the fact. And I could see, definitely, me playing Madame Morrible at that point. But I hope they really do it soon, so that I’m young enough to play Galinda.”

The musical is based on Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire which takes a revisionist look at the witches living in L. Frank Baum’s Oz. The best-seller was turned into a musical songs and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman and it debuted to acclaim in 2003, making stars of Chenoweth and Idina Menzel.

Wanted’s Marc Platt was signed to a long term deal at Universal this past July according to Variety and Wicked was included in the projects he will produce for them. Holzman is said to be at  work on a screenplay with David Stone on board  to co-produce.

‘The Wolfman’ May be Delayed Until Fall

Fangoria is reporting that the Joe Johnston-directed remake of Universal’s classic The Wolfman may miss its April 3 release date. Benicio Del Toro stars as Lawrence Talbot who is bitten by a werewolf and endures the agonizing transformation every time the moon is full and the wolf’s bane bright and now may wait until fall.

The movie was written by Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self with make-up effects from Oscar-winning monster maker Rick Baker.

This was Universal’s first step in freshening that brand following their success with The Mummy films starting Brendan Fraser.  The studio intends to patiently wait for Guillermo del Toro to finish The Hobbit before he takes on a remake of Frankenstein, the one that started it all back in 1931.
 

Cherry Lane Makes Marvel Music

Cherry Lane Music Publishing Co. entered into a long-term worldwide music administration deal with Marvel Entertainment according to Variety. They will oversee the lucrative music publishing from the Marvel movies starting with Iron Man and Incredible Hulk and extending through the 2011 live action releases. The deal also covers the currently in production animated series Wolverine and the X-Men, Super Hero Squad, Thor and The Avengers."

Cherry Lane also reps music for DreamWorks and Lakeshore Entertainment.

‘Arrested Development’ Film Moves Closer to Reality

Fox’s Arrested Development may be dead as a television series, but a feature film version is closer to reality. The Hollywood Reporter sais that Fox Searchlight is just about ready to sign a deal with Ron Howard’s Image production company.

The director told Ain’t it Cool News, “Yeah, we’re closer than ever. Mitch [Hurwitz] is really focused on it, the cast seems really interested, the studio seems to be on board, and God know they’ve got a narrator who’s just chomping at the bit. [laughs] So we don’t have a script yet, but we all want it and we want it to be good. We’re pushing in that direction and all really pushing together for the first time in ages. So, I think we’ve got a very good chance of it happening.”

Members of the cast, including Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Jeffrey Tambor have been publicly talking about a movie and they always made it sound like it was more than wishful thinking.

Hurwitz would write and most likely direct the feature film version.

The series ran a total of three seasons and 53 episodes between November 2, 2003 and February 10, 2006. Despite being a critics’ darling, it never found an audience. It did, though, win five Emmy Awards including the validating Outstanding Comedy Series in 2004. Time Magazine named it one of the 100 Greatest Shows of All Time.

Freema Agyeman’s Time to Shine

Freema Agyeman, who debuted on the UK’s latest genre series, Survivors, on November 23 said, “I couldn’t have wished for a better start to my career than Doctor Who. It was like a rocket that blasted me up and as a consequence I have all these opportunities presented to me. It feels like it would be rude to say no.”

The 29-year-old told the London Telegraph that she plays Jenny Collins, “a teacher trying to escape a population-killing virus in a six-part remake of the 1970s cult drama.” Survivors.

“Jenny is bright and capable but in this situation she is overwhelmed,” she described. “Looking after her sick flatmate gives her a purpose to get through the situation. The whole thing is about trying to find hope.”

Doctor Who was a good warm-up,” Agyeman admitted. “You’d be running around on the edge of cliff, chased by someone holding a fake monster on the end of stick. At first you would feel silly, but you quickly learn to go for it, to feel the terror of the moment. In Survivors, although it is much more serious, I tried to imagine the loss and loneliness Jenny is feeling in that moment.”

Agyeman will also be seen in the BBC’s new adaptation of Charles Dickens’s Little Dorrit, followed by playing a government prosecutor Alesha Phillips on Law & Order: London. “There’s so much I want to learn and these three [roles] were all extremely different from each other and from what I had done before,” she said.

For Little Dorrit, the attractive actress will play attention-seeking orphan Tattycoram. “Tattycoram’s race wasn’t specified but in Victorian London if you weren’t upper class, you experienced prejudice, so race transposes beautifully,” she said. “Up until Doctor Who I was happy in my career but I was being cast as gangsters and suchlike, which was a frustration for me. Now I get parts that could have been cast to any color. I am aware that I have this huge platform and I am proud to represent the black community but I am also proud of being able to show that I can do other parts.”