Category: News

Studio 407 has announced a deal for its Hybrid series to become a motion picture to be directed by Ernie Barbarash (Cube Zero). The four issue miniseries has garnered good reviews and a trade collection will be released from Bluewater Productions on February 25.

The deal is part of an earlier agreement granting Myriad Pictures (Jeepers Creepers II) a first-look partnership.  Production on the film, which has yet to be cast, is expected in 2009.

Written by Peter Kwong, the story focuses on four friends who rent a schooner then discover a derelict trawler. When they spot a little girl waving to them, they feel compelled to offer assistance but quickly discover she is not alone. The story has ecological themes in addition to thrills, blood, and mutant creatures.

Studio 407 is a small studio run by managing director and film producer Alex Leung (Around the World in 80 Days).

Leung told ShockTillYouDrop.com, “We came out of Asia as an intellectual property/multi-media company that was started in Bangkok. From there we opened a small office there with four people and when I came back to Los Angeles, we started an office here and we got started with Myriad with the idea to not only use our comic books but to also develop genre material with them because they were very successful with Jeepers Creepers 2. They wanted to find a way to do more of those kinds of films. It just made sense because it’s what the market demands right now. A lot of their films they put together through foreign sales and pre-sales, and obviously a genre that crosses over really well is horror. We wanted to do more of these and we could provide a lot of that material, but we could also produce those films because we have experience in that field as well.

“The movie, if we’re lucky, will be out by the end of 2009. It’s skewing towards a straight horror title with it very much in the vein of the classic Creepy and Eerie comics. It’s a modern day Creature from the Black Lagoon with elements of Jaws. It’s very a much an old school creature feature but updated with an environmental angle, very much like The Host was. It’s a very subtle thing that’s set up in the beginning, then touched on lightly throughout.”

He praised Kwong scriptwriting abilities, making him perfect to take their concept for Hybrid and turn it into a comic to interest Myriad. “But what we went out with was a first draft and it’s rare that you can hook a studio right away just on the first draft. To be honest we did not expect Hybrid to happen. Basically, we told our investors not to expect any films in the first two or three years. So, we’re very fortunate to have two films going. Hybrid, as a matter of fact, is our second film.”

Studio 407 and Myriad have previously collaborated on the film Hunter.
 

McG showed off some footage from May’s Terminator Salvation to a gaggle of reporters then discussed the project.

 “The easy thing for us is that our movie happens after the bombs go off, so it’s a totally new beginning,’ he said of the film’s relationship to the timeline of the first three in the franchise. “Every other picture has been before Judgment Day. We’re largely treating it as though the bombs have gone off, but I’m not going to share exactly what year they went off. The movie itself is set in 2018, and we try our best to honor the timeline that has already been put in place.

“If we do our job properly, this movie will be regarded as a statement of the time and the place and the where and the when and the why and the how (of the entire franchise). Some things are set in stone though – the T-800 only comes around in 2029, and we’re building towards that place.”

Having said that, he noted that his film and the weekly Sarah Connor Chronicles series on Fox will have no relationship to one another.

Calling Josh Friedman, showrunner for the series, a friend, McG added, “I had a meeting with Josh, and I told him I wanted to honor it at all times but this is this and that is that. I know about episodic television, and what it takes to generate stories hour in and hour out every week…. We just can’t keeping chasing their story threads.” In other words, the alternate timeline of the TV series will remain on its own path.
 

Jeff Jenson at Entertainment Weekly analyzes Judge Gary Allen Feess’ Christmas Eve ruling, clearly stating 20th-Century Fox has the copyright to The Watchmen film, granting them distribution rights.

"Fox owns a copyright interest consisting of, at the very least, the right to distribute the Watchmen motion picture," Judge Gary Allen Feess said according to Variety.

“In his ruling, Feess concludes that Gordon never properly presented Fox with the option to produce and distribute the version of Watchmen developed by director Zack Snyder,” Jensen wrote.

“He also makes it clear that neither Gordon nor Warner Bros. had bought out Fox’s interest before Warner Bros. went into production. Indeed, Feess’ ruling includes a rather sarcastic footnote blasting Gordon for his conduct in resolving this dispute. In section 3, Feess remarks that during Gordon’s deposition, the producer claimed he couldn’t properly recollect his contract with Fox.”

Jensen notes that the summary judgment, which had been requested by both studios on December 16, “should be seen as an important move that really benefits all of Hollywood, as it affirms copyright laws that protect all studios. Fox deserves a break on Watchmen; according to Feess, their beef with Warner Bros. has always been legit.”

The two studios no doubt will be seeing a lot of one another in the coming weeks prior to the January 20 trial date.  As of today, the March 6 release date remains in place.

Director JJ Abrams posted a brief note on the Star Trek movie’s Facebook page, thanking the fans.

“We’re just making final tweaks to the movie — we should be totally locked next week. Then we’re going to flash-freeze it so it’s totally fresh for you in May. I can’t wait for you to see the movie. The cast is awesome. The action and effects pushed the stunt team and ILM beyond their limits. I’m so grateful to this cast and crew — and to all of you for your interest and patience. We’ll continue to update this page with new info and exclusives, so check back when you think of it. In the meantime, have a happy, healthy, fun holiday!”
 

Looking for something to do before school or work begins again?  Well, Hulu has just added the reviled Howard the Duck to its list of free feature films.  The live-action Universal film, starring Tom Robbins, Lea Thompson, and eight different guys in an expensive duck suit, was considered one of the worst films of the year when it was released in 1986 and remains one of the most awful adaptations from a comic book.

What is astonishing is that the film was produced by George Lucas from a script by the able Willard Huyck & Gloria Katz (American Graffiti). Lucas spent $10 million to make the film which earned a meager $16 million while making Howard’s creator Steve Gerber weep.

Paul W.S. Anderson updated IGN on the status of Resident Evil IV. "I’m writing a script right now. The script side is happening," Anderson confirmed. He wrote and directed the initial film in the cycle, plus scripted the two sequels.

“Everyone at [game developer] Capcom has had their input into the idea and they’re all very excited. I don’t want to tell you what it is but it’s very exciting,” he added. "Once again we’re doing it completely with the blessing of the videogame company. We got a lot of flack [on the sequels] for, ‘Why isn’t the movie set in the mansion just exactly like the very first videogame?’ That’s just not progression for me. As the Resident Evil videogames themselves have developed in leaps and bounds — it’s like when we did the last movie people were like, ‘Resident Evil doesn’t take place in the desert. What the (expletive) is this?’ Well, where does Resident Evil take place? Does it take place in Raccoon City exclusively? Well, I don’t think so because the game has been in Antarctica, in Raccoon City, now it’s in Africa."

Anderson wrote and directed the first installment and wrote and produced its two sequels. He also directed this summer’s remake of Death Race for Universal.
 

Women in Trouble.  The very title catches your eye and automatically steers you to the B-List Exploitation movies that Sybil Danning made famous in the 1970s and 1980s. But, this is a new film with a B+/A- cast complete with Carla Gugino (Watchmen), Adrianne Palicki (Friday Night Lights), Connie Britton (Spin City), Marley Shelton (Eleventh Hour), Cameron Richardson (12 Miles of Bar Road), Garcelle Beauvais (NYPD Blue), Caitlin Keats (Kill Bill Vol. 2), Paul Cassell (Brothers & Sisters), and Elizabeth Berkley (Showgirls).

The film has been written and directed by Snakes on a Plane’s Sebastian Gutierrez. The official synopsis says, ‘A serpentine day in the life of ten seemingly disparate women: a porn star, a flight attendant, a psychiatrist, a masseuse, a bartender, a pair of call girls, etc. All of them with one crucial thing in common. Trouble.”

Gugino headlines as a porn actress, Elektra Luxxx, and Luxxx has begun a blog, talking about the film and its characters.

The film held a poster contest over at worth1000 and we show you the winning one-sheet although the Gato Negro Production lacks a distributor and release date. At that site, they expand on the premise by saying, “This is a sexy, sophisticated comedy that tracks one day in the lives of ten different women: a porn star, a psychiatrist, a flight attendant, a housewife, a masseuse, two call girls, etc… The stories interconnect. The tone is playful, smart and witty — funny, but not broad or slapstick. It is racy without being exploitative. It celebrates women. In essence, it’s a women’s picture that men will enjoy. The picture, starring several well known actors and actresses (age range 25-40), will be on the festival circuit; the poster will be used as a main selling tool. This is not a ‘safe’ studio picture, this is a crowd pleasing indie movie — so be bold!”

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Sylvester Stallone is assembling an all-star cast for his latest adventure film, The Expendables. Already he lined up Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Forest Whitaker and Randy Couture as the team of mercenaries hired to dethrone a dictator. The film has been written and will be directed by Stallone with production slated to begin in March for a 2010 release.  While Lionsgate will distribute in the UK, no word on who will release this in the states.

Jo Blo reports that Stallone is trying to entice his Demolition Man co-star Sandra Bullock to join in on the fun. She would play “a government agent (paired up with Whitaker) on the hunt for Stallone’s crew of hired guns. Delicious.”

Moviehole unearthed character breakdowns from the flick, including verification/speculation as to which actors are in the roles. The site says the film has been described as "Clear and Present Danger on acid.”

Here’s a few of the roles still being cast :

Agent Diane Lickson – C.I.A agent, based out of Langley. She’s determined to find out the identities of the hired-contractors (Stallone, Statham, Lundgren etc) but the only video footage they have of the guys is grainy and unwatchable so the facial recognition software is useless. Her colleague, agent Will ‘Willy’ Sands (Forest Whitaker), whose been out of the field for about seven years, is called in to assist her. He’s convinced the team of mercenaries is lead by someone he’s had a previous run-in with.

Church – The man that hires the ‘Expendables’ (run by ‘Barney’ and ‘Christmas’, assumingly the characters played by Stallone and Statham, respectively) to go after General Garza (who essentially runs his own island – described as a human rights graveyard). He’s an older bloke, and has a connection to the young man who Garza has apparently assassinated. This is personal, in other words. He wants Garza killed and his island burnt down. Five million dollars does the trick. (The rumor is, the role was written with Arnold Schwarzenegger in mind). (more…)