Spend the night with Leonardo and Russell Crowe as EclipseMagazine.com and Warner Brothers team up to bring you the Washington, DC Screening of Body of Lies. The Screening will be held Tuesday, October 7, 2008 (that’s tomorrow night!) at Gallery Place in DC. I’m working with Warners on automating our contests, so we’re testing out this cool new system. To get your tickets, CLICK HERE!!! and enter the code ECLP9886.  This movie looks amazingly good so go, enter the code, download your pass, it’s that simple.

Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) is the best man U.S. Intelligence has on the ground, in places where human life is worth no more than the information it can get you.  In operations that take him around the globe from the Middle East to Washington, Ferris’s next breath often depends on the voice at the other end of a secure phone line – CIA veteran Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe).  Waging war from a laptop in the suburbs, Hoffman is on the trail of an emerging terrorist leader who has orchestrated a campaign of bombings while eluding the most sophisticated intelligence network in the world.  To lure the terrorist out into the open, Ferris will have to penetrate his murky world, but the closer he gets to the target, the more he discovers that trust is both a dangerous commodity and the only one that will get him out alive.

The film stars Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio ("Blood Diamond," "The Aviator," "The Departed"), Oscar winner Russell Crowe ("Gladiator," "A Beautiful Mind"), Mark Strong ("Stardust"), Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani ("M for Mother"), Oscar Isaac ("The Nativity Story") and Simon McBurney ("The Golden Compass").

"Body of Lies" is directed by Academy Award nominee Ridley Scott ("Black Hawk Down," "Gladiator") from a screenplay by Oscar winner William Monahan ("The Departed") based on the novel by former Washington Post columnist David Ignatius.  Donald De Line ("The Italian Job") and Ridley Scott are the producers, with Michael Costigan ("American Gangster," "Brokeback Mountain") and Charles J.D. Schlissel ("The Prestige") serving as executive producers.

The behind-the-scenes creative team is led by cinematographer Alexander Witt ("American Gangster"), Oscar-nominated production designer Arthur Max ("American Gangster," "Gladiator") Oscar-winning editor Pietro Scalia ("Black Hawk Down"), and Oscar-winning costume designer Janty Yates ("Gladiator").  Marc Streitenfeld ("Kingdom of Heaven") composed the score.

Opening nationwide on October 10, 2008, "Body of Lies" will be distributed by Warner Bros Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.  The film has been rated "R" by the MPAA for "strong violence, including some torture, and language throughout."

Last week our own Tiffany did a series of great interviews with the amazing cast of The Secret Life of Bees. Those interviews will be posted over the next few days. But coincidently the folks at Oprah sent over this trailer.  Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo will sit down with Oprah to discuss the film and answer viewer questions.  Alicia Keys will close out the show with her hit song “Superwoman”! To think, Tiffany sat down with them before Oprah.  This eppy airs this Thursday.

Lots of interesting projects are in the works for some of Hollywood’s big names and we’ve got the lowdown on several of them.

Funny man David Spade is set to star in a new comedy feature titled Divorced Guys. The movie from Wind Dancer Films and executive produced by Matt Williams and Judd Payne and written by Fred Wolf centers around a group of divorced men who take a road trip to figure out why their marriages fell apart. No production date has been given as of yet.

20^th Century Fox has announced that the lovely and talented Nicole Kidman is attached to star and produce in their newest action/adventure movie The Eighth Wonder. The film, which is being penned by Simon Kinberg who also wrote the scripts for The X-Men: Last Stand and Jumper, centers on an archeological discovery that triggers a globe-spanning race.

Warner Bros has tapped into actor/director/writer Ben Affleck for their new project titled The Town. Affleck, who will be stepping in to do a rewrite of a recent draft done by Peter Craig is also set to direct and star in an adaptation of the Chuck Hogan novel The Prince of Thieves, which will be set in Boston.

Here is something interesting. One of my favorite things to do is attend a Cirque Du Soleil performance. They are truly unique and innovative, if you are ever in Vegas, catch "O" at the Ballagio it’s a visually stunning and beautiful production. I’ve seen almost every traveling show. If you don’t know what Cirque is, I like to describe it as the Circus for the pretentious set. But it’s much more than freaky clowns and lions. Their shows are amazing. And here’s a rare treat, next week for one week only, their Delirium show will hit select theaters. This actually sucks, because usually the theaters in my area never show these satellite beamed shows. But if you are near one of these theaters you should run out and see it. Don’t even think about it. You can get the tickets at  http://www.DELIRIUM.thehotticket.net. The shows will be, August 20^th, 21^st, 23^rd and 24^th Here’s the official press release and more screenshots.  

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While his character of Dean Winchester on the hit Warner Bros/CW Network series Supernatural went to hell in the 3^rd season finale No Rest for the Wicked, actor Jensen Ackles went off to the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area to take on the lead role of Tom Hanninger in the Lionsgate Films remake of My Bloody Valentine.  The movie, which also stars Jamie King and Kerr Smith, is an updated version of the 1980’s cult classic horror movie about a killer stalking a small coal mining town and was filmed in the latest high tech version of the 3D technology that’s been hitting the movie screens in such projects as the most recent remake of Journey to the Center of the Earth.

The boyishly handsome 30 year-old actor, who was looking awesome as usual and was very pumped up about his work on the 4^th season of Supernatural and the new direction for his character Dean Winchester, was also happy to take some time to talk about his new action/horror movie coming out in January of 2009.

“I spent a little over two months in Pittsburgh and about four weeks of that was spent stuck in a coal mine,” Ackles says of his filming schedule while working on My Bloody Valentine 3D.

In My Bloody Valentine 3D, Jensen Ackles play Tom Hanninger, a troubled young man who is looking for a healing homecoming and chance to reconnect with former love interest Sarah Palmer (Jamie King) when he returns to his hometown on the tenth anniversary of the Valentine’s night massacre that claimed the lives of twenty-two people. Instead, Tom finds that Sarah is married to local law enforcement officer Axel Palmer (Kerr Smith). Tom also finds himself to be considered the prime suspect in the murders, and is hard pressed to prove his innocence especially when things turn from bad to worse for Tom as the killings begin again.Ackles tells us that his perception of his working schedule during the process of being caught up in the very rigorous filming process involved in making an action/horror movie shot in 3D was very different from how it seemed to him once the process was completed. “The seven weeks I was there felt like seven months, but then as soon as I left, it felt like seven minutes. It’s just amazing how quickly that went by.”

Ackles tells us that things are moving along really well for My Bloody Valentine 3D as the movie goes through the post production stages and comes closer to being ready for its premiere date in January 2009. “I got a call from the director Patrick Lussier and he said that the poster is up downstairs at Comic Con [in the exhibit hall] and it was getting a good response and that it [the movie] was coming together really well, better than he had even hoped in fact.”

 So how is Ackles feeling about being involved in the action/horror movie My Bloody Valentine 3D, which was of course shot in 3D, now that it’s getting ready to hit the theaters in January of 2009?

 “I’m excited just to watch it in 3D. I think it’s going to be quite a spectacle.”

 We’re excited to see it too Jensen!

While fans are waiting to see Jensen Ackles take on all the dimensions of his character Tom Hanniger in My Bloody Valentine 3D, they can catch this talented young actor in his role as Dean Winchester in the premiere episode of Supernatural season Lazarus Rising airing on the CW Network Thursday September 18^th at 9PM EST.

 Check out these two EM exclusive videos of Jensen Ackles at the Supernatural autograph signing this past Sunday at the Warner Bros booth at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con.

 Supernatural Signing One

  Supernatural Signing Two

Actor Tony Napoli as just one of the many 'Sexy Jesus' to make an appearance at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con

The 2008 San Diego Comic Con was descended upon by a horde of roaming ‘Sexy Jesus’ to promote the new comedy movie ‘HAMLET 2′ which was written by ‘SOUTH PARK alumi Pam Brady and HAMLET 2 director Andrew Fleming who theaters on August 22nd.

HAMLET 2, which stars Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, David Arquette and Elizabeth Shue and is a hilariously funny satirical comedy about Dana Marschz (Coogan) a failed actor who seems to becomes an even bigger loser as a high school drama teacher until he decides to save the school drama program for being closed down by writing a very politically incorrect musical ‘sequel’ to William Shakespeare’s classic play Hamlet and creating a new character for the story in the form ‘sexy Jesus’.

HAMLET 2 was a late addition to the 2008 Sundance film festival line-up that became the highest selling independent film with an overnight bidding war being won by Focus Film paying $10 million for the distribution rights.

HAMLET 2 will be premiering in theaters on August 22, 2008.

Your EM Roving Comic Con Reporter gets surrounded by 'Sexy Jesus' to promote Hamlet 2

Alex Murphy/RoboCop

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM) has signed Darren Aronofsky to direct and David Self to write a new installment for its ROBOCOP franchise. Aronofsky, the director of The Fountain, and Self, the writer of Road to Perdition, make a formidable creative team, fast tracking the ROBOCOP motion picture and spotlighting it as one of the most anticipated new films for 2010.

“Darren is undeniably one of the most talented, original and visceral film makers, and David is one of the greatest writers in Hollywood. All of us at MGM couldn’t be more excited,” said Mary Parent Mary Parent, Chairman, Worldwide Motion Picture Group, MGM in statement made to the press to announce this new movie venture for MGM.

The original ROBOCOP, which premiered in 1987 and starred Peter Weller as officer Alex Murphy, was “part man, part machine and all cop.” The film’s storyline focused on the future of law enforcement as a terminally wounded cop Murphy returns to the police force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories. The original film was nominated for two Academy Awards – Best Film Editing and Best Sound. Since the film’s debut, ROBOCOP has become one of the most successful titles in MGM’s vast film library. The franchise continues as a worldwide phenomenon, especially in the U.S., Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom. ROBOCOP, ROBOCOP 2, and ROBOCOP 3 have sold approximately 4.1 million gross DVD units worldwide.

Also on board for this exciting new development project is Phoenix Pictures’ Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brad Fischer and David Thwaites will produce ROBOCOP. Cale Boyter, Executive Vice President Production at MGM will oversee the project for the studio. “After making the first ROBOCOP at Orion more than 20 years ago, I’m thrilled to be helping to return this character to the screen with our partners at MGM and through the eyes of Darren Aronofsky and David Self,” Medavoy stated with enthusiasm over being able to bring RoboCop ‘back on line’ for a new movie.

Phoenix co-presidents Brad Fischer and David Thwaites added: “With a filmmaker of Darren Aronofsky’s vision and imagination and a writer of David Self’s caliber, we are poised to bring to the screen an entertaining and provocative film, which will now be under the creative guidance of two of the best storytellers working in our industry today.”

The 4th Annual HollyShorts Film Festival (HSFF) will kick off it’s 2008 four day short film gala on Thursday, August 7, 2008 with a marquee opening night celebration featuring a number of high profile short film projects. The opening night event, which takes place at the Egyptian Theatre in conjunction with the American Cinematheque, will feature director Bill Purple’s short film “Hole in the Paper Sky,” which stars Jessica Biel (“I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry”), and Gary Marshall (“The Other Sister”); Wireimage co-founder Jeff Vespa’s short “Nosebleed,” which stars David Arquette (“Scream”).  (more…)

In 1984 MGM released the original movie action movie RED DAWN, which has since become a cult classic and starred a veritable ‘who’s who’ among young Hollywood including Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell and Jennifer Grey, was a dramatic depiction of teenagers forced to defend their home against foreign invaders. Now, Mary Parent, Chairman of MGM’s Worldwide Motion Pictures Group has announced that MGM has assembled its production team for a new installment of the classic action movie Red Dawn and that the production team includes some of the hottest names in movie business today.

At the writing helm for this latest installment of Red Dawn is Carl Ellsworth, who will be writing the script and will be moving forward with a draft based on a story by Jeremy Passmore who is currently writing The Prince, for Circle of Confusion, and Summer’s End, for Rogue Pictures. Ellsworth, who began his career as a writer on the popular television series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” for Warner Bros. is a top notch veteran when it comes to writing action movies having penned the such suspense thrillers as Disturbia for Paramount Pictures and Red Eye for Dreamworks SKG and is currently writing Y: The Last Man for New Line.

On board in the director’s chair for this action packed feature film is Dan Bradley, who is one of Hollywood’s most sought after 2nd Unit Director and Stunt Coordinator, having worked on such high profile projects as: Spiderman 2, Spiderman 3, Panic Room, Crank, Swordfish, Being John Malkovich, Seabiscuit, and Three Kings. He was also 2nd Unit Director and Stunt Coordinator on The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum, and is the 2nd Unit Director of MGM and Columbia Pictures’ New James Bond movie Quantum of Solace, which hits theatres in the U.S. November 7, 2008.

Contrafilm’s Tripp Vinson and Beau Flynn, who are currently producing MGM’s Bobism, are attached to produce Red Dawn. Producer Vince Newman, whose credits include A Man Apart for New Line Cinema, is also attached to produce and they are very excited to begin working on this project along with Ellsworth.

“Carl Ellsworth’s great character writing mixed with Dan Bradley’s innovative action will take RED DAWN to a whole new level,” said Flynn. He is also looking forward to working with Cale Boyter, Executive Vice President, Production and Becky Sloviter, Vice President, Production who will oversee the project for MGM. “We look forward to partnering with MGM on the new installment of this cult classic.”

Vinson feels that the concept of the story of Red Dawn has a very real place in today’s society. “Red Dawn’s story covers a big canvas but ultimately it’s a very personal story about the lengths you’ll go through to protect your hometown.”

Boyter agrees with the assessment that Red Dawn is still as relevant today as it was twenty-eight years ago: “I’m a huge fan of the original RED DAWN. I actually had the movie poster on my wall growing up, and it remains a great concept to this day as it represents an opportunity to make an emotionally charged action movie.”

To this day, Beverly Hills Cop 1 remains one of my all time favorite Buddy/Cop comedies.  This is the movie that showcased Eddie Murphy in his prime and had everything. Then came the sequels, Beverly Hills Cop 2 would have been great if it was such a carbon copy of the first film and the 3rd film is just an abortion. I’m more than ready to see a Beverly Hills cop film that takes Axl back to his roots. Especially if they decide to totally ignore the 3rd film. Here’s the story from Reuters. 

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