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.
I always said that if you want to get some insight into a popular upcoming film, look no further than the Video Game Tie-In. I saw The Incredible Hulk Game at New York Comic-Con a few weeks ago and it looks amazingly beautiful - if empty. There are some awe inspiring moments like when you jump off a 30 story building and you see the entire city around you, without any popup or draw-in. Looks gorgeous. But at the same it looked strangely, "antiseptic," with no people or dirt or grime. The game play and design seems to be exactly the same as the last Hulk game, only prettier. But the last Hulk game was pretty darn good for a movie game, so why mess with a winning formula. Take a look at this latest Making of trailer.
The Oscars are tonight and somehow I just can’t seem to care. Last year was a really lackluster year for films as evidenced by the fact that Michael Clayton one of the most convoluted boring films that I’ve ever walked out on is nominated for best picture. Is it me or does it seem like there is a noticeable lack of buzz for this year’s awards race? Is because the film’s nominated are kind of “meh?” Or did the three month long writers strike take the micky out of everything? I don’t know, but I’m not enthused. Granted I pretty much never watch award shows anyway, but tonight I don’t know. I’ll Tivo it and will watch Across the Universe on Blu-ray before I catch a few minutes of tonight’s show. There’s no way I could watch it live so I have to give my DVR a good 2 hr head start before I even think about turning it on. With that said here are my picks. I really don’t expect any surprises tonight. But I would love to see Juno pull an upset and Once get best song. While I liked Enchanted I thought the music in it SUCKED and can’t believe it got three freaking music nominations and Once only got one - and for the worst song in the film.
Generally, I don’t report news like this on the site because I don’t have anything to say when someone dies. Especially someone that I don’t know. But I feel that I must comment on the death of Heath Ledger. He was probably one of my top 5 favorite actors. I loved everything that he’s done, he was always interesting, charismatic and made really good choices. Even when he wasn’t the star of a film and just part of an ensemble cast. Where most young stars play it safe, he took chances and his body of work was really diverse. Heath was found dead in a New York City apartment today. I’m not going to speculate on the cause of death. His talent will be missed.
Heath Ledger always enjoyed acting in school plays, and was usually cast in the lead. At the age of 10 he volunteered with a local theater company, and at 16 he landed his first professional role in Blackrock, a dead-serious Australian movie about rape and its aftermath. At 17 he played a gay cyclist on Sweat, a down-under TV series about elite athletes. He said he wanted that role because there were so few gays on television, he figured he could get some attention if he did the role justice. And he did. On the strength of Sweat, he was offered Roar, an action-adventure series for America’s Fox TV in 1997, with a pre-FelicityKeri Russell as the princess who loved him. True to the show’s title, Ledger, playing a fifth-century Celtic prince seeking vengeance for his brother’s murder, would roar before going into battle, but the show went out with a whimper in less than two months.
He was still virtually unknown in America when he played a young lad with a shady past wooing Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You, based on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. In The Patriot he played Mel Gibson’s son, kidnapped by the British. In A Knight’s Tale, very loosely based on Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Knight’s Tale, Ledger swashbuckled and jousted with Rufus Sewell and established himself as a rising star. In Monster’s Ball he played Billy Bob Thornton’s vomiting, suicidal son, in Lords of Dogtown he played the surf shop owner who took skateboarding to the extreme, and in Brokeback Mountain he played the manly ranch hand who herds sheep with Jake Gyllenhaal. He met his fiancé, Michelle Williams, on the set of Brokeback Mountain, and Gyllenhaal is their daughter’s godfather.
Studios are getting smarter about web marketing. What is Sweding you ask? Sweding is what YouTube is all about! It’s when you take something you love and make it your own. Like Jerry (Jack Black) and Mike (Mos Def) do when they make their own versions of GHOSTBUSTERS, ROBOCOP, and RUSH HOUR. Now you can show your creative filmmaking skills on the Be Kind Rewind YouTube pagehttp://youtube.com/bekindmovie by shooting and posting an interpretation of your favorite film. Fans are already starting to Swede, check out the Lord of the Rings videos and others in the Favorites gallery. Yours could be there next!! Official Synopsis: Jack Black stars in Be Kind Rewind, a one-of-a-kind comedy from the mind of writer/director Michel Gondry (Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). Black stars as a loveable loser stuck in a life that’s too small for his big dreams. But when he unintentionally erases all the tapes in a video store where his best friend works, he devises a plan to satisfy the store’s few loyal customers by re-creating and re-filming every movie they decide to rent. Be Kind Rewind features a cast that includes Mos Def, Danny Glover, and Mia Farrow. It is scheduled for a February 22, 2008 release. Release Date: February 22, 2008 To get Sweded, visit the official site at: http://www.bekindmovie.com
Atonement led all Golden Globe film nominees with seven nods, including Best Drama and Best Acting honors for stars Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. The ceremony airs Jan. 13 on NBC. Here’s the complete list of nominations for the 65th Annual Golden Globes:
The folks at Sega sent over the link to download the trailer for the upcoming Iron Man game. But I’m too lazy to download it and am grabbing this clip from one of my favorite sites on the web gametrailers.com. I had a chance to watch them play it at Comic Con last year and the game is shaping up really nice. Take a gander.
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