News Bites: Downeys and Dragons

It’s Friday morning, and that means another batch of news bites. This turned out to be a fairly busy week in Hollywood, with a whole lot of movie news coming to light. There’s a big mess of Marvel news, a touch of Turtle news, a dash of Disney, and an assortment of news on other major film operations. What there isn’t, strangely enough, is the need for a rumors section this week. Everything is relatively solid, at least what I came across. I’m sure there’s some random speculation out there, but I only came across a few items that come under that header, and they’re all tied to more definite news.

So for once, we can have a Friday without any major rumor-mongering. Read on!

News Bites: J.J., J. Michael and J. Malko

Friday morning has rolled around once again, and if I had thought that previous weeks were indicating an increase in the amount of press releases coming out of Hollywood, this week’s the mother lode. Even with the usual caveat that there are things I miss or overlook or just don’t attribute any significance to, there’s a lot. In fact, there are just shy of two dozen news items this week.

Sheer volume indicates at least some of it should catch your interest, so let’s get to it, shall we?

News Bites: Remakes, Repeats, and Robopocalypse

It’s Friday morning, and though I took the last two Fridays off, that means it’s time once again for a weekly dose of news bites. Before I get into the news, I’d like to mention that I’m now on Letterboxd. I don’t know if it’ll prove useful yet, but it’s at least interesting to see all the posters of the various films I’ve watched. I’ll note that there’s a significant discrepancy between the count it gives and my count of theatrical features I gave a few weeks back; there are a couple reasons for this. The major reason is that Letterboxd also counts short films, TV movies, and direct-to-video movies. But there are also a few cases where a film I’ve seen simply isn’t listed on Letterboxd (such as Sol).

Now on with the news.

The release date for the Carrie remake has been pushed back to October 18, 2013. At least it’ll be seasonal, though there’s still the question of why a remake is necessary.

The film adaptation of Robopocalypse has been indefinitely delayed. Steven Spielberg says the script isn’t ready, and it’s “too important” to rush. Additionally, Spielberg says it is, at present, too expensive to produce. He has since added that he believes he’s found a way to make it “more personal”, and is retooling the script himself. He expects a delay of approximately 6-8 months.

In other Spielbergian news, he is producing Jurassic Park IV, which is scheduled for release on June 13, 2014. The film will be released in 3D, which isn’t surprising considering the spectacle nature of the series.

Repeat Ralph? The stars and director of Wreck-It Ralph are discussing sequel possibilities. Director Rich Moore particularly hopes to be able to actually use Mario the next time around.

Jack’ll be back July 10, 2015. The fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film is going forward, with Jeff Nathanson working on the screenplay. Although the presence of Tower Heist and Speed 2 on his resume isn’t exactly encouraging, he also wrote the screenplay for Catch Me If You Can, which was reasonably well-received, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which was… divisive, but at least in a related genre.

With Man of Steel on the horizon, and the success of Marvel’s The Avengers, there’s been a lot of talk as to whether DC Comics would make a Justice League movie. It’s been known for a while that they’ve been working on it… but now it sounds as if there may be a second one in the works. Guillermo del Toro has confirmed that he is working on a film adaptation of the DC Comics title Justice League Dark, about a group of DC’s magic-themed superheroes working together. The team includes John Constantine (played by Keanu Reeves in a 2005 film), Deadman, Zatanna, and several others who have rotated in and out. While not major characters for the most part, this could be an interesting take on a superhero team movie, and del Toro, if he stays attached, could do well on it. The project is currently titled Dark Universe, presumably to avoid confusion with the main Justice League movie.

Weekly Weblinks: Robots and Rita

Thanks to last week’s delayed post, this Friday’s edition of the Weekly Weblinks is perhaps just a bit lighter than usual (or maybe it just seems that way to me), but there are still several good blog posts and news articles to read. Some fun semi-obscure films are reviewed, and some movie franchises have new information being released. So read on for this week’s batch of the Weekly Weblinks.

Top 13 Quotes From Actors About Bad Films

Very few actors manage to have a career that’s completely free of bad films. There are several reasons why an actor might make a bad film, and not all of them have to do with it being a bad actor. Some otherwise good actors have made some very bad films. Sometimes it’s because they weren’t aware it was going to be bad until it was too late. Sometimes it’s because they recognize that, although it’s a bad film, it gives them a chance to do something they’ve always wanted to do, whether it was play a certain role or work with a certain person. Sometimes it’s so that their kids have something they can watch that stars their parent. And sometimes it’s for the money.

Many times, an actor seems unaware of how bad their film is. But other times, they come to admit it later on — or immediately upon release. When they do, they often come out with something funny or insightful. So here I’ve gathered a small selection of quotes from actors about some of their least-favorite movies. With a couple exceptions, most of these are fairly well respected actors on the whole. But the films in question? Not so much.

Incidentally, I went with 13 quotes because that was the number of quotes I wound up with on distinct films, after trimming out quotes that didn’t seem as interesting or as pithy. There are a few bonus quotes thrown in as well. In all cases, I believe either the actor, the movie, or usually both, will be recognizable, but I’ve provided some details on the films just to show the reception they’ve gotten.

Weekly Weblinks: Kubrick and Kurosawa

Getting a bit of a late start today, thanks to an intermittent internet connection over the last few days throwing me off my rhythm. But, while it’s now Friday afternoon rather than the usual Friday morning scheduled time, it’s still time for the Weekly Weblinks roundup of great blog posts and interesting news items. This week there’s discussion about some major directors, yet more superhero movie news, another iteration of the Ghostbusters 3 yo-yo, and word on perhaps the least necessary remake ever. Plus, dinosaurs. So read on for the Weekly Weblinks!

Weekly Weblinks: Rummaging and Wrecking

I’m out hitting a 52-mile stretch of garage sales today, and a community garage sale tomorrow, so I may not be right here on the site for a bit. But that doesn’t stop the Weekly Weblinks from going up right on schedule! This week’s blog posts include a review of a film coming out today, a couple films debuting at a film festival, and some retro classics.

In the news there’s some info on Michael Bay’s fourth Transformers picture, the latest on the Bay-produced Ninja Turtles, and some more puppets coming to the big screen that, as far as I know, have nothing at all to do with Michael Bay. This week’s selection of posts and news is also surprisingly heavy on Disney, but there’s more to the Weekly Weblinks than Bay or Disney, so whatever you’re interested in, read on!

Tim Burton, Steven Spielberg Discuss Upcoming Projects

Not together, of course. I’m just being lazy on the number of posts I write. But apparently it was time for both directors to drop several small hints about the movies that they’re working on. First up, Tim Burton talks to MTV about his 2012 films, all of which — as one might expect — have Gothic overtones. It looks like the big one is probably going to be his adaptation of the vampire soap opera Dark Shadows. Does Johnny Depp star as vampire Barnabas Collins? Of course he does, it’s a Tim Burton film, and you can’t have that without Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Michelle Pfeiffer is also cast in the film, which makes at least three Burton alumni, as she starred in his Batman Returns — though hopefully this is better than that dreck. I have to admit, though, I’m not really the target audience for a vampire romance film anyway, so it’ll take some seriously good reviews to drag me to the theatre for that one. I do find it interesting that he’s having the movie set in 1972, the year after the series concluded in real life, and has eschewed the use of 3D because it wasn’t in vogue in 1972. So he might be treating the source material with some respect.