Studios Continue Forward Despite SAG Worries
By: Jarrod SarafinDate: Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Source: Variety
Last year, you'll likely remember the constant worries and coverage of the pending WGA strike and how Hollywood was planning for the worse by kicking production into gear on a number of projects so their line-ups would be filled up. Well, we cut to a year later and this time, executives around tinseltown are ramping up production on a number of projects, this time because of worries about a SAG stoppage.
As Variety reports, studios are ready to replicate that pre-strike rush by creating the same kind of boom market for production starting early next year. Companies are preparing to put 40 or more films into production between the spring and summer with hundreds of millions of dollars in production financing committed to fill slates for 2010 and 2011, signaling the end of the de facto thespian strike that has kept pic production at a low ebb for nearly a year.
With a handful of exceptions, the majors mostly stopped greenlighting films in October 2007, which led to a large number of productions that wrapped before June 30.
Which films are in production or set to begin production? Here's the current list.
COLUMBIA
* Ruben Fleischer-directed "Zombieland"
* Phillip Noyce-helmed "Edwin A. Salt" with Angelina Jolie
* Stephen Chow-directed "The Green Hornet" with Seth Rogen
DISNEY
* Tim Burton-directed "Alice in Wonderland";
* "Tron" sequel;
* Robert Zemeckis-produced motion-capture film "Mars Needs Moms";
* Jon Turteltaub-directed "The Sorcerer’s Apprentice" with Nicolas Cage;
* Walt Becker- helmed "Wild Hogs 2"
FOX
* James Cameron-directed "Avatar"
* Shawn Levy-helmed "Date Night," with Steve Carell and Tina Fey
* "A-Team"
* "Ramona"
* Chris Columbus-directed "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief"
* "Diary of a Wimpy Kid"
* John Carney-directed "Town House"
* "Alvin and the Chipmunks 2"
* Tom Bezucha-directed "Orbit"
* Rick Famuyiwa-helmed "Family Wedding"
MGM
* Drew Goddard-directed "The Cabin in the Woods"
* Kevin Tancharoen-helmed "Fame"
* "The Matarese Circle," which David Cronenberg is negotiating to direct Washington
* Darren Aronofsky-helmed "RoboCop"
MARVEL
(Paramount distributing)
* Jon Favreau-directed "Iron Man 2" with Robert Downey Jr.
* Kenneth Branagh-helmed "Thor"
MIRAMAX
* John Madden-directed "The Debt" with Helen Mirren
* "Man on a Train"
* "Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark"
NEW LINE
* "Torrente"
* "Sex and the City 2"
* Wesley Strick-directed "A Nightmare on Elm Street"
* Len Wiseman-helmed "Gears of War"
PARAMOUNT
* Kenny Ortega-directed "Footloose" with Zac Efron;
* M. Night Shyamalan-helmed "The Last Airbender"
* "Morning Glory"
* "Beverly Hills Cop"
* "Us and Them"
UNIVERSAL
* Edgar Wright-directed "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," starring Michael Cera
* Untitled Nancy Meyers-helmed comedy with Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin
* Peter Billingsley-directed "Couples Retreat" with Vince Vaughn;
* Gore Verbinski-helmed "BioShock"
* Nicholas Stoller-directed "Get Him to the Greek"
* Ridley Scott-helmed "Nottingham" with Russell Crowe
WARNER BROS.
* Clint Eastwood-directed "Human Factor" with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon
* Mark Neveldine/Brian Taylor- helmed "Jonah Hex"
* "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the David Yates-directed final, two-part installment in the franchise, which begins production in February;
* Alcon-financed "Book of Eli," the Hughes brothers-directed Denzel Washington starrer
* Louis Leterrier-helmed "Clash of the Titans"
* Zack Snyder-directed "Suckerpunch."
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