Top Maniacal News: Gort Destruction, Mummy Mum and Iron Holmes
By: Jarrod SarafinDate: Friday, July 11, 2008
It’s time for another edition of Mania’s Most Maniacal Rumors, where we blow the lid off the week’s juiciest gossip and hush-hush industry whispers.
If you have a rumor you want to contribute, we’re all ears. Just send it to jarrod@mania.com.
Sigourney Weaver Is Ready for Aliens 5
News: Actress Sigourney Weaver has once again hinted at a desire to return to her iconic Ripley character to online media.
Source: OK Magazine
Verdict: Weaver has said a few times these past few years that she is up to return to her iconic character despite originally wanting the character to fade away back in the 90s. Over the last few years, she’s been more open to the idea and as she enters her 60s this month, she has told us once again that if done right with the right director, she is more than willing to come back to the sci-fi franchise.
To Gort or Not To Gort in The Day The Earth Stood Still?
News: Last weekend, while premiering alongside Hancock in theaters, the first trailer for the upcoming remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still premiered online. Within hours, fans were wondering about the famous robot Gort and it didn’t take long for director Scott Derrickson to address the question.
Source: MTV
Verdict: Director Derrickson was quick to address the fans regarding the visual likeness of the famed robot. Here’s what he had to say.
"It was intentional," Derrickson said. "I certainly took a lot of time to explore other possibilities. It wasn't just a foregone conclusion in my mind that we would be sticking to the original. I tried looking at a lot of different possibilities, worked on a lot of different ideas with artists and just always a nagging sense that there was something right about the way the original, that there was something about this alien entity choosing a human form or being in a human form that had value even by modern standards, not by 1950 standards. I also am such a fan of the original film. You have to also just have some respect for Gort. Gort is Gort. There’s no question what we designed pays homage to the original."
Cohen Answers Question on Bello Replacing Weisz in Mummy 3
News: While so many directors or Hollywood insiders would likely avoid such a direct question as to why they recast the O’Connell mom, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor director Rob Cohen flat out said the reasoning this weekend in surprising honest fashion.
Source: Shock Til You Drop
Verdict: Instead of dodging the question, here’s what Cohen had to say about recasting the character and wanting to keep the family dynamic together.
I finished three drafts of the script very quickly with [Alfred] Gough and [Miles] Millar, the writers and we sent the script off to Brendan and Rachel. I went to Westport and met with him. He and I had an immediate bond. I got a call from Rachel's agent who said, "She's not playing the mother of a 21-year-old and she's not going to China." And I said, "Okay, well I guess she's not doing the movie." I told the studio I'm not changing the design of movie. This is a young bull, old bull conflict and Alex is in every major action scene playing a major part. I don't want to a 16-year-old kid with a gun in his hand, it's going to look ridiculous. The studio stuck by me and when they asked me who I saw as Evelyn I opened it up to American actresses because I think it's easier to learn an accent. I've always admired Maria for her ballsiness. I sent the script to her agent and [made an offer]. I got a call, she wanted to meet and we had a drink. I asked her why she was interested in this. She said, "I'll tell you, when I saw Indiana Jones, the first one, all of my girlfriends wanted to be Karen Allen, but I wanted to be Harrison Ford." I said, you're so going to screen test. She took a few weeks to get her English accent going, I made her a brunette, screen tested her with Brendan and when he saw it, he said, "It would be an honor to work with her."
Quentin Tarantino’s Dirty Dozen homage Inglorious Bastards Coming Soon
News: After spending years collecting dust in development hell, it looks like the end is near for Quentin Tarantino's planned WWII tale Inglorious Bastards. The director and his distributor The Weinstein Company are planning to begin production in October.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Verdict: A lot of fans have been wondering whether this Dirty Dozen homage would ever get made with delays frequently happening as Tarantino took on other side projects. The director has had this planned for nearly a decade right there alongside his martial arts homage Kill Bill and his 70’s Grindhouse take of Death Proof.
Robert Downey Jr. is Sherlock Holmes for Guy Ritchie
News: Hot off yesterday’s news, Robert Downey Jr.----who is enjoying box office success as Iron Man---has been picked to lead Guy Ritchie’s serious take of the famed Sir Arthur Conan Doyle character. Production should begin in October for Warner Bros.
Source: Variety
Verdict: There are two separate Sherlock Holmes films in preproduction in Hollywood at the moment from two different studios. Last week, it was announced that Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen would lead the comedic version of the icon. Now, it looks like director Guy Ritchie is going a different direction by casting Mr. Iron Man.
Robert De Niro directing two Good Shepherd sequels?
News: While accepting a Lifetime achievement award over the holiday, director De Niro was questioned on whether there was a possibility of a follow up to his CIA story of the Good Shepherd. Surprisingly, he answered that he had two sequels in mind, taking the character from 1961 to Present Day.
Source: Variety
Verdict: Well, we know that the CIA hit full stride during the heated moments of the Cold War, not just the buildup to it. It makes sense that he would want to expand on his Wilson (Damon) character and take him through the Cold War as well. According to De Niro, the second film would cover 1961 to 1989 while the final film covers the intervening years to present day.
Red Dawn Remake Grabs a Writer and Director.
News: Screenwriter Carl Ellsworth and director Dan Bradley have been hired to rewrite MGM's Red Dawn, the ultimate homeland invasion story about a new generation of besieged high schoolers.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Verdict: It seems the remake of 80’s cult classic is indeed happening with MGM taking on a scribe and a director. Bradley, who was a second unit director for The Bourne Ultimatum, Spider-Man 3 and Quantum of Solace may know the direction in which to take the characters to adapt the Cold War fears to modern times. Here’s what screenwriter Ellsworth had to say on it.
"The tone is going to be very intense, very much keeping in mind the post-9/11 world that we're in," says Ellsworth, "As 'Red Dawn' scared the heck out of people in 1984, we feel that the world is kind of already filled with a lot of paranoia and unease, so why not scare the hell out of people again?"
More From Mania
Director for Earth Stood Still Talks GORT
First Official Trailer for EARTH STOOD STILL Online
(Thursday, July 3, 2008)
Hamm Recruits THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
(Thursday, December 20, 2007)
Two More for EARTH STOOD STILL
(Tuesday, November 6, 2007)
Scott Derrickson directing "The Day the Earth Stood Still"
(Wednesday, April 11, 2007)
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
(Wednesday, May 14, 2003)
Day the Ring Stood Still
(Tuesday, March 4, 2003)
DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951)
(Friday, June 8, 2001)
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