Telling & Teasing A Tale Of The Dark Fairy...

So we've now got a idea of what the world of "Maleficent" reveal to us...

And it looks a lot like the animated film. "Sleeping Beauty".  Only in live-action.  The one sheet we got yesterday was just a head shot of Jolie with horned headgear on full display.  The trailer was much more expansive, revealing a detail and quality that hopefully will be backed up by an equally impressive script.  And as that script was worked on by Paul Dini I have hope that it will be great considering Dini's strong stories involving female characters.

Time will tell...

Left At The Ball...

Not a perfect fit...

The Mouse has a lot of planned adaptations of its animated material...

But the live-action version it's retelling of "Cinderella" has lost the director. Mark Romanek has left the film over "creative difference" it has been revealed.  It appears that those differences are the darkness of his vision to the tale of the girl with a lot of fairy connections.  As announced by Disney itself via the news breaking on Deadline:

The Walt Disney Studios and Mark Romanek have parted ways on Disney’s Cinderella project. We are committed to moving the project forward and have begun the search for a new director. The team here at Disney respects Mark as both a director and a friend, and we hope to find something to work on together in the future.

Apparently the hunt is already on for a director to take his replace.  The script by Chris Weitz and Aleen Brosh McKenna, with Cate Blanchett portraying the wicked stepmother.  A number of Hollywood starletts are still up for the starring role of the girl that just wants to go party.  With
Saoirse Ronan the leading contender.  It's doubtful that a lead will be chosen before a new director is hired.  The film is supposed to start production in the summer so time is short before the clock strikes midnight.

This is one of many live-action adaptations that Walt Disney Pictures has in various stages of development, most visibly the Sleeping Beauty reinterpretation: "Maleficent" starring Angelina Jolie.  More an more films appear to be coming from within the fairy tales that Disney has made, as well as a growing number of films and television projects based on theme park attractions.  The most prominant being the "Haunted Mansion" reboot written by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins, and produced by del Toro (if only he would direct it).

Hopefully that adaptation won't fall into the same development hell that the "Jungle Cruise" got stuck in...

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two Revealed (Almost)...

And a one, and a two...



Sorry for the delay, but it was a long day...

I thought since every website had pretty much covered the footage, discussions and teases that were revealed in the Marvel Panel yesterday, I'd try something different. With the films that Marvel President, Kevin Feige introduced we now have a very clear direction of what leads up to "The Avengers 2" with one tiny blank spot. Let's look at the path that is spread before us.

2013:

May 3

We will get the last of an "Iron Man" trilogy starring Robert Downey Jr. possibly. It's going to take some serious negotiations on Feige and Marvel's part to get him to return. I hope that they do, but they've already mentioned that the part will be like James Bond. No actor is bigger than the character, but Downey inhabits Tony Stark like no one, and it'll be hard to replace him.


November 8

The continuation of the God of Thunder, but this time we're promised a lot, if not most of the adventure will take place off of earth and in the other realms of the universe. We can look forward to more dealings with Thor's brother, Loki and another mysterious villain that has yet to be revealed, and now recast. This will be Marvel taking another chance with people having to not only believe in a race of Asgardians, but a world along the lines of "Lord of the Rings" in terms of scope. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

2014

April 4



The return of the original Marvel Boy Scout comes back to tell the story of "Winter Soldier." With the reveal of the title we can expect to see Bucky back in part two. And it also explains how we'll have some of the flashbacks. If you remember the first film, they glossed over the fighting with a montage of scenes. It looks like now we're going to see some of the battles that made up the relationship between Steve Rogers and his best friend. It will also be interesting how they fit Bucky in the modern world as well.

August 1




Marvel takes its biggest gamble yes as it goes for the stars. This is a title not as well known to audiences as others, but it promises to be a much larger scale than where we've gone before. Also with the addition of this film, it appears that Thanos will likely be seen in this film before/instead of "The Avengers 2"

Now that is what is solidly confirmed. Everything else is speculation, but based on what we've seen in the past, and what has been announced/teased in the past few days.

2015

Unless something happens that we don't know about, this will be the year that "The Avengers 2" comes out. And it's the type of film that will be a summer release. So in all likelihood it's going to be their summer release that year. Now, the main question is when will it release its other film that year? Spring, as in something like April, or fall as in something like November? That is what we don't know.



As for what that other film is? In truth, it'll probably be "Ant-Man" with all the information that has been put out there. Of course, Marvel could decide to release three films in 2014, which means this one could have a fall/winter release during the year. That way it would come out before Avengers, leaving room for one more property the following year. That property could be the one reportedly being put on the front burner, which is "Black Panther" according to Latino Review.



So if Ant-Man doesn't make it, we may get a trip to Africa. And then there is the possibility that Marvel may release three films in one year. They've talked about that as an option, but they don't want to over saturate the market with superheroes and destroy their own branding. I don't think that this will happen. Which ever one of these doesn't make it in to 2015, will likely be the first one we see in 2016. And you know what that is?

Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phase Three...

Inside Oz...

No place like home, no place like home...




We've now had our first look at "Oz: The Great and Powerful" thanks to ET...

Entertainment Tonight reporter Mark Steines had a segment where they interviewed James Franco about the character, the film and gave a slight peek behind the curtain. I love the look of the film, and the shots of Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, and Rachel Weisz are spot on and feel like a perfect glove. Franco on the other hand doesn't. When Robert Downey Jr. was attached it felt like perfect casting, but this I don't really know. I'll have to wait till we see a trailer to make a better judgement. But it'll be an interesting trip down the Yellow Brick Road next year for the Mouse, and us.

We should find out more about this tomorrow as Comic Con begins...

Framed Today...

Shave and a hair cut...







Hard to believe it's almost been a quarter of a century...

Twenty-four years ago today, Walt Disney Studios under their Touchstone Pictures banner, released the film, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" to audiences across America. The live-action/animated hybrid film directed by Robert Zemeckis was an instant hit and a Disney classic.

With it's glowing reviews and box office success, a part two would be inevitable, right? The sequel with Tom Cruise never happened, but there has been talk that Zemeckis would do a sequel with today's technology. Let's hope if it's made, they don't forget story.

But like "The Rocketeer," if you walk down Buena Vista Street you'll see reminders of that classic film when the Red Car Trolley rolls by. And if you're down near Oswald's, look around at some of the mail boxes there. A certain detective named "E. Valiant" resides there.

Maybe someone will hire him to find out what happened to that sequel...

The Horn Era Has Begun...

If it's not on the page, it's not in the mousetrap...





So Alan Horn has been in charge of Walt Disney Studios and everyone is watching for is first purchase...

Is this it? Well, even if it is his first purchase, there's not much to go on as it's not titles and is only described as an action comedy. The script isn't even written, but it must have gotten the Mouse excited enough to pony up a seven figure sale price. And being as he's in charge now, I can't imagine him having no say over something that is costing a million plus.

Scott Rosenberg(Hauntrepeneur, Pain And Gain) is the one who pitched and will write the script. John Jacobs will produce, but everything else is under wraps. Over the next few months it's going to be interesting seeing what Disney buys and puts into production.

If Horn is able replicate his record at Warner, or even close to it, Disney is about to have a very exciting run...

First Look At A Dark Fairy...

Your Ad Here

But is she a good, dark fairy, or a bad one...










Walt Disney Pictures, or as marketing calls it, Disney Pictures has something for you...

Your first look at Angelina Jolie as Maleficent has been released by the Mouse. And she looks like a very enchanted dark fairy. Still, I pictured her, more uhm, greenish? I am looking forward to seeing the sets and design of this world, particularly her castle. Will the film be good, stunning, a classic even?

We'll have to wait till 2014 to find out...

Disney Legend...

The stuff of dreams...





Now this sounds very interesting...

Could this be the first purchase and beginning of the Alan Horn regime? He's only been on the job for a short while, so we don't know how involved he was in the deal, but if he gave the go ahead for this it shows a promising future for his tenure at the Mouse.

Walt Disney Studios has made a preemptive bid for a series of graphic novels called "The Stuff of Legend" with Pete Candeland (The Beatles Rock Band Commercial) attached to direct and Shawn Christensen (Abduction) attached to write the script.

The story is of a young boy in 1944 who is abducted by the Boogeyman and taken into his closet. The boys dog and toys go into the closet, a land known as The Dark and proceed to do battle with the Boogeyman to rescue the boy. Sounds like a dark twist on Winnie the Pooh, doesn't it?

If this is the first deal under Horn, I look forward to his first slate of films...

Bird Forward In Time...

Fifties here it comes...



So with Brad Bird successfully transitioning to live-action we can look forward to another...

But it won't be his labor of love, "1906" about the San Francisco earthquake. Instead it will be about a supernatural event, that is also named after a year, "1952."

According to the trades, Bird will board the Walt Disney Pictures' film from a script by Damon Lindelof which is believed to be a tentpole film. The story is described as secret, but sci-fi or paranormal. It makes me wonder if it has something to do with the year 1952 or Fifties Era which Brad Bird captured so eloquently in his masterpiece, "The Iron Giant"? Could we see UFO's, 50's matinee monsters, I like Ike propaganda in this tale? Perhaps it is a script with elements similar to that film that appealed to his sensibility? It will be interesting to see what happens with this project/film/script.

Developing...

Graveyard Of Ideas...

Hopefully, some other ideas are dug up as well...







Now this is a perfect project for the Mouse to adapt...

Walt Disney Pictures has optioned the film rights to Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book" for director Henry Selick. Released in 2008, the Newbery Award-winning novel is very much like Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book." While that story follows a human raised in the wild by a group of animals, Gaiman's book follows a boy raised by ghosts in a graveyard after his family were murdered. It's a wonderfully charming, albeit slightly dark tale.

There is no indication that it will be live-action, and since it's Selick, it's likely going to be stop-motion, but this kind of story would be the kind of property that could be slotted into the live-action division of Walt Disney Pictures. The live-action division hasn't been too robust, and even the hits that it has had were modest (with the Pirates franchise being the one exception). The project will be the next one the director does after finishing up his current film which will also be distributed by Disney (and consulted on by the Pixar Brain Trust).

Selick's personality and talent are perfect for this project. Only Guillermo del Toro could handle this story with the care needed to bring it to the screen.

Now, if only Disney would get the rights to "The Thief of Always" for a live-action film...

Chabon Designing Favreau's Kingdom...

Be good, know where the material is coming from...




Michael Chabon, famed novelist and sometimes screenwriter has now become the official scribe on Disney's big, new high concept film...

Let's hope it turns out to be closer to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" for Disney than "Space Jam" turned out for Warner Bros. I certainly don't want it to turn into that film; nothing would be sadder than seeing a huge waste of animators, film makers and actors on a project that turns out being so big, and yet storywise is only made of cardboard.

Chabon is a really good writer and I hope he pounds the keyboard constructing a great story that is befitting of some of the Mouse's most classic characters. That said, I'll hold my breath until I actually hear more about it. Favreau has went from making films for young boys, to making a film he wants for the entire family. Let us wish him well and cross our fingers that this doesn't turn into a fiasco of waisted talent, time and dreams.

I'm watching you Mr. Favreau...

Teasing Mars...

Put Mars back in John Carter...








Walt Disney Pictures has released the first teaser poster for its spring 2012 tent pole feature...

"John Carter" (formerly "of Mars") will be Andrew Stanton's first live-action film will be out on March 9, 2012. I hope that Stanton's talent and love of the material create a modern classic, but I still hate the title change. John Carter of Mars sounds like a great, pulpy adventure. John Carter sounds like a bio-pic that George Clooney is staring in that follows a downsized, corporate suit as he learns to reconnect with the wife and child he neglected. Sigh.

Does it mean that the film is doomed? Not at all. Andrew Stanton is a very talented director that knows a lot about story. I expect all that he's learned in the Brain Trust at the Lamp to be instilled into the very fiber of this adaptation. It's just the lack of enthusiasm about selling a film that has such an uninspired title. Let's see if our fears our calmed when the teaser is released later this summer.

Time will tell...

Bird Calling...

Lights, camera, magic...






It goes without saying that I think Brad Bird is a genius...

So when I say I'm looking forward to "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocal" it's because of Bird, not Tom Cruise. I really have to give Cruise the credit and courage to go with Brad though. There is still a sad stigma about someone being good at animation and not being good at live-action. But the superstar gets it. And so does the film's producer, J.J. Abrams.

In an interview with MTV, he was practically gushing about Bird and what he's seen so far of the film. Now, he came up with the idea, hired the writers and is producing it so there is every reason he would want to promote this. But if you remember that screening of new trailers that was held at an event in Europe earlier this year, the trailer for this film was the one that made everyone take note. Hopefully, we'll get a teaser soon or perhaps a full trailer up on "Super 8."

Bird has never given me anything that I haven't loved, from the skewed humor of "The Simpsons," to the soft charm of "Ratatouille," the sheer wonder of "The Incredibles" or the pure brilliance of "The Iron Giant." I have every faith that this film will be the best in the series and help Cruise regain a bit of that glow he lost when he got up on Oprah's couch. And with Abrams guiding the way it can only add up to even more cinema goodness. Maybe when the Suits over at Warner see the box office receipts from this they'll finally be convinced to back his vision of "1906" as his next project.

Or if not, maybe the one sequel that everyone wants will finally come to fruition: "The Incredibles 2". But for that to happen, Lasseter will have to wait till the director comes knocking on his door with an idea he deems worthy of a part deux. Either way, I expect there will nothing less that amazing when it comes from Brad Bird.

He may be given everyone a surprise holiday present on December 16, 2011...

Hat Tip to /Film.

20,000 Leagues Before A Remake...

Fifty-six years ago today Walt Disney's take on Jules Verne...

"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" came out in 1954 and was a huge hit for Disney. It showed his daring in willing to gamble on projects that could be financially ruining for his beloved Walt Disney Production. If this had failed, his other big project may have had to be shelved or possibly sold off in bits and pieces. That project was scheduled to open up the following year. What was it? Disneyland.

Now there are plans at work to remake the adaptation of the classic Verne novel with David Fincher at the helm. It'll be interesting to see Fincher's take on the story and what different direction Scott Z. Burns' script will take the film in.

Developing...

Mission: Impossible - 1906...

Should you choose to accept this mission...



I've seen a lot of people whining about Brad Bird going into live-action over the past year...

I don't see any problem with it. He's a genius and I expect anything he does in that format/medium to be just as entertaining as his animated works. I've never seen anything that was made with his name on it that I did not thoroughly enjoy.

Many people are wondering why Bird would do a film like "Mission Impossible," much less a sequel to someone else's franchise. They wonder why he's not doing a sequel to "The Incredibles" instead. Simply, the director has wanted to make a live-action adaptation of James Dalessandro's novel "1906" since the early part of the last decade. He was working toward that when when John Lasseter asked him to help out with "Ratatouille" and he put it on hold to help turn that film into the hit it became. Once that was done he went back to trying to get that film made. But it's going to be a big budget and it's going to be live-action. The executive over at Warner were nervous about handing such a large budget to a director untested in live-action. Despite many rewrites to finally bring the film down in budget, the Suits at Warner never could get the courage to greenlight it.

Brad realized he wasn't going to get to make this dream project unless he showed them he could make a successful live action film. Making a sequel to his animated superhero family would not have accomplished this. Tom Cruise and his people, having smoothed over some ruffled feathers with Paramount Pictures, set about talking about making another sequel to Mission: Impossible. After all, Hollywood would rather spend money on a safe bet than an unknown property. Even though it's not always the case, brand names/big stars tend to fill the seats in theaters. This dynamic has been changing in the entertainment industry with the way things are evolving over the last decade, but Tinsel Town is slow to change.

Cruise was looking for a new director since J.J. Abrams had decided against directing the film. He would still guide the story and help produce, but not be behind the screens. This presented an opportunity for bold choices and one of three choices that Cruise and his inner circle were mulling, was Brad Bird. They knew he was eager to direct his dream project, they knew he was wanting to do a live-action film. This was his opportunity to show the Warner studios that hold the rights to his passion project, that he could handle a film that was big and not animated. That is why he accepted the project. He's taken a project with a script by André Nemec and Josh Appelbaum, which Abrams developed and started working on creating something that would be a great resume for his entry into the live-action world.

Brad's worked with the writers and Tom over the course of pre-production to get it into shape for a film that he feels comfortable directing. Working beside/for Tom Cruise is different world from which Bird comes, but he's adapted and has planned on making a worthy sequel to the franchise that can actually stand on its own. One that could be seen by people that hadn't see the others and just happen to like action films or Tom Cruise films or even Brad Bird films. I know that they're setting up the series to have more equal parts, like the one for Jeremy Renner, but it's Tom's film until he decides to leave the series.

While I really enjoyed the last film, I wasn't a fan of the first two films and hated the second one (which says a lot since I love John Woo). It's my belief that this one will be the best of the bunch. A story by J.J. Abrams directed by Brad Bird? I'm there for "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol." Tom Cruise was both smart and lucky to get Bird for this project. And it's one of my most anticipated films of next year simply because of his attachment. I expect great entertainment and Brad has never disappointed me. No sequel to The Incredibles doesn't disappoint me. If this film is a success then Bird will likely get his dream project made. And if it excites Brad, it excites me. The man has said he's not abandoning animation, just expanding his options in the filmic world. So a sequel for the Lamp may happen sometime in the future. Just not the near future.

But whatever Brad Bird creates will be incredible no matter what...

Truth In Labeling...

With all the new films coming out under the Mouse's House I thought it was time focus on what's what and who's who...

First off, it's amazing how times have changed since Michael Eisner became CEO in 1984. When he came to power, the Disney name was in so disrepair that to have that name attached to it was considered box office poison. The films that were coming out of Walt Disney Productions were either bombs or disappointments. So much so that Ron Miller created the Touchstone Pictures label to produce films that would not have the stigma. Many were under the misconception that Eisner created it. He didn't, but he did exploit it to make films that Disney wouldn't make before. Times have changed. Here's how.

The film division of the Walt Disney Company now is powered from a different place. The Disney brand is the most valuable asset of any of its divisions. A generation after the company when outside to the name to be successful, it now is reaching inward.

Walt Disney Studios encompasses several brand names. Bob Iger is all about branding in this highly competitive environment. The divisions of each department are focused on delivering different, specific types of entertainment.




Walt Disney Pictures - This, most known division is responsible for all live-action family entertainment and through Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios, all animated family entertainment.





Touchstone Pictures - This division that was used to distribute all adult or mature content will now be a shingle that handles all the films that DreamWorks Studios creates. Over the next five years, between five and six films a year will come out under this label. There is the off chance that the odd film from Disney will be released from this division, but that will be very rare. From now on this logo will adorn Steven Spielberg & Co.'s films that used to be under Paramount Pictures and before that Universal Pictures.



Hollywood Pictures - This division is currently viewed as unneeded. It's been literally shuttered for the time being. If a purpose comes up for the use of it, they may try and restart this as a specialty house for genre-specific films, but for the most part of the coming decade don't count on it.



Marvel Studios - This new division will be it's own entity, like the Lamp, it will handle it's own films working from properties in its 5000+ character library.

It's interesting and amazing that for family films the company has reached out to its past to create and focus on film content. It's equally interesting and amazing that for it's other live-action films not under the Disney label it has reached out to the man that is considered the modern day Disney.

It will be interesting times/films to watch...

Trip To Mars...

Blastoff...


Walt Disney Pictures has announced the release date of Andrew Stanton's "A Princess of Mars" adaptation...

The Edgar Rice Burroughs novel will be the basis of Stanton's live-action debut, "John Carter of Mars" film.

Now we can all wait for the teaser...

More Prep...

Prepping...


A great deal of info has come out of Comic-Con 2010...

But very little about Paul Dini's "Tower Prep" show on Cartoon Network. I figured that Ain't It Cool News would have something since Harry, who owns the site was moderating the panel. But no. Like watching tumble weeds rolling across the desert plain. Nothing. It's as if no one was there, which I know isn't true, but it's strange that no buzz has emerged.

Until now.

We finally have a bit more info. A website called BRBTV has posted a couple posts about the series from Dini and "X-Files" producer Glen Morgan, giving us a small amount of perspective into the show. I have never seen Dini do anything that I haven't liked and I look forward to this show as well with great anticipation. The one thing I did see Harry talk about in his tweet to me was that it was like Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters meets the "Prisoner," which is a great pitch. So why not elaborate?

Preparing for Prep...

Being Prepped...

Sunday is usually a light day for Comic-Con...

But with the popularity of the event there are a lot more panels to go to and cover on this last day. That said, only one panel would have interested me.

The one with Paul Dini talking about his new live-action program for the Cartoon Network. He was there to discuss his new series, "Tower Prep" and show some sneak previews, but I'm sure someone had to ask about "Arkham Asylum 2," because he's the writer on it.

Here's the teaser for the series, which doesn't show much, but I'll still check it out because Dini created it and I have rarely seen anything he's done that I don't like. In fact, I usually love anything he's involved in. I'll be sure and watch for anything new, revealing and interesting coming about about this show.

Prepping now...

Disney Sees The Light...

It's going to be interesting seeing how the opening of the Mouse's new film does this week...

Why you may ask? Well, it may have something to do with how fast this project gets going. But being as how the company paid such a high price for the script, and in this hostile market, it may have strong enough legs to get out of the gate despite any soft opening of Walt Disney Pictures' "Prince of Persia: Sands of Time" box office. Now, don't read that I'm thinking it'll be a bomb or anything, I'm just saying that success, failure or disappointment will have some weight in how much breathing room Bruckheimer will have with pushing this film into production. Granted, it's Jerry and he has a great deal of wiggle room.

For those that want to know what I'm ranting about, Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films have bought Terry Rossio and Bill Marsilii's epic space adventure script, "Lightspeed."

The Mouse and the Bruck put down $3.5 million bucks for said script. This is an astronomical amount, and the fragile state of the economy only multiplies the significance of this purchase. Rossio and Marsilii were responsible for the Touchstone Pictures film, "Deja Vu" that came out a couple years ago. Rossio, of course, is one half of the team responsible for the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series, the Disney classic, "Aladdin" and the upcoming western epic from the Mouse, "The Lone Ranger." Marsilii is also known for the early drafts of McG's "Captain Nemo" reboot/prequel that Ross canned late last year.

The plot of tale is about a young pilot who qualifies for something known as the Earth Interstellar Racing Team and then takes his star ship on a dangerous journey through a galaxy that is on the brink of war. The film will be live action and most likely in 3D. Sounds like Star Wars meets Speed Racer.

Developing...