Misc. Movie/TV News

[6souls]

Arjun is the untold story of India's greatest warrior.

Script from trailer:

“Have the mothers of earth stopped giving birth to brave men?”

“Is there an archer (who can accomplish this)? Is there?!”

Drona: “Yudhishtira, what do you see?”

Yudhishtira: “Ten mango trees, three Bo-trees and one Audumbar tree.”

Drona: “Move aside! Arjun…?”

Arjun: “My eye sees only the eye of the bird, teacher.”

Drona: “Then release the arrow!”

“If you have to break the Pandavas, then first attack… Arjun!”

Draupadi: “Give me your word – that you will take vengeance for my humiliation from all the Kauravas!”

“Create the chakravyuha (circular formation)!”

Drona: “Get ready for battle!”

“Forget about victory and defeat – focus on action and you will fear nothing.”

[6souls]

While the Evil Dead reboot being produced by Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell has started production, another Evil Dead movie is in development without the guys who started the horror franchise. A production company called Award Pictures is attempting to make a fourth sequel to The Evil Dead, called Evil Dead 4: Consequences and Raimi has filled a lawsuit against them.

Award Pictures claims that they own the rights to the franchise, and according to THR "they're using Raimi's own comment in a 2000 book that he would never do a sequel as proof that the "Evil Dead" trademark was abandoned. The company now says it is the primary trademark holder of the film title." All Raimi was doing at that time was lowering fans' expectations, so they wouldn't get their hopes up in case it never did happen. But just because he says something obviously doesn't mean it will never happen.

Raimi, Campbell, and Tapert started Renaissance Pictures in 1979 for the purpose of making the first film, and at the time they teamed up with Awards Pictures to get it made.

Here's a detailed explanation of what is going on...

Renaissance says in its lawsuit that fans "have long been eager for another installment," and finally, in 2011, Raimi announced he would be co-writing and co-producing a remake of the original. Shortly before the announcement, Renaissance went to the U.S. Trademark Office to register the mark.

One problem.

After Renaissance did so, an objection was filed by Award Pictures, which says it has been preparing its own Evil Dead film. The company says that Renaissance's hold on "Evil Dead" was abandoned and thus, Award Pictures should be deemed as being a prior user.

In an effort to show abandonment, Award Pictures points to comments attributed to Raimi and Tapert in the 2000 book, The Evil Dead Companion: "Ha," said Rob and Sam. "We're never going to do a sequel."

"This statement is a public declaration by the defendant that the defendant abandoned the alleged 'mark,' Evil Dead, decades ago," says Award Pictures in papers to the USPTO's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Award Pictures goes on to say that even if Evil Dead was a valid mark upon the release of the first film, the sequels can't be counted as continued use because they were both "works for hire" and "single works." Additionally, the company points to 20 other motion pictures that have used "Evil Dead" within their title over the years, saying that Renaissance has exhibited "uncontrolled, unregulated, and undefended use of Evil Dead." Finally, Award says Renaissance's purported trademark claims constitute a defrauding of others in the entertainment industry.

Earlier this week, Renaissance struck back with a lawsuit against Award Pictures, saying it indeed has used its mark, for example licensing Evil Dead video games, dolls, clothing, memorabilia, comic books, etc.

According to the lawsuit, "As a result of Renaissance's use of the EVIL DEAD mark and the cult success of the films and related products, the EVIL DEAD mark has acquired enormous value, has become famous among the relevant consuming public and motion picture trade, and is recognized as identifying and distinguishing Renaissance exclusively and uniquely as the source of goods sold and services provided under the EVIL DEAD mark."

Renaissance says Award Pictures' planned film entitled Evil Dead 4: Consequences, is intended to cause confusion to consumers, and also says that the key plot elements and character names "would inevitably infringe Renaissance's copyright rights in The Evil Dead."

Alleging trademark infringement, false advertising, injury to business reputation, Renaissance is asking for an injunction against further infringement and further monetary damages.

http://geektyrant.com/news/2012/5/4/...i-raimi-s.html
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr...Top+Stories%29

[Jakson]

Kinda lolworthy if he goes through with it:
http://www.movies.com/movie-news/geo...ady-ranch/7883

George Lucas' rich neighbors don't want him building a movie studio in their backyard. His response is the best thing he's done in years.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, for four decades Lucas has owned a large swath of land in Marin County in the North San Francisco Bay and has spent the past few years trying to transform the ranch on it into a massive, nearly 300,000 square foot, state-of-the-art movie studio complete with day care center, restaurant, gym and a 200-car garage. His neighbors, however, have rejected it every step of the way. Despite the promise of bringing $300 million worth of economic activity to the area, the already-well off neighbors are worried about years' worth of construction activity and the additional foot traffic it will bring into their neighborhood once completed.

The local homeowners association has been such a thorn in Lucas' side that he's decided to abandon the studio construction entirely, issuing this official statement about Lucasfilm's withdrawal of the new studio:
The level of bitterness and anger expressed by the homeowners in Lucas Valley has convinced us that, even if we were to spend more time and acquire the necessary approvals, we would not be able to maintain a constructive relationship with our neighbors.

We love working and living in Marin, but the residents of Lucas Valley have fought this project for 25 years, and enough is enough. Marin is a bedroom community and is committed to building subdivisions, not business. Many years ago, we tried to stop the Lucas Valley Estates project from being built, but we failed, and we now have a subdivision on our doorstep.
So what is George Lucas going to do with his property now that he's tired of his rich neighbors putting up a not-in-my-backyard stink? He wants to transform the property into low-income housing, naturally, ending their official statement with this zinger, "If everyone feels that housing is less impactful on the land, then we are hoping that people who need it the most will benefit."

He's working with the Marin Community Foundation to instead construct affordable housing for either low-income families or seniors living on small, fixed incomes. In order to smooth along the development, he's already given them all of the pricey technical studies and land surveys Lucasfilm spent years conducting. And we think that's just great. Because if there's one thing rich people will hate more than having movie magic made in their backyard, it's poor people moving in.

Mr. Lucas, we may hate you for turning your back on the original trilogy, but our hat is off to you on this one. Well played.

[Cichy]

^ amazing. This is more evil than the death star.

[Salodin]

This was in the grocery thread I believe. Funny nonetheless.

[6souls]

http://geektyrant.com/storage/2011-p...k-captains.jpg

Photo was taken at the Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con where for the first time, all five of these captains have appeared together.

[6souls]

It looks like Paramount Pictures is gearing up to get a fourth Jack-Ass movie in production with a focus on Johnny Knockville's Bad Grandpa character.

According to the site What Culture, the studio has registered a bunch of domain names recently that point to the fact that the Jackass troublemakers are going to be coming back together for Jackass 4: Bad Grandpa.

Here's the list of the domains:

badgrampa-movie.com
badgrampa.com
badgrampamovie.com
badgrandpa-movie.com
jackass4badgrampa.com
jackass4badgrampamovie.com
jackass4badgrandpa.com
jackass4badgrandpamovie.com
jackass4movie.com
jackassbadgrampa.com
jackassbadgrampamovie.com
jackassbadgrandpa.com
jackassbadgrandpamovie.com

I've always been entertained by the Jack-Ass crew, and as long as the studio keeps pumping out the movies I'll keep watching. The studio is making a killing off these films! Jackass 3D brought in $170 million worldwide on a budget of only $20 million dollars.

http://geektyrant.com/news/2012/6/7/...d-grandpa.html
http://whatculture.com/film/paramoun...ad-grandpa.php

[6souls]

As most of you already know there are two movies currently in development at Marvel that have yet to be revealed. I think it pretty obvious that one of them is The Avengers sequel, but what about the other one? There's been a lot of speculation that is could be either Ant-Man, Dr. Strange, or The Black Panther. For those of you who were hoping for a The Black Panther movie, it looks like you're in luck!

Our friends at Latino Review are reporting that Black Panther is one of the two Marvel movies that are in development. It will be the movie to fill the release date spot of May 16th, 2014, right after Captain America 2 comes out on April 16th, 2014.

Screenwriter Mark Bailey was brought on to write the script for the movie back in January of 2011, so it looks like things have been progressing since then. Latino Review said they've had four different sources confirm this news, but just to be safe let's go ahead and file this under rumor until we have more confirmation because Disney and Marvel aren't confirming it.

There have been a few nods to Black Panther in the Marvel films, like the fact that his home country Wakanda can be seen on a map in Iron Man 2, which also happens to be where the metal vibranium comes from, which is what Captain America’s shield is made out of.

http://geektyrant.com/news/2012/6/5/...k-panther.html
http://latino-review.com/2012/06/05/...place-wakanda/

[6souls]

SW: The Clone Wars Season 5

[6souls]

Deadline reports that the little-known company Wayfare Entertainment, responsible for the upcoming Sharlto Copley sci-fi thriller Europa, is financing and producing a feature length film adaptation of Matt Westrup's short film The Gate (which Venkman wrote about here last year).

The short has been compared to Alive in Joburg, Neill Blomkamp's mini-movie that spurred the Academy Award-nominated District 9. I can definitely see why the two are mentioned in the same breath, as The Gate works as a possible "what if" scenario involving misuse of pharmaceutical drugs, while Joburg was an allegory for apartheid in South Africa. Wayfare is still searching for a screenwriter for The Gate, and director Westrup is returning behind the camera for the feature.

"Our plan for The Gate was to always expand and build upon the world that I conceived for the 11 minute short,” Westrup said. “Wayfare Entertainment shares our vision in taking those themes and ideas, and adapting them into a sci-fi thriller that is driven by a grounded, sophisticated plot and intriguing character arcs.”

http://geektyrant.com/news/2012/6/14...daptation.html
http://www.deadline.com/2012/06/wayf...hort-the-gate/

[Byrd]

Ryan Reynolds cast as Connor MacLeod in Highlander remake.

[Lenus]

Can't for the life of me stand Ryan Reynolds as a actor, he should just stick to american pie type movies. Seems thats his forte, like a one hit wonder, one trick poney.

[Hatedregret]

Amityville horror says hello.

[Laugana]

X-Men: First Class and Prometheus star Michael Fassbender is set to star in and co-produce a movie adaptation of gaming phenomenon Assassin’s Creed, reports Variety.

Assassin’s Creed is Ubisoft’s biggest franchise, selling over 30 million units since 2007 over the course of four games so far. The fifth game, Assassin’s Creed III (we’ll deal with the numbering system in a minute), which is set during the American Revolution, is due out in October.

“Michael Fassbender was our first choice to play the franchise’s iconic hooded hero,” said Jean-Julien Baronnet, CEO of Paris-based Ubisoft Motion Pictures (UMP). “Michael (Fassbender) is an extremely smart, talented, versatile and committed actor.”

Question is, which hero will he be playing?

Each game features present-day bartender Desmond Miles, who’s descended from a long line of assassins – so presumably Fassbender will be playing him. At the start of the first game, Miles is is kidnapped by a secret organisation with (spoiler!) ties to the Knights Templar, and in each he uses a device called the Animus which enables him to relive ancestral memories.

In the various games so far he relives the experiences of different ancestors. In the first Assassin’s Creed he’s Altaïr ibn-La’Ahad in an adventure set during the Crusades.

In Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations he’s Ezio Auditore da Firenze during the Renaissance (as well as Altaïr in Revelations).

While in Assassin’s Creed III he will relive his time as a half-Native American, half-British man named Connor Kenway.

Maybe Fassbender will play all of them in a film that jumps around the timelines?

The film is being produced independently by Ubisoft which last year launched UMP, headed by Jean-Julien Baronnet, to adapt the company’s games into films, TV shows and digital projects. UMP is now looking for writers and a director, and will look for distribution deals with major studios when the package has been worked out.

Quoted from sfx.co.uk which took it from http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118056333

[Salodin]

Fuck. Yes.

[Delirium]

Movie based on The Darkness being adapted

The Top Cow comic series The Darkness is getting the big screen treatment. Sources tell us that Regency is nearing a deal to obtain the feature film rights to the comic with producers David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman (The Fighter, The Muppets). Moreover, Total Recall director and “godfather” of the Underworld series Len Wiseman would produce the film. Mandeville’s David Manpearl will also be involved and Top Cow’s Marc Silvestri and Matt Hawkins will be Executive Producing.

I love the comic. Hope they do it justice.

[Delirium]

Deadline

EXCLUSIVE:While 20th Century Fox isn’t banging the gong at Comic-Con this year, the studio has big developments on several geek-worthy projects.

* Fox has officially set Chronicle helmer Josh Trank to direct the reboot of Fantastic Four, and the film will be the next Marvel property to be set for production and is dated for release by the studio. Fantastic Four, which will include a new cast, falls into line after The Wolverine sequel that starts production shortly, and the Matthew Vaughn-directed X-Men: First Class, which is also on a fast track. After Trank’s breakthrough with the Fox sleeper hit Chronicle he has been offered everything and attached himself to several projects. But I’m told that Fox expects Fantastic Four to be the next film he directs.

* Fox has set Attack The Block helmer Joe Cornish to direct Rust, an E.T.-style story scripted by Aline Brosh McKenna based on the Royden Lepp novel about a struggling farm family and the mysterious robot that shows up and changes their lives. The film is a sci-fi adventure aimed at a family audience, and it is now a priority with Cornish aboard. Simon Kinberg’s Genre Films is producing, with Stephen Christy and P.J. Bickett of Archaia Entertainment exec producing.

* Fox is looking for a director on its other major Marvel reboot, after David Slade just dropped out of Daredevil. The studio has a script it likes, but has to get the film into production by fall or risk losing the property back to Marvel Studios and Disney. Slade could not make the timing work as he is directing the pilot of the series Hannibal. Fox isn’t hellbent on making Daredevil at this point, but the studio has a decision to make. If the movie isn’t underway by fall, the rights will revert to Marvel and Disney.

Wish FF and DD would go back to Marvel, especially FF

[6souls]

Roland Emmerich has officially teamed back up with producer Dean Devlin to work on a sequel to Independence Day. We've already heard this, time, and time again, but it's once again been confirmed in a recent interview with THR in which Devlin says,

I can tell you that Roland and I have been working together for the first time in 11 years and we’re every excited about the idea of doing it. Whether or not we can make this happen, if we can get all the pieces to come together, that’s gonna be challenging. But creatively, for the very first time since we did the original, I feel we have a worthy concept, a worthy path to go.

We resisted doing the sequel for years because we still wanted to honor the first one. The first one gave us all careers and we really love that movie and loved the experience. We didn’t want to make a movie because it was financially a good idea, we only wanted to do it when we had an idea and a concept that creatively felt like it honored the first one—that it felt like an organic sequel as opposed to ‘let’s just go make some more money. I feel like we got it. I think it took a long time, but I feel like we finally got something that really feels like, ‘that’s worth seeing as a sequel to Independence Day.’

I'd love to hear what their idea is! Discussions have already begun with some of the cast members from the original film. Will Smith has to come back for the sequel. If he doesn't, there's really no point in making it. Apparently, Emmerich has already talked to Smith about doing it, but nothing as of right now is set in stone... yet. I can actually see this movie eventually happening one day. I loved Independence Day, and I'm curious to see what they want to do with a sequel. It was also announced last month that Fox would be re-releasing the first film in 3D.

Devlin then came out and said they'd like to finish telling the Stargate story they started. Apparently Stargate was supposed to be the first in a trilogy. He explains,

Stargate has always had this empty hole. When we made the first one, we always intended on doing part two and three, and we were prevented for years. And our hope is that we can get another chance at Stargate and tell the entire story we wanted to tell.

http://geektyrant.com/news/2012/7/9/...-stargate.html
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hea...everage-346511

[MaachaQ]

The Stargate thing surprises me... after 3 TV series they are going to go back and make more movies that will likely change the story yet again? I never watched that much of the latest one, but I watched the heck out of SG1 and Atlantis (bought the DVDs too) and would be sad if the movie continuity changed what we know of that universe >.>

[Hatedregret]

I loved Atlantis, but Universe was amazing in that it was more down to earth instead of just getting to a point where getting captured didn't even seem like a big deal anymore. A lot of hard decisions are made compared to the previous two series.