Although Disney and LucasFilm remain officially mum, The Hollywood Reporter says Empire Strikes Back / Return of the Jedi screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan and X-Men: The Last Stand / Sherlock Holmes scribe Simon Kinsberg have signed on to write Star Wars sequels following Michael Arndt ‘s Star Wars Episode VII . Deadline first posted the rumor of Kasdan and Kinsberg’s involvement, but THR confirms with more from unnamed “sources.” Per THR , “the pair will write either Episode VIII or Episode IX — their exact division of responsibilities is yet to be determined — and they will also come aboard to produce the films.” One of these two hires gives me great confidence in the future of the Star Wars franchise; the other one is more of a question mark. (Guess which is which?) Not only did Kasdan co-write Episodes V and VI , he also nabbed sole screenwriting credit on Raiders of the Lost Ark , went on to write and direct Body Heat , The Big Chill , and Wyatt Earp , and gave us the gift that was The Bodyguard script, for which we should all be forever grateful. Kinsberg, in a ten-year career so far, has earned sole screenwriting credits for Mr. and Mrs. Smith and xXx: State of the Union , and his most recently produced project was Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter — a decent-enough resume by Hollywood standards, but we’re talking Star Wars here. There’s a legacy at stake. That said, if Kinsberg can get Tom Hardy, Chris Pine, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie to don Jedi robes, I’ll consider the slate wiped clean for This Means War . [via THR ]
Although Disney and LucasFilm remain officially mum, The Hollywood Reporter says Empire Strikes Back / Return of the Jedi screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan and X-Men: The Last Stand / Sherlock Holmes scribe Simon Kinsberg have signed on to write Star Wars sequels following Michael Arndt ‘s Star Wars Episode VII . Deadline first posted the rumor of Kasdan and Kinsberg’s involvement, but THR confirms with more from unnamed “sources.” Per THR , “the pair will write either Episode VIII or Episode IX — their exact division of responsibilities is yet to be determined — and they will also come aboard to produce the films.” One of these two hires gives me great confidence in the future of the Star Wars franchise; the other one is more of a question mark. (Guess which is which?) Not only did Kasdan co-write Episodes V and VI , he also nabbed sole screenwriting credit on Raiders of the Lost Ark , went on to write and direct Body Heat , The Big Chill , and Wyatt Earp , and gave us the gift that was The Bodyguard script, for which we should all be forever grateful. Kinsberg, in a ten-year career so far, has earned sole screenwriting credits for Mr. and Mrs. Smith and xXx: State of the Union , and his most recently produced project was Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter — a decent-enough resume by Hollywood standards, but we’re talking Star Wars here. There’s a legacy at stake. That said, if Kinsberg can get Tom Hardy, Chris Pine, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie to don Jedi robes, I’ll consider the slate wiped clean for This Means War . [via THR ]
The people behind The Hobbit are no fans of what they perceive as imitators. Warner Bros., New Line Cinema and MGM as well as Hobbit producer Saul Zaentz are taking backers of low-budget pic Age of the Hobbits for trademark infringement. The plaintiffs say that movie label The Asylum, which is behind a slate of “mock-busters” that spoof Hollywood movies, is “free-riding on the marketing campaign of Peter Jackson’s upcoming string of Hobbit pics, beginning next month with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey . Producers of the Jackson film called Age of the Hobbits an “international and willful attempt to trade on the popularity and goodwill” of the filmmaker’s The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, according to BBC. And producers are not looking for any compromise either. They are asking for all “infringing and ad materials and packaging for The Asylum’s Hobbit to be destroyed, claiming it may “divert customers and potential customers away from the Hobbit films.” The Zaentz Co which controls the trademark rights to the Tolkien book has also threatened legal action. Age of the Hobbits is due for a DVD and online release December 11th, just three days before the U.S. opening of Jackson’s Hobbit . “Age of the Hobbits is about the real-life human subspecies, Homo Floresiensis, discovered in 2003 in Indonesia, which have been uniformly referred to as ‘Hobbits’ in the scientific community,” noted Asylum in a statement, adding that it is therefore “protected under the legal doctrines of nominal and traditional fair use.” Aylum also said a Google search of ‘hobbits’ and archaeology would turn up a dozen of disparate articles. Asylum’s previous “mock-busters” include Transmorphers , based on Michael Bay’s big budget movie Transformers , and The Da Vinci Treasure , which took its name from The Da Vinci Code , directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks. [Source: BBC ]
Whether you love or hate the idea of Disney acquiring and expanding the Star Wars franchise, you can’t say the House of Mouse isn’t treating Episode VII like the prestige project is deserves to be. Vulture reports that screenwriter Michael Arndt, who won an Oscar for his Little Miss Sunshine script, and was nominated for another with Toy Story 3 , is the leading candidate to write the new Star Wars script The website cites insiders who say that Arndt, who’s also the screenwriter for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire , has written a 40- to 50-page treatment, and will probably be one of the screenwriters on board when shooting begins in 2014. In addition to being a successful screenwriter who’s worked successfully with Pixar, Vulture notes that Arndt has lectured extensively on “why the original Star Wars ending is so creatively satisfying.” Turns out it’s not because there’s a big explosion at the end. Although the plot of Episode VII remains the subject of much speculation , Vulture indicates that Disney wants to bring back the three main characters from the original Star Wars : Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo. Reportedly, Harrison Ford is “open” to reprising that last role , despite his apparently conflicted feelings about the character that made him a bankable actor. More ‘Star Wars 7’ News: Harrison Ford Might Return As Han Solo − And Die Happy Luke Skywalker & Princess Leia Knew Of More Star Wars Episodes; Surprised By Lucasfilm Sale ‘Leaked’ Disney ‘Star Wars Episode VII’ Posters Revealed By Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Yes, Mara Jade, it’s possible for Harrison Ford to be “open to the idea” of reprising his role as Han Solo in Disney’s Star Wars Episode VII and still hate the character, as Movieline noted back in 2010 . The key here is that the actor may finally get the opportunity to kill off the character that has bedeviled him throughout his auspicious career, which is something he wanted back in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. A “highly placed source” told EW.com that “Harrison is open to the idea of doing the movie and he’s upbeat about it,” but the story also notes, “don’t be surprised if his contract includes a mandatory death scene for the sly old space smuggler.” Now, there’s a reason to be upbeat! Ford gets to chew some scenery in a death scene and cut his ties — symbolically, psychically, joyously — to the role he can’t seem to shake, or love. Even though, two of the video clips seemed to have suddenly been pulled from Movieline’s 2010 post, Ford’s not-so-fond feelings for the space cowboy character that made him a box-office boss have been pretty apparent over the years. As EW also reported, Ford said in a 2010 ABC interview that Han Solo “was not so interesting to me” and that “I thought he should have died in [Episode VI] to give it some bottom.” I also would have much preferred a Solo death scene instead of watching Ewoks dance. So, I hope Ford gets his wish. Then, the next time a talk-show host asks him about his iconic role, he can finally say: “Han Solo — he’s dead.” Related Stories: Harrison Ford’s Long History of Hating Star Wars Luke Skywalker & Princess Leia Knew Of More Star Wars Stories; Surprised By LucasFilm Sale Disney Buying LucasFilm For $4.05 Billion, Promises New Star Wars in 2015 (UPDATED) Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
The San Diego Comic-Con started yesterday in a frenzy of media attention as Hollywood’s hottest stars descended on the largest gathering of geeks, nerds, dorks, weirdos, and dweebs in the known universe. Yesterday the big news was all Twilight related, but we’ll keep you updated on all the news from the Game of Thrones , Spartacus , Resident Evil: Retribution , Strike Back , Shameless , True Blood and Femme Fatales panels as it comes in. We’ll spare you the usual spiel about how ” nerds are sexy ” and ” have you heard that some nerds are also hot 19-year-old girls? ” because if, at this point, you haven’t seen one of those ” women of comic-con ” photo galleries, then you probably don’t have the internet. That being said, hot girls goofing around in bikinis and Star Wars masks never, ever gets old. Excelsior! Get geeky with it with Carrie Fisher , Sarah Michelle Gellar , Anna Paquin , Rosario Dawson , Attack of the Show ‘s Sarah Jean Underwood and Olivia Munn, and more nude right here at MrSkin.com!
Start your day with perhaps the closest read in the history of close reads: Joss Whedon’s history as a writer for Roseanne : “Whedon really plants his pop culture flag, however, in House of Grown-ups with the arrival of a new, high-tech VCR. (Like the discussion about pornography, it’s a tangential detail that Whedon seems to enjoy more than the actual plot.) We get a fun run of Darlene wanting to rent ‘ Lethal Weapon 2, Jaws 3 , and Nightmare on Elm Street 4 ,’ John Goodman busts out an impressions of Dirty Harry , and Roseanne proclaims her love for Doctor Zhivago . And, for the ultimate Whedon touch, when nobody can agree on what to rent, what film finally unites everyone? Star Wars .” [ Splitsider ]
Okay, Terryl Whitlatch: We’ll forgive you now for Jar Jar Binks . Take a gander at the neat-o sketches by the illustrator and Lucasfilm creature creator (who’s responsible for concocting the most annoying character known to the Star Wars universe and maybe mankind) in which members of Marvel’s The Avengers are re-envisioned… as dinosaurs. Why not? Hulkasaurus! Captain Paramerica (Aka Parasaurolophus Rogers)! Kind of brilliant, if random. And yes, I’d pay to see a dino version of The Avengers in a heartbeat. Get more dino-Avengers here . [ The Mary Sue via Gamma Squad ]
Ewan McGregor visited “Live! with Kelly” this morning in New York and took time to sign some autographs for fans. Later, on the show, Ewan and guest host Martin Short talked about whether or not they cover their ‘manhood’ during nude scenes…Ewan doesnt!!! “Like” us on Facebook @ facebook.com
The re-release of The Phantom Menace opens with that exhilarating blast of John Williams’s famous theme, the Star Wars title zooming off into the distance in 3-D before the familiar text crawl creeps across the starry backdrop, revealing the words we’ve all been longing to see back on the big screen: “Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute.” Ah, yes. Rewatching this film (for me, the first time since it opened in theaters over a dozen years ago) really makes you admire the gutsiness of returning to one of the most beloved franchises of all time only to open with stalled galactic taxation negotiations. It takes you back, like some three dimensional Proustian sci-fi madeleine, to that feeling of slow deflation shared by so many back in 1999 as they fought to keep up their levels of enthusiasm as Episode I herked and jerked along. As an admirer of select Star Wars films but no serious devotee of the series, I don’t have quite the complicated relationship with George Lucas experienced by some fans, the emotional complexity of which is generally only otherwise seen in memoirists writing lyric essays about their loving but abusive fathers. And from a business perspective, the Star Wars films are a great candidate for the callous but surely profitable enterprise of transferring classics to 3-D and dumping them back into theaters with pricier tickets. But The Phantom Menace , in any number of dimensions, is an exercise in disappointment, a film filled with enough callbacks to the first trilogy to remind you about what you loved about them without adding much of note in all the new material. The 3-D looks fine, if subdued enough that you forget about it for long stretches. A few sequences do get a boost — the fraught journey through a planet’s sea monster-heavy core, for instance, and even more so the podracing sequence, which look particularly great in the Anakin’s-eye-view shots as camera darts through the rock formations. But 3-D tends to highlight spectacle, and much of The Phantom Menace is anything but: Senate or Jedi council debates, wooden exchanges between Jake Lloyd and Natalie Portman that are meant to indicate some deep (and future romantic) connection, and the parade of bizarrely racialized aliens, including freakin’ Jar Jar Binks. The film features some greatly imaginative worlds and scenarios, from watery Naboo’s hidden bubble-encased Gungan cities to the insectile droidekas to Tatooine’s ludicrously dangerous sport of choice (“Looks like a few Tusken Raiders have camped out on the canyon dune turn!” as the crowd cheers). Darth Maul (played by Ray Park and voiced by Peter Serafinowicz) still makes a major impression, pacing like a caged tiger during a force field-mandated pause in his duel with Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn and Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi. Queen Amidala’s outfits are still ridiculous and awesome, and Portman’s trade-offs with Keira Knightley as the royal bodyguard/stand-in are easier to spot now that the latter’s face has become just as familiar. The rest of The Phantom Menace tends toward the dull — not always the terrible (though early in the film a lot of the dialogue sounds like a badly dubbed Google translation of something originally written in a language other than English), but the legitimately wan and colorless. The film serves as a feature-length extrusion of exposition for what’s to come in later installments, with a few livelier sequences inserted as payoff for sticking around this space opera. It’s both a shame and unavoidable that Episode I was re-released first in this planned 3-D roll-out of the entire series, but if you’re going to splurge on the extra for a 3-D ticket you might as well wait for A New Hope in 2015. Even if the conversion doesn’t add all that much overall to the experience, as is the case here, that one’s going to be much more fun to see on the big screen and with a crowd. Follow Alison Willmore on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
