Bigelow to HBO, 'Holmes' Inspires 'Treasure Island' and More Dracula and Frankenstein
Plus Madonna eyes another shot at the director's chair
Photo: Summit Entertainment
Bigelow to Go to HBO: Kathryn Bigelow is all the rage and her latest gig is to direct "The Miraculous Year," a drama pilot by feature writer John Logan (Any Given Sunday) for HBO. The story is an examination of a New York family as seen through the lens of a charismatic, self-destructive Broadway composer. Filming is expected to begin begin in May-June. Bigelow's next film remains Triple Frontier. [THR]
Treasure Island Going Contemporary: It seems Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes has done more than earn over $460 million worldwide and a sequel. It has not only inspired a possible like-minded Three Musketeers movie, but has now encouraged UK-based Ecosse Films to go the same route in developing a feature adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 19th century tale of pirates and buried gold for contemporary audiences, playing up the relationship between Long John Silver and narrator Jim Hawkins. Word is Silver will be "hipper" in the new feature, which Niall Johnson is writing. [Variety]
Kosar Bites into Vlad: The Machinist scripter Scott Kosar has been hired to rewrite Charlie Hunnam's ("Sons of Anarchy") script for Summit's Vlad, which is described as an action-oriented look at Dracula, or Vlad the Impaler, as a young prince. Music video director and photographer Anthony Mandler is set to direct. Mandler has directed several videos for the likes of Eminem, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, T.I. and Rihanna including Jay-Z's "Run This Town" seen to the right. [THR]
REMINDER: Universal is still working with Alex Proyas developing Dracula Year Zero with Sam Worthington in the lead role.
More Monsters, Next is Frankenstein: As if Dracula wasn't enough on the heels of Universal's The Wolfman, Ralph Winter and Terry Botwick are developing a 21st century Frankenstein, acquiring feature rights to Dean Koontz's "Frankenstein" centering on a doctor who's also a socially prominent and successful businessman, and his super-human original creation Deucalion in modern-day New Orleans. The story centers on a pair of street-smart detectives who encounter Deucalion while investigating a murder, leading them to a bizarre array of "engineered" humans. I'm bored with redundancy just writing about it. [Variety]
Bean, Rhames and Trejo Continue the Death Race: Death Race: Frankenstein Lives, a direct-to-video sequel to Paul W.S. Anderson's Death Race is underway and the cast is locked. Luke Goss is set to star in the film, taking the place of Jason Statham as lead driver and he will be joined by Sean Bean as Goss's old mob boss; Ving Rhames is the man responsible for giving the greenlight to the Death Race; Danny Trejo is Luke's pal in prison and Frederick Koehler reprising his role from the first film as Lists. Roel Reiné is directing. [STYD]
Marshall Takes Fleming to Slaughterford: Neil Marshall (The Descent) is producing Ghost of Slaughterford with his Centurion second unit director Ian D Fleming set to direct. The story involves a widowed novelist hiding out in the village of Slaughterford where she'll write her latest novel when local residents begin giving her trouble. I guess that is to be expected in what sounds like a Misery/Straw Dogs rip-off where the town the film is set in is called Slaughterford. [BD]
Young Conan Cast: 12-year-old actor Leo Howard (young Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe) will play the role of a young Conan in Marcus Nispel's Conan with production expected to begin next month. [Latino Review]
Madonna to Direct W.E.: Madonna's fingers are once again in the feature film pool, this time with plans to direct W.E., a biopic about the affair between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson that led to the British royal abdicating the throne to marry his divorcee lover. Vera Farmiga is apparently up for the role of Simpson. Madonna is writing the script with her Truth or Dare director, Alec Keshishian. Madonna last directed Filth and Wisdom in 2008. [Variety]
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That Death Race sequel/spin-off thing sounds terrible. I remember the days when Ving Rhames used to star in good stuff. And I thought Danny Trejo and Sean Bean had moved beyond the direct-to-video market.
And, as for Madonna's new attempt to enter the world of cinema, well… God loves a trier. In fairness, it doesn't sound too bad (I remember reading that the Shakespeare In Love people were behind her on this), but I'm very hesitant to anticipate anything good.
And at least the bloody Frankenstein remake isn't just a straightforward pillaging of the Universal archives. Any news on those rumoured Creature from the Black Lagoon and Bride of Frankenstein remakes we were hearing about before The Wolfman got released?
Treasure Island is going for a hipper Long John Silver?
And how isn't this their attempt to do their own Jack Sparrow and "Pirates of the Carribean"?…..
some of the news posted here by brad is very exciting, but others is almost painful…more dracula/vampire movies?!? someone please stop these productions! i used to love vampire type stuff but its all been destroyed and is a gimmick. but hey i know people will pay to see that stuff. and CONAN!? Kid Conan! Absurd! the film industry is running out of ideas lol, remakes, books turned into movies, remakes, sequels, old TV shows and more remakes.