1.) In my opinion one of the largest problems facing our movies today is the idea of always looking forward and not focusing on what's right in front of your face and that has been exhibited again today as Guillermo del Toro and Travis Beacham are already working on a sequel to del Toro's upcoming Cloverfield-esque monster movie Pacific Rim.
Pacific Rim won" t hit theaters until July 12, 2013 with the first trailer is rumored to be attached to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and yet, in a world where franchises rule, the sequel is all the studio can think about. The story for the original centers on a defense force consisting of mechas, giant robots and their human pilots, who are fighting to save humanity from gigantic monsters invading from an other-worldly dimension. Maybe, in the sequel, the same thing can happen again only this time, it will be even BIGGER! [THR]
2.) Oscar Isaac (Drive) and Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty, Lawless) have signed on to star in writer-director William Monahan's Los Angeles-based thriller Mojave, which is expected to begin filming in the first quarter of 2013. Unfortunately, those are the only details available at the moment.
3.) Matt Damon is negotiating to join The Monuments Men for director and star George Clooney. The film confronts the final chapter of Germany's rule and focuses on Hitler and the Nazis' attempts try to cover the tracks of a murderous regime. A crew of art historians and museum curators unite to recover renown works of art that were stolen by Nazis before Hitler destroys them. Damon joins a stacked cast that already includes Daniel Craig, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin, John Goodman, Hugh Bonneville and Bob Balaban. Filming is expected to begin in January. [Deadline]
4.) Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) has dropped out of directing the Highlander remake all of you probably forgot about just as I did. The film is set up at Summit with Ryan Reynolds currently attached to star. [Deadline]
5.) Francis Ford Coppola was asked by Entertainment Weekly what he has on the horizon and he revealed he has a secret investor ready to pony up the cash for him to work on a "bigger film" than the small, personal pictures he's released lately, such as Tetro and Twixt. Here's what he had to say:
I have a secret investor that has infinite money. I learned what I learned from my three smaller films, and wanted to write a bigger film. I've been writing it. It’s so ambitious so I decided to go to L.A. and make a film out of a studio that has all the costume rentals, and where all the actors are. My story is set in New York. I have a first draft. I'm really ready for a casting phase. Movies are big in proportion to the period. It starts in the middle of the '20s, and there are sections in the '30s and the late '40s, and it goes until the late '60s.
When you hear the words "bigger film" the first thing that comes to mind is Coppola's long-gestating Megalopolis, but being that was conceived as a contemporary sci-fi film it just doesn't fit. Hopefully we'll hear more sooner rather than later. [EW]
Interactive Map: Tour the 2013 Cannes Film Festival
'Before Midnight' (2013) Movie Review
'All is Lost' (2013) Movie Review - Cannes Film Festival
'Ain't Them Bodies Saints' Trailer, Clip and Poster
Entertainment One Grabs Distribution Rights for 'Diana' Starring Naomi Watts
Tom Cruise Drops Out of 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'
'The Immigrant' (2013) Movie Review - Cannes Film Festival
'Michael Kohlhaas' (2013) Movie Review - Cannes Film Festival
DVD Deal: Now is the Time To Pick up 'The West Wing' Complete Collection
'Fast & Furious 6' and 'Hangover 3' Target Biggest Box-Office Weekend in History
Good to hear from Coppola, his project sounds very exciting, and how I wish I had an investor that has infinite money too! That must be smth, wonder who that is? Sicilian mafia maybe, The Godfather is back!
Pacific Rim sounds good too, but planning a sequel already is a bit of a stretch. There are so few studio releases every year, the vast majority of them being sequels or comic books/bestsellers adaptations, it's almost impossible to bring new voices and ideas to the table in such a limited system. I ho
I hope PR succeeds but if it doesn't they won't follow through wih the sequel anyway.
That Coppola project does sound interesting. Hoping this is his return to form.
I'm still a little worried about Del Toro and Pacific Rim. He's a director that I really like, and I think he's next film that he's been discussing recently, as well as At the Mountains of Madness (if it ever is produced), will be very interesting films. I'm just afraid that Pacific Rim is going to be your standard action blockbuster that doesn't have much of his directorial trademark. I hope I'm wrong...
George Lucas just sold Star Wars for 4.5 Billion, he is Coppola's friend and I'd argue, obvious backer.
I heard that Lucus donated all the money to his education fund.
Well, he just said the '20s to '60s, right? Maybe he worded it like that so it could mean 2020s until 2060s?
I'd really like to see Megalopolis made, even if it doesn't turn out to be as good as we want it to be - I like it when directors get to make their pet projects after they've given so much to everyone else.