‘The Kennedys’ Miniseries To Air On ReelzChannel [Updated]

[Update: Check out the first trailer for The Kennedys.]

When The History Channel refused to air the long-awaited biography The Kennedys, many speculated that another cable channel would take the series instead. After being passed over by Starz, Showtime and HBO, ReelzChannel has agreed to air the miniseries starting in April.

The Kennedys is by no means a small production. The series has a rumored budget of $25 million, notable stars like Greg Kinnear, Katie Holmes and Tom Wilkinson, and is directed by Jon Cassar of 24. It was a major surprise when The History Channel declined to air it last month.

The channel cited a lack of historical accuracy as a factor in their decision – a claim that’s been verified by numerous historians. Even the author of one of the books cited in The Kennedys called the production “an egregious distortion of the historical record.”

The reportedly negative portrayal of John F. Kennedy and his family may also have played a part in keeping the series off of the major networks. Family members like Caroline Kennedy and Maria Shriver have expressed their displeasure at the series, along with other players in American politics and film-making. It’s unlikely that any negative view of a progressive hero like JFK would have sat well with the left-leaning Hollywood crowd, especially in the bitterly divisive political climate the United States is experiencing.

After The Kennedys was passed over by Showtime in January, Cassar complained of political influences in the decision. At a meeting of the Television Critics Association in Los Angeles, the director said that powerful people with connections to the Kennedys had kept the series off of the air.

ReelzChannel is an independent cable channel, as CEO Stan Hubbard is quick to point out. Speaking on The Kennedys, he highlighted the channel’s independence in its choice to air the miniseries:

“One of the benefits of being an independent network is that you can be an independent voice and you don’t have to worry about corporate pressure or political pressure… This is a project that deserves to be seen.”

Though the miniseries has been snubbed by the major networks in its home country, The Kennedys will be well-distributed abroad. History Television in Canada is scheduled to show the series in March, and channels in the UK, Italy, Spain, Japan, Norway and Australia have also scheduled broadcasts.

Update: Check out the trailer for The Kennedys below:

The Kennedys

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ReelzChannel will air the first two episodes of The Kennedys on April 3rd.

Source: TV Guide

View the original article here

The Oscars: 83rd Academy Award Nominations [Updated]

Jan 25, 2011 by Rob Keyes 

The official nominations are in for the Oscars. Watch the livestream replay and check out the full list of nominations to see who got the snub this year.

This morning, Tuesday January 25th, the official nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards are to be announced live. The 2011 Oscar presentation will take place Sunday, February 27, 2011, hosted by none other than two of the year’s most prolific young stars in James Franco (127 Hours) and Anne Hathaway (Love and Other Drugs).

While last year saw the expansion of the contentious Best Picture category grow to 10 nominees after a year of major snubs, to help bring in mainstream viewership and ratings, this Oscar presentation sees its big change with the Special Effects category expanding from three to five nods.

Will Jeff Bridges get his sixth Oscar nomination after winning his first with Crazy Heart last year? Will animated films take up one, two or more spots of the Best Picture category? Will The Tourist get some nominations after some disputable nods at the Golden Globes?

This year’s presenters will be headlined by Halle Berry, Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock, Marisa Tomei and Oprah Winfrey - Here’s the nomination livestream and the full list of nominees:

“Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight), A Protozoa and Phoenix Pictures Production, Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers“The Fighter” (Paramount), A Relativity Media Production, David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers“Inception” (Warner Bros.), A Warner Bros. UK Services Production, Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers“The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features), An Antidote Films, Mandalay Vision and Gilbert Films Production, Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers“The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), A See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers“127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight), An Hours Production, Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers“The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), A Columbia Pictures Production, Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers“Toy Story 3? (Walt Disney), A Pixar Production, Darla K. Anderson, Producer“True Grit” (Paramount), A Paramount Pictures Production, Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers“Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions), A Winter’s Bone Production, Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers“Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight), Darren Aronofsky“The Fighter” (Paramount), David O. Russell“The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Tom Hooper“The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), David Fincher“True Grit” (Paramount), Joel Coen and Ethan CoenJavier Bardem in “Biutiful” (Roadside Attractions)Jeff Bridges in “True Grit” (Paramount)Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing)Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company)James Franco in “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight)Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features)Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole” (Lionsgate)Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions)Natalie Portman in “Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight)Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine” (The Weinstein Company)Christian Bale in “The Fighter” (Paramount)John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions)Jeremy Renner in “The Town” (Warner Bros.)Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features)Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company)Amy Adams in “The Fighter” (Paramount)Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company)Melissa Leo in “The Fighter” (Paramount)Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”(Paramount)Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom” (Sony Pictures Classics)“How to Train Your Dragon” (Paramount), Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois“The Illusionist” (Sony Pictures Classics), Sylvain Chomet“Toy Story 3? (Walt Disney), Lee Unkrich“Another Year” (Sony Pictures Classics), Written by Mike Leigh“The Fighter” (Paramount), Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson, Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson“Inception” (Warner Bros.), Written by Christopher Nolan“The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features), Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg“The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Screenplay by David Seidler“127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy“The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin“Toy Story 3? (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Michael Arndt, Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich“True Grit” (Paramount), Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen“Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions), Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini“Alice in Wonderland” (Walt Disney), Production Design: Robert Stromberg, Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1? (Warner Bros.), Production Design: Stuart Craig, Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan“Inception” (Warner Bros.), Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas, Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat“The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Production Design: Eve Stewart, Set Decoration: Judy Farr“True Grit” (Paramount), Production Design: Jess Gonchor, Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh“Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight), Matthew Libatique“Inception” (Warner Bros.), Wally Pfister“The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Danny Cohen“The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Jeff Cronenweth“True Grit” (Paramount), Roger Deakins“Alice in Wonderland” (Walt Disney), Colleen Atwood“I Am Love” (Magnolia Pictures), Antonella Cannarozzi“The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Jenny Beavan“The Tempest” (Miramax), Sandy Powell“True Grit” (Paramount), Mary Zophres“Exit through the Gift Shop” (Producers Distribution Agency), A Paranoid Pictures Production, Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz“Gasland”, A Gasland Production, Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic“Inside Job” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Representational Pictures Production, Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs“Restrepo” (National Geographic Entertainment), An Outpost Films Production, Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger“Waste Land” (Arthouse Films), An Almega Projects Production, Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley“Killing in the Name”, A Moxie Firecracker Films Production, Nominees to be determined“Poster Girl”, A Portrayal Films Production, Nominees to be determined“Strangers No More”, A Simon & Goodman Picture Company Production, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon“Sun Come Up”, A Sun Come Up Production, Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger“The Warriors of Qiugang”, A Thomas Lennon Films Production, Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon“Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight), Andrew Weisblum“The Fighter” (Paramount), Pamela Martin“The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Tariq Anwar“127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight), Jon Harris“The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter“Biutiful” (Roadside Attractions), A Menage Atroz, Mod Producciones and Ikiru Films Production, Mexico“Dogtooth” (Kino International), A Boo Production, Greece“In a Better World” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Zentropa Production, Denmark“Incendies” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Micro-Scope Production, Canada“Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” (Cohen Media Group), A Tassili Films Production, Algeria“Barney’s Version” (Sony Pictures Classics), Adrien Morot“The Way Back” (Newmarket Films in association with Wrekin Hill Entertainment and Image Entertainment), Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng“The Wolfman” (Universal), Rick Baker and Dave Elsey“How to Train Your Dragon” (Paramount), John Powell“Inception” (Warner Bros.), Hans Zimmer“The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Alexandre Desplat“127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight), A.R. Rahman“The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross“Coming Home” from “Country Strong” (Sony Pictures Releasing (Screen Gems)), Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey“I See the Light” from “Tangled” (Walt Disney), Music by Alan Menken, Lyric by Glenn Slater“If I Rise” from “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight), Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3? (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman“Day & Night” (Walt Disney), A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Teddy Newton“The Gruffalo”, A Magic Light Pictures Production, Jakob Schuh and Max Lang“Let’s Pollute”, A Geefwee Boedoe Production, Geefwee Boedoe“The Lost Thing”, (Nick Batzias for Madman Entertainment), A Passion Pictures Australia Production, Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann“Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)”, A Sacrebleu Production, Bastien Dubois“The Confession” (National Film and Television School), A National Film and Television School Production, Tanel Toom“The Crush” (Network Ireland Television), A Purdy Pictures Production, Michael Creagh“God of Love”, A Luke Matheny Production, Luke Matheny“Na Wewe” (Premium Films), A CUT! Production, Ivan Goldschmidt“Wish 143?, A Swing and Shift Films/Union Pictures Production, Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite“Inception” (Warner Bros.), Richard King“Toy Story 3? (Walt Disney), Tom Myers and Michael Silvers“Tron: Legacy” (Walt Disney), Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague“True Grit” (Paramount), Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey“Unstoppable” (20th Century Fox), Mark P. Stoeckinger“Inception” (Warner Bros.), Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick“The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley“Salt” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin“The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten“True Grit” (Paramount), Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland“Alice in Wonderland” (Walt Disney), Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1? (Warner Bros.), Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi“Hereafter” (Warner Bros.), Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell“Inception” (Warner Bros.), Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb“Iron Man 2? (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment, Distributed by Paramount), Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Some interesting notes: Three of the five leading actor nominations are for people playing real people. The Town was snubbed from a spot amongst the 10 Best Picture nominees and Daft Punk got no love for their work on TRON: Legacy. The TRON sequel’s special effects were somehow beat out by Iron Man 2 and Christopher Nolan’s directorial feat with Inception was also not recognized. Mark Wahlberg didn’t get an acting nod, but did get nominated as one of the producers on The Fighter, while the Coens get nominated for three nominations.

The King’s Speech leads the pack with 12 nominations, True Grit gets 10 and The Fighter nabs 7. Any surprise nominations or omissions? Let the predictions and Oscar pools begin! Head to the official Oscars site for more.

Share your thoughts in the comments and with us on Twitter @ rob_keyes and @ screenrant.

The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony airs on ABC February 27th and we’ll be live-blogging it as it happens.

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Movie Image Roundup: ‘Green Lantern’, ‘Three Musketeers’, ‘Cars 2′ and More [Updated]

[UPDATE: Check out some new hi-res Pirates of the Caribbean 4 images!]

There are over 150 movies releasing in theaters this year and you can get a detailed look at each month’s releases in our Massive 2011 Movie Preview. As the year progresses, we can expect PR departments from various studios to begin ramping up the marketing pushes on all of these films.

One way they build excitement for a film is by releasing still images, which usually consist of behind-the-scenes material, freeze frames from the movie (out of context of course) or occasionally a “cell phone reporter” will snap a picture or two while a film is shooting. Sometimes a studio will just take a Hi-Res still from the latest trailer and call it “new.”

Today we have 26 different images from 11 different films of various styles – some good, some bad, but all interesting. Let’s kick things off with a trio of Green Lantern images.

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WB has been catching a lot of heat for their decision to use an entirely CG Green Lantern suit. What’s odd is that these pictures of Tomar-Re and Sinestro (Mark Strong) in full CG Green Lantern Corp outfits look amazing. Hopefully they will be able to match that quality with Ryan Reynolds’ Green Lantern outfit when the film releases. The makeup used to increase the size of Peter Sarsgaard’s head to the proportions of evil genius Hector Hammond is quite impressive, though.

Green Lantern hits theaters on June 17th, 2011.

Source:  Cine Heroes (via Coming Soon)

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Johnny Depp hits the high seas again this summer in Pirates of the Caribbean 4, and this time his characters, Captain Jack Sparrow, is on the hunt for the legendary fountain of youth. But of course, things can’t ever go easy for Captain Jack: this time around he has the most feared pirate of the all on his tail: Blackbeard (Ian McShane). If that weren’t enough, Jack has unfinished drama with Blackbeard’s spunky daughter, Angelica (Penelope Cruz), as well as his traitorous first mate, Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). In these new hi-res images we see Blackbeard’s wrath, and Captain Jack’s attempts to tip-toe his way to treasure.

CLICK EACH IMAGE FOR A HI-RES VERSION

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides hits theaters on May 20, 2011.

Source: Disney

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Even though The Three Musketeers have been seen onscreen more than two dozen times, director Paul W.S. Anderson has decided to once again update the classic Alexander Dumas tale – in 3D no less. Today we have our first good look at the Musketeers – Athos (Matthew Macfadyen), Porthos (Ray Stevenson) and Aramis (Luke Evans) – as well as, the intrepid, young and fearless D’Artagnan (Logan Lerman).  Even though they are “updating” the story, Three Musketeers so far appears to have an authentic  17th century look to it.

Three Musketeers will be in theaters on October 14th, 2011.

Source: Summit Entertainment

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Last month we discussed the Worst Belated Sequels in movie history – that is to say a franchise that had too had too much delay between films. Scream 4 could possibly join this list as it’s been 11 years since Scream 3 sliced through theaters – though early screen tests suggest Scream 4 might be good. Most of the original actors and actresses have returned for Scream 4 and below we see Sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and reporter Gale Weathers-Riley (Courtney Cox) together, as well as, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) in the familiar position of being attacked by the Ghostface killer.

Scream 4 will be in theaters on April 15th.

Continue to more new movie images…

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The Dark Knight Rises: Updated Shortlist of Actresses

Yesterday we posted up a series of details regarding The Dark Knight Rises, information that indicated director Christopher Nolan had chosen the two female leads to be introduced in his third Batman installment.

While nothing was official, the sources of this info hinted that Eva Green (Casino Royale) and Naomi Watts (King Kong) would be playing Talia al Ghul and Vicki Vale, respectively. For the next edition of rumor vs. rumor or “sources” vs. “sources,” the latest Batman 3 news contradicts that information, revealing that neither of these two have been cast and that Nolan is still testing for the two roles.

The new shortlist, provided by Heat Vision, places the following candidates in the running for the key roles in Warner Bros. next comic book epic:

Anne HathawayCharlotte RileyGemma ArtertonJessica BielKate MaraKeira Knightley

All of the actresses are reportedly scheduled to screentest for the parts over the next few weeks.

Arterton is the hottest up and comer of the bunch, coming off of lead roles in last year’s Prince of Persia and Clash of the Titans (another Warner Bros. film). She’s been landing jobs left, right and center ever since and may be too busy to meet the schedule demands of The Dark Knight Rises.

That leaves Hathaway, Biel and Knightley as the most well-known candidates and of these three I personally find Knightley the only one right for one of the rumored roles (Talia al Ghul). I had previously heard Knightley was almost locked so seeing her name back in contention, makes me think she’s the most likely of the group to be selected for a part.

If Eva Green was Talia al Ghul in The Dark Knight Rises

Of the two newcomers, Charlotte Riley is engaged to Tom Hardy, so whether or not that helps her land a gig in her first major film is an interesting discussion point. Kate Mara on the other hand, is coming off of roles in 127 Hours and Iron Man 2 and has nabbed the lead female parts in the smaller productions of Ironclad and Ten Year.

Heat Vision confirms that Eva Green and Naomi Watts have not been cast, and that Green is filming another project near when The Dark Knight Rises is scheduled to begin in May. Watts hasn’t tested for the part as she’s currently filming another movie, but production on that does end before the next Batman begins.

Thankfully, these rumors will be cleared up soon, then we’ll know who’s sources are providing false information.

The Dark Knight Rises begins production in May and is scheduled for theatrical release on July 20th, 2012.

Follow us on Twitter @rob_keyes and @screenrant

Source: THR

Eva Green image edited from art by romero1718.

View the original article here

Eva Green, Naomi Watts & A New Batmobile Join Batman 3? [Updated]

Since the beginning of November there have been rumors circling The Dark Knight Rises regarding the casting of not one, but two new female lead characters. While it’s been impossible to confirm which characters Christopher Nolan will add to this trilogy-concluding Batman film, the shortlist of actresses reportedly mentioned in consideration are nothing short of the top talent in the industry.

The candidates initially reported included Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts, Blake Lively, Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway and Keira Knightley. With Portman pregnant and Lively playing the leading lady opposite Ryan Reynolds in Green Lantern, the list narrows. According to the latest rumors, only one of these candidates will be joining the cast of The Dark Knight Rises.

Collider has the exclusive on several exciting and important details on The Dark Knight Rises from reliable inside sources. Since they cannot attain official confirmation, they have labeled the following information as a “rumor.”

The most important update comes on the casting front with Naomi Watts (listed above) and Eva Green rumored to have joined the cast of Batman 3. Their source is unable to confirm who is playing who from the DC Comics, but assumes that Green will be playing the villainous Talia al Ghul, with Watts portraying the character of Vicki Vale, a reporter previously played by Kim Basinger in Tim Burton’s first Batman (our man Ben Kendrick nailed that one).

[Update: THR reports this information as false and list six candidates scheduled to test for the roles over the next two weeks. Find out who they are here.]

Naomi Watts as Vicki Vale in The Dark Knight Rises

If Eva Green (Casino Royale) is playing Talia Al Ghul, that does confirm previous rumors and works to tie in the events of Nolan’s Batman Begins which of course, featured Liam Neeson playing Talia’s father, Ra’s Al Ghul.

Another possibility follows the other common rumor that Christopher Nolan and co. will be basing the story of The Dark Knight Rises on the Batman: Prey graphic novel which would put Green in the role of Catwoman instead, and previous casting addition Tom Hardy into the role of Dr. Hugo Strange.

Now to the other details from Collider’s scoop:

New design for Batmobile is similar to Tumbler, but more streamlined.New Batcave same as old with circular pad for Batmobile.There will be an armory of Batsuits (like Iron Man 2?).We will see the Batcomputer in the cave.Shooting begins May 6th.Post-production begins November 28th.

They also hint towards what’s likely going to be the introduction of another new Batsuit, which we expected would happen anyway. In movies like this, you always need a new costume for each movie to help sell some toys.

Hopefully, official confirmations will roll out soon. But regardless of how accurate this information may be, we all have a lot to look forward to as Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale aim to finish their run with the Batman franchise. We can however, say for certain that The Dark Knight Rises will not be in 3D and will star Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Tom Hardy.

The Dark Knight Rises begins production in May and is scheduled for theatrical release on July 20th, 2012.

Follow us on Twitter @rob_keyes and @screenrant

Source: Collider

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Official ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 4′ Images, More Plot Details [Updated]

[UPDATE: We've added additional official images released from the film]

Decked out in eyeliner and tangled dreadlocks, with a swagger that indicates he’s permanently intoxicated, it’s little wonder Disney officials were at first taken aback by Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow persona. Thankfully, the studio heads did not fire the actor for his radical interpretation of the character and will soon release Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth film to feature the quick-witted pirate.

The first official images have been released for Disney’s fourth Pirates of the Caribbean, along with some additional plot details that explain how the peculiar characters in the flick all end up getting involved in one another’s business.

Those that dared to sit through all 169 minutes of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (and considering the film’s box office gross , a lot of people did) will recall that the pic concluded with a shot of Sparrow setting out to sea in a dinghy, armed with nothing but his trusty compass, a bottle of rum, and a stolen fragment of a map that would lead him to the Fountain of Youth. When the official POTC 4 synopsis was released, few were shocked to learn that Sparrow’s quest to find the mythical fountain was the basis for the fourth film’s plot.

Depp’s Sparrow finds his quest for immortality in On Stranger Tides obstructed by corporate interests (insert Disney joke here) when he is captured by the guards of King George II (Richard Griffiths), who wants to recruit Sparrow to find the Fountain of Youth for himself – with the assistance of Jack’s old pal/mutinous first mate, Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush).

Check out an image from that scene below:

Sparrow, captured and brought to St. James Palace in London.

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[MILD SPOILER]

Sparrow declines to acquiesce the king’s request (he says no ) and quickly escapes via a comical chase sequence involving carriages and a noblewoman (Dame Judi Dench) that the seafarer woos before splitting, her jewels and expensive trinkets in hand.

Here’s a pic from Sparrow’s Charlie Chaplin-inspired escape in the film:

[END SPOILER]

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The journey to the Foutain of Youth becomes all the more tricky for Sparrow when he later gets involved with an old flame, Angelica (Penelope Cruz), and her father, the merciless Blackbeard (Ian McShane) – though Captain Jack is not sure which of these two he should be more scared of.

Get an early look at Sparrow opposite the father-daughter duo in the pic below:

Expect the Jack-Angelica dynamic to be quite similar to the captain’s previous encounters with former flings (Sparrow will undoubtedly have to endure more than a few harsh slaps this time). As Depp told USA Today, concerning his and Cruz’s onscreen relationship, “We have our bouts in the film, but there’s also this residue of what might have been. It’s a kind of love-hate thing.”

Check out the couple as they wade through waist-deep swamps on their way to the Fountain of Youth in the image below:

Depp professed that he likes the standalone storyline of On Stranger Tides since “you don’t have to connect the dots for these subplots and sub-characters [like in the last two movies]. It felt like a a fresh, clean slate.” After the convoluted mess that was At World’s End (which even the screenwriters seemingly don’t fully understand), that’s a relief.

The POTC 4 trailer will arrive next Monday, December 13th, so we’ll have a better idea of how director Rob Marshall’s take on the swashbuckling blockbuster series differs from Gore Verbinski’s POTC trilogy.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides arrives in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D theaters on May 20th, 2011.

View the original article here

First look: Lazyscope updated tonight (cool Twitter client that uses RSS)

When Ethan Gahng told me this week he had a new Twitter client I almost hung up on him.

After all, does the world really need yet another Twitter client? We already have hundreds of different ones and companies like Seesmic and TweetDeck, not to mention Twitter, have already done an awesome job. I didn’t see what else they might do to really get on my screen.

Let’s just say I was skeptical, but Ethan’s a nice guy and has been trying for a long time to find something that will get me excited.

During the video where he shows me Lazyscope (an Adobe Air-based client for viewing and creating the real-time web) for the first time you’ll hear me switch from being skeptical to seeing the possibilities. That was earlier this week.

Tonight he shipped an update with some of the feedback I gave him (he hadn’t seen an account that followed 27,000 Twitter users run on the service before he came to my house — I let him borrow my account to fix some bugs we both found).

It’s this iteration that has made me a fan, but I think he found something interesting: by mixing Twitter and RSS together you can make a better reading experience. Now each Tweet has a lot more content, if it includes a link to other content he even lets you subscribe to the RSS feed in a user-friendly way.

I’m now using Lazyscope. Is it perfect? No and it won’t be for everyone, but the prefetching of content it does is really cool and useful and saves me time and for that I’m grateful I didn’t blow him off. Why isn’t it perfect? Well, because he chose Adobe Air as the technology it won’t run on my iPhone or iPad, so I can’t use it everywhere. Also, I require a Twitter client to use the new Twitter retweet feature, along with Twitter favorite feature and Lazyscope does its own behavior (he explains that in the video, and tells me he’ll put options in a future version). Also, some people will find the UI too simplistic and want to go back to TweetDeck’s columnar approach or Twitter.com’s bigger fonts.

The update that shipped tonight makes the prefetching work much better, especially on fast-moving streams like mine. You should make sure you have the latest one.

Are you using it? What do you think? First reactions from my friends are very positive. Here’s some other press that LazyScope got this week:

Louis Gray: Lazyscope: An Immersive Twitter Desktop News Experience.

The Next Web: Try This: Lazyscope. Twitter meets RSS reader; subscribe to anything.

View the original article here

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Movie Reboot On The Way [Updated]

[UPDATE: Buffy creator Joss Whedon has responded to the news. Check out his comments below.]

There have been rumblings of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie reboot for a couple of years now. The last time we heard, original rights holders Fran Rubel Kazui and Kaz Kazui were interested in developing a new film that would take the franchise in a “darker direction” – and they were doing it without the involvement of Buffy creator Joss Whedon.

When the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series debuted on television in 1997, it was more than a quirky cult hit – it also acted as vindication for Whedon, whose original vision for the 1992 film of the same name had been severely compromised by Kazui Enterprises.  When the movie reboot rumors surfaced, fans were understandably apprehensive about the property reverting back to Kazui, the same people who had so poorly mishandled it in the first place.

It was later reported that Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical) had been offered the lead role of Buffy and that TV series star Sarah Michelle Gellar might make a cameo appearance. Thankfully, this never materialized and the project seemingly vanished.

Well, now it’s back – Warner Bros. has optioned the rights and a new Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie is officially underway. Charles Roven and Steve Alexander will produce the reboot alongside Roy Lee and Doug Davison of Vertigo Entertainment (How To Train Your Dragon, The Departed).

The script is being written by Whit Anderson and evidently this new take on Buffy‘s mythology was enough to spark Roven’s interest:

“Whit approached us with an exciting idea about how to update Buffy…There is an active fan base eagerly awaiting this character’s return to the big screen. We’re thrilled to team up with Doug and Roy on a re-imagining of Buffy and the world she inhabits. Details of the film are being kept under wraps, but I can say while this is not your high school Buffy, she’ll be just as witty, tough, and sexy as we all remember her to be.”

I know I won’t be alone in declaring that I’m not terribly supportive of this. Whedon has such an offbeat and specific sense of humor. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show had just the right balance of scares and laughs and it did it all with a pitch-perfect tongue-in-cheek attitude. It’s an incredibly difficult tone to achieve. In fact, look no further than the original Buffy movie for an example of how easy it is to screw up.

I’m just not convinced that this is a property that needs updating – especially when new generations of fans continue to discover Whedon’s TV show. The concept -a high school valley girl becomes a hardened vampire slayer – meshed well with Whedon’s unique style of writing, but I’m not sure how it’s going to hold up with a “darker” approach.

Update: It looks like Buffy fans aren’t the only ones saddened by this news. After the story broke, E!‘s Kristin Dos Santos sent an email to Joss Whedon asking how he felt about this development. Here’s his reply:

Kristin, I’m glad you asked for my thoughts on the announcement of Buffy the cinema film. This is a sad, sad reflection on our times, when people must feed off the carcasses of beloved stories from their youths—just because they can’t think of an original idea of their own, like I did with my Avengers idea that I made up myself.

Obviously I have strong, mixed emotions about something like this. My first reaction upon hearing who was writing it was, “Whit Stillman AND Wes Anderson? This is gonna be the most sardonically adorable movie EVER.” Apparently I was misinformed. Then I thought, “I’ll make a mint! This is worth more than all my Toy Story residuals combined!” Apparently I am seldom informed of anything. And possibly a little slow. But seriously, are vampires even popular any more?

I always hoped that Buffy would live on even after my death. But, you know, AFTER. I don’t love the idea of my creation in other hands, but I’m also well aware that many more hands than mine went into making that show what it was. And there is no legal grounds for doing anything other than sighing audibly. I can’t wish people who are passionate about my little myth ill. I can, however, take this time to announce that I’m making a Batman movie. Because there’s a franchise that truly needs updating. So look for The Dark Knight Rises Way Earlier Than That Other One And Also More Cheaply And In Toronto, rebooting into a theater near you.

Leave me to my pain! Sincerely, Joss Whedon.

Meanwhile, Bones creator Hart Hanson just tweeted this picture of Buffy alum David Boreanaz’s reaction to the news:

That pretty much sums it up.

What do you think? Is Buffy the Vampire Slayer ripe for re-imagining or should they leave well enough alone?

Source: Warner Bros. Pictures

Update Source: E! and Twitter.

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Steven Soderbergh In Talks To Direct ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’ [Updated]

Update: We now have more details on the status of The Man From U.N.C.L.E, including that George Clooney may be starring in the lead role. See below for details.

Back in April we reported on the news that Warner Bros. was finally moving forward with The Man from U.N.C.L.E., its new movie version of the classic 1960s TV series, with relative newcomer Max Borenstein writing the script and David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers) directing.

Despite the film gaining speed this year, a movie of U.N.C.L.E. has been in development (hell) as far back as the mid 1990s. There’s no telling why it’s taken this long to finally get this project into production, but alas here we are. The Hollywood Reporter has the news that WB has made a bold move by bringing on Steven Soderbergh to direct and Scott Z. Burns to write the script.

The inclusion of Dobkin and Borenstein suggested that WB’s version of U.N.C.L.E. would be more comedic than serious, but now that Soderbergh and Burns seem to be coming onboard, we may have a more serious movie on our hands – more Miami Vice than Starsky & Hutch, perhaps.

There’s no word why WB is changing writers and directors so drastically. THR reports that the studio thought Borenstein’s script was strong but have decided to hand the project to Burns for a rewrite. Dobkin will now act as producer on the project instead of director, along with John Davis (I, Robot, AVP).

For those of you unfamiliar, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was a spy series that ran on NBC from 1964 to 1968. It followed two secret agents, Napoleon Solo (played by Robert Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (played by David McCallum), who work for a secret international law enforcement agency known as the “United Network Command For Law and Enforcement” or U.N.C.L.E. They battled against an organization known as T.H.R.U.S.H. or “Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity”, who wanted to take over the world.

Soderbergh is certainly an interesting choice to direct the U.N.C.L.E. adaptation. He’s one of those directors who seems to be able to bounce between deep and serious dramas like Traffic and Solaris, and light and fun movies such as The Informant! and the Ocean’s trilogy, without compromising on quality.

Soderbergh is also a busy man, with two star-studded movies coming out next year: Haywire (previously entitled Knockout) starring Channing Tatum, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender and Ewan McGregor; and Contagion starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard and Laurence Fishburne.

Steven Soderbergh

Burns is a diverse Hollywood writer, with past credits including The Bourne Ultimatum and Soderbergh’s  The Informant! and Contagion (last we heard, Burns is also writing the script for David Fincher’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea remake). If both men get the gig, I think it’s safe to assume Soderbergh and Burns have a good working relationship, since U.N.C.L.E. would be their third collaboration.

U.N.C.L.E. is, of course, just one of many old TV shows to get the 21st century movie treatment. It’s a spy story not too dissimilar to the James Bond franchise (in fact, Bond creator Ian Fleming supposedly had a hand in creating U.N.C.L.E.) – could this adaptation follow in the more serious footsteps of the revitalized Bond franchise? Considering Burns was one of the writers of the third Bourne film (a franchise that gave Bond a serious wake-up call) I don’t think it’s too hard to imagine U.N.C.L.E. taking on that same badass mentality.

UPDATE: The Playlist has managed to dig up some more info on U.N.C.L.E. They are reporting from “sources close to the director” that long-time Soderbergh collaborator George Clooney is in talks to star in the lead role. If Clooney was ultimately cast it would be the seventh time he will have worked with Soderbergh after Out of Sight, the Ocean’s trilogy, Solaris and The Good German.

There’s word that this may be Soderbergh and Clooney’s last film together and maybe even his last as director in general (after Haywire and Contagion) as he’s been talking about early retirement for quite a while now. That would certainly be a big loss for the world of movies.

We are reminded that despite U.N.C.L.E. gaining traction, the project is still in the very early stages. However, WB chief Jeff Robinov has given the thumbs up to Soderbergh’s take on the project which would keep things set in the ’60s as opposed to modernizing it as some may have speculated.

There’s also a plan to scrap all the existing scripts for the project – including the original one written by Borenstein – which would mean that Burns would start a brand new script from scratch instead of rewriting an existing one. The words “take back U.N.C.L.E. to its roots” are being thrown around.

The plan is for Soderbergh to shoot The Man From U.N.C.L.E. at the end of next year, although it’s said the plan is still to shoot Soderbergh’s Liberace biopic in mid-to-late 2011. He’s currently filming Contagion, which is due out on October 21st, 2011, and his action film Haywire is set to hit theaters sometimes in 2011.

Source: THR and The Playlist

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Warner Bros. Wants Robert Zemeckis to Remake ‘Wizard of Oz’ [Updated]

[Update: PopWatch is reporting that Robert Zemeckis has declined doing The Wizard of Oz remake. Scroll for details.]

Another one bites the dust. That’s right, Hollywood’s never-ending (not to mention shameless) quest to remake every movie that has ever existed has claimed yet another victim. If you’re one of those rare human beings who somehow, someway managed to enjoy the 1998 remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho by Gus van Sant, then you’re going to love this.

According to Mike Fleming of Deadline, Warner Bros. wants Robert Zemeckis, who’s currently “filming” the motion-capture animated Yellow Submarine, to remake The Wizard of Oz using the original 1939 screenplay.

This won’t even be a redux in the form of an adaptation of the source material, like, say, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or the forthcoming True Grit, thus providing new avenues for where the story can go.

Apparently, Warner Bros. owns the classic film’s screenplay because Ted Turner acquired it with his purchase of the MGM library. Warner Bros., of course, subsequently purchased Turner’s vast empire, thus acquiring the Wizard of Oz screenplay as well.

This bit of news comes right on the heels of the announcement that Disney and Sam Raimi are developing The Great and Powerful Oz, possibly starring Robert Downey Jr. Other Oz projects in development include Surrender Dorothy, a sequel to The Wizard of Oz to be directed by Drew Barrymore, and an unnamed Oz sequel from Warner Bros. about Dorothy’s granddaughter. No word yet on whether or not the latter film, with an original screenplay by Josh Olsen (A History of Violence), has been scrapped in favor of this Zemeckis remake.

Speak of the devil, I would love to see someone compile a list of all the remakes going back a decade alongside their critical and financial success rates. With every passing year, there seem to be more and more remakes and less and less original entries in big-budget cinema. Are these remakes so fiscally successful that they’re worth the artistic integrity of the studios and the filmmakers who churn them out?

The fact of the matter is, few people watch Psycho (1998) unless they’re being ironic. When someone mentions Manchurian Candidate, they likely don’t picture Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, and Meryl Streep, they more likely picture Frank Sinatra, Janet Leigh, and Angela Lansbury. And ten years from now, I hope that when someone wants to see a horror movie, they pick the original Halloween, not Rob Zombie’s.  It’s getting to the point where television is my main source for high-quality, original, live-action fiction, and that just makes me sad.

Sometimes I wish I could just click my heels together and wish the remakes away.

Hopefully, one day, we can live in a world free of remakes and rip-offs. But for now, we have Louis Letterrier’s Clash of the Titans, Samuel Bayer’s A Nightmare On Elm Street, and, if Warner Bros. gets their way, Robert Zemeckis’ The Wizard of Oz. I look forward (he said sarcastically) to Michael Bay’s Casablanca, now with twice as many sassy black women and 1,000,000% more nuclear explosions.

Source: Deadline

Update: Well, everybody can calm down now. PopWatch spoke to a source at Warner Bros. who said that while the studio did indeed have a meeting with Robert Zemeckis about potentially remaking The Wizard of Oz, Zemeckis wanted nothing to do with the project. (Score one for Zemeckis.) The source was quoted as saying, “The reports that Robert Zemeckis is doing The Wizard of Oz are absolutely false.” Well, to be fair, the reports merely stated that Warner Bros. wanted Robert Zemeckis to direct the remake, which seems to actually be confirmed via this report. Additionally, PopWatch seems to think that, because Zemeckis was the studio’s first choice for director, the project will either be moved to the back burner or abandoned altogether. Obviously, I’m pulling for the latter, but I’d feel a lot better if the source had said ‘nobody’ is doing The Wizard of Oz remake.

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