Trailers: ‘The Pacific’

Source: Pacific Fansite

The following trailer debuted during last night’s episode of True Blood which, apparently to me only, was miles above the premiere in terms of entertainment value. The Pacific is similiar but unrelated to HBO’s Band Of Brothers, in that this mini-series focuses the United States Marine Corps‘s actions in the Pacific Theater Of Operations. The series will feature well-known battles involving the 1st Marine Division, such as Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa, as well as Basilone’s involvement in the Battle of Iwo Jima.

The Pacific is produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Speilberg, and Gary Goetzman. The series was written by Bruce McKenna (Band Of Brothers) and Greg Pelecanos (The Wire).

Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne Plan 9 Films

Source: Variety

Bob Shaye and longtime partner Michael Lynne, former moguls of the now absorbed New Line Cinema, have assembled a formidable slate of films through their new Unique Features production company. “Running a company with 650 people has its own excitement and thrill, but the reason you are doing it is to create quality content, and it is hard to feel close to that at the top of a big organization,” Shaye said. Lynne described the transition as “strangely exhilarating. Instead of patting a bunch of people on the shoulder for making movies for us, we are now doing it ourselves.”

Shaye and Lynne have 11 projects in development. They are as follows:

High In The Clouds
Animated feature “High in the Clouds” is an adaptation of a children’s book written by Paul McCartney, Geoff Dunbar and Philip Ardagh about a squirrel’s quest to find an animal sanctuary. The film will be directed by Rob Minkoff and adapted by Caroline Thompson. Paul McCartney will score the film.

7th Son
Warner Bros. has committed to develop “7th Son,” a drama based on a trio of graphic novels by J.C. Hutchins. Seven strangers, assembled after the assassination of the U.S. president, each realize they are the same man, with the same memories. Originally published as a digital download, the first novel, “Descent,” is being released in the fall by St. Martin’s Press. Justin Britt-Gibson is writing the script.

Alt-Delete
WB is also aboard “Alt-Delete,” a sci-fi comedy scripted by Tim Kelleher and Danny Zuker in which two guys working for a vidgame publishing company come to realize they are avatars in a larger game.

Thieves Of Baghdad
Warners will also develop “Thieves of Baghdad,” a 10th century family adventure steeped in the world of the Arabian Nights, with Cole Haddon writing the script. Shaye said he sparked to Haddon’s take on the original collection of folk tales “One Thousand and One Nights,” which is in the public domain. It is a film that weaves Sinbad, Ali Baba, flying carpets, sword fights and genies in urns.

The Birth Mother
Unique has made a Screen Gems deal for “The Birth Mother,” a Jack Olsen-scripted thriller about a couple whose marriage is threatened when their surrogate falls in love with the husband and becomes obsessed with keeping the baby.

City Of Angels
The Unique partners have reteamed with “Wag the Dog” director Barry Levinson for the “City of Angels” feature. Larry Gelbart will turn his original book into a script, and composer Marc Shaiman is attached to serve as music director, augmenting the original music by the late Cy Coleman. David Zippel, who wrote the lyrics for the original stage production, is back with the pic. Unique is producing with PicturePlay Films. “Barry brought it to us, and the story of a writer of classic film noir detective stories, with the same actor playing both the writer and detective … is as great an idea for the screen as it was the for the stage,” Shaye said.

Untitled Bart Scott Project
Shaye and Lynne have joined forces with journalist Gay Talese on a sports feature based on the formative years of Bart Scott, the Baltimore Ravens linebacker who just signed with the New York Jets at $48 million for six years. Talese sparked to the story of Scott’s upbringing in a tough area of Detroit. Talese “is at least going to join us to write an extended treatment, and then we’ll find a writer to fill it out,” Lynne said.

The Moral Instruments
“The Mortal Instruments” is a bestselling young-adult fantasy trilogy by Cassandra Clare (three more volumes are in the works) about a young girl who inherited an ability to see and interact with a clan of supernatural spirits.

Even
“Even” is an Andrew Grant novel published last month about an undercover Royal Navy intelligence operative who goes on the run after being framed for murder.

Sean Penn Takes Hiatus

Source: THR

Sean Penn has informed two productions slated to shoot this year that he will be taking time away from Hollywood to focus on his family. Sources claim it could last up to a year, but nothing concrete is known. He recently rescinded his legal seperation case with wife, Robin Wright-Penn, for the second time in their marriage. Penn was slated to shoot Cartel, a crime thriller about a man who journeys to protect his son after his wife is murdered by Mexican drug cartels. The plan is to recast the role while the script is still currently being worked on, with Asger Leth at the helm. Penn was also to begin production in August on the Farrelly Brothers’ highly anticipated Three Stooges, alongside Jim Carrey and Benicio Del Toro.

Penn’s leave puts production in jeopardy as waiting for Penn to return could lose Carry and Del Toro. The film is already set for a March 2010 release date, and timing is everything in Hollywood. Schedules tend to fill up at warp speed, so it’s unclear whether the Farrelly Brothers will recast and try to work something else out. He will next be seen in Terrence Malick’s Tree Of Life, and Doug Liman’s adaptation of Valerie Plame’s political memoir, Fair Game.

Gary Ross Writes Lance Armstrong Biopic

Source: Risky Business Blog

Gary Ross (Pleasantville, Seabiscuit) has signed on to write a biopic of cyclist, Lance Armstrong. The film will be based on Armstrong’s first book, “It’s Not About The Bike” which recounts his difficult Texas upbringing, his cancer diagnosis in 1996, his relationship with his first wife and the birth of their first child, and his amazing comeback that saw him win his first Tour de France in 1999. Frank Marshall and Kennedy are producing the pic through their Kennedy/Marshall banner, and there’s still a possibility that Marshall might direct it himself.

The pic has been long gestating at Columbia Pictures with Jake Gyllenhaal rumoured to play the cyclist, but it was Armstrong’s attempt to come out of retirement this year to try to win a record eighth title that helped kick-start the project. “We got inspired by his comeback, and we were able to get going again,” Marshall said. The film could lens as early as next year.

Diane Lane Rides ‘Secretariat’

Source: Variety

Diane Lane is set to star as Penny Chenery in the film, Secretariat, for Disney. The film is based on the true story of the  relationship between the 1973 Triple Crown-winning racehorse and his owner, Chenery. Not to be confused with Seabiscuit, this film is about a mother and housewife who knew little about horse racing when she took over her ailing father’s farm in Virginia. Secretariat became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years, but Chenery’s rise to the “first lady of racing” was the real underdog story. However, when Secretariat began to establish himself as a horse with serious potential, Chenery was forced to sell him and everything else after her father died and she was hit with a large inheritance tax. Randall Wallace directs, from a script by Mike Rich.

Alessandra Torresani Joins ‘Runaways’

Source: Collider

Alessandra Torresani has joined Floria Sigismondi’s directorial debut, The Runaways. Torresani has played the hyper-intelligent daughter of creator of the first Cylon model on Ronald D. Moore’s Caprica. The 22 year-old actress joins Kristin Stewart as Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning as Cherrie Curie in the film directed by video director Floria Sigismondi. Shooting begins next week.

Stills: Morgan Freeman In ‘Invictus’

Source: EmailJokes

From some completely random site, here’s a first look at Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela in Clint Eastwood’s upcoming Invictus. Surprisingly, it just looks like Morgan Freeman.

The film, previously known as “The Human Factor”, chronicles Nelson Mandela’s life during the 1995 Rugby World Cup which he used as a means to bring his people together after the fall of apartheid. The film is due to be released on December 11.

Gyllenhaal and Hathaway Reunite For ‘Drugs’

Source: THR

Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway, who played a married couple in Brokeback Mountain, are in negotiations to reunite for Love And Other Drugs, an adaptation of Jamie Reidy’s nonfiction book Hard Sell: The Evolution Of A Viagra Salesman. Formerly titled Pharma, the film is being directed by Edward Zwick (The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond) from a script by Charles Randolph (The Interpreter)

Reidy was a drug rep for Pfizer in the late 1990s who eventually wrote a memoir that shined a light on the practices of the pharmaceutical industry. Gyllenhaal will play the salesman, who begins a relationship with a woman who has Parkinson’s (Hathaway) while on one of his sales calls. Hathaway was in talks to star with Tobey Maguire in the film Tokyo Suckerpunch, but couldn’t make the scheduling work.

Javier Bardem Set For ‘Eat, Pray, Love’

Source: Variety

Javier Bardem is in current negotiations to star along Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray, Love. The adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling memoir casts Bardem as Felipe, the man Gilbert (Roberts) meets and falls in love with on the final leg of a journey of self-discovery that began with the end of her marriage. The film is being adapted and written by Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck, Glee) and also stars Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under, The Visitor) as a Texan Roberts befriends at an Indian ashram.

Stills: June 5, 2009

Source: EW

Here’s a roundup of some recently released stills for Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen, the Allen Ginsberg biopic Howl, two hi-res shots of Sam Worthington from Clash Of The Titans, and a shot of Bruce Willis as his “avatar” in the film Surrogates.