- Hot Goss -

Hollywood Land

Pint-Sized Characters

While many won't give two hoots about this upcoming release (and judging by the lukewarm response to Underdog in the US) - we couldn't help but get excited when getting hold of the latest trailer for nostalgia turned cinema gold.

Alvin and the Chipmunks is, for those who were around in the late 1980's, one of the most popular and loved children's cartoons on the block. However, the series hasn't been on for years - so one would have to wonder what prompts such a movie to get the greenlight when it's core audience is to bust trying not to have their own kids.

Either way - check it out - those high pitched voices can't be beaten...

Is Justice League a CGI film?

Recently we reported that Brandon Routh and Christian Bale had not been asked back to play Superman and Batman, respectively, in the new Justice League movie.

We recieved an email this morning from an insider who might be able to back up the actors' no-show in this one - seems the film (and it would make sense considering George Miller is the director) might be CGI.

Take this with a grain of salt, this is "friend of a friend" stuff from Sony Imageworks, so there's a chance it's not true, but it's looking likely.

Apparently, the new JLA film won't be live action...why the need to cast actors then you ask? Because it's going to be a cgi film that utilises motion capture technology to create a "photo-real" animated film, much like the upcoming Beowulf.

Given Millers recent history with cgi animation (Happy Feet) Imageworks previous working relationship with Warner Brothers and DC Properties (Superman Returns) I would say that this is safe bet to be true. It's also interesting to note that the JLA rumours and speculation really went up a gear after the release of the Beowulf trailer.

What it means of course is that Miller can cast actors rather than faces to play these roles which will then be transferred to a CG environment using the latest motion capture technology.

We then recieved a second email from 'Jawa Juice', stating :

I must correct an error in my previous mail...Imageworks aren't necessarily doing the effects for the mo-cap cgi JLA movie...they're still in negotiations. I've been told that there are a few effects houses bidding for the contract (R&H and possibly WETA, though the latter is unconfirmed).

Whoever gets the jobs, it may mean that JLA could be pushed back to late 2009, or even 2010...this is speculation on my part, but cgi-films take a long time to do and photo-real mo-cap is still a pretty new technology.

McFarlane writing Wizard of Oz sequel?

The Wizard of Oz is getting a makeover – and it ain’t with Melissa George and it isn’t being filmed in Queensland (that one bit the dust about five years ago).

Nope, Variety reports that Spawn creator Todd McFarlane will produce a hip new take on the classic MGM film titled Oz – something that’s apparently more ‘sequel’ than ‘remake’.

The project was acquired based on an idea by Todd McFarlane that was fleshed out and pitched by Josh Olson (A History of Violence). Olson will write and McFarlane will produce with Thunder Road’s Basil Iwanyk. Rick Benattar (Shoot ’Em Up) is exec producer.

According to the trade, Conversations with McFarlane and Olson make it clear that they are still working out the tone of the film. They have plenty to work with. WB has owned the rights to the original The Wizard of Oz since buying Ted Turner’s empire, whose assets included the film and other plum titles in the MGM library. There are also 15 novels in the Oz series written by Baum, most in the public domain.

McFarlane has a vision of Oz that is a dark, edgy and muscular PG-13, without a singing Munchkin in sight. That was clear with a toy line he launched several years ago that featured a buxom Dorothy and Toto reimagined as an oversized snarling warthog. Olson has something a little tamer, and PG, in mind.

"I saw those toys, and Dorothy as some bondage queen isn’t something I want to do," Olson told Daily Variety. "The appealing thing about the Baum books to me is how wildly imaginative they are. There are crazy characters from amazing places. I want this to be Harry Potter dark, not Seven dark."

Both McFarlane and Olson are on the same page when it comes to the promise of marrying the Baum story with benefits of visual effects advancements.

"My pitch was ‘How do we get people who went to Lord of the Rings to embrace this?’ " McFarlane said. "I want to create (an interpretation) that has a 2007 wow factor. You’ve still got Dorothy trapped in an odd place, but she’s much closer to the Ripley from Alien than a helpless singing girl."

Olson was keeping plot specifics to himself but said the film will be closer to a sequel than a remake.

"We still want to take advantage of the first film, which might be the most beloved of all time, and rely on its place in your cultural memory to bubble beneath the surface," Olson said. "A lot of the plot is mine, but the characters are all Baum."

Throwing a few names around the office, it seems that Keira Knightley is the front runner to take on the role of Dorothy - could this be the headline film she's been wating for?


Michael Bay fires his Blu-Ray at Transformers

A mini shit-storm developed last night with filmmaker Michael Bay declaring he wouldn’t be directing Transformers 2.

And why wouldn’t he be doing the next chapter?

Not because there’s nothing more to say about the robots in disguise; not because Shia LaBeouf’s too friggin expensive to bring back, and not because the studio asked for a little more substance with their style…. It’s much simpler: Captain shout-a-lot hates Paramount’s plans to release Transformers on HD-DVD Only (no normal DVD release for it) – they’re going to exclusively use the format – and thinks this is a good way for them to change their mind about it. “Fuck you! I won’t do the sequel then. Hire that hack Brett Ratner instead!”, he said in his head before penning the following post at the Shootfortheedit.com site :

"I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!"

But what’s this? Has someone got to him? Has he been forced to change his answer in exchange for his, er, career?

Bay has added a new comment suggesting he’s back onboard the movie.

“Last night at dinner I was having dinner with three blu-ray owners, they were pissed about no Transformers Blu-ray and I drank the kool aid hook line and sinker. So at 1:30 in the morning I posted - nothing good ever comes out of early am posts mind you - I over reacted. I heard where Paramount is coming from and the future of HD and players that will be close to the $200 mark which is the magic number. I like what I heard. As a director, I'm all about people seeing films in the best quality possible, and I saw and heard firsthand people upset about a corporate decision. So today I saw 300 on HD, it rocks! So I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!”

Now while we can’t say – and who can? – Bay’s the finest director on the planet, I will say he’s got a singular vision and just can’t be emulated. Having someone else directing the next Transformers movie after the first was so freakin’ epic and flashy, would be wrong. It’d be like having Brett Ratner replace Bryan Singer on a multi-million dollar superhero movie… or something. So, glad he’s back.

As for the HD-DVD plans, I'm with Bay (well, the 'Bay at 1:30 PM') - we haven't all bought DVD collections and DVD players all these years to only be told "you're shit out of luck, you're going to have to replace your whole collection, not to mention get a new player, now - because we've invented something even better than plain old DVD".

The guys at The Digital Bits say Paramount have been inundanted with pissed-off customers over the last 24-hours.

Speaking of Bay's reaction and Paramount's decision, it seems Michael wasn't alone. A lot of people have been e-mailing the studio in the last 24 hours as you can imagine. Some of the replies to those e-mails have been posted on various discussion forums around the Net. We don't want to get anyone in trouble over there, so we're not going to post the full text of any of them. But among the factoids that have been gleaned from these replies are:

1) All of the previously announced Blu-ray titles that had been completed and were being prepared for release have been cancelled. This includes Blades of Glory, NEXT, Face/Off, Top Gun and the Tom Clancy Collection. Indeed, we've checked the studio's press site and discovered that all of these titles, which had still been listed there for Blu-ray release as late as yesterday, have been removed from the site.

2) The terms of the deal with Microsoft SEEMS to be 18 months, however the deal contains "a lot of clauses which would allow us to release certain films on Blu-ray during this time period." In other words, the studio seems to be leaving itself plenty of wiggle room.

And here's the most interesting bit. This is taken from one of the actual e-mails...

3) "Actually we were as surprised as everyone else today when we found out about the agreement with HD-DVD. We found out when we arrived to work today and there had been no rumors at all circulating. I think it surprised us all because we have been working on Blu-ray versions of films such Blades, Face/Off, Top Gun, etc. through the end of last week. I can tell you we have received many calls today from various talent and certain directors voicing their displeasure with this decision. We even had VP's of other studios calling in from what I hear. I have never seen this type of atmosphere in the office."

In other words, Michael Bay probably wasn't alone among filmmakers that work with Paramount in being pissed off about this news. And it seems that the whole decision was concocted without telling ANYONE actually working on the discs. It was as much a surprise to the studio's employees as it was to the rest of the industry.

Hmmm. Be interesting to see where this goes. 

Trailer Trash

There are some super cool - and some super dodgy flicks headed for our cinema. So we thought to give you a little taste of them both.

First up is the fantastically funny The Darjeeling Limited from master of the mundane, Wes Anderson. Expect plenty of the same, after all, this is the genius who brought us Royal Tenebaums and The Life Aquatic. Be sure to check this out.

Brought to you by MovieHole