Wednesday 5 August 2009

Media Round Up


According to Mark Langshaw, Gaming/Comics Reporter. Alibi is to be adapted for the big screen. According to Variety, Mandeville Entertainment will produce a film based on the spy thriller, despite the publisher's decision not to renew the book following its pilot run. The storyline centres around John Stephens, the world's best assassin, who can get away with high-profile killings because he always has an alibi. As the plot progresses, his secret is uncovered and his world changes forever. Created by Matt Hawkins and Michael Renegar, the series was written by Joshua Hale Fialkov with artwork by Jeremy Haun. Alibi is the second Top Cow IP to receive cinematic treatment in recent years, following 2008's successful Wanted movie.

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If you listen to film critic Michael Medved he claims that a gay version of Sherlock Holmes will not be "appealing" to cinema audiences. Director Guy Ritchie reportedly wrote the characters of Holmes and his sidekick Watson as gay in his remake of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle detective story.

Star Robert Downey Jr recently explained that he and co-star Jude Law (Watson) share "circumstantial homosexuality" in the upcoming film.

However, Medved said that the actors are playing up the angle for the sake of generating controversy, the New York Post reports. He told the newspaper: "There's not a seething, bubbling hunger to see straight stars impersonating homosexuals. I think they're just trying to generate controversy." He added: "They know that making Holmes and Watson homosexual will take away two-thirds of their box office. Who is going to want to see Downey Jr and Law make out? "I don't think it would be appealing to women. Straight men don't want to see it."

Sherlock Holmes will open in cinemas on December 26.

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Bashar Rahal has landed a role on Fox's 24, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He will reportedly play a general from the Islamic Republic of Kamistan who is involved in a conspiracy against Anil Kapoor's President Hassan. Rahal's previous credits include My Name Is Earl, The Unit and Arrested Development.

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Blade Runner has been named as the top science fiction movie of all time. Ridley Scott directed the 1982 film which starred Harrison Ford as detective Rick Deckard, who was forced to hunt down four escaped human replicants in Los Angeles circa 2019. The picture also featured Rutger Hauer, Sean Young and Daryl Hannah, and was based upon the novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.

The adaptation bested such genre favourites as Star Wars, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien to place first in The 100 Greatest Sci-Fi Movies list on Total Sci-Fi.

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It was reported last year that Eagle Eye screenwriter Travis Wright was penning a follow-up to the sci-fi classic. Scott recently confirmed that he will direct a prequel to his 1979 film Alien, which starred Sigourney Weaver. Weaver has revealed that she is happy with Ridley Scott's involvement in the Alien prequel. She told MTV: "I'm glad Ridley's connected to it because I know it will be classy."

The filmmaker will return to the franchise for the first time since directing the original 1979 sci-fi classic. Weaver, who portrayed protagonist Lt Ellen Ripley in four Alien movies, welcomed his participation in the reboot. However, the 59-year-old actress ruled out the return of her iconic character in the new venture. She added: "I don't see how Ripley could be part of a prequel. But I'm fine. I wish them well. I can't imagine going back at this point."

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"Thieves steal equipment from 007 studios"

It’s the kind of headline that makes for a good story. Recently thieves have stolen thousands of pounds worth of filming equipment from the legendary Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, reports The Daily Telegraph. Police said that the intruders gained access to the facility by breaking padlocks on the back gates, smashing windows and removing doors from hinges.
"They stole various specialist cameras and lenses which are worth a lot of money," said detective constable Sebastian Wilson. They have also stolen a Sony SRW 5000, a device which converts footage into high definition format and which alone is worth £65,000 pounds."
Among the items reported missing were cameras being used to film Gulliver's Travels, starring Jack Black and Emily Blunt, and the new Robin Hood film featuring Russell Crowe.
"The thieves were disturbed by a security guard who believes that one of the vehicles used in the daring raid was an expensive silver coloured sports car, possibly a Lexus," added Wilson. "I am particularly interested in speaking to anyone who may have been offered specialist filming equipment for sale or who saw vehicles driving in the area at speed."
So keep ‘em peeled, and please note that the police are not looking for a Gregory Peck look-alike for the crime!

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Tom Arnold has admitted that a sequel to True Lies is currently in development. The Happy Endings actor previously said that he tried to persuade the original's Arnold Schwarzenegger to reprise his secret agent Harry Trasker role for director James Cameron in an update.

Arnold has now claimed that a follow-up to the 1994 action comedy, co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis, will go before cameras when Schwarzenegger's term as California's governor is over, according to the New York Times.

He said: "All I know is Jim Cameron's making it and Arnold and I are going to be in it, and it starts shooting in 14 months, the day after Arnold stops being governor of California." He added: "It's not going to be called True Lies II, but it might as well be. I can live with that."

It was reported earlier that Curtis's striptease in True Lies was named the best movie scene in history. Well, almost.

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