Movie News Rush 10

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"

The news- Michael Bay's reboot making studio Platinum Dunes (behind all the recent horror remakes such as "Friday the 13th" and the new "Nightmare on Elm Street") have been brought in by Paramount (now the loving new owners of the "TMNT" franchise) to help make the live-action reboot. Does this bode well for the return of the ninja turtles to the big screen? No...not really.

Screen Rant
First Showing
Deadline
MTV News

"Runaways"

The news - Writer Drew Pearce has been hired to pen the screenplay for Marvel's comic book adaptation Runaways with Peter Sollett ("Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist") attached to helm the film for a 2012 release. Pearce has previous experience in the superhero genre, having created the 2008 sitcom "No Heroics" about the lives of a group of off-duty superheroes. "Runaways" follows a group of teenagers who go on the run after discovering their parents are superpowered villains who belong to a crime syndicate called The Pride. The kids also find they have inherited their parents' skills and abilities. While this film isn't intended to connect to the rest of the Marvel movie universe ("Iron Man," "Thor," "Captain America"), it will be coming out around the same time as "The Avengers" - so there might be a small chance of some crossover.

Deadline
First Showing
Screen Rant
MTV News
The Geek Files

"The Hobbit"

The news - It's pretty bad for those who wanted to see Guillermo del Toro's vision of "The Hobbit." Due to all the delays of the film he has officially left the project. Click on any of the links below for more details, but that's pretty much the meat of it.

Screen Rant
Rope of Silicon
First Showing
The Geek Files

"Scott Pilgrim vs. the World"

The news - A new delightful trailer to show to the world. This film is just looks so over-the-top that I am definitely going to have to see it. Besides - it's directed by Edgar Wright (and he's great).

More YouTube Trailer Mash-Ups

What happen when "The Matrix" meets "Fight Club"?



The "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" become "Reservoir Dogs."



"Wizard of Oz" dances it up and serves "You Got Served."

Nickelodeon Now Owns the 'TMNT'

It has been announced that Nickelodeon has acquired global rights to the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" franchise from The Mirage Group / 4Kids Entertainment for roughly $60 million.

Nickelodeon also announced plans to develop a new CG-animated television series based on the popular superhero franchise, anticipated to premiere in 2012. Additionally, in partnership with Viacom's Paramount Pictures, a release of a new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" feature film is also planned for 2012. New Line previously released the originally three live-action TMNT films and Warner Brothers released the recent CGI movie from 2007.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a property that maintains a very passionate global fan base, is rich with opportunity for a tentpole movie, and is exactly the right property for us to work together with Nickelodeon," said Adam Goodman, President, Paramount Pictures.

This is great news and I'm glad to see a very strong studio like Paramount behind the upcoming live-action movie. As we already know via previous updates from Comic-Con, the new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie is being written by John Fusco and produced by Scott Mednick, Galen Walker, and original "TMNT" director Steve Barron.

It's supposed to be a "Batman Begins"-like look at the origin of the Turtles. I assume these producers will still maintain creative control over the movie. Not that I don't trust Paramount, I just think it's best to leave it up to those guys!

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Source: First Showing

Producers Promise a Dark 'TMNT' Movie

This year at Comic-Con marks the 25th anniversary of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," and the progression towards what fans really want in a new Turtles movie appears to be on the horizon.

Producers Scott Mednick and Galen Walker were on hand at the "TMNT" panel to answer a few questions about the new film, currently scheduled for a release sometime in 2011.

"I love the Turtles. They have a special quality, the key is that we want to make the greatest Turtle movie ever," stated Walker, a response that was echoed by co-producer Mednick moments later. "In the world we live in today, in the golden age of superhero movies, we need to get back to where this all started."

With these ideas in mind, the fans still wanted to know one thing - will TMNT follow the same path that other darker superhero movies have been going in the last few years. "Our point of view is this: go back and look at the original Turtles comics. They are very dark. The audience is much more sophisticated than they were in 1990. This is 2009. Take the new 'Harry Potter' for example. It is rated PG and it's still a very dark film. We are headed that direction," Galen said.

With this film focusing on an origins story and bringing the Turtles back to their roots, a whole new generation can get in on the fun-filled action of the "TMNT." Hopefully it won't be too dark because I truly enjoyed the humor of the original "Turtles" films as well.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Source: First Showing

Movie News Mash 22

THE HANGOVER 2
Variety just published an article looking at what's up next for director Todd Phillips it's already sorted out. Phillips will next direct the road trip comedy "Due Date" and follow that one year later with "The Hangover 2." Stand-up comic turned actor Zach Galifianakis is already set to star in "Due Date" and will most likely return for "The Hangover 2," making him and Phillips quite good buddies.

"Due Date" is a comedy about fatherhood in which an expectant dad and his unlikely travel companion (Galifianakis) race cross-country in hopes of making it home for the birth of his first child. As for "The Hangover 2," a plot hasn't been announced for it yet, but Phillips and his writing partner Scot Armstrong are already writing the sequel. Warner Brothers gave them the go-ahead back in April, before "The Hangover" had event hit, because they were so confident it'd be a huge success. And it obviously was.
(First Showing)

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES
A post from GoGreenMachine.org includes details about an open casting call in Hollywood for martial arts experts to audition for "the upcoming 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' movie, hitting theaters in 2011. We will select the best from the auditions to be a part of the stealth 'TMNT' nemesis, the Foot Clan."

The official TMNT25.com Web site has posted an article with details about their appearances at the San Diego Comic-Con. Their keynote presentation is a special "TMNT" panel on Friday, July 24 featuring a lot of big names - creator Kevin Eastman, Mirage Studios CEO Gary Richardson, director of the original "TMNT" movies Steve Barron, and producers Galen Walker and Scott Mednick. Listed last is John Fusco, whose title is "writer of the new 'TMNT' movie (slated for 2011)."

Looks like the Foot Clan will be returning to the franchise which finally has a writer. Fusco's past credits include "Young Guns," "Thunderheart," "Hidalgo" and "The Forbidden Kingdom."
Sources: First Showing (1,2)

THE WOLF MAN
Back in early May, it was reported the Joe Johnston's "The Wolf Man" was going back for extensive reshoots to add more action. A new report from England's The Daily Mail confirms the reshoots and claims that they were made because the dynamics of the werewolf bad been tweaked. Originally, it walked upright on its hind two legs, like a human, but now he'll be attack from all fours, like an actual wolf.

"The Wolf was on its heels and it looked daft," an actor explained. While director Joe Johnston did work on some of the new scenes, most of it was shot by Vic Armstong, a veteran stuntman who also does work as a second unit director. "Vic came up with a great confrontation between the Wolf Man and the Werewolf. They really go after each other and it's dramatic and exciting, whereas the stuff they shot first time round was limp." Word is that these new scenes involved Benicio Del Toro, who plays the lead character Lawrence Talbot, as well as Emily Blunt and Anthony Hopkins, who plays Del Toro's father, Sir John Talbot.

Universal did also confirm the reshoots. "The full articulation of the transformational lead character will be realized when the film is completed and we are excited to share this incredible look with the world in the upcoming trailer." Hopefully that trailer will be coming out later this month or in August because "The Wolf Man" hits theaters November 6.
(First Showing)

What's Next for TMNT?

MTV News had the chance for some questions on the new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie with the film’s producer, Scott Mednick, who also served as executive producer on comics-friendly films “300” and “Superman Returns.” He shared some details about potential plot points and where else we might see the style of effects likely to be used for the film.

"What we want to do is service the story in a way that we have technology and ability that we didn’t have 25 years ago to say 'here’s the story' to the fans, and bring in a whole new generation of fans that can then start with us again," Mednick said.

Mednick went on to say that the film will be an origins story and that with the origins of the Turtles comes one of their greatest villains.

"Shredder is just one of the great villains for us to play with, and we are certainly expecting to bring the entire origin story — which could not be told without Shredder."

He also explained how the film was to combine live-action with CGI like in another film "Where the Wild Things Are."

"I’m an executive producer on 'Where the Wild Things Are,' which also used, if you will, creatures. And we have some technology today that they just didn’t have when the previous live-action movies were made, and what we’re hoping to do is to bring all of the cinematic tricks that are in the 2009 bag into this effort.

"The similarity will be that the 'Wild Things' creatures are actually there. They’re in the scene, they’re not CGI’d in, they’re actually large creatures. I remember early discussions of actually having the creatures be in the scene — because you can tell if it’s there or if it’s CGI’d in — and giving credibility to the fact that the Wild Things are in these scenes.

"We have a similar issue in that we want the Turtles to be a part of that world. So we will use CGI effects where necessary, and we will use the best costume makers that we have now. You can look at anything from 'Wild Things' and the Henson creature shop, to the guys who did 'Hellboy,' and you can look at the expertise in technology we have now. It just wasn’t there 25 years ago, so we will hopefully utilize that."

Sounds like the new live-action "TMNT" film is getting off to a great start.
More news to come! Catch ya' later!

The Next TMNT

It was announced that a new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" is in the works and that it is currently scheduled for a 2011 release.

But how much CGI will be done to the Turtles or will it have guys in turtles suits again?

According to Peter Laird, co-creator of the Ninja Turtles, said on his official blog that there will be suits and it won't be full CGI characters like "Alvin and the Chipmunks."

"So here we go — another live action film! As you may recall from some of my previous comments, our initial discussions regarding the next film had to do with what we were calling a 'hybrid' — live action with realistic Turtles rendered in CGI and blended in. This new idea — which, frankly, I am VERY pumped about — will have actors and stunt performers in full Turtle suits for filming in live action. As of right now, there is talk of using CGI to do 'face replacement' for the suits so that we can get those great, expressive faces possible with CGI."

There was something about the first "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie that I never knew about that I found to be extremely interesting.

According to First Showing, "What we can't forget about the 1990 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' movie was that it was actually an independent film, with a budget of only $13.5 million. Those costumes they came up with were a result of what worked well and what was cheap, not what would be the easiest way to attract kids to theaters. Thankfully it all worked out in the end and the suits kicked ass, but I'm worried that this may be a big Hollywood production and they'll lose that creative edge that forced them to make a great movie the first time around."

The technology they are going to use sounds like what is being done for "Where the Wild Things Are." People dressed up in suits to play the creatures and then CGI was done on their faces to make them more expressive (this was also done for the 20th Anniversary edition of "E.T.").

More news to come! Catch ya' later!

Turtles On a Half Shell, Turtle Power!

Can I say I love "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?" My constant companions through my youth led me into comics, video games and into film. Oh how I watched those movies over and over.

Then "TMNT" came out and I got pissed. That movie was nowhere as good as the original live-action trilogy. And I want more Ninja Turtle movies. I really love them that much. I even had the video of them when they did the flipping concert tour back in 1990.

Now they are coming back.
According to Variety, "The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are making their way back to the bigscreen.

The Mirage Group, which owns the property, is moving forward with a live-action film focusing on the origins of the iconic crime fighters. Project, targeted for release in 2011, would mark the fifth bigscreen outing for the sewer-dwelling heroes Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael as well as their master Splinter.

News coincides with the Turtles' 25th anniversary celebration, which kicks off Thursday in New York as the first 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' film unspools at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Legendary Pictures former chief marketing officer Scott Mednick is producing the new pic alongside Galen Walker, who produced the 2007 computer-animated "TMNT" pic, the most recent installment in the franchise. Peter Laird, Gary Richardson, Frederick Fierst, Eric Crown and Napoleon Smith III are exec producing the film, which is based on the characters created by Laird and Kevin Eastman.

The characters first appeared in a May 1984 comicbook before spawning a lucrative line of toys, cartoons and three films released in the early 1990s. In 2003, the Turtles were reintroduced to a new generation via a TV series, the 'TMNT' film and a revamped merchandising program.

'The original dozen comics created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman are some of the best source material one could hope for,' said Mednick, whose exec producing credits include the upcoming 'Where the Wild Things Are.' Laird, who bought out Eastman's share of the property several years ago, said the film will remain true to the spirit of the original comicbooks. He added that the pic may employ face replacement technology, which would allow the turtles to be much more expressive."

One problem. An origins story? The first film wasn't even an origins story. A flashback that lasted less than five minutes was all that was needed to show that they were turtles that were mutated and learned karate. Does this mean there will be an entire hour dedicated to this before we get to Ninja Turtle action?

Definitely more news to come! Catch ya' later!
This song is the sh*t!