Johnny Depp Finally Making Don Quixote
Johnny Depp and his production company Infinitum Nihil have reached a deal with Disney to produce a modern re-imagining of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. The latest attempt to bring Don Quixote to life on the big screen will be co-written by Jeff Morris and Steve Pink.
Steve Pink previously adapted the screenplay for Nick Hornby’s classic High Fidelity and most recently directed lacklustre comedy effort Hot Tub Time Machine. It’s unclear if he will be taking on directing duties of Don Quixote and whether or not Johnny Depp will take a starring role.
Depp may be slightly put off by the infamously disastrous time he had with Director Terry Gilliam trying to make a version of Don Quixote twelve years ago. A series of onset calamities including a flash flood meant that project was ultimately abandoned. In 2002, those misfortunes ultimately formed the bases of a documentary called Lost In La Mancha, assembled from set footage of the never to be released film.
We wish Johnny Depp the very best of luck this time…
Spider-Man Sequel Casts Harry Osborn
The Amazing Spider-Man sequel officially has its Harry Osborn. Director Marc Webb has confirmed that Chronicle and Lincoln star Dane DeHaan has landed the part of Norman Osborn’s son and Peter Parker’s best friend in the Spider-Man sequel.
Beating out competition from a host of handsome Hollywood rising stars, it’s likely that Dane’s performance in Chronicle as a troubled young man driven to super powered villainy by jealousy, family bereavement and an unloving father gave him a slight edge.
As previously reported it looks like Jamie Foxx will be playing Electro the lighting wielding bad guy in the next Spider-Man adventure. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone will also both reprise their roles as Spider-Man and love interest Gwen Stacey.
Life Of Pi Review
The Plot:
A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor … a fearsome Bengal tiger.
The Good:
If you had ever had any doubts about the use of 3D, cast them aside now. Life of Pi provides one hell of a journey, appreciated ten times more through the amazing depth that 3D can provide. Move over Avatar and James Cameron, Ang Lee may truly be the master here as he combines glorious colour with exceptional innovation in this area. Life of Pi has to be up there as one of the major contenders for Best Picture at next years Oscars.
If you’ve read the book, hopefully you wont be disappointed, and if you haven’t read the book, after watching this film you may just want to pick it up and give it a whirl. Life of Pi is a heart-warming tale of religion, belief, tragedy and determination. It is anchored by the exceptionally talented newcomer Suraj Sharma who plays Pi, and it’s his one man show that will keep audiences captivated for just over two hours. There are brilliant levels of humour, surprise and emotion throughout the whole of this film which will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout and as emotionally and physically drained as the lead actor by the end.
Ang Lee, takes something which was once deemed unfilmable and uses his incredible skill as a director to strike a balance within his visual storytelling to allow the audience to be completely captivated with the story that is told and to fully believe that this really could happen. One of the clever things Lee also manages to do, is cast relative unknowns.
At one stage Tobey Maguire was attached to the film, but replacing him with Rafe Spall was a good strategic move as it does not distract the audience because of who he is, and allows the character of “writer” to remain ambiguous to some extent as a secondary character to the story. The real focus must be the teenage Pi. Even Irrfan Patel as the adult Pi is secondary character for two thirds of the film, but comes into his own in the last part of the film to really tug on the heart strings of the audience – be prepared to shed a tear or two!
The Bad:
Some may be dubious about the use of CGI in this film, but fear not, this issue becomes a mere flicker in your mind at the beginning and you quickly fall into the trance of the action taking place in front of you, and the CGI becomes nothing but a fully working and authentic zebra, chimpanzee or Bengal tiger. Every detail on each animal is so precise that it’s hard to separate what is real or fake, if any. What you also remember here is that Suraj Sharma is essentially acting with a tennis ball on a stick for the majority of this film, and you begin to really appreciate the clever choice that Ang Lee has made in casting him.
How he feels that level of emotion and connection to these animals who were never really there must take years of acting training to even come close, yet Sharma manages it effortlessly and is utterly captivating. Another testament to this brilliant casting is in the final few scenes, where Pi recollects his experience, and in one medium close-up shot you watch him tell the story once more and the emotion radiates from him brilliantly.
The Ugly Truth:
This film is a must see at the cinema. Whether you are a fan of the book or not, Life of Pi is truly a spectacle of cinematic brilliance. It brings the captivation and intrigue of films like Slumdog Millionaire, tugs on your heart strings like Bambi, and is probably one of Ang Lee’s most ambitious and strongest films to date.
Life of Pi opens in cinemas on the 20th December. Check out Interviews below with Ang Lee, Rafe Spall and Suraj Sharma from the red carpet at the London Premiere:
Who Framed Roger Rabbit Sequel News
Director Robert Zemeckis has spoken about his hopes of making a sequel of groundbreaking live-action/cartoon comedy classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. Zemeckis confirmed that not only does a script already exist but that he’d be happy to go into production with it.
“I’m happy with the script, it’s very good! If I were to do the sequel, it would be done just like the first one. It would look the same way, but we would present it in 3D in its release. I would do all of the animation hand-drawn; 2D, but using 3D tools. It wouldn’t be like Pixar 3D, It wouldn’t look like that… this would again be another period movie.”
Fans of the much beloved original will be delighted to hear that although inevitably featuring 3D technology, any sequel would remain faithful to the look and feel of the first film.
Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Gets Animated Movie
Diary of A Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney confirmed at its UK Premiere event, that the current third live action film Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Dog Days will be the last live action film made, at least with the current cast .
However in news sure to delight fans of the international bestselling series which has sold over 75 million books worldwide, Jeff also announced that there will now be an animated Diary of A Wimpy Kid holiday special, based on the sixth book in the series Cabin Fever.
Production will start soon in time for next Christmas 2013. As for the future of the live action films, Jeff admitted that while Diary of a Wimpy Kid Dog Days will be the last film made with the current cast, in the future it may be possible to start the film series again with a new, necessarily younger cast.
Full Video Interview below: