Indiana Jones Arrives on Blu-Ray
Indiana Jones the man in the hat is back and this time he’s in glorious crystal clear HD quality. Paramount has confirmed that the complete collection of the Indiana Jones movies is finally swinging it way onto Blu-Ray on September 18th.
No doubt there will be a few new special features to entice fans to buy the familiar classics yet again. But even if a few new featurettes doesn’t having you frantically reaching for your wallet, at least it’s reassuring to know that Steven Spielberg and legendary sound designer Ben Burtt have personally been overseeing the restoration process
Official Press release below for those who like their archaeology themed adventure technically precise.:
“The original negative was first scanned at 4K and then examined frame-by-frame so that any damage could be repaired. The sound design was similarly preserved using Burtt’s original master mix, which had been archived and unused since 1981. New stereo surrounds were created using the original music tracks and original effects recorded in stereo but used previously only in mono. In addition, the sub bass was redone entirely up to modern specifications and care was taken to improve dialogue and correct small technical flaws to create the most complete and highest quality version of the sound possible while retaining the director’s vision. The result is an impeccable digital restoration that celebrates the film and its place in cinematic history.”
James Cameron Plans Three Avatar Sequels
Speaking at a premiere event for her new series Political Animals, Sigourney Weaver has apparently confirmed that James Cameron is planning on filming three more Avatar films back to back. Weaver who played environmentalist scientist Grace Augustine in the first film admitted she had no idea how long it will take to complete the new trilogy of Pandora based adventures, admitting “I just show up”.
Weaver’s involvement in the sequels is particularly miraculous given the apparent demise of her character in the first film, so it remains to be seen just how she will be featuring in the trinity of sequels.
James Cameron has proclaimed “I’m in the Avatar business. Period”, with his Lightstorm Entertainment production company ceasing development on all other projects to focus exclusively on continuing development of the Avatar sequels and the world of Pandora.
News that there may already be plans for a forth film on top of the previously expected Avatar trilogy would likely see Cameron tied up in production for many years, with first Avatar sequel likely not due hitting cinemas till around 2016.
Alan Partridge Movie Details Confirmed
Steve Coogan is finally bringing his most successful comic creation Alan Partridge back to life on the big screen. Shooting is due to start January next year, with a release date of 16 August 2013.
The Alan Partridge Movie will be directed by Declan Lowney with a script written by Coogan, Peter Baynham and Armando Iannucci.
BBC Film, The BFI Film Fund and StudioCanal are backing the production. Speaking in character as the moronic Norwich broadcaster, Partridge claimed the involvement of French company StudioCanal made this…
“the greatest Anglo-French co-operation since the Normandy landings”.
Armando Iannucci has also revealed initial plot details while promoting his new political comedy Veep, confirming that Alan’s next adventure won’t be anything too far-fetched.
“Alan is in Norwich. It’s not Alan goes to Hollywood or Alan invaded by aliens. He’s on North Norfolk Digital, which is taken over by a bigger media conglomerate and has its name changed to Shape.”
Steve Coogan has added that the film will see Alan attempting to…
“salvage his public career while negotiating a potentially violent turn of events”.
Paddington Bear Movie Poster
Here’s the first poster below for the forthcoming big screen adventures of Paddington Bear, the much beloved duffle coat wearing creation of classic children’s author Michael Bond. Fusing live action and CGI the film will be based on an original screenplay rather than any of Paddington’s familiar adventures, with Mighty Boosh’s Paul King taking the helm to direct.
As the poster is eager to remind us, Harry Potter producer David Heyman is also on board to help steer the iconic character into cinemas and the hearts of children worldwide. Here’s what he had to say about the enduring popularity of the cuddly little fellow:
“Paddington Bear is a universally loved character, treasured for his optimism, his sense of fair play, and his perfect manners – and, of course, for his unintentional talent for comic chaos. Michael Bond’s books offer such wit and wonder and I am so delighted at this chance to bring Paddington to the big screen.”
The Bear in the hat will finally be back with us in 2014.
Michael Bay Transformers 4 News
Director Michael Bay has started talking about what his next explosion filled assault on your cherished childhood memories will be like, revealing details of his plans for the next Transformers movie.
When it was initially announced that the Transformers franchise was getting an instant ‘reboot’, many fans welcomed the apparent opportunity to fix some of the very obvious flaws in the lucrative but critically loathed series. Confusion followed when it was swiftly confirmed that Michael Bay would indeed be returning to direct the CGI fighting robots for a 4th time.
Michael Bay and producers initially promised a ‘whole new re-imagining’ for the franchise, explicitly heralding it as a ‘reboot’. However despite quickly ditching the human cast of the recent Trilogy, Bay has now made it clear he won’t be entirely disregarding his previous masterpieces for Transformers 4.
“It’s not a reboot, that’s maybe the wrong word. I don’t want to say reboot because then people think we’re doing a Spider-Man and starting from the beginning. We’re not. We’re taking the story that you’ve seen, the story we’ve told in three movies already, and we’re taking it in a new direction. But we’re leaving those three as the history. It all still counts.”
As for potential storylines, having convincingly vanquished their Decepticon foes and exhausted their adventures on Earth there’s growing expectation that Transformers 4 will see our Autobot heroes venturing back off into space. Bay has cautiously admitted that this “feels like the way to go” but bizarrely expressed nervousness about “going too sci-fi”.
An odd concern for a director who’s already made three increasingly ludicrous movies about intergalactic robot civil war.