“This outcome is not what we anticipated or wanted, but neither do we see any positive value in bitterness and rancor. We now have no choice but to let the idea of a film of The Hobbit go and move forward with other projects…We got to go there – but not back again…” In an e-mail to The One Ring, PJ and Fran say they’re off The Hobbit due to outstanding and unresolved matters regarding their lawsuit against New Line, who want to move on the project now before they lose the rights. MGM (who owns the distribution rights) says it ain’t over yet, but, my, it’s not looking good.
Tag: Fanboy
Phoenix Landing.
The new Fiennes-centric Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix teaser poster is now online. Look for new photos from the film here, for a very brief clip here, and for the teaser — if, like me, you’re not going to see Happy Feet — on Monday. Update: Here it is.
Kid and Kidman.
The first official pic from The Golden Compass is now online, featuring Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) and Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman) in a tete-a-tete.
Krypton, Kumar, Halo, & Che.
Quite a bit of movie news lately: Bryan Singer’s next Superman achieves liftoff, as does Harold & Kumar II. (I didn’t think much of Superman Returns, but am willing to give Singer another shot, particularly given how much better X2 was over X-Men. As for H & K…yeah, I’ll see it.) Meanwhile, the Peter Jackson-produced Halo is off for now…probably not a great loss, I suspect. And, finally, Steven Soderbergh and Benicio del Toro’s Che is now two films: The Argentine and Guerrilla, to be shot back-to-back.
Sauron, Saruman, Santorum.
“As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else…It’s being drawn to Iraq and it’s not being drawn to the U.S. You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I don’t want the Eye to come back here to the United States.” Agh! File this one in the Tom DeLay loves NASA department: Right-wing freakshow and self-proclaimed Tolkien fan Rick Santorum invokes Lord of the Rings to justify Iraq. Sorry, Senator…you can’t Wormtongue your way out of this one.
Time Check.
“1985’s a problem for people. The Cold War’s a problem for people. But these are things I’ve been trying to [tell people] would be cool. I like that Richard Nixon is the president in it. I think that’s important. Those kinds of things tell you exactly what kind of movie this is – it’s not Fantastic Four, you know.” 300 director Zack Snyder offers a brief update on the current state of CWatchmen.
A Dent in Nolan’s Plan.
In an interview with IGN Filmforce, Christopher Nolan discusses The Dark Knight and The Prisoner, and confirms that Harvey Dent will have a role in the former, although he hasn’t yet been cast. Guy Pearce? Liev Schrieber?
Ten Doctors, Twelve Cylons.
Season 2 of BBC’s Doctor Who revival premieres tonight on Sci-Fi, with — as most of y’all know — David Tennant (a.k.a. Barty Crouch, Jr. of Goblet of Fire) filling in for Christopher Eccleston as the second/tenth Doc. Meanwhile, season 3 of Battlestar Galactica doesn’t begin until October 6, so you still have a week to catch up on the Vichy/Resistance webisodes online.
A Scanner Starkly.
Method casting? Robert Downey Jr. signs up as troubled alcoholic billionaire Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, for director Jon Favreau.
Dark Globe.
By way of my sister-in-law Lotta, the chocolate-covered cinema buffs at M&Ms have put out a decently entertaining diversion for film folks: Find the fifty hidden horror movie names in this Halloween-themed painting. I eventually got ’em all after staying up too late with it last night…for what it’s worth, it helps to [a] broaden your conception of “horror film” and [b] take some of the images at face value. (I’m looking at you, you gaggle of circle-toting fiends.)