#565. Movie Buzz
1. No live-action Akira from DiCaprio ... hooray, you say?
The proposed live-action version of Japanime phenomenon Akira from producer Leonardo DiCaprio has been scrapped, according to Bloody-Disgusting.com.The website, which broke the news of the planned remake almost two years ago, cited two sources as saying the project is dead following the departure of its director, Ruairi Robinson.This may be good news for fans, many of whom made no bones about their objection to the project.Not only was the action shifted from the futuristic "New Tokyo" to "New Manhattan", the remake also proposed to cast a Caucasian actor as Tetsuo.Good riddance to ill-advised notions, we say.
2. No World War Z for Foster just yet
Quantum of Solace director Marc Foster has deflated zombie fans' hopes for the moment with news that the script for World War Z has yet to be completed.According to a report on Dark Horizons, Foster told a Swiss website that the script is "far from realisation" so he is likely to begin work on another project, Disconnect, while waiting.WWZ, based on a "docudrama-type" novel by Max Brooks, tells of a worldwide zombie outbreak through the accounts of survivors and veterans of the war.
Disconnect is apparently a film about how people deal with new technology and the disruption it causes to interpersonal relationships. Hmmm ... sounds like another docudrama.
3. Roy Rogers rides again
He was the most popular Western star in Hollywood from 1943 to 1954 and made more than 80 movies with his longtime "co-stars", and now Roy Rogers may be reinvented for a new century.Nashville-based 821 Entertainment and the Roy Rogers Family Entertainment Corp are collaborating on a trilogy of movies with the "umbrella title" King of the Cowboys, according to Variety.The films will be a series of fantasy adventures featuring Rogers, his longtime leading lady Dale Evans and his horse Trigger.Rogers died in 1998. His legacy includes more than 100 episodes of his own TV show, an estimated 88 films with Evans and Trigger, and over 400 items of merchandise with his name and/or likeness on them.In his heyday, the Western icon also sold 120 million comic books!.No casting details have been announced yet.
4. Frost/Nixon writer joins Bond team
Peter Morgan, who wrote Frost/Nixon, The Queen and The Last King of Scotland, has been signed to the Bond 23 scripting team.He will join Bond writing veterans Neal Purvis and Robert Wade on scripting chores for the as-yet-untitled 007 movie, according to Variety.
5. Wolverine co-stars off to Mars
Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins, who played Gambit and Kayla respectively in the recent X-Men Origins: Wolverine, are set to star in John Carter of Mars.The Hollywood Reporter says Kitsch will play the title character in the adaptation of the tale by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs.Carter is a Civil War veteran who finds himself transported to Mars and caught in a war between the two dominant factions.Collins will play Dejah Thoris, heiress to the throne of one of the warring kingdoms.Wall.e's Andrew Stanton will direct from a script he co-wrote. Filming is set to begin at the end of this year for Disney.
