Caffeinated Clint
Wondering why we haven’t yet seen Chris Pine’s incarnation of Jack Ryan? It has, after all, been a couple of years since the reboot of Paramount’s hotshot C.I.A. hero franchise was announced. “Moscow”, as it was initially called, has Chris Pine (“Star Trek”) set as the young Ryan ( the character Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck, respectively, played before him) and “Lost” alum Jack Bender onboard to direct.
The film went through many, many different drafts, let alone writers- and the story changed in a few instances too – but it isn’t script issues that have delayed the picture. Nope, in fact the studio, and the main parties involved, love scribe Tony Peckham’s newest draft.
The problem? Purely financial. Paramount doesn’t want to make that script – not with the high-dollar value attached to it. With all of the studios tightening their wallets these days (as we’ve seen with Universal, who canned high-profile projects from Tom Cruise and Ron Howard because of coin; and of course, Disney’s The Lone Ranger, which was forced to make drastic cuts to its budget – and it’s actors, including Johnny Depp, also had to take pay cuts – and trim some big, expensive action sequences out of the script if it didn’t want to be derailed), no surprise to hear that Paramount want to make the new Jack Ryan movie for as less as possible.
The film is on track to shoot when Pine wraps “Star Trek 2” but a source tells us, despite how happy everyone is with the current draft, Paramount still wants some edits to reflect a reduced budget. It’s very much “The Lone Ranger” situation all over again- in that, with a few trimmings, it’ll be before the cameras this year.
Seth MacFarlane’s “Ted”, the Mark Wahlberg-Teddy Bear flick about a man whose now stuck with the fluffy child’s toy he successfully wished would come to life when he was a kid, is going into reshoots this week. If the call for a woman to do a topless scene, flashing off her “huge fake breasts”, is anything to go by, MacFarlane’s managed to coax the studio into some added raunch. Whatever the case, I love this script and I truly believe it’s going to firmly cement MacFarlane’s career as a screenwriter and director in Hollywood.
Angelina Jolie has turned down “Salt 2” – well, the current incarnation of it. Jolie’s just finished reading Kurt Wimmer’s script for a potential sequel to her 2010 hit but didn’t go for it; as a result, the leg-flashing Oscar Winner refused to sign off on it. Columbia Pictures have had Wimmer go back to the drawing board to see if he can come up with something that’ll work for Jolie.
A little miffed about that “Starship Troopers” remake? Yup, the one that’s going to press reboot on the film series kicked off by Paul Verhoeven back in 1997 – in turn losing its carry-over star Casper Van Dien? Well my pretty purists, no need to poke a sharp fork in your eye and blind yourself just yet – Van Dien may be back for one more spin as Johnny Rico, in a film that ties into the events of the three live-actioners. The amiable Van Dien is in talks with Sony Animation to lend his lungs to the new animated spin-off, “Starship Troopers : Invasion” and from what mice at the lot tell me, Sony have no other choice of voice for the intergalactic hero. There’s no track laid down yet, but with the animation just about in the can, expect an announcement on Van Dien’s anointment shortly.
Hearing that Spanish actor and singer Miguel Ángel Múñoz has won the starring role in “What About Love”, which will also stars Sharon Stone and Andy Garcia. Klaus Menzel directs the pic which tells of two documentarians, Christian (Muñoz) and Tanner, who travel to Europe to make a documentary in which they’ll talk to various people about love – two of whom are her parents, who have seemingly fallen out of love. Tragedy strikes and Christian and Tanner realize they too need more out of each other than just friendship. The film is expected to lens in Spain, Romania and France mid-year. Menzel wrote the script with Douglas Day Stewart.
Dennis Dugan wants to adopt an African American baby….. for a couple of weeks. Adam Sandler’s right-hand man is back behind the camera for “Grown Ups 2”, shooting between May and July , and needs a tot to play Chris Rock’s newborn, Ronnie in the movie. Rock, Sandler, David Spade and Kevin James are back for the sequel to the 2010 comedy.
You may have heard a film based on Julie Kenner’s best-selling book “Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom”, is in development at Chris Columbus’s 1492 Productions. The film, about a housewife cum demon slayer, has now secured a director – André Øvredal, whose feature debut “Trollhunter” (2010) was so great it almost instantly landed him on Hollywood’s radar. Øvredal’s sophomore effort will retain the fun and punchy tone of his debut, but possess a considerably larger budget. Dan and Kevin Hagerman, of Sony’s “Hotel Transylvania”, are working on the script with “Home Alone” alum Columbus.
