Quick News – December 16, 2011

Robert Redford and J.C Chandor, director of “Margin Call”, may team on a new Man vs. Wild drama; Zachary Quinto’s Before the Door banner will house the production. Deadline says the film, “All is Lost”, is described as ”a man vs. nature drama that takes place on the water.” Baja film studios in Mexico, which houses the house tanks James Cameron used for “Titanic”, is being eyed as a possible filming location. The outlet says “Chandor met Redford at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, and was so taken by him that he wrote the movie around him. It’s really a one man show, a heroic character who braves the elements to survive.”

Mandate Pictures announced today that the company has optioned ”The Young, The Hot, And The Bothered”, an original screenplay written by Leah Rachel. The coming-of-age comedy about the delusion, desperation, and absolute euphoria of first loves will be produced by Academy Award® winning producer Dan Jinks (”Milk”, ”American Beauty”, ”Big Fish”). Mandate president Nathan Kahane (”Young Adult”, ”50/50”, ”Juno”) will executive produce. Adam Kossack and Adam Shulman of Anonymous Content will co-produce. Nicole Brown, EVP of Production, is overseeing the project on behalf of Mandate Pictures. Producer Dan Jinks shared, “Leah Rachel, at only 25 years old, is the freshest and funniest writer I’ve come across in some time. Her script has the potential to become a touchstone movie for a generation like American Graffiti or Sixteen Candles were years ago.”

MNC says ”Event Zero”, written and produced by Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey and directed by Carlo Ledesma is the winner of their Webfest 2.0. With the support of Screen Australia, the winners will receive a $100,000 production budget, providing an incredible opportunity to further develop their creative idea. The team behind Event Zero will now produce a seven part webseries for MOVIE EXTRA, with production of the series to commence in the first half of 2012. Event Zero will premiere on the Movie Network Channels YouTube channel www.youtube.com/mnctv. “Event Zero” tells seven interconnected stories of people related by the same mystery; there has been a train derailment at Circular Quay and as the emergency workers arrive at the chaotic scene, they realise the biggest threat is only just emerging. People without a scratch are collapsing on the ground and dying – and it is spreading. Unless someone can work out what is going on the death toll will continue to rise. Each episode recounts the incident from a new character’s perspective until finally in episode seven, the sinister secret behind ‘Event Zero’ is revealed.

James Bond’s famous Aston Martin will return in “Skyfall”, MI6 have images.

A New poster for the big pre-Easter release of 2012, “Hunger Games” (again, it’s not a “Stand By Me” spin-off featuring the fat kid who ate all the pies) has been unveiled. This one, as opposed to the previous poster, features a couple of the castmembers – namely Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson. Synopsis for those that haven’t a library card : Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the evil Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains. Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

The guys at Ring-crazy TheOneRing.Net tell us they’ve word received word on what we’ll see in “The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey” trailer.
Here’s what their scooper says of the upcoming Pete tease :

Starts with Bilbo (Ian Holm!!) talking to Frodo (Elijah Wood) at Bag End about his “adventures” and how he didn’t tell him everything.

Shows Gandalf making his proposition to young Bilbo and introducing all 13 dwarves by name as it cuts to each.

Bilbo protests of course, because Bagginses belong at Bag End.

The “big” scene is the dwarves, led by Thorin, singing a long slow song. I didn’t catch all the words, but I have to assume it’s from the book. Very ominous tone.

Lots of images in a montage, of travelling and fighting. I think I saw some goblins, and maybe some troll legs, but it went by quickly. Some creepy ruins–looked almost like Moria, but without the majesty. I wasn’t sure if it was underground in the goblin stronghold or something else. Dol Guldur?

There is definitely Rivendell and the shards of Narsil and maybe Elrond, but again, I can’t be sure.

No Smaug at all. No hints at plot, really. No Beorn that I could see. Not even any spiders, although I think I saw some creepy woods. One of my favorite scenes was the dwarves cleaning Bilbo’s dishes after dinner. Expect some acrobatic dishes

Thorin is depicted as a bit callous–he tells Gandalf he can’t guarantee his safe return. Gandalf agrees, and Thorin adds “Nor will I be responsible for his fate.”
It ends with Gandalf saying to Bilbo that if he returns, he may be changed–this is in voiceover while we see THE RING, and Gollum climbing behind Bilbo in the cave. Can’t wait to see it again!

An unofficial trailer for Dario Argento’s “Dracula 3D”, made up of several bits from the movie taped together, culminating in some sort of sales tool montage reel, is up on BadTaste.it.

Don’t take too much notice of the claim, after all, Downey’s the guy who also claimed “Due Date” was probably the second best film he’s ever done. Still, don’t be surprised if the man behind Tony Stark’s Armour is on the money this time, if only because Shane Black (“Lethal Weapon”) is on directing duties. Here’s what he told The A List.

The “This Mean’s War” starlet is set to star in Atom Egoyan’s new movie, based on the case of the West Memphis Three. Says THR, ”Based on Mara Leveritt’s nonfiction book Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three, the film delves into the brutal 1993 Arkansas murders of three 8-year-old boys for which Jessie Misskelley Jr., Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin were ultimately convicted.
Witherspoon would play the mother of one of the murder victims, a woman who at first is convinced of the trio’s guilt but ultimately begins to doubt it. Shooting is scheduled to being in the spring.”

The New York Times is reporting that ”Joe Simon, a writer, editor and illustrator of comic books who was a co-creator of the superhero Captain America, conceived out of a patriotic impulse as war was roiling Europe, died on Wednesday at his home in Manhattan. He was 98.”

Mark Bomback, writer of “Live Free or Die Hard”, has signed to write the feature film adaptation of Universal’s “Art of Racing in the Rain”. The film will star Patrick Dempsey as Denny Swift,a race car driver whose family dog, Enzo, evaluates his life through the lessons learned by his human owner.