Lovely Bones Trailer Premieres Tonight

In between "news" detailing what Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt ordered at McDonald's and confirming that Michael Jackson is indeed still dead, Entertainment Tonight will premiere the first trailer for Peter Jackon's The Lovely Bones this evening, afternoon or whenever the Hell your local station airs the damn show.

But knowing ET, they'll focus 100% on the fact that Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg and Susan Sarandon are "the stars." This despite the fact that the actual leads of the piece are Atonement's Saoirse Ronan as a young girl who is brutally murdered and sees what becomes of her loved ones from Heaven and the always great Stanley Tucci as her killer.

Movie Box has supplied the brief preview showcasing footage from tonight's premiere. And of course what's Entertainment Tonight without the oligatory voice-over asswipe talking over the entire trailer. This isn't MST3K so bullshitting the audience with "zingers" intentionally isn't funny.

New "Avatar" Poster!

As we await "Avatar Day" on August 21st to finally see some footage of James Cameron's potentially ground breaking return to cinema, Comingsoon.net has gotten hold of a poster for "Avatar" featuring female Navi Neytiri (Zoe Saldana).

People Choose "Funny People"

Weekend Actuals (July 31st - August 2nd)

1 Funny People $22,657,780
2 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince $17,909,385
3 G-Force $17,515,489
4 The Ugly Truth $13,187,433
5 Aliens in the Attic $8,008,423
6 Orphan $7,525,419
7 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs $5,526,015
8 The Hangover $5,194,475
9 The Proposal$4,931,064
10 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen $4,688,329

Tom Arnold Likes Press

Two friends goofing around or make-up tests from Jingle All the Way 2? You Decide!So Tom Arnold is doing the press rounds for Funny People (he cameos in the Apatow/Sandler/Rogen film). So by default, that means we'll get another "Oh yeah, we're totally gonna make True Lies 2!" quote from him. And he didn't disappoint, boys and girls.

Although he didn't specifically say it was the long-rumored True Lies follow-up. And by "long-rumored," I'm referring 100% to Arnold himself as the source for said rumors on the would-be sequel. He explains to the New York Times that, "It's not going to be called 'True Lies II,' but it might as well be."

That, and the project currently has zero plot or script but will start filming in 14 months with James Cameron at the helm and Arnold Schwarzenegger headlining.

Uh, sure. With all due respect, I'll actually buy there's a morsole of truth to this after I hear from Cameron, the Governator and/or the trades.

Movie Moan - Hot Wings Edition

Since it's Phil's birthday, we figured that we'd unveil a new Movie Moan logo (special thanks to our pal dark_b for providing the so-oh-awesome artwork) and have a special extended edition of the show this week. In other words, Phil, Jamie and Ed got really off-topic in between bitching about film franchises!

Among the items up for conversation, our heroes answer fan questions towards our hatred of all things Ben Lyons and give horror stories from past Comic-Con experiences. Regarding the week in news, the guys discuss "Avatar Day" now including the theatrical trailer (Footage being shown to the general public? *Gasp!*), Ridley Scott's return to the Alien franchise, Pirates 4 getting a new director in the form of Rob Marshall, the possiblity of two Star Trek sequels being filmed back-to-back and the next Superman film apparently being fast-tracked.

All of that plus Jamie and Ed review Funny People, first reactions to Steven Spielberg's next film being a remake of Harvey (said story broke in the middle of recording this podcast), their predictions for how G.I. Joe will next weekend and thoughts on the trailers for A Serious Man and The Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Movie Moan - Hot Wings Edition

Spielberg Pulls 'Harvey' Out of His Hat

While sites were reporting that Steven Spielberg was circling a spy franchise ("Matt Helm"), the hard-to-predict director instead was stealthily agreeing to remake "Harvey" as his next project.

"Harvey" is the story of Elwood P. Dowd, and his friendship with a 6-and-a-half-foot tall invisible rabbit.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning play from 1944 was turned into a 1950 movie starring Jimmy Stewart. It also has been produced as a television movie three times, with Stewart reprising the role in 1972.

According to a press release, the screenplay will by done by bestselling novelist Jonathan Tropper. 

The movie will be a co-production between 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks.

The release states casting and pre-production will begin immediately, with production to start early next year.

No actors are aligned with the project as yet, but would it really surprise anyone if Tom Hanks were the first actor to get a call for the role of Elwood P. Dowd?

Update on Wed, August 5, 2009 by Sean Gerski

While Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks did discuss the project, as expected, Hanks will not play the lead role (of Dowd, not Harvey).

According to Variety: "While it appears there was a conversation, Hanks and Spielberg won't pursue it because Hanks is so identified with [Jimmy] Stewart. The last thing he would want to do is star in a project so closely identified with the actor. Hanks didn't even read the Jonathan Tropper script."

Additionally, Variety states the movie's script will hem closer in tone to the play than the 1950 film did.

Rob Marshall and Captain Jack Sparrow: Together At Last?

Did my (little-to-none) interest in Pirates of the Caribbean 4 just gain a pulse?

I'd say that's a definite as the trades report Chicago director Rob Marshall is in serious talks to direct the fourth Pirates installment. Although the deal is not 100% signed, sealed and delivered, it's apparently good enough that the studio has started up on casting for new characters. Yeah, that's what this fucking franchise needs: even more characters.

This certainly gels with the news-item from last week where Disney head of production Oren Avi confirmed filming would begin this coming Spring for a Summer 2011 release.

I'll admit that Marshall is an "out there" choice - especially when you consider Bruckheimer and the Mouse could have just as easily gone after a McG or Brett Ratner type for this.

But it's said odd-ball decision that actually *gasp!* has me curious about Pirates 4 now. Who woulda thought that, huh?

Silver Wants To Make Lobo His Avatar

Film Producer Joel Silver is no stranger when it comes to bringing comics the big screen , having his hands in such projects as HBO’s "Tales From The Crypt", "V For Vendetta", and upcoming film versions "The Losers", and "Sgt. Rock". But at a recent press event for his latest endeavor, "Orphan", he let slip to Sci-Fi Wire about one comic based film that has his attention - - "Lobo". “Lobo is one I’m very excited about maybe doing one day, hopefully soon. I think we can do it. We’ve got a script we like.”

DC Comics’ Lobo is an interstellar bounty hunter who starred in numerous specials and mini-series in the late ’80’s-90’s, most of which were ‘suggested for mature readers only’. The Main Man’s ultra violent adventures include committing planet wide genocide to his home world of Czarnia (so he‘d be unique), getting booted out of both Heaven and Hell,being hunted down by his illegitimate children,and killing Santa Claus. So one would assume that "Lobo" will be rated R, right? Wrong.

“I think it’s structured now as a PG-13 movie,” said Silver of the Angel Dean Lopez penned script. “I think we’ve done it that way, but I loveit. I’ve just wanted to make it for a long time, and I think it’s a great character, a great guy.”

So how can Silver Pictures deliver a PG-13 rated version of "Lobo" without alienating ’The Main Man’s fan base? By possibly taking advantage of the technology being pioneered by James Cameron. “When you see 'Avatar', see pieces of it, the technology is genius, the stuff that’s out there that is doable is fantastic. It’s such a great character.”

Ridley Scott Returns to Alien Franchise

He's made references to the possibility to returning to the franchise that made him famous for God knows how long now. But I never thought I'd live to see the day when it actually happened. Well, boys and girls, it appears that up is down, black is white and dogs & cats are in fact living together.

The trades report that Ridley Scott will direct a prequel to Alien. For a look at my first reaction to this news-item, click here.

If you'll remember, rumblings of a prequel arose months ago with Scott and his brother Tony set to produce where upon they hand-picked relatively-unknown commerical filmmaker Carl Rinsch to direct. I think I can speak for many when I say that if the Brothers Scott had faith in Rinsch, then I was ready and willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

But alas, the young would-be director is now nowhere to be seen from said project and the thought of Scott directing another Alien installment is just too damn cool to pass up.

This despite the fact that I absolutely hate the idea of "prequelizing" a franchise. Not every single little detail needs to be explained. There is such a thing as using one's imagination to fill in the blanks for yourself.

Russell Crowe to Star in "The Next Three Days"

News comes from Variety that Russell Crowe's first project after he completes Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood" will be a thriller for Paul Haggis.

Russell Crowe will star in "The Next Three Days," the adaptation of the 2008 French film "Pour Elle" that reunites Lionsgate with its "Crash" director Paul Haggis.

Crowe will play a teacher whose wife is arrested and convicted of a murder she says she did not commit. He comes up with a desperate plan to free her.

Haggis, who wrote the script, will begin production in late September in Pittsburgh.

The premise should make for a fantastic thriller and for me Russell Crowe is one of the finest actors around, the kind that can compliment being a truly class actor with also being a leading man, so basically anything with him has my interest, add to that, that I have enjoyed both of Haggis' prior movies (Yes! I liked "Crash") and this project is high on my anticipation list of movies set to shoot this year for a probable release in 2010.