Mark Wahlberg Is taking 'Prisoners'

Well this one came out of the blue, much like the 'Low Dweller' last year that immediately attraced Leo Dicaprio and Ridley Scott, a spec script from unknown Aaron Guzikowski called 'Prisoners' gets a bunch of studios bidding like crazy and already a big name in Mark Wahlberg attached to star. The premise described below sounds fantastic and it is always great to see new screenwriters breaking through and original material actually being sought after by the ever cautious studios.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

One of the hottest scripts in Hollywood right now?

It's a dark thriller from a writer who just signed with a major talent agency two weeks ago -- but has the attachment of Mark Wahlberg and the interest of nearly every major studio in town.

The previously unknown Aaron Guzikowski, a Brooklyn native who flew out to Los Angeles just a few weeks ago and signed with Endeavor, is behind "Prisoners," a project said to have echoes of "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Seven."

The story concerns a Boston family-man whose 6-year-old daughter and her best friend are kidnapped and then takes matters into his own hands by in turn kidnapping the man he suspects responsible.

Guzikowski was noticed two years ago by management company Madhouse Entertainment, which then worked to develop this script through dozens of iterations (the company also will produce).

But all that toil seems to paying a quick dividend.

The Endeavor-repped Wahlberg, a Boston native who also plays a distressed father in Peter Jackson's upcoming "Lovely Bones," attached himself to the script shortly after the Endeavor signing. (Endeavor would not comment on the project.)

Studios, meanwhile, have been clamoring for rights the past few days, but Endeavor is keen on attaching a director before making a sale. A director is expected to be attached next week.

And a rags-to-riches tale may continue to be written for a long time after that.

After a really poor 2008 with duds 'The Happening' and 'Max Payne' this sounds like just the right project to get Wahlberg back in form. The fact this is been compared to two titans of the thrilelr genre 'Seven' and 'Silence of the Lambs' is quite exciting and certainly a lot to live up. the fact a director is expected to be attached next week suggests this really is a hot one but we will be able to gauge just how hot by who they get.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Trailer 2

The 2nd Trailer for "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been released by WB. Head over to Coming Soon at the link below and watch it by clicking "Trailer 2".

Coming Soon: HP6 Trailer 2

Something To Curb Your Seinfeld Enthusiasm

Two of my favorite television shows are finally converging the way they already should have according to an exclusive over at Entertainment Weekly. The 7th season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" will feature all four of our favorite stars from "Seinfeld. That's right, Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards together with Larry David.

The cameos will mark the first time that all four actors have appeared together in a scripted TV show since Seinfeld went off the air nearly 11 years ago. No date has been set for this event, or for Curb's seventh season, which will run for 10 weeks. Curb, of course, was created by and stars Larry David, the cocreator of Seinfeld.

The episodes, which are currently shooting in Los Angeles, appear to represent a continuation of David's relationship with the Seinfeld stars. As Curb fans know, Seinfeld, Louis-Dreyfus, and Alexander have made individual appearances on the award-winning series over the years.

I couldn't be more excited about this development. I wasn't even expecting a 7th season of "Curb", now I get to see the cast of "Seinfeld" joining in on the antics of Larry David.

Wolverine Trailer & New Photos

MTV has revealed the final Wolverine trailer and USA Today is featuring six new Wolverine photos. Check them both out at the links below.

USA Today: Wolverine Photos

MTV: Final Wolverine Trailer

News, Rumors & 100% Grade-A Internet Bullshit - March 5, 2009

-Warner Brothers (via New Line Cinema) and Platinum Dunes have a release date set for their Nightmare on Elm Street remake: April 10, 2010. Meanwhile, artist Andrew Clement (who was responsible for makeup work for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek and Spider-Man 3) has been brought in to design the new Freddy Krueger and over-see the makeup effects.

-If George Miller is to be believed, his iconic action-hero Mad Max will finally return to the silver screen...in the form of a 3-D anime film minus one Mel Gibson in the lead.

-Sure, its ratings are ass and the average viewer has pretty much abandoned it. But Heroes gets a fourth season when something as charming as Chuck remains "on the bubble." Enjoy staying in last place, NBC! Morons.

Update on Thu, March 5, 2009 by Peter Georgiou

I honestly can't believe that NBC is even considering giving Heroes a 4th season, the show is a nightmare. Also, Chuck on the bubble? In my opinion it is the most entertaining show on the network.

'The 28th Amendment' Cruises back to life at Warner Brothers

This was a project I really really really liked the sound of back last year when it was announced, then it just sort of faded away, both stars Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington dropped out and it seemed as if that was it, however Variety are reporting that it is very much alive and Cruise is once again highly interested in the project.

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck is in talks to direct Warner Bros. drama "The 28th Amendment," which has emerged as a strong contender to be one of Tom Cruise's next star vehicles.

The German helmer hasn't directed a film since his 2006 pic "The Lives of Others" won the foreign-language film Oscar, and he recently signed with UTA to move into Hollywood films.

According to sources, the filmmaker is in talks with the studio to make the movie with Cruise. "Star Trek" scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the duo that originated the project as a spec in 1999, are rewriting the script.

The drama revolves around a U.S. president who discovers the existence of a secret cabal that runs the government and wants him dead.

Basil Iwanyk and Richard Donner are producers.

Cruise came off "Valkyrie" with an aggressive mission to find new projects -- he is currently considering five different pictures for two potential 2009 slots -- but "28th Amendment" recently emerged as a strong candidate, its chances helped by the highly regarded von Donnersmarck.

Now I have to plead ignorance as far as this "highly regarded" director goes, Ive not seen 'The Lives of Others' which won the Oscar for best foreign language film in 2006 and at 35 that is the only film the young director has made, not bad eh ?,  I imagine he can turn his hand to the action thriller style this movie will require and maybe take the very poppy writing style of Orci and Kurtzmnan and inject it with some depth.

Cruise is looking to do two films this year and this one and 'The Matarese Circle' seem to be head of the cue on his rather extensive list.

Brandt and Haas to adapt 'The Thirteenth Hour' for New Line

It seems that every other day another project is announced that requires adapting a novel and quite often said novel is not yet published, and so here we are again as New Line set the writers of 'Wanted' and '3:10 to Yuma' scribes Michael Brandt and Derek Haas  to adapt upcoming Richard Doetsch novel 'The Thirteenth Hour'.

New Line acquired the book last fall. Story follows a man accused of murdering his wife who gets to go back in time -- in one-hour increments over 12 hours -- with the chance to stop his wife's killer.

 
Haas said the book "is a fast-paced thriller with a supernatural twist and characters who really pop."

It sounds like a cool concept and I like the duos previous work, but these time travel things are often hit and miss. For anyone interested you can see a snazzy little trailer for the book Here at the authors site.

'Public Enemies' Trailer blasts online!

The trailer for Michael Mann's highly anticipated 'Public Enemies' starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, has finally arrived.

The film tells the tale of bank robber John Dillinger and the formation of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI.

The trailer has a bit too much music in it for me and I am not keen on the digital cam shots at night that worked for Collateral, to me they jar with the other sumptous footage in the trailer. However, that minor gripe aside, the film looks great and Depp and Bale both have a great line each in the trailer and it showcases the grand scale that film takes place on, plus those gun battles look thunderous!

'Public Enemies' opens on July 1st and you can check the trailer out below or go to Apple for HD versions.

Great Scott! Movie News Recap

~~Alfred Molina has joined Nicholas Cage, Jay Baruchel, and Teresa Palmer in Walt Disney's modern take on "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Jerry Bruckheimer is producing and Jon Tureltaub is set to direct.~~

SlashFilm: Alfred Molina Cast In The Sorcerer's Apprentice

~~Zack Snyder's "Sucker Punch" all female cast is certainly taking shape; Amanda Seyfriend, Vanessa Hudgens, Abbie Cornish, Evan Rachel Wood and Emma Stone are all in negotiations to star in the film.~~

The Hollywood Reporter: Zack Snyder Lines Up 'Sucker' Cast

~~David Permut and Steve Lee Jones are going back in time to chronicle the life of automobile revolutionary John Z. DeLorean. I hope they don't ask to buy ours, because it's not for sale.~~

David Permut Steers DeLorean Biopic

Megan Fox to star and get very wet in 'Fathom'

Uber babe Megan Fox who became pretty much the most desried woman on the planet for fanboys everywhere after 2007's 'Transformers' is set to play the lead of role of Aspen in the adaption of the late Michael Turner's 'Fathom' according to Variety.

The cript will be written by Jordan Mechner, best known for designing the "Prince of Persia" vidgame.

The story follows Aspen Matthews, who was found abandoned on a ship and is adopted by a military man. She becomes a champion swimmer and marine biologist who comes of age realizing she has water-based powers and is part of an underwater race. The actress will produce with Safran Prods.' Peter Safran, Brian Austin Green and Steve Bessen. Turner, who passed away last year, will remain as the project's executive producer. Frank Mastromauro will also be an exec producer.

I like Megan Fox and not just for the obvious reasons, she has drive and a sense of humour in her interviews and has not just rushed into rom coms after her Transformers success. The concept for this is pretty cool and from the art ive seen the world of Fathom could be quite the specatcle on screen, hopefully a top quality director is soon attached.