First pictures of Spielberg and Jackson’s TINTIN rear their uncanny heads

First pictures of Spielberg and Jackson’s TINTIN rear their uncanny heads

Nov 02

The trouble with adapting popular things from people’s childhoods is that you can never do nostalgia justice. The best you can hope to do is generate fresh nostalgia, like what Michael Bay miraculously did with his Transformers flicks, or you risk alienating the audience.

I was never super excited for a Tintin movie in the first place, and these motion-capped pics do little to instill anticipation. I don’t know what it is about the pictures — maybe I was expecting a more faithfully-cartoony visual style — but they seem to come across as something interesting shoehorned into something crushingly familiar.

Tintin is a collaborative project between industry juggernauts Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. The first film, due late next year (2011), follows the plot of the book (comic?) The Secret Of The Unicorn. I’m pretty sure I read most Tintin books as a kid, but the only one I remember distinctly is the one with giant mushrooms that land on an asteroid, or something, so don’t ask me to summarise the plot.

It stars Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) as boy wonder Tintin, Andy Serkis (Gollum from The Lord Of The Rings) as Captain Haddock, with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Thompson and Thomson, Daniel Craig as Red Rackham, and Cary Elwes in some kind of bit-part.

So here we have the first few images from the project. Make of them what you will. They come courtesy of Empire magazine (buy the next issue for more, etc.).

The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn (another franchise with unwieldy titles, neato) is due on 28 December 2011 in the States. We’ll probably get a Boxing Day release, something we’ve come to expect from Jackson’s films over the years.

Oh god, it’s really happening: set pics from Spielberg’s WAR HORSE

Oh god, it’s really happening: set pics from Spielberg’s WAR HORSE

Aug 31

As a kid, I didn’t like E.T. It was too boring and too scary and I’d much rather have watched Star Wars any day of the week. I’ve never watched E.T. since, and I have no desire to do so. Does that make me a bad person?

Steven Spielberg‘s most kid-friendly pic since the days of E.T. and Hook is right around the corner: War Horse. (Yes, the main character is a horse; no, the horse doesn’t speak — at least, I hope not.)

If you, like me, were hoping all this War Horse business was just a bad dream, I’m sorry to tell you that it is in fact a hideously mundane facet of reality. The Beard would not stand around in the British countryside just to take in the view! Not when he owns his own private tropical island. Look at these pictures and grumble that Spielberg’s next next project can’t come too soon. Grumble, dammit!

War Horse is due on 10 August 2011. More images here.

Call Sheet: Zach Galifianakis in REPLY ALL, Tina Fey with Meryl Streep, Rhianna in BATTLESHIP and Nicolas Cage has promotion sickness

Call Sheet: Zach Galifianakis in REPLY ALL, Tina Fey with Meryl Streep, Rhianna in BATTLESHIP and Nicolas Cage has promotion sickness

Aug 02

Call Sheet: A weekly run-down of movie casting news and rumours from around the web.

Zach Galifianakis, that chubby, hairy guy from The Hangover, keeps getting work in increasingly interesting roles. Deadline reports DreamWorks has purchased the comedy pitch Reply All, being written by Phil Johnston as a star vehicle for Galifianakis who will play a guy who hits the “reply all” button to an indiscreet e-mail and then has to deal with the repercussions. Take that, You’ve Got Mail!

Who can keep track of what the fuck Guillermo Del Toro might be developing next? There’s talk of a Van Helsing project, then there’s The Haunted Mansion, and he walked out on The Hobbit… Well, Deadline thinks that he will finally get to make the adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft‘s At The Mountain Of Madness with producer James Cameron. Yes, that sounds exciting… and almost too good to be true. Or any good.

Liam Neeson revealed to DigitalSpy that he’s too old to play Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s biopic about the former U.S. President’s life. Neeson was attached to star but is currently about 58 years old and Lincoln was 46 when he was assassinated in 1865. Too bad, it would have been nice to see a Schindler’s List reunion between Spielberg and Neeson.

24 Frames reports that the little girl who swears in Kick-Ass, Chloe Moretz, will star in The Rut for director Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s Body). You can next see darling Chloe in Matt Reeve’s Let Me In.

Sylvester Stallone has open said there will be no more Rambo sequels, however, he admitted to AICN that the idea of a prequel might be interesting. In answering a fan question about a possible Rambo prequel, he said:

I certainly think this is worth pondering because it’s intriguing to find the whys and wherefores of how people have come to become what they are. The traumas, the loss and the tragedy of being in Vietnam would certainly be a great challenge for a young actor and it would be ironic that Rambo directs younger Rambo after having played it for 20 plus years.

Speaking of Sly, a new take on Judge Dredd (in 3D, of course) will begin filming in a few months with Karl Urban starring as ‘The Law’. He revealed it on 3News over the weekend.

Lars Von Trier‘s psychological thriller Melancholia is currently in production, starring Kirsten Dunst, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlotte Rampling, Alexander Skarsgaard, Stellan Skarsgaard, John Hurt and Udo Kier. While exact plot details have been kept under wraps, The Playlist has learned it has something to do with “an enormous planet that evidently looms threateningly close to Earth”. Cool. Send Bruce Willis—he’ll know what to do.

THR reveals adult starlet Sasha Grey will join ‘real’ actors Thomas Jane, Rob Lowe and Jeremy Piven on the film I Melt With You, being directed by Mark Pellington. You might remember him from that U2-3D concert in 2007. No?

THR better not be teasing! They report that Meryl Streep will collaborate with comedy-queen Tina Fey in the Mommy And Me, a comedy being directed by Streep’s Julie & Julia co-star Stanley Tucci.

Movieline reveals via a reliable source that Darren Aronofsky’s reboot/remake of Robocop is officially dead. Thank Christ.

The hilarious Old Spice guy, Isaiah Mustafa, told Hollywood Reporter he’s joined the cast of Seth Gordon’s Horrible Bosses. While only a small part, he’ll share the screen with Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell, Kevin Spacey, Charlie Day, Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston. I’m on a horse!

RiskyBusiness revealed DreamWorks have bought the original comedy Raised By Wolfs from writer Les Firestein, with comedian Steve Carell already attached to star. The plot is still under wraps. I’m sure Steve will do some yelling in it at some stage. Perhaps that’s built into the contract?

Deadline reports Justin Timberlake has been offered the lead male role in I’M.MORTAL alongside Amanda Seyfried. Does Hollywood realise this guy sings songs? He must be doing something right. I’m looking forward to seeing how he does in David Fincher’s The Social Network. Until then, I feel for the actors who have struggled for years watching roles get swooped up by that kid from N’Sync.

While we’re on singers trying to be actors, Variety reports pop star Rihanna will make her feature debut with the big budget Universal-Hasbro toy-tie-in movie Battleship. The film has been described as a contemporary story of an international five-ship fleet engaged in a very dynamic, violent and intense battle. So, no giant pegs plummeting from the sky and bombing boats. Shame.

Variety also reports director Asger Leth is in talks to direct Sam Worthington in the cop thriller Man On A Ledge for Summit. Something tells me it’s all about a guy threatening to jump. From a ledge. And someone will have to, you know, save him… and themselves.

THR reveals Jordana Spiro (from TV’s My Boys) has joined the cast of Joel Schumacher’s Trespass with Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman. It’s about a married couple taken hostage by four brutal thieves seeking easy cash. Hey, what more do you expect? It’s a Schumacher film.

Speaking of good ol’ Nicolas Cage, here’s a wonderful video revealing some his craftier promotional techniques used while doing the rounds for his latest, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice:

That’s about all for this week’s Call Sheet, thanks for reading!

Spielberg’s horse movie now has a human cast — still no horse

Spielberg’s horse movie now has a human cast — still no horse

Jun 18

To prove he’s not just horsing around like we all secretly hope, Spielberg has gone ahead and put together a cast for his new horse flick War Horse, about a horse. Empire has helpfully trotted out a face / name sheet to help you sort out the non-equine members of the cast. None of them are particularly well known, but there are some solid character actors in there, and you can depend on Spielberg to hoof a good performance out of them.

War Horse gallops into cinemas on 10 August 2011.

In 1914, Joey, a beautiful bay-red foal with a distinctive cross on his nose, is sold to the army and thrust into the midst of the war on the Western Front. With his officer, he charges toward the enemy, witnessing the horror of the battles in France. But even in the desolation of the trenches, Joey’s courage touches the soldiers around him and he is able to find warmth and hope. But his heart aches for Albert, the farmer’s son he left behind. Will he ever see his true master again?