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Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to direct ‘Highlander’

The remake of Highlander, which starred Christopher Lambert, has been given the greenlight by Summit Entertainment to have its new director, Spanish filmmaker Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who directed 28 Weeks Later and now, four years later, has Intruders opening at TIFF, to direct the remake.

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo will direct Summit Entertainment’s re-imagination of the cult film HIGHLANDER co-financed by RCR Media Group.  Summit’s HIGHLANDER is written by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway.  Neal H. Mortiz and Peter Davis will produce the project along with Enrique López Lavigne and Belen Atienza.  RCR Media Group’s principles Rui Costa Reis and Eliad Josephson will executive produce the film.  Justin Lin will also executive produce. Summit acquired the rights to remake the cult classic from Davis – Panzer Productions, Inc. in May of 2008.  Production on the film is slated to begin spring of 2012.

The Highlander premise goes like this:

He fought his first battle on the Scottish Highlands in 1536. He will fight his greatest battle on the streets of New York City in 1986. His name is Connor MacLeod. He is immortal. Connor Macleod was born in 1518 in the Highlands of Scotland. In 1536, after facing a mysterious, evil opponent, he survives a fatal stab wound and is banished from his village, for they believe his survival is the work of the Devil. Five years later, Macleod is met by Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez, a swordsman who teaches Macleod the awful truth; he is immortal, one of a race of many who can only die when the head is cut from the body. When one immortal takes the head of another, the loser’s power is absorbed into the winner. Ramirez teaches Macleod the ways of the sword, until Ramirez is tragically killed by Connor’s ultimate opponent, the evil Kurgan, a murderous immortal brute who lusts for the ultimate power of the immortals, “The Prize”; enough power to rule the earth forever. Connor fights his way through the centuries, until the time of the Gathering, when the few immortals who have survived the endless battles come together to fight until only one remains, and that winner will receive The Prize. The time: 1985. The place: New York City. The final fight is about to begin, and in the end, there can be only one.

The Book of Mormon: From Broadway to Hollywood

When the work The Book of Mormon opened on Broadway this year, it was  was one of the most anticipated musical of the year. Hispanic writer Robert Lopez was brought on by the creators of ‘South Park’, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, to insure musical numbers and an uproarious comedy. The show won nine awards, including Best Musical at the Tony’s this year.

With such good results, the creators have confirmed that ‘The Book of Mormon’ is set to debut in screens soon.

However, their fans will have to wait for the show to complete a U.S. tour that will start next summer, before they start shooting.

“The Book of Mormon” is a satire starring two young Mormon missionaries on assignment in a remote village in Uganda.

Parker and Stone are not fearful of the polemics in their first work, which parodied the history of the Mormon church, the ritual of baptism sexuality and included many politically incorrect jokes that mixed with the adventures of two missionaries in Africa.

“If you can see a normal chapter ‘South Park’ with your kids, you probably should not bring them to music. But it is not nearly as gross or indecent as we’ve ever done. We could do much more,” said Stone.

Thor

‘Thor,’ the first Marvel superhero film of the year, debuts this weekend to high expectations from cinephiles to film executives. This film adaptation is faithful to the mythology of the comic book hero, has a well blend of humor and drama, is visually stunning, but stumbles through the end, and although it recovers, it does not manage to have a place in the pantheon of superhero classics such as ‘Superman II’ and ‘The Dark Knight.’ However, the film, mostly, is great popcorn fun and is worth spending the money to see, especially in IMAX 3D.

For those who have not had the pleasure of reading the comics of the blond Norse god, it centers around the mythical Thor (Chris Hemsworth), a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions against an old icy foe reignite an ancient war. He is then banished to Earth by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and forced to live amongst the human race. But it is here where he faces the wrath of his evil brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) who sends a nearly indestructible robot of Asgard to Earth. Thor must regain the strength of his thunderous hammer and discover what it takes to be a true hero.

‘Thor’ is by no means meant to be a masterpiece, nor is it intended to win Best Picture at the Oscars. The story written by a trio of writers has holes, some scenes are too long, and some are too short, such as the grand fight on Earth. It is also predictable and offers nothing new that we haven’t seen. It simply fulfills its objectives to entertain, overwhelm the senses with its radiant special effects, deliver millions of dollars at the box office and to serve as a preamble to ‘The Avengers’ in 2012. If that’s what it set out to do, I cannot criticize those goals if its purpose is to create a mental escape for lovers of this genre. Director Kenneth Branagh and production designer Bo Welch managed to suspend reality for us for a couple of hours and transport us to the heavenly realm of Asgard.

The performances from the cast are solid, but Hemsworth as Thor, who at first seemed a skeptical choice, is a bonafide star in the making. His charisma is attractive to women and his demeanor brings respect from men. Although his performance has touches of stiffness, he’s endowed with a good voice and good looks. There is no reason why with a few more movies under his belt, the big Australian can become a bigger action star than they overrated Sam Worthington.

The romantic interest of ‘Thor’ is Jane Foster, played by the recent Oscar winner Natalie Portman. The chemistry between them is good but not magical. At first they seem a strange couple, but under the scope of some of the scripts comical situations, she manages to make it work. Hopkins is once again an actor who makes makes great with what he has, but I’m not sure his role as Odin, Thor’s father, is the kind of role that stimulates his creative juices.

The best scenes of the film are the electrifying battle between the Norse gods and their archenemies, the mighty ice giants. Indeed this is where we see the full power of the magic hammer Mjöllnir and it is only in stunning 3D IMAX that it can truly be appreciated.

With a duration over two hours, the film has 20 minutes of excess fat that would fair better if you eliminate some scenes as is the case of the inebriated sequence with Thor and Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard). It also did not help that the outcome of the denouement didn’t possess the tense spitting vibe of ‘The Incredible Hulk’. Overall, ‘Thor’ has charm and delivers a satisfying popcorn movie that one will not feel remorseful to have paid to see. I suggest you stay for the end credits (it takes about 3 minutes or so) to see the hidden scene that gives a clue to what to see in ‘The Avengers’ for next year.

Penélope Cruz begins ‘Venuto al mondo’ shoot

Spanish actress Penelope Cruz on Wednesday arrived unexpectedly in Sarajevo, where she will film “Venuto al mondo,” a drama directed by Sergio Castellitto.

“Venuto al mondo” is the film adaptation of the same-named novel by Margaret Mazzantini, Castellitto’s wife and one of the most popular writers in Italy.

Cruz will play the role of Gemma, a single mother who accompanies her teenage son to modern-day Sarajevo, the birthplace of his father, who died during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia.

Participating in the project are Bosnian production companies Pro.ba and Deblokada.

The Oscar-winning actress has worked with Castellitto before on his 2004 film “Non ti muovere.”

Adam Rodriguez joins ‘The Dark Knight Rises’!

CSI: Miami co-star Adam Rodriguez is the latest Latino to land a small role on Chris Nolan’s next Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. What he will play is unknown at this moment, but Rodriguez will for sure have some screen time in the film. Rodriguez will be joined by Nestor Carbonell, who is also Latino and who plays the Mayor of Gotham.

Rodriguez was recently in ‘I Can Do Bad All by Myself’ and ‘Let the Game Begin’. He’s mostly known for his work as a detective in CSI: Miami, but he’s trying to break through into movies and this is as good a break as ever to make some noise in Hollywood.

The Dark Knight Rises has no official plot yet, but according to the trailer we saw and the set photographs, it will center around Batman once again fighting for good and on a quest to stop Bain, and Catwoman from creating chaos in Gotham.

Keira Knightley, Jude Law to star in ‘Anna Karenina’

Joe Wright will direct the epic romance Anna Karenina, adapted from Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel by Academy Award winner Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love). The Working Title Films production will commence filming in the U.K. and Russia this month. Focus Features will distribute the movie domestically, and Universal Pictures International (UPI) will distribute the movie internationally, in the second half of 2012.
 
Anna Karenina marks Mr. Wright’s third Working Title movie with Focus and UPI, following the award-winning boxoffice successes Pride & Prejudice and Atonement. Also for Working Title and UPI, he directed The Soloist; also for Focus, he most recently directed the hit adventure thriller Hanna.
 
Working Title co-chairs Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are producing Anna Karenina with Paul Webster; the three were Academy Award nominees as the producers of Mr. Wright’s Best Picture-nominated Atonement. Also with Focus, Mr. Webster was a Golden Globe Award nominee as producer of Eastern Promises.
 
Keira Knightley, Academy Award-nominated for Pride & Prejudice, will star as Anna Karenina in her third collaboration with Mr. Wright. Ms. Knightley will be starring opposite two-time Academy Award nominee Jude Law, as Anna’s husband Aleksei Karenin; and Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy), as Count Vronsky. Rounding out the cast will be Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire), Matthew Macfadyen (Pride & Prejudice), Domhnall Gleeson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Alicia Vikander (The Seventh Son), two-time Academy Award nominee Emily Watson, Olivia Williams (Hanna), and Ruth Wilson (Luther).
 
Also reteaming with Mr. Wright on Anna Karenina are Academy Award-winning composer Dario Marianelli, twice-Academy Award-nominated costume designer Jacqueline Durran, and three-time Academy Award-nominated production designer Sarah Greenwood. The cinematographer will be Academy Award winner Philippe Rousselot. Melanie Ann Oliver (Focus’ Jane Eyre) will edit the feature. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui will be the choreographer on the movie.
 
The story unfolds in its original late-19th-century Russia high-society setting and powerfully explores the capacity for love that surges through the human heart, from the passion between adulterers to the bond between a mother and her children. As Anna (Ms. Knightley) questions her happiness, change comes to her family, friends, and community.
 
Focus Features CEO James Schamus said, “Joe Wright is a master filmmaker, and with Tom Stoppard’s brilliant screenplay this Anna Karenina will be full of both pageantry and emotion. To realize Joe’s vision, we have the perfect producing partners in Working Title and Paul Webster, whose acumen is unsurpassed. With Keira Knightley playing this iconic role and a splendid cast supporting her, today’s moviegoers will be drawn to this powerful story.”
 
Mr. Bevan commented, “Everyone at Working Title is proud to affirm a longtime collaboration with Joe Wright through this, our fourth picture together. That we are able to re-convene cast and crew from Pride & Prejudice and Atonement makes it all the more exciting. We anticipate that this will be a defining screen version of Anna Karenina.”

John Leguizamo costars in Heigl’s ‘One For The Money’

After his Ghetto Klown Broadway extravaganza, Colombian actor John Leguizamo is getting ready for his costarring role next to Katherine Heigl in ONE FOR THE MONEY. We have the new poster, check it out below.

Heigl stars as Stephanie Plum from the popular heroine of Janet Evanovich’s worldwide best-selling sixteen-book mystery series – to vibrant life in Lionsgate and Lakeshore Entertainment’s movie.

A proud, born-and-bred Jersey girl, Stephanie Plum’s got plenty of attitude, even if she’s been out of work for the last six months and just lost her car to a debt collector.  Desperate for some fast cash, Stephanie turns to her last resort: convincing her sleazy cousin to give her a job at his bail bonding company…as a recovery agent.  True, she doesn’t even own a pair of handcuffs and her weapon of choice is pepper spray, but that doesn’t stop Stephanie from taking on Vinny’s biggest bail-jumper: former vice cop and murder suspect Joe Morelli – yup, the same sexy, irresistible Joe Morelli who seduced and dumped her back in high school.

Nabbing Morelli would be satisfying payback – and a hefty payday – but as Stephanie learns the ins and outs of becoming a recovery agent from Ranger, a hunky colleague who’s the best in the business, she also realizes the case against Morelli isn’t airtight. Add to the mix her meddling family, a potentially homicidal boxer, witnesses who keep dying and the problem of all those flying sparks when she finds Morelli himself…well, suddenly Stephanie’s new job isn’t nearly as easy as she thought.

ONE FOR THE MONEY is a fresh, funny action-comedy directed by Julie Anne Robinson and also starring Jason O’Mara, Daniel Sunjata, John Leguiziamo, Debbie Reynolds and Debra Monk.  Lionsgate and Lakeshore Entertainment present a Lakeshore Entertainment Lionsgate Wendy Finerman production in association with Sidney Kimmel Entertainment Abishag Productions. Directed by Julie Anne Robinson.  Screenplay by Stacy Sherman & Karen Ray and Liz Brixius.  Based on the novel by Janet Evanovich.