There's a short announcement story in the Hollywood Reporter that the prolific and increasingly appreciated writer J. Michael Straczynski will be writing a "Forbidden Planet" remake for Warner Bros. and Joel Silver. Straczynski (the creator and executive producer of "Babylon 5" but a guy with a resume in radio, comics and the stage as well) is the latest name to be attached to a remake effort that has bopped around to different corners of Hollywood without much traction (James Cameron was even involved at one point, I believe). But now that "War of the Worlds" did so well and "The Day the Earth Stood Still" is stirring advance interest, it's not surprising to see another classic gem of sci-fi cinema get a 21st century redux.
The 1956 original took Shakespeare's "The Tempest" into outer space, so there is certainly a core story there that can be retrofitted. It was directed by Fred Wilcox (who also did "Lassie Come Home"), starred a mysterious Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis and a straight-faced Leslie Nielsen as well as that truly iconic sci-fi persona, Robby the Robot. He would go on to appear in a long list of television shows: "Lost in Space," of course, but also "The Twilight Zone," "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," ""The Addams Family," "Mork & Mindy," "WonderWoman," "Columbo" and on and on...
Here's a pretty great YouTube revisitation of the original film's trailer that has been edited and reworked with some music that amps up the drama. Good stuff.
Today's handpicked headlines from the fanboy universe...
Everyone knows that Spider-Man is going to the theater stage, but now it appears the theater is also coming to Spider-Man. Work continues on the Spidey musical for Broadway (which at a reported $40 million will be the most expensive production in the history of theater) but in the meantime an acclaimed writer of stage drama is coming over to the webslinger's massively successful movie franchise. Borys Kit has the trades announcement this morning: "David Lindsay-Abaire, who won a Pulitzer in 2007 for his drama 'Rabbit Hole,' is in final negotiations to write 'Spider-Man 4' for Columbia. Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire are back as director and star, respectively, as are series producers Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad.Kirsten Dunst also is expected to return for the latest movie featuring the Marvel Comics character. Plot details are under lock and key. Columbia always has gone off the beaten path during the development process when hiring writers for the 'Spider-Man' movies. Alvin Sargent, a veteran scribe best known for 1973's 'Paper Moon' and 1980's 'Ordinary People,' served as a writer on the second and third films. Michael Chabon, another Pulitzer winner, also worked on 'Spider-Man 2.'... Lindsay-Abaire's 'Rabbit Hole,' which starred Cynthia Nixon and Tyne Daly, hit the Broadway stage in 2006 and won four Tonys, including best play. The writer also is known for the play 'Fuddy Meers.'" [Hollywood Reporter]
Twilight, Twi-bright, first vamp I see tonight: I'm not sure the world is prepared for how huge "Twilight" is going to be, at least if Internet activity is any sort of predictor of movie box-office grosses. Today's "Twilight" update: Rotten Tomatoes now has a massive 93-image photo gallery from the movie (um, isn't that pretty much the wholemovie?) while Gina McIntyre has an interview with Robert Pattinson on the fang-mania. "'It’s happened since the day it got said that I was playing the part,' Pattinson said, running his hands through his hair. 'It was like a day when it changed. [People went from saying] ‘Are you the guy from ‘Harry Potter’? to ‘It’s Edward!’ It’s really, really strange.' When asked if he thinks he’ll ever become accustomed to that aspect of his newfound celebrity, he simply replied, 'No. It’s just a certain amount of acceptance, I guess. The only kind of strange thing is when you get photographed...I don’t think you’d ever get used to that. You can’t really live normally when that’s happening.' " [Entertainment News and Buzz, Los Angeles Times]
Brainiac, the smart-guy choice: Brandon Routh is doing a lot of press right now because of his role in "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" and in an interview with Robert Sanchez the subject turned to the next Superman movie. Routh hopes to wear the cape again and he would like to a certain city-shrinking, green-skinned evil genius as the heavy. "I think there are a lot of things you could do with Brainiac. He's been given a lot of power and a lot of different abilities over the years in the comics, as far as I understand. I know that DC is working on a Brainiac storyline that they are excited about and I think combining the two and have that flow between the comics and the movie would be a nice thing. I honestly think there are a lot of interesting things you can do with Brainiac. Controlling people, controlling technology, a lot of cool things." [IESB]
Fear is good: Tonight is the L.A. opening night of "Fear(s) of the Dark," which i've been hearing great things about. (Guillermo Del Toro gushed about it: "Rusty alleyways and vaporous ghosts painted by the masters of dread. Razor-sharp images that will slice your eye and nest there forever. Thrilling, disturbing and haunting. Bring the kids!") Here's the description from the folks at IFC: "A wildly inventive and visually dazzling collection of fearful tales by six of the world’s most renowned comic and graphic artists. Featuring the cutting-edge talents of Blutch, Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre Di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, and Richard McGuire, 'Fear(s) of the Dark' was featured at the Sundance, Rotterdam, Los Angeles, and 'Rendez-vous with French Cinema' film festivals. 'Fear(s) of the Dark' will open in Los Angeles on October 31st at Landmark's Nuart Theatre [11272 Santa Monica Boulevard] followed by a national roll-out. The artists featured have all drawn from their own fertile imaginations –- and worst nightmares –- to tell their tales. From a besotted student whose girlfriend is weirdly ardent in her affections, to a Japanese schoolgirl menaced by a long-dead samurai, and a pack of hounds on a bloodthirsty rampage, 'Fear(s)' has a story strand to trouble every sleep –- not to mention a stunning range of animation styles. Shot in shimmering black and white, the six intertwined tales create an unprecedented epic where phobias and nightmares come to life and reveal Fear at its most naked and intense." [press release]
X-Halloween:Tim O'Shea has an interview with Jeff Parker about "Giant Size X-Men: First Class," the Marvel new release with some fun Halloween touches, such as the Beast starting an (ahem) X-Files sort of paranormal investigations. Parker described his fave parts of the book: " 'Dean Haspiel drawing Bobby Drake, making the Thing’s hand breakdance. Michael Cho putting Cyclops in the role of Gort. Nick Kilisian showing the X-Men as Pod People. DavidWilliams somehow putting EVERYONE in one double page spread and making it look beautiful. But I think one feature that readers are going to love is Roger Langridge’s two-pager featuring young Charles Xavier, done in an Edward Gorey style. People who have heard of Roger and wonder what why he’s so praised will understand what the big deal is.' "
-- Geoff Boucher
Credits: Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man unmasked in the third film in the super-hero film franchise, photo by Merrick Morton and courtesy of Columbia Pictures. "Action Comics" issue No. 280 featuring Curt Swan cover of Brainiac, courtesy of DC Comics.
Yesterday we had a link to Chris Lee's great (and unflinching) feature on Kevin Smith, who may have his most commercial film of his career in theaters today but is also grappling with a weight-related heath crisis. That story ran on the cover of the Los Angeles Times Calendar section; today Lee went through his notebook and pulled out some more material from the interview that will be especially interesting to the fanboy crowd.
Kevin Smith does not feel one iota of guilt about making Superman gay. That is to say, the New Jersey-born writer-director knows precisely how big a casting coup it was to land Brandon Routh -- the studly star of director Bryan Singer’s 2006 Man of Steel update “Superman Returns” -- to portray a closeted gay man. In Smith’s raunchy sex comedy “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” (which hits the multiplex tomorrow), Routh's character, Bobby Long, is in a relationship with Justin Long’s flamboyant gay porn star character Brandon St. Randy. (The pair are pictured above, with Routh on the right.)
“On paper, it’s a thankless role. He’s the straight man, the set-up guy,” Smith, seated on the patio of his Hollywood Hills home last week, said of Routh. Instantly realizing his unintended pun, Smith reframed the discussion of Routh’s portrayal. “He’s a straight man playing a gay guy who’s pretending to be a straight guy in that weird ‘Victor Victoria’ way. But Brandon found a way to play him like a hen-pecked husband in a gay marriage who’s still not quite living out loud. He’s so funny. He found a way to make it more comedic than it was on the page without changing a word.”
Through the years, the photographers of the Los Angeles Times have been on hundreds of sets for movies, television shows and commercials. Today being Halloween, I thought you might enjoy this photo I dug up in the stacks of the paper's library. It shows Cassandra Peterson, better known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, being tied to the stake during the 1988 filming of her movie.
It's shot by Al Seib, who remains one of the very best photojournalists here at the paper today as well as being one of the classiest people you'll ever meet.
Seib took the photo during a marathon overnight filming for the production in Burbank. He not only caught a great moment, I suspect his work inspired the poster for the September 1988 release, which looks suspiciously similar to The Times photo that ran with a prominent Sunday feature on Elvira's then-surging career on March 20, 1988.
An what is Elvira up to today? According to her website, tonight she will be part of the nighttime Halloween events at the historic Eastern State Penitentiary, Al Capone's onetime residence, which is now a grim tourist attraction.
RELATED: MORE RARE PHOTOS FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES ARCHIVES
And now we bring you a message directly from filmmaker Edgar Wright, the man responsible for "Shaun of the Dead," "Hot Fuzz" and "Spaced," who will be hosting an L.A. Halloween event that sounds spooky good.
The New Beverly has not only kindly chosen my film as the main feature, but let me pick the second feature. I will also be showing the uncut version of my "Grindhouse" trailer "Don't" for the first time in the U.S. as well as a whole mess of handpicked vintage trailers.
Should be a hoot. "Shaun of the Dead" and "Don't" at at 7:30 p.m. and the amazing "Riki Oh: The Story of Ricky" is at 9.30. The choice of the second film was somewhat agonizing. But I eventually picked the film that brought the house down as the secret third feature at the close of my Wright Stuff Festival last December. So the honor goes to the 1991 startling Hong Kong epic "Riki Oh: The Story of Ricky." What could be more amazing than a film that names its protagonist twice in the title? And what could be more Halloween-y than a ridiculously gory futuristic prison romp with a hero who can play the flute and punch through peoples' heads?
Today's handpicked headlines from the fanboy universe...
Sam Mendes is finding religion, Garth Ennis-style. Mendes, the director of "The Road to Perdition," is again turning to comics for subject matter with the announcment that he will adapt the harrowing Ennis epic "Preacher" to the screen. Tatiana Siegel has the trades announcement story: "Sam Mendes will direct a bigscreen adaptation of the supernatural graphic novel 'Preacher' for Columbia Pictures. Created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, graphic novel focuses on the preacher of a Texas town, who is struggling to get by and is driven only by his strong moral sense. When the city is decimated by an otherworldly force, he embarks on a journey across the country to take on the evil. Supernatural project is a departure for Mendes, who is best known for tackling suburban angst in such films as 'American Beauty' and the upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio-Kate Winslet starrer 'Revolutionary Road.'" [Variety]
Who's "Who"?: The great debate has already started about who should take over the TARDIS now that David Tennant has officially announced his upcoming retirement from the Doctor Who role. Aubry D'Arminio weighs in with a few suggestions, among them Jason O'Mara (left), who is absolutely great is "Life on Mars." "If I could cast my dream 11th Doctor, I’d go with either blondie Marc Warren ('Hustle,' 'State of Play') or scene-stealing Jason O’Mara (who currently rocks the U.S. 'Life on Mars'). I know, I know, Warren’s been on the show before, but that hasn’t stopped David Morrisey and John Simm from being named as possible successors to Tennant’s TARDIS throne. And if O'Mara’s up for a little work during his summer break from 'Mars' -- that’s if poor, underrated 'Mars' is even still around -- I’d love to hear his real Irish accent more often." [Bits and Bobs blog, Entertainment Weekly]
Dragon reborn: Samuel L. Jackson will be the bad guy again, this time in a remake of Berry Gordy's 1985 cult classic "The Last Dragon." Leslie Simmons has the trades announcement: "Jackson will play Sho'nuff, the Shogun of Harlem, a role played in the original by the late Julius Carry, whose spiel included asking ego-driven questions like 'Am I the baddest mofo lowdown around this town?' Each time his gang of thugs answered, 'Sho'nuff!' Davis Entertainment's John Davis and Gordy's son Kerry Gordy are producing. Penning the screenplay as well as producing is Dallas Jackson, who heads up the urban family label DJ Classicz with Davis. Wu-Tang Clan'sRZA is co-producing. The updated plot will be along the same lines of the original, centering on young martial arts student Leroy Green in his quest through the streets of New York to achieve the highest level of martial arts accomplishment, known as the Last Dragon. Those who achieve the high ranking possess the Glow, making them the greatest fighter alive." [Hollywood Reporter]
A Super trilogy?: Mark Millar ("Wanted") is talking again about his hopes to give Superman the "Lord of the Rings" treatment. He told Dan Goodswen about his trilogy ambition ... including the final scene? Gee, Mark, thanks for spoiling it before you even make it. “It’s gonna be like Michael Corleone in the 'Godfather' films, the entire story from beginning to end, you see where he starts, how he becomes who he becomes, and where that takes him. 'The Dark Knight' showed you can take a comic book property and make a serious film, and I think the studios are ready to listen to bigger ideas now. ... I want to start on Krypton, a thousand years ago, and end with Superman alone on planet Earth, the last being left on the planet, as the yellow sun turns red and starts to supernova, and he loses his powers." [Empire]
To die for: The question every cast member of "Twilight" will be asked a million times: Did you read the books?Denise Martin put the question to Edi Gathegi, who portrays Laurent, and it turns out that he is waaay into the books. Maybe, um, even a little too much? You judge: "I've read them all. 'Breaking Dawn'? I finished that in two days. I have to tell you, every time I finished one of them, a little piece of me died. I’d become invested in that world. I really felt sad. After the fourth one, I was like, ‘What am I going to do with my life?'" [Entertainment News and Buzz blog, Los Angeles Times)
Credits: "Preacher" cover courtesy of Vertigo/DC Comics. Jason O'Mara photograph by Vivan Zink and courtesy of ABC.Samuel L. Jackson photo by Peter Kramer/Associated Press. Edi Gathegi photo from WireImage.
Truly sad news just came across the Atlantic. The BBC has an exclusive interview with video announcing that the 10th (and maybe the best) actor to play Doctor Who is moving on.
David Tennant is to stand down as Doctor Who, after becoming one of the most popular Time Lords in the history of the BBC science fiction show.
Tennant stepped into the Tardis in 2005, and will leave the role after four special episodes are broadcast next year. He made the announcement after winning the outstanding drama performance prize at the National Television Awards.
"When Doctor Who returns in 2010 it won't be with me," he said.
"Now don't make me cry," he added. "I love this part, and I love this show so much that if I don't take a deep breath and move on now I never will, and you'll be wheeling me out of the Tardis in my bath chair."
Three years was "about the right time" to play the role, he told the BBC in an exclusive interview.
"I think it's better to go when there's a chance that people might miss you, rather than to hang around and outstay your welcome," he said.
Here's the just-released, five-minute trailer for the "The Day the Earth Stood Still," which stars Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly and opens on Dec. 12...
What do you think, does the film look promising? Just for fun, here again is the trailer to the original 1951 Robert Wise film, which is one of my favorite science fiction films ever...
If uber-geek Kevin Smith could be any superhero right now, sadly, it might be Matter-Eater Lad. The 38-year-old filmmaker says his weight problem is so out of control that he will be taking a break from work to slim down before his heath is compromised.
Here's an excerpt from today's Los Angeles Times story by Chris Lee, who talked to Smith on the eve of the Friday release of the New Jersey native's new movie, "Zack and Miri Make a Porno":
"I'm going away for a while," Smith, puffing a menthol cigarette on the patio of his Hollywood Hills home, "to concentrate on myself. To save my life."
At a time when Smith has been heavily promoting "Zack and Miri" -- perhaps the most commercially viable movie in his 15-year career as a multi-hyphenate actor-writer-director of crude comedies and art-house bromances -- the issue of his weight has remained front of mind. The director has been complaining about being fat in radio interviews and fretting about it on his blog much to the chagrin of Weinstein Co. publicists for the film, who have openly wished the director would "talk about something else." Like, for instance, how closely in tone and casting the movie resembles something conjured up by comedy rainmaker Judd Apatow?
Adding insult to injury, Smith's girth contributed to an embarrassing incident last week. "I broke a toilet. That's how heavy I am," said Smith. "I can't take all the credit -- that was an old toilet and a very waterlogged wall -- but my size took that toilet down. I cannot cognitively reframe it and be like, 'It wasn't me -- it was the toilet.' It was definitely me. And that's a wake-up call!"
Sweating steadily but not quite profusely, enveloped in a long wool overcoat (in implicit homage to Silent Bob, his screen alter ego in several of his films) despite the 90 degree heat, the New Jersey-born auteur seemed both exhausted and keyed up. He's immensely proud of the film, which earned a number of glowing reviews when it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September.
Growing up, Geoff Boucher always wanted to be a mild-mannered reporter working for a major metropolitan newspaper....or maybe a wookiee. He came to the Los Angeles Times in 1991 and, after years covering crime and local politics, he switched to the Hollywood beat covering film and music. Now he's the paper's go-to geek.
Also contributing:
The Legion of Super-Bloggers here at the Hero Complex includes Yvonne Villarreal, a Times staffer whose earliest memory of wanting to be a journalist stems from watching broadcast reporter April O'Neil on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles television series; Jevon Phillips, a Times staffer who specializes in our favorite television shows, especially "Heroes" and the frakking brilliant "Battlestar Galactica;" Denise Martin, another Times staffer, who has an undying passion for "Twilight" and anyone ever enrolled at Hogwarts; and Gina McIntyre, a Times editor who learned her craft by watching too many slasher films.
Today's handpicked headlines from the fanboy universe...
Stanley Kubrick at work on the set of "Dr. Strangelove"
Superman on stage on Broadway in 1966
A Super trilogy?: 
