Tagged: Paramount

Review: ‘Roman Holiday’

Review: ‘Roman Holiday’

When it opened, Roman Holiday enchanted a world that had largely never really seen Italy.  The film was one of the first filmed entirely on a foreign location and it became as much a travelogue to a post-World War II America as it was a fresh romantic tale about a princess and a commoner. The second film in Paramount Home Video’s Centennial Collection, it has been cleaned up and remastered, looking sharper and richer than previous editions.

The film introduced the world to Audrey Hepburn, the fresh-faced gamine who became an instant star and fashion trend-setter. Paired with the relaxed Gregory Peck, they made an engaging couple as the two spent a full day seeing the sights.  She’s Princess Ann, in Rome as part of a European tour and tired of her over-scheduled, protected life.  When she escapes for a day off, she strikes up a friendship with American journalist Joe Bradley (Peck).  They go off to explore the city, opening his eyes to a less cynical world as she sees the real people of the city.  They’re tailed by Eddie Albert in a beatnik beard, who’s playing a cameraman smelling a scoop.  It’s poignant, funny, romantic, and a delight that has held up through the years, thanks to a sharp script from Dalton Trumbo.

Trumbo was one of the celebrated screenwriters pilloried during the Congressional witch hunt seeking Communists throughout Hollywood.  His credit was withheld from the film for fifty years but it proudly restored here and his heroism is recounted in [[[Dalton Trumbo: From A-List to Blacklist]]], one of the all new features.  Interesting, most of the extras from the 2002 disc are gone with the exception of Restoring [[[Roman Holiday]]] which is a fascinating look at the process.

Being Hepburn’s debut, she is spotlighted in the thirty minute career piece, [[[Audrey Hepburn: The Paramount Years]]], followed by [[[Remembering Audrey]]], which looks at her affect on the world and her charitable efforts.

Behind the Gates: Costumes is part of the series’ look at the filmmaking process and spotlights legendary costumer Edith Head although we have a look at random clothes from various films that have been carefully preserved.  We also get Paramount in the ‘50s once more which practically is an ad for future titles in this welcome series.

You get a look at Rome at a time when the war debris had been cleaned up and the city hadn’t been filled to the brim with tourists and cars. The antics are innocent and the characters a little thin but certainly enjoyable.  The film holds up and is well celebrated here.

Klingon Opera in the Works

Klingon Opera in the Works

  • News
  • November 15, 2008

At one point, Paramount Pictures commissioned work on a Star Trek opera as part of the franchise’s 25th anniversary. Novelists Judy and Garwood Stevens were at work on a story when cooler heads prevailed and the project was shelved.

Now, Floris Schönfeld, from the Netherlands, has made it clear he’s at work on a Klingon Opera.  The artist was recently profiled in The New York Times, one of 15 invited to come to Long Island for a two- to three-week residency at the Watermill Center.

“The Klingon opera Mr. Schönfeld is developing is called “ ’u’.” The apostrophes before and after the “u” are part of the title and are pronounced by Mr. Schönfeld like short coughs. The title, he said, stands for universe or universal.,” the Times wrote.

Part of his time in America will be spent on developing the opera’s storyline which the 26-year-old intends to write himself. He speaks English, German, Dutch and what “he calls ‘basic Klingon’ and began his project during the summer of 2007 as his master’s thesis at the Interfaculty ArtScience program, affiliated with the Royal Conservatory, in The Hague.”

He was drawn to the Klingon language, developed in the 1980s by linguist Marc Okrand, and subsequently founded the Klingon Terran Research Ensemble and worked with his friends on the opera.  Several bits have been performed and recorded, available for viewing on their website without translation into English.

As part of his stay, Schönfeld will work with performers and present an improvisational glimpse of Klingon music. “We are humans making Klingon music,” he said, noting that they will not dress in Klingon garb.

‘Heavy Metal’ Movie Back at Paramount

‘Heavy Metal’ Movie Back at Paramount

  • News
  • November 14, 2008

The on-again, off-again sequel to Heavy Metal the animated feature appears to be on again. HM owner Kevin Eastman announced on his message board, “Well here we are again — and I’m trying to keep you up on the latest, without boring you with the 24/7 issues that are dealt with on this project. Regardless — things proceed — and the good news I have to share is Zack Snyder has said yes to directing one of the segments — so he’s be joining [David] Fincher, and Gore Verbinski as part of the official line up — there’s more on the director front — but I’ll hold off to share more with you shortly.  Also looks like it might end up back at Paramount–gotta love Hollywood.”

The deal was first announcement came March 14 with Variety reporting that Fincher was heavily involved.

Then Paramount seemed to drop out and Eastman posted on July 10, “Yes, it was a fun, funny, interesting ride at Paramount — basically everyone in the company had greenlit the project except on of the new top ‘assholes’ over there, who has a personal beef with Fincher, and killed the HM project over issues with one of Fincher’s other projects.

Not to worry, we have already set it up elsewhere, an announcement will be made soon, and we’ll be in production shortly as well.”

Shortly became August 31, when he said Sony was on board to distribute the animated anthology.  “The journey has been a tough and interesting one, but the film will be worth the wait.”

Thins seem stalled and sounding despondent, Eastman posted on October 08, 2008, “Man, it is a bit frustrating right now, as I have a lot of great new information to share, but am under a zip lip instruction from the rest of the crew for correct timing — I don’t mean to tease you, but do want to let you know the people we are bringing into to work on and direct segments of the film really @#$%& rock — and I should be able to start sharing images soon.”

Paul Pope’s ‘Battling Boy’ Optioned by Paramount

Paul Pope’s ‘Battling Boy’ Optioned by Paramount

  • News
  • November 5, 2008

Graphic artist Paul Pope’s Battling Boy has been optioned by Paramount Pictures for a feature film.  The movie will be produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B production company according to Variety.

The book, to be published by First Second in spring 2010, is a “gritty tale centers on the son of a god or superhero who comes down from the top of a mountain at his father’s behest in order to rid a giant city of monsters.”

Publisher Mark Siegel first announced the project March 22, 2006, saying, “Yes, yes, yes, the rumors are true: Paul Pope is working on a massive, epic project for First Second — in full color and for young readers.

“Here’s a quote from Pope in this week’s Publisher’s Weekly Comics Week, just to whet a few appetites:

‘Battling Boy is aimed at kids and it’s coming out from First Second in 2007. It’s a kind of a fairytale kid Beowulf, or a Peter Pan with teeth. It’s set in a mythical city called Monstropolis, a city the size of a continent that’s overrun with monsters.’”

Pope, a winner of multiple Eisner Awards, recently wrote on his blog, “In Batman Year 100, I had room for a couple of long fight sequences, but I felt cramped even with 200 pages. This fight scene from Battling Boy alone is about 50 pages. It’s liberating to have no page restrictions. I wish [Jack] Kirby could’ve had 50 pages for one fight scene, imagine what he would’ve done.

“The extended cinematic sequence is one of the best gifts we’ve inherited from Manga.”

Sony in Talks to Co-Finance ‘Tintin’

Sony in Talks to Co-Finance ‘Tintin’

  • News
  • November 3, 2008

When last we left Tintin, he and Snowy were facing an uncertain future as the famed directors Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson wanted to turn his graphic novel adventures into at least two live-action films.  The forces of corporate evil, though, saw to it that DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures were split asunder, leaving financing for the films up in the air.

Sony, like a white knight, has ridden to the rescue.  According to the scribes at Variety, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Paramount Pictures are now discussing terms to allow them to co-finance the digital 3-D films together.

The hero, created by Belgian artist Georges Remi (a.k.a. Herge), had first thought that Universal Studios, new home to DreamWorks would partner up to ensure audiences around the world got to thrill to his exploits.  Instead, Universal balked so Paramount told Spielberg and Jackson they would front the full $135 million budget in exchange for better profit-sharing terms.  Now it was the directors’ turn to balk forcing Paramount to seek assistance.

The Sony-Paramount deal would be the first film only and would grant Sony international distribution rights while Paramount would retain North American rights in addition to distribution deals in selected English-speaking countries.

While the cash has begun tof low once more, there remains concern over production commencing, as planned, in the fall.  Thomas Sangster, the human selected to portray the teen hero, left the project.  Spielberg remains optimistic they will recast, shoot and still make their 2010 release date. Jackson would then direct a second film.

Although DreamWorks is now no longer a participant, the principal players remain somewhat enmeshed in their lives.  Jackson has delivered The Lovely Bones to DreamWorks which Paramount will release in 2009.

‘Agnes Quill’ Heads to Paramount

‘Agnes Quill’ Heads to Paramount

  • News
  • October 31, 2008

Paramount has picked up the screen rights to Dave Roman’s graphic novel Agnes Quill: An Anthology of Mystery. Thor Freudenthal (Hotel for Dogs) will direct from a script by Evan Spiliotopoulos. Variety reports that Agnes Quill is "the first acquisition for Adam Goodman since transitioning from DreamWorks."

Publisher Slave Labor Graphics describes Agnes Quill: An Anthology of Mystery as follows:

"For Agnes Quill, talking to the dead is the easiest part of her life. As the heir to her great-grandfather’s detective business, the sixteen-year-old Agnes must solve mysteries in the haunted, cobble-stoned and foggy city Legerdemain. It’s a lot of responsibility for a teenaged girl, but Agnes is devoted to continuing her family’s legacy. As she solves the strange cases her clients bring to her, Legerdemain’s dearly departed citizens help, hinder, or just plain annoy her. Working with, against or in spite of these ghosts, Agnes frees trapped spirits, cursed souls and possessed relatives, finds disappearing pets, and confronts decapitated scientists, ambitious zombies, and other supernatural menaces, in Agnes Quill: An Anthology of Mystery."

Agnes Quill is the latest in a series of many independent comic books to be optioned as film, following the recently announced Villains, Torso and Freaks of the Heartland. Dave Roman originally created Agnes as a series of stand-alone webcomics, which were later collected by SLG Publishing in October 2006. Agnes features art from Jason Ho, Jen Wang, Jeff Zornow and Eisner-nominee Raina Telgemeier. Roman is also the author of Harvey-nominated webcomic Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden.

You can read Agnes Quill: An Anthology of Mystery for free online by clicking here.

Jack Ryan Returning to Film

Jack Ryan Returning to Film

  • News
  • October 24, 2008

As reported yesterday, Sam Raimi has abandoned beloved Tom Clancy icon Jack Ryan. The director was attached to reboot the Ryan franchise, but had to bow out to focus on his upcoming Spider-Man sequels.

"Because I’m committed to Spider-Man and making that picture," said Raimi, "I think it’s going to knock me out of the running for the Jack Ryan picture."

Luckily for the spy thriller hero, Raimi’s departure doesn’t necessitate a bullet in the back of Ryan’s brain. According to Moviehole, there are still active plans to launch a reboot. In fact, with Raimi officially off the project, it looks like Ryan will grace the big screen sooner than expected.

"Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mace Neufeld have been rehired by Paramount as producers on the franchise, with a mandate to come up with a Jack Ryan original ASAP," a source close to Paramount tells the Web site. By Any Means Necessary, the film Raimi planned to reboot the Jack Ryan character, "has been abandoned."

di Bonaventura (Transformers) was previously involved with By Any Means Necessary. Neufeld, meanwhile, has produced every Ryan installment to date from The Hunt for Red October to The Sum of All Fears. He’s overseen three different actors portray the role of Jack Ryan: Alec Baldwin (The Hunt for Red October), Harrison Ford (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger) and Ben Affleck (The Sum of All Fears). Moviehole wants Harrison Ford to return to the franchise, which is a possibility as the film "may feature an ‘older’ Ryan as opposed to a younger version." It’d be cool to have Ford back in the series, but that would leave Liev Schrieber, who played a younger version of Ryan’s CIA operative pall John Clark in Sum of All Fears. Schrieber was one of the few excellent elements of that film. Willem Dafoe played the role in Clear and Present Danger.

Jack Ryan first appeared in Tom Clancy’s novel The Hunt for Red October in 1984. Since then, he’s elevated from lowly CIA operative to National Security Advisor. In Debt of Honor, Ryan is tapped for the Office of Vice President and is later elevated to the Presidency after his predecessor is assassinated. In the Clancy universe, Ryan is currently retired.

Studios Shuffle Holiday Schedules

Studios Shuffle Holiday Schedules

  • News
  • October 21, 2008

As films falter in meeting their deadlines to make their scheduled release dates, studios are constantly shuffling the calendar.  This time of years the gamesmanship is especially tough as studios eye projects with the hopes of securing Academy Award nominations. The dominoes have been falling with particular speed in the last week so here’s a recap.

With The Weinstein Company most likely bumping The Road from November to December to 2009, it has put its marketing efforts behind The Reader.

This was seen as a good opportunity for Paramount which had a lot of faith in the Robert Downey Jr. film, The Soloist.  Instead, they surprised prognosticators and moved the film to March 13, 2009. Word is that test screenings did not go well and rather than spend extra dollars to rush, Paramount’s budget cutting has prompted the schedule shift.

The studio has also delayed Defiance, the World War II drama starring Daniel Craig, to open on December 31, just in time to qualify for the Oscars but away from the box office competition in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

What this does is also shift which performers will receive studio dollars behind Oscar bids.  As we wave farewell to Viggo Mortenson, Jamie Foxx and others, the field now turns to focus on Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Mickey Rourke (Wrestler), Josh Brolin (W.), Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) and Sean Penn (Milk).  Downey is likely to be pushed by Paramount for both Iron Man and more likely a supporting nod in Tropic Thunder while Warner Bros. will most certainly launch a major campaign for Heath Ledger’s role as the Joker in The Dark Knight.

The final bit of scheduling news also involves Downey as his Sherlock Holmes has been pencilled in for November 20 2009.

Marvel extends distribution deal with Paramount

Marvel extends distribution deal with Paramount

  • News
  • September 29, 2008

Though hard to deny the colossal success of The Dark Knight, it can’t be said that Marvel slept through 2008. Iron Man was the second highest grossing film of the year, taking in $318 million domestically and $571 million worldwide. It wasn’t long after the appropriately Stark-sized success that Marvel Studios announced official development on further film projects. Today, it was announced that Shakespearean director Kenneth Branagh is in talks to direct Marvel’s Thor. Now, only hours later, Marvel has yet another big announcement.

Marvel Studios has extended their distribution pact with Paramount Pictures. Paramount will distribute Marvel’s next five films. These films include Iron Man 2 (May 7, 2010), Thor (July 16, 2010), The First Avenger: Captain America (May 6, 2011) and The Avengers (July 15, 2011). The deal also covers Iron Man 3, which was always an assumed project but is now officially in the woodwork.

The agreement includes theatrical distribution in foreign countries previously uncovered by Paramount. Such territories include Japan, Germany, France, Spain and Australia/New Zealand. Due to a prior arrangement, Iron Man 2 will be distributed in Germany by Telemunchen.

"Coming off of Iron Man’s incredible success this summer, we could not be more excited about extending our relationship with Marvel," Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore said of the new deal. "Marvel’s iconic brand, its popular characters and its proven ability to create compelling and visually spellbinding films complement Paramount’s great history of filmmaking."

Iron Man 2 reunites the creative powerhouse of director Jon Favreau and star Robert Downey Jr. Terence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow are expeced back and director Favreau has been meeting with Iron Man scribe Matt Fraction top kick around story ideas although the War Machine armor is expected to debut.

Thor, set for release two months after Iron Man 2, was written by I am Legend screenwriter Mark Protosevich. Actor/director Kenneth Branagh is attached to direct.

The First Avenger: Captain America comes from a screenplay by Zak Penn, and is rumored to be a World War II-era period piece. No casting announcements have been made regarding Steve Rogers, but rumors have ranged from Leonardo DiCaprio to Will Smith.

These properties will culminate in 2011’s The Avengers, Marvel Studios’ big team-up epic. Captain America, Iron Man and Thor are set to headline with their respective actors in place. The films leading up to the project will feature interweaving cameos from other Marvel characters, such as Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury appearing after the credits in Iron Man and Robert Downey Jr. at the end of The Incredible Hulk.

Assuming that the remainder of Marvel’s current slate succeeds on the same scale as ol’ Shellhead’s cinema outing, this could be the start of a very long, beautiful relationship between Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures.

Paramount to Fund ‘Tintin’

Paramount to Fund ‘Tintin’

  • News
  • September 22, 2008

The saga of Tintin continues to unfold as it now appears that Paramount Pictures will cover the $130 budget for the Steven Spielberg/Peter Jackson Tintin movie. As reported at Deadline Hollywood, the deal calls for Paramount to produce the movie entirely on its own as long as the principals remain on budget. Filming remains on target to begin in October.

Concern remains that the popular European character has yet to penetrate the American consciousness despite previous attempts, which made Universal skittish over the price tag since it meant the film would have to gross in excess of $400 million to show a profit.  Without a huge American contribution, there was concern on this issue.

Meantime, this is only secondary to the split of DreamWorks from Paramount as they ally with India’s Reliance Media to once more become an independent production entity.  The messy breakup will take weeks to resolve all the details including which film properties will remain with DreamWorks and which will be retained by Paramount.  The studio is claiming rights to at least three Spielberg projects including the story of the Chicago Seven trial.

At present they have yet to sign a distribution deal for DW films but Universal remains the odd-on favorite with 20th-Century Fox also reported to be interested.
 

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