Info on the storyline for the upcoming Smurfs movie (GAH!) from Sony Pictures Animation has come out in the form of details about a couple of the parts being cast.   This movie will be a hybrid of live action and animation, and will center on a couple of kids who find a Smurf  attempt to get him back to his friends.  EW.com has the story:

…the doll her dad brought home from Belgium is actually a living, breathing Smurf. And not just any Smurf — Clumsy Smurf! Sophie tries to get her mom and dad to embrace Clumsy as a member of the family, but ultimately realizes what he really wants is to reunite with his fellow Smurfs.

Great, this should hold me over until somebody pitches a live-action Gummi Bears movie….

Video game publisher Konami is in negotiations with James Wan (he of the Saw series) to direct the big screen adaptation of the video game classic Castlevania.  Hey, at least it isn’t a whole movie based on the View-Master.  Ian Jeffers is set to pen the script (he may actually use a computer, or a typewriter or even a pencil, though that would require an awful lot of sharpening).  From Variety.com:

The project centers on the battle between Dracula and the Belmont clan of vampire hunters in a labyrinthine fortress in the Carpathian mountains.

…

“Castlevania” debuted as a vidgame in Japan in 1986. Crystal Sky acquired the feature rights in 2005 and attached Paul W.S. Anderson to direct, followed by Sylvain White in 2007, with Rogue co-producing, but the project stalled during the WGA strike.

Steven Paul of Crystal Sky Entertainment will be producing.  As a video game player who has loved the “Castlevania” series, all I have to say is, “Someone please keep Uwe Boll distracted for the entirety of this production.”

Terry Gilliam Accepting An Award

Terry Gilliam is giving his failed epic The Man Who Killed Don Quixote another go nearly 10 years after giving up on the first attempt.  Gilliam has rewritten and updated the script along with Tony Grisoni, who also cowrote the original version.

Says Gilliam:

“I’m not so much a filmmaker as someone who gets possessed by an idea and it doesn’t leave me until I make the film,” Gilliam told Variety. “I commit myself to it so fully.”

Gilliam is also in talks with Johnny Depp, who had been set to star in the first ill-fated attempt as a modern-day ad exec who travels back in time and is mistaken for Sancho Panza by Don Quixote. Scheduling concerns are seen as the biggest obstacle to Depp’s participation this time.

Lost in La Mancha, which chronicles the original disaster of a production, still brings tears to my eyes whenever I see it.

Source: Variety.com

Lost in La Mancha

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

The Complete Monty Python’s Flying Circus 16-Ton Megaset

That's right, I'm smokin', whaddya gonna do about it?

According to Variety, Martin Scorsese is set to direct a biopic of the Chairman of the Board himself, Frank Sinatra.  Scorsese will also produce.

Per Variety:

Although no actor is attached to star in the film, Schulman said Leonardo DiCaprio is an obvious candidate because he has become Scorsese’s go-to actor over the past decade, having starred in the director’s past four features: “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator,” “The Departed” and the upcoming “Shutter Island.” Because any music in the film will come from Sinatra’s recordings, it will not be necessary to cast an actor who is a proficient singer.

Apparently the process of acquiring the rights to the music and story was a royal pain and this has been in development for a couple of years now.

Source: Variety.com

Nothing But The Best

Live At the Meadowlands (with Bonus CD)

Frank Sinatra Mug Shot – Fine Art Print / Poster – 20.00 x 35.00

Preacher: Gone To Texas

Collider has an exclusive interview with director Sam Mendes.  He popped out a nugget regarding the Preacher adaptation that has been rumored.

For fans of Garth Ennis’ comic book, Sam says John August is still writing the script. He also said he’s directing two plays and the earliest he’s making his next movie is in 2010. That means while “Preacher” is on the horizon, it’s not happening anytime soon.

So basically, it still might not see the light of day for many years, but at least someone is working on it.  It would be a shame if this movie doesn’t get made, since I absolutely loved the comic by Garth Ennis.

Source: Collider

Preacher Vol. 1: Gone to Texas

Preacher Vol. 2: Until the End of the World

Preacher Vol. 3: Proud Americans