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Weinstein Co. Acquires Nursery Rhymes 'Little Bo Peep,'Three Blind Mice' and More

By Erik Davis (Subscribe to Erik Davis's posts), Posted Apr 1st 2011 4:00PM
Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical
Hot on the heels of their announcing new ventures in the video game market and on Broadway, the Weinstein Company announced today that they've picked up the rights to several nursery rhymes with plans to adapt them into feature-length movies. However, like the upcoming 'Snow White and the Huntsman' and 'Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters,' these nursery rhymes will be given updated twists to make them more accessible to contemporary audiences.

Among the rhymes Weinstein picked up were 'Little Bo Peep,' 'Three Blind Mice,' 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat,' and 'Mary Had a Little Lamb.' Along with the announcement came news that Chloe Moretz has already signed on for 'Little Bo Peep: Vampire Nazi Hunter' (working title), which will arrive in theaters (in 3D, of course) on Oct. 15, 2012.

Additionally, Zach Galifianakis, Jack Black and Owen Wilson are in negotiations to lend their voices to the animated 'Three Blind Mice,' while Duncan Jones ('Source Code') is at the top of the list to direct 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat,' a "sci-fi action-adventure featuring aliens who disguise themselves as zombies in order to defend against a monster invasion at sea," so says the press release. Meanwhile, Dimension will develop 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' into a low-budget genre vehicle about killer lambs who attack a sorority house. Casting for that begins next month.
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The Times of London Lists Cinematical Among 100 Greatest Arts Tweeters

By Erik Davis (Subscribe to Erik Davis's posts), Posted Apr 1st 2011 12:20PM
Filed under: Cinematical
We probably don't promote our Twitter feed as much as we should on Cinematical (we're too busy writing up stories!), but needless to say we're very proud of the 21,000-plus community we've built up around our Twitter feed, which alerts readers to all of the posts we house on the site each day, breaks news before it lands on Cinematical, and is also used for some fun, lively real-time discussions and debates.

Because of all the hard work we as a team put into making it the greatest movies-related Twitter feed in the history of the internet, it's rewarding when someone else notices. Our friend Melissa Silverstein over at Women and Hollywood pointed out today that Cinematical was among those on The Times of London's 100 Greatest Arts Tweeters. We're listed at number 40, ahead of folks like Michael Caine, Charlie Sheen, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, to name a few.

The post is unfortunately behind a paywall, but we've posted the film-related feeds (courtesy of Women and Hollywood) after the jump. OH, and follow us on Twitter @Cinematical.
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ThinkGeek Announces Star Wars Lightsaber Popsicles and De-3D Glasses (Video)

By Erik Davis (Subscribe to Erik Davis's posts), Posted Apr 1st 2011 10:30AM
Filed under: Cinematical
Yup, in case you didn't know, today is April 1, aka April Fools' Day. This is a day that divides us in two -- from the people who play along and laugh off the foolish holiday, to the people who get really angry and annoyed at the people playing jokes because they're, like, stupid and immature and not ultra-serious all the time.

While you decide which April Fools' Day fan (or non-fan) you are, we just wanted to take a moment to point out the funny gags ThinkGeek unveiled today. The company is known for their creative April Fools' merchandise pranks, so much so that one of their older pranks -- the Tauntaun sleeping bag -- was so popular that ThinkGeek actually created the real thing a year later. Will the same happen for 2011?

Perhaps with their Star Wars–related Lightsaber Popsicles (a pretty neat idea, for sure - check out video after the jump), though something tells us their De-3D glasses -- which turn annoying 3D images back into comforting 2D images -- won't catch on as fast (though we admit it's hilarious). Check out all the fun merch jokes they unveiled today over on the site and let us know your favorites (we're especially diggin' the Super 3DBoy iPhone System and Playmobil Apple Store Playset).
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Short Film 'More Than You Can Chew' Building Buzz for Director Dan Trachtenberg (Video)

By Erik Davis (Subscribe to Erik Davis's posts), Posted Mar 31st 2011 5:30PM
Filed under: Video, Cinematical


If you haven't already watched Dan Trachtenberg's short film 'More Than You Can Chew,' then what are you waiting for? The commercial director and co-host of the Totally Rad Show just recently finished directing a cool short for Black Box TV, a weekly series on YouTube that feels sorta 'Twilight Zone'-ish.

We caught wind of the short a few days ago, and really loved the way Trachtenberg (and co-writer Mark Walker) toy with the audience by constantly altering expectations. Without spoiling it, the short follows two paramedics who show up to the scene of a grisly murder. Things ... get interesting from there.

Watch 'More Than You Can Chew' after the jump now. Trachtenberg was cool enough to answer a few questions for us about the short and what's happened since it premiered, and you can check those out below.
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Pixar's 'Monsters University' Finds Its Director

By Erik Davis (Subscribe to Erik Davis's posts), Posted Mar 31st 2011 3:00PM
Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical


As much as we'd all love to see Pete Docter ('Monsters, Inc.', 'Up') return to the franchise he helped launch, that doesn't look to be the case here. Coming Soon reports that Dan Scanlon has been chosen to direct the 'Monsters, Inc.' prequel, 'Monsters University.' The interesting thing about Scanlon is that aside from working as a story artist on 'Cars' and 'Toy Story 3,' he also directed one of those 'Cars' shorts, 'Mater and the Ghostlight,' not to mention he was a producer on 'Up' and 'Mater's Tall Tales.'

We mention this because, like they did with 'Cars,' and are currently doing with 'Toy Story,' it seems as if Pixar is readying it so that they can also create a variety of short films set inside the 'Monsters, Inc.' world. Chances are those shorts are already mapped out, and are probably being developed alongside the feature (this way they can more easily access the same voice talent).

There was a reason Pixar expanded to Vancouver, and it was so they could produce more content each year, beginning with shorts. And there's no better way to sell people on watching (and buying) short films than to have them include characters with huge built-in fanbases. It's a smart move, and as long as the writing remains sharp it's tough not to welcome the additional Pixar content.

'Monsters University' is set to hit theaters (in both 3D and 2D) on November 2, 2012.

Freak Accident Leads to 34 Katherine Heigl Movies Released in One Week (Video)

By Erik Davis (Subscribe to Erik Davis's posts), Posted Mar 31st 2011 10:20AM
Filed under: Video, Cinematical


According to ONN, a freak accident in Hollywood has lead to the distribution of 34 Katherine Heigl movies in one week. The overwhelming amount of crappy romantic comedies and dramedies in one week was a bit too much for the American moviegoer, forcing FEMA to set up triage locations across the country to help combat the widespread outbreak of self-blinding, among other horrific sicknesses. FEMA has already started a Katherine Heigl detox program by handing out copies of the 'No Country for Old Men' DVD to those in desperate need of quality content.

Speaking out about the whole messy affair, Katherine Heigl told reporters the following: "This is absolutely tragic. Believe me, no one recognizes how terrible and grating I am more than me. I have to live with it all day, every day."

Get caught up on the latest -- and find out how you can protect yourself from a Katherine Heigl film -- by watching the ONN news report after the jump.
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Their First Time: Q&A With Duncan Jones, Director of 'Source Code'

By Erik Davis (Subscribe to Erik Davis's posts), Posted Mar 30th 2011 8:50PM
Filed under: Celebrity Interviews, Features, Cinematical

"Making movies is not nearly as hard as getting the opportunity to make a movie."
-- Duncan Jones

Welcome to the first installment of our 2011 Directors Series, featuring 'Source Code' director Duncan Jones. For more info on this year's Directors Series, see our inaugural post, but essentially this will be a series of themed discussions with some of the directors who have films arriving in theaters this year.

Our 2011 series theme is 'Their First Time,' which sounds a little racy at first (and it may go there eventually -- wink, wink), but for now we'll be focusing on each director's earliest memories of watching movies, making movies and so much more. We wanted to launch this series with Duncan Jones because he's a fascinating success story. From shooting dating show advertisements to launching his feature film career with an amazing movie called 'Moon' to parlaying that into a big-studio gig helming one of the year's most entertaining films, Jones is the very definition of an emerging artist, and he's right on the cusp of becoming a household name, not to mention the guy you definitely want directing all different kinds of movies for years to come.

For more on 'Source Code,' check out our video interview with Jones from SXSW. And before (or after) you check out the film in theaters this Friday (read our review), head after the jump to learn a little more about Jones' journey to the big screen.
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