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Jakie Chan Creates New Company

By Mark Beall (Subscribe to Mark Beall's posts), Posted Jan 4th 2007 10:00AM
Filed under: Action, Foreign Language, Deals, Executive shifts, Fandom, Distribution, Cinematical Indie, Movie News, Cinematical
Rare is the time when I can say I wish I lived in the "People's Republic" of China. In fact, I don't believe I've ever said it. And honestly ... I'm not going to start now. But if there were ever something to make me think about saying it (you know, besides an end to communism and all that), it would likely be Jackie Chan creating a brand new production company based in China, with the intent to create a truckload of fun action movies for the people of China. And as it just so happens, Chan is planning to do exactly that. Yours truly will not be moving to China to partake, but if I stumble across one or two via the magic of global markets and such, I'm sure I will thoroughly enjoy it. After all, I already own a number of his filmed-for-China flicks from his early career and thoroughly enjoy each of them.

How about I stop rambling and give you some details? Chan plans to get to work with his newly-founded company as soon as he finishes Rush Hour 3, with a major thrust on talent scouting. He hopes to put together an initial slate of ten films, by hunting down the best screenplays, writers, and directors he can get his absurdly fast hands on. No word yet on whether he plans to appear in any of the films, but one would expect he'd show up somewhere. The guy is a legend in Chinese cinema, after all. Read

National Treasure Title Confirmed

By Mark Beall (Subscribe to Mark Beall's posts), Posted Jan 3rd 2007 2:31PM
Filed under: Action, RumorMonger, Fandom, Scripts, Remakes and Sequels, Cinematical
The National Treasure junkies among us (and you know who you are) have probably already heard the rumors on this, but apparently it wasn't official until just this week. According to the Buena Vista's 2007 Preview at Coming Soon, the sequel to the 2004 Nic Cage vehicle National Treasure has decided on an official title: National Treasure: Book of Secrets. We're told this title refers to 18 pages of material missing from the library of John Wilkes Booth, and will somehow involve President Abraham Lincoln. Returning along with star Cage will be director Turteltaub. Bruckheimer is expected to sign on again as producer.

Given the expectations for Spielberg and Lucas to finally return to the Indiana Jones franchise, we could be running towards a potentially embarrassing showdown. Treasure certainly isn't seen as a blow-away epic, but it is generally enjoyable. Sure, a new Indy flick could put it to shame, but what're the odds of the reverse happening? We've seen just what Lucas does when returning to old franchises -- isn't it fair to at least suggest an aging Indy could possibly be out box-officed by Nic Cage? Then again, look how much money Phantom Menace pulled in ... Read

Who Wants Some Big Screen Robotech?

By Mark Beall (Subscribe to Mark Beall's posts), Posted Jan 3rd 2007 1:30PM
Filed under: Action, Fandom, Exhibition, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, Movie News, Cinematical
So ... remember Robotech? You know, the mid 1980s Americanized adaptation of a Japanese mech story? Um ... this one. Surely you at least remember the line of action figures, right?* As it turns out, Robotech was sorely missed by somebody, because a motion picture sequel has been created, and is all set to be released on DVD (what, you expected a major theater pitch?) early this February. Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles is an official sequel, and has apparently been crafted with quite a bit of love and care.

For those of you disappointed by the lack of a theatrical release for your beloved Robotech, you just might be able to score a bit of luck if you live in Texas, or a few other select areas. Yes, Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles will get a very small scale limited release just prior to the official DVD release between January 8th and February 3rd. You can check out Toon Zone for the full list of all 8 theaters. Looks like yours truly will be waiting on the DVD, as Pennsylvania appears nowhere on the list. That's probably for the best, because I can't really imagine I'd have hunted down a theater for it anyway.

*Yeah, yeah. I know Robotech is actually a pretty popular franchise. I'm just enjoying the opportunity to pick on you fans a bit.
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When Spartans Find MySpace

By Mark Beall (Subscribe to Mark Beall's posts), Posted Jan 3rd 2007 10:00AM
Filed under: Action, Fandom, Exhibition, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Movie News, Cinematical
Let me be honest with you right from the start, because all good relationships are based on honest, open communication, right? Full disclosure: I'm not exactly a fan of MySpace. Despite being more or less within the generally accepted MySpace demographic, I really am not particularly fond of the social networking website. No knock against you if you are, it just isn't my bag. It is, however, increasingly becoming the bag of Hollywood, as it is now entirely common to find movies using the popular site to advertise themselves. Sometimes they get "clever" and use a character from the movie as the MySpace, but often they just create a page for the movie itself.

While I've not really been a fan of this, I fully understand it. The site is enormously popular, particularly among the age range a lot of these movies aim towards. And while I've come to accept it, something still screams out about the inherent wrongness of a Frank Miller's 300 MySpace page. And yet here it is, in full glory, asking you to be its friend. And it has quite a lot of friends. How, exactly, one is friends with a movie which has no discernible ... you know ... being of its own, I don't really know. Maybe I'm just jealous. Read

Geek Bytes: 01.03.07 - YouTube Loves Comic Book Movies

By Mark Beall (Subscribe to Mark Beall's posts), Posted Jan 3rd 2007 9:00AM
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, Cinematical
Geek news I found while taking out the Christmas tree:

-- Marvel's newest foray into the world of animated superhero films, The Invincible Iron Man, has a collection of new material over at the official website. Who doesn't love animated Marvel?
-- The Japanese version of the Transformers movie trailer is on YouTube, as is seemingly every piece of anything filmed by mankind these days. It comes minus a few scenes from the American version, but plus a few extra bits we didn't get.
-- Speaking of the popular video sharing site, the official Hellboy Animated webpage suggests you swing by the YT for an early look at Hellboy: Blood and Iron.
-- According to CBR, talented comics writer David Mack is turning his pen to the sixth installment of the graphic novel series Se7en. This is surely a dark and powerful union of writer and material.
-- AICN is running with a rumor claiming Alan Dale has landed some sort of role in The Dark Knight. Nothing but vague rumor to this one so far.

Mark Beall's Geek Beat Welcomes 2007

By Mark Beall (Subscribe to Mark Beall's posts), Posted Jan 2nd 2007 10:03AM
Filed under: Action, Fandom, Geek Report, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, The Geek Beat, Cinematical

Hey, 2007, nice to meet you. I hear you're really into movies -- what a surprise, so am I. Maybe we can be friends. I'll admit to you that I'm just a bit wary of really getting to know you, because your buddy 2006 wasn't so awesome in his geek movie credentials. I mean, dude talked a good game, but he didn't really come through.

At first, I was very excited to meet him. He was all like "Holy crap, the X-Men rule. I just totally dig those mutants. I'm a huge fan." Two past years had delivered strong on the X-Men front, so I was pleased and excited. And he did bring some fun, but mostly his junk just felt like a mishmash of things he thought would look cool. It was like he'd trolled through some old comic books and cartoons, picked out everything he thought was popular, and smushed it all together. Dude didn't really know the X-Men, he was just a poser with some scattered knowledge.

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Optimus Prime Just Can't Stop Talking

By Mark Beall (Subscribe to Mark Beall's posts), Posted Jan 2nd 2007 12:30AM
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Exhibition, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, Movie News, Cinematical
It is no secret yours truly is very hesitant about getting behind the new Transformers film. The reasons are many and varied, but mostly they revolve around the directorial talent of Michael Bay, and what I've seen of his work so far. However, if there is one thing I can definitely, without hesitation or doubt, 100% support, it is the vocal talent of Peter Cullen returning to voice the iconic Optimus Prime. An amusing "make Prime speak" contest just recently wrapped up, and if you surf by the official website, you can hear the results. They are, I must say, delightful. If you are in any way a fan of the original series, I suggest you hit up the website and listen to Optimus Prime throw around ten fantastic one-liners. Hearing him declare "Autobots, transform and roll out!" gave me small shivers. It makes me wonder, honestly, whether geek throwback elements such as Peter Cullen will be enough to outweigh any shortcomings of the film. Probably not -- but they will be enough to get me to shell out cash and visit the theater, which is probably more than enough for Paramount. Read
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