sandwichjohnfilms

Zhang Ziyi Cast As Mulan Hollywood hitmaker Jan de Bont has signed up to direct Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi in an independently-produced, English-language co-production of the classic tale of Hua Mulan , the legendary young heroine soldier who joins an all-male army. “ Mulan ” is set to start shooting this fall outside Shanghai, where de Bont, the director of “Speed,” “Twister” and “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” will attempt to bring romance, action and drama to screenwriter John Blickstead’s re-creation of the Chinese Joan of Arc story that was first described in a 6th century poem. The character was popularized around the world in the 1998 Walt Disney animated film of the same name. The heroine got her last cinematic run-out last year in "Hua Mulan," which starred Chinese actress Zhao Wei and received mixed reviews. Zhang is one of China’s biggest actresses, and the new “Mulan” film comes at a time when the country’s movie business is growing by leaps and bounds at hom

Ridley Scott Talks Alien Prequel The anticipation for his next project is building to fever pitch: it will be a two-part prequel to Alien, shot in 3D. Scott was never asked to make a sequel to Alien; that honour went to James Cameron, before a further two sequels and two Alien vs Predator spin-offs milked the franchise dry. But with the Lost co-creator Damon Lindoff polishing the first prequel's script, you can sense the competitor in Scott, desperate to put his stamp back on the film series that launched him. "Jim's raised the bar and I've got to jump to it," he says, in a friendly jibe at Cameron. "He's not going to get away with it." Set 30 years before the 1979 original, so with no room for Sigourney Weaver's Ripley, the prequels will explore the origins of the deadly aliens. "The film will be really tough, really nasty," he notes. "It's the dark side of the moon. We are talking about gods and engineers. Engineers of sp

"The Sandman" Comic On It's Way To The Small Screen “The Sandman,” the Neil Gaiman-penned comic book series considered a seminal work in the medium, is in the early stages of being developed into a TV series. Warner Bros. TV is in the midst of acquiring television rights from sister company DC Entertainment and is in talks with several writer-producers about adapting the 1990s series. At the top of the list is Eric Kripke, creator of the CW’s horror-tinged “ Supernatural .” “ Sandman ” told the tale of Morpheus, the Lord of the Dreaming, a deity who personifies dreams. The book began in the horror realm but quickly made its mark in fantasy and mythology as Gaiman introduced the Endless, a group of powerful brothers and sisters that includes Destiny, Death, Destruction, Despair, Desire and Delirium (as well as Dream). The book helped establish DC’s Vertigo imprint and won several awards. It also was one of the few comics that segued from the comics crowd, entering t

Dwayne Johnson Set To Take A Journey 2: The Mysterious Island Dwayne Johnson is strapping on a backpack for New Line's " Journey 2: The Mysterious Island ," the sequel to " Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D ." Brad Peyton is on board to direct the film, in which Josh Hutcherson will reprise his role as burgeoning explorer Sean Anderson. Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson of Contrafilm are producing. Brendan Fraser was the top draw in the 2008 movie but is not returning after hitting an impasse over start dates. That put New Line on track to find a new star, with the studio and Johnson dancing for several weeks before getting into it. Johnson is in negotiations, with a deal expected to close this week. Johnson will play the boyfriend of Hutcherson's mom, who Hutcherson is forced to bring on a trip to a mythical and monstrous island to find his missing grandfather. The script is loosely based on Jules Verne's "The Mysterious Island. " T

Jon Hamm Has "Friends With Kids" Jon Hamm is starring in  “ Friends with Kids ," which was written by his long time girlfriend Jennifer Westfeldt . “ Friends with Kids ” was already previewed on August 1st in a script reading at a theater festival. Now Jon and Jennifer say they’re ready to roll, and are starting to pull together what’s necessary to make “Friends” before “Mad Men” starts again. Westfeldt is an accomplished writer and director, of course. Her “ Kissing Jessica Stein ” is still considered one of the great indie films of all time. Jon Hamm had a walk on in the 2001 production. Now he’ll be the star! The couple also said they’re hopeful Anne Hathaway and Kristen Wiig will be some of the other “Friends with Kids.” Hamm is well on track to leave “ Mad Men ” and become a move star when the TV show’s run is up. His management and instincts keep pointing him in the right directions. Not only is he doing a lot of comedy– as in “Saturday Night Live” and on l

Olivia Thirlby Cast In Judge Dredd Olivia Thirlby has been cast as Cassandra Anderson in DNA Films' 3D adaptation of " Judge Dredd ." Yes a slow day in the movie world, but hey she is cute and maybe someone is a HUGE fan of Thirlby. Thirlby, best known for playing the best friend of Ellen Page's preggo character in " Juno ," will star opposite Karl Urban's Dredd ("Star Trek," "Doom") in the futuristic action pic. She will play the telepathic rookie who shadows Dredd. Pic is helmed by "Vantage Point" and "Omagh" director Pete Travis and script is penned by "Sunshine" and "28 Days Later" scribe Alex Garland (both DNA-produced fare). It is skedded to shoot in South Africa this year. The $45 million futuristic pic is backed by India-based Reliance Big Entertainment and Stuart Ford's aggressive sales outfit IM Global through a deal with Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich's DNA Films ba

Terminator 2: The Opera Jon and Al Kaplan have created a fun new video called Terminator 2: The Opera. In the video. The video itself is quite entertaining. Please enjoy. Watch the video after the Jump.. Please Leave A Comment-

Unbreakable 2 Do You Really Care? First off I am not a huge fan of M. Night Shyamalan's films. But I did enjoy the movie Unbreakable . If you have seen the film, I am sure you are just like me wanting a sequel to the film. Well we  finally got some news from the man himself. As you know these Night Chronicle films are idea's the Shyamalan comes up with but has other writers and directors come in to develop it. The upcoming film Devil is the first Night Chronicle movie. "Unbreakable 2" story will indeed hit the big screen, but as a completely different film. "I cannibalized the idea for the sequel to 'Unbreakable' for one of the 'Night Chronicles,'" revealed Shyamalan. "It was such a cool idea for a villain, and it was actually originally in the script for 'Unbreakable,' and it was too much," he said of his reasons for excising the element that was intended to become "Unbreakable 2." "There were too ma

SyFy To Bring Us A PETER PAN Prequel Movie SyFy has noticed that will go into production on an upcoming four-hour Peter Pan prequel called Neverland . It's being written and directed by Nick Willing, who worked on Syfy's Tin Man and Alice, which were reimaginings of The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland. Here's the full press release: SYFY JOURNEYS TO NEVERLAND IN PETER PAN PREQUEL FROM WRITER/DIRECTOR NICK WILLING STARRING RHYS IFANS, ANNA FRIEL, BOB HOSKINS, RAOUL TRUJILLO AND CHARLIE ROWE 4-HOUR MOVIE EVENT DISTRIBUTED BY RHI ENTERTAINMENT BEGINS PRODUCTION IN GENOA, ITALY AND DUBLIN, IRELAND IN SEPTEMBER NEW YORK, NY - September 1, 2010 - Syfy is re-teaming with writer/director Nick Willing to present Neverland, his original prequel to author J.M. Barrie's classic Peter Pan, it was announced today by Mark Stern, Executive Vice President of Original Programming, Syfy and Co-Head of Content for Universal Cable Productions. Production is set to b

Paula Patton Lands Lead Female Role In Upcoming Film Paula Patton has landed that female lead role in the upcoming Mission: Impossible 4 film. She was testing alongside actresses Lauren German and Kristen Kreuk . I'm told that Patton will play a young operative who works with Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt character. She is mostly known for her appearances in the films Idlewild, Déjà Vu, Mirrors and Precious . Patton is married to songwriter/singer Robin Thicke. The film will not be called Mission: Impossible 4 . Cruise and JJ Abrams, who hatched the project together, always envisioned it as a franchise reboot. The film begins production in the fall with Brad Bird directing Cruise, who'll co-star with The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner in what was another hotly contested role. Paramount co-finances the $140 million film with David Ellison's Skydance banner. It marks the first film for Cruise and Paramount since he left the studio after generating over $3 billion in wo