Book of Eli Archives - The Playlist

Hughes Brothers To Direct Long-Gestating ‘Akira’ Adaptation; Might Be Two-Part Film

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:31:00 +0000

Sigh… what happened to the Hughes Brothers. They had such a promising career and took Hollywood by storm with their arresting first feature about gang life in L.A., “Menace II Society” (which still outclasses “Boyz In Da Hood” til this day). Their follow-up, the crime film, “Dead Presidents” wasn’t as successful, but it was still an interesting look at the black experience in the United States with interesting visuals and generally free of the didactic tone Spike Lee can sometime use (and turn off viewers with).

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‘Planet of the Apes’ Prequel Is Directorial Hot Potato: Bigelow, Rodriguez, Others Turn Project Down

Gabe Toro — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:20:00 +0000

Development continues on the Fox lot for another film in the “Planet of the Apes” series. The studio held fast to their desire to let the franchise cool after the 2001 relaunch won the series few new fans, so this latest attempt is a gamble that the audience is willing to sweep Tim Burton’s possible worst movie ever under the rug. There’s been a slight regime change at Fox, giving the project, originally “codenamed” (whatever) “Caesar,” another life, but the main creative force behind this enterprise, screenwriter Scott Frank (“Out of Sight”) appears to be out of the picture, with Jamie Moss (“Street Kings”) brought in to rework the concept and the team of Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (“The Hand That Rocks The Cradle”) on board to polish dialogue.

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Weekend Box Office: ‘Dear John,’ People Saw Your Movie

Gabe Toro — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:30:00 +0000

Lasse Hallstrom, welcome back to the B List. The formerly Oscar-nominated director of “The Cider House Rules” and “Chocolat” saw his last effort, a freakin’ dog movie, go straight to DVD, so he did what anyone would do and sold any integrity a man who made “The Shipping News” would have, aligning himself with Nicolas Sparks, literary powerhouse for people who can barely read, and Screen Gems, Sony’s genre arm that has yet to release a good or interesting movie.

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Weekend Box Office: Bla Bla ‘Avatar’ — Bla Bla Bla, Other Movies, Bla Bla, — James Cameron

Gabe Toro — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:48:00 +0000

So here’s how it works: if you give any sort of analysis into the numbers being put up by “Avatar,” boosters of the film will get sand in their vaginas and call you a jerk for even beginning to question the dominance of the second highest grossing film of all time. So what can you say about its sixth straight weekend of being the number one movie in America? You can’t point to the fact that its only real competition was “Sherlock Holmes” over Christmas weekend, you can’t talk about how inflated the 3D numbers are, you can’t talk about how the film has done consistent numbers despite never registering a weekend like “X-Men Origins: Wolverine“‘s $85 million first period or how it’s about to pass “The Dark Knight” despite opening with less than half of what the Batman film did in its opening frame, and you ESPECIALLY can’t discuss how the film is a mediocre adventure picture with little potential of capturing the audience’s fancy in the manner of even “Titanic,” with no memorable characters, dialogue, or genuine romance to tether its inexplicable appeal to.

Continue reading Weekend Box Office: Bla Bla ‘Avatar’ — Bla Bla Bla, Other Movies, Bla Bla, — James Cameron at The Playlist.

Weekend Box Office: Technology Beats ‘Book of Eli’ With ‘Avatar’ On Top

Gabe Toro — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:06:00 +0000

It’s the age of the Kindle, people. How else to explain Denzel Washington‘s plea for literacy, “Book of Eli,” failing to unseat the “Avatar!” juggernaut? Like “Sherlock Holmes” before it, “Book” won the Friday matchup with James Cameron‘s 3D Blue Native American epic, but IMAX prices goosed the film to an eventual weekend win, and a surely robust total after the four day Martin Luther King weekend.

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The 65 Least Anticipated Films Of 2010

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:20:00 +0000

Ahh, the 2007/08 writers strike. We’re still feeling the after-effects of that fiasco. Scripts greenlit into production because studio heads were afraid they’d have no product and then half of them sat on the shelves/ were tweaked beyond belief for months or even years (see “Daybreakers and “The Wolf Man” for two particularly troubled writers-strike films).

Say what you will about our Least Anticipated Film pieces of the year. Too negative? Or just a very practical, buyer-beware consumer guide?

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‘Alien’ Reboot In The Works? Jon Favreau Talks ‘Iron Man 2,’ First Look: The Hughes Brothers’ ‘Book Of Eli’

Simon Dang — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:31:00 +0000

There’s nothing like starting over when a brand has been run rampant into the ground, huh? A complete “reboot” for the “Alien” franchise is now reportedly in the works with Michael Costigan, Ridley Scott and even Tony Scott on board to produce? Plans are for commercial and music video director Carl Rinsch to helm the project which would return to the “one alien on a ship” premise. [Bloody Disgusting, who also note to take this as a “rumor” until it’s confirmed, which is smart]

Jon Favreau on “Iron Man 2”: “Tony’s expected to be a role model and I don’t think he’s ready to be one.

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Denzel Washington And The Hughes Brothers Team-Up For Post-Apocalyptic Drama ‘Eli’

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:08:00 +0000

Remember the Hughes Brothers, Allen and Albert? They barely remember themselves. The twin-brother filmmaking duo hit Hollywood with an extremely auspicious start directing urban classics like, “Menace II Society,” and “Dead Presidents,” before getting sidetracked with documentaries that were good, but came and went (“American Pimp”) and unfortunate choices far from their wheelhouse (the adaptation of Alan Moore’s Jack the Ripper story, “From Hell”).

Though Allen recently directed an vignette in the short stories film, “New York, I Love You,” the duo haven’t made a feature length film since 2001 (the accurately rebuked ‘Hell’).

Continue reading Denzel Washington And The Hughes Brothers Team-Up For Post-Apocalyptic Drama ‘Eli’ at The Playlist.