Abel Ferrara Loses 'Game of Death'

Gonzo indie filmmaker Abel Ferrara has a reputation for pissing people off, not to mention getting pissed off. It originally made him a feared, intimidating, and powerful figure on the indie circuit, but with the recent penny-pinching going on in the independent film market, he's been left without much cachet, his films struggling to receive American distribution ("Mary") or vanishing altogether ("Go Go Tales"). We figured that his next film, an action picture with Wesley Snipes called "Game of Death," was just a cash-in, something to earn extra financing for his future projects, because the guy does not do action pictures.

However, it's a moot point now, as Ferrara has stepped off the project in the middle of production. The action-thriller, which was to co-star action regulars Zoe Bell ("Grindhouse"), Gary Daniels ("The Expendables") and Robert Davi ("Die Hard") was to be Ferrara's re-teaming with "King of New York" supporting actor Snipes, but the Snipes of that era was an exciting acting presence with charisma to spare, and the Snipes of today is a paycheck-seeking martial artist. Despite the association between the two, it's doubtful Snipes shed a tear over Ferrara's departure, though, much like Werner Herzog tricking-out Ferrara's "Bad Lieutenant," we would have been interested to see Ferrara's touch on something a little different than his usual fare. Giorgio Serafini, an Italian TV veteran, will be Ferrara's replacement.

We're not sure what this means for Ferrara's next projects. He's had a wacko "Jekyll And Hyde" update set up for awhile now, with Forest Whitaker and 50 Cent playing the warring personalities, and has also been setting up a "King of New York" prequel. But the combination of failed distribution, volatile personality clashes and, now, project departures probably doesn't look too enticing to producers. In this climate, it's tough for most, but we actually fear for the career extinction of fringe filmmakers like Ferrara.

New 'Expendables' Sizzle Reel Makes It Look Like The Big Dumb Boner Of An Action Movie It's Meant To Be

Update: The sizzle reel, which found its way to YouTube and was promptly taken down in October, seems to still be living on DailyMotion. According to the post date, it was also put up in October and we're guessing the folks at Millennium missed it. Enjoy it while you can as it will probably be taken down shortly. Not much in the way of news since our initial report, except that we might see Bruce Willis and the Governator in cameo roles.

The first (semi?) official look at "The Expendables" has hit the net and, as expected, it looks exactly how it's supposed to look. The action-heads have pissed and moaned about this film being strategically pushed back to August 2010, but we have what looks to be a slightly pumped-up version of the sizzle reel that played at Cannes. Sylvester Stallone writes, directs and headlines the pic, a rock-'em, sock-'em throwback to cheese-filled eighties action pictures involving a group of mercenaries infiltrating a South American stronghold to unseat a villainous dictator.

What we learn from this clip:
-Mercenaries always keep their cell phone on when fighting pirates.
-Jet Li's English has gotten worse?
-Mickey Rourke shops at the same pipe shop as Col. Landa.
-Eric Roberts likes to have a good time. All. The. Time.
-There's a popping throat in there, suggesting there's more than a little R-rated material in the finished product.
-Someone hurt Jason Statham's feelings by saying White Men Can't Jump.
-Terry Crews has a great wardrobe and, apparently, a sonic gun. We'd like to think he provided both props from his personal collection.
-This particular auteur has switched the squibs from "Rambo" with millions of dollars in explosive devices.

All told, it looks like there's a lot more humor than we expected, but otherwise, it looks like the 'roided-up son of "Delta Force," "American Ninja" and all sorts of campy Sunday afternoon action touchstones. Millennium Films has a reputation for working and shooting on the cheap, so someone in their department is likely responsible for making this look and feel like a straight-to-DVD offering, but when Lionsgate preps a full length trailer, it should look notably more polished.

Jeremy Renner Could Play Marvel's Hawkeye In 'Avengers' & Cameo In 'Thor'

Man, there are a lot of geek news out there. Hopefully we can offset it and get back to normal on Monday. However, this bit is rather interesting.

"The Hurt Locker" obviously did wonders for underrated actor Jeremy Renner's career. He was in discussions about taking some sort of role in George Miller's "Mad Max: Fury Road" (many speculated the lead role) and now the thesp says he's up for a reoccurring smaller role in Marvel films.

In the latest issue of Empire magazine (not online, but our U.K. writer Oliver Lyttelton transcribed for us), Renner says he and Marvel have been in discussions about playing the archer character Hawkeye that will make appearances in a least two upcoming Marvel pictures, including a cameo in "Thor" and then a role in "The Avengers" supergroup.

"Hawkeye could be interesting. They're going to send me some stuff on it, see what it is. But I think they're pretty awesome, trying to make superhero movies almost plausible and not just some fantasy thing."

Sounds like a cameo ala Samuel L. Jackson at the end of "Iron Man." But man, the way casting is going on "Thor" right now, we wonder if Jon Favreau is feeling envious and perhaps looking to add a little cameo or flavor to "Iron Man 2"? Renner's a good choice here and we're glad to seem him get noticed and score gigs. He's been great for years now. While we couldn't really see him as traditional super hero, Hawkeye's origins are rogue and maverick-like and in comic book lore he actually broke into the Avengers HQ to apply for membership. It could be a bit of a rehash of Renner's rebellious and off-book, 'Hurt Locker' character, but it would fit pretty well.

Vultures To Sell Polanski-Tate Photo, Ken Loach's 'Route Irish' Begins Shooting

Catching up on the catching up. Happy Thanksgiving.

This nude photo taken by photographer David Bailey of Roman Polanski and his deceased wife Sharon Tate is evidently worth a lot more than it was a few months ago, now that the Polish filmmaker has been in prison for almost two months on a 38-year-old unlawful sex case. Vultures at an upcoming auction are hoping that it could fetch more than $10,000. The photo was taken in 1969 just four months before she was murdered by the Manson family. We hope the auctioneers who make a profit off the sale enjoy their caviar dinner.

Excellent Aussie actor Guy Pearce ("The Hurt Locker," "Memento") has joined the cast of Roger Donaldson's vigilante thriller "The Hungry Rabbit Jumps" which stars Nicolas Cage as a man who goes to a vigilante group for help after his wife (it-girl of the minute-moment, January Jones) is attacked.

Ken Loach is already shooting his next picture "Route Irish" (pictured here). It's an Iraq War film and takes its title from the infamously dangerous road that links Baghdad’s international ‘Green Zone’ with the city’s airport. Loach is working with Chris Menges ("The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada"), a cinematographer he hasn't worked with in 20 years.

Loach's 2009 comedy, "Looking For Eric" will hit U.S. theaters sometime in 2010. We enjoyed it quite a bit when we saw it at Cannes, and while admittedly, it is a little on the feel-good side at times, it's mostly genuinely celebratory and funny, though perhaps a bit tonally erratic at times.

Promises: No More 'Shreks,' 'Zombieland 2' In 3D?

Catching up on the geek stuff we overlooked this week.

Bill Damaschke head of creative production at Dreamworks has promised that the fourth "Shrek" film, now titled, "Shrek Forever After," will be the final film in the series. Great, can we get that in writing and notarized?

In what's probably an honest mistake, just regurgitating the comic-book logline without thinking, Variety says Donald Blake, the human alter-ego in "Thor" will appear in Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of the Marvel property. Geeks are up in arms at the trade's faux pas. They're probably right, all indications of the script so far say there will be no appearance of Blake (who was a disabled med student). As you were. It's not really that much to get worked up about. Variety's piece is about 50 words.

"Zombieland" director Ruben Fleischer tells Moviehole Sony are "very interested" in a "Zombieland" sequel and he thinks “the genre really lends itself to [3-D].” Already fake-looking, digitally inserted blood in 3D? It's all the rage these days. We bet if that's the case they'll wait to see how "Avatar" does before making any major decisions.

Myspace has debuted a new poster for the Hughes Brothers' apocalyptic "Book of Eli" starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman and Mila Kunis with an appearance by Tom Waits as well. We would love to see the Hughes Brothers do some engaging work once again, but it feels like those days are far behind them as the trailer for this one, released months ago, was as generic big-budget sci-fi action as can be.

Ryan Reynolds says he essentially didn't have much interest in "Green Lantern" until he met with director Martin Campbell whose infectious, authoritative energy convinced him otherwise. "When I went to the meeting, I was entirely cynical. I thought, 'What the hell, I'll see what they have to say,' and I left the room with a completely different perspective."

Here's a trailer for "Daybreakers," a vampire film that we have little interest in, for obvious reasons, that's directed by Michael and Peter Spierig, and stars Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill and Isabel Lucas. But perhaps some of our less-discerning readers (those who voted favorably in the "Avatar" poll) will care.

Breaking!: Nerd Has "No Interest" In 'Avatar'

Our headline could be the title of an Onion article, but no, it's true.

A geek with a discerning eye exists out there. Or at least this time out. Devin from Chud called "Watchmen" a masterpiece earlier this year (which feels a little more than embarrassing now), but perhaps having honed his critical faculties he is one of the few lone geek bloggers not in the tank for James Cameron's"Avatar" which is nice to hear if only because we generally assume these guys just toe the company line for everything (or at least that's what the nerd herd seem to do; circle the wagons on anything remotely sci-fi, fantasy, etc.).

Sounding like a rational person with two eyes rather than blind fanboy he says, " I hate the designs of the Na'vi, the story feels hackneyed to me, I think 3D is a gimmick." As per usual, he goes on for about a few thousand words about how much he's just not impressed with what he's seen. Which is a big shock.

Frankly, we have no case against "Avatar," though yes, we do agree with Chud's assessment that it looks meh and rather silly, what is more of a relief to us is to hear a dissenting voice in a community that generally never has one. It's nice to see occasionally. And honestly? It will not surprise us one iota if "Avatar" is a better film than that turd called, "Watchmen." More on this basement-dwelling anomaly as it develops. Hopefully this case isn't contagious or studios who baby and coddle these guys with set-visits, flights, and other implicit, lets-keep-'em-happy payola will have to rethink their entire ingratiating strategy.

'Superman' Franchise Still Going Nowhere

Anne Thompson has a report on the state of the "Superman" franchise at Warner Bros. and it tells us what we already assumed: "Superman" is on hold and going nowhere. What she does bring to the table, however, are details why.

WB are concerned about the Siegel lawsuit threatening to pry the intellectual property of "Superman" from D.C.'s hands and then who will eventually own and hold those divided rights. Siegel and Shuster families will retrieve the copyright back in 2013 and WB may settle before then. But it sounds like development won't even start until that's taken care of, which is pretty evident with or without the details.

What also seems clearly evident, but confirmed: the studio just has no direction or strong idea of how to reboot this thing (as our own Playlist contrib Gabe Toro would likely say to most of this, "duh, non-news").

However the report does confirm that the rumors of the Wachowski brothers and their protege James McTeigue being approached were false (as we assumed). Though McTeigue himself seems clearly interested. We're also amused to hear that "Kick Ass" comic-book writer Mark Millar's pitch was received by WB with "scant interest." Meanwhile Kevin Spacey tells MTV if he ran WB he would make a "Superman" sequel and appear as Lex Luthor again, but alas, you don't work at WB now do you?

Is Brad Pitt Pushing For The 'Inglourious Basterds' Prequels? Tarantino Says 'Slave' Movie Idea Is Growing "In The Garden"

Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino were in Japan on some wacky bizarre food show promoting "Inglourious Basterds" recently.

As are all Japanese television appearances with American celebrities, their appearance is as weird and unsettling as Pitt's recent braided-bead-beard. The show also reveals that Tarantino was OK with dressing like an African-American baby the last time he was on Japanese television promoting "Kill Bill." Strange.

More eye-opening, Tarantino recently said that Brad Pitt was the one pushing for an "Inglourious Basterds" prequel which we sort of scoffed at or at least took as regular Tarantino talk: with a grain of salt. "If Brad will have his way, then [a prequel or sequel] will happen," he told MTV. Suuure, right? But on this Japanese TV show, Pitt does corroborate this comment saying, "I'm trying to get him to make a prequel. Two of them. Three of them," he says, the last comment being a joke.

Surely if Pitt wants a movie made it can be greenlit, but such is the power of Tarantino that even the world's biggest star might not be able to convince him. After all, with the buttload of dough they made and Pitt and The Weinstein Company being extremely happy with how it all went down, if Quentin was dead-set on doing a 'Inglourious' sequel or prequel next, we'd all have heard about it by now. His thoughts are likely, "one day," but he should also realize that the longer he waits, the more actors get older and prequels become inconceivable (see what happened with "Double V Vega"). As for what is next, Tarantino remains typically non-committal telling MTV he has a few ideas brewing, but does hint that his slavery-film idea will eventually happen one day. "The [slavery film] is definitely in the garden," he said. "That is definitely one of my roses."

One embed of the show is below. We're not going to sit through the 2nd and 3rd clips, but you can see them all here.

'JVCD' Director To Helm 'Insiders' For Jessica Alba (Produced By Robert Rodriguez)

Earlier this year, French reports said Jessica Alba has evidently acquired the rights to "The Insiders," a series of graphic novels created in 2002 by Jean-Claude Bartoll and Renaud Garreta and Robert Rodriguez was producing.

Pajiba reports that "JCVD" director Mabrouk el Mechri will direct and this also makes perfect sense. Rodriguez is taking on a mentor role of late (see him pluck Nimrod Antal for "Predators") and he was a huge fan of the Jean Claude Van Damme mocku-drama (as was his good friend Quentin Tarantino).

What's it about? According to the French source that broke this, it's a spy terrorist type thing about:

Najah Cruz, a Colombian (though in the original graphic novel she's Chechen terrorist) who is as deadly as she is beautiful. She has the weapons expertise and combat skills of a James Bond. At the secret request of the White House (CIA) she infiltrates a worldwide mafia-like organization composed of businessmen and politicians and becomes the bodyguard of the organization’s leader.

While it might not happen exactly soon, there's really no reason to doubt this report, mark our words. If "Sin City 2" does ever get off the ground, and it's more of a possibility these days than it has been in recent years, don't be surprised if Alba's character is somehow involved as well. Next up for Rodriguez is "Spy Kids 4," at least, for now, he's always running and gunning and adapting quick to whatever the needs are out there.

New 'Youth In Revolt' Trailer

A new trailer for Miguel Arteta's adaptation of the cult C.D. Payne young adult novel, "Youth In Revolt," has arrived and for once, it's nice to see a "new" trailer that actually has a substantial amount of new footage and shows a fairly different take on the film.

Or, well... at least at first it does... Yes, it's still an angsty and insouciant teenage comedy, but the opening at least reveals something... slightly different. A voice-over that doesn't make you want to kill yourself and a little bit of back story that reveals that Steve Buscemi plays Michael Cera's father and Ari Graynor ("Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist") as his girlfriend. We get some shots of Justin Long as a friend, but pretty much from there it's the same old thing (that's what we get for writing about the #2, #3, etc. versions of trailers) aside from the use of Bowie's "Rebel, Rebel" in the second half.

Newcomer Portia Doubleday plays Cera's love interest and the rest of the cast includes Adhir Kalyan ("Aliens in America") Jean Smart, Ray Liotta, Zach Galifianakis and Fred Willard.

But you know? It still looks decent for what it is and we're looking forward to it. The trailer at least gives us a few laughs including Cera getting clocked in the face by a preppie with "an adorable sweater."

Reports from TIFF this year weren't resoundingly great, but truth be told, we didn't hear a lot, period. People seemed to be pleased with the film and perhaps tellingly, Arteta has already set-up his next picture, "Cedar Rapids," that features an equally excellent cast — Ed Helms, John C Reilly, Sigourney Weaver and Alia Shawkat to name a few — so that bodes well in its favor (presumably if 'Revolt' was called a disaster, no one would be signing him up for yet another high-profile gig).

"Youth In Revolt" will hit theaters January 8th, but evidently will open in limited release for at least one week in December in order to qualify for awards consideration. Apparently The Weinstein Company thinks Cera can snag himself a Golden Globe in the comedy section which doesn't sound totally far-fetched.

Wong Kar-Wai Starts Shooting 'The Grand Master' In December; Zhang Ziyi Also To Star

Last we heard about Wong Kar-Wai's eagerly anticipated next project, "The Grand Master." fortune did not seem to be smiling upon the Hong-Kong filmmaker.


A biopic of Ip Man — the first Chinese man to teach the martial art of Wing Chun openly, training many major level students, including Bruce Lee — the picture was set to star Tony Leung Chiu-wai ("In The Mood For Love"), but the actor's arm was broken in an on-set accident by a martial arts trainer during rehearsals.

Shooting was supposed to start in September, but that obviously didn't happen and the mishap pushed back the schedule a few months. We were worried that this could effect funding or cause some kind of issues (actors backing out because of prior commitments, etc.) however, Twitch delivers good news finally and says "The Grand Master" is back on track and the film will start shooting in December.

Evidently the delays have caused some changes. It appears that Chinese film star Zhang Ziyi ("Memoirs of A Geisha," "House of Flying Daggers," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and several other famous Chinese films) has replaced Taiwanese actress Brigitte Lin (WKW's "Ashes of Time," "Chungking Express") as Ip's wife, and no offense to Lin, but it's a big plus for the film as Ziyi is essentially a huge international star (it will reteam Ziyi and Chiu-wai who worked on Kar-Wai's "2046"). Lin is apparently still "rumored," but she was also supposed to play the wife as well...

According to a report from Beijing, filming will run from December 12 to April 18 of 2010 and that's a fairly long time, but WKW is known for shooting slowly (read: methodical snail's pace), without a script and finding the story on-set (a luxurious way of filmmaking that only Paul Greengrass or the Chinese seem to tolerate).

Gong Li ("2046," "Eros" "Miami Vice") was initially supposed to be one of the female leads, but it appears she's no longer part of the project either. Other actors involved include Chang Chen ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Happy Together," "Eros") while Zhao Benshan is also rumored.

Tony Leung is a Wong Kar-Wai mainstay having appeared in almost every one of his films including memorable turns in "2046," "Happy Together," "Chungking Express" and the slow-burn romance masterpiece, "In The Mood For Love" for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor prize in 2000. It's nice to know that he's healed and this one is ready to go. Fingers crossed that there are no more injuries on set.

While this story was told once already in the 2008 film, "Ip Man" starring Donnie Yen, presumably Wong Kar-Wai's version will be vastly different and as always, with an emphasis on mood, tone and atmosphere, though wuxia fans will surely be happy to see anything resembling the fight scenes of "Ashes of Time."

In Theaters: 'The Road,' 'Old Dogs,' 'Ninja Assassin'

Thanksgiving. Best holiday ever. If we're going to watch a movie, it will probably be from the comfort of home — in the spirit of the occasion. But Hollywood is banking on families venturing out to the cinema over the long weekend, and they are usually right on the money. What are they going to see? It is quite a mixed bag this year and with "New Moon" sure to pull in a least the second-timers and "The Blind Side" pulling the NFL heartstrings, the #1 spot is anyone's guess.

In Wide Release: Despite starring John Travolta and being helmed by Walt Becker, "Old Dogs" is not a sequel to "Wild Hogs." Opening on 3300 screens, the movie also stars Robin Williams, fresh off a great performance in "World's Greatest Dad." The two stars play best friends who are unexpectedly put in charge of 6 year old twins while on the verge of a huge business deal. "Wild Hogs" was a big hit a couple years back, so maybe the magic will happen twice despite the terrible reviews this thing is getting. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a horrendous 8% rating while Metacritic a score of 20. Hitflix opened their review with the line, "If 'Old Dogs' were a person, I would stab it in the face." LOL.

Sharing in the lack of love is James McTeigue's "Ninja Assassin." Produced by the Wachowski brothers, the films stars Korean pop star Rain as Raizo, one of the world's deadliest assassin who seems to be caught up in some kind of international espionage/mafia/plot. We predicted that it might fail after all the hype at Comic-Con, so we're curious to see how it does this weekend. We'd love it if we had to eat our shoe, but saw it and were tempted to walk out of the theater on this one. RT has a 30 rating, with a score of 42 from Metacritic.

John Hillcoat's "Rolling Stone: The Movie," sorry, "The Road" finally hits theaters this weekend, over a year since originally scheduled. The studio can't seem to make their mind up on how to open this picture but have settled for a "mini-wide" release in 31 markets nationwide. We really liked the movie, despite its unrelenting despair. Like the book, this story will never be for everyone and the reviews reflect that with a 71% rating from Rotten Tomatoes and a 62 score from Metacritic.

Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is expanding this weekend to 2000+ screens. It would make a great family film over the holiday and could use the support at the box office.

In Limited Release: Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" opens on just two screens, before a wide rollout on December 11th. Marking a return to hand-drawn animation for the studio, it also features Disney's first African-American animated princess. The early word has been very strong, we called it a resounding success, and it should play well into the holidays. RT has the film at an 86 rating, while Metacritic is slightly lower at a score of 66. Those numbers should improve as the film goes wide and more reviews are posted.

Richard Linklater's latest "Me and Orson Welles" is also out in very limited release. The film, which debuted at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, stars Zac Efron as a young actor who lands a gig at Orson Welles' Mercury Theater Company. While we like Linklater, but have never been fully satisfied with most of his work. We reviewed the film last year at Toronto and thought it was forgettable and TV-movie quality. Others have been somewhat kinder, with RT giving it a 79 rating.

Opening on Friday is Rebecca Miller's "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee." We didn't know anything about it going into Toronto this year, but were very pleased with the subtle, nuanced performances. We're fans of Miller's underrated "The Ballad of Jack and Rose," which starred her husband Daniel Day Lewis and she gets an interesting cast for her followup as well. Starring Robin Wright Penn as the title character, the film also stars Blake Lively, Keanu Reeves, Maria Bello, Julianne Moore, Winona Ryder and Alan Arkin. Robin Wright Penn is terrific in the film (though probably shy of nominations), and you know who's also quite excellent? "Gossip Girl" Blake Lively, no really. We were really surprised at how adept she was with this material. While the film has a sometimes erratic tone, the performances make it more than worthwhile, and we hope to see a true masterwork from Miller one day. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a pretty decent 77 rating in advance of the film's release.

Richard Linklater Still Tentative About A Third 'Before Sunrise/Sunset' Film; Says No Strong Idea Has Emerged Yet

There's been a lot of Richard Linklater news of late. Not all of it positive, but some still hopeful.

His romantic road-trip comedy, "Liars (A-E)," was deep-sixed by Miramax which is has been downsized and struggling to stay afloat and that was a bit of a shame cause it would have been a great buddy vehicle for two unlikely leads Rebecca Hall and Kat Dennings (we just finished reading it, it was surprisingly fresh and sharp).

However, the director is still intermittently shooting his "Untitled 13 Year Project" (or "Growing Up" which is the working title) about a family that eventually breaks into divorce with Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette — he also just told Movieline it will be "two and a half hours long, minimum," still has five more years to go and IFC helps pitch in money every year. And he still hopes to one day shoot his "spiritual sequel" to his high school '70s classic, "Dazed & Confused."

After all this news came out, much of it, thanks to Collider, we wondered, ok, what about the next installment in the "Before Sunrise"/"Before Sunset" series, after all the sequel, again starring the leads Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy? It did end on a teasing cliffhanger.

Collider, who had a long interview with Linklater on several subjects obviously has the answer again. Since it did end ambiguously (Hawke not taking his flight home and instead choosing to stay with Delpy, but for how long?), but so perfectly (after all, you're dying to know what comes next), we assumed the trio had mapped out what would happen in the next film. But Linklater says that not is he unsure that they will make the film, but no great concept or narrative has emerged yet.

"I just saw July [Delpy] the other night. We do talk about [the idea of a third film].... You never know. We were very afraid to do the second one, that was a huge leap of faith. We were nervous and we trended into those waters, very cautiously. We wouldn't have done ["Before Sunset"] just to do it. We all love each other and love working together, but that's no reason to make a movie.* You have to have a core idea that compels and challenges you. So when that emerges in our future we might do it again, but there's no [guarantee]."

"It sort of begs for it though doesn't it?," Linklater said about a third film. "We've thrown around ideas in a jokey way, but it's been five years..." he said not dismissing the idea, but not sounding entirely convinced that it's around the corner either.

Sequels are iffy propositions, especially for films you don't want to spoil with an unnecessary superfluous addition, but we'll say it: we must see where this nets out one day. We must. 'Sunset' is fantastic and probably Linklater's most fully-realized, non-narrative film. Not all of his talky pictures are completely successful, but that one's probably the finest example of what he does best: capture the organic, deeply intimate and magnetic connections between people.

*editors note: this is why we love him.

Bidding Begins For MGM, 'Hobbit' & 'Bond' Up For Grabs

...and so it begins.

Hired back in May by the beleaguered studio, investment bankers Moelis & Company have started sending non-disclosure agreements to possible bidders. Upon signing their name on the dotted line, interested parties will get a look at MGM's books via a "virtual room" that will be set up by the banking firm online.

So what's at stake? A hell of a lot. While bits and pieces of MGM have been sold off over the years (the most notable is Time Warner's purchase of the pre-1985 catalog via their acquisition of Turner Broadcasting in 1996) they still have a lot of valuable properties in their stable. The highly lucrative Bond franchise, the always rebootable and audience friendly "Pink Panther" series and half-ownership of the forthcoming "The Hobbit" films (New Line owns the other half) are the biggest jewels bidders will be eyeing. In addition, there is a 4,000 strong library of films (including titles from Orion, American-International and the old Samuel Goldwyn Company, plus video rights to titles from Embassy, Castle Rock and Selznick International); the logo, and control of United Artists operations.

Of course, this all comes with a price tag, and $1.5 billion is believed to be the asking price, with bidding expected to go up to $2.5 billion. Time Warner are considered to be the front runner, with about $9 billion in cash currently to spare. In addition to already owning the aforementioned pre-1985 catalog, they are also the only studio other than MGM to have released a Bond film (1983's "Never Say Never Again"). In addition, they are currently working with MGM on a special project that will "make some of the greatest movies of all time available in the digital space" as part of the studio's 85th anniversary.

But anything final probably won't be formalized until spring 2010. MGM's debtholders have given the studio until January 31st to review all their options which may even see the studio returning to operating on their own, though as they are currently saddled with $3.7 billion in debt, we don't see it happening.

How will this affect "The Hobbit" films? It's hard to say. As we reported just a few hours ago, the first script is finished and the next one is being penned as we write this, but if another studio buys MGM outright, it's not unreasonable to assume that they might put the estimated $300 million dollar budgeted films on temporary hold while they get an understanding of where the money is going. Then again, they likely don't want to delay the planned schedule, either. Though there's no doubt the first film alone will break the franchise even, whose to say what another studio will want to do once they get (partial) control of one of the most lucrative franchises in Hollywood.

Video Of The Day: The Muppets Do "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Ok, in blog years, this might be ancient, it started making the rounds yesterday afternoon and we never had a chance to see it until late last night, but the Muppets doing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"? We thought, "sure, this could be fun" and set it aside, but it's joyous, celebratory genius. Something good to watch before you jet off for Thanksgiving. We seriously grinned ear to ear watching this clip (the lighting is also soo perfect). Oh and lastly the best Muppets of all time? Predictable answer coming from us, but yes, it's always been Statler and Waldorf.

6 Children's Books We'd Like to See On The Big Screen

The past decade has been something of a renaissance in the children’s film genre. While the ‘70s and ‘80s brought us classic children’s films both animated and live action (“Watership Down,” “E.T.,” “The Black Stallion”), with a few exceptions (“The Iron Giant”), the ‘90s seemed to be devoted to pandering “Home Alone” rip-offs and movies about pets that wear sunglasses and play sports. This year alone we’ve seen another blockbuster 'Harry Potter' film (which, like them or not, helped spur this movement by hiring a visionary like Alfonso Cuaron), and possibly Pixar’s best movie yet (“Up”).

Now with Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are” and Wes Anderson’s “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” being released within a month, it’s clear that even the most idiosyncratic auteur can bring brilliance out of a slim children’s book. Whether or not these films are more entertaining for the children or their parents is up for debate, but this new movement has us jazzed at the potential for other classics from our childhood to hit the big screen under a visionary’s watchful eye.

The Halloween Tree — Normally the scent of anything remotely educational is anathema to children, but Fahrenheit 451 writer Ray Bradbury’s 1972 fantasy novel is one of the few examples of a work that kids like because of what it teaches them; in this case, the history of Halloween and its relationship to the fear of death. Originally conceived as a feature collaboration with animator Chuck Jones, Bradbury’s story is of eight trick-or-treaters who find their friend has been taken on a possibly fatal journey by the mysterious Moundshroud. The boys follow Moundshroud through time and across cultures, learning about the funereal practices of the Celtic Druids, the Mexican Day of the Dead and the traditions of ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans (among others) came to produce the modern version of All Hallow’s Eve. Though Bradbury made it into an average animated TV movie in the early ‘90s, the story deserves better, and the illustrations by Joe Mugnaini—equal parts gorgeous and ghoulish—would be a great jumping off point for a visionary director.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar — Okay, so maybe not a children’s book per se, but Roahl Dahl’s 1977 short story is undoubtedly a fable, albeit one that doesn’t involve little kids or talking animals. The title character is a man with natural psychic abilities which he hones with the assistance of a yogi master who helps him to develop the ability to see through playing cards and predict the near future. Naturally he uses these abilities in order to win at Roulette and black jack, but soon becomes bored with winning and finds he isn’t interested in the money, so he literally throws it out the window, inciting a riot. When an angry police man tells him he should do something productive with the cash, like give it to orphanages, Sugar decides to do just that and decides to establish the finest orphanages in the world. The rest of the story involved Vegas, mafiosos and myriad disguises. Like we said, maybe not little kid’s stuff, but still a PG-level fable—more in line with the Coens’ “The Hudsucker Proxy” or PG-Wes Anderson. Dahl’s daughter Lucy reported to Collider that “Sugar” has become a hot property in Hollywood as of late, but no details on who may be interested in buying (or if the picky heir is even selling).

Bunnicula — This 1979 comic horror novel by husband-and-wife team Deborah and James Howe concerns a cat and dog who become concerned for their own safety—and that of their owners—when they suspect that the mysterious new bunny the family brought home from the movie theater may be a vampire. When vegetables begin to turn up drained of their juice, the duo decide they must slay the rabbit before it turns to blood. Why is this book better than your average adventure tale featuring anthropomorphic animals? It’s all in the execution: the authors deal with the animals in a realistic manner—this isn’t “Underdog,” or even “Mr. Fox”—these cats and dogs have real world limitations which is where most of the action—and humor—is derived. But because we can’t stand CGI’d talking on animals and the "Look Who’s Talking Now" style voiceover always falls flat, we’re going to hope for Pixar — or a studio of similar quality — to take a look at this one.

Redwall — Though adapted into a Canadian TV series back in the late '90s, and some bogus production company named Imagen started a website claimed to be producing a CGI'd movie of Brian Jaques' woodland creature warriors for a 2011 release, there are in fact no plans to produce a big screen adaptation of the 1986 fantasy novel or its myriad sequels. The series of books, no doubt inspired by Richard Adams' Watership Down, features the adventures of anthropomorphic animals of all sorts (often mice) who live in and around Redwall Abbey. The first book concerns an attack on the abbey by a one-eyed rat named Cluny the Scourge. While the Redwallers try in earnest to defend themselves, a young servant mouse embarks on a quest to find the legendary sword of the great mouse hero and founder of Redwall, Martin the Warrior. With the ridiculous success of "Lord of the Rings" series we can't imagine why this similarly themed series aimed at a slightly younger set hasn't been made yet, but we think the failure of certain C.S. Lewis series probably has something to do with it. And while we'd love to see some sort of stop-motion for this one, CGI or hand drawn animation is probably far more likely.

"Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing"
Judy Blume's empathetically told, classic tale of pre-angsty, pre-adolescent nine-year-old's growing pains — dealing with the encroaching holy terror of a little brother invading his personal space and privacy, could be transposed the same way Jonze and Anderson carefully crafted their children's tales — told through an adult perspective and perhaps not entirely for a kids audience. If told effectively and compassionately with an acute ear for childhood pains, adventuring and with some raw emotion, ala "Where The Wild Things Are," you could have the "Rushmore" for the elementary school set (especially if one added negotiating the emotional anguish and travails of primary school, and that's also in the novel a bit if we recall). Then again, we could be remembering it wrong and it could turn out like "Adventure's In Baby Sitting" if put into the wrong hands, but that goes for all children's source materials. Wes and Jonze showed a little bit more thought and a little less pandering can go a long way. There was a lot of candid humor, tenderness and honesty in these books (there were several sequels, though none quite as successful as the original) and it perfectly captured the wondrous, daydreaming-like boyhood bubble world many of us lived in — truthfully, it meant to the world to us at the time and we re-read it over and over.

"The Little Prince"
How does one adapt Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's famous and dearly beloved surreal fairy tale novella, essentially an existentialist take on wisdom, human nature and the meaning of life as told by an airplane pilot who crash lands in the Sahara desert and and meets up with a little prince? The intro is basic adventure-y stuff: the badly damaged airplane leaves this pilot (the narrator) stranded with very little food or water and as he's worrying over his predicament, he is approached by the little prince, who it turns out is from the planet Asteroid 325. Then it gets trickier (and more emotional) as the Prince reveals he left his world to explore other planets and cure his loneliness after falling in love with a rose that lied to him. He explains to the narrator that adults are strange, silly beings and his encounters on the way to Earth he meets a king, a vain man, a drunkard, a businessman, a lamplighter, and a geographer all preoccupied with their personal lives (he also meets a snake and befriends a fox). Ok, truthfully, it does sound awesome to us (we love the book, but it has been several years), but it is a melancholy tale, with a lot of life-large abstract themes that are way above the average child's head. Still, if someone could manage to make live-action film out of this one, we'd be there in a heartbeat (again, a 'Wild Things'-like approach would likely be artistically grand; whether it would connect with mainstream audiences is another story). Granted, there was the 1974 version, but a modern update would be ideal.

While these books may or may not ever get made by Hollywood, it's worth noting that some books we originally looked at for this feature are already in various stages of production, most notably for us an adaptation of Dahl's "The BFG" by "Black Beauty" and "E.T." writer Melissa Mathison. For the most part, children's films do gangbusters at the box office, and with the success of the Potter movies (and, to an extent, the young adult-targeted "Twilight" series), don't expect them to go anywhere soon. And more thoughtful versions of kids stories will be coming soon. While not based on a kid's book, Alfonso Cuarón has "A Boy and His Shoe" hitting hopefully sometime next year, and Ang Lee has "Life of Pi," about the son of an Indian zookeeper who is shipwrecked in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and shares his lifeboat with a 450-pound Bengal tiger. That one too is not a kids book per se, but it has some of those fantastical sensibilities to be sure (it doesn't scream Rated-R or anything). And while the financial semi-disappointment of 'Wild Things' doesn't help the chances of real art being made out of these properties, "Fantastic Mr. Fox" opens in wide release this weekend and will probably fare a little better (it simply cost less). — additional reporting RP

Roman Polanski's Bail Accepted By Swiss Courts For $4.5 Million Dollars; Director Remains In Prison For Now

This is unexpected, though it does come with small caveats. Roman Polanski has something to be thankful for today.

On his third (maybe even fourth?) attempt to post bail — along with volunteering to live under house arrest, hand over his passport, wear an electronic ankle bracelet and offering a huge cash sum —the director's appeal has been approved by the Swiss courts to the tune of $4.5 million dollars.

According to the AP, under accordance with this agreement, his earlier offers are part of the deal and he will live under house arrest under electronic surveillance in his Swiss home.

However, and this is key, Polanski will remain in prison until the Justice Ministry decides whether to appeal his release to the country's supreme court. The Swiss Ministry has apparently ten days to decide and a spokesman says they will make that decision "quickly."

Although he's still considered a huge flight risk, the significant cash amount offered up and the terms of his house arrest have evidently quelled those concerns. The director has been in prison since September 26, the day of his arrest in Zurich, Switzerland after attending a film festival that was scheduled to honor the filmmaker's oeuvre.

'The Last Station' Trailer (Finally) Pulls In

After earning raves at Telluride, Michael Hoffman's "The Last Station" nearly fell down a black hole as the producers waited for someone, anyone to pick up the film for distribution. Back in September, Jeffrey Wells had noted that a source told him that cost for the rights were being perceived by distributors as being way out of line. Well, whatever it ended up costing, Sony Pictures Classics has footed the bill and will be giving the film a limited release starting on December 4th.

According to those who have seen it, the film which tells the story of Leo Tolstoy's struggle to balance his wealth and fame with his desire to live a life of devoid of material things — as told through the eyes of his personal secretary — is a shoo-in for at least two Oscar nods. Christopher Plummer, who has (surprisingly) never won or been nominated shines in his role as Tolstoy, while Academy favorite, Helen Mirren, matches him as his wife.

Wells' also noted that film has a pretty straightforward trajectory, and the trailer pretty much confirms it, so most assume it has little shot at a Best Picture nod. That said, it does look very good (though we could've done without the repeated sneezing gag), and the cast behind it which also includes James McAvoy and Paul Giamatti, looks solid.

Peter Jackson Says 'Tintin' Has 2 More Years Of Post-Production To Go

With "The Lovely Bones" in the can, and reviews beginning to come in (generously speaking, critics seem to be mixed) Peter Jackson is wasting no time in attending to the two high profile projects on his plate.

The terribly titled "The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn," the Steven Spielberg directed half of the pair of Tintin films coming down the pike, is the project that will be demanding the most attention from the director. Jackson has confirmed that shooting has wrapped, and the film has already been assembled into a very rough cut, but that two years worth of post-production and animation are going to be required to have it ready for cinemas. Well, with a December 23, 2011 release date penciled in by Paramount, it looks like everything is moving like clockwork, and we're guessing we'll get our first taste of the film sometime around the end of 2010 or the beginning of 2011 at the earliest.

The other two-parter project, Guillermo Del Toro's "The Hobbit," seems to be moving ahead as well despite MGM's current financial woes with Jackson reporting that the script for the first film is finished, and that he along with Del Toro, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens are currently at work on the second part. We suppose we'll know in a little while if Viggo Mortensen (and others from the LOTR triology) will make appearances in the second film, as Jackson and co. have said they want to find a way to connect the films into one flowing storyline. But just don't ask Mortensen about it, he really has no idea, and no one will until the script is done.

In another interesting tidbit, Jackson is cautiously considering the option of shooting the film in 3D, and though he sees it as added "experience" in watching the film, he does worry about theaters not projecting the film properly, though he thinks "that could just be about getting brighter bulbs in the projectors." Given the poor state of what passes for cinema projection these days - improperly framed films, inadequate sound, and yes, dimly lit projectors - we don't think cinema owners are going to be crazy about buying new bulbs on a director's request. That, and Guillermo Del Toro wants to shoot in 35mm to keep the same general feel as the LOTR trilogy and we have a feeling his preference will ultimately prevail.

We would guess that once the script is done for the second part of "The Hobbit," and shooting begins in 2010 (last we heard it was supposed to be March), Jackson will probably get cracking on his yet to be titled Tintin film, scheduled to hit Christmas 2012. We're kinda impressed and envious that Jackson has the next two or three years of his life mapped out, especially when we can barely figure out what we're going to be doing tomorrow.

Stephen King Penning A Sequel To The 'Shining'??

Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" has always been the one film adaptation of Stephen King's novels that has stuck in the author's craw.

While he's toned down the volume on his hatred of the film over the years, he was never pleased with it, and felt that Kubrick had ignored many of the thematic elements of the book. He also didn't think Jack Nicholson was a good choice for the lead Jack Torrance saying that audiences would easily figure out that the character was eventually going to snap. King's softened position on the film (he still doesn't like it, but he's less vociferous about it) has probably been assisted by the now classic and cult status the film has achieved, attaining a place in pop culture few movies ever reach. King got see his own cinematic vision of his novel realized when we supervised a 1997 TV mini-series, but it was received largely with indifference.

Well, King still hasn't left the characters of the Overlook Hotel behind, and speaking recently at a Q&A in Toronto moderated by David Cronenberg (yes, the director — talk about your dream matchups) the author spoke about a possible sequel to "The Shining" (which would undoubtedly be optioned for film). The premise would be as follows:

Danny is now 40-years-old and living in upstate New York, where he works as the equivalent of an orderly at a hospice for the terminally ill. Danny's real job is to visit with patients who are just about to pass on to the other side, and to help them make that journey with the aid of his mysterious powers. Danny also has a sideline in betting on the horses, a trick he learned from his buddy Dick Hallorann.

It sounds interesting to the say the least, but King did have a caveat with the news saying that he hasn't put pen to paper yet and if he talks about it too much he might lose interest altogether. That said, he already has a tentative title kicking around, Doctor Sleep, so certainly its something that seems to have rattling around his brain for a while. We hope he stops talking, and gets writing.

You know what? We're on board for a potential sequel. It seems far enough removed from the Overlook that it will be a different spin on some of the more metaphysical aspects from the first novel, and picking the story four decades later with Danny Torrance seems like the right way to go.

King has been chatting up a storm on his current book tour for "Under The Dome" (which our editor-in-chief is currently reading and says is "fucking fantastic") talking about (among many other things) an HBO mini-series, an film version of his novel "Cell" (with a new ending) and his Broadway musicals. You can read more details in our report here.