Eye On Film
June 1-8
New movies:
Sean Bean is thumbing his way to “The Hitcher,” Rogue Pictures remake of the 1986 horror film being produced by Platinum Dunes. Sophia Bush also is on board the film, which is being directed by veteran music video helmer Dave Meyers.
Universal Pictures has acquired “Hurricane Season,” a post-Hurricane Katrina drama from producers Mark Gordon and Franklin Martin. The pitch is based on an upcoming documentary that Martin wrote, directed and produced titled “Walking on Dead Fish.”
MGM is continuing to beef up its domestic theatrical distribution operations and has added three Weinstein Co. releases to its slate, the company said Wednesday. The three films joining MGM’s growing slate are “Bobby”; the Renee Zellweger starrer “Miss Potter”; and the Roman period drama “The Last Legion.”
Miramax Films has acquired North American rights to the comedy “Eagle vs. Shark,” the debut feature from New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi.
Palm Pictures has acquired North American rights to “Ten Canoes,” and Australian feature directed by Rolf de Heer and co-directed by Peter Djigirr.
The Weinstein Co. and Genius Products have acquired DVD and television rights to “Lassie,” the new feature that Roadside Attractions and the Samuel Goldwyn Co. are opening in theaters Sept.1.
New Line has bought “A Family Affair,” a comedy spec to which Sarah Jessica Parker is attached. Script was written by Shara Lotti, with Jennifer Klein producing through her Apartment 3B banner.
Rob Zombie is resurrecting Michael Myers, one of the big screen’s favorite horror villains. Zombie will write and direct a new “Halloween” movie, serving up what is being called as a brand-new vision for the long-running horror series.
Will Smith has weighed in on one of his next projects. The multi-hyphenate is attached to star in the drama “Seven Pounds” for Columbia Pictures and Escape Artists and is in negotiations to produce the film alongside his Overbrook Entertainment partner James Lassiter.
Nimrod Antal is in talks to direct the Screen Gems horror thriller “Vacancy” is set to star Sarah Jessica Parker and Luke Wilson as a couple who find video cams in their motel room, then realize they are being taped for a snuff film.
IFC Entertainment has acquired two films that will be distributed in the coming moths by its day-in-date distribution banner. IFC First Take Films will release Argentinean helmer Fabian Bielinsky’s “The Aura” and fellow countryman Daniel Burman’s “Family-Law” - both slated to bow this year.
Director John McTiernan is cooperating with the FBI – Film Bridge Intl., that is. McTiernan is set to helm “Deadly exchange,” the first directing deal he’s inked since pleading guilty in the Anthony Pellicano scandal. FBI is financing and repping worldwide rights, while Anthony J. Rido Prods. Is producing.
Writer-director Sean Penn continues to lure a stellar cast “into the Wild.” Oscar winners William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden have signed on to co-star in the film, which will be distributed by Paramount Vantage. Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn and Catherine Keener already have boarded the project.
Screen Gems is angling for an Easter time release of a feature film tentatively titled “The Resurrection,” people familiar with this project confirmed Wednesday. Using the bible for its source material, “Resurrection” will tell the story of Jesus Christ beginning the day he died on the cross and ending about 40 days later with his ascension into heaven.
Baz Luhrmann is setting Hugh Jackman to star alongside Nicole Kidman in his Australian period epic for 20th Century Fox. Set before World War 2, pic centers on an English aristocrat who joins forces with a rough-hewn cattle driver after her northern Australian ranch is threatened by Brit cattle barons.
Paramount Vantage and Miramax Films have set Woody Harrelson and Stephen Root to star alongside Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem in the Coen brother’s pic “No Country for Old Men.” Thriller is based on the Cormac McCarthy novel and is set in West Texas in 1980.
“Lost” castaway Naveen Andrews is set to come ashore in the ensemble pulp pic “Grind House,” for helmers Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Being distributed by the Weinstein Co.’s Dimension label, pic has Rodriguez and Tarantino each helming a 60-minute horror tale, with faux trailers and ads in between.
“Shadowboxer” - the directorial debut from “Monster’s Ball” and “The Woodsman” producer Lee Daniels – has been picked up for domestic distribution by indie label Teton Films.
Jessica Alba and Elizabeth Banks have signed on to star opposite Aaron Eckhart in the comedy
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