For a while now it’s been known
that 20th Century Fox was trying to fast-track two Marvel properties that they control, less they revert
back to Disney come this fall. But one of them, now, may be scrapped in the
end. As I mentioned at the beginning of the year, Fox wants to reboot Fantastic Four. After two films that,
while making a star out of Chris Evans (one guesses it did help him get Captain America), failed to ignite
at the box office here or overseas, it seemed questionable whether to continue. Josh Trank, –who helmed the low budget
“found film” feature Chronicle- was
the leading contender back in January when the word broke. Now, Fox has now made it
official. However, expectations are the film will reboot, and bring in an entire new cast. The
other film is Daredevil. That film
has struggled to get traction at Fox since 2003’s Ben Affleck lukewarm attempt. It’s
gone through many scribes, including David Scarpa [The Day The Earth Stood Still remake] and Fringe's Brad Caleb Kane. David James Kelly was brought in, and
apparently this script Fox liked, and was going to shoot it starting in the fall. But now director David Slade announced this
week he had to drop out of the production, citing scheduling conflicts with his
commitment to NBC’s midseason drama Hannibal
from Bryan Fuller, in which he is directing the pilot. So, as noted, both
these films face deadline issues, though now Fox may end up letting Daredevil return to Disney in favor of getting Fantastic Four out in 2013.
Speaking of Hannibal, due to Mads Mikkelsen inking a deal to play the titular
serial killer on that NBC show, he was forced to drop out as the villain for Thor 2. In an interview with Zoomin Movies, Mikkelsen talks about
what happened: “Yeah, that’s not happening unfortunately. I had a meeting with
them, but they were a little too late. And then Hannibal came in, and
everything just came in the same period, so now it’s not happening.” Thor 2 begins filming in the fall, as
does the pilot for Hannibal.
Attack the Block’s director Joe Cornish has become a very busy man,
as its been announced he’ll helm Rust,
an adaptation Royden Lepp’s sci-fi novel for 20th Century Fox. At issue is
where this latest job fits into his already cluttered schedule. I noted last
month that he signed on to helm the long-gestating version of Neil Stephenson’s
novel Snow Crash, but no timetable
has been announced for its production start. He’s also attached to the Ant-Man from director Edgar Wright.
Karen Gillan, who is exiting Doctor Who this season, has signed on
to play the lead role in the independently made Oculus, a horror film being produced by Trevor Macy and Marc D.
Evans through their Intrepid Pictures. Production is set for the fall in
Alabama. The plot begins 10 years after a horrifying family incident left two
young children orphans. Although authorities charged the brother with murder,
his sister, Kaylie, believed that the true culprit was a haunted antique
mirror. Now rehabilitated and in his 20s, the brother is ready to move on but
Kaylie is determined to prove that the mirror was responsible for destroying
their family.
Chris Columbus is dusting off CREEPY Magazine to produce a four-part
anthology film, one segment of which he will write and produce. CREEPY was a seminal horror comic
magazine that was generated by Warren Publishing from 1964-83. This horror
anthology film is a throwback to when films like The House That Dripped Blood and Tales From the Crypt were made. This production will emulate the
set-up of those films.
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