Movie: Cabin in the Woods (2012)

 

Filmed in early 2009 and scheduled for release in May 2010, and then delayed until January 2011 for 3D conversion, Drew Goddard's directorial debut of a Joss Whedon script, The Cabin in the Woods, fell eventually to MGM's financial woes that lead to the companies bankruptcy that put the film in limbo. Then in April of last year, MGM announced a distribution deal with Lionsgate, and there had been hopes the film would be out for Halloween 2011. But eventually, in July of 2011, Lionsgate acquired the film wholly and announced an April 2012 release date.

For me, it was a very clever, very self-aware attempt at parodying the horror genre, without really saying they're parodying the horror genre. Whedon and Goddard borrow every trope of the horror genre, which included a mysterious cabin in the woods, five college kids on break -the jock, the slut, the virgin, the book smart geek and the stoner- a stop over at what appears to be an abandoned gas station, but has a creepy owner who spouts politically incorrect things.Oh, and the Winnebago standing in for Scooby-Doo's Mystery Machine.

Then, as audiences familiar with the genre know, once the Scooby gang arrives at the cabin, all hell is going to break loose. And it does, and it's pretty funny.

For viewers of Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel TV series, you'll see him borrow a lot themes and ideas (along with various cast members of those shows and Whedon's other series, Dollhouse). The cast is wonderful, especially Bradley Whitford, Richard Jenkins and Fran Kranz as Shaggy. Well, not really, but very close. Then, of course, there is the surprise cameo that even I, Mr. Pop Culture Nerd, did not know about. 

There are plot holes, and very little explanation of how the whole thing really works, but for any Whedon follower, that's not important. So those confused by the film (and I heard a guy say this to his girlfriend as they passed us), expecting a typical horror film like the ones made in the last few years, will be disappointed by it. 

Of course, I still think they should see it, if only because it pokes fun at the genre without insulting the viewing audience. It's fresh, fairly original and fun.

Official: Gary Ross out as 'Catching Fire' director

The backpedaling began almost immediately when word broke late last week that Gary Ross would not be helming Catching Fire. This past Monday even Deadline reported that Ross was still in contention to direct. But it was confirmed late Tuesday that indeed, he will not be back. 

"Despite recent speculation in the media, and after difficult but sincere consideration, I have decided not to direct Catching Fire.” Ross said in a statement provided to The Wrap. "As a writer and director, I simply don't have the time I need to write and prep the movie I would have wanted to make because of the fixed and tight production schedule."

Even before Hunger Games was released, Lionsgate –seeing the positive word of mouth the film was getting- set a November 22, 2013 release date for the sequel. But it was in post-production of Hunger Games when –at the request of Ross- Lionsgate brought in Simon Beaufoy to help him and author Suzanne Collins adapt the screenplay. 

But apparently now that Ross could give his full attention to Catching Fire, it became clear to polish off the screenplay along with other aspects of pre-production, he could not meet the start date and thus, a release date of November 2013.

Part of the reason the film needs to shoot by the end of summer is that star Jennifer Lawrence needs to be on the set of the X Men: First Class sequel in January – a film 20^th Century Fox has delayed because Catching Fire was –supposedly- ready to film.

But this does put Lionsgate in a tight situation, as not only do they need to find a new director, but a new writer as well. So the ultimate question is can they get the sequel up and running without cutting so many corners that it affects the end result?

"We're very sorry that Gary Ross has chosen not to direct 'Catching Fire,'" Lionsgate said in a statement. "We were really looking forward to making the movie with him. He did an incredible job on the first film, and we are grateful for his work."

HBO picks-up 'Game of Thrones' for a third season

HBO has announced they’ve picked up Game of Thrones for a third season. According to the pay cable network, the second season of the fantasy series has attracted 8.3 million viewers and is poised to surpass the Season 1 average of 9.3 million viewers.

It’s also been reported, though not fully confirmed, that the third novel season three will be based on, A Storm of Swords, will be split into two seasons. There are some advantages to this, of course. It enables the series to expand the story by not sacrificing so much of the original 973 page novel. But it also, perhaps, gives author George R.R. Martin some breathing room, as he is notoriously slow, but highly detailed writer. He has said that the original idea of his A Song of Ice and Fire was a trilogy, before it was expanded to 7 novels. Now their are claims that Martin will need eight books to finish his series.

By splitting A Storm of Swords over two 10 episode TV seasons would give Martin a chance to get volume six out, even though there is no timeline for its release. If this is successful, HBO would not air a TV version of volume four -A Feast of Crows- until 2015 and  (theoretically) split the longest (to date) fifth novel, A Dance with Dragons, into two seasons as well, in 2016 and 2017, with book six sometime in 2018. For me, I would hope that by that time Martin had finished the series, which he started in 1996.

Much like Stephen King, who spent a better part of two decades to finish his Dark Tower series, realized his own mortality after nearly being run-over and killed. Unlike Robert Jordan, who never lived to see his massive Wheel of Time series end, King’s near death experience gave him a better perspective on writing. It gave him the inescapable conclusion that while we all die, he did not want some other author to finish off what he started, such as happened with Brandon Sanderson, who is finally finishing the Wheel series in January of 2013, almost exactly twenty-three years after the first book was released.

Martin is 63, and while I’m sure he’s in relative good health, waiting -perhaps- another 5 to 10 years (if not more) for 2 to potentially 3 more books in his series is asking a lot, even for the nerds like us who devour this genre.

And if the ratings continue to be good for HBO, expect them to continue ordering new seasons on a yearly basis. I cannot see them ordering a new season without any books, though, so George R.R. Martin better get writing, or see the TV version end abruptly after book 5. 

The 2012 Hugo Award Nominations

The 2012 Hugo Awards were announced over the weekend. Here’s a brief list of what are probably the only ones most of us shall know:

Best Novel
Among Others, Jo Walton (Tor)
A Dance With Dragons, George RR Martin (Bantam Spectra)
Deadline, Mira Grant (Orbit)
Embassytown, China Miéville (Macmillan / Del Rey)
Leviathan Wakes, James SA Corey (Orbit)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Captain America: The First Avenger, screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephan McFeely; directed by Joe Johnston (Marvel)
Game of Thrones (Season 1), created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss;
written by David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, Bryan Cogman, Jane Espenson, and George R. R. Martin; directed by Brian Kirk, Daniel Minahan, Tim van Patten, and Alan Taylor (HBO)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, screenplay by Steve Kloves; directed by David Yates (Warner Bros.)
Hugo, screenplay by John Logan; directed by Martin Scorsese (Paramount)
Source Code, screenplay by Ben Ripley; directed by Duncan Jones (Vendome Pictures)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
Doctor Who, ”The Doctor’s Wife”, written by Neil Gaiman; directed by Richard Clark (BBC Wales)
“The Drink Tank’s Hugo Acceptance Speech”, Christopher J Garcia and James Bacon (Renovation)
Doctor Who, ”The Girl Who Waited”, written by Tom MacRae; directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
Doctor Who, ”A Good Man Goes to War”, written by Steven Moffat; directed by Peter Hoar (BBC Wales)
Community, ”Remedial Chaos Theory”, written by Dan Harmon and Chris McKenna; directed by Jeff Melman (NBC)

Best Graphic Story
Digger, by Ursula Vernon (Sofawolf Press)
Fables Vol 15: Rose Red, by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham (Vertigo)
Locke & Key Volume 4: Keys To The Kingdom, written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)
Schlock Mercenary: Force Multiplication, written and illustrated by Howard Tayler, colors by Travis Walton (The Tayler Corporation)
The Unwritten (Volume 4): Leviathan, created by Mike Carey and Peter Gross, written by Mike Carey, illustrated by Peter Gross (Vertigo)

The other nominations are here.

The awards will be given out in September.

Is Gary Ross back in for 'Hunger Games' sequel?

All most as soon as word broke that Gary Ross would not return to helm Catching Fire, the second film in the Hunger Games Saga, it now seems he’s still in contention to direct.

What is known is that Ross has expressed concern that to meet the November 22, 2013 release date, filming needs to begin in August, but the script is not even finished yet, forcing all the ambitious pre-production to be completed in just four months. While it can be done, historically this has lead to issues that no producer, director or distributor wants, which is a contentious set -unless a huge payday is all their after and not a product with any lasting quality.

Plus, with star Jennifer Lawrence commitment to The X Men: First Class sequel, which begins filming in January, this has added another element of unwanted stress to Ross who apparently sees that forcing the sequel to begin so soon, could damage the property.

The again, look at the Harry Potter and Twilight franchise; both productions that ended up with various directors over the years -though David Yates ended up helming three (or four, depending on how you look at The Deathly Hallows) Potter movies.

But, as cynical as I can be, I also think that no matter what, whoever helms Catching Fire, it will be successful. On the other hand, having Ross return brings a consistency to a production, something sequels and franchises films lack at times.

At this point, Ross continues to develop other projects from his own production company, while negotiations carry on. But how far they’re apart from solving these financial and production issues, as of today, is far from known. 

More 'Doctor Who' spoilers, BBC axes 'The Fades,' Summit delays 'Ender'

More information is coming out of Cardiff on Doctor Who’s seventh season. While most series, including Doctor Who, are filmed out of order, this season seems more so than others. Production has begun on episode 2, 3 and 5, with some elements of episodes 1 already underway -as suspected, while in Spain, the crew took opportunity to film a few sequences in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada.  Meanwhile, episode 4 has yet to start, though considering all the location work going on for the other four episodes, I’m guessing this will be a studio bound “bottle show.” The season will open with the return of the Daleks, and it appears we’ll be seeing a whole cadre of Daleks from the more recent, very colorful, ones seen in Victory of the Daleks (the iDaleks as they’re called sometimes. I think of them more as the Mighty Morphing Power Daleks), to ones that hail way back to the original ones from 1963. Meanwhile, episode 4 is being written by Chris Chibnall (who also penned the second episode of the season) and will be directed by Douglas Mackinnon. Outside location work on episode 5, Amy and Rory’s final story, are taking place with scenes that show the Weeping Angels at the Queens Building at Cardiff University.  The cast and crew will fly to New York towards the end of April to film other sequences that will be a part of Amy and Rory’s departure. Also, it’s now more or less that all 14 episodes of season 7 will air in one uninterrupted run, barring any changes in the world or the BBC. 

The British supernatural show The Fades has been officially canceled after a single six-episode season on BBC Three. While no explanation was given for the cancellation, you can probably put it down to the fact that BBC is running short of money. 

In an unusual move, Summit –now a division of Lionsgate- will delay the release date of their adaptation of Ender’s Game, moving it from March 15, 2013 to November 1, 2013. This means this high profile film, based on the perennial best-seller by Orson Scott Card will have just three weeks to gain momentum before Summit’s sister studio puts of Catching Fire, the continuation of The Hunger Games. As Michael Hinman over at Airlock Alpha notes this is not typical of studios, that they like to keep “‘competing’ films in similar genres are kept well apart.” He adds: “One outcome typically is that a lesser-known film opening earlier, like Ender's Game, will be overlooked as fans anticipate the larger film coming up soon after, like Catching Fire. Even if the added promotion does give Ender's Game a bigger box office grab, having a competing film open so quickly could destroy longer-range ticket sales, meaning Ender's Game will have to capture as much cash as it can in its first three weeks. Of course, studios will make it clear that most of the money for a film is made in the first three weeks anyway, and then it peters out. That's true, but it's not exactly the kind of thing theaters want to hear. Typical contracts between theaters and studios give theater owners the smallest cut of ticket sales in the first two-to-three weeks. After that, the ticket sales cut gradually falls more and more in favor with the theater. If Lionsgate cannibalizes Ender's Game, that could mean far fewer tickets being sold when theaters get the biggest returns. For a film that is expected to have a solid box office impact like Ender's Game, it's certainly not good news for theater owners.”

Gary Ross bows out of 'Catching Fire'

Now that it looks like Gary Ross will not be back to helm Catching Fire, the continuation of The Hunger Games, Lionsgate will now try to find someone to take the directorial seat when book 2 in the film series begins lensing this fall. Part of the reason Ross has moved on is historically, he’s a very individualistic director, moving from one genre to another with relative ease, because he does not like getting painted into a corner as a director of one genre. It would seem that he has no desire to spend another year –or more if he was staying on to helm the entire series- stuck doing the same thing. And another maybe Lionsgate’s typically low-end salary offer. While Ross was paid $3 million to direct and 5% of the back-end, for someone like him -who’s had a very lucrative career as a screenwriter (and rewriter) and director before The Hunger Games- some within the industry considered their pay to him to be pretty low-ball. Rumors suggested that he would be requesting a bigger cut of the profit, considering the huge success of the film. But, like I said, Lionsgate is notoriously stingy on paying creative people (not one of the other directors of the Twilight Saga was able to rise above the lackluster source material of the novels) so my guess he would have had little to stand on. Like the Twilight novels, the success of the books sort guarantees that no matter who directs Catching Fire, it will succeed financially. Yes, creativity is dead. Long live films in the empty minds of its viewers. Meanwhile, in a surprise move, 20^th Century Fox will delay production on the X- Men: First Class sequel until January, which would free up star Jennifer Lawrence to make Catching Fire. Contractually, had Fox decided to film their sequel this fall, Lawrence had to do that first before Catching Fire. By playing nice, I suspect it means Lionsgate will need to do something nice down the line for Fox. It also means the X Men sequel is delayed a year. 

Plan accordingly.