Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Creepiest. Thing. Ever... imho

As a general rule, I'm not much of a "girly-girl."

I don't really like chick flicks, clothes shopping bores me, pulp romance novels leave a bad taste in my mouth, and I actually don't mind playing airsoft in a swampy forest.

Even so, there are a few things "girly-girl" things that I get excited about.  Glitter, for instance, as well as puppies and unicorns.  But the biggest thing I get all "girly-girl" about are novels written by Jane Austen and the companion movie adaptions.

True, Austen's books are kind of old fashioned (being written in the early nineteenth century kinda does that), but they're so witty and deal with issues that we still face in our modern twenty-first century.  There are still social classes, there's still a desire for wealth and power, there are still conniving no-goods who will do anything to get their way, and there are still many people (both young and old) falling in love.  Language may always change, but social issues transcend time.

Now that Miss Austen's books are now public domain, the market's practically flooded with spin-offs of all of her books.  Modern retellings of Mansfield Park, murder mysteries, all sorts of interesting stuff.

And then along the way, a certain Seth Grahame-Smith decided to add zombies.

And that just made everything a whole lot weirder.

Even those of you who aren't fans of Jane Austen have probably heard of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, which is Grahame-Smith's take on two of Austen's classics.  What you might not have known was that the zombie rendition is so popular that it's being made into a movie.

Produced by an ensemble of production companies (1821 Pictures, Panorama Media, Handsomecharlie Films, and Darko Entertainment), Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a weird twist on Austen's original work, the story of "A young woman [who] makes [a] quest for love and independence amid the outbreak of a deadly virus that turns the undead into vicious killers."  Read: "the classic 'Pride and Prejudice' story with zombies'" (Movie Insider).

Apparently its a horror romantic comedy, though I'm honestly not sure how the "comedy" aspect is gonna come in.  Last time I checked, watching a zombie chewing on some hapless guy's brain wasn't exactly "funny," but whatever.  I'm not getting on my soapbox at the moment.  =)

Anyway, the proposed film just got out of the Concept phase and (as of March 3rd) is now in the Development phase.  That means that casting, budgeting, and general crew hiring is already in the works.

So far, a director has not been attached to the project, though a lot were formerly going to be part of it: David O. Russel, Mike White, David Slade, David Katzenberg, even Grahame-Smith himself.

There isn't a cast, either, though Scarlett Johansson, Emma Stone, Bradley Cooper, and Natalie Portman were formerly rumored to be included.  An interesting side note is that even though she's not in the cast, Portman is still one of the film's producers.  That kinda makes me think that they'll reconsider her for a part, but it'll probably be a while before we know for sure.

Writing the script is the author himself along with David O. Russel (The Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter, I Heart Huckabees) and Marti Noxon (Fright Night, I Am Number Four).

An official release date has not been created yet, but those are usually nailed down during the Production phase and this particular film has a little ways to go until then.

So what do you guys think of this new Austen adaption?  Do you think it'll be Good, Bad, or Ugly?  And for those of you who have read the book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, do you think you'll go see this movie when it releases?

Personally, I'm not going to see it.  Part of that reason is because I really don't like vampires, but the other is that I much prefer Austen's original work to anybody's spin-off (I'm kind of a traditionalist like that).  Still, I think it'll do well in theaters.  I mean, how many people went to see the movie adaption of Grahame-Smith's other novel, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer?

Yeah.  A lot.

But at this point, there's really no way to know how the populace will respond to it.  I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.

 - Edessa, signing off

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Welcome to the silver screen, Mr. Drake.

Each game console seems to have its own "pet franchise," a game series that is not only confined to one company or console but also a series that is well-recieved by the gaming community.

Microsoft and the XBox have Halo.

Nintendo and it's Wii and DS's have Mario (along with others, like Zelda).

And Sony and the PlayStation have Uncharted.

The Uncharted series has always had positive reviews from various proffesional reviewers. The first installment, Drake's Fortune, recieved a 89.70% rating from GameRankings and a comparable 88 from Metacritic. Among Thieves, the second game in the series, not only recieved a 96.46% and 96 scores from GameRankings and Metacritic, but it was also the recipient of the Overall Game of the Year awards from both IGN and Spike, among many other awards. With four games that have currently sold over 17 million units worldwide, spin-off novels, and a graphic novel series, Uncharted is a very popular franchise, one that the film industry is eager to cash in on as well.


Distributed by Sony Pictures and produced by Arad Productions, Atlas Entertainment, and Columbia Pictures, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune follows a plotline similar to the one in the franchise's inception game, and with the same title, too. The synopsis (courtesy of Movie Insider): "Treasure Hunter Nate Drake, a descendant of explorer Sir Francis Drake, believes he has learned the whereabout of El Dorado, the fabled South American golden city, from a cursed golden statue. The search becomes competitive when a rival hunter joins the fray, then is racheted up several notches when creatures -- actually mutated descendants of Spaniards and Nazis -- begin attack those hoping to learn the treasure's true secrets."

Sounds an awful lot like Indiana Jones, doesn't it?

While no cast has yet been hired, Neil Burger is currently in talks to direct the film. Burger has directed a few movies in the past, including Interview with the Assassin  in 2002, The Illusionist in 2006, The Lucky Ones in 2008, and Limitless in 2011. David Russell (I Heart Huckabees, The Fighter, The Silver Linings Playbook) was originally in talks for the director's chair, but has been passed up.

Burger is also in talks to join Uncharted as a screenwriter. The writing crew currently includes Kyle Ward, Thomas Dean Donnelly (Sahara, A Sound of Thunder, Conan the Barbarian), and Joshua Oppenheimer (Sahara, A Sound of Thunder, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, Conan the Barbarian). Mark Wahlber and Hugh Jackman were both considered for the role of Nate Drake though, like David Russell, both men have not been accepted for the role.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune has been in the Development Phase since June 25, 2009, and it does not have an official theatrical release date yet. I'm thinking it might be in theaters sometime in 2014-ish, but right now it all seems to depend on whether or not Neil Burger is signed on as the director/screenwriter.


What do you think? Will the film likely be Good, Bad, or Ugly? Will it be able to compare to the original video game? Who would you cast as Nate Drake?




 - Edessa, signing off

Marvel Comics Upcoming Films List

With the superhero film craze going on, I've decided to devote this post to a list of Marvel superhero movies that are currently in development.


The Inhumans
     Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
     Producer: Marvel Studios
     Synopsis: "Aliens who were put on Earth as sleeper cells aliens to eventually call back their race to take over the planet. Ultimately, the group of aliens fully assimilates and don't want to cause war" (Movie Insider).
     Phase: Announced on March 8, 2011
     Director: N/A
     Starring: N/A
     Screenwriter(s): N/A
     In Theaters: TBA (To Be Announced)

Doctor Strange
     Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
     Producer: Marvel Studios
     Synopsis: "Dr. Strange was a self-centered New York surgeon robbed of his touch after a car accident. After a stint as a wandering derelict, he encounters a healer in the Himalayas and learns to tap into psychic powers to battle wrongdoers" (Movie Insider).
     Phase: Development since June 21, 2010
     Director: N/A
     Starring: N/A
     Screenwriter(s): Thomas Dean Donnelly (Conan the Barbarian, Sahara), Joshua Oppenheimer (Conan the Barbarian, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, Sahara)
     In Theaters: TBA

Ant-Man
     Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
     Producer: Marvel Studios
     Synopsis: "The character, bio-scientists Dr. Henry Pym, debuted in 1962, as 'The Man in the Ant Hill,' who discovers a liquid that evaporates into a gas, reducing a man to the size of an insect. Inhaling the fumes Pym shrinks in size, scurries along the floor and soon finds himself trapped in an ant hill. Eventually he returns to his normal size, deems the forumla too unpredictable and locks it away" (Movie Insider).
     Phase: Development since October 24, 2008
     Director: Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead)
     Starrring: Nathan Fillion [Rumored] (New in Town, Super, Serenity)
     Screenwriter(s): Joe Cornish (The Adventures of Tintin, Attack the Block)
     In Theaters: TBA

Untitled Hulk Film
     Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
     Producer: Walt Disney Pictures, Marvel Studios
     Synopsis: "A stand-alone movie featuring the Hulk" (Movie Insider)
     Phase: Development since April 30, 2012
     Director: N/A
     Starring: Mark Ruffalo [Rumored] (The Avengers, Shutter Island, Rumor Has It, The Kids Are All Right)
     Screenwriter(s): N/A
     In Theaters: TBA 2015

X-Men Origins: Deadpool
     Distributor: 20th Century Fox
     Producer: Marvel Studios, The Donners' Company
     Synopsis: "Wade Wilson, a mercenary who is dying of cancer, submits himself to the Weapon X genetic alteration experiment and emerges as an indestructible semi-sane anti-hero" (Movie Insider).
     Phase: Development since December 9, 2009
     Director: Tim Miller (debut film)
     Starring: Ryan Reynolds (Safe House, Green Lantern, X-Men Origins: Wolverine)
     Screenwriter(s): Rhett Reese (Zombieland), Paul Wernick (Zombieland)
     In Theaters: TBA 2014

The Wolverine
     Distributor: 20th Century Fox
     Producer: Seed Productions
     Synopsis: "Set in Japan, Wolverine trains in the way of the samurai in a bid to control his primal urges, during which time he falls in love with Mariko Yashida, heir to a Yakuza family" (Movie Insider).
     Phase: Pre-Production since March 26, 2010
     Director: James Mangold (Kinght and Day, 3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line)
     Starring: Hugh Jackman, Will Yun Lee, Hiroyuki Sanada, Jessica Biel
     Screenwriter(s): Christopher McQuarrie (The Tourist, X-Men, Killshot), Mark Bomback (Total Recall, Unstoppable, Live Free or Die Hard)
     In Theaters: July 26, 2013 (Nationwide)

Untitled X-Men: First Class Sequel
     Distributor: 20th Century Fox
     Producer: 20th Century Fox, Bad Hat Harry Productions
     Synopsis: "Potentially set in the 1970's or 1980's, but could also show Magneto's involvement in the assassination of President Kennedy" (Movie Insider).
     Phase: Development since April 6, 2012
     Director: Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class, Stardust)
     Starring: Jennifer Lawrence [as Mystique] (The Hunger Games, Like Crazy, Winter's Bone)
     Screenwriter(s): Simon Kinberg (X-Men 3: The Last Stand, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, XXX: State of the Union)
     In Theaters: July 18, 2014

X-Men 4
     Distributor: 20th Century Fox
     Producer: 20th Century Fox
     Synopsis: "A sequel involving the storyline and cast from the X-Men movie that was released in 2000" (Movie Insider).
     Phase: Development since June 3, 2011
     Director: N/A
     Starring: N/A
     Screenwriter(s): N/A
     In Theaters: TBA


Other Marvel Comics-inspired films include: Avengers 2, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Thor: The Dark Worlds, Iron Man 3, Iron Fist, Deathlok, Luke Cage, Nick Fury, Runaways, Silver Surfer, Sub-Mariner, The Black Panther, The Black Widow, Fantastic Four (reboot), Daredevil (reboot), and an untitle Spider-Man/Venom Spin-off project.

Next Wednesday, we'll look at DC's superhero film line-up, which includes Wonder Woman and Superman, among many others.




 - Edessa, signing off

Cowboy Ninja Viking

Cover art from issue #1 of "Cowboy Ninja Viking"

Yes, Cowboy Ninja Viking really is a film that is currently being developed. No, you did not read that wrong.

And, yes, the plotline sounds just as weird as the title does.

I actually found this film last night during a role-playing session while waiting for the GM (or Game Master) to finish up something. It was so strange that I just had to blog about it this morning.


Cowboy Ninja Viking (why do I keep cracking up when I say that??) is a film adaption of a graphic novel written by A.J. Lieberman and illustrated by Riley Rossmo in 2009. The basic plotline is as follows (courtesy of Movie Insider): "The Cowboy Ninja Viking is the birth child of Doctor Sebastian Ghislain, a psychotherapist who recruits Multiple Personality Disorder patients to create a unit of counter-intelligence agenst called the Triplets. Problems arise when the Triplets become out of control assassins -- leading to the deadliest Triplet of them all, Cowboy Ninja Viking, being called in to take down his own brethren."

I don't know about you, but the synopsis sounds even worse than the title, in my opinion.

Walt Disney Pictures is distributing the film, and I'm not sure if that's good or not. MG/360, Management 360, and The Mark Gordon Company are all producing Cowboy. No cast or director have yet been hired, but we do know who the screenwriters are: Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, two guys who have co-written G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Zombieland, Earth vs. Moon, and the new X-Men Origins film Deadpool (which will be debuting in 2014 with Ryan Reynolds as the title character).

Cowboy Ninja Viking has been in the works since November 7, 2010, and no release date has yet been decided upon. I don't know if the movie will be available in 3D, but I would say that it's probably a good possibility.


Do you think that Cowboy Ninja Viking will be Good, Bad, or Ugly? Have you ever read the original graphic novel?

None of the libraries where I am have the original graphic novel, so I'll have to wait to read it, if I ever do.




 - Edessa, signing off

World of WarCraft

Even if you don't play MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, usually shortened to MMOs), you've likely heard of World of WarCraft. This game, with its many expansions and huge player population, is arguably the most successful online game ever.

Period.

"World of WarCraft" coming to the silver screen

Exclamation point.

Its spawned novels, game guides, and even other MMOs who want to duplicate Blizzard Entertainment's success. So far, none have (though BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic has proved itself to be quite a competitor). WarCraft sits as King of the MMO Hill right now.

But can it also continue its success in the world of filmcraft?

Distributor Warner Bros. is counting on it.


Produced by Legendary Pictures and Ghost House Pictures, WarCraft "revolves around the Horde, the Alliance and the mythology of the world" in the best-selling MMO by the same title (Movie Insider). No other plot details have yet surfaced, but the film is in the Development phase (and has been since July 22, 2009) so the screenplay has not yet been finalized. Chris Metzen and Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan, Thor 2) are the screenwriters for this project.

Sam Raimi, the man who directed the original Spider-Man trilogy, will be directing WarCraft. He will also be producing the film along with Thomas Tull, Charles Roven, and Jon Jashni. No cast has yet been hired. WarCraft does not have a cemented release date, but I'm assuming that it will be sometime in late 2013 or 2014. I also do not know if the film will be available in 3D, though I think it's a good possibility.


Do you think that WarCraft will be Good, Bad, or Ugly? If you play World of WarCraft, do you think that a film adaption will be good for the game or detrimental? Do you think you'll go see this film?




 - Edessa, signing off

Les Miserables

Les Miserables is a novel I have always wanted to read but haven't gotten around to because of a not-so-great experience with another one of Victor Hugo's novels, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I got maybe to chapter three in The Hunchback, but it was so boring and rambling - if I want to learn every tiny detail about the history and architecture of the Notre Dame I'll find a book about it at the library, thank you very much - that I just quit and never picked it, nor any other Hugo book, up again.

But all of my friends who have read the novel or see the musical have said that Les Miserables is very good, and if the upcoming film turns out to be well done, then I may give Mr. Hugo another try.

Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean

Les Miserables, an adaption of the popular theater musical which was adapted from the original novel by Hugo, tells the story of Jean Valjean, a man who stole bread to feed his family and was subsequently imprisioned. When he is finally released he becomes involved in the French Revolution while trying to escape his pursuer, Inspector Javert (Movie Insider).

Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) directs this historical fiction musical. Hugh Jackman (of Wolverine fame) plays the role of Jean Valjean, while Russell Crowe (Robin Hood, The Next Three Days) plays Inspector Javert. In the supporting roles are Anne Hathaway as Fantine, Eddie Redmayne as Marius, Samantha Barks as Eponine, Aason Tveit as Enjoiras, and Amanda Seyfried as Cosette.

Bill Nicholson wrote the screenplay for this Universal Pictures film. The film is currently in the Production stage, and filming began on March 14, 2012.

Les Miserables will be in theaters on December 14, 2012, and the film will not be available in 3D.


Do you think that Les Miserables will be Good, Bad, or Ugly? Have you ever seen the musical the film was adapted from, and did you like it?

And, just for the sake of asking, do you think I should try the Les Miserables book? :)




 - Edessa, signing off