Fox Filmed Entertainment Chairmen Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman announced today that Academy Award-winning filmmaker James Cameron has agreed to make Avatar 2 and 3 as his next films.
Cameron, who had always viewed “Avatar” as the creation of a new world and mythology, will begin work on the scripts early next year with an eye towards commencing production later in 2011. Cameron will decide if he will shoot the films back-to-back after he completes the scripts, but the release of the first, as yet untitled sequel, is targeted for December 2014, with the third film contemplated for a December 2015 release.
Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures are moving ahead with a sequel to Clash of the Titans, which the studio would like as early as spring, 2012. But they will make the journey without Louis Leterrier, who will not return for an encore as director. Sam Worthington will return, as well as most every other character that survived.
Greg Berlanti will write the story and the studio is already canvassing the agencies for a writer and director who can whip the movie into shape to shoot before Worthington makes Avatar 2. Leterrier will remain peripherally involved as executive producer.
Source: ComingSoon.net
JAMES CAMERON on the focus of an ‘AVATAR’ sequel:
“Part of my focus in the second film is in creating a different environment – a different setting within Pandora. And I’m going to be focusing on the ocean on Pandora, which will be equally rich and diverse and crazy and imaginative…”
Halcyon Holding Corp accepted the $29.5 million bid from, of all parties, the debtholder which pushed it into bankruptcy, Santa Barbara-based hedge fund Pacificor.
Lionsgate and Sony were the major players in the bidding war with Pacificor (which isn’t even a movie studio) and are currently negotiating with Pacificor for the go-ahead to develop any future movies.
No word just yet on whether or not this means Christian Bale will return (although it seems unlikely) in what was planned as the first of a trilogy storyline that began with TERMINATOR: SALVATION.
Read more on the behind the scenes auction action HERE.
Sam Worthington, making his first deal since the success of “Avatar,” is in negotiations to star in “Dracula Year Zero,” a period vampire epic Alex Proyas is set to direct for Universal.
[The movie] explores the origin of Dracula, weaving vampire mythology with the true history of Prince Vlad the Impaler. It seeks to depict Dracula as a flawed hero in a tragic love story set in a dark age of magic and war.
Source: IMDB
Very cool to see Neeson (Zeus) and Fiennes (Hades)!
Plot synopsis: A remake of the 1981 film version of the myth of Perseus and his quest to battle both Medusa and the Kraken monster in order to save the Princess Andromeda.
Directed by Louis Letterier and set for release on March 26, 2010, ‘CLASH OF THE TITANS’ will star; Sam Worthington (PERSEUS), Liam Neeson (ZEUS), Ralph Fiennes (HADES), Danny Huston (POSEIDON), Gemma Arterton, Alexa Davalos, and Mads Mikkelsen.
Plot synopsis: A remake of the 1981 film version of the myth of Perseus and his quest to battle both Medusa and the Kraken monster in order to save the Princess Andromeda.
Directed by Louis Letterier and set for release on March 26, 2010, ‘CLASH OF THE TITANS’ will star; Sam Worthington (PERSEUS), Liam Neeson (ZEUS), Ralph Fiennes (HADES), Danny Huston (POSEIDON), Gemma Arterton, Alexa Davalos, and Mads Mikkelsen.
Plot synopsis: A remake of the 1981 film version of the myth of Perseus and his quest to battle both Medusa and the Kraken monster in order to save the Princess Andromeda.
Directed by Louis Letterier and set for release on March 26, 2010, ‘CLASH OF THE TITANS’ will star; Sam Worthington (PERSEUS), Liam Neeson (ZEUS), Ralph Fiennes (HADES), Danny Huston (POSEIDON), Gemma Arterton, Alexa Davalos, and Mads Mikkelsen.
By comparison, The rights for TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (which was also recently auctioned off) nabbed $60 million so it’s probably a good bet Terminator rights will go for a much higher amount.
No word on how this might effect Christian Bale’s already reported 3 movie deal for the new Terminator trilogy they had been working on. Seems unlikely he would return but that doesn’t mean his contract couldn’t be included in the purchase (or does it?).
Source: AvatarMovie.com, ComingSoon.net
Caught the trailer in the theater before ‘SAW VI’. Cameron’s back is (again) against the wall with the rumored $200-300 million+ budget for the movie. But in his defense he had the same budget issues with TITANIC and then knocked it out of the ballpark with the stunning result.
The bottom line? THRALL WORLD couldn’t help but notice how incredibly REAL the aliens looked in a good portion of the trailer. It really was remarkable and will probably make or break the movies success. No SHREK or HULK cartoons here. They have upped the photo-realistic CGI to an eye-bending level and made THRALL WORLD a believer and we can’t help but wonder how much more of a difference watching it in 3D will make.
But we do hope the “going native” plot (a la DANCES WITH WOLVES, TORAL RECALL, THE LAST SAMURAI) has more behind it than the main character sympathizing with the aliens because an “evil” corporation wants a valuable gem which only seems to exist right underneath the aliens home.
Set to open in conventional 3D theaters and IMAX 3D on December 18th, 2009 and written and directed by James Cameron (TERMINATOR, TITANIC), ‘AVATAR’ stars; Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, and Giovanni Ribisi, Zoe Saldana, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Peter Mensah, Laz Alonso, Wes Studi, Stephen Lang and Matt Gerald.
Read more HERE and check out the official ‘AVATAR’ movie site HERE.
Set for release on December 18th, 2009 and written and directed by James Cameron (TERMINATOR, TITANIC), ‘AVATAR’ stars; Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, and Giovanni Ribisi.
“expected anouncements of Terminators 5 and 6 have not come. Yet.”
Also:
Bale, who played a grown-up John Connor, confirmed that there has been no development on his end for a fifth Terminator.
“We’ve had no talks about it or discussions about it.”
Terminator Salvation took place in 2018, when Connor takes the lead in the human resistance while trying to come to terms with a new kind of cyborg who believes he is human. The film’s epilogue suggests that Connor will continue to lead the resistance in other parts of the world after destroying Skynet’s San Francisco headquarters.
They might be right. Seems like the studios have been hot to get a lot of the news re: sequels out a la Transformers, Deadpool, etc. but things have been a little quiet since ‘Terminator: Salvation’ hit theaters…
Source: ComingSoon.net
CHRISTIAN BALE on becoming involved with the Terminator franchise:
“I felt like the [Terminator] franchise was done… …I didn’t have an interest. Then I [heard an] idea that really was something good that could be told here. If that was going to happen then absolutely, I wanted to be on board.”
On his reaction to the final cut:
“This isn’t a movie that you sit down and watch as a personal 2AM viewing. It’s not something in which you sort of gaze into the human soul and speak to you that way. It’s a movie that’s meant to be watched with a lot of different people and get that common energy. Movies like this are much like sports. It’s that feeling of a common excitement throughout the theater.”
Source: ComingSoon.net
SAM WORTHINGTON on being a fan of the TERMINATOR movies:
“I reacquainted myself with it before we shot. I was maybe 14 or 15 when the second one came out, so I remember the liquid man because it was pretty revolutionary.”
On working with CHRISTIAN BALE:
“I find Christian extremely passionate and dedicated. People call him intense. I hate that f*ckin’ word. I hate it! He turns up, does his job, and it’s all about the story and the character. To work with a guy like that is actually a privilege.”
On his character in ‘TERMINATOR SALVATION’:
“…here’s a guy who wanted to die for his sins and the irony is that he wakes up and he can’t die. He’s stuck and his penance is to suffer, until he transforms and becomes a better human being.”
Source: FilmJournal.com
If you’re as excited as we are about the upcoming ‘TERMINATOR SALVATION’ movie then you are definitely going to want to check out a new interview with director McG.
McG on taking on the Terminator franchise:
“I wanted to be respectful and tell [original Terminator director] Jim [Cameron] that I intended to honor what he put into motion. And I believed him when he told me that he finished telling the story at the end of the second film. So I brought it to him that the story was still worth exploring because [Terminator Salvation] was about the future war between the machines and humanity.”
On what to expect from a followup sequel to Terminator Salvation:
“I strongly suspect the next movie is going to take place in a [pre-Judgment Day] 2011. John Connor is going to travel back in time and he’s going to have to galvanize the militaries of the world for an impending Skynet invasion.”
In addition to a load of more details on the above topics, McG also chats it up over why he chose Christian Bale as John Connor and his preference for practical special effects over CGI.
Movie is scheduled to hit theaters on March 26, 2010 and will also star Sam Worthington (PERSEUS), Liam Neeson (ZEUS), Ralph Fiennes (HADES), Gemma Arterton, Alexa Davalos, and Mads Mikkelsen.
In anticipation of the worldwide release of the motion picture Terminator Salvation, Twitter users will have the chance to join the human resistance against the machines in Sony Pictures Releasing International’s first-ever game created for the social networking platform…
Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes will play warring gods in Warner Bros. and Legendary’s “Clash of the Titans,” the Greek-god epic directed by Louis Leterrier.
Neeson is playing Zeus, the wise yet sometimes ill-tempered king of the gods and father of Perseus (Sam Worthington).
Fiennes will play Hades, ruler of the underworld who aims to overtake Zeus and rule over all. Fiennes’ deal is in still in negotiations.
