Stuff You Need to Know, Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Moby Dick is set at Universal to be helmed by Timur Bekmambetov, who directed Wanted. They tapped Adam Cooper and Bill Collage (Accepted) to scribe. They’re moving away from the whole Ishmael narration thing so they can “depict the whale’s decimation of other ships prior to its encounter with Ahab’s Pequod, and Ahab will be depicted more as a charismatic leader than a brooding obsessive.” Oh, of course. Wait–what? “This is an opportunity to take a timeless classic and capitalize on the advances in visual effects to tell what at its core is an action-adventure revenge story.” Hold on…huh? “Bekmambetov will look to apply the visual flourish he displayed on the U summer hit Wanted.” Does this mean we’re going to get harpoon-time? Does that sound like a good idea to anyone at all? And apparently the director’s working on a Wanted 2. That’s an idea I can get behind. Or wait–Sam Jackson as Ahab. That I might at least watch. Source: Variety.

Image taken from the Ray Bradbury screenplay of Moby Dick that Subterranean Press published (which we discussed previously). Don’t get excited. Universal probably never even considered it.

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Welcome back, Hammer. No, not MC, luckily, but Hammer Horror. Production has started on The Wake Wood and the premise sounds enticing: “a couple grieving the death of their 9-year-old daughter who discover a pagan ritual that would allow them three more days with her.” It’s got Monkey’s Paw written all over it, doesn’t it? Timothy Spall is among the cast. Source: Variety.

Lie to Me starts production in November and is the story of a guy who can tell whether or not you’re lying. I know: yawn. But what a difference a name makes: Tim Roth. Perk up? Me too. Show kicks off in January and is Roth’s first regular TV series. And here’s the best part: unlike Hugh Laurie, he gets to keep his accent. Source: Variety.

Rashomon 2010 is indeed a remake of the Kurosawa and will take place in modern Los Angeles. Also of interest: apparently Kurosawa wrote a screenplay called The Masque of Black Death and the same folks doing the remake are going to make an animated version of Masque. The script with scribed in 1977. “Kurosawa planned to have Japanese anime auteur Osamu Tezuka make the pic, but the project never got off the ground before Kurosawa’s death in 1998.” They want both films in cinemas in 2010 for Kurosawa’s 100th birthday. Source: Variety.

Season of the Witch is not a remake of the George Romero flick. Instead, it’s Dominic Sena directing Nicolas Cage (they previously worked together on Gone in 60 Seconds) in a flick about “the journey of 14th century knights transporting a girl suspected of being the witch responsible for spreading the Black Plague.” Bragi Schut Jr. (Threshold) scribed. Production starts in November. Source: Variety.

I’m not a vegetarian, I’m a meatatarian. And no one has sent me a copy of this book to check out. But all that being said, this title is the best cookbook title ever. And just for that alone, I think we all need to buy a copy.

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