News Shotgun 6/22
- Michael Bay drops some Transformers 4 details: Adamant that it is not a reboot, despite having an entirely new cast and that some of the story will take place in space. He also has slightly tighter budget restrictions.
- New Sesame Street movie in the works: With the success of The Muppets, their cousins on Sesame Street are coming back to the big screen, thanks to Fox. It will be the third Sesame Street movie, with Follow that Bird and Elmo in Grouchland being the previous two.
- Jurassic Park IV being written by Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Jurassic Park IV has been in development hell for what seems like forever but it takes a positive step forward with news that the screenwriters of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, have been hired to write a new script. Spielberg will produce but not direct. One of the things I loved about RotPotA was the non-verbal communication between the apes and I could easily see something like that working perfectly for the raptors.
- What did David tell the Engineer in Prometheus?: One of the many questions that came up after Prometheus was released was *spoilers*, what did David say to make the newly awakened Engineer flip out and start murdering everyone? Well, thanks to the movie’s language consultant, David says, “This man is here because he does not want to die. He believes you can give him more life.” So no hidden agenda, that was exactly what Weyland wanted him to say, it’s just the Engineer wasn’t having any of it.
- Jim Carrey leaves Dumb and Dumber sequel: It seemed like the Dumb and Dumber sequel was on the right track, with the Farrelly Bros. announcing they were going to do it and Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels would return as the lovably stupid Lloyd and Harry but now it seems, do to lack of momentum or delays, Jim Carrey is now out of the project.
- Nicolas Winding Refn directing Barbarella TV show: Quickly shooting up to the top of Hollywood’s coolest directors after Drive last year, Nicolas Winding Refn has been attached to a number of projects and this week news came out that he will be producing and directing a TV show based on the softcore sci-fi classic, Barbarella. The Jane Fonda version of the character will be the basis for this new TV series.
- Mortal Kombat reboot possible plot is awful: It hasn’t been officially confirmed but a possible plot for Kevin Tanchereon’s Mortal Kombat movie has come out and it’s completely stupid. Basically it’s about a loser grocery store clerk who discovers he has the capacity for good and evil powers and must decide which way he will go. No mention of a fighting tournament and it sounds like the exact opposite of the gritty, realistic style Tanchereon was going for in his original short film and the web series.
- Jim Henson Co. creating “No Strings Attached” for the BBC: The BBC will be getting it’s own Muppet show thanks to the Jim Henson Co. called No Strings Attached. It will feature an all new cast of characters and involve celebrities playing games and performing in sketches with the characters.
- Director of “Misfits” directing Monsters sequel: We quite enjoyed the indie sci fi movie Monsters, which followed a pair of Americans trying to get through a Mexico that has been contaminated by a crashed satellite and is infested by aliens and now a sequel is in the works called Mosnters: Dark Continent and directed by the UK director Tom Green, who previously worked on the cult BBC superhero show, Misfits. There’s no plot details or casting news yet.