Everyone knows a rumor is just a rumor until it shows up in the trades. But let’s not forget that most of the news in the trades comes via publicists. So we can’t always buy what these reports say anyway. So, even though The Hollywood Reporter has announced what we’ve been hearing for a long, long time — that an Arrested Developmentmovie script is in the works — many of us remain skeptical.
Worse than skeptical, though, I’m also annoyed. I get over being teased very quickly, and I’m at the point where I really don’t even want there to be an Arrested Development movie. Honestly, I didn’t really care for one to begin with, but I would have at least been more interested in seeing it had it been made a couple years ago. But it’s been 3 and a half years since the final episode aired, and I’m seriously content with the Bluth’s story being over.
Unfortunately, Hollywood can’t ever let things end well; they have to overdo every good thing. I wish the short run of Arrested Development could just be accepted the way British TV shows are accepted, with few seasons (series). Sure, we Spacedfans would love to know what’s going on with Tim and Daisy ten years after they first became flatmates, but isn’t it actually enough, if not much better, that Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright were able to break out and give us other amazing things to watch them in/do (if only Jessica Hynes, nee Stevenson, was doing more films rather than being a domestic).
Isn’t anybody else sufficiently happy with seeing Jason Bateman have a career again? Isn’t anyone simply thankful that the show introduced us to Michael Cera, Alia Shawkat and Tony Hale, each of whom is doing other enjoyable things these days? Can we just let go of the idea and remember Arrested Development as a classic show that we can continue to revisit on DVD? No movie is going to be good enough after so much anticipation anyway.
Check out what other film blogs are saying about this “news” after the jump: …Read more
Yesterday I attended a special Star Trek event at Paramount Studios where they showed us 20 minutes of footage from J.J. Abrams’ upcoming reboot of the classic sci fi series, much like Warner Bros. did with Watchmen recently. While the footage was already screened in London and New York, this was the first time I’ve had a chance to see it, and I didn’t read any of the other reports so I could go in fresh with my somewhat jaded fanboy eyes and ears.
While it looks fairly slick and high-tech (and yes, the bridge of the Enterprise does indeed look like the inside of an Apple Store), I was more interested with how they treated the development of characters that have been around since 1966. It’s hard to judge the film based on the four scenes we saw; it’s a bit like reading four random chapters of a book and being asked to write a report about it. But, with that in mind, I definitely have some thoughts about it. One thing is for sure: it looks a lot better than the scenes we saw from The Spirit at Comic-Con.
Check out the breakdown below of the scenes from a Star Trek movie that will probably draw a line right down the middle of hardcore Trek fans, but will draw a lot of people who have never seen the TV shows or the previous films into theaters. And just as a note, Abrams sides with the Trekkers in the “Trekkies vs. Trekkers” debate.
After watching the new Star Trektrailer leaked on YouTube and coming away completely confused, I was happy to discover that the spot was receiving a proper, official release this morning. But after also watching the higher-quality version on Apple.com, I’m not any more enthused. It still looks cluttered with too much CG and potentially weak direction — kind of like the first Star Wars prequel, of which I’m also reminded thanks to that lame, child version of James “Siberius” Kirk. And it still lays on the characters and sets up the plot as messily as possible. Worst of all, it doesn’t at all pique the interest of a non-Trekkie like myself.
I know, looking at the recentmarketing of Twilightand Watchmen has informed me that the first trailer is for the fans and a later spot will be a better introduction to the characters and will feature more appealing elements for newbies. But I figured that teaser trailer we saw way back in January was the one for the followers. There’s not much time left to get me, a guy who has only seen Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (and only for the whales), fully excited.
Earlier this week a slew of images from J.J. Abrams‘ Star Trek reboot, reimagining, redo, do over, what have you hit the web, and today an accompanying article from Entertainment Weekly talks to the actors and reflects on the footage shown to the magazine. Since we weren’t able to see that same footage (why not show it to everyone, Paramount?) we’re basically left to conjecture on the images themselves, and pat our inner fanboy on the back in consolation.
Even though some of last year’s Comic-Con secrets were leaked to the web ahead of time, the 2007 SDCC was a huge deal as far as revelations go. Whether it was the unveiling of Karen Allen’s involvement in Indiana Jones and the Then-Still-Not-Subtitled Fourth Installmentor cast updates for Watchmenand Star Trek or a bit of clarification on what the hell that Cloverfieldmovie was, Comic-Con 2007 left us super excited and highly anticipatory for the next year of movie releases.
But after a quick glance, the 2008 convention doesn’t seem like it will have as many big announcements. There should be plenty of new footage shown from movies like Watchmen (making its second Comic-Con round) and The Spirit(hopefully there’s some better looking stuff than the most recent trailer gave us), but what secrets are set to be let out of the bag?
Here’s 10 things I hope they reveal over the next few days:
Arnold Schwarzenegger is back in Terminator Salvation- If this really happens, I’ll be flabbergasted. But a guy can hope, at least for official word on a cameo. And there’s no better place than Comic-Con for a confirmation to happen. Well, I guess if Warner Bros. could keep it a secret until the movie opens next May, then that would actually be better. But that’s impossible nowadays. …Read more
There may not be any literal baton passing going on in the marathon-set screwball comedy Run, Fatboy, Run, but the movie, which was directed by Friends star David Schwimmer, is noteworthy for its hand-offs. The first has to do with the writing of the film, which began as an original screenplay by American actor/comedian/writer Michael Ian Black (Wet Hot American Summer) and was later reworked by British actor/comedian/writer Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead). Despite the screenplay credit confusingly indicating the two writers collaborated, it is more a matter of one taking over from the other and going the distance with it.
The second pass relates to the actors. Although Run, Fatboy, Run is sold as a Simon Pegg comedy, the true stand-out is lesser-known Dylan Moran, who supports as Pegg’s character’s best friend. Familiar to most Brits as the star of the Channel 4 series Black Books (which I keep meaning to finally rent), Moran has also appeared in minor roles in the movies Shaun of the Dead, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story and Notting Hill, none of which really showcased his talent the way Run, Fatboy, Run does. Because it was probably not intentional for Moran to upstage Pegg, though, it has to be said that rather than a hand-off of the spotlight, this is more a stealing of the show. And boy does Moran make a great getaway towards the finish line. …Read more
Another bit of exciting news from Jason Bateman [again via MTV Movies Blog] regarding the Arrested Development movie: “the ball has started rolling down the hill again.” Okay, so it’s not too exciting, nor is it revelatory in the least, but at least he says all the creatives are on board. Meanwhile, the actor also commented on his role in the American movie adaptation of the British TV mini-series State of Play, which, combined with MTV’s other post about the American TV series remake/adaptation of the British TV series Spaced, has me putting a little thought into the subject of theatrical spin-offs versus movie adaptations.
Certainly those of us who are fans of a series would rather see it continued with all original talent on board (even if we arecynically fearing the result) than see it adapted into a movie version many years down the line, whether the approach be faithful or parody or an attempt at both. Try to imagine another cast playing the Arrested Developmentand Sex and the Citycharacters. Imagine the pointlessness a future X-Filesremake/adaptation compared with the immediate cinematic extension we received. Or live-action versions of The Simpsonsor South Parksomewhere down the line rather than the big-screen supplements.
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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Everyone knows a rumor is just a rumor until it shows up in the trades. But let’s not forget that most of the news in the trades comes via publicists. So we can’t always buy what these reports say anyway. So, even though The Hollywood Reporter 
Pamela McClintock at Variety
