JULY, 4

MOVIES RELEASED

1-NATHAN ZACHARY AND DRAKE’S GOLD

Action Adventure
Directed and Produced by Jack Hammer
Starring Thomas Jane, Milla Jovovich, Ian McKellen, Aaron Eckhart, Ashley Scott, Michael Clarke Duncan, Justin Long, Taryn Manning
Box Office: 72 mill.
Net Gains: 77 mill.

CMP Reaction: It was expected to be a ‘100 movie’. Anyway, despite a minor disappointment, profitable enough to go on with it as a franchise.

2-LIEUTENANT USA AND HIS WARM STEEL GANG

Comedy Spoof / Action
Directed by David Zucker
Starring Steve Carell, Charlize Theron, Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Zach Braff, Owen Wilson
Box Office: 132 mill.
Net Gains: 173 mill.

CMP Reaction: Finally, a big comedy hit from CMP! Outstanding box office, outstanding DVD sales… It has taken quite a few comedies before one of them has reached such a great result. Sure, Stark is in ecstasy.

THE CRITICS CORNER

1-NATHAN ZACHARY AND DRAKE’S GOLD

‘Jack Hammer directed the brilliant film noir ‘The Little Sister’, probably one of the best and more underrated movies from the Studio. It has been quite a while until Hammer has decided to work again behind the cameras. Now, he has chosen a classic adventure. And he has proved again he is a talented director. This movie shares the adventure spirit of some William Wyler’s classics. It is a wonderful adventure show. And the character of Nathan Zachary has so many things in common with his more than obvious inspiration, Indiana Jones: a touch of cynicism, a lot of sense of humour, charm and that anti-hero touch that makes this kind of characters so appealing. If you like adventure, don’t miss it.’
-Anne Roman

‘So was Thomas Jane the right choice after all? Is he the reason why this movie hasn’t been as successful as it was expected? Personally, I think Jane is a good choice. It would be boring watching again the usual stars leading the cast. I’m tired of some faces and I would have hated watching Orlando Bloom (the worst actor of this generation), Colin Farrell (the most overvalued) or Brad Pitt (the most selfish) playing Zachary. But yes, probably the movie would have made more money with some of them leading the cast instead of him. But – if the announced sequels are finally produced – I think Jane will grow up playing this character as much as Harrison Ford grew up playing Indiana Jones.’
-Roy Winslow

‘After writing such deep and solid screenplays as the ones for ‘The Great War Series’, ‘Uncommon Valour’ or even the post-modern western Lawman saga, why has Hammer chosen an airplanes adventure movie like this to return to direction? A simple plot of goods and bads with the acrobatics of Top Gun moved to the 1930's airplanes and some similarities with the looks of 'Flyboys'. Flying sequences brilliantly shot. Entertaining, with the same inmediate and wild entertainment of a ride in a roller-coaster. And far away from the usual bigger-than-life stories from Hammer. Audiences will love it, but I can’t help feeling a bit disappointed.”
-Charlie Kiggs

2-LIEUTENANT USA AND HIS WARM STEEL GANG

‘Here is a bad movie. Talents make a horrible acting (is that acting?) work, direction is poor, special effects are cheap, the plot is senseless… but, boy, it is so damned funny!’
-Jack Carter


‘Do you love comedy spoof? If the answer is not, don’t lose a second with this movie. If you are one of those guys that are not embarrassed to leave all prejudices aside for 90 minutes and have a great time laughing at silly and cheap jokes, don’t you dare to miss this one. A movie critic feels obliged to look deep and intellectual. Writing a nice review for a movie like this is almost blasphemy and can severely damage the critic’s professional prestige. But who cares? I had a wonderful time feeling stupid while laughing at the childish jokes of Lieutenant USA and his friends’
-Wayne Hart

‘Yes, I know it: it is depressing to see this movie making 100 mill. in box office while brilliant and talented productions such as ‘Nagasaki Daydreams’ or ‘No Evil’ flop. It’s scary to think that this could be the future of movie industry. I’m even scared just to think of possible sequels coming. But I must admit that this comedians’ reunion works the way it wants to work. They are not looking for quality but for the basic essence show business was created for, as the song says: make them laugh, make them laugh, make them laugh…’
-Jackie O. Callaghan

AWAITING RELEASE

1-WILD CARDS: ACE IN THE HOLE

The Cast: John Travolta, Sharon Stone, Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Liv Tyler, Elijah Wood, Jason Schwartzman. Cameos by Bruce Willis, Matt Dillon, Kenneth Branagh

The Director: Alexander Aja
The Screenwriter and Producer: Matt Kubrick

The Plot: The Presidential race heats up as the countdown begins and as Puppetman's (J.Travolta) thirst for power continues his insanity continues to build. His wife (S.Stone) in a desperate attempt to get away tries to warn people by leaving a message but Puppetman uses his powers to kill her and hide her body which is eventually found. When the cops are at a loss as to what happened a psychic woman learns that somone in the government is an Ace and is planning something big. Golden Boy (E.Wood), Modular Man (D.The Rock Johnson - a battle android designed by a crazy scientist) Peregreine (L.Tyler - winged Beauty and a famous late night talk show host), the Great and powerfull Turtle (J.Scwartzman), an ace that lives inside of a giant shell that he moves with his mind. This group forms a temporary super group to track down and take out this ace who is secretly Puppetman.

Golden boy is a man in his early 20s who can switch his super strenghth on and off with his mind. When he turns his power on he is surrounded by a golden like glow. The turtle actually never comes out of his shell but he has powerfull psychic abilities. He lifts a battleship out of the water with just a thought and can go head to head with the Puppetmaster when it came down to it.

Fortunato (M.Dillon) decides to leave his way of life behind and moves to Tibet where he finds his place as a monk and decides to live the rest of his life in solitude.

Pop in Jay (B.Willis) discovers a Joker sick with a strange disease and brings him to Dr. Tachyon (K.Branagh) who he hopes can figure out what the mysterious illness is.

The Comment: Third episode of the ‘Wild Cards’ saga and a complete redefinition of the storyline, introducing a new group of characters so different from the previous ones. Now, it is more a kind of freak superheroes movies. Kubrick explores new ways for his franchise and the result of the experiment is too uncertain.


2-GET CHRISTIE LOVE!

The Cast: Halle Berry, Samuel L. Jackson, James Woods, Taye Diggs, Vivica A. Fox

The Director: Antoine Fuqua
The Screenwriter: Bill Cougan

The Plot: Christie Love (H.Berry) works in the L.A. Police Department. She has to fight daily with the prejudices of many of her male mates. And specially with her uptight boss, Lt. Reardon (S.L.Jackson). Reardon always gives her minor assignments and she desperately wants to prove him her skill as investigator. But although they have a tense professional relationship, Reardon and Christie feel attracted by each other and finally become lovers.

Christie will get involved in a dangerous and major murder case when she gets a phone call from a youth friend from her old neighbourhood, Sellinah (V.A.Fox). They meet in a bar. Scared and almost hysterical, Sellinah tells Christie she’s been working as a prostitute in a club owned by Jack Forrester (J.Woods), a well-known mobster that controls all the drug traffic in the West Coast. Sellinah and Forrester’s accountant were lovers. The accountant decided to give the Police all the information needed to convict Forrester. This way, he would become a protected witness and Sellinah and him could begin a new life with new identities.

But Forrester discovered it. Sellinah has just known that her lover has been murdered that same evening. She has a copy of all the documents and she is afraid Forrester might kill her too now. Christie offers her protection. She phones Reardon and asks him to meet them. But before Reardon arrives at the bar, a group of gunmen enters and shoot Sellinah and Christie. Sellinah dies and Christie gets to escape.

Christie begs Reardon to assign her the case. He does not want, but finally accepts to assign it to Christie and another inspector, the nice and funny Byron Chase (T.Diggs). Christie will go on an undercover operative. She gets to work in a Forrester’s night club as waitress and dancer so she can look for any useful hint. Her only contact with the LAPD will be Chase.

Things will get more complicated for Christie when Forrester visits the club and likes her so much. Forrester tries to seduce her and Christie accepts his invitations to get closer to him.

But Forrester will finally discover that Christie is in fact a cop. He sends a group of hoodlums to capture her at the night club but she gets to defeat them with her karate moves in an extreme fight at the club. Then, she calls Chase and Reardon and they get into Forrester’s Palm Springs mansion that same night to look for some confidential dossiers.

When they are discovered, there is a shoot-out all over the mansion between Forrester and his men and the three cops. Reardon is wounded. Finally, Forrester and Christie face each other. Forrester confesses he ordered the murder of Sellinah and his lover, the accountant. Forrester shoots… but Christie shoots faster. Forrester falls dead in the swimming pool.

Reardon recovers at the hospital and Christie gets the credit for solving her first major assignment.

The Comment: Second tv series adaptation from Bill Cougan after the successful ‘McMillan & Wife’. Looks promising.


AWAITING RELEASE – DIRECT TO DVD

CROC ATTACK

The Cast: Mira Sorvino, Shea Whigam, Patrick Fugit, Jessica Pare, Danny Trejo

The Director and Producer: Kevin Hooks
The Screenwriter: Matt Kubrick

The Plot: A group of documentary filmakers are searching the Congo and interviewing the local natives about the legendary african sauropods that have been seen for the past hundred years. But as they go deeper in, their guide fearing a great danger abandons them and soon they find themselves being hunted by a very real threat, a large croc which is hunting them for food. Alone in the jungle, thousands of miles away from civilization who will survive and what will be left of them?

The Comment: First CMP/Midnight Movies’ production released directly on DVD. A low budget B-Series adventure. Harry Stark has said that the intention with these movies is to offer an opportunity to directors and talents that usually do not work in big CMP’s productions. Working in these kind of movies can increase their rank and make them access to major productions. The cost is low and so is the risk.


MAKING OF… GET CHRISTIE LOVE!
By Bill Cougan

I was a kid in the 70’s. And the truth is that I can hardly remember tv series like McMillan or Christie Love. I think I have the image of the opening credits in my memory but I do not remember any episode at all. The first tv shows I can vividly remember are Starsky and Hutch and Charlie’s Angels but they have their own movies (and I hated those movies). And I guess I grew up with Miami Vice. I know my parents enjoyed McMillan and Christie Love and McCloud and all those detective shows and I can remember the beginning of each weekly episode like a kind of family event – you know: ‘shut up, kid, and go to bed, the episode is about to begin’ – so I thought it would be funny adapting those characters to our days.
Mcmillan and wife is more naïve than Christie Love. It’s more a kind of family comedy mixed with a cops plot. I see my Christie Love movie more like John Singleton’s Shaft, another tv series adaptation starred by Samuel L. Jackson. The key of the movie is the strong presence of the main characters. There’s something very physical in those characters, very sexual… They are cool, tough, sexy… I wanted to put that in the relationship between Halle Berry and Jackson. You can’t be sure if there’s love in it or just physical attraction. It’s just the way they are. Tough people. I can’t imagine McMillan and his wife in a love scene the way I could see Berry and Jackson. And also the criminal storyline is more violent, darker and risky. You know McMillan and wife will survive to any thread at the end. But you can’t be sure about that in this one. So this movie is a completely different concept.
The cast was obvious choices. I had Halle in my mind from the very beginning. I didn’t want the Halle Berry from Catwoman but the Halle Berry from Swordfish. Jackson was the perfect match. And James Woods has always been one of my favourite villains. Just look at his face and you can see he is hiding something and there is danger around.
Well, now the movie is done and I have to work in the next one, Towering Inferno. It is not a remake but a new version of the story. I want to think of it as a mix between The Towering Inferno and the first Die Hard. I am going to change the storyline a bit, mainly influenced by September 11th. But that’s another story…

THE STAR PROFILE – THE CUTE-NESS FACTOR

Cute-ness factor or acting skill? There’s been a public debate going on about it lately after Dakota Fanning winning the last Best Supporting Actress GMA instead of some critics predictable favourite, Claire Danes. The only truth is that child stars are gaining presence in CMP, specially after introducing Smirkworthy’s Databases. In previous Seasons, it seemed like Dakota was the only young star available. Now, after only a few movies released in Season 5, a bunch of talented child stars have appeared on scene and they are doing such a wonderful job. Let’s take a look at this cute gallery of rising stars.

DAKOTA FANNING: For quite a time, if you wanted a kid in a CMP movie it had to be Dakota. ‘Fear The Darkness’, ‘Alice In Wonderland’, ‘September’s Gone’ or ‘Carousel’ have been major hits due to, among other reasons, her strong presence on screen. Without doubt, the youngest winner of a GMA is the undisputed leader of the child stars. She can do anything, from horror to drama and she has proved it becoming one of the more profitable stars for the Studio.

ABIGAIL BRESLIN: The main challenger to steal Dakota’s leadership. Little Miss Sunshine's star has made her debut for CMP in ‘Syndrome: Paradise Lost’. But there’s more to come from her this Season as she will be shooting soon a dramedy. The number of projects including her in the ‘desired cast’ is growing up so much lately.


ARIEL GADE: The other challenger. Her work in ‘No Evil’ will probably be remembered in the next edition of the GMA. She made a superb acting work as the girl destroyed by the attack of a wild dog and moved us all with just her sad eyes. Also returning during this Season. We will be able to see her again soon in the upcoming thriller ’72 Hours’.

JOSH HUTCHERSON: Seen in ‘Flashes Of Life’, Josh made a wonderful job and competed with Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhaal in acting skill. Without doubt, his work in that movie will open many doors for him in the near future. Remember his name, cause he is going to be a star.

SPENCER BRESLIN: Abigail’s brother was the funniest kid in ‘Welcome to Summer Camp’. As serious as Buster Keaton, Spencer has a natural talent for comedy. Another name to remember as he deserves so much to be in this selection of promising young stars.

MOVIES IN DEVELOPMENT

LEGEND OF THE LAST LAWMAN: Kevin Costner’s career desperately needs a hit. It’s been too many years making movies that did not work at box office. He’ll have a chance of resurrecting in the new Lawman’s adventure playing a corrupted politician that joins Gene Hackman in his will to end up with Will Smith. It is significant that this one will be Costner’s debut in CMP.

HE-MAN: THE POWER OF GREYSKULL: Major problems for this production. Here’s the story: Director, writer and producer John Daws wanted both Keira Knightley and Kate Beckinsale (yes, his two stars in the Hitman saga) to play supporting roles in the movie. But both have rejected the offer, not interested in a minor role in this kind of movie. These refusals have been a major disappointment for Daws. In fact, he is considering to even cancel the production. Harry Stark is trying to convince him to go on, but maybe He-Man won’t return to screens.

PLANETSIDE: …and the cast keeps growing with big names. Ewan McGregor (‘Dr. Jones and the Sword of Faith’, ‘Dive In The Sun’) and Eric Bana (‘The Avenger’, ‘The Library’, ‘Paperback Story’) join the production. Also, Ron Pearlman will be in it, although he will have to join soon the shooting of ‘SW: Balance Of The Force’. And there are still more names to be announced…

THE STORY OF ME: It’s obvious that Tom Hanks likes Helen Hunt. After working together in ‘Cast Away’, Hanks called her to be in ‘September’s Gone’ (and Hunt got a Best Actress GMA nomination for her work). Now, Hanks has called her back again to be in his new movie as director. It’ll be the second movie for Hunt in this CMP’s Season after the successful ‘Welcome to Summer Camp’.

THE GUARDIANS: Two more names complete the cast of Spielberg / Scott sci-fi production. Jet Li and Minnie Driver will work for CMP for the first time meeting Cruise, Connelly, Hopkins and Crowe. Writer Steve Connors has described the cast for his new story as ‘a dream team’.

72 HOURS: Joshua Collins is already finishing the editing of his first movie as writer and director for CMP. Cameron Bright is the last name known to be in it together with Keanu Reeves, Famke Jansen, Ariel Gade and Willem Dafoe.

STAR WARS: BALANCE OF THE FORCE: George Lucas has confirmed that all the talents from ‘Mysteries of the Sith’ are returning in this third episode of the new trilogy. The only ones missing will be the ones that died in the previous episode: Michael Chiklis and Katie Holmes.

HOLLYWEIRD: Everything seems to be ready to begin the production of this acid comedy about Hollywood. Joshua Collins is again the writer and director of it. So, as soon as he finishes the edition of the upcoming ’72 Hours’, he’ll begin shooting this one. Busy Season for Collins.

ACE BANNER 3: No definitive title yet and cast not closed yet. Delays for this Kubrick and Tarantino production. The only thing we know by now is that Jason Statham is the new Ace Banner. But that was something we already knew. Rumours has it that Sean Connery has rejected an offer to be in the movie (the funny thing is that Connery also rejected to play a villain in the first Ace Banner’s movie). Remember Connery is already shooting ‘Planetside’.

FACTION 12: Another epic sci-fi adventure greenlighted. Little is known yet about this new major production. The only thing for sure is that the screenplay has been written by John Daws. Let’s hope things go better for this one than for ‘He-Man’.

COMING SOON - THE ADD


RUMOURS AND GOSSIPS

Debate about Supporting Roles. The reason? ‘He-Man’. Some screenwriters usually demand major stars to play supporting roles in their movies. Even now that the new Databases offer a wide range of talents, they expect major stars to accept minor roles. And that’s not very usual. Some big stars enjoy playing supporting roles from time to time. But, usually, they rather wait for main characters. Keira Knightley and Kate Beckinsale have said no to be in a movie oriented to children audiences playing minor roles. Both prefer to wait for better offers to return to CMP. Same thing has happened with other big names in recent productions. Screenwriters and producers have to understand that not always major stars will die for a minor role, no matter the salary offer.

‘Star Wars’ vs ‘Dungeons & Dragons’. Which one is the major bet this Season for CMP? Past Season, the first ‘D&D’ movie defeated ‘Mysteries Of The Sith’ at box office. In fact, although they were so good, financial breakdown of ‘Mysteries’ was a bit disappointing for the Studio, as it did not reach the landmark of ‘New Order’. And ‘D&D’ won 3 GMA (Most Wanted Sequel included) while ‘Mysteries’ only got one single nomination for Best Marketing. So, as the second ‘D&D’ movie will be greenlighted soon, the question is: which one will get a bigger production and marketing budget: the Skywalker family or Cage and Willis’ adventures?

Confirmed. After so many come an go, next Season production schedule will include a sequel of the blockbuster ‘Deep Silence’. It has been a long process. Tom Figgs, screenwriter of the original movie, retired after its release. Then, Matt Kubrick showed his interest in writing a sequel, but CMP did not accept a first draft from him. Now, Joey Stark will finally develop a storyline for a sequel. The only thing known about it is that it will take as a reference the character played by Jessica Alba in the first movie.

Eddie Murphy wants to go on producing movies for CMP, as he did with the two Ultraman movies. He has showed Harry Stark his interest in producing next Season a sequel for ‘Crooks’ or a new Ultraman’s adventure. Stark has not answered yet to this offer.

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN… OR HELL

HEAVEN

THOMAS JANE: It was known that Harry Stark did not trust him as the lead star of ‘Nathan Zachary and Drake’s Gold’. But a nice box office has proved that he could lead the cast and become the star of the new Jack Hammer’s franchise.


LIEUTENANT USA: It’s been quite a few comedies until one of them has become a major hit for CMP. The parody of CMP’s movies has turned into an unexpected blockbuster for the Studio. Nobody at CMP thought that this production could make so much money.

HELL

THOMAS JANE: Yes, he’s back again. Ok, the movie made nice profits. But it was expected to be a blockbuster and it wasn’t. Jack Hammer has planned to shoot 5 episodes of this franchise. After the medium success of the first movie, CMP has confirmed that at least two more episodes will be produced before deciding if it’ll go on up until 5 movies.

IAN MCKELLEN: We said it before and we’ll say it again. The man is getting tired and begins to need some rest. Everyone wants him in their movies. There’s not any other elder star that can play epic villains or wise men in the industry?

INSIDE CMP

VERY IMPORTANT: It’s Pitch Time in CMP! Julian Jones has begun designing the Production Schedule for Season 6. There are something like 15 movies already included in it. That means that there’s still room for new pitches. So any screenwriter that wants their stories to be developed next CMP’s Season should present them to CMP the sooner the better. Season 6’s Production Schedule will be closed in ten days or so, which means that pitches coming later could have to wait until Season 7 to be greenlighted.