MARCH, 20


GEARS OF WAR

Sci-Fi / Action

The Cast: Will Smith, Vin Diesel, Rachel Weisz, Wentworth Miller, Tommy Lee Jones

The Director and Producer: Michael Bay
The Screenwriter: Steve Connors

The Plot: Sera is a planet colonized by humans decades ago. Shortly after colonization, the humans discovered a liquid called Imulsion which became a highly valued power source and let to several wars between nations. Finally, the Coalition of Organized Governments took back control of Sera using forces called ‘Gears’. But shortly after war between nations ended, humans became aware of another sentient race living in the depths of the planet, the Locust. The Locust tunnelled up from underground and massacred over a quarter of the human population in Sera in a single day known as ‘Emergence Day’. Since then, the COG forces have been fighting to protect the remaining humans in Sera.

The movie begins 14 years after the E-Day. Dominic Santiago (Vin Diesel), member of the COG’s forces, successfully extracts his old friend Marcus Fenix (Will Smith) from a Maximum Security Prison. Fenix, a military too, has been serving a prison sentence for four years for abandoning his military post in order to try to save his father – a prestigious scientist and expert in the Locust – from an attack from the Locust Horde.

After running away from prison, Dom takes Fenix to see Colonel Victor Hoffman (T.L.Jones), head of all the Gears Squads. Hoffman tells Fenix that, although he does not like him much, he ordered Dom to free him cause he wants him to lead the newly created Delta Squad. The Delta Squad is a peculiar top secret Squad, different from all the rest, as it will only have four members: Fenix, Dom, an experienced soldier named Anthony Carmine and Hoffman’s right hand, Anya Stroud (R.Weisz), a secret agent specialized in communications and maps but with no experience in undercover operations whose duty will be to keep Hoffman in touch with the group. They do not wear military uniforms, they do not officially exist, they are only known by Hoffman. The Delta Squad’s first secret mission will be obtaining the ‘Resonator’, a device that will map ‘The Hollow’, the underground caverns which the Locust inhabit, and later deploy the Lightmass Bomb to destroy the heart of the Locus forces.

The Delta Squad travels to the City of Sera, where extreme battles between the Alpha Squad and the Locust Horde are going on. They are discovered by the Theron, the Locust’s Guards, as their airship lands and they are immediately rated as suspects. A group of Theron surrounds them and attacks them. Anya loses the contact with Hoffman. General RAAM, lead of the Locust, is informed about the visitors. He orders to kill them and sends Drones (shooters) and Corpsers (giant spiders) to support the Therons. Anya gets to contact by radio with the Alpha Squad and asks for help.

There is a big fight between members of the Alpha Squad and the Locust’s forces. Most of the members of the Alpha Squad are killed. The group tries to run away but Carmine is captured by a Corpser that kills him. Fenix, Dom and Anya get to escape from the fight with the help of an Alpha soldier, Damon Baird (W.Miller) that joins them.

The group walks into the City of Sera and they hide in a cemetery. Night comes and Krills (night creatures that kill both humans and Locusts) appear and attack them. They get to kill all the Krills with their guns. After that, hidden in the shadows, they get to enter in The Hollow through the Locust’s complex tunnels communication system.

Hiding from the Locust Horde, carrying the Lighmass Bomb with them, they reach through the tunnels the Imulsion Lethya Factory, where the Resonator is kept. In their way, they have a violent encounter with a Berserker, another deadly creature, that captures Anya but it’s killed by Fenix right on time to save her from being ripped in pieces.

The group gets to the Resonator and activates it but only to discover that the device failed to map the entire tunnel network. The Locusts detect them and capture Dom and Baird, who are taken to the presence of General RAAM, while Fenix and Anya, keeping the Bomb, get to escape.

Felix and Anya steal a vehicle and return to the City. There, the Alpha Squad is still battling with the Locust Hordes. Fenix and Anya hide in the old Fenix’ father house, now almost in ruins. They find the old papers of Fenix’s father and they find there maps of the tunnel network enough to go on with their mission.

Meanwhile, Dom and Baird are tortured by General RAAM, who wants them to confess what their mission is.

Using the maps, Fenix and Anya return to the tunnels and they get to the heart of The Hollow hidden in an old mine car. They reach the point where they should make the Lightmass Bomb explode. But Fenix says that he won’t let Dom and Baird die. Anya recovers the radio contact with Hoffman, who orders them to activate the bomb and run away leaving Dom and Baird behind. Fenix refuses to obey. He goes to look for his friends and Anya, ignoring Hoffman’s orders, follows him.

General RAAM orders a massive attack to the City of Sera in order to find and destroy Fenix and Anya. Even a greater battle between Locust Hordes and Alpha Squad takes place in the City.

Meanwhile, Fenix and Anya, with the help of Fenix’s father maps, return to the Factory. They use explosives to generate a chaos in the Factory. In the middle of the mess, they get to find where Dom and Baird are and rescue them. Then, they return to where the Lightmass Bomb is and finally activate it. Now they have to run away from the tunnels before the explosion.

They return to the surface in the City’s railway station. The group jumps into a train that is leaving but a Theron sees them and alert General RAAM. General RAAM personally with a group of Therons and Drones flies in a helicopter that lands in the running train.

There is a fight in the train between the group and General RAAM and his force. Baird is severely wounded. But Fenix finally kills General RAAM. A second before he dies, the General still has time to hear the Lighmass Bomb exploding and the big lightning as The Hollow is destroyed.

Anya contacts Hoffman. Hoffman tells them that most of the Alpha Squad was killed during the battle in the City. Anya informs Hoffman that they have succeeded in the mission and also killed the Locust’s leader.

But Hoffman tells them that Fenix and Anya will have to explain why both disobeyed him when he ordered to activate the Bomb instead of caring about his mates. Anya switches the radio off as the train takes them far away from the City of Sera.


Stark’s Comment: A top budget production. One of those releases exclusively oriented to become a blockbuster. We have bet for a spectacular production design and I am almost sure audiences will love this one. The last Michael Bay / Will Smith’s collaboration was the megahit ‘HF’. This one should do even better than that.

BLOOD MERIDIAN

Western

The Cast: Daniel Radcliff, Aaron Eckhart, Eric Bana, Gerard Butler, Hayden Christensen, Harvey Keitel, Jeremy Piven

The Director: Ang Lee
The Screenwriter: Dawson Edwards

The Plot: A young man, only known as The Kid (D.Radcliff), witnesses an enormous and powerful judge named Holden (E.Bana) convince his town that a preacher is a pedophile.

The kid eventually runs away from home, travelling the west in 1833. He joins a party of ill-armed U.S. Army irregulars on a filibustering mission. Shortly after entering Mexico, they are attacked and massacred by a band of Comanche warriors. Few of them survive. Those that do, including The Kid, devolve into the outright murder of unthreatening Indians, unprotected Mexican villages, and eventually even the Mexican army and anyone else who crosses their path, after they join the ranks of John Glanton (G.Butler).

According to the kid's new companion Ben Tobin (A.Eckhart),an ex-priest, the Glanton gang first met the judge while fleeing for their lives from a much larger Apache group. In the middle of a blasted desert, they found Holden sitting on an enormous boulder, where he seemed to be waiting for the gang.

After months, more of the gang met their demise after an attempt to con local indians in Arizona. The kid, Toadvine (H.Christensen), David Brown (J.Piven) and Tobin are among the survivors who flee into the desert, though the kid takes an arrow in the leg.

The kid and Tobin head west, and come across Holden, who first negotiates, then threatens them for their gun and possessions. Holden shoots Tobin in the neck, and the wounded pair hide among bones by a desert creek. Tobin repeatedly urges the kid to fire upon Holden. The kid does so, only once ,but misses his mark. Kid and Tobin escape to San Diego, where they lose each other.

Kid continued to L.A., where Toadvine and David were found hung. The kid eventually sees Holden in a saloon. After hiring a prostitute, the kid tells her his story, afterwards Holden finds the kid then mangles him in an outhouse.


Stark’s Comment: Westerns are always a risky thing. Last time we released a western, ‘Fortune City’, it made profits, but I still remember the flop of ‘Dakota North’. We’ll see… I don’t feel too confident about this one.

PSYCHO: BLOODLINE

Horror / Slasher

The Cast: James Franco, Keri Russell, Garrett Hedlund, Michael Angarano, Emmy Rosum, Emma Stone

The Director: Brian De Palma
The Screenwriter: Matt Kubrick
The Producer: Midnight Movies

The Plot: Meet Nathan Bates (J.Franco), the surviving son of Norman Bates. His father died from illness before he was born and he has inherited his fathers house and motel. His father tried to burn the house down before he was born to try and rid himself of his past. Nathan knows all about his father's history and the murders and wants to try and turn the motel and the house around. Against his wife Pamela's (K.Russell) wishes he moves into the mansion to open the old bates motel.

Nathan will soon learn that you can't escape who you are. The house is filled with many secrets and items from his late father. Soon he begins to be haunted by visions of and old lady that talks to him in the night. Nathan can't decide whether the place is haunted or if he is really going insane. One night while Pamela is taking a shower Nathan dressed as his grandma sneaks into the shower and murders her with a large butcher knife. After the murder he curses a picture of his grandma and lets out a loud scream.

A year later four teenagers, Mike (G.Hedlund), Alexander (M.Angarano), Tanya (E.Stone) and Dana (E.Rossum) are lost and it is raining heavily. They finally come across the Bates motel and get rooms for the night. They don't realize that their charming owner is now crazy and is fighting a mental illness. Nathan has been spending alot of time and researching the murders his father has committed and researching papers of Norman's twenty two years he spent in an insane asylum before being declared sane.

As the teenagers settle into their uncomfortable new surroundings they are soon plagued by strangeness. The girls complain to their boyfriends that they see eyes staring at them through small holes in the wall and seeing a spooky old lady watching them from a window in the large house. When Dana goes out to the parking lot to their car to get a change of clothes Nathan dressed as Grandma and slits her throat. He then goes into the room and kills Alexander. Soon Mike and Tanya find the dead bodies and after not being able to find a working phone at the motel they make their way to the big house.

Inside they can't find Nathan anywhere and soon come face to face with the killer, Nathan dressed as an old lady. He quickly stabs Mike in the chest and begins a deadly hide and seek game all over the house with Tanya. She manages to wound Nathan but she is ultimately killed herself. Nathan goes to look at himself dressed the way he is and looks into the mirror. At first quietly he begins repeating this isn't me this isn't me. Then lets out one loud scream THIS ISN'T WHO I AM then punches the mirror.


Stark’s Comment: Here we go with another classic Midnight Movies’ slasher. Some differences this time: a prestigious director (although far away from his glory days) and the hook for audiences of Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ – if audiences forget of all the other horrendous sequels of it. That makes me think that maybe this will be one of those Kubrick’s slashers that at least don’t lose money.


THE AWFUL TRUTH: The Coen Brothers return to CMP in their second work for the Studio. The first one was ‘Cell Mates’. Now, they are back with a dark, very dark comedy, about a woman obsessed with the suspect that her husband is having an affaire. This movie will mean another two very much awaited returns. Tom Hanks is finally back to CMP as the presumed infidel husband. Last time he was seen in CMP was playing a minor role in his own movie ‘The Story Of Me’ (and that was back in Season 5!). And the suspicious wife will be played by no other than Julia Roberts, whose last work for CMP was ‘The Funeral Drum’. This starry starring couple already worked together not only in ‘Charlie Wilson's War’ but also in CMP’s first Season in the courtroom comedy ‘Court Appeal’ (and they got a Best Starring Couple nomination at the GMA!).

TENDER IS THE NIGHT: Some big names also in this Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of the Scott Fitzgerald’s book. The starring couple will be played by Angelina Jolie, who had not worked for CMP since the flopped western ‘Dakota North’ (and that was back in Season 4!), and a regular in Scorsese’s movies, Daniel Day Lewis – seen in other Scorsese’s movies like ‘Gangs of New York’ or ‘The Age Of Innocence -. Day Lewis has only worked for CMP once, playing a minor role in ‘Quadrophenia’. The starring triangle completes with one of James Bradley’s muses, Scarlet Johansson, returning to CMP after her Best Actress GMA for her work in another Bradley’s movie, ‘The 6th Avenue Castaways’. Great starring trio.

THE GREEN CHILDREN: It has taken 10 Seasons to finally see Gwyneth Poltrow in a CMP’s movie. She has joined this project playing a doctor who protects the green children together with a hunter played by Ewan McGregor. The villain here will be played by Geoffrey Rush, seen past Season in ‘Flashman’s Travels’.

THE AVENGERS 3: A peculiar story here. Claire Danes had already accepted an offer to play the superhero Black Widow in another upcoming CMP’s pitch. When CMP decided to release first this one, they had to decide who would play here the same character. So they went for the logical solution and offered Danes to be in this one. This way, Danes will be in ‘The Avengers 3’ just because she had accepted to be in another movie. (By the way, the Black Widow is not the secret superhero to join The Avengers we have been writing about).

THE SECRET PEOPLE: Green light for this adventure movie written by Dawson Edwards. The story takes place in Africa and it has been described as ‘a redefinition of the classic adventure movies in exotic locations that used to be shot in the 1940s or 50s’. Mimi Leder (‘The Women Club’, ‘A Horse With No Name’) is going to direct it. And Daniel Craig will star in his return to the Studio after winning his second GMA for ‘1066’.

STANLEY & LIVINGSTONE: Another great starring couple here. The two legendary explorers will be played by the last Best Actor GMA Winner, Brad Pitt – getting very active in CMP lately – and the lead star of ‘The Gunpowder Plot’, Christian Bale. In fact, Bale is already finishing the shooting of ‘The Gunpowder Plot’ and that has generated a slight delay in the shooting of this one (see The Inner Circle below).

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT: Shootage is almost finished. And some more cast members are known: Cillian Murphy (‘Change Of Heart’) appears in the movie and so does Alan Rickman, seen past Season in ‘Bedtime Stories’. The same way he did in ‘1066’, screenwriter John Daws will also make a cameo in this one. It has been known that director Ridley Scott is not very happy with Harry Stark as CMP’s President has urged him to finish the shooting so some of the stars in the movie can quickly join other productions.

DEVIL TRIGGER: Thomas Haden Church – seen in movies like the Syndrome trilogy, ‘T.Y.M.: The Inferno Revenge’ or ‘Faction 12’ – joins the cast of this fantasy action production being directed by the Wachowski Brothers.

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA II: The starring couple of the first movie of this saga returns in this second one. Kate Bosworth will be again Princess Zelda while James McAvoy will dress again like Link as soon as he finishes his work in ‘The Gunpowder Plot’. George Lucas is directing and producing the movie.

FLASHMAN AND THE MOUNTAIN OF LIGHT: And here is the third movie of Harry Flashman’s adventures. James Bradley adapts again George McDonald Fraser’s novels. This time, Flashman / Rupert Everett travels to India in search of a legendary diamond. And a new director will take care of this production after Mike Newell and Kenneth Branagh directed the previous ones: Stephen Frears will be behind the cameras in his first work for CMP.


GEARS OF WAR
By Steve Connors

If you are a fan of the game Gears of War you will notice I have introduced some major changes in the plot of the game. In fact, I have used some premises and some elements of the game to build up a partially different story.

I wanted the movie to be more a commando adventure than a platoon adventure. The Delta Squad has been turned into a secret group of only four members conceived more like secret agents than soldiers. The storyline also changes although the premise and some scenarios remain – looking for the resonator, blowing The Hollow, the final action sequence in the train….

The number of characters has also been reduced and some important characters of the game have been deliberately left aside. I wanted to focus the story in a small group of characters. My idea is to introduce some of those other main characters of the game in possible sequels. And I have upgraded a more than minor character of the game, Anya Roud, to a major character of the movie. I thought that having a woman in the Delta Squad would be appealing and I wanted very much to have Rachel Weisz – the female star of my old Space Quest movies – in this one.

Gears of War the movie is a visually ambitious production. The recreation of both, the semi-destroyed City of Sera at war and the sinister underground world of the Locust Horde, was a major challenge and demanded a complex and sophisticated production design. The sequences of the battle between the Alpha Squad and the Locust Horde in the streets of the City were so complex to set up. Also, one of the most difficult tasks of this production was creating the different and exotic creatures seen on screen – Locusts, Therons, Drones… and that amazing Berkseter that attacks Will and Rachel at the tunnels – making them look different from any other creature seen before in a movie. The guys from the CGI Department have worked really hard to take them to life but the final results are amazing.

So making this movie has been an exhausting experience. Bay and I wanted to make it look so spectacular. The creatures and the settings had to be different from anything seen before on screen. The action sequences had to be breathtaking. And we wanted the audience to end up as exhausted as the Delta Squad’s members at the end of this adventure. I hope we hit all those targets.

Here is a picture with some of the amazing creatures digitally generated for the movie:



DANIEL RADCLIFF

Daniel Radcliff returns this week to CMP after three Seasons away with the violent western ‘Blood Meridian’. Radcliff has always been an appreciated star in CMP. Quite a few screenwriters have demanded him to be in their pitches. His CMP’s filmography mixes big productions with smaller and more daring projects proving that CMP’s authors consider him a valuable actor with a promising future beyond Harry Potter.

CMP’S FILMOGRAPHY

SOUTH EAST
Neil Jordan / John Daws
Season 4 / B.O.: 75 mill.
Radcliff’s debut in CMP was a tough drama about growing up in a low class London’s suburb. The movie became one of the most critically acclaimed movies of the Season and Radcliff’s acting work was unanimously praised. In fact, Radcliff finally became the Best Actor GMA Winner.

GAME BOY
Robert Zemeckis / John Daws
Season 5 / B.O.: 211 mill.
From a low budget production to a major blockbuster. Radcliff played the only live action character in this legendary movie that broke all records – until its sequel was released. ‘Game Boy’ put Radcliff on top of the CMP’s most profitable stars and definitely confirmed that he could do more than Harry Potter in the industry.

AMERICAN HEARTLAND
Sean Penn / Matt Kubrick
Season 5 / B.O.: 67 mill.
Back to quality. Sean Penn directed and Martin Scorsese produced this movie based on the story of the Memphis 3. Radcliff was one of the teenagers involved in the crime of three kids. A solid dramatic work that kept increasing his prestige in CMP.

POWERHOUSE
Gus Van Sant / Marcus Trax
Season 5 / B.O.: 19 mill.
Radcliff had a busy Season 5 in CMP. His third movie of the Season was a working class drama where he played the son of Daniel Craig and Demi Moore. A very british production that meant his only box office’s flop in CMP. But Radcliff proved again he dared to accept risky works and not only big budget shows.

GAME BOY 2: WARLANDS
Robert Zemeckis / John Daws
Season 6 / B.O.: 265 mill.
The inevitable sequel came and pulverized all records. The mix of live action and digital generated characters, all of them video games icons, became the most successful CMP movie ever. With it, Radcliff had two of his movies in the top 6 list of the best CMP’s box offices.

DAISY LANE
Danny Boyle / John Daws
Season 7 / B.O.: 49 mill.
And Radcliff jumped again from big productions to minor works. In his fourth work in a John Daws’ pitch, Radcliff went back to London’s suburbs to be killed by a mysterious murderer. Again, critics praised his work and Radcliff left aside the ‘nice teenager’ role betting for a daring project.

BLOOD MERIDIAN
Ang Lee / Dawson Edwards
Season 10 / awaiting release
After resting for three Seasons, Radcliff is back to CMP with this western. Another risky bet. Radcliff keeps looking for characters different from each other looking to try always new things. Westerns have not been too lucky in CMP. But Daniel Radcliff has never feared to accept challenges.


James Franco and Keri Russell pose at the entrance of the Norman Bates Motel in Universal Studios. The couple has been shooting there this week release ‘Psycho: Bloodline’, directed by Brian De Palma. Franco plays Bates’ son in the movie while Russell plays Franco’s wife.



A mess. That’s what internal CMP’s sources whisper me about this Season’s release schedule. I’ve heard that Harry Stark wants to cut a few heads at the Studio: the ones from the people that designed this Season’s release schedule. The reason? Too many stars are committed to more than one production to be released soon. And that means that some stars are demanded to work almost simultaneously in different projects. In other cases, it causes some delays that cost too much money to the Studio. A good example of this is Viggo Mortensen, who had to put his voice to He-Man at the same time he was shooting ‘Wild Cards: Battle Of The Rox’. But that’s not a single case. Stars like Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, James McAvoy, Jeremy Irons, Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen, Liam Neeson or James Franco, among others, have such a tight agenda that some directors have protested to Harry Stark for being obliged to shoot in such a hurry to let some of their stars free for another production. ‘The Gunpowder Plot’ has been particularly damaged by this mistaken release schedule, as many of the members of the cast are attached to other upcoming productions. Also, ‘Stanley & Livingstone’ had to change its release date cause some of its cast members would not be available when needed. Something has been done wrong in CMP this Season and Harry Stark has one thing clear: some executives will have to pay for this mess.

Christian Bale is a very special victim of this messy release schedule that deserves to be highlighted here. Exhausted after the intense shooting of ‘The Gunpowder Plot’, he almost had to give up the offer to co-star ‘Stanley & Livingstone’. Harry Stark considered replacing him as the crew of the movie was already in Africa ready to begin the shootage and Bale was still in London finishing ‘The Gunpowder Plot’. But Bale insisted Stark so much that he wanted to be in this movie that, finally, CMP’s President accepted to wait for him. So the shooting of ‘Stanley & Livingstone’ begun with sequences in which Bale was not needed. As soon as ‘The Gunpowder Plot’ shooting was over, Bale took a plane to Africa and joined the team of the movie. I think he’ll need some holidays after these two exhausting jobs.

Let’s talk about sequels now, a recurrent issue here. Do you remember ‘The Goonies’? Well, Steven Spielberg and Richard Donner, producer and director of this classic, have talked and even worked on a possible sequel for years. But it has never been developed until now. That might change soon. The rumour is that CMP could finally be the Studio to develop a sequel that has waited something close to 25 years to be developed. Joey Stark is working on a possible storyline for this sequel and, if things go right, we might have it produced by CMP soon.

Another surprising sequel. ‘Reform School Girls’, the wild exploitation show written by Matt Kubrick, flopped in box office but has become a kind of cult rarity for a wide group of fans. One of them is Harry Stark himself. Stark already announced he would produce a sequel of the movie if Kubrick ever wanted to. And Kubrick does. But that’s not the surprise. The surprise is that ‘Reform School Girls’ might have more than one sequel. And the first of them, coming up in Season 11, won’t be written by Kubrick but by Joey Stark. For what I know, the screenplay is already finished and Quentin Tarantino has accepted to produce it again under the label of Midnight Movies.

And let’s move to another classic issue of my articles: superheroes. A while ago I announced that a major superhero with his own movies in other Hollywood’s Studio could join the CMP’s list of superheroes soon. Well, that might change. Josh Collins, the man behind the project involving this superhero, has decided to cancel his pitch, although even the screenplay was already written. The thing is that another CMP’s screenwriter had submitted to Harry Stark his own screenplay based on the same character. It was rejected as Stark had already accepted Collins’ pitch. Now, Stark is considering rescuing that other pitch so this hero can finally have his own movie in CMP.

And I end up with another of those coincidences I love. I have just read that another Hollywood’s Studio has green lighted the preproduction of a movie based on the comic ‘Preacher’. CMP is already working on the preproduction of the sequel of its own ‘Preacher’. Again, CMP is ahead of other Studios that look at it when developing new movie ideas… This way, ‘Preacher’ will join the club of ‘Nine’, ‘Robotech’ or ‘The Avengers’, CMP’s movies that are later developed too by other majors.