SEPTEMBER, 2


METROID: PRIME

Action Sci-Fi

The Cast: Charlize Theron, Joaquin Phoenix, Laurence Fishburne. Voice only: Carla Gugino.

The Director: Zack Snyder
The Screenwriter: Dawson Edwards

The Plot:

A large bright sun shines through a beautiful blue sky. We see a giant swimming pool reflecting the suns image. Then the outline of a person walks into the reflection. A gorgeous blonde woman stands on the edge of a diving board about to jump off. She looks extremely sad, and then we see her jump. In slow motion we see her body twirl and spin through the air in perfect form. Just before splashes down into the water, we cut to a firm landing on a dried ground.

The camera pans up from an orange boot to see the familiar sight of the bounty hunter Samus Aran (C.Theron). The sun is gone; the pool is nowhere to be found. We are on an entirely different planet, and behind Samus is not a diving board but her similarly colored orange gunship. We see through her visor that Samus’ eyes are no longer sad but angry. We see what she sees, an ancient tomb completely in ruins. From her visor we get a quick video mission log. She is informed by Galactic Federation’s Chief Officer (L.Fishburne), that contact with Squad Bravo, a team of 12 Marines and Troopers, was lost eight days prior to the destruction of planet Zebes, and that she must find them and render assistance.

Samus walks around the destroyed temple halls of planet Aether, scanning any objects or remaining plant life that would give her any sign of where the squad had been or currently was. While exploring the Squads' abandoned base of operations, she comes across some giant machine. When she tries to scan it, a blinding yellow beam of light suddenly emerges and hits a stone tablet across the room which morphs into a giant purple and black portal. Samus sees someone standing in front of the portal. It appears to be Samus herself, only her armor is light blue and slightly holographic. This blue being turns back to look at Samus then walks into the portal. Samus doesn’t hesitate and immediately runs in after her. We see her in a constant fall surrounded by nothing. When she finally lands, she is flying out of the same machine she went into. Only now her scanner tells her she is in Dark Aether.

Samus quickly notices she is surrounded by some barrier. She attempts to put her hand through but the black matter she touches simply harms her suit. “Well shit. So much for impulse decision making.” Samus notices the blue version of herself in the corner picking at what her scanner tells her is Phazon, a highly radioactive substance that’s usually called “The Great Poison.”

Upon detecting Samus' arrival, the being destroys a nearby crystal. The barrier this crystal generates shrinks away to nothing, and Samus begins to be affected by the poisonous atmosphere. After the barrier fades, vicious creatures unknown to Samus at the time attack her. She escapes, but almost all of her suit suffers a lot of damage. Despite the damage done to her suit, Samus proceeds to find another squad base, eventually finding their landing site where their damaged and burning ship is. Samus watches the commanding officer's last video log, where he (J.Phoenix) states that all the troopers were brutally murdered by some form of alien resembling a small octopus with spikes.

We then zoom in on her eyes which have become sad once again. When we zoom out we see Samus back at the pool. As she steps out of the pool we see the officer from the video waiting poolside. Samus rolls her eyes and says “I have nothing else to say to you, Ace.” He yells at her that every time he comes home from a mission she’s never there. He tells her that a relationship can’t be had if they never see each other. "I am a warrior!" she screams without turning around and we focus back on her eyes…

Back to Dark Aether, she moves on to investigate, but soon realizes she has reached the end of the line: the room that might let her move onwards is blocked by some form of shielding that is impervious to her weapons systems. However, she finds a missile launcher near the landing site and, after a short battle with some Dark Splinters, the octopus like creatures, continues to explore the Temple Grounds.

She travels up a Temple elevator and discovers a device which contains a bright, glowing yellow light. There she encounters an alien Luminoth called U-Mos (Voice of C.Gugino), who tells her the true name of the dark beings she encountered: the Ing. “Do not be afraid. I am U-Mos, Sentinel of the Luminoth. Please listen, and hear of our world's peril.” It explains how the Luminoth fought the Ing over their planetary energy. The Ing have stolen nearly all of it, and so U-Mos ask her to help them. The Energy Transfer Module she had taken back from the Ing would help her steal the energy and protect her from Ing possession. Stranded at the moment and with nothing better to do, Samus agrees.

U-Mos informs her that she needs to collect a few keys in order to access the Dark Temple. As the alien narrates, it sends her to the Agon Wastes, plains that were burned by a Leviathan impact, which brought the Ing and created Dark Aether. We then get another panel on the screen showing U-Mos sending her to the flooded Torvus Forest to recover the lost energy and key there. A third panel on the screen shows Samus restoring the energy to the Sanctuary Fortress, a mechanical facility high in the cliffs. In the Ing Hive Temple, Samus faces Quadraxis, a massive security drone created by the Luminoth to protect the Fortress. After defeating them, Samus acquires the third energy key. U-Mos, using the power Aether now has thanks to her, upgrades her suit, now equipping it with yellow beam known as the Light of Aether within it.

The Temple begins to rumble and from the ceiling drops down the Emperor Ing, a mighty behemoth that rules the Ing Horde. Though she is almost defeated, she prevails and drains the stolen energy from the final energy controller. With the last of its energy gone, Dark Aether and the dimension it exists in begins to crumble; with only a few minutes to spare, Samus races out towards the gateway and prepares to leave. However, poisonous Phazon quickly covers the entrance from which she came. Samus looks behind, only to find this “Dark” Samus pointing her arm cannon at her.

Dark Samus has mutated greatly due to extreme phazon absorption from when we last saw her. Samus exploits the Samus’ fatal weakness - an overload of Phazon. This in mind, Samus collects small Phazon bursts launched by Dark Samus with her Charge Beam and forms one-shot phazon beams that can penetrate Dark Samus's phazon shield. Eventually, Samus prevails, and Dark Samus disintegrates.

Unfortunately, her victory is short-lived, as the Temple is collapsing, and she is quickly surrounded by a horde of Ing intending to take her with the planet. Suddenly, some Phazon on a wall of the Temple disintegrates, revealing a portal. Realizing this as her last way out, Samus successfully evades them and jumps into the portal. Samus arrives safely back in Aether, moments before Dark Aether collapses. As she walks back to her ship, Samus is met again by U-Mos who is now joined by hundreds of fellow Luminoth bowing in gratefulness.

Samus demobilizes her suit once she enters her ship, holds out the Commanding Officer’s dogtags that read “Captain A.C. Exeter”. She squeezes them and sheds a tear.

As Samus's gunship disappears in space, outside of Aether's atmosphere a multitude of blue particles combine into an unknown figure.

END

Before the credits roll, we hear the voice of the Galactic Federation’s Chief Officer saying “Eventually she’ll connect the dots between Zebes and Aether. I pray that when that day comes, it will not be too late.”


Stark’s Comment:
I would be so happy even if it only makes half the amazing numbers ‘Metroid’ made!

Behind The Scenes:
-The two latest movies directed by Snyder for CMP (‘Metroid’ and ‘Athena’) have both made more than 200 millions at box office.
-Joaquin Phoenix joined the cast after Russell Crowe rejected the offer to play his character. Crowe said he was not interested in playing a new character in a sequel no matter how successful had been the original film.
-Phoneix has worked with Snyder before in ‘Athena’.
-Josh Collins was the screenwriter of ‘Metroid’.
-Dawson Edwards has already written a third installment of this franchise.

THE LONELY POLYGAMIST

Drama / Comedy

The Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Connelly, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Anna Paquin, Max Records, Kate Mara, James Woods

The Director: David Fincher
The Screenwriter: Chad Taylor

The Plot:

Golden Richards (M.Ruffalo),a 45-year-old husband to four wives, father to twenty-eight children, is having the mother of all midlife crises. His construction business is failing, his family has grown into an overpopulated mini-dukedom beset with insurrection and rivalry, and he is done in with grief: due to the accidental death of a daughter and the stillbirth of a son, he has come to doubt the capacity of his own heart. Along the way, we see the origins of Golden's father Royal (J.Woods), the courtship of his first wife Beverly (J.Roberts), critical past moments in the history of this odd, sprawling family.

The first wife, Beverly is firm, set in her ways, and not afraid to speak her mind. She lives in the old house, along with some ten children. Wives two and three are sisters (Rose and Nola): Nola (M.Gyllenhall) is calm in the midst of chaos, while Rose (J.Connelly), is fragile and has mental health issues. The fourth wife, Trish (A.Paquin), is prettier and much younger than the other wives. She lives with just one child, Faye, a.k.a "the weird one", in the third house. Trish has suffered several miscarriages, and she thinks about sex all of the time, but gets very little of it when she does get to spend time with Golden. His wives frequently argue among themselves, arrange date nights for Golden, and they take occasional emergencies that present themselves in stride.

He ignores his religious beliefs, and helps his company build a brothel in Nevada, named Pussycat Manor, away from his home Utah. He tells friends and family that he is actually building an old persons home. He is forced to make some tough decisions in his life,one being to start referring to his children as individuals, and refer to them as whole.That is except for Rusty (M.Records),an eccentric 11-year old known as the "family terrorist", who moved out of the house of his nervous mother, Rose,and moves in with the eldest of the wives, Beverly. He's a kid looking for attention, but with his predicament, he can't find any.

Trish ends up being the one who shows the most compassion towards Golden. But she begins to wonder about life beyond polygamy.On Rusty's 12th birthday,Golden does not show up to the party. Rusty, unlike the other kids, takes offense, and sets off on a mission of revenge.While in Nevada, Golden then accidentally falls in love with his boss's wife Beth (K.Mara),a woman wanting to become his fifth spouse, which makes him feel even worse about how he's treating his family.

In the movie, every time tragedy hits, humor soon follows due to Rusty. It shows how dysfunctional every family is. In the end, Golden listens to Rusty's advice, leaves Beth behind, and settles down in his home in Utah. He visits the families equally, and lets Trish free to explore marriage elsewhere.

The movie ends with Golden putting in a home video of him playing with his young daughter, whom died three years prior to the story.


Stark’s Comment:
A different kind of story. A hit or miss. I like very much this movie but I am not sure at all of how is it going to work at box office.

Behind The Scenes:
-The film is based in a book by Brady Udall.
-Although Chad Taylor is the author of the screenplay, this time his affiliate production company Silver Lining Entertaining is not involved in the project.
-During the whole pre-production phase of the movie, it was Brad Pitt who was going to play the lead character. But just when the shooting was about to begin, Fincher and Taylor decided that Ruffalo should replace him. The only reason given for the change was that ‘Ruffalo fitted the character better’.
-Both Julia Roberts and Jennifer Connelly have said in different interviews that the main reason why they accepted to be in the movie playing not too starry roles was that they very much wanted to work with Fincher.
-Fincher is already working in the pre-production of his next CMP’s film (see ‘The Innercircle’ section below).

DOG DAYS

Action

The Cast: Jason Statham, Billy Bob Thornton, Alfred Molina, Jet Li, Leslie Kim, Randall Duk Kim

The Director: Simon West
The Screenwriter: Steve Connors

The Plot:

Kane (J.Statham) is a small-time gangster who has decided to quit his criminal career and begin a new life in Shanghai with his new girlfriend, Xiu (L.Kim). One day, Kane receives an unexpected visit. It’s his old friend and partner, Lynch (B.B.Thornton). Lynch still works for Glazer (A.Molina), the boss of the crime organization Kane used to work for. While Kane is a cool and quiet man, Lynch is a paranoid and aggressive guy addicted to tranquilizer pills.

Lynch is at Shanghai to contact an informant named Brady Lung. Glazer is involved in a complex operation involving smuggling guns to Africa. Brady has some important information related to it. Lynch asks Kane to accompany him to meet Brady. Kane is reluctant at first because he is not interested in criminal operations anymore. But he finally accepts. He has always felt this kind of protective affection for Lynch.

Things go wrong from the very beginning. As soon as they meet Brady at a warehouse, they are shot by a band of gunfighters. A violent firefight takes place. During the gunfight, Kane accidentally shoot a woman who is beside Brady and kills her. Then, they shoot down Brady too. Kane and Lynch run away from the warehouse and the thugs chase them. But after a wild car chase through the streets of Shanghai, Kane and Lynch finally get rid of them.

Once safe at Kane’s home, Kane and Lynch have a violent discussion. Kane is so mad at Lynch for getting him into a gunfight. But they finally reconcile and Kane accepts to help Lynch.

Lynch phones Glazer and tells him that they were ambushed. Glazer takes the first plane to Shanghai and meets Kane and Lynch at Kane’s home.

While they are talking, police forces surround Kane’s home and assault it. After a firefight, Glazer, Kane and Lynch get to escape and police chases them on the highway but they can get rid of police. They go to Xiu’s apartment to hide.

They have no idea why Police is chasing them. Glazer tells Kane and Lynch that they have to see his partner in Shanghai, a crime lord named Hsing (J.Li), to know what’s going on.

The three of them meet Hsing at his headquarters. Hsing tells them that he was not behind the ambush at the warehouse. That was Brady’s initiative. Brady worked for Hsing but he betrayed him so Hsing is happy for his death. The problem now is that the girl Kane shot at the warehouse was Brady’s girlfriend but also the daughter of a corrupted and very powerful Police chief named Shangsi (R.D.Kim). Shangsi wants revenge for his daughter’s death. Somebody has to pay for it.

Glazer agrees that somebody has to pay for the girl’s death. And that has to be Kane and Lynch. So the mean Glazer instantly sells Kane and Lynch and tells Hsing to capture them and offered them as a present to Shangsi.

Hsing orders his men to capture Kane and Lynch. But they react quickly. Kane and Lynch fight against Hsing’s men and escape from Hsing’s headquarters.

Kane tries to call Xiu to tell her that they have to leave Shanghai as soon as possible now that both Police and Hsing’s gang are chasing them but Xiu does not answer the phone. Kane and Lynch decide to go directly to Xiu’s apartment. On their way there, Kane and Lynch have another fight as Kane is mad again of how Lynch has ruined his new life.

As soon as they arrive to Xiu’s place, they notice that the apartment complex has been taken over by Hsing’s men. Fighting them through the complex, they find Xiu trying to run away at the roof of the building. But Hsing himself is there too and he has taken her hostage. Lynch loses control and decides to shoot Hsing. But Kane, fearing for Xiu’s safety, knocks Lynch and surrenders.

During the following day, Kane, Lynch and Xiu are brutally tortured by Hsing at his headquarters. Believed to be near death, Kane is thrown by Hsing’s men into a dumpster. When Kane regains consciousness, he returns to the house. First, he finds Hsing. Kane asks him where is Glazer. Hsing tells him where he was supposed to meet Glazer that very same morning to close the weapons deal. Once Hsing tells him, Kane kills him in cold blood.

After that, Kane goes where Lynch and Xiu are to rescue them. After killing the men keeping them, Kane frees Lynch. But it is too late for Xiu. She has already died. Kane breaks in pain.

Kane and Lynch steal a car and drive to the place where Hsing was supposed to meet Glazer. They meet Glazer at an elegant country club. They are decided to kill him for his betrayal. Glazer knows he has no other chance: he tells Kane and Lynch that he has a private jet waiting for him at Shangai’s Airport and that they can take it to leave Shanghai. Right after saying that, a hole opens in Glazer’s head: he has been shot by a sniper.

Shangsi’s police forces are surrounding the country club. Kane and Lynch run away under police fire. Once out of the club, they see a train coming. They jump onto the train, thinking they’re finally out of trouble. But the train is immediately stopped by Police and Kane and Lynch are captured.

A helicopter arrives to take Kane and Lynch to Police’s headquarters. But they soon take control, throwing their captors out of the helicopter and forcing the pilot to take them to Shanghai’s Airport.

When they arrive to the airport’s warehouse where Glazer’s private jet is, Shangsi himself is waiting there for them with his men. A gunfight takes place between Kane and Lynch and Shangsi’s policemen. Kane and Lynch know that they are too many to beat them so they run away across the runways of the airport. Shangsi chases them in an airport car.

Finally, Kane and Lynch find a commercial plane where passengers are boarding. They get into it. Just when he is about to get inside the airplane, Kane turns and makes one single final shot. The bullet enters through Shangsi’s throat killing him instantly.

Kane and Lynch have no other option than hijacking the airplane. They order the pilot to take off inmediately.

As the plane leaves Shanghai, Lynch turns to Kane with a shiny smile and tells him: ‘It’s been quite a ride, ah?’ Kane knocks him down.


Stark’s Comment:
Typical action flick. I guess it should work nicely without big surprises in any way. Don’t expect a flop. Don’t expect a record-breaker.

Behind The Scenes:
-This film is based on the console game ‘Kane & Lynch: Dog Days’. The game is the sequel of a previous one. Connors decided to adapt the sequel instead of the original game when he got to know that Hollywood is adapting it with Bruce Willis and Jamie Foxx playing the starring couple.
-It was Jason Statham himself who gave the idea of having Simon West directing the film as they have recently worked together in ‘The Mechanic’.
-Leslie Kim’s real name is Han Ye Seul. She is from California but she has mostly developed her acting and modeling career in South Korea.
-Billy Bob Thornton is already shooting his next CMP’s film: the comedy ‘Skin Tight’.


WOMAN OF GOD: Ridley Scott returns to CMP to direct this epic historical movie. The film tells the legend of Pope Joan, said to be the only woman to have become Pope of Rome, back in the 9th century. It is James Bradley who has written his own version of this legendary character whose existence has always been denied by the Catholic Church. Cate Blanchett, not seen in CMP since ‘The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time’, is going to play Pope Joan. This production will have both a top budget and a top-notch cast. It is the first time that Scott and Bradley work together.

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN: ‘Schroendinger’s Litterbox’, the first screenplay written by Ben Tyler, has become a cult comedy in CMP. Released back in Season 6 and winner of the Best Screenplay GMA, it is still remembered as one of the most brilliant and creative comedies ever released by the Studio. Twelve Seasons later, Ben Tyler has decided to reunite again the main talents involved in that movie in a new comedy. Director Richard Linklater and stars Zach Braff and Anne Hathaway are back together again in this new Tyler’s movie that will tell a most original story taking place in a futuristic world.

BORN AGAIN: This reflection about reincarnation written and directed by Josh Collins is going to have quite a long cast that includes talents like Tobey Maguire, who has already worked with Collins before in the critically acclaimed ‘Whatever happened to Holden Caulfield?’; Jeffrey Wright, who has also worked with Collins before in ‘Fireflies In The Jelly-Jars’ and ‘Little Miss Dollface’; and Jada Pinkett Smith, only seen before in CMP in the film ‘The Pledges’.

THE SKY IS GREY: Darren Aronofsky is directing this drama written by Chad Taylor and co-starred by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Daniel Craig. Two actresses join this cast: the star from ‘Desperate Housewives’ Marcia Cross, working for the first time in a CMP’s film; and Paula Patton, who could be seen in the Matt Kubrick’s zombies trilogy ‘Syndrome’.

SKIN TIGHT: D.R. Cobb is behind this big screen adaptation of the funny book by Carl Hiaasen. Harold Ramis is directing it and John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton – who can be seen in this week’s release ‘Dog Days’ - are the starring couple. Together with them, we will also see in the film stars like Carla Gugino – who can be heard making a voice-only job in this week’s release ‘Metroid: Prime’ -, Andy Garcia, who could be seen past Season in the megahit ‘The Undercovers’; Hank Azaria, not seen in CMP since ‘Being Ben Stiller’; and Marley Shelton, who made his CMP’s debut with ‘Dark Shadows’.

SOMEWHERE OTHER THAN THE NIGHT: Veteran actor David Morse joins the cast of this drama written by Josh Collins and directed by Sofia Copolla. Morse plays Perla Haney-Jardine’s father. It is the first time that this veteran actor works in a CMP’s movie.

OEDIPUS REX: Two top class cameos for this adaptation of the Sophocles’ tragedy written by D.R. Cobb and being directed by Martin Scorsese: Mel Gibson and Robert De Niro. Gibson has only worked as an actor in one CMP’s movie before: ‘Warland’. After that, he directed the failed ‘1066’. Robert De Niro’s last work for CMP was the multi-awarded and Best Picture GMA winner ‘The Show’. He and Scorsese have worked together before in CMP in ‘The Heirs’ trilogy and the also Best Picture GMA winner ‘American Tabloid’.

WONDER WOMAN III: Two more talents seen in the previous installments of this franchise are back again: Josh Lucas and Carrie-Ann Moss. Zhang Yimou is directing this third adventure of Diana, played once more by Cobie Smulders, with a screenplay written by Dawson Edwards.

JONESTOWN: Back in 1978, at the little South American nation Guyana, a terrible event took place. The members of the community known as the Peoples Temple committed a mysterious collective suicide. Oliver Stone (‘Home’, ‘The Company’, ‘Haight-Ashbury’) has decided to tell that sinister story with a screenplay written by D.R.Cobb. Josh Brolin, already seen this Season in ‘The Goonies II’, is going to play Jim Jones, the leader of the sect. And Best Actor GMA Winner David Strathairn plays a US Government official that travels to Guyana to investigate what’s going on.

THE TEAM: Ian Holm, seen for the last time in CMP in ‘Freedom City’, and Leighton Meester, whose only previous work for the Studio was James Cameron’s ‘Stanley & Livingstone’, join the cast of this action movie written by Joey Stark and directed and produced by Michael Bay about a team of adventurers, leaded by Ben Affleck, in an alternative universe.


DAWSON EDWARDS – ‘METROID: PRIME’

Three Seasons ago, ‘Metroid’ became a record-breaker release. This videogame adaptation written by Josh Collins made 279 million at box office generating outstanding net gains of 406 million for the Studio. It still is the alltimes top 5 best box office in CMP’s history and the alltimes top 4 highest net gains. A few months later, Dawson Edwards surprisingly announced that he was going to replace Collins as screenwriter of this saga. So he is the writer of this week’s expected release, ‘Metroid: Prime’. And we have talked with him about this film an another ones of his works.

1.How was the process that has tuned you into the new screenwriter of this franchise?

I'd say it was a very simple process. One random evening I decided I wanted to put my hands on the Metroid franchise. So I immediately asked Josh Collins if he was going to make a sequel any time soon. We discussed the basics of how to do this sequel and I definitely had no problems with any of his suggestions. Any time someone recommends Terminator 2 as a base for your movie is an awesome moment. Long story short, I wrote it and pitched it to Stark.

2.What's new in this sequel in relation with the first movie?

Initially, not much. The main cast and director are returning though! It wasn't until the very end of the scripting process that I came up with a loose but good way of tying Josh's film with mine and still leaving the door wide open for potential sequels.

3.You are releasing soon too the third installment of 'Wonder Woman'. Is it difficult to find new ideas for the character after the two previous movies and the three 'Justice League' films?

Yes and no. Wonder Woman 3 is very much like Wonder Woman II. I think that's a good thing, especially because I thought Wonder Woman 2 was a forgotten GMA contender. Still, I love the character too much for me to ever draw a complete blank on what to do with her. With the Justice League movies, I get to sit back and watch Diana on a much grander scale whereas my movies are far more personal. Luckily for me I have another Wonder Woman movie idea that I'd love to write, but I'm not quite sure if it would translate to the screen well. Its quite epic.

4.Both 'Metroid: Prime' and 'Wonder Woman III' are obliged to become blockbusters. Do you feel more pressured when releasing top budget productions than more artsy films?

I feel pressure when I make dramas. I've never won a GMA screenplay award so with every non-action movie I write, there's a thought in my head screaming for me to make it the best drama or the best GMA nominee possible. One of these days I'll shock the world and have a huge blockbuster movie win a GMA for Best Picture and Best Screenplay.

5:Is there any future plan for other superheroes you have written about, like The Flash or Superman?

Absolutely none. I told the Superman story that I have always wanted to tell and I have promised Joshua Jackson that his time as Wallace Rudolph West aka The Flash under my pen is over. I do have two new ideas for superheroes but I doubt they ever get past the idea stage.


THE FORGOTTEN TRILOGY

Back in the good old days of CMP’s Season 1, Joey Stark teamed up with Martin Scorsese to put up a movies saga that paid tribute to the mafia genre and specially ‘The Godfather’ films. It was ‘The Heirs’ and it told the turbulent relationship between a mafia family boss played by Robert De Niro and his son, Sean Penn. ‘The Heirs’ trilogy was both a critical and box office success and has become a legend in CMP’s world. Nine Season after the release of ‘The Heirs – Part 3’, Chad Taylor had a surprising idea: putting up a new trilogy that would continue the story told in ‘The Heirs’ focused in an unknown son of Sean Penn, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Jonathan Demme was chosen to direct this new trilogy. Taylor offered Scorsese to produce the films. But Scorsese rejected the offer. He said that he did not want to influence Demme in his work. Joey Stark, writer of the original trilogy, collaborated with Taylor in the writing of the first movie of the new trilogy. But finally it was Chad Taylor’s achievement to build a whole new story and to bravely face the difficult task of developing this quality continuation of a CMP’s icon. A risky and daring bet and a success at the end.


THE FORGOTTEN
Jonathan Demme / Chad Taylor
Box Office: 48 mill. / Net Gains: 7 mill.
The Cast:
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michelle Williams, Robert Pattinson, Ben Wishaw, Robert Downey Jr., Michael Douglas, Tom Wilkinson, Sharon Stone, Robert De Niro
Comment:
The first film of the trilogy was a severe disappointment at box office. Nobody expected such weak numbers. But critics very much supported this story that followed the pattern of the original trilogy mixing action, romance, mob world and family conflicts. The film got 4 nominations at the Golden Moon Awards: Most Wanted Sequel, Villain (Tom Wilkinson), Supporting Actor (Robert Pattinson) and Actor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). It did not win at any of them, but at least if proved that audiences appreciated the film and decided Harry Stark to go on with the saga.
Curiosities:
-Michael Douglas and Robert De Niro were the talents playing again the characters they already played in ‘The Heirs’.
-De Niro’s work in the film was only a one sequence cameo.
-Robert Pattinson was particularly praised by critics as the movie showed he could do something more (and better) than being just the sexy vampire of the ‘Twilight’ movies.

THE RESURRECTED
Jonathan Demme / Chad Taylor
Box Office: 113 mill. / Net Gains: 154 mill.
The Cast:
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michelle Williams, Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson, Lea Michele, Tom Wilkinson, Sharon Stone, Bruce Willis, Michael Douglas
Comment:
This second installment proved that it was worthy to go on with the saga no matter the weak numbers made by the first movie. ‘The Resurrected’ is unanimously considered the best of the three movies and it was also the biggest success of the three of them. The film added new and very interesting characters to the story, specially the mobster played by Johnny Depp but also the FBI agent played by Willis. It added too some unexpected plot twists with the introduction of Lea Michele as the new love interest of Gordon-Levitt’s character. And it set as the main plotline of the saga the confrontation between Gordon-Levitt and Pattinson after discovering they are in fact half brothers.
Curiosities:
-Jonathan Demme admitted in an interview that he had doubts when he offered Johnny Depp to be in the movie. ‘I thought he would reject playing a supporting role in the film. He is such a big star after all… But he liked the story so much when he read the screenplay that he instantly accepted the job. It was a wonderful surprise’, said Demme.
-When the first movie was written, it wasn’t planned that Sharon Stone’s character would turn out to be Gordon-Levitt’s secret mother. That idea came out during the conversations Joey Stark and Chad Taylor had about the saga.
-‘The Resurrected’ got 3 Golden Moon Awards’ nominations: Production Design, Most Wanted Sequel and Best Picture. It did not win at any of them again.

THE RESPECTED
Jonathan Demme / Chad Taylor
Box Office: 64 mill. / Net Gains: 46 mill.
The Cast:
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Robert Pattinson, Lea Michelle, Johnny Depp, Bruce Willis, Tom Wilkinson, Nicole Kidman, Michael Douglas
Comment:
After the nice numbers made by ‘The Resurrected’, there was big expectations about this release. But, finally, things didn’t work as well as expected. And, this time, also critics turned their back to the movie. The story of this third installment was presented as the final duel between Gordon-Levitt and Pattinson. But critics considered that the story had abandoned the spirit and atmosphere of a mobsters movie to become something different: a mix between the story of a serial killer (Pattinson killing almost everybody…) and too forced family relationships (i.e.: Lea Michele’s character turns out to be Nicole Kidman’s daughter and Kidman was the lover of both De Niro and Penn’s characters in the original trilogy… an amazing coincidence). Still, it was a very entertaining movie no matter some obvious inconsistencies in the screenplay.
Curiosities:
-It was rumored that Nicole Kidman, who makes a brief appearance in the movie, demanded and was paid an extremely high salary for playing again the character she had played in the three movies of the original trilogy.
-This is the only movie of the trilogy that was ignored at the Golden Moon Awards, although everybody expected that at least Pattinson would get a Best Villain nod.


JULIA ROBERTS

One of the big names of the industry, Julia Roberts, returns this week to CMP playing a supporting role in the new David Fincher’s movie for the Studio, ‘The Loyal Polygamist’. Julia is such a veteran in CMP’s world as she has been working regularly for the Studio since its very first Season. As a curiosity, she is also one of the ‘most ever nominated and never win’ stars at the Golden Moon Awards, with four nods. In her CMP’s career, Julia has cared more for making prestigious works than for box office’s success.

COURT APPEAL
Ron Howard / Joey Stark
B.O.: 104 mill. / N.G.: 64 mill.
Julia made her debut in CMP in Season 1 with a very mainstream courtroom comedy. The main appeal of the movie was the starry starring couple: Julia and Tom Hanks. The film worked well enough at box office. Still is the best box office made by a CMP’s movie with Julia in it and her only ‘+100’ release. Julia and Hanks were nominees at the Best Starring Couple category.

THE PASSION BENEATH
Brian Kelley / Brian Kelley
B.O.: 22 mill. / N.L.: 14 mill.
Kelley, a screenwriter with a short career in the Studio, chose Julia to star this drama about an interracial relationship between Julia and Jamie Foxx. Julia dared to shoot some steamy sequences. The film didn’t work at box office at all. It is one of the two flops Julia has suffered in CMP. A risky bet for Julia that went wrong.

WARLAND
Sidney Pollack / Joey Stark
B.O.: 81 mill. / N.G.: 82 mill.
The classic ‘war journalists’ story, strongly influenced by films like ‘The Year Of Living Dangerously’ or ‘Under Fire’. Julia, Mel Gibson and Edward Burns were the sides of a love triangle in this quality movie. She got her first nod at the Best Actress category with this film. But it was John Goodman the only one who took a statue home with it for Best Supporting Actor.

THE FUNERAL DRUM
Michael Mann / Joey Stark & James Bradley
B.O.: 70 mill. / N.G.: 45 mill.
Joey Stark cast Julia for the third time to co-star this cops drama with Sean Penn. The film was critically acclaimed. It got 6 nominations at the Golden Moon Awards. Finally, the film won 3 statues, becoming the most awarded movie of Season 8 although it didn’t win at the Best Picture category. It was the first screenplay co-written by Stark and James Bradley before they teamed up again with ‘Athena’.

THE CRITIC
Rob Reiner / John Daws
B.O.: 57 mill. / N.G.: 17 mill.
In this mockumentary about the life of a neurotic movie critic, played by Patrick Stewart, Julia made a cameo playing herself, just like other big stars like Will Smith or Brad Pitt. Critics applauded this satiric approach to their job.

THE AWFUL TRUTH
Joel & Etan Coen / Richard Franzwa
B.O.: 81 mill. / N.G.: 57 mill.
Julia and Tom Hanks met again in a CMP’s movie with this acid and dark comedy about a wife (Julia) discovering that her husband (Hanks) is cheating her with her own sister among other women. The Coen brothers directed with their very peculiar sense of humor this quality movie and Julia reached her third GMA nomination, again fighting for the Best Actress award and again missing this new chance to win it.

RIDERS ON THE STORM
Darren Aronofsky / Chad Taylor
B.O.: 21 mill. / N.L.: 17 mill.
In this very peculiar story written by Chad Taylor, Julia only made a cameo at the end, playing a mysterious woman that shows up in the twisted life of the starring couple played by Will Patton and Mickey Rourke. This strange and artsy film didn’t work at box office, meaning the second flop in Julia’s filmography in CMP.

THE ORPHANAGE
M. Night Shymalan / James Bradley
B.O.: 55 mill. / N.G.: 8 mill.
After working together in ‘The Funeral Drum’, James Bradley chose Julia to star this very interesting horror movie about a mother looking for her missing son. The film was the American remake of a Spanish movie directed by Alejandro Amenabar. Sadly, it didn’t work at box office as expected and it hardly avoided net losses. But at least, it meant the fourth nomination at the Golden Moon Awards for Julia, fighting for the Best Actress award for the third time.


Here are the four women Mark Ruffalo decided to marry in ‘The Lonely Polygamist’ in a promotional picture of the movie. Considering how great they look, it is easy to understand why Ruffalo’s character keeps getting married once and again…



This week, David Fincher releases his fifth work for CMP, ‘The Lonely Polygamist’. And, as soon as he has finished making this movie, he has begun working on the pre-production of his next work for the Studio. Fincher has decided to make a U-turn in his CMP’s career. After choosing pretty author-esque projects, he has decided to try luck at a recurrent field of work in CMP: a comic adaptation. Fincher will direct the adaptation written by a new screenwriter in CMP, John Malone, of a minor Marvel’s character, Namor the Sub-Mariner. And his first decision has been rejecting the actor Malone had chosen to play Namor, Alden Ehrenreich. Now, the first task Fincher has is finding another actor to star the film that pleases both him and Malone.

Dawson Edwards is so confident that this week’s release ‘Metroid: Prime’ is going to make a box office as extraordinary as the first movie of the series did that he has already written a third installment for the franchise. The third ‘Metroid’ film has already entered into the CMP’s waiting list and Zack Snyder has stated during a press conference presenting ‘Metroid: Prime’ that he feels absolutely excited about that new screenplay and that he is looking forward to keep making new movies of the saga.

David Slade had a personal success past Season as director of the acclaimed – and Best Picture nominee – ‘The Question’. But that has not been enough to keep him attached to this franchise. Slade has announced that he has renounced to direct the upcoming sequel of the film. The reason? Slade has been made ‘an offer he could not reject’ to direct another top budget film. Only thing I know about it is that this other movie will be starred and produced by no other than Tom Cruise. Cruise wanted so much Slade to direct it that rumors say he offered him an outstanding salary to seduce him. And he did. Slade has said that his commitment with this new project prevents him from getting involved in the sequel of ‘The Question’ due to agenda problems. Slade’s abandonment has taken D.R.Cobb by surprise. Cobb is now looking for an urgent replacement to direct this sequel.

Well, to be honest, I know a bit more about this new film starred and produced by Cruise. Although Cruise wants to keep it quite secret yet, my confidential sources tell me that the screenplay of the movie has been written by one of the new screenwriters expected to make their debut next Season, Yuri Redding. I have also been said that it is a console game adaptation. And Cruise has decided to take full control of the project as producer in his will to finally become a main CMP’s stars. Tom Cruise’s films for CMP have been pretty successful so far but he has never got to become a demanded talent in the Studio. He hopes that he might finally become a main CMP’s star by leading his own franchise. And he has bet for David Slade to help him in this objective.

And I end up this week jumping from a movie that is coming up to a movie that never will. To put an end to rumors, Joey Stark has confirmed in a recent interview that there won’t be a ‘The Goonies III’. ‘Matt Kubrick very much wanted to go on with a new Goonies’ movie but D.R. Cobb and I do not want to get involved in such a difficult work again. It is not that ‘The Goonies II’ wasn’t as successful as we expected, it is just that we want to focus on other projects right now’, has said Stark.