SEPTEMBER, 30


TARZAN

Action Adventure / Drama

The Cast: Taylor Kitsh, Gemma Arterton, Kyle Chandler, Tim Roth, Ryan Kwanten, Jessica Pare

The Director: Joe Wright
The Screenwriter: D.R. Cobb

The Plot:

While on their way home from an African safari, Jack Clayton (R.Kwanten), CEO of Greystoke Industries, and his pregnant wife Alice's (J.Pare) plane gets caught in a storm and crashes into the jungle below. They survive the crash and Jack manages to build a tree shelter using pieces of the crashed plane. Alice goes into labor and gives birth to a son. She dies soon after giving birth due to an infection. Jack buries his wife. Several months later while out hunting, Jack is killed by an ape. The infant John Clayton is taken into the ape tribe.

At age 8, while out playing with one of the chimps, John is attacked by a panther. He jumps into a river and in a true "sink or swim" moment, figures out how to swim and escapes, but the chimp he was playing with is killed by the panther. He floats downriver a bit, when he gets out, he notices something in the trees. It's the shelter his father built. For the first time he sees his reflection in a mirror, discovering that he is not an ape. He also finds his father's hunting knife, which has his father's name engraved on it. The sharp and shiny object fascinates him.

Several years pass, and John (T.Kitsh), now an adult, has now become the dominant male of his ape tribe. He goes to the tree structure everyday, and looks at books his parents had. One day, while on his way back to the tribe he is attacked by a silver-back gorilla. After a long, tense struggle, John manages to kill the beast with his father's knife.

While out on a hunt with his ape companions, they are attacked by a group of natives. The spears and arrows of the natives kill the apes. The natives chase after John, and they eventually manage to hit him with an arrow. They capture John, who they call Tarzan. They keep him captive in their village where the villagers beat him, until one day, a group of anthropologists including Jane Porter (G.Arterton, the first woman John has ever seen), and Paul Darling (K.Chandler), arrive in the village. Jane convinces them to let "Tarzan" go by giving them her watch and hair brush. Tarzan quickly escapes into the jungle, but doesn't stray too far away, and observes the anthropologists (the first white people he has ever seen) from up in the trees.

One day Jane is down by the river, when a panther approaches. Just as the panther is about to strike, Tarzan leaps the trees, where he had been watching Jane, and fights the panther. The panther pounces on Tarzan, badly wounding up his shoulder. Tarzan throws the panther off of him, and stabs it with his father's knife. He then passes out from blood loss.

Jane takes Tarzan to her group's camp and treats his wounds. While nursing him back to health Jane teaches Tarzan some very rudimentary English, and has Paul teach him to shave. Paul finds Tarzan's knife, and notices the engraving. He does some research and discovers the truth about Tarzan and who his parents were. He asks Jane to find out how he has survived all these years in the jungle.

Paul secretly sends off a DNA sample of John/Tarzan to Jack Clayton's brother Bill (T.Roth), John's uncle. Tarzan tells Jane that he was raised by apes, and that he doesn't remember his parents. He takes her to the tree shelter, where they make love. A few days later, Paul announces that they are heading back to America and that he has secured permission to bring John Clayton with them to meet his only relative, and to study his transition into civilization.

Upon their arrival in New York City, Jane takes John to meet his uncle at Greystoke Tower. Since the disappearance of Jack and Alice, Bill Clayton has been running Greystoke Industries, and he doesn't want to give up control of the company to some feral ape man. Jane continues teaching John English, along with teaching him social skills. Paul attempts to trick John into giving him his fortune to "protect his interests", but Jane stops him.

A few months pass, and John and Jane become engaged. One day, John goes to the zoo, and upon seeing apes in cages, he tries to break them out of captivity. He releases the apes and some other animals before he is arrested. Bill attempts to have John declared legally insane so that he can retain control of the company. John is not found insane and is freed.

John misses Africa and decides to sell his shares in the company to Bill for a healthy sum of money, which he uses to build a large estate back in Africa. He and Jane leave America and are married upon their arrival in Africa.


Stark’s Comment:
Can Tarzan still fulfill a movie theatre after all these years? Cobb has adapted the character and the story to our days looking for a new audience. We’ll see if it works…

Behind The Scenes:
-Jonathan Mostow (‘Nick Fury’) got involved as director in the pre-production phase of this movie. But D.R. Cobb decided to replace him and hired Joe Wright (‘Misplaced Affection’) due to the usual ‘creative differences’.
-Both Taylor Kitsh and Gemma Arterton make their debut in CMP with this movie.
-Kyle Chandler’s only previous work in CMP was also written by Cobb: ‘Short On Time’.

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

Comedy / Sci-Fi

The Cast: Zach Braff, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Will Ferrell, Dwayne Johnson, J.K. Simmons. Voices by Michael Clarke Duncan, Hugh Laurie

The Director: Richard Linklater
The Screenwriter: Ben Tyler

The Plot:

Brian Forrest (Zach Braff) has packed up his suitcase and is leaving home for good. He looks back at the bare house for a moment, sighs, and says goodbye to the place.

"Goodbye, master," says the house (V.O. Hugh Laurie).

The door dilates open to reveal the floating city of New Los Angeles. The year is 2084. We find out (via narration from Brian himself) that Brian is packing up and moving to go to his new job on the moon, working in the lunar protein synthesis division of the uber-successful, ever-present megacorporation known as the Pinkwater Conglomerate. It was just as well - he hates this town and everything about it. No matter how many air filters they install, they still can't cover up the smell of dead fish that had been caught in the tidal power collectors. His old job had been for shit, too - the pay wasn't terrible, but his boss was. And then there were the shark people who roamed the streets at night. The only reason he had stayed there was because Amanda (Anne Hathaway) had a job and roots there. And now there was no reason left for him to stay.

"It all happened without warning," he claims. "Three years together - yeah, we had our spats, but no more than most people, right? If there were something wrong, she'd have told me, right? But no - suddenly one day it's 'I'm leaving - there's someone else.' If only I'd sprang for those new memory-enhancing implants, I could find out just what the fuck I did to deserve this.

"Doesn't matter now. I need a fresh start. Get the fuck out of this fish graveyard."

He heads to the space port and boards a space elevator to the orbital GEO station. From there, he will transfer to a special zero-G car, break off from the cable and head to the prefabricated metropolis of Lunar City One.

He sits back in his seat and relaxes. (The operator announces that the in-flight entertainment will be Return of the Giant Hogweed starring the Thesbot 9000 and Hamlet starring Justin Bieber III). But just then, who should appear but Amanda and her new boyfriend Mark (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

Brian tries his best to avoid being seen, deliberately ignoring the advice of his anger management implant chip (again voiced by Hugh Laurie). After all, what can be worse than being stuck on a space elevator with your ex and her new boyfriend? Despite these efforts, he is noticed almost immediately. He pretends to be pleasantly surprised to see them and strikes up a bland conversation with the two. They say that they are going on vacation. He eventually discovers that Mark is a robot (real name: Mark VI, Model 2117B). And not just any robot - he discovers (at a point when Amanda leaves for the powder room and he and Mark are alone) that he is a PleasureBot 6000.

At this point, Brian is no longer able to contain his rage and frustration. Once Amanda returns from the restroom, he explodes ("You left me for a sexbot...you FUCKING BITCH!") A fight of Jerry Springer proportions commences.

Brian is furious that his longtime girlfriend has left him for a "walking vibrator," when he was nothing but faithful to her. Amanda shoots back that Brian is a neurotic wreck, is emotionally abusive, and makes everyone around him miserable. (No one can smell the "dead fish" except him, he has nothing but cruel words to offer most people, and engages in frequent psychosomatic vomiting).

Despite the best efforts of the flight attendants, the argument escalates even further when Brian begins making racist remarks against shark people (Brian, as this argument reveals, is neurotic and kind of a dickhead, to be honest), angering a shark man a few rows back (V.O. Michael Clarke Duncan). Eventually, he makes one disparaging remark against Mark too many, and the robot overcomes his non-violence programming by delivering a haymaker to the face.

The shark-man smells blood and joins the frenzy.

Before they can kill each other, however, a turret descends from the ceiling and fires three perfectly-aimed incapacitation darts at them. Their world goes dark...

Meanwhile, back in Lunar City One, Pinkwater Conglomerate CEO Henry Caldwell (J.K.Simmons) is berating his underlings via vidphone for allowing helium-3 production to increase by 13% (and for allowing his subscription to Pipe Enthusiast Monthly to expire). From his frothing, barely coherent tone, he is obviously either insane or coked out of his mind. His security chief (Dwayne Johnson) interrupts him, informing him that two "known agents and an escapee" have just been detained, and that these people possess information that could destroy them. Furious for being interrupted, he tells them to find them and kill them if they're THAT important. "They're being stalled by spaceport security right now, but-" "And while you're out, get me a danish!" The Chairman then resolves to arrange an "accident" at the factory to keep helium prices high.

Meanwhile, Brian, Mark, and Carl (the shark person) wake up in the GEO station detention block. Each of them remarks how screwed they are - Brian will likely be unable to keep his new job, and Carl will likely get in trouble with his wife, on whom (he says) he is cheating. But Mark is in the worst trouble of all - he and Amanda are not, in fact, on vacation, but are actually on the run. Mark is trying to escape his life as a prostitute and slave (cyber-pimps regularly wipe their hobots' memories so that they don't develop true sentience), and steal away to Mars. Amanda (being something of an expert programmer) had helped him build up immunity to low-level wipes (but not full wipes). But now their names are on the blotter, and his pimp will be able to find them.

Brian angrily suggests that Mark turn himself in to keep Amanda out of danger, but Mark says that he would rather die than become a mindless robot again, and that if Amanda is in undue danger, he will tell her to leave him and go home.

Just before another fight starts, a guard enters. He announces that Amanda has bailed all of them out - including, surprisingly, Carl.

The four of them meet up outside the detention center. Curiously, Carl is the first person she talks to.

"What the hell were you thinking, getting involved in the fight like that?"

"I needed to protect Mark from inside lockup."

"Bullshit - that was you letting your emotions and animal instincts take over!"

"You're one to talk - you escalated the fight in the first place!"

Brian interrupts, demanding to know what's going on.

Carl explains that he is a government agent investigating the Pinkwater Corporation - more specifically, their Robotics Division. Robot prostitution has been illegal ever since the Great Cyberclap Outbreak of 2073 and so, naturally, is the construction of new pleasure models. To get around this, Pinkwater has been constructing models ostensibly for other purposes, and then delivering them (with reprogramming instructions) to known synthetic flesh-peddlers. Since Mark is a model constructed by Pinkwater in 2076, and has a residual datastamp of his own delivery stored in his positronic brain, he makes the perfect physical evidence to present to the authorities.

Amanda, he explains, is a closely involved civilian associate (and anti-cyberslavery activist) who's been working with the investigation for almost two years.

Mark is shocked, hurt, and confused by this turn of events (they've been together for only one year). He asks whether everything between them was a lie.

Amanda says that at first, she was only trying to infiltrate the organization by pretending to be a customer, but she genuinely did fall in love with him.

She tries to explain but Mark interrupts. Mark is still unsure whether he can trust her ever again (deception is something his mind has only been developed enough to process for a short period of time). Carl in turn interrupts their bickering and tells them that they don't have time - Pinkwater's agents are aboard the station and they have twenty minutes to board a release flight to the moon. Brian can use his ticket, Amanda and Carl can claim official business, and Mark can shed his skin and fold himself up as luggage.

"But Pinkwater owns that moon!" Brian protests.

"Well, not all of it. Parts of it are controlled by zombies. Still, you have any better ideas?"

"Christ. I knew I should've taken the early flight instead."

(Back on the moon, the head of security informs Mr. Caldwell - now in the middle of shooting up - that the fugitives have boarded a flight to the moon. He smiles and tells him to have a force ready to meet them there. The camera zooms in on his bloodshot eyes).

The four of them make it to the moon's surface, where indeed Pinkwater has a private police force waiting to arrest them (ostensibly for jumping bail). However, they find that Mark has grown a new skin during the long flight from the Earth to the Moon - one that looks exactly like Brian. Now it is impossible to tell them apart. They take them into custody to determine who is who, and to find out what the Chairman (currently sound asleep) wants to do with them.

During an interrogation, Mark seduces and incapacitates the captain of the guards (who has been struggling with his sexuality for some time). The four fugitives escape in an elaborate chase sequence across the lunar city's sterile prefabricated environment involving tanks, a stolen taxi, and a tricycle. At one point, the shots fired by one of the Pinkwater Security Tanks blasts open an airlock, causing several citizens (including one played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) to go flying out to their deaths on the moon's surface.

They lose their pursuit in the dark outskirts of the lunar city. Or more accurately, their pursuit is too scared to continue. They soon discover why, as they are surrounded by a pack of ravenous zombies. Their leader (Will Ferrell) stops them.

"HOLD IT! Before we eat your brains, we have just one question...do any of you know how to fix a neural protein synthesizer?"

As luck would have it, Brian does. Now that they can synthesize brain matter, the zombies no longer need to eat the brains of humans.

(Here there is a scene of Mr. Caldwell berating his now obviously-closeted head of security for allowing them to escape).

Back in the zombie colony, the zombie leader introduces himself. His name is Steve, leader of the Undead Peoples' Revolutionary Communist Party. The lunar zombies, he explains, were created when one of Pinkwater's cosmetic products went horribly wrong. (Much like a Captain Planet villain, the Conglomerate does little that isn't evil). Most of those affected were workers (except for Steve himself, who was a Vice President), and thus grew to resent corporate authority and became communists. ("We will overthrow our capitalist pigdog oppressors...and then eat their BRAAAAAAAAINS!")

However, despite sitting on a sizable weapons cache, they (like many revolutionary organizations) mostly just hold meetings and don't do much of anything. The entries to the upper city are heavily guarded, so there is little chance of escape from the undercity, much less the planet (which would require getting on an elevator at the Conglomerate-controlled port). They are stuck here, and will have to live among zombie communists for the rest of their lives (which will last as long as the fuel supply for the synthesis machine does).

"Well, we'll just call for reinforcements from the Agency, right?" Brian asks.

Carl grimly explains that this isn't an option. The government is advocating minimal resources and manpower to this operation because they have little interest in the plight of robots, and the . In all likelihood, the Agency has already disavowed all knowledge of this operation. The fact that they even sent him to do the mission (an alcoholic who had failed miserably in his last mission) shows how little faith they had on it. They're on their own now.

The bickering between Mark, Brian, Amanda, and Carl (who, it is revealed, used to date Amanda a long time ago) reaches an all-time high as they each blame each other for what has happened to them. The zombie leader finally tells them to shut up. Angrily, each of them storms off and goes their separate ways.

Brian contemplates the situation for a moment. Against all odds, he's grown to like Mark, and knows that Amanda has only meant well and loves him (she wouldn't be bickering if he didn't). Slowly, he realizes what a neurotic jerk he's been and formulates a plan.

"Okay, if I'm going to get out of this alive, I need to get my ex-girlfriend to reconcile with her robot prostitute boyfriend AND her secret agent partner, so we can help the zombie communists take over the planet and free all the robots from slavery...you know, when you say it out loud, that almost sounds silly."

One by one, he talks (and apologizes) to the three others, reconciling them. (During this, we also learn that the plan to break Mark free of sexual cyberslavery wasn't necessary to the plan - it was Amanda's idea). He then lays out his plan: Mark and Amanda will sneak past the blockade at the entrances to the outer city and make their way to the Robot Control Center, where Amanda will reprogram the security robots to fight for them. Meanwhile, the zombie communists (led by Carl as military commander) will lead the attack and form a new government on the moon.

Despite a few objections (Carl doesn't think the Agency will like a communist-ruled moon and Mark is Catholic), they agree to the plan.

The attack begins the next morning and succeeds (with Mark not only getting past the head of security, but getting him to turn against the Conglomerate). Zombie Steve chases down and eats the Chairman's brain, finally achieving revenge on the man who wronged him.

As the zombie proletariat overthrows their oppressors (with the cooperation of the equally-oppressed humans), Carl, Mark, Amanda, and Brian survey what they have done.

"Well, the governments of the Moon and Earth are going to have plenty to talk about," Carl remarks.

"I'll say," says Mark.

Three months later, we see Brian getting off work at his new job at the now collectively-owned lunar protein synthesis facility. He casts a glance at one of his coworkers, Eva (Mila Kunis).

We then see scenes of the happy new lives of the characters - Mark and Amanda together, the Security Chief with a robot of the same model as Mark, and Carl in a hot tub with several shark women. Brian then asks Eva out for coffee. She helpfully informs him that Eva is short for EVA v2.78, Model 23.

"Well, robots can still...do coffee, right?"

Eva smiles. Roll credits. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3muC5MXn1sY


Stark’s Comment:
The main talents involved in the unforgettable ‘Schroedinger’s Litterbox’ are back… An absolutely crazy comedy. Audiences may love it or hate it… an uncertainty Tyler is used to.

Behind The Scenes:
-Ben Tyler, Richard Linklater, Zach Braff, Anne Hathaway and Will Ferrell teamed up before in the critically acclaimed comedy ‘Schroedinger’s Litterbox’, the first screenplay ever written by Tyler and winner of the Best Screenplay GMA.
-Arnold Schwarzenegger (in a parodic homage to ‘Total Recall’) and Mila Kunis make uncredited cameos in the movie.
-Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character is unofficially inspired in Jude Law’s character in ‘A.I.’
-Ivan Reitman was initially considered to direct the movie. But Braff and Hathaway convinced Tyler to replace him with Linklater to make the shootage a Litterbox’s old friends reunion.
-Gordon-Levitt has already succeeded this Season with another comedy, ‘Cousins’. He rejected to be in this week’s release ‘At Cross Purposes’ to be in this one.

AT CROSS PURPOSES

Action / Film Noir

The Cast: Tom Hardy, Josh Hartnett, Diego Luna, Sarah Shahi, Rory Culkin, Saoirse Ronan, Elijah Wood, Shea Whigham. Voice of Jim Dale.

The Director: John Hillcoat
The Screenwriter: Lawrence Abernathy

The Plot:

“This tale, like any other begins at the beginning, not the end, nor the middle, nor the kinda beginning. This tale begins at the beginning. Oh and a quote as well.” – Narrator (Jim Dale)

PROLOGUE:
At a black screen, these words are spoken before MOMENTO MORI, latin for “Remember You Will Die”, edges its way across the screen. Soon after that, the sound of scuffling and grunts can be heard before a loud gunshot echoes out and the scene opens on the thick Nevada desert. Marco Vespe (D.Luna) stands atop a man with a bullet lodged into his forehead, Marco has a smoking gun in his hand and he looks back towards his partner, Julius DeFranco (T.Hardy). The two speak casually for a moment before putting the man in the back of a truck, their conversation revolving around the increasingly harsh events of a war between Drug Cartels from Mexico that has leaked over into the U.S. Julius, after giving a half-hearted argument, agrees to take the man’s body to a local river while Marco looks through the man’s wallet and finds that he’s in fact the son of Nevada Senator Lawrence Blackwell.

FILM:
In a small dingy strip club on the Las Vegas Strip, Private Detective Benjamin Stuart (J.Harnett) slowly comes to after a long night of binge drinking and barfights. He reaches a hand to his forehead in an attempt to stop his headache. He looks around before heading out into the blazing Vegas sun, he checks his pockets to find that who ever assaulted him has stolen his wallet and car keys.

Back in the Outlands, Julius drops the man’s body in a river after removing all of his clothes and cutting his body in several parts. While in the Outlands, he receives a call from Marco informing him of who they’ve killed.

Benjamin walks back to his office to discover Polly Fontaine (S.Shahi) inside his office. She pleads for him to find her son whose recently gone missing after being seen around a US – Mexican Border Checkpoint. Days later, pictures of someone who appeared to be him were found on the internet, the pictures depicted him being tortured. Benjamin takes the case and calls a friend in an attempt to find the location of the computer that uploaded the pictures.

Julius and Marco drive into Reno with the hopes of finding answers to the false name on the contract that they were given. The two set up a meeting at the “Quick Times’ Diner in Reno and find Roger Anders (R.Culkin) waiting for the two. He informs to the two that Lawrence’s son was to be assassinated so that he could die as a martyr and jettison his father’s political campaign to get him into the Oval Office. Anders then tells them that they can’t leave the diner alive. As soon as he finishes those words a group of men open fire outside of the diner, shooting anyone present as Julius and Marco duck down and pull out their side-arms.

Benjamin begins his drive to Mexico, meeting a 15 year old hitchhiker named Lily (S.Ronan) on the way. He agrees to take her to the city by the checkpoint, where she claims her family is waiting for her. Shortly after picking up Lily, night falls upon them and they rent a room with two beds in a cheap motel and Ben treats Lily to dinner at a low-price diner. While waiting for their food, one of the truckers recognizes Lily as a prostitute that gave him sexual favors, Lily doesn’t deny this but begins to cry. Impulsively, Ben punches the trucker and begins to fight him and after catching a right hook Ben goes down. The trucker moves over to Lily before catching a stool to the back of the head, courtesy of Ben. After leaving the diner, Lily reveals that she is an orphan and that she has no where to go. She wanted to go to the city by the checkpoint in hopes of crossing over into Mexico, and she shows Ben her passport. Ben realizes he has no other options but to take Lily into Mexico with him.

Marco shoots Roger in the head as Julius moves over to the counter and begins to fire at the men outside of the diner. Marco begins to circle around picking the men off by the windows, after several minutes of shooting, all fire ceases. Julius decides that if they two are going to get out of this, their going to have to meet with their usual contract delivery man who resides at a Local Strip Club.

Ben and Lily pass through the checkpoint without a hitch and Ben’s contact reveals that the location that the shots were taken at is close to the checkpoint city, out in the Deadlands. Ben stops at another cheap hotel and tells Lily to stay put before he heads out into town and buys a revolver and a number of bullets. Afterwards he heads out into the Deadlands, to the address his contact has given him. He exits the car and knocks on the door of the house which is quite large but quite dirty as well. A Mexican man answers the door and once he notices that Ben can’t speak Spanish calls for another man to come to the door, Spencer Blackwell (E.Wood). Spencer speaks English and informs Ben that the house is just a place for people who want to cross over into the US to come. Ben doesn’t believe either of them and pulls his gun out, before finding that the gun is faulty and won’t fire. The Mexican man punches Ben and he falls to the ground, unconscious.

Marco stays on the ground floor of the Strip Club as Julius heads to the Upper Floors and meets Richie Frost (S. Whigham). Richie tells Julius that the only way out of this bind is to kill Marco and frame him as the only killer of Lawrence’s Son. Julius disagrees with this idea initially but after Richie informs him that many Contract Killers will be going after the two, some even in the building, Julius agrees and heads back downstairs. Julius tells Marco that Richie can clear the two and he begins to drive Marco into the Outlands, asking him if he’s ever heard The Tale of The Rich Frenchmen with Marco replying with silence…

Ben comes to in a basement where he sits beside the son of Polly, whose beaten and bruised. The Mexican comes downstairs and the sound of a car starting and driving away can be heard as The Mexican begins to beat Polly’s son. Ben manages to wrench his hands out of the cuffs that binds him to his chair and begins to fight the Mexican, which is a losing battle. He runs upstairs, looking for anything that can help him before the Mexican comes upstairs, knife in hand. The Mexican begins to swipe at Ben before BANG! He falls to the ground while Lily stands in the doorway. “I…I followed your tire tracks and your had a gun in the back seat of your car…” She tells him. Ben moves over to Lily and hugs her as she drops the gun, tears beginning to fall from her eyes.

Spencer drives down the road to the Mexican-American Checkpoint but is stopped by two hitchhikers, Marco and Julius. Spencer agrees to give the two a ride and Julius asks Spencer if he’s ever heard the Tale of the Rich Frenchmen...


Stark’s Comment:
Another uncertain release… It has quality enough to make a very nice box office but it is too dark for teen audiences and, after all, teens are who turn a movie into a blockbuster. We’ll see…

Behind The Scenes:
-This is the first movie directed by John Hillcoat for CMP.
-This is the second screenplay written by Lawrence Abernathy for CMP. The first one, ‘Thrust From Skyline’, made 89 million at box office.
-Some talents rejected the offer to play minor roles in this movie and had to be replaced: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Culkin), Topher Grace (Wood) and Jeff Bridges (Whigham).


PRETEND TO SMILE: After his latest success with the third installment of the Wonder Woman saga, Dawson Edwards is returning to drama next Season with this tough story focused on a young prostitute. Movie director and fashion designer Tom Ford is going to make his debut in CMP directing it. To play the leading role, the chosen one has been another CMP’s debutante: the young star Amanda Seyfried. The film is being produced by Scoundrels Productions, the company created by George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

ATLAS SHRUGGED: New writer Dwight Gallo is behind this adaptation of the Ayn Rand’s book being directed by Clint Eastwood and starred by Charlize Theron. Still hot his success with ‘The Team’, Ben Affleck returns to CMP playing the lead male character of the story. Also, Aaron Eckhart has joined this cast. Eckhart had not been in CMP since the flopped ‘Nathan Zachary and the Pylfered Prototype’. He was offered the job in the movie to replace the initially considered Christian Bale. Bale refused the offer due to his commitment with another upcoming CMP’s production. Brad Pitt rejected the job too before Eckhart finally was the chosen one.

HERE, KITTY KITTY: Green light for this animation movie about a cat traveling to Australia. This Josh Collins’ screenplay has been waiting for years to be finally developed but here it is at last. Andrew Adamson returns to CMP after so long away to direct it. Adamson has directed before two animated blockbusters for the Studio: the record-breaker ‘The Ice Princess’ and the blockbuster ‘He-Man and Masters Of The Universe’. The cast of voices is leaded by Vince Vaughn, who seems to have become a specialist in voice-only jobs in CMP after being heard in ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ and ‘Toons’ (sadly, two severe box office’s flops). Also to be heard in this movie, Reece Witherspoon, absent from CMP since ‘Netchasers’, and Anne Hathaway, who can be seen in this week’s release ‘Stairway To Heaven’.

SUB-MARINER: Two more names to add to the cast of this comic book adaptation written by John Malone and directed by David Fincher. The young Ruth Wilson makes here her debut in CMP while the veteran Bill Paxton returns to the Studio after his work in this Season’s western ‘This Far From Heaven’.

INNOCENCE: Ed Harris and Kevin Bacon have teamed up to put up this courtroom drama. Harris is going to direct it, Bacon is going to produce it and both will play supporting roles in this story about two men sentenced for murder fighting to prove their innocence. Josh Hartnett, who can be seen in this week’s release ‘At Cross Purposes’, leads the cast and Yuri Redding is the author of the screenplay.


BAD FAMILY: This Joey Stark’s action movie tells the story of a band of gangsters formed by the four sons of Susan Sarandon. The two older brothers are going to be played by no other than Ryan Gosling, who is said to be having a very busy Season 19, and Chris Pine, seen before in CMP in ‘Housatlantavegas’ and ‘Modern Warfare’. Jon Turteltaub is directing the movie.

ASSASSIN’S CREED III: Cillian Murphy, last time seen in CMP in the Best Picture Winner ‘Metropolis’, joins this franchise playing the mean Cesare Borgia, son of the also mean Pope Rodrigo Borgia. Ralph Fiennes returns to the saga playing again Rodrigo Borgia. Fiennes got a Best Villain nomination for playing that character in the previous installment of this franchise, right before his personal success with ‘Eye Of The Needle’. Another talents returning to the saga are Gabriel Byrne, playing again Niccola Machiavelli, and Tilda Swinton, playing this time two different spirits: the good Minerva and the bad Juno. Peter Jackson directs and produces the film.

GROW OLD WITH ME: Rooney Mara makes her debut in CMP with this romantic story directed by Nick Cassavetes and starred by Robert Pattinson and Emma Watson. Chad Taylor has also announced that all the songs to be heard in the movie will be John Lennon’s songs, including of course ‘Grow Old With Me’. Taylor already proved how much he likes Lennon as he was the writer of the biopic ‘The Beatles’.

ISLAND OF THE DEAD: More stars coming from tv shows join the cast of this horror movie written by Matt Kubrick and being directed by D.R.Cobb. Michelle Borth and Tamara Taylor are going to make their debut in CMP fighting zombies in this film. And they will count with the help of Bobby Cannavale, who made his debut in CMP past Season in a completely different kind of movie, the theatrical drama ‘A View From The Bridge’.

THE JUNGLE: Todd Field is directing this adaptation of the Upton Sinclair’s book written by Yuri Redding. GMA Winners Jim Sturgess, Emma Watson and Keira Knightley are the shiny starring trio of the film. But also in it we will see more CMP’s debutantes like Vera Farmiga and the Croatian actor seen in movies like ‘Batman Begins’, Rade Serbedzija. John C. Reilly, seen this Season in ‘Somewhere Other Than The Night’, also works in this movie.


BEN TYLER – ‘STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN’

Ben Tyler returns with ‘Stairway To Heaven’ after his controversial latest release ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’. And we have talked with him about both films and his future works.

1.How was the writing process of such a complex and imaginative screenplay as 'Stairway To Heaven'?

It's a funny story, really, because I didn't mean for it to turn out the way it did when I started writing it. I began with the express goal of writing something "normal." Stairway was originally conceived as a sort of urbane romantic dramedy. Then, as I sat down to figure out where to begin, an idea popped into my head - "We all know how awkward being trapped with your ex on an elevator can be - but what if it were a space elevator?" And then it just transformed into something completely different. So yeah, I start out trying to write a romantic comedy and I make a story with zombie communists in it. I guess I'm just incapable of writing a normal story! My muse is a very naughty girl indeed.

2.How did it feel working again with Linklater, Braff and Hathaway so long after your first movie, 'Schroedinger's Litterbox'?

You know, I really hadn't thought about this angle too much until the casting was almost complete. I hope that people don't misinterpret this as meaning that this is a "spiritual sequel" to Litterbox, because I think they're very different films. Litterbox is more intellectual, while Stairway is more farcial in tone.

But getting back to the subject at hand, I was very fortunate to be able to work with such talented people on my debut film, and I'm happy to be working with them again.

3.This Season, you have also released the very experimental 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway'. Were you satisfied with how things went for this movie?

Absolutely. I put a lot into that movie - it's a big part of why I came back. And I was absolutely delighted by the reaction to it, both positive and negative. Indeed, I must confess that Charlie Kiggs's review of the film is easily my favorite. I have the newspaper clipping up on my wall. And I also found it quite encouraging that people were actually willing to go see it. Either there are more nostalgic dorks in the world than I anticipated, or it's a sign that audiences are growing more open-minded.

4.Do you think that there will be some room at the next GM Edition for these two peculiar stories you have released this Season?

We'll see. I certainly hope so. But that's not really a matter for me to decide.

5.What's next coming up from you in CMP?

At some point I'm finally going to finish Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun. I'm almost done with it, I just need the time and the willpower to make that last push. After that, it's going to take some time for me to put the wheels in motion. Most probably it will be another musical - another adaptation, but more lucid than the Lamb.


ZACH BRAFF

Zach Braff can be considered – together with Ben Stiller and Steve Carell – one of the undisputable kings of comedy in CMP’s world. But, although he is regularly demanded by CMP’s authors, his career in the Studio has not been a bed of roses. More supported by critics and authors than by audiences, Braff’s career in the Studio has had its ups and downs, including 3 nominations at the GMA but also quite a few severe disappointments at box office.


THE MOGULERS
Ivan Reitman / Daggle
B.O.: 233 / N.G.: 230
Zach had an early debut in CMP. It was Season 1 and he starred this action comedy together with Jennifer Love-Hewitt about the robbery of a computer game (suspiciously similar to ‘Hollywood Mogul’). This was the only screenplay ever written by Daggle and the beginning of a more than promising career for Zach in the Studio. But he has never had a box office’s hit as big as this one.

DON’T STAND SO CLOSE TO ME
Nick Casavettes / Joey Stark
B.O.: 12 / N.L.: 17
His second movie was also his first flop. This lousy comedy about a teacher harassed by his students (and particularly by Mena Suvari) instantly joined the list of the worst movies ever developed by the Studio. Critics ate alive the movie… and it was more than deserved.

CONTRACT KILLING FOR DUMMIES
Zach Braff / Ted Froats
B.O.: 46 / N.G.: 2
To resurrect his CMP’s career after that disaster, Zach decided to direct himself his next CMP’s movie. It was the story of two dummies (Zach and Sean William Scott) trying to get rid of a corpse (yes, ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ is an obliged reference for this one). The movie hardly avoided net losses and didn’t really help much Zach’s career in the Studio.

LIEUTENANT USA AND HIS WARM STEEL GANG
David Zucker / John Daws
B.O.: 132 / N.G.: 173
An iconic comedy in CMP’s History. Zach joined here what would be known as the CMP’s Comedy Squad (including Steve Carell, Jack Black, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell…). This parody of superheroes movies became a major event in CMP and a personal success for all the talents involved. A weaker sequel would be released a few Seasons later but Zach’s character surprisingly disappeared from the story. It was the last ‘+100’ release for Zach until now.

SCHROEDINGER’S LITTERBOX
Richard Linklater / Ben Tyler
B.O.: 51 / N.G.: 22
It was Season 6 …and then came ‘Schroedinger’s Litterbox’. This intellectual and surreal Ben Tyler’s comedy completely changed Zach’s career in CMP. Critics surrendered to this original movie. Ben Tyler won the Best Screenplay GMA being this his first screenplay. And Zach was nominated at the Best Actor category. The film instantly became a cult movie and an obliged reference of quality comedies in CMP. Zach’s prestige in CMP instantly reached the sky with this work. Now, the writer, director and co-star of this film (Anne Hathaway) have reunited again 12 Seasons later in this week’s release ‘Stairway To Heaven’.

MARY’S DARK SIDE
Zach Braff / Steve Connors
B.O.: 35 / N.G.: 24
This second directional job by Zach in CMP helped very much to increase even more Zach’s prestige in the Studio. The pattern of his CMP’s career was set with this movie: quality comedies more supported by critics than by audiences. The movie got 5 nominations at the GMA (including Best Picture). Kate Hudson won the Best Actress award with it and Zach and Kate were nominated for Best Starring Couple. Connors also won his only Best Screenplay award.

CRIME STOPPERS
Kevin Smith / Chad Taylor
B.O.: 4 / N.L.: 32
After those two personal triumphs, Zach surprisingly accepted to play a very minor role in this comedy. He met again here with his mates from ‘Lieutenant USA’, Steve Carell and Owen Wilson. The film was a tremendous box office’s disaster. It didn’t help much Zach’s career. A forgettable experience.

SUSPICIONS AND DISHONORS
Woody Allen / Matt Kubrick
B.O.: 35 mill. / N.L.: 1
Working with Woody Allen is always a bet for prestige for any talent. Zach accepted another supporting role in this movie but it was a more rewarding experience than the previous one. Again, box office turned its back to his movies, but at least he got his third nomination at the GMA, this time at the Best Supporting Actor category.

THE BUS
Marc Webb / Chad Taylor
B.O.: 39 / N.G.: 7
The pattern in Zach’s career in the Studio was back with this new work: quality comedy, critical applause and weak box office’s numbers. Zach bet again for a peculiar story and he made a great job in this hilarious and original comedy where he met with heavy-weights like Robert De Niro, Cameron Diaz, Jeff Bridges, Kim Bassinger or Bill Murray. The film consolidated Zach’s image in CMP as an actor specialized in author-esque and adult audiences oriented comedies.

FAMILY REUNION
Jay Roach / Chad Taylor
B.O.: 50 / N.G.: 23
For the third time, Taylor and Zach teamed up. The main appeal of this movie was watching together two of the CMP’s most popular comedians: Ben Stiller and Zach. Big names like Harrison Ford, Jennifer Aniston and even Brad Pitt making a cameo increased that appeal. A big box office was expected for this one. But, again, numbers didn’t match expectations. Zach’s keeps being more prestigious than profitable in CMP’s world.


Two sexy stars, Taylor Kitsch and Gemma Arterton, are the new Tarzan and Jane in the updated version of the characters directed by Joe Wright and being released this week. ‘Premiere’ magazine includes in its latest issue a classy photo session with both stars showing a vintage and stylish look.



If I ask you who is the most successful talent in CMP’s world, who would you say? Probably Christian Bale. Or Charlize Theron. Or maybe Johnny Depp. But no. You are all wrong. The recent success of ‘Born Again’ – I would have never thought this arguable movie would finally make more than 100 million at box office! – has made me notice something: there’s nobody more successful in CMP than Tobey Maguire. Look at his amazing statistics:
-He has worked in 12 movies for the Studio. All of them have made net gains. And that includes:
-1 ‘+300’ release (‘Silver Sable and the Wild Pack’, by the way the alltimes top 1 best box office)
-1 ‘+200’ release (‘Star Wars: New Order’, a record-breaker by the time it was released)
-8 ‘+100’ releases
-And the other two releases made very decent box offices: 91 and 75 millions.
-In terms of net gains: 1 ‘+400’ release, 3 ‘+200’ releases and 4 ‘+100’ releases. That means 8 out of his 12 works have generated more than 100 millions of net profit for CMP.
Of course, being part of successful franchises like ‘Star Wars’, ‘Silver Sable’ and ‘The Avengers’ helps, but Maguire has also starred unexpected ‘sleepers’ like his two latest works, ‘Whatever Happened To Holden Caulfield?’ and ‘Born Again’, both written by Josh Collins.
In conclusion, in a most quiet way, Tobey Maguire can probably show the most successful sheet of services of all the hundreds of talents that have worked for Crazy Moon Pictures.

Some weeks ago, I announced that veteran screenwriter Ted Froats might be back to CMP. Two times Best Screenplay GMA Winner, Froats announced that he wanted to adapt ‘Les Miserables’. And not only the musical but the whole Victor Hugo’s book. In fact, he had already written the first movie for a trilogy. But Harry Stark publicly stated that he would not begin developing this ambitious project until he already had the three screenplays of the trilogy. Stark didn’t want to leave unconcluded such a huge project so he wanted to be sure he had the screenplays (specially after the ‘Cell Mates’ trilogy stayed unconcluded with Froats’ sudden retirement). Well, what’s the situation of ‘Les Miserables’ right now? For what I know, Froats seems to have disappeared again from the CMP’s scene and ‘Les Miserables’ has gone on hiatus while Stark keeps waiting for the second and third screenplay of the announced trilogy (probably impatiently tapping on his desk).

A new generation of screenwriters is about to make their debut during the first weeks of Season 19. Dwight Gallo, John Malone and Yuri Redding already have the green light for their first movies in CMP. And it seems like they are here to stay. The three of them already have a few pitches at the waiting list. According to my sources, Harry Stark is more than happy with this new blood. He likes screenwriters to commit with the Studio and it seems like these three new authors are working hard to have a lasting career in CMP. Welcome!

Lawrence Abernathy, Ben Goldey and Michael Banno also go on with their writing career in CMP but at a much slower pace. The three of them have already released one movie: ‘Thrust From Skyline’, ‘First Flight’ and ‘Viral’ respectively. This week, Abernathy releases his second story, ‘At Cross Purposes’, and Goldey and Banno are expected to release a second film in the near future. Another newbie, Jack Atkins, disappeared without a trace after releasing his first and only story, the romantic ‘Food And Other Languages’. As always, writers come and go in CMP but it seems like we can’t expect a writing activity from these ones as intense as the one from the Gallo / Malone / Redding trio.

And just because I am writing about writers, a recurrent question comes to my mind: what happened with the very successful ‘New World’ franchise? John Daws – a veteran writer with long periods of inactivity – has never developed the third installment of this sci-fi saga although the second one made an extraordinary box office of 258 millions (and net gains of 293!). Do we have here another unconcluded trilogy? Oh, poor Harry, I know how much he hates leaving things unconcluded… (and here goes my famous ‘evil laugh’).