FEBRUARY, 29

ON THEATRES NEXT WEEK

1-YEOMAN

Action / Sci-Fi

The Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Eva Green, Jet Li, Rachel McAdams

The Director: McG
The Screenwriter and Producer: Matt Kubrick

The Plot: Daniel Brennan (V.Mortensen) was a Vietnam veteran. He suspected an ARVN general, Kien Phuc (J.Li), of being a traitor, and managed to gather evidence that implicated Kien in crimes for heroin smuggling to the States, to selling military secrets to the North Vietnamese. Before he could present this information to the authorities, Kien ambushed Brennan’s unit, killing most of his men, and destroying the documents. In spite of this Brennan still managed to get Kien cashiered. Kien retaliated by sending assassins after Brennan. They missed the target, and instead got Brennan’s pregnant wife (R.McAdams).

After the war, Brennan followed Kien to New York seeking vengeance, discovering Kien now ran the Shadow Fists, one of the city’s biggest gangs. Faced with Aces and Jokers, he adopted the custome identity of Yeoman, a killer archer. He soon became a feared nemesis of the criminal community.

In the late 70s, he meets a a young woman by the name of Chrysallis (E.Green). Others thinks show grotesque because she is a Joker and her see through skin but he think she is beautiful and they soon both fall in love and he begins frequenting her place of business. When drugs and crime start to come into Joker town and no one will do much to try and protect them Yeoman dons a cloak and bow and a multitude of arrows to protect. When a wealthy Joker girl of the age of 10 is kidnapped by the Shadow Fists, who are also Aces with powers, Yeoman will do anything to take them down. In a series of increasingly brutal fights he takes down the Shadow Fists, killing Kien in a final duel.

Stark’s Comment: ‘Wild Cards’ is not one of the most profitable CMP’s franchises. But it has a loyal bunch of fans that follow religiously each new movie. We consider it our cult saga. After three episodes, the idea of making a spin off looked very appealing. I am curious about how this will work at box office.


2-LITTLE TIN GODDESS

Drama / Dark

The Cast: Steve Buscemi, Ashanti, Gillian Anderson, Giancarlo Esposito, Brian Dennehy, Vincent D’Onofrio

The Director: David Lynch
The Screenwriter: David Makalaster

The Plot: Richard Willoughby (Buscemi) is a lonely man. He works alone in the QA department of an otherwise automated Dental Floss factory, only visited weekly by the constantly angry manager Gerard (Esposito). The only friend he has is a little tin goddess statue(Ashanti) on his bedstand, which he believes comes alive to talk and dance with him every night. However, when Gerard is fired and replaced by the kind Karen Benson (Anderson), things take a turn for the better. She befriends and woos him, and before long he, with her help, is making new friends left and right (Dennehy & D'Onofrio among). However, the goddess statue is still alive to him, and is angry about him meeting other people. She grows more and more angry with him until she confronts him outside his home on a bridge, while he is on his way home from a particularly rowdy get-together. After a heated argument, the goddess push him over the side.He is found dead the next day by Karen coming to visit.

Stark’s Comment: It was about time to have a David Lynch movie in CMP. As usual, he has made an exotic picture. David Makalaster’s first screenplay is the perfect story for Lynch to make his debut in the Studio. Uncertain box office future, but no doubt this will be something different.


3-THE LOLLIPOP MAN

Comedy / Children

The Cast: Ben Stiller, Kate Beckinsale, Merryl Streep, Josh Hutcherson

The Director: Shawn Levy
The Screenwriter: Marcus Trax

The Plot: A man who is a bit of an odd ball is the lollipop man for a school crossing. He has an easy life living alone, doing his job and alot of other small ones, but when he saves a kid from getting run over his job as the lollipop man takes center stage. He is awarded a medal by the teacher of the child and soon starts visiting the school and helping more just to see her. And when he helps a child versus bullying he soon becomes lollipop man of the year. But not without some mishaps on the way. A story about how doing what you really want to do can pay out in the end.

Cast:
The Lollipop Man: Ben Stiller
The Teacher: Kate Beckinsale
The School’s Principal: Merryl Streep
The Kid: Josh Hutcherson

Stark’s Comment: Children movies are always uncertain. Kids are impulsive and they can either love it or hate it based on unpredictable criteria. Levy made a job work with ‘Welcome to Summer Camp’ and Stiller has proved to be a trustable talent with his previous works for CMP. But, to be honest, at CMP we don’t expect from this one much more than making a decent box office without big surprises.


MOVIES IN DEVELOPMENT

BABES IN TOYLAND: Could anyone expect a musical coming from the usually drama specialist Josh Collins? Well, here it is! A remake of the original 70s movie version of the classic tale. Michael Gondry directs this family musical. And two first names known from the cast: Abigail Breslin (‘Syndrome: Paradise Lost’, ‘Hollyweird’) and Reese Witherspoon (‘The Women Club’, ‘Cursed Neverland’, ‘The Shrinking Man’).

GAME BOY 2: WARLANDS: This time, Daniel Radcliff won’t be the only live action character in the movie. Two talents will show more than their voices in the film. And both return to CMP after a recent release: Paul Bettany, seen this Season in ‘The Caves Of Steel’, and Christian Bale, right after finishing the shootage of ‘Blink’.

SHROEDINGER’S LITTERBOX: Another talent returning soon: Will Ferrell will play a minor role in this first Ben Tyler’s pitch. Zach Braff’s love interest in the movie has also been announced. She will be no other than the lovely Anne Hathaway, seen in CMP’s blockbusters like ‘Turning Point’, ‘The Greatest Show On Earth’, ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ and ‘Planetside’.

MAN IN THE MIRROR: First, it was ‘Bill and the Rocket Man’. Then came ‘Fools Game’. And now here is the new James Bradley / Wes Anderson’s fable. And, of course, their favourite couple is also back with them: Paul Giamatti and Kate Winslet. This will be the fifth time that Winslet appears in a James Bradley’s story!

MISPLACED AFFECTION: And yes, another talent returning. Last week, we could see Keira Knighley twice: starring ‘Pompeii’ and also making a brief cameo in ‘No More Bush!’. Without a rest, she has started shooting this thriller facing the evil Kirsten Dunst. Joe Wright directs while John Daws produces.

BLINK: It is rumoured that director Josh Collins has been asked to make some re-edit of the movie by Harry Stark after noticing at some previews that the story was too tough and too sad that affected too deeply to some viewers. CMP’s Press Office has sent to the media a press release stating that this is not true and confirming that the movie will be released the way Collins wants.

QUADROPHENIA: Second musical greenlighted this week. Ben Tyler has written this remake of The Who’s rock opera. The original movie from 1979, based on the album released on 1973, told the story of a British mod boy in the mid 60s. Alan Parker, who directed another movie version of an epic rock album – Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ – makes his first movie for CMP with this one.

THE HOLDERS: Another two big names in this one. Everybody knows the friendship and regular collaboration between Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott. That friendship is the reason why Crowe has accepted to play a minor role in this movie after Bruce Willis refused the offer to play it. Daniel Craig plays the villain of the story, which means that this feature will reunite two of the Best Actor nominees in the last GMA edition, Craig and Edward Norton.

THE HOOLIGAN: Hugh Grant will have a nice company in this action comedy: Drew Barrymore, returning to CMP after the disaster of ‘Piece Of My Heart’, and two debutantes in CMP: Penelope Cruz and Jean Reno. The shooting has been almost finished by Mike Newell.

SYNDROME: NEW EDEN: Finally, Matt Kubrick will only produce but won’t direct this sequel, as he did in the original movie. Another director will take his place: Rob Cohen is already moving the cameras in his first work for the Studio.


Hi everyone it's that time again for a brand new edition. So lets get on with some of the movies the studio has in production. I'll start assigning movies an anticipation level 1 is the lowest and 5 is the highest.

Yeoman this movie is looking better all the time, I wish they would've kept the same actors for the roles but well, what can you do. I think it's cool to see Jet Li in it playing the villain. But I'm a bit worried with Mc G at the helm. I give this movie a 3

Schroedinger’s Litterbox Richard Linklatter is a great experimental director well except for the remake of the classic Bad News Bears, but after A Scanner Darkly came out how can you not forgive him? now that he is doing a movie for CMP all I can say is great bring it on! I'll have to give this movie a 4

Misplaced Affection It's rare to see a horror movie from CMP that wasn't written by Matt Kubrick. This sounds a bit like an Audition type movie with a female serial killer. Can't wait to see how it turns out. this movie gets a big 4 out of me!

The Lollipop Man Yawn is all I can say about this Shawn Levy director of the sugar coated Welcome to Summer camp with Ben Stiller. I'll probably wait for the DVD. I'm not a big fan of Ben Stiller, he's not all that funny, it's only the things that happen to him that are funny. He's just not that good of an actor. Seeing as I'm not to enthusiastic for this film I'm going to have to give it a 2.


A LOOK AT… KATE BECKINSALE

Is she a talented actress or not? Movie critics and moviegoers have been discussing this for so long without getting to any conclusion. But who cares? Kate is not a critics’ favourite but, without doubt, she is an audiences’ lure. And a good proof of that is her CMP’s career: a chain of profitable releases without a single fail. Kate, fans are on your side.

CAPTAIN AMERICA (Bret Rattner, B.O.: 198 mill.): A classic superhero concept. Rattner directed and Brian Synger produced and audiences decided to love it. Kate played Head Ledger’s girlfriend and Anthony Hopkins won the GMA for Best Villain. Captain America was here to stay.

INDIGO PROPHECY (Brian Kelley, B.O: 45 mill.): The adaptation of a PC game directed by the now retired Kelley. Kate shined together with Matt Damon. Although box office wasn’t as good as expected, it was an interesting and violent action movie.

CAPTAIN AMERICA VS SUPERMAN (Tim Burton, B.O.: 134 mill.): A sequel and another hit for Captain America. This time, the movie focussed in the duel between Captain America and an evil Superman played by Nicholas Cage. Kate’s character lost presence in the story, but there she was keeping the faith.

HITMAN: THICKER BLOOD (Tony Scott, B.O.: 93 mill.): Kate joins another main CMP’s franchise. She played the vindictive sister of the murdered Keira Knightley. Finally, she surrendered to Colin Farrel’s appeal.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: DESTINY (Tim Burton, B.O.: 75 mill.): The third episode became a milestone in the superheroes movies: the superhero himself died (a sad premonition for Ledger). Kate was there as always as the loving girlfriend and the hero died in her arms.

THE LOLLIPOP MAN (Shawn Levy, awaiting release): Will Kate make it again with a children movie? Michael Bay decided to sack her from ‘HF’. So the Studio tried to compensate her offering the lead female role in this little comedy. And Kate will try to bring more money to the Studio’s arks.

PIC OF THE WEEK

No premiere night this week for CMP’s releases. Instead of that, three beautiful ladies starring this week’s releases posed in a promo photo session together. And they looked absolutely great. Ashanti, from ‘Little Tin Goddess’; Kate Beckinsale, from ‘The Lollipop Man’; and Eva Green, from ‘Yeoman’.


TALK OF THE TOWN

Long time waited. Finally, it is official: Darkman returns. The evil character played by Benicio del Toro in 'Fear The Darkness', 'The Long Dark Night' and 'Dark Omens' will return in a new episode of the franchise next Season. The Darkman movies - the three movies were recently released in a dvd box set - have become a reference for the horror genre and Del Toro / Darkman has climbed up to be an iconic character for CMP. Wes Craven directed the two first episodes and both made box offices over 100 mill. (the storyline of the second one is still considered a horror genre masterpiece). After some creative differences, Matt Kubrick and Craven broke up. Robert Rodriguez, a declared fan of the saga, accepted to direct the third episode. It was a severe flop and that sent Darkman to the shadows of hell for CMP. But both Stark and Kubrick wanted very much to resurrect the character and have been talking about it for long. Now, the 4th Darkman’s episode will become a reality. And there are even rumours of a 5th episode ready if the return works in box office.

Yes or no? This other character has never showed up in a CMP's pitch up until now. But we have written a lot about it. Yes, He-Man again. Daws, Trax, Kubrick... Everyone has wanted in one moment or another to make a movie about him. Once again, rumours from CMP's sources confirm that Stark already has a screenplay to do it. The problem now? Viggo Mortensen, who has always been the favourite star to play it by all the screenwriters interested, has said Harry Stark that he is fed up of waiting and does not feel like wanting to get involved in the project anymore. Maybe Stark will have to use the check book to convince him.

From Pirates to Superheroes. They worked together in the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' trilogy. And they might stay together in the upcoming new superheroes saga from CMP. Director Gore Verbinski and star Orlando Bloom ('Tales Of The Jedi', 'Dive In The Sun', voice in 'Game Boy') are said to be involved in the development of 'The Avengers', one of the major productions coming from CMP in Season 7.

Everyone at CMP is so excited with the release of 'Game Boy 2'. There is a shared feeling at the Studio that this release could reach the Worlwide Gross Top 1. Although critics hated almost unanimously the original movie, it reached Alltimes Top 2 in box office and trapped millions of fans around the world. According to some net sites, there is a great expectation with the release of this sequel. So the predictions around CMP's offices are that a new Top 1 could be on its way. To do so, 'Game Boy 2: Warlands' will need to make a box office superior to 229 millions, the landmark set by 'Star Wars: New Order' (remember that CMP's movies from Season 1 are never included on top lists as they were managed under other HM's version).

Quadrophenia 2008? A surprising pitch from the new screenwriter Ben Tyler. Harry Stark is enjoying the peculiar challenge of remaking the rock opera classic from The Who. But you bet this is a daring project... Anyway, Stark is negotiating with Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend, from The Who, the chance to re-record some of the pieces from the original album and even include some new ones on the movie soundtrack. The return to the mods spirit from the 60's is an appealing adventure for the Studio, although its future in box office is more than doubtful.

George Clooney, long time not seen in CMP, showed his love for film noirs with 'Dead Man's Song', which he also directed, and 'The Little Sister', written and directed by the now retired Jack Hammer. Both movies worked well enough in box office. In 'The Little Sister', Clooney played a classic character: Raymond Chandler's detective, Philip Marlowe. A sequel to that movie was considered for a while but Hammer's retirement made Stark forget about it. Now, the idea seems to resurrect as Bill Cougan has expressed Stark his interest in making a new Clooney/Marlowe movie.

SALT AND PEPPER

SALT

MATT KUBRICK: Hyperactive. Writer, director and producer Matt Kubrick has always proved to be a versatile and active author. But now his creating activity seems to be more accelerated than ever. His name is related to quite a few alive and upcoming franchises in CMP (Wild Cards, Syndrome, Fear the Darkness, The Avengers...) together with other pitches from very different genres including horror, drama or thriller. Kubrick has always liked to mix between risky adventures - like those slasher horror flicks he loves - and Hollywood mainstream stories, not caring for box office as much as for creativity. And he seems to be a non-stop factory of ideas. CMP cannot be imagined without his work and Harry Stark, always wanting to have all the CMP's authors active with movies in development, will have to make next Season's release calendar very carefully not to have a Kubrick's movie release each and every week.

PEPPER

EMMA ROBERTS: Without doubt, Julia Roberts' niece is a rising and promising talent. But her career in CMP has not responded to expectations. She made a correct debut playing a young Natalie Portman in the drama 'Flashes of Life'. The movie cannot be considered a hit but at least it made some profits for the Studio. This Season, Emma had the chance to establish herself as something like 'the official teen female star of CMP'. In a short period of time, she has starred the love story 'Goths' and has also played a main role in the drama 'If tomorrow never comes'. But both films have flopped in box office. So what was looking to be a detach sprint for Emma has become a failed attempt to reach stardom. She has all the future in front of her. So Emma will still have to wait to become the main star she seems meant to be.

WHAT HAPPENED WITH... KIM BASSINGER?

She was a top model in the early 80's. Then she became a sex symbol with movies like '9 1/2 weeks'. And, after that, she jumped to the status of 'quality actress', including an Academy Award for 'L.A. Confidential'. But, in CMP, she has only starred one movie, the successful film noir 'Dead Man's Song', directed and starred by George Clooney. You know what they say: in Hollywood, female stars become nothing after 40. But some 'over 40' stars are making a nice career in CMP. There it is Sharon Stone - GMA Winner, attached to the Wild Cards' saga, and recently starring 'The Towering Inferno' -, Rene Russo - with her two McMillan's movies -, Merryl Streep - GMA nominee for 'Cathedral' and soon returning with 'The Lollipop Man' -, among others. But Kim, still a beauty and now a prestigious actress, seems to have been forgotten. After six CMP's Seasons, Bassinger still is a 'one hit wonder' for the Studio. Maybe it is time to claim the appeal of mature women on screen.