MARCH, 14

ON THEATRES NEXT WEEK

1-GAME BOY 2: WARLANDS

CGI Animation / Adventure / Fantasy

The Cast: Daniel Radcliff, Christian Bale, Ron Pearlman, Paul Bettany. Voices of John Leguizamo, Will Smith, Orlando Bloom, Mickey Rourke, Kirsten Dunst, Keira Knightley.

The Director: Robert Zemeckis
The Producer: George Lucas
The Screenwriter: John Daws

The Plot: A year after Kevin's (Radcliff) exploits in Game World he is starting to deal with the fact he is no longer a hero and is getting on with normal life. This is all about to change while on a trip with his parents he visits a small local game shop.

He find a copy of of a game that looks very much like the strange looking game that he received before going to Game World. A strange man explains that this game is very special but no one ever buys it. Kevins interest intruiges the man and he lets him have it stating that he will never get rid of it.

Once Kevin gets home he tried to play the game but it will not load. He turns the console off and when he switches it back on a surge throws him back and knocks him unconsious.

When he awakes he finds himself in Game World (much to his amazement) .
Around him are his old friends Mario (Leguizamo), Sonic (Smith) and Link (Bloom). He soon realises something is different. The colourful world he once visited was burning, buildings falling and even more amazing some of the colourful world was no longer instead a more realistic setting was taking over.

Mario quickly explains that princesses Zelda (Knightley) and Toadstool (Dunst) have brought him back to help them.

They explain that a war is brewing and USA (United States of Arcadia) is being attacked from the eastern countries joint force UNGF (United Next Gen Federation). It is explained that they are looking to take over the USA and turn it into a land for the next gen people living in the world. They are slowly turning the lands into cities and landscapes that the people of Arcadia simply cannot survive in. They also explain that Luigi has been killed by a member of the UNGF.

Meanwhile in the UNGF HQ the main group of fighters are planning an attack on the resistance lead by Mario. The group led by Solid Snake (Christian Bale) and including Master Chief (Ron Pearlman) and Dante (from devil may cry) (Bettany) plan to storm the Princess castle and kill the two princesses. With them dead the Powers that protect Arcadia will fall and the taking over will be easy.

Back at the castle Bowser (Rourke) has joined forces with the band of heroes and Kevin has now put on the suit of Maga Man. Princess Zelda explains that only part of the power of the suit is being harnessed and it will not be enough to stop the modern techniques and powers of the Next Gen attacks. Kevin is forced on a journey into the next gen world (as a real person he can go anywhere) to find a power that Link used to use called the Tri Force. It was taken long ago by the Next Gens and they use it to fuel their power that is taking their land. Once he has this power he will be able to stop the machine taking the land known as HALO.
Kevin leaves on his journey leaving the others to stay and protect the Princesses. As he travels he comes into many problems and foes that have been sent to stop his progress. He finally reaches the skyscraper where the Triforce is kept. He feels the enegry and he progresses into the building. Once he fights his way to the top he is stopped by Master Chief. A huge battle ensues and Kevin is struck down.

Meanwhile Snake and his army have reached the Boarder of Next gen and Arcadia. Mario and co are waiting. Snake tells Mario there is no where to hide and Snake laughs and tells him that he has been working on the issue of how to stop them. Then a huge scream is heard and the group are alerted to Bowser who is taking the princesses away.

Snake informs Mario that Bowser is working for them they have found a way to make the people of Arcadia compatible with the Next Gen world and Bowser has taken this as payment. Mario and Link go after Bowser to stop him before he kills the Princesses and the power is gone. Sonic and the resistance fight along the Boarder along against the Next Gens.

When Kevin wakes Master Chief has him tied up without his suit and is keeping him prisoner. Master Cheif then asks Kevin to join them and help them so they can survive. Kevin says they are Crazy and he they should not be doing this. The Game World should not be at War with itself. Master Cheif is angry but Kevin says that he will not join but wants to fight Mater Cheif to a fair fight. Mater Chief frees Kevin but does not give him the suit. A new fight continues. Master Chief fires a shot from his cannon but it misses Kevin and hits the Triforce. The round flies back and hits Master Chief stunning him. Kevin runs to the Triforce and picks it up. A huge surge of power flows through him and he finds that he can speed up and is now incredibly strong. He runs to Master Cheif beating and pounding him knocking him out.

He gets his suit and takes the Triforce with him and sets out to take down HALO.

Mario and Link catch up with Bowser and the three fight a battle. Bowser is easily overwhelmed as without any help he cannot take on both Mario and Link. The princesses are safe. Once they return they find that the battle has taken its toll. Sonic with all his pace has been killed by Dante’s Sword. But not before he had himself taken out much of the army. Snake is occupied by the news he is hearing about his army and does not see the others return. Mario shouts for Snake and he turns to see the Princesses with them. Dante is restless and walks away. Snake calls him but Dante tells Snake that he no longer wants this and Snake is not looking the leader he once was and that the killing of all these people is not to save the Next Gens but so he can control the World. Snake pulls his gun to shoot Dante but Dante turns and fires back. Both go down.

Meanwhile Kevin has reached the Halo and is charging his powers from the suit and triforce. A huge ball of energy flies toward the Halo destroying it entirely. A huge explosion throws Kevin through the air so far he lands back in Arcadia. The Next Gen world starts to reduce and Arcadia starts to restore. Dante awakes and sees what is happening. He quickly picks up Snake and retreats.

The remaining Arcadians find Kevin. He slowly comes around enough to hear the Princesses thank him. When he awakes however he is in his bed.


Stark’s Comment: First of all, CMP apologizes as there were some mistakes announcing the cast of this movie. Viggo Mortensen does not act in this movie as it was announced. Once said so, here is the expected sequel of the Alltimes Worlwide Gross Top 2 production. The original movie made a box office of 211 mill. and Net Gains of 242 mill. There are many novelties in this sequel, but we hope it can also reach the stars. Big event for the Studio!

2-SCHROEDINGER’S LITTERBOX

Sci-Fi / Comedy

The Cast: Zach Braff, Anne Hathaway, Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Seth Green, Jason Lee. Cameos by Ethan Hawke, Christopher Walken.

The Director: Richard Linklater
The Producer and Screenplayer: Ben Tyler

The Plot: Adam Ward (Zach Braff) is a neurotic 26-year-old graduate student and aspiring music journalist with an uncanny ability to extract information from people using carefully worded questions. However, while he is good at analyzing people, he is not so good at interacting with them – he is more interested in other human beings as a theoretical study than as actual people. His social life is generally limited to a small circle of friends who share his interests – a circle that includes his roommate Garrett (Seth Rogen), Garrett’s girlfriend Allyson (Anne Hathaway), and an undergrad named Michael.

Early scenes will establish the interaction between the various members of this nerd quartet. Among other things, they play together in a Pink Floyd / Star Wars tribute band (comically bad Star Wars-related lyrics set to the music of Pink Floyd) called Pink Droid. More importantly, it is established that Adam has harbored romantic longings for Allyson for almost as long as they have been friends. A few character notes:

Allyson – Basically the responsible one of the group. Is a bit less outspoken than the rest of the group, which sometimes creates problems (in the sense that she isn’t able to convey serious thoughts or feelings). However, she is not entirely “quiet,” and has a generally optimistic worldview.
Garrett – A more animated, off-beat (though still incredibly nerdy) person. He is Adam’s best friend, and generally a nice guy, although some of his behavior will indicate he’s not quite right for Allyson.
Michael (Seth Green)– The oddball/freak of the group.

One hot, sticky Monday morning, Adam wakes up incredibly hung over from a night of playing Road House drinking games and not studying. He starts to half-stagger, half-sprint his way to lecture, but as he passes by a quantum physics research laboratory, he suddenly stops. Adam swears, dodders over to a corner of the building and throws up.

Immediately below him, however, a team of researchers are making use of a massive underground particle accelerator, which fires just as Adam starts tossing his cookies. Adam passes out, and the screen fades to black.

When Adam wakes up, things are quite different. It is now nighttime. Adam begins to panic, fearing that he has missed class. He fails to notice the mop, bucket of sawdust, and six-foot party sub at his feet. It is, in fact, his Employee ID badge that gives him (and the audience) the first clear look at his face. He recoils in horror – it is him, aged 5 years. Gradually, it becomes clear that it is now “last” Friday evening, and he is a night-time janitor assigned to duty at the particle physics laboratory.

For the next day or so, Adam searches desperately for the cause of this predicament, making a confidential visit to a psychiatrist. He wonders if he is dreaming, delusional, or schizophrenic. However, a CAT scan reveals no indications of abnormal thought patterns. Indeed, his state of mind is far too lucid for this to be a dream or fantasy. He begins to ponder the nature of the human mind (as two other janitors [Paul Rudd & Will Ferrell] have a comically animated discussion on the subject). He begins to wonder if the particle accelerator had something to do with his predicament.

Suddenly, reality shifts yet again. It is now the same Monday morning on which the incident occurred, in the same building in which it occurred. Adam goes about his daily routine as an understudy at the laboratory, and…hey, wait a second! He glances at his shoes and sure enough, there’s an eight-foot party sub at his feet. The two janitors (now associate professors of quantum physics) are still having the exact same animated debate on the philosophy of mind.

Adam stops what he is doing and cuts to the chase. He goes to the office of the head of the department to ask him a “purely hypothetical” question about what is happening to him. The professor, annoyed at the interruption, snaps that such a thing is impossible.

“Well, if it were,” Adam persists in his line of questioning, “What would the cause be, however improbable?”

The professor refuses to answer at first, but as Adam refuses to leave, he grudgingly replies, giving a humorously convoluted explanation about a person’s brain cells being caught in a “cosmic yo-yo,” moving back and forth through various dimensions, with their memory, sanity, and life somehow remaining intact. He notes that the odds of it are such that God would have to be really, really pissed at someone for it to happen (and he doesn’t believe in God).

To make a long story short, here are the “rules” of what’s going on here:
- The “reality warps” happen at random (although for Adam, they always seem to happen at the worst possible times)
- The alternate universe to which Adam is transported is related (directly, tangentially, or comically) to what Adam is thinking, saying, or doing at the time of the warp.
- Genetically, Adam will always be someone who is genetically similar to himself.
- Since matter must always be conserved, the matter left over from the changes made to the universe (and the minds and appearances of other people therein) is condensed into a submarine sandwich. The bigger the change, the longer the sandwich.
- The two “debaters” for some reason keep showing up in various occupations, the one common thread being that they are debating philosophy of mind in inappropriate places (i.e. the bathroom, a construction site, a baseball game, etc.)

Among the many different faces of Adam (other than the ones already mentioned):
- Nick Mason (but played by Jason Lee), the drummer of Pink Floyd, circa “The Wall” tour (1980-1981)
- A crazed homeless person raving about the endless possibilities and randomness of the universe and the universality of mankind (at one point he quotes the Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime”)
- Ethan Hawke (although he doesn’t get to be famous – in this universe, he drives a garbage truck)
- Several others

Over the course of his maddening journey, Adam keeps encountering and re-encountering Allyson. He becomes convinced that holding onto Allyson is the key to holding onto his identity (whatever the hell THAT is). He fights to win her, and in his final “version” of himself – a universe in which everything is the same except he doesn’t have class until Monday afternoon, and he was merely leaving to go get breakfast (“What the hell did you get a sub sandwich for, you dope?”) – he does. Everything ends happily.


Stark’s Comment: First screenplay by Ben Tyler. One of the most original concepts ever developed by CMP. Personally, I think it is so brilliant. But it is so hard to define that I’ll pass the word to Mr. Tyler himself: ‘Much of the humor in the movie sterns from the peculiarity of the situation, and the snarky, rapid-fire dialogue. The nature of identity and the human self are huge themes here. The story comes to the conclusion that we are what we make ourselves, but that we also are defined by the company we keep’. Tyler dixit.

3-MAN IN THE MIRROR

Comedy / Drama

The Cast: Paul Giamatti, Kate Winslet, Matthew McGouneghy, Frances McDormand

The Director: Wes Anderson
The Screenwriter: James Bradley

The Plot: Scientists have made an outstanding discovery. Human soul exists. But not only that. Human souls are not individuals. That means that, in fact, each soul is shared by two human beings, so one of them has the bright side of it while the other owns the dark side of the same soul. And the most surprising thing is that loading all personal data in a sophisticated software it is possible to find out who shares your same soul. To prove this theory, scientists have tested it with different volunteers. Jack (P.Giamatti) is one of them.

Jack is a loser. His whole life has been a chain of failures. Lately, he has lost his job as night watcher in a parking lot, his wife (F.McDormand) and two kids have abandoned him and he can’t even pay the rent of the small apartment he’s been living in. Pessimistic and obsessive, his only dream is to do something big to redeem his life. He saw an add in a magazine asking for volunteers for a scientific test and he answered it due to his desperate need of some money. Accidentally, he got to see who was determined by scientists to be his ‘soul partner’: Amy (K.Winslet).

Amy’s life couldn’t go better. She works as a family lawyer and will be marrying soon the handsome and successful doctor John Swayne (M.McGouneghy). But her life will turns upside down right after Jack appears in it to announce her that they share the same soul so they are spiritually the same person.

Amy rejects to accept that Jack and her are the same spirit. She does not drink nor smoke, goes to the gym every week, likes reading and ballet, has a stable personality while Jack is an untidy guy whose only hobbies are watching wrestling on TV and spending too much time with anyone arguing about the most stupid questions. So she avoids any relationship with him. But Jack wishes so much to know Amy better. Trying to learn about her, Jack spies her and her social environment. That way he discovers that Dr. Swayne is cheating her with one of his nurses.

When wedding day arrives for Amy and Swayne, Jack appears in the ceremony and stops it all to tell the truth about Swayne publicly. Amy feels extremely hurt and humiliated in front of all her relatives and friends.

Since that moment, Jack feels so happy as he feels he has finally been useful for somebody. But Amy’s life tumbles down. Depressed and desperate, she gets in all kind of absurd situations, like assisting to court for one of his divorce trials with an overdoses of sleeping pills that makes her talk funny or coming out of the changing room and stepping into the exercise room of her gym so obsessed with her problems that she has not noticed she is naked.

It seems like nothing can help Amy to get her life on track again. So, although she hates him for ruining everything, she finally decides to ask Jack for help ‘as an expert in failure’.

That will be the beginning of a very special relationship between them. Although they are opposites, Amy will help Jack to recover the affection of his kids and wife while Jack will help Amy to recover her self-esteem.

By the time that another group of scientists discover that the ‘shared-soul’ theory is pure rubbish, Amy and Jack don’t care anymore if they have the same soul or not, as they have already become best friends.


Stark’s Comment: Here is the third Wes Anderson / James Bradley ‘fable’. And of course, Giamatti and Winslet are back with them. The two previous fables were ‘Bill and the Rocket Man’ and ‘Fools Game’. Again, I’ll let Mr Bradley to describe his own story: ‘Wes Anderson and I like to tell stories about ordinary people dealing with frustration, loneliness and the absurdity of life. But we like to use a comedy point of view. There is no better way to say something serious than saying it with humor.” Bradley dixit.

MOVIES IN DEVELOPMENT

DRAWING DREAMS: Another regular team returning: Marcus Trax, David Mamet and Johnny Depp (he has started shooting this one after shooting all his scenes in ‘Cell Mates 2’). Their previous movies together were ‘Smoke Signals’, ‘Parody Of Arts’ and ‘No Evil’. This time, they will tell us the story of a famous and eccentric painter that suffers the painful process of Alzheimer’s disease.

HITMAN: PAIN OF DESTINY: Another big return. The prequel to the legendary Hitman trilogy. Originally, the story was taking place 15 years before the first Hitman’s movie. But that would have kept Colin Farrel and Patrick Stewart out of the project (too hard to make them look 15 years younger). James McAvoy was in fact considered to replace Farrel. But Daws and Stark have decided to set the story only 7 years before the first movie. That allows the return of both Farrel and Stewart. And Tony Scott is also back as director of the movie while John Daws will personally produce it.

ULTRAMAN: AFRAID OF THE CLONES: Eddie Murphy already has a lead female star and a director for his third adventure as the clumsy superhero. The female star: Jessica Simpson, playing an evil scientist looking to clone Ultraman. The director: Tim Story. None of them have ever worked before for CMP.

CELL MATES 2: HEARTS AND MINDS: Finally, there is a director for this one after the rejection of the Coen Brothers by Ted Froats. Brett Ratner will take care of the cameras. And he has already assured that there will be more action and less comedy than there were in the first movie. Ratner had worked before for CMP directing the successful ‘Captain America’.

FACTION 12: This one will be the first release of Season 7. An old pitch. Let’s make some history: this movie started development before the CMP’s hiatus. But, as it happened with ‘He-Man’, production was cancelled when John Daws decided to leave CMP. Now, Harry Stark is happy of recovering this sci-fi action adventure. Nicholas Cage, who has already been related to three main CMP’s sagas (Captain America, The Last Lawman and Dungeons & Dragons) may initiate here a new franchise both as main star and also as producer.

MISPLACED AFFECTION: This week, we’ll hear together the voices of Keira Knightley and Kirsten Dunst in ‘Game Boy 2: Warlands’. And soon we’ll see them together facing each other in this horror thriller. Latest addition to the cast announced: Alan Alda (‘The Tempting Diamond’).

BABES IN TOYLAND: More names attached to this musical. And all of them make their debut in CMP with it. Let’s get ready to appreciate the dancing and singing talent of Peter Sarsgaard, Joshua Jackson and Amy Adams.

THE METAL: Two more members of the worst heavy metal band in the world are already known. Under the lead of Owen Wilson, please welcome two talents previously seen this Season: Sasha Baron Cohen, returning after ‘No More Bush!’, and Brendan Fraser, returning after ‘T.Y.M.: The Inferno Revenge’.

QUADROPHENIA: A talent not included in the official CMP’s lists of stars has been urgently included as he was so worthy. No other than Doctor House himself: Hugh Laurie. And he will remain close to medical activity, as he is going to play a psychoanalyst.

SYNDROME: NEW EDEN: More than controversial. All kind of problems have raised around this movie. So much that a specific article about what’s going on can be read below.

MAKING OF… ‘SHROEDINGER’S LITTERBOX’
Interview with Ben Tyler

Your latest film features a pretty lofty concept, particularly for a CMP debut. Was there anything in particular that inspired you to write such an amazingly complicated script?
Um, well, actually…no. It actually came to me when I was jogging – sometime in the summer. I think it was some combination of the heat and all the philosophy I was reading about. It can’t be traced to any particular text I’ve read – it just kind of…emerged from a sea of disparate details. Appropriately enough.

Appropriately enough?
Yes, emergence is an important idea in the film, particularly as it relates to human consciousness. Several different approaches to what exactly the human “mind” is, and what exactly makes you “you” are examined, and one of them is that the Cartesian self, illusory as it may or may not be, “emerges” from the complexity of the interactions between the various parts of the brain. The self is both an entity in that it influences the way we view the world, and a non-entity in that it is influenced entirely by other things and isn’t really a specific “thing.”

The trick is to make a movie that covers these topics and still manages to be entertaining and funny.

And how did you go about doing that?
Well, first of all, I included subtly mocking dialogue that points out the absurdity of the entire question. I mean, why waste our time taking such unanswerable questions seriously? Second, the key to making any good comedy is the characters. If the audience cares about a character (or at least finds them amusing), they’re more likely to laugh at or with them. The movie can’t just be empty philosophical discussion. It has to deal with real people in order to work.

God, I must sound so dreadfully pretentious right now. Can we talk about something else?

No, do go on. It’s fascinating.
No, it isn’t. You’re just saying that to get me to fill column space.

Well, yes. Perhaps you’re right. So…speaking as someone who has never produced a film until now, what’s it like?
Busy. There are many things that a producer must do, in their job of producing a film. Because they’re producers, you see. They produce…stuff.

Is that all you have to say about it?
Erm…yes. Uh…any other questions?

No, not really.
Okay, then. This interview’s over, I guess.

Um…bye?

A LOOK AT… KATE WINSLET

She will be releasing this week her fifth movie for CMP. And the five of them have been written by James Bradley, who obviously has her as his own personal muse. But we can advance that it won’t be her only work for the Studio this Season. Kate Winslet is a talented actress with a wide acting range. Her presence in a movie always gives it a touch of class and prestige. And more than that: all of her previous CMP’s releases have worked in box office. So let’s hope she can go on with her winning streak.

BILL AND THE ROCKET MAN (Wes Anderson, B.O.: 102 mill.): The first Anderson / Bradley’s fable was a peculiar story about a shy man (Giamatti) and his longtime imaginary friend, a superhero played by George Clooney. Kate was the neighbour and the love dream of Giamatti, who didn’t dare to even talk to her. A nice story in which Kate shined in all her splendour.

FOOLS GAME (Wes Anderson, B.O.: 68 mill.): The second fable – a remake of a French movie - told the story of a group of eccentric wealthy people that have fun inviting for dinner to any nerd they can laugh at. Winslet played the sophisticated and a bit neurotic lesbian wife of Rupert Everett. A minor role in a classy and acid comedy critically acclaimed.

THE TOYMAKER (Francis Coppola, B.O.: 62 mill.): Kate played the daughter of the toymaker (D.Hoffman) and the love interest of the brave soldier played by Heath Ledger in this more than epic adventure in the times of the French Revolution. Winslet got her first – and only one until now – nomination as Best Actress in the Golden Moon Awards.

AN AMERICAN STROLL (Ang Lee, B.O.: 75 mill.): An ensemble movie about the life in a small deep America village. Kate played Tobey Maguire’s love interest. The movie won the Best Cast GMA and became a huge success mainly due to DVD sales.

MAN IN THE MIRROR (Wes Anderson, awaiting release): The third fable (and her fifth work with Bradley) will show Winslet as a proper and educated divorce lawyer that does not like to share the same soul with the loser Giamatti. Her walk naked across a gym room is more than expected by her fans!


TALK OF THE TOWN

After being only the producer of the two last Ridley Scott’s movies (‘The Guardians’ and ‘The Holders’), Steven Spielberg has announced that he will return to work behind the cameras as director next CMP’s Season with a fantasy adventure written by Matt Kubrick. Spielberg has previously directed for the Studio two blockbusters: ‘Dr. Jones and the Sword of Faith’ and ‘Star Wars: New Order’. About the first one, Spielberg also stated that he has parked the idea of making a sequel for the moment.

It is surprising how sooner or later almost every CMP’s screenwriters decide to try with the musical genre. Joey Stark (‘Nine’), James Bradley (‘Piece Of My Heart’) and Ted Froats (‘Carousel’) were the first ones to dare. Surprisingly, there are now three musicals being developed written by Josh Collins, Ben Tyler and David Makalaster. And more to come: Ted Froats has announced that he will return to the genre next Season. It is really shocking the popularity among CMP’s writers of such a peculiar – and a bit old fashioned – movie genre.

Needing a rest: Keira Knightley is exhausted. This Season, she has been working at a breathtaking rhythm in ‘Pompeii’, ‘Game Boy 2’ and ‘Misplaced Affection’, and still found time to make a cameo in ‘No More Bush!’ The star has recently stated during a press conference that she has decided to take some time before returning to CMP. ‘Audiences may get tired of watching me if I continue this way’, she said. The rest is more than deserved.

But she is not the only one stressed. Some talents keep being so demanded by CMP’s authors that cannot find time to attend all the commitments. Directors Brett Ratner and David Mamet have had to coordinate their shooting schedule to be able to count with Johnny Depp simultaneously in their respective movies, ‘Cell Mates 2’ and ‘Drawing Dreams’. Kevin Spacey, Kirsten Dunst, Abigail Breslin, Will Ferrell, Brendan Fraser, Thomas Haden Church, Paul Bettany, Christian Bale or Edward Norton, among others, are some of the talents involved in more than one movie this Season.

And what happened with stars getting involved in other areas of moviemaking? Some talents like George Clooney, Ben Stiller, Zach Braff, John Cusack, Tom Hanks, Eddie Murphy or Brad Pitt have some time directed or produced their own movies. But it seems like CMP’s authors do not trust much anymore in stars changing their ordinary occupation. And that might be a mistake, as some of them have proved to know how to make very successful productions.

Last week, we praised CMP’s Marketing Department. But this week we have to point out a little reproach: the Zach Braff’s picture used in the poster of ‘Schroedinger’s Litterbox’ was previously used in the poster of ‘The Mogulers’. Only major fans of CMP would have noticed that, but anyway repeating pictures should be avoided.

‘SYNDROME:NEW EDEN’, SPECIAL ARTICLE

More than problems. The production of ‘Syndrome: New Eden’ has become a nightmare for CMP. So many wrong things have happened around this shootage that they deserved a specific article (an article that Harry Stark tried to avoid, but finally the media has got to know about all this controversial situation).

It all begun during the pre-production. When Harry Stark decided to produce simultaneously the two sequels of ‘Syndrome: Paradise Lost’, he contacted all the talents from the first movie to hire them. But the big surprise was that some characters from the original movie did not appear in the screenplays for the sequels. Talents like Bill Paxton, Guy Pearce or Kate Bosworth discovered to their surprise that their characters were not considered in the screenplays after Stark had already offered them a contract to be in the sequels. CMP had to indemnify them to compensate the damages. Also, Shia Leabouf considered that his character had lost so much presence in the plot that it wasn’t worthy to return (other rumours say that, after winning a GMA, he considers himself too important to be in a zombies movie…). And Stark had to ask the CMP’s Screenwriters Team to make some rewrites to keep at least Emma Watson in the movies, though she was not mentioned in the original screenplays for the sequels.

Then came the urgent need of a director. Stark thought that Kubrick was going to direct the sequels, so when Kubrick told him he had no intention of returning behind the cameras, Stark had to look urgently for another director. Rob Cohen was hired in the very last minute when everything was ready to start shooting. It is evident that there was a lack of communication between Kubrick and Stark.

And, as the two sequels had already begun to be shot simultaneously, director Rob Cohen noticed quite a few inconsistencies in the storyline (i.e.: characters suddenly appearing in the third episode as regular ones when they had never been mentioned before).

Inconsistencies were so much that Harry Stark has taken the decision of cancelling the shooting of the third episode (although part of it had been already shot) and keep working only on the second one.

A mess that damages so much the reputation of both Harry Stark and Matt Kubrick. How could the experienced CMP’s President let all this happen without solving the problems before the production began? And how could the prestigious Matt Kubrick develop a storyline that did not exactly connect with the first movie of the saga?

Internal sources from CMP say that Stark tried to hide all this to the media. But, as you can see, so many things have happened that it could not be hidden anymore.

A shameful and embarrassing situation. Fortunately, this is only an exception of the brilliant work Stark and Kubrick usually make. Now there are only two misteries waiting to be solved: will ‘Syndrome: New Eden’ work in box office anyway? And will be the third episode ever released?

SALT AND PEPPER

SALT

JOSH COLLINS: As we have said so many times, CMP doesn’t seem to be good at Drama, although Harry Stark likes the genre so much. Most of CMP’s flops are dramas (not to mention quite a few comedies bombing). But Josh Collins seems to have found the key to success with drama. ‘Hollyweird’, ‘Dream Of A King’ and ‘Blink’ have avoided net losses and made at least some profits and, specially, they have been acclaimed wildly by movie critics. Top casts, quality writing and appealing plots are the main ingredients of Mr. Collins’ recipe. In some way, it’s a shame that Collins has decided to try his luck with other genres. Musical, comedy and horror are some of the genres Collins will give a try in the near future. No matter the success of his upcoming pitches, we hope Collins won’t leave his speciality forever.

PEPPER

JOEY STARK: He started his career in CMP writing all kind of movies, from historical epic (‘The Crusades’), adventure (‘Corsairs’), mobsters (‘The Heirs’), superheroes (‘Captain America’) or film noir (‘Dead Man’s Song’). He proved to be both versatile and talented. But, as the number of screenwriters in CMP has kept growing, it seems like Harry Stark has sent his younger brother to a dark corner. Lately, the once creative Joey Stark seems blocked in writing easy action comedies (‘Crooks’, ‘Casual Day’, ‘T.Y.M.: The Inferno Revenge’, ‘The Hooligan’) that may provide benefits to his brother’s Studio but go nowhere as screenplays. Has he run out of quality ideas or is it Harry’s fault? Anyway, it is time for Joey to wake up and return to be the writer he used to be.

WHAT HAPPENED WITH… THE ‘FRIENDS’ GANG?

They were the most successful gang in tv history. For ten years, a generation of tv viewers adored them week after week. But we all know that the transition from tv star to movie star is not always an easy thing. Some talents make it, some others get lost in the way. The members of the ‘Friends’ gang have showed up in CMP not very often and with different luck. But maybe it is not too late to save them from the oblivion they do not deserve. Let’s remember here their works for CMP.


MATTHEW PERRY
The most successful of the six in CMP. Although he was unfairly ignored in the recent article about CMP’s King of Comedy, he has made three profitable comedies for the Studio: ‘’Singles’, ‘Casual Day’ and ‘King Of The World’.

JENNIFER ANISTON
Not very lucky in CMP. Two movies and two heavy flops: the drama ‘The Clown Smile’ and the comedy ‘Styx and Stones’.

COURTNEY COX
Only one movie for the Studio – the great political comedy ‘The Perfect Candidate’, with Ben Stiller – but that was long ago and Courtney has never been seen again in CMP since then.

DAVID SCHWIMMER
Seen in a great movie: Jonathan Demme’s ‘Turning Point’. And voice heard in a disappointing animation feature, ‘Happy Hamsters’. Forgotten since then.

LISA KUDROW
A reunion: her voice was heard in ‘Happy Hamsters’ too. But her nice face has never showed up in a CMP’s movie.

MATT LEBLANC
Poor Matt has not even made his debut in CMP yet although Harry Stark included him in CMP’s actors database.