JANUARY, 9


THE FLASH

Action / Superhero

The Cast: Joshua Jackson, Isla Fisher, Liam Neeson, Simon Baker, Derek Luke, Mathew Fox. Voice of Powers Booth.

The Director: Antoine Fuqua
The Screenwriter: Dawson Edwards

The Plot: Wally West (J.Jackson) was no one special. Just a B average high school student. Full of hope and sarcasm, Wally was simply a typical teen. Little did he know his uncle, Barry Allen (M.Fox), was Central City's definition of hope. Barry Allen was The Flash. He was the fastest man alive. He used his speed to protect the twin cities of Central and Keystone.

One stormy night, Wally was struck by lightning while walking home, but he was not hurt, in fact the bolt sent Wally running...he continued to run until he was far across the country. Wally had gained the gift of super speed. He kept his secret from everyone, knowing that his popularity would drastically fall if he was considered a freak, that is until Barry found out. Barry told Wally that there would come a time when his gift would be needed, until then "Its our little secret."

That is until he met his untimely demise at the hands of the insanely intelligent beast, Gorilla Grodd (voice of Powers Booth). With the help of acclaimed nano-technician Evan McCulloch's (L.Neeson) inventions, The Flash was able to contain Grodd in a crystalized mirror based chamber. It cost Barry his life, leaving his wife (D.Keaton) and nephew to grieve.

Unfortunately after The Flash's death, the crime rate has risen tremendously. Four years later, Evan McCulloch has been outcasted by his peers for his obsession with using mirrors to find a parallel universe. Wally is back in Keystone from college, and now working with the police department. There he meets detective Hunter Zolomon (S.Baker), his best friend and eventually starts dating the young reporter Linda Park (I.Fisher).

McCulloch began stealing crystals and robbing banks using his mirror teleportation technology and suddenly became infacuated with ruling the world. To do this, he needed to know more, and no one knew more than Grodd.

One night as Hunter and his partner Jared Morillo (D.Luke) are investigating a break in at a lab, Wally decides that he can no longer stand idle while his city becomes the new Gotham. He puts on the very same suit that his uncle died in, and speeds away to stop the villain at hand.

The return Flash is the talk of the town, but Wally feels guilty and tells the press his real identity in honor of Barry.

Evan, the Mirror Master, has found Grodd, and Hunter and Jared arrive to stop him from unleashing the beast back on Keystone. Grodd tells Evan that he will give him the location of his advanced civilization if he is let go. Evan does so, and then quickly escapes. Grodd cripples Hunter over a treadmill – due to this, Hunter loses the ability to walk - like device and knocks Morillo out. Then proceeds to destroy the city building by building. The Flash eventually catches up with Grodd and they battle throughout the city, ending up in the musuem where Flash creates a tornado that lifts Grodd into the aquarium...drowning him.

Hunter hates Flash for not being there and blames him for his lost, and tells Wally he has never experienced tragedy and wants to be left alone. Hunter wants revenge on The Flash.

Soundtrack:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odU1b...x=0&playnext=1


Stark’s Comment: Second pitch from Dawson Edwards. A standard superhero movie that may lead to the beginning of a new CMP’s franchise. Fuqua has tried to reproduce on the silver screen the colours and designs of the comic books. I think a nice box office result is guaranteed (Btw, James Caan and Diane Keaton were announced to be working on this movie and they were, but their characters disappeared in the editing room).

DARE TO BE PERFECT

Comedy / Dark

The Cast: Greg Kinnear, Laura Linney, Susan Sarandon, Emile Hirsh, Abigail Breslin, Chase Ellison, Dustin Hoffman, Lucas Black

The Director: Dayton and Faris
The Screenwriter: Josh Collins
The Producer: Grand Island Movies

The Plot: Meet the Bergers. Your average normal modern family. The only times they ever spend quality time together is dinner (which in one brief scene the family are shown eating dinner at the table and nobody says anything to anyone) and seeing the family counselor, Dr. Garrett (S.Sarandon). Sessions usually lead to insults, hurt feelings and arguments (some funny, some intense) what adds to the film's uniqueness is during sessions, when a family member talks about their problem, they have different perspectives on themselves and each other, much like how every person has a different point of view on themselves and the people around them. When the family is not in session, each of them have their own story to tell.

Ron (G.Kinnear) is a failure in his life and he knows his family thinks so. He is not in tune with anyone and is usually just going through the motions of anything he does at work or home. Dropped out of high school, never went to college and his marriage is hanging on by a pinky finger. His work gives him grief, being a manager at a fast food restaurant dealing with high school-aged kids and being jealous of hearing about anyone's success (he never once congratulated any of his kids on good things) and often tends to put people down when he hears they want to make something of themselves. To blow off stress, he goes to 'S&M Dungeons' and becomes an avid gambler, throughout the film he spends the family life savings and kids' college money. He gets in trouble by gambling, and in addition to having to look over his shoulder, he purchases a gun for protection.

In the eyes of Carrie Berger (L.Linney), she feels her children don't appreciate the things she's done to put a roof over their head (example in one scene she notices that the half gallon of milk is already gone and she says 'I just bought a half gallon of milk yesterday' and the oldest child says 'maybe next time you should get a full gallon') and she feels her husband is a lazy pig (in her point of view, his nose resembles a pig). She thinks of herself as being overweight and wanting to lose it while taking care of her dying father, Joseph (D.Hoffman), who is driving her nuts the way he behaves like a child. They also didn't have a good relationship because when her and her sisters were younger he was never around and when he was, he drunk and hit them. She is also a college professor who starts a lustful affair with a student, Gregory (L.Black). She thinks it makes her young and beautiful again. When Joseph finally passes away in front of her, instead of a look of grief, she smiles, free from the weight of her father whom she tried her entire life to please but couldn't seem to ever get noticed by him. Her story isn't completely over though, after finding out what Ron did, she demands a divorce and comes clean about her affair with Gregory in a short monologue about how when she's with him she feels like a new person.

Ryan Berger (E.Hirsh) finds himself stuck trying to figure out where to go after graduating high school. The colleges he wants to go to either reject him or are too much money. He has a bad attitude towards his parents who've never really paid much attention to him and focused more of their time fighting and insulting each other. He doesn't get along with his siblings and he's never pursued interests, hobbies and talents, which he tries to place blame on his family. To him, everyone is to blame but himself. He's lazy and unemployed, still living with the family. The thing that gives him joy is talking to a girl on the 'net. Their relationship grows and he finds out the girl claims to be 14 but he doesn't stop pursuing her. When they arrange to meet, he comes face to face with his online girlfriend, an undercover cop posing as the girl to bust internet sex offenders. Ryan ends up in jail.

Kim Berger (A.Breslin) is the middle child. Going through that tough period of adolescence when you're not a kid anymore, but you're also not an adult. As she struggles under peer pressure and finding acceptance in a world that doesn't want to accept her. A beautiful girl who doesn't feel that way with how the world's perception of beauty is so unrealistic that she's never happy with herself. She is smart, talented everything her father and older brother want to be but hate that she is. They often think she thinks she's better than them. She thinks something is wrong with her when she has her first period because her mother never spoke to her about things like that, just one of the many things her family never cared to discuss with her along with drugs, sex, etc. In a heartbreaking monologue in the office, she talks about how she's the one whose taught herself everything, how she's raised herself, how she's her own hero because if it weren't for her she'd be dead, in jail or pregnant. Some things that offer her solace are performing yoga and karate(which he uses against an attacker in the film who wants to rape her but she fends him off) Kim and Carrie are actually going to be ok of everyone in the family.

Jason Berger (C.Ellison) is the youngest and is an anti-social in the making. You feel sympathy for him yet he is a bad boy. He's very intelligent but because of a slight learning disability(can't hear certain tones) he goes to classes with the mentally challenged children. He gets treated like a geek at school and he's very angry. He just hates the world and everyone and everything in it. He's destructive, rude, hits his sister and mother, doesn't even have mercy for the smallest of animals and sets fires. He becomes freakishly obsessed with a classmate but she shows no interest in being more than a friend of his. When he tries to kiss her, she slaps his face and escapes. he doesn't take that kindly as he returns to school with a gun(he found the gun which his father bought for protection out of fear of being stalked by people who aren't happy with his compulsive gambling ways) Jason almost shoots the girl but he is spotted and in the middle of a scuffle with a teacher in the hallway trying to get the gun out of his hands. The gun goes off and he shoots himself in the foot, nobody is hurt but it lands Jason in trouble with the law. When Jason stole the gun from his father's closet, it prevented Ron from using it for protection and would result in Ron getting beaten nearly to death. Jason gets put in a psychological ward instead of a Juvenile facility.

Carrie's affair doesn't last, neither does her marriage. While Ron lays in his hospital bed after the beating he endured, she gives him the divorce papers she's been keeping for several months. Since Ron gambled away all of their money, Ryan never managed to be bonded out of jail, Jason sits in solitude at the ward, not speaking with anyone, living in silent regret. Carrie assumes she is going to raise Kim, but Kim says she doesn't want to live with her mom. Kim feels Carrie isn't her mother, that she hasn't done anything her whole life to receive that title. That Carrie admitted the kids were accidents. She was focused with her marriage, her own needs, had an affair to start a new life, blamed her family(everyone in the family puts blame on everyone else except themselves) for the life she ended up with and that she'd rather live with her aunt.


Stark’s Comment: First release from the independent production company Grand Island Movies, created by Josh Collins. Collins returns here to some of his usual issues - family conflicts, the difficulties of growing up… – this time with an acid sense of humour perspective. Dayton and Faris return to CMP after the nice turnout of ‘Paternal Nightmare’. And I have the feeling that we have here one of the main contenders for the next GMA.

BEDTIME STORIES

Horror / Supernatural

The Cast: Ivana Baquero, Alan Arkin, Gillian Anderson, Taylor Dooley, William Moseley, Alan Rickman, Ryan Simpkins, Dakota Blue Richards, Saoirse Ronan, Mackenzie Vega

The Directors: Matt Kubrick, Alexander Aja, Eli Roth
The Screenwriter: Matt Kubrick
The Producer: Midnight Movies

The Plot: On a dark night during a slumber party three teenage girls (D.B.Richards, S.Ronan, M.Vega) have gathered to have a night of fun and games. As the night wears on they soon gather around a small bonfire to tell each other scary stories.

Heathers Story : Imaginary Friend (Directed by Eli Roth)
A 10 year old girl (R.Simpkins) starts playing games with her imaginary friend but soon the games start turning more and more sinister such as poisoning a bully at school, pushing her mother down the steps, killing a neighborhood dog and stabbing a teacher to death. No one believes her about her friend. Soon the girl is put in a home for children with mental disorders and the doctors saying she is schizorphrenic. It ends with the girl sitting on the floor of her room at the childrens home staring off into space.

Kims Story: The Orphanage (Directed by Matt Kubrick)
The kids living at an orhpanage for boys and girls (W.Moseley, T.Dooley) are tired of being abused by the terrible man (A.Rickman), a christian who has a twisted way of beating his religion into the children. On one dark night the kids take their revenge on the man by killing him and turning his skull into a jack o lantern.

Michelle's Story: Grandpa (Directed by Alexander Aja)
An aging grandfather (A.Arkin) comes to live with the family a mother and her daughter. He is senile and gets confused alot. One time he is caught cooking the family rabbit and skinning it. One day the girl named Anna (I.Baquero) is starring in a play as a rabbit. She comes home, her mother (G.Anderson) has gone out. But her grandfather begins to advance on her thinking she is a rabbit he grabs a long carving knife and begins having a cat and mouse chase throughout the house. When he finally has the girl cornered he drops over from a heart attack that leaves him dead.

After the three stories the girls go to bed it's late, but somone is watching them, a pair of eyes gaze out of the dark as they sleep…


Stark’s Comment: A new experience for CMP: a three independent episodes movie. A very appealing project. After the nice result of ‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’, I hope Kubrick and Aja keep making the horror genre profitable for the Studio right before Eli Roth returns too with ‘The Dead Walk’.


THE SONJA BLUE CHRONICLES: Decision taken. Finally, it will be Selma Blair the actress to play Sonja Blue in this David Cronenberg’s adapatation of the Nancy A. Collins books written by Richard Franzwa. This will be the first work from Selma for CMP. Anne Hathaway was also considered for the role, but she could not play it as she is already shooting ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’. Lindsay Lohan, Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley were other actresses considered before choosing Selma.

SHERLOCK HOLMES: GMA Nominee Philip Seymour Hoffman joins the cast of this Tim Burton’s revisitation of the famous Baker Street’s detective. Hoffman will play Doctor Watson, Sherlock’s best friend. So together with Holmes / Depp, Watson will have to face the evil Professor Moriarty, played by Anthony Hopkins, in this appealing production.

TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED: Ben Tyler resurrects for CMP with this new and peculiar project. Another three episodes movie, in the line of this week’s release ‘Bedtime Stories’. The movie pays homage to old classic tv shows like ‘Tales Of The Unexpected’ or ‘Alfred Hitchcock presents’. The episodes will be based on three Roald Dahl’s short stories and they will be directed by Woody Allen, Darren Asorofski and Ben Tyler himself, making his debut as movie director.

METAL GEAR SOLID: Dawson Edwards is the screenwriter behind this adaptation of the popular computer game. An action show that will be directed by John Woo, returning to CMP after his only work for the Studio, ‘The Avenger’. Eric Bana starred ‘The Avenger’ and now he will work again with Woo starring this production. It seems like Bana is becoming the favourite action hero in CMP after his recent works in ‘Civilization M’ and ‘Bullet Witch’.

THE EXPERIENCE: Green light for this biopic of the legendary rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Josh Collins has written it and Todd Haynes is going to direct it. The actor to play Hendrix will be Chiwetel Ejiofor. Ejiofor has only worked for CMP once before, making a cameo as golf master Tiger Woods in the blockbuster comedy ‘Captain Planet’.

MAGIC: THE GATHERING – SINISTER BLACK: Yes, he’s back again in a fantasy mega-production. Recent GMA Winner, Ron Pearlman, will lend his voice to one of the digitally generated characters of this epic fantasy that is being directed by Martin Campbell following a screenplay written by David Makalaster.

THE DEAD WALK: Problems for this production. Radha Mitchel and Josh Lucas, who had started shooting it suddenly abandoned the project due to the usual ‘creative differences’ with director Eli Roth. Josh Hutcherson and Elle Fanning, who were going to be in the movie too, refused the offer in the very last minute. So a whole new cast had to be urgently put up, as production was already going on. New names in it are – as Josh Collins wanted – low profile talents like Gabriel Mann, Elizabeth Reaser, Thomas Sangster, Sammi Harratty, Desmond Harrington, Ariel Kebbel, Noah Fleiss, Joy Bryant or Brad Dourif. A dollar to you for each one of them you may previously know (except for Dourif)…

KILLER ON THE ROAD: Sigourney Weaver, whose only previous work for CMP was so long ago, in the adventure movie ‘Corsairs: The Search for Nantayalah’, returns to the Studio with this serial killer thriller directed by David Ayer. Weaver plays the serial killer’s – Guy Pierce – mother.

THINGS I FORGOT TO TELL YOU: More actresses known to be playing one of the monologues of this experimental low budget production directed by Steven Soderbergh. GMA Winner Jodie Foster (‘Turning Point’, ‘The Cure’, American Heartland’, ‘Lyra’) plays a US State Governor while Diane Lane (‘Smoke Signals’) will be an abandoned lover of a married man.

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS: Jean Reno (‘The Hooligan’) joins the cast of this comedy playing a French cop and accomplice of George Clooney. And a nice surprise: Michael Caine and Steve Martin, the starring couple of the original movie released in the 90s, will make a brief cameo in this one.


THE FLASH
By Dawson Edwards

The flop of "The Killing Run" was hard on me. I didn't expect "Game Boy" numbers but I at least thought it would make profits. Looking back, it was a very flawed story. So with my next project, I wanted to do something that was personal to me, and what could be more personal than the hero I've always adored?! The Flash isn't the cookie cutter hero, he's just a young man who has up until high school lived a normal life. He has to deal with the loss of his uncle and the loss of his hero at a time where most people are still trying to find themselves. Wally's growth in this film from an innocent kid with a gift to a slick talking young man with a responsibility that is far beyond his years, is something people of all ages will enjoy.

I've always loved the comics, and still occasionally read them. The character of Wally West is so personal that his story just needed to be told. So when I finally started writing, there were so many things I just couldn't fit into the screenplay. Tooting my own horn here, I feel I did an outstanding job translating the legacy of The Flash into a remarkable story complete with action, love, laughs and loss.

Casting Wally West was pretty easy. I've been a big fan of Joshua Jackson for some time now, and found that he was one of few highlights in my previous film. I think he'll be a character that people will love to see again and again. Now as for the casting "bumps", we hit, I really didn't get upset. If anything I was a bit frustrated because that information was broadcast so early in the development of the film. I have no hard feelings for Leo or Brad, and hope to work with them in the future.

If The Flash is a success then I would love to write a sequel, this is easily a franchise character. I'd love to write this character as long as Josh is willing to play him. [Laughs] You know, with all the Marvel characters getting their fair share of movies, I wanted to show the world that DC has amazing stories to be told as well. As for a cohesive universe like the Avengers? Who knows, maybe I'll write a superhero team up movie later. But as of now, I think I'm all super heroed out. [Laughs]

Antoine Fuqua! I love his work, and I was fortunate enough to speak with him after I found out he was attached to direct. "Get Christie Love!" wasn't the best of his work but I enjoyed it and I know he'll do a fantastic job as director. He'll definitely be able to get the best out of the cast members and present the film like no other action movie CMP has ever seen...so far.


DARE TO BE PERFECT
Stephanie Stevens interviews Josh Collins

Before the interview, I would like to comment some details of the casting process for this movie I’ve heard. It wasn’t an easy process as some changes took place in the way.

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris were offered to direct another Josh Collins film fresh after Paternal Nightmare and it was them who requested that Kim Berger should be played by their Little Miss Sunshine Academy Award Nominee, Abigail Breslin.

Josh Collins agreed to the casting, saying that he read a review from a critic bashing Abigail in one of the Syndrome movies, saying they hoped the zombies kidnapping her would turn it into a feast party. He wants to show them yet again after her amazing performance in Hollyweird that she can run with the big dogs.

AnnaSophia Robb had been offered the role and said no thanks, saying she was looking for something different and wished Abigail to break a leg in the role. "We hope this gives Abigail the appreciation she deserves. She's more than just the little cute kid." Mrs. Faris said.

Abbie will not be the only LMS returning cast member, Greg Kinnear, who hasn't had much luck in CMP starring in only two films when CMP was still young, will return. "We think Greg and Abbie had fantastic chemistry in Little Miss Sunshine, they made us believe they really were related!" Dayton commented.

Dare to Be Perfect is looking to be released and could very well be a heavy GMA contender, and the role Abbie has agreed to play could very well make her the next child actor GMA nominee. Dakota, Ivana, Ariel have all been at least nominated previously!

And now, my chat with Mr. Collins…

So tell us about this upcoming feature that you are claiming is the best thing you've written in a while.

Dare to be Perfect is about a typical normal suburban family. Normal in the sense that no family is perfect and you are given a window to look through on this family one family out of the billions of them, you can proudly say "I'm glad we're not THAT bad."

I hear the film underwent so many changes that it became a completely brand new film, the only thing similar to the original basis is the title.

Yeah, i actually had this film's title carried around with me since I was younger. When I wrote the original story, it was an anti-romantic comedy about a guy coming to terms with the idea that his ex-girlfriend slept with his best friend and he goes through the film to find his own spot in the world. It was kind of dumb, if you read it now, you could tell it was written by a 14-15 year old. Thank god it basically became a brand new appealing story.

We've seen family dysfunction in critically acclaimed hits such as "American Beauty" and "Little Miss Sunshine" what makes this film so different from those and others dealing with problematic families?

You can clearly see throughout the film that as much as they are trying to mend their broken family by going to counseling, things just aren't working out. I like how the film has brief snippets of the sessions(or flashbacks) in which whoever is telling the story has their own perception on the other person and how they perceive themselves. But outside the counseling, you are given the truth of exactly who everyone is with no bias. I also like the ending, not something you usually see in the films, not all is right and the family doesn't exactly work together, they all realize the family is just too torn up. It's kind of depressing, but the right ending in my opinion. Another appeal I find in the film is how all of the characters are right, wrong, sympathetic yet not, they're all just people.

Tell us a little about your idea to bring back Dayton and Faris after you three worked together on 'Paternal Nightmare'

'Paternal Nightmare' was ok, but I didn't feel like I gave Dayton and Faris a better chance to express themselves. They did a wondrous job with Little Miss Sunshine but some people just wanted to see them not take a step back. Sometimes it's hard to debut as a movie director, get a beloved hit and be able to stay on top.

I heard there was some casting issues going on. Any exciting backstage drama you could talk about?

Oh the media and internet is just blowing that up a little bit. It sounds exciting in the media, but in real life it's not. AnnaSophia Robb was originally going to play Kim Berger, but for one, she had prior commitments to star in Silver Sable, and two, she thought in her mind the role was similar to what she did in 'Sleepwalking' and didn't want to play the same character. Quite honestly, it's not the same character, I had Kim's personality in mind long before I knew that movie existed.

Aww man I was hoping there would be something juicy!

See that's the human mind for you. We just love drama in our lives. What's even more fun is other people's suffering. We watch these reality shows where families display their personal lives on camera that show the good and bad.

Did you like how the actors performed your characters?

Everyone was just brilliant. I love Laura Linney, she's a mature talented actress. To me, no other actress could have been Carrie Berger, or would have at least done as good as a job as her.
Greg is another one of my favorite actors with a versatile range. A perfect choice to be Ron. This film shows that he can be a nice guy, prick, loser.
Emile Hirsch, who you'll see in a lot of my upcoming features is a young up and comer who I see going pretty far in his career. The role would have gone to Shia LaBeouf had it not been that Shia always gets arrested or almost arrested in his movies (See Disturbia, Transformers, Eagle Eye and his recent DUI charges)
Chase Ellison is a hidden gem, I've seen many of his films and he's a great young actor. He had a lot of fun being a little preteen putz (even though he's a couple of years older than Abigail) it would have been Jimmy Bennett again, but I figured I'd give someone else a chance. I just wanted to pop him myself when he was doing his scenes. That's not a bad thing like Ashton Kutcher trying to act, but I myself wanted to set Chase straight with a belt beating.
And Abbie returns in my movies (She's become like a niece to me with all these films she's done with my name attached) she also had a lot of fun playing this role because it's something she's never done and she related to it pretty well as she's heading into the same state Kim is in (goodbye childhood, hello adolescence) I wanted CMP and movie goers to not write her off as just always being the cutesy kid, but a talented actress in her own right (we saw it in Hollyweird, Keane and Little Miss Sunshine, Dare to be Perfect just confirms it)

I hear this is going to be the first official film from your new production company, Grand Island Movies.

Correct! I wanted to be able to give my original ideas like DTBP legs to stand on and be able to send over my mainstream films to CMP. Other films that would have been produced had Grand Island been thought of sooner were Lyra, Velcro, A Man Called Dan, Blink and Hollyweird. I'll still try to put some effort into both kinds of styles but Zelda and Change of Heart were from other mediums.

What else do you have coming up?

All I can say is I have several seasons worth of films that I pitched to Harry Stark. I like that he keeps what films are coming up secret until they start showing up on the movies in development list and many of them are random so it's cool and exciting to see which one of your babies are drawing near to a release.

If you dare to see Dare to be Perfect, you certainly won't have to wait long. Trailers have surfaced with many positive feedback from moviegoers I've spoken with.

See it if you Dare!

Josh, I'm the journalist here. Only I can make cute witty puns that will make only old ladies laugh.


HORROR FLICKS IN CMP

Horror has always been considered as a complicated genre for CMP in box office terms. But maybe, looking back at the Studio’s history, that is only an unfair black legend. Matt Kubrick, the main pillar of the CMP’s horror movies, has made the Studio win a lot of money with his darkest fantasies. Now that ‘Bedtime Stories’ is about to be released and new horror movies are on their way, it is a good moment to look back at CMP’s horror flicks and maybe restore the reputation of the genre:

FEAR THE DARKNESS
The Concept: The most famous horror saga from CMP. Benicio Del Toro was behind the iconic character of Darkman, an evil entity that loves scaring the visitors to his mansion.
The Names: Matt Kubrick wrote the movies. Wes Craven directed the first (and best) two episodes of the saga and then Robert Rodriguez and Tobe Hooper made the third and the fourth.
The Numbers: 117 and 122 millions for the two first episodes. The third one, with only 16 millions in box office, almost killed the franchise. It resurrected with ‘Darkman: Resurrection’, that made a decent box office of 53 millions.

VORHEES
The Concept: Kubrick told the story of Jason Vorhees’ early days in two movies – ‘The Early Years’ and ‘The Bloody Years’.
The Names: Kubrick made his debut as movie director with the first one while Eli Roth directed the second one.
The Numbers: ‘The Early Years’ made 89 millions in box office. A few Seasons later, ‘The Bloody Years’ flopped with a box office of 19 millions.

CURSED NEVERLAND
The Concept: Maybe Peter Pan wasn’t the nice guy Disney told us. A dark vision of the classic character still considered as one of the best horror movies ever produced by CMP.
The Names: Matt Kubrick wrote the screenplay. It is the only CMP movie directed by M. Night Shymalan. And Kiefer Sutherland played an impressive Peter Pan that scared to death to both Harrison Ford and Reese Witherspoon.
The Numbers: A nice box office of 76 millions. But it deserved much more.

LONDON UNDERGROUND
The Concept: Getting lost in the tunnels of London Underground may be a bad experience if someone is waiting for you in the shadows.
The Names: Stephen Sommers proved he didn’t know how to direct a horror flick. The movie initiated the bad reputation of CMP’s horror movies.
The Numbers: 25 millions in box office, not enough to avoid net losses.

THE GROTTO
The Concept: Santa was a bad guy before ‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’.
The Names: First horror production not written by Kubrick but by Marcus Trax. John Carpenter directed, Wes Craven produced and Donald Sutherland played the scary Santa. Even his son Kiefer was scared by him.
The Numbers: 45 millions in box office. No more than a correct result.

SYNDROME
The Concept: Zombies. Hundreds of zombies. And only a small group of humans trying to run away from them.
The Names: Kubrick again. And Rob Cohen directing the second and third instalment. Ben Affleck leading the survivors and Abigail Breslin, among others, following the leader.
The Numbers: 78, 45 and 23 millions in box office. Only the third one had net losses. Critics hated the trilogy but the final balance was profitable for CMP after all.

BLOOD BEACH
The Concept: Not many. A slasher movie at the beach: blood and boobs.
The Names: Kubrick wrote what can be considered almost a parody of horror flicks and Eli Roth failed again directing it. Michelle Trachtenberg, Misha Barton, Emile Hirsh and Ellen Page were there in their bathing suits.
The Numbers: A poor box office of 12 millions. The movie definitely sunk the prestige of horror movies in CMP and it took some time before the Studio bet again for the genre.

SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT
The Concept: Santa being naughty again in this remake of the 1984’s classic.
The Names: Kubrick trusted in Alexander Aja to direct the remake and Jake Gyllenhaal accepted to star it.
The Numbers: 40 millions in box office. Enough to recover the confidence of the Studio’s executives in the genre.

…AND COMING UP
New horror pitches are coming up this Season trying to prove not only that the genre is more profitable than it may seem but also that it is more alive than ever. Right after ‘Bedtime Stories’, Josh Collins will release his first horror pitch, the zombies hand held camera movie ‘The Dead Walk’, and a bit later Kubrick himself will put up another one of his slasher shows.


Joshua Jackson and Isla Fisher, starring couple of the upcoming ‘The Flash’, attended to the Los Angeles premiere of the movie. Here they are at the entrance of the Hollywood’s Chinese Theatre.




Happy New Year to everyone! To get through my CMP’s abstinence syndrome these two weeks without releases from the Studio – my life is empty without a superhero movie or a Kubrick’s horror flick to watch -, I have been talking with my friends at the Studio – those guys that work from sunrise to dawn at CMP’s offices for one of those poor salaries Mr. Stark pays. I officially call them ‘My Confidential Internal Sources’ – which sounds pretty glamorous and impresses my boss very much – but, in fact, they are just a couple of guys that work at the reception desk and tell me everything I want just for a beer. And these are the last things they’ve heard in the corridors:

Joey Stark and Matt Kubrick are working together on the screenplay of a new Wild Cards movie to be released next Season. The movie would make the seventh production under the Wild Cards label and is meant to be the final instalment of the saga. For that reason, the authors want to make it the more spectacular episode of the franchise. In it, all the open plots from previous movies – particularly ‘WC: Double Solitaire’ and ‘Chrysalis: Pennies From Hell’ - would reach a conclusion. Why to put an end to one of the most lasting and acclaimed CMP’s franchises? Joey Stark put it this way in a recent interview: ‘I think there is no room for the Wild Cards’ universe right now in CMP. With all those superhero movies coming up one after another, we prefer giving WC a rest instead of losing the attention of moviegoers. Seven movies are enough for now.’ But Stark also said: ‘The WC formula is not exhausted. The movies have kept working in box office and there are hundreds of stories and new characters that could be taken out from the books. Matt and I love the saga. So this may be just a rest and not a final ending.’ Rumours around this project include the name of Zach Snyder (‘Preacher’) as the main candidate to direct this new and last episode and ‘Wild Cards: Showdown’ as its provisional title.

Do you remember a CMP’s action comedy titled ‘Crooks’ and starred by Eddie Murphy and Steve Carrel? Me neither. But you will probably remember Murphy was Ultraman in a trilogy of parodies of superhero movies written by Steve Connors while Carrel has been Lieutenant USA in another two superheroes parodies written by John Daws. Well, hold on to your seats and fear the worst. Steve Connors is planning to reunite Ultraman and Lieutenant USA in the same movie, a production that pretends to be THE superhero movies parody. Now that Lit. USA’s creator, John Daws, seems to be gone from CMP, Connors would rescue the character and make him meet Ultraman. ‘Crossovers are a tradition in superheroes comics’, says Connors, ‘so we could make the same with superheroes spoof comedies’. The scary thing is that Murphy and Carrel, that became good friends while working together in ‘Crooks’, seem to be delighted with the idea.

But this is not the first consequence of Daws’ sudden retirement. Another one of his hits, ‘He-Man. The Power Of Greyskull’, may have a sequel developed by another author. A peculiar sequel. Matt Kubrick has always been interested in the character. In fact, he had written a couple of screenplays based on Masters of the Universe that were never developed as Daws’ version of the character was previously greenlighted by the Studio – remember that it was a complex production, as it was cancelled due to the first Daws’ retirement and then recovered a few Seasons later with some deep changes. Anyway, now Kubrick wants to make at last his own He-Man’s movie and CMP has finally accepted it. According to the guys at the reception desk – I mean, my confidential internal sources -, the movie would respect the storyline of Daws’ movie but it would not be exactly a sequel. Kubrick’s new project is not a live action movie but an animated feature that would retake the story where Daws’ movie left it. Kubrick’s plan is to put up an epic digital animation production that would redefine and modernize the old cartoon. And he has contacted no other than Andrew Adamson (‘The Ice Princess’) to work with him again in this ambitious project.

During the London premiere of ‘Flashman’s Travels’, James Bradley revealed his plans for the character: ‘Although George McDonald Fraser wrote twelve books based on the character, my plans are to make five movies of the saga. More than that could be too much. The idea is to make Flashy go through the main events of the 19th Century in Europe, Asia and America.’ Bradley confirmed that he has already written the screenplay for the third movie. It will look at the war between British Army and Sijs in India – and the search of a legendary diamond – and will recover some supporting characters from both the first and the second movie of the saga. For the fourth one, Flashman would probably travel to America. Rupert Everett has already signed a contract to star the five movies.

And another sequel may come written by a different author than the original movie. Do you remember ‘Deep Silence’? Ok, ok, me neither. Looking at CMMDB, I find this was an underwater adventure where Keanu Reeves and Jessica Alba fought against strange sub-aquatic creatures. A kind of ‘Underwater Alien’. It was directed and produced by James Cameron – a guy experienced in both water and aliens – and written by Tom Figgs, an author that disappeared after only a couple of pitches, this one and the erotic thriller ‘Dark’. ‘Deep Silence’ worked outstandingly well in box office back in Season 2 and, from time to time, Harry Stark has talked about a possible sequel. Looking at old posts in this blog, I find that even Matt Kubrick showed his interest at some moment in writing that sequel. Well, it finally seems like that sequel will become a reality. Joey Stark has officially confirmed he is working on it and expects to have it ready as soon as he finishes the screenplays of ‘Silver Sable 2’ and the above mentioned Wild Cards last episode. ‘Deep Silence 2’ will focus on Jessica Alba’s character, a professional diver that hardly survived to the creatures – following the parallelism with Alien: ‘Underwater Ripley’ here? –, and it is rumoured that Cameron has expressed Stark his complete lack of interest in getting involved in this production.

And I end up with a minor but juicy controversy. As you all know, Josh Collins has created his own independent production company, Grand Island Movies. The company will develop Collins’ indie dramas and comedies. This same week, the company releases its very first production, ‘Dare To Be Perfect’. But looking at CMMDB, a few previous Collins’ movies appear there as Grand Island Movies productions. And that’s not true. In fact, that’s impossible. Movies like ‘Blink’, ‘Velcro’, ‘Lyra’ or ‘A Man Called Dan’, among others, were developed by Crazy Moon Pictures and Grand Island Movies did not even exist when they were produced. So how is it possible that they appear now in CMMDB as Grand Island Movies productions? And may CMP sue Grand Island Movies for that? Bad beginning for the new company…