SEPTEMBER, 18
SILVER SABLE AND THE WILD PACK
Action / Superhero
The Cast: Katherine Heigl, Tobey Maguire, Gerard Butler, Edgar Ramirez, Eric Balfour, Dominic Monaghan, AnnaSophia Robb, Bo Hoskins
The Director and Producer: Bryan Singer
The Screenwriter: Joey Stark
The Plot: Before the credits, an spectacular action set piece takes place. Silver Sable (K.Heigl) and the Wild Pack are involved in a gunfight against a horde of mercenaries on top of a huge dam in Zambia, Africa. We are introduced to the members of the wild pack: Foreigner (G.Butler), Quentino (D.Monaghan) and Chen (E.Balfour) and their super-skills. The sequence ends when Silver and her guys get inside the dam to deactivate a bomb. After that, the four of them dive from top of the dam while mercenaries are still shooting at them. After a long fall, they reach a little submarine that is waiting for them in the depths. As they get inside, the submarine turns into an airplane that flies from underwater to the sky. Silver’s uncle Morty (B.Hoskins) is waiting for them in it.
'Everything went fine?', he asks.
'Business as usual' says Silver, 'I love this subairplane you have designed, uncle Morty.'
Credits
The group is relaxing at Silver's residence in Symkaria. We get to know by intuition that there's something more than friendship between Silver and Foreigner. Uncle Morty interrupts them during a martial arts training session. He tells something is going wrong. Silver connects by video-conference with Spiderman (T.Maguire). He informs Silver that a group of terrorists have assaulted Redmon Private School in Long Island. The kids have been taken by hostages. And that includes Anna (A.Robb), Silver's cousin.
The group urgently flies to Long Island. Spiderman joins them there. With a special camera able to look through walls, Silver identifies one of the terrorists inside the school. It’s an ugly looking man with half of his face burnt. Spiderman says he knows him. His name is Gattlin (E.Ramirez). A few years ago, he was said to be member of the Genesis Coalition. 'What's the Genesis Coalition?', asks Silver. Spiderman explains her that the Genesis Coalition used to be a kind of faction of Hydra, the famous international criminal organization. The Genesis Coalition became an independent organization from Hydra a few years ago and nobody knows yet who is ahead of it.
Silver, Spiderman and the Wild Pack assault the school to free the kids. There's a big fight with the terrorists but the group gets to release safely all the children. Most of the terrorists are killed or captured but Gattlin gets to escape through the sewer system.
After this event, Silver stays in New York for a few days relaxing with Anna at the Symkaria’s Embassy. Silver and Spiderman go out for dinner and they seem to flirt a bit. Foreigner notices it.
Silver receives a visit in NYC. It's a man that introduces himself as Reverend Rightsfield. He says he wants to hire Silver and her team for his personal protection, as he is afraid he may be assassinated. He gives her a dossier about who he is. Silver is surprised to know that the Reverend is the owner of Anna’s school in Long Island.
The day after the visit, Silver sees on the tv the news about a man shot down at Times Square. A picture is shown: it’s Reverend Rightsfield.
Silver and the Wild Pack decide to investigate. They receive a notification from Interpol: a man with half face burnt was recently seen by agents in a club in Guatemala. Looking at Reverend’s dossier, Silver finds that he leaded a NGO that was developing educational projects in Guatemala.
Silver decides to fly to Guatemala. The night before she leaves, Silver and Spiderman meet at a romantic dinner and kiss. Foreigner is spying them and sees it. The next morning, he tells Silver he won’t be going with the group to Guatemala. He prefers to stay at NYC investigating more about the Reverend’s activities. So Silver flies alone with Quentino and Chen.
After a complicated investigation, Silver finds Gattlin and follows him to a plantation in the middle of Guatemala’s jungle. Silver realizes that drug is being packed there to be sent to the US. Guardians of the plantation notice the visitors. There’s a gunfight and Quentino is wounded and captured.
The night after, Silver and Chen return to the plantation. Chen looks for Quentino while Silver looks for Gattlin. Some guardians surprise Silver and there’s a karate fight. An oil lamp falls during the fight and a big fire begins in the plantation’s buildings. Silver gets rid of the guardians and finally faces Gattlin. They talk. Gattlin tells her that Reverend Rightsfield was in fact a prominent member of the Genesis Coalition. All his charitable activities were just a cover up for his drug traffic businesses.
Gattlin admits he works for the Genesis Coalition too. The leader of the Coalition wasn’t happy lately with how the Reverend managed things. The assault to school was decided as a kind of warning to scare the Reverend. And yes, he got scared. That’s why he wanted to hire Silver to protect him pretending to be a good man. But the leader had already ordered his assassination.
While they are talking, a roof in flames falls on Gattlin and Silver. Gattlin rans away and Silver follows him. She meets with Chen and Quentino. They have to fight against the guardians. Gattlin takes a light aircraft and flies away. But Silver and the guys find another aircraft and take it to follow him.
Up in the air, Silver jumps from one aircraft to the other. She fights with Gattlin in the wings of his aircraft. While fighting, Gattlin says to Silver: ‘I saw your father recently and he didn’t look good, you know’. Silver is shocked. ‘Where is my father?’, she asks. Gattlin laughs: ‘He is a guest of the Coalition’s leader’, he says. After that, Gattlin loses his balance and falls in the dark.
The aircraft has no pilot and starts to fall. Silver slips. She can hardly hold to the aircraft’s wheels. But Quentino approximates his airplane so Silver can finally jump back to it.
They return to NYC. Foreigner meets them. He and Silver talk. Foreigner asks her what’s going on between Spiderman and her. ‘Is it over between us?’, he asks her. Silver tells him she has no time for any relationship at the moment. She wants to focus all her energies now on discovering who the leader of the Genesis Coalition is and rescuing her father.
The movie ends with Silver looking at NYC’s skyline at dusk from the roof of Symkaria’s embassy.
After the credits…
We see Foreigner standing in front of an elegant desk. An off voice from behind the desk is heard: ‘Are you sure you want to take this step?’. It seems like Foreigner hesitates. But he finally says: ‘Yes, I’m sure’.
Stark’s Comment: ‘Silver Sable’ made 130 millions in box office (and 113 millions of net gains) back in Season 9. A sequel was almost inevitable. As any superhero movie, I expect it to make a nice box office without major problems.
Behind The Scenes: Bo Hoskins has replaced Anthony Hopkins as Silver’s uncle. Hopkins rejected the offer to repeat his character in this sequel.
MORE TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED
Suspense / Drama
The Cast: Daniel Radcliff, Tilda Swinton, Emma Thompson, John Cleese, Gerard Depardieu, Eva Green, Gaspard Ulliel, Cyril Descours, Jean-Pierre Léaud
The Directors: David Fincher, Matt Kubrick, Gus Van Sant
The Screenwriter: Ben Tyler
The Plot:
Tale #1 - Skin (Gus Van Sant)
The narrator introduces the setting:
"The place is Paris. The year is 1947, two years after the end of the Second World War. Much of Europe is still being rebuilt. Paris, however, looks much the same as it did before the war. When a building is destroyed, it can be rebuilt. Bricks can be laid, concrete poured. But how to rebuild a man's life?
We see a poor old man (Gerard Depardieau) stumbling around outside an art gallery. This is Drioli. For many years, he owned a tattoo parlor in the city. Now, he is destitute - one of many artists displaced by Nazi tyranny. By the time the city had been liberated, it was too late for him to start over again. Longing for shelter from the pouring rain, Drioli stares through the window of the display. Suddenly, he sees a name he recognizes: "Chaim Soutine," a famous (and now deceased) artist - and a good friend of his during his youth.
He begins to reminisce about one of his fondest memories of Soutine, back almost thirty years ago, when they lived together in a residence for struggling artists known as La Ruche. Soutine (Gaspard Ulliel) was in love with Drioli's wife Josie (Eva Green). Young Drioli (Cyril Descours) suspected this, but was not particularly bothered by it. He knew nothing damaging would come of it. Besides, the Bohemian lifestyle they lived allowed for such arrangements.
One day, Soutine decides that he wants to paint a picture of Josie. Josie replies that he has already painted her several times before. Soutine acknowledges this, but persists in asking, saying that he wants to do something different this time - he is not sure what. He considers different sorts of motion and poses, trying to think of something he hadn't already done.
Then Drioli makes an unusual suggestion - he could make the painting in the form of a tattoo. Drioli volunteers the use of his own back as a "canvas." First, Drioli would teach Soutine how to use a needle properly. Then, Soutine would paint the portrait of Josie on his back and tattoo over the painting.
Several hours later, the tattoo is finally finished. It is a beautiful piece of work - one that makes use of the very contours of his back to accentuate the shapes and curves of the subject.
Lost in thought, Drioli wanders into the gallery without realizing it. The well-to-do patrons are shocked to see a vagrant in the premises and call for the security guards to take him away. As they begin to do so, Drioli desperately asserts that he knew Soutine for years. It is to no avail, however, and they begin to drag him out the building.
However, Drioli is able to struggle out of their grip. He turns around and takes off his shirt, showing them all the proof of their friendship.
The patrons look on, fascinated. One of the art critics note that it is indeed reminiscent of Soutine's early work. So much so, in fact, that it could only possibly be the genuine article.
Some of the wealthier patrons begin to make offers for the work, setting off a flurry of bidding and proposals. One of them offers to pay for a skin grafting operation (plus a hefty bonus) to remove the tattoo. Others, however, point out that such a large skin grafting operation is likely to kill him.
Another man (Jean-Pierre Léaud) makes a somewhat different offer. He claims to be the owner of the Bristol Hotel in Cannes. He says that a man carrying such a valuable painting on his back would attract a number of guests and sightseers. He would be willing to let Drioli live for free at his hotel in a luxury suite, with high-class meals and a group of beautiful women to follow him around and apply oil and lotion to his valuable skin. He says that they can discuss the terms over "a juicy steak dinner."
Drioli's mouth waters as he slowly nods his head.
The narrator closes the scene:
"Two weeks later, a long-lost painting by Chaim Soutine - heavily varnished and painted on an unusual canvas - was sold to a collector in Buenos Aires for a hefty sum. It should be noted that the man who sold it was not the owner of the Bristol Hotel in Cannes, for there is, in fact, no such place. Drioli himself has not been seen in Cannes or anywhere, though this is to be expected of a friendless vagrant such as he. The evidence, however, causes one to wonder a little, and to hope fervently that wherever he may be at this moment, he has a large, warm room to sleep in, and a beautiful woman to apply oil to his back."
Tale #2: The Way Up to Heaven (David Fincher)
The next story concerns Mrs. Foster (Emma Thompson), a woman with an almost pathological fear of being late for anything, whether it be missing a train, a plane, a boat, or even a theatre curtain. She is planning to fly to visit her daughter. Mr. Foster (John Cleese), her husband, seems to revel in taking his time when preparing for this event, much to the distress of Mrs. Foster. Her husband announces his intention to stay at a club while Mrs. Foster is away. The servants are dismissed for this period and given half-pay for it.
The next day, as usual, she is terrified that she will be late. She expresses her worries to the butler. He assures her that she will make her flight, but she persists. In spite of her worrying of being late for her flight, she arrives at the airport on time and soon finds that flights have been delayed because of bad weather. The car she arrived in has since left, and she continues to wait in the airport for further news concerning her trip. Finally, it is announced that her flight has been delayed until 11 am the following day. She returns home and spends the night there.
The following morning as Mrs. Foster prepares to take her car to the airport, her husband announces that he should be dropped off at the club on the way, which terrifies her, it being somewhat out-of-the-way. Before they leave, he pretends to have forgotten a present he had intended for their daughter Ellen, and to Mrs. Foster's dismay he ventures into the house in search of it. As she grows increasingly impatient whilst waiting in the car, she notices the present hiding in the crack of the seat where her husband had been sitting. It seems to be wedged deeply and firmly inside the crack, as though it had been pushed or forced in.
Mrs. Foster tells the chauffeur to call Mr. Foster down and inform him of this. He tries to enter and notices the door is locked. She decides to go herself. She puts the key in the door. She then leans in closely, as if she hears something inside the door.
After a few seconds, she returns to the car, says there is no time, and is driven off to the airport. She makes her flight with a few minutes to spare. Things go well in Paris, and she writes her husband each Tuesday.
The day before she returns, she calls her husband. The phone keeps ringing and ringing. She puts the phone down without a word.
When she returns to Idlewild Airport, she is mildly interested to find her husband has not sent a car to meet her, but she gets into a taxi and arrives home.
She sees the mail has built up, and smells a peculiar odor, like that of a rotting deer carcass at the side of the road. Noticing that the elevator is not in order, she calmly dials for a repairman. The last shot is of Mrs. Foster sitting at her husband's desk, waiting calmly for the repairman to arrive.
Tale #3: The Landlady (Matt Kubrick)
Billy Weaver (Daniel Radcliffe) is a 17 year-old boy who has just entered the business world. He is visiting Bath on a business trip - a stranger recommended that he stay at a place called the Bell and Dragon. As he is making his way toward the Bell and Dragon, however, he notices a quaintly-lettered sign that reads "BED AND BREAKFAST" hanging outside a boarding house. Something about the sign seems mesmerizing to him. Intrigued, he rings the doorbell. A middle-aged woman (Tilda Swinton) answers almost immediately.
She lets him in, offering an extraordinarily low rate. She treats him very generously, giving him an entire floor to stay on. As Billy signs the guestbook, he notices that the last entry in it (Christopher Mulholland) is dated more than two years ago, and the one before that (Gregory Temple) is another full year ago. Billy notes how odd this is to the landlady. The landlady says that it is very strange indeed how time can seem to pass so quickly.
Billy also notes that the names Mulholland and Temple sound familiar to him - like he had read about them in the newspaper, but he can't quite remember where. He says that they seem to be connected in some way - like they were both famous for the same thing. The landlady replies that she wouldn't know anything about that, but they were very sweet boys.
"How long ago did they leave?" he asks.
"Leave? But my dear boy, they never left. They're still here. They're on the third floor, both of them together," she replies.
She brings him a cup of tea, which he takes and begins to drink. His eyes turn to an astonishingly lifelike stuffed dog sitting by the fireplace. Billy is impressed by the quality of the taxidermy. He asks if a professional did it. The landlady says no - she stuffs all her pets herself. It's something of a hobby of hers - it's helped to pass the time ever since her son died while serving overseas.
Looking wistful, she notes how much Billy looks like her son - he's about the same age he was, with the same complexion - a great smile, perfect teeth, and smooth, blemishless skin.
He is offered more tea, but he refuses, since (as the narrator reveals), the tea tasted faintly of bitter almonds. He notices an unpleasant and peculiar smell emanating from the general area of the landlady. He cannot place it - is it pickled walnuts? New leather? A hospital corridor?
No, he realizes - it is formaldehyde. The last thing he sees is the landlady's face dissolving into a thick, gray haze that slowly fades to black.
Stark’s Comment: Back in Season 9, Ben Tyler surprised everyone with the innovative experience of a three short stories movie based on Roald Dahl’s tales previously developed on tv. And the box office’s breakout of that movie was an even bigger surprise: 108 millions in box office and net gains of 147 millions. Now, Tyler tries to repeat that success. Maybe the ‘surprise factor’ is gone. But still can work in box office as these quality stories are a kind of ‘delicatessen’ for selected audiences.
Behind The Scenes: David Fincher rejected to direct ‘Silent Hill’ cause he wanted to concentrate on his work for this movie. He was replaced by Brad Anderson.
CRIME STOPPERS
Comedy
The Cast: Steve Carrell, Owen Wilson, Mike Meyers, Jason Mewes, Zach Braff, Leslie Mann, Jeremy Sumpter, Kevin Smith
The Director: Kevin Smith
The Producer and Screenwriter: Chad Taylor
The Plot: The year:1988. The place: Your local cinema. The Movie: Crime Stoppers III:Apocolpyse Never. The third installment in the ever so popular Crime Stoppers series,dawns the same cast as before, just with a diffrent villian. Jackie Hamm (S.Carrell), Coop Jones (O.Wilson) and Don Dangerfield (M.Myers), return as the three regular men you love to hate on the bad guys, The Crime Stoppers.
The year:2010. The place:Your local multiplex. The Movie: Blood on My Shoes. The Second film in set in a Bond-esque style, starring Elliot Reynolds as young hot-shot agent Adrian Young (J.Mewes), who was born under the watch of a special agent agency and grew up training to be the world's top agent.
Jackie Hamm sighs as he hears his two sons running around yelling. His oldest son, Aaron (J.Sumpter), walks in with his girlfriend, asking for money to go to the movies. He gives him it, but little does Aaron know that his dad is following him the whole way. When they walk into the theatre, they see Blood On My Shoes. And slowly, but surely, Jackie notices the phenomenon that this film has brought. And the feeling of jealousy and envy are brought about, as this is how it was for him in the eighties. So Jackie calls up Coop and Don, and presents them with the idea of making a new Crime Stoppers film. Make a Rocky/Rambo-esque comeback.
They reject the idea at first saying it wouldn't work, but Jackie then says he'll write and produce and do whatever else the movie needs to be done.
So we follow the three guys on their quest to make this movie, and all that comes with it. Jackie convinces their eighties female counterpart (and his wife), Elaine (L.Mann) to star in the film. They have struggles with the snobbish director, John Quincy (Z.Braff),who thinks the film is all his property. And also casting the young villian. And for that they get the man who played the enemy in the first to films, Ronnie Stark (K.Smith). But sure enough, the best audition they recieve for it, is done by Elliot Reynolds.
Stark’s Comment: Chad Taylor has chosen a comedy for his second pitch and his debut as producer. This movie was going to be directed by David Zucker. He designed it as the reunion of part of the cast from his legendary CMP’s comedy hit ‘Lieutenant USA and His Warm Steel Gang’: Carrell, Wilson, Braff... Finally, Zucker abandoned the project and Kevin Smith took control of it but the cast remained. I think it has a plot and a cast appealing enough to work more than well in box office.
Behind The Scenes: Kevin Smith finally makes his debut as director in CMP. He was going to direct past Season the comedy ‘Woodland Creatures’ but the Studio finally decided that Andy McKay should take his place. Steve Carrell and Owen Wilson accepted to work together again here despite the rumors of their bad relationship during the shooting of the sequel of ‘Lit. USA’. Braff has accepted to play a minor role here after his personal success both as actor and director with ‘Mary’s Dark Side’ due to his personal friendship with both Carrell and Wilson and director David Zucker, with whom he worked with in the first ‘Lit. USA’ movie. The Studio has changed the original title of this movie: ‘Back To Action’.
ROBOTS OF DAWN: Uma Thurman won the Best Supporting Actress GMA for playing a
humanoid robot in ‘The Naked Sun’, the previous episode of this saga. Her character died in the movie. But now she will return in ‘Robots Of Dawn’ playing another robot, a clone of the one she played there. Also in the movie, we will see Evan Rachel Wood, seen before in the musical ‘Quadrophenia’ and the love story ‘Together Apart’.
ZANN: Jack Nicholson returns to CMP playing an enigmatic character in this Makalaster’s pitch. His last work for the Studio was back in Season 7: the awards winner musical comedy ‘Only In America’. Nicholson has won two GMA: Best Supporting Actor for ‘September’s Gone’ and Best Starring Couple, together with Johnny Depp, for ‘Cell Mates’.
WONDER WOMAN: Josh Brolin has become a regular villain in CMP. He was the bad guy in ‘HF’, ‘Fortune City’, ‘Nick Fury’ and ‘Shotgun Joe’. And he will be again the bad guy in this one. The good guy will be played by another Josh: Josh Lucas. Lucas makes his debut in CMP. To be in this movie, he had to reject the offer to star ‘Married To The Supervillain’…
MARRIED TO THE SUPERVILLAIN: …but a replacement for Lucas has been quickly found: Brendan Fraser returns to CMP after his latest work for the Studio, the megahit ‘Civilization M’. Fraser will be Ashley Judd’s husband and the father of two kids: Cameron Bright, seen before in another Josh Collins’ pitch, ’72 Hours’, and Ryan Simpkins, one of the girls seen in ‘Bedtime Stories’.
THE DARK TOWER: WASTE LANDS: Ian Holm, winner of the Best Villain GMA for his work in ‘Pompeii’, will be a mysterious man that controls time here. Also in the movie we’ll see Arnold Vosloo. It is a coincidence that Ian Holm and Vosloo worked together before in another CMP’s movie: ‘The Misadventures Of Harry Flashman’.
GOLDMINE KILLERS: After winning past Season Best Actress GMA, Angelina Jolie has decided to follow the steps of his beloved Brad Pitt: she will be not only starring but also producing this thriller written by Josh Collins. It seems like ‘Brangelina’ want to take full control of their movies. She has chosen to direct it Paul Verhoeven. Verhoeven directed long time ago two movies for CMP: the awarded ‘The Crusades’, for which he got a Best Director GMA nomination, and the flopped horror thriller ‘Minos’.
SUSPICIONS AND DISHONORS: Would you have ever imagined watching the names of Matt
Kubrick and Woody Allen together in a movie? Well, here they are. Kubrick has decided to explore new territories writing this adult comedy that will be directed and starred by Allen. Woody Allen has never worked as an actor before in a CMP’s movie. He directed one of the stories of ‘Tales Of The Unexpected’ and also the comedy ‘Paperback Story’ back in Season 4. In that one, he worked with one of his regular muses, Scarlett Johansson. And he has called her again to play one of the main characters of this one too. Interesting.
COMMAND & CONQUER: Green light for one of the big bets of the Season. Ben Tyler has written the adaptation of this legendary pc game. And the movie will mean the return both as director and producer of no other than Michael Bay after his tremendous flop ‘Gears Of War’. An allstars cast is expected for this top budget production.
ZOIDS: Jeremy Sumpter can be seen this week playing a minor role in the comedy ‘Crime
Stoppers’. But the big opportunity for his career will come starring this ambitious production, the live action version of the anime tv series written by Dawson Edwards and directed by Alfonso Cuaron. Also in the movie, we will finally see Hayden Panettiere in a CMP’s production. Before, we only had the chance to hear her voice in the two ‘Legend of Zelda’ movies.
FIREFLIES IN THE JELLY-JARS: Logan Lerman joins the cast of this drama written by Josh Collins and directed by James Mangold. Lerman has worked before for CMP in the family comedy ‘Welcome To Summercamp’ and playing the young Orlando Bloom in ‘Hawkeye.The Prey’.
CHAD TAYLOR - 'CRIME STOPPERS'
Chad Taylor releases this week his second pitch, ‘Crime Stoppers’. The movie laughs at the action sagas of the 80s and the decadence of their stars. After his successful debut in CMP past Season with the epic adventure ‘Stanley & Livingstone’, Taylor presents a completely different movie that makes so unpredictable what can we expect from him in the future.
1.You have chosen a comedy for your second pitch. Where did the idea for 'Crime Stoppers' came from?
Crime Stoppers came to me after I watched two movies consecutively, Live Free or Die Hard and Tropic Thunder. Comedies about the movie business can really be a blast, so I had to make one. I love comedies, but I don't write them that much, so I took my chance here with this idea.
2.Your first movie for CMP was an ambitious one, 'Stanley & Livingstone'. I was surprised it didn't get any GMA nomination. How did you feel about it?
With hot competition last season I didn't expect it to win anything. That being said, I did have a feeling it would get a nomination, but it didn't. Oh well,I assume I'll get a nom someday...
3.As this is your first interview, tell us what you think of CMP's movies. Which are your favourite ones? What CMP's screenwriters do you specially follow?
Hmmm,I think at times, the type of movies vary, but then again you get a lot of similar ones too. My favorite CMP movie is...Stanley and Livingstone! Just kidding, I like Fallen Kings, The Heirs and...A Horse With No Name. That's right, I said it! Writer-wise, I can't pick one. Each one makes great films, and films not so great, but I have total respect for all of them and what they do.
4.I have heard you are working hard on a pitch about The Beatles. What can you tell us about it?
When you involve something you love, you have to put all you have into the project. But dealing with the Beatles, you are dealing with something that the whole world loves. And has loved for decades. Who knows when this will come out, because I am trying my best make it work. If it doesn't, I would be mutually hated by the world. And...I don't think that would be good. So yeah, Beatles biopic+Your local theater=uh... i'm not sure what it equals, but if your a Beatlemaniac, you'll want to see this film. Paul is dead.
5.And you have also been related to a 'Justice League' movie. It seems like you will compete with 'The Avengers'...
Ah yes, those damn Avengers. Downey Jr., Norton, Maguire, how can I top that? I think most of you know who would star in Justice League. A majority of the characters are household names. If it succeeds I'll think about exploring into more movies, but as we've found of the Avengers, working with so much stars is a tough thing to do. Cage is helping me out with this and maybe it will see the light of day soon.
MATT KUBRICK, MOVIE DIRECTOR
Matt Kubrick is an icon in CMP. Writer, director, producer and even occasional actor, Kubrick has been part of the Studio since its very beginning and probably CMP could not be understood without his contribution. Although better known for his horror and superheroes movies, Kubrick is in fact a versatile author that has touched almost any genre along his creative career. He has already written 65 screenplays for CMP. But this week he is directing for the first time a story not written by him but by Ben Tyler. Tyler and Kubrick worked together before co-writing ‘Lobo’ and ‘Lobo’s back’. This week we take a look at the directional jobs of Matt Kubrick.
CMP’s FILMOGRAPHY
(as movie director)
VOORHEES: THE EARLY YEARS
Season 1
B.O.: 89 mill. Net Gains: 51 mill.
Matt Kubrick made his debut as movie director revamping the ‘Friday, 13th’ franchise with a movie that looked at the childhood days of Jason Vorhees. The movie tried to ‘humanize’ this iconic character telling us his sad young days dominated by an evil mother played by Jamie Lee Curtis. The correct box office took Kubrick to write a sequel – ‘Vorhees: The Bloody Years’ -, directed by Eli Roth, that completely sunk in box office.
SAM & TWITCH
Season 2
B.O.: 147 mill. Net Losses: 27 mill.
The adaptation of this peculiar comic was such a creative challenge. Tim Roth and John Goodman starred and some big names made funny cameos (Robert De Niro, Bruce Willis, Angelina Jolie, Kevin Spacey). The movie made a nice box office but still its high budget made it have net losses at the end. A shame. The funny and visually cretive original story could have turned into a franchise with a difference.
WILD CARDS
Season 2
B.O.: 39 mill. Net Losses: 1 mill.
This is where it all begun. Kubrick directed and Michael Bay produced the first episode of this memorable franchise that spread through seven movies plus an animated feature for DVD only. As a curiosity, this first movie didn’t make it in box office. But Harry Stark liked it so much that he decided to go on with the sequels anyway. Kubrick introduced here most of the main characters of a saga
that has become a cult franchise for millions of fans all over the world. Kubrick got two nominations at the GMA: Best Screenplay and Best Director.
HOME
Season 3
B.O.: 67 mill. Net Gains: 62 mill.
Already stereotyped as a horror movies author, Kubrick surprised everyone directing this drama about the Iraq War. A moving story critically acclaimed that got 5 GMA’s nominations – including Best Screenplay for Kubrick – and won one award (Robert Downey Jr., Best Supporting Actor). Kubrick worked here with some talents he would work again with later like producer Oliver Stone (who directed under Kubrick’s production ‘The Company’), Robert Downey Jr. (who became Ironman in Kubrick’s Avengers franchise) and Matt Damon (who starred ‘Foul Karma’).
SYNDROME: PARADISE LOST
Season 5
B.O.: 78 mill. Net Gains: 91 mill.
As he did with ‘Wild Cards’ or Vorhees, again Kubrick directed himself the first installment of one of his franchises. This one was a trilogy about zombies that became pretty controversial when the screenplay for the next installments ignored some of the main characters of this first movie. Rob Cohen replaced Kubrick behind the cameras in the two sequels of the saga.
JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS
Season 8
B.O.: 45 mill. Net Gains: 16 mill.
After taking a break in his directional career, Kubrick returned behind the cameras with this claustrophobic thriller focused on the violent relationship between a psycho (Ray Liotta) and his victim (Ellen Page), a concept that Kubrick would retake later in ‘Foul Karma’. This was an interesting piece of suspense that did not get as much recognition as it deserved.
REFORM SCHOOL GIRLS
Season 9
B.O.: 21 mill. Net Losses: 1 mill.
Again, Kubrick keeps trying new things. This time, he teamed up with his good friend Quentin Tarantino, with whom he had worked before in the Wild Cards and the Ace Banner franchises, taking the exploitation genre to extremes. Kubrick kept proving that he does not care about box office of critical reaction but about facing a new challenge in each of his movies.
BEDTIME STORIES
Season 9
B.O.: 35 mill. Net Gains: 0.5 mill.
Another innovation in CMP: a short stories movies. Kubrick wrote the three horror stories included in this movie and directed one of them (his good friends Eli Roth and Alexander Aja took care of the other two). The experiment didn’t make a particularly impressive box office but, anyway, CMP has announced that a second installment of this concept will be developed in the future.
WILD CARDS: ORIGINS
Season 10
DVD only
Kubrick has always been a pioneer. He already wrote and produced the first CMP’s production oriented to the DVD market only (‘Croc Attack’). Also, he directed this animated feature that told the origins of the whole Wild Cards’ story. The movie was never seen on theatres. It was included in a special DVD Box Set launched to celebrate the release of the last Wild Cards’ movie (‘Battle Of The Rox’). The funny thing is that some critics considered this animated production as one of the best Wild Cards’ movies.
FOUL KARMA
Season 10
B.O.: 46 mill. Net Gains: 8 mill.
As he did with ‘Journey Into Darkness’, this horror movie also focuses in the sick relationship between torturer and victim. Kubrick co-wrote the screenplay with Josh Collins and also directed it. The movie has won the Best Villain and the Best Starring Couple GMAs. The sequence where Samuel L. Jackson partially cuts Matt Damon’s dick has joined the museum of Hollywood’s most gory scenes.
MORE TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED
Season 11
Awaiting release
Ben Tyler has invited Kubrick to direct one of the new stories of this second installment of Tales Of The Unexpected. Kubrick teams up here with Gus Van Sant and David Fincher. Kubrick collaborates again with other CMP’s author as he has done before with Josh Collins, Joey Stark and Tyler himself proving that he has become a reference for his colleagues too. This is the latest work in a directional career with the Kubrick’s trademark: not worrying for box office or profits but for developing his very personal creative interests.
The starring trio of ‘Silver Sable and the Wild Pack’ poses at the entrance of the L.A.’s theatre where the premiere of the movie took place: Katherine Heigl (Silver Sable), Tobey Maguire (Spiderman) and Gerard Butler (Foreigner).
Mr. Hammer finally returned to CMP past week and he did it with the partially surprising success of ‘Deadly Force’. Sources from CMP have confirmed me what he said in his interview with Anne Roman. Yes, his second pitch in this new era will be a sequel to ‘Nathan Zachary and Drake’s Gold’, the movie based on the Crimson Skies pc games. Zachary – a kind of ‘flying Indiana Jones’ – will fly again soon on screens with the face of Thomas Jane. And, for what I know, Harry Stark is decided to bet for this project as the revamping of a new profitable CMP’s franchise.
The choice of Colbie Smulders to play Wonder Woman has had a nice reception at the net. We have checked out how the fans of the character have received it with enthusiasm in different forums. And it is also confirmed that this will mean a ‘double contract’ for Colbie: she will not only star ‘Wonder Woman’ but it is also guaranteed that she will be seen too in the Justice League’s pitch Chad Taylor has written for the Studio.
Michael Bay seems to have survived to the disaster of ‘Gears Of War’. Just one Season later, he is back as director and producer of another top budget production, ‘Command & Conquer’. It seems like Harry Stark has forgiven him the flop of his previous movie. After all, Bay has directed or produced quite a few CMP’s hits before. Again, the Studio has put a huge budget to his disposal expecting that ‘Command & Conquer’ will not only be the reconciliation of Mr. Bay with box office but also one of the big hits of the Season.
Another talent that seem to have survived from the ‘Gears Of War’ disaster is Will Smith. After the painful flop of the movie, Will said that he wanted to leave action movies aside for a while. And he has kept his word. His new work with CMP will be a new experience for him. Will won’t be working in front of the cameras but behind of them, making his debut as movie director with a story written by Chad Taylor.
And yes, the very few – but growing – fans of these movies can be happy: there will be a ‘Reform School Girls 3’. After the decent box office of ‘Tracks Of Blood’, Joey Stark has quickly confirmed that he will write a new adventure for the sexy and violent Jessica. You can take it as a joke or not, but Joey has also said that he and Matt Kubrick have talked about the possibility of making the new movie on 3D. Oh, my God…
SILVER SABLE AND THE WILD PACK
Action / Superhero
The Cast: Katherine Heigl, Tobey Maguire, Gerard Butler, Edgar Ramirez, Eric Balfour, Dominic Monaghan, AnnaSophia Robb, Bo Hoskins
The Director and Producer: Bryan Singer
The Screenwriter: Joey Stark
The Plot: Before the credits, an spectacular action set piece takes place. Silver Sable (K.Heigl) and the Wild Pack are involved in a gunfight against a horde of mercenaries on top of a huge dam in Zambia, Africa. We are introduced to the members of the wild pack: Foreigner (G.Butler), Quentino (D.Monaghan) and Chen (E.Balfour) and their super-skills. The sequence ends when Silver and her guys get inside the dam to deactivate a bomb. After that, the four of them dive from top of the dam while mercenaries are still shooting at them. After a long fall, they reach a little submarine that is waiting for them in the depths. As they get inside, the submarine turns into an airplane that flies from underwater to the sky. Silver’s uncle Morty (B.Hoskins) is waiting for them in it.
'Everything went fine?', he asks.
'Business as usual' says Silver, 'I love this subairplane you have designed, uncle Morty.'
Credits
The group is relaxing at Silver's residence in Symkaria. We get to know by intuition that there's something more than friendship between Silver and Foreigner. Uncle Morty interrupts them during a martial arts training session. He tells something is going wrong. Silver connects by video-conference with Spiderman (T.Maguire). He informs Silver that a group of terrorists have assaulted Redmon Private School in Long Island. The kids have been taken by hostages. And that includes Anna (A.Robb), Silver's cousin.
The group urgently flies to Long Island. Spiderman joins them there. With a special camera able to look through walls, Silver identifies one of the terrorists inside the school. It’s an ugly looking man with half of his face burnt. Spiderman says he knows him. His name is Gattlin (E.Ramirez). A few years ago, he was said to be member of the Genesis Coalition. 'What's the Genesis Coalition?', asks Silver. Spiderman explains her that the Genesis Coalition used to be a kind of faction of Hydra, the famous international criminal organization. The Genesis Coalition became an independent organization from Hydra a few years ago and nobody knows yet who is ahead of it.
Silver, Spiderman and the Wild Pack assault the school to free the kids. There's a big fight with the terrorists but the group gets to release safely all the children. Most of the terrorists are killed or captured but Gattlin gets to escape through the sewer system.
After this event, Silver stays in New York for a few days relaxing with Anna at the Symkaria’s Embassy. Silver and Spiderman go out for dinner and they seem to flirt a bit. Foreigner notices it.
Silver receives a visit in NYC. It's a man that introduces himself as Reverend Rightsfield. He says he wants to hire Silver and her team for his personal protection, as he is afraid he may be assassinated. He gives her a dossier about who he is. Silver is surprised to know that the Reverend is the owner of Anna’s school in Long Island.
The day after the visit, Silver sees on the tv the news about a man shot down at Times Square. A picture is shown: it’s Reverend Rightsfield.
Silver and the Wild Pack decide to investigate. They receive a notification from Interpol: a man with half face burnt was recently seen by agents in a club in Guatemala. Looking at Reverend’s dossier, Silver finds that he leaded a NGO that was developing educational projects in Guatemala.
Silver decides to fly to Guatemala. The night before she leaves, Silver and Spiderman meet at a romantic dinner and kiss. Foreigner is spying them and sees it. The next morning, he tells Silver he won’t be going with the group to Guatemala. He prefers to stay at NYC investigating more about the Reverend’s activities. So Silver flies alone with Quentino and Chen.
After a complicated investigation, Silver finds Gattlin and follows him to a plantation in the middle of Guatemala’s jungle. Silver realizes that drug is being packed there to be sent to the US. Guardians of the plantation notice the visitors. There’s a gunfight and Quentino is wounded and captured.
The night after, Silver and Chen return to the plantation. Chen looks for Quentino while Silver looks for Gattlin. Some guardians surprise Silver and there’s a karate fight. An oil lamp falls during the fight and a big fire begins in the plantation’s buildings. Silver gets rid of the guardians and finally faces Gattlin. They talk. Gattlin tells her that Reverend Rightsfield was in fact a prominent member of the Genesis Coalition. All his charitable activities were just a cover up for his drug traffic businesses.
Gattlin admits he works for the Genesis Coalition too. The leader of the Coalition wasn’t happy lately with how the Reverend managed things. The assault to school was decided as a kind of warning to scare the Reverend. And yes, he got scared. That’s why he wanted to hire Silver to protect him pretending to be a good man. But the leader had already ordered his assassination.
While they are talking, a roof in flames falls on Gattlin and Silver. Gattlin rans away and Silver follows him. She meets with Chen and Quentino. They have to fight against the guardians. Gattlin takes a light aircraft and flies away. But Silver and the guys find another aircraft and take it to follow him.
Up in the air, Silver jumps from one aircraft to the other. She fights with Gattlin in the wings of his aircraft. While fighting, Gattlin says to Silver: ‘I saw your father recently and he didn’t look good, you know’. Silver is shocked. ‘Where is my father?’, she asks. Gattlin laughs: ‘He is a guest of the Coalition’s leader’, he says. After that, Gattlin loses his balance and falls in the dark.
The aircraft has no pilot and starts to fall. Silver slips. She can hardly hold to the aircraft’s wheels. But Quentino approximates his airplane so Silver can finally jump back to it.
They return to NYC. Foreigner meets them. He and Silver talk. Foreigner asks her what’s going on between Spiderman and her. ‘Is it over between us?’, he asks her. Silver tells him she has no time for any relationship at the moment. She wants to focus all her energies now on discovering who the leader of the Genesis Coalition is and rescuing her father.
The movie ends with Silver looking at NYC’s skyline at dusk from the roof of Symkaria’s embassy.
After the credits…
We see Foreigner standing in front of an elegant desk. An off voice from behind the desk is heard: ‘Are you sure you want to take this step?’. It seems like Foreigner hesitates. But he finally says: ‘Yes, I’m sure’.
Stark’s Comment: ‘Silver Sable’ made 130 millions in box office (and 113 millions of net gains) back in Season 9. A sequel was almost inevitable. As any superhero movie, I expect it to make a nice box office without major problems.
Behind The Scenes: Bo Hoskins has replaced Anthony Hopkins as Silver’s uncle. Hopkins rejected the offer to repeat his character in this sequel.
MORE TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED
Suspense / Drama
The Cast: Daniel Radcliff, Tilda Swinton, Emma Thompson, John Cleese, Gerard Depardieu, Eva Green, Gaspard Ulliel, Cyril Descours, Jean-Pierre Léaud
The Directors: David Fincher, Matt Kubrick, Gus Van Sant
The Screenwriter: Ben Tyler
The Plot:
Tale #1 - Skin (Gus Van Sant)
The narrator introduces the setting:
"The place is Paris. The year is 1947, two years after the end of the Second World War. Much of Europe is still being rebuilt. Paris, however, looks much the same as it did before the war. When a building is destroyed, it can be rebuilt. Bricks can be laid, concrete poured. But how to rebuild a man's life?
We see a poor old man (Gerard Depardieau) stumbling around outside an art gallery. This is Drioli. For many years, he owned a tattoo parlor in the city. Now, he is destitute - one of many artists displaced by Nazi tyranny. By the time the city had been liberated, it was too late for him to start over again. Longing for shelter from the pouring rain, Drioli stares through the window of the display. Suddenly, he sees a name he recognizes: "Chaim Soutine," a famous (and now deceased) artist - and a good friend of his during his youth.
He begins to reminisce about one of his fondest memories of Soutine, back almost thirty years ago, when they lived together in a residence for struggling artists known as La Ruche. Soutine (Gaspard Ulliel) was in love with Drioli's wife Josie (Eva Green). Young Drioli (Cyril Descours) suspected this, but was not particularly bothered by it. He knew nothing damaging would come of it. Besides, the Bohemian lifestyle they lived allowed for such arrangements.
One day, Soutine decides that he wants to paint a picture of Josie. Josie replies that he has already painted her several times before. Soutine acknowledges this, but persists in asking, saying that he wants to do something different this time - he is not sure what. He considers different sorts of motion and poses, trying to think of something he hadn't already done.
Then Drioli makes an unusual suggestion - he could make the painting in the form of a tattoo. Drioli volunteers the use of his own back as a "canvas." First, Drioli would teach Soutine how to use a needle properly. Then, Soutine would paint the portrait of Josie on his back and tattoo over the painting.
Several hours later, the tattoo is finally finished. It is a beautiful piece of work - one that makes use of the very contours of his back to accentuate the shapes and curves of the subject.
Lost in thought, Drioli wanders into the gallery without realizing it. The well-to-do patrons are shocked to see a vagrant in the premises and call for the security guards to take him away. As they begin to do so, Drioli desperately asserts that he knew Soutine for years. It is to no avail, however, and they begin to drag him out the building.
However, Drioli is able to struggle out of their grip. He turns around and takes off his shirt, showing them all the proof of their friendship.
The patrons look on, fascinated. One of the art critics note that it is indeed reminiscent of Soutine's early work. So much so, in fact, that it could only possibly be the genuine article.
Some of the wealthier patrons begin to make offers for the work, setting off a flurry of bidding and proposals. One of them offers to pay for a skin grafting operation (plus a hefty bonus) to remove the tattoo. Others, however, point out that such a large skin grafting operation is likely to kill him.
Another man (Jean-Pierre Léaud) makes a somewhat different offer. He claims to be the owner of the Bristol Hotel in Cannes. He says that a man carrying such a valuable painting on his back would attract a number of guests and sightseers. He would be willing to let Drioli live for free at his hotel in a luxury suite, with high-class meals and a group of beautiful women to follow him around and apply oil and lotion to his valuable skin. He says that they can discuss the terms over "a juicy steak dinner."
Drioli's mouth waters as he slowly nods his head.
The narrator closes the scene:
"Two weeks later, a long-lost painting by Chaim Soutine - heavily varnished and painted on an unusual canvas - was sold to a collector in Buenos Aires for a hefty sum. It should be noted that the man who sold it was not the owner of the Bristol Hotel in Cannes, for there is, in fact, no such place. Drioli himself has not been seen in Cannes or anywhere, though this is to be expected of a friendless vagrant such as he. The evidence, however, causes one to wonder a little, and to hope fervently that wherever he may be at this moment, he has a large, warm room to sleep in, and a beautiful woman to apply oil to his back."
Tale #2: The Way Up to Heaven (David Fincher)
The next story concerns Mrs. Foster (Emma Thompson), a woman with an almost pathological fear of being late for anything, whether it be missing a train, a plane, a boat, or even a theatre curtain. She is planning to fly to visit her daughter. Mr. Foster (John Cleese), her husband, seems to revel in taking his time when preparing for this event, much to the distress of Mrs. Foster. Her husband announces his intention to stay at a club while Mrs. Foster is away. The servants are dismissed for this period and given half-pay for it.
The next day, as usual, she is terrified that she will be late. She expresses her worries to the butler. He assures her that she will make her flight, but she persists. In spite of her worrying of being late for her flight, she arrives at the airport on time and soon finds that flights have been delayed because of bad weather. The car she arrived in has since left, and she continues to wait in the airport for further news concerning her trip. Finally, it is announced that her flight has been delayed until 11 am the following day. She returns home and spends the night there.
The following morning as Mrs. Foster prepares to take her car to the airport, her husband announces that he should be dropped off at the club on the way, which terrifies her, it being somewhat out-of-the-way. Before they leave, he pretends to have forgotten a present he had intended for their daughter Ellen, and to Mrs. Foster's dismay he ventures into the house in search of it. As she grows increasingly impatient whilst waiting in the car, she notices the present hiding in the crack of the seat where her husband had been sitting. It seems to be wedged deeply and firmly inside the crack, as though it had been pushed or forced in.
Mrs. Foster tells the chauffeur to call Mr. Foster down and inform him of this. He tries to enter and notices the door is locked. She decides to go herself. She puts the key in the door. She then leans in closely, as if she hears something inside the door.
After a few seconds, she returns to the car, says there is no time, and is driven off to the airport. She makes her flight with a few minutes to spare. Things go well in Paris, and she writes her husband each Tuesday.
The day before she returns, she calls her husband. The phone keeps ringing and ringing. She puts the phone down without a word.
When she returns to Idlewild Airport, she is mildly interested to find her husband has not sent a car to meet her, but she gets into a taxi and arrives home.
She sees the mail has built up, and smells a peculiar odor, like that of a rotting deer carcass at the side of the road. Noticing that the elevator is not in order, she calmly dials for a repairman. The last shot is of Mrs. Foster sitting at her husband's desk, waiting calmly for the repairman to arrive.
Tale #3: The Landlady (Matt Kubrick)
Billy Weaver (Daniel Radcliffe) is a 17 year-old boy who has just entered the business world. He is visiting Bath on a business trip - a stranger recommended that he stay at a place called the Bell and Dragon. As he is making his way toward the Bell and Dragon, however, he notices a quaintly-lettered sign that reads "BED AND BREAKFAST" hanging outside a boarding house. Something about the sign seems mesmerizing to him. Intrigued, he rings the doorbell. A middle-aged woman (Tilda Swinton) answers almost immediately.
She lets him in, offering an extraordinarily low rate. She treats him very generously, giving him an entire floor to stay on. As Billy signs the guestbook, he notices that the last entry in it (Christopher Mulholland) is dated more than two years ago, and the one before that (Gregory Temple) is another full year ago. Billy notes how odd this is to the landlady. The landlady says that it is very strange indeed how time can seem to pass so quickly.
Billy also notes that the names Mulholland and Temple sound familiar to him - like he had read about them in the newspaper, but he can't quite remember where. He says that they seem to be connected in some way - like they were both famous for the same thing. The landlady replies that she wouldn't know anything about that, but they were very sweet boys.
"How long ago did they leave?" he asks.
"Leave? But my dear boy, they never left. They're still here. They're on the third floor, both of them together," she replies.
She brings him a cup of tea, which he takes and begins to drink. His eyes turn to an astonishingly lifelike stuffed dog sitting by the fireplace. Billy is impressed by the quality of the taxidermy. He asks if a professional did it. The landlady says no - she stuffs all her pets herself. It's something of a hobby of hers - it's helped to pass the time ever since her son died while serving overseas.
Looking wistful, she notes how much Billy looks like her son - he's about the same age he was, with the same complexion - a great smile, perfect teeth, and smooth, blemishless skin.
He is offered more tea, but he refuses, since (as the narrator reveals), the tea tasted faintly of bitter almonds. He notices an unpleasant and peculiar smell emanating from the general area of the landlady. He cannot place it - is it pickled walnuts? New leather? A hospital corridor?
No, he realizes - it is formaldehyde. The last thing he sees is the landlady's face dissolving into a thick, gray haze that slowly fades to black.
Stark’s Comment: Back in Season 9, Ben Tyler surprised everyone with the innovative experience of a three short stories movie based on Roald Dahl’s tales previously developed on tv. And the box office’s breakout of that movie was an even bigger surprise: 108 millions in box office and net gains of 147 millions. Now, Tyler tries to repeat that success. Maybe the ‘surprise factor’ is gone. But still can work in box office as these quality stories are a kind of ‘delicatessen’ for selected audiences.
Behind The Scenes: David Fincher rejected to direct ‘Silent Hill’ cause he wanted to concentrate on his work for this movie. He was replaced by Brad Anderson.
CRIME STOPPERS
Comedy
The Cast: Steve Carrell, Owen Wilson, Mike Meyers, Jason Mewes, Zach Braff, Leslie Mann, Jeremy Sumpter, Kevin Smith
The Director: Kevin Smith
The Producer and Screenwriter: Chad Taylor
The Plot: The year:1988. The place: Your local cinema. The Movie: Crime Stoppers III:Apocolpyse Never. The third installment in the ever so popular Crime Stoppers series,dawns the same cast as before, just with a diffrent villian. Jackie Hamm (S.Carrell), Coop Jones (O.Wilson) and Don Dangerfield (M.Myers), return as the three regular men you love to hate on the bad guys, The Crime Stoppers.
The year:2010. The place:Your local multiplex. The Movie: Blood on My Shoes. The Second film in set in a Bond-esque style, starring Elliot Reynolds as young hot-shot agent Adrian Young (J.Mewes), who was born under the watch of a special agent agency and grew up training to be the world's top agent.
Jackie Hamm sighs as he hears his two sons running around yelling. His oldest son, Aaron (J.Sumpter), walks in with his girlfriend, asking for money to go to the movies. He gives him it, but little does Aaron know that his dad is following him the whole way. When they walk into the theatre, they see Blood On My Shoes. And slowly, but surely, Jackie notices the phenomenon that this film has brought. And the feeling of jealousy and envy are brought about, as this is how it was for him in the eighties. So Jackie calls up Coop and Don, and presents them with the idea of making a new Crime Stoppers film. Make a Rocky/Rambo-esque comeback.
They reject the idea at first saying it wouldn't work, but Jackie then says he'll write and produce and do whatever else the movie needs to be done.
So we follow the three guys on their quest to make this movie, and all that comes with it. Jackie convinces their eighties female counterpart (and his wife), Elaine (L.Mann) to star in the film. They have struggles with the snobbish director, John Quincy (Z.Braff),who thinks the film is all his property. And also casting the young villian. And for that they get the man who played the enemy in the first to films, Ronnie Stark (K.Smith). But sure enough, the best audition they recieve for it, is done by Elliot Reynolds.
Stark’s Comment: Chad Taylor has chosen a comedy for his second pitch and his debut as producer. This movie was going to be directed by David Zucker. He designed it as the reunion of part of the cast from his legendary CMP’s comedy hit ‘Lieutenant USA and His Warm Steel Gang’: Carrell, Wilson, Braff... Finally, Zucker abandoned the project and Kevin Smith took control of it but the cast remained. I think it has a plot and a cast appealing enough to work more than well in box office.
Behind The Scenes: Kevin Smith finally makes his debut as director in CMP. He was going to direct past Season the comedy ‘Woodland Creatures’ but the Studio finally decided that Andy McKay should take his place. Steve Carrell and Owen Wilson accepted to work together again here despite the rumors of their bad relationship during the shooting of the sequel of ‘Lit. USA’. Braff has accepted to play a minor role here after his personal success both as actor and director with ‘Mary’s Dark Side’ due to his personal friendship with both Carrell and Wilson and director David Zucker, with whom he worked with in the first ‘Lit. USA’ movie. The Studio has changed the original title of this movie: ‘Back To Action’.
ROBOTS OF DAWN: Uma Thurman won the Best Supporting Actress GMA for playing a
humanoid robot in ‘The Naked Sun’, the previous episode of this saga. Her character died in the movie. But now she will return in ‘Robots Of Dawn’ playing another robot, a clone of the one she played there. Also in the movie, we will see Evan Rachel Wood, seen before in the musical ‘Quadrophenia’ and the love story ‘Together Apart’.ZANN: Jack Nicholson returns to CMP playing an enigmatic character in this Makalaster’s pitch. His last work for the Studio was back in Season 7: the awards winner musical comedy ‘Only In America’. Nicholson has won two GMA: Best Supporting Actor for ‘September’s Gone’ and Best Starring Couple, together with Johnny Depp, for ‘Cell Mates’.
WONDER WOMAN: Josh Brolin has become a regular villain in CMP. He was the bad guy in ‘HF’, ‘Fortune City’, ‘Nick Fury’ and ‘Shotgun Joe’. And he will be again the bad guy in this one. The good guy will be played by another Josh: Josh Lucas. Lucas makes his debut in CMP. To be in this movie, he had to reject the offer to star ‘Married To The Supervillain’…
MARRIED TO THE SUPERVILLAIN: …but a replacement for Lucas has been quickly found: Brendan Fraser returns to CMP after his latest work for the Studio, the megahit ‘Civilization M’. Fraser will be Ashley Judd’s husband and the father of two kids: Cameron Bright, seen before in another Josh Collins’ pitch, ’72 Hours’, and Ryan Simpkins, one of the girls seen in ‘Bedtime Stories’.
THE DARK TOWER: WASTE LANDS: Ian Holm, winner of the Best Villain GMA for his work in ‘Pompeii’, will be a mysterious man that controls time here. Also in the movie we’ll see Arnold Vosloo. It is a coincidence that Ian Holm and Vosloo worked together before in another CMP’s movie: ‘The Misadventures Of Harry Flashman’.GOLDMINE KILLERS: After winning past Season Best Actress GMA, Angelina Jolie has decided to follow the steps of his beloved Brad Pitt: she will be not only starring but also producing this thriller written by Josh Collins. It seems like ‘Brangelina’ want to take full control of their movies. She has chosen to direct it Paul Verhoeven. Verhoeven directed long time ago two movies for CMP: the awarded ‘The Crusades’, for which he got a Best Director GMA nomination, and the flopped horror thriller ‘Minos’.
SUSPICIONS AND DISHONORS: Would you have ever imagined watching the names of Matt
Kubrick and Woody Allen together in a movie? Well, here they are. Kubrick has decided to explore new territories writing this adult comedy that will be directed and starred by Allen. Woody Allen has never worked as an actor before in a CMP’s movie. He directed one of the stories of ‘Tales Of The Unexpected’ and also the comedy ‘Paperback Story’ back in Season 4. In that one, he worked with one of his regular muses, Scarlett Johansson. And he has called her again to play one of the main characters of this one too. Interesting.COMMAND & CONQUER: Green light for one of the big bets of the Season. Ben Tyler has written the adaptation of this legendary pc game. And the movie will mean the return both as director and producer of no other than Michael Bay after his tremendous flop ‘Gears Of War’. An allstars cast is expected for this top budget production.
ZOIDS: Jeremy Sumpter can be seen this week playing a minor role in the comedy ‘Crime
Stoppers’. But the big opportunity for his career will come starring this ambitious production, the live action version of the anime tv series written by Dawson Edwards and directed by Alfonso Cuaron. Also in the movie, we will finally see Hayden Panettiere in a CMP’s production. Before, we only had the chance to hear her voice in the two ‘Legend of Zelda’ movies.FIREFLIES IN THE JELLY-JARS: Logan Lerman joins the cast of this drama written by Josh Collins and directed by James Mangold. Lerman has worked before for CMP in the family comedy ‘Welcome To Summercamp’ and playing the young Orlando Bloom in ‘Hawkeye.The Prey’.
CHAD TAYLOR - 'CRIME STOPPERS'
Chad Taylor releases this week his second pitch, ‘Crime Stoppers’. The movie laughs at the action sagas of the 80s and the decadence of their stars. After his successful debut in CMP past Season with the epic adventure ‘Stanley & Livingstone’, Taylor presents a completely different movie that makes so unpredictable what can we expect from him in the future.
1.You have chosen a comedy for your second pitch. Where did the idea for 'Crime Stoppers' came from?
Crime Stoppers came to me after I watched two movies consecutively, Live Free or Die Hard and Tropic Thunder. Comedies about the movie business can really be a blast, so I had to make one. I love comedies, but I don't write them that much, so I took my chance here with this idea.
2.Your first movie for CMP was an ambitious one, 'Stanley & Livingstone'. I was surprised it didn't get any GMA nomination. How did you feel about it?
With hot competition last season I didn't expect it to win anything. That being said, I did have a feeling it would get a nomination, but it didn't. Oh well,I assume I'll get a nom someday...
3.As this is your first interview, tell us what you think of CMP's movies. Which are your favourite ones? What CMP's screenwriters do you specially follow?
Hmmm,I think at times, the type of movies vary, but then again you get a lot of similar ones too. My favorite CMP movie is...Stanley and Livingstone! Just kidding, I like Fallen Kings, The Heirs and...A Horse With No Name. That's right, I said it! Writer-wise, I can't pick one. Each one makes great films, and films not so great, but I have total respect for all of them and what they do.
4.I have heard you are working hard on a pitch about The Beatles. What can you tell us about it?
When you involve something you love, you have to put all you have into the project. But dealing with the Beatles, you are dealing with something that the whole world loves. And has loved for decades. Who knows when this will come out, because I am trying my best make it work. If it doesn't, I would be mutually hated by the world. And...I don't think that would be good. So yeah, Beatles biopic+Your local theater=uh... i'm not sure what it equals, but if your a Beatlemaniac, you'll want to see this film. Paul is dead.5.And you have also been related to a 'Justice League' movie. It seems like you will compete with 'The Avengers'...
Ah yes, those damn Avengers. Downey Jr., Norton, Maguire, how can I top that? I think most of you know who would star in Justice League. A majority of the characters are household names. If it succeeds I'll think about exploring into more movies, but as we've found of the Avengers, working with so much stars is a tough thing to do. Cage is helping me out with this and maybe it will see the light of day soon.
MATT KUBRICK, MOVIE DIRECTOR
Matt Kubrick is an icon in CMP. Writer, director, producer and even occasional actor, Kubrick has been part of the Studio since its very beginning and probably CMP could not be understood without his contribution. Although better known for his horror and superheroes movies, Kubrick is in fact a versatile author that has touched almost any genre along his creative career. He has already written 65 screenplays for CMP. But this week he is directing for the first time a story not written by him but by Ben Tyler. Tyler and Kubrick worked together before co-writing ‘Lobo’ and ‘Lobo’s back’. This week we take a look at the directional jobs of Matt Kubrick.
CMP’s FILMOGRAPHY
(as movie director)
VOORHEES: THE EARLY YEARS
Season 1
B.O.: 89 mill. Net Gains: 51 mill.
Matt Kubrick made his debut as movie director revamping the ‘Friday, 13th’ franchise with a movie that looked at the childhood days of Jason Vorhees. The movie tried to ‘humanize’ this iconic character telling us his sad young days dominated by an evil mother played by Jamie Lee Curtis. The correct box office took Kubrick to write a sequel – ‘Vorhees: The Bloody Years’ -, directed by Eli Roth, that completely sunk in box office.
SAM & TWITCH
Season 2
B.O.: 147 mill. Net Losses: 27 mill.
The adaptation of this peculiar comic was such a creative challenge. Tim Roth and John Goodman starred and some big names made funny cameos (Robert De Niro, Bruce Willis, Angelina Jolie, Kevin Spacey). The movie made a nice box office but still its high budget made it have net losses at the end. A shame. The funny and visually cretive original story could have turned into a franchise with a difference.
WILD CARDS
Season 2
B.O.: 39 mill. Net Losses: 1 mill.
This is where it all begun. Kubrick directed and Michael Bay produced the first episode of this memorable franchise that spread through seven movies plus an animated feature for DVD only. As a curiosity, this first movie didn’t make it in box office. But Harry Stark liked it so much that he decided to go on with the sequels anyway. Kubrick introduced here most of the main characters of a saga
that has become a cult franchise for millions of fans all over the world. Kubrick got two nominations at the GMA: Best Screenplay and Best Director.
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Season 3
B.O.: 67 mill. Net Gains: 62 mill.
Already stereotyped as a horror movies author, Kubrick surprised everyone directing this drama about the Iraq War. A moving story critically acclaimed that got 5 GMA’s nominations – including Best Screenplay for Kubrick – and won one award (Robert Downey Jr., Best Supporting Actor). Kubrick worked here with some talents he would work again with later like producer Oliver Stone (who directed under Kubrick’s production ‘The Company’), Robert Downey Jr. (who became Ironman in Kubrick’s Avengers franchise) and Matt Damon (who starred ‘Foul Karma’).
SYNDROME: PARADISE LOST
Season 5
B.O.: 78 mill. Net Gains: 91 mill.
As he did with ‘Wild Cards’ or Vorhees, again Kubrick directed himself the first installment of one of his franchises. This one was a trilogy about zombies that became pretty controversial when the screenplay for the next installments ignored some of the main characters of this first movie. Rob Cohen replaced Kubrick behind the cameras in the two sequels of the saga.
JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS
Season 8
B.O.: 45 mill. Net Gains: 16 mill.
After taking a break in his directional career, Kubrick returned behind the cameras with this claustrophobic thriller focused on the violent relationship between a psycho (Ray Liotta) and his victim (Ellen Page), a concept that Kubrick would retake later in ‘Foul Karma’. This was an interesting piece of suspense that did not get as much recognition as it deserved.
REFORM SCHOOL GIRLS
Season 9
B.O.: 21 mill. Net Losses: 1 mill.
Again, Kubrick keeps trying new things. This time, he teamed up with his good friend Quentin Tarantino, with whom he had worked before in the Wild Cards and the Ace Banner franchises, taking the exploitation genre to extremes. Kubrick kept proving that he does not care about box office of critical reaction but about facing a new challenge in each of his movies.
BEDTIME STORIES
Season 9
B.O.: 35 mill. Net Gains: 0.5 mill.
Another innovation in CMP: a short stories movies. Kubrick wrote the three horror stories included in this movie and directed one of them (his good friends Eli Roth and Alexander Aja took care of the other two). The experiment didn’t make a particularly impressive box office but, anyway, CMP has announced that a second installment of this concept will be developed in the future.
WILD CARDS: ORIGINS
Season 10
DVD only
Kubrick has always been a pioneer. He already wrote and produced the first CMP’s production oriented to the DVD market only (‘Croc Attack’). Also, he directed this animated feature that told the origins of the whole Wild Cards’ story. The movie was never seen on theatres. It was included in a special DVD Box Set launched to celebrate the release of the last Wild Cards’ movie (‘Battle Of The Rox’). The funny thing is that some critics considered this animated production as one of the best Wild Cards’ movies.
FOUL KARMA
Season 10
B.O.: 46 mill. Net Gains: 8 mill.
As he did with ‘Journey Into Darkness’, this horror movie also focuses in the sick relationship between torturer and victim. Kubrick co-wrote the screenplay with Josh Collins and also directed it. The movie has won the Best Villain and the Best Starring Couple GMAs. The sequence where Samuel L. Jackson partially cuts Matt Damon’s dick has joined the museum of Hollywood’s most gory scenes.
MORE TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED
Season 11
Awaiting release
Ben Tyler has invited Kubrick to direct one of the new stories of this second installment of Tales Of The Unexpected. Kubrick teams up here with Gus Van Sant and David Fincher. Kubrick collaborates again with other CMP’s author as he has done before with Josh Collins, Joey Stark and Tyler himself proving that he has become a reference for his colleagues too. This is the latest work in a directional career with the Kubrick’s trademark: not worrying for box office or profits but for developing his very personal creative interests.
The starring trio of ‘Silver Sable and the Wild Pack’ poses at the entrance of the L.A.’s theatre where the premiere of the movie took place: Katherine Heigl (Silver Sable), Tobey Maguire (Spiderman) and Gerard Butler (Foreigner).
Mr. Hammer finally returned to CMP past week and he did it with the partially surprising success of ‘Deadly Force’. Sources from CMP have confirmed me what he said in his interview with Anne Roman. Yes, his second pitch in this new era will be a sequel to ‘Nathan Zachary and Drake’s Gold’, the movie based on the Crimson Skies pc games. Zachary – a kind of ‘flying Indiana Jones’ – will fly again soon on screens with the face of Thomas Jane. And, for what I know, Harry Stark is decided to bet for this project as the revamping of a new profitable CMP’s franchise.The choice of Colbie Smulders to play Wonder Woman has had a nice reception at the net. We have checked out how the fans of the character have received it with enthusiasm in different forums. And it is also confirmed that this will mean a ‘double contract’ for Colbie: she will not only star ‘Wonder Woman’ but it is also guaranteed that she will be seen too in the Justice League’s pitch Chad Taylor has written for the Studio.
Michael Bay seems to have survived to the disaster of ‘Gears Of War’. Just one Season later, he is back as director and producer of another top budget production, ‘Command & Conquer’. It seems like Harry Stark has forgiven him the flop of his previous movie. After all, Bay has directed or produced quite a few CMP’s hits before. Again, the Studio has put a huge budget to his disposal expecting that ‘Command & Conquer’ will not only be the reconciliation of Mr. Bay with box office but also one of the big hits of the Season.
Another talent that seem to have survived from the ‘Gears Of War’ disaster is Will Smith. After the painful flop of the movie, Will said that he wanted to leave action movies aside for a while. And he has kept his word. His new work with CMP will be a new experience for him. Will won’t be working in front of the cameras but behind of them, making his debut as movie director with a story written by Chad Taylor.
And yes, the very few – but growing – fans of these movies can be happy: there will be a ‘Reform School Girls 3’. After the decent box office of ‘Tracks Of Blood’, Joey Stark has quickly confirmed that he will write a new adventure for the sexy and violent Jessica. You can take it as a joke or not, but Joey has also said that he and Matt Kubrick have talked about the possibility of making the new movie on 3D. Oh, my God…
posted by Harry at
7:54 AM
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