APRIL, 9


ASSASSIN’S CREED

Action / Adventure

The Cast: Colin Farrell, Anne Hathaway, Javier Bardem, Morgan Freeman, Sean Bean. Cameo by Daniel Craig.

The Director and Producer: Peter Jackson
The Screenwriter: Steve Connors

The Plot:

Year 2012

Desmond Miles (C.Farrell) is an ordinary guy who makes his living working as bartender in New York City. One night, when he is going back home from work at night, he is assaulted and taken into a van by a group of thugs. He loses conscious when a handkerchief with chloroform is put on his face.

When he wakes up he finds himself tied to a couch in what seems to be at an operation room. There, he meets Tyrone Woodsworth (M.Freeman). Together with him are three assistants all dressed with white coats, being one of them Lucy Stillman (A.Hathaway).

Woodsworth introduces himself as the President of Abstergo Industries, a pharmaceutical industry. He tells Desmond that he has been brought there to become the subject in a test of the Animus, a device that can read the memories of anyone’s ancestors through the genetic memory left behind in their descendants’ DNA. With the Animus, Desmond will have the chance to live by himself the experiences of his ancestors in a virtual reality environment.

Woodsworth wants to use the Animus on him to simulate the memories of a particular Desmond’s ancestor, Altaïr Ibn La-Ahad. He tells Desmond that Altaïr lived during the Third Crusade in the Holy Land and he was known to be a member of a clan known as the Assasins.

Desmond laughs at all that strange thing and rejects to collaborate. But he is forced by Woodsworth’s men to use the Animus, which is connected to his brain as he is narcotized.

Desmond suddenly wakes up in an unknown scenario. He is back to 1191 and he is in Masyaf. He is Altaïr now. A man named Al Mualim (J.Bardem) is in front of him. Al Mualim is the leader of the Brotherhood of the Assasins. He tells Desmond / Altaïr that he has a mission for him. Altaïr must retrieve an item known as the ‘Piece Of Eden’ from Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem with the help of other members of the Brotherhood.

Altaïr and the other Assassins assault the Temple at night but they are discovered inside by a group of Knights Templar leaded by Robert de Sablé (S. Bean), in fact the Grand Master of the Knights Templar. The Knights are the sworn enemies of the Assassins. The two group fight violently.

Altaïr gets to retrieve the Piece Of Eden and escapes after failing in his attempt to kill Sablé. And, during the violent confrontation, Altaïr will break the three tenets of the Assassin’s Creed: ’Stay your balde from the flesh of an innocent’, ‘Hide in plain sight’ and ‘Do not compromise the Brotherhood’.

Upon returning to the Assassins’ stronghold at Masyaf, Al Mualim shows his anger to Altaïr from breaking the three tenets. He decides to demote Altaïr’s rank in the Brotherhood. But, as he has brought with him the Piece Of Eden, Al Mualim decides to give Altaïr another opportunity to recover his rank: Altaïr’s new mission will be to assassinate nine key figures across the Holy Land in Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus. Al Mualim tells him that by killing those nine persons peace will be closer between the Crusader and Saracen forces.

Targets include Majd Addin (Regent of Jerusalem), Garnier de Nablus (Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller), Jubair al Hakim (an eminent scholar in Damascus), Abu'l Nuqoud (the wealthiest man in Damascus), Grand Master Sibrand of the Teutonic Order and William V, Marquess of Montferrat (Regent of Acre).

The movie follows Altaïr as he completes each task, murdering the nine personalities and discovering how each of them is connected to Sablé and the Templars. Altaïr discovers that Sablé’s plan is to use the magic forces of the Piece Of Eden (which is only one of many) to enslave the mind of the population of the Holy Land, bringing ‘peace’ to the land under the rule of the Templars by robbing the people the free will.

Sablé’s sinister plan includes uniting Christian and Muslim against an only and new-common enemy: the Brotherhood of Assassins.

After committing the nine assassinations, Altaïr returns to Jerusalem and faces Sablé in a duel where Sablé is defeated. But before Sablé dies, he reveals a secret to Altaïr: Al Mualim pretends to be the leader of the Brotherhood but he is secretly a Templar. He ordered Altaïr to kill those nine relevant men so he could keep the Piece Of Eden for himself and become the most powerful man when the new peace arrived to the Holy Land. Sablé and Al Mualim were in fact accomplices in that plan.

Feeling cheated and betrayed and also feeling guilty for the nine assassinations he has comitted, Altaïr decides to enter at night in the King’s camp. He reaches the King’s tent avoiding the guards and faces there King Richard The Lionheart (D.Craig). He tells the King about Sablé and Al Mualim’s plan to mentally control the population of the Holy Land using the Piece Of Eden. Altaïr tells the King how Al Mualim cheated him to kill the nine authorities telling him that the assassinations would bring peace and that he has already killed Sablé. Altaïr begs the King to forgive him for his crimes and offers himself to stop Al Mualim’s plan. The King forgives him and accepts him as his servant.

So Altaïr returns to Masyaf to face Al Mualim. They fight in a brutal blade duel. During the fight, Al Mualim admits the true. The Piece Of Eden is a magic mineral that creates illusions and allows to control people’s mind. Al Mualim denounces religion and other seemingly supernatural events (e.g. the parting of the Red Sea, the Ten Plagues of Egypt and the presence of the Greek Gods in the Trojan War) as illusions caused by the Piece Of Eden, then states his intention to use the artifact to compel mankind into a brainwashed state and so bring an end to all conflict and he becoming the only King of all the Holy Land.

The duel ends with Altaïr killing Al Mualim. Then, Altaïr recovers the Piece Of Eden and it suddenly activates as he touches it showing a holographic view of the world with numerous locations of other Pieces of Eden marked across the globe.

As Altaïr is watching it, he suddenly faints…

…and Desmond suddenly wakes up in 2012.

After the exhausting session with the Animus, Desmond is taking to a bedroom to rest. Of course, the bedroom’s door is locked. But, in the middle of the night, the door opens and a woman comes inside. It’s Lucy Stillman, one of Woodsworth’s assistants.

Lucy explains Desmond that Abstergo Industries is a modern-day version of the Knights Templar. They are using the Animus on Desmond to locate through his DNA’s memory where are the other Pieces Of Eden. Now that they have got the information, Woodsworth’s plan is to kill him after another session with the Animus the next day.

Lucy tells Desmond that the Brotherhood of Assassins still exists. She shows Desmond a ring in her finger: it is the same ring that the Assassins had in antiquity as a mark of dedication to the assassins order. Lucy is a member of the modern Brotherhood.

Lucy tells Desmond that Woodsworth’s plan is to locate and find new Pieces Of Eden. Then, on December 21, 2012, Abstego Industries plans to launch a satellite loaded with the Pieces Of Eden. The plan is that the Pieces will control mankind’s mind and Abstergo will rule the world. It is the same plan on a larger scale that Al Mualim had for the Holy Land.

Lucy and Desmond run away from Abstergo fighting the guards they find on their way. Desmond has developed Altaïr’s fighting skills. It is like through the Animus the spirit and personality of Altaïr have resurrected inside Desmond.

When they pass through the operation room where the Animus is, Desmond discovers another skill. He can see something that Lucy can’t: there are strange invisible messages painted on the floor and walls of the laboratory. The messages all deal with various forms of the end of the world from different cultures, including several references to December 21, 2012. He tells Lucy about it but she does not know who may have written those invisible messages.

Desmond and Lucy finally get out of Abstergo Industries. Once safe, Desmond understands that he has a new mission in life: saving the world from Abstergo’s plans. And Lucy and the modern-day Assassins will help him to do it.


Stark’s Comment:
The typical movie production designed to become a blockbuster. Based on a successful original source – a best- selling console game -, big and popular names behind and in front of the cameras, a plot mixing action and a touch of sci-fi with exotic scenarios, a breath-taking pace… Can anything go wrong?

Behind The Scenes:
-Peter Jackson has worked in 5 movies for CMP before. All of them – except for the first one, ‘Tales Of The Jedi’ – have made more than 100 millions in box office.
-Colin Farrell has worked in 8 movies for CMP before. All of them made net gains.
-The character of Morgan Freeman is the only one originally created by Connors and not specifically described in the console game.
-Daniel Craig made his cameo for the movie during a pause in the shootage of this week’s release ‘The Wind In The Willows’.
-Steve Connors has already written a sequel for this movie. In fact, a few scenes of the sequel have been already shot by Jackson simultaneously with the shooting of this movie.

TO CATCH A THIEF

Adventure

The Cast: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Jean Reno, George Clooney, Camilla Belle, Helen Mirren

The Director and Screenwriter: Jack Hammer
The Producer: Scoundrels Productions

The Plot:

1955 - John Robie (Brad Pitt) is a notorious but retired jewel thief, nicknamed 'The Cat', who now tends to his vineyards in the South of France. A series of robberies that closely resemble his style leads the police to believe that 'The Cat' is up to his old tricks again. They come to arrest him, but he adeptly gives them the slip.

Seeking refuge with his old gang from his days in the French Resistance, a group of ex-cons whose patriotic work led to grants of parole that depend on keeping their noses clean. Bertani (Jean Reno), Foussard, and the others are all under a cloud while the Cat is at large, and they blame Robie. Still, when the police arrive at Bertani’s restaurant, Foussard’s daughter Danielle (Camilla Belle) spirits her childhood crush to safety.

Robie enlists the aid of an insurance man of Bertani's acquaintance, H. H. Hughson (George Clooney), in order to prove his innocence. Robie's plan is to catch the new cat burglar in the act. To do this, he obtains a list of the most expensive jewels on the Riviera from the reluctant Hughson. The first names on the list are Jessie Stevens (Helen Mirren) and her daughter Francie (Angelina Jolie). Robie strikes up acquaintance with them—one met with delight by Jessie, a pretense of modesty with Francie, and claws-baring jealousy from Danielle.

Francie is not afraid of a little fun. Although she sees through Robie’s cover as an American industrialist, the considerable charms of this thief are worth catching. She dangles before him her jewels, teases him with steamy tales of rooftop escapades, exposes herself as a feline of a special breed: an accomplice who might share his passion and be available to his sordid desires. Fireworks fill the night and can even be seen in the sky.

That night, Jessie's jewels are stolen, and Francie suddenly feels that Robie has taken advantage of her and calls the police. He narrowly evades them and goes back on the lam.

He stakes out a house where he believes the new burglar will strike and is violently attacked. In the ensuing struggle he kills the attacker. It’s Foussard, Bertani's wine steward.

The police chief seems satisfied that Foussard was the jewel thief, but, as Robie points out to him in the presence of the abashed Hughson, this would have been impossible: Foussard had a prosthetic leg and couldn't possibly climb on rooftops. The police chief is just giving Robie more rope in the hopes that he will hang himself with it.

After Robie is ejected from Foussard’s funeral, Francie apologizes and confesses her love for him. They agree to attend a masquerade ball the coming weekend.

At the ball, Francie is resplendent in a gold gown, Robie unrecognizable behind the mask of a Moor. The police hover nearby, ready to arrest Robie when he makes the expected try for the jewels. When Jessie asks the Moor to go get her "heart pills," Robie’s voice tips off his identity to the authorities. Upon his return the police wait out Francie and the Moor as they dance the night away. Upstairs, the cat burglar strikes, cleaning out many a jewel box. Finally, Francie and the Moor go to her room, and the mask is removed: it’s Hughson, switched in to conceal Robie’s exit.

On the rooftop Robie lurks. His patience is finally rewarded when he is joined by another figure in black. But just as his pursuit begins, the police throw a spotlight on him. Again he flees and shots ring out, but he manages to corner his foe with jewels in hand. Unmasked, his nemesis turns out not to be a man after all. Danielle is 'The Cat', dangling off a 4-storey drop with only Robie’s hand holding her, she confesses that she’s been working for her father and Bertani.

Robie speeds back to his vineyard and Francie races after to convince him that he does need her in his life. He agrees, but when she remarks that her mother will love it here he realizes that ‘The Cat’ has just been caged.


Stark’s Comment:
Don’t know why, but married couples usually do not work on screen. And I won’t talk here about ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’, the horrible previous movie pairing up Jolie and Pitt. Also, you have to be very brave to make a remake of an Alfred Hitchcock’s movie as all his movies are considered by critics like ‘untouchable jewels’. But, once said so, I think this is a very appealing and entertaining movie that should work more than nicely in box office.

Behind The Scenes:
-Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt teamed up before with Hammer in the flopped ‘Dakota North’, starred by Jolie and produced by Pitt.
-Pitt starred the three movies of The Hot Iron Trilogy, written by Hammer. Pitt also produced the third one, ‘Deadly Force
-George Clooney was directed by Hammer in the Raymond Chandler’s adaptation ‘The Little Sister’.
-Besides all those previous works together, the relationship between Hammer, Clooney and Pitt has always been a kind of love and hate relationship, as they have always expressed publicly their ‘creative differences’ when working together. Somebody from CMP said recently that making this movie all together was a way of ‘smoking a pipe of peace’ for the group.
-Jolie, Pitt and Clooney have all shot CMP’s movies at the French Riviera before: Jolie shot there ‘Tender Is The Night’ and Pitt and Clooney shot there the CMP’s remake of ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’.
-Jean Reno already met with Clooney and Pitt in ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’.
-This is the first movie produced by the Production Company created by Pitt and Clooney, named ‘Scoundrels Productions’ as a homage to their first work together for CMP.

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS

Stop-Motion Animation / Comedy / Children

The Cast: Voices of Gerard Butler, Daniel Craig, Paul Bettany, Peter O’Toole, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers

The Director: Henry Selick
The Screenwriter: Josh Collins

The Plot:

Set in the early 1900s England, an adaptation of the classic Wind in the Willows book by Kenneth Grahame follows the adventures of an arrogant wealthy Toad (Voice of Gerard Butler) with an unhealthy craze towards automobiles (which would lead him to being arrested for stealing a car) Toad would escape prison and return home, bumping into many colorful characters along the way while also being pursued by police along the way.

Toad has three other friends who watch Toad's home, Toad Hall while he is imprisoned. Rat (Voice of Paul Bettany), a very generous fellow and can be somewhat of a perfectionist towards himself and others, but often second guesses helping others when a life is at stake. Mole (Voice of Daniel Craig) is the most passionate, as it even shows when he convinces Rat to help retrieve Otter's (Voice of Jonathan Rhtys-Meyers) missing child, Portly in the book and this film. Otter isn't one of the four crucial characters to the film, but serves as a messenger of the River Bank where the community lives. Badger (Voice of Peter O’Toole), however, is one of the four main roles who serves as the wise and very respected.

Before Toad's arrival to home, he meets a Bargewoman when he is lost in the woods. She assists him and believes he is a washerwoman to help her with her laundry and when it turns out Toad has no skill for washing laundry, he is tossed overboard. Other characters to help move the plot along involve an Engine Driver who allows Toad the washerwoman to ride on his train, Toad must confess his crimes to the driver when the police are in pursuit, but the driver still helps Toad evade the police. He would also bump into a Gypsy, Gentlemen in automobiles and so forth up until he's swept away by the river and turns up back home.

Upon his arrival he finds that the antagonists of the story, the Stoats and Weasels have taken over Toad Hall and aren't going to give it up so easily. Toad and his friends would eventually overpower these dastardly villains by the end of the film and take back Toad Hall and restore order to the River Bank community. By the end of the film, Toad has also mended himself into a respectable member of the community. examples of hospitality, forgiveness, compassion, generosity, and humility serve as themes for the audience to think about.


Stark’s Comment:
Traditional and 3D animation have always worked so great in CMP, so I hope Stop-Motion Animation will also work nicely. A pioneer experience for CMP, as we have never made a Stop-Motion animation movie before. The story may be too well known as it has been adapted before lots of times but the appeal of this movie is the sophisticated animation techniques used to shoot it. Collins has succeeded before with animation (‘Bird Of A Feather’, ‘Karate Kat’) and I expect he will do it again with this one. Three very promising releases this week…

Behind The Scenes:
-Henry Selick has worked before in animated movies like ‘Coraline’, ‘James and the Giant Peach’ or ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’.
-Daniel Craig had to refuse being in ‘The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier And Clay’ due to his commitment with this movie. Same happened to Paul Bettany.
-The veteran Peter O’Toole returns to CMP after his only previous work for the Studio: Season 5’s ‘Parody Of Arts’.


LEGENDS OF THE WEST: The cast of this violent western directed and produced by Quentin Tarantino, written by Matt Kubrick and starred by Brad Pitt, keeps growing. GMA Winner John Goodman, not seen in CMP since ‘The Land Of Nod’, plays a bar owner who will get in the middle of the action. Ian McShane – seen before in CMP in ‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’ – will be an officer looking for a treasure. And two ladies will make their debut in CMP playing major roles in the story: Lena Heady and Laura Belmont.

CONSPIRACY OF LIFE: Justin Long, whose last work for the Studio was ‘Suspicions and Dishonors’ will play a forensic doctor and Live Schreider, making his debut in CMP, will play his boss in this thriller written by James Bradley and being directed by D.J. Caruso.

SILVER SABLE AND THE GENESIS COALITION: The only novelty in the cast of this third installment of this successful franchise is going to be Clive Owen. Owen has accepted to play one of the main villains of the story, the famous Dr. Doom. Bryan Singer, director and producer of the movie, has publicly admitted that he didn’t want Julian McMahon to play the character again after playing it in the two ‘Fantastic Four’ movies. He wanted a bigger star for the character and Owen looked as a perfect choice for him.

GET DOWN: Here is a new Dawson Edwards’ screenplay with a complex pre-production phase. This tale mixing gangsters with some fantasy elements was originally going to be starred by Jaden Smith and his father, Will Smith, was going to produce it. But Jaden was finally considered a bit too young to play the lead role, so he went out of the project. At that point, no director had been chosen yet and, although his son was already out of the project, Will Smith himself considered directing the movie, after his nice experience behind the cameras with ‘John and Tommie’. Later, Smith decided to quit. To replace him, Dawson Edwards has counted on a man he trusts and likes so much after working together in ‘Fallen Kings’ and ’24 Hours To Live’: Spike Lee will finally be directing the movie.

THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND: THE THREE TRIALS: Green light for a movie that will mean David Makalaster’s farewell of CMP (see The Inner Circle below for more info). It’s the adaptation of a classic computer game from the old days of Spectrum. A comedic vision of the world of pirates. It’s going to be directed by Mike Newell (‘The Green Children’) and starred by Jesse Eisenberg. Michelle Rodriguez (‘Reform School Girls’, ‘West Flashman’) and the CMP’s debutante Judy Reyes will also be seen in the movie.

THE ORPHAN TRAIN: Billy Bob Thornton, not seen in CMP since ‘Maleficarum’, returns to the Studio in this Danny Boyle’s historical drama playing the mean adoptive father of Chase Ellison while Steve Zahn will make his debut in CMP playing the loving biological father of the boy.

THE BUS: This peculiar comedy written by Chad Taylor, directed by Marc Webb and starred by Zach Braff and Zooey Deschanel has a cast full of big names playing minor roles. Among then, we will see GMA Winner Jeff Bridges, in his return to CMP after his personal success with ‘The Rock Star’, playing a cheating husband; Kim Bassinger, last time seen in ‘Booster Gold’, playing Bridges’ wife; and GMA Winner Bill Murray, being an eccentric Catholic priest.

WW3: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, a Spaniard movie director specialized in short-length movies and also responsible of ’28 Days Later’, is going to make his debut in CMP directing this peculiar story written by Chad Taylor about the passengers of a plane getting mysteriously involved in the beginning of a new World War. GMA Nominee Harrison Ford is going to lead a cast full of young talents.

GAME BOY 3: GAME OVER: Once finished his work in ‘The Wind In The Willows’, GMA Winner Paul Bettany has joined full-time the shooting of this Zemeckis’ movie. Bettany plays the console games character Dante, to whom he put his voice in the previous installments of the saga. John Leguizamo will also move from a voice-only to a live action work in this sequel being no other than the famous Mario.

DRAGONLANCE: DRAGONS OF AUTUMN TWILIGHT: Chris Evans already visited a fantasy universe in his previous CMP’s movie, ‘Kingdom’. He wil get into fantasy again in this one. He will play a character originally offered to Christian Bale. When Bale rejected to be in the movie, Hugh Jackman was offered the work. But he rejected it too. So finally the name of Chris Evans showed up as a third and definitive choice. Tim Roth, away from CMP since the Wild Cards’ saga ended, returns also to the Studio with this top budget production.



STEVE CONNORS – ASSASSIN’S CREED

Steve Connors keeps adapting popular console games for CMP. After the bad experience of ‘Gears Of War’ and the correct numbers made by ‘Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune’, Connors tries luck again with the adaptation of the dark adventure ‘Assassin’s Creed’, a top budget production that brings back to CMP some acclaimed talents that have not worked in any movie of the Studio for quite some time: the director and producer Peter Jackson and the GMA Winner star Colin Farrell.

1.’Assassin’s Creed’ is your newest game adaptation after ‘Uncharted’ and ‘Gears Of War’… Why are you so interested in adapting games lately?

Some time ago, I decided I would take to the big screen some of my favorite games. Nowadays, console games are made with such a top visual and plot quality that they look very much as movies so it is a wonderful material to work with. Also, it is easier for me to build up a screenplay based on a game due to my language limitations with English. I make Stark’s work as my translator easier that way. Anyway, I would like audiences to forget they are games adaptations. They are just great action and sci-fi movies, no matter what the original material is. That’s how I see them.

2.Any other game adaptations from you coming up?

I’m afraid so… Mainly, I want to develop the sequels of ‘Uncharted’ and ‘Assassin’s Creed’. And I want to make a movie version of ‘Heavy Rain’, cause it looks as an awesome material for a movie. But, first, I have to buy and play the game… *laughs*

3.You also keep working in comedies regularly… ‘Coen and Warshinski’ didn’t work as well as expected in box office…

No, it certainly didn’t. And I am hurt about it! Was it me the only one who found the story extremely funny? Well, I am sorry I was the first writer not succeeding with Ben Stiller… I hope he can forgive me.

4.Tell us something about that big project you are working in with James Cameron?

All I can say is that it is BIG. I return to an original sci-fi screenplay with it, not just an adaptation. It is an epic story about Earth being invaded by a race of aliens that are religious fanatics and how some humans try to resist and strike back to their invasion. The trend lately in most sci-fi movies is presenting aliens and other creatures as nice guys, like in ‘Avatar’. I want to go back to the traditional idea that aliens are our enemies and not nice people always better than humans. I think we’ll need a huge budget, as all the aliens will be digitally generated and there are big action sequences with crowds involved and a lot of destruction and so. It’s an extremely ambitious sci-fi movie and I just hope it does not end up being my second ‘Gears Of War’…

5.You have rejected Harry Stark’s offer to put up a new superheroes franchise, ‘Ultimate Alliance’. Why?

I am a big fan of sci-fi but and I like to play console games but I don’t know much about comics. Due to my translation needs, I only have the chance to release one or two movies per Season so I prefer to focus in those stories I am more interested in. I didn’t feel like stepping into a safe territory writing about comic superheroes. There are people in CMP that can do it much better than me.


ANGELINA JOLIE

Angelina Jolie has not had an easy career in CMP. Flops and hits have alternated in the seven movies he has worked in for the Studio so far. Nominated for the Best Villain GMA thanks to her role of an evil Lara Croft in ‘Westworld’ and nominated too twice at the Best Starring Couple category, Angelina finally took a statue home in Season 10 as winner of the Best Actress GMA for her brilliant work in Martin Scorsese’s drama ‘Tender Is The Night’. This week, she meets again with her husband Brad Pitt in CMP with ‘To Catch A Thief’, after he was the producer of ‘Dakota North’, a western starred by her, and that’s a good reason to take a look at her CMP’s career this week.


SAM AND TWITCH
Season 2
Matt Kubrick / Matt Kubrick
B.O.: 147 mill. / Net Losses: 27 mill.
Angie made her debut in CMP making a cameo in this peculiar film noir written and directed by Kubrick that adapted a graphic novel. She played a funny character: a seductive vamp with inferiority complex. The movie made a nice box office but still made net losses. Kubrick is already working in a sequel but Jolie is not expected to be seen in it.

WILD CARDS
Season 2
Matt Kubrick / Matt Kubrick
B.O.: 39 mill. / Net Losses: 1 mill.
Kubrick called her back to play one of the main characters in the first installment of what would become one of the most famous CMP’s sagas. Angie was here Chrysalis, owner of a bordello, a woman that could be seen through her skin. This first movie made a poor box office but the franchise became later one of the icons of the Studio.

WESTWORLD
Season 3
Michael Bay / Steve Connors
B.O.: 155 mill. / N.Gains: 151 mill.
Bay, who had produced ‘Wild Cards’, counted on Angie for this remake of a classic movie from the 1970s. ‘Westworld’ told the adventures of a man visiting a peculiar amusement park where he could interact with clones of famous movies characters. Angelina played an evil version of Lara Croft (while Anthony Hopkins played a nice clone of Hanibal Lecter…). This peculiar and very interesting movie meant her first GMA nominations: Best Villain and Best Starring Couple (together with David Duchovny).

WILD CARDS: ACES HIGH
Season 3
Quentin Tarantino / Matt Kubrick
B.O.: 80 mill. / N. Gains: 46 mill.
Tarantino, who had liked so much the first Wild Cards movie, decided to direct the second installment of the saga and, this time, the movie worked nicely in box office. Angelina played Chrysalis for the second and last time. After it, she decided to abandon the franchise and Eva Green replaced her playing the character, that ended up being murdered in the spin-off ‘Chrysalis: Pennies From Hell’.

DAKOTA NORTH
Season 4
Clint Eastwood / Jack Hammer
B.O: 26 mill. / N.Losses: 16 mill.
Angelina starred and her husband Brad Pitt produced this ambitious western with an allstar cast including other big names like Sean Penn, Ethan Hawke or Kevin Bacon. Sadly, the movie meant another flop in Angie’s CMP career. It also meant the first fights between Pitt and Hammer. Jolie, Pitt and Hammer have forgotten old problems to meet again in this week’s release ‘To Catch A Thief’.

TENDER IS THE NIGHT
Season 10
Martin Scorsese / James Bradley
B.O.: 101 mill. / N.Gains: 85 mill.
After the disappointment of ‘Dakota North’, Jolie stayed away from CMP for six long Seasons. She finally returned to the Studio to star this classy drama based on Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel directed by Scorsese. It made an outstanding box office for a drama and it brought to Angelina her first GMA, as Best Actress, and her second nomination for Best Starring Couple together with Daniel Day-Lewis.

GOLDMINE KILLERS
Season 11
Paul Verhoeven / Josh Collins
B.O.: 33 mill. / N.Losses: 1 mill.
Angelina tried something new with this dark thriller: she was not only the lead star but also the producer of the movie. Sadly, the movie was another slight flop in her CMP’s career. She played here a sexy femme fatale in a movie mainly designed for her to shine. After being in 7 movies in CMP, only 3 of them have made net gains.

TO CATCH A THIEF
Season 13
Jack Hammer / Jack Hammer
Awaiting release
Angie meets again with Hammer and her husband, Pitt, nine Seasons after ‘Dakota North’. In this remake of the Alfred Hitchcock’s classic, Jolie takes the place of Grace Kelly to look more glamorous than ever in what is expected to be a new success in his irregular career in the Studio.


Colin Farrell returns to CMP this week after so many time away from the Studio with the action adventure movie ‘Assassin’s Creed’. His co-star in the movie is the beautiful Anne Hathaway. And this appealing starring couple could be photographed together at the premiere of the movie in LA.



Bad news confirmed. David Makalaster has finally expressed Harry Stark his intention of retiring – at least temporarily – from CMP. Nobody knows by now how long may ‘temporarily’ mean. Losing any screenwriter is a shame but, in this case, there are some collateral damages. The main one: CMMDB. The useful database created and administrated by Makalaster won’t be updated from now on. Also, his retirement could create problems with CMP’s Forum, as he is also the administrator of the site, so the home of CMP can collapse at any moment breaking communication between Stark and the authors. Together with those big problems, from a creative point of view, the retirement of Makalaster means that one of the most successful CMP’s franchises, ‘Magic – The Gathering’, will be interrupted. Only two movies of this saga have been released when at least six movies were planned. And also, by the moment, we won’t have the awaited sequel of the megahit ‘Devil Trigger’, also written by Makalaster. So a big loss for the Studio. At least he said goodbye. But let’s cross fingers and hope that this very interesting and imaginative screenwriter will tell us hello again in a near future.

The retirement of Makalaster, together with the announced but never happened returns of authors like Marcus Trax or John Daws and a rumor about a possible retirement of Jack Hammer too – nobody at the Studio has heard from him again since he complained about his movies not getting enough attention -, will make Season 14 the CMP’s Season with the lowest number of screenwriters in a very long time. Nine authors will release their new stories during next Season. Still a good number. But, as it seems very difficult to recruit new authors since CMP left the Hollywood Mogul’s message board, this could mean the beginning of a slow death for the Studio if other authors keep leaving. During the first CMP’s Seasons, some authors came and went – the names of Tom Figgs, Brian Kelley or Bill Cougan come to my mind – but there were always new talents taking their place. Now, as CMP has that recruiting difficulty, there are no replacements for retiring authors. Nothing to worry by the moment, as 9 screenwriters stay active yet. But it might become a problem in a mid-term perspective.

Well, let’s not be pessimistic and focus on CMP’s activity. For what I know, the day after he finished his work with ‘The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay’, Steven Spielberg begun working in his next – and again complex and ambitious – movie. Not much is known yet about this project. The only thing I know is that the movie will be a remake of one of the most legendary classics of Movie History. Also, it is known that the genre is sci-fi. And third thing known, Richard Franzwa is the author of the screenplay. As usual, Spielberg will both direct and produce this big project that is expected to be ready to release some time next Season.

And I’m beginning to consider creating a specific ‘Production Companies’ section, as I am writing so much about them lately. The news this week is that a new independent Production company affiliated to CMP has been created. The name: Silver Lining Entertainment. The man ahead of it: Chad Taylor. The objective: developing funny and entertaining movies. And that makes four companies working for CMP right now: Midnight Movies (headed by Matt Kubrick), Grand Island Movies (headed by Josh Collins), Scoundrels Productions (headed by Brad Pitt and George Clooney) and this brand new Silver Lining Entertainment. I will be nice for once and wish Taylor best of luck with this initiative.

And yes, I have to write again about Midnight Movies. ‘Bedtime Stories 2’ didn’t work in box office. And that means that the financial situation of Kubrick’s company enters into a critical zone. As I wrote before, Kubrick’s plan to save his company is to develop two movies that he expects will make net gains enough to avoid bankruptcy. The sequels of ‘Sam & Twitch’ and ‘Deep Silence’ will be both directed by Kubrick himself and will mean for Midnight Movies a desperate attempt of survival.

From time to time, CMP’s screenwriters like to team up and co-write some stories. Matt Kubrick worked with Joey Stark in some of the Wild Cards’ movies. Also Kubrick has co-written with Josh Collins movies like ‘Foul Karma’ and ‘The Hellbowl’. Joey Stark teamed up too with Chad Taylor in ‘The Forgotten’ and with James Bradley in ‘The Funeral Drum’. Now, new writing associations are on their way: Trent Nielsen and Chad Taylor will release a co-written drama next Season. And writing teams will reach a higher level in the near future with not two but three CMP’s screenwriters working together in a story. Chad Taylor, Dawson Edwards and Matt Kubrick sign the screenplay of another upcoming movie, a peculiar story titled ‘Amedia’ that is already being publicized by Taylor lately both in his blog and at CMP’s forum.