JANUARY, 21


FREEDOM CITY

Sci-Fi / Alien Invasion

The Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Jennifer Connelly, Jamie Foxx, Topher Grace, Sigourney Weaver, Ian Holm

The Director: Brett Ratner
The Producer: James Cameron
The Screenwriter: Steve Connors

The Plot:

An army of Yongzouns, the alien civilization that invaded Planet Earth and enslaved Mankind is organizing outside Freedom City. It’s a huge and impressive army. As the Youngzouns reject the use of technology, all their flying machines and guns are in fact different species of alien creatures genetically manipulated to serve them.

While the screen shows the Yongzouns’ army and the movie credits, an off-voice from ‘Invasion’ is heard: ‘‘We did not come to invade you. We came to convert you. You are not our slaves. You were slaves of your own technology. You did not believe in the true gods. You only believed in machines. The mission of the Yungzouns is to bring the Faith on the Mighty Gods to all the galaxies. Those of you that join the true Faith will be free. You will learn what means the power of purification through pain and suffering. Pain takes you closer to the Mighty Gods. Suffering is a way of illuminating your spirits. Sacrifice is the way to reach a higher level of existence!’

Two years have passed since the events told in ‘Invasion’. Freedom City remains as the only place that Yongzouns do not control in Planet Earth. Humans have built a giant dome that covers and protects the whole city. The dome is made of a sophisticated glass mineral that cannot be destroyed by any Yongzoun’s weapon, not even the corrosive green substance they exhale or their plagues of devouring beetles.

In Freedom City, citizens live under a permanent alert. They have suffered so many attacks from the Yongzouns and they know the biggest Yongzoun’s army ever is organizing around the city.

A high level reunion is taking place at the last flour of the City Hall building. Warrior (V.Mortensen) is there together with his friend Screwdriver (T.Grace) – both are considered preminent citizens of Freedom City as they were who liberated it from the Yongzouns -; Freedom City’s Mayor, Alenna (S.Weaver), and General Truk (J.Foxx), head of the modest Freedom City’s army. They are discussing what may be planning the Yongzouns now with that new army and how to react.

Alenna and Truk have opposite points of view. Alenna – a tough but sensible leader – considers that they should not do anything but keep resisting any possible attack. Truk considers that they should battle the Yongzoun’s army with the new chemical weapons they have developed, based on the spores that are known to poison and kill the Yongzouns when they inhale them. Truk is a man of action and is tired of just hiding under the dome. He thinks that humans should face the Yongzouns in open territory and try to conquer new cities. It is evident that Alenna and Truk don’t like each other at all.

Alenna says that their chemical weapons are not enough to beat the powerful army of the Yongzouns. She tells an old man to join the meeting. He is Dr. Arkanin (I.Holms), a member of the Science Team that permanently investigates looking for new weapons. Dr. Arkanin tells them about the ‘Iris Project’.

A scientist named Dr. Zeuls was developing ten years ago what he called the ‘Iris Project’. According to Dr. Zeuls’ investigations, the most vulnerable part of any Yongzoun is the iris of their eyes. A powerful flash could easily provoke them a brain collapse and kill them. So Dr. Zeuls was secretly developing a sophisticated device to create huge destructive flashes capable of killing crowds of Yongzouns with each flash. Dr. Arkanin collaborated in that project.

Sadly, before he could finish his investigation, Dr. Zeuls was captured and confined in what the Yongzouns call ‘True Faith Camps’, big concentration camps were they confine humans and try to convert them to their fanatic religion. For what Dr. Arkanin knows, Dr. Zeuls died in the camp.

‘And did anybody keep his designs of that destructive weapon?’, asks Alenna to Dr. Arkanin.
‘I am not sure.’, answers Dr. Arkanin, ‘The members of the scientific team that was helping him, like me, run away when we knew the Yongzouns were going to confine us. We didn’t take with us the dossier of Zeuls’ investigations. But Dr. Zeuls had a daughter. Her name was Ashia and she was a young and brilliant scientist that worked with us. She was confined at the camp too. Maybe she is still alive and her father transmitted her all his knowledge about that new flashing weapon.’
‘Do you know where that camp is?’, asks Warrior to Dr. Arkanin.
Dr. Arkanin nods.
‘I don’t like what I see in your face’, tells Screwdriver to Warrior, ‘What do you have in mind?’

Warrior tells them that he will go to look for Ashia Zeuls. Maybe she keeps information enough to help them to construct that flashing weapon.
Screwdriver tells his friend that it is a suicide mission but Warrior ignores him.
Alenna takes a decision: Freedom City will resist under its dome the upcoming Yongzoun’s attack. They will wait until Warrior returns with Ashia Zeuls. One month. After one month, she will authorize General Truck to battle the Yongzouns in open territory.
General Truck answers that one month is too much. ‘We cannot keep hiding under the dome forever. If we don’t react, some day the Yongzouns will find the way to destruct us. And that could happen before one month’, he argues.
Alenna tells him that’s her decision and Truk leaves the room furious.

Warrior gets ready to leave Freedom City. Screwdriver tries to take that idea from his head until the very last moment. But he knows his friend very well. Warrior has never forgiven himself for the death of their good friend, Shade. She sacrificed herself to liberate Freedom City. Warrior has been torturing himself for her death since then. Now, going for that risky mission is a way of paying his debt with the memory of Shade.

So Warrior leaves Freedom City that night and begins his journey to rescue Ashia Zeuls from the concentration camp.

That same night, General Truk reunites his most loyal officers and tells them that as soon as the Yongzouns attack they will answer to the attack in open territory. ‘I won’t wait hiding under the dome to be exterminated by those fucking martians’, he says.

Warrior is very much experimented in hiding from the Yongzouns. So he reaches safe the ‘True Faith Camp’ where Ashia Zeuls is kept. Once there, Warrior gets into the camp. He cuts his hair and steals one of the sack tunics used by the prisoners and joins them as one of them. The camp is something very similar to a Nazi concentration camp. Guardians and rulers of the camp are humans known as The Disciples: a sect that has accepted the Yongzoun’s religion and collaborates with them. They are extremely cruel with the prisoners.

Warrior contacts with Ashia Zeuls. She does not trust him first, but finally they become friends. She tells Warrior that she has a microship implanted under her skin. It keeps all the investigations and drawings made by her dead father about the ‘Iris Project’, the design of a machine gun that shoots light rays that instantly kill the Yongzouns. Warrior convinces her to escape together from the ‘True Faith Camp’.

Meanwhile, in Freedom City, something happens. The army of Yongzouns are shooting the dome. They shoot dozens of giant green jellyfishes that stay stuck on the dome. According to Screwdriver’s suspects, those creatures will slowly deteriorate the glass mineral the dome is made of until it finally collapses. Citizens panic when they see those giant creatures on the dome. Mayor Alenna insists in waiting until Warrior returns. ‘Ten more days’, reminds her General Truck.

At the ‘True Faith Camp’, Warrior and Ashia try to escape but they are surprised by The Disciples. Warrior is captured. He is going to be executed by The Disciples with all the prisoners watching it. But Ashia provokes some explosions that turns the camp into confusion when the execution ceremony is about to begin. Then, Warrior and Ashia take advantage of the situation and finally get to escape from the camp.

Warrior and Alesha travel back to Freedom City. Yongzouns have been alerted of their escape. That makes them very hard to return, as they have to hide during day and only travel at night and always choosing the least dangerous ways.

Days keep passing… Giant jellyfishes are beginning to weaken the dome. Citizens’ panic keeps growing. Finally, General Truck decides that he cannot wait any longer the return of Warrior. He and a group of his most loyal officers organize a coup d’état. They arrest Mayor Alenna and take control of the city. Their army begins to get ready to fight the Yongzouns on open field. Alenna insists that it will be a suicide action for Freedom City but they don’t hear her anymore.

The very same night that Warrior and Ashia finally arrive to Freedom City, the battle between humans and Yongzouns has just begun.

Screwdriver and his team of specialists quickly begin to work on the information provided by Ashia’s microchip to build as soon as possible the flashing guns.

Warrior faces General Truck and demands the release of Mayor Alenna. Truck accepts. Warrior and Alenna are witnesses of the fierce battle that is taking place. The dome has been removed so Truck’s army can advance freely to fight the Yongzouns.

It’s a cruel battle. Humans resist the attack of the Yongzouns but soon many buildings of Freedom City are destroyed and the number of victims begins to grow. It is obvious that Truk’s army cannot defeat the Yongzouns. Things soon get desperate for Truck and his men.

For seven long and painful days, human army resists. Warrior has joined the battle. It is almost impossible to stop the Yongzouns to enter into the city. A chemical explosive reaches the City Hall. Mayor Alenna is severely wounded.

But then, the first prototypes of the flashing machine gun are finally finished and ready to use. Truck and Warrior put up and lead a commando of five men that will try to reach the Commander Post of the Yongzouns. Before they leave, Truck admits Warrior that he made a mistake battling the Yongzouns too soon.

The five men get out of Freedom City at night. That dawning, more flashing guns are ready and the human army can use them. They are so effective. They can kill a group of Yongzouns per shot. For the first time since the battle begun, Yongzouns’ troops have to retreat.

The commando assaults the Yongzouns’ post. It’s a fierce fight. But they get to kill many Yongzouns’ officers and soon the whole army of Yongzouns falls in chaos.

During the fight, Truck is shot with the green corrosive substance and Warrior sees him die.

Things change in the battle. Now the humans are winning thanks to their new weapons. With most of their officers killed, the Yongzouns soldiers begin to run away.

Finally, battle is over. Humans have won. The Yongzouns army is gone.

Warrior returns to Freedom City. Mayor Alenna, Ashia and Screwdriver welcome him… together with a crowd of citizens acclaiming him.

Freedom City is partially in ruins. But Mayor Alenna, still wounded and extremely weak, still has the strength to say to her people: ‘This is the beginning of a new era! Now we will finally expulse the Youngzouns of our planet!’

The crowd explodes in joy and happiness.


Stark’s Comment:
The only problem I see with this sequel of ‘Invasion’ is that it’s been a mega-expensive production. So I expect a great box office but not amazing net gains. Besides that, it’s a great show.

Behind The Scenes:
-‘Invasion’ was released in Season 14. It made 147 millions in box office and net gains of 82 millions. It won the Most Wanted Sequel GMA and was nominated for Best Director and Best Production Design.
-Steve Connors wrote five drafts of the screenplay before feeling satisfied with the final version.
-Mortensen and Grace are the only talents in this one already seen in ‘Invasion’.
-Sigourney Weaver was chosen to be in the movie by Cameron, who has worked with her in ‘Aliens’ and ‘Avatar’.
-Ian Holm won the Best Villain GMA working for Cameron before in ‘Pompeii’.
-Besides this saga, Brett Ratner has worked before with Steve Connors in the blockbusters ‘The Naked Sun’ and ‘Robots Of Dawn’.
-This movie is one of the most expensive productions ever developed by CMP.

GAGA

Romance / Musical / 3D

The Cast: Lady Gaga, Isla Fisher, Russell Brand, Gael Garcia Bernal, Rodrigo Santoro, Nathan Lane, Ellen Degeneres.

The Director and Screenwriter: Chad Taylor
The Producer: Silver Lining Entertainment

The Plot:

Gaga is a 3D spectacle depicting the fictional life of Lady Gaga. She is a young celebrity, who constantly battles her demons, in form of her mirror image imaginary friend, The Fame Monster (Lady Gaga too). She finds it easy to express her feelings through her daydreams. Gaga is a musician, set to go off on a world tour.The first date on the tour is in Madrid,on her 25th birthday.But as she nears this age,she is hoping she finds love soon, and thus keeps her eye open for potential candidates.

She knew where to first look, and that was to her neighbor ex-boyfriend,Aldous Snow(Russell Brand).He lives a busy lifestyle and was not able to see her very often. He cheated on her multiple times. He even made a song about her, and vice-versa. But there was one thing she couldn't ignore...the sex was great.

So he sneaks over to her house before she leaves, and they fool around. She has him in bed and serenades him.(Musical Cue:Bad Romance)But as they're affair continues,photographers begin to gather outside.She leaves the sex, and storms outside in a robe and swears to the photographers.It's revealed that Aldous is actually a bigger star than she is,and yet another popular musician.She descends into a daydream, where the world resembles a 1970's Kung-Fu movie atmosphere.The film becomes grainy,looking eery. Gaga,in the yellow Bruce Lee jumpsuit, grabs two swords and takes Aldous,in his underwear, with her outside.

"I'm too fucking drunk to do this lady!" he mumbles to her. She leaps from the second story balcony and lands in the middle of the paparazzi. She turns to Aldous and says "This one's for you baby." (MC:Paparazzi) She goes into action mode, and in slow motion, roundhouse kicks a camera out of the man's hand, and it flies into the crowd(in 3D of course).She then uses the sword to jab one of the cameras, leaving glass falling to the audience. An action scene ensues as she battles the paparazzi. It pays homage to many of the moves used in Bruce Lee's movies. But after she defeats them, the Fame Monster appears out of nowhere. She mumbles random syllables and subtitles appear..."Hello...Gaga."Gaga's clothes disappear, and she quickly covers herself up, but the Fame Monster is already snapping pictures. The Fame Monster has an evil laugh,and Gaga begins to cry.

She then wakes up from her dream, lying next Aldous, who's snoring aggressively.She gets a call from her annoying assistant, Cindy(Isla Fisher).Gaga dislikes Cindy, and she thinks that she likes her too much.Cindy informs her that her plane for Madrid leaves in an hour. We see a POV shot from Aldous,as Gaga gives him one last kiss, which lands on the faces of all of the people in the audience. She rushes out to her limo and leaps in. She whispers to the driver - "To the airport..." The screen goes black.

When the movie resumes, it now resembles a Mario game.Music then comes on,using a polyphonic tune similar to Mario's theme.(MC:Lovegame[instrumental])We see the airport,then cut to Gaga, wearing red overalls. She travels throughout the course, facing the little monsters and collecting hearts. Along the way, we see many famous sights of Los Angeles. Then when she gets in front of the airport,The Fame Monster arrives, in form of Bowser. They battle, then in the middle of the fight, near a kiss, but then they split apart and Gaga wakes up.She's back in the real world, sitting in the limo, but still in her Mario outfit. She shakes her head and wakes again, this time wearing her normal clothes.

She arrives on the plane and sits next to Cindy. As Gaga stares off into space, Cindy begins to ramble on about Gaga's to-do list.She rolls her eyes, and collects her thoughts for the moment, but annoyed by the constant talking, she grabs a roll of duct tape and puts it on Cindy's mouth. She stares at it for a second,and it sparks a fashion idea. She looks out the window into the sky and see's an array of colors. (MC:Viva La Vida)She looks to her right and see's the Monster sitting next to her. "You know Gaga, you act like your in love with your life. But we all know you're still looking for your true love."The Monster then bursts out in song.(MC:Smile)

The plane lands in Madrid,and Gaga decides to take Cindy for a night on the town. Cindy is usually all business, and Gaga wants her to loosen up. And so they go to a club. Gaga continously gets calls from Aldous, and rejects them.She decides to finally call him,but he doesn't answer,so she leaves a voicemail(MC:Telephone)While there, Gaga meets Alejandro(Gael Garcia Bernal) and instantly falls in love.But as their conversation ensues,he notices Cindy,and falls in love with her. He takes Cindy back to his place, and Gaga becomes jealous.So she searches for another someone even better. She finds Fernando(Rodrigo Santorio),an older Brazilian architect, who came to visit a friend, and was going to her concert the next night. He's unconvinced that he should follow her to her car,so she tries to persuade him.(MC:Beautiful,Dirty,Rich) And so she takes him to her hotel.

But when she opens the door, a beautiful island awaits.She takes him on the island, and they scramble around in the Land of Love. They follow the Little Monsters to a waterfall, where they swim around in the golden water. Fernando confesses to Gaga that he is not really a fan,but a fugitive from Brazil.He holds her down as the Monster comes to eat her."Knock,knock,anybody home?!?"we hear. She wakes up from her dream,and they both stop while in the middle of making love. The hotel door slings open and Papa Gaga(Nathan Lane) and Mama Gaga(Ellen Degeneres) stand there. "Happy Bir-" he starts to shout,but then notices what's going on. The situation becomes awkward,and Gaga asks them to leave. We cut to 20 minutes later,where Gaga is off to dinner with her family.

They share short dinner, as her energetic father and talkative mother try to make her feel comfortable. The waiter comes to the table, and it is Alejandro. He gives her her drink,but accidentally spills it on her chest. He grabs a napkin to clean it up, but as his hand nears he chest, it is no longer Alejandro.It is their real waiter, waiting to get her order.She notices that she can't stop thinking about Alejandro,so she hunts him down. She finally finds him the next day, working at her hotel. They talk for a while, but when they near a kiss, he backs away and tells her he must leave.

She is furious and moves on.She goes to the concert, to perform her big show. She opens the set(MC:Just Dance), and the song blasts as fireworks and a 3D extravaganza ensue.But the show is interrupted when Fernando storms the stage and professes his love for Gaga. She shrugs her shoulders and Alejandro runs out and does the same(MC:Alejandro).Finally, Aldous comes out, to a huge ovation and the crowd cheers for him.But all he does is stand there, and wave at the crowd. Gaga is left to choose who her lover will be. Her fans,family,and options wait for her to talk. Even the Monster walks out on the stage to watch."I've spent my whole life searching for my love.But little did I know,it's been in front of me this whole time." She runs over to Cindy and lays a big kiss on her lips. She looks over to the audience and winks.(MC:Poker Face)

Soundtrack(All sung by Lady Gaga):
Bad Romance
Paparazzi
Lovegame(instrumental)
Telephone
Alejandro
Poker Face
Beautiful,Dirty,Rich
Just Dance
Viva La Vida(originally by Coldplay)
Smile(originally by Charlie Chaplin)


Stark’s Comment:
Quite a different kind of movie here. It is a kind of fictional biopic of Lady Gaga. I hope her crowd of fans will fulfill movie theatres!

Behind The Scenes:
-This is the second directional job of Chad Taylor after ‘Amedia’
-Ellen Page refused the offer to be in the movie. She was replaced by Isla Fisher.
-Russell Brand plays here the same character he has played before in movies like ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ and ‘Get Him To The Greek’.

FORECLOSED

Drama / Human Spirit

The Cast: Denzel Washington, Kimberly Elise, Keke Palmer

The Director: Darren Aronofsky
The Producer: Grand Island Movies
The Screenwriter: Josh Collins

The Plot:

Denzel is a man who faces the odds as a human suffering the global economic crisis. He's lost his employment from a job that went out of business and can't even seem to find another one because places just aren't hiring. He's lost his home to foreclosure and put out on the streets. People basically kicking him and his family out of their home just to turn around and sell it to someone else. And if that's not bad enough, he is wheelchair bound. The only thing he has that hasn't been taken away by the economic crisis is his wife(K. Elise) who tries her best to keep things together and strong through the worst of times and their teen(K. Palmer)

The film is the coming together and staying together of the family unit through thick and thin during one of the hardest crises in not only a couple of nations, but the whole world in general. They go from having a working class life, to being homeless and staying that way while they each find their way to cope and help pull their family out of the slump they're in. A powerful scene toward the end involves Denzel ending up on his hands and knees out of his wheelchair on the sidewalk and his family not around to help him. Some pass by and ignore him and someone offers help but he turns them down. He pulls himself back up into the chair after struggling to get back into it. A sign of symbolism that really puts the film's theme in perspective.

When his wife returns, he tells her what happened, at first she couldn't believe that people would just ignore a disabled man on his hands and knees and Denzel explains someone did try to help and he declined their offer because he wanted to prove that he could do it himself.

The film ends when husband, wife and child "ride into the sunset" down the street. The getting into the wheelchair scene is a sign of hope, that we can all get back into our wheelchairs on our own, there's going to be some struggle for a long time, but we shouldn't let government problems keep us from living our lives.


Stark’s Comment:
This is one of those low budget productions expected to make a correct box office and at least slight net gains. Hope that will be what finally happens…

Behind The Scenes:
-Aronofsky has directed before for CMP one of the stories in ‘Tales Of The Unexpected’ and ‘Raiders On The Storm’.
-Denzel Washington has already been seen this Season in ‘The Cool’.
-Washington and Elise already played a married couple out of CMP in ‘John Q’.


PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES: James Bradley is the author of this big screen adaptation of the very peculiar novel by Seth Grahame-Smith. The story mixes the plot and characters of the classic novel by Jane Austen ‘Pride and Prejudice’ with a peculiar situation: England is full of zombies and people has got used to live with them as something normal. To direct this peculiar story, Bradley has chosen a specialist in peculiar stories: Tim Burton. Last time Burton directed a movie for the Studio was back in Season 9: ‘Sherlock Holmes’. The movie won the Best Picture GMA. To play three of the five romantic Bennett sisters the chosen ones are GMA Winner Natalie Portman, the latest Best Actress GMA Winner Carey Mulligan and Emma Watson, already seen this Season in ‘Snow’.

THE RESPECTED: Bruce Willis returns to this saga playing again Officer Sheppard as he did in ‘The Respected’. And Johnny Depp is having a busy Season. After the huge success of ‘Noon’, he has joined this shootage playing again the mobster Santonio Hudson, the character he already played too in ‘The Resurrected’. And it is expected that Depp still will work in a third CMP’s movie this Season. Guess which one will be?

DEEP SILENCE 3: For some unknown reason, some CMP’s writers feel a special fascination for this saga about mutant underwater creatures. The first ‘Deep Silence’ movie was released back in Season 2 making 147 millions in box office. It was directed and produced by James Cameron and the screenplay was written by Tom Figgs, a writer that did not stay long in CMP. In Season 10, Joey Stark decided to write a sequel of that movie, ‘Deep Silence 2: Red Code High’. It was directed by Renny Harlin and it made a nice box office of 107 millions. Now, six Seasons after that sequel, Matt Kubrick and Dawson Edwards have teamed up to write a third installment of this saga defined by some critics as ‘Alien underwater’. Matt Kubrick is also directing the movie. It will be shot in 3D and Jessica Alba returns as the lead star of the franchise.

LOVE LOST: Hayden Panettiere, who has worked before in two CMP’s sagas, ‘The Legend Of Zelda’ and ‘Zoids’, will work again with Dawson Edwards in this ensemble drama being directed by James Mangold. And also in the movie we’ll see one of Edwards’ fetish talents: no other than The Flash, Joshua Jackson.

THE SHOW: Two actresses join the long cast of this satiric comedy written by James Bradley and being directed by Jason Reitman. GMA Winner Nicole Kidman, seen past Season in the Best Picture GMA winner ‘A Farewell To Arms’, plays here a mean and ambitious tv reporter. And Maggie Gyllenhaal – seen before in other Bradley’s movies like ‘Celebutantes’ or ‘Tender Is The Night’ – plays the mother of Chloe Moretz, the innocent girl trapped in the depths of a well.

DARK SHADOWS: The young Preston Bailey, from the tv series ‘Dexter’, makes his debut in CMP with this movie written by Matt Kubrick and directed by Nick Cassavetes. And Jared Padalecki, only seen before in CMP in the sadly undervalued ‘Lost At Sea’, also written by Kubrick, will be in this one too.

ATHENA: Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (seen in ‘Booster Gold’ and heard in the animated feature ‘The Wind In The Willows’) plays here Pirithous, Heracles’ best friend and Athena’s love interest. And Emily Blunt, seen past Season in ‘A Farewell To Arms’ and ‘It’s Just Not Working Out’, plays Helena, Heracles’ love. Zack Snyder is directing and producing this epic adventure co-written by Joey Stark and James Bradley.

MIRROR’S EDGE: Yes, Steve Connors has adapted another console game. Now’s the turn of this action adventure taking place in a futuristic world and starred by a girl who works as an illegal courier specialized in jumping from one roof of a skyscraper to the next. Doug Liman is directing the show. Liman had disappeared from CMP since the box office disaster of ‘The Cure’ back in Season 4. Before that, he had directed ‘Ace Banner’. In the game, the lead character is an Asian girl. But Connors has decided to forget she is Asian and he has chosen Megan Fox to star the movie. Fox has not been very lucky in CMP lately as her two latest works, ‘Kingdom: The Dark And The Light’ and ‘Toons’ flopped in box office.

LITTLE MISS DOLLFACE: The girls to be seen as contenders in the beauty pageant in this mockumentary directed by Christopher Guest and written by Josh Collins will be the CMP’s debutante Madison Pettis, Madeline Carroll (‘The Fantastic Island’) and Mackenzie Vega (‘Bedtime Stories’, ‘Woodland Creatures’, ‘Being Ben Stiller’). And the mothers trying to ruin their innocence will be the CMP’s debutantes Catherine O’Hara and Amanda Peet and also Taraji P. Henson, seen before this Season in ‘The Cool’.

SAVAGE STREETS: Thirteen years old Ariel Gade returns to CMP playing Kristen Stewart’s younger sister in this violent remake co-written by Joey Stark and Matt Kubrick and directed by Marcus Nispel. GMA Nominee Ariel Gade’s latest work for CMP was the horror blockbuster ‘Silent Hill’. She replaces in this movie the initially considered Saoirse Ronan, who was finally ruled out for being considered that she looked too grown up for the character.


CHAD TAYLOR – ‘GAGA’

The latest Best Screenplay GMA Winner, Chad Taylor, makes a surprising U-turn in his career. Taylor has temporarily abandoned remakes, adaptations and big budget productions to direct a peculiar story based on Lady Gaga's song and starred by the diva herself. Somebody said 'versatile'?

1.I must admit I was surprised when I saw your name linked to this movie. Why have you decided to make such a peculiar movie as 'Gaga'?

Gaga is an adventure. As I heard her songs constantly on the radio,I came up with the idea of mashing them together and making a story of it. There was the obvious ones(lovers named Alejandro and Roberto) and the tough ones(Poker Face?). In the end,I am proud of this ambitious project.

2.This is your second directional job after 'Amedia'. Do you plan to keep directing movies in the future?

As you can tell with this 3-D musical,I love to direct movies that I can make my own. Same with Amedia.I will be directing more movies in the future as long as the opportunity is right.

3.I have the feeling that 'Gaga' is going to be a controversial release... Are you ready for the extreme reactions?

Oh yeah I definitely expect there to be some backlash. Yet I also feel this movie could be mainstream,with the use of 3D and top 40 hits. To add to this,to Gaga's request,I casted two openly gay actors to play here parents(Nathan Lane and Ellen DeGeneres)

4.You won past Season your first Best Screenplay GMA. Has that changed in any way the kind of stories you want to write in the future?

No definitely not. Although I have found myself writing more dramas then usual. But I think it's because I can get them done quick. I'll keep on doing the projects I've been known for,and the ones I think I can bring to screen.

5.Can you tell us something more about that project of yours mentioned at the 'Innercircle' section of writing movies based on John Lennon's songs?

Well,it actually started accidentally when I needed a title for a film I'd wrote...I wanted something simple. To sum up the movie in one word,I used 'Woman'. Obviously, that's a John Lennon song. And so in upcoming pitches, I thought of stories deriving from the title,and the trend caught on. I plan on releasing the trilogy's box set once Yoko dies, so she can't see if the movies put a good name to John's songs or not. *laughs*


JAMES CAMERON

Either directing or only producing, James Cameron is one of the most successful moviemakers in CMP’s world. Three out of his six works for the Studio have made more than 100 millions in box office and only once he has suffered a box office’s flop. Winner of two Golden Moon Awards as director and producer of ‘Pompeii’ and always linked to top budget productions, every release with his name in it becomes a major event for the Studio. This week, he returns to CMP as producer of ‘Freedom City’, sequel of the blockbuster ‘Invasion’.

DEEP SILENCE
Season 2 / Director and Producer
Written by Tom Figgs
B.O.: 147 mill. / N.G.: 135 mill.
Cameron made his debut in CMP directing and producing this underwater adventure that mixed elements from previous Cameron’s movies like ‘Aliens’ and ‘Abyss’. It was one of the very few screenplays written by Figgs for the Studio. Later, Cameron rejected to get involved in the sequel written by Joey Stark and the upcoming new sequel written by Dawson Edwards and Matt Kubrick.

MINOS
Season 3 / Producer
Paul Verhoeven / Marcus Trax
B.O.: 23 mill. / N.L.: 21 mill.
The only flop in Cameron’s career in CMP. The movie told a peculiar adventure starred by Val Kilmer and Cameron Diaz dealing with a strange mythological creature. Except for Cameron, most of the talents involved in this failed production (Verhoeven, Kilmer, Diaz…) fell in disgrace in CMP and didn’t work again for the Studio for quite a long time.

PLANETSIDE
Season 5 / Director and Producer
Marcus Trax
B.O.: 93 mill. / N.G.: 65 mill.
This top budget production told the story of the colonization of a new planet. The top-notch cast of the movie included big CMP’s stars like Liam Neeson, Rachel Weisz, Sean Connery, Ron Perlman, Anne Hathaway, Eric Bana or Jennifer Garner, among others. It wasn’t as successful at box office as expected. Trax’s plan was to write sequels of the story but they finally were never written.

POMPEII
Season 6 / Director and Producer
James Bradley
B.O.: 132 mill. / N.G.: 105 mill.
Bradley adapted the epic novel by Robert Harris about the eruption of the Vesuvius. Some critic described this movie as ‘Titanic in Roman times’. The main appeal of this production was the spectacular sequences of the eruption destroying Pompeii. Cameron became the big triumphant of that GMA’s Edition: ‘Pompeii’ got 7 nominations and won Best Villain (Ian Holm), Starring Couple (Leonardo DiCaprio and Keira Knightley), Director and Picture (both, Cameron).

STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE
Season 10 / Director and Producer
Chad Taylor
B.O.: 61 mill. / N.G.: 28 mill.
Cameron accepted to direct the first Chad Taylor’s screenplay for CMP. A revisitation of the story of the two legendary explorers, played now by Brad Pitt and Christian Bale. Cameron tried to retake here the spirit of classic adventures from the golden days of Hollywood. This luxurious production didn’t work in box office as expected.

INVASION
Season 14 / Producer
Brett Ratner / Steve Connors
B.O.: 147 mill. / N.G.: 82 mill.
Again, Cameron worked only as producer of this movie. It was an excellent sci-fi production very much supported by both audiences and critics. As it usually happens with Cameron’s productions, net gains were not extremely high due to the high budget he usually spends in his movies. Brett Ratner got a Best Director nod for his work in the movie and it won the ‘Most Wanted Sequel’ GMA.


Lady Gaga makes her debut on the big screen this week with the CMP’s release of ‘Gaga’. And she chose for once a discrete look to show up at the world premiere of the movie in London.



Will Smith’s career as action hero seemed to end up in CMP after the painful and unexpected box office’s disaster of ‘Gears Of War’, back in Season 10. Since then, Smith has only been seen in the Studio directing and playing a minor role in the acclaimed ‘John and Tommie’ in Season 12. And it seems like Smith is not in the mood yet to return to action. But at least he will be returning to CMP’s world soon. I’ve been told that Will Smith is planning to repeat as director with a drama written by Chad Taylor that he would star too. The movie is expected to be greenlighted during Season 17.

You may think that CMP greenlights every project that is sent to its offices. But not. The Studio’s Executive Board takes some time of reflection before deciding to reject a pitch but sometimes it happens. Two screenplays have been officially rejected by the Studio lately. One of them is ‘Boy Band’, a comedy written by Matt Kubrick about… yes, a boy band. After a long time at the waiting list and some cast changes, the Studio has finally decided not to develop it. The Studio just not sees the project feasible. Also, a Josh Collins’ drama titled ‘Psyche’, to be starred by Charlize Theron, has been definitely cancelled after a long time waiting too. The reason in this case is that the Studio considers the story too painful and extremely dramatic.

Another stable team in CMP? No, I am not talking of Paul Giamatti and James Bradley, or Derek Luke and Dawson Edwards. I am talking now about Steve Carell and Steve Connors. After their successful collaborations in ‘The Revengers’ and ‘Fantasy World’, Steve and Steve are planning to work together again in a new movie: an action comedy inspired by the tv series ‘Cover Me: Based On The True Life Of An FBI Family’. The tv series was aired from 2000 to 2001 and now Steve Connors has written a screenplay not directly based but at least inspired in the concept.

D.R.Cobb, one of the debutante screenwriters recently arrived to CMP’s world, seems to be a pretty hyperactive author. Following the tradition of other hyperactive writers like Josh Collins and more recently Dawson Edwards or Chad Taylor, Cobb is flooding CMP’s offices with one screenplay after another. It is expected that Cobb will be soon one of the authors releasing a highest number of movies for the Studio if he keeps writing at that amazing pace. Keep up the good work, Cobb!

Everything is ready to begin the pre-production of the third installment of ‘Dragonlance’, the successful fantasy saga written by Richard Franzwa. The second installment of it made past Season an outstanding box office of 260 million generating for the Studio net gains of 274 millions. Probably, that’s the main reason why Harry Stark has urged Guillermo Del Toro to begin working on a third movie and having Ewan McGregor, Brendan Fraser and the rest of the long cast ready for adventure as soon as possible.