JUNE, 10


HUNGER GAMES

Action / Sci-Fi

The Cast: Emma Watson, Hunter Parrish, Andrew Garfield, Elle Fanning, Jay Baruchel, Nathan Fillion, Alex Pettyfer, Lindsay Fonseca, Elijah Kelley, Bonnie Wright.

The Director: Marc Forster
The Producer: Silver Lining Entertainment
The Screenwriter: Chad Taylor

The Plot:

After a world war demolished the United States, the nation of Panem arose out of the ashes. The nation is divided in 12 districts, and the "Capitol", where all of the rich and powerful are.74 years prior to the beginning of the movie, Panem rebelled against the Capitol. There was a 13th District, but it was obliterated as an example to the other citizens of Panem; no one can defeat the Capitol. So, there is an annual televised event called the Hunger Games, where one girl and one boy from every district are chosen to be put into an outdoor arena and fight to the death. Whoever is the final one alive receives fame, fortune, and their district gets privileges rained upon them for the next year.

This year seems no different for Katniss Everdeen (from District 12)(Emma Watson), until her younger sister, Prim (Elle Fanning), is called to participate as a tribute(participant). She decides to take her sister's place, to save her. Katniss is best friends with Gale Hawthorne (Andrew Garfield). Peeta Mallark (Hunter Parrish), has had a crush on Katniss since they were five. He is the other teen chosen from District 12 to compete in the 74th Hunger Games. They both are mentored by Haymitch(N.Fillion),the only winner ever from District 12. All of the wealth he received went to alcohol, and has been a drunk for a while now. But he promises to sober up, to help them throghout the games.

The two of them are taken into protection custody, and are allowed 5 visitors. For Katniss, it's her mother and Prim where she makes her mother promise not to "leave" Prim as she did when their father died in a tragic mine explosion. And promises Prim that she try her hardest to win the games. Then the baker, Peeta's father and often the person Katniss and Gale trade squirrels to, he promises to take care of Prim in a way so she won't go hungry. Her second to last visitor, Madge, is full of urgency and passion as she begs Katniss to take her mockingjay pin as her Tribute Token. Then last, Gale. Their final meeting isn't long but Gale leaves her with "Remember I...." Katniss does not hear the rest because he is taken away.

Katniss and Peeta are taken to the Capitol, where they meet the other tributes and are publicly displayed to the Capitol audience. Katniss' stylist Cinna (Jay Baruchel), dresses her in a stunning jewel-filled dress depicting her as being "The Girl on Fire". Following her interview, Peeta reveals on-air his long-time unrequited love for Katniss. Katniss believes this to be a ploy to gain audience support for the Games, which can be crucial for survival, as audience members are permitted to send gifts to favored tributes during the Games. In order to save the image of this love connection, Gale is said to act as Katniss' cousin in front of the public, and not a potential love interest.

The Games begin with 11 of the 24 tributes dying in the first day, while Katniss relies on her well-practiced hunting and outdoors skills to survive. As the Games continue, the tribute death toll increases, but both Katniss and Peeta are able to evade death. The dominant competitor, Cato (Alex Pettyfer) from District 2, is simply destroying the competition throughout the first day. Other strong tributes are Clove (Also from District 2) (Lyndsy Fonseca), Thresh (Elijah Kelley) and Foxface (Bonnie Wright).

The cute, young face of the games is Rue. But everyone is surprised when Clove kills her. Because of Katniss and Peeta's beloved image to the audience as "star-crossed lovers", a rule change is announced midway through the Games, stating that two tributes from the same district can win the Hunger Games as a pair. But this also make Clove and Cato a dangerous 1-2 punch. Upon hearing this, Katniss searches for Peeta and finds him wounded. Cato had slashed him in the leg. She nurses him back to health and acts the part of a young girl falling in love to gain more favor with the audience and, consequently, gifts from her sponsors.

While looking for medicine, Katniss is approached by Clove. Clove throws a knife slashing Katniss' forehead. Cato watches in the distance, as she climbs atop Katniss, promising a long, slow,painful death. But Thresh approaches from behind, throws Clove off of her, and laughs in her face. He picks up a rock, and bashes her in the head with it, and letting Katniss escape. After that, Cato hunts down Thresh and kills him.

Peeta then finds some poisonous Nightlock berries, which Katniss learned about from her dad. But soon after, Foxface steals them and eats them. It is believed that she is the smartest competitor, but she didn't know that the berries were poisonous, and dies.This leaves us with Katniss,Peeta,and Cato. The Gamemakers decide to release a pack of mutated wolves,each one representing a former contestant(using their eyes). While Katniss was busy fighting off the muttations, Cato put Peeta in a fierce head-lock, cutting off his ability to breath. Katniss turns around, ready to shoot Cato with her bow and arrow when Cato points out that if she shoots him, he will fall to the muttations with Peeta locked in his arms.

Almost out of options, Peeta shakily draws an X on Cato's hand with his finger and Katniss realizes what this means almost immediately. She shoots her arrow at Cato's hand, forcing him to release the almost unconscious Peeta and falling to the mutts. But the game-ending cannon, does not sound.We find out that Cato is still alive, and barely breathing. They find him and shoot him in the head with an arrow, causing the canon to sound.

When the couple are finally the last two tributes, the Gamemakers suddenly reverse the rule change and try to force them into a dramatic finale where one must kill the other to win. Instead, they both threaten suicide by means of poisonous berries in hope that the Gamemakers would rather have two winners than none. It works, and both Katniss and Peeta are declared winners of the 74th Hunger Games.Due to the berries used to threaten suicide the Capitol becomes angry with Katniss and claims she was sparking rebellion by "outsmarting" the Gamemakers and defying the Capitol. When Haymitch tells Katniss this she takes it as her job to reverse it to save the ones she loves.


Stark’s Comment:
A pretty different kind of story. I have the feeling this one can work nicely at box office. It’s about time that we make at least a ‘+100’ and this could be the one to break the unlucky strike.

Behind The Scenes:
-Based on the bestselling book by Suzanne Collins.
-This is the most expensive production Silver Lining Entertainment has been involved so far. If it does not work at box office, Chad Taylor’s company could get into serious financial problems.
-Taylor plans to develop at least two sequels of the movie if this one works.
-Zack Snyder and Peter Jackson were offered to direct the film. Snyder preferred to produce ‘The Question’ and Jackson was busy directing and producing ‘Heavy Rain’.
-Bonnie Wright replaces the initially considered Emma Stone. Bonnie and Emma Watson have met before out of CMP in the ‘Harry Potter’ films.
-Robert Downey Jr. rejected the offer to play Haymitch so he was replaced by Fillion.

THE QUESTION

Action / Superhero / Thriller

The Cast: Ryan Gosling, Christina Hendricks, Ray Winstone, Lucy Liu, John Malkovich, Mads Mikkelsen

The Director: David Slade
The Producer: Zack Snyder
The Screenwriter: D.R.Cobb

The Plot:

Charles Victor Szasz (R.Gosling), stands in the rain outside a shack on the wharf in a blue fedora and matching trenchcoat. Inside, three men huddle around a card game. A voice on the TV inside announces a special report from KBEL's Vic Sage, and as if it were his cue, Szasz puts a foot through the door of the shack, and tells the men inside that they possess a tape he wants. The men stand and challenge him. Szasz responds by elbowing the biggest of them, sending him crashing into the TV. A second man advances, swinging wildly. His punches miss, but Szasz's counter-punches all connect. A woman looks on silently. Szasz swings a chair at the third man, knocking him to the ground. The biggest man, recovered from the earlier hit grabs at Szasz's face, but whatever covers his face won't come off. Szasz kicks him in the face. It is now clear that Szasz has no face. He demands the tape from the one thug that isn't out cold. The thug goes over to a safe and pulls out a tape. The thug asks who he is. In response, Szasz hands him a white card with a question mark written on it.

Szasz climbs into his car and speeds away. He pulls away the featureless mask, revealing himself to be Vic Sage. Szasz arrives outside KBEL studios. Szasz/Sage enters the production room and hands the tape to the news director. The tape contains footage of the Hub City Commissioner of Schools snorting cocaine with a woman Sage ties to a man who he believes blackmailed his way into a lucrative building contract with the school district.

Mayor Wesley Fermin (J.Malkovich) watches the report with Reverend Hatch (R.Winstone) and one of the thugs from the wharf. The thug asks what they should do about Sage. Hatch suggests getting him fired, but the thug cites Sage's ratings a reason the station would keep him on. The Reverend then suggests that Lady Shiva (L.Liu) could teach him a lesson. Shiva, the woman who watched the earlier fight, agrees to do what they wish.

Lady Shiva attacks Szasz/Sage as he gets home from the TV station. Shiva has Szasz heavily overmatched, but during the course of the fight realizes that Sage is the man from the wharf. She decides to spare his life and just make it look like he's dead.

Mayor Fermin admires Vic's co-worker Myra Connelly (C.Hendricks) on television as she reports the disappearance of Vic Sage.

Shiva sends Sage on a helicopter that drops him off in the middle of nowhere, where he meets a wheelchair-bound man in a small cabin. The man, Richard (M.Mikkelsen), offers to teach Sage the ways of the warrior, but first Sage must chop wood.

Sage spends the next year under Richard's tutelage, training his mind, his body and his soul, until one day while tilling the garden, Richard announces that school is out. Richard tells him that he must make his own way. He tells him that his passion isn't fighting, it's curiosity. Lady Shiva emerges from the shadows and disagrees with Richard. Shiva gives Sage a key to a locker containing his suit, fedora and mask.

Sage hitchhikes back to civilization, where he finds his suit, fedora and mask right where Shiva said they'd be. He refamiliarizes himself with the featureless mask, and breaks into the Mayor's mansion.

Meanwhile, Rev. Hatch tells Myra stories of his time as a chaplain in the Army, but is interrupted by someone singing "Danny Boy." The Question appears before Hatch.

The Question stands before the grovelling figure of Rev. Hatch, demanding that he pray. Myra appears in the doorway and asks who he is. The Question does not answer, but only speak her name. Then Hatch swings a steel fire poker at The Question's head. The Question ducks it, and kicks Hatch into the fireplace. Hatch's clothing catches fire, and he crashes through the window.

Myra takes the Question by the arm, leading him to her room before guards arrive. He asks her why she's helping him. She says that she hopes he can help her. The guards arrive and demand to check Myra's room, but she calls their bluff by stepping out into the hallway in a skimpy bustier. The sheepish guards retreat.

The Question asks why they called her Mrs. Fermin. She tells him that it's a forced marriage, that Hatch threatened to hurt her daughter otherwise. She tells him that Hatch plans to blow up a schoolbus full of white children to frame a local black leader. She leads the Question to the back door and asks him to hit her. She shows the guards her bruise and misdirects their attention while the Question leaps over a fence.

The Question goes to the school district bus garage, where the watchman informs him that he's the second nutjob to show up. Sage asks for the schedule and the watchman tells him there isn't one - it's Martin Luther King Day. But a bus recently left to take a group of kids from the suburbs to see the black leader make a speech. Sage adds up the facts and realizes that someone must have been sen to distract the watchmen while the other planted the bomb.

The Question races his car down the snowy streets. Hatch's thug questions Myra about her helping the Question escape the previous night. He holds a picture of her daughter in his hands, threatens her and rips up the picture.

Sage catches up to the bus, and notices a green van following it. He rams his car into the side of the van, he leaps from his car onto the van. He shoves one guy out the door and struggles with the driver, until he knocks him out of the van too. He pulls the van up alongside the bus and gets the driver to pull over. He searches the bus for the bomb, finding it in the back. The timer is down to 30 seconds. Sage grabs the bomb and throws it away from the bus before it explodes.

Later, the police arrive, but only get reports of a guy with no face from the kids. The two men from the van are tied up next to a white card with a question mark written on it.

Sage drives his heavily damaged car to the orphanage. He asks to see Jackie. A nun directs him to a little girl building a snowman. He introduces himself. Jackie and her friends ask him to build a snowman with them. Two cops watch through binoculars, planning a kidnapping. They're waiting for a nun and a man (Sage) to leave. The nun recognizes Sage from TV and asks if he once lived at St. Catherine's. He says yes. The nun confides in Sage, that the orhanage faces financial problems and may be shut down. The two policemen interrupt the conversation to say they're taking Jackie to her mother. Sage intervenes and one of the cops shoves him. Sage knocks him to the ground. The other cop puts his gun to the nun's head, and they take Jackie.

Sage figures out they're taking Jackie to control her mother Myra. He climbs into his car and gives chase, but the damage is too much and the car won't start.

Mayor Fermin wakes up ad finds his way downstairs to his car, drives it through the front of the garage, and into a tree across the road from the estate. The Question watches as the guards rush to help him. Hatch meets Myra upstairs and orders her to dress Jackie in a new suit of clothes. He tells her to have the girl ready by midnight. She asks why, and Hatch replies with Genesis 22.

Outside the Spot Bar and Grill, two policemen find an empty place where their car once was. Vic Sage drives through the front gates of the Mayor's estate, claiming he's been sent for to take Mayor Fermin to the hospital. Myra walks to the Mayor's library, grabs a copy of the Bible to find Genesis 22, the chapter where God calls for Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.

Sage parks his car behind the Mayor's house and transforms into the Question. Hatch has Myra bound and shows her a long, sharp knife. The Question's gloved fist sends a thug flying into a wall. The Question asks where Myra is. One thug grabs a flamethrower, but the Question knocks it away from him. A pair of drapes catch flame. The fire is quickly too large to contain.

Myra continues trying to talk Hatch out of whatever he's planning. He reveals that he's not a real minister: he was kicked out of seminary for mental instability. He fooled his way into the army, where he realized his true lot in life -- bringing about corruption until God has no choice but to rain down fire and brimstone. The master demands a sacrifice, Hatch says, and it's to be Jackie. He prepares to stab the girl, when the Question appears in the doorway speaking his name. Hatch falls to his knees and asks who sent the Question.

The Question frees Jackie and turns to Hatch as the house fills with smoke. He knocks the knife out of Hatch's hand. Myra scrambles on the floor, finds the knife, and plunges it through Hatch's back. The Question hands Jackie over to a pair of firemen and tells them she's been drugged.

He then returns to the TV station, sans mask, and announces the return of Vic Sage and outs Rev. Hatch as a crazed criminal, and Mayor Fermin as his booze-riddled pawn.


Stark’s Comment:
D.R.Cobb makes his debut in the superheroes’ universe with this interesting story. Like ‘Hunger Games’, I think this one should easily become at least a ‘+100’.

Behind The Scenes:
-Based on the DC Comics character
-D.R. Cobb has already written a sequel of this movie.
-Jeremy Piven was the chosen one to play The Question during all the pre-production phase of the film. Then, Cobb decided to replace him with Ryan Gosling when the shooting was about to begin.
-To avoid any legal action, CMP had to pay Piven his salary.
-Sean Bean has worked in the movie but his character has disappeared in the editing room and he won’t be seen on screen.

THE PAPER MAN

Biography / Drama

The Cast: Jamie Bell, Imogen Poots, Christoph Waltz, Isabella Rossellini, Daniel Craig. Cameo by Harvey Keitel.

The Director, Producer and Screenwriter: Joey Stark

The Plot:

Vienna, January 1939

The movie opens with a short cut of the face of an Austrian doctor (H.Keitel) looking thoughtful.

We hear an off-voice: ‘So… what do you think, doctor?’

The doctor does not answer for a few seconds. Then, as the camera angle opens, we see a young assistant of the doctor besides him. It’s him who has made the question and keeps waiting for an answer.

The camera moves and we see a bed and two bodies lying on the bed side by side. They are Matthias Sindelar (J.Bell) and his girlfriend, Camilla (I.Poots). They are both dead.

The doctor finally speaks:

‘This is what we will do. I will say in my report that they died accidentally. Officially, they were poisoned by a defective chimney. According to the Nazi rules, if I say they were murdered or they committed suicide, they would not be given a grave of honour. And God knows they deserve it…’

The assistant nods and then asks again:

‘But what’s the truth, doctor? How did they really died?’

The doctor looks at his assistant and, after a long silence, he finally speaks with a sad smile:

‘Who cares about things like truth these days?’

Vienna, 1918

Matthias Sindelar is 15. He is a happy kid. He is the son of a very modest Jewish family. The thing he loves most in life is playing football with his friends. They play with old balls in a dusty ground. And you can notice he is different from all the rest of the kids. He plays football in a most wonderful way.

One day, his father (C.Waltz) comes running looking for him. The father looks extremely happy. He has great news for Matthias. He has got the answer from the test he made. The most important football club of Vienna has decided to sign him. Never before, a 15 years-old boy had played for a professional football team in Austria.

The young Matthias is so happy. That evening, during the family dinner at their little home, he promises his mother (I.Rossellini) that he will become a football star and that the family will live soon in a much better and comfortable home.

Matthias wears for the first time the shirt of his new team. He walks around the empty stadium looking at the empty stands. And he smiles…

Vienna, 1934

The image fades to the same stadium, now full of a crowd of fans. Matthias’ team is playing the Austrian Cup final and Matthias scores a beautiful goal. The crowd goes wild.

While we see images of other brilliant goals scored by Matthias, we hear the off-voice of a radio journalist:

‘The Paper Man has made it again! Sindelar, the wonder boy, is getting close to the 600 goals scored in only three Seasons! His team is close to win the third Austrian Cup in a row! We have never seen a football player like him!’

Action jumps to Matthias at home. It is a different home. A much better one. His parents are there. They are having dinner and Mathias tells them that he has great news for them: he has been called to join the Austrian National Team for the World Cup to be played in Italy.

Next morning, the news is in all the newspapers. Matthias Sindelar – known as ‘the Paper Man’ because of his extreme slimness and his flexibility – will lead the Austria National Team, known as the Wunderteam (wonder team) because of the quality of its players. Everyone in Austria expects the team to win the 1934 World Cup to be played in Italy.

Milan, 1934

It’s the Semi-Final of the Football World Cup at Milan: Italy versus Austria. Although Italy is the host team, everybody expects Austria to win, as they have been playing a brilliant championship proving they are the best team of the competition.

Mussolini is watching the match.

Matthias feels in a great shape. He is having a great time at the World Cup. Only a few days before this match, he has met Camilla Castagnola, a beautiful Jewish Italian girl. They have been spending time together and Matthias feels he has fallen in love with her.

He is convinced they are going to win. But something goes wrong during the match. The referee’s decisions are always against the Austrian team in a most scandalous way. Matthias realizes what’s going on: the Italian team simply cannot lose. Everything has been arranged for Italy to win. He looks at Mussolini from the field and, in that precise instant, when Italy scores the only goal of the game, he begins to realize who and what fascists are.

Italy wins the game and later the World Cup. And Matthias returns home feeling hurt and stolen.

Viena, March 1938

Matthias Sindelar is one of the most famous football players in the world. The ‘Paper Man’ is one of the first football players in History to make advertising campaigns of clothes, foods, watches… He has become pretty rich.

Camilla has moved to Vienna. She is living with Matthias’ parents. Matthias and Camilla are planning to get married right after the 1938 World Cup ends.

Sindelar seems to have a perfect life. But he is secretly worried. He follows the events taking place in Germany with the Nazis. He knows what’s happening there to the Jewish people. He is afraid for his parents and girlfriend. Sometimes, he goes to secret reunions with other Jewish people to talk about the situation. They all agree that Austria will suffer an invasion from Germany soon.

And it finally happens. The ‘Anschluss’ takes place: the German invasion of Austria. Nazi army occupies the streets of Vienna. Hitler announces that Germany has annexed Austria and now Austria is part of the German territory.

Austrian Jews are soon taken to ghettos and sent to concentration camps.

Matthias has invested money in a nice bar. Camilla and Matthias’ parents work in it. Due to Matthias’ fame as football player, the Gestapo allows the family to stay at their home and to keep the bar open. So they can live relatively in peace. But Matthias feels more and more angry and tormented for what is happening in Austria.

Camilla and his parents try to calm him down. But they know they can’t. They know something bad is going to happen.

Vienna, April 1938

Herberger (D.Craig), German National Team coach, visits Matthias in Vienna. He informs him that German authorities have decided that there won’t be an Austrian National Team anymore. At the upcoming World Cup, Austrian players will have to play in the German team. Herberger is a nice man. He is not a Nazi. When Matthias tells him that he will never accept playing in the German team and wear the German shirt, Herberger tells him to take care: the Nazis authorities expect him to do it and the consequences if he doesn’t can be terrible.

Matthias cites injuries as excuse when he is demanded to play with Germany. Herberger covers him but the Nazis authorities begin to suspect it’s not true.

On April 3th, a football match will take place in Vienna: Germany versus Austria. It will be the official farewell of the Austrian National Team. Matthias plays in the Austrian team.

And things go wrong from the very beginning.

The Austrian team is obliged to make the Nazi salute (raising the right arm) at the beginning of the match in front of the stand where the Nazis authorities are. Matthias is the only player who rejects to do it.

He does not raise his arm when the other players do.

All the people at the stadium – and, of course, the Nazis authorities – notice it.

But things go worst during the game.

Before the game began, the Austrian players have been ordered not to score. Germany has to win the match.

For 70 minutes, Matthias makes the most skilled moves with the ball. But every time he is about to score, he shoots out and fails. Until he cannot stand that situation anymore. In minute 70, Matthias shoots the ball with all his anger and scores the only goal of the match. Not only that: he runs in front of the Nazis authorities and jumps and dances celebrating the goal. Austria beats Germany 1-0.

And the Nazi authorities feel humiliated by Matthias’ behavior dancing and jumping in front of them.

After the game, Matthias disappears. He runs home and tells his parents and Camilla to pack and leave the house. Some friends from the meetings he has been attending will help them to leave Austria and reach the Swiss frontier. His parents leave but Camilla decides to stay with him.

That very same night, the family bar is mysteriously burnt.

Matthias is considered by the Gestapo a subversive individual. His goal at the game and the way he celebrated it is officially considered as an offense to the German people and the Nazi regime.

For the next ten months, Matthias and Camilla will live hiding in small houses of their Jewish friends.

There are rumors that Hitler himself has stated that a reward will be paid to the one that finds Matthias. Dead or alive.

When they hear about that, Camilla makes a last attempt to convince Matthias to leave Vienna. But Matthias tells her that he will never leave his home town because of the Nazis.

Camilla embraces Matthias and tells him that she will stay beside him whatever happens.

Vienna, January 1939

The news is all over Vienna: the famous football player Matthias Sindelar and his girlfriend have been found dead. The official reason of the death is ‘intoxication due to a defective chimney’.

The Gestapo decides to bury the bodies in a discrete and quick ceremony. But the news run all over the city and people decides to go to the cemetery no matter the risk of being arrested by the Gestapo.

More than 40.000 people attended to the funeral ceremony of Matthias and Camilla. Nazi troops were displayed all over the cemetery, fearing a popular rebellion.

We see the doctor lost in the crowd at the cemetery.

Vienna, 1913

A ten years-old kid is playing football with his friends in a poor suburb of Vienna. The kid scores a goal and raises his hands in happiness.

The image freezes as the screen slowly fades to black.


Stark’s Comment:
There’s no chance of making a nice box office with this one. American audience won’t be interested in the story of a soccer player (same way foreign audience could not be interested in a hockey star with ‘Lemieux’), no matter the interest of all the Nazi thing. But I just can’t say no to my brother Joey…

Behind The Scenes:
-This movie has been shot in black and white.
-This is the second movie directed by Joey Stark after ‘Secret Sins’. ‘Secret Sins’ failed at box office.
-Jamie Bell worked before with Joey Stark in ‘The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier And Clay’. He won the Best Starring Couple GMA for that movie together with Emile Hirsh.
-Marion Cotillard was going to play Camilla. Finally, she was replaced by Imogen Poots due to her French accent.


L.A. WOLF: Green light for this new experience in the Studio: the remake of a CMP’s movie. Josh Collins was the screenwriter of the original ‘L.A.Wolf’, directed by David Fincher and starred by Gabriel Macht. Now, Chad Taylor has written this remake that places the character in a completely new story. Chad Taylor will begin shooting the film as soon as he finishes his work in ‘Mario’. Nathan Fillion, who can be seen in this week’s release ‘Hunger Games’, will be the new Wolf. And the cast will include some well known faces in CMP like Jennifer Garner, whose last work for the Studio was ‘The Fantastic Island’, and Liam Neeson, not since in CMP since he was seen in ‘The Beatles’, also a Taylor’s story.

THE GOONIES II: Yes, here it is at last. In CMP’s world, there have been talks about this project for years. And it is finally here. Joey Stark and D.R.Cobb have co-written this sequel of the legendary film from 1985. Steven Spielberg is going to be the producer, 26 years after he produced the original film. And no other than Matt Kubrick is going to direct it. Three regular CMP’s authors will be involved this way in what promises to be one of the big events of next Season.

THE SHERIFF, SALOON AND THE STORM: Emile Hirsh returns to CMP three Seasons after his personal success with Clint Eastwood’s ‘A Jazz Tale’. He has accepted to play a minor role in this western written by Dawson Edwards and directed by Steven Sorderbergh. Also in the film, we’ll see the more and more demanded Emma Stone, who has also succeeded this Season working with Dawson Edwards in ‘Kite’. Stone recently rejected the offer to be in this week’s release ‘Hunger Games’.

THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY: No, it’s not ‘West Side Story’, as Tyler recently stated. This is a pretty experimental and even surreal movie based on the Genesis’ album from 1974. Ben Tyler has written and is directing the film in which he will mix live action and animated sequences. James Franco is playing the lead character. And Christopher Walken, seen past week in ‘Death Cruise’, is playing a most peculiar character: Death itself.

FIRST FLIGHT: Chris Evans, seen lately in CMP’s fantasy franchises like ‘Kingdom’ and ‘Dragonlance’, will be a crew’s member of the spaceship where most of the action of this movie takes place. And Zoe Saldana, whose last work for the Studio was Matt Kubrick’s ‘Dark Shadows’, will be on board too. JJ Abrams is directing and producing this first story written by Ben Goldey. And that means that Abrams and Saldana will fly together again after they met out of CMP in 2009’s ‘Star Trek’.

MARIO: Chris Rock joins the cast of this Supermario’s live action adventure written and directed by Chad Taylor. He is making a voice-only work as Yoshi. Rock is not seen too often in CMP’s movies. In fact, the last time he worked for the Studio was quite a few Seasons ago playing a minor role in ‘Lieutenant USA and his Warm Steel Gang 2’. He met there with Seth Rogen, lead star now of this film, playing Mario himself.

MAN OF SEA: Green light for another Chad Taylor’s screenplay. This time it is a very minimalist drama: the film focuses almost exclusively in the adventure of a man in a boat sailing to find some answers that help him to go on with life. Spike Jonze is going to direct this peculiar proposal. It will mean his second directional job for CMP after the critically acclaimed but financially flopped ‘Asterios Polyp’. Robert Zemeckis was offered to direct this film but he finally refused the offer. The lead character will be played by another star that does not work too regularly for CMP: GMA Winner Jim Carrey, not seen in CMP since he starred the successful Davd Zucker’s comedy ‘Bond Scum’.

UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES: Jeffrey Dean Morgan returns to this saga after being in the first movie playing again Gerard Butler’s best friend. And Christoph Waltz, who can be seen in this week’s release ‘The Paper Man’, has also joined this shootage to play the main villain of the story. Stephen Sommers is directing this sequel based on a screenplay written by Steve Connors.

BOARD BREAKER: Max Records has a family in this film written and directed by Josh Collins. Steve Zahn, who worked with Collins before in ‘The Orphan Train’, plays his father; Laura Dern, only seen before in CMP in Matt Kubrick’s ‘Goths: A Love Story’, will be his mother. And Jesse James, whose latest work in CMP was one of the most acclaimed Collins’ films, ‘Lyra’, is playing Max’s brother.

MOUSE GUARD 2: Diane Kruger is back to the cast of voices of this Joe Carnahan’s film. Kruger has become lately a regular in Dawson Edwards’ stories, after working with him in ‘Packing Up London’, the first ‘Mouse Guard’ and this Season’s ‘Lemieux’. Emily Blunt, seen past Season in ‘Athena’, will also be heard in the film. Blunt’s voice is the only one in the cast of this sequel that wasn’t heard in the first movie of the saga.


JOEY STARK – ‘THE PAPER MAN’

Joey Stark releases this week his second directional job after ‘Secret Sins’: the biopic of Austrian football star Mathias Sindelar, a man that faced the Nazi regime and pay for it with his life. This movie in black and white is quite a risky and artsy bet for the Studio. We have talked with Joey Stark about this film and also about his upcoming – and very much awaited – project: ‘The Goonies II’.

1.Where did the idea of making ‘The Paper Man’ came from?

A few months ago, I read an article in a magazine about Mathias Sindelar. I had never heard of him before. And I was touched by his story. He was such a brave man. He was a football star, he was rich, he had everything he wanted in life, he would have been respected by the Nazis although he was Jew… But he decided he would not submit to the Nazis. It is a beautiful story of dignity and bravery.

2.In the movie, it is not made clear if Sindelar was assassinated or if his death was a suicide or an accident. What do you personally think?

I made my own investigation trying to find an answer to that question. There’s not a clear conclusion about it. So I also decided to leave that question open in the film. It enriches the legend of the character. Obviously, the Gestapo very much wanted to capture him after he celebrated his goal in front of all the Nazis authorities. They felt humiliated by him. And Hitler himself ordered to capture him dead or alive. So yes, maybe he was killed by the Gestapo…

3.You wanted Marion Cotillard to play Sindelar’s girlfriend but you finally replaced her…

I wanted very much to work with Marion. But this is an English spoken film and Marion has this strong French accent and it was so strange that the Italian girlfriend of Sindelar spoke with French accent. So I finally decided to replace her. I hope I have the chance to work with her in the future.

4.A movie in black and white about a soccer player looks like a suicidal move in terms of box office…

I know, I know… My brother Harry thinks the same…*laughs* But I very much had the feeling that this story had to be told. I got so involved in the story that I have even decided to direct it and produce it myself. It’s like my own little gem, no matter if audiences are interested in it or not. I will be more than lucky if it makes at least a slight net gain like some CMP’s dramas do. But, to be honest, I don’t care much about box office here. I just felt I had to tell the story.

5.Moving to a completely different issue, CMP has greenlighted this week ‘The Goonies II’. What can you tell us about it?

All I can say is that I am very excited about it! I have wanted to write a sequel of ‘The Goonies’ almost since CMP was born. For the past years, I just could not find the right premise. I talked about it with people like Josh Collins and Matt Kubrick and finally I found a wonderful support from D.R.Cobb. After many failed attempts, I had the feeling this was a story I just could not write by myself. But things went so smoothly after all. I had a decent premise and Cobb was so brilliant developing it and finally we have a wonderful story that fully connects with the spirit of the original film. It’s going to be great!


ZACK SNYDER

Although he has a questionable directing style, Zack Snyder seems to have become lately one of the most powerful moviemakers both in and out of CMP. In CMP, Snyder is one of the most demanded directors by the Studio’s writers and the big success of his latest releases have turned him into one of those talents that help to get an instant green light for a project with just showing his interest in it. This week, CMP releases the first experience of Snyder being only the producer of a movie. But he was also related to the other big release of the week, ‘Hunger Games’, a film he finally decided not to direct. So this week we take a look at the short but rising career of Zack Snyder in CMP.

PREACHER
Matt Kubrick
B.O.: 58 / N.G.: 48
Snyder made his debut in CMP adapting this very peculiar comic. The film was starring by James Marsden and Jennifer Garner. Audience didn’t respond enthusiastically to the proposal and the film made a discrete box office. A sequel was released but Snyder didn’t direct it as he was already committed with his next CMP’s film.

WILD CARDS: BATTLE OF THE ROX
Matt Kubrick & Joey Stark
B.O.: 78 / N.G.: 46
Kubrick and Stark chose Snyder to direct the final episode of this cult saga. It was an epic show that pretended to put an end to the ‘Wild Cards’ franchise with a blast. As a curiosity, Guillermo del Toro had directed the previous movie of the saga and also he directed the sequel of ‘Preacher’ so he exchanged jobs with Snyder. Anyway, the film made a decent box office but it didn’t become the expected blockbuster. Snyder wasn’t yet a fully trustable moviemaker in CMP.

KINGDOM
Matt Kubrick
B.O.: 55 / N.G.: 33
Kubrick and Snyder teamed up for the third time with this epic fantasy movie. Megan Fox was the lead star of this top budget production. And, again, things did not go as well as expected at box office. The movie’s numbers stayed way below expectations and Snyder was more and more questioned in CMP’s offices as a trustable director.

KINGDOM: THE DARK AND THE LIGHT
Matt Kubrick
B.O.: 34 / N.L.: 14
Although the first movie was a big disappointment at box office, the Studio decided to take the risk of green lightning a sequel. And things went even worse. This is the first and only box office’s flop in Snyder’s career in CMP. And this disaster almost put an end to his career as presumed ‘blockbuster maker’ in the Studio.

METROID
Josh Collins
B.O.: 279 / N.G.: 406
Right when Snyder’s prestige in CMP was below zero, ‘Metroid’ came. Snyder accepted to direct this Collins’ adaptation of a video game oriented to the youngest audience as a way to resurrect his dying CMP’s career. And it did. ‘Metroid’ was an unexpected and enormous success. Alltimes box office’s top 5 and alltimes highest net gains’ top 4. All past mistakes of Snyder were instantly forgiven and his reputation automatically jumped from bottom to top.

ATHENA
Joey Stark & James Bradley
B.O.: 225 / N.G.: 197
Stark, who had worked with him in ‘Wild Cards: Battle Of The Rox’, chose Snyder to direct and also produce this more than epic mythological adventure. Top budget, top notch cast, top marketing campaign… It was the moment of truth for Snyder after ‘Metroid’. And he succeeded with this risky challenge. It was his second ‘+200’ in a row and his more ‘author-esque’ directional job so far for CMP. The Studio definitely surrendered at his feet. Now, he is the producer of ‘The Question’, one of the most hyped releases of the Season, and he is already planning to begin with the pre-production of the sequel of ‘Metroid’.


EMMA WATSON

After winning her first Golden Moon Award past Season for her work in Trent Nielsen’s love story ‘Snow’ (she won the Best Starring Couple award together with Jim Sturgess and was also nominee for Best Actress), Emma Watson has automatically jumped on top of the most demanded female stars in CMP. After ‘Snow’, we have seen her in the box office’s hit ‘Pride And Prejudice And Zombies’ and now she releases this week ‘Hunger Games’. But there’s more coming up from her next Season. So we may not have the answer to the question made in ‘Premiere’ magazine’s cover, but one thing is for sure: everybody loves Emma in CMP’s world.



Bad news to begin. Richard Franzwa, one of the most veteran CMP’s screenwriters, has officially announced his retirement. Franzwa leaves CMP after a not very prolific but a lasting and prestigious writing career in the Studio. His most successful work for CMP has been the ‘Dragonlance’ trilogy. But his name is also behind some acclaimed films like ‘A Tangled Web’, ‘The Manor’, ‘The Sonja Blue Chronicles’, ‘A Hard Place’ or the two ‘Fallout’ movies, among others. Next Season, he will still release his latest project, the western ‘This Far From Heaven’. CMP loses a versatile author, often focused on adult audiences’ oriented stories but also interested in trying luck in all kind of genres. Franzwa, we are going to miss you…

Every time a CMP’s screenwriter retires, people wonder if that means the beginning of the end for the Studio… Well, I can say one thing for sure: not at all. Yes, veteran writers leave from time to time. Also, very active writers like Josh Collins do not write that much anymore. Matt Kubrick is supposed to be going through a temporary retirement (although he keeps writing new screenplays). John Daws is still around but no new stories are coming from him. And now Franzwa leaves. But there is always a group of people keeping up the writing work. D.R. Cobb has already written screenplays enough to keep CMP alive for several years. Taylor and Edwards keep writing at a good pace. People like Bradley, Connors or Nielsen are not that active but they also keep producing new stories regularly. Of course, Joey Stark is always there. And Ben Tyler is back. And from time to time, we have newbies, although most of them never go beyond their first and only screenplay. But, all in all, the fact is that we will have 12 screenwriters working for the Studio next Season. And that equals the highest number of writers CMP has ever had together in the same Season. And the waiting list right now includes more than 50 or 60 pitches. So there are no worries at CMP’s offices about the future of the Studio.

Movieman, nickname of a veteran user of ‘Hollywood Mogul’ game, asks me to tell you that now that the official Hollywood Mogul’s forum seems to be dead, he has created a new site to keep people interested in the game in touch. Here’s the link:
http://hollywood-mogul.proboards.com/index.cgi

And now let’s go with some movie news. Emile Hirsh is back to CMP with ‘The Sheriff, Saloon and the Storm’. As you know, Hirsh went through a glorious time from Season 12 to Season 14, when he starred in a row three Joey Stark’s stories: ‘The Impossible Dream’, ‘The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier And Clay’ and ‘A Jazz Tale’. That made him winning 2 GMAs for ‘Kavalier and Clay’ and to get another two GMA’s nods. Those acclaimed and awarded films turned him into the top star of the moment (something similar to what has happened later with James Franco). Three Seasons later, Hirsh has realized that you cannot hope to be the lead star of big projects constantly. That’s a mistake that many stars make (remember what happened in CMP with Shia LaBeouf after he won a GMA with ‘American Heartland’? Or what has happened with Logan Lerman after his Best Actor GMA for ‘Teenage Wasteland’?). So Hirsh has decided to revamp his CMP’s career accepting more modest roles. We will see him back soon with ‘The Sheriff, Saloon and the Storm’. But, for what I know, that’s not the only time we’ll see him during the upcoming CMP’s Season. Good decision, Emile.

Emile might join the group of young stars that seems to be being promoted by Chad Taylor lately. It looks like a new generation of stars may become the most demanded and popular talents in CMP soon. Of course, the leader of this new generation seems to be Emma Watson. And her new movie, this week’s release ‘Hunger Games’, can be considered as the first reunion of that new team of rising stars. But it won’t be the only one. I’ve got to know that some of the talents to be seen in ‘Hunger Games’ will work together again soon in another upcoming film, a romantic story also written by Chad Taylor. And very popular young stars like Robert Pattinson or Emile Hirsh will join them there. So yes, it seems like Taylor is putting up a kind of CMP’s Brat Pack we will be hearing a lot about in the near future.

And I end up this week with another promising star. This one will be making his debut in CMP soon. You may know him for ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’. Or also due to his successful career as a model. But, in CMP’s world, he may become a big star soon for other reasons: it has been confirmed that he will be playing no other than Tarzan in the new adaptation of the classic character written by D.R.Cobb. I am talking about the very handsome Taylor Kitsh. Not many young stars have the chance to make their debut in CMP starring a top budget production like this ‘Tarzan’ is going to be. So good luck, Mr. Kitsh.