Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It: Once again “hot,” Tom Cruise is looking for something to do next year after he completes filming of mystery thriller One Shot and sci-fi action flick Horizons. He’s considering We Mortals Are, to be directed by Doug Liman (Mr. and Mrs. Smith), based on Japanese graphic novel All You Need is Kill; Cruise would play a soldier stuck in a time loop when Earth is invaded by aliens. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Western Heroine Ready to Blast Off Into Space : Academy Award-nominated teen Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) is “in talks” for a lead role in Ender’s Game, the big-screen adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s classic science-fiction novel. Casting news began heating up after Asa Butterfield was confirmed to play young Ender, with Harrison Ford among the names circulating for an older training commander character. (Variety)
Jesus Wept : Writer Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) sold the movie rights to his forthcoming opus, Unholy Night, to Warner Bros. for an amount “in the vicinity of” $2 million. The novel converts the Biblical “three wise men,” who visited young Jesus, into action-adventure heroes. (Deadline)
From Phone to Big Screen : A movie shot on a smartphone will play in a Los Angeles theater for a week. Entitled Olive and directed by Hooman Khalili, the project ended up costing $500,000 (!) and the filmmakers had to build a 35-millimeter camera from scratch -- and then attach it to the phone with double-sided tape. (Los Angeles Times)
To Be or Not to Be : Nearly one month ago, film critic Roger Ebert revealed that his movie review show on public television was in financial trouble; now he’s announced that the show will go on hiatus at the end of the year while they suss out their options. Meanwhile, industry analyst Anne Thompson advises: “Let it go, Roger,” saying his new reviewers “simply lacked the right stuff.” (Roger Ebert’s Journal | Thompson on Hollywood)
Western Heroine Ready to Blast Off Into Space : Academy Award-nominated teen Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) is “in talks” for a lead role in Ender’s Game, the big-screen adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s classic science-fiction novel. Casting news began heating up after Asa Butterfield was confirmed to play young Ender, with Harrison Ford among the names circulating for an older training commander character. (Variety)
Jesus Wept : Writer Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) sold the movie rights to his forthcoming opus, Unholy Night, to Warner Bros. for an amount “in the vicinity of” $2 million. The novel converts the Biblical “three wise men,” who visited young Jesus, into action-adventure heroes. (Deadline)
From Phone to Big Screen : A movie shot on a smartphone will play in a Los Angeles theater for a week. Entitled Olive and directed by Hooman Khalili, the project ended up costing $500,000 (!) and the filmmakers had to build a 35-millimeter camera from scratch -- and then attach it to the phone with double-sided tape. (Los Angeles Times)
To Be or Not to Be : Nearly one month ago, film critic Roger Ebert revealed that his movie review show on public television was in financial trouble; now he’s announced that the show will go on hiatus at the end of the year while they suss out their options. Meanwhile, industry analyst Anne Thompson advises: “Let it go, Roger,” saying his new reviewers “simply lacked the right stuff.” (Roger Ebert’s Journal | Thompson on Hollywood)