The Week In Geek: No Mountains For Del Toro, True Blood Spoilers, & Marvel’s The Inhumans
At The Mountains of Madness Cancelled…For Now
For years, director Guillermo del Toro’s dream project had been an adaptation of HP Lovecraft’s horror saga At The Mountains of Madness. And also for years it seemed like an unlikely proposition. The works of Lovecraft are not really what one calls “an easy sell,” especially to a mass audience. Then late last year It looked like del Toro was finally getting all of his ducks in a row, and shooting on this was set to begin in June. He had James Cameron producing, Tom Cruise starring….and still, Universal balked at making a $150 million dollar R rated monster movie. This has caused a lot of online anger, most notably from Aint It Cool’s News’ “Head Geek” Harry Knowles, who called out the top brass at Universal as “chicken shit.”
But just as many equally disappointed bloggers out there (for example Drew McWeeney and Devin Faraci) have come to Universal’s defense. For the past two years, that studio has been making relatively risky genre fare like Scott Pilgrim VS. The World, Drag Me to Hell, and more…only to have these movies land with a giant thud at the box office. Joe Six Pack and Sally Housecoat seem to only want their genre fare in movies that can be sold in easily digestible 30 second tv spots. A lot of what makes these quirkier (for lack of a better word) movies work is tone, and tone is a very hard thing to sell. Meanwhile, studios like Fox have been producing hit after hit with movies like Alvin and the Chipmunks, Ice Age, etc. All pre-packaged, all brand names, an none R rated. If America rewards generic crappy movies with success, and punishes more interesting flicks with failure, what can we do? Universal is still a business at the end of the day.
Instead of Mountains, it appears del Toro will be doing Pacific Rim, a PG-13 alien invasion flick that the studios know how to sell pretty easily. But he hasn’t given up totally on his dreams for Madness; speakin to Deadline.com, he had this to say about the future of his pet project, and his hopes that Universal will put this movie into turnaround, therefore allowing another studio to have a crack at it:
“That is my hope right now, that they just allow us to seek a home for this. It will remain a timely premise for years to come, so I don’t have to do it next month. I know it’s not an easy proposition. It is, if you have faith. I think a studio needs to fully believe in that. Certainly, in the last year, you can find movies of that scope or bigger that have been green lit on a wing and a prayer. We are part of show business, and it seems the business side takes more and more command of things, and the show part of the business seems to be dwindling. It’s a sign of the times, in a way.”
Marvel Studios Tackling The Inhumans Next?
We geeks are pretty aware of Marvel Studios’ movie plans for the next two years; first Thor and Cap get their flicks this summer, with of course The Avengers in 2012 and Iron Man 3 in 2013. Now it looks like the next big project being looked at by Marvel is a big screen version of The Inhumans. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby back in 1966, the basic idea behind the Inhumans is that aliens in pre-historic times tampered with the DNA of select humans, creating a new race. The race eventually went into hiding, developing their own hidden society as well as their own royal family. If the Fantastic Four were the All-American nuclear family, the X-Men a school, and the Avengers the all star sports team of the Marvel Universe, then the Inhumans were the Marvel U’s freakish version of European royalty. Kinda like The Tudors, but with super powers.
Despite their importance to the overall Marvel mythos, the Inhumans only ever had their own series twice before; once for about a year in the early 70’s, and then for a 12 issue mini series in 1998 drawn by Jae Lee (with various specials and one shots over the years for good measure.) Still, not having the rabid fanbase of an X-Men or an Avengers might be good for a movie adaptation, as it will allow the film makers greater freedom in adapting the source material. If they decide to cast African American actors as Black Bolt and Medusa for example, there wouldn’t be nearly the fan outcry that some of the more iconic Marvel properties have. Not to mention chanes to the costumes. The Inhumans are still years away from making their big screen debut, don’t expect to see it till 2014 at the earliest, but as always Marvel Studios is planning way in advance.
Magicians VS Nazis on HBO
Michael Chabon (author of The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay and Wonder Boys) is setting up a project at HBO called Hobgoblin, which is said to “revolve around a group of con men and magicians who use their skills at deception to fight the Nazis during World War II.” Not much else is known about this project (in fact, it is unclear if this is meant to be a movie, mini series or regular series for HBO at this point) Still, based on that description alone, I’m all over this. Chabon will be co-writing with his wife, Ayelet Waldman. Chabon’s next big screen project to be seen will be Disney’s John Carter of Mars, for which he wrote the script.
True Blood Cast Spills The Beans On Season Four At Paley Fest
The cast of True Blood has appreared together on stage before, usually at Comic Con or some other such convention. But at this past week’s Paley Fest for Media in Los Angeles, the entire main cast showed up together up on stage. And when I say the entire cast, I mean all 16 regular cast members showed. Anna Paquin (Sookie Stackhouse), Stephen Moyer (Bill Compton), Sam Trammell (Sam Merlotte), Ryan Kwanten (Jason Stackhouse), Rutina Wesley (Tara Thornton), Chris Bauer (Andy Bellefleur), Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette Reynolds), Jim Parrack (Hoyt Fortenberry), Carrie Preston (Arlene Fowler), Alexander Skarsgård (Eric Northman), Todd Lowe (Terry Bellefleur), Deborah Ann Woll (Jessica Hamby), Kristin Bauer (Pam De Beaufort), Marshall Allman (Tommy Mickens), Kevin Alejandro (Jesus Velasquez) Joe Manganiello (Alcide Herveaux) AND series creator Alan Ball were all in attendance. True Blood is at about the halfway point of shooting season four, which is set to premiere in early June. Of course, certain spoilers were spilled at this event, so for you Trubies out there that simply can’t wait till June, read on for some leaked details on the denizens of Bon Temps. Needless to say, spoilers for not only the upcoming season, but also season three from here on out. You have been warned….
-This is the season of the witches, as we are introduced not only to your standard wiccans, but also to “necromancers” -witches with control over the dead. (can zombies be far behind?)
-Although the series deviates from the books pretty significantly, the main plotlines tend to remain the same. In book four of Charlaine Harris’ series, vampire Eric Northman gets his memory wiped by a coven of witches, and the new kinder, gentler Eric finally gets it on with Sookie. It appears that basic plotline will remain.
-The one couple everyone can root for, local bumpkin Hoyt Fortenberry and baby vamp Jessica, will hit a bit of a rough patch in season four (this is tv, what did you expect? No one lives happily ever after till the final episode)
-Vampire King Russell Edgington, last seen buried in cement by Bill and Eric shouting words of revenge a la Dr. Doom, will be back, but no one is saying when (it might not even be this season) Also returning is Godric, the vampire who made Eric who offed himself back in season two.
-After being exorcised for fake demons, involved in magical orgies and then being tied up and kidnapped by an insane vampire, it seems Tara Thornton will come back stronger and less of a victim in season four. But this being True Blood, I doubt she’ll remain problem free for long. Hopefully she’ll have better hair than her Vanessa Huxtable hair from last season’s finale.
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Movie To Be Made; Surely A Beacon Of The End Times
I have reported frequently in this column about the variety of soulless cash grabs and brand names that Hollywood is obsessed with these days for easy money. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent for movies based on the likes of The Smurfs, Ouija Board, Monopoly, etc. If it’s a known brand, then chances are it is getting the big screen treatment. But to me, this latest announcement is the most soulless of them all. Coming soon to a theater near you: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: The Movie.
Even without a movie, the Macy’s parade is the most blatant and crassly commercial excuse for entertainment in America. Sure, the Tournament of Roses Parade is cheesy as hell (and also sponsored by many corprorations) but at least there is some attempt at artistry going on with the floats. But The Macy’s parade is nothing but an endless stream of products being sold to you posing as a “Parade.” Well, now that product is being turned into yet another crass product, a big budget family movie. The basic idea is that the various balloons used in the parade will come to life, a la Night at the Museum and probably have some kind of stupid adventure with some adorable and very annoying children. Just imagine it; a fun and fantasy filled frolic with Mr. Potatoe Head, The Pillsberry Dough Boy and Ronald McDonald. Or better yet….don’t.
“My, People Come And Go So Quickly Here!”
That was true of the land of Oz, and it is true of Hollywood. Remember how I reported a week ago that it was announced that Trent Reznor was not only going to score, but also make a cameo inAbraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? Yeah, well…neither of those things is happening now, for reasons unknown. So much for Trent getting in touch with his gothy side.
