Goodfellas Headed for Television

In the company of films ranging from Raiders of the Lost Ark to Being There, Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas sits amongst my all-time favorite movies. No matter how my day's been going, if it playing on television (even despite being heavily edited for broadcast standards), I will sit my ass down and watch it. Hell my parents even love that movie. Dare I say I've yet to meet someone who didn't?

Courtesy of "TOLDJA," comes the revelation a television version of the 1990 film (labeled by many to be good old Marty's masterpiece – I won't argue against that) is in development. No studio has purchased the rights or a network committed to it. But we can assume it'll be Warner Brothers TV (WB produced/distributed the film) and cable behind this. Imagine this on network television. Yikes.

Nicholas Pileggi (who wrote the original book Wiseguys and co-authored the script with Scorsese) will pen the pilot.

The only thing I find odd is remarking my partner-in-crime Peter Georgiou mere weeks back how The Departed could make a great HBO series. And to now read about this? Jesus, this is weird.

"Spider-Man" Promo Poster Among Others

The good peeps over at Collider were sent some promo images from one of their loyal readers. Among the posters for "The Smurfs", "MIB 3", "Arthur Christmas" was a promo poster for the new "Spider-Man" flick. Granted it wasn't anything that new, Collider previously posted a similar image back in early June, but worth reporting nonetheless.

Some not so in touch people believe this to be the first teaser for the new "Spider-Man" flick, even claiming the name of the flick is going to be "Spider-Man 3D" or "Spider-Man In 3D". Not so much. It would be pretty dense if the studio came out with a flick with a new actor playing "Spider-Man" called "Spider-Man 3D" after the last flick was called "Spider-Man 3".

This is simply a promo poster, to get the word out there, most likely at various shows and conventions. You can see it is the same font as the Raimi flicks, I'm sure that will also be updated going forward as well.

On the Set of Scream 4

Not particularly optimistic about Scream 4, but then again I always thought that franchise was overrated (Always laughed at the thought of people getting scared watching them) and coming back to the well a decade after swearing it was over reeks of desperation. There are also the much publicized troubles including losing Kevin Williamson for Ehren Kruger, actors dropping out left and right (Lauren Graham and Lake Bell) and massive rewrites on the set.

Will all those concerns by dust in the wind when Scream 4 opens next April? Personally, I think it'll under-perform. But there's always the chance of audiences clamoring to see the return of Sidney Prescott, Gail Weathers and Dewey Riley.

Entertainment Tonight has the "First Look" from the set, and boy does everyone appear upbeat. Maybe it's because of the cameras. You'd swear this was a stress-free shoot going off these interviews. Oh, the magic of people bullshitting!

James McAvoy Talks X-Men: First Class

X-Men: First Class is a couple of weeks into filming, and it shouldn't be too long before we get some official pictures from the production. Something we can certainly not expect is seeing a bald James McAvoy as the young Chuck Xavier.

Speaking to Music Television, the actor explains his approach to filling in the shoes of Patrick Stewart without doing a full on impression:

Interesting he points out a "next movie" (and quickly reneges). Wouldn't put it past Fox and I'm hopeful this Matthew Vaughn-directed/Bryan Singer-produced collaboration will work. Considering how this was fast-tracked like it was (it was announced this past June with a June 2011 release date written in stone), there's legit concern this will be a messy rush job not unlike X-Men: The Last Stand.

DC Film Announcements Expected Next Month?

By all accounts, she's doing a bang up job getting DC's shit together for Warner Brothers. But if there's one thing to take away, don't take DC Entertainment big-cheese Diane Nelson at her word. Christopher Nolan is producing a new Superman movie while he's prepping to direct Batman 3?! She said it was bullshit (to Music Television, of course). It was legit.

Warner Brothers and DC Entertainment plan to announce their feature film plans within the next month (as per Heat Vision)? She denied it, stating they'd been "misquoted" (via Comic Book Resources).

"TOLDJA" says otherwise, saying in about 4 weeks we’ll hear their plans. I'm not knocking her, mind you, and to be honest, I'm sick of this "announcement of an announcement" bullshit. If you've got your ducks lined up, then get on with it for God's sake. Although one thing that might have been holding all this back was Jeff Robinov (the big cheese at WB's film division and who spearheaded DC Entertainment) earning greenlight authority once Alan Horn vacates his position next April.

So what might be those DC projects announced? My personal guess is the obvious – Batman 3 (set for release July 20, 2012) and Superman: The Man of Steel (their Christmas 2012 tentpole). Beyond that, I'd say they announce screenwriters/producers onboard properties and "targeted" release dates.

Then again, 4 weeks could roll in and we hear dick. Or one of us movie-news sites leaks the details beforehand.

Elizabeth Banks Joining Man On a Ledge with Sam Worthington

My mind continues to melt towards why Elizabeth Banks isn't a star. She's smart, sexy, always a solid actor and has great comic timing. So of course, the "star" vehicles allude her and those fat checks get fished out to Katherine Heigl (you know, someone with considerably less talent) and Banks continues being wasted.

One of these days that'll turn I tells ya – knock on wood. Yes, she did star in Kevin Smith's Zack & Miri Make a Porno. But that did no one any favors despite her being funny and the movie was cute enough.

"TOLDJA" reports she'll co-star along with Sam Worthington, Jamie Bell and Anthony Mackie in the crime thriller Man On a Ledge. Yes, the film is about a man on a ledge. Here it's a falsely accused cop (Worthington) and Banks will play a crisis negotiator trying to talk him down. Oh, and they used to be an item.

Production starts in New York this November.

Details Emerge on the Wachowskis' Cobalt Neural 9

In the two years since the belly-flop heard round the world (aka Speed Racer), there was no telling what the Wachowskis were cooking upstairs for their latest. It doesn't help they're so damn secretive, and notoriously press-shy. If they wished to return to the graces of fandom, then they'd have taken the Superman gig offered to them.

Instead they've been working on what was initially described as a hard-R gay love-story between a U.S. soldier during the second Gulf War and an Iraqi with elements set in the future. Vulture has more details on the project titled Cobalt Neural 9. I’m not one to normally slap on a "Spoiler Warning" tag. But I'll make an exception here:

"First, if you don’t understand the title, don’t worry: Our spies who read the screenplay tell us it's gibberish designed to inspire debate as to its meaning; it appears nowhere in the actual script.

Secondly, part of the film takes place in the future all right — nearly a hundred from now. But its main story is told in Cloverfield-esque flashbacks by digital archeologists sorting through “found footage” from CNN and chips from old digital cameras from the U.S. occupation of Iraq. The heroes are indeed a gay American soldier named (with little irony) "Butch" and an Iraqi soldier turned militant. Butch is endearing, young, and a ravishingly handsome Marine. Our spies tell us that he "just wants to fuck and kill everything" in Iraq — until, that is, he falls in love with the Iraqi.

The two meet while Butch is on a combat patrol in Iraq during the second Gulf War, and soon enough, the two are engaged in graphically described sex (actual line from the script: "They rut like animals behind this fence") albeit while disguised in burqas. The two soldiers’ relationship blossoms, and Butch begins to get to know his lover's family. But after he inadvertently draws attention to their ancestral home, disaster strikes. This tragedy radicalizes the pair and they become convinced that the only way to rid the world of evil is to kill the architect of the invasion, the then-president of the United States, George W. Bush. And so, during one of the president’s secret sorties to Iraq, they attempt to assassinate him."

If I Love You Phillip Morris struggled for U.S. distribution, I wish them the best of luck doing so with this one. Not surprisingly, all signs point to this being independently financed. This already sounds like the kind of project that’ll spark debate on talk radio and the 24/7 cable news-networks.

Producers Guild To Honor James Cameron With 2011 Milestone Award

The Producers Guild of America (PGA), a national non-profit trade group committed to protecting the rights and credits of producers in film, television and new media, announced today that the legendary Oscar award-winning producer, director, writer James Cameron will be honored with the 2011 Milestone Award. The award will be presented to Cameron at the 22nd Annual Producers Guild Awards ceremony on Saturday, January 22nd at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

The Milestone Award is the Guild’s highest honor that recognizes an individual (or team) who has made historic contributions to the entertainment industry. The Producers Guild has paid tribute to such luminaries as Clint Eastwood, Alfred Hitchcock, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Ron Howard & Brian Grazer, and Walt Disney, among others.

Marvel Hoping For "Black Widow" Film

In my mind, "Thor" and "Captain America" are huge questions marks at the box office. Although "Thor" seems to be getting the better interweb buzz, I feel like "Captain America" will outgross "Thor", at the very least domestically. That being said, all of these films are being made with one thing in mind and one thing only, "The Avengers". The team up film is the end game, but according to Marvel studio head Kevin Feige in an interview with SuperHeroHype, the studio has been thinking about what happens beyond "The Avengers".

Q: Has there been any more talk of a Black Widow solo movie?
Feige: We've already started discussions with Scarlett about the idea of a solo movie and have begun putting together concepts, but "The Avengers" comes first.

I didn't love "Iron Man 2" but I didn't think Scarlett as Black Widow was anywhere near the film's biggest problem. I wouldn't mind seeing her back in tight black again, but I'm not sure a possible "Black Widow" solo film would really break the bank. See "Elektra".

Production Begins On "Final Destination 5"

Production is under way on New Line Cinema’s fifth installment of the gripping Final Destination franchise, which began back in 2000 with the original film quickly becoming a cult hit. The new victims of Death’s plan are part of a cast led by Emma Bell (Frozen, TV's "The Walking Dead") and Nick D’Agosto (Fired Up!, TV's "Heroes"). The film is being shot on location in Vancouver, Canada.

The second of the Final Destination films to be shot in 3D, Final Destination 5 is being directed by Steve Quale, marking his major feature film directorial debut. Producer Craig Perry (American Pie) returns for the fifth time, working with executive producers Sheila Hanahan Taylor, Erik Holmberg, Richard Brener, Walter Hamada and David Neustadter. The screenplay was written by Eric Heisserer with revisions by Gary Dauberman; Heisserer is no stranger to the horror genre, having penned New Line’s recent hit A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Final Destination 5 brings together an ensemble cast that includes Bell and D’Agosto, along with Miles Fisher (TV’s "Mad Men" and "Gossip Girl"), Arlen Escarpeta (Friday the 13th), Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (TV’s "The Bold and the Beautiful"), P.J. Byrne (Dinner for Schmucks) and Ellen Wroe (TV’s "Huge"). Rounding out the rest of the cast are Courtney B. Vance (TV’s "Flash Forward," "ER"), David Koechner ("The Office," Anchorman) and Final Destination franchise icon Tony Todd (Hatchet II).

In this fifth installment Death is just as omnipresent as ever and is unleashed after one man’s premonition saves a group of coworkers from a terrifying suspension bridge collapse. But these unsuspecting souls were never supposed to survive, and in a terrifying race against time, the ill-fated group frantically tries to discover a way to escape Death’s sinister agenda.

Collaborating with Steve Quale behind the scenes are director of photography Brian Pearson (Drive Angry 3D, My Bloody Valentine 3D); production designer David Sandefur (Repo Men, Journey to the Center of the Earth); editor Eric Sears (Shooter) and costume designer Jori Woodman (Eight Below).

The film is a production of New Line Cinema and will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.