Thursday’s News Round-Up (March 8) A Bond bad guy, Tintin and Scarlett
Scarlett And Woody, Together Again
Woody Allen, talking to the Spanish press about his Barcelona-set latest project, has said that he’d like to hire Scarlett Johansson for it alongside the already-cast Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz - because, y'know, she proved so lucky for him in the yet-to-be-released Scoop. In fact, Woody's trying to bring about another reunion as well, because he expressed an interest in also casting Johansson’s The Prestige co-star Rebecca Hall – and generally speaking, actors Allen wants, he gets. The film is due to start shooting in Barcelona and Orviedo this summer, the script’s already been finished and Allen is auditioning English-speaking actors now. Oh, and he’s hired The Others cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe to shoot it all.
Goran Going Up Against Craig?
A Croatian newspaper is reporting that Croat actor Goran Visnjic, of dishy-doc-who-replaced-George-Clooney-on-ER fame, is set to play a bad guy in the next Bond film. Now as with any Bond rumour, take this with a pinch of salt, but the star did audition for the leading role and – now that it’s been conclusively shown that Craig is Bond, for the next couple of years at least – he would seem a logical fit for a bad guy role. Rumour has it that he’s to play Vesper Lynd’s ex-boyfriend, whose abduction (spoiler!) prompted some of her actions in the last film. So is it a good fit? Well, he’s Croat, the role calls for a French-Algerian, and that’s all vaguely foreign, so that’s fine; he’s smokin’ hot enough for Vesper, so that’s OK; and he’s previously played bad guys in Elektra and Practical Magic. Oh dear.
Tintin And The Dreamworks Affair
Belgian boy reporter Tintin and his dog Snowy are back on track for a big-screen outing, with the news today that Dreamworks has confirmed that they are entering active pre-production on a Tintin movie, which could be on screens within a couple of years. Steven Spielberg bought the rights to the series back in 1983, and re-established them a couple of years back at Dreamworks, but it’s all gone quiet since. Today’s news came from Hergé Studios, however, and there’s still no word on which of the books will be first up (if one goes well, there’s room for a franchise), whether it will be live-action or CG or line drawings and a flick book or who will direct or star. So be encouraged, but don’t hold your breath.
Star Trek Tidbits
In an interview with MTV, Star Trek XI co-screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci have dropped a few tidbits about the film. Apparently it's less a prequel and more a reboot, which means that all bets are off and it could involve Kirk and the original Enterprise crew, onboard, right where the series began. They didn't confirm any casting, although Kurtzman rather teasingly said that he's a big Matt Damon fan, but updating the Trek is an intriguing prospect, so let's hope they manage it. See the full interview here.
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Reboot could work, as long as they don't cast anyone well known as Kirk, Spock, McCoy 'n' chums. The film simply won't work if people are going for the starpower (yes, I'm aware of the anachronism of people ignoring 'star' power in 'star' trek before someone tries to be clever...) rather than the characters, which is what Trek is, and always has been, about. Personally, I'd rather see a new series with Bergman and Braga fired into deep space, produced by JJ Abrahams (is that right?), set many ce... Read More
Actually, a reboot might make more sense if that rumour about Gary Sinise for McCoy was true, given the whole "same age" thing.... And at least with a reboot they could just wipe the slate clean and not have to worry about fitting in with established history, which Trek never does well. ... Read More
