The Morning Roundup: Darabont’s Indy IV Script Reviewed, New Posters, Pics, & Trailers, PTA’s Next
Written by: Big Ross, CC2K Staff Writer
Topping the news this morning, Frank Darabont's draft for Indy IV has surfaced online, and we've got a portion of the review. Also we have numerous pics, posters, and trailers from upcoming films such as Tropic Thunder, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Wanted, and more as well as news of Paul Thomas Anderson's next (possibly) project, more injuries suffered on the set of the next James Bond film, and Jon Favreau's chances of sitting in the director's chair for Iron Man 2.
Uh oh. More trouble brewing in the SAG vs. AFTRA vs. Production Studios Mexican stand-off.
Crom! Has Frank Darabont's script for Indy IV leaked online? AICN says it's legit. G4 says Darabont's draft was *much* better than what we got after Lucas was done with it, even though many of the same elements – the fire ants, the nuked fridge, the rocket sled – were carried over. Allow me to quote a few snippets of the review for you:
This script is awesome in exactly the places that Crystal Skull was lame…Spielberg and Lucas chose the right story, but they neutered it to focus on the wrong things…Perhaps the biggest difference in the script is the treatment of Marion Ravenwood. First off, she doesn't spend the entirety of the story standing in the background grinning like she's happy to have a job. She's the Marion we came to know and love in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and her story arc is so much more believable in this script that it's a night-and-day experience…Also, the aliens are mean. They're a legitimate threat, not fascinating, but terrifying, and there's an implication that they have been the reason that humans believe in God for the past several thousand years. The resolution of the plot is so much more satisfying here than in the actual film, and the script just shows that Lucas and Spielberg were too soft to make the choices that turned the plot a little dark and/or scary…At the end of the day, Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods is 100% a better script than the one that was shot for the film. This would have been the right way to close out the series, and it would have been a return to form that no one could have expected…
Oh, and Mutt's character doesn't appear in Darabont's version. Not at all.
Dirt, the Courtney Cox-led drama for FX got cancelled . Wait, this show was still on?
Marvel is apparently run by greedy bastards who don’t want to give Jon Favreau a raise to direct Iron Man 2. Check that, negotiations appear to be proceeding , but I bet the Marvel big-wigs aren’t happy about.
Speaking of Marvel, ya know that promise of a Captain America cameo in The Incredible Hulk? While there are references made to a “super soldier serum” that was given to Steve Rogers to help fight the Nazis during WWII (and is given to Emil Blonsky setting him on the path to the Abomination), that’s not it. Cap can be seen (probably encased in ice) during the scene when Bruce Banner goes to the Arctic to try and commit suicide. Oh wait, that scene was cut from the theatrical release and you’ll have to wait until the film comes out on DVD to see it.
Yikes! Daniel Craig had the tip of his finger cut off during filming of Quantum of Solace. Medic!
After There Will Be Blood, I’m sure you’re wondering what Paul Thomas Anderson is doing next. Straight from his own blog, it appears PTA may be doing Power Play, a story that concerns the continuing conflicts between Las Vegas casinos and Native American tribes.Seen these movie trailers yet?
Check out a slew of new posters and one-sheets for upcoming films in our gallery:
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Here's a new trailer for The Transporter 3:
And here's one for Babylon A.D.:
Is the comic-turned-video game Turok (about a Native American that hunts dinosaurs) getting a live-action feature film adaptation? Should anyone be excited about this?
Buffy alum and Robot Chicken mastermind Seth Green will be guest-starring on NBC’s My Name is Earl next season, says THR.
Whoa, someone is actually making a Smurfs movie?
Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation are bringing a live-action/animated "Smurfs" project to the bigscreen. Sony obtained film rights to the blue-colored characters from Lafig Belgium via Jordan Kerner ("Charlotte's Web"), who is producing. David Stem and David Weiss, who wrote the second and third installments in the "Shrek" franchise, are in negotiations to pen the screenplay.
Finally we’ve got a bunch of news images from the upcoming comedy Tropic Thunder:
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