The Morning Roundup: Friday the 13th, Terminator and Watchmen
Written by: Tony Lazlo, CC2K Staff Writer
We've got first looks at the new trailer for a horror remake and a highly anticipated comic-book adaptation. We also have lots of theater news, including reports from New York, Chicago and London.
• Director McG is set to direct Dead Spy Running for Warner Bros. Speaking of McG, he dished about the new Terminator movie on his blog:
We wrapped principal photography. Now we're heavy into post. I've already shown early cuts to Christian and Sam. They seem pleased with where the film is headed. Our focus is on story and character, but it's fun diving into the world of visual effects.
It feels like the responsibility of any Terminator film to reinvent the wheel of effects with every outing. The first movie was a stunning achievement in animatronics and practical effects from Stan Winston. The second film brought us liquid metal, which was a true revolution in the effects world. Robert Patrick's (T-1000) head coming apart and putting itself back together again looks as good today as ever.
Charlie Gibson is aware of his responsibility as the VFX supervisor and second unit director of this film. He works with ILM and Asylum every day and makes revisions to the finest detail. We want the patina of the machines to be dirty and heavy and perfectly realistic – that's why we built so much practically with Stan Winston. But at some point the effects kick in and like any Terminator fan, Charlie wants his mind blown. There's one sequence in particular where we're trying to achieve something that's never been done before. I don't want to talk about it because we haven't been successful yet…
But we're working on it.
It's very interesting working with Conrad Buff every day. First of all he was the editor on Terminator 2 so it's very comforting having his steady hand at the Avid. Long before we ever began we talked about what excited us about making this film. It was the notion of the world after judgment day. We set out to create a world that honored the Terminator mythology but was its own new beginning. Every day I learn from Conrad as he makes the elegant choices of a disciplined filmmaker. It feels great to have his confidence in the movie. I take his opinion very seriously, he provides a daily litmus test for what is worthy of a Terminator film.
Most importantly, Christian and Sam bring power to the rolls of John Connor and Marcus Wright. This is a story of two destinies colliding. Connor is part of a resistance comprised of the ethnicities that make up the globe. This film is so much more that just Los Angeles. It reflects the global crisis of man, all of man versus machine.
McG
• Cool! The BBC is working on a new superhero series.
• Hey, it's an update on the Rome Film Festival.
• Cillian Murphy has signed on to star in Perrier's Bounty, which will follow a man named Perrier – pronounced "peru" – as he searches for fronch dressing and fronch bread.
• Whoa! There's going to be a Broadway musical adaptation of Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas? Awesome!
• The Napoleon's Dynamite guys are workng on a Broadway musical about Hitler's brain.
• Dirty Dancing is headed for Broadway, too.
• Ben Still might direct The Trial of the Chicago 7 for Dreamworks.
• The Old Vic Theater in London has unveiled its 2009 season, which includes the Kevin Spacey-directed Complicit and a Sam Mendes-directed The Winter's Tale.
• The Chicago Shakespeare Theater took home the most trophies at the annual Jeff Awards – Chicago's Tonys.
• Nice! The season premiere for NBC's stellar comedy 30 Rock is online.
• Hey, it's the first teaser for the remake of Friday The 13th.
• And here's one of the first teaser posters for Watchmen. Nice.
• And the first poster for the remake of My Bloody Valentine.
