Since every other decent horror film is being remade, you had to know it would only be a matter of time before studio executives remembered a little flick called, Fright Night. The original film that debuted in theaters back in 1985 will be revamped by DreamWorks Studios, and they’ve already hired a screenwriter for the job.
Why is this happening? Why have the powers that be decided to produce a live action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell? According to Variety, DreamWorks has decided to take the popular anime and bring it to the big screen. A writer has already been hired to pen the script, and not only will the film be live action, but it will also be in 3-D (no surprise there).
DreamWorks is in negotiations to acquire the rights to Xombie, a story that was recently pitched to the studio. Oddly enough, the film isn’t a horror thriller based on the radical behavior of the undead. Instead, the film centers on a zombie who also happens to be a police officer. The movie was pitched by a policeman turned writer named Will Beall.
A teaser trailer has been released for the upcoming animated film, How to Train Your Dragon. The film is a DreamWorks feature that stars Gerard Butler, Jay Baruchel, America Ferrara and Jonah Hill. It’s directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, whom you might remember from their work on the film, Lilo and Stitch. How to Train Your Dragon hits theaters next year on March 26th.
Take a look at the first teaser trailer…
The Michael Bay produced adaptation I Am Number 4 has landed a couple of writers. According to THR, DreamWorks will produce and distribute the film based on the first title in a six book series written by Jobie Hughes and James Frey. The books are a part of an unpublished sci-fi set by HarperCollins.
DreamWorks is working to acquire the screen rights to a series of science fiction novels. They are paying a pretty penny for the new franchise about a group of aliens; they are supposedly paying a six-figure number to attain the screen rights. The first novel, I Am Number Four is set to be produced, and possibly directed, by Transformers‘ Michael Bay. The fun part about this story have to do with the authors of the series; one of the authors is James Frey, who wrote the controversial novel, A Million Little Pieces. Although the agency nor the studio has confirmed this, sources say that it is, in fact, true.
The new franchise is about “a group of nine earthbound alien teens who escaped their planet just before it was destroyed by a hostile species. While the high school-aged kids assimilate, the title character discovers that he is being hunted by the enemy that blew up his planet.” FilmDrunk discusses the plot a bit more…
The feature film adaptation of Walter Kirn’s novel, Up in the Air has become the tale of two Jason’s. According to Variety, Jason Reitman is attached to direct the Dreamworks film about “a corporate downsizer who is obsessed with collecting frequent flyer miles at the expense of having a life.” This no life having downsizer will be played by none other than George Clooney, with Jason Bateman co-starring as his boss.
All I can think about when I read this story is, what would it be like to have Steven Spielberg on your AIM list? I wonder if he “lols” people? Back to the topic at hand. As we know Spielberg’s company DreamWorks’ has recently made the swap from Universal to Disney and during the filming of it’s upcoming jumbo film Tintin. So one of the reports over at Variety decided to e-mail Spielberg and see what was up. Here is what the big guy had to say about the situation…
The maturity, excitement and overall quality of future films has been brought into question with the announcement that Disney has orchestrated a long-term distribution deal with Steven Spielberg‘s DreamWorks.
Some might say that DreamWorks has sold out, but Disney might possibly be their saviour in disguise.
With the new partnership, Disney will distribute and market six Dream Works films (out of Disney’s 12-15 films released per year) starting in 2010, with DreamWorks receiving 8 % of the gross for each [Variety]. This seems like a small percentage, but we’re talking Disney here, so 8% = mo’ money in the bank.
