We mentioned it briefly this morning, but here are a couple more details. Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov have acquired the rights to Seth Grahame-Smith novel, “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.” “The novel depicts the 16th U.S. president as an axe-throwing, highly trained vampire killer,” and Grahame-Smith also wrote “Pride And Prejudice And Zombies” so expect something in that vein. They will produce while a yet to be named director will helm the picture. “Alice In Wonderland” was terrible so our interest in this is pretty much zilch.
Warner Bros. wants to turn the ancient video game “Space Invaders” into a movie, leading to the eventuality that some studio will figure out a way to give a backstory to “Pong.” Do we smell 3D as well? Probably.
Neil Patrick Harris, who will be singing and dancing with Martin Short at the Oscars, it set to direct the premiere of “Rent” at the Hollywood Bowl from August 6-8.
The awkwardly titled Zack Snyder animated film “Guardians of Ga’Hoole” has changed to the boringly titled “The Legend Of The Guardians.” They just can’t seem to win with this one and neither title makes us anymore compelled to see it. Jim Sturgess, Geoffrey Rush and Helen Mirren provided voices for the film about about “a group of young kidnapped owls who must try to find the Guardians of Ga’Hoole.” It opens in theaters this September.
The poster for Nicole Holofcener’s latest film, “Please Give” has arrived (and is on the right). The film follows the story of a family waiting out on a cranky elderly neighbor to expand their apartment into a dream home. Things become complicated however when they become friends with the neighbor and her family. The film stars Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Amanda Peet and Rebecca Hall.
The members of Blind Melon are putting together a documentary on their late lead singer Shannon Hoon. The currently untitled film “features footage from Blind Melon’s tours with Neil Young and the Rolling Stones,” home video footage and may or may not include the last known words spoken by Hoon. The band hopes to have the film completed in time for October 21st, the 15th anniversary of his death.
Liev Schreiber wants to bring the story of the real life Rocky, Chuck Wepner aka The Bayonne Bleeder, to the big screen. Wepner was actually the inspiration for Sylvester Stallone’s film, but Schreiber thinks it’s time the boxer got his due. Director Jeff Feuerzeig (“The Devil & Daniel Johnston”) is in line to helm it though no start dates or production details are in place.
Finally, the trailer for the Patrick Wilson-led comedy “Barry Munday” has arrived, and it’s surprisingly funnier than we thought it would be. In the film, Wilson plays the titular Munday who literally loses his testicles and finds out he’s fathered a child. The cast is rounded out by the always underrated and frequently hilarious Judy Greer, Chloe Sevigny, Malcolm McDowell, Cybill Shepard & Billy Dee Williams. The film will premiere at SXSW later this month.
