Finding anything worth talking about these days has been like pulling teeth, but there is one story in this batch worth considering as Mimi Leder has decided to direct a new adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front. I also have more news on The Bourne Legacy and G.I. Joe 2, so have at it…
Joan Allen and Albert Finney are in negotiations to reprise their roles as CIA agent Pamela Landy and Dr. Albert Hirsch, respectively, in Tony Gilroy’s The Bourne Legacy, which will add additional continuity beyond just the title to the fourth film in the franchise. Allen starred in both The Bourne Supermacy and The Bourne Ultimatum with Finney making his franchise debut in Ultimatum.
This fourth film won’t center on Matt Damon’s title character, but will still revolve around the CIA’s Operation Treadstone with Jeremy Renner and Oscar Isaac both playing agents trained in the program. Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton are also attached to the project with Norton expected to play the film’s villain. The picture is currently slated for an August 3, 2012 release. [Variety]
Joe Mazzello (the young kid in the original Jurassic Park) is set to play the role of Mouse in G.I. Joe 2: Cobra Strikes joining previously cast Channing Tatum, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Ray Park, Byung-hun Lee, Elodie Yung, RZA, D.J. Cotrona, Adrianne Palicki and Ray Stevenson. Jon Chu is directing the feature for an anticipated August 10, 2012 release. [Deadline]
Oscilloscope Laboratories has set a December 2 release date for Lynne Ramsay‘s We Need To Talk About Kevin (read my Cannes review here). Additionally, Paramount Pictures has set a December 9 limited release for Jason Reitman‘s Young Adult with the film set to expand nationwide one week later on December 16.
A new report says original “Dark Shadows” TV series actors Lara Parker (Angelique), Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie Evans and Josette du Pres), David Selby (Quentin Collins) and Jonathan Frid (Barnabas Collins) all spent three days at Pinewood Studios on the set of Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows filming cameos in the feature film starring Johnny Depp as the vampire Barnabas Collins. The film is set for a May 11, 2012 release. Co-starring in the film are Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Bella Heathcote, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Thomas McDonell and Chloe Moretz. [Bloody Disgusting]
Mimi Leder (The Peacemaker, Deep Impact) is heading back to World War I and will apparently direct a new film adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s classic 1929 novel All Quiet on the Western Front. The story was previously adapted for the screen and directed by Lewis Milestone who went on to win an Oscar for Best Director in 1930 and the film went on to win Best Picture, which is to say Leder is stepping onto hallowed ground. Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell wrote the screenplay, which explores the physical and emotional effects of trench warfare on a 19-year-old German soldier and his friends in uniform.
If you ask me, the original has one of the finest final shots I’ve ever seen in cinema, leaving you with a lasting impact you will never forget. Any chance Leder can duplicate this feat or is she getting in over her head? [The Hollywood Reporter]
