Warner Bros and CBS Films are teaming up to bring Stephen King’s The Stand to the big screen. The Hollywood Reporter reports the studios will meet with writers and directors in the coming weeks in hopes of finding the right match for taking on one of the best-selling books of all time. The post-apocalyptic tale was previously adapted into a toned-down six-hour mini-series by ABC in 1994 and no doubt the upcoming attempt by Universal to bring King’s The Dark Tower to the big and small screen had something to do with this decision. Any suggestions for who the helmer should be? John Carpenter comeback vehicle, perhaps?
Variety broke the news that Tyler Perry (aka Madea) will take over the role of detective Alex Cross in the next adaptation based on the series of James Patterson novels with Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious, xXx) set to direct. This is by far the most disappointing news of the day. I say this not because I’m some sort of Tyler Perry hater, but because I was really looking forward to seeing where the previously attached Idris Elba (The Losers, “The Wire”) could take the franchise.
Cohen has assumed the director’s chair from David Twohy (Pitch Black, A Perfect Getaway) and will begin shooting in June. I, Alex Cross will follow the D.C. detective as he tracks a rapist who may have murdered his pregnant wife years earlier. Morgan Freeman previously played the character in 2001’s Along Came a Spider and 1997’s Kiss the Girls.
Jim Caviezel hasn’t made much noise since starring in The Passion of the Christ, but maybe this next project will bring him back to the forefront. Caviezel and Chiwetel Ejiofor (2012) will star as early 1900s aristocrat Ward Allen and the freed slave he forms an unexpected partnership with in writer/director Annette Haywood-Carter’s historical drama Savannah. Jack McBrayer (“30 Rock”) and Hal Holbrook are also on board for the pic, which according to Variety will start shooting in just two weeks in Savannah, Ga.
David O. Russell (The Fighter) has been working on a script for an adaptation of the video game Uncharted, which he will also direct. In a new interview with Empire, Russell suggests he’d like to have Scarlett Johansson for the role of Elena in the film. Mark Wahlberg was previously mentioned to star in the film, and Robert De Niro’s name has been thrown around as well. You can read the entire interview here. I haven’t played the game, but what do you think? Is Scarlett a good fit?
Korean filmmaker John H. Lee (A Moment to Remember) will direct Jung Woo-Sung (The Good, The Bad, The Weird) in an English language 3D remake of John Woo’s The Killer, according to Deadline. The film will be produced by Woo. That’s all I have to say about that.
Barbra Streisand will play Seth Rogen’s mom in the Paramount road comedy My Mother’s Curse. Dan Fogelman (Cars) wrote the screenplay based on his own experience traveling with his mother, and Anne Fletcher (The Proposal) will direct. Rogen will play an inventor who invites his mother on a cross-country trip as he tries to sell his new invention while also reuniting her with a lost love. The Hollywood Reporter reports the film is finally set to shoot this spring, after taking nearly a year to receive the green light.
Lastly, Joaquin Phoenix’s return to acting could come in Timur Bekmambetov’s adaptation of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Deadline‘s Mike Fleming reports the role is his if he wants it. He would play a mythic figure who acts as a mentor to Lincoln and teaches him the way of slaying vampires. It was announced last week that Benjamin Walker would star as the title character.
