MGM has targeted Brazilian director Jose Padilha to direct their remake of 1987’s Robocop. Padilha is most known for directing the Brazilian crime dramas Elite Force and Elite Force 2: The Enemy Within. The latter of which grossed over $60 million in Brazil alone last year, while the original won the Golden Bear at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival against the likes of There Will Be Blood and Happy-Go-Lucky. Deadline reports the studio will set a writer to work under Padilha’s supervision once the director is aboard.
The L.A. Times reports a sequel to Fox’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief could shoot as early as this summer. The film will be based on the second installment in Rick Riordan’s five-book series, titled The Sea of Monsters. Chris Columbus is not expected to return to direct the sequel, though be will produce the picture. He must be off on some exploration. Logan Lerman will be back as Percy Jackson. Until now, a sequel has been a big question mark after the first film performed modestly, grossing $89 million domestically but raking in $137 million in international revenue.
More zombies ahead, this time an existentially tormented one played by Nicolas Hoult (A Single Man, About a Boy) in Summit Entertainment’s Warm Bodies. Hoult’s character forms an unlikely friendship with the girlfriend of one of his victims, starting a chain reaction that transforms him and perhaps will do the same for the rest of his kind. Hoult’s star is steadily on the rise. He’ll next appear as Beast in X-Men: First Class and will also star in the Mad Max prequel Fury Road with Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron… that is if that film ever gets off the ground.
Hoult also recently landed the lead role in Jack the Giant Killer, which Deadline reports has found its female lead in 19-year-old British actress Eleanor Tomlinson. She’ll play Isabella, the princess Jack leads a mission to save after she runs away from the kingdom and is kidnapped by the giants. Tomlinson’s previous credits include roles in Alice in Wonderland and The Illusionist.
Also making the jump to director is Jonah Hill, who Deadline reports is in talks with Sony Pictures to direct The Kitchen Sink. The script by Oren Uziel landed on the 2010 Black List and centers on an unlikely alliance between a teenage vampire, zombie and human as they try to save their town from invading aliens. Producer Matt Tolmach also compares this one to The Breakfast Club (so typical), and you can read his description of an early scene in the film at Deadline.
Bryce Dallas Howard is following in her father’s footsteps and making a transition into directing, reports Showbiz 411. Her first feature gig will be a movie called The Originals, which she co-wrote and calls “a Breakfast Club for her generation.” No actors are lined up yet, but Howard says she wrote a part for Zoe Saldana. The characters are all said to be around the age of 30, which Howard actually turns today. So happy birthday!
The Dark Tower producer Brian Grazer told MTV‘s Kara Warner that Javier Bardem “really wants to do” the project and that “he’s locked in psychologically.” Grazer wouldn’t address other potential cast members, insisting that all their focus is on locking Javier Bardem into the lead role right now. It seems like it’s just a matter of time before this one’s official.
Heat Vision reports Channing Tatum, screenwriter Billy Ray (Shattered Glass, Breach) and producer Joe Roth are looking to tell the origin of Peter Pan with a project currently titled Peter Pan Begins. Roth is one of the leading culprits of the recent trend of resuscitating classic literature and fairy tales, having produced Alice in Wonderland and the upcoming Oz, the Great and Powerful and Snow White and the Huntsman. Billy Ray is an undeniable talent, but that talent seems better suited for other projects. This one reeks of desperation, much like last year’s underwhelming Robin Hood. I’m also not convinced Channing Tatum is any sort of draw in non-Nicholas Sparks films.
Lastly, Variety reports Screen Gems has acquired the rights for a big screen version of the video game series Devil May Cry, which centers on a man who avenges his mother’s murder by killing off demons. The game sold more than 10 million copies worldwide and spawned five subsequent games in the series. The studio hopes to make it their next successful franchise, following in the steps of the Resident Evil films.
