1.) The Kick-Ass 2 production wrapped their work in Toronto and has moved on to London and director Jeff Wadlow tweeted the image to the right saying, “What do you keep in your coffin?” Apparently if you’ve read the “Kick-Ass” comics this means something, which is to say it means nothing to me. [Jeff Wadlow]
2.) Legendary has brought in Drew Pearce, who worked alongside Shane Black on Iron Man 3, for one final polish of the Godzilla script before they begin the casting process. The studio is said to be happy with the original draft, but they wanted Pearce to “age up” the characters to fit the actors they’re targeting. Could we be looking at Expendables vs. Godzilla? Probably not, but hey, I’ve seen worse ideas. [Variety]
3.) Speaking of bad ideas, Hasbro is still working toward bringing Monopoly, Hungry Hungry Hippos and Action Man to the big screen. The toy company has signed a new deal with Emmett/Furla, the production banner behind End of Watch, Rambo and many others. The plan is to co-produce all three movies within the next two years. Ridley Scott was at one point attached to Monopoly back before the Universal/Hasbro pact fell apart, though turning the real estate board game into a legitimate screen-worthy story seems like a cake walk compared to Hungry Hungry Hippos (unless it’s a Lake Placid sort of thing?). On the positive side, Emmett/Furla is known for delivering modestly budgeted actioners so maybe things won’t get out of hand like they did with Battleship. [THR]
4.) Sacha Baron Cohen inked a deal with Paramount to develop The Lesbian, a tale inspired by the Hong Kong billionaire who offered $65 million to any man who succeeded in marrying his daughter. The story made headlines when the daughter married her female partner in France last week, inspiring her old-fashioned father to make the open offer. It seems likely Baron Cohen would play the homophobic billionaire, though it hasn’t been officially announced. [Deadline]
5.) Netflix will debut its high-profile series “House of Cards” on February 1, and make all 13 episodes of its first season immediately available for streaming. David Fincher is an executive producer on the series and directed the first two episodes, with names like James Foley (Glengarry Glen Ross), Joel Schumacher (Falling Down) and Carl Franklin (Devil in a Blue Dress) each also directing an episode or two. The series stars Kevin Spacey as a ruthless politician with his sights set on the White House and Robin Wright as his wife.
It sounds as if all 13 episodes are going to be available at the same time, as opposed to slowly rolling them out over the course of 13 weeks. It’s nice and convenient, but it surprises me business-wise. What’s to stop someone from signing up for a trial Netflix run, then canceling their subscription immediately after they’ve powered through the entire season? Why even give people that option when you can hook them in for 3 months? Oh well, I’ve also included the first poster directly below. [The New York Times]
