Bryan Singer to take the Freedom Formula

I mentioned Bryan Singer's attachment to this back in July last year, but now there is a bit more information about it.

New Regency has acquired "Freedom Formula: Ghost of the Wasteland," an adaptation of the Radical Publishing comicbook series that will be developed as a potential directing vehicle for Bryan Singer.

Michael Finch has been hired to write the script.

The comicbook has a futuristic premise in which fighter jets have been replaced by pilots who battle in racing exo-suits. The protag is a genetically engineered racer who learns his bloodline has the power to change society.

"Mike Finch came up with an incredible take that goes deeper into the mythology of the source material," said Radical's Levine, who is also working with Universal and Spyglass on the Radical comicbook title "Hercules: The Thracian Wars," with director Peter Berg attached and Ryan Condal writing the script, based on Steve Moore's five-issue comicbook series.

Finch just made a sizable spec deal with Regency for "Medieval," an action script set in the Middle Ages that he wrote with Alex Litvak.

Source: Variety

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Superman Reloaded - Wachowski's may direct reboot. Oh and some Ninja Assassin and Plastic Man news.

AICN heard from a reliable source that James McTeigue (director of Ninja Assassin) had been on the radio in Berlin where Ninja Assassin had been filmed. He chatted about how the shoot had gone. McTeigue then chatted about his plans regarding Plastic Man and that the Wachowski Brothers had been approached to direct a trilogy of films for the Man of Steel (wonder if it is anything to do with Mark Millar's Superman trilogy). Here is a break down of what was said.

- Ninja Assassin is locked and complete. Awaiting a suitable marketing strategy and release from WB. Looking likely to be a late summer release.

- Action scenes are absolutely brutal, unbelievable vision from the Wachowski's in blocking the fights with the Hong Kong stunt team.

- Spoke about the benefits of tax breaks received from the German and British Governments in making the film.

- McTeigue confirmed that Plastic Man was the next project in the pipeline for the Wachowski's and he had been signed on to provide Second Unit support. Says the movie has been delayed indefinitely due to a major shake up of projects at WB.

- Bryan Singer has refused to undertake a re-boot of the Superman franchise and has left the Executives at WB with no choice but to take a fresh creative direction.

- He stated the Wachowski Brothers had been approached to re-boot the franchise as a trilogy and they are currently reviewing their options as its like being asked to take the final play in a superbowl final. Says if they do agree, he will likely either succumb to providing second unit support on the movie or will champion the directorship of Plastic Man - He started to giggle as he stated its like a young child for the Brothers and they wont give that up easily.

- Says, the very thought of the brothers making a superman movie is unbelievable as they have grown up in the world of comic books and they would be ideal for the project.

- Stated that Bryan Singer is looking to move on to Logan's Run a movie to be produced by Joel Silver.

Thinking about this I do feel that the Wachowski's could do a pretty cool Superman film. Neo was pretty much Kal-El by the end of the Matrix trilogy and even struck some Superman poses in his final battle with Agent Smith, as I mentioned when it appeared as one of The Best Fight Scenes Ever! (pity the Matrix Trilogy went steadily downhill as the series progressed in my humble opinion). However, they do get the whole comic book ethos and do always manage to push the special effects in all of their films. Fingers crossed that if they do take it on then they will make something truly special - it's got to be a damn site better than Superman Returns anyway (hope they get rid of the kid!)

If the Wachowski's do take on Superman what do you want to see in the trilogy? Should it go back to the very beginning? Should Brandon Routh still play Clark Kent or should someone else be brought on board to play him?

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Enter Sandman - Bryan Singer talks Logan's Run

Filmstalker have the news that Bryan Singer has just been speaking about his proposed Logan's Run remake in the L.A. Times Blog.

"At the moment, I haven't decided. I really don't know...I'm taking a
genuine break. The last four years have been really busy with the miniseries,
the TV and the movies. I'm taking a few months to collect myself and figure out
what I'm going to do in that regard. We did a lot of development on that movie
and a lot of work. To start it up again, I wouldn't start it up again without a
full commitment. So I have decisions to make. Right now, that's just hanging
around."

The original Logan's Run told the story of an enclosed colony of people whose society only allows them to live until thirty before they are exterminated in an elaborate ceremony called the Carousel. This process is to stop the drain on resources that older people cause in society. Some people chose to run before this can happen, and those that chase them and exterminate the are called Sandmen. One Sandman is given the secret task of finding where these runners are going to, and where the few who have escaped are hiding. So he goes on the run and his fellow Sandmen begin the hunt.

It starred Michael York, Peter Ustinov and Jenny Agutter back in her taking her clothes off in every film she starred in phase.

It was also made into a TV show that I though was good when I was a kid. However, when it was repeated recently I watched it and wished I had a time machine so I could go back in time and tell myselfI was an idiot for watching it. Stupid idiot child version of myself.

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Valkyrie - First 5 minutes

Here are the first 5 minutes of Valkyrie for your viewing pleasure.

n a country in the grips of evil, in a police state where every move is being watched, in a world where justice and honor have been subverted, a group of men hidden inside the highest reaches of power decide to take action. Tom Cruise stars in the suspense film, Valkyrie, based on the true story of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (CRUISE) and the daring and ingenious plot to eliminate one of the most evil tyrants the world has ever known. Director Bryan Singer (THE USUAL SUSPECTS, X-MEN, SUPERMAN RETURNS) re-teams with Academy Award®-winning USUAL SUSPECTS screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie to bring to life the story of the men who led the operation to assassinate Hitler. The film also stars an acclaimed cast including Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Carice van Houten, Thomas Kretschmann, Eddie Izzard, Christian Berkel and Terence Stamp.

A proud military man, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg is a loyal officer who serves his country all the while hoping that someone will find a way to stop Hitler before Europe and Germany are destroyed. Realizing that time is running out, he decides that he must take action himself and joins the German resistance. Armed with a cunning strategy to use Hitler’s own emergency plan – known as Operation Valkyrie – these men plot to assassinate the dictator and overthrow his Nazi government from the inside.

With everything in place, with the future of the world, the fate of millions and the lives of his wife and children hanging in the balance, von Stauffenberg is thrust from being one of many who oppose Hitler to the one who must kill Hitler himself.

Valkyrie is produced by Bryan Singer, Christopher McQuarrie and Gilbert Adler. McQuarrie co-wrote the original screenplay with Nathan Alexander who also serves as co-producer. The executive producers are Chris Lee, Ken Kamins, Daniel M. Snyder, Dwight C. Schar and Mark Shapiro. The film was shot in Germany at various locations where many of the actual events occurred, including the historic Bendlerblock. Recreating the atmosphere of urgency and paranoia inside the German resistance is a team that includes Singer’s frequent collaborators Newton Thomas Sigel (SUPERMAN RETURNS, X2, X-MEN) as director of photography and editor/composer John Ottman (SUPERMAN RETURNS, X2); as well as production designers Lilly Kilvert (two-time Oscar-nominee for THE LAST SAMURAI and LEGENDS OF THE FALL) and Patrick Lumb (THE OMEN) and costume designer Joanna Johnston (MUNICH, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN).

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Valkyrie, 2008 - Movie Review

Director: Bryan Singer
Starring: Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp, Eddie Izzard, Christian Berkel, David Bamber
Running Time: 120 minutes
Score: 7 / 10

This review by James Meeley.

One of the tricky things about doing films based on a true moment of history, is that, oftentimes, the actual events are not nearly as interesting as the film will portray it. This will lead to a "Hollywood-ification" of history, which can hurt the believability of the film. It is only made more difficult, when you use a moment that is also very well known, such as this plot by the Germany army to kill Hitler, and in which knowing the outcome can cost you much dramatic tension. Fortunately, director Bryan Singer doesn't take many liberties with the actual history of events and produces a film that, while not perfect, is very much entertaining and somewhat moving.

First off, the look of the film is flawless. The cinematography, with its wide-angle shots and sweeping overviews of the landscape and architecture, truly captured the times in which this event took place. It really felt like 1940's Germany, under the Nazi Reich. It is, quite easily, the strongest point of the film.

The performances range a bit from adequate to very good. Tom Cruise's take on Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg is more the former. It isn't bad and he certainly plays up how Stauffenberg put his love of his country above everything else, but I never really got a very good impression of why he felt this way. There was no sense of depth to the character, which one would think would be key to such an important figure of this historical moment. The fact we saw little of Stauffenberg's interaction with his family also played a part in lessening the impact of his great gamble.

Fortunately, some of the others who support Cruise help to raise the film (and his performance) from being totally lackluster. Tom Wilkinson as General Friedrich Fromm, was certainly one of the standout performances. He played the character with a true sense of duplicity and cunning guile. The way he straddles the fence on the plot to killer Hitler, is very much in keeping with how many of the high ranking Nazis seemed to navigate the political schemes within the Third Reich. Also of note, is Christian Berkel as Colonel Mertz von Quirnheim and Terence Stamp as Ludwig Beck. Both of whom turn in excellent supporting roles and have key moments of tension within the story. And while David Bamber has very few scenes in the film, he is very effective in conveying the side of Adolf Hitler that was never shown very much to the cameras of the times.

In the end, "Valkyrie" is good, but falls a bit short of the truly epic scope it wants to have. This film will become a standard for high school history teachers, when they study WWII in class, as well as being a solid entry into the war movie genre. However, there are too many little things, like almost no one speaking actual German (or even using an accent like one), or the mediocre score that lacks any memorable feeling of emotion, which keep the film out of the realm of a truly great cinema experience. Still, it is a good film, which is fairly historically accurate with the events it depicts, has some wonderful cinematography, and has an excellent cast with some standout supporting performances.

It is no "Schindler's List" or "Saving Private Ryan," but it is an entertaining look at some of the events of WWII from within the Nazi Reich, from the view of those who were involved with the atrocities that were being committed in the name of Germany. While certainly not an uplifting film (especially if you know the outcome of the plot), it is still one that is worth seeing.

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Valkyrie - Trailer for Tom Cruise's new movie

In a country in the grips of evil, in a police state where every move is being watched, in a world where justice and honor have been subverted, a group of men hidden inside the highest reaches of power decide to take action. Tom Cruise stars in the suspense film, VALKYRIE, based on the true story of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) and the daring and ingenious plot to eliminate one of the most evil tyrants the world has ever known. Director Bryan Singer (THE USUAL SUSPECTS, X-MEN, SUPERMAN RETURNS) re-teams with Academy Award®-winning USUAL SUSPECTS screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie to bring to life the story of the men who led the operation to assassinate Hitler. The film also stars an acclaimed cast including Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Carice van Houten, Thomas Kretschmann, Eddie Izzard, Christian Berkel and Terence Stamp.

A proud military man, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg is a loyal officer who serves his country all the while hoping that someone will find a way to stop Hitler before Europe and Germany are destroyed. Realizing that time is running out, he decides that he must take action himself and joins the German resistance. Armed with a cunning strategy to use Hitler’s own emergency plan – known as Operation Valkyrie – these men plot to assassinate the dictator and overthrow his Nazi government from the inside.

With everything in place, with the future of the world, the fate of millions and the lives of his wife and children hanging in the balance, von Stauffenberg is thrust from being one of many who oppose Hitler to the one who must kill Hitler himself.

The trailer is below. What do you think? Will Tom Cruise match is Hip Hop dancing producer in Tropic Thunder?

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The Random

Variety posted another update on the status of the next Superman film. Basically, no one knows. Bryan Singer may or may not be doing it. I feel sorry for Brandon Routh.

Not sounding good for the Watchmen movie. Deadline Hollywood say, ""A federal judge has denied a Warner Bros motion to dismiss 20th Century Fox's legal battle over the rights to develop, produce and distribute a film based on the graphic novel Watchmen."

Paul W. S. Anderson is off the Spy Hunter movie. Therefore, it may now be good.

Remember the name, Fame, is being remade and set in the modern day with all new songs. Matt if you are reading this in a weeks time I'm sure you can't wait for it!

Check out the guts of Lightning McQueen from Cars.

Jimmy Fallon has been cast in Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut Whip It! Nothing to do with Devo though.

The Batmobile from Batman Returns is up for sale.

On November 25th 2008, Criterion will finally be releasing a Director-Approved Double-Disc Special Edition of Wes Anderson’s first feature film Bottle Rocket.

20th Century Fox has put the big screen adaptation of Voltron in turnaround, and the project is now being set-up at Relativity Media. He-Man scribe Justin Marks penned the screenplay which is being described as “a post-apocalyptic tale set in New York City and Mexico” which follows “five ragtag survivors of an alien attack band together and end up piloting the five lion-shaped robots that combine and form the massive sword-wielding Voltron that helps battle Earth’s invaders.”

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Superman: Man of Steel - Comic Con Trailer

Thanks to Jinja for this one. Apparantly, this was shown at Comic Con and deals with the trailer for the sequel to Bryan Singer's Superman Returns. Not heard anything else about this. It looks as if it was filmed from a big screen but it has bits of Watchmen and The Day the Earth Stood Still Trailers mixed in so could well be someone showing off their editing skills. What do you think?

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The Random

Kevin Smith will be scribing a Batman mini-series featuring his character Onomatopoeia that he created for Green Arrow.

Could there be a Scream 4? Apparantly so according to MTV's interview with Wes Craven.

According to Hello magazine Johnny Depp and Terry Gilliam are getting back together to make The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.

Tyrese Gibson says he’s in talks to star in the Thundercats movie. So say Coming Soon.

An I Am Legend Prequel may go ahead according to Francis Lawrence

Radical Publishing has linked up with Bryan Singer, who will produce Freedom Formula, not read it but apparantly it is all about exo-suits. Singer is also producing the Image Comics adaptation, Capeshooters, about two superhero paparazzos who discover that an iconic do-gooder is actually a supervillian.

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Millar taking over Superman Movie?

Currently riding high on the success of the movie Wanted adapted from his comic, Mark Millar has now turned his sights to the Man of Steel.

According to the Daily Record the Scottish writer has said he's got a director and producer set up for a 2011 production.

On his message board Millar says he was approached by an American Actor Director, who has some pull with Warner Brothers, who asked him to team up make a pitch for it. They'll apparantly find out by the end of the year.

If this is true then I'm not sure where that leaves Bryan Singer who was down to do the sequel to his pretty poor Superman Returns.

As usual I shall keep you posted.