Movie News: Drew Barrymore and Flying Monkeys

Dawn Treader poster



Saw this poster at the movie theater last week. It's been so long since we've had any updates that I'd almost forgotten about the movie. Which is a shame because it's my favorite Narnia book and so by all rights should be the best film in the series. These things take so long to crank out though that I'm skeptical about the chances of the series' continuing far past this one. Hopefully it'll do really well as the holiday release that Prince Caspian should have been and the next ones will get fast-tracked. [/Film]

Another 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea



Because it's not tough enough keeping track of two Three Musketeers films, now there are two 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea movies in development as well. Disney's (captained by David Fincher) and now one by Ridley and Tony Scott; written by one of the guys who wrote the Clash of the Titans remake. The Scotts' version will be set in the future to connect it more closely with Jules Vernes' scifi intentions than with his actual nineteenth-century setting. I can't say that I'm excited about that. [The Hollywood Reporter]

After the break: a sea monster, Alpha Flight, Empires of the Deep, the Robin Hood post mortem, Three Musketeers, Hitman 2, Salt, and after Oz.

Movie News: The Happiest Hive of Scum and Villainy on Earth

Well, the Twitter experiment is a bust. Partially because I got tired of struggling with Tinying links, but mostly because it just wasn't as much fun. Time consuming as they are, I actually like creating these posts. Thanks for your patience while I figured that out.

Some of the stuff below was on Twitter last week, but not all of it.

Empires of the Deep



Empires of the Deep is the undersea adventure being produced by both US and Chinese filmmakers. I've talked about it before because I love the concept, but I've also been skeptical that it'll be any better than Dragon Wars. There's some encouraging news though in that Olga Kurylenko (Hitman, Quantum of Solace) will be in it. Dragon Wars also had some folks I liked in it, so this is no guarantee of quality, but Kurylenko is much better looking than Jason Behr and Craig Robinson. If nothing else, the movie will still be breathtakingly gorgeous. [/Film]

How to Train Your Dragon 2



Repeating myself from Twitter: I'm tempted to take a cynical view of Dreamwork's greenlighting a How to Train Your Dragon sequel, but a) this should come as absolutely no surprise, and b) I loved the first one so much that I'd like more. I just hope it's more along the lines of Shrek 2 (which I liked better than the first one) than Madagascar 2. [/Film]

Robin Hood Stills



/Film has tons of them.

A teenaged assassin, Thor, and Star Wars Land after the break.

Movie News: Empires of the Deep; Your Highness

Empires of the Deep Update



Robert Hood has a large update on the Chinese undersea fantasy film Empires of the Deep, including the new director, plot synopsis (a young man and a mermaid quest for a hidden temple), and cast (including Monica Bellucci from the Matrix movies and The Brothers Grimm).

As cool as the concept art is (and Hood's got tons of it), the amount of hype in the press releases is making me skeptical. They don't even have a movie yet and they're already planning a theme park? I'm guessing that means that the producers have said to themselves, "Wouldn't it be cool if there could be a theme park?"

I'm also guessing that the quality of the finished movie will be something along the lines of Dragon Wars, but I would love to be proved wrong.

Your Highness



What's with all the medieval movies lately? Not that I'm complaining, but we've got How to Train Your Dragon, Robin Hood, and now Your Highness. That last one is a comedy starring Danny McBride as a slacker-knight who teams up with his dashing older brother (James Franco) to rescue a damsel in distress (Zooey Deschanel). Natalie Portman is also in it as a butt-kicking heroine who joins the quest for mysterious reasons.

It would've gone in my Netflix queue just for James Franco, but Natalie Portman gets me to the theater.