PARADISE LOST CONCEPT ARTWORK REVEALED

Good news ladies, Bradley Cooper’s becoming the number one bad boy…

Director Alex Proyas (The Crow, Knowing) talked recently at the Legendary Pictures pre-production panel at Comic Con about his upcoming big screen adaptation of John Milton’s epic morality tale, Paradise Lost.

Originally published in 1667, the poem concerns the story of the fall of man. Legendary have released this brief synopsis of the plot:

‘Lucifer and Michael, God's greatest archangels, share the bond of extraordinary friendship until God produces his greatest creation: Man. Unable to remain subservient to God if it means bowing down to humanity, Lucifer begins his dark descent and is cast out — only to plot his revenge.’

A release date has yet to be announced, however the film is causing quite a stir already with the first teaser images released of The Hangover and Limitless star Bradley Cooper as fallen angel, Satan.

At present the only actor attributed to the project, Cooper had been in talks with Proyas for the role for years. He told Entertainment Weekly: “ I’d been vying for that role for three years.” He reveals an anecdote about meeting Ralph Fiennes, who has just finished his eight year stint as dark wizard Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter. Fiennes told him if he really wants to play the role, then he’s got to go for it.

The role is not without its challenges. Cooper told Den of Geek ‘it’s going to be motion capture, and I’ve never done anything like that.’ Following the footsteps of the likes of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Cooper will play the whole piece using performance capture. Of this technology, he remarked: “[it] is evolving exponentially, so where they were when they did Avatar as opposed to where they are now is almost different worlds.”

Proyas revealed more about the film’s focus, claiming: “we’re going to make an incredible epic film about the devil’s fall from grace and the archangel Michael. Adam and Eve play heavily in it as well.” He continued, alluding to the ambitious production process involved: “This film couldn’t have been made a few years ago. In fact, we’re not even sure we can make it now. But we’re gonna try.”

Set to start filming in October in Sydney, Australia, the film is rumoured to be aiming for a 2013 release. With much excitement now surrounding the project, it is speculated that the film will attract another big name to star opposite Bradley in the role of Michael.

PRODUCTION COMPANY MR MUDD GIVES TEEN NOVEL THE STAR TREATMENT

FILM ADAPTATION OF ‘THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER CURRENTLY IN PRODUCTION’

Based on the 1999 book of the same name, The Perks of Being A Wallflower is a story of teenage discovery. Novelist Stephen Chbosky will write the screenplay for the film adaptation of his book and also direct the feature himself. With a little help from production company Mr Mudd and Producers including John Malkovich, the film is set for release in the U.S in 2012. It is not yet clear when it will hit cinemas in the UK. The epistolary novel is narrated by a Pittsburgh born teenager who goes by the name ‘Charlie’. This is only an alias, nearly all of the main characters are not given real names. ‘Charlie’ tells us his life story and the events that unfold around him through the medium of letters that he writes to an anonymous person he has never met.

The introverted and unpopular ‘wallflower’, will be played by Logan Lerman. (Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief) The story has come under some scrutiny in the past due to its controversial subject matter. Covering topics such as sexuality, abuse, drugs, abortion and mental illness, it is perhaps not the most child friendly tale.

The protagonist is a High School freshman who is dealing with the recent death of is best friend. The plotline follows him through the ups and downs of his adolescent life, covering everything from making friends to having his first love.

‘Charlie’ meets step-siblings ‘Sam’ and ‘Patrick’ who take him under their wing and introduce him to a life of crazy parties and extroverted expressionism and he begins to get his life back on track.

Sam will be played by Harry Potter star Emma Watson, whilst the supporting cast includes some impressive talent including Paul Rudd (Role Models), teen idol Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries), Mae Whitman and Johnny Simmons (both of whom starred in Scott Pilgrim vs The World). This cast line up should certainly attract a young adult audience. It may not be a coincidence, then, that the production and distribution company behind ‘The Twilight Saga’; Summit Entertainment is said to be lending a hand to this movie remake also.

Candid pictures from the set have recently been tweeted by Lerman:

BURTON’S LONG ANTICIPATED ‘DARK SHADOWS’ SET FOR 2012 RELEASE

Based on the popular Gothic Horror television series, Tim Burton will direct a big screen adaptation of the black comedy Dark Shadows. With writing expertise from Dan Curtis, who contributed to the original series, this movie remake is looking promising. Not least owing to a rather impressive cast, including (of course) Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, with Michelle Pfeifer and Eva Green alongside fresh-faced talent the likes of Chloe Moretz (Kick Ass, Let Me In) and Australian soap star Bella Heathcote.

For those unfamiliar with the plot, Warner Brothers Pictures recently released a short synopsis that doesn’t skimp on intrigue.

‘In the year 1752 Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas (Depp) set sail from Liverpool…to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass…Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Brouchard… Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire and then burying him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb…’

With Burton in the director’s chair it is highly unlikely that this will follow in the footsteps of recent teenage-angst driven vampire romances. Instead, the film will have a dark humour to it that will be reminiscent of the original television show. Burton told Collider: “It’s a funny tone, and that’s part of what the vibe of the show is, there’s something about it that we want to get”

Humour it appears will be teamed with a ghostly atmosphere that only the director of titles such as Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice could execute with resonance. He claims: “it’s a real ethereal tone we’re trying to go for”.

Set to hit the cinemas around May, Burton revealed that contrary to rumour, he has absolutely no plans to release the film in 3D: “I think people should have a choice. I don’t think it should be forced on anybody.”

Dark Shadows will be filmed in England and will feature a haunting score by composer Danny Elfman whose credits include Tales from the Crypt and Corpse Bride.

HARRY POTTER AND THE VENGEFUL GHOST

THE ONE POTTER FILM YOUR MUM WON’T LET YOU WATCH

From director James Watkins, the mastermind behind spine-tinglingly chilling releases such as The Descent and Eden Lake, comes the second big screen re-visioning of Susan Hill’s harrowing ghost story; The Woman in Black. Set for UK release on 10^th February 2012, courtesy of Momentum pictures and horror powerhouse; Hammer films, The Woman in Black is being branded as ‘the most chilling ghost story of our time’, according to it’s recently released teaser trailer.

The film will tell the tale of 25-year-old father and lawyer, ‘Arthur Kipps’ as he travels to a remote village to organize a recently deceased client’s papers. He soon discovers the angry ghost of a scorned woman set on vengeance.

This haunting account has an impressive arsenal of producers, who have notched up some pretty spooky numbers in the past. With contributing talent behind titles such as Let me In, The Grudge, Black Swan and The Ring, it seems their ambitious tagline might well turn out to be true.

Jane Goldman of Kick Ass and X-Men: First Class fame will write the screenplay.

Taking the lead role is a somewhat surprising Daniel Radcliffe. The 22-year-old star is making his first foray into the genre in a very demanding part that couldn’t be further from his immortalizing stint in children’s fantasy series, Harry Potter.  Radcliffe is reprising the role from Adrian Rawlins who starred in the 1989 version. Coincidentally, Rawlins now plays Harry’s father in the Potter films.

Radcliffe told MTV News: “It’s the kind of film I probably wouldn’t see if I wasn’t in it…it’s going to be terrifying…at the test screening they had, apparently people were leaping out of their seats.” He continues: “I know a lot of people that have said they aren’t going to be able to see it and I’m going to have to force them to, because…it’s just going to be a really, really good movie”

The supporting cast includes Ciarán Hinds (Road to Perdition) as townsman Mr Daily and Janet McTeer as Daily’s wife. With such a small cast, there is much pressure placed on performance. It seems much of the film will echo the feel of the play, which is riddled with suspense and anticipation, using classic horror technique to scare the audience repeatedly with various ‘jumpy’ moments.

Radcliffe notes: “There is apparently a portion for like 15 minutes in the film with no dialogue. It’s just me walking around the house, but it’s apparently some of the most compelling footage.”

The Woman in Black is set to be a massive success, but take caution; it is certainly not for the faint of heart!

FIRST LOOK: 'MAN OF STEEL'

HENRY CAVILL HAS SOME BIG RED BOOTS TO FILL

Zach Snyder (300, Watchmen) and Christopher Nolan (Batman: The Dark Knight, Inception) are collaborating on Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures most recent installment of DC comic’s epic Superman saga.

Well, almost.

The film’s crew was recently shaken by Nolan’s decision to work on the initial script with screenwriter David Goyer and then hand all creative control to Snyder, to enable him to focus on his own upcoming comic book blockbuster The Dark Knight Rises.

Man of Steel will star British born Henry Cavill as the lead, (Cavill was a front-runner for recent remake flop Superman returns, for which newcomer Brandon Routhe was cast) while Amy Adams will take the role of firey reporter and romantic interest ‘Lois Lane’. Adams knocked some pretty heavy-weight actresses off the top spot for this one, she was cast over Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway, Kristen Stewart, Rachel McAdams, Olivia Wilde, Mila Kunis and Jessica Biel, to name a few.

Russell Crowe has been officially named as the protagonist’s birth father and Kryptonian ‘Jor-El’ and Kevin Costner and Diane Lane will resurrect the characters ‘Jonathan’ and ‘Martha Kent’, Clarks adoptive (and human) parents. Connie Nielson is currently rumoured to play ‘Lara’.

Surprisingly, long-time arch nemesis ‘Lex Luthor’ will not feature as main villain of the piece, instead Michael Shannon will make a star turn as heel ‘General Zod’.

Prestigious directors that didn’t make the cut included Black Swan’s Darren Aronofksy, Let Me In’s Matt Reeves and Source Code’s Duncan Jones. Ben Affleck reportedly turned down the job due to inexperience with VFX.

Warner Bros has announced the film will be a “clean reboot’ of the famous franchise. Hoping to start fresh and put a new spin on an old story.

In the last week, Bleeding Cool via the website Collider leaked a plot synopsis for the film which was met by outrage from the industry. The summary details the thread of a young reporter who roams the world covering news stories. He is compelled to use his secret powers to prevent a crisis in West Africa, causing him to return to his hometown and learn more about his origins, in order to ‘be the hero he was born to be’. For fans of the series, this won’t seem to stretch too far from what they were expecting. In fact, it should strike a chord with comic book readers who will no doubt see the similarity to a Mark Waid comic ‘Birthright’ which follows Kal-El from infancy to manhood, sees him witness a conflict in Western Africa between two fictional ethnic clans and which also sees him head back to Smallville to go on a voyage of personal discovery. With a rumoured budget of a modest 175 million dollars and a pressure to bring us something new, Man of Steel will have to really work to pull something out of the bag.

AVATAR SEQUEL GOES GREEN

James Cameron has confirmed that he will be dusting off his directors chair and he starts work on the screenplays for two more currently unnamed Avatar movies, which will be released in quick succession in 2014 and 2015. It has been suggested that the sequels will take place several years after the events of the 2009 smash hit.

The second and third films will serve to compliment their predecessor and fulfill an overall story arc that will become the director’s first film trilogy.

Actors Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana have confirmed they will be reprising their starring roles as Jake and Neytiri respectively. Worthington told Total Film “I think I’ll be 94 by the time it finishes, to be honest. I know Jim’s got some ideas in his big head.” Further casting is at this stage only rumoured, yet it looks like most surviving characters from the first film will be seen again, in some respect at least.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly at the Producers Guild awards in LA, Cameron revealed that some of the proceeds from these two films will be donated to environmental causes. He told one reporter: “I didn’t want to make more Avatar movies without a greater plan in place”. Fox has partnered with Cameron on this green mission to give back to charitable organisations and causes that are “the heart of the Avatar world”, focusing on the moral messages within the film series. With the first film grossing over two billion dollars at the worldwide box office, the decision to give back will surely stand in good stead with the public.

It is rumoured that Cameron plans to shoot a large part of ‘Avatar 2’ seven miles underwater in one of the deepest locations on earth: the Challenger Deep. He told the LA Times: “Part of my focus in the second film is in creating a different environment…and I’m going to be focusing on the ocean.”

The world-renowned director suggests his reasons for reviving the story may be down to practicality: “It just makes sense to think of it as a two or three film arc, in terms of the business plan.” He continues; “The CG plants and trees and creatures and the musculo-skeletal rigging of the main characters- that all takes an enormous amount of time to create. It’d be a waste not to use it again.”

However, fans can be assured that the new films will not just be a regurgitation of the original story, more a continuation of its filmic achievements. It appears the second film will explore the Na’vi culture in more detail in a slightly different setting. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Cameron promised an expansion on the dynamic visual innovation of the former: “ We will not back off the throttle of Avatar’s visual and emotional horsepower, and will continue to explore it’s themes and characters which touched the hearts of audiences in all cultures around the world.” Scheduled to shoot at the one of the most hi-tech production studios in America; the Mbs Media campus in Manhattan Beach, which is pegged as the most technologically advanced outside of Hollywood, it seems admirers of the first film’s visual effects and aesthetic beauty will certainly not be disappointed.

On the re-vivification of this exceptional world, Cameron express his excitement at the birth of a global franchise, telling THR: I’m looking forward to returning to Pandora; a world where our imaginations can run wild.”

'PAY NO ATTENTION TO THAT MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN'

WALT DISNEY PICTURES PRESENTS OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL’

Penned as a prequel to Frank L. Baum’s infamous 1900 work ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’, the latest silver screen adaptation; Oz: The Great and Powerful is the story we all know and love, with a twist. It is to be told from the wizard’s point of view. Chronicling a young man’s humble beginnings as a circus wrangler in Omaha, the film will see him arrive in a magical land by accident, (involving a wayward hot air balloon) where he is mistaken for a wise wizard.

Directed by Sam Raimi (Spiderman), this re-working of a fantasy classic is scheduled to begin shooting this July in Michigan and will air in the UK on 8^th March 2013. Producer Joe Roth has announced the film’s theatrical debut will be in eye-popping 3D, hoping to replicate the success of his last collaboration with Disney; Alice in Wonderland which was a worldwide success.

Hoping to set the film apart from previous revisions, is it’s star studded line up. The role of the protagonist will go to James Franco, who has been cast opposite some formidable leading ladies. Mila Kunis is to play ‘Theodora’, The Wicked Witch of the West, Rachel Weisz has been recently cast as her sister and therefore Wicked Witch of the East; ‘Evanora’. Michelle Williams will play Glinda the good witch, who acts as Franco’s love interest and Zach Braff makes an appearance as Oz’s assistant, ‘Frank’. It will be interesting to see how they will successfully transform beauties Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz into believable evil witches when one remembers the green faced, wart-nosed versions of the 1939 classic.

Early talks were had with Christoph Waltz, Robert Downey Jr and Johnny Depp for parts in this ensemble cast, yet, toyboy Franco pipped them to the post.

Oz is also set to be an aesthetic treat with a magical dream team crew with an endless list of fantasy film accolades at the helm. Production Designer Robert Stromberg (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Golden Compass and Pirates of the Caribbean) and co. Producer K. C Hodenfield (Transformers, The Chronicles of Narnia, Cowboys and Aliens) will contribute. Watch this space fantasy fans!