This week:
Neil Burger’s Divergent begins production in April; Rome, Sweet Rome gets a new writer; Picturehouse returns with Metallica Through the Never; Fox is offering a Die Hard marathon; Dominic Cooper will play Ian Fleming in a new biopic; and Liam Neeson is considering re-teaming with director Jaume Collet-Serra for Run All Night.
Neil Burger’s adaptation of the YA novel Divergent is set to begin production in April and will film primarily in Chicago.
The film is based on Veronica Roth’s novel, which imagines a future where Chicago is split into five factions, each based around a particular virtue – those being Candor (honesty), Abnegation (selflessness), Dauntless (bravery), Amity (peace), and Erudite (intelligence). At the center of Divergent‘s story is Beatrice Prior (The Descendants‘ Shailene Woodley), a 16-year-old girl who must choose a faction for herself, and undergo a strenuous intitiation process.
Thought to be the next Hunger Games, Divergent is the first book in a planned trilogy, and its adaptation could pave the way for a new franchise for Summit Entertainment.
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In a storyline that could only happen in Hollywood, one Redditor (and Iowa-based author) is having his alternate history idea/short story turned into a major motion picture.
Titled Rome, Sweet Rome the story was conceived in response to a Reddit post that asked “”Could I destroy the entire Roman Empire during the reign of Augustus if I traveled back in time with a modern U.S. Marine infantry battalion or MEU?” The Redditor in question, James Erwin, not only responded to the question, but also fleshed out an entire sci-fi storyline that gained prominence amongst the Reddit community about a year go.
Last we heard, Warner Bros. was working off a script from Erwin, but they have now brought on Apollo 18 writer Brian Miller to either tweak or completely rewrite the screenplay. If nothing else, though, Erwin should come away with a story credit if Rome, Sweet Rome ever makes it to the big screen.
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The revitalized Picturehouse banner has announced their first feature film release will be Metallica Through the Never.
Starring Dane DeHaan (Chronicle) and the iconic musical group, Metallica Through the Never follows one stagehand’s quest to complete an urgent mission while Metallica plays a sold out event. Though the film has some narrative elements to it – with DeHaan playing the stagehand – Metallica Through the Never is also a 3D concert film.
Concert films that feature a documentary element are quite common, but one that also has a fictional storyline running concurrent to the music is pretty unique. If nothing else, Picturehouse is showing their willingness to seek out unique product.
Metallica Through the Never was directed by Nimród Antal (Predators) and hits theaters on April 9th, 2013.
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20th Century Fox is looking to get in on the film franchise marathon trend by offering fans an opportunity to see all four previously released films in the Die Hard franchise along with a screening of A Good Day to Die Hard.
The marathon will take place (in participating theaters) on Wednesday, February 13th and will run most of the day, leading into Die Hard 5 at 10pm. That means you’ll get to see Die Hard, Die Hard 2, Die Hard With a Vengeance, Live Free or Die Hard, and A Good Day to Die Hard back-to-back, all day.
If Fox was smart they would offer the unrated version of Live Free or Die Hard so that, at the very least, fans can enjoy their “Yipee Ki Yays” the whole way through. We say that because now that A Good Day to Die Hard has been rated R, that makes Live Free the only PG-13 entry in the franchise.
A Good Day to Die Hard releases Thursday February 14th, 2013.
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Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The First Avenger) has been pegged to play James Bond creator Ian Fleming in a four-part series for Sky Atlantic.
Focused primarily on Fleming’s time as part of British Naval Intelligence, the biopic is said to be titled simply Fleming. Rather than show Fleming’s inception of Bond, the biopic will reportedly showcase how the author’s real life experiences inspired Agent 007.
Alongside Cooper will be Annabelle Wallis as Muriel Wright, a woman who had a love affair with Fleming and is believed to have inspired the Bond Girl. Wallis’ previous TV credits include The Tudors and Pan Am.
Thanks to the massive box office success of Skyfall, James Bond has seen a resurgence in popular culture, so why shouldn’t his creator get a chance in the limelight?
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Jaume Collet-Sera (Unknown, Non-Stop) and Liam Neeson are looking to reunite for their third feature together, Run All Night, about a mob hitman who takes on his boss.
Along with the prototypical main storyline, Run All Night will also feature Neeson doing what he does best: protecting his family and working closely with an estranged child – in this case his son. Deadline reports that Neeson is only “in talks” to star in the film, but if the forthcoming Non-Stop does well at the box office, we wouldn’t be surprised if Warner Bros. convinced Neeson to sign on.
