Warner Bros. has tapped its top Thundercat.Vidgame vet Jerry O’Flaherty will helm the studio’s CG-animated “Thundercats” feature, based on the popular ’80s cartoon series, comicbook and toy line.
The project marks the first feature directing gig for O’Flaherty, who served as an art director on such bestselling games as “Gears of War” and “Unreal Tournament 3″ for Epic Games and the “Command and Conquer” series from Westwood Studios.
O’Flaherty had been looking to make the leap into movies and was considering several projects, even live action.
But the “Thundercats” story appealed to him, as well as the fact that vidgames are increasingly incorporating lavish animated sequences that mimic pics, making a toon a much easier transition.
“It feels like a natural thing for me to step into,” he said. “Games have come so far now. The last four years of my life have been about bringing the energy of filmmaking into the videogame experience.” (more…)
“Even though VAN HELSING writer-director-apocalypse Stephen Sommers just recently enlisted to take command of G.I. JOE (which, in case you forgot, is now an acronym for Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, an international co-ed force of operatives who use hi-tech equipment to battle Cobra), a script has apparently been surrendered to the Powers That Be.Prolific scribe Stuart Beattie has finished playing with the kung-fu-gripped toy line and handed in a draft, and IESB says that the story has the Joe team located in the United States instead of the previously announced neutral territory of Brussels (because, of course, USA is Number 1 greatest country in the universe! USA! USA!). The heroic organization will be clashing mainly with Destro, the Baroness and the forces of Cobra, plus the Dreadnoks and Zartan.
Cobra Commander will now reportedly be more a mysterious “Man with the Plan” kind of scheming villain, pulling the strings from the shadows. No signs of Serpentor. The story also apparently explores the history and animosity between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. Hooray for ninjas!…” (more…)
First Transformers, then Voltron, then Robotech, now this…
(Reuters) - Paddington Bear, a teddy in a duffle coat who loves marmalade sandwiches and has impeccable manners, is the latest character from a children’s book to head for Hollywood aiming at movie stardom.
Warner Bros. Pictures on Friday said it was bringing Paddington Bear, the creation of British author Michael Bond, to the big screen in a live-action family comedy.
David Heyman, producer of the “Harry Potter” movies, will produce the film while writer Hamish McColl, who penned “Mr. Bean’s Holiday,” will adapt the 11 “Paddington Bear” books published between 1958 and 1979 for the big screen.
“‘Paddington Bear’ is a universally loved character and I have wanted to bring him to the screen for some years,” Heyman said in a statement. (more…)