Laika may pick up Henry Selick's abandoned Disney project

One of the big news items from Disney's quarterly report this September was a $50 million writedown on an unnamed movie, which was shut down mid-production. It was quickly revealed that the movie was the stop-motion animation feature from director Henry Selick, who was poached away from Laika, where he directed Coraline.

Now there are signs that Laika might pick up Selick's unfinished project, which was reportedly too
dark for Disney. Since Laika's film credits also include Corpse Bride and ParaNorman, it's safe to say "dark" won't be a problem for the production company. Of course, dark wasn't always a problem for Disney, since Selick's 1990s movies The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach were made under the mouse house. Since Disney recently underwent a change in leadership, with Alan Horn stepping into the role of chairman, it's possible that the writedown was related to new executives who didn't believe in the project.

$50 million does seem like a steep investment for Disney, especially if the project was unfinished. Dark, animated movies appeal to a niche audience. Coraline, a success, earned $75 million at the box office, with a reported budget of $60 million. Compare that to Brave's $233 million (and $185 million budget), just another one of Pixar's all-ages successes. Maybe Disney, so used to its big animated projects, couldn't adapt to making a smaller, cheaper project. Word is that Selick was also behind schedule, and would have been unable to make the planned October 2013 release date.

Selick's work may not be for everyone, but Coraline is up there in my favorite animated films list. Let's hope Laika takes Selick back into their fold and embraces the creepy, dark animated tale.

 

Rooney Mara cast in Steven Soderbergh's 'Side Effects'

Didn't director Steven Soderbergh say he was retiring? In March he announced he was done with it all, but then in September he backtracked and said something about a sabbatical. I'm not exactly sure when that would take place. Soderbergh's one of the most prolific directors in Hollywood. Contagion came out in September, and Haywire in January--both to critical success. He has yet another film completed, Magic Mike, and now he's cast Rooney Mara in his next project, Side Effects.

Mara will play the wife of a man who is about to be released from prison. She's taking large amounts of depression and anxiety pills to cope with her feelings surrounding his release. There's also going to be a bit of a love triangle between Mara's character, her husband, and her doctor. Mara actually replaces Blake Lively, who IMDB suggests was a second choice to begin with. I'm curious how this role will tweak Mara's star image. After playing a regular college girl in The Social Network, Mara's looks went to extremes for her role as the Swedish punk hacker in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The look has been maintained for her publicity tours. She's currently on the cover of Vanity Fair's Young Hollywood with a vampy look--a severe bob, dark lipstick, and piercing expression. I'm not sure what look she'll go for with Side Effects, but it probably will be more natural. That's a good thing. I won't miss seeing her without those weird blunt-cut, jet-black bangs.

Channing Tatum, Jude Law, and Catherine Zeta-Jones round out the cast. That means that Tatum must be the prisoner, and Law the doctor. I really can't imagine it any other way. Soderbergh's frequent collaborator, Scott Z. Burns, wrote the screenplay and will produce. Knowing Soderbergh's lightning-fast schedule, the drama will shoot this year and release the next. Maybe all that talk of retiring fired Soderbergh up, because after the uneven The Informant! he's had a couple of winners, Contagion and Haywire, at least in my book.

As for Mara, IMDB's currently ranking her #1 on its StarMeter. She's just been nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. She may be one of my favorite up-and-comers. Her lead in Side Effeccts will certainly be the first of many roles she'll be cast in as she cashes in on her success.

Doug Liman's 'Moon': 'Ocean's Eleven' in outer space?

By Sarah Sluis

Doug Liman's latest project, Moon, may be set out of this world, but its plot reminds me of those jetsetting heist/spy movies. After all, it would just be plain old boring if Jason Bourne or James Bond or the Ocean's Eleven crew did all their fighting stateside. The script for Moon centers on a group of ex-space agency employees, led by a woman (Another switch-up from routine, but maybe it's easier to go the Sigourney Weaver route in space). Their "mission" involves stealing space equipment and eventually capturing a NASA employee in their quest to go to the Moon, where they can mine the celestial body's energy source.

Liman's most famous for directing the first Bourne movie, which had the action sequences, intrigue, and travelogue feel of the Bond movies with a little less swagger. He also directed the stylish Mr. & Mrs. Smith, but misfired in his first foray into the sci-fi genre, Jumper. That film, which centers on a young man with the ability to teleport across time and place, garnered a mixed review from our critic Frank Lovece, who praised aspects of Liman's work. With these kinds of credentials, Liman seems exceptionally qualified to direct. He also has a historical drama in the works, Attica, but perhaps he's shelved it after the tepid box-office reception to Fair Game, another based-on-a-true-story script.

Moon (which will likely be renamed to avoid confusion with the 2009 movie with the same title) managed to keep the same star, Jake Gyllenhaal, even as it cycled from DreamWorks to Paramount. But no more. Up for the male roles are Andrew Garfield, Emile Hirsch, and Chris Pine. The list of possible leading ladies is more extensive. THR reports that Rosario Dawson, Megan Fox, Rachel McAdams, Eva Mendes, Zoe Saldana and Olivia Wilde are being considered for the part.

If Liman can assemble a cast with the proper chemistry, Paramount will greenlight the project for a shoot later this summer. I love space movies, but the genre has been in need of some punching up. Moon seems to be it. With NASA funding being cut and cut, the future of space travel is commercial. What better way to comment on that than by creating a film about anti-heroes pilfering space equipment so they can steal the Moon's energy source? Sign me up.

'Black Swan' director moves to 'Wolverine 2'

By Sarah Sluis

Director Darren Aronofsky has a thing for characters who physically self-destruct. The drug addicts in Requiem for a Dream, the aging competitive fighter in The Wrestler, the self-mutilating perfectionist ballerina in Black Swan. So where does a comic book action hero fit in that picture?

The director is in negotiations to helm his first big franchise film, the sequel to Wolverine. This is a property that's been around the block a few times, and word is Aronofsky actually was more interested in Spider-Man until Zack Snyder was selected for the re-boot. Sure, Wolverine was a blockbuster that earned over $300 million worldwide, enough to greenlight a sequel, but its buzz was nowhere near that of a Spider-Man or Dark Knight. Will Aronofsky be able to turn the franchise around, or will this just be a paycheck project before he jumps back into the indie world again?

Thinking more about Wolverine as a hero, however, Aronofsky could bring a dark sensibility to the franchise. As a refresher, the Wolverine character is a human who is given a metallic skeleton and Edward Scissorhands-like talons. Is that so different than the ballerina in Black Swan sprouting black feathers, or Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler prepping his body to bleed so his performance onstage becomes more captivating? On the other hand, Wolverine is blessed with a "healing factor" that protects him from germs and quick-cures his wounds--not the kind of extended suffering that Aronofsky is into.

The Vulture blog that reported the story also points out that Aronofsky may direct a Los Angeles-set 1940s organized crime film, Tales from the Gangster Squad. Ben Affleck has been named a frontrunner for that film as well. The movie centers on a group of mercenary police officers tasked with chasing mobster Micky Cohen out of town. This project seems like a better match with Aronofsky's knack at showing brutality, violence, and flawed characters.

Here's hoping that Aronofsky can move from tiny budgets to big budgets like Chris Nolan moved from Memento to Dark Knight and Inception.

But can she direct? Angelina Jolie tackles Bosnian-Serb romance

By Sarah Sluis

Let's be honest. No good deed goes unpunished, and it's easy to question the motivation of every celebrity on an international goodwill trip taking a photo op with a local baby (Is this a good time to bring up the time Lindsay Lohan did some kind of documentary in India?). Angelina Jolie, however, has shown herself committed to her role as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador and adopted several children from around

the world. Her latest project will see her in the director's seat helming a love story between a Bosnian and Serbian set during the war between the two factions.

Jolie reportedly visits the area regularly in her capacity as a goodwill ambassador. She will not only direct the film, it also seems that she wrote it! I'm a little skeptical of this, if only because she is a working actress, is constantly seen traveling the world with her gaggle of kids, and has a pretty packed film resume. Surely she had some help?

The cast is led by Zana Marjanovic, an actress known for her role in the Bosnian film Snow, Nikola Djuricko, and Rade Serbedzija. All of these actors come from the region, a casting choice made by Jolie. Filming will start late this year, which means maybe the movie will hit the festival circuit in 2011?

Whenever actors branch out into directing, they're subject to a different brand of criticism. Any A-lister who wanted to would have no trouble finding a movie to helm: their name alone would serve as proof of marketability. Skill, on the other hand, is more elusive, and Jolie will be up against some tough critics (including myself) who are interested in the story but need to be shown she's able to give a point-of-view from her spot in the director's chair.

If Jolie proves herself to be a competent director, she'll be following other women who started as actresses and turned into directors. Hollywood director Ida Lupino first worked as an actress, as did Jodie Foster and Penny Marshall. Though I doubt Jolie would envy this comparison, infamous German propagandist Leni Reifenstahl also segued from actress to director. Even last year's Best Director winner at the Oscars, Kathryn Bigelow, once appeared in a music video directed by her then-romantic interest, James Cameron. With women underrepresented as Hollywood directors, the actor-to-director transition may just be a welcome back door that will get more women into the director seat.

Spotlight: J.J. Abrams, the guy who can make 'nerd' films everyone sees

By Sarah Sluis

Last weekend the Comic-Con darling Scott Pilgrim vs. the World opened to a disappointing $10 million. The cult movie Kick-Ass also opened soft, to $19.8 million, though I can vouch for both films: they deserved more. This has led to writers sounding the alarm about so-called nerd films that fail to cross over to the rest of the marketplace.

Which made me think of someone who has managed to inspire both cult followings and crossover audiences with his work: J.J. Abrams. "Lost" drew in diehard fans as well as mainstream audiences (although some of the less devoted, such as myself, dropped out before the final season). Last year, he managed to attract wide audiences for that apex of nerdom, Star Trek. Never did I think I would go to a Star Trek movie and not think of all the Trekkie nerds I knew in school, but he did a great job making the story accessible and somehow appealing to the kind of people who wouldn't be caught dead at a sci-fi convention, or who had never even seen a single episode.

What stronger sign that someone has "made it" than when Steven Spielberg collaborates with you? The two are working on a sci-fi/aliens/teen-oriented project called Super 8, which is coming out next summer. Both directors have a populist sensibility that also works well with critics, and I bet they'll be able to come up with something incredible together. Let's not forget that both Jaws (Spielberg) and Cloverfield (Abrams, producer) were both the types of action/horror movies that usually receive a much more low-brow treatment.

This week, Abrams announced that he's also working on the nostalgically inspired 7 Minutes in Heaven, which will focus on two teens who disappear in a closet for their seven minutes in kissing heaven, only to return to find their friends dead. It's a clever pairing that juxtaposes the innocence of youth with murder--isn't that what all teen slasher movies are about? Of course, there could be other forces at work, but a slasher is the first that comes to mind, unless Abrams wants to go The Happening route and create toxic trees.

On a lighter note, Abrams appears to have a thing for numbers, and it's only a matter of time before he can count to ten with his films: There's Super 8, 7 Minutes in Heaven, Mission Impossible III and the planned MI:IV, Star Trek the first and the upcoming Star Trek sequel. Now he just needs to make a film with a five or six.

Analysis of an awesome trailer: 'The Social Network'

By Sarah Sluis
So far there have only been posters and teaser trailers for The Social Network. While movie geeks like me are already sold by the combination of the screenwriter (Aaron Sorkin) and director (David Fincher), it's hard not to get a little tingle on your spine when you hear the tagline, "You Don't Get to 500 Million Friends Without Making a Few Enemies." Who would have thought the story of Facebook would sound more like Wall Street meets The Skulls and less like an underdog winning gold at the Olympics?

Here's the trailer:

The #1 reason this trailer is awesome is that it doesn't introduce any characters until 48 seconds into a 2 minute, 30 second trailer. Instead, the trailer reels the audience in by forcing us to reflect on how we, the viewers, use Facebook. Screenshots of parties, profile pictures, weddings, and babies are edited to the lyrics of Radiohead's "Creep," sung by women with high voices and a melancholy tone (the Vega Choir). The lyrics pretty much say it all: "Don't care if it hurts/Wanna have control/Wanna perfect body/Wanna perfect soul/I want you to notice/When I'm not around/You're so very special..."

The latter, story part of the trailer emphasizes Ivy League intrigue, decadence, and excess among the rich. I counted nine scenes of drinking/partying, including liquor swilled straight from the bottle, champagne spraying, puking during fraternity hazing, and post-success imbibing of appletinis. Will these kind of storylines ever go out of style? I give the trailer one point for an unconventional but oh-so-Ivy scene with an indoor erg rowing machine that uses actual water (never seen one of those, but where else but Harvard?). However, Fincher loses points for a shot of Jesse Eisenberg as the Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg writing a formula on a window. We've already seen A Beautiful Mind and Good Will Hunting, thankyouverymuch.

On a final note, Fincher's Citizen Kane-like epic is also worth seeing for its strong cast composed of rising stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, Rashida Jones, and Andrew Garfield, the next Spider-Man. And if you're wondering, like I did, why Zuckerberg hasn't sued, it's because he's a public figure and therefore open to portrayal. Also, it might potentially be more embarassing to sue than to keep things quiet. As for suppression, it doesn't look like The Social Network will be advertised on Facebook due to their advertising rules, but everywhere else is fair game. Zuckerberg doesn't have quite the influence of William Randolph Hearst.

Director Zack Snyder gives sneak peak of 'Legend of the Guardians'

By Sarah Sluis

As I watched director Zack Snyder preview clips of the September release, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, at a press event at the Time Warner Center in New York, I was amazed at how far CG/3D animation has come. In 2010, How to Train Your Dragon, Shrek Forever After, Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me have enchanted audiences, including me, with their complex CG worlds. The original Toy Story 15 years ago could only render rounded, plasticized figures, and favored harsher shadows. Toy Story 3 not only had 3D, it was bathed in a soft, diffused light and introduced a furry character (fur is notoriously difficult to computer-generate).

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole pays similar attention to the visual details. The owl's feathers look soft, textured, and ruffled, something Snyder revealed took a lot of work. The lighting is dark, shadowy, and moody, bringing to mind How to Train Your Dragon's focus on candlelit Viking settings. The owls are not anthromorphic caricatures. They have a level of photorealism that's unprecedented for an animated film. Therein lies the problem.

I had a very hard time seeing the characters' expressions, or even attaching a mouth to the dialogue. Perhaps it's the years of seeing artificially noticeable mouth movements in those live-action/CG hybrids with talking dogs, but the slight movements in the owls' beaks just weren't doing it for me, and they also seemed slightly out of sync at times. Several different breeds of owls share space on the screen. While the snow-white owl had contrasting features and easily readable expressions, the chameleon-like fur on other owls obfuscated their eyes and beaks, making it difficult to parse out meaning from their faces. Did I mention all the creatures speak in Australian accents? And are constantly referring to fantasy-fueled proper nouns, like Ga'Hoole, the Pure Ones, Soren, Kludd, Ezylryb, Noctus, and Grimble?

Zack Snyder favors a fast-paced cutting style, but leaves in confusing cuts. At times, I lost the spatial

relationship of the owls when he cut from one perspective to another. I had to remind myself that I don't hate action sequences, I hate action sequences when they channel chaos over clearly articulated action. The only way that Snyder seems to be able to clarify his action is through slow motion, which he uses with some frequency--a neat addition to a kids' movie, but unfortunate in that the slow motion provides basic information that he can't seem to do at a regular pace. Watchmen was similarly confusing to view, and it doesn't seem that Snyder has improved. I have a message for Snyder: Watch Avatar. James Cameron managed to offer clear spatial relations in the flying fight scenes, and watching an action scene has never been better.

With its complicated mythology and dark setting, Legend of the Guardian bears some comparison to Lord of the Rings. Among those that have read the book, as well as fans of fantasy, Guardians will surely offer appeal. But if the finished product is as incoherent as the collection of clips I viewed, I predict a more dire future, especially among casual viewers.

What's interesting about the footage I saw was the disconnect between the style and the narrative: What made the owls so striking visually detracted from readability as characters. I'd like to see a CG film that has photorealistic characters but still manages to make the animals readable and understandable to audiences. It's also possible that I'm wrong--that audiences simply need to get used to non-cartoon like animals. A carrot: As the clips wore on, I found it easier to read the characters' expressions, and one sequence with a particularly furry character managed to come across clearly thanks to movements not only in the eyes and beak, but also the eyebrows and body stance.

Snyder's "crazy owl movie," as he calls it, has promising visuals but a confusing narrative. Watch the (less impressive) 2D trailer and decide for yourself here.

Cameron Crowe to make first film in five years, 'We Bought a Zoo'

By Sarah Sluis

Cameron Crowe is one of my favorite directors. I love his sensibility, his mix of humor and sadness combined with an eye towards reality. His (successful) movies are also immensely entertaining crowd-pleasers: Say Anything, Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous are included in many people's favorite film lists. But he hasn't

been on his game lately. Neither Elizabethtown nor Vanilla Sky electrified audiences or critics, so it's been over a decade since he directed a well-received movie. Let's hope this streak changes when he takes on an adaptation of the British memoir We Bought a Zoo, which is planned for a Christmas release in 2011.

The story follows a man who buys a dilapidated zoo in England. Besides the hazards and challenges of running a zoo, his wife is dying of a brain tumor, leaving behind him and their two children. The British novel was published (at least in the U.S.) by Weinstein books, so although Fox will produce the project, rights probably originated with the Weinstein Company. The release date has been planned for a year and a half from now, so production will probably start within the next six months. Crowe will now be on a search for an A-list star for the role of the zoo-buying man. On IMDB, Ben Stiller is "rumored" for the role. I could see him working in the part, though let's hope he can create a more likable character than the mope he played in Greenberg.

In its favor, the movie will draw animal-loving audiences with its menagerie of cute animals. Because of the success of Fox's Marley & Me (which also has some sad moments), the studio was reportedly excited for another animal-themed project. But figuring out how to balance the sad aspects of the movie against the comedy might be tricky. The book opens with the family finding out that the wife has a brain tumor while they are living in Southern France. It appears that the tumor recurs after the family has moved back to England and bought a zoo. Watching someone die slowly on screen, while making jokes? I loved Patch Adams but this tone will be extremely difficult to nail. From checking out reviews of the book on Amazon, it appears the book solves this problem by focusing mainly on the ins and outs of the zoo. Readers seemed to like the emotional weight of the scenes with his wife, but they didn't dominate the narrative.

I hope Crowe can come up with a great film with unforgettable dialogue and imagery--maybe for the scene when the jaguar escapes from the zoo? We need another image of John Cusack holding a boombox over his head or "Show Me the Money." Make it memorable, Cameron!

Why is Bill Condon directing 'Breaking Dawn'?

By Sarah Sluis

Over at Summit, the decision-makers have made an interesting left turn in the Twilight series: hiring a "prestige" director. While Catherine Hardwicke, Chris Weitz, and David Slade, who have helmed the first three installments, all have well-regarded indie movies under their belt, the final choice for Breaking Dawn is none other than Bill Condon. Weitz was an Oscar nominee, but Condon has actually been nominated twice and won once.

Condon is a writer/director who helmed Dreamgirls, Kinsey, and Gods & Monsters. He also wrote the screenplay for Chicago, the Oscar winner for Best Picture. Condon wasn't the only director with a history of high-profile, artsy films to be recruited for the final two installments (most likely Breaking Dawn will be split into two films--why not double the revenue?). Summit apparently approached Stephen Daldry (The Reader), Gus Van Sant (Milk), Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation) and Fernando Meirelles (City of God) before settling on Condon as the frontrunner.

Perhaps Summit feels that since its audience will be a few years older by the final films, they'll expect more from the movies. The plot for the final movie appears more complicated, too [SPOILERS AHEAD]. The Wikipedia synopsis reveals that Bella gives birth to Edward's child in the final book. In order to prevent the child from dying, they must turn her into a vampire, making the baby a uniquely sentient being that the author herself thought would be difficult to bring to screen. Maybe she just hadn't seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, though, to be honest, I found the old-baby in that movie really creepy-looking.

In the meantime, Twihards will have Eclipse to look forward to this summer (less than a year after New Moon) and production stills from Breaking Dawn when it starts filming this fall.

'Pray the Devil Back to Hell' reaches new audiences with Global Peace Tour

By Sarah Sluis

Screener had the opportunity to interview director Gini Reticker, whose documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell has returned to the big screen, and is now being shown by groups across America this September as part of a Global Peace Tour.

Since Pray the Devil Back to Hell's debut at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2008, which was followed by a fall theatrical release, the film has been seen across the globe. Reticker describes her filmmaking style as "looking for things that are universal...what people have in common rather than what separates us," but she too has been astonished by the far-reaching, diverse audience that has embraced the film. Security guards during the Tribeca festival spotted each other so they could sneak in and watch the film, a social worker wanted to show it to her patients who were drug addicts, and it's scheduled to be broadcast over television in Burma.

In Liberia itself, where the documentary takes place, the film has inspired new recognition for the women who fought for peace in their country. Their story, which was on the verge of being lost by time, has been preserved, ensuring the women a place in the country's history books. For those unfamiliar with the documentary, (read the FJI review here and our profile here) Pray the Devil Back to Hell reconstructs the plight of a group of women who became activists to stop the civil war in Liberia. Both sides looted and raped villagers, and enlisted boys to serve as soldiers. The women, who came from all religious backgrounds, banded together, not taking sides, but simply asking for peace. And it worked.

With its inspiring story, Pray the Devil Back to Hell sounds like the ultimate grassroots film, but a traditional specialty rollout release did not adequately meet demand for the feature. "The thing about documentaries," Reticker explains, is that "you never play long enough in any city. By the time you build an audience, you're closing." The answer to that was a "semi-theatrical tour, so that people who heard about the film and wanted to bring it to their organizations could use it." Over 200 cities are screening Pray the Devil as part of the Global Peace Tour, which is centered around the United Nations' International Day of Peace on September 21st. Churches, schools, universities, film societies, and even the United Nations and World Bank will screen the film. For Reticker, the "phenomenal" response is incredibly rewarding to her as a filmmaker, "because it's extending the life of the movie in a really different way." The non-traditional venues still contribute to the film's revenue, as each organization will pay for the rental of the film.

The success of the documentary has spawned a series on WNET. The public broadcasting station picked up the film and has commissioned four more hours of television about activist women. Reitcker hopes to explore different geographical areas in the series. She also credits producer Abigail Disney for the "tremendous amount of energy and effort she made to make sure the film is seen...she's the one who spearheaded the distribution movement completely," trying to show the film in as many places as possible. Indeed, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton mentioned the film recently, and several of September's screenings have been scheduled by Washington D.C.-based human rights and policy organizations. Even those on the "other side" have seen the movie. While at a screening at the Hague, a man came up to Reticker after the panel discussion, telling her how much he enjoyed the film, but that he thought the root cause of the problem was poverty. Reticker, who believes that these wars are because of corruption and greed, explained her opinion. The man turned out to be the lawyer defending Charles Taylor, the ex-leader of Liberia, from his war crimes charges.

Pray the Devil Back to Hell's popularity among groups and organizations comes from its sense of universality. While these women's lives and experiences differ dramatically from most of those in the audience, the women seem like people you could know. Their methods of protest seem attainable. They conduct sit-ins, wear the same clothing, and use the media to communicate their message, simple protests that had a big impact. "I start the film with a woman saying that her child was hungry and wanted a donut and she couldn't feed it," Reticker points out, a universal story that helps people identify with the women. She also tried to "make it a war movie, give it the rhythm of a war movie, and make the viewer involved in a fight between good and evil...It's kind of a war story told from the point of view of women who are fighting for peace."

For those who see Pray the Devil Back to Hell on the Global Peace Tour, the communal experience will offer an opportunity to engage with like-minded people and think of how you, too, could enact change. If the women of Liberia did it, the documentary seems to say, you can too. Find a screening near you here.

Farrelly Brothers to helm 'Three Stooges,' 'Farting Dog'

By Sarah Sluis

I haven't heard exciting news from the Farrelly brothers for some time.  Each project after Dumb and Dumber and There's Something About Mary was less inspired, and their one-line premises discouraged me
from going: multiple personalities! dating your sister! dating a fat person! conjoined twins!  rigging the Special Olympics!  Their last project, The Heartbreak Kid, did fairly well at the box office, but that was in 2007.  Recently, the brothers have announced two projects.

Today, they revealed a timeline for their long-planned adaptation of The Three Stooges for MGM.  They plan to do four twenty-minute vignettes, true to the original style of the Stooges shorts.  Their screenplay focuses on the "origins" of Larry, Curly, and Moe, with the first vignette featuring seven-year-old versions of the stooges.  The studio has already set a release date of November 20, 2009, which falls right before the Thanksgiving holiday.  Casting could prove difficult; previous talks point to "stunt" casting non-comedians such as Russell Crowe or Mel Gibson--not the typical funny men pictured in the role.

Last week, the Farrelly brothers also announced plans to helm Walter the Farting Dog, an adaptation of a
children's book series.  The rather vulgar title (which many parents of the target audience would forbid their children to repeat) refers to an adopted dog with a gas problem who is brought into a home with four children, played by the Jonas brothers (three currently star in the hit Disney show, the youngest is the "bonus" Jonas).  The film will focus on the bonus Jonas, Frankie, whose sinus problem has impaired his sense of smell and made him the only one in his family able to tolerate the stink bomb dog.  The boy's adventures with his dog will be interspersed with songs by the three older brothers.  I appreciate that this project will give the youngest brother an opportunity to shine.  With three older brothers in the spotlight, this film will not only be an ideal launching point for the "bonus Jonas's" own career, but a chance to join in on his brothers' stardom.  For the Farrelly brothers, this will mark their second foray into children's films after live action/animation mix Osmosis Jones in 2001.