Ben Affleck dipped his toe in the directing game by sticking to subject matter that he knew well, life in south Boston. After Gone Baby Gone and The Town did well with audiences and critics, Affleck seemed to get a bit of confidence in his new role. His next film Argo isn’t going to have anything to do with his life experiences at all. As a matter of fact, it’s kind of a globe-hopping tale about the CIA, undercover operatives, and hostages in Tehran. How’s work going on that project? I’d say pretty well, because THR is reporting that Affleck is already in negotiations to direct his next film, and this time he’s going to make the commitment to both direct and star. Unfortunately, the description of the film leads me to believe that Affleck is so comfortable as a director that he’s ready to stop doing things that interest him and start cashing checks to make crap. The film is called Line of Sight, and it’s an action movie that Joel Silver and Andrew Rona are putting together with Warner Bros. The concept is that the film will be about a team of elite commandos who have to transport some sort of precious cargo while a threat to world safety is happening and, get this, the film will be constructed of all point of view shots so that it looks like a first person shooter video game. How’s that for a twist? You know what I would have liked [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

In a story that contains several layers of film geek cool, Robert Downey Jr. and his wife Susan have teamed their production company Team Downey up with Warner Brothers to tell a story that’s inspired by an 11-year-old boy, who was inspired by a speech that Quint gave in Jaws, which was inspired by the sinking of a World War II warship named the USS Indianapolis. The boy’s name is Hunter Scott, and Warners recently picked up the rights to his life story which saw him going from a 1996 viewing of Jaws at 11 years old to testifying in front of congress in 2000 and getting some legislation passed. The sinking of The Indianapolis is a horrific story, and it needs somebody proven at writing about World War II era naval awesomeness to do it justice. To that end, the Downeys and company have tapped Robert Schenkkan for the adaptation. He got nominated for a writing Emmy for HBO’s The Pacific. So, yeah, guy knows his stuff. After being torpedoed, The Indianapolis sank over the course of five days as its crew was slaughtered and eaten by a group of bloodcrazy sharks. It’s a real life event that inspired this scene in Steven Spielberg’s shark horror Jaws:

Despite having a director, a script, and a huge chunk of its cast ready to go, Warner Bros’ upcoming re-re-boot of the Superman franchise is going to have to wait a while before it comes to theaters. Originally the film was scheduled to have a December 2012 release, but Warners has officially announced, while all eyes are on the San Diego Comic Con and comic properties in general, that they are pushing the film back six months to June 14, 2013. No reasons for the move are explicitly given, but there are a few that can be inferred. This is a project that has been rushed and in a bit of turmoil ever since its inception, largely due to copyright issues that Warners is having with the families of Superman’s creators. In order to hold on to the rights for this film, the studio has to have it in production by the end of 2012. That will still happen under the new plan, the film just won’t be released until 2013.

Between 1991 and 2004 Jeff Smith released 55 issues of his comic book “Bone” and built a legacy as one of the most beloved comic creators of all time. People love “Bone”. I mean, they’re crazy about it. It’s a shame then that it has never managed to get a film adaptation, despite living in the mires of developmental hell for quite a while now. The good news is there seems to be some new traction for the project, and the new stuff that’s popping up is even impressive enough to have Smith pleased with what he has seen. After both Paramount and Nickelodeon swung and missed with the “Bone” property, the rights got moved over to Warner Bros. where several scripts have been tried out but the third seems to be the charm. WB wants to turn their latest take onto the character into a three part, computer animated, 3D film series, and they’ve even put together a four minute short to show off what it would look like. Series creator Smith told the L.A. Times’ Hero Complex that he is, “actually excited about the movie for the first time in a long time.” That’s probably high praise coming from a guy who has reportedly waded through a ton of crappy film treatments of his baby.

Jaume Collet-Serra is a filmmaker that specializes in the ridiculousness. With both Orphan and Unknown, he managed to spin conventional sounding stories into big pieces of oddball-ness, although he was less successful with his “I don’t know who I am!” thriller. Somehow, his slightly deranged Orphan and slightly less deranged Unknown made bank for Warner Brothers. So it’s not much of a surprise that the studio has brought on the up and comer to helm the Akira remake, which I think we have a good chance of seeing in, let’s say, 2025.

Last week, as I watched Quentin Dupieux’s Rubber, I noticed that the trailers on the rental Blu-Ray were all of titles sharing space at the top of my queue: titles like Takashi Miike’s 13 Assassins, Kim Ji-woon’s I Saw the Devil, and Jason Eisener’s Hobo with a Shotgun. All, I quickly realized, had been released by the same studio, Magnet Releasing, whose label I recalled first noticing in front of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Bronson. After some quick Internet searching, I quickly realized what I should have known initially, that Magnet was a subsidiary of indie distributor Magnolia Pictures. The practices of “indie” subsidiaries of studios has become commonplace. That majors like Universal and 20th Century Fox carry specialty labels Focus Features and Fox Searchlight which market to discerning audiences irrespective of whether or not the individual titles released are independently financed or studio-produced has become a defining practice for limited release titles and has, perhaps more than any other factor, obscured the meaning of the term “independent film” (Sony Pictures Classics, which only distributes existing films, is perhaps the only subsidiary arm of a major studio whose releases are actually independent of the system itself). This fact is simply one that has been accepted for quite some time in the narrative of small-scale American (or imported) filmmaking. Especially in the case of Fox Searchlight, whose opening banner distinguishes itself from the major in variation on name only, subsidiaries of the majors can hardly even be argued as “tricking” audiences into [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

The middle class in China is a juggernaut that has been growing steadily for at least the past decade. It was only a matter of time before a foreign-sales-obsessed studio world moved in to deliver the content that the hungry giant has an appetite for. Warner Bros. is officially the first to break into the People’s Republic of China to offer their films On Demand through television. According to a press release, Warner Bros. will be partnering with You On Demand (complete with its creepy, winky-face logo) to provide Pay-Per-View movies to an estimated potential 200 million households. The films become available this summer, and by the end of the season, You On Demand anticipates their service will be in 3 million households – the equivalent of some of the top cable providers here in the US. This is a large opportunity for the studio financially, of course, but what’s more fascinating is the door it leaves open for a US-based studio to start producing movies specifically for a foreign market. Hollywood is already highly aware of the global market and have catered more and more to foreign markets by making tentpole films more generic (and thus easy to digest in any culture or language), but with a direct line into the homes of the Chinese people, Warner Bros. might see an incentive to bypass American audiences altogether and start making a few movies every year specifically aimed at China. That’s just speculation, but it doesn’t seem too far fetched. [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

So much potential and so much promise… and yet so much blandness. I had been trying to stay as hopeful as one could when it came to Green Lantern. Even after Neil – who I usually think is spot on when it comes to his criticisms – posted his review, I still held on to what little optimism I could maintain. “Perhaps Green Lantern would be this summer’s G.I. Joe, a film that is so cartoonish that you just can’t help but to laugh with it,” I thought. But, boy, was I wrong. Green Lantern is no laughing matter. Green Lantern + The guy who reinvented Bond twice + Reynolds’ mojo + Great Sarsgaard + Potential for Space Battles + Mark Strong as Sinestro = what should’ve been a real event film. Wha happened?

Looney Tunes animation appears to be in a period of rebirth. Not only does the beloved stable of animated characters have a new show called The Looney Tunes Show on the cartoon network, but they’ve also been invading theaters with a series of short films. Last year saw three original, CG Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote shorts get put in front of big family releases, and now Warner Bros. has sent out a press release saying that they have three more upcoming shorts that will not only be presented in 3D, but will also use the voice of legendary voice actor Mel Blanc, who passed away in 1989. Despite Blanc no longer being with us, archivists have resurrected some of his old recordings from the 50s, including original songs, to act as the vocal tracks for these new short films.

While Warner Bros. is busy confusing themselves about what they’re going to do with Batman, Superman, and the rest of the entire Justice League up on the big screen, Paramount has been busy raiding their coop, and they’ve come away with the rights to one of their lesser known properties. Normally all of the rights to things published by DC Comics goes to their parent company Warner Bros by default, but apparently “The Mighty” started off as creator owned work and rights to the big screen adaption were still controlled by creators Keith Champagne and Peter Tomasi. This has allowed them to cut a deal and cash in on their creation.

Craig Brewer isn’t exactly a household name yet, but he’s directed a few films that people know and like. He was behind Samuel L. Jackson chaining up a scantily clad Christina Ricci in Black Snake Moan, he helped Terrence Howard go from pimping to rapping in Hustle & Flow, and he’s even done a couple episodes of cable series like The Shield and Terriers. But it’s his upcoming remake of Footloose that has him in demand and fielding new opportunities left and right. That’s right, he remade Footloose, and industry people are loving it and throwing offers his way. That’s gotta be some good Footloose. So, given that Brewer now has a modicum of control over what his next project is going to be, what will he choose? He’s going to go after his dream of course, his passion project; he’s going to make a Tarzan movie. Warner Bros has been trying to get a new version of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s vine swinging, monkey loving, battle cry yelling hero together for quite a while. Probably because Tarzan is a name of something that people have heard, so clearly it’s a concept rife for another film treatment. While several attempts haven’t worked out, it now looks like they may have found their man. Brewer has come up with a treatment for the character that will tell the story of Tarzan over not just one, but three films. And he’s hoping to not only write the scripts, but make these movies his [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

If you like superheroes that wear battle helmets with big wings on them and smash things with brutal, archaic weaponry, then you should go out to theaters and see Thor. But if you really like superheroes that wear battle helmets with big wings on them and smash things with brutal, archaic weaponry, then you should start getting excited for the competition’s take on that material. Warner Bros is looking to further mine DC Comics’ character library for future film franchises, and the latest name getting passed around for a possible project is Hawkman. A blurb put out by the studio to lure in potential writers reads: “Part Indiana Jones/Da Vinci Code, part Ghost tentpole about the fictional superhero that appears in D.C. Comic books. He used archaic weaponry and large, artificial wings attached to a harness made of the Nth metal that allows flight. Most incarnations of Hawkman work closely with a partner/romantic interest named Hawkgirl or Hawkwoman in his fight against supervillains. Based on the DC comic.”

A remake of the classic detective story following the exploits of married couple Nick and Nora Charles has been in the works for a while with Johnny Depp attached to star as Nick Charles and Jerry Stahl on board to write the script. Rumor had it that Depp’s director on the upcoming fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film On Stranger Tides was thinking about signing on to this project as well, and now a press release from Warner Bros. has made it official. The Thin Man was first a novel written by Dashiell Hammett, then it was a film directed by W.S. Van Dyke, and now it will be remake by Rob Marshall. Marshall says of the project, “John [DeLuca] and I are overjoyed at the idea of working with Johnny again, especially on such a classy and classic project. We are also thrilled to be partnering this time with such wonderful producers as Christi Dembroski and Kevin McCormick, and we are looking forward to working with Warner Bros. to create a reinvention of a beloved story.”

Studio logos are an iconography all their own, but nothing puts a grin on my face like a spiffy send-up of a traditional company emblem tailored made to gel with the film I’m about to watch. Don’t get me wrong — nothing’s going to top classics like Alfred Newman’s Fox fanfare, Jerry Goldsmith’s Universal tune or the countless other openings ingrained in our cinematic memories. But when someone takes the recognizable logo and makes it their own…well, that’s when I get giddy. For decades, movie studios have been allowing filmmakers to tinker slightly with the prestigious logos that preface every film they release. Nothing too crazy — maybe a color shift or a throwback to a retired bumper — but nothing that would tarnish their reputations. These days, most movies are free to run wild. Many stick to the time-honored traditions of their studios, but the ones that don’t feel that much more special. Regardless of a film’s quality, a great logo is like the cherry on top for most movie buffs. Here are fourteen modern variants that bring a little extra magic to the pictures they kick off:

Dan Fogelman is one of the most successful screenwriters currently writing in Hollywood. He’s done a lot of huge animated movies like Cars, Bolt, and Tangled, and most recently he sold a script for the upcoming Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling vehicle Crazy, Stupid, Love. It was Warner Bros who paid 2.5 million for the rights to that film, and now they’ve won another bid to buy Fogelman’s next script. Reportedly for quite a bit of cheddar. This one sounds smaller and more character driven than what we’ve seen from Fogelman so far. It even has the usual, indie, ambitious person shamed into going back to their hometown story. This time the main character is a successful politician who has his life and career ruined by an affair that gets exposed by the media. But, despite Fogelman’s success so far, maybe the biggest news about this project is that Tom Cruise is already attached to star. In an industry where the forward momentum of a project can live or die on its attachment to a brand name, that has to be seen as a big asset. Tom Cruise is one of the biggest name brands in Hollywood. Not even videotaped craziness and an attachment to a strange, probably evil religion can ruin this guy’s bulletproof nature at the box office. I mean, other than Knight and Day. That didn’t go so well for anybody. Finger crossed for this one though! Source: Deadline Wichita

The LA Times did a big profile on new Warner Bros. president Jeff Robinov. They talk about a few things in it, from his managerial style to controversial decisions he has made such as passing on Slumdog Millionaire and refusing to work with David Fincher. But what is most interesting about the piece is that it slips in some pretty major news about the direction of Warner’s big, tentpole DC Comics properties. According to Rubinov, he wants both new Superman and Batman films to come out in 2012, and then he’s aiming for a Justice League movie to come out in 2013. There’s even mention of spinning off Flash and Wonder Woman films after that. We already know that the Superman movie is being overseen by Christopher Nolan and is going to be directed by Zack Snyder, and the Batman movie is Nolan’s next directorial effort The Dark Knight Rises, but will these be the same characters that appear in the Justice League movie? Superman doesn’t get a mention, so it seems like the answer for Snyder’s character is yes, but post Dark Knight Rises Batman will be getting a reboot. Much like with the Superman project, Robinov has gotten Nolan on board to oversee the character’s new direction. If you add in this year’s Green Lantern, it’s looking like Warner Bros. finally has the proper leadership in place to give Marvel’s recent spate of film adaptations a run for it’s money. With this news and the announcement of all [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

In an increasingly technology obsessed world, some people aren’t willing to put their gadgets down long enough to watch a movie. Or heck, even have a conversation with another human being. You’ve seen it happen a million times. Somebody refuses to turn off their cell phone in a theater despite the on screen warnings before the feature. Someone you’re trying to talk to at work won’t look up from their Facebook page long enough to give you their full attention. The President cancels a press conference because he’s playing Angry Birds. Okay, so that last one might be speculation, but this type of behavior is a real problem we’re facing. Well Warner Bros. isn’t letting it get in the way of their efforts to distribute films. Not too long ago they became the first company to distribute films as iOS apps, and now they have made a deal to stream their films through Facebook. The first app versions of films they created were Inception and The Dark Knight. The launching of Facebook streaming begins with just The Dark Knight. Before they’re done with you, Warner Bros. is going to make sure you’ve watched that film on every screen you own.

Apple and Warner Bros. have announced that they are teaming up to bring app versions of feature films to iOS devices. What will a movie app entail exactly? Their press release explains, “App Editions provide a fully-loaded, connected viewing experience that gives consumers the first five minutes of a feature film and a portion of bonus content that can include games, trivia, soundtracks and soundboards.  The entire feature film can be unlocked via an in-app purchase, which enables downloading and unlimited streaming, as well as access to the entire array of bonus content available within the App.” So basically a movie app is an advertisement for a movie that gives you a link to buy said movie being advertised. The first two movies to get the treatment will be Christopher Nolan’s pair of huge hits The Dark Knight and Inception. That’s probably a good strategy for the first releases; they’re both insanely popular in a mainstream way, but nerd centric at their cores. If any part of Apple’s tech savvy audience is going to be willing to download individual films onto their iOS devices, then this will probably be a good judge of what percentage. Purchasing Inception will cost $11.99, while The Dark Knight will only be $9.99, so this suggests that different movies will have different price points depending on their release dates if this takes off as a concept.

Like a wet dog clamoring out of a bath it didn’t want, MGM is still shaking off the slightly soapy remnants of its bankruptcy. The collaboration born of necessity between MGM and Warners seems like a far cry from 2007 when New Line and MGM were co-financing with Fox handling distribution to the world outside of North America. But here we are. Warners is officially handling world-wide distribution for The Hobbit films. The good news is that the bumpy road to get to the bumpy road of filmmaking is over, and the cameras can roll. The video game arm of Warners, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, also has the rights to develop a video game based on the property.

Hey, you. Yes, you. No, not that person behind you who seems curiously intent on strangling you with a stand of fishing line. You. I’m guessing you are here because you want to know what’s going on in the world of movies? And chances are you’ve had about enough of the “Film School Rejects attitude” seen in other, more wordy editorials. I’m here to rescue you and give you only the news that you crave as we both stare up at the moon together. And just as you realize that the guy behind you was, in fact, killing you this whole time, you are also going to realize something else: I’m delivering the news with attitude, as well. What can I say, it’s late…