Time for another quick batch. 1. Variety reports that Gerard Butler — star of 300, Beowulf & Grendel (2005), Dear Frankie (2004) and others — hopes to play Snake Plissken in a remake of Escape from New York (1981). 2. I just noticed today that Becket (1964) will finally come out on DVD on May 15 — with a commentary track by Peter O’Toole! 3. Matt Page at the Bible Films Blog passes on the news that a new animated... Read more

Fox Faith is releasing The Inquiry, AKA The Final Inquiry, next month. A team of German and Canadian filmmakers is developing The Sword of Peter. And Screen Gems and Tim LaHaye are collaborating on The Resurrection — the release date of which, incidentally, was recently bumped to February 27, 2009. And now … another film joins the mix! Variety reports: Making a foray into the faith-based arena, Ashok Amritraj’s Hyde Park Entertainment is producing “Risen –The Story of the First... Read more

You may have heard that 300, Zack Snyder’s adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel about the Battle of Thermopylae, broke a box-office record or two when it opened this weekend. If its estimated $70 million gross holds up when the actual figures are released today, it will beat the Ice Age movies (2002-2006) for biggest March opening weekend ever, and it will be second only to The Passion of the Christ (2004; $83.8 million) among movies that opened between January... Read more

Here are the figures for the past weekend, arranged from those that owe the highest percentage of their take to the Canadian box office to those that owe the lowest. Pan’s Labyrinth — CDN $5,094,436 — N.AM $35,435,000 — 14.4%The Number 23 — CDN $4,070,518 — N.AM $30,481,000 — 13.4%Zodiac — CDN $2,367,321 — N.AM $23,727,000 — 10.0%300 — CDN $6,093,145 — N.AM $70,025,000 — 8.7%Music and Lyrics — CDN $3,765,833 — N.AM $43,847,000 — 8.6%Bridge to Terabithia — CDN... Read more

Believe it or not, there are two more sets of movie critics’ awards that I took part in, that I have not yet mentioned here. First, the American Film Renaissance Awards, which were actually posted a couple weeks ago — yeah, I’m way behind on this one: Best Picture: The Pursuit of HappynessRunners-up: Apocalypto, United 93, The Queen, The Departed Best Documentary: Border War: The Battle Over Illegal ImmigrationRunners-up: Islam: What the West Needs to Know, Abduction: The Megumi Yokota... Read more

The Revealer linked to both versions of my interview with Bridge to Terabithia author Katherine Paterson today. They note that Christianity Today‘s website has “curiously” posted the article twice, but as I noted here last month, one version was published exclusively on the CT Movies website, whereas the other version originally appeared in the CT magazine and now appears on the magazine’s section of the CT website. Read more

Just a few more quick updates. 1. MTV.com reports that the new Star Trek movie will actually be a complete reboot of the franchise, and not a prequel: First things first: From the sound of it, fans can rest assured that subtitles about undiscovered countries and insurrections are a thing of the past. Kurtzman and Orci told MTV that their film is titled, quite simply, “Star Trek.” “That’s the intended title. I don’t think we want to put any colons... Read more

Time for a few more quickies. 1. Variety reports that Shia LaBeouf really is in “final talks” to play Harrison Ford’s son in Indiana Jones IV. 2. The Los Angeles Times has an article on the problems that face foreign film directors who make the switch to Hollywood, and Exhibit A is Oliver Hirschbiegel’s The Invasion: In fact, a number of gifted foreign directors have struggled trying to make the transition to Hollywood. One recent example is Oliver Hirschbiegel, a... Read more

Scott Derrickson sure has a fair bit on his plate, from Paradise Lost to Devil’s Knot. Now, reports IESB.net, he may also be attached to a remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951; my comments). The original movie, which came out at the dawn of the Cold War, concerns an alien and a robot who come to Earth to impose peace on us … or else. While the film is often hailed for its supposedly pacifist message, the... Read more

Time for another batch of updates. 1. Lena Headey, who will soon be seen in 300, tells Sci Fi Wire that Summer Glau is, indeed, playing a Terminator in The Sarah Connor Chronicles — but is she the good one or the bad one? Glau’s character is named Cameron, apparently in honour of franchise creator James Cameron, but that could be interpreted either way. The other Terminator is being played by Owain Yeoman. 2. Variety reports that the producers of... Read more