Time for another round-up.
1. The Hollywood Reporter says Fox and Warner Brothers are planning to release almost a dozen classic films to DVD in January, just in time for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month — and one of these films will be The Green Pastures (1936), a collection of Old Testament stories told or re-enacted by an all-black cast (including Rex Ingram as “De Lawd”).
2. The original King Kong (1933) comes out on DVD next month. In the meantime, Reuters reports that Universal is going to unusual lengths to promote Peter Jackson’s upcoming remake:
Universal is taking a novel approach to marketing its upcoming, big-budget film “King Kong” by releasing a DVD documenting the making of the movie a day before the film hits theaters.
The DVD “KING KONG Peter Jackson’s Production Diaries” marks the first time a major studio will ship retailers a DVD featuring a behind-the-scenes look at a film ahead of its theatrical release, a Universal Studios Home Entertainment spokeswoman said on Thursday, and industry sources agreed.
By releasing the two-DVD set along with a companion book on December 13, the package helps promote the “Kong” movie that hits theaters on December 14. In turn, the movie helps drive DVD sales among fans who want to learn more after they see the film.
3. It’s no big surprise, but you may have heard that Daniel Craig was publicly tapped to be the next James Bond today, in the third version of Casino Royale, due out sometime next year.
It sounds like this film is going to go the Batman Begins route — ignoring all the previous films and focusing on the character’s origins. This could be a good thing. Then again, the film will be directed by Martin Campbell, who also directed Pierce Brosnan in GoldenEye (1995), a film that did more than most others to turn Bond from a spy into something more like a commando.
FWIW, the Associated Press notes that Craig will be the first blond actor to play Bond, as well as only the second Englishman out of six actors to tackle the part, following Roger Moore. (The other actors were Scottish, Australian, Welsh and Irish.) That’s if we ignore the 1967 version of Casino Royale, of course.
4. Did you know that Richard Donner, director of the original Superman (1978), had directed most of Superman II (1980) before he was fired and Richard Lester took his place, apparently starting over from scratch? I didn’t, until I read this story:
Boasting one of Hollywood’s more interesting and/or frustrating back stories, Superman II was a movie twice made: First, by Richard Donner, who helmed the 1978 franchise-starter; and secondly, by Richard Lester, who reshot and completed the film after Donner was fired.
It’s estimated Donner’s version was 70-80 percent complete when the project was restarted–a tantalizing statistic for the faithful who dream of seeing the “lost” work of Reeve, Margot Kidder (as Lois Lane), Gene Hackman (as Lex Luthor) and Marlon Brando (as Jor-El, Superman’s birth father).
The fan site Superman Cinema has been at the forefront in lobbying Warner Bros. to release “the real” Superman II. Even a new Superman II DVD featuring the considerable Donner footage as bonus tracks would appease. While Warners has yet to budge, Superman Cinema founder Dharmesh promised the demand is there.
“We are not talking about a certain demographic, or genre fans,” Dharmesh said in an email interview. “The film fan community is willing this project to go ahead.”
Some hope Superman Returns, director Bryan Singer’s own de facto take on Superman II (his film, due out next summer, essentially picks up where Donner’s first movie left off), will provide Warners with incentive to open the vaults. Already, the studio has given Singer access to the unused footage of Brando, clearing the way for the late actor, who died in 2004, to revive his paternal role in the new movie.
5. The Associated Press has a fun article on movie-set slang.
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